PIITB By JD- My reaction to the Mets so far
I decided to take a break from the weekly recaps to discuss the team as a whole. I have some MAJOR concerns about the roster that simply can not be ignored. I am not panicked yet, as it is still early May. I made a rule with myself a long time ago not to panic until at least memorial day. I am sticking to that, but that does not mean the Mets are without glaring long-term issues.
First I want to start with the obvious concern. The pitching staff. The Mets currently rank 22nd in ERA overall. That is an improvement on last week when the Mets were ranked 29th. The current starting rotation is Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Joey Luchessi, and Tylor Megill. Looks pretty solid right? Wrong! Let us start with Max.
Scherzer is pitching to a 5.56 era over his 5 starts and has only thrown 22.2 innings! The point of signing two aces was to alleviate the strain on the bullpen on the days those guys pitched. That has not been the case. Max has not gotten through 6 innings since his first start of the year. His peripherals don’t look good either. Max claims that he is still struggling with a right scapula injury but does not want to go on the IL. If he is indeed hurt, he needs to be on the IL for at least a month. Let him rest. I would rather have a healthy Max in June or July than an injured one for months. Max is not keeping the Mets in a position to win games and is killing the pen. Be better or go to the bench.
As for Verlander. JV has only made one start for the Mets and aside from giving up back to back home runs in the first he was excellent. 5 innings and 2 runs throwing 79 pitches is good enough a start for me. He touched 97 on the gun and his breaking pitches looked pretty sharp. JV being a consistent presence in the rotation is something this team needs.
Senga has looked good recently. His stuff has been great as usual, but walks are the issue. Once his gets the control down watch out. The 4-5 slots in the rotation are throw-away games at this point and that can not be the case. Someone needs to step up.
As for the bullpen. It is tired and depleted. There are only 3 reliable pitchers in the bullpen. Robertson, Ottavino, and Drew Smtih are the only 3 guys I want on the mound in high-leverage spots. The issue is those guys can not pitch every day. The rotation is not going more than 5 innings very often causing everyone to be stretched thin. This can not continue to happen. The Mets are definitely missing Diaz, but Diaz doesn’t help when you are losing by 5 going into the 9th every night it seems.
Now, lets address the offense. I have a lot less concerns about the offense than I do the pitching staff which is a little scary considering their play. This offense scored the 5th most runs in baseball last year and that was no mistake. Baty and Alvarez are showing they are the real deal. I don’t see Alvarez getting sent down when Narvaez returns if he is hitting the way he is AND framing amongst the best in the sport.
Each player on the offense (besides Marte) is playing fine individually, the issue is consistency as it was last year. Marte is having an awful year and does not look good, but everyone else is playing fine. Lindor is selling out for power a bit too much. His ISO has shot up from .179 last year to .209. Essentially Lindor is hitting lots of XBHs but singles are hard to come by.
Overall, there are without a doubt better days ahead for this team. The offense will be better than it has recently. The pitching will hopefully improve. I am hoping Max regresses closer to the mean. If the Mets stay healthy they are definitely a playoff team. Here is to better days!
LFGM
7 comments:
Baseball is like music...
Words and music. Offense and pitching. (a little defense is the seasoning)
Last night words... no music
Lennon and McCartney
John and Taupin
The 2023 team, so far, is more like what an orchestra sounds like when they are tuning up
Alvarez is officially our # 1 catcher. Even when Narváez gets back. This organization let Lugo and Williams go. They are reaping the reward.
Peterson 7.88 ERA? He is lucky he is not a hitter in this org. He’d be buried.
A Few Thoughts
I liked JD's article today. It was very accurate I feel. But what I would ask JD now is this, "Is there perhaps "something else" wrong with this 2023 NY Mets team construction not attributable solely to player injuries and poor early-on performances of key veterans?"
To me...
The Mets kind of squandered an excellent opportunity to have all four "next wave" excellent players (Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos, and Ronnie Maurico) up here weeks ago. Instead, these four players were left to play "repetition baseball" up in Syracuse, where they all have done well. I believe that many fans feel this way too.
So are we seeing the forest through the trees here, I ask you now.
Or are we blaming the many "player injuries" and "lackadaisical starts" of some key veteran performers, as the only real problem with this team losing so significantly unwell.
Finally, can this slow start (whichI haven't seen here since maybe like the 1970's) also be somewhat attributable to overall roster construction, and perhaps an unwillingness of both this team's GM and manager to break camp with the right players in-place, ready to go. Like these four younger players I mentioned above.
It's almost as if this roster construction decision had been made way before ST had even come to an end.
So, is it "Play Harder" or have team management make much wiser decisions.
I am not quite sure what is happening to this years team compared to last year. It is all very strange. Offensively, each player is having a decent season with the exception of the obvious ones. The top players (besides Marie) have played well. I do agree it is time for Vientos to come up. He has proven all he can in AAA. He will not get any better playing down there. As for Mauricio, I would like to see him have more time in the field at 2nd and even in LF in AAA before a promotion. His walk rate is also concerning (although improved from his norm). I'd like to keep him down until he will get everyday reps at the big league level. Vientos is ready. As we have seen Alvarez and Baty are ready as well. The kids are getting there and it is about time we take the training wheels off for the most part.
Gosh, I really disagree with your thoughts that the Mets offense is ok. Other than Marte, Lindor is batting .220, Canha & Pham are invisible, Vogelbach is generally unproductive and LG has lost his bat. Alonso has not been heard from in a while. Vogelbach and either Canha/Pham need to be moved to make room for Vientos and Mauricio.
Mack when it comes to music the Mets need to be "Thunderstruck" and quickly but considering this teams age the theme from "All in the Family" is more fitting and can there really be any more excuses for bring up the kids?
It’s a young man’s game. No more 30+ veterans signs to long term contracts. Time to give Vientos 50-100:ABs to prove himself. Then give Mauricio his shot.
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