Marcus Stroman had his sinker working to perfection, making the Mets pound the ball into the ground again and again and again. The end result was a 4-2 Cubs win Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.
* Coming off his best start of the year, Kodai Senga allowed 5 BB and 6 H in 5 IP. He was missing the strike zone by wide margins.
* Francisco Alvarez gave the Mets a rare early lead, as he cracked a 2-run homer. Alvarez hit 6 HR in his first 70 ABs this season. He also had a single but grounded into a double play in the eighth inning with runners on first and third with one out, ending the Mets’ last real chance.
* The top seven hitters for the Mets combined to go 1-23 with a walk. And Tommy Pham didn’t play!
* Brooks Raley continued his strong pitching by striking out two of the three batters he faced in a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Since his 2-HR game in his third appearance of the season, Raley has allowed just 2 ER in his last 14 IP. He has a 1.29 ERA and a 0.857 WHIP in that span, with 4 BB and 13 Ks.
Gut Reaction: Senga struggled with his control and his season WHIP very concerning. It was surprising that he pitched five innings because he was in trouble most of the time. Maybe they’re trying to “protect” them too much. Let him go out and pitch the way he wants. Maybe he’ll be more comfortable.
Alvarez should be the predominant starting catcher and Sanchez should be just a backup. Narvaez, when healthy, should replace Sanchez but still be a backup.
Raley is pitching strong and so is Brigham. He has only one bad outing vs Braves.
Canha had 25% of the hits but they had only 4 hits. Marte walked and stolen a base.
No offense and no victory.
Good pitching beats good hitting and Stroman was quite strong last night. Alvarez continues to show why he is here and Vogelbach’s hitting woes keep bringing me back to the question of why they keep putting him out there. How much worse could Vientos do even if he’s DHing against a righty? I’d be looking for starting pitching out there from teams playing poorly and we still have some prospects who could be shipped out other than our brightest and best. She will they move Alvarez up a spot out of the 9 hole? Big question today is which a Cookie will we get today?
Two Things:
1. Francisco Lindor needs to step up and start hitting.
2. Francisco Alvarez should not be a #9 hitter
Stroman knows what he’s doing. The Mets continue to be a very mediocre team with what appears to be a poor overall offensive approach. With the elimination of the shift, Keith Hernandez has stated that he has seen more opposite field hitting and going with the pitch this season than he can remember. I don’t see the Mets doing that, they don’t generate runs without the long ball. Stroman would be the perfect guy to use that approach against. Alvarez now OPSing over .800 at age 21 as a catcher. His defense and physical capabilities behind the plate look very good. The veterans like him already. Yes, he needs to refine a bit, but this kid is a jewel. Very exciting.
Play Alvarez almost every day. Narvaez is his backup, albeit overpaid.
Play Vientos every day for a month.
Bring up Mauricio; Release Voggie.
Canha and Escobar are useful, also overpaid, bench players.