Tomas Nido Earning Starting Job

James McCann earned a 40 million deal with the Mets due to his offensive and defensive breakout. With his 54 wRC+ and very poor framing numbers, he’s just not that player right now.

With all the injuries the Mets are experiencing, they can’t wait for McCann any longer. To their credit, they don’t seem to be anymore.

For the past two games and for three out of the last four, Tomas Nido has gotten the start. In those two starts, he’s rewarded them with a three hit game and a game winning homer:

So far, Nido has done more than that. So far this year, Nido has a 142 wRC+. Believe it or not, that’s good for fourth best on the team. If he had enough plate appearances to qualify, Nido would rank as the top offensive catcher in the game.

That may come as a surprise, but perhaps, it shouldn’t. Since last year, Nido is hitting .276/.344/.552. We’ve seen him undergo Lasix surgery after early career struggles, and as noted by Justin Toscano of nj.com, Nido worked with Lorenzo Garmendia before the 2020 season.

While it’s still too small of a reliable sample size, we are seeing the same impact Garmendia had on J.D. Martinez with Nido. More than that, considering all we’ve seen this year, it’s incumbent on the Mets to ride this out to see how real it is.

That goes double when you look at Nido’s framing. In fact, according to Baseball Savant, he’s one of the best in the game. It’s way too early to say this, but if this continues, there really needs to be a discussion about Nido being one of the best in the game.

Before that happens, he’s got to play more. Right now, that’s happening. That’s good because he’s earned the playing time, and frankly, McCann has always been his best while splitting time behind the plate.

Whatever the reason, Nido has arguably been the Mets top performing player. It’s gotten him more starts recently. If it continues, it may very well end with him getting the starting job.

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Tomas Nido Wins It

With all the New York Mets injuries, they’re at a point where they need everything to go right to win games. Well, tonight, Luis Rojas was pushing the right buttons.

With this being a bullpen game, Tommy Hunter was second up. Not only did he pitch two scoreless innings, but he’d hit a one out single against Tucker Davidson. That meant he’d score the first run of the game when Jonathan Villar hit a two run homer.

We’d also get some big time defensive plays. In the fourth, Jose Peraza picked Freddie Freeman off the base paths.

We’d see some more big plays later, both offensive and defensive.

After the Braves pulled themselves to within 2-1 when Austin Riley homered off Robert Gsellman in the fifth. The Mets would get that run back.

Leading off the sixth, Francisco Lindor hit a ground rule double. He’d eventually score on a Pete Alonso sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 game.

The Braves responded with a Freddie Freeman homer off Trevor May. The Mets then used their defense to try to desperately hold onto the 3-2 lead.

Khalil Lee make his first real impression in the majors with a diving catch robbing Ozzie Albies of an extra base hit.

In the eighth, Ehire Adrianza doubled off Aaron Loup. Adrianza made a phenomenal slide to avoid the tag after Johneshwy Fargas made a phenomenal throw.

Jeurys Familia entered the game and walked Ronald Acuña. That’s when Lindor pulled off a phenomenal double play tagging out Ozuna, and then beating Freeman at first.

On the play, Adrianza went to third. That meant he was in place to score when Marcell Ozuna hit an RBI single. With that, all the Mets did to grab and hold a lead was gone.

However, the Mets weren’t done. There was one trick up their sleeve. That was Tomas Nido.

With the way he’s been playing, the Mets have been shifting towards using him more. His play coupled with James McCann‘s troubles led to Nido starting a second straight game and his batting in the ninth:

Nido’s go-ahead homer off Will Smith gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. Edwin Diaz pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save.

After a tough weekend in Tampa, the very depleted Mets are in Atlanta making a statement. Even without their best players, the Mets are a better team, and they’re suddenly making a case they’re the best team in baseball.

Game Notes: The Mets acquired Cameron Maybin for cash from the Chicago Cubs.

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Mets Need J.D. Davis Back

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Looking at the New York Mets injury situation, which hit a nadir when Kevin Pillar was hit in the face, they need all the help they can get.

Honestly, looking at things, they need J.D. Davis back.

Part of the reason is Jonathan Villar‘s struggles. Yes, he is in fact struggling. So far this year, Villar has an 87 wRC+ at the plate, and at third base, he has a -2 DRS and -1 OAA.

There’s also the current pinch hitting options. Patrick Mazeika is a feel good story, but he has a 76.1 exit velocity, and that’s even with the homer.

Now, Mazeika’s presence has allowed the Mets to go to James McCann and Tomas Nido as pinch hitters. While McCann delivered last night, he’s struggled mightily at the plate.

Also, for what little it’s worth, Nido has not been a good pinch hitter in his career. That said, he probably should get more time behind that plate, but that’s a discussion for another day.

The Mets are getting something from Jose Peraza right now, but he’s still not putting up great numbers. There should be very genuine interest in Johneshwy Fargas and Khalil Lee, but it’s apparent the Mets don’t believe either is truly ready.

Breaking it all down, the Mets need help. Yes, Davis is the worst defender in the majors. Yes, his offensive production to date has been nearly entirely BABIP and juiced ball reliant.

Taking all that into account, he’s needed at the moment. He can at least stand at third and in left. He will give you an honest at-bat. Where the Mets are right now, that is sorely needed (pun intended).

Hopefully, Davis’ rehab game goes well permitting the Mets to active him sooner rather than later. At this point, with the way things are going, we can only imagine who else gets injured between now and the later.

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Mets Win Game And Lose Two More

With all the New York Mets players on the IL, it should come as no shock another injury happened tonight. This time it was Taijuan Walker.

You can see Walker lost velocity, and he again just outright refused to try at the plate. Despite that, all the Atlanta Braves could muster off of him was a Max Fried single.

Walker was out after three with what was classified as left side tightness. Whatever the case, the Mets came off a bullpen game in the Rays series, they’re having one tomorrow, and they needed bullpen help tonight.

Sean Reid-Foley came up huge. When the Mets needed a break, and they needed to keep up with Fried, he pitched three perfect innings. He’d be awarded his first Major League win for his efforts.

But sadly, that wouldn’t be the story of the night.

The Mets had a chance to take the lead in the sixth after consecutive two out hits by Kevin Pillar and Jonathan Villar. Pillar doubled, and seemed seconds away from scoring on a Villar single, but Dansby Swanson made a diving play to keep it in the infield.

They’d be stranded as Jose Peraza lined out. The Mets rallied and cashed-in in the seventh.

As noted by Gary Cohen, Mets catchers had not doubled prior to this game. Naturally, Tomas Nido would double to lead off the inning. Fried then left the game with an apparent injury, and he was replaced by Jacob Webb.

That’s when everything changed.

James McCann, who has struggled mightily all year, entered the game to pinch hit for Reid-Foley. He delivered with a go-ahead RBI double.

Johneshwy Fargas sacrificed. Francisco Lindor walked and stole a base. Pete Alonso struck out, and Dominic Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases. That’s when Pillar would come up and suffer one of the worst HBP you’ll ever see.

Blood was gushing all over. Somehow, he was able to get off the field on his own power. With the shock of the moment, and the need to clean all the blood from the field, there was a long pause.

The Braves did the right thing lifting Webb from the game. He was clearly distraught and needed to come out of the game. This wasn’t Roger Clemens. It was a mistake, and you couldn’t help but feel for him too.

That said, just to remind you why you hate the Braves and while the whole organization is trash, they did the dance cam during the delay:

That gruesome moment gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. After Jeurys Familia pitched a perfect seventh, the Mets tacked on an insurance run against this bad Braves bullpen.

Nido had his first MLB three hit game, which included his one out eighth inning single. After Jake Hager pinch hit for Familia and struck out, Fargas came up.

Fargas had his first MLB hit which went from a single to an RBI double because the hurt Ronald Acuña couldn’t stop and pivot to field the ball.

Trevor May came on for the eighth, and he just didn’t seem to have it again. He’d allow a homer to Austin Riley to break the shutout. Things would get very dicey.

Guillermo Heredia doubled, and after a May wild pitch, he was on third with two outs. He’d stay there as Ehire Adrianza lined out to Peraza to end the inning.

That meant Edwin Diaz would get the ball with a 3-1 lead. He’d yield a walk, but he’d get the job done earning the save.

Unfortunately, that’s not quite the focus. The focus is Pillar’s health, and after that, it’s just trying to figure out who in the world could possibly be the next man up.

Game Notes: Fargas made his MLB debut playing center and batting ninth. Khalil Lee made his debut entering as a pinch runner for Pillar.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Swept Up In Rays

The New York Mets went to Tampa Bay flying high, and now, their winning streak is over, and they over wounded . . . literally. It was about as bad a weekend as they’ve had all season:

1. For all the talk of depth, it is very difficult to overcome the loss of Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo. Those are arguably your three best hitters.

2. The Mets “Bench Mob” has done their job, but you do wonder how long they can hold on as the regulars are injured and don’t appear set to get back to their healthy forms soon.

3. In terms of injuries, Marcus Stroman hasn’t been the same since his hamstring issues.

4. With Joey Lucchesi struggling in his current role, the Mets have to question what exactly he is. Is he a starter which gives you maybe four innings? Is he a long reliever? Seriously, what is he?

5. You really do have to question why Lucchesi is constantly allowed to fail when the Mets could just call-up Jordan Yamamoto. Seriously, he can’t be any worse.

6. Again, the Mets trading Steven Matz has come back to bite them. They simply didn’t have the rotation depth to just part with a legitimate starter.

7. David Peterson had a great start just when he needed to have a great start. That said, he needs to get through the bottom third of that Rays lineup unscathed.

8. This isn’t the postseason. You simply cannot have relievers warming up all the time. Teams need to navigate a 162 game schedule, and that is made all the more complicated by last year’s shortened season.

9. Not every loss is Luis Rojas‘ fault, and that loss was certainly not on Rojas. The Mets ran into Tyler Glasnow, they didn’t hit with runners in scoring position, and then their bullpen didn’t perform up to standards.

10. Just like Peterson had to get through the bottom of that lineup, Trevor May has to get out Manuel Margot in that spot. Margot is terrible against right-handed pitching, and he is terrible with two outs and runners in scoring position.

11. With Jacob deGrom going down, the Mets are in danger of running through their bullpen depth by the end of May.

12. At some point, James McCann is going to have to do something. His offense hasn’t come along, and even worse, his framing numbers have been terrible. Maybe, this is his year of adjustment, or maybe, he needs more rest than he’s getting. Whatever it is, with all the Mets injuries, the team needs him to figure it out now.

13. While he’s played a flashy third base, Jonathan Villar has been predictably poor over there. So far, he has a -2 DRS and a -1 OAA. It’s hard to see how he keeps playing everyday when J.D. Davis is ready to return.

14. Who knows how long he can keep it up, but Patrick Mazeika is becoming the fell good story of the season. When he finally gets his first hit, it’s a homer.

15. Fair or not, the Mets need more from Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, and Francisco Lindor. They’re good enough to carry this offense with the other injuries.

16. Alonso has hit a lot of special homers in his young career, but homering in his hometown had to mean a little bit more to him. Hopefully, that homer sparks a hot streak at the plate which this team so desperately needs.

17. It’s insane to think Jose Peraza has been this good so far. Right now, the Mets have no other option than to just see how long he rides this wave.

18. The Mets are fortunate the NL East can’t get out of their own way right now. They get swept by the Rays, and they still stay in first place.

19. For all the criticism over Lindor and the ratcoon joke, Joe Girardi outright refused to answer questions about his issues with Jean Segura. While some may want to think that’s the better way of handling it, it’s hard to see how that helps brings the team together and fire up the fanbase like the ratcoon joke did.

20. Injured or not, the Mets begin an important stretch with series on the road against the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins. Fortunately, they’re going to put their best foot forward with Taijuan Walker on the mound.

 

Game Recaps

Mets Lost Due to Glasnow and Clutch Rays Hitting

Joey Lucchesi Beings Bullpen Game Implosion

Mets Banged Up

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Mets Banged Up

Michael Conforto left the game in the first grabbing at his leg, and he appears IL bound.

Jeff McNeil left the game in the third with a slightly different problem than what’s been plaguing him this year.

With Marcus Stroman, who hasn’t quite returned to his dominant self since his injury issue, allowing five over 6.0 innings, of course the Mets did not win this game.

On the bright side, we got to see folk hero Patrick Mazeika hit his first career homer, which doubled as his first career hit.

The question now for the Mets is who steps up with all the players injured? The other question is how long can the Bench Mob be a driving force for keeping the Mets in first place.

We shall see.

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Neon Moment of the Week: Another Patrick Mazeika Walk-Off

In an era when teams carry just two catchers, New York Mets third string catcher Patrick Mazeika has been leaving a lasting impact. He’s done it with getting a hit.

In his career, Mazeika has stepped to the plate five times. He’s had one walk, and according to Baseball Savant, he’s got one of the lowest exit velocities in the league.

However, what matters is he’s getting the job done when needed. He’s come up three times with the bases loaded and gotten the run home each time. Once via walk and twice via fielder’s choice. In fact, two of them were walk-offs.

The latest one this week was off the Orioles, and it helped keep what eventually became a seven game winning streak alive. That walk-off also set MLB records.

According to Sarah Langs of ESPN, Mazeika became the first ever player with multiple walk-off RBI in his first four games. He’s also the first player to have multiple walk-off RBI before his first hit.

Mazeika is becoming a fun Mets legend. He’s setting records, and the Mets are winning games, and that’s why it’s the Neon Moment of the Week!

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I am very appreciative Athlete Logos has agreed to participate in this feature. If you like his work as much as I do, please visit his website to enjoy his work, buy some of his merchandise, or to contract him to do some personal work for yourself (like I have).

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Joey Lucchesi Begins Bullpen Game Implosion

With Joey Lucchesi proving he can’t be a Major League starter, the Mets have been forced to go with bullpen days when his turn comes up in the rotation. The problem is the Mets can only hide him for so long.

After Drew Smith allowed an unearned run in his first two innings as the opener, the ball would be given to Lucchesi. All the Mets would need from him is a solid outing because they had a lead.

In advance of Lucchesi entering the game, the Mets hit two homers against Shane McLanahan. The first was a three run shot by Jose Peraza in the second.

The second was Pete Alonso in the third. That one must’ve been really special as it came in his hometown.

Lucchesi pitched a clean third, but he’d get into trouble immediately in the fourth issuing a leadoff walk to Yandy Diaz. Joey Wendle doubled, Manuel Margot singled, and Willy Adames doubled. With that, the 4-1 lead was gone.

After two outs, Sean Reid-Foley “relieved” Lucchesi. Austin Meadows doubled, and Randy Arozarena singled. With that, the Rays put up a five run inning. The Mets would be chasing the rest of the game.

After having a three strikeout game, Francisco Lindor got the Mets closer with a solo homer in the top of the eighth. That’s as close as the Mets would get.

The problem with bullpen games like these is everything needs to work. If there’s one hiccup, the wheels come off. That’s what happened with Lucchesi, and it happened again when Jacob Barnes loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth.

Luis Rojas brought in Jeurys Familia to get the Mets out of the jam. Instead, Diaz and Wendle would slam the ball into the turf for doubles clearing the bases and putting the game out of reach.

When all was said and done, the Rays had a six run inning, and they cruised to a 12-5 win. After winning seven in a row, the Mets lost two straight, and their bullpen is showing some signs of weakness.

Game Notes: Jake Hager made his big league debut against the team who once drafted him in the first round. Khalil Lee was sent down. J.D. Davis will begin a rehab stint.

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Luis Rojas Did Not Blow That Game

Let’s rewind to the exact situation. David Peterson had retired 17 in a row and was at 83 pitches. The Mets had a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the eighth with the bottom of the order due up.

The Tampa Bay Rays 7-8-9 hitters were particularly terrible. Here’s now they had faired in the game up to that point:

Simply put, Peterson dominated this trio. He had not thrown many pitches, and since the second inning, Peterson was literally generating pop outs, ground outs, and strikeouts.

There was absolutely zero reason to believe the Rays could mount any realistic threat in the eighth. That goes double when you look at the hitters careers:

  • Zunino – 72 wRC+ since 2018
  • Padlo – Zero career hits
  • Phillips – career 71 wRC+

There was absolutely zero reason to anticipate trouble. Peterson’s pitch count was down, and the batters due up were dreadful. To put things in perspective for Mets fans, Eric Campbell with his career 80 wRC+ would’ve been a better option.

Seeing it that way, Luis Rojas was right to send Peterson out for the eighth. That’s even the case with no safety net.

Remember, this isn’t the postseason. You don’t just get guys up and throwing just in case. You’re managing for 162 games, and the Mets are slated for a bullpen game.

The Mets needed Peterson to get through that eighth, and again, there was no reason to believe he couldn’t. Of course, with this being baseball, he didn’t.

Zunino, who has a career .387 SLG against LHP in his career homered. Padlo, who was 0-for-10 in his career doubled. It sucks, but it happens.

From there, Peterson struck out Phillips (who failed in his bunt attempts), and he was relieved by Trevor May. Obviously, no one is going to question that because no one wanted Peterson going through the lineup a fourth time.

Remember, at that time, the Mets still had a 2-1 lead. It was a hard out, but May retired Randy Arozarena. That left May facing Manuel Margot, who is a career .240/.289/.373 hitter off RHP. He’s also a career .232/.316/.297 hitter with two outs and RISP.

This is the exact match-up you want. You wanted May to get an overmatched Margot to get out of the inning, so the Mets could go to Edwin Diaz in the ninth.

Instead of ending the inning, Margot hit a game tying double. May just stumbled here after being great all season. Again, it happens.

This is what caused Mets fans fury. They expected Rojas to not let Peterson start the eighth or to not permit him to pitch against a batter with zero career hits.

Even if you had a preference, that’s not the same as saying Rojas blew it. Rojas had made sound decisions and put his pitchers in a position to succeed.

They just didn’t. It happens.

The same goes for Jeff McNeil failing to deliver with two on and two out in the second. McNeil hit a one out double in the eighth, but Michael Conforto and Francisco Lindor failed to drive him home.

Failing to deliver those insurance runs proved costly. Even more costly was James McCann grounding out with two out and two on in the ninth.

That’s emblematic of what happened in the eighth. The Rays delivered in the big spots, and the Mets didn’t. That’s on the players, not the manager.

In the end, Peterson allowed extra base hits to two flat out bad hitters. May couldn’t get a batter who couldn’t hit RHP out. The Mets couldn’t get the key hit they needed to expand or reclaim the lead.

That’s what happened, and it’s difficult to pin the Mets inability to deliver in these spots on the manager. Overall, there is plenty of blame to go around, but none of I should be directed at the manager.

Rojas managed that game well, and he put his team in a position to win. His players just didn’t take advantage. It’s just time to move past this game and start a new winning streak. With Rojas at the helm, they should.

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Mets Lost Due To Glasnow And Clutch Rays Hitting.

The Tampa Bay Rays had their chance. David Peterson faltered in the second, and based on how things have transpired this season, this is the point where Peterson gets knocked out of the game.

Yandy Diaz doubled to start the inning, and Peterson lost control walking the bases loaded with one out. That’s when Peterson reached back and found something he hasn’t before in this season.

He blew away Kevin Padlo. Peterson then battled with Brett Phillips before striking him out on a 3-2 pitch. The Rays wouldn’t get close to Peterson again.

Over seven shutout innings, Peterson allowed just two hits. While he walked two in that second inning, he wouldn’t walk another. He’d strike out eight. Long story short, he completely dominated the Rays.

Of course, he did get help from his defense. In the first, James McCann threw out Manuel Margot. In the third, Jonathan Villar made a diving stop turning a would be Randy Arozarena double into a ground out.

It’s a good thing too because Tyler Glasnow was just that good. In fact, through four, he was perfect, and it looked like the Mets would need a miracle to get a hit off of him, either that or a well hit out.

In the fifth, they got their miracle. With two outs, Kevin Pillar hit an infield single which shortstop Willy Adames just couldn’t get to first in time. Two pitches later, Villar launched a go-ahead two run homer:

The problem for the Mets would turn out that there was an eighth inning. With Peterson only at 83 pitches, Luis Rojas let him try to get out the bottom third of the Rays lineup before going to the bullpen.

That calculated risk turned into a reminder a pitcher is cruising until he isn’t.

Mike Zunino led off the inning with a homer. That cut the lead to 2-1, and then things got very precarious when Padlo followed with a double. Peterson responded by striking out Phillips, and then, Rojas would bring in Trevor May to face the top of the Rays lineup.

Villar would make a great play on an Arozarena liner to get the out and preserve the lead. Unfortunately, Margot would hit a game tying double. May struck out Austin Meadows to end the jam, but the damage was done.

The Mets had their chance in the top of the ninth against Pete Fairbanks. Pillar hit a two out single, and Villar reached on an Adames error. That was the opportunity for McCann to deliver, but like much of this season, he made an easy out.

Rojas went to Miguel Castro for the ninth. For probably just the second time this season, Castro didn’t have it.

He’d issue a one out walk to Brandon Lowe. Lowe then went first to third on an Adames single. Lowe JUST beat Michael Conforto‘s throw. Replay would uphold that.

After Zunino walked, Rojas went to Aaron Loup. Initially, Loup came up huge striking out Joey Wendle. However, Loup couldn’t get Phillips, who hit the walk-off single giving the Rays a 3-2 win.

The loss snapped the Mets seven game winning streak, and assuredly, there will be those who will blame Rojas. The blame is misguided.

The truth is Glasnow is a dominant pitcher who was great today. Peterson should’ve been able to get through the bottom third of the lineup there, and a Mets bullpen who has been great all year had a misstep.

It happens. The trick now is not letting it happen again.

Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo had a setback in his rehab assignment and will be shut down. There has not been a stolen base with Peterson on the mound.

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