The Mets have had several times this year where they came out on the short end of the stick in games they had no business losing. Wednesday, they got to see the other side of the coin, as they rallied from a four-run deficit to pull out a 7-6 win and split the series with the Orioles.
And if the comeback win wasn’t enough – this one featured great defensive plays in both the infield and outfield. In the sixth inning, Jeff McNeil made a terrific sliding catch in the outfield, one where he ended up hitting the side wall. And later that inning with the bases loaded, Michael Conforto caught a ball on a full sprint midway on the warning track, hauling the ball in over his shoulder. Those catches kept the Mets in the game. In the ninth inning with the lead, Luis Guillorme – who just entered the game for defensive purposes – dove for a ball, rolled over and threw the ball all in one motion, seemingly not even looking at first base. It was a perfect throw, too.
The highlight defensive plays wouldn’t have mattered if the Mets’ bats hadn’t come thru after the pitchers but them in an early hole once again. McNeil homered for the fourth straight game with a two-run shot in the fourth inning, which cut the deficit to 5-3. Conforto hit a solo homer in the fifth to make it 6-4. Andres Gimenez homered to the opposite field off a lefty to tie it at 6-6. And Pete Alonso put the Mets ahead in the eighth with a homer to center field.
Rick Porcello is grateful that the Mets have Michael Wacha. Otherwise, there would be a ton of attention on how rotten he’s been this year. He surrendered 5 ER in 4 IP and now has a 6.07 ERA for the season. The Mets used five relievers to finish the game, with Jeurys Familia getting the win with a scoreless eighth inning and Edwin Diaz picking up his third save of the year with a scoreless ninth, thanks to Guillorme’s fine defensive play, which came with no outs and a runner on first. Without it, there are runners on the corners with no one out. It was still touch-and-go with a runner on second and one out but Diaz got a strikeout and a pop fly to end the game.
If I were looking to pull all the stops, I’d like to see what Szapucki has. However, my choice on who he replaces may make some people want to strangle me. I would keep Wacha in the rotation, as he has upside coming to him. He has an absolutely ridiculous .408 BABIP against him, he is giving up homeruns at a 2.25 per 9 inning clip when his career is just 1.04, his LOB% is only 64% when his average is around 76% and his K’s are at 11.25 per 9 innings with low walks. This guy has been unlucky and is obviously still capable of beTing batters, so I’d give him more rope. Porcello on the other hand, can be upgraded. His BABIP is also high at .390 and his LOB% is even lower at 58% when his normal is around 65%, but he makes up for that with a homerun allowance that is way, way below his normal at 0.42 per 9 innings. Also, he isn’t fooling too many hitters with a very pedestrian 7.53 K%. There’s a pitcher that will be getting lit up soon.
I’m sure everyone on the Mets has seen that Diaz just flies open and really gives hitters a great look at the ball coming out of his hand. I’d love a pitching guru to try to fix that by lifting his arm a bit and having his stride right at the plate instead of striding towards first base and flying open, but I don’t know if Diaz can change that or if it’s correctable.
Gut Reaction: one of the primary orders of business for Steve Cohen is to extend Conforto’s contract. That was an amazing catch. Earlier he played a ball off the wall and threw the runner out . His 8th homerun was part of the comeback. . He is batting .340 with a .990 OPS. Cohen will be the richest owner baseball so baseball decisions will not be influenced by tight money as in the past.
Defense is so important and this game highlighted it.
Guillorme seems to contribute every time he plays.
Gimenez has exceeded expectations in his rookie season.
Steve Cohen will have to spend on two free agent starters because Porcello and Wacha are not the solution. They are the problem.