Primer
A bruised and battered Met team faced off against the Washington Nationals, starting a three-game set over the weekend to start the season series against their biggest rival for the division crown. Jacob deGrom was slated to start, but was of course hurt (stiff neck), meaning Matt Harvey got to move up a day and oppose righty Tanner Roark. The Nationals have some struggles as well – Trea Turner has been out with a strained hamstring, and their bullpen has been a tire fire – but they’re currently in much better shape than the Mets as they look to stretch their division lead early in the season.
Game Recap
While he’s been effective this season and regained most of his velocity, this is not yet the Matt Harvey of old. That version of Harvey absolutely owned Bryce Harper, but their first matchup post TOS surgery ended with Harper launching a two-run bomb to give the Nats a lead in the first inning. Thankfully, the rash of injuries to the Mets have forced Terry Collins to play Michael Conforto, and he responded with a leadoff home run on Tanner Roark’s first pitch of the game to cut the Nats lead to 2-1.
Harvey settled down after the first, but was stuck watching a movie he was all too familiar with, where he pitches well but the Mets manage not to score for him. That changed in the fourth, when Curtis Granderson snapped an 0-for-16 skid with an RBI single to score Jay Bruce, tying the game at two. Harvey couldn’t make that lead stick unfortunately, as he surrendered a long home run to Jose Lobaton in the next half inning, putting the Nats back up by a run.
Granderson would come to the rescue again, this time crushing a no doubt solo home run into the Pepsi Porch Coca Cola Corner to tie the game at three. Terry Collins then made a very questionable decision and allowed Harvey to pitch the seventh, but the Dark Knight pushed through and kept the game tied heading to the seventh inning stretch. His hard work went unrewarded, as the Mets loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning (with some help from a Zack Wheeler pinch hit double – more on that later), but left them loaded when Bruce flew out to right field against former Met pariah Oliver Perez.
Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed contributed a scoreless inning of relief each, giving the Mets a chance for a walkoff win in the bottom of the ninth. Rene Rivera led off with a walk, and Robert Gsellman entered as a pinch runner. A sac bunt moved him to second and a walk to pinch hitter Asdrubal Cabrera put two men on with one out. Of course, Cabrera can’t run at the moment, so Kevin Plawecki entered as a pinch runner. Conforto and Juan Lagares could not get Gsellman across the plate though, and the game went to extras.
That would represent the last best chance for the Mets. Josh Smoker pitched a strong 10th inning, but surrendered a double to Harper in the eleventh. After an intentional walk to Daniel Murphy, Jeurys Familia entered and walked the first two batters he faced to force in a run. Down a run, the Mets went quietly in the 11th, with a Travis d’Arnaud fly ball that died on the warning track in right field as the only moment of any note.
The loss drops the Mets back below .500 at 8-9. Over their past eight games (four against the Marlins, three against the Phillies, one against the Nats), the Mets are 2-6. They’re set to play the remainder of this series without their best player and may be forced to start Sean Gilmartin tomorrow if deGrom’s neck isn’t feeling better. Buckle up folks, we’re probably in for a very rough ride.
Thoughts from the Game
The last few days for the Mets have exposed the front office as, frankly, nothing less than incompetent. The Mets knew they had a team full of injury prone infielders – David Wright may never play again, Lucas Duda and Neil Walker were coming off back injuries, Asdrubal Cabrera dealt with a knee injury for much of 2016, and Jose Reyes is anything but reliable. Instead of addressing these issues, the Mets elected to go into the season with T.J. Rivera and Ty Kelly as the second back up infielders behind Wilmer Flores, who has demonstrated no ability to hit righties. This says nothing of the stupidity to build a team where your most promising young bat (Michael Conforto) is set to ride the pine nor the total lack of interest in building a bullpen fit for a contender.
Now, with a poorly constructed roster, the Mets refuse to manage it with any level of competency. While most teams in baseball will put a man on the new, shorter 10-day disabled list immediately, the Mets refuse to DL obviously injured players. Instead of running a full bench, Zack Wheeler is pinch hitting and Robert Gsellman is pinch running in a game against the Mets’ most important opponent in the division. Juan Lagares, a well below average hitter, was batting second, and Kevin Plawecki was the only fully available player on the bench.
Amed Rosario probably isn’t ready. Dom Smith probably isn’t ready. Gavin Cecchini isn’t anything remarkable. But they also represent clear upgrades over players who can’t play due to injury or simply can’t play due to ineptitude (looking at you, Jose Reyes). Yet the Mets won’t even consider making a short term addition to field a complete team in an important series. It’s patently ridiculous, and it’s a waste of the best core of young starting pitching in baseball.
Other Mets News
I’ve already mentioned most of the injuries to the Mets, but I should express them in a more straightforward manner here. Lucas Duda is on the disabled list with a hyperextended elbow. Wilmer Flores was in the hospital and is now on the DL with an infection in his knee. Yoenis Cespedes is out for at least the weekend, though he could maybe pinch hit (only delaying his eventual trip to the DL, if the Mets’ pattern holds true). Asdrubal Cabrera is dealing with a sore hamstring and can’t run the bases or play the field right now. Travis d’Arnaud’s hand is still troubling him during throws, but most likely won’t miss significant time. Jacob deGrom has a stiff neck. To account for these injuries, T.J. Rivera and Sean Gilmartin were recalled.
I think that about covers it. I’ll also take this opportunity to remind you that Ray Ramirez still has a job somehow.