This was the toughest week so far for the New York Mets this season. Their woes with RISP reached new levels of despair, and the Philadelphia Phillies felt awfully comfortable trying to push them around.
After Jose Alvarado threw two at Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith gave him a mouthful the last series these two teams squared off, Alvardo struck out Smith in a big situation. Alvarado disrespected Smith, and the benches emptied.
They lost that game, but the Mets were fired up. We saw that when they grabbed a 4-0 first inning lead against Zack Wheeler. The problem is it ended there, and the Phillies got back into the game.
While this was not a “must win” game, the Mets needed to make a statement. They needed to show they do have the mental toughness to win these games. They needed to show the Phillies they will not be pushed around or disrespected.
In the ninth, Conforto came up against Hector Neris. This is the same Conforto who was booed during this season, and his ability to hit in the clutch has always been questioned. He would silence everyone with one big swing:
What a huge HR for Conforto last night. One of the prettiest swings you'll ever see. #LGM #NYMNeonProject pic.twitter.com/OobWxsdbO7
— Athlete Logos (@athletelogos) May 2, 2021
That was a game the Mets needed to have. In some ways, with the way the season has played out, they probably needed the hit all the more. Getting that hit and getting that win makes this the Neon Moment of the Week!
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The New York Mets responded to the loss and Jose Alvarado‘s disrespect by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. It all started with a Francisco Lindor HBP, and there were big RBI doubles by Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso.
3-0 #Mets! #LGM pic.twitter.com/KAl16sPHH6
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 1, 2021
The Mets had a chance to build from there, but James McCann grounded into a double play. That hurt because Zack Wheeler was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies. You get what you can get in the first because he’s much stingy later in the game.
That was the case here. After that first inning, Wheeler shut down the Mets over the next six innings. That gave the Phillies a chance to get back into the game.
Now, Taijuan Walker pitched well but not quite well enough.
The Phillies jumped on him in the second. After a Nick Marton double, there were runners and second and third with no outs. The first run scored on an Andrew Knapp RBI groundout. Walker was close to getting out of the inning further unscathed, but Wheeler helped his own cause.
Walker went on cruise control after that allowing just a walk heading into the sixth. That’s when the Phillies started going through the third time through the lineup. It came to bite him and the Mets when Alec Bohm hit a game tying two run homer.
From there, two things happened. First, the Mets bullpen stepped up again and pitched well. Aaron Loup and Trevor May pitched a scoreless inning apiece to ensure the game was tied heading into the ninth.
In addition to the bullpen stepping up, the game went haywire. It wasn’t haywire in the way it went with Alvarado throwing at people and trash talking. Rather, it all hell broke loose.
In the seventh, Brandon Nimmo swung at a pitch, missed, and he came out of the game with an injury. He’d be replaced by Kevin Pillar. Pillar’s strikeout was attributable to Nimmo. Nimmo wasn’t the only Met to leave the game with a hand injury.
Loup was double switched into the game with Jonathan Villar taking over at third. There wasn’t an obvious play which caused it, but he left the game with a sprained hand.
In that inning, we’d see an absurdly bad umpire call. Matt Joyce hit a grounder towards Lindor, who went to tag Andrew McCutchen, and missed. It didn’t matter as the umpire ruled it was a double play.
Francisco Lindor turns two (?): pic.twitter.com/7KN45O7zJv
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2021
McCutchen was ruled to have run outside the baseline. He didn’t, but it’s not reviewable because the replay system is completely broken.
Bryce Harper, who couldn’t play because he was hit in the face by a Genesis Cabrera pitch, was thrown out of the game.
In any event, Hector Neris entered the game for the Phillies in the ninth. On the second pitch he threw, Conforto hit a go-ahead homer:
? BOOM? pic.twitter.com/MdAWXBhfBV
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 2, 2021
With the Mets ahead 5-4, Edwin Diaz entered the game looking for his third save of the season. Now, this is a spot where Diaz had issues in the past. Not tonight. He mowed down the Phillies in order to preserve the win.
This was a big response to the loss and disrespect last night. It was a big win with Conforto getting a huge hit, his second homer of the season. Now, they need to make this stick by winning tomorrow.
Game Notes: Luis Guillorme landed on the IL, and Jose Peraza was called up in his place. Nimmo was diagnosed with a left index finger contusion.
Last night, the Mets offense was again the Mets offense going 1-for-14 with RISP and leaving 10 men on base. Marcus Stroman was good for 5.0, but he had to leave with a tight hamstring.
The key focus of the game is the eighth when Jose Alvarado came into the game. If you recall last time, he threw two pitches up and in at Michael Conforto. He’d do the same just once to Conforto, but this time Conforto lined out.
That’s probably a ball that goes for extra bases, but the wind was crazy and knocked the ball down. There was a lot of that last night.
As it turned out, the inning set up where Dominic Smith, who was the most vocal when Alvardo threw at Conforto, stepped to the plate with two on and two out. After a wild pitch, it was runners at second and third. In tough at-bat, Smith struck out, and Alvarado had something to say.
Benches have cleared in Philadelphia after Jose Alvarado yelled at Dom Smith after striking him out. pic.twitter.com/NOBx5zmOBK
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 1, 2021
Smith went to confront Alvarado, who suddenly wasn’t a tough guy anymore. He found his teammates and did the “hold me back routine.”
"I'm a grown-ass man, come meet me there if you really got a problem…he waited for his team to grab him. I'm right there. He can meet me in the tunnel tomorrow if he really wants to get after it" – Dom Smith on Jose Alvarado pic.twitter.com/d6eIgR5vaD
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 1, 2021
This wasn’t over. Later in the game, Miguel Castro came inside twice to Rhys Hoskins. Yes, it was really inside twice, but it was lower. It’s difficult to determine intent, but for a Phillies team who likes to hide behind Alvarado’s selective wildness, the Mets could also do so here.
More words exchanged between the Phillies and Mets after Rhys Hoskins takes 2 consecutive pitches inside from Miguel Castro for a walk. pic.twitter.com/Eh28pt2lWE
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 1, 2021
As Ron Darling noteed, Castro was actively trying to get Hoskins out, but that didn’t matter. Hoskins has something to say as we went up the baseline, and he didn’t come to meet Castro.
The Mets might’ve lost this one 2-1, but they did show some fight. This might’ve been that moment that wakes them up and gives them some fire. As we saw, the Mets are ready, and the Phillies were the ones flinching. We’ll see how that plays out tonight.
The news Mickey Callaway was harassing women while a member of multiple organizations came to light in an article written by reported by Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic. That was the beginning of February.
In reality, the Los Angeles Angels and really all of baseball were aware prior to that report being published. After all, Callaway’s actions were termed as “the worst kept secret in baseball.”
Callaway denied the allegations, even with their being pictures and texts, and as such, an investigation was launched. That investigation is nearing its third month, and its carried through the first month of the season.
At this point, we cannot be sure what the hold-up is. This does seem like a lengthy amount of time for contract buyout talks. Maybe Callaway is looking to negotiate a deal where he gives up others while keeping his job and/or salary. No one can be quite certain.
The only thing we’re certain is Callaway is still employed for the time being, and no one can be quite sure how much longer he will be an Angels employee. All we do know is he’s currently employed by the Angels.
Wherever the Angels and MLB are doing now better be good. After all, with baseball obsessed with pace under Rob Manfred, everyone is certainly slow playing this.
The New York Mets had not lost a home series or been swept once this season. That was until the Boston Red Sox came to town:
1. The best way to sum up Jacob deGrom‘s greatness is a bad start is one run over six innings.
2. In four starts, deGrom is 2-2 with a 0.51 ERA. That’s beyond absurd.
3. The long story short is if deGrom doesn’t shut ’em out and hit one out, he’s going to lose the game.
4. That may not be a deGrom thing anymore. The Mets offense has been that bad lately.
5. This isn’t exactly by chance. The Mets are following the pattern of teams who previously retained Chili Davis as hitting coach.
6. As noted and will continue to be noted, Francisco Lindor is a slow starter. If you’re booing him over that, you’re an idiot.
7. Also, imagine booing him when he makes a great play to turn an unassisted double play.
8. Speaking of defense, Pete Alonso has been great at first. While we note the diving play, that stretch on the James McCann throw was excellent.
9. With the Mets offense the way it is, making bad pitching look great, they need all the great defense and pitching they can get. Fortunately, the pitching has been great leading the league in FIP.
10. Keep in mind, this is before Carlos Carrasco, Seth Lugo, and Noah Syndergaard come off the IL. That’s how good the pitching has been.
11. Mets really need to navigate this Brandon Nimmo hip issue because he’s the one consistent bat in this lineup. He’s also playing well in center.
12. Jeff McNeil homered and was dropped in the lineup. It’ll be interesting to find out what Sandy Alderson comes up with to bench McNeil again and/or drop him in the lineup again.
13. Mets held the best offensive team in 2021 to three runs TOTAL over two games. Somehow, the Mets were swept over the two game set.
14. With the Mets pitching and hitting this way, it’s reminiscent of the summer of 2015. The only difference is these Mets are healthy and the other batted Eric Campbell and John Mayberry in the heart of the lineup. These Mets are healthy.
15. It’s way too soon to panic or overreact, but the Mets problems have gone from bad to worse. That said, there is still plenty of time to turn things around.
16. The at-bats by Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis at the end of the second game where literally as bad as you can get. They were swinging at pitches in the dirt.
17. Jeurys Familia and Trevor May have been nearly unstoppable since their struggles in their first appearances. Miguel Castro has been unstoppable all year.
18. Jerry Blevins seemed to be a casualty of the dumb three batter rule when he announced his retirement. Same goes for former Met Oliver Perez who was designated for assignment by the Indians despite pitching well.
19. As Joe Girardi was rightfully flipping out over Genesis Cabrera hitting Bryce Harper in the face and Didi Gregorius in the ribs, he has no issue putting Jose Alvarado on the mound who threw consecutive dangerous up and in pitches to Conforto. If you’re going to be upset about hard throwers with zero control endangering batters, don’t put one on the mound yourself.
20. Despite what people want to tell you, the Mets are going to be fine. They’ll finish April near or at first, and they’re primed for a big May.
In the second inning, Jacob deGrom allowed doubles to Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez to give the Boston Red Sox a 1-0 lead. That qualified this as a bad deGrom start.
Overall, deGrom “only” struck out nine and “only” pitched six innings. His punishment for allowing the one run on just three hits and one walk and for his failing to get a hit himself was a loss.
While deGrom was having an “off-night,” which by the way is better than anyone else’s best, the New York Mets offense was making Nick Pivetta look like deGrom.
Pivetta entered the game with a 3.48 ERA and 1.355 WHIP while walking nearly as much as he struck out. That made him unhittable to this Mets lineup. His final line was 5.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K.
It’s not like Pivetta was having the game of his life either. He was throwing hittable pitches. The problem is the Mets can’t hit those right now.
The Mets also couldn’t do anything against the Red Sox bullpen. What makes this so maddening was the Mets pitching was PHENOMENAL.
After deGrom, Aaron Loup, Trevor May, and Edwin Diaz each pitched a scoreless inning. The four pitchers combined to allow one run over nine with one walk and 15 strikeouts.
It was just a lame effort all around. Things were at their worst when Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis struck out on pitches in the dirt and in front of the plate. That’s not just how this night went. It’s been like this for a while now, and it needs to change.
The Mets have been swept for the first time this season, and they lost their first home series. They’re also under .500. At least no one in the NL East is really playing any better.
Game Notes: Jerry Blevins was at the game after announcing his retirement. Francisco Lindor was booed again.
Garrett Richards made four starts in 2021 averaging under 5.0 innings per start. He’s allowed 14 runs over 16.2 innings while walking more than he’s struck out.
Naturally, he dominated the New York Mets over 7.0 innings. In fact, he struck out 10 batters, which nearly matched his 2021 total. He picked up the win after allowing one run on seven hits with no walks.
Now, every now and then, every pitcher has a great game. Perhaps, that was just that for Richards. It’s also possible this is just the Mets continuing their season long offensive struggles.
On the night, the Mets only run scored on a Jeff McNeil second inning homer. At the time, that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
First pitch fastball ambush by the ?.@JeffMcNeil805 | #LGM pic.twitter.com/GutvYIRbew
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 27, 2021
The problem is that was just one of two Mets extra base hits on the day. The other was Michael Conforto in the fourth, but in what doesn’t remotely come as a shock, he was stranded there.
James McCann had tried to get his own extra base hit in the fifth, but he was thrown out by J.D. Martinez.
Conforto was the only Mets player with multiple hits. Francisco Lindor was the only Mets player not to strike out, but he went hitless. Pete Alonso had the golden sombrero. Both of those players did come to play defensively.
They needed it too because with the way the Mets were hitting, they needed to keep it close. David Peterson did that, and he’d be the hard luck loser for his efforts.
Peterson had kept the Red Sox at bay until the third. Right after the Mets gained the lead with the McNeil homer, Peterson gave that lead right back when Bobby Dalbec homered off of him.
The Red Sox didn’t get anything going until the sixth. Enrique Hernandez led off the inning with a double. He then scored on a Rafael Devers RBI single. That was the scoring in the game.
Peterson rebounded, and he got out of the sixth. That was partially due to Lindor turning a double play. That wouldn’t be his best one of the day.
With the Mets trailing 2-1 heading into the seventh, Jeurys Familia relieved Peterson. Familia allowed a one out double to Hunter Renfroe, and Marwin Gonzalez hit a liner up the middle which Lindor turned into an unassisted double play:
The master at work. @Lindor12BC | #LGM pic.twitter.com/Akvlw8sgmO
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 28, 2021
This was an amazing defensive play. However, it wasn’t enough for the Mets fans in the ballpark who had the temerity to boo Lindor. You’d think early season offensive struggles caused by a number of factors would be excused for Lindor, but the people at Citi Field are morons.
The bigger problem than the idiots booing was the loss. The final 10 batters of the game failed to reach.
When that happens, you really can’t win games. The Mets didn’t here, and they fell back to .500.
Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo was held out of the lineup with a hip impingement. Lindor went hitless. Stephen Tarpley was sent down to the alternate site, and Jose Peraza was called-up. Lindor batted lead-off.
Back in 2015, Chase Utley tackled Ruben Tejada way outside of the baseline, broke Tejada’s leg, and he never bothered to touch second base. As Tejada writhed in pain and had to be carted off the field, MLB replay officials awarded Utley second base.
Think of the outright absurdity of that. The Mets couldn’t challenge Utley was out of the baseline. They couldn’t challenge interference. However, the Dodgers could challenge a player not touching the base was safe, and they’d actually win the challenge.
That should’ve been a seminal moment in replay. That’s where MLB needed to decide they wanted to get the plays correct and not make this a system about technicalities and perpetuating errors.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what its become.
We each have calls over the years which have benefited and hurt our team where we thought replay was going to overturn it only for replay to just confirm the ridiculously wrong call. Perhaps it is just this season, but things seem to be at an all-time worst with the entire replay system.
The first call which comes to mind this year was Michael Conforto. In a tie game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Conforto clearly stuck his elbow out across home plate. Instead of his being rung up on what should’ve been strike three, he was awarded first base, and the Mets won the game.
What a crazy ending to the Mets win in the Home Opener.
Michael Conforto clearly stuck his elbow over the plate.
But you know what? How many times have the Mets not had a game go their way because of some crazy happening. Never apologize for winning. pic.twitter.com/MypiyhUBLw
— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) April 8, 2021
Don Mattingly sought to challenge the call, and all the replay booth could do was confirm Conforto was actually hit by the pitch. For some bizarre reason, they were not permitted to see if Conforto put his elbow into the strike zone, or if he even bothered to try to avoid getting hit by the pitch.
Again, if the concept of replay is to get the calls right, they should have a system in getting the calls right. When you defer to just outright bad and blown calls, your system is failing. That’s not just the case with “judgment calls.” That’s with every call.
As an aside, calling some calls judgment calls and others not is just absurd. Literally every call an umpire makes is a judgment call. They have to judge if the ball is a strike or an out. It’s a judgment as to whether the runner reached the bag ahead of the fielder catching it and applying the tag. It is a judgment as to whether a ball was caught. The same goes for interference calls, hit by pitches, running in the baseline, or whatever calls fall under the purview of “judgment calls.”
However, you could see the reticence of allowing replay officials to handle that when they got the obvious calls right. Case-in-point was Elvis Andrus being called out on home in the game between the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.
It was a bizarre play where Tony Kemp hit a pop up which landed out of Joey Wendle‘s reach. The ball took one of those AstroTurf hops, and Andrus, who was running with two outs, tried to take advantage of all the confusion by trying to score from first. Home Plate Umpire Sean Barber ruled Mike Zunino tagged out Andrus. The only problem was he didn’t. That is what led to the Athletics challenging the call, which was somehow . . . upheld?
Top 7th – Athletics challenge call that Elvis Andrus is out at HP; call stands, runner is out. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/6QPuyKwxbK
— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) April 27, 2021
There is literally no replay which exists which shows Andrus out. It doesn’t exist, and yet, somehow, the play was upheld. It’s an embarrassment for Major League Baseball that this happened, and really, that this continues to happen. The only good thing we can say is it did not cost the Athletics the game as they would hold onto that 2-1 lead.
At the moment, replay has become Russian roulette. You really never know what is going to happen. There is no rhyme or reason. The clearly blown call stands because of reasons that confound reason. When you have a system that blows calls again upon review, and you cannot review other clearly blown calls, there is simply no point to having the system.
At the moment, Major League Baseball has two options. They should be overhauling the system top to bottom to ensure ALL CALLS are correct, or they should be scrapping the entire system. That’s the position they put themselves in when we see how this dysfunctional system is working.
If we hearken back to the 2018 season, the New York Mets were languishing, and Todd Frazier landed on the IL for the first time in his career. Jose Reyes was just flat out terrible, Wilmer Flores was at first, and David Wright, well, he wasn’t an option. Down in Double-A Binghamton, Jeff McNeil was flat out raking. He just kept hitting and hitting and hitting.
The answer seemed obvious to everyone. Everyone, that is, except Sandy Alderson and the New York Mets. When pressed on calling up McNeil to play third base, the answer was McNeil was a second baseman only. Of course, the irony there was McNeil was the Binghamton Rumble Ponies Opening Day third baseman.
Back then, it was difficult to ascertain how much of personnel decisions were driven by Jeff Wilpon, whomever Wilpon decided to listen on any given day, or Alderson. Whatever the case, McNeil would eventually get the call-up, prove himself, and he would go on to have an All-Star season in 2019.
Since 2019, things have gone quite uneven for McNeil as it has for the rest of us. In the end, what we do know with McNeil is he is an exceptionally gifted contact hitter, and he is a fiery player who you could trust defensively at four different positions.
According to Baseball Savant, McNeil has a career 3 OAA at second, 3 OAA at third, and -1 OAA in left field. DRS has a much better picture with McNeil having a 5 DRS at second, 6 DRS at third, and a 3 DRS in left field. All told, McNeil is not a Gold Glove, but he is a very solid defender at multiple positions.
As noted, McNeil could hit. Entering this season, McNeil had a 139 wRC+. Since his debut, he has been the 13th best hitter in the majors, and he trailed only Brandon Nimmo among Mets players. All told, McNeil has established himself as a very good, versatile, and valuable Major League player. Despite that, we are seemingly back at square one with McNeil.
With the acquisition of Francisco Lindor, and his preference to hit near the top of the lineup, McNeil was dropped from the top two spots, where he thrived, to sixth and seventh in the lineup. Perhaps it was the drop in the lineup, the new baseball, the delay to the season, the typical influence Chili Davis has on his teams, the pandemic, or just the normal ebbs and flows of the season, but McNeil has struggled.
The thing is, he didn’t quite struggle right away. In fact, to start the season, McNeil was tattooing the ball. Unfortunately, he was not getting any luck. Balls he normally hit for singles and doubles weren’t falling in anymore. The Mets reaction to that was to sit him after the Mets first two games of the season.
That has become an emerging pattern for McNeil. So far, the Mets have played 17 games, and McNeil has only started in 14 of them. The only projected starter who has started in fewer games is J.D. Davis, but that was only because Davis landed on the IL after getting hit by a pitch early in the season.
Davis is somewhat illustrative of the problem here. Davis has again been a nightmare defensively. He’s already a -2 DRS and a -1 OAA at third. He made errors directly impacting his team and leading Taijuan Walker and David Peterson to have shorter starts. The end result was just one game off, where he still appeared as a pinch hitter, and he was put right back in the lineup.
For some reason, Davis is able to work through his problems despite them not being fixable. For McNeil, this is very clearly a blip, but he keeps getting relegated to the bench. Instead of getting to see more pitches and get into a rhythms, the Mets are doing to the opposite. In fact, they’re just setting him up to continue to struggle.
Perhaps, this is just Alderson resting back on previous biases towards players from his first stint with the Mets. Taking a broader look, Dominic Smith has had some similar struggles getting into the lineup. In fact, the Mets have begun using him as a platoon bat. That’s despite him being one of the Mets best hitters against left-handed pitching.
To some extent, McNeil is also being used as a platoon player. For example, he was also not in the lineup against Patrick Corbin. More likely, McNeil is just being punished for struggling. For some reason, he is not going to be permitted to struggle and figure things out at the plate while others can go out there being butchers in the field costing the Mets games.
Make no mistake, how the Mets are handling McNeil is a very big problem. They are taking one of their best players, and they are crossing him up further. They are not putting him in a position to succeed in terms of where he hits in the lineup and in terms of getting to play enough to get into a rhythm and figure things out. Whatever the reason for the McNeil benchings, they have to stop, and they have to stop now.