The Mets took the nightcap and salvaged a split of the doubleheader with a 3-2 win over the Braves Monday night.
Seth Lugo struck out seven batters over six innings. It looked like he still had gas left in the tank, having thrown just 81 pitches, but a lefty was leading off the seventh so Jerry Blevins came in. I’m pretty sure it’s the law that it has to play out that way.
Travis d’Arnaud had a good night, going 2-3 with a walk and two RBIs, including a no-doubt homer leading off the bottom of the eighth. That made it 3-0 Mets.
Jeurys Familia came on and picked up a shaky save. He wasn’t helped out much by his defense, either, as Dominic Smith looked home after fielding a grounder with runners on the corners. He should have gone for two, which would have ended the game. Just a rough night overall for Smith, who fanned three times in the first game.
After batting third in the opener, Brandon Nimmo finally batted leadoff in the nightcap. He had three hits, including two doubles.
Nice to see a win but this game left me feeling a lot less confident about both Familia and Smith going forward.
To me it’s evident that Smith’s defensive reputation was only that.
“I may be short and fat — but I’m slow!”
Lugo is on a restricted pitch count because of his elbow. He is pitching better than Montero, Gsellman and Flexen for a 2018 rotation spot. Hopefully that spot is nonexistent with a healthy Syndergaard, Harvey, Matz and Wheeler. This hope I can’t accept. The Mets need another top flight starter.
TDA is having a great September which is making him have an above average offensive year. Nimmo is still getting on base and therefore the focus this winter should shift to a power hitting first baseman for the middle of the order. Smith needs more AAA seasoning and his age allows the Mets to give it to him.
Good pitching, like in game #2, makes the Mets competitive.
In my mind, Nimmo has firmly planted himself as a starting outfielder for next season. If trading off everyone and seeing what the youngsters had was the plan in July, what more does he have to do to establish the status which I believe he has gained? There’s no doubt, short of signing someone like Cain this winter, he is in the mix. Way better all around than Lagares. Not even close.
I’ve been worried about Familia since early 2016 when his command seemed to disappear, despite all of those saves. Walks killed him (and the Mets) in the wild card game. It hasn’t gotten any better. With him and Ramos as our penciled in backend BP for 2018, we’d better go out and get someone else. IMO, Reed is much more dependable than either of those two.