The Mets REALLY need to find big league relievers for their bullpen!

The Mets took a 5-0 lead thanks to three homers, but one bad pitch from Christian Scott and Jake Diekman's ineffectiveness cost the Mets the game on Wednesday

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The blew another five run lead on Wednesday and lost to the Nationals 7-5 in Washington (box)

• RHP Christian Scott made his first start since May 30 and allowed one run into the fifth inning before allowing a three-run home run to Luis García Jr. which turned a 5-1 game into a 5-4 game

• With the Mets still leading 5-4 in the seventh and Adam Ottavino having delivered three outs already, Carlos Mendoza pulled Ottavino with two outs for Jake Diekman to face the lefty CJ Abrams, who he promptly walked and then allowed a game-tying double to Lane Thomas. Diekman then allowed a go-ahead RBI single to James Wood which nailed the game shut for the Nationals

• The Mets offense did produce three more home runs - a solo homer from Tyrone Taylor in the third, a two-run homer from Mark Vientos in the fourth, and a two-run homer from Francisco Lindor in the fifth. But the Mets offense didn’t produce another hit after the homer from Lindor

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Injury Updates 🏥

• RHP Kodai Senga (right shoulder capsule strain) didn’t allow a baserunner over 2.2 IP for Single-A Brooklyn on Wednesday with six strikeouts

• CF Harrison Bader (lingering neck soreness) was out of the lineup on Wednesday but hopes to be available today or tomorrow

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Roster Moves 🗞️

• RHP Christian Scott recalled from Triple-A Syracuse

• RHP Matt Festa designated for assignment

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Who’s Hot 🔥

• In 38 games since being recalled from Triple-A on May 15, 3B Mark Vientos is hitting .290/.349/.565 with eight doubles, ten home runs, 27 RBI, 40 hits and 25 runs scored. He leads all MLB third basemen with a .945 OPS and 168 wRC+ (Min. 150 PA)

• Over his last 39 games, Francisco Lindor is hitting .313/.365/.560 with 17 doubles, eight home runs and 21 RBI with 52 hits and 31 runs scored

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• RHP Kade Morris (High-A BRK): 6.1 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 K

• 1B Yohairo Cuervas (Low-A STL): 3-for-3, 2B, BB, R

• 1B JT Schwartz (Double-A BNG): 3-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

• 2B Pablo Reyes (Triple-A SYR): 2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (42-42) at Nationals (40-46)

Where: Nationals Park — Washington, DC

Starters: LHP José Quintana (3-5, 4.57 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Irvin (3-3, 3.03 ERA)

When: 11 AM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY, MLB Network

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If the Mets are to survive, they might need to establish the marketplace for relievers… ✍️

There were a few of things that went sour for the Mets and their pitching staff on Wednesday night, most notably that the offense - again - gave them a five run lead, that which they were unable to hold for the second time in a week.

They clubbed three more home runs, giving them 36 over their last 16 games dating back to June 30. That’s pretty impressive, as is their 11-5 record during that span.

The problem is, they should be 13-3 during that span because of those two blown five run leads the club eventually lost.

First off, there are a lot of people out there riding Mets manager Carlos Mendoza for his decision making on Wednesday. I personally believe there’s no blame to be assigned there.

The rage started when Christian Scott - who in fairness didn’t exactly have his best stuff on Wednesday - was allowed to stay in to face Luis Garcia Jr. in the sixth inning with two on. He proceeded to throw a cement mixer of a slider over the middle of the plate, and a 5-1 lead was suddenly 5-4, at which point Mendoza removed Scott from the game.

Look - it was 5-1 at the time, there was every reason to believe the Mets could score more runs at that point, Mendoza was trying to see if Scott could navigate the inning with a four-run lead. If the score had been 5-3 or 5-4 at the time, there’s no question Mendoza would’ve gotten Scott out of there (for who, I have no idea). But it was 5-1, and there are teaching moments to be had at the big league level, even for a team that’s doing everything it can to convince their owner they’re legit in 2024.

This was one of those teaching moments, even if it didn’t work out. Sure, Mendoza is ultimately responsible for leaving Scott in there, but why is that a bad thing given the circumstances? Again, it just didn’t work out.

As for the rest of the game…

First off, I don’t think any of that is on Mendoza either. Remember - the Mets were playing down three relievers coming into this game: Edwin Díaz, José Buttó, and Dedniel Núñez. The Mets did not make a roster move to give Mendoza at least one extra arm to work with late in the game yesterday, leaving him no choice but to put the game in the hands of Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman and Ty Adcock. Those were literally the only arms available to him in the game, none of which are particularly inspiring at this point in time.

Ah, so now you maybe able to see another reason why Mendoza decided to leave Scott in a 5-1 game with two outs in the sixth inning!

The debatable decision actually came the night before when Mendoza allowed Buttó to pitch a second inning, even if it was for the best. Because that second inning cost Buttó any chance of pitching on Wednesday night, which in-turn could’ve possibly changed the outcome of the game.

At any rate, Ottavino pitched well - he gave the Mets three outs between the sixth and the seventh. Then, Mendoza decided to go with a lefty/lefty matchup with two outs and nobody on and injected Diekman into this game.

And like clockwork, Diekman walked the lefty CJ Abrams, negating the matchup and, because of the three batter rule, was left to face Lane Thomas who erased the Mets lead with an RBI double, and of course the game was sealed when Diekman allowed an RBI single to James Wood.

Now, everyone is up in arms about Mendoza taking Ottavino out of the game. But the decision was correct for Mendoza.

Lefties have a .794 OPS against Ottavino, so the book called for a left-handed pitcher in that situation. The issue of course was the options Mendoza have from the left side, that being Diekman who has now walked a whopping 21 batters in 26.2 IP this season.

Of course, if Diekman makes just a single money pitch, the Mets quite possibly would’ve won the game and we aren’t having this conversation this morning. But, as was the case the other day, Diekman was maddeningly ineffective and blew the game for the Mets.

The good news is, the Mets are 48 hours away from activating Díaz. The bad news is they hav two more rollercoaster rides before they can do that. But his presence will at least put everyone back into more customary roles, perhaps give people more rest days, and offer some order to this chaos the bullpen is in when Díaz is either out or not closing ballgames.

The bad news is, the Mets are desperately in need of finding major league competent relievers now, and the trade deadline is still nearly a month away. The markets should begin to open up in about two weeks, but there are still nine teams in MLB within five games of a wild card spot, making the marketplace flush with buyers with limited sellers.

So, there will be slim pickings with high prices in all probability this trade season.

But if the Mets are the contenders they’ve declared themselves to be (all year long, I should add), then the Mets should and will be willing to meet such demands. I do believe they could off-set the prospect cost in trade by dealing one of their short-timers in the starting rotation (Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea, but not Luis Severino), although I don’t think that’s the most desirable path considering starting pitchers are so fragile and they still don’t really know what they have in Kodai Senga at the moment.

No matter, they need an upgrade (or two) on the left side of their bullpen, another swing-and-miss reliever on the right side, and perhaps a bench/utility player on the more athletic side to shore up a roster spot currently being occupied by DJ Stewart, who is a better version of Daniel Vogelbach but still not very useful.

That will cost them, but the need is obvious, if not dire at this point in time. And they might be forced to establish a market precedent if they wish to even survive until the trade deadline.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Yankees bats continued to slump on Wednesday as the Reds beat them 3-2 despite a good bounce back effort from Carlos Rodón

• Chris Sale improved to 11-3 with a 2.71 ERA thanks to six innings of one-run ball as the Braves beat the Giants 3-1

• Yordan Álvarez homered and Ronel Blanco allowed two runs into the sixth innings as the Astros rolled over the Blue Jays 9-2

• Alec Bohm raised his RBI total to 70 for the season as the Phillies downed the Cubs 5-3