Saturday brought an away game against St. Louis and Kodai Senga's return to the mound as the starter.
Position Scrabble - Polanco to DH, Baty to 1B
Getting pretty tired of 7-8-9 lineup of Rojas/Pache/Cluff. I thought Cluff was a reggae singer.
Senga was cruising through the first 1.2 innings but then gave up a home run to someone named Joshua Baez. Gave up a second homer in the third to someone named Miquel Ugueto. Was done after 2.2-IP: 2 homers to minor leaguers in less than three innings makes you feel the same uneasiness you felt the day before when Sean Manaea pitched.
The Mets scratched back and wound up winning 3-2.
Mike Tauchman doubled in Jackson Cluff in the sixth for their first run. A throwing error brought Corey Collins home in the seventh then Wyatt Youbg singled in Collins again in the 8th for the winner.
Two hits for Brett Baty (.375).
Six scoreless innings by Luis Garcia, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley and Jack Wenninger (3-IP, 5-K, 2.70).
Another errorless game.
13 comments:
Some good and some bad with Senga. As stats don’t matter but the showing does, he was hitting a consistent 96 and approached 99 to show that he is ready. With opening day less than three weeks away, one cannot be trying to round into throwing shape as Manaea showed yesterday. Just a terrible showing by Manaea cannot be compared to a couple of bad pitches by Senga.
The real issue from this game was that Senga has continued the inability to put hitters away. This was something that came up last year and Ernest Dove told us that while Senga looked great, hitters were fouling off too many pitches.
As for the bats, Baty at first base is weird but Polanco may not be taking to it as quickly. Too, if Benge makes the team, the Polanco/Vientos/Baty fight for two lineup spots will be interesting. As it turns out, Baty would give the lineup better balance as a lefty because the lineup would feature four righties already and the lack of a righty bat for the bench means Vientos is fighting an uphill battle. I get the impression Vientos may be wearing a different uniform this year and I don’t mean Nicaragua’s.
Baty may be ready to truly hit like a high first round pick, finally. That would be a real relief for the Mets in 2026.
Hard to analyze these few games mostly played against scrubs but I currently have two general opinions.
One, past Manaea and Senga, I am generally impressed with the pitching from the 14 projected pitchers that will make this roster. Also, on the cusp Scott and prospect Lambert look great.
Two, I'm disappointed in the lack of run production from the projected top 12 hitters.
Between 1B, 2B, 3B, DH, & RF, he will get 350-400 at-bats this season
Today on MLB Network at 1pm
Mets vs. Yanks
Holmes for USA
3 IP
1 H
0 R
6 K
WIN
Robert Stock out of WBC with shoulder issues
Possibly career ending for Stock, given that he is 36? Time will tell, but not a key piece.
Hitters off to slow start, but no Lindor, and Soto at WBC, has a lot to do with that.
Baty and Mauricio both hit righties better than lefties.
Baty had 393 at bats and 432 PAs last year. I think he’d like to get that closer to 500 PAs in 2026.
Disappointed in the starts by Manaea and Senga. Early homers lead to early pulls by Mendoza. We can't start last year like this year. Both must execute better in the early innings.
On the other side, I am very pleased with the outing from Jack Wenninger. After last week's rough go, Jack pitched very well for two innings, then got in some trouble in the 9th, summoned his strength, and got out of it, including a strikeout to end it.
I believe this was the first outing for Senga this year, right? I could see where location and command aren’t as sharp, so I am willing to forgive some misfires as long as the overall was good.
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