Seth Lugo gave the Mets something they haven’t had in weeks – a win from their starting pitcher. Lugo recovered from giving up a first inning homer to go five innings, pitching the Mets to a 5-1 win over the Phillies. It was the Mets’ third win in their last four games, with each win coming against a different opponent.
Lugo got his pitch count up to 81 and he’s as stretched out now as any pitcher on the staff. If there was any doubt – and there really shouldn’t have been – he’s the team’s second-best starter after Jacob deGrom. And during the game, the announcers said the Mets were moving David Peterson back to the rotation. Why they moved him out in the first place made zero sense, right up there with keeping Lugo in the bullpen as long as they did. But at least now they look like they’ll finish out the year with their three-best starters in the rotation. We shouldn’t have to celebrate things like this but here we are.
The Mets put up runs in four straight innings and just missed a fifth, as they put runners on the corners with no outs but didn’t score. Andres Gimenez was in the middle of a bunch of action for the Mets, as he scored two runs and drove in two more, including one on a sac fly to the second baseman in shallow right field.
Gimenez started at shortstop over Amed Rosario. It will be interesting to see how Luis Rojas handles his middle infielders going forward. It might be a full-blown platoon at short. Todd Frazier got a start, too, as Rojas gave Pete Alonso a day off. No one expects Alonso to be platooned but it will be interesting to see if he gets a few more days off the rest of the way.
It was a good night for the bullpen, as Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Miguel Castro and Edwin Diaz each gave a scoreless inning. Familia gave up a double but looked good for the second straight outing. It would be helpful if he could be used in close games in the late innings going forward.
Lugo is proving where he belongs. Hope he keeps it up. It would be great going into next year knowing he and deGrom could be the one two in the rotation.
I watched game four of the 69 series last night on YouTube. Seaver was a master.
Hope you and your family are hanging in there as best as you can.
And thank you for all of your time and effort you put into writing great articles. It gives me something to look forward to.
Thanks Mike. I think your last paragraph would always make me happy but these days it carries a little more weight than usual.
The sale of the team has the Mets acting more like a competitive team and less like a team of egos. That is, BVW isn’t trying to force his mediocre free agent signings and friends down the throat of the manager. Everyone seems to be on their best and professional behavior. The manager isn’t taking any crap and has no problem sitting any player. Rosario has been tied to the bench and Rojas says that Gimenez is starting tomorrow too because Rojas “is playing the hot hand.”
In reality, Rosario has not been playing well. He has great speed but can’t steal a base. He gets terrible reads off the bat. He doesn’t look good at the plate and looks bad in pitch recognition. I can’t blame Rojas for sitting him. Joel Sherman went as far today as calling Rosario a non-tender candidate and that is the dumbest thing ever written. You don’t non-tender a 24 year old with those tools, but it is true that Rosario needs to examine his game more.
I was glad to see Hamilton cut after multiple gaffes. I wasn’t happy to see a good friend like Lagares go after his gaffe on the bases, but I understood it. If in fact Rojas can get these guys to play with a little urgency about their jobs, he will be the first manager to do that on this team since Bobby Valentine.
I feel less confident about BVW as he hasn’t shown a plan to his roster building since he was given the job. BVW has done some nice things to help the organization, but if it wasn’t for the Davis trade – that wasn’t even his urging but his assistant’s – BVW could very well be the worst GM in MLB.
Gut Reaction: Lugo and the relievers had a solid game.
The defensive infield at the end of the game was above average for first time in a long time. Smith/Guillorme/Gimenez/Frazier/ Chirinos
I wouldn’t have Harper on my team. I would spend the money elsewhere.
It seems that Rojas wrestled more authority and decision making from BVW than Calloway ever did.
If there was ever a time to rattle off a big win streak, like the Phillies just did, it’s now with 20 some odd games to go. Silver linings from this season certainly include the progression of the kids, Dom Smith’s emergence at the plate, Lugo getting to start, and new ownership. The last item will need league approval but should eventually lead to significant free agent acquisitions, not trading away our future, and perhaps starting to act like the big market team they should be. Our cross town rivals are in a WS drought but their owners ensure a highly competitive team on the field each year and the replacements for injured players come ready to produce. Same with the Dodgers each year and the Braves who did a very quick rebuild of a team in decline. Common denominator is $$$$. Let’s take it one day at a time and put the best team on the field that we can.
Just listened to the postgame comments by Rojas and two mentions caught my attention:
1. He wants to put his best team out there every night. That speaks volumes of where Rosario stands.
2. He said Chirinos called a great game. That means that the catchers have autonomy and I have never ever heard him say that about Ramos.