Mets ride their luck in series opening win in Washington
Plus, New York faces a season-defining week ahead in two different capital cities...
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets got big-time contributions from the bottom-half of the lineup on the way to beating the Nationals 8-7 in Washington on Monday (box)
3B Mark Vientos continued to make the most of his opportunity, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored, one RBI, two walks and a home run
OF Harrison Bader hit a couple of sacrifice flies to drive in two runners on the night
2B Jose Iglesias, starting over Jeff McNeil, went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI
C Luis Torrens, recently acquired in a trade from the Yankees, also had a productive night with a couple of RBIs and a double
OF Starling Marte finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base
RHP Tylor Megill endured a challenging night, allowing five runs - four earned - on seven hits while walking three and striking out four
RHP Adrian Houser pitched well out of the bullpen again, allowing just two hits in 2.1 scoreless innings with two walks
The struggles continued for RHP Adam Ottavino, who allowed two earned runs on two hits in the ninth before leaving the game with the bases loaded. LHP Jake Diekman was able to come in and get the final outs to end the game and salvage the win
Actor Matthew Broderick will throw out the first pitch at the London Series for the Mets
Manager Carlos Mendoza was the latest guest on ‘Meet at the Apple’ (YouTube)
Injury Updates 🏥
C Francisco Álvarez (broken thumb) won’t travel with the Mets to London. Instead, the hope is he’ll be able to return from the IL on June 11 for the ensuing homestand
Down on the Farm 🌾
All four Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (25-35) Nationals (27-32)
Where: Nationals Park - Washington, DC
Starters: LHP David Peterson (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Trevor Williams (5-0, 2.22 ERA)
When: 6:45 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Mets need to show tangible signs of life this week, and opportunities knock for some… ✍️
This could be a defining week ahead for the Mets. And not just because they will hold the unusual distinction of playing in two capital cities within the same week.
No, it could be a defining week because if the 2024 New York Mets are going to start to turn their season around, then the time to do so is now.
While the baseball season is a grueling 162-game slog, we’re now past Memorial Day and we’re starting to discover who teams are and who teams aren’t.
There isn’t a lot of wriggle room left for the Mets in terms of working out what kind of team they want to be this year. If they want to avoid another mass sell off at the trade deadline, then the time for action is now.
As the great Yogi Berra once said, it is getting late early for this group.
And this week would be the perfect time to start righting the ship and send out a real statement of intent in the right way. Facing two divisional foes - in two different countries - the Mets have a real opportunity to draw a hard line in the sand and head into a crucial stretch with some tangible momentum and confidence.
If this team can do what it hasn’t done since early May - and that’s win a series - by taking care of business in Washington, then they will head to Jolly Old London in high spirits ready for a two-game set against the red-hot Phillies.
In strange surroundings and with a lot of fanfare around those games, maybe the Mets can catch the Phillies on a couple of bad days and head back Stateside with a morale-boosting series win before opening up a six-game homestand.
Granted, unless things drastically change, it is hard to really believe that this team as currently constituted can make a real push at a Wild Card. But, at the very least, it would be nice to see the Mets at least make things interesting in the run-up to the trade deadline.
After all, are we really prepared to watch this team slump their way through the next couple of months before officially waving the white flag at the deadline?
I know I’m not. I would like to see at least a little fight from this group and it would also be nice to see some more consistency too. We’re still in June yet it has already gotten tiresome to watch this team go from one extreme to another on a nightly basis.
At some point, you have to start believing a team when they tell you exactly who they are, and time is rapidly running out for the Mets to convince us they are not a fundamentally bad baseball team with a million flaws.
The starting pitching is becoming what we thought it would be, the bullpen is gassed already, the lineup is wildly inconsistent, the defense is an unwatchable hot mess and too many of the core are not playing to the back of their baseball cards. That’s a cocktail of horrors right there.
Things can’t get much worse and, while I don’t believe this team is good enough to make the postseason, they should be better than this.
And, in order to at least keep the front office guessing and the fans engaged, the Mets need to start getting on a run to give themselves a puncher’s chance of still having something remotely to play for come July.
That has to start in Washington and then in London this week.
Before I go, I just wanted to offer up some quick notes on what we saw in the nation’s capital on Monday.
The game itself was another heart attack and the Mets did just enough to escape from the jaws of death. However, what I found more interesting was the fact that a couple of players really made the most of their chance to impress.
Mark Vientos continues to show why he belongs in the majors. The third baseman hit another homer - his fourth of the year - and finished with two runs scored, a RBI and a couple of walks. He owns a 1.070 OPS and he’s looking more and more comfortable at the hot corner with each passing game.
We’ve talked a lot about Jeff McNeil in this space, and his future only gets murkier with his continued struggles, coupled with the fact that Jose Iglesias is a more than capable replacement at second base.
After hitting just .156 on the homestand, McNeil was absent from the lineup in Washington on Monday. In his place, Iglesias went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI. That should give the front office plenty of food for thought given that McNeil remains the most logical piece to try and selloff at the trade deadline.
Catcher Luke Torrens, recently acquired in a trade from the Yankees, also had a productive night at the plate and it was nice to see a handful of players bust a gut and give their all.
As we saw last year with DJ Stewart, sucking does open up doors for others to come in and impress, and the likes of Vientos and Iglesias certainly showed on Monday why they could and should be a big part of this team the rest of the way in 2024.
Around the League 🚩
MLB is investigating Padres INF Tucupita Marcano for allegedly gambling on baseball during his time with the Pirates last season
Yankees star Aaron Judge was named AL Player of the Month for May after mashing 14 home runs, 12 doubles, 27 RBIs, 22 walks, 28 runs scored and a .371 average
The Reds set season-highs in runs and hits (18), and every batter had at least one hit in a 13-3 blowout over the Rockies
OF Austin Hays went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs as the Orioles beat the Blue Jays, 7-2
RHP Zack Wheeler allowed just one run over seven innings with three walks and six strikeouts to help the Phillies overcome the Brewers
Thinking about the Trade Deadline I am surprised there are so many Fans that don't support keeping Alonso. Since 2019 he leads all of MLB in hitting Home Runs even more than Judge. I believe that he would be having a much better season if the Whiz Kid didn't treat him like crap. The Whiz Kid is very arrogant and does not have any human relations skills. Alonso is a very emotional man and Stearns has done Nothing to support him unlike the GM in Toronto who came out and supported his core players. If I was Stearns I would call a meeting with Boras and Alonso after the team gets back from England and offer Alonso $185M (structure it as u wish) tell Boras this is a one time deal either Yes or No before they leave the meeting. For all the fans who would pay Soto $500M U are NOT getting him and no player is worth that much - if u say Ohtani most of his money is deferred. Cohen should not even give Soto an offer and from the start pick the other free agents u want and sign them as soon as possible. So as far as the veteran core players I would keep Nimmo , Alonso, Lindor ( no one would take his salary) and Diaz ( he is a whole different story - for the 500th time he needs to learn a third pitch like a change , build up his arm strength , go to Florida to rehab and use the Pitching Lab ). So u want trades - McNeil , Bader , Marte , any veteran starting pitchers u want , most of the BP so that should bring in some Prospects that everyone wants so much.