Mets win rollercoaster finale to avoid sweep from Philadelphia
Mets win rollercoaster finale to avoid sweep from Philadelphia
It took 11 innings but the Mets narrowly walked away with a win
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets avoided a sweep at the hands of the Phillies by walking away with a 6-5 win in Philadelphia (box)
LHP José Quintana was solid pitching into the sixth inning. His final line was 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 0 BB, and 4 K
The Mets two best relievers both gave up runs in crucial situations. RHP Reed Garrett gave up a go ahead run in the seventh and RHP Edwin Díaz blew the save in the ninth. Reed’s final line was 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 1 K whereas Díaz pitched one inning, gave up one run, walked one, and struck out two.
LHP Jake Diekman finally put an end to the madness in the eleventh allowing just one run
1B Pete Alonso put the Mets on the board in the first hitting a two-run home run off Taijuan Walker. Alonso went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored
OF Harrison Bader came off the bench and went 2-for-2 and a RBI
Roster Moves 🗞️
RHP Josh Walker recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
LHP Joey Lucchesi optioned to Triple-A
Injury Updates 🏥
OF Brandon Nimmo (illness) was not in the lineup but not expected to miss much time
RHP Nate Lavender underwent a UCL repair with an internal brace surgery in his throwing elbow and will miss the rest of the season
RHP Kodai Senga (shoulder capsule strain) made some progress in a recent throwing session, but there is still no timetable for him to begin a rehab assignment
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Blade Tidwell (No. 10 prospect, Double-A): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
RHP Nolan McLean (No. 19 prospect High-A): 4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
OF Trayce Thompson (Triple-A): 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 K
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (20-23) @ Marlins (13-32)
Where: loanDepot Park - Miami, FL
Starters: RHP Christian Scott (0-1, 2.84 ERA) vs. LHP Jesús Luzardo (0-3, 5.97 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets need to learn when to go for it… ✍️
by Linda Surovich
Yesterday on the YES Network’s podcast, Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner said he wants to do whatever it takes to keep Juan Soto and hopes to engage him in contract talks during the season.
Needless to say, if that happens, it is not looking great for Soto to move across town next offseason.
For too long it seems like the Mets rely on the next big free agent instead of going for it when they have the chance. This past offseason their hopes relied on Yoshinobu Yamamoto - who was a long shot to sign with the Mets to begin with - and he did not walk through the door which led the team having to scratch together a rotation.
Free agency is always a gamble. You could do everything right and the player can still sign elsewhere. But what stopped them from trading for Juan Soto this offseason instead? They could be in the Yankees position right now with the All-Star but all the dreams of Soto in blue in orange could remain just dreams.
Sure, the Mets position for the time being is to essentially hoard and continue to collect prospects so they can build up their farm system and create a pipeline to the major leagues. We all get that and realize how important it is. But when it comes to generational talents like Soto, the guard rails for any franchise should come off and owners should be doing what it takes to land those players when opportunities arise.
Walker Buehler, Alex Cobb, and Devin Williams are just some of the names that will be available, along with Soto if he does not agree to an extension with the Yankees. Perhaps the Mets are banking once again on what’s an unpredictable marketplace and they’re going to go all-in when this dead money on Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and others come off the books.
But things change. Look at this situation with Soto. They now may never have the chance to sign him. Then what? Players sign extensions.
The last time the Mets went all in was before the 2022 season and they won 101 games that year. Unfortunately they weren’t aggressive at the trade deadline that year and instead bought on the margins, which probably ended up making all the difference for them at the end of the season.
Looking to the future is certainly a strategy but it isn’t one that has always worked and is certainly never a straight line. After they traded their pitching last year, there was an early assumption they would sign Yamamoto or fortify their pitching at the top of the rotation in other ways and they would easily become competitive again with Kodai Senga at the top of the rotation.
Now Yamamoto is a Dodger, Senga has yet to throw a pitch this season, and the Mets are below .500.
With Steve Cohen’s money they have no excuse to be conservative with their spending. The team needs to find the right balance of being aggressive and opportunistic instead of assuming the next big free agent will be walking through the door.
Notes: Energy levels, & the Lindor/McNeil/Diaz problem ✍️
by Michael Baron
This has been as brutal a stretch for the Mets as I can remember over the last couple of years. Sure, teams go through ebbs and flows. As I’ve said several times in the early part of the year, the Mets will sometimes look like champions, and others they will look like a high school team.
Well, they’re definitely in a high school phase right now. They may have reached the nadir on Wednesday when they lost in humiliating fashion to the Phillies, but they certainly showed some spunk and some fight right out of the gate against the Phillies on Thursday to salvage the final game of this home and home series.
There are definitely some major and non-negotiable concerns. But there were some positives last night as well and perhaps some things we can rest our laurels on.
Energy level
From my seat, the Mets have been playing with a lack of urgency on the field. I’ve said several times the Mets have been way too station-to-station on the bases all while getting run over by the opposition when they’re in the field (that has all been on the pitchers, for what its worth). They’ve been a singles hitting team that wasn’t even doing that, needing three hits for every run, and that has resulted in this line over their last 23 games:
Offense: .217/.280/.342, 3.5 runs scored per game, 6.9 runners left on per game
Pitching: 4.37 ERA, 30-for-34 in stolen base attempts, 4.6 walks per nine innings
Now, none of that is at all good. I’d even argue the issue with the walks and the stolen bases are not major league competitive at this point, either.
But on Thursday, the club’s energy level was different. It’s not to say they played a whole lot better because they didn’t, but it starts with having a pulse and over the last three weeks, the Mets haven’t had much of one.
Of course, their showing on the field yesterday came after Mets manager Carlos Mendoza reportedly held a team meeting after Wednesday night’s mess which was unquestionably their worst game of the year.
They came out of the gate strong, José Quintana gave the Mets 5.1 strong innings in his start and most importantly, didn’t walk anyone. That didn’t quite end up being the case after he left, but we can talk about all of that in a bit.
The point is, the Mets came out with some spunk and determination and played a solid game, even if they nearly lost it.
Speeding things up
The Mets still have a lot of work to do on the bases. They had endeavored this winter to become faster, more athletic and better baserunners but they’re still ranked just 18th in Fangraphs BsR metric which measures their overall base running ability.
So, there’s a long way to go from where they were to where they want to be. The good news? They were routinely ranked in the bottom five in this category throughout the 2023 season. So progress, albeit incrementally.
The Mets did steal two bases last night and have stolen four over their last two games. This after they didn’t steal a single base in their previous eight games with only one attempt.
One attempt!
Look - we all know this is a game of speed and athleticism with offenses designed around their ability to make contact and create opportunities on the bases. But this is what I mean by the Mets being too station-to-station. They haven’t even trying to turn what has been a singles hitting offense into a more creative and opportunistic offense.
Maybe the last two days are a sign of change with their philosophy. They can’t make them hit better until they actually do so until then, they need to be more dynamic baserunners and play a little small ball if they have to.
Hello? Are Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil home?!?!?
To say this has been a nightmarish start for both Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil would be understating the obvious.
Lindor has been a notoriously slow starter for the Mets since he was acquired, so I am less concerned about him than I am McNeil. Having said that, he is 0-for-his-last-16 at the plate with two walks and a hit by pitch.
I’d almost rather he had more than three strikeouts in this stretch, because the resulting contact in those other 13 at-bats has been inconsequential at best.
There isn’t much Mendoza can do except wait for Lindor to come around. He can play musical chairs in the lineup, move Lindor and other pieces around but he’s swapping apples for apples at that point.
As for McNeil, his situation is far more concerning than Lindor’s and Lindor’s situation is alarming.
His slugging percentage is lower than his on-base percentage, and his slugging percentage is .304. He has 34 hits, eight RBI. His flyball rate is up a full percent from last year, and last year it was way too high. And like Lindor, his contact is inconsequential most of the time.
I am a big Jeff McNeil fan. At his best, he has been one of the most entertaining hitters in the game. He’s a throwback of sorts and the game needs more Jeff McNeil’s in it, especially with the way the game has evolved.
However, I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that right now, McNeil isn’t a major league hitter. That he was a lot better in what was a bad year for him in 2023 is very concerning.
There will come a point - and it may have already come - where the Mets take a less is more approach with McNeil. They’ve already sat him down a few times over the last few weeks as they search for end-to-end offense in their lineup.
We will see how this situation evolves
Where’s that sugar?
I didn’t forget you, Edwin Díaz!
Look, we all know Diaz’s deal at this point. He missed a year, he was a year and a half older between major league pitches from 2022 and 2024. And, there was absolutely no way he was going to be as good as he was in 2022.
Even if he was healthy in 2023, there was no way last year he was going to be as good as he was in 2022.
His velocity is down on the fastball and slider. Or perhaps a better way to term it is inconsistent. The movement is down on his slider. His fastball command has been inconsistent.
Who knows if he will ever return to the level of octane he had through 2022. It’s unfair to expect him to be able to considering people get older and diminish. Closers in particular typically have a shorter than desired shelf life which is why closer don’t usually get long-term contracts the way Díaz did.
But I think there’s a path for Díaz to still be elite. I also think it’s too early to mail anything in with Díaz. He missed a lot of time, he had major surgery, and when players don’t play, regardless of the number of bullpen sessions and baseball activities they do to get back, their skills erode. It takes a while for them to return to their desired levels.
So, let’s be patient with Díaz. Yes, he isn’t the same, he has blown three of his last four save chances. He seems to not be confident in his fastball. I get it. But he's still throwing that fastball 96-98 mph so the stuff is in there. He just has to find that edge again.
Around the League 🚩
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner would like to keep slugger Juan Soto in the Bronx and hopes to soon engage him on a contract extension (YES Network)
RHP Taijuan Walker was hit with a line drive by Starling Marte and diagnosed with a left foot contusion after he exited his start early
RHP Emmet Sheehan underwent season-ending elbow surgery after not throwing a pitch for the Dodgers this season
The Rays came back late to defeat the Red Sox 7-5 and earn a series victory over Boston
Elly De La Cruz had four hits and four stolen bases in the Reds 7-2 win over the Dodgers
#LGM 🤞🙏👍⚾️
Remember Stearns the WHIZ KID also passed on Imanga last winter !! Stearns was suppose to be a Great judge of talent what about HOUSER , Wendle , Short , etc. Stearns is a FRAUD and I am very concerned about how he is going to spend the owners money in free agency. For the 200th time Hefner needs to teach Diaz another pitch like a change that would make his fastball seem faster !! What is Hefner doing to strengthen Diaz's arm strength - tossing a wet softball or weighted ball , tossing a football , etc. Hefner is Not a Guru and based on all the walks and steals ,etc. he needs to be fired. Next would be the hitting coaches and then Mendoza ( the players have not seem prepared since spring training and he is definitely Not getting the best out of each player. With the Dreams of Soto playing for us are drifting away I would sign Alonso now at a Discount since I believe it is playing with his head.