Joey Lucchesi
Finally, the New York Mets won a game in easy fashion. For that matter, they finally won two games in a row for just the second time this month.
Naturally, the Mets being the Mets, they found a way to ruin it. They ruined it with Javier Báez, Francisco Lindor, and Kevin Pillar doing a thumbs down after hits.
This wasn’t the thumbs down like we once saw with the Mets fan and Todd Frazier when Frazier was with the New York Yankees. No, according to Báez, it was retaliatory booing of fans.
Javier Baez on the thumbs down sign Mets players have been flashing to the crowd after big hits: "To let [the fans] know when we don't get success we're going to get booed, so they are going to get booed when we have success."
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 29, 2021
It should be noted Pillar had a different version of events liking it to be nothing more than the Joey Lucchesi churve sign. Still, we know why Báez did it.
We can debate whether Báez was here long enough to react that way. The clear answer is no. Sure, he’s sticking up for his good friend Lindor, who fans stupidly booed, but Báez isn’t the guy here.
He’s also not the guy to adjudge fans not being behind this team. He seriously has zero clue as to what it means to be a Mets fan. It’s an idiotic statement. It’s all the more idiotic given the ovations he received when he first joined the Mets.
Assuredly, those are gone.
Another important note, this is a Mets team who opened the month with a 3.5 game division lead. It hasn’t even been a full month, and they turned that into a 7.5 game deficit.
That shifts to what makes this all too embarrassing and hilarious. Apparently, the Mets players had been trying to do this for a week.
The fact the players have tried to do this for a week and we’re all just noticing now is the funniest thing ever.
Hey fans, we were trying to boo you back but we were so terrible no one could possibly notice.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA https://t.co/guRZozzqN3
— Mets Daddy (@MetsDaddy2013) August 29, 2021
That’s just how bad the Mets have been. They’ve been trying to make this a new thing for a week. The only problem is no one noticed because they have been so bad the past week, and really this month, they couldn’t even pull it off.
It’s just a bad joke.
They’ve been trying to get back at the fans for the better part of a week, and they were so bad, no one knew this was a thing. Pulling off this retaliation might as well have been the Mets hitting with the bases loaded.
And therein lies the problem. The players are now obsessed over trying to teach the fans a lesson. Great. Good for them. It’s not going to help them win games or hit.
So, great, teach Mets fans a lesson. They’re still going to boo a team four games under .500 who completely nosedived against teams they were supposed to compete with in the postseason.
Even better, the booing is going to get worse much like the Mets performance has been in the second half. So, in the end, the players actions are going to be as counter productive as their at-bats with RISP have been.
Really, all you can and should do, is laugh at them because this is just sad.
Back in 2006, the New York Mets were in first place, but they were running out of starting pitchers. As a result, they called up John Maine.
Maine was a hard throwing right-handed pitcher who never quite looked ready for the majors, at least he didn’t in Baltimore. However, with Rick Peterson and Willie Randolph, something clicked.
Maine was able to use his fastball and slider to earn a permanent spot in the Mets rotation. Maine began to really force the issue at the end of his July 8 start.
Maine had allowed a go-ahead homer in the sixth before retiring the final two batters of the inning. That started a stretch of 26 innings. By that time, a Mets team looking to add a starter felt comfortable balking at the steep prices, and of course, they had to pivot due to Duaner Sanchez’s cab ride.
Maine would have a strong 2006 season going 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA, 122 ERA+, 1.113 WHIP, and a 7.1 K/9.
What ensued was a crazy postseason where he was an emergency replacement for an injured Orlando Hernandez right before Game 1 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Maine was terrific that postseason including his picking up a win in Game 6 of the NLCS.
What Maine did that season is difficult to emulate, but as previously noted, Megill is emulating that right now. We saw another sign in his last start where he went toe-to-toe with Brandon Woodruff over five innings.
Like Maine in 2006, Megill is only in the majors due to injuries, and he may be here to stay because of them. Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard have yet to pitch this season, and their time tables keep getting pushed back.
Joey Lucchesi had season ending Tommy John surgery. Jordan Yamamoto is on the 60 day IL. David Peterson has hit the IL. The end result has been Megill rushed to the majors and getting his opportunity, and the Mets suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly being in a position where they’ll need to look to add a starter at the trade deadline.
With every start, Megill is alleviating those concerns. Working with Jeremy Hefner and Luis Rojas, he’s taken his game to another level. Working predominantly with his fastball and slider, he increasingly looks like a Major League starter.
So far, he’s made three starts. He hasn’t registered a decision yet, but he has improved with each start. He has a 104 ERA+ and a very impressive 11.9 K/9. That’s even with him walking a couple of batters more than you’d like . . . much like Maine.
With his poise, repertoire, demeanor, and this coaching staff, there’s no reason to believe Megill won’t continue to improve. With each successive start, he’ll make the case he not only should be a part of this rotation, but he can be a part of a World Series contending team.
Again, that’s where the Mets were in 2006. John Maine gave them some comfort they could address other needs because Maine stabilized the rotation. When the pitchers didn’t heal like the Mets had hoped, and others pitchers got injured, Maine had a strong postseason giving the Mets every opportunity to win the pennant.
Megill is showing he can be that type of pitcher. He can be the stopgap. He can be the pitcher who convinces the Mets they don’t need to add pitching at the deadline. He can have a real impact this postseason.
It was Jerad Eickhoff facing off against Ian Anderson, so naturally, this was a pitcher’s duel. That’s nothing to say against Anderson, who has been very good in his brief career. Rather, it’s noteworthy when Eickhoff hasn’t pitched in the majors in two years.
We saw that immediately when the Atlanta Braves loaded the bases in the first with one out. Eickhoff responded by striking out Austin Riley and getting Dansby Swanson to ground out to him.
While not flawless, it was a good start for Eickhoff. He’d pitch four scoreless innings allowing three hits and three walks while striking out three. Understandably, Luis Rojas and the Mets didn’t have him face the order a third time.
Instead, Miguel Castro started the fifth. He’d leave one over the middle of the plate for Ronald Acuña Jr., and Acuña hit a solo homer to deep center to give the Braves the 1-0 lead.
That’s all the Braves needed entering the seventh because of the Mets poor base running. It was almost indescribably bad.
In the second, Pete Alonso was running on the 3-2 pitch, and he thought he could beat Acuña’s arm. He couldn’t as Acuña’s throw was perfect and nailed Alonso at third.
With the Mets offense sputtering, they didn’t get another rally going until the sixth. That started with a Jonathan Villar one out double against Anderson. Of course, because this is the Mets, Villar came out of the game with an injury.
Jose Peraza pinch ran for Villar and for reasons that defy logic he took off for third on a Francisco Lindor grounder to his right. After Swanson easily nailed Peraza, Lindor would make matters worse. With Jeff McNeil up, Lindor broke for second. Anderson threw over leading to Lindor getting caught stealing easily.
In the seventh, the Mets got a one out rally started against Braves closer Will Smith. Alonso and Dominic Smith hit back-to-back singles, and this time, Alonso didn’t test Acuña.
Then, Luis Rojas made a monumentally dumb move. The slow footed Alonso was the tying run, and yet, somehow, Rojas opts to pinch run Albert Almora for Smith. There’s no good explanation why you don’t look to do all you can do to try to ensure you get the tying run.
After James McCann was plunked the bases were loaded, and Kevin Pillar was up. Pillar ripped a liner, but it was right at Riley. Riley snagged it, and he was initially ruled to beat Alonso back to the bag for a game ending double play.
As it turned out, it was a blown call overturned on replay. That’s fortunate as Rojas’ mistake didn’t cost him and the Mets there.
Whatever the case, it didn’t matter as Brandon Drury popped out to end the inning. With that, the Mets ran themselves out of innings and the game. That’s the biggest reason for this split doubleheader.
Game Notes: Joey Lucchesi has a torn UCL. Jeurys Familia was placed on the IL with a hip impingement. Robert Gsellman is on the IL with a lat injury. Stephen Tarpley was the 27th man for the doubleheader. Yennsy Diaz was recalled. Mason Williams was designated for assignment.
The New York Mets had an opportunity to effectively end the Washington Nationals season. Instead, they lost three of four:
1. The Mets have been bad on the road. They’re actually 94 season loss pace (.421 winning percentage) on the road. That needs to change.
2. David Peterson took another step back, but as is par for the course, he’ll stay in the rotation due to injuries.
3. Joey Lucchesi had another strong start, but now, he’s down with elbow inflammation. With this stretch of games and the Mets pitching depth, this could be a devastating injury.
4. The whole bench mob thing has been fun, but the Mets showed how much they need their top guys back. Jeff McNeil coming back now couldn’t have come at a better time.
5. For as obsessed as the Washington Nationals social media team is with Francisco Lindor, he certainly shut them up with a huge game.
6. Luis Guillorme may not be hitting the ball, but he’s finding a way on base. It’ll be interesting to see what that means going forward with McNeil returning and Jonathan Villar slumping.
7. Guess Kyle Schwarber got his revenge for the 2015 NLDS.
8. You can criticize Luis Rojas here and there, but bringing Edwin Diaz into a scoreless game in the ninth isn’t one of those times. It doesn’t matter who he’s relieving.
9. Take it for the little it’s worth, but Pete Alonso is a step behind where he was last year when everyone thought he had a disappointing season.
10. Sean Reid-Foley finally had a bad game. The key now is for it to be an isolated incident.
11. The other part of the Steven Matz trade, Yennsy Diaz looked very impressive. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets more of a look.
12. It doesn’t matter how good Reid-Foley and Diaz are looking, with the Mets starters dropping like flies, the Mets really needed Matz this year. Yes, that’s even with his hitting the IL himself.
13. If all the doctors say he’s good to go, and Jacob deGrom feels good, then let him pitch. We’ll all still be nervous, but that’s not a good reason to skip a start.
14. After Bob Brenly mocked Marcus Stroman‘s du-rag, not only didn’t the Arizona Diamondbacks opt to not discipline him, but they then went on to lose 17 straight.
15. Hopefully, Steve Cohen seeking out to talk with Stroman is just laying the ground stages for an extension. Stroman has been great, and he’s built for New York.
16. While the weekend was lost, something good came out of it when Cohen stated his willingness to blow past the luxury tax. That’s a very nice change of pace.
17. If this now classifies as a bad start for Taijuan Walker, he’s an even better signing than we all thought.
18. The Mets two main issues in this series were bullpen and offense. The bullpen will get rest soon, and offensive reinforcements are on the way. The Mets will be fine.
19. The Mets may regret not mercy killing the Nationals when they have starting pitching available. Seeing how stubborn they are, they moved closer to not selling.
20. The Mets have a four game set against the Atlanta Braves, and they lead them by five games in the division. They can’t afford a repeat of what happened in Washington.
The Mets pitching was again phenomenal. That started with Joey Lucchesi pitching 5.1 scoreless innings. After that, the bullpen provided 2.2 scoreless.
That last one-third of an inning came from Seth Lugo. It wasn’t a pressure situation in the bottom of the eighth, but Luis Rojas tabbed to get relieve Aaron Loup and get Trea Turner out.
He did. Keep in mind, Lugo’s turn in the order didn’t come up. He didn’t have an injury issue. The Mets didn’t get a lead.
Simply put, Rojas just trusted Edwin Diaz against the Washington Nationals top hitters more than Lugo. Honestly, this is not a bad decision.
Lugo has been phenomenal, but he’s still working his way back from injury. The Mets are also in an insane stretch of games, and they’ll need a fresh Lugo again soon. Mostly, this is Diaz whose been phenomenal all year.
No, it didn’t work. Diaz walked Juan Soto before surrendering back-to-back singles to Ryan Zimmerman and Yan Gomes. With that, the Mets lost 1-0.
It should be noted with Soto, that was a completely blown call. Still, the inning fell apart, and the Nationals scored the only run of the game.
Therein lies the problem. Erick Fedde limited the Mets to two hits over seven innings. He did walk four, but the Mets did nothing to drive home any runs.
Mason Williams and Luis Guillorme were thrown out trying to steal a base. In total, the Mets were 0-for-1 with RISP, and they stranded four.
When you get just two hits, and you don’t score for a second straight game, you’re going to lose. That’s the case whether Lugo or Diaz pitches.
For the second night in a row, the San Diego Padres flirted with a no-hitter against the New York Mets. This time it was Blake Snell.
Through 4.2 innings, he was perfect until he walked Billy McKinney. That led to nothing. Leading off the seventh, Francisco Lindor saved the Mets from the indignity of being no-hit with a lead-off single.
The real shame was Joey Lucchesi was again terrific. It didn’t start out that way when he gave up a homer to Manny Machado to lead off the first.
After that, he gave the Mets 4.2 strong innings before handing it to the Mets bullpen. The Mets bullpen kept it close but had a seventh inning hiccup.
Wil Myers doubled off Drew Smith, and then Smith plunked Jurickson Profar. For a moment, it seemed he get out of it when he pounced off the mound on a sacrifice bunt attempt to get the rare 1-5-3 double play.
We love turning 2 on a sac bunt! pic.twitter.com/sdTW6u229a
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2021
Instead of getting out of it, Smith walked Tucupita Marcano. Jeurys Familia then relieved Smith only to walk the first two batters he saw to force home a run. When he walked Machado with the bases loaded, it meant that Machado had both RBI in a 2-0 game.
In some ways, this whole game was that seventh.
Lindor had the aforementioned single, which got past Tommy Pham and rolled to the wall. That meant Lindor was at third with no outs in what was then a 1-0 game. He wouldn’t score.
Snell struck out James McCann. In a tough at-bat, Pete Alonso eventually popped out. Then, Snell made quick work of Brandon Drury striking him out on three pitches.
Despite all of this, the Mets gave themselves a chance to win in the ninth. Like with Snell in the seventh, they had Mark Melancon on the ropes in the ninth.
Lindor had a one out single. McCann came up, and he was rung up on a pitch very clearly off the plate. McCann got angry, gave home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott a piece of his mind, and he was quickly tossed.
A clearly irritated Luis Rojas came out to stick up for his player, and Wolcott didn’t waste time ejecting him too.
Once the dust settled, Alonso singled putting the tying run on base. Drury fought off some pitches, but he’d eventually strike out to end the game.
Say this for the Mets right now. They’re pitching the bottom part of their rotation, and they have 17 players on the IL. Despite that, the second best team in the NL has needed everything they had to beat them. It’s a good harbinger for when these Mets are finally healthy.
Game Notes: Luis Guillorme was 1-for-1 with a walk in a rehab game for Syracuse.
The New York Mets went to the desert, and it was the Arizona Diamondbacks who came up dry. While the Diamondbacks did push the Mets, the Mets took this series:
1. The fact Bob Brenly is still employed after what he said about Marcus Stroman is an embarrassment to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball. Seriously, why hasn’t Rob Manfred stepped in here?
2. Brenly should forever keep Tom Seaver‘s name out of his mouth. He should not be sullying the name of a great man and best right handed pitcher in the post World War II era.
3. Luis Rojas going to the well with Trevor May was really bizarre. May has been struggling, and he was very fatigued.
4. Holding back Seth Lugo from a save opportunity when you’ve already used Edwin Diaz and Miguel Castro because you want to ease him back from his injury is all well and good. However, you just can’t follow that up by trying to throw him two innings in his first appearance back. That’s a contradictory and dumb position.
5. Diaz is just a different pitcher than he has ever been. He’s able to go back-to-back days now with no issue. He’s shaking off blown saves. He’s having consecutive good years. There is not enough superlatives you can throw his way right now. He really deserves credit for how much he’s improved.
6. On that note, Jeurys Familia resurrecting his career has been perhaps the biggest key to this bullpen being this good.
7. It looks like that stint at first base was great for James McCann. He’s continued hitting well, and as we’re seeing, he seems to thrive on the platoon role. Fortunately for the Mets, Tomas Nido has taken his game to a new level to make this a tenable plan.
8. Between McCann hitting again and Francisco Lindor having figured things out, perhaps we can stop passing judgments on two months. Clearly, these two needed to settle into a new city with a new coaching staff. And yes, it helps them and everyone that the team replaced Chili Davis.
9. For those who haven’t noticed, Lindor is a truly great player. Look at what he’s doing. He’s top five in the majors in OAA, and over the past month, he has a .758 OPS. Remember, that includes a period when he was in a deep slump. By September, we’re all going to laugh at the panic some people showed over his start.
10. This team is clicking with the return of Pete Alonso. His presence in the lineup seems to have taken pressure off of everyone, and frankly, it helps that he returned to the lineup in peak Alonso form.
11. There is no one tougher than Kevin Pillar. Not only did he return from that fastball to the face and surgery to replace multiple facial fractures, but he’s picked right up where he left off.
12. The Mets have had a number of injuries, but if the hamstring lingers, none might be more impactful than Jonathan Villar. Villar has been able to hold down third base with all the injuries, and while his numbers and propensity to get picked off leave something to be desired, he does find a way to have an impact on games. The Mets are going to miss him.
13. The J.D. Davis injury is getting increasingly worrisome. It seems like he just has set back after set back. You really just have to wonder if the Mets are really missing a significant injury here.
14. The fact the Mets have a 4.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves, the largest in baseball, is impressive. The fact the Mets have that lead allows them to hold their cards and wait for Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo to return at their own pace. Of course, the pitching being so dominant allows that as well.
15. At some point, Jacob deGrom gets a no-hitter, right? Sure, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux didn’t, but you have to believe deGrom eventually gets one.
16. Because baseball is stupid, you have to guess Joey Lucchesi or David Peterson gets one before deGrom even though neither pitcher really belongs in the starting rotation right now. Injuries have really helped keep them here.
17. The Mets really need to decide if they want Peterson to be Mike Pelfrey, or if they want to try to give someone else a shot while he goes to Syracuse to develop like he needs.
18. For those saying the Mets need Pelfrey, the team can certainly figure it out. After all, they have Lugo, Robert Gsellman, and Sean Reid-Foley who can give you multiple innings consistently out of the bullpen. They also have Jerad Eickhoff, Corey Oswalt, and Thomas Szapucki to plug into the rotation. Really, there are options, and they need to do something.
19. Speaking of Gsellman, those 3.2 innings were phenomenal, and it speaks to his being back to being the pitcher the Mets thought he was when he was first called up in 2016.
20. May was right. That game winning hit by Josh Reddick was foul. Really, this just highlights the absurdity of the replay system where there aren’t cameras down the lines to ensure we get calls like that absolutely correct. Then again, this is baseball under Manfred, so why should we expect any different?
GAME RECAPS
The New York Mets kept getting injured, but they keep winning games, especially at home. They just won three out of four from the Colorado Rockies, and they remain in first place:
1. The Mets are so injured right now their injured players are getting injured.
2. Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco each having difficulty with their rehab assignments and with their probably not being back until August if at all, it’s a reminder you should never part with pitching. Pitching is fragile, and you never have enough of it during the course of a season.
3. The more fans inanely boo Francisco Lindor the more great plays he makes in the field.
4. At some point, we may move past discussing how Tomas Nido claimed the starting job over James McCann to talking about how Nido should be an All-Star.
5. McCann is taking a bad situation, and he is making the most of it by stepping up and playing a pretty good first base. We are also hopefully seeing some signs of life at the plate with his having a a double and homer in this series. At least that’s the hope.
6. Cameron Maybin setting a Mets record for hitless plate appearances to start his Mets career shows you just can’t but a hit for $1.
7. Billy McKinney had quite the Mets debut with some very good defense in the field and doing well at the plate. It was just one game, but it at least appears like McKinney could be part of the equation even with everyone is healthy.
8. While you hope moves like McKinney work, we are getting increasingly to the point where the Mets may have to do something drastic. In the short-term, taking a look at Carlos Cortes makes a lot of sense. If the injuries to J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil are that bad, it may be time to consider calling up Mark Vientos who is scorching hot in Binghamton.
9. We are not talking enough about the job Jose Peraza is doing for the Mets. Yes, he’s below average at the plate and at second, but he is at least a credible presence on what is moving towards a Double-A roster. It also helps that when he gets his hits it seems to be big like his game winning homer in the first end of the doubleheader.
10. Marcus Stroman is defensively what Jacob deGrom is as a pitcher. Stroman is also a very good pitcher in his own right.
11. This is just a different team with deGrom. Yes, we know the frustration with the lack of run support. That said, he gives this team a swagger, and he eats up a lot of innings allowing the bullpen to rest and be great when needed.
12 People can complain all they want about replay, but when deGrom and Jonathan Villar were called out the primary objective of replay was achieved – it got the call right. Now, there is an easy fix where fielders should not be rewarded for pushing runners off the base. Hopefully, that is something which will be taken up this offseason.
13. It seems the adjustments Joey Lucchesi has made are working. That said, this is a pitcher who should not be relied upon for more than three innings. If utilized properly, that means Lucchesi could have an immense amount of value to this team.
14. At some point, you have to wonder if this is doing more harm than good to David Peterson‘s development. In all honesty, it’s difficult to see in which area of his game he is progressing.
15. The Mets are messing with Thomas Szapucki like they once did with Chris Flexen and Corey Oswalt. They need to let him pitch, especially when they are just going to wind up going with bullpen games anyway. His not stepping on the mound harms his development and may set him up for injury. Next thing you know, you hear the he can’t be good nonsense.
16. The Mets scored a total of 10 runs in a four game series and still managed to win three out of four. There are two reasons for this. First and foremost, the Rockies are bad. The second and perhaps more important reason is teams win games with good pitching and defense. Despite the injuries, the Mets still have that.
17. Even with all the injuries and people wondering why things aren’t as good as we thought they might be, the Mets are still on an 88 win pace. Just imagine where they will be when everyone is heatlhy and performing.
18. Brodie Van Wagenen has a lot of gall showing up at Citi Field for a game even with Edwin Diaz having a great year and finally fulfilling his promise.
19. It is good Luis Rojas is finally being recognized for the job he is doing. It should be noted he is essentially doing all the same things he was doing when he wasn’t popular. It’s just that people now recognize how the other things he does so well are so important when you have no one to play.
20. The Mets are getting back Taijuan Walker just in time. This is yet another big early series against the Braves, and the Mets really need to create more separation between the two teams as the Mets continue to navigate their injuries and head towards June, which is always a nightmare.
Game Recaps
At Least James McCann Was Good