Mets' Biggest Strengths And Weaknesses On Full Display In First Road Trip Of Regular Season
In the words of the great Denzel Washington: "You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud, too. That's part of it."
The same can be said for the Mets' first road trip of the season, where their strengths and weaknesses were on full display during a mostly promising stretch.
The Mets went 5-2 against two National League East rivals in the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies.
Overall, the trip was a success and may have indicated what's in store for the club this season.
The Strengths
Rotation: Although there was a ton of hype surrounding the Mets' rotation prior to the regular-season, the team lost their ace Jacob deGrom for a significant period of time due to a shoulder injury.
Regardless, this unit has been able to show just how special they can be, even without deGrom. In the first seven games of the season, the Mets' rotation has posted a 5-0 record with a 1.29 ERA (best mark in baseball) and 41 strikeouts in 35 innings.
DeGrom's replacement, second-year starter Tylor Megill, has been impressive with a 2-0 record, 10.1 shutout innings (best in MLB) and 11 strikeouts across his first two outings.
The Mets' biggest addition of the offseason, future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer, has won his first two starts with the team. In 11 innings, he has posted a 3.27 ERA (four earned runs) with 11 strikeouts. Scherzer dealt with a hamstring "hiccup" in his first start, but says this issue has resolved itself.
Chris Bassitt, a Cy Young caliber ace that the Mets acquired via trade from the Oakland Athletics in March, produced a strong performance in his debut with New York as well. Bassitt tossed six scoreless innings and struck out eight batters in a victory over the Nationals on April 9. His veteran presence has also made an impact early-on, as he has been schooling Megill and the rest of the younger arms on the Mets' pitching staff, too. Bassitt will make his second start of the year in the Mets' home opener on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Righty Carlos Carrasco also produced a more than solid season debut, tossing 5.2 innings of one-run baseball. He gave up only two hits, struck out five and issued no walks. Carrasco's changeup, slider and curveball looked sharp, which is a result of a healthy arm after he had a bone spur removed from his elbow in the offseason.
Taijuan Walker, the fifth starter in the rotation, got off to a fast start in his season debut on Monday by setting down all six Phillies' hitters he faced to go along with four strikeouts. However, Walker left after two innings with shoulder bursitis, which landed him on the 10-day injured list.
On the bright side, depth starter David Peterson entered in relief and tossed four scoreless innings. The left-hander is the frontrunner to replace Walker in the rotation.
Despite losing deGrom, the Mets appear to have enough firepower to hold down the fort until he returns.
Offense: After seven games, the Mets' offense is ranked No. 8 in MLB with a .255/.365/.396 slash line and .760 OPS. They're averaging 4.9 runs per game, scoring a total of 34 across the first week of the season.
Pete Alonso leads the National league with 10 RBI. He also has two home runs and an .880 OPS in 30 at-bats. Alonso's five-RBI day on Wednesday helped the Mets take the rubber game from the Phillies to cap off a 5-2 road trip.
Newcomers Mark Canha (.381/.500/.381/.881 slash line) and Eduardo Escobar (.263/.481/.526/1.007) are proving to be key additions in the Mets' lineup thus far. And although fellow newbie Starling Marte is only 5-for-26 with no walks, he has scored four runs and driven in five RBIs of his own. Marte's speed has made an impact at the top of the order, too.
In search of a bounce-back season, Francisco Lindor has slashed .250/.400/.458 with an .858 OPS, one home run and four RBIs. Jeff McNeil is off to a promising start as well, slashing .318/.400/.455 with an .855 OPS, one homer and four RBIs. And despite missing Opening Day with neck stiffness, Brandon Nimmo has re-entered the lineup and has been Brandon Nimmo-like over the course of the past six games with a .333/.429/.708/1.137 slash line, two homers, two RBIs and four walks.
Collectively as a unit, the Mets are 18-for-65 with runners in scoring position (.277/.407/.400 with a .807 OPS). Their 28 runs batted in with runners in scoring position is the second-highest total in baseball. This is night-and-day compared to last year, where they ranked 25th in this category.
And when hitting with runners in scoring position and two outs, the Mets are ranked No. 3 in baseball, slashing .387/.513/.516 (12-for-31) with a 1.029 OPS and 14 RBIs. The Mets came in at No. 28 in this area a season ago.
While it may be a small sample size, this dramatic improvement in situational hitting could be a sign of what's to come for the Mets' offense under new hitting coach Eric Chavez. The former big-leaguer said he was going to simplify the team-wide approach, and his philosophy appears to be working early-on, as players such as Alonso have mentioned that they're thinking less in the batter's box.
The Weaknesses
Bullpen: As good as the Mets' rotation has been, the bullpen has struggled mightily, especially in the last four games.
After lefty Aaron Loup departed in free agency for the Los Angeles Angels, the Mets decided against replacing their best reliever from a season ago with a big-splash move. Instead, they added Adam Ottavino and Chasen Shreve.
General manager Billy Eppler struck a deal with his former mentor in Yankees' GM Brian Cashman, trading middle reliever Miguel Castro to the Bronx in exchange for Joely Rodriguez. The reason behind this move to acquire Rodriguez was due to the lack of lefties in the Mets' bullpen.
And so far this transaction hasn't paid off. Rodriguez has posted a 15.43 ERA across three appearances (2.1 innings) for the Mets. And while the lefty excels against left-handed hitters, there is a three-batter minimum rule, which means he cannot hide from right-handed batters. Righties are hitting .400 off of Rodriguez during the early part of his Mets tenure.
As of this date, the Mets' only two losses of the season came on back-to-back late-inning meltdowns by the 'pen. To be fair, there were two defensive miscues involved in Sunday's loss, where Shreve and Trevor Williams couldn't hang onto a 2-1 lead. But on Monday, the Mets let a four-run lead slip away to the Phillies in the eighth inning as Rodriguez and Seth Lugo couldn't hold it down this time.
Among the bright spots of this group include Edwin Diaz, Drew Smith, Ottavino and Shreve. But Lugo (5.40 ERA across four appearances) has been up-and-down and Trevor May suffered a low grade triceps strain on Monday.
On Wednesday, the Mets built an 8-1 lead against the Phillies, but more bullpen struggles saw New York escape with the win by a slim margin of 9-6. The Mets 'pen allowed 10 runs in the series, posting a 5.93 ERA as a unit.
Time will tell as to whether the front office should've done more to add to the bullpen during the offseason. But It's safe to say that the losses of Loup and Castro are hurting them already.
Read More:
- Mets' Max Scherzer's Hamstring Is 'Not An Issue' Anymore
- Pete Alonso's Five-RBI Day Leads Mets To Series Victory Over Phillies
- How Mets' Tylor Megill Got The Nickname 'Big Drip'
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