It was too much Logan Webb, as the Giants righty shut out the Mets for eight innings in a 5-1 victory for the Giants Tuesday night in San Francisco. The loss snaps the Mets’ streak of winning five straight series and puts them on a three-game losing streak.
The Mets loaded up their lineup with lefty hitters versus Webb, with Joey Wendle playing second base and Jeff McNeil in left field. And that decision factored into the outcome. Gary Cohen noted that McNeil was playing deep, even against lefty hitters.
It was a scoreless game thru four innings, with Luis Severino not allowing a baserunner. But Michael Conforto started off the fifth with a bloop. Brett Baty appeared to give up on the ball too soon and McNeil was too far away to make the play. It was the first of four hits in the inning and the Giants wet on to take a 3-0 lead.
The home team would tack on two more in the seventh inning against Drew Smith. Thairo Estrada led off with a triple to right center but it was a play where the Mets had a chance to get him at third base. Starling Marte hit the cutoff man but Wendle did not make a strong throw to third. And to make matters worse, Baty was behind the bag and was unable to handle the throw.
Pete Alonso led off the ninth inning with a double, his second hit of the game, and ended up scoring on a fielder’s choice. But that was the only run of the game. Wendle had a chance to continue the rally but struck out for the second time in his 0-4 night.
Severino pitched a solid game, as he did not walk a batter in six innings. He just went up against someone who pitched even better in Webb. Mets pitchers did not allow a walk or a homer, yet gave up five runs.
Marte had three hits in the game and is now batting .305 on the year with an .821 OPS.
I understand loading up on left-handed hitters but putting McNeil back in the outfield after not playing out there this season, showed a little rust on his part. And putting Wendle at second base also did not pay off either in the field or at the plate. Severino had a good outing and it all might’ve turned out a little differently. Had he gotten some run support early on. Time to salvage the last game of this series so that the road trip does not turn out to be a losing one.
Yeah, I was a little surprised to see that lineup. Lefty or not, Wendle’s .600-ish OPS isn’t enough of an offensive factor to warrant forcing him into the lineup. Besides, he had reverse splits last year, anyway.
Gut Reaction: Marte’s resurgence is surprising. He is playing like he was playing in 2022. Baty’s regression feels like 2023 all over again. He starts well but regresses. He has to be more consistent offensively. His defense is good this year. McNeil has five games in left field this year. I would rather see Taylor in left field than McNeil and keep Wendel on the bench. Taylor offensively has similar splits when batting.
This is what happens with many young players. It doesn’t take long for the league to figure them out and learn how to shut them down. The mark of a player’s ability to stick as a major leaguer is not how well he hits at first, but his ability to make adjustments after getting shut down, and how quickly he can make them.
Up through double-A, Baty never got shut down, so he never had to make adjustments. He was not in in triple-A long enough for us to learn whether he can do it at that level. And he showed no ability to adjust at the major league level last year.
Having said all that, I wonder whether he’s really regressed, or his luck has simply run out. As someone else here accurately stated a week or so ago, he’s looking a little better than last year. But he’s still not hitting the ball hard very often, and is hitting too many balls into the ground. It was a matter of time before his numbers came back down to earth. Now its a matter of how far own do they drop before we learn where the new normal actually is for him: all the way down to last year? Or is there some improvement on which he can further build?
Let me correct myself here. A look at the data suggests that he has regressed.
Exit velo is down from 89.5 to 84.6; Hard hit ball rate dropped from 44.3% to 27.6%; and barrel rate has gone from 7.7% to 3.4%.
As always with supersmall sample sizes like this season, a brief aberrant stretch can have too much impact on the overall numbers, and Baty’s last 7 games or so have been miserable enough to qualify as just such a stretch.
Zack Short’s lack of use (and lack of performance when used) suggests that he is the odd man out when JDM comes back. Wendle is clearly not an answer to anything. And Vientos has not been playing much 3B lately in the minors. So what’s Plan B??
I have nothing on this game, but more of a feeling on the series as a whole. After the high of beating the Dodgers, I had a bad feeling. The Mets were primed for a letdown and the Giants pitchers of Webb and Snell worried me. Well, I should have worried for the first game too. I just don’t like watching games in San Francisco and seeing the fans bundled up even in the heat of summer and seeing what looks to me as an eerie stadium that is sparsely filled. Day games are nice, night games are eeehhh.
When JD Martinez said he just didn’t want to play there due to his stats being affected, I thought it could be why he just didn’t want to return before this trip; just the mental concept of going there before he assimilated himself to the Mets.
As for this series, can we just get it over with and continue the season? The Mets have feasted on walks during this stretch and they aren’t happening in S.F.