It appears the 2021 Mets are a cautionary tale. And the lesson this group is trying to teach us is this: Things can always get worse. Marcus Stroman became the latest Met to come down with an injury, leaving after just 21 pitches with a sore hip in a game the Mets would go on to lose, 3-0 to the Braves.
Given how battered and overused the bullpen is, the pitching did quite well, allowing just 3 R in 8 IP. Aaron Loup especially stood out, going three scoreless innings.
But once again, the offense was a no-show, managing just two hits in the game, with one of those coming in the ninth inning. In the first three games of this series against the Braves, Mets hitters are a combined 12-75, which is a .160 AVG. Tough to win games that way.
I don’t mind tight 1-0, 2-1 games, but watching the Mets bat is painfully boring. Weak contact or not contact at all much of the time. I’m hoping that Conforto, Nimmo, McNeil and Davis can put some life into the offense soon!
I’m interested in today’s emergency starter, Tylor Megill, a 6 foot 7 inch, 230 pound pitcher, who strikes out a lot of guys and has had pretty good control. He has a good fastball and slider apparently. Hope that he’s a starter with that going for him; but he could be better in the bullpen. Fingers crossed!
Gut Reaction: one pitch that was thrown by a rookie pitcher was the difference. I’m mistaken, they would be still playing this morning tied because the Mets can’t score!
Before the homer the Mets didn’t turn a DP because they were in the shift. Maybe that was so but how many times has the shift robbed singles up the middle and prevented a subsequent home run? Think about that. The shift and Lindor (6 DRS) has made the Mets a good defensive team.
There are three teams tied for 2nd Place. Tonight they need to win to maintain the four game lead otherwise 1 team and possibly two will make up ground.
I like your reasoned approach, Metsense. Not every single 50-50 situation will fall the right way, and sometimes the shift will rob an out as well as many times create an out.
Yes, the Mets offense is stagnant, and a little of that has to fall on the leadership. Managers play a part in creating offense. The Mets have lost the Battle of the Running Games in the past two weeks. Neither catcher has thrown out a base-stealer and the Mets have not swiped a base in a fortnight.
How about all pitchers learn to bunt really well, and then they might always be able to have a productive at bat, and they won’t get hurt taking big swings nor get injured running the bases.
Also, how about promoting contact guys and situational hitters. Maybe we are a pitching/defense team who looks to reliably score 3-4 runs a game. Play for one run early and often. But, run, hit behind the runner, be aggressive on the base paths… think the Cardinals teams of Whitey Herzog. They only had one power hitter, Jack Clark (Alonso), but they won a ton of games with speed and smarts.