It used to be that we referred to Turner Field in Atlanta as a house of horrors for the Mets. But we’re going to have to pass the crown to whatever they’re calling the park in Milwaukee. In their last 20 games in Milwaukee, the Mets are now 3-17, as the Brewers administered a beatdown, emerging with a 9-0 win against the Mets. The Mets have now been held scoreless in their last 20 innings.
Max Scherzer got jumped for two runs in the first inning, as he left too many fastballs in the middle of the plate. He pitched much better, although still not great, in innings two thru five. The Mets then had a 6-pitch inning in the top of the sixth, leaving Scherzer not much time to catch his breath.
In his first outing, Scherzer was great until hitting the wall in the sixth inning. And then again here in his second appearance, the sixth was not his friend. This time it was his offspeed pitches that he was leaving over the middle of the plate, which led to back-to-back-to-back home runs.
SNY showed the 3×3 strike zone grid and all three pitches that ended up homers were in the middle square. And somehow, Gary Cohen neglected that to focus on the speed of the pitches. Many years ago, the Mets made Rafael Montero throw every pitch low and away. Maybe it’s time to break out that philosophy one more time.
Before the game, the Mets moved Tommy Hunter to the IL and called up Denyi Reyes to take his spot. Reyes has been a starting pitcher and one of the things that made him appealing was his ability to go multiple innings. Reyes replaced Scherzer and got two quick outs to end the sixth.
But Reyes was done for the night, replaced by Brooks Raley, who gave up two more gopher ball.
The only highlight of the game for the Mets was Jeff McNeil’s three-hit night. And two of those were line drives, one to left center and one to right field. It was very good to see. Brandon Nimmo also had three hits but two of them were soft-hit, lucky ones.
Bad enough that Max lost his edge, and that’s putting it mildly, but again we don’t hit a lick. No doubt the Brewers can play, but we made this too easy. Two on and no outs and only down by two, is not the time to go out with a whimper and fail to score. Okay, let’s take game three tomorrow, and then beat up on the Fish at home.
I’m sure you folks have been through all this before, but it surely feels like a waste to bat Jeff McNeil 7th — particularly when the other pieces aren’t contributing — and particularly now that Jeff has become more of a singles hitter and OBP machine.
It’s not an easy puzzle to solve w/ the players the Mets have, but batting Jeff ahead of Pham and Canha seems pretty easy. Last season he was a better hitter than Lindor, who has more HR power, but my sense is that Lindor in the 3-spot is more about being deferential (and supporting a fragile ego) than about putting the best man in the middle of the lineup. One of the two is clearly the better table setter and situational hitter, whereas the other has more HR & RBI potential. Conventional wisdom bats McNeil ahead of Lindor.
But would I actually bat Lindor 5th? I don’t know. My read is that he needs to be “the man” and a move like that *might* have a negative effect on him.
I’d rather have what the Mets are doing with their lineup than what the Guardians are doing.
Andres Gimenez makes the All-Star team last year and finishes 6th in the MVP voting. But they have him batting seventh while Amed Rosario bats second. Rosario has a lifetime .307 OBP in 2,851 PA in the majors and should never bat near the top of the lineup.
Gut Reaction: Toto, we’re not in 2022 anymore!
In the first game of the series, there was a play that the turf gave way and made McNeil slip. McNeil got upset and spewed out a tirade of expletives with the camera focused on him. In the past , Showalter didn’t take too well with that of behavior and usually sat down McNeil or batted him at the end of the batting order then next game. I think that that was the case in this game.( Metsense Theory 101).
I too have been advocating, for some time, that McNeil should bat third and Lindor 5th.
I don’t know that I’m even advocating. If Strat-O-Matic, yes, Lindor in 5 spot. But given the personalities — and what I imagine the personalities to be from this distance — I’d be wary of upsetting him. Just human nature. Some guys really, really need that constant pat on the back. You the man, you the man! That’s my take on Lindor.
Again: Not killing him. He’s a very good player.
Trey Turner is the guy who got away this offseason.