The Mets are off to a stupefyingly good start. After rocketing to 12 wins in 14 games, the obvious question is: will this last? Can the rotation stay healthy? Somehow, the Mets’ mixed showings against their NL East rivals created more uncertainty this week.
On Monday, the Mets suffered a brutal loss to the Nationals. They were clicking on all cylinders, with a dominant 12-strikeout performance by deGrom and six runs scored. Then the eighth inning rolled around. Bryce Harper hit a two-run single, Matt Reynolds followed suit, and Ryan Madson closed out the 8-6 Nats win.
BP Mets writer Lukas Vlahos called Tuesday’s game “death by a thousand paper cuts.” The Amazins faced off against Gio Gonzalez, who’s 11-1 with a 1.81 ERA at Citifield. Despite allowing eight hits and two walks, he only surrendered two runs through 5.1 innings.
Watching the Mets squander scoring opportunities is painful enough without elaborate play-by-plays. I hope you’ll forgive me, though, when I emphasize that Jose Reyes’s sixth inning strikeout was bad. The count was 2-2; there were runners on first and third. Solis threw a fastball down and in. Now, baseball is a game of milliseconds, but Reyes’s tragic cut seemed several seconds too late. At this point, deGrom may make a better-hitting shortstop.
The Nats are famously dominant at Citi Field, and it felt like the curse would continue through most of Wednesday’s game. Ryan Zimmerman’s three-run homer and Moises Sierra’s sac fly established a comfortable 4-2 lead. But instead of closing out the ninth, the Nats bullpen exploded spectacularly. The Mets scored nine (9) times, buoyed by Frazier’s game-tying single and a monstrous Cespedes grand slam. One second the ball was floating near his shoulder; the next, it was on a beeline to Schenectady.
A Precipitous Fall
Matt Harvey pitched so terribly in Thursday’s 12-4 loss that he was yanked from the rotation. The struggling right-hander has allowed 26 hits, four home runs and four walks in 26 innings this season. Jason Vargas will take his place after making a rehab start in Triple-A. In the meantime, Harvey will pitch out of the bullpen. “On a scale of 1 to 10, obviously I’m at a 10 with being pissed off, but my performance hasn’t been there, and I just have to do whatever I have to do to get back in the starting rotation,” he said. “I need to get my s— together.”
Quick Hits
- The New York Daily News claims that the Mets aren’t looking for a replacement catcher. “They have not yet reached out to three American League teams with obvious matches for a catcher, according to multiple sources, and they have been telling teams that they are going to ‘stay internal for the time being.’” For now, the only internal options are Jose Lobaton — who’s hitting .083 — and Tomas Nido, who started the season in Double-A Binghamton.
- The Mets optioned Gerson Bautista to Double-A on Saturday afternoon. He was acquired from the Red Sox last season in exchange for Addison Reed, and he’ll benefit from some minor league seasoning. The fireballer is considered somewhat of a lottery ticket due to his inconsistent stuff.
- After Friday’s 12-inning win against the Braves, the Mets were in dire need of fresh arms. They called up right-hander Corey Oswalt the next day. Oddly enough, the 2017 Minor League Pitcher of the Year been called up twice already without making his major league debut.
- Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch on Wednesday. He ran to first faster than some players run to home plate, clapping and yelling enthusiastically to the Mets dugout. He’s such a joy to watch. Day in and day out, he never seems to lose his enthusiasm. James Wagner tweeted that “Brandon Nimmo might be the most pleasant person around. He just took early batting practice at Sun Trust Park. Then sought out every member of the coaching staff that shagged his fly balls and gave each a fist bump.”
- Notable tweet from Anthony DiComo: “Brandon Nimmo showed off his wheels on the basepaths yesterday, reaching a season-high 29.8 ft/sec, per Statcast. That’s elite speed. To give you some perspective, Amed Rosario ranked fifth in baseball last year with an average max-effort sprint speed of 29.5 ft/sec.”
- This New York Post article explores Justin Dunn’s resurgent season for High-A St. Lucie. “The 22-year-old right-hander, the Mets’ first-round pick out of Boston College in 2016, has begun to reclaim his status as one of the organization’s top prospects to begin this season. With High-A St. Lucie, Dunn has allowed two earned runs in 14.1 innings, striking out 19 in that span. The control issues haven’t completely left him — he has walked six in the early going — but a season after the 19th-overall pick put up a 5.00 ERA in 95.1 innings with St. Lucie, this small sample size qualifies as encouraging.”
Injury Update
The Mets have been quite lucky, apart from the backstop position. Travis d’Arnaud was once the second ranked prospect in the Eastern League behind Bryce Harper. His combination of strong defense and power potential were salivating. As the years go by, an endless litany of injuries have dimmed his potential and the young catcher only played four games this season before feeling elbow tightness during pre-game workups. He went in for an MRI, found that his ulnar collateral ligament was torn, and underwent Tommy John surgery on April 17.
Two days later, backup catcher Kevin Plawecki suffered a hairline fracture in his left hand. He could be back in three weeks.
Photo credit: Dale Zanine – USA Today Sports