News broke late Friday night of an impending trade with the Athletics for closer Jeurys Familia, which was finally finalized at 3:50 p.m Saturday, just as the Yankees scored their seventh run of the ballgame. The Mets were reportedly seeking prospects in the higher levels of the minors and that’s what they will receive in Bobby Wahl, a reliever with MLB experience who’s currently in Triple-A. He’ll sit in the mid-90s and touch triple digits with his fastball to go along with a hard breaker. The Mets have a type of reliever they love to target, and Wahl fits the same mold as Gerson Bautista, Eric Hanhold and others the team has recently acquired via trade.

The other player coming to Queens (eventually) is Will Toffey, a fourth-round selection by the A’s in last year’s draft. He played his college ball at Vanderbilt but holds just a .733 OPS in his first 373 minor league at-bats, split between short-season and Advanced-A. He doesn’t fit the typical third base profile -he’s more of a line drive hitter than a home run guy- but he’s got a chance to become a second-division regular.

The Mets also acquired an apparently $1 million of international pool money, which isn’t enough to stop this from being a disappointing haul overall. The Mets already have this type of relief pitcher in the system and have been reluctant thus far to even use them. Toffey doesn’t currently project as an impact player at the major league level. There’s not much good to say about this deal, folks.

Anyway, Old Friend Yoenis Cespedes returned to the lineup Friday night but had some interesting and revealing postgame comments. He’s dealing with an issue in both heels that can only be corrected with surgery, which holds an 8-10 month recovery time. Cespedes is unlikely to ever play healthy without the surgery, and there’s no better time for him to have it than right now. The Mets are out of contention and need a healthy Cespedes if they truly want to compete next season. Running a broken down player who has worked incredibly hard to return into the lineup in the midst of a lost season is very Mets.

The even bigger story is that the Mets are publicly saying they were unaware of the chronic heel issues. This seems highly unlikely, of course, as they’ve given Cespedes two separate physicals before acquiring him and had to be aware of the severity of the injury. Manager Mickey Callaway was completely unaware of Yo’s postgame comments, which just confirms the many suspicions about the lack of communication between the front office and the coaching staff.

As for the actual baseball game, Steven Matz was tagged for five earned runs in five innings of work. Both relievers who pitched Saturday, Tim Peterson and Anthony Swarzak, each allowed a run as well. The final score was much closer than the game actually was, as Aroldis Chapman couldn’t find the strike zone and almost allowed the Mets to tie things up in the ninth inning. Yankee manager Aaron Boone pulled his closer for Chasen Shreve, who secured the final three outs and earned the save. Michael Conforto homered and Amed Rosario added another three-hit game to his resume, but the Mets only picked up five hits on the afternoon.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports 

In a lot of ways, this game was everything the Mets envisioned could be routine when they broke camp in March. Instead, given the way the Amazins played in the first half, last night was more of a mirage of what could have been.

The Mets certainly came out of the All-Star break on the attack against Yankees starter Domingo German. Brandon Nimmo led the game off with a walk and quickly scored two batters later when Asdrubal Cabrera lined a double into the right field corner. After German got Wilmer Flores to pop up, Conforto and Jose Bautista continued the damage, stringing together back-to-back run-scoring doubles to put the road team up 3-0 before Syndergaard even took the mound.

The big righty looked sharp early, and although he surrendered a pair of two-out singles in the first, the frame should almost certainly have been a clean one, as Amed Rosario simply whiffed on a very playable ground ball up the middle from Didi Gregorius. After an uneventful 2nd inning, the Mets extended their lead in the third, thanks to a towering lead-off homer from Cespedes in his first game back from the DL. The Bombers plated a run in the bottom of that inning on a sac fly from Giancarlo Stanton, but Syndergaard stranded two to prevent the Yankees from getting any closer.

The 4-1 New York (NL) advantage held until the fifth, when the Amazins mounted another rally, this time against righty reliever Adam Warren. Walks by Cespedes and Flores put two on with one out, and a Conforto single to left restored the Mets’ four-run lead. Two batters later, Flores would come around to score on a hit from Devin Mesoraco, giving the Mets a 6-1 lead. After Syndergaard stranded another runner in the fifth, a frame in which he scarily required a visit from the trainer, manager Mickey Callaway decided to err on the side of caution and remove his co-ace after five with his team up five.

Relief ace Seth Lugo entered in the sixth, and unfortunately he didn’t have his best stuff. Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird started the frame with back to back singles to put Lugo in immediate trouble. He did strike out Miguel Andujar to get his first out, but former Met Neil Walker then doubled in both runners to get the Yankees within striking distance at 6-3. Lugo returned to the mound in the seventh and continued to bend but not break, walking two and allowing a single, but stranding the bases loaded.

The Mets offense stalled a little in the later innings against Yankees relievers Chasen Shreve, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder, which allowed the Bombers to stay in this game, and they really started to make the road dugout uncomfortable in the eighth. With Robert Gsellman now on the hill, Brett Gardner hit a one-out grounder to Rosario who bobbled the play, giving the Bombers a free runner on the error. An Aaron Judge single, followed by a run-scoring double from Gregorius made that error loom extremely large as the inning progressed. Stanton drove in his second run of the contest on a ground ball to shortstop to get the Yankees within one run, but a big strikeout of Sanchez stranded the tying run 90 feet away.

In the road ninth, the Mets actually played strong situational baseball to generate a key insurance run. Cabrera led off with a single against A.J. Cole and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Flores then pushed him to third with a ground ball to second, and Cabrera could later walk home on a long sac fly from Conforto.

As the Yankees prepared to hit in the bottom of the ninth, a new drama began to unfold. In a clear save situation, Jeurys Familia remained seated in the road bullpen wearing a jacket, a telling sign that he’s imminently being traded. Gsellman was the one who trotted out to the mound to attempt a to secure the save in his second inning of work, and while he did allow the Bombers to bring the tying run to the plate, the Mets perhaps new closer of the present was able to get the job done.

It has been about two months since the Mets have won a series but they’ll attempt to do it tomorrow with Steven Matz on the hill.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

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

That franchise-best 11-1 start? It vanished like a mediocre magic trick. The Mets are now just a single game above .500 and have dropped to fourth in the NL East, behind Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington.

Coming off the embarrassment of a winless homestand, it seemed like the Mets were gifted a cupcake to get them back on track in the form of a league-worst Cincinnati Reds team. Well, so much for that. The Mets dropped two of three to the Reds, falling to a putrid 1-8 in their last nine games. Unfortunately, that’s not even the worst of it though. The Mets, a Major League Baseball team I may add, batted out of order in the first inning. It’s not like they had made a couple of complicated double-switches or used a bunch of pinch hitters. Nope, it was far worse. An error so unthinkable in today’s game that the only team that could pull it off did, in fact, pull it off.

To make matters worse, it looked like the Mets were primed to drop the series opener to the Phillies on Friday night too, but a pair of home runs off the bats of Michael Conforto and Devin Mesoraco in the ninth allowed them to steal a game they really had no business winning. It seemed like the team finally had some momentum for the first time in two weeks, especially with Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom set to start the next two days, but Saturday’s game was postponed and gone was the momentum.

After a one-hour rain delay Sunday, the Mets were able to load the bases in the first against Phillies ace Aaron Nola but they ultimately couldn’t capitalize. With an off-day Monday, the Mets elected to push Syndergaard back since he had warmed up prior to the postponement Saturday, which meant deGrom was still going to make his return on Sunday. The fanbase was relieved to have the staff ace back on the mound, but the celebration lasted all of one batter. deGrom began the bottom of the first by walking the bases loaded, but somehow escaped without allowing a hit or run. It took him 45 pitches to do so though, and Mickey Callaway sent Luis Guillorme up to bat for the pitcher in the top half of the second.

It was undoubtedly the correct decision to take deGrom out, but using Guillorme as the pinch hitter was one of a few questionable decisions made by Callaway. Guillorme collected a base hit in his first major league plate appearance but was pulled out of the game in the bottom half of the inning in favor of Robert Gsellman. Burning Guillorme in the second inning was hard to comprehend, as he could’ve come on later in the game as a defensive replacement for Wilmer Flores, or as a pinch hitter more likely to succeed than Jose Reyes.

Losing Guillorme in the second inning wasn’t even the first questionable move made on Sunday. That came before the game even started when the starting lineups were announced and Dom Smith wasn’t in it. See, the Mets placed Jay Bruce on the paternity list Friday and used the open roster spot to call up Smith, who only plays first base. Any logical person may have thought that the team planned to give Smith a start or two at first, but he wasn’t in the lineup Friday or Saturday. Spoiler alert: he wasn’t in the lineup Sunday either. It was an odd move when the transaction was announced, but it became completely nonsensical once Smith struck out in his only at-bat of the series. When the organization called up Smith, they bypassed utility-man Phil Evans, who’s already on the 40-man and can play virtually every position if needed. There’s no doubt he would’ve allowed for more lineup flexibility during the late innings Friday and Sunday had he been in Philadelphia instead of Smith. Alas, it probably didn’t cost the Mets the game Sunday, but it didn’t exactly help them in any way, either.

After a Yoenis Cespedes solo shot put the Metropolitans ahead 1-0 in the sixth, Callaway sent Paul Sewald out for another inning. Sewald allowed a double that was almost a home run to Carlos Santana to lead off the inning, followed by a walk to Scott Kingery to put men on first and second with only one out. A Jorge Alfaro strikeout was out number two and Callaway had Jerry Blevins ready to face the pinch hitter, Nick Williams. Except he chose to let Sewald work out of the jam and well, the rest is history. Williams went deep to give the Phils a 3-1 advantage they wouldn’t relent. Choosing to stick with Sewald over Blevins was another debatable decision in a game seemingly full of them.

The level of mediocrity we’ve seen the past two weeks is much more reminiscent of the Mets we know and love. The 11-1 start, like most things in life, felt too good to be true. Baseball has its ebbs and flows, and the Mets are likely in the midst of their worst two-week stretch of the season. At least, let’s hope this is as bad as it gets because honestly, what’s more embarrassing than batting out of order in the first inning? As all Met fans can attest, it’d be better if we never found out.

Photo credit: Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports

The Belfast Blur

After hyperextending his elbow last Wednesday, many feared that Jacob deGrom would have to miss an extended period of time (no pun intended). Instead, the Mets announced that the injury was not serious and he would, in fact, start today against the Reds. But wait, then they ended up backtracking on this sentiment and placed deGrom on the disabled list retroactive to May 3. With a potential bullpen game behind Seth Lugo on the table, the Mets opted to call up P.J. Conlon from Triple-A to make his major league debut.

Conlon toeing the rubber was, in fact, far more significant than just his first major league game: the former University of San Diego standout would became the first Irish-born player to appear in a major league game since 1945. Conlon was born in Belfast, Ireland and relocated to California with his family at the age of 2.

The 24-year-old left-hander did not have the picture-perfect MLB debut that every pitcher dreams but battled nevertheless. After tossing two scoreless innings, Conlon surrendered his first major league hit in third — a home run off the bat of Billy Hamilton. He would run into more trouble in the fourth, giving up three doubles and a walk that would eventually spell his exit from tonight’s contest.

Even when you consider that he was facing the lowly Reds, Conlon did demonstrate an ability to locate his pitches and induce non-threatening fly balls. The Belfast Blur (patent pending) did not light up the radar gun, sitting in the mid- to high-80s), but still fooled hitters enough to get through. With a little more experience, he could potentially fine-tune his crafty abilities and contribute to a Mets rotation that is desperately looking for starting pitching help right now.

Bats Bats Bats

It’s important to note that entering last night’s game Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce and Amed Rosario were all visibly slumping. Our editor-in-chief, Kate Feldman, put it best when she tweeted, “Honestly god bless Cincinnati.” It’s important to use games against lower tier to find a rhythm offensively and that’s just what this trio did. Conforto led off the game with an opposite-field home run and finished 2-for-5. Bruce launched a two-run homer in the third (second all-time in home runs at Great American Ball Park behind Joey Votto), as well as grabbing another base hit and two walks. Rosario launched two doubles, one of which was only a few feet away from being his first home run of the 2018 season. He also recorded a sacrifice fly in the second. Yoenis Cespedes remains on a tear, smacking two more doubles. Even automatic out Jose Lobaton got involved in the action, lacing a double in the second.

Gonzo Goes Yatzo (Twice)

But the salt and pepper shaker for Monday night’s game belongs to Adrian Gonzalez. Under tremendous scrutiny about his age and slipping play, A-Gon silenced all the haters, at least for a night, with a 3-for-4 performance. After knocking a single in the second, Gonzalez launched homers into the cheap seats in the third and fifth innings. Before he stepped in the box Monday, Gonzalez already had six home runs off of Reds’ starter and Christian Bale look-alike Homer Bailey; his third-inning blast would be his seventh. There has a been a lot of talk about whether Gonzalez should remain the everyday first baseman going forward. With Jay Bruce’s ability to play first, Brandon Nimmo’s hot bat and Peter Alonso tearing up Double-A, it almost felt like Gonzalez’s days were numbered. If he can continue to produce at this current rate, he should be safe to buy a good amount of time in the major leagues.

Bullpen Wraps It Up

After Conlon departed in the fourth, Paul Sewald replaced him and labored through 1.2 innings. After surrendering three hits and two runs, Robert Gsellman was called upon to follow him in the sixth. Gsellman would also allow a run, making it a one-run game, but Jeurys Familia shut the door on a surprisingly clean inning in the ninth. Gsellman would record the victory and now sits at 4-0 on the season.

The Mets are back at it again tonight in Cincinnati at 7:10. Jason Vargas (*gulp*) will attempt to rebound from two awful starts as he faces Reds right-hander Luis Castillo.

Photo credit: David Kohl – 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 offense has scored only nine runs during the five-game losing streak, an average of a measly 1.8 runs per game compared to the 6.2 they’re allowing. The streak started with a sweep at the hands of the up and coming division rival Atlanta Braves, a series in which the Mets were outscored 21-2, and things haven’t gotten much better against the Rockies, either. Almost every hitter on the team is underperforming, save Asdrubal Cabrera, Todd Frazier and Brandon Nimmo, and it’s becoming a glaring problem considering the recent pitching woes.

With Matt Harvey’s release, Jacob deGrom’s injury scare and Jason Vargas earning (stealing) $16 million dollars to pitch, the Mets really needed a quality start from Steven Matz in the worst way, and boy did he deliver. Nolan Arenado tagged Matz for a solo home run in the first, but the lefty brushed it off nicely and allowed only three Rockies to reach base in the next five innings. Matz was efficient and pitched deep into the ballgame, striking out five and throwing only 88 pitches in his six innings of work. It was an extremely encouraging outing for Matz, who had his start earlier this week pushed back due to back spasms. The rotation outside of deGrom and Noah Syndergaard has been mired in inconsistency, especially Matz, and the hope is this start can get him back on the right track.

Rockies starter Chad Bettis began the season with a 4.80 career ERA, which is actually pretty decent for a guy who makes half his starts in Colorado, but entered last night’s game with a 2.43 mark this season that’s backed up by his 2.68 DRA. The Mets made hard contact that seemed to find Rockies players all night, especially defensive wizard Arenado at the hot corner, and it never felt that the offense was threatening. Bettis allowed six hits and a walk in his seven innings before making way for the most dominant reliever of the season thus far, Adam Ottavino. The Mets put a scare into Ottavino when Nimmo drew a walk to lead off the eighth, but Arenado made a fantastic stop on a sharp grounder by Yoenis Cespedes that ultimately resulted in a fielders choice. Although Cespedes would steal second, Ottavino struck out Cabrera and got Jay Bruce to fly out to end the late-inning threat, ultimately sealing the Mets fate.

With the Mets cutting bait on Matt Harvey in an effort to bolster the bullpen, it’s worthwhile to question whether the team should do the same with underperforming veterans Jose Reyes and Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the strong side of the platoon with Wilmer Flores at first and is slashing a paltry .233/.318/.384. Reyes has been even worse, hitting .139/.184/.222, although to be fair, he’s only had 38 plate appearances (Who am I kidding? Why is this guy still on the team?) Gonzalez and Reyes aren’t the only ones underperforming though; the same can be said for Michael Conforto, Cespedes, Amed Rosario, and even Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton. The prevailing thought with the Mets was that the starting rotation, if healthy, would carry them despite the lineup. The reality is something entirely different though, as the Mets have two reliable starters, one of which kinda-sorta has an elbow injury and a bunch of question marks behind them.

It’s not time to panic yet though — there’s still over 80% of the season yet to be played — but the Mets need improved production from a couple of key positions if they want to contend. Gonzalez has been looking over his shoulder for almost two weeks now, as top prospect Peter Alonso is tearing up Double-A and looks primed to skip Triple-A, a-la Michael Conforto back in 2015. Luis Guillorme, Phil Evans and Ty Kelly (remember him?) can all play shortstop and bring much more to the table than Reyes at this stage of his career. The catching position probably needs to be addressed outside of the organization, unless you believe they can afford to wait for Kevin Plawecki, who probably deserves a shot as the everyday guy once he’s fully recovered from his injury. Impatient fans are calling for Rosario to be sent down, citing his poor average and OBP, which I find utterly ridiculous and you should too.

It’s getting harder with each loss to keep preaching patience with this team, but the reality is the bats are going to pick up at some point. This roster still has the makings of a contender but it’s clear Sandy Alderson and co. are growing impatient. This isn’t rock bottom, but we’re growing ever closer and it’s not pretty.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

New York’s weekend series with the Rockies could not have possibly begun any worse, with Zack Wheeler placing the Mets in an immediate deep hole before they even came to bat. Wheeler surrendered singles to the first three Colorado hitters he faced, as Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra and Nolan Arenado teamed up to plate a run before the road team even made an out. Carlos Gonzalez followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to plate a second run, but the Rockies were far from done. Trevor Story ripped a double down the left field line to score Arenado, before Ian Desmond lofted a fly ball into no man’s land in shallow right, a play that put two more Colorado runners in scoring position. Light hitting Daniel Castro took full advantage, poking a seeing eye single to give the Rockies a 5-0 early lead, and suck out whatever energy was left in the Citi Field crowd.

The opening frame embodied a concerning trend that has held Wheeler back in 2018, a year during which he has, for the most part, been okay. In five starts he’s allowed eight first inning runs, equating to a 14.40 ERA. In the 22 other innings Wheeler has pitched this season, he’s allowed a total of 10 earned runs, amounting to a respectable 4.09 ERA. New York will have to figure out what is causing this stark difference moving forward — maybe something as drastic simulating an inning pre-game in the bullpen and then sitting him down for a while before doing it again. All options should be on the table, because as well as he may settle into these games, putting your team in an huge hole before they ever come to bat is never acceptable.

On this night, the Amazins delivered a little bit of a counter punch in their half of the first, as Brandon Nimmo, in the lineup in right field while pushing Jay Bruce to first base, opened the inning with a single and later scored on an Asdrubal Cabrera two-run homer. Colorado was able to swing some momentum back to their dugout just minutes later, however, as Blackmon left off the second inning with a home run of his own to extend the road squad’s lead to 6-2. That score held throughout the middle innings as both Wheeler and Rockies’ starter German Marquez settled into nice grooves as the game moved along. Finally, in the sixth inning, Colorado catcher Tony Wolters crushed his first long ball in two years to reestablish the Rockies’ five-run advantage, and they would extend the lead to six on a Desmond RBI single an inning later.

Trailing 8-2 in the eighth, the Mets did not go quietly, though. Yoenis Cespedes drew a leadoff walk from Rockies’ lefty Chris Rusin and scored two batters later on a bomb of two-run blast by Todd Frazier. Mets relief ace Seth Lugo was able to stem the tide through three scoreless innings, finishing his night with a strikeout of Desmond to finish the Colorado ninthth, and get the Mets to the plate down four in their final at-bat. Things got interesting shortly thereafter.

Batting for Lugo, Wilmer Flores led off with a long pinch-hit double to straight away center field. Amed Rosario then singled him in, encouragingly the young shortstop’s second hit of the contest. Rockies’ manager Bud Black had seen enough from Jake McGee right there, and he immediately summoned closer Wade Davis from the bullpen. The veteran got Nimmo to pop out to third for the inning’s first out, but Cabrera then narrowly missed a homer in the right center field gap, settling for a run-scoring triple that cut the deficit to just two at 8-6. After Davis struck out Cespedes in an epic at-bat, Bruce drew a walk to put the tying runs both on base for Frazier.

The Mets’ new third baseman entered the game hitting .500 lifetime against Davis and he showed why, lining a screaming base hit into left to score Cabrera and send the tying run flying to third. In a heads up play, Frazier then stole second base to put New York just one base hit away from a dramatic come from behind victory. It was not in the cards, however, as Michael Conforto disappointingly struck out to the end the game, the fourth time he’d been punched out on the night.

The Mets will hope to put an end to their four-game losing streak and even their series with the Rockies tonight, when Steven Matz opposes Colorado righty Chad Bettis.

 Photo credit: Wendell Cruz – USA Today Sports

Meet the Mets, same as the old Mets. Yoenis Cespedes was supposed to miss three days with a jammed thumb, instead he’s in the lineup after the team decided he didn’t even need an MRI. When have we heard that story before I wonder? Steven Matz also said he was fine, then was announced as not available less than an hour later. Ho-hum.

Amidst the chaos, Noah Syndergaard took the mound against the surprisingly potent Braves. Opposing him was rookie Mike Soroka, making his season debut. The Braves also set their lineup with two burgeoning young stars in Ozzie Albies and No. 1 overall prospect Ronald Acuña. This game would very much be a matchup of the Mets’ best hope for extending their brief contention cycle against the Braves’ hopes for a burgeoning dynasty.

Game Recap

That duo got things started quickly for Atlanta – Albies singled, Acuna ripped the first pitch he saw for a double. Freddie Freeman got one off the end of a bat into right field that went for a two-run double and Nick Markakis followed with a ground up the middle to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. Thor got out of the inning with the help of a pickoff, but ended the first with 26 pitches in a big hole.

As many probably could have guessed, the Mets’ bats were not actually revitalized in San Diego; they just got to beat up on one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. Soroka held the Mets to almost nothing – his only mistake was a hanging slider that Yoenis Cespedes parked in the second deck in left field in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Braves lead to 3-1. That would be Soroka’s last inning, but it was a very successful debut against the Mets, which is pretty much par for the course for Braves’ pitchers; seven different Braves have debuted against the Mets before Soroka, and they were a combined 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA.

The Braves took a very Royals-esque approach to this game, swinging early and often. Syndergaard induced only seven swinging strikes and struck out only three in six innings, but he danced around a .417 BABIP to keep the Braves off the board after the first inning. He departed for Jerry Blevins, who combined with AJ Ramos and Seth Lugo to do the same and keep the Mets in the game.

Those efforts were unrewarded, because the Mets are playing with essentially 40% of a lineup right now. Cespedes, sore thumb and all, had three hits, while Todd Frazier had two. The rest of the lineup combined to do just about nothing. A misplayed pop-up in the ninth gave the Mets some hope with runners on first and second with no outs, but the murderer’s row of Amed Rosario, Wilmer Flores and Jose Reyes was shockingly outmatched by closer Arodys Vizcaino – the trio managed a strikeout, ground out and fly out to close out the 3-2 loss.

The Mets have not managed back-to-back wins since the middle of April when their nine-game win streak was snapped. Jacob deGrom takes the mound opposite Sean Newcomb today in a game that feels like one the Mets really need to win.

Thoughts from the Game

As currently constructed, the Mets offense is terrible. Even with Cespedes waking up and the combo of Frazier and Asdrubal Cabrera providing solid secondary production, there simply isn’t enough thump to go around. Michael Conforto is hitting into some terrible luck when he’s not late on fastballs, Jay Bruce still looks lost and the rest of the lineup is a near total black hole. Rosario wasn’t expected to be a slugger this year, but he has no chance against righties (batting .217/.266/.532), Adrian Gonzalez is not a starting caliber first baseman and the Lobaton/Nido catching timeshare is beyond inept with the bat. The bench offers little support, with Reyes serving as dead weight in just about every situation and Flores and Brandon Nimmo showing drastic platoon splits. At present, no component of this team (rotation, bullpen, offense, bench) appears to be a strength.

Brace yourself, Mets fans: the burgeoning Braves dynasty is here. I’m someone who is less impressed with their stockpile of arms than most, but the position player talent they’ve accumulated is outstanding. Albies, Acuna and Freeman is already one of the best 1-2-3 combos in any lineup in the National League. The Mets managed to develop one hitter in more than half a decade of rebuilding (Michael Conforto, who didn’t require much developing), while the Braves have already developed two of that same caliber.

Both of those previous discussions are connected in that the Mets have combined poor organizational strategy – a refusal to rebuild when necessary and a refusal to spend when appropriate – with terrible drafting and development. This organization has not developed a competent hitter since David Wright, while the majority of their picks in the first four rounds are either wildly disappointing (Gavin Cecchini, Dom Smith, Matt Reynolds), headed that way (Desmond Lindsay, Justin Dunn), or at best marginally but unspectacular players (Brandon Nimmo, Kevin Plawecki). Maybe Peter Alonso can bump the hit rate a little, but this is an amateur department that has been among the league’s worst for the better part of the decade.

Other Mets News

The media continues to rag on Matt Harvey, this time because he decided to go partying in LA while the Mets were in San Diego. The words “thoracic,” “outlet” and “syndrome” continue to be conspicuously absent from any story, as that’s far less interesting than any possible bar-hopping. Make no mistake, Harvey should be a on a short leash and really shouldn’t be on the team for much longer, but that is in no way connected to his life off the field.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – 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