Offense remains a real concern as Mets drop opener to LA
New York lost in extra-innings to the Dodgers in a weather-impacted series opener. Plus, why now is the time to start worrying about this ineffective lineup...
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets lost 7-5 to the Dodgers in extra-innings in what was a marathon of a game at Citi Field on Friday night (box | highlights)
Due to a lengthy 98-minute rain delay, New York played in its longest game in six years, with the final pitch being thrown shortly before 1:00 AM
LF Jeff McNeil drove in a pair of runs with an RBI triple in the ninth, before CF Tyrone Taylor tied the game up and forced extras with an RBI single to cap a big-time rally
The bats went quiet once again in extra-innings, however, with the offense unable to come up with a big hit the rest of the way. In total, New York went 2-for-14 with RISP, leaving 12 runners stranded on base
The Mets blew through eight relievers on the night, with RHP Huascar Brazobán giving up the go-ahead run in the 13th inning as LA won the battle of endurance
RHP Griffin Canning allowed three earned runs on one hit with a season-high four walks and one strikeout, lasting just 2.2 innings because of the rain delay
3B Brett Baty continued to contribute in a big way with a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning - he finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, one RBI and a walk
According to reports, the Mets have released RHP Sean Reid-Foley following four injury-impacted years in Queens (MLB.com)
Injury Updates 🏥
3B Mark Vientos was a late scratch from Friday’s lineup and is now day-to-day with abdominal soreness
LF Brandon Nimmo left Friday’s game with a stiff neck and is also considered day-to-day
RHP Frankie Montas (right lat strain) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A Brooklyn on Saturday - he will be limited to two innings of work in the start
RHP Paul Blackburn (knee inflammation) will make one more rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday
Play of the Game 😡
In the bottom of the 12th inning, with the base loaded, the Mets had a chance to deliver the body blow to end all other body blows.
Instead, the offense continued to waste golden opportunity after golden opportunity in a marathon extra-innings session defined by a real lack of clutch hitting.
Luis Torrens, who is no stranger to coming up with a big hit when it is really needed, stepped to the plate with runners on all three bases and just one out. The stage was set for the catcher to write another memorable chapter into his stellar Mets career.
However, the opposite happened. Torrens produced the polar-opposite of a clutch hit, weakly grounding out into an inning-ending double play. The entire sequence was pathetic, with the Mets showing no life offensively or on the basepaths.
When it really mattered, the Mets, once again, failed to get anything going offensively and the failure to cash in with the bases loaded in the 12th summed up this team’s struggles with RISP all year long.
Who’s Hot? 🔥
3B Brett Baty hit a solo home run on Friday, and he now has five homers in his past 12 games. He’s hitting .317 with 14 RBIs over his last 17 starts
Who’s Cold? 🥶
After going 0-for-3 on Friday, 1B Pete Alonso now hasn’t homered in 15 straight games - matching the longest drought of his career
Over his last 11 games, RF Juan Soto is hitting just .125/.294/.125/.419 with no home runs, two RBIs and 13 strikeouts
Over the last six games, the Mets offense collectively is hitting just .194/.296/.270/.566
Down on the Farm 🌾
LHP Jonathan Santucci (No. 12 prospect, High-A): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
OF A.J. Ewing (No. 27 prospect, High-A): 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI
OF Eli Serrano III (No. 22 prospect, High-A): 2-for-3, 1 R, 3 RBI
3B Jesus Baez (No. 7 prospect, High-A): 3-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 2B
1B Vincent Perozo (Single-A): 2-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR
OF Simon Juan (Single-A): 2-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HR
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK (GM 1 | GM 2) | Double-A BNG (GM 1 | GM 2) | Triple-A SYR (PPD)
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (30-21) vs. Dodgers (32-19)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP David Peterson (2-2, 2.86 ERA) vs. RHP Tony Gonsolin (2-0, 4.05 ERA)
When: 7:15 PM EDT
Where to Watch: FOX
It is time to start really worrying about this no-show offense after another stinker… ✍️
The Mets lost a wild one on Friday, with the rain causing absolute havoc in the series opener against the juggernaut Dodgers.
However, I don’t want to talk about the lengthy rain delay. I don’t want to talk about the fact that the Mets blew through a myriad of different relievers. I don’t even want to talk about the fact that the team did put together an impressive rally in the ninth inning to make it a tied game and force extra-innings.
No, what I want to talk about today is far more important and, in my opinion, way, way, way overdue.
Today is the day I finally unleash a rant about this slumping, stinking, no-show of an offense.
We’ve reached Memorial Day, which is the first major marker of the 2025 Major League season. As such, it is now time to start officially panicking about this offense.
Because, although there is still plenty of baseball left to be played, there is now enough of a sample size to be really concerned about what we’ve seen from what was supposed to be an explosive and dynamic lineup.
It hasn’t lived up to its potential as of yet - not even close if you ask me - and the woes with runners in scoring position show no signs of getting any better any time soon.
All of this offense’s fatal flaws reared their ugly head against the Dodgers on Friday night - the gold standard of baseball that the Mets hope to both replicate and beat. Consequently, we got a sobering reminder of just how much work this team has to do if they want to be considered legitimate World Series contenders. Having now lost six of its past eight games, New York won’t truly belong in the same pantheon as LA until the offense gets fixed.
And, based on last night’s evidence, not to mention what we’ve seen for the most part over the first couple of months of the season, that doesn’t seem like it will happen anytime soon.
The lineup was a complete no-show for most of the series opener, recording just three hits before the ninth inning. Brett Baty’s solo home run in the bottom of the third and a Pete Alonso sac fly were the only cuts the Mets had managed to inflict on the Dodgers until late in the game.
Then the ninth happened and Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor were the biggest driving forces behind an improbable rally that extended the game.
But don’t let the brief ninth inning fireworks fool you.
For starters, the bats went back to being ice cold after that, wasting chance after golden chance in extra-innings. In total, the Mets left a whopping eight runners on base in extras, including weakly grounding out into an inning-ending double play in the 12th with the bases loaded.
Furthermore, there is no point in producing a heroic rally in the ninth if you are just going to go crap the bed the rest of the way. Plus, while McNeil and Taylor did offer those inside a drenched Citi Field a tiny semblance of hope, it almost doesn’t matter what the lower part of the lineup does if your top guys fail to produce.
And that brings us to the most troubling aspect of this anemic offense.
It doesn’t matter how great the pitching is, it doesn’t matter if Baty suddenly turns into a productive Major League player, it doesn’t matter if the bottom of the lineup comes up with the goods on a daily basis, the Mets won’t reach the promised land if their big three continue to tread water.
The trio of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso are hurting their team right now, rather than helping it.
Now, granted, Lindor is probably the best of the bunch, but he did strikeout three times on Friday night and is now hitting just .136/.286/.318/.604 over his past six games. Lindor is the straw that stirs the drink for this entire offense, and the Mets can’t afford their star shortstop to get mired in another slump, especially when Soto and Alonso aren’t producing too.
Alonso did drive in a run on a sac fly, but he has cooled down considerably following his historic start to the season. He’s now without a home run in 15 straight games, which matches the longest drought of his career.
And then there is Soto. While I firmly believe that a lot of the outside noise this week has been garbage, and while I am also of the strong opinion that Soto will right the ship eventually, you would be naive to deny the fact that the superstar hitter is going through something more than a minor slump skid right now.
Soto went 0-for-5 with a walk in the opener, and failed to come up with a big hit in the 10th inning. He just doesn’t look like the same player that has dominated and taken over games throughout his stellar career, and he’s now hitting just .236. His career-worst .429 slugging percentage is also .140 points below his mark with the Yankees last year.
We keep saying that Soto will eventually look like the surefire future Hall of Famer we know he is, but, with June approaching, we are going to need to start seeing some evidence of that at some stage.
At the end of the day, the Mets need Lindor, Soto, and Alonso to hit to the back of their baseball cards in order for this offense to live up to its full potential. Until that happens, games are going to continue to be thrown away because of offensive no-shows.
It is also stating the obvious to say that this team really needs to solve its problems with runners in scoring position - and fast. The Mets are hitting just .213 with RISP this year. That isn’t going to get the job done now, or indeed in the postseason.
This year was never going to be World Series or bust for this team. But the Mets were expected to be legitimate contenders. That isn’t going to be the case until this offense - and Soto - can right the ship and get the train back on the tracks.
Plus, laying Godzilla-sized eggs and crapping the bed in clutch situations are really starting to hurt New York in its own division, let alone in the bigger picture. The Phillies are riding an eight-game win streak and are a really good team. The Braves will never go away and, with Ronald Acuña Jr. now back in the picture, expect to hear plenty from Atlanta the rest of the way. And don’t count out the funky Nationals, either. Washington boasts a boatload of elite young talent and that ballclub is one that could make plenty of noise this season.
Forget about the World Series; just making the playoffs could become an uphill battle unless this offense wakes up.
Overall, the Mets are never going to live up to lofty expectations this year until their top hitters start to produce and the offense gets going, especially with runners in scoring position.
And, with Memorial Day now here, there is enough evidence to spark genuine concern that maybe this offense just isn’t as good as we all thought.
Soto and the Mets need to start hitting at a high level and soon, or else the danger of this season spiraling into a nightmare could get that little more real.
Around the League 🚩
OF Ronald Acuña Jr. made his 2025 debut and homered on the first pitch he saw in nearly a full calendar year in the Braves’ 2-1 loss to the Padres
OF Pete Crow-Armstrong became the first Cubs player to have two 6-RBI games in a calendar month after hitting a grand slam in Chicago’s wild 13-6 comeback win over the Reds
The Red Sox piled on 13 runs in the eighth inning - highlighted by a Rafael Devers grand slam - to beat the Orioles, 19-5
SS Oneil Cruz became the first Pirates player to hit multiple 113+ mph home runs in a single game
OF Taylor Ward hit his 15th homer of the year and extended his extra-base hit streak to nine straight games as the Angels beat Miami for their eighth straight win
SS Carlos Correa returned from injury in style, hitting a homer in his first at-bat since returning from the IL as the Twins beat the Royals, 3-1
When Baty is the only hitter I have confidence in you know things are bad! We’re going to be in trouble if we don’t start hitting soon. And hitting some HRs. I am confident Lindor, Pete and Soto will start hitting again. Not so confident about Nimmo, Alvarez, Acuna, Vientos
Well said, Andrew - this isn't just a slump anymore, it's a condition. Even when we were building a 12-13 game cushion over .500, the offensive issues were evident. In games when the pitching and defense lagged, we would lose. Factor in trotting out 4-5 relievers every game and you may start to wonder how the pitching holds up in the second half. These are typical problems for teams; not so typical may be a $765 million albatross who just stunk up Yankee Stadium and went 0-5 against the Dodgers - that is a real problem.
My pre-season prediction for wins was 85. I think they're on track for that regardless of their current record.