Jonathan Villar and the seduction of a two-week hot streak

Coming into this year, Jonathan Villar had a lifetime OPS+ of 95 in 3,209 lifetime PA in the majors. That’s a little misleading, as he struggled in his first two half seasons in the majors and was terrible last year. From 2015-2019, he had a 101 OPS+ in 2,472 PA. After yesterday’s homer and HBP, [...]

Looking at bullpen usage through the lens of a five-man rotation turn

In the last five games, the Mets have used their five best available starting pitchers, something which hasn’t happened very much this year. But because of a lousy start from David Peterson, the bullpen needed to provide 19 innings. And this despite three road losses that only required eight innings from the staff. In an [...]

Mets look to keep the runs coming as they get ready to face better pitching

Everyone knows that the Mets have struggled offensively at the start of the 2021 season. The NL has an average runs per game of 4.33 and the Mets have a mark of just 3.73, which ranks 14th in the 15-team league. There are multiple reasons why, ranging from the slow starts for most of the [...]