What happened, in a moment
Keith Hernandez threw paper in to a garbage can before SNY went to commercial in the seventh, giving the perfect (unintended?) metaphor for the Mets listless offense in a 8-1 loss.
Rough start for Gsellman
Robert Gsellman was a nice unexpected surprise at the end of last season. This year there are much higher expectations, with Baseball Prospectus ranking him as the #17 prospect in its annual rankings. Gsellman’s main pitch is 95 mph two-seam fastball with both lateral movement and sink. The main question is whether he can develop good enough secondary pitches. As a 22-year-old callup, Gsellman relied on his fastballs 64 percent of the time, more than Noah Syndergaard relies on his fastball.
Gsellman threw nothing but two seamers in the first inning. Unfortunately, he kept throwing the pitch middle-in with no sink, no matter where Travis d’Arnaud called for the pitch. It was like watching someone try to parallel park over and over again without getting any closer to the curb. Miguel Rojas caught on to the pattern and pulled a double in the first. Then Giancarlo Stanton got his mis-located two-seamer for an RBI single. Gsellman started the second inning with some offspeed pitches, then made another mistake that Marcell Ozuna drove in to the second deck.
At this point, Gsellman seemed to recognize he didn’t have his good sinking fastball and mixed up his pitches a bit more. Hopefully it will be a good learning experience. The only run Gsellman gave up after Ozuna’s homer came when Curtis Granderson misplayed a line drive in to a leadoff “triple.” He was able to escape a jam in the fifth inning by locking up Christian Yelich with a rare curveball, then going to his changeup to get another pitch downward movement to end an inning.
Offensive Struggles Continue
Most players were all bundled up from the cold wind, but Marlins starter Adam Conley, who hadn’t allowed a run in 13 innings at Citi Field, felt so hot he took the top two buttons off his uniform. Besides, yesterday’s temperature must have felt balmy compared to Conley’s college days at Washington State. The lefty was able retire the first 11 Mets with a fastball that sat around 90-91, relying on deception and changing location. Lucas Duda finally caught an outside fastball in the fifth, driving it the opposite way to break up the no-hitter and make the score 3-1. Conley immediately reverted to last year’s wildness, walking d’Arnaud and pinch hitter T.J. Rivera before Granderson flew out on the first pitch to end the threat. The Mets only mustered two hits in four innings against the Marlins’ solid bullpen.
Bring Out Your Dead Bullpen Arms
The Mets called up Paul Sewald on Friday to add another arm to the quickly worn down bullpen. But it wasn’t Sewald who got the call in the sixth. Instead, Terry Collins turned to Josh Smoker, last seen throwing 27 largely ineffective pitches the night before. Smoker promptly walked the leadoff man before settling down to get through the inning. Hansel Robles was wild and ineffective, giving up two walks and an RBI single. Sewald finally got his shot in the eighth. The good news is he threw strikes. The bad news is he had poor command in the zone, giving up three straight hits and then almost throwing the ball away on a safety squeeze. At least he got a big league out before exiting, so he won’t have the dreaded infinite ERA.
Because no Mets hitters stood up to say “we’re not dead yet!” Collins turned to Rafael Montero for the ninth. Yes, the same Montero who threw 35 pitches over 2.2 innings last night. This went as well as we’d expect. Montero only retired one of the five batters he faced and the Mets had to use Fernando Salas anyway.
Set the panic meter to
Come on, it’s early April. Panic if you haven’t done your taxes yet and can’t find your W-2. Don’t panic about a baseball team after a few bad games.
Around the league
Trea Turner left Washington’s game in the first inning with a leg injury and Dusty Baker says he’ll be out 2-3 days. Let’s see if the Nationals’ estimates of “out 2-3 days” are like the Mets’ notorious estimates.
What’s Next
Noah Syndergaard starts tonight against the Marlins at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Photo credit: Adam Hunger – USA Today Sports