Michael Conforto
The New York Mets entered the game with Jonathan Villar and Tomas Nido unavailable. Brandon Drury was sent down to Syracuse, and Patrick Mazeika was recalled. However, Syracuse was shut down for the day due to COVID.
The Mets had a doubleheader yesterday, and they have a planned bullpen day tomorrow. The absolute last thing this team needed was another injury. That goes double for a starter.
Well, Marcus Stroman had to leave the game with a left hip problem while facing the lead-off batter in the second inning.
Marcus Stroman has exited tonight's start vs. the Braves in the 2nd inning
Yennsy Diaz is coming on to pitch. pic.twitter.com/uIbdFmTRvC
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 22, 2021
This meant Yennsy Diaz, who pitched 2.1 innings three days ago, was needed to give the Mets multiple innings. Put another way, they needed him to come up huge.
Well, that’s the way his outing started. After loading the bases with no outs, and a mound visit from Francisco Lindor, Diaz would strike out the next three batters to escape the jam. That’s made all the more impressive by his striking out Ronald Acuña to end the inning.
There was no such luck for Diaz in the third. After he allowed a hit to Ozzie Albies, he walked Abraham Almonte. He then got a ground ball from Austin Riley, but it would not go for a double play.
With the shift, Jeff McNeil opted to field the ground ball on the shortstop side of second instead of letting Lindor field it.
McNeil initially tried to out race Almonte to second, but he couldn’t. Instead, he got Riley out at first. What might’ve been an inning ending double play was just one out. On the very next pitch, Dansby Swanson hit a three run homer.
That’s all the runs the Braves needed. That’s because of a mixture of Charlie Morton being great and the Mets offense being dreadful. After all, the Mets have been shut out in consecutive games and in three of their last seven.
With the injuries, the Mets resorted to having David Peterson and Jerad Eickhoff pinch hit. You may want to attribute that to the offensive problems, but Eickhoff had the Mets only hit off Morton. After that fifth inning single, the Mets didn’t get another hit until James McCann doubled with two outs in the ninth.
Really, about the only bright spot was the bullpen. Over eight innings, they allowed just the three runs. The big hero was Aaron Loup who came up big by pitching three scoreless.
Still, this was a 3-0 loss where the Mets lost another pitcher and could only muster two hits. They’ve missed a chance to really deliver a blow to the Braves chances of winning the division, and according to what happens tomorrow, they may be giving the Braves new life.
Game Notes: Michael Conforto was going to be activated off the IL, but the Mets opted to wait another day.
In many ways, what makes this New York Mets team different is Kevin Pillar. He’s a player who actually provided the Mets with real depth, and he has a rare level of grit and determination.
With the bevy of Mets injuries, especially Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo, Pillar has been vaulted from depth to starting outfielder. He’s a starting outfielder wearing a mask in the field because of a fastball he had taken to the face.
With that, he gets the chance to help the first place Mets win games. On a night like June 16th, he gets to help his team win baseball games.
The UltiMet Warrior @KPILLAR4 earns the neon as the Mets keep rollin. #LGM #NYMNeonProject pic.twitter.com/ogbydc3RMH
— Athlete Logos (@athletelogos) June 17, 2021
Against the Chicago Cubs, Pillar was 2-for-4 with two runs, a double, home run, and two RBI. That performance came on the heels of Jacob deGrom having to leave the game with his own injury issues.
Again, when a Mets player goes down with injury Pillar and the rest of the Mets step up and just flat out win games. With his performance and win being emblematic of what makes the 2021 Mets great, this is 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).
One moment, you’re a player whose career is on the verge of ending before it really began. The next, you find yourself in the right situation, and you’re fulfilling your full potential.
That was the story with players like Jose Bautista and Justin Turner. However, it’s not a story we really see happen favorably to the New York Mets.
Enter Billy McKinney.
McKinney was the Oakland Athletics 2013 first round pick. While a prospect, he was involved in two high profile trade deadline moves. First, he was sent to the Chicago Cubs as part of the Jeff Samardzija trade. Then, he was part of the Aroldis Chapman trade.
Some of the shine came off McKinney’s prospects, and he dealt with a shoulder injury. With his being buried deep on the Yankees organizational outfield depth chart, he was included in the J.A. Happ trade.
McKinney struggles with the Blue Jays, and he was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays late last season. McKinney was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers. He lasted all of 40 games before the underperforming outfielder was designated for assignment.
Make no mistake. This wasn’t necessarily the case of the Mets seeing something. Rather, with Michael Conforto down and Mets outfielders dropping like flies, the Mets had no other option than to obtain McKinney.
McKinney has been far better than the Mets ever could’ve imagined. Over 12 games, McKinney is hitting .275/.341/.700 with three doubles, a triple, four homers, and 11 RBI.
No, he’s not this good. No one is. However, we do see some positives from his Baseball Savant data. While he’s making a good amount of contact with increased exit velocities, it’s far too soon to adjudge if he can be the player many thought he could be when he was a top 100 prospect.
Right now, the only thing we can be assured of is he can field. Through it all, McKinney has shown himself to be quite a good fielder. If he can hit, his career is about to take off.
Fortunately for McKinney, he’s going to get the time to prove himself. Both Conforto and Brandon Nimmo are on the IL and aren’t returning soon. That allows McKinney to play everyday and to finally establish himself as a Major Leaguer.
On that note, it’s important to note he’s 26 and on the verge of the prime of his career. If he breaks out, that makes him a tremendous asset to a team as he’s under team control through 2024.
The Mets could use that. Aside from the fact this isn’t an organization deep in outfield talent, the Mets need to figure out their outfield past the 2021 season.
After this season, Conforto will be a free agent. In all honesty, he’s going to be extraordinarily difficult to sign. He’s represented by Scott Boras, and he’s basically the only All-Star caliber outfielder available in free agency. For that matter, he may be the only everyday outfielder available.
We can and should expect the Mets to do everything they can to keep Conforto. That said, we learned this past offseason with players like George Springer, the Mets have their limits, and they will walk away if they don’t believe a deal makes sense for them.
There are other factors like re-signing Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard. The Mets also have to try to figure out third base while preparing themselves for the eventual Jacob deGrom opt out.
This is all a long winded way of saying re-signing Conforto is complicated, and the Mets need a viable alternative. It’s possible that could be McKinney. Still, it’s only been 12 games.
A week or month from now, we may be begging for Conforto and Nimmo as McKinney implodes. We may also be even more excited as McKinney continues his breakout. We just don’t know.
The only thing we do know is McKinney has a chance. If he continues playing well, he’ll continue to play. If that happens, he will continue to get his chance to replace Conforto on a more permanent basis.
Time will tell.
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
Jonathan Villar is doing a fine job as a stopgap at third base for the New York Mets. He has made the flashy defensive plays, and he has had a number of key hits. However, when you boil it down, Villar is still below average at the plate an in the field. As such, the Mets need to look elsewhere for an everyday third baseman.
That was supposed to be J.D. Davis. While Davis has his own issues at the plate and in the field, the biggest issue with him right now is health. He landed on the IL with a hand injury, and his rehab stint was paused due to a neck issue. Davis has undergone another MRI, and they have found joint inflammation in his left hand.
At the moment, the Mets seem to be optimistic Davis can return to the field again for another rehab stint. That said, they were previously optimistic about him as well as Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco, etc. Put another way, don’t read too much into their optimism. Even if Davis were to be ready to return, at that point, we would again need to revisit the issue of his being incapable of being an everyday third baseman.
All told between Villar’s play and the injuries to Davis and Luis Guillorme, the Mets don’t have a plan for third base. Considering that is the case, the Mets need to start making that plan. While you can be assured they’re investigating options like Kris Bryant and Kyle Seager, they need to plan for the event neither are available.
Enter Mark Vientos.
Vientos was the Mets 2017 second round pick. At the time, Vientos was seen as the best prep bat in the draft, and he has justified that reputation with his play since being drafted. As noted by MLB Pipeline, Vientos’ “power remains the standout tool and is evident in the right-handed slugger’s impressive exit velocities.”
Looking at Vientos at the plate, there are a few key points. First and foremost, he is always punching above his weight. Case-in-point, he is in Double-A where the 21 year old is 3.1 years younger than league average. Another important consideration is Vientos typically struggles initially at each new level, but he eventually learns and makes adjustments to have strong finishes to the season.
In some ways, this is reminiscent of Dominic Smith. When Smith was a minor leaguer, he would typically struggle in the beginning of the year or a call-up. He’d put in the work, make adjustment, and he would end the year with good numbers. Smith and Vientos should be a reminder prospect development is as much about learning and adapting as it is about having success.
We are seeing some of this with Vientos right now. He had a poor start to the season for Binghamton going 5-for-38 to start the season. However, as he always does, Vientos is adapting and hitting much butter. We are seeing Vientos having a quicker turnaround than usual.
Over his past three games, Vientos is 5-for-11 at the plate with a homer and three RBI. Stretching it out a bit, Vientos is hitting .324/.350/.514 over his last 10 games with four doubles, a homer, and eight RBI. He is not just getting hits over this stretch, but he is also getting big hits:
Mets third base prospect Mark Vientos had a big day on Thursday.
Went 2-for-4 with a home run in Game 1.
Went 2-for-4 with a walk-off RBI single in Game 2.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) May 28, 2021
As noted by Fangraphs, he is really making the adjustments to be a real power hitter. Notably, Vientos has ” a wider stance and toned-down leg kick.” Even with the change, Vientos is still posting big time exit velocities, and he continues to exhibit the ability to drive the ball to all fields. Long story short, he continues to show he has the potential to be a real threat as a Major League hitter.
Even with the progress, it is too much to ask Vientos to pull off what Michael Conforto and Miguel Cabrera once did. In all honesty, while Vientos has been making strides, he is still a bit too raw as a hitter and player to make the Double-A to majors jump. Even with the Mets injuries, so long as Villar is faking it well, there’s no need to make that push.
There’s also the matter of his defense. Between his struggles at third coupled with his frame and the long term prospects of Brett Baty, the Mets have at least begun taking a look at Vientos at first. Of course, when you have Pete Alonso and Smith, you do realize there is no path for Vientos to the majors as the Mets future first baseman.
However, for right now, the question is what to do with third base for the Mets in 2021. The longer Vientos stays in Double-A, the more he is taken out of the equation. With his recent success at the plate, now would be as good a time as ever to look to promote him to Triple-A. With all the recent promotions, there really isn’t anyone in Syracuse blocking a Vientos call-up there.
In Syracuse, Vientos can continue working on his swing, and he could work with Luis Rivera to improve defensively. Based on his recent history, Vientos could use the help.
If nothing else, Vientos in Triple-A does push him closer to the majors. In the long run, that is the point. The Mets need to be putting their best prospects in a position where they can be called-up to the majors. They also need to put players like Vientos in a position where they can work on the specific areas of their game they need to address. For Vientos, all of that should mean moving to Triple-A sooner rather than later.
If the Mets do this, they will be helping Vientos in the long run, and they could help position themselves to call up Vientos to be their third baseman should they strike out on the trade market.
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
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.
His first big league hit and you guessed it…He got an RBI. @pattayymaz10 pic.twitter.com/hTvguO2ZzE
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 16, 2021
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.
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:
- Mike Zunino 0-for-1, BB
- Kevin Padlo 0-for-2, 2 K
- Brett Phillips 0-for-2, 2 K
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.
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.
Big time slider leads to a big time strikeout. @_David_Peterson | #LGM pic.twitter.com/E75swfSuKZ
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 14, 2021
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.
17 straight batters sat down by @_David_Peterson. ? pic.twitter.com/cIbvxJqesf
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 15, 2021
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:
.@JRvillar6 went pop at the Trop. ? pic.twitter.com/UIRK0ErQ9O
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 15, 2021
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.
The Seattle Mariners waited that extra couple of weeks, and they have called up Jarred Kelenic at a time when they get an extra year of control over him. It also happens to be at a time when the New York Mets need some outfield depth.
Brandon Nimmo and Albert Almora have landed on the IL. Fortunately, Kevin Pillar is proving himself to be excellent depth, and the Mets did have Khalil Lee to call up.
Still, none of that group is what Kelenic could be. It’s also not just about this year. Michael Conforto is a pending free agent, and no one knows if the Mets will be able to keep him.
That goes double with Robinson Cano‘s contract coming back onto the books. Again, this is just a reminder of his epically stupid and short sighted this trade was. It didn’t just cost the Mets the opportunity see Kelenic.
No, the Mets are also going to be in a tight spot when also looking to sign Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard. The Mets will be stuck with Cano and his awful contract as they await the next positive PED test while trying to find a way to keep everyone.
What makes it all the more unpalatable is how the team is coveted. Pete Alonso‘s fun Donnie Stevenson bit was blamed for firing Chili Davis (despite being told it was not a factor).
Francisco Lindor has put a target on his back over the rat or raccoon debate because he wouldn’t say what happened between him and Jeff McNeil.
We’re even at the point where some writers are questioning how Jacob deGrom was put on the IL. That was something never done when Jeff Wilpon played doctor.
However, we won’t see articles about how the Wilpons knew they were selling, so they were willing to strip down the farm to win one last World Series. They even went out and hired the GM who was either clueless or similarly lacked integrity.
The end result is the Mets need an outfielder now, and they’re going to need one for 2022. That outfielder should have been Jarred Kelenic.
The only problem is he’s in Seattle. Fortunately, the people who put him there are out of baseball and will remain so.