Since I last posted here, the New York Mets managed to play one of their three scheduled games against the Atlanta Braves this past weekend and the first game of the Arizona Diamondbacks series last night. Putting aside the uncharacteristic offensive explosion Saturday night, it was still going to be difficult for them to win games against Atlanta with a Triple-A offense. I guess we can hope that the Mets are in better shape to play these games later on, but the number of doubleheaders they'll be playing in June and July is going to be tough, also. This year was supposed to be the year that we at least made progress towards returning to a normal baseball season, but the injuries and postponements have got in the way of that journey. Last year's extreme abnormal pandemic season has given way to the year of endless injuries.
Still, the Mets enter the first day of June 6 games over the .500 mark. I'd probably be pretty disappointed if you told me that would be the case back before the season started. However, given the scale of the injuries and lack of production by key players Francisco Lindor, Dom Smith, and James McCann, it seems almost miraculous to be a few games above the breakeven mark.
Thanks to his big game Saturday night, McCann has raised his Slugging Percentage to .307. I mean, that's not good, but it's still 8 points better than Lindor's. Out of every Met with more than 50 plate appearances on the season, Tomás Nido has the highest slugging % at .491.
Watching five home runs leave the park for the Mets in that game Saturday almost felt like an out-of-body experience for me. The Mets hit 2 more HR last night and added 4 doubles. Power has been very much a missing commodity for the 2021 Mets. Both Lindor and Dom Smith have rediscovered their power stroke over the last couple of games. Here's hoping that those games are the start of a return to what we expected from the team this season before it began.
As I mentioned in my last post, the Mets are about to enter a tough part of their schedule in a month that has traditionally not been kind to them. Last year, of course, the baseball season hadn't even begun in June. As Tim Britton documented in his piece in The Athletic, June was the month that exposed the 2018 and 2019 Mets as pretenders rather than contenders. Between the upcoming schedule, lingering injuries, and the continued struggles of Francisco Lindor, there's legitimate worry that something similar might befall the club this time around, too.
The good news is that reinforcements are working their way back. Taijuan Walker enjoyed a triumphant return Saturday. Pete Alonso, Kevin Pillar, and Seth Lugo returned for last night's game. Alonso made a huge contribution, and Pillar got a hit in his first chance.
Other players should return as the month progresses. All that do will undoubtedly help the cause. If James McCann can continue to hit, that would help a lot, too, even if Nido continues to perform well. Having two effective and well-rested catchers will definitely be a good thing, particularly since there is no real depth behind them.
Perhaps Lindor will finally turn his season around. His home run off of a fastball on Saturday was a hopeful sign, as was his opposite-field double last night. Still, things have looked hopeful for him before, only to revert to continued hopelessness at the plate.
Dom Smith has also looked much better as of late. Perhaps he has found his extra-base stroke and will return to being the hitter we all hope for. I also hope to see Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis return later relatively soon. Here's hoping they stay in the lineup this time around. They were really the only two Mets producing offensively early on, but they've only combined to play in 35 games between them so far this year.
The starting pitching will undoubtedly pose some problems in June. Southpaws David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi have been shaky at times in the early going, but no one is showing up to take their places in the rotation any time soon. Noah Syndergaard is out of the picture until at least August now, and Carlos Carrasco needs to get healthy, restart his minor league rehab ramp-up, and not get hurt again before he is back in the picture. If he even returns in June, it won't be until the end of the month. The way things have gone with the big right-hander so far, I won't be counting on that until I see it.
So the Mets will absolutely need Peterson and Lucchesi to pitch better, and the proliferation of doubleheaders this month will require more starters to step up and contribute. It remains to be seen what the Mets do with Lugo. If they decide to stretch him out, they will need to proceed very slowly with him. I'd prefer to see him in the bullpen, and that seems to be the plan currently. Jordan Yamamoto is completely out of the picture on the 60-day IL. Franklyn Kilome is off the 40-man roster and isn't pitching well. Sam McWilliams just got removed from the 40-man and will probably be gone. He wasn't starting games in Syracuse or pitching well, anyway.
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