There’s a story from the Mets’ early days, when a fan called a newspaper to see how the team did. When told they scored 19 runs, his response was, “Did they win?” The Mets put up six runs on Sunday but didn’t come close to winning, as they fell to the Rockies, 13-6. With the loss, the Mets dropped under .500, as their record now sits at 17-18.
The Mets held two separate leads in the game, with both 3-1 and 4-3 advantages. But right after re-taking the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Mets’ bullpen proceeded to allow seven runs in the top of the fifth. And that was the ballgame.
Joey Lucchesi, who was the Mets’ eighth or ninth choice to start a game (depending on how you feel about Jose Butto), took the mound on three days rest. The fact that he was able to go four innings today should be looked at as a plus. Anyone who thought he was going seven innings today was simply kidding themselves.
And then the Mets’ no-name relievers, who’ve generally done a fine job this season, didn’t have it. And it’s not because they were overworked, either. Jimmy Yacabonis had three days off since his last appearance and he allowed 5 ER in 0.1 IP. And Tommy Hunter had gone five days without pitching, and he allowed 3 ER in 2.2 IP.
The Mets changed up their lineup, giving the struggling Starling Marte the day off. And the new lineup did something the previous one rarely did this year by scoring in the first inning. Jeff McNeil, put into the third spot in the lineup drove in the club’s first run, while Brett Baty, installed in the five-hole for the first time this year, delivered a two-run single.
It looked like the Mets were going to score even more runs in the first. With two runners on, Luis Guillorme delivered a single to RF and Baty was on his way to home. But the Rockies’ outfielder picked Daniel Vogelbach off second base before Baty touched the plate.
That turned out to be a bad omen.
The Mets tacked on another run in the fourth inning thanks to an infield single by McNeil. And while they were down big, Guillorme added an RBI single in the fifth and Vogelbach hit a solo homer in the seventh.
But it was too little, too late. Still, a welcome good day by the offense. And viewed in the proper context, a decent day by the SP.
This game was lost by the bullpen, which allowed 10 ER in 5 IP.
Too sad to comment on the game but wanted to give you a shout out for posting after each game, win or lose. It’s no easy task and not much fun when we lose. Now a game under .500. I don’t think we did that all last year. Happy for a day off and then let’s see what Max has on Tuesday.
Last year was wonderful, getting to write a gamer after 101 wins. The gods are getting back at me here the past two weeks. But I’m still bullish about this team’s chances to make the playoffs.
I second the shoutout for recaps every gap, good or bad.
This is currently team in some deep do do. I commend Uncle Stevie for his monetary commitment to the product, but they have a look that we’ve seen before, and as Yogi said (I think), it’s getting late early.
Gut Reaction: another series loss. The veterans, Escobar, Marte, Pham, Guillerme, Nido, Canha, Carrasco, Peterson, and Megill have been all disappointments. They are not performing as they should. The result is a 16-17 record. Scherzer, Verlander and Senga should right the ship. It is time that they should promote Mauricio and option Guillorme.
You are exactly right. This may be a transition year where we have the four rookies getting experience.
One big thing will hurt the Mets. The lack of a couple of young pitching studs is very apparent. In 69 we had Seaver and in 86 we had Gooden.
We really need to jettison the junk and sign Ohtani after this season.
My suspicion is that Ohtani will prefer staying on the West Coast and the Dodgers are a winning club with plenty of money. To offset that advantage, the Mets should go all out to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto who along with Senga would give Ohtani two other Japanese pitcher teammates. It would also give the Mets two fine pitchers to replace Verlander and Scherzer when the time comes.
There is no denying that this team is bad right now. The hitting and pitching are both underperforming. I am still confident that this a playoff team and a WS contender. While Scherzer’s struggles are concerning, I do expect him to come around, and Verlander has only thrown in one game (and other than 2 pitches, did well). I would expect both of them to settle in, and with Senga, that forms a strong top 3. We do need a couple of guys out of the next group of starters to step up and at least be average. I do think that will happen.
On the offensive side, I would like to see both Mauricio and Vientos promoted. While the Mets were looked at as a win-now team coming into the season, and it would be unusual for a win-now team to have 4 rookies in the everyday lineup, I would rather have those rookies getting at-bats than Pham, Guillorme, Locastro, etc. Canha and Escobar would provide some nice bench depth and give us some options if Marte continues to struggle.
There seems to be some sentiment in the comments here lately about giving up on the season which I think is premature. Also, bringing up the rookies and giving up on the season are not the same thing.
Bob,
Despite the terrible run and multiple concerns, it is certainly too early to give up on the season. But, the 2023 sample size is no longer small, and the realities are that the Mets are banking on a 40 year old starter with 3,200 innings that has already lost a month to injury, and a 38 year old starter with 2,700 innings that has missed time, looked washed, and is talking about “managing” some type of issue in his back. They have also lost their closer for the season, weaking depth with (once again) too many innings from AAAA guys. This is hard to overcome, even with the astounding payroll commitment. The Braves are very good, again.
Not much to do right now, besides insuring Baty and Alvarez regular playing time, and deciding the right time to bring up Vientos and Mauricio. While Marte, Cahna, Escobar, Pham, Vogelbach, Guillorme et al can still turn it around, I’ll have no problem going mostly with the 4 kids…especially if the vets continue to underperform and/or the starters stink. That may wind up being less of a “giving up” and more of a “best shot” move in the not too distant future.
One thing for sure is that I am 100% against any move at the deadline that weakens the team in the future. These guys need to sink or swim this season as constituted.