Aaron Nola hurt the New York Mets while he was on the mound and in the batter’s box, as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Mets 3-1 in the second game of the doubleheader.
For Mets starter Corey Oswalt, things literally could not have gone more perfect through his first four innings. He was dealing, at one point striking out four straight Phillies batters. Trouble struck in the fifth inning for Oswalt though, as he walked two batters to start the inning. After intentionally walking Maikel Franco to load the bases to face Nola, the Mets seemed to be in prime position to escape the inning unscathed. But remember, this is the Mets, and it is 2018, so nothing will go as planned. Nola lined an opposite field double to clear the bases, giving the Phillies the three run lead that would stick.
Besides the fourth inning, Oswalt showed real promise this evening. He finished with a stat line of six innings pitched, with a career-high seven strikeouts. He doesn’t possess a blazing fastball like most upcoming pitchers do, but he proved that sometimes he can command his pitches effectively. His problem is that he seems to get unraveled once the opposition gets a runner on base. My Gut Reaction though is that he earned another opportunity to get another spot start for the team, and hopefully he will show the same type of command.
All of the offense for the Mets tonight came off of the bat of Wilmer Flores, who walked-off the first game of the doubleheader with a solo home run. He drove a single in the bottom of the first, and laced an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to drive in the only Met run. For any Met not named Flores, it was a rough night. Flores was the only Met to hit safely, and the other Mets showed their frustration vividly by slamming their equipment to ground, a shooting a disgusted look to the sky.
Following the loss, the Mets record drops to 36-52. Tomorrow, the will again host the Phillies, as 28 year-old Drew Gagnon will make his Major League debut against Enyel De Los Santos, who is also making his Major League debut at 7:10 pm.
Who the heck is Drew Gagnon?
Oswalt pitched very well his stuff was much crisper than his previous few outings. He got his fastball up to 92mph today vs being at 88-89 mph his last start and his curve was really sharp today and it made a world of difference. Oswalt lost command to start the fifth and then made a pitch so bad that even a bad hitter even for a pitcher could hit it hard. Nola is easily a top ten pitcher in the game at worst and unsurprisingly dominated a very bad offense.
Conforto is helpless besides for drawing a walk here and there he just is way behind and under everything and really is depressing to watch not as depressing as seeing as Reyes out there at third base instead of calling up McNeil but this is par the course for the Mets.
Rosario hitting lead off was almost as eye rolling as Mickey’s explanation on why he didn’t wait for Herrera to be announced in the game. Would have been nice to sweep the Phillies and hopefully with so many games vs the Phillies the Mets can end up ruining their playoff hopes.
One step forward, two steps back. If it wasn’t for Flores, the Mets could have been easily swept and the second game would have been a one one hit shut out.
The offense is anemic. And now Frazier is on the DL.
Are the Mets bringing up a top pitching prospect? No, the are bringing up Drew Gagnon. Sounds like a high school history teacher, Mr. Gagnon.
There is always a sense of bewilderment with the Mets and not in a good way.
Not fair to Cabrera to say that Flores solo HR as a pinch hitter “was all the offense”. Not only did Cabrera get the party started right in the first inning with a long HR for the 1-0 lead, but he reached across the plate to yank an outside pitch high off the wall in rightcenter to bring in Batista with the go ahead run at the time, that almost went out again.
The Phillies take alot of pitches. Wheeler in the first game was just missing, but he was burned out quickly by their patient hitters. Then Lugo did well, but the turning point of the game was Gsellman. Coming in with the sacks drunk, he got out of it without allowing a run. That is huge for a pitcher that has been in a bit of a rut. Then, in the 10th, again the Phillies got two in without an out, but Callaway stuck with Peterson, and Peterson rewarded him by getting out of it. If this had been three months ago, four pitchers would have worked that tenth inning. Maybe Callaway is discovering trust in his boys?
Lastly, glad to see Flores starting to get looks at second base. This helps in two ways: (1) When Cabrera goes, Flores should get a chance to finally work at his favorite position, so we can evaluate him there. (2) It creates an opening for Bruce at 1B. Remember, Callaway already told us Smith is a bench piece. Better it would be to get rid of Bruce and let the kid show us his stuff, but…
#2 is a pipe dream since no GM in his right mind would take Bruce. As far as Smith showing his stuff, from what I have seen he looks lost at the plate. He seems to either K or ground weakly to the infield. Lately he ha sheen favoring the pitcher. Where has all his power gone? Didn’t he hit a bunch of homers when he was called up late last year?
Fores got 2B beciase Cabrera couldnt go 2 games. I think think there s any notion (thankfully) of putting Flores at 2B, a position guaranteed to keep the Mets at the bottom of double plays should he go there.
Theatrics aside, hes just barely passable at 1B and unacceptable at every other spot on the infield.
Half the lineup looks overmatched at the plate against good pitching. And sadly, many of the same guys look lost in the field as well. Not sure if it’s the weight of losing or dog days of summer, but there’s been some sloppy play. What the heck was Dom Smith thinking throwing the ball across the diamond to third when the runner didn’t move from second. He very nearly threw it away and cost us the go-ahead run.
He is a bit overwhelmed, for sure. He just looks shell shocked at times. The question is, how long will it take this kid to “get it” and is he worth waiting for? While I usually clamor for the younger player, when the player doesn’t have it together mentally, it’s hard to forecast when and if he will; much time could pass. Like Callaway said, have him as a bench piece and if the light bulb turns on, then great.
Given the absolutely atrocious ABs, terrible play at 1B (that throw was absolutely beyond words…it was little league, minors level), and (not his fault) abysmal play in LF it is clear this game is way to fast for him. He stands around with his mouth open looking utterly lost, like he came to play football and someone handed him a glove and bat. He is so far from major league ready that its shameful he is in a big league uniform. In short Smith (and Rosario) is the poster child for a completely failed development system. If Im the GM, I send him to AA since I think Alonso has lapped him, and give him one more year of seasoning (half seasons at AA then AAA) and learning, and see if he can be remade into a ball player. His instincts for the game are as bad as Flores, and thats nearly shocking.
Yeah, that perpetual look on his face. Around my house we call him Nowhere Man. Every time I see him, I can’t get those lyrics out of my head.
and Rosario??? Tell us what you are seeing…
someone who thinks he is Francisco Lindor, but really is the twin of the modern day incarnation of Jose Reyes.
Smith looks terrible at the Plate…a bailing, chopping swing.
Conforto looks absolutely lost…I believe It’s Mechanical—the entire swing is exhausted by the time the bat gets to the contact point. Maybe he’s altered it around approach….or physical limitation. In Golf Terms: he has an Early Release–No Lag left to explode thru the hitting zone.
This team has so many areas that it’s Lacking in talent—This is Total Rebuild for Me.
Funny thing, it seems its about this time of the sseason Conforto goes to hell. Hes been sent down to get fixed and returns. He’s enough of a pro to have to be able to get through this without AAA pitching to get his timing back.
He’s late, nit explosive int he zone, hesitant with recognition, missing balls by a foot or more, and just hacking with hope as the main strategy. Cant do that anymore.
Correct, I am more convinced than ever this team lacks major league talent and depth in the worst way. This is no longer about trusting the youth to just play and figure it out. Development is bad, and so bringing them up to face the lions without critical skills is really detrimental to their careers.
Lineup for the future as it stands right now:
Mesoraco/TDA/Plawecki
Bruce/Alonso
Flores/Rivera/Guillorme
Rosario
Frazier/McNeil
Cespedes
Nimmo/Lagares
Conforto
The biggest factor is the one that people tell you that you cannot control, health.
Otherwise:
Catchers are average
First Basemen are below average
Second Basemen are either extreme glove or extreme bat, with the best one being more about the bat. Average overall.
Shortstop is below average, but hopefully growing.
Third Baseman is more glove than bat, but the backup is more bat than glove; overall position is below average.
Leftfielder is a plus.
Centerfielders are above average, with potential to be plus.
Rightfielder seems to be slightly below average.
My point is that the overall product seems average at best. The Mets would need to make sure everyone is healthy and improve themselves in areas of opportunity, they need to catch everything and not give away outs, and need the pitching to make up the difference between contending and being sellers again next year. I’d like to see an upgrade at third base, Alonso to answer our prayers and Conforto to step up in right field.
Thats a sobering look at the team.
Put the Nats and Braves next to each and reality gets a shade or two darker