Here are some random notes as the Mets get ready for Game 2 of the NLDS
* The Mets used 18 of the 26 players on their roster in Saturday’s win. And all 18 played some role, either big or small. Even Luisangel Acuna contributed a putout.
* Much was made of how none of the five pitchers who were used yesterday were on the Opening Day roster, like this was some grand thing. Three of them would have been if they were healthy.
* Umpire Scorecards hasn’t updated yet for Saturday’s game. While Zack Wheeler was great, it seemed like he had a little help on favorable calls from the home plate ump.
* Everyone here knows the Mets have been red-hot since early June. But with yesterday’s loss, the Phillies are 40-39 since the beginning of July.
* After a mostly poor second half of the year, Brandon Nimmo is batting .313 with a .353 OBP in the playoffs and has 3 RBIs in 4 G.
* Reed Garrett has a 2.35 ERA in his last 16 games and has limited batters to a .485 OPS. The only four runs he allowed in this stretch came in one game.
* The Mets have scored 21 runs and allowed 13 in four playoff games, giving them a +8 run differential.
* David Peterson may have been the club’s best starter down the stretch. Yet circumstances have made him a reliever in the postseason, where in two appearances he has tossed four shutout innings and picked up a save. He may spend the rest of the offseason in the pen, a statement on what the Mets need, much more so than a reflection on Peterson’s pitching.
* Luis Severino has answered the bell all season. But he has allowed 73 ER in 146 IP against teams besides the Marlins and Nationals, a 4.50 ERA. In his playoff start against the Brewers, he allowed 3 ER in 6 IP.
* The past two representatives for the NL in the World Series were Wild Card entrants. But the Mets were playing much better down the stretch than either of those two clubs. The 2023 D’Backs went 35-42 from July 1 to the end of the season and the 2022 Phillies were 14-17 from the beginning of September. Meanwhile, the 2024 Mets were 17-9 in September and 65-38 in their final 103 games. This isn’t a case of getting hot at the right time. Instead, it’s a team that overcame a poor start to play at a .631 winning percentage for the majority of the season.
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Join us in the Game Chatter at 4:00 p.m. today — https://substack.com/chat/1934025/post/5f7ae3ce-0aad-46ce-994f-d8bc5a6476e0
Good stuff Brian. Your comment about Severino made me think – would you take 6 innings and 3 runs from him today? Close call but I’m thinking I would.
I would and I’d hope it didn’t come with an unearned run, too, like his last outing.
From Umpire Auditor, via Allison McCagje:
“ Umpire Andy Fletcher (ranked 73rd of 90 umpires) called the worst game of the playoffs so far, missing 16 calls in Mets Phillies NLDS Game 1.
Of those 16 bad calls, 11 went against the Mets.”
https://x.com/UmpireAuditor/status/1842808379523334169
How does an umpire ranked 73 out of 90, get a playoff game?
Thanks for this, Gus.
As for your question – perhaps MLB has their own umpire grading that shows him better?