After a winning streak that had people starting to believe in the long term David Stearns vision then the Mets hosted the Diamondbacks and it was mid year 2025 all over again. Now one single game cannot and should not dictate strategic changes that impact the planned direction for the lineup and pitching staff, but certainly there are issues that should be noticed and discussed.
The biggest one, of course, are the two horrific starts in a row by David Peterson. Some felt that he was an early year pitcher who later faded as the months were warmer and the won/loss record got colder. His very first start was awesome.
The innings eating mop up role by Sean Manaea was a mostly successful one. He turned in 4 innings and gave up two runs. While that’s not stellar it is far better than what Peterson provided and for the season Manaea’s low speed deliver ERA is less than half of what Peterson has delivered. A lot of folks are already saying the next time around in the rotation they should flip flop with Manaea getting the start and Peterson being the long guy out of the bullpen.
Again, two horrific games after one brilliant on is not a deep enough well to consider what will happen next for Peterson, but at the same time he needs to be told we have full faith in you while concurrently they start looking more closely at this swap being made by late April.
On the hitting side you are now facing a similar problem with spring rookie sensation Carson Benge who had gone hitless in 24 straight at bats before finally getting a somewhat weak single against the Diamonbacks. That lone hit lifted him back over the .100 level in batting average. While the Mets were losing regularly people were already looking to pull the plug on this ice cold rookie endeavor. When they were winning the naysayers got a bit quieter and figured that as long as the team got the W you could live through Benge’s growing pains while benefitting from his strong defense and cannon of an arm.
Then, of course, came the IL stint for Juan Soto and all of the sudden the Mets outfield depth started to look a bit shaky. Jared Young has been better than anyone could have reasonably expected but his track record suggests he is a Mendoza line hitter over the long term. Brett Baty has gotten some time playing right field to try to help resolve the big bat missing from the lineup and he’s working his way towards a .250 batting average. Tyrone Taylor is a great defensive replacement yet despite his recent 4 RBI game he is most definitely not known for his bat.
Oddly, the hot streak by Mark Vientos coincided with the timing of the loss of Juan Soto and made the conservative healing schedule more tolerable so long as he keeps delivering with the bat. He’s split time between DH and 1B and while he’s never going to win defensive awards he’s looked somewhat tolerable on the opposite corner where he was a defensive butcher.
The rest of the lineup has had its ups and downs as had much of the pitching staff. Again, with fewer than a dozen games played in the 2026 season it’s foolish to go 100% on the David Stearns bandwagon just as you could argue it’s equally absurd to be 100% on the torches and pitchfork wielding whiners who do not think this mix has hit its long term stride.
Time will tell.
7 comments:
With Soto out and Lindor almost inert, plus Benge still seeking his footing, the offense will have trouble getting out of low gear.
Alonso in 53 plate appearances, 4 runs, 3 RBIs, .188. After 3 weeks of no RBIs in spring training in March in 44 PAs. First month of a 5 year deal. I’m sure he is just acclimating.
Amazing.
Lindor may have no RBIs yet, but he has racked up 9 runs scored. So they are neck and neck in futility.
I saw a video of Mason Miller fanning Konnor Griffin on a sizzlingly supreme fastball and two sick swerving sliders. The major leagues are a whole different deal.
Yesterday was very telling. The experiments with Baty in right and Vientos at first look fine when there are routine plays, but the real "run prevention" happens on non-routine plays. The ball that Baty doesn't get to would have been caught by Benge, Soto, Marte, or McNeil. A catch on that play changes the whole dynamic of the game. Vientos has made some nice picks and yesterday's tumbling stop of a ground ball. But that just makes him another Pete Alonso. We need excellence, not competence in the corners.
This may not be the perfect spot to make a comment on a hitter's mechanics, but we are talking about vulnerabilities, so here goes anyway. One of the most interesting features of all sports is looking at what a player looks like in the so-called static position before the relevant movement begins. In golf it is called set up; in baseball ,stance. The fact is that in both sports and others like tennis, there are almost no performers who are genuinely static prior to the motion. They are often shifting pressure in their feet which is typically unnoticeable. In baseball. some batters stand tall as a kind of relaxed move which changes almost immediately as the pitcher gets into the windup. You can see a lot of this. In any case, the question always is, when the actual hitting motion begins, what do they look like? And in every dynamic or ballistic movement, it is not good to have an inverted lower spine. The lower spine supports, it is not designed to bend. Now take a look at Semien and compare him to every other hitter you see in the batters box. Look especially at his 'stance' and then his initial movements from the center field camera angle. You will see an inverted low spine, which is not desirable from either a dynamic movement or an injury point of view. You need balance and usually that means at address that you want roughly equal weight on the front and back of a straight line drawn through your center of gravity from the ground through up. The curve of the spine like he has moves the butt up and back, providing a balance. In fact, he has one of the most balanced looking stances on the team, But it is not a good position to get moving from, and can certainly contribute to injuries. It can help explain why his bat seems slow and he seems to be behind a number of pitches. Try that inverted arch set up yourself and see if loading into your rear glute and rear hip is easy and fluid or not.
I played golf once at a Long Island golf course near the water. The roughs were filled with reeds. I lost 13 balls that day. There was no Shore Shank Redemption for me that day.
Funny. Do you remember which course?
Two finely tuned instruments to detect water exist: a divining rod and a golf ball.
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