In what will be at most the second wettest game at Citi Field this week – fan tears on Saturday for David Wright’s final game will be a flood – Noah Syndergaard took the mound against the Braves. Atlanta, having already clinched the NL East, is fighting for home field advantage with Touki Toussaint, one of their bevy of young arms, on the mound.

The Mets, meanwhile, are playing out the string with Austin Jackson in center, Jay Bruce at first, and Peter Alonso at home. Maybe there’s a lesson there.

Game Recap

Noah Syndergaard, looking like he just got out of the shower, was shaky coming out of the gate. The right-hander worked around a Freddie Freeman double and a walk in the first, then a leadoff walk to Kurt Suzuki in the second. Thor finally managed a clean inning in the third, and the Mets offense promptly rewarded him.

After the Mets managed no decent contact against Touki Toussaint the first time through the order, Amed Rosario led off with a hard fly ball to center. That was an out, but the next three Mets all hit the ball hard as well. Jeff McNeil singled up the middle, Michael Conforto missed a home run by about an inch and settled for an RBI double and Jay Bruce ripped a single through the shift for an RBI single. In a three batter stretch, the Mets had built a 2-0 lead.

With the weather drying out and the Mets on top, Syndergaard settled in. He induced a double play in the fourth to erase a single, put the Braves down in order in the fifth and navigated a single from Ender Inciarte in the sixth to finish his outing. Syndergaard tossed six shutout innings, striking out five, walking two and giving up three hits. It wasn’t quite the dominant version of Thor we’ve seen in years past, but it was one of his better outings of the year, especially considering that Mickey Callaway said postgame that Syndergaard was sick and almost didn’t pitch. It also put he in line for his seventh straight win at Citi Field, which had never been done, as well as his first career win against the Braves.

A sacrifice fly from Tomas Nido stretched the Met lead to 3-0. This is the Mets, however, and starting pitchers aren’t allowed to get wins. Robert Gsellman – with the help of a dropped fly ball from Austin Jackson, who is still inexplicably employed by the Mets – gave up a run, recorded one out and left with the bases loaded. Drew Smith entered, threw a wild pitch, then gave up a two-run single to Ronald Acuña.

It seems fitting to mention here that the Mets have the worst winning percentage in the National League when leading after six innings. True to form, the Mets squandered scoring opportunities in the seventh, let the Braves blow things open in the eighth, then went quietly to their 84th loss of the season.

Thoughts from the Game

This game fits an irritatingly common pattern for the season. A starter pitches excellently for six or seven innings, departs with a narrow lead or with the game tied, then immediately watches as the bullpen blows the lead and the offense does nothing to help. It’s extremely frustrating to watch as a fan and must be even more maddening for Jacob deGrom. Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler. It also highlights the most glaring needs on this Met team: at least two and preferably three high quality bullpen arms need to be acquired in the offseason, and the offense must be improved by addressing holes at catcher, center field, and first base.

Given all that, get ready for the Mets to re-sign Devin Mesoraco and Austin Jackson, bring in Brad Brach and call it an offseason.

Other Met News

David Wright is back, making this a very bittersweet week for us all. He most likely will not appear in this series against the Braves, as they still fight for home field advantage in the playoffs. For now, we’ll just have to enjoy seeing him in the dugout again and look forward to his farewell game on Saturday.

Marlins 2, Mets 5 [Game 2]

It was a day where the games mattered even less than usual; Mets captain David Wright announced that this season would be his last, and the collective wail from Mets fans meant the doubleheader sweep of the Marlins was a joyless one.

On any other day, Game One would have been a thriller, ending on back-to-back home runs for the first time in franchise history, with Michael Conforto homering to tie the game with two outs in the ninth, his 25th, and Todd Frazier following with a walk-off home run, his 18th. Steven Matz surrendered two home runs (three runs overall) and hit a two-run homer himself in the second inning. Jerry Blevins, who had come in in the ninth, got the win, his third.

In the nightcap, a makeup, Jason Vargas pitched six innings for his sixth win of the year, and Robert Gsellman picked up his 11th save. Tomas Nido homered, and Conforto continued his heroics, driving in three of the Mets runs, which was the winning difference.

But it was all an afterthought, as the 2018 season, long a lost cause, managed to find a new, devastating way to break our hearts.

The Mets travel to Boston to face the Red Sox tonight. Noah Syndergaard (11-3, 3.44) will take on Hector Velasquez (7-2 3.29); first pitch is at 7:10 p.m.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

Thor allowed 12 hits and walked more (5) than he struck out (4) in almost seven innings of work. It was no matter though, as the offense exploded for 10 runs off Phillies pitching in just eight innings. Once and future prospect Tomas Nido started the scoring with a bases-clearing double in the second off Philadelphia starter Zach Eflin.

It didn’t get much better for Eflin in the third, as Todd Frazier continued his annual late-season surge with a three-run homer to really break things open. The Phillies used seven relief pitchers on the evening, but the game wasn’t as close as the final score may indicate.

Jay Bruce reached base in every one of his four plate appearances, showing what he may be still capable of when actually healthy. There’s no doubt the Mets would like the contract back, but Bruce played through a multitude of injuries earlier in the season and surely isn’t as bad when completely healthy. He’s likely going to enter 2019 as the starting first baseman, though Peter Alonso may (read: should) steal the starting gig before the end of June.

Jeff McNeil did Jeff McNeil things, picking up three hits in five at-bats to raise his average up to .329. He’s been a breakout star in the organization this season and looks primed to begin 2019 as the starter at second. While the .329 average is likely to decline, the home run rate (and extra-base hit rate) should increase in the near future. It’s those power changes that have improved McNeil’s outlook drastically from prior seasons.

Syndergaard was hit around on Saturday, but he’s having a strong season that has somehow been underwhelming for a pitcher of Thor’s stature. He’s admitted that his stuff should be leading to better results, but he’s doing an above-average job at preventing runs despite the command issues. Pending future health, the Mets 2019 starting rotation projects as one of the best in all of baseball, as long as Zack Wheeler’s improvements are for real.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

The former top prospect has battled injuries in his brief career, clearing the 20-start plateau only once since making his debut in 2015. He hasn’t escaped the usual nicks and dings in 2018, but he’s avoided major injury and looks primed to set a career high in innings.

Matz showed what he’s fully capable of Saturday, allowing just four base runners on the afternoon while striking out 11. He was efficient too, walking just one Giant and using only 93 pitches to get through seven. Health in the rotation is always a question mark for this organization and 2019 figures to be no different. A healthy Matz is almost a must, as the internal starting pitching depth looks pretty thin at this point.

Old friend Tomas Nido collected his first two hits since being recalled from Binghamton last week. He went 2-4 on the afternoon, including an RBI double that scored Brandon Nimmo to tie things up at one apiece. Nido will compete for the backup job in spring training but it’d admittedly be a mild surprise if he were to begin the 2019 season on the Opening Day roster.

Swiss Army Pitching Knife Seth Lugo gave the orange and blue two scoreless innings to force extras in San Francisco. His 2019 role is to be determined — by whom I’m unsure —  but he could fill a variety of different roles depending on how the offseason goes. I’m still of the belief that he belongs in the rotation, but I’ll acknowledge that there’s an argument to be made that he remain in the pen.

Jerry Blevins, a free agent to be, picked up his second win of the season. He was a candidate to be traded before the waiver deadline, but the Mets decided against it for an unknown reason. Daniel Zamora will likely fill the Blevins role in the bullpen next year unless the Mets decide to re-sign the lefty, in which I could then envision a scenario where Zamora is DFA’d off the 40-man instead.

After pledging to use his proven relievers less in an effort to get a look at the new guys, Mickey Callaway instead turned to Robert Gsellman for a second straight day. There’s no good reason to overwork a reliever who figures to begin 2019 as the closer, especially in a lost season, but a master of strategy Callaway is not. With Tyler Bashlor, Drew Smith and now Eric Hanhold in the bullpen, it’s time for Callaway to experiment with the young guys.

Photo credit: Neville E. Guard – USA Today Sports

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A)

Pitcher: Justin Dunn

After a disappointing full-season debut in 2017, Dunn returned to the Florida State League looking to rebound on what was essentially a lost season. In 2016, the Mets’ first rounder had a 5.00 ERA and walked 48 in 95.1 innings with Port St. Lucie before a shoulder injury ended his season. His second go-around went much smoother, with Dunn earning a well-deserved promotion to Binghamton after dominating FSL hitters to the tune of a 2.36 ERA and 51 strikeouts against 15 walks in 45.2 innings.

Dunn’s showed well in Binghamton thus far, striking out more than a batter per nine while keeping his walk rate in check. Jeffrey Paternostro, our lead prospect writer over at the main site, saw Dunn with Binghamton and thought his stuff was actually a tick down from where it had been previously. Instead of the mid-90s fastball, the pitch was sitting more in the 91-94 range. Dunn’s been thought to have a plus fastball, but that’s merely average velocity for a starter nowadays. He’s essentially a two-pitch pitcher at present, with a slider that flashes above average as well. Dunn is also working on developing his change, a needed part of the repertoire if he wants to succeed as a starter in the big leagues.

Although his numbers have been significantly better this season, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed with the reports on Dunn. His stock has increased from last season, but he looks like more of a No. 4 or 5 starter or a late-inning arm rather than a potential top of the rotation arm.

Hitter: Tomas Nido

Old friend Tomas Nido garnered some hype in the offseason as a potential major league caliber catcher, but was called into duty far too quickly due to injuries and struggled mightily in his first extended taste with the Mets. Nido’s likely always going to be glove before bat, but he’ll need to improve on a .446 OPS if he ever wants to stick around in the majors.

Nido returned to Binghamton, where he started the season, and has actually put up a decent line of .273/.297/.453 in almost 140 at-bats. He’s got 14 doubles and three home runs, fairly good numbers for a player who struggled severely a couple months ago.

Here’s where it gets worrisome: Nido has drawn just three walks this season and is repeating the level. While he’s not striking out an exorbitant amount, he’s not getting any free bases either. That’s a problem for a 24-year-old who’s never shown power numbers that may excuse that type of walk rate in the minors. Nido might and likely will have a career as a glove-first backup, but the bat isn’t anything to get excited about, limiting his potential impact at the major league level.

Pitcher: Harol Gonzalez

The aforementioned Jeffrey Paternostro loves him some Harol Gonzalez. The 23-year-old right-hander had a Jacob deGrom experience of his own in Port St. Lucie, winning a single game and losing six with a 2.82 ERA. With higher level affiliates in need of starting pitching, the Mets promoted Gonzalez to Vegas for a single start, and now to Binghamton, where he’ll presumably spend the rest of the season.

Gonzalez has a fringy fastball and his secondary offerings aren’t anything to write home about, but he’s had success at every stop in the minors, sort of like Nabil Crismatt. Crismatt’s got the better stuff, but both have a long track record of success. With Crismatt’s promotion to Las Vegas, Gonzalez took his spot in the Rumble Ponies rotation. He’s only made one start thus far, but this is the level where we’ll find out about whether his stuff can one day play in a major league rotation, or even the bullpen.

Port St. Lucie (Advanced-A)

Pitcher: David Peterson

Peterson’s first six starts in St. Lucie haven’t gone as expected. He’s got a 17:13 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 6.82 ERA, uninspiring numbers for a player many thought should be a level higher at this stage of his career. Part of the appeal in last year’s draft with Peterson was his polish as a college lefty who could move quickly, but it’s now unlikely he even moves to Binghamton before the end of the season.

The reports on his stuff as a whole have been down a bit since last season, and the peripherals back that up. Peterson’s still the best pitching prospect in the system, but the reports and results have been a little discouraging for the left-hander. He’s too good to struggle like this in Advanced-A though, so we’ll check back in a couple more starts to see if anything’s changed.

Hitter: Jeremy Vasquez

A sleeper name who got off to a great start in the Sally League, Vasquez was promoted to St. Lucie less than two weeks ago. He’s off to a rough start but it’s only been 11 games, far too small of a sample. The left-handed hitting first basemen is a hit-before-power prospect, a tough profile that puts a lot of pressure on the hit tool, especially for a 1B-only guy.

While he has shown doubles power, Vasquez hit just six home runs in almost 300 at-bats for Columbia. Vasqeuz should finish the season in St. Lucie and may possibly begin 2019 down in Florida as well. He’s a name to follow, I suppose, but expectations should be minimal. The reality is that as a 28th rounder out of college, reaching Double-A would be a win for the organization.

Hitter: Desmond Lindsay

The expectations for a second rounder are far higher than they are for a 28th rounder, and Lindsay has been a severe disappointment this season. The oft-injured center fielder has only taken 685 at-bats in four seasons and is struggling in St. Lucie to the tune of a .621 OPS. Lindsay’s striking out 26% of the time with a walk rate of 12.1%, but his slugging percentage is actually lower than his on-base percentage. He’s hitting just .208/.311/.309 this season and while the FSL does suppress offense, this is a new low for one of the Mets’ top prospects. All that being said, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that he wasn’t listed in our BP Mets midseason organizational review.

Lindsay has stayed mostly healthy this season – a win in and of itself – but it doesn’t really matter if his tools don’t start showing up in games. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next season and the Mets will have an interesting decision on their hands. If I had to guess, Lindsay’s unlikely to be protected unless he starts to show some signs of becoming the major league caliber player the Mets thought he could become.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

After a month of futility, the Mets found themselves in another good patch, having won four straight games and facing the lowly Marlins again on Tuesday night. Even better, the Marlin killer Zack Wheeler (3-1, 2.85 ERA career against Miami) was on the mound, though he’s much less effective at home (8-18 5.31 ERA at home). Still, an anemic Marlin lineup offered a good chance for Wheeler to get back on track.

Wheeler wasn’t the biggest story of the night, but we’ll get to that later. For now, the Mets set to work taking down Caleb Smith and the Marlins to push their winning streak to five games.

Game Recap

Good-against-the-Marlins Wheeler beat out bad-at-home Wheeler, and he put together a very solid start. His only real trouble came in the second, where he gave up an earned run on a couple hard hits and a seeing-eye ground ball up the middle. Jose Reyes then made a terrible error, hesitating when he had an easy play at second on a bunt, then throwing low to first to load the bases. Another ground ball single lead to two more runs, these unearned, and put the Mets in a 3-0 hole.

Wheeler prevented further damage, preventing Reyes’ error from turning into a true disaster. He worked around another throwing error from Reyes in the fifth, keeping the Marlins off the board despite being burdened with runners at the corners. He finished his outing after six innings, striking out nine and walking none while giving up just the one earned run on nine hits. The Mets offense couldn’t do much to back Wheeler unfortunately. Jose Bautista, making his Mets debut, score the only run in the second after doubling and coming home on a sacrifice fly from Tomas Nido.

Robert Gsellman and AJ Ramos got in the game after Wheeler, and both looked tired. Gsellman escaped the seventh unscathed, but Ramos served up a two-run bomb to Derek Dietrich that put the Mets in a four-run hole. That home run was ultimately a moot point, as the Mets didn’t score again. Asdrubal Cabrera grounding into a double play in the eighth inning with runners on the corners and one out was the dagger, squandering their last best chance before three batters were retired in six pitches by Brad Zeigler in the ninth.

With the loss, the four game winning streak is snapped and the Mets’ record drops to 24-20. Some credit certainly goes to Marlins’ starter Caleb Smith, who had good command and went after hitters. The offense for the Mets is a concern, however, particularly against lefties with Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto playing such critical roles. This tweet from Rich MacLeod sums things up nicely:

The Marlins have the worst team ERA in the National League. The #Mets have scored 3 runs against them in 2 games.

— Rich MacLeod (@richmacleod) May 23, 2018

Thoughts from the Game

Mickey Callaway’s bullpen usage early in the season was a strong part of his game, as he rotated through everyone in his bullpen and didn’t lean too heavily on any particular arms. Over the last month, however, he’s slipped into a Terry-ism, utilizing the same relievers again and again while leaving some guys in the back end of the bullpen unused. Jacob Rhame, Chris Flexen and Corey Oswalt have seen much less action than the core pitchers, and that’s starting to hurt – Gsellman and Ramos have both been used heavily of late, and both looked gassed last night. The Mets are currently in the front third of a brutal stretch of 18 games in 17 days, and Callaway will have to go back to using all the tools at his disposal if the bullpen is to survive.

Reyes continues to be a disaster for this team. He had two errors Tuesday, and a 1-for-3 performance with a walk raised his season line to a whopping .145/.203/.200 with miserable defense. I really want to know what sort of kompromat Reyes has on the front office, because at this point there’s little to no reason behind his presence on this roster. Luis Guillorme, Philip Evans, Jeff McNeil, and possibly even Ty Kelly and Gavin Cecchini would be upgrades on both sides of the ball right now, and for a team with a margin as narrow as the Mets, every bit of value counts.

Other Mets News

The big news of the day of course was the Mets’ signing of Jose Bautista. Bautista, picked up then immediately placed back on the scrap heap by the Braves earlier this season, took a flight from Tampa around 3 p.m. and made it into the lineup in time to go 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of strikeouts. On the surface, the signing makes sense given the Mets’ paper thin outfield depth chart and even thinner list of right handed bats.

Somewhat problematically for that justification, Jose Bautista is terrible. He hasn’t had a meanigfully above replacement season since 2015, and his 2017 was straight up disastrous. He can’t play the outfield, certainly can’t play at third base and, at 37 years old, probably isn’t getting much of what he’s lost with the bat back. The Mets farm is thin, but there are easily four or five more youthful options that could come up, play bad corner outfield defense, and offer more upside with the bat (McNeil, Evans, even Dom Smith come to mind).

If the Mets had a track record of bringing in wild card vets, giving them a chance, then cutting bait when they’re bad, I don’t think any fan would object to this signing. The Mets do exactly the opposite of that however, exemplified by Jose Reyes and, to a lesser degree, Adrian Gonzalez. Bringing in Bautista will more than likely do nothing but block younger options like Brandon Nimmo and Wilmer Flores from playing time, rob us of the chance to see intriguing players from the farm system and make the team worse in both the short and long term. Unfortunately, it’s just par for the course with this front office.

 Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

The Fightin’ Amed Rosario’s

WHAT HAPPENED, A MATTER OF TIME:

If you want an accurate recap of how the Mets hit, don’t look at Clay Buchholz’s line. The righty missed most of last season with an injury, but found a start with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Welcome back to The Show, here’s a hot offense and a duel with Noah Syndergaard. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for the Mets to complete a home sweep against a first-place team. On paper, the Mets had already scored six runs.

But the point of everything is that nothing makes sense. Through five innings, the Mets weren’t just being shutout; Buchholz had allowed only one hit! How was he doing it? Well, that question strikes at the heart of all that is weird and good in baseball.

He wasn’t blowing guys away with offerings like “a low-90’s fastball” or “a 73-mph curveball.” He wasn’t filling up the zone, throwing strikes a rather pedestrian 63 percent of the time. He wasn’t even really generating weak contact, as the Mets were blistering baseballs. The easiest answer as to how this happened is that Buchholz was just, sort of, there. And that, every now and then, the baseball gods decide to play a quick one on us fans who think we know it all. Buchholz was throwing baseballs to a glove, and letting the cards fall as they may.

Surely when Amed Rosario stepped to the plate to lead off the sixth, Buchholz thought to himself, ‘Hey, this worked for five innings. Why wouldn’t it work for a six?’ But he, and everyone in attendance, would be wrong. In a true act of poetic justice, Amed Rosario led off the sixth with a nearly 400-foot home run — bringing a swift conclusion to Buchholz’s outing. What a truly weird game this is.

WHAT HAPPENED, SYNDERGAARD AND A STRONG BULLPEN:

In contrast to Clay Buchholz, Noah Syndergaard pitched much better than his line suggests. There was a lot to like about it. Had the Diamondback’s lineup not featured Jarrod Dyson, Syndergaard would’ve faced little-to-no resistance. Dyson accounted for three of the Diamondbacks’ six hits, and scored their only run in the top of the second inning. He was, for the most part, the only hitter who appeared to give Syndergaard fits during every trip to the plate.

The only other obstacle Syndergaard faced on Sunday afternoon came from a high early pitch count. Going into the fifth inning with 73 pitches to your name isn’t ideal, but the Mets’ ace was able to overcome. Syndergaard needed just 26 pitches to work the fifth, sixth and seventh — ending the day around the 100-pitch mark. Sure, his seven strikeouts and one walk were nice, but this is something we’ve waited to see Syndergaard do all season. It was good enough for his second-longest outing of the year.

Looking past outcomes, Syndergaard’s stuff looked great. His slider was sharp, getting five whiffs on seven swings, and his changeup was solid. This was also the first time all year we had seen Syndergaard touch 101 mph, according to Brooks Baseball. Syndergaard’s fastball sat in the high 90s all day, and up until his final pitches — touching 99 mph to Ketel Marte. Even when you consider how hefty the DBacks have struggled at the plate, Syndergaard featured a lot of positives that serve as a warning sign for opposing hitters. Thor is getting hot.

To finish the game, the Mets called upon Jerry Blevins to face David Peralta. Blevins, who returned after a short leave for the birth of his son, managed to strike out the only batter he was tasked to face. From there, Robert Gsellman slammed the door to record his first career save. With the five-out save, the righty lowered his season ERA to 2.76 and has now struck out 28 hitters in 29.1 innings. It is rather apparent that Gsellman, as well as teammate Seth Lugo, have benefited from a move out of the rotation.
Overall, the Mets bullpen was lights out against the Arizona Diamondbacks. For the three-game series, the bullpen worked nine innings and struck out 14 batters — allowing no runs, no walks and two hits. Sure, the Diamondbacks strikeout at one of the highest rates in all of baseball, but it is exciting to see the group pitching this well.

WHAT HAPPENED, THEN CAME THE SEVENTH:

When Jorge De La Rosa came into the game, he had already been given the rulebook. Just throw the ball to the glove, it should be fine today. It worked for Clay Buchholz! For two-thirds of an inning, this was largely true. He was able to set down Adrian Gonzalez on strikes, then Luis Guillorme on a bad drag bunt. Things were going great. With Tomas Nido due up, De La Rosa probably thought a clean slate was in the bag. As easy as they come.
Even as he watched the light-hitting catcher barely squeak one through into centerfield, he probably thought things would be fine. ‘It’s just one out,’ De La Rosa reasoned, ‘it’ll be fine.’ Well, that’s where he was wrong. He forgot that he broke the 14th unwritten rule: Don’t let Tomas Nido get a hit. The baseball gods, furious at this transgression, sent Asdrubal Cabrera to the plate with murderous intentions. Even after Cabrera deposited a baseball 400 feet away from home plate, retribution was not yet achieved. Though it seemed, to the casual onlooker, like Amed Rosario was coming to the plate with just the slimmest chance of realizing a two-homer day, it had already been decided. When everything was said and done, the Mets left the seventh inning with an unreachable 4-1 lead.

Thusly, it is canon that bad things happen once you surrender a hit to Nido.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

Noah Syndergaard pitched well, the bullpen continued to do the same and Asdrubal Cabrera has achieved prophet status. All completely normal things to happen during the final game of the Mets first home sweep since 2016.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets welcome the Miami Marlins to town as they wrap up an 11-game homestand. Jason Vargas will get the start against Elieser Hernandez, as he looks to turn his early season woes around. The Mets sit in third place with a 23-19 record, just 3.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – 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

It was a pitchers duel at Suntrust Park Saturday night, as the Braves sent out Opening Day starter Julio Teheran opposite deGrom in the third game of this four-game series. Teheran and deGrom pitched like the aces they are, as they both went seven innings, allowed no runs on four hits, and finished with 98 and 97 pitches respectively. While deGrom struck out a dominant 10 Braves hitters on the evening, Teheran struck out a respectable six Mets.

The Braves turned to Sam Freeman in the top of the eighth, who walked Flores and than allowed a bunt single to  to leadoff the inning. The lefty Freeman was kept in to face the left-handed Michael Conforto, who hit a grounder to Johan Camargo at third that looked like a sure double-play ball. Camargo fielded it and threw to Ozzie Albies at second, who dropped the ball on a transfer but held on long enough to get Reyes out at second. Or so we thought, as Callaway challenged the play and the ruling was surprisingly reversed, which set Yoenis Cespedes up with the bases loaded in a tie ballgame.

That would do it for Freeman, as Brian Snitker called upon Shane Carle to face Cespedes and escape the jam. Cespedes looked anxious to make up for his three strikeout evening and hit a short fly ball to right on the first pitch he saw, but it wasn’t deep enough to score Flores. Early season Mets MVP Asdrubal Cabrera stepped up and delivered yet again, hitting an RBI single to right that scored both Flores and Reyes to give the Mets the 2-0 lead. Jay Bruce, who’s been in quite the slump to start the season, hit a sharp line drive to center that scored Conforto and was the only other Mets run on the evening.

With Robert Gsellman unavailable after a multi-inning outing Friday, A.J. Ramos came on in the eighth and promptly walked the leadoff hitter, just like old times. Sticking true to himself, Ramos struck out the next batter, Ender Inciarte, before walking Albies and putting the tying run at the plate. Callaway had seen enough and turned to designated LOOGY Jerry Blevins, who’s actually been the worst Met reliever against LHB to start the season, to face Braves slugger Freddie Freeman. Blevins’ best pitch is his 70 mph curveball, but he threw a 88 mph sinker on the first pitch and Freeman was ready, blasting a double off the wall in left center that scored Ryan Flaherty and Albies and cut the Met lead to one. Blevins was left in to face Nick Markakis, who he struck out, but a wild pitch during the at-bat allowed Freeman to advance over to third. Sensing another blown game from the bullpen, Callaway decided to bring in closer Jeurys Familia for the four-out save, the fourth such instance in the young season. Familia struck out Preston Tucker to end the threat, and the Mets went to the ninth with the 3-2 advantage.

Former top prospect Jesse Biddle came in to pitch the ninth for Atlanta in what was his major league debut. Biddle is a former first round pick and number one prospect of the Phillies, but a myriad of injuries and freak occurrences almost ended his promising career. The lefthander had to have all of the adrenaline flowing and was touching 95 mph in his scoreless ninth. Biddle got Tomas Nido and Reyes to ground out, but walked Conforto, which allowed Cespedes the chance to make up for his 0-4 night. It looked like he had done it, as he hit a moonshot down the left field line that was initially called a home run, but an umpire conference quickly concluded without the use of replay that the ball was foul. It turned out to be a huge difference, as the home run would’ve given the Mets a three-run advantage heading to the bottom of the inning.

The bottom half of the inning began with a leadoff walk issued to Dansby Swanson. In stepped Camargo, who barreled up a 95 mph sinker to right center which scored the tying run while simultaneously giving the Braves the winning run on third with no one out. Braves catcher Carlos Perez was scheduled to hit next, but Snitker decided to pinch hit Kurt Suzuki instead, and he delivered with a sharp liner to Todd Frazier for an infield single. Familia faced another pinch hitter, this time Charlie Culberson, and struck him out for the first out. In stepped the speedy Inciarte, who appeared to be swinging away. Once Familia delivered the pitch, Inciarte showed his intention to bunt, and his perfect drag bunt caught the Mets by surprise, scoring the winning run easily.

Things to keep an eye on

Saturday was another brutal outing for the Mets bullpen, as the extreme early season usage seems to be catching up with them. The team made a move to fortify the bullpen early Saturday, sending Gerson Bautista back down to Double-A Binghamton in favor of Corey Oswalt from Triple-A Las Vegas, but Oswalt sat next to Matt Harvey on the bench in the bullpen.

Yoenis Cespedes struck out three more times Saturday to increase his season total to 37 in 89 plate appearances. Cespedes had the infamous golden sombrero Friday but made up for it with his clutch game winning hit. His K-rate now sits at a horrendous 41.6% for the season and it’s a troubling trend for the seemingly healthy slugger. The Mets need Cespedes to figure it out at the dish, and he has reportedly thought about bringing back his famous golf game in order to fix his swing.

Jay Bruce didn’t look 100% out there either, and his .194/.258/.354 triple slash leaves a lot to be desired. Bruce hasn’t looked great in the outfield and the Mets have two fantastic options on the bench in Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares. Bruce recently missed a game due to a flare up of plantar fasciitis, and it would seemingly serve the Mets well to place him on the DL while simultaneously getting Nimmo and Lagares more at-bats.

Fan-favorite (I laughed out loud typing this) Jose Reyes was 0-20 entering Saturday’s game, but went 3-4 and added a stolen base, which almost assuredly secured him three starts next week. Reyes shouldn’t be getting starts ahead of franchise cornerstone Amed Rosario and it’s hard to argue what value he brings to the table. I had the chance to see Phillip Evans and Luis Guillorme live this past week in Las Vegas (scouting notes piece coming this week!) and both bring much more to the table without the personal issues that Reyes possess.

The Mets will send Zach Wheeler (1-1, 2.77) out to face Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (1-1, 2.53) as they look to split the four-game series.

Photo credit: Adam Hagy – USA Today Sports

The game started with a bang for Atlanta, as after their starter Sean Newcomb tossed a scoreless first inning, second baseman Ozzie Albies greeted Mets ace Noah Syndergaard rudely, turning around a first pitch 100 mph fastball and depositing it over the right center field fence for his Braves’ leading sixth home run of the season. The Mets went quietly in the second, but got the bats going in the third, as after Tomas Nido led off the frame with a single, Amed Rosario doubled him in with a drive into the right center field gap. Rosario later scored on a sacrifice fly from Michael Conforto, giving the Mets a 2-1 advantage. After Syndergaard worked around a leadoff hit from Atlanta’s center fielder Ender Inciarte in the Braves’ half of the frame, the Mets began hurting themselves a little in the fourth.

After Todd Frazier drew a one-out walk and then stole second base, Wilmer Flores lined a hit into right field, easily scoring Frazier to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. The play didn’t end there, however, as Flores attempted to stretch a single into a double, and was easily thrown out by Atlanta right fielder Nick Markakis. New York has made a point of running the bases aggressively all year, a tone that was set early in spring training, but there is a difference between controlled aggression and unnecessary risk, and Flores should have been able to make a better judgement with the play directly in front of him. Critiquing someone after an RBI hit feels a little bit like nitpicking though, especially when a much bigger issue for the Mets came in the bottom of the frame. After Syndergaard had easily retired the first two Atlanta hitters, a Dansby Swanson ground ball made it through the left side of the infield to give the Braves a two-out runner. Ryan Flaherty then roped a hard line drive that Jay Bruce grossly misjudged, overcharged and had to chase the ball to the wall as Swanson raced all the way around, cutting the New York lead to 3-2.

The Mets came close to regaining a two run advantage in the sixth, when, after a Flores two-out single, Bruce lofted a fly ball down the left field line that fell for a hit. Third base coach Glenn Sherlock waved Flores home, not a bad play with two outs, but Atlanta left fielder Preston Tucker made a strong throw to the plate, and Kurt Suzuki made an even better play, catching the ball and athletically diving to tag Flores’ elbow just before his fingertips reached the far corner of the plate, ending the inning and giving the Braves a big momentum boost. The home team was able to ride that energy into the bottom of the frame when Markakis lined a lead off double into left center, giving the Braves an immediate scoring threat that they quickly capitalized on. After advancing to 3rd on a wild pitch, Markakis walked home on a long sacrifice fly by Suzuki, and just like that the game was tied. Both Syndergaard and Newcomb were done after six, creating a battle of the bullpens as the game headed to the later innings.

The relief pitching was spot on for both teams, as Dan Winkler, Shane Carle and A.J. Minter all contributed scoreless innings for Atlanta, and New York got two hitless innings from Seth Lugo (aided by Nido throwing out two potential base-stealers) and a perfect frame from A.J. Ramos to push the contest into extra innings.

Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino tossed a 1-2-3 top of the 10th, and Robert Gsellman did the same for the Mets in the bottom of the frame, sending the game to the 11th where the drama began to build. Righty Josh Ravin, just activated from the DL earlier in the day, entered in the 11th and found himself in immediate trouble after a lead-off walk and a Freddie Freeman error. He was able to get the next three hitters though to keep the game tied, and give Atlanta their 3rd opportunity to walk the game off with a run. After Gsellman got the first two Braves hitters in the 11th he found trouble himself, as Markakis turned in a strong at-bat that resulted in a walk, and Suzuki then roped a hit into left field. As the crowd chopped their tomahawks in anticipation, Gsellman was able to silence them by striking out Tucker to end the inning and send the game into the 12th.

In a somewhat surprising move, Mets manager Mickey Callaway let Gsellman bat for himself to begin the inning, a move that essentially signified New York relievers Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins were both unavailable. Frustratingly for Braves fans, with Ravin basically being handed the first out of the inning, he instead hit Gsellman with a pitch, immediately putting him in a difficult situation. A sacrifice bunt from Rosario moved the go-ahead run into scoring position, but Conforto popped out to shortstop, putting Ravin on the brink of another escape. Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes had different ideas however, as, after striking out four times earlier in the night, he found a hole through the right side to score Gsellman and give New York the lead. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a double off the right field fence to add an insurance run, and the Mets were able to send closer Jeurys Familia to the mound in the bottom of the inning with a 5-3 cushion. Familia easily set the Braves down in order to secure the win, and earn New York their 14th win in their first 19 games.

Tonight the Mets send Jacob deGrom to the hill opposing Atlanta’s Julio Teheran.

Photo credit: Dale Zanine – USA Today Sports