Michael Wacha
In the top of the third inning, the Mets fell behind 1-0. In the bottom half, they’d take the lead for good on a Pete Alonso two run homer:
That third inning run was the only run Michael Wacha would give up in his five innings of work. The Mets bullpen did him one better by following with four scoreless innings.
The Mets 2-1 lead expanded to 4-1 when Brandon Nimmo hit a two run homer of his own.
In the game, Wacha would pick up the win, and with a scoreless ninth, Edwin Diaz was credited with a save.
Well, it might be just a gimmick for the MLB The Show, but it was once again Friday Night Black Jerseys at Citi Field. These Mets looked good in them beating the Pirates 2-0.
Michael Wacha allowed one earned over five getting the no decision. After he allowed a run in the top of the fifth, Jeff McNeil homered to even the game.
Walker Lockett came on in relief, and he’d get the win after pitching a scoreless inning, and Robinson Cano scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth. Edwin Diaz picked up the save.
After signing with the Mets, Michael Wacha got a chance to face his former team in a simulated game, and he would come out on top.
Over six innings, he allowed just one run. He got run support from two Jeff McNeil solo homers, and a Yoenis Cespedes RBI single.
Edwin Diaz made it an adventure in the ninth allowing a run, but he would still lock down the Mets 3-2 win.
Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna, Jr. hit back-to-back homers off Michael Wacha in the first, and the Braves lineup was off and running.
Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso returned the favor in the bottom of the first. Austin Riley hit a three run homer in the second, but the Mets couldn’t respond. All told, it was a 15-3 loss.
Mets have now gone from nine straight wins to three straight losses.
Michael Conforto got the Mets on the board in the first with the first of his two homers in the game. In the simulated world both Conforto and the Mets are red hot:
Early on this was a back-and-forth affair with both teams scoring in the first two innings. The Marlins led 4-3 until Jeff McNeil tied it on a solo homer in the fifth.
In the sixth, Yoenis Cespedes hit a two run homer giving the Mets the lead for good. When all was said and done, Michael Wacha got the win, Edwin Diaz got the save, and the Mets won 9-5.
Last night, the Mets blew a 3-0 lead. Tonight, the Mets were not going to repeat that performance. No, this time Michael Wacha and the Mets made sure to put the Marlins away:
Before you could blink it was 7-1 Mets.
In the first, Robinson Cano hit a bases loaded single giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. In that four run inning, we’d also see Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario deliver RBI single. Smith would knock in another run with a sacrifice fly in the three run second.
Later in the game, Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto would homer in the Mets 9-2 win.
In the third, Pete Alonso ripped an RBI single, and later that inning, Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly scoring Michael Conforto giving the Mets a 2-0 lead over the Braves.
Michael Wacha would make that lead stand holding the Braves to one run over 5.1 innings. Brad Brach, Jeurys Familia, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz combined to pitch 3.2 scoreless to preserve the 2-1 victory.
Fifteen years ago, Mets fans were psyched for a season where Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran joined a team which already had Mike Piazza, Jose Reyes, and David Wright. On Opening Day, the Mets bullpen, namely Braden Looper, blew the game setting the stage for an 0-5 start. Based on the MLB The Show 20 simulations, we’re revisiting that season.
In the fourth, Rhys Hoskins would hit the first of two homers. That one homer off Michael Wacha was all the margin the Phillies needed as Aaron Nola completely shut down the Mets offense.
After this 3-0 loss, video game Luis Rojas has started his managerial career 0-5. That’s just like Willie Randolph. Of course, that Mets team would still finish the year above .500, and it would be a stepping stone to the last great Mets team in Shea Stadium the following year.
Any Mets fan would take this Mets team building towards being one at-bat from a World Series. Mostly, they’ll take any baseball whatsoever.
In years past, the Mets have been able to use the opening series against the Nationals to make a statement. In this simulated series, the Mets team without Michael Conforto and Noah Syndergaard was swept at home.
While some were debating Steven Matz or Michael Wacha for the fifth spot in the rotation, it was Matz as the team’s number three over Rick Porcello in the absence of Syndergaard.
Mets actually had an early lead when Wilson Ramos hit a two out two run double in the fourth. However, the wheels came off for Matz in the fifth as the Nationals scored five runs capped off by a Kurt Suzuki two run homer. Matz was lifted when he couldn’t get the last out of the inning.
The Mets were down 6-2 entering the seventh. Robinson Cano chased Patrick Corbin with an RBI single. Amed Rosario and Jake Marisnick greeted the Nationals bullpen with RBI singles pulling the Mets to within 6-5.
The Mets had two on, no out, and they were ready to flip to the top of their lineup. For some reason, Justin Wilson hit for himself, and he couldn’t quite get the sacrifice down leading the Mets to strand the tying run at third.
An eighth inning rally sputtered without scoring a run, and the Nationals racked on two insurance runs in the ninth for the 8-5 win.
In the series, we saw the Nationals were a better team as they flexed their championship muscles. Of course, while some may debate whether that’s an actual thing, it’s most likely not in a simulation. The other key detail is while we have not seen Luis Rojas manage a game yet, we can be certain he doesn’t bat Wilson in that situation.
Overall, the Mets may be 0-3 in MLB The Show, but they’re still 0-0, so that’s something.
With Noah Syndergaard going down with Tommy John, suddenly the question isn’t who among Steven Matz, Rick Porcello, and Michael Wacha will make the rotation. No, the question now is who is up next in the event there is another pitcher injury or the need for a spot starter in the case of fatigue or other complication.
On the bright side, the Mets appear better poised than they did in 2019. On that note, that Mets team didn’t have to go that deep into their rotation as Mickey Callaway had a knack for keeping his starting pitchers healthy. He’s now gone, and now, there is the challenge of keeping pitchers healthy in an environment where pitchers ramped up to start the season, were shut down, and now have to revamp it up to pitch a season.
The first pitcher who may be up in the event of an injury is Walker Lockett. Lockett has a step up on the competition because he is out of options meaning the Mets either put him on the Opening Day roster or risk losing him off waivers.
The downside he presents is that is if he is in the bullpen, he will not be stretched out enough to pitch as a starter. The other complication is he has not fared well as a Major League pitcher. In seven starts and six relief appearances, he has an 8.84 ERA and a 1.885 WHIP.
Another Mets pitcher who has struggled in his brief Major League appearances is Corey Oswalt. Of course, the biggest issue with him is how haphazardly the Mets have handled him. One minute, he is pitching in relief on two days rest after a cross country flight, and the next, he’s not being used for over a week.
If you want hope for him, he pitches much better when on regular rest and used normally. Still, in 12 starts and seven relief appearances, he has a 6.43 ERA and 1.458 WHIP. That’s not great, but it is much better than Lockett.
Similar to Lockett and Oswalt, Stephen Gonsalves struggled in his limited Major League appearances. In four starts and three relief appearances for the Twins in 2018, he was 2-2 with a 6.57 ERA, 2.027 WHIP, and a 0.73 K/BB. After that, he had arm issues leading to his release from the Twins, and the Mets claiming him.
Gonsalves is a former Top 100 prospect who Baseball America once described as a future middle of the rotation starter who ” reads hitters well and works effectively at the top of the zone.” When healthy, he can get his fastball near the mid 90s to couple with a very good change.
The issue with him now is health, getting his stuff back, and developing a third pitch. With this being a new organization and Jeremy Hefner having familiarity with him, it is possible.
On the topic of potential, there is also former first round pick David Peterson. He has reached the Top 100 just once in his career, but he has progressed through the Mets system, and he has had a strong Spring Training.
While his stats the past two years do not appear strong with an ERA of over 4.00 in St. Lucie and Binghamton, there are other stats which show he has pitched better than his ERA. First and foremost, his FIP the past two years was respectively 2.98 and 3.19.
He has also maintained a very good strikeout-to-walk ratio while keeping walks to just 2.5 per nine in his minor league career. When looking at him, he is not a pitcher who is going to beat himself when he gets the chance to pitch for the Mets.
When he does pitch, fans will see what MLB Pipeline says is “Solid bat-missing ability and a knack for inducing weak, ground-ball contact points to more of a floor than ceiling for Peterson, but it might not take him that long to reach that potential.
Finally, there is Kevin Smith, who appears further away than Peterson after making just six starts in Double-A last year. Still, the 2018 seventh round draft pick has far outperformed what was expected of him, and with another strong showing in the minors this year, he may find himself on the radar.
Overall, the Mets have interesting options in the minors, and that is before we take into account pitchers like Franklyn Kilome, who is returning from Tommy John. In the end, the Mets are likely going to have to go to the minors for at least a spot start or two, especially with baseball likely having scheduled doubleheaders in 2020.
The hope for the Mets is these talented pitchers can put it together and put some very strong starts together when the Mets need them. Time will tell.