David Peterson

Mets Bullpen Too Exhausted To Hold On

For a while, it seemed like David Peterson was going to have to make a 1-0 lead last. After all, this is a depleted offensive team. However, it’s about as resilient a team as we’ve ever seen.

The Mets had a 1-0 lead due to Jonathan Villar hitting a solo homer off of Charlie Morton in the fourth.

At that point, Peterson was completely and utterly dominating the Braves. He had struck out five and faced the minimum through four.

Unfortunately, it unraveled for him in the fifth, and it happened rather unexpectedly. Austin Riley had hit a one out double, but he then got Dansby Swanson to ground out.

Peterson then plunked William Contreras. Guillermo Heredia hit an RBI single tying the score. The opposing pitcher, Morton, gave the Braves a 2-1 lead with an RBI single. Ronald Acuña then drew a walk.

The walk should’ve loaded the bases except it got away from James McCann. It was ruled a wild pitch, but McCann should’ve had it. Braves had a 3-1 lead.

Surprisingly, that wasn’t the final straw. The final straw was a Freddie Freeman who singled to load the bases.

Drew Smith came on to relieve Peterson, and he got the Mets out of the inning. Smith would give a fatigued Mets bullpen 1.1 shut out innings.

One key moment in that sixth inning was the Braves pinch hit for Morton. That meant he was out of the game, and A.J. Minter was entering the game. Minter is wild and always primed to implode.

After two quick outs, Minter threw one away on what should’ve been scored a Dominic Smith infield single. Whatever the case, he was on second with two outs.

Minter then completely lost the strike zone walking McCann on four straight pitches. After falling behind 1-0, he tried a get me over fastball which Jose Peraza drilled for an RBI double.

The Mets went to Tomas Nido to pinch hit for Smith, and the Braves went to Luke Jackson. Nido got the better of Jackson with a go-ahead two RBI single giving the Mets a 4-3 lead.

It’s important to remember this bullpen is on fumes with all the bullpen games and short starts. In the seventh that meant a tired Miguel Castro. Castro got through the inning unscathed with the help of another phenomenal defensive play in right by Lee.

Unfortunately, there was no magic in the eighth for Aaron Loup in the eighth. Loup allowed three straight hits tying the score at 4-4. Luis Rojas then went to Jacob Barnes to try to get out of the jam.

Barnes entered with runners on first and second with no outs. Heredia couldn’t get the bunt down and then struck out.

Swanson tried to steal third, and he was gunned down by McCann. Barnes then completed the Houdini act when he struck out Ehire Adrianza to end the inning.

For a brief moment, it seemed for the second straight night the Mets would have some ninth inning magic.

Cameron Maybin, in his Mets debut, reached on a wild strike three, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch. He was there with only one out. He’d stay there as McCann popped out, and Peraza hit a weak line out to end the inning.

Somewhat surprisingly, Trevor May was warming, but Rojas opted for Barnes for a second inning over May on a third straight day. Acuña had gone hitless in the series, but he hit the first pitch he saw from Barnes for a walk-off homer.

The Mets showed a lot of heart and magic to pull out two wins in this series. The fact they were even this close to a sweep speaks highly of everyone on this team.

Game Notes: Khalil Lee has begun his career with seven straight strikeouts.

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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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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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David Peterson Needs a Big Start

We are weeks away from Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco being able to rejoin the rotation. Of course, that’s not set in stone especially with Carrasco having a setback.

When they return, someone has to come out of the Mets rotation. Right now, David Peterson hasn’t given the Mets a reason why it shouldn’t be him.

Through six starts, he’s 1-3 with a 5.54 ERA, 1.385 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9, and an 11.1 K/9. His advanced stats aren’t great either with his having a -0.6 WAR, 69 ERA+, and a 4.64 FIP.

Peterson’s StatCast numbers are even uglier. Peterson isn’t throwing with a high rate of spin, and he doesn’t show great velocity. Worse yet, his control isn’t great. The end result is Peterson getting hit hard. Very hard.

We see that play out in his starts. In half of those starts, he hasn’t been able to get into the fifth. In five of his starts, he’s walked 2+ batters.

Now, that’s not to say he’s been all bad. His 10 strikeout performance was a real glimpse into what he could be. He had another strong start against the Boston Red Sox.

Mostly, what’s missing with Peterson is consistency. To a certain extent, this is an indication of how Peterson was rushed to the majors. There’s talent, real talent, but he’s not ready.

That’s at least the conclusion Peterson forces us to come to with his performances. With his lack of consistency, his control problems, and his getting hit hard, it increasingly seems like he belongs in Syracuse.

That’s at least where he’s at now. He still has time and a few starts to prove otherwise. We’ve seen flashes. He now needs to show dependability.

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Francisco Lindor And Mets Show Some Fight

This was the type of game which had the potential to spell doom for the entire New York Mets season. That’s not hyperbole either.

With a bullpen game the other day and another one due tomorrow, David Peterson was bad. He would get knocked out of the second inning after allowing three runs on three hits and three walks.

It would’ve been worse, but Robert Gsellman bailed Peterson out. That said, he did allow a run in the third putting the Mets behind 4-0 with the Diamondbacks pitching Zac Gallen.

Even with Francisco Lindor reaching on an “infield single” and advancing to second on an Asdrubal Cabrera error in the third and scoring on a Michael Conforto single, things were not getting better.

Lindor got booed again even with his making another sterling defensive play.

The Mets did get another run off Gallen in the sixth. Gallen issued a leadoff walk to Pete Alonso, who advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. Jonathan Villar came up huge with an RBI single to cut it to 4-2.

After that, things got weird and dark. It started with a seemingly innocuous play where Jeff McNeil didn’t get out of Lindor’s way on what proved to be a Nick Ahmed single. After what was a scoreless inning, an altercation seemingly ensued:

Conforto and Dominic Smith went down the tunnel. McNeil eventually emerged with what looked like a swollen eye. With Lindor due up, you could see McNeil has swelling around his eye. That wouldn’t be Lindor’s last big hit that inning.

After Tomas Nido, who had been double switched into the game, earned a lead-off walk, Lindor would get his first Citi Field homer:

That homer as well as the Mets bullpen allowing just the one run over the final 8.1 innings and some good defense allowed the Mets to get to that 4-4 tie.

One key play came in the ninth. Edwin Diaz hasn’t been good in tied games or with runners on base. That’s what made Conforto throwing out Cabrera trying to stretch a single to a double all the more important.

Aaron Loup was up next in extra innings. Because of the ever changing rules, a runner started the inning at second. Despite that. Loup would would get out of the inning unscathed. The same wouldn’t be true for the Mets. Smith was intentionally walked to start the inning, and with two outs, Villar singled to load the bases. That set the stage for rookie Patrick Mazeika to get his first career RBI.

That’s a good and uplifting win. It also wasn’t one without drama. Specifically, the issue if the altercation came up. Lindor did his part to downplay it saying he and McNeil were trying to determine if there was a rat or raccoon. It was neither, but it allowed the Mets to move on from it when with all the questions.

Game Notes: Luis Guillorme will not return from the IL tomorrow as anticipated.

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Mets Make Alvarado And Hoskins Pay

This had all the makings of a New York Mets brutal Sunday Night Baseball loss. They weren’t hitting, and they blew a late lead . . .

Entering the bottom of the sixth, David Peterson was in line for the win. He had allowed one run on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Really, he cruised along after allowing an Andrew McCutchen to start the first.

Now, Peterson did get some help with Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor performing pure defensive magic behind him. That included one beauty of a double play:

Peterson had that 2-1 lead because of his defense. He also had some help from the offense. The first run came when Conforto singled home McNeil in the third.

Notably, McNeil was batting lead-off with Brandon Nimmo unavailable. With McNeil returning to a familiar and comfortable spot in the lineup, he was much better at the plate going 4-for-6 with two runs and a double.

It was a double again that got the Mets going again in the sixth. Dominic Smith led off the inning with a double, and there were runners at the corners with no outs after a Kevin Pillar single.

After Jonathan Villar struck out, the Phillies had the opportunity to get out of the inning unscathed with a double play. James McCann obliged by hitting the require grounder, but Phillies starter Zack Eflin threw it wide to second allowing everyone to reach safely and for the go ahead run to score.

The Mets would load the bases with two outs with Lindor coming to the plate. Lindor would fly out to right leaving behind a golden chance to blow the game open.

Keep in mind, that wasn’t their only shot to put up more runs. Back in the second, Smith led off the inning with a single, and Gary Disarcina needlessly sent him home on a Pillar single. Smith was out at the plate, and J.T. Realmuto would deliver a cheap shot.

The Mets would regret blowing those run scoring opportunities in the bottom of the sixth.

Now, the Mets bullpen has been great with a 19 inning scoreless streak. Miguel Castro has been one of the Mets best pitchers in the pen, but he didn’t have it tonight.

On a rally started when Castro made an error, Didi Gregorius hit a go-ahead three run homer. At 4-2, it seemed like the Mets might be done.

In fact, they weren’t. The momentum shifted when Pillar homered to lead off the eighth:

This was easily Pillar’s best game as a Met. The player who struggled so mightily to start the season stepped up in Nimmo’s absence. In addition to the homer, he was 3-for-5.

As good as Pillar was, no one was ready for what Villar would do. Villar singled off Brandon Kintzler to start off the rally. With no one really left on the bench, partially due to injuries, Jose Peraza pinch hit for Castro. Peraza hit one Rhys Hoskins couldn’t handle, and well, Hoskins misplayed it just about every way you could:

Villar scored all the way from first on an infield single to tie the game at 4-4. That’s when the Phillies brought in Jose Alvarado to try to keep the game tied.

What’s interesting is Alvarado was suspended for his antics the other day. However, he was able to appear in the game because he appealed that three game suspension. As it turned out, the Phillies probably wish he accepted that suspension.

Alvarado faced McNeil, Lindor, and Conforto, and he failed to get any of them out. McNeil singled, and then Alvarado issued consecutive walks forcing home the go-ahead run.

The Mets were up 5-4, and Pete Alonso faced Phillies reliever David Hale. He’d go the opposite way for a three run double giving the Mets an 8-4 lead.

Now, Luis Rojas had Edwin Diaz warming when the Mets initially got the lead. After getting him up, it made little sense to not use him. Instead, Rojas (justifiably) believed his closer would lock down the much needed win.

Well, Diaz imploded, and it started with a leadoff walk to Gregorius.

Roman Quinn tripled him home to bring the Phillies to within three. Diaz was on the verge of getting out of it, and then he issued a two out walk to Matt Joyce. That brought Hoskins to the plate representing the tying run . . .

What was a game tying home run was ruled to be a ground rule double. That meant instead of a tie game, the Mets still had a lead at 8-7.

Things were still dire with the tying run in scoring position. It was all the more so with Diaz hurt. That led to Jeurys Familia coming on to face Bryce Harper to earn the save.

In a flashback to 2015, Familia delivered by striking out Harper. With that, the Mets won a game they blew twice (or almost twice), and they find themselves not only back at .500, but also delivering a message to the Phillies.

Game Notes: Jacob Barnes earned his first win as a Met. This was Familia’s first save with the Mets since 2018.

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Mets Now Not Hitting Bad Pitching

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.

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:

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.

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Mets Lost Faith In Jeff McNeil Again

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.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Swept In Embarrassing Fashion By Cubs

The New York Mets came to Chicago looking to beat up on a reeling Cubs team. Instead, they got beat up and are reeling themselves.

1. J.D. Davis needs to be on the bench period. He continues to prove he can’t field, and that really hurt the team in this series.

2. In the three game set Taijuan Walker, David Peterson, and Joey Lucchesi failed to go four innings let along five.

3. Walker and Peterson were really hurt by Davis’ defense. Walker would also be hurt by walks as would Lucchesi.

4. The more you see Lucchesi, the more you realize he’s not a starter, but he might be a great reliever.

5. One bright spot of this series was maybe discovering Sean Reid-Foley could be a real piece. He kept his walks down for a night. If he can do it for many nights, watch out.

6. Speaking of watch out, Pete Alonso is heating up. He hit some big homers, one of which left the ballpark.

7. Michael Conforto almost hit one out, and he at least appears to be working towards being his normal self.

8. After all the nonsense and hand wringing over Francisco Lindor, he hit his first homer and had his first three hit game.

9. Jeff McNeil just can’t seem to get going this year. It’s really difficult to pinpoint the problem too.

10. While the Mets are struggling at the plate, it’s too early to derive conclusions. That said, they’re following the same patterns as other Chili Davis coached teams with climbing ground ball rates.

11. James McCann is just so good mechanically, and he gets the ball out so quickly, he gives his middle infielders a real chance to get down the tag.

12. The one issue with McCann is he hasn’t been great receiving throws. Then again, the throws to him at home have been terrible.

13. The Mets defense on Wednesday set the sport back. It was just that bad, inexcusably so.

14. Davis can be terrible all he wants, but he has no one to blame but himself. He sure can’t blame Alonso.

15. The state of umpiring in the game is really bad. We’ve seen Mets pitchers get really squeezed. Walker was ejected AFTER he was removed from the game. Kris Bryant still hasn’t touched first.

16. Luis Guillorme is the epitome of a grinder. Down 12 with two outs in the ninth, and he battles in an at-bat and gets a hit.

17. If Brandon Nimmo has an issue, the Mets should just get him on the IL. Get him the rest to allow him to come back as their best offensive player.

18. If Kevin Pillar is struggling this much, the Mets should at least throw Albert Almora at least one start.

19. Edwin Diaz has great stuff, and he can be absolutely dominating and unhittable. That said, it’s really difficult to trust him when he implodes like he did in the 10th inning.

20. It’s hard to take people seriously when they support runners on second in extra innings and seven inning doubleheaders, but they get bent out of shape about uniform colors.

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