Reese Kaplan -- Small Signs of Positive Mets Things Now Happening

Sometimes when a team has not been performing at its best is worth considering small things that point in the right direction rather than focusing too much on the issues that suggest the below-average play has become endemic.

Take, for example, the recent game against the Dodgers on Monday night when it appeared whatever could go wrong for the boys from Queens would indeed happen, but then other little things added up to baby steps toward steady improvement.

Most folks watching who saw the first Freddie Freeman home run in the very first inning were already having Braves flashbacks from the many times their former first baseman had buried the Mets with the long ball.  David Peterson looked absolutely dejected even though it was a solo homer and only resulted in a very early 1-0 deficit.  

Then came the second inning when the Mets received a solid home run blow from someone they've been waiting to wake up, Daniel Vogelbach.  Yes, the club has benefited somewhat from his positive OBP resulting from his many walks, but his paycheck is for putting the ball over the fence as he has tallied as many as 30 in a single season in 2019 while slugging for the Mariners.  Obviously the home run power is there, but last year's 6 HRs in a Mets uniform suggested that he was not necessarily doing all that he could when it came to driving the ball with authority.  This home run on Monday night reaffirmed temporarily what Vogelbach can do when the pitcher makes a mistake.  Between not swinging at borderline pitches and clobbering ones that cross the plate, the big man can be a factor as a platoon hitter and everyone is already hoping his first dinger is a positive sign of things to come.

This particular game also featured the first major league at bats for searing hot Syracuse Met Brett Baty.  He has that indefinable "look" in his eyes that suggests to you that like Jeff McNeil, line drives and long balls are possible at any given time.  He did respond in this game by providing a run-producing hard hit ball to right and also made a nice throw from third base.  Luis Guillorme came into the game for defense late which was not necessarily a bad thing, but in his first appearance for the Mets and pushing Eduardo Escobar out of a starting role it seemed like one of those little things that simply clicked.

Now to make room for Baty's promotion the Mets placed speedster Tim Locastro on the IL with back spasms.  Cynics whispered aloud about how the timing seemed oddly coincidental or perhaps not even real enough to warrant more than a day or two of rest, but manager Buck Showalter supported the story by stating how Locastro had been feeling the discomfort for quite some time and the move was made out of both necessity and luxury as Locastro needed time to recover while the Mets needed a roster spot.  

What's also interesting is how the Mets plan to use Locastro's spot going forward.  It is entirely possible the club will show more of Tommy Pham in the outfield after he'd been mostly relegated to right handed DH duties.  It could also mean seeing Jeff McNeil out there more often with second base being handled by the sure-handed Guillorme or the less defensive oriented player on thin ice, Eduardo Escobar, who has had a grand total of 140 games at the keystone position amounting to over 900 innings of play there.  Of course, Pham could move to DH with McNeil remaining at 2B while Escobar is the one assuming half of the DH role.  For now it's all too soon to tell.

Another little thing that is getting some highlight reels is the increasingly positive defensive play from weak corner outfielder to strong centerfielder by newly long-term Met Brandon Nimmo.  It seems in every other game or so you have a video replay of a running or diving catch that is rapidly pushing Nimmo from an adequate glove and outfielder into one against whom other teams are starting to recite four letter frustrations when he does what he's increasingly often doing best.  Oh yeah...he's hitting well over .300 as well.  

Pitching is going to contribute to the Mets winning or losing more so than there slow starting offense (and almost non-existent power after a few bats in the middle of the order).  However, the signs of life support are starting to filter in for the offense enough that an occasional clunker like Peterson's game against the Dodgers won't automatically keep the club from adding another W to the team record and the push towards the top of the division.