Reese Kaplan -- A Twin Bill Shows the State of the Mess, er, Mets

In many ways the Wednesday doubleheader against the Marlins was a microcosm of the NY Mets season thus far.  On the one hand the team looked positively dominant in the first game when the club absolutely went to town on the mound and at the plate against the playoff-hoping Miami team.  Joey Lucchesi did his impression of a back end starter on the best of the best kind of starting rotation and the hitters were unfettered in their blistering attack on the team seeking to play rather than watch October baseball.

Then came game two and Kodai Senga reached his two important pitching goals for the otherwise forgettable 2023 season.  He was not only able to meet and exceed the threshhold of 200 strikeouts, but he lowered his final season ERA to under 3.00 despite having given up a few runs.  He gave up three hits, struck out eight and walked two.  His WHIP improved again as well.  

Unfortunately, then came the 2023 version of the team.  After being lifted with 5 strong endings to add to the back of his baseball card for his rookie season, the bullpen was able to keep things under wraps for the next three with only a little bit of drama along the way.  The hitting was provided almost exclusively by Francisco Lindor who for the day clubbed three home runs to join the 30-30 club and with another weekend of baseball ahead many would not bet against him reaching the 100 RBI level as well.  

In the 9th inning the Marlins faced veteran Adam Ottavino yet things did not proceed smoothly.  Then an opportunity arose to exit the impending fiasco when a ball was hit hard enough to third baseman Brett Baty to nail the lead runner at the plate and perhaps even turn it into a double play with Francisco Alvarez firing a throw to Pete Alonso at first.  Yup, that's how it was supposed to happen.

Instead, Brooks Robinson was turning over in his very recent grave watching Baty boot away a routine grounder allowing all runners to arrive safely and not recording even a single out.  From there it was pretty clear that the 2023 vibes were rearing their powerful and ugly head.  The Mets were surely going to wind up with yet another big L in the won-lost column.  That's exactly what happened.  The quality pitching went into a disappearing act, aided and abetted by the season long suspect defense. 

What does this long and 50-50 day of winning and losing mean for the upcoming 2024 season?  Well, it's kind of hard to tell.  When things go right the club shows that they can be as competitive as anyone.  However, when they go wrong you get flashes of growing pains and repeated ineptitude suggesting that they are likely an improvement of 2023 but not yet by much given the .500 record.

Now to be fair, remember the situation in which the club was playing these games.  Rookie Francisco Alvarez was pushed ahead of schedule into duty as the result of multiple catcher injuries.  Ronny Mauricio was kept likely a beat too long in AAA before finally getting to face major league pitching.  Baty has gotten more than a half season's worth of playing time yet not done enough to demonstrate he's more than a hotly regarded youngster not yet ready for prime time.  Mark Vientos showed home run power yet again in game one, but was otherwise finishing a strong September weakly.  

The veterans Lindor and Alonso had some very productive numbers in terms of run production but their batting averages were not of All Star level.  Brandon Nimmo had arguably the strongest output of anyone on the team as his power surged and his batting average was still respectable.  Jeff McNeil waited until August and September to come alive and while he won't lead the league in hitting nor reach the .300 plateau, he certainly showed folks all month what he is capable of doing.

During this whole twisting in the wind season, the Mets have been without the 2022 version of Starling Marte.   replacement, DJ Stewart, proved to be an entertaining and surprising positive but it was not at Marte's level of defense and certainly without his baserunning speed.  We won't get into the ex pitchers like Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Robertson, but the returns on those midyear deals are all helping out in the minor leagues and thus contributing to the current race to the bottom of the division.

Going into the offseason David Stearns and Billy Eppler have much more work to do than initially expected.  There's no guarantee what level Marte will achieve with another winter of medical recovery.  There are no spare outfielders.  There are multiple options to play 3rd base but none suggesting that "All Star" will appear next to their names during 2024.  

Many feel another big run producer is needed in the mold of a veteran outfielder or DH, but if there's any truth to the 2024 being a rebuilding year sentiment, it's not like they will dole out Steve Cohen's money on someone north of age 35 thinking it's all that's needed to progress signficantly.  Sure, it would be nice to see a J.D. Martinez type in a Mets uniform but if you're indeed building for the long term future you don't do that with someone whose best days are behind him.  The club doesn't need any more Robinson Cano types.  

The bullpen was recently covered in great detail about just how bad it is and will be going forward.  It is entirely possible that the money Cohen spends will be on relievers like a return deal for setup man David Robertson and starting pitchers to complement the duo of Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana.  If you're going to live and die by the baby bats then you need some much stronger and more consistent weaponry on the mound.  

Then there's that little question about the 2024 manager...