Mets offense breaks out, and what's going to happen with Edwin Díaz?

The Mets scored at least ten runs in a game for just the fourth time on Wednesday

Michael Baron

Jun 13, 2024

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets upended the Marlins 10-4 at Citi Field on Wednesday (Box)
David Peterson started for the Mets and struggled over five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with only one strikeout
The Mets bullpen was solid, combining to throw four scoreless innings thanks in part to a five strikeout performance from Dedniel Núñez in 2.1 IP
The Mets belted three home runs - one from Harrison Bader, another from Starling Marte, and one from Francisco Lindor
Tyrone Taylor put together a four-hit night and three other Mets had at least two hits, including Lindor who, in addition to his homer, also doubled
Pete Alonso snapped an 0-for-10 skid with an opposite field single in the seventh
The Mets scored ten runs or more in a game for just the fourth time this season, are now 5-4 in June, 10-10 against the NL East, 18-11 when scoring give or more runs, 11-31 when allowing four or more runs, 23-6 when leading after eight innings, and 14-13 when scoring first in a game
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said on Wednesday Edwin Díaz will get his closer role back upon returning from the injured list
Former Met reliever Jorge López has landed with the Cubs on a minor league deal

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Who’s Hot 🔥

Over his last 18 games, Francisco Lindor is hitting .325/.374/.584 with eight doubles, four home runs and nine RBI
Since May 15, Mark Vientos is hitting .310/.383/.549 with five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI, a span of 21 games
Over his last 24 games, Harrison Bader is hitting .266/.325./.493 with six doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI
Over his last 23 games, Starling Marte is hitting .361/.418/.569 with two doubles, two triples, three home runs and 13 RBI with 26 total hits
Since being recalled from the Minors in late May, Dedniel Núñez has allowed just one run and one walk on four hits with 14 strikeouts in 9.1 IP

Mets offense, since May 31… ⚡️

77 runs scored (6th in MLB)
12 home runs (15th)
.293 average (t-1st)
.353 OBP (4th)
.487 SLG (2nd)
142 wRC+ (2nd)
71 K (third fewest)

Down on the Farm 🌾

RHP Jeffrey Cólon (High-A BRK): 6.2 IP, 4 H, 6 K
OF Rylan Bannon (Triple-A SYR): 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
INF Luisangel Acuña (no. 5 prospect, Triple-A SYR): 2-for-4, R
INF Brett Baty (Triple-A, SYR): 2-for-4

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL (PPD) | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (29-37) vs. Marlins (23-44)

Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Luis Severino (4-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. RHP Roddery Muñoz (1-2, 5.95 ERA)

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where To Watch: SNY

The offense has picked it up - they just need to figure out the rest! ✍️

The date I chose to carve out the above stats on the Mets offense isn’t a random date.

It’s the date Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns decided to shake up the roster, sending Brett Baty and Omar Narváez out and bringing Jose Iglesias, Dedniel Núñez and Luis Torrens into the fold.

Mind you, the players they brought in will never jump off the transaction page. History may tell us in the end these are inconsequential roster moves for journeymen players who will eventually regress after giving the Mets these late spring moments.

That really isn’t my point on the Mets offense, anyway.

The point is, May 31 was the day David Stearns drew a line in the sand, said enough was enough with the same old, same old and sent a message that accountability will be maintained on this roster.

Again, it’s a small sample but for the offense anyway, it has served as a short-term wakeup call at a minimum.

Now, I know what some will say. What about Jeff McNeil?

My response to that right now is I feel like the Mets are giving him every last opportunity to prove he still belongs as a member of this team, but that they’re asking Brett Baty to take reps at second base tells me they’re looking for other short and medium term options at the position. That’s not to say the Mets can’t play McNeil somewhere else and if somebody gets hurt, he won’t be a regular player again. But at this point, if the Mets are at least going to continue to peddle this message about contending in 2024, they can’t run the same old, same old out there and McNeil’s non-presence as an everyday player is further proof they’re just not going to wait around for him to get his act together.

Quite frankly, nor should they. And I am as big of a McNeil fan as there is. I followed McNeil on his path from the minor leagues up to the big leagues, and nobody can say he wasn’t seriously good for this team through 2022. He’s lost his way for whatever reason - I do hope he can shut the haters up and get his job back at an elite level.

It would be good for him, and good for the team.

As for the rest of the offense, sure there are still some holes. We are all waiting for that burst of acceleration from Pete Alonso. He is back to his ways from 2023 with those wild chases on breaking pitches out of the zone. Instead of identifying the spin, waiting and going the other way, he’s just trying to pull and it’s resulting in not a whole lot for him right now.

But all in all, it’s really hard to complain about the offense as a unit over the last couple of weeks. They’re in the top third and really top five in the most important categories since May 31. Sustainability is always a question mark, especially for a team who, for the first two months of the season, struggled to score runs seemingly on a daily basis.

As for the pitching…

Look - if this team is contending in 2024, they’re going to need relievers, and I believe they’re going to need another frontline starter. I just don’t think the Mets can depend on Kodai Senga for anything this season until proven otherwise. Even if he’s now on the right track, he’s still probably a month or so out and when he comes back, they don’t really know what he’s going to be. He will be on a measured pitch count for the rest of the season if he returns, and the Mets simply need more than they’re getting out of the rest to pick up that limited version of Senga (and his long-term absence at that).

Mets starters have produced 347.1 IP over their first 66 games this season. That’s the sixth lowest mark in the big leagues and an average of less than 5.1 IP per start. That along with their 4.58 ERA from the starts is a big part (but not the entire) reason they’re not contending right now (and I don’t care what the wild card race looks like, this is a non-contender).

Until this group can walk fewer batters and become more efficient, they’re not going to be able to move this thing forward. It will always be one step forward, two steps backward. That’s how baseball works with rotten pitching.

They’re not going to be able to hit their way out of this mess. Yeah, they scored ten runs last night but this isn’t exactly a proven machine at the plate and it was only the fourth time they’ve scored ten or more runs in a game this season.

At some point, they’re just going to have to pitch better, they’re going to have to play better defense, they’re going to have to run the bases better and run the bases more like the rest of the teams in the league.

Prove me wrong. I’ll gladly take that loss.

Around the League 🚩

Jackson Merrill hit two home runs for the Padres - his second one was a walk-off as they completed their sweep of the A’s with a 5-4 win
The Braves continued their slide with a 4-2 loss to the Orioles - they are now ten games behind the Phillies in the NL East
The Twins put up five runs in the first and seven runs in the eighth inning as part of a 17-9 win over the Rockies - everyone in the Minnesota lineup had at least one RBI
The Yankees put up six runs in the first inning en route to another clobbering of the Royals - they won 11-5 in KC