Missed opportunities and a misfire by Chris Bassitt, but not all was lost in an otherwise flat night
Chris Bassitt allowed as many runs on Wednesday as he had combined since August 12, 2021
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets lost to the Giants on Wednesday night by a score of 5-2 at Citi Field (box)
RHP Chris Bassitt (2-1) was hit hard early, allowing four runs over the first two innings, but settled in to give the Mets six innings
The Mets did have their share of traffic on the bases, netting 13 base runners, but they left ten runners on-base, ran themselves out of one inning, and went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position
RHP Sean Reid-Foley and LHP Chasen Shreve combined for three scoreless innings - Mets relievers have not allowed a run in their last four games, a span of 13 2/3 IP
Mets manager Buck Showalter was absent on Wednesday as he underwent a medical procedure - pitch coach Jeremy Hefner, acting bench coach Dick Scott, and hitting coach Eric Chávez managed the dugout in Showalter’s place
Roster Moves 📰
OF Mark Canha has been reinstated from the IL.
RHP Jake Reed has been reinstated from the 10-day IL and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
INF Matt Reynolds has been designated for Assignment.
Who’s Hot🔥
OF Brandon Nimmo (.323/.432/.613) has reached base in seven of the eight games he’s started this season, has multiple-hits in four, and drawn at least one walk in five
Eduardo Escobar has a four-game hitting streak with multiple-hits in three of those contests. He leads the National League with seven doubles
LHP Chasen Shreve has allowed only one run and one hit in his first five appearances, a span of 6 1/3 IP
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (9-4) vs. Giants (8-4)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, New York
Starters: RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 0.84 ERA) vs. RHP Anthony DeSclafani (0-0, 4.32 ERA)
When: 1:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Not all was lost in the Mets first clunker of the year 📝
Going into play on Wednesday, Mets starting pitchers had come out of the gate firing on all cylinders, having gone 7-0 with a 1.56 ERA with 16 walks and 73 strikeouts to open the season.
And for Chris Bassitt, his impressive body of work had extended beyond 2022, having not allowed more than three hits in any his six previous consecutive starts dating back to August 12, 2021, and allowing only five runs combined during that stretch.
But Bassitt allowed three hits to the first four batters he faced on Wednesday, and matched those five runs allowed over the first four innings of his start, giving the Mets their first clunker of the season from a starting pitcher.
It happens, even from the game’s top-tier.
The game plan for the Giants in this series has clearly been that of aggressiveness early in the count in an effort to prevent Mets pitchers from getting ahead. That strategy worked in game one of the doubleheader on Tuesday when they attacked Tylor Megill early, and then again going after Bassitt on Wednesday and netting early runs.
“They had a really good plan and executed really well,” Bassitt said after the game.
But like Megill, Bassitt did a good job settling down after paying the price for poor location early in the game. However, he didn’t view that as any kind of takeaway from his subpar performance.
“This one won’t feel good. I’m not going to take any positives from this one,” Bassitt said.
For Bassitt, it was a matter of poor location on his cutter, sinker and curveball early. And with the Giants being aggressive they made Bassitt pay for those mistakes. He hung a curveball to Joc Peterson who roped a run scoring double in the first, a cutter to Brandon Crawford which plated another run, and then Wilmer Flores singled on a sinker that didn’t sink. Before the the Mets even came to the plate, they were staring at a 3-0 deficit against Carlos Rodon.
In large measure, the Mets were shutdown by Rodon who was sharp for five innings, allowing just a double and two singles with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Given how well Bassitt and the Mets starting pitching have gone in the early part of the season, it was a little bit of a letdown to see their first clunker of the season. But while Bassitt didn’t pitch well enough to win and insisted he saw no positives come out of this game, he gave the Mets six innings and allowed most of the bullpen to rest.
Why is that significant? The rainout on Monday has thrown the Mets pitching plans into further disarray, as they will need an extra starting pitcher or go with a bullpen game on Saturday in Arizona.
Keeping the bullpen as rested as possible in a loss on Wednesday can certainly be seen as a win in that regard.
Speaking of the bullpen…
Chasen Shreve and Sean Reid-Foley combined for three scoreless innings in the loss on Wednesday.
For Shreve - who was in camp as a non-roster invitee - it’s just more of the same for him as he’s been lights out to start the year. He has allowed just one right-handed hitter to reach base against him, holding them hitless over nine at-bats this season. Left-handed hitters are just 1-for-10 against him. He hasn’t allowed a hit in his last four appearances, a span of five innings.
As for Reid-Foley, he seemed to be a logical candidate to be removed from the roster and replaced with Jake Reed, who was activated from the 10-day injured list after sustained a strained oblique in camp. But the Mets opted to keep Reid-Foley and sent Reed to Triple-A Syracuse. While it was a low-leverage situation, Reid-Foley looked poised and in command during his outing Wednesday night, helping to save the bullpen for a quick turnaround today, and an uncertain workload this weekend.
The Mets bullpen has not given up a run in their last 13 2/3 innings pitched, a span of four games.
Down on the farm 🌾
AAA: The Syracuse Mets (3-10) swept a doubleheader from the Worcester Red Sox on Wednesday, with LHP Thomas Szapucki striking out five over two innings in game one (box) and Daniel Palka hitting a go-ahead, three run home run in game two (box)
AA: The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (4-6) defeated the Portland Sea Dogs 6-1 thanks in part to 5 1/3 scoreless innings from José Butto (box)
High-A: The Brooklyn Cyclones (7-4) defeated Hudson Valley 4-3 on Wednesday in Dutchess COunty. JT Schwartz reached base four times and drove in two runs while RHP David Griffin struck out five and allowed just a run over four innings (box)
Single-A: The St. Lucie Mets (7-4) were shutout by the Jupiter Hammerheads 2-0 at Roger Dean Stadium on Wednesday, but Alex Ramirez reached base three times with a single, double and a walk (box)
Around the League 🚩
Angels RHP Shohei Ohtani became the first starting pitcher since at least 1900 to bat twice before throwing a pitch and threw 5 1/3 perfect innings on Wednesday
Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-4 in the Tigers 5-3 loss to the Yankees - he now has 2,999 career hits
The Rangers turned a triple play against the Mariners, but lost 4-2 in Seattle
The Braves acquired RHP Jesse Chávez from the Cubs in exchange for LHP Sean Newcomb