Some encouraging signs for the Mets in their loss to the Mariners
Sean Manaea excelled in relief, and Jared Young continues to impress in a utility role
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets fell to the Mariners 3-2 in ten innings in their series opener in Seattle (box)
RHP Austin Warren opened for the Mets and threw a scoreless first inning before hitting the leadoff hitter in the 2nd inning and exiting in favor of Sean Manaea
As the bulk pitcher Monday night, Manaea was excellent, going five innings and allowing just one run on a solo homer by Colt Emerson
Jared Young and Marcus Semien both clobbered solo home runs
The Mets did not score in the top of the 10th, and then A.J. Minter served up the game winning hit to Cole Young in the bottom half of the frame
Play of the Game ⭐️
This might be a little bit of a surprise, but the biggest play in this game was not the walk-off hit. Instead, it happened just before that.
After back-to-back disengagements by A.J. Minter, Randy Arozarena was able to get a running start to third base. Minter struck out Patrick Wisdom on a 3-2 pitch, but Arozarena easily stole 3rd base, putting Minter and the Mets behind the eight-ball.
A few pitches later, Cole Young was able to float an opposite-field single to end the game.
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Down on the Farm 🌾
All Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (26-34) at Mariners (32-29)
Where: T-Mobile Park – Seattle, WA
Starters: RHP TBD vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (3-4, 3.69 ERA)
When: 9:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Midnight thoughts following the Mets series opening loss in Seattle ✍️
The Mets inexplicably played their 12th extra-inning game of the season on Monday night, meaning exactly 1/5 of their first 60 contests have required bonus baseball. As manager Carlos Mendoza admitted afterwards, all of these extra-inning games are “not ideal”, but there’s no sense lamenting about that now. Monday night was a tough loss for a club that was enjoying a winning streak as they were trying to dig out of said hole, and unquestionably a missed opportunity to keep their train going after failing for the umpteenth time to plate a ghost runner in extra innings.
But again, it’s neither here nor there.
Instead, let’s look at a few standout bullet-point thoughts coming out of the series opener on the West Coast.
Sean Manaea
To me, Manaea’s performance was the most noteworthy development on Monday night.
Entering the game in the 2nd inning as the bulk hurler, Manaea turned in easily his best performance of the season. In five innings, he allowed just a single run on a solo home run to young Colt Emerson. His velocity was up - he averaged nearly 92 mph on his fastball and sinker - he walked only one, and he pushed his pitch count up over 60 for the third straight outing.
One of the major concerns dating back to February regarding Manaea had been his velocity, and that issue extended into the early part of May. He wasn’t really getting over 88-89 mph very often, which limited his role to a long reliever since he couldn’t see a lineup more than once, maybe twice depending on the day. But now that his velocity has crept back up, and his performance has improved behind it, he has to be close to getting himself back into the starting rotation. Especially since using an opener in two of their five rotation spots is just not sustainable.
Jared Young
The Mets just got Jared Young back from the injured list a few days ago, and already he looks like somebody that will be hard to remove from the lineup, at least this lineup which doesn’t have that many compelling pieces. Young’s now homered twice in the last three days, and whether it’s at first base, left field, or DH, the Mets simply need his bat in there every day right now.
The nice part about Young is just that - he can be in that super-utility role the Mets envisioned for Brett Baty, who was expected to take over that role for Jeff McNeil. Young has only appeared in 16 games thanks to missing time due to meniscus surgery, so it’s a small sample for the Mets to consider. But, so far so good - Young has been one of the few good stories the Mets have had so far in 2026.
Curious Scheduling
The Mets had an eventful Sunday in Flushing where they finished off a sweep of the Marlins. Afterwards, they had to fly about as far as you can while remaining in the continental US. Coming cross-country all the way to the Pacific Northwest and crossing three time zones, it was more than a little curious that an off day wasn’t in order on Monday. Typically, that is the case for cross-country travel, and the Mets will have a day off when they return home from San Diego next week. New York’s offense looked seriously jet-lagged on Monday, and while the Mariners obviously have a sensational pitching staff, it’s not surprising the Mets looked tired.
The good news for the Mets is that this is their last swing to the West Coast. The bad news is that they’ve already had four, and while it’s not an excuse, there’s no way the stressful travel hasn’t impacted this club. Yes, they make a lot of money, but they’re still human beings— there’s no amount of money in the world that can mitigate physical stress on the body.
What happens next is the most important
We all know the Mets dug themselves a seismic hole to try to dig out of with a dreadful April. In mid-May, they appeared to be on a hot streak that could erase a lot of that misery, before slipping and falling backwards yet again. Heading into Seattle, the Mets had won their final four games of their recently completed homestand. This was never going to be an easy West Coast trip—we knew that even when the schedule first came out last summer—but after losing the opener, the Mets cannot afford to give back all of their weekend progress. New York simply has to respond tonight and in the subsequent days to follow.
Around the League 🚩
Sandy Alcantara gave the Marlins seven strong innings and earned his 4th win of the season in Miami’s 7-3 win in D.C.
Lane Thomas had three hits including a grand slam in the Royals 9-2 win over the Reds
The Brewers pounded out 18 hits in a 16-2 drubbing of the Giants
Jacob deGrom earned his 100th career win in the Rangers 2-1 win in St. Louis
I like rooting for guys like Young who've been an times outstanding in AAA but have never gotten a sustained opportunity in the bigs to see what they can do.
The biggest hurdle this team will have if it has any shot at getting back into the conversation, which first requires getting back to .500, is starting pitching providing the bullpen some relief. 61 games into the season and the starting pitchers have failed to get more than 15 outs 57% of the games (this includes the "bulk guy" not the "opener"). They have only gotten 18 or more outs in 23% of the games. They have recorded 21 outs from a starter in just 5 of their 61 games. No starting pitcher has recorded an out in the 8th inning. The lose of Holmes massively compounds this.
In 2024 the staff was able to get 18 or more outs in 45% of the total games. In 2025 it plummeted to 27%. Only to drop to the aforementioned 23% in 2026 through games of June 1st.
Just can't see getting out of this hole and having a surviving bullpen without guys getting better outings and going deeper. You maybe can hope that McLean will course correct his recent struggles, but it is not a given. There is no reason to believe that Peralta or Scott will do it, their data says if you get 15-27 outs from them count your blessings. After that it is hoping that either Peterson or Manaea could do it and nothing about eithers last four months of baseball says that is likely.