Mets sweep Athletics, Brett Baty gets the call up, but the offense is still missing pieces
Mets sweep Athletics, Brett Baty gets the call up, but the offense is still missing pieces
The Mets took care of business against the lowly A's, running their winning streak to four games
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
It took ten innings and some heroics from Pete Alonso, but the Mets managed to pull off a 4-3 extra-inning win to complete the sweep of the Athletics (Box)
John Curtiss struggled and gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth to temporarily give Oakland a late 3-2 lead, but Pete Alonso’s mammoth blast in the ninth tied the game and gave him eight already for this young season
The Mets scored the go-ahead run in the 10th inning on a wild pitch
David Robertson picked up his fourth save of the year by nailing down the tenth inning
José Butto started in place of Max Scherzer and threw five innings while allowing only one run
Alonso’s eight home runs through the first 16 games is the fastest since Jeff Kent’s hit eight home runs in the season’s first 16 games in 1994
Tommy Pham and Francisco Lindor also left the yard in the final game of the series
Jimmy Yacabonis pitched into and out of trouble in the ninth to pick up the win
The Mets are calling up INF Brett Baty for today’s game against the Dodgers - a corresponding roster move will be announced later (Story)
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Tommy Hunter began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse this past weekend
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets @ Dodgers
Where: Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
Starters: LHP David Peterson (0-2, 4.91 ERA) vs. RHP Dustin May (1-1, 1.47 ERA)
When: 10:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets’ offense needs some help, with Brett Baty en route to provide some length ✍🏻
The Oakland Athletics are not a good baseball team, and outside of the first game of the series, the Mets continued to struggle to score runs against them. Granted, they still found ways to win which is what good baseball teams do, but that same performance might not result in wins against a team of a better caliber.
Like, you know, the Dodgers starting tonight in Los Angeles.
The Mets stars did come through when called upon, and they deserve a lot of credit for their clutch hitting throughout the weekend. Pete Alonso’s hot hitting in Oakland continued, going 4-for-12 with two home runs, two RBIs, and three runs scored with his home run in the ninth in the finale saving the Mets from a frustrating loss. Francisco Lindor also blasted two home runs in the series, and Brandon Nimmo had a game-winning hit and two game-saving catches against Oakland, unquestionably serving as the team’s hero on Sunday afternoon.
Mark Canha and Starling Marte also added some offense but once the lineup gets to the 7-9 hitters, the offense craters quickly. Francisco Álvarez has looked overwhelmed at the plate and is only 1-for-15 with one RBI since his call up. Tomás Nido hasn’t fared much better and is batting just .107 with one RBI in 28 at-bats. Luis Guillorme has been doing the best of the bunch and is batting .240/.367/.240 for the season.
And then there is Eduardo Escobar, who could lose his starting job by the time the lights go on in Chávez Ravine tonight. His is hitting just .125/.173/.229 for the year and when opportunity knocked for him to have a big series against Oakland this weekend, he didn’t seize it. His only hit in the blow out came against a position player, and when the bases were loaded for him in the ninth inning on Sunday, he hit into a double play.
As such, the Mets are hitting just .217/.339/.374 as a team heading into their three-game series agains the Dodgers tonight. They have hit just 18 home runs, with eight of them coming from Alonso. They’re averaging 4.7 runs per game but that number is inflated in the season’s small sample thanks to Friday’s walloping of the A’s (those 17 runs represent 23% of their total output for the season so far in 2023).
So, enter Brett Baty. Baty forced his way on the team by putting up numbers in Triple-A that couldn’t be ignored. He hit .400/.500/.886 with an eye-popping OPS of 1.386. He slugged five home runs and drove in fifteen.
Of course, this situation that Baty is entering into can be seen as both a pro and a con.
The bottom of the lineup has been so bad that it can be argued that anything out of Baty is a plus at this point. Unfortunately, there could be pressure to be a savior which is not an ideal situation for a young ballplayer to be in. This could have been avoided if he had made the team out of spring but that ship has sailed, so now it is up to him to seize this opportunity afforded to him. To his credit, Escobar had nothing but praise for the youngster and perhaps having a more limited role will help the veteran be more productive than playing every day.
Sometimes, less is more for aging veterans.
Hopefully, Baty comes up and hits the ground running both literally and figuratively and their problems begin to be solved. But he’s just one person and the Mets are in desperate need of someone to step up at the bottom of their lineup.
Around the League 🚩
The Yankees placed outfielder Giancarlo Stanton on the IL with a hamstring strain
The Dodgers placed catcher Will Smith on the 7-day concussion IL
Joey Votto was not happy with how he felt in rehab games so he put a pause on it until he feels better as he tries to work his way back from shoulder surgery
The Phillies exploded with a nine-run first inning against the Reds in their 14-3 win over Cincinnati
With the Twins playing in New York, Lin-Manuel Miranda finally got to see his cousin Jose Miranda play in the major leagues
The Braves finished off a sweep of the Royals with a 5-4 win