As the Mets continue to struggle this season—they sport a 16-26 record over their last 42 games — it has become even more evident how little production the team has gotten out of their most expensive assets.

And the numbers are stark…

AJ Ramos: $9.32M, 6.41 ERA, 0.0 WARP

Initially viewed at as a savvy midseason addition last year by yours truly, AJ Ramos has turned out to be nothing but in New York. After starting off the year with nine scoreless appearances, everything has gone wrong for the 31-year-old right-hander. Since April 16th, Ramos has allowed 14 earned runs, 16 hits, nine walks, three home runs and an opponent’s slashline of .302/.397/.528 in 13.1 innings pitched. That’s a 9.45 ERA, for those wondering. Now Ramos finds himself as one of 11 Mets players currently on the disabled list, his stint due to tendinitis in his pitching shoulder. Ramos is the fourth-highest paid member of the Mets this season.

Anthony Swarzak: $5.5M, 3.86 ERA, 0.1 WARP

The Mets’ biggest bullpen investment of the offseason came on a two-year contract with Anthony Swarzak. After a breakout season split between the White Sox and Brewers where he posted a 2.33 ERA in 70 appearances, Swarzak appeared as if he’d be slotted into the set-up man role with the Mets. That hasn’t quite worked out. After just two appearances this season, Swarzak landed on the disabled list because of a sore left oblique and is just now beginning a rehab assignment. It’s been 62 days since he last appeared in a major league game.

Jay Bruce: $11M, .659 OPS, -0.1 WARP

After a very productive season with the Mets and Indians in 2017, Jay Bruce elected to make his return to Flushing with a three-year, $39M contract during the offseason. Coming off of a 36-home run season and three consecutive seasons with at least 26 dingers, it’s safe to assume that Sandy Alderson and company were expecting much of the same in the power department. Through 51 games, however, Bruce has batted a startling .230/.305/.354 with just three home runs, 11 doubles and 15 RBI. The month of May was even more unkind to the veteran Bruce, as the left-handed right fielder hit .211/.283/.300 with just one home run and three RBI in that time. Perhaps he’s still dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, an injury that first reared its head in spring training, but as long as he’s still on the roster, he’ll be looked at to produce. And eventually something’s gotta give.

José Reyes: $2M, .406 OPS, -0.7 WARP

While he’s only the 15th-highest paid player on the team, José Reyes is still notable due to the fact that the Mets decided to give $2M in an offseason where players like Adam Lind, Melky Cabrera, José Bautista and Mark Reynolds had to settle for minor league contracts. And not to sound like the Twitter famous “Virus Guy,” but even in a limited role Reyes has been a detriment to this team. In 38 games, the now-34-year-old Reyes is hitting .145/.203/.203 with one home run, one double, three RBI, two stolen bases (one caught stealing), six runs scored and an OPS+ of 16 (league average is 100). In the field, things have not gone much better for Reyes, as he’s committed four errors along with -16 defensive runs saved. It’s the lowest salary of anyone who’s made this list, but it’s also the least production of any of the other mainstays on the Mets 2018 roster.

Jason Vargas: $6M, 8.53 ERA, -0.3 WARP

After compiling the second-worst team ERA in franchise history last season, the Mets’ only major league contract to a starting pitcher in the offseason went to the 35-year-old left-hander Jason Vargas. After missing the majority of April due to a broken right hand, Vargas has provided little comfort for what’s been an ailing rotation over the last season-and-a-half. In his first six starts of the year, Vargas has allowed 24 earned runs, 36 hits and 11 walks in 25.1 innings pitched. His longest start of the year has been five innings, a feat he’s only accomplished twice. One would think that Vargas simply has to pitch better solely due to the fact that his current 8.53 ERA is almost exactly double his career mark. Up until this point, however, that has not been the case. Vargas has been as bad as the numbers suggest, if not worse, and with Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz on the disabled list, his outings have become all-the-more important to this team.

Jerry Blevins: $7M, 5.84 ERA, -0.6 WARP

Once the Mets’ most trustworthy pitcher out of the bullpen, left-handed specialist Jerry Blevins has not lived up to his title to start the 2018 season. Prior to this year, left-handed batters had hit .216/.268/.309 against Blevins during his 12-year career. This season, though, has been a complete role reversal for Blevins, as lefties have hit a stunning .344/.400/.438 with an .838 OPS in 35 plate appearances against him. Since the start of this season, Blevins hasn’t seemed confident in his curveball and the stats show why, as left-handers have hit .308 vs. what was once a lethal pitch in his arsenal. “It’s not for lack of effort,” a frustrated Blevins recently said to reporters. “It’s really hard to contain it sometimes.” Blevins is currently the eighth-highest paid player on the Mets, and the second-highest paid relief pitcher.

Honorable mentions:

Players such as Yoenis Céspedes and Todd Frazier were productive enough to avoid the main list, but deserve to be mentioned as they’ve both been on the disabled list for most of May while earning a combined $37M this season. Travis d’Arnaud and Juan Lagares, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries, are making a combined $9.98M in 2018.

And before anyone says it, David Wright is not applicable for this category as insurance will cover the majority of his $20M salary this season.

Not including the honorable mentions, the Mets are paying a total of $40.8M this season to the group of Ramos, Swarzak, Bruce, Reyes, Vargas and Blevins… who have combined for a negative 1.6 WARP. And for a team that doesn’t spend much money as it is, that is flat out unacceptable.

The Mets have gotten production out of their more affordable players like Brandon Nimmo, Robert Gsellman and Jacob deGrom, but if they don’t start getting contributions from their highest-paid players — and soon — this team may be in a whole world of trouble.

 Photo credit: Aaron Doster – USA Today Sports

After struggling to score only 17 collective runs in their past eight games, the Mets offense exploded for 12 runs on 16 hits in Tuesday night’s series-opening win over Toronto, an even more impressive feat when you consider both Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto did not play.

After waiting out a rain delay of nearly an hour and a half, Noah Syndergaard took the mound and overpowered the Blue Jays’ in the first inning, striking out the side with relative ease. After a Mets threat died in the bottom of the inning, Syndergaard labored a little bit in his second frame, but worked around a hit and a walk to carry the game into the bottom of the second scoreless.

Devin Mesoraco has been a substantial upgrade for New York at catcher, both offensively and behind the plate. On this night, he helped the home team grab an early lead, as he walked to begin the Mets half of the 2nd, and later scored on a double from Syndergaard. Back on the mound though, Syndergaard’s second inning struggles carried into the third, as after he surrendered two singles and hit a batter to load the bases, Yangervis Solarte found a hole for a two-run single that gave Toronto a 2-1 lead. That score would hold into the bottom of the fourth, when seemingly out of nowhere the Mets offense came to life.

Leading off for New York, Jay Bruce blooped an opposite field ground rule double, and another Mesoraco walk followed by a single from Jose Reyes loaded the bases with nobody out. Syndergaard then drove a fly ball deep enough to center to score Bruce with the tying run on a sacrifice fly, but the Mets were far from done. Amed Rosario crushed a ball to right center that literally struck the orange stripe atop the wall at just the right angle to keep it in play, missing his first home run of the season by mere inches and having to settle for an RBI double. Two batters later, Juan Lagares rifled a hit through the left side of the infield to score both Reyes and Rosario, and New York had suddenly put up a five-spot in the fourth, their biggest offensive inning since April 29.

Syndergaard’s pitch count was far too elevated for him to go past five innings, a frustrating trend, but on Tuesday night it really didn’t matter all that much. New York added three in the fifth on RBI’s from Rosario, Brandon Nimmo and Lagares and the rout was officially on. Mesoraco put a capper on the night by launching his second home run as a Met in the bottom of the eighth, putting New York up 12-2, which would be the final margin.

Seth Lugo relieved Syndergaard in the sixth and did what what we’ve grown accustomed to, powering through three scoreless innings before ceding the ball to Jacob Rhame, who tossed a 1-2-3 inning to finish the game.

The biggest takeaways coming out of this game aside from the collective offensive performance were the individual games turned in by Lagares, Rosario and Mesoraco. Lagares been one of the Mets’ most consistent hitters all year, and going 4-5 with a triple, stolen base and two RBIs should put him in position for more playing time, particularly with Cespedes potentially going on the DL any day (it’s literally a 10-day DL).

Rosario has slumped for much of 2018 but has turned it on of late, and this quite possibly was his best game of the year. The youngster contributed three hits and a pair of RBIs himself and, as I mentioned earlier, missed a home run by just inches.

Mesoraco, acquired for Matt Harvey last week, is clearly light year’s ahead of what the Mets were getting behind the plate from Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton. Last night, the former Red went 2-2 with a homer and 2 RBI’s, while drawing three walks and scoring four runs.

The Amazins will look to sweep this short two game set this afternoon when they send Zack Wheeler to the mound against J.A. Happ.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

Mired in a miserable offensive stretch that has seen the Amazins’ get shut out three times in the last week and a half, and score only three times in their previous two games against the lowly Reds, New York’s series opener in Philadelphia looked like more of the same for almost three hours. The Mets were befuddled by Philadelphia starter Jake Arrieta for the entirety of the right hander’s outing, but their bats came alive at just the right time to secure a crucial divisional victory.

The game got off to a poor beginning for starter Steven Matz and the Mets as, for the second consecutive outing, the southpaw surrendered a first inning home run, this time to Phils’ center fielder Odubel Herrera, putting New York in an immediate hole. For the second straight start though, Matz settled in, pitching in and out of trouble in nearly every frame, but getting the outs he needed to keep his team in the contest. His heaviest lifting came in the fifth when he allowed Philadelphia to load the bases without a hit and then went 3-0 on Phillies’ first baseman Carlos Santana before rallying to get him on a ground ball to short, ending the threat. His pitch count prevented him from going deeper than five innings, but Matz has now surrendered only two solo homers in 11 innings in his last two outings, certainly a promising sign for himself and the Amazins’.

This was not a night New York wanted to be discussing silver linings during the postgame however, as with the way this team has struggled of late, this weekend series with a divisional team ahead of them in the standings is pivotal. The way Arrieta was cruising though, it was looking like the Phillies’ skinny 1-0 lead may as well have been 100. The Mets mounted just five hits against the veteran in 7.1 innings, reaching second base only twice. Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler pulled Arrieta after he retired pinch-hitter Juan Lagares to begin the 8th, and righty Tommy Hunter was able to complete the inning with little drama. New York’s bullpen was able to pick up where Matz left off and keep the game close, as Seth Lugo, Paul Sewald and A.J. Ramos each contributed scoreless innings, but the Phillies were still in position to win when they summoned their closer, Hector Neris, into the game in the ninth.

Neris got Adrian Gonzalez on a pop-up that third baseman Maikel Franco ran down in shallow left field to begin the inning, but things got dicey for him after that. Wilmer Flores found the hole on the left side of the infield for a one-out single, and after Flores was replaced by pinch-runner Luis Guillorme, Michael Conforto stepped to the plate as the go-ahead run. The Oregon State product has struggled for the majority of 2018 after missing all of spring training recovering from shoulder surgery, but he began to swing the bat better in Cincinnati. He’d carried that momentum over into this game too, reaching base twice (a single and a walk) and driving a ball to the warning track the only time he was retired. In his final at-bat, Conforto got out in front of a Neris’ splitter and crushed the pitch down the right field line, narrowly missing a game-changing home run as the ball hooked foul. A couple pitches later, however, the Mets outfielder changed the narrative of the entire night, launching a two-run blast off the facing of the second deck to give the road team a 2-1 lead. Rattled by the blown save, Neris made a mistake with his very next pitch, leaving a ball up and over the middle of the plate to Devin Mesoraco, who crushed a home run of his own to double the newfound New York lead and stun the home crowd.

Closer Jeurys Familia came on in the bottom of the 9th and retired the Phillies in order to secure his 11th save.  Before Friday’s comeback, New York had dropped eight of their previous nine contests, but with any luck, the winds are shifting back in the right direction. The Mets send their top two pitchers, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, to the mound the next two days, setting them up to potentially string together a few wins. Fingers crossed.

 Photo credit: Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports

Going into Tuesday’s game, Jason Vargas had a 16.20 ERA and a 5.40 HR/9. Luis Castillo had a 7.01 ERA and a 1.82 HR/9. Great American Ball Park allows almost 10% more home runs than the average ballpark. The Mets and Reds combined for 15 extra base hits Monday night, including seven home runs. All the ingredients were in place for a real laser show.

Game recap

Vargas certainly got that memo, as Cincinnati rolled through him for the get-go. The Reds had three hits, two runs and a hit batter before Vargas recorded an out in the first inning, and they added two more runs in the bottom of the third. Surprisingly, nothing left the yard, but batters were hitting everything Vargas dished out hard. He departed after four innings in a 4-0 whole, an outing that actually lowered his ERA to 6.75.

Castillo, meanwhile, saw that memo and decided to shred it. Whatever mechanical tweak he made in his last start carried over, and the Mets were totally flummoxed by his fastball-changeup combination. Amed Rosario had the Mets’ first hit with two outs in the fifth, and that was the only baserunner they managed for the first five innings.

Things at least got a bit interesting in the sixth, when Wilmer Flores hit a solo home run to cut the Read lead to 4-1. Three batters later, Castillo was oddly pulled after only 81 pitches, and the Mets went to work against Amir Garrett with two out and two on. Jay Bruce and Adrian Gonzalez walked to force in a run, but Mickey Callaway made a very odd decision to pinch hit with Brandon Nimmo against a lefty despite having three right-handed bats (Juan Lagares, Devin Mesoraco and Jose Lobaton) on the bench.

Missing that opportunity stung, but in the end, it didn’t really matter. Hansel Robles came in with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the seventh and promptly served up two singles, a walk and a home run that stretched the Reds’ lead to 7-2. And, because it’s the Mets, Robles finished his outing by getting injured fielding a bunt, forcing Paul Sewald into the game after throwing 28 pitches in 1.2 innings Monday (it only took him five pitches to get through 1.1 innings Tuesday, so it could have been worse).

The Mets put together another threat in the top of the eighth, but Gonzalez hit into another one of those inexplicable double plays where you realize he has less foot speed than your average cheese sandwich, and the Mets didn’t score. A Lagares single in the ninth led to nothing, and the Mets lost 7-2. It has been almost a month since the Mets won back-to-back games (April 11 and 12), and their record now sits at 18-16.

Thoughts from the game

Wow, almost like the Mets didn’t adequately address their pitching staff last season. Maybe when your starters have a 4.43 ERA (11th worst in the majors) and your bullpen’s ERA is pushing four, you should do more than add a pop-up reliever and a 35-year-old starter with a career ERA of 4.25. Just a thought.

With Todd Frazier out, there is no reason why Wilmer Flores should not be starting every day. Instead, Mickey Callaway turned to Jose Reyes and his .128/.171/.205 batting line to fill in. Hopefully that decision won’t stick, because a decent proportion of the Met fan population will blow several gaskets if they have to sit through two or three weeks of Reyes playing everyday when younger, better, more interesting options abound.

Other Mets news

The big news of the day was the Matt Harvey trade, of course. After drawing comparisons to Tom Seaver early in his career, Harvey was shipped off to the same team as The Franchise, as the Mets sent him to Cincinnati in exchange for catcher Devin Mesoraco. The Reds will be paying the remainder of Mesoraco’s salary while the Mets pick up the rest of Harvey’s, essentially reallocating those funds to a lottery ticket in an area of extreme need. Objectively, this is a great return. It’d be tough for Matt Harvey to have less value at this point, and the Mets some help for a catching tandem that has hit .164/.247/.233 since Kevin Plawecki and Travis d’Arnaud went down in early April.

That’s not to say that Devin Mesoraco will for sure be the answer. Over the past three seasons, he’s has been healthy for all of 95 games, compiling -0.6 WARP. The upside is his 2014 season, when Mesoraco was an All Star and posted a .273/.359/.534 line en route to 4.9 WARP. The litany of injuries (both hip labrums, left shoulder labrum, left foot fracture) have sapped his framing ability, but he’s not a total disaster behind the plate, and even a little bit of competency with the bat would make him an upgrade. If you’re feeling optimistic, people around the Reds supposedly think he’s healthy for the first time in years, for whatever that’s worth.

As stated earlier, Todd Frazier was placed on the 10-day DL after fighting through a hamstring injury for the last couple of weeks. Luis Guillorme will reportedly be called up to add some extra infield depth, with Tomas Nido expected to head back to the minors. P.J. Conlon was also optioned back to Triple-A, with Corey Oswalt being recalled to give the Mets bullpen a bit of extra depth.

Photo credit: Aaron Doster – USA Today Sports

The Ian Desmond-led Colorado Rockies

WHAT HAPPENED, NOAH SYNDERGAARD DID NOT HAVE A NICE START:

The easiest thing to do is to start with the negative.
Sept. 7, 2016 was the last time Noah Syndergaard issued four free-passes in one start. In fact, over 68 career big league starts, Syndergaard had walked four or more batters just three times. In start number 69, that number would grow to four. He also surrendered a home run to Ian Desmond, which is less than ideal.
As Gary and Keith discussed on the SNY broadcast, Syndergaard just isn’t missing as many bats with his harder stuff as we are used to seeing. While they might be right, there is one reason that makes the most sense. Leading up to this start, we know that Syndergaard is getting more swings on his fourseam fastball and less swings on his sinker. Both are, for the most part, not good. Why? Thor isn’t getting whiffs on these pitches at the rates he typically does. In addition, he is doing things that would make sense as to why hitters are reacting this way. More pitches outside the strike zone with his sinker, more ‘grooved‘ fourseamers. But, at the end of the day, these differences aren’t greatly noticeable.
Is there something wrong with his pitches? No, not really. His spin rates look great, some have even increased. If you wanted a difference to point to, it’s that Syndergaard’s velocity down just enough to mention. This is easy to write off, and probably means nothing, as most pitchers aren’t throwing their hardest in April and May. After two mediocre starts in a row, there are a couple potential reasons/flags to watch. Maybe Syndergaard needs to utilize his high-velo/spin rate mix by pitching higher in the strike zone with his fastballs. Maybe he could lean even more on his offspeed pitch-mix.
The main, and correct, one? We’re just too freaking greedy.
For all the worrying, Syndergaard still worked six innings and held the Rockies to just two runs. He left Sunday’s outing with a lower season ERA than the one he entered with. After loading the bases with no outs to start the third inning, the only damage came from a walked-in run. Syndergaard worked himself out of each jam presented, despite most being the kind he created. While he didn’t look comfortable on the mound all day, this just seems to be a case of Thor working through some early season struggles — relatively speaking. It is certainly not the time to hit the panic button.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE IAN DESMOND GAME:

As all truly mediocre hitters do, Ian Desmond came into Sunday batting .282/.341/.490 against the Mets over his career. Having already homered off Syndergaard in the second — and despite the fact that Jerry Blevins and AJ Ramos worked a clean seventh inning — the righty was out for more. He could smell blood. He needed more.
Enter Hansel Robles, who promptly provided Desmond with the home run he desired. After giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead, Desmond knew it would be enough. It was the Sabbath, after all. He rested.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE FIRST IS THE EASIEST (AND THE ONLY):

The Mets showed up to hit in the first inning, kicking things off with three straight singles and a sac fly. After trips to the plate by Juan Lagares, Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Todd Frazier, the Mets held an early 2-0 lead — the first in a week. That joyous occasion would quickly halt, as the bats would stay dormant until the ninth inning. One batter after a Wilmer Flores walk in the ninth, Adrian Gonzalez would dump a hit into left field — putting runners on first and second with two outs.
The fun would stop there, as Tomas Nido would be called upon to pinch hit with the winning run at first base. Why, you ask? Brandon Nimmo subbed in for an injured Yoenis Cespedes after the first inning, Michael Conforto pinch hit in the seventh and Jose Reyes was put in to run for Flores after his walk. The decision ultimately came down to letting Jose Lobaton or Nido hit, with Mickey Callaway deciding in favor of the latter —using Gonzalez to hit in Lobaton’s place. The decision proved futile, as Nido struckout to frisbee-thrower Adam Ottavino to end the game.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

Syndergaard didn’t have his best stuff, but was able to work through six innings of two-run ball. At the plate, the Mets looked to have a promising afternoon ahead of them. In the end, however, they were stymied by Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland — extending their losing streak to six games.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets start a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds, which could not possibly have come at a better time. The Mets will send rookie P.J. Conlon to the mound for his Major League debut, and will square off against Homer Bailey. Maybe a small ballpark and a guy named Homer will help restart the Mets at the plate.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

The signing of Vargas to a two-year, $16 million contract was a somewhat head-scratching move to begin with, but the underlying reasons made sense. The organization needed a starter who could provide quality innings and rotation depth, and Vargas fit the bill. A surprising All-Star selection last season, Vargas came back down to the earth in the second half and ultimately finished with a respectable 4.16 ERA in 179.2 innings. His underlying statistics suggested a regression was in store, especially for a 35-year-old starter, but the Mets decided Vargas was the man and passed over highly regarded starters Jake Arrieta and Lance Lynn, among others.

Vargas’ second stint with the Mets got off to a bad start even in spring training, as a comebacker broke his non-pitching hand and sidelined him for over a month. The Mets sent Vargas out on a rehab assignment and were happy with his progress, leading to the organization’s decision to demote Matt Harvey to the bullpen in place of Vargas (although Harvey’s performance helped the decision). All Vargas did to repay the organization for its confidence was to pitch worse than Harvey has in any outing this season.

The Padres currently own the league’s worst batting average and were thoroughly dominated Friday by Mets ace Jacob deGrom, but the bats came back ready to roll Saturday. Vargas was leaving pitches up in the zone from the onset and the Padres were taking full advantage early.

Vargas struck out the leadoff batter, Wil Myers, but it all went downhill from there. After an Eric Hosmer single, Christian Villanueva worked a brilliant eight-pitch at-bat that ended in a two-run home run to left center. The Padres scored two more runs in the first on a Manuel Margot triple that got over the head of the usually brilliant Juan Lagares. Lagares took a bad route to the ball that he probably should have caught or at the least kept in front of him, but it almost certainly did not impact the outcome of the game, and he more than made up for it later.

Villanueva stepped back up to the plate in the bottom of the second and looked to have his second home run in as many innings, but Lagares made a terrific leaping grab to rob him of a home run. Lagares has looked like his 2014 self thus far, leading the Mets to find themselves in a real playing time crunch in their crowded outfield. The catch was one of only two bright spots for the Metropolitans, as Yoenis Cespedes hit a moonshot to center for the only Met runs on the evening.

The underperformance of every Mets starter not named Syndergaard or deGrom has to be extremely concerning not only for Mickey Callaway and the organization but for the fan base as well. The Mets were supposed to contend due to their strong starting rotation, but Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Harvey and Vargas have left a lot to be desired thus far. It’s almost nothing short of a miracle that the Mets are 16-9 and leading the NL East with the way the roster has underperformed, hitters included. The Mets are just 15th in runs scored and Cespedes, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto are all hitting sub .240 to begin the year. It’s not time to panic yet, the Mets are finding ways to win ballgames, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

The one real area of worry for the organization has to be the rotation, and it’s understandable given the lack of separation in performance from Matz, Harvey, Wheeler and Vargas. They’ve all been underwhelming to begin the season and there aren’t too many options for the front office at this point. The best and most likely course of action is to wait another month to see if the team has three viable starters they feel comfortable giving the ball to every fifth day. If the Mets are still in contention when the trade deadline comes around, it’s not hard to envision a move being made to improve the rotation for the stretch run.

Vargas obviously deserves a month or two to work out the kinks and prove he can be a valuable piece of the rotation, but expectations were low to begin with and shifted even lower following Saturday’s meltdown. As much as the fanbase may not have liked the signing, his success or non-success will play a pretty pivotal role in how well the team fares the rest of the way.

The roller coaster ride that is being a New York Mets fan is pretty unbelievable in and of itself. Consider this: earlier this month, the team ripped off a nine-game winning streak and owned the best record in the league. Now, the team has lost six of its last ten and is “slumping,” all in the same calendar month. The team’s true talent level lies somewhere in between, of course, but there’s undeniably something brewing in Flushing. Jason Vargas and the Mets were downright awful Saturday, but it’s not time to panic yet and it won’t be for a while.

The Mets will send Zack Wheeler (1-1, 4.24) out to face Padres starter Bryan Mitchell (0-2, 5.76) as they look to win the rubber game of the three-game series.

Photo credit: Jake Roth – USA Today Sports

For the second consecutive day, New York’s offense got off to a fast start, as Asdrubal Cabrera led off the game with a double into the left center field gap and later scored on a Todd Frazier single. The Mets’ early rally stalled with just the one run after Wilmer Flores bounced into an inning ending double play, but with the stuff number 48 in gray had last night, that one run felt like an insurmountable advantage.

deGrom was in complete control from the get-go, needing only 10 pitches to get through Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer and Christian Villanueva in the Padres’ first, and in the second inning he threw only eight pitches, aided by Jose Lobaton gunning down Franchy Cordero after a lead-off single. Offensively, the Mets threatened in virtually every frame, but San Diego starter Clayton Richard did a nice job of keeping his club in the game, as New York was unable to extend their lead in the relatively uneventful middle innings.

The drama finally began to heighten in the seventh, as after Juan Lagares and Lobaton led off the inning with back-to-back hits to set the table, Richard retired deGrom on a sacrifice bunt and Amed Rosario on a ground ball with the infield in. With their starter on the brink of getting out of trouble, rather than allow Richard to turn the line-up over a fourth time San Diego opted to go to the bullpen, summoning right-hander Craig Stammen. Cabrera greeted the veteran rudely, delivering the big hit New York has been missing in recent days, crushing a long three-run homer on the first pitch he saw, extending the Mets’ lead to 4-0 and essentially signaling game over.

After a relatively easy seventh that watched deGrom walk off the hill just shy of 100 pitches, he was somewhat surprisingly allowed to bat for himself in the top of the eighth, striking out to end a productive offensive inning for New York, as Lobaton had extended the lead to 5-0 with an RBI double. In the eighth, the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year struck out pinch-hitter Matt Szczur to open the inning, but after Myers roped a base hit, Mickey Callaway removed deGrom from the game, turning it over to a bullpen that has been shaky of late. Jerry Blevins gave the road dugout a scare shortly after entering the contest, as the left hander allowed Hosmer to crush a ball to right field that the park was just big enough to allow Michael Conforto to make a leaping grab at the wall.

The final drama in this one came in the bottom of the ninth, as Callaway ushered *relief pitcher* Matt Harvey into the game for the final three outs, but it didn’t take long for Harvey to make his manager nervous. Cordero led off with a long homer to dead center field, and Harvey then lost Jose Pirela to a walk. After going full on Carlos Asuaje, Harvey was fortunate to get him to finally loft a routine fly ball to center field for the first out. Freddy Galvis then rolled into a 4-6-3 to end the game, earning the Mets a needed win.

New York will continue their weekend get together with the Padres tonight with Jason Vargas set to make his first start of 2018 opposite San Diego rookie southpaw Joey Lucchesi.

Photo credit: Jake Roth – USA Today Sports

The cliché that baseball is a game of inches was never more true as the Mets came within a few of them of escaping St. Louis with a win Thursday. As the baseball hit off Jose Martinez’ bat eluded Juan Lagares’ glove in deep center field in the bottom of the 12th inning to tie the game, it marked the second time that afternoon that the team had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

It’s a special kind of team to have two blown saves in one game. In distinguishing themselves, the team wasted an absolute gem from Noah Syndergaard, who protected a one-run lead through 7.1 innings, striking out seven with nothing but a no-decision to show for it.

In the bottom of the eighth, Amed Rosario’s error gave the Cardinals a leadoff runner. Even though Syndergaard rallied to strike out Yadier Molina with his 100th pitch, Matt Carpenter singled on the 101st. Robert Gsellman inherited runners on the corners with one out, and promptly conceded a single to Tommy Pham on his first pitch, erasing the lead and wiping out Syndergaard’s effort.

For much of the game, that effort seemed like it was going to be more than enough. The Mets had gotten on the board in the top of the first as Brandon Nimmo reached on a leadoff hit-by-pitch and scored on a double to left by Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes accounted for the second Mets run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh that scored Rosario. Those hiccups aside, Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez went six innings, surrendering one run and striking out three.

In the top of the 10th inning, the Cardinals pitched around Adrian Gonzalez to face light-hitting Jose Lobaton with the bases loaded. Lobaton drew a five-pitch walk, giving the Mets a one-run lead. Jeurys Familia got the Mets within an out of the victory in the bottom of the 10th, retiring the first two batters before Pham singled with his fourth hit of the game. Martinez crushed a ball to right of center field, and Lagares’ awkward leaping attempt in an unfamiliar ballpark allowed Pham to score all the way from first.

The teams traded zeros, as clearly no one wanted to leave the ballpark until the 13th, when Martinez drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a Marcell Ozuna single, and scored on a Dexter Fowler single to Nimmo, whose throw to the plate was up the line.

It was a Jekyll and Hyde routine from the Mets bullpen, as Seth Lugo and AJ Ramos provided scoreless frames in the ninth and 11th innings, respectively, while Gsellman and Familia could not keep the Cardinals from scoring. Paul Sewald, who came in in the 12th, was tagged for the loss, his first of the year. John Gant earned a win for the Cardinals with his three innings of relief.

The Mets head to San Diego Friday, where they will take on the Padres at 10.10 p.m. Jacob deGrom (2-0, 2.53) will face Clayton Richard (1-2, 5.67).

Photo credit: Joe Puetz – USA Today Sports

Right out of the gate, the Mets were playing from behind. A three-run homer from Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning off Steven Matz got the Nats started. And that first inning was a particularly rough one for Matz, who threw more than 30 pitches in that frame alone. He allowed another hit in the inning but settled down after that, retiring the next 11 hitters he faced. The Mets clawed back with two runs of their own in the fourth on an Adrian Gonzalez RBI single and a Zimmerman error that resulted in a run, but the headline of the inning was that Mickey Callaway curiously pinch hit for Matz — who had only thrown 74 pitches and was cruising — with only one out and two on. Brandon Nimmo was the pinch hitter and got hit by a pitch to load the bases (and adorably ran to first base in the process). Amed Rosario then came up with the bases loaded and only one out, only to ground into an inning-ending double play. The Mets still trailed. It was merely another tease. New York’s bats would basically go dormant from there, because of course they did.

Paul Sewald took over on the mound after that, and kept Washington close. He delivered a perfect fifth and sixth inning, and his only real blemish in the seventh was a Ryan Zimmerman triple; it was just a poke job to right field that Jay Bruce irresponsibly dove for and missed as the ball went behind him. Moises Sierra would hit a sacrifice fly, but Sewald got through the next two hitters without a problem. He’s now struck out 12 batters and has allowed only four hits in 8.1 innings of work this year. He probably deserves a larger role in the bullpen going forward.

AJ Ramos handled the eighth inning smoothly, and sent the game to the bottom of the eighth. At this point, the Mets hadn’t gotten a hit since the fourth inning, and looked terrible against Tanner Roark. They were now just six outs from being swept. Obviously, with it still being early in the year, another loss wasn’t the end of the world, but getting swept in a series against the Nationals is always frustrating. And it looked like that was where we were headed: another frustrating sweep at the hands of the Nation—wait what

Is that a nine? That looks like a nine.

Yup, that’s a nine.

Down two, the Mets put up a nine-spot. It was the team’s biggest inning since April 2016. Two days after their own bullpen got knocked around and blew a five-run lead, the Mets returned the favor and did a number on the Nationals’ bullpen. Specifically, that number was a nine.

I could tell you all the players who got hits in this inning, but it’s easier just to tell you who didn’t: Jay Bruce and Wilmer Flores (who was pinch-hitting). That’s it. Everyone else got at least one hit. The big hits were the game-tying single by Todd Frazier, who continues to do everything right, the go-ahead double by Juan Lagares, who has only had sporadic playing time, but is probably having the most under-appreciated season on the team (check that 151 wRC+), and this:

Climb that ladder, Yo!@ynscspds crushed a grand slam for the @Mets on a pitch that was 3.82 feet high.

That’s the highest pitch he has hit for a HR in his career and the highest for any @MLB hitter this year. pic.twitter.com/xDx3OLcCiX

— #Statcast (@statcast) April 19, 2018

My god, man. Almost four feet off the ground. Yoenis Cespedes really seems to have a knack for looking terrible for certain a period of time, and then out of nowhere just crushing a ball that he has no business even making contact with. One of these days, he’s going to enter a game in an 0-for-18 slump and then hit a pitch that’s behind him for a 450-foot home run.

The Mets won the game, 11-5. Ryan Zimmerman hit another homer in the ninth off Seth Lugo, but I don’t think anyone noticed.

DOES JOSE REYES HAVE A HIT YET?

Nope.

OTHER NEWS OF THE DAY

The Mets have signed pitchers Vance Worley and Scott Copeland to minor league contracts, and released A.J. Griffin, who had allowed 16 runs in three innings for Triple-A. Is that good?

WHAT’S NEXT:

The Mets go to Not-Turner Field (SunTrust Park) in Atlanta to take on the Braves in a four-game tilt starting tonight. Matt Harvey takes the mound for the Mets against an unannounced starter for the Braves at 7:35 p.m.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

The game began with such promise. Jacob deGrom dazzled through the first seven innings. The offense bounced back immediately after falling down 1-0, rattling off six runs and taking a five-run lead on Washington. But everything unraveled in the eighth and before you knew it, the Mets’ lead had dissipated and they found themselves two runs in the hole. Washington snatched Monday’s contest from the jaws of defeat, triumphing over the Mets by a score of 8-6.

Who needs a bat anyway?

The Nats drew first blood in the first inning after Bryce Harper launched his major league-leading eighth home run of the season. No surprise to see Harper leave the yard here, but this was no ordinary dinger. Harper’s bat shattered above his hands as the top half of the bat ricocheted off of the protective netting behind home plate. Generally speaking, when you hear the words broken bat, you imagine a bloop hit or slow roller. Somehow, Harper still managed to muscle deGrom’s 95 mph fastball 406 feet. Personally, I have never seen anything like this in my life. You can only wonder how far this ball would have traveled if the bat stayed intact.

deGrom dominated…kind of

After surrendering that one blemish to Harper in the first, deGrom settled in and posted what should have been his signature start of 2018 to date. The right-hander tied the Nationals’ lineup in knots, striking out a career-high tying 13 batters. Last night marked the 22nd double-digit strikeout game of deGrom’s career and paired up with Noah Syndergaard as the third Mets duo to toss 11+ strikeouts in back-to-back games. deGrom and Thor join Ray Sadecki and Nolan Ryan who pulled off the feat in a doubleheader on September 9, 1970, as well as Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver who did so on June 7-8, 1969. deGrom also recorded an impressive opposite-field single and laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt that scored a run. We were all tasting a potential complete game for deGrom and when he became the first Mets starter to throw a pitch in the eighth inning, it seemed like a legitimate possibility. But deGrom was only able to retire one batter in the eighth and allowed two baserunners, forcing Mickey Callaway to turn things over to the bullpen.

The immaculate bullpen is no longer immaculate

You have an immaculate record. Some guys don’t trust an immaculate record. I do. I have an immaculate record.

Entering last night, the Mets’ bullpen has been nothing short of immaculate. With a 1.51 ERA, the unit possessed the lowest mark in the majors. Alec Baldwin may trust someone with an immaculate record, but clearly, he has never watched the Mets play baseball.

The pen has been a major point of contention as far back as I can remember, but this season truly felt different. Last night represented the first chink in the armor. The group was absolutely awful.

Seth Lugo entered first, attempting to escape the jam that deGrom created for himself. He walked Howie Kendrick and Callaway followed with Jerry Blevins to face Bryce Harper. Harper beat Blevins and scored two, both charged to deGrom. Callaway returned to the mound again to bring in AJ Ramos to face Ryan Zimmerman. Ramos was able to get Zimmerman looking on a questionable strike call, but surrendered a single to Pedro Severino to load the bases. Ramos was pulled after walking former Met Matt Reynolds on four pitches, bringing the score to 6-4.

So Jeurys Familia entered the game and you would think that the lights-out closer would successfully shut the door. Wrong. Familia surrendered a two-run single to Wilmer Difo, beaned Moises Sierra and walked Michael Taylor to bring home another run. By the time the eighth ended, the Nats lead 7-6. Hansel Robles toed the rubber for the ninth and only made matters worse by giving up a blast to Howie Kendrick to bring it to 8-6. It was absolutely stunning to watch an implosion on this scale.

Asdrubal the rally killer

Asdrubal Cabrera has been arguably the most outstanding hitter on this ball club in 2018. He added an astounding four more hits tonight, including a two-run home run that he absolutely crushed. Down by two with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, he laced a two run double and brought Michael Conforto to the plate as the tying run. After Ryan Madson pitch bounced roughly 10 feet away from Severino, Cabrera tried to take third, but was gunned out to make the second out of the inning. It was a bonehead move, considering that Cabrera’s run didn’t even count there. Conforto would fly out directly afterwards, shutting the door on any hope for a ninth inning rally.

Other offensive notes

Todd Frazier stayed hot, recording an RBI single in the first and an RBI double in the third. Even though he didn’t pick up anymore tonight, Frazier has walked more than he has struck out in 2018. His increased walk rate has drastically improved his value and made him an integral piece of this offense.

Juan Lagares cracked a single and ran like lightning on the base paths tonight, stealing second and third off of Matt Wieters. The steals set up the successful safety squeeze in the sixth.

With Yoenis Cespedes (day off) and Jay Bruce (plantar fasciitis) relegated to pinch-hitting duties, Brandon Nimmo received the start in left. He made the most of it by launching a warning track triple in the seventh and would score on Cabrera’s home run.

Both sides of the coin

Mickey Callaway has been fantastic this season, seemingly initiating a culture change almost immediately. Pulling off that safety squeeze was just another example of pushing all of the right buttons, but it is pretty evident that the bullpen mishaps tonight were a complication of over-managing the game. With the way the relief staff has been gelling, using Lugo and Blevins for only one batter each probably wasn’t the right option. But hey, anybody can be a Monday morning quarterback.

The Mets are back at it tonight against the Nationals in Flushing. Zack Wheeler faces Gio Gonzalez at 7:10 p.m.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports