Peter Alonso

Mets Blow It Against Diamondbacks

This seemed like yet another easy win. Everything was clicking for the New York Mets, but baseball always finds a way to make things interesting.

Through the first three innings, there were base runners, but Caleb Smith and Marcus Stroman were making the pitches they needed to make. It also doesn’t help the cause when Jonathan Villar was picked off yet again.

In the fourth, Pete Alonso hit a two out single. Then, for that first time in well over a month, Dominic Smith homered.

Stroman did his part to keep it at 2-0 by continuing to shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup. The Diamondbacks were so frustrated, they began jawing at Stroman, and like most baseball confrontations, it proved to be much ado about nothing.

The Mets would get Stroman’s back the best way they could. That’s by scoring runs.

Villar went right to work against Diamondbacks reliever Joe Mantiply. Villar then scored as the suddenly hot Francisco Lindor tripled him home.

After Alonso was walked, Smith hit a sacrifice fly to drive home Lindor giving the Mets a 4-0 lead. Alonso wasn’t able to move up on the play, which was unfortunate as Tomas Nido followed with an inning ending GIDP.

It didn’t seem to matter much. After all, Stroman was dealing, and the Diamondbacks have been reeling. However, that didn’t stop the Diamondbacks from responding.

The Diamondbacks led off the bottom of the sixth with two straight hits. Then, with one out, Pavin Smith pulled them to within one by hitting a three run homer. Suddenly, an easy 4-0 game was a tight 4-3 one.

Stroman was done after that sixth. What was once a dominant effort turned into merely just a good one. Still, allowing three runs on seven hits and no walks with std strikeouts was enough to get the win. The Mets bullpen assured he would get it.

Again, it wasn’t easy. Jeurys Familia came on to pitch the seventh, and he was greeted by Villar making an error to not only allow Nick Ahmed to reach, but to also take second.

Familia rebounded to get the next two out, but he would walk Ketel Marte. While the tying and go-ahead runs were on base, it’s important to remember we’re seeing vintage Familia this year. He proved that again by striking out Eduardo Escobar to get out of the inning.

Aaron Loup pitched a scoreless eighth, but Edwin Diaz could not converthis 10th save in many chances. It wasn’t entirely his doing.

After striking out Stephen Vogt, he allowed a single to Ahmed. Ahmed then took second when McKinney had a bobble fielding it. Ahmed would be at third with two out when Josh Rojas, the same player jawing at Stroman earlier in the game, hit a game tying single.

Things got dicey from there. Marte singled, and Rojas appeared set to go first to third. However, he slipped, but the Mets couldn’t take advantage as Jose Peraza couldn’t quite secure a throw from Mason Williams.

Diaz got out of the ninth with the game tied 4-4 when Escobar flew out. That meant we got Rob Manfred extra innings gimmick baseball.

Peraza was the designated runner, and James McCann pinch hit for Williams. McCann, who has corrected himself at the plate after his first base stint, hit a go-ahead RBI single off Alex Young to give the Mets a 5-4 lead.

McCann would be stranded there meaning Trevor May had no margin for error when he entered the game with a runner on second to try to earn the save.

May was an odd choice as he’s been fighting it of late, and he threw 26 pitches last night. There was also the fact Seth Lugo was just activated and available. Whatever the case, Luis Rojas went with May.

It was an easy first guess, and it cost the Mets. May issued a one out walk to Smith. Josh Reddick then hit a ball down the line which appeared foul but was ruled fair.

The ball got by Brandon Drury in right allowing the tying and game winning runs to score. The Mets tried to challenge to no avail.

The Mets will certainly want this one back. They blew a 4-0 lead and wasted opportunities to add insurance runs. Diaz blew his first save, and Rojas went to the exhausted reliever with the game on the line.

Overall, the Mets are and need to be better than this. They should be tomorrow.

Game Notes: Mets-Diamondbacks finale will be televised on YouTube. Billy McKinney has four straight games with an extra base hit.

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Jacob deGrom Nearly Perfect

Joe Musgove. Carlos Rodon. John Means. Wade Miley. Spencer Turnbull. Corey Kluber.

It just doesn’t make and sense. Somehow, these six have no-hitters, and yet, with one out in the fifth, Carson Kelly hit a single off Jacob deGrom.

Regardless of the inane scoring when Billy McKinney dropped a Josh Reddick line drive, that’s all the Arizona Diamondbacks could muster off deGrom through six. He had no-hit stuff (as usual), and the Diamondbacks were his victims.

All told, deGrom’s final line was 6.0 innings, two hits, zero runs, zero walks, and eight strikeouts.

As is the case, deGrom drove in more than he allowed. In the fourth, Jose Peraza hit a one out double, and Merrill Kelly intentionally walked Mason Williams to get to deGrom.

Kelly and the Diamondbacks paid for that mistake when deGrom hit an RBI single. With that hit, he’s driven in as many runs as he’s allowed this year. Honestly, there was nothing unusual about that.

What was unusual was the run support. A big part of that was the return of Pete Alonso to the lineup.

In the third, Alonso came up with the bases loaded and two outs, and in his second at-bat since coming off the IL, he hit a two RBI single giving the Mets a 2-0 lead. Alonso got two more RBI when he hit a two run homer in the seventh.

At that point, the Mets were in control. That’s when Luis Rojas went to the bullpen. Between the 5-0 lead and deGrom’s recent IL stint, you understood the move.

The problem is Trevor May struggled. Eduardo Escobar homered off of him to lead off the inning.

After two quick outs, Pavin Smith singled off May and then took second on a wild pitch. He then scored on a Reddick RBI single. Miguel Castro relieved May and got the Mets out of the inning further unscathed.

Well, it wasn’t so much Castro as it was Williams. The call-up singled in his first at-bat, and he’d make a big play to get the Mets out of the seventh up 5-2.

Castro would give the Mets another inning, and with the help of another fine Jonathan Villar play, it was a scoreless eighth. Even with the scoreless inning, he did not give the ball off for a save situation.

The reason for that was Billy McKinney hitting his second homer in as many games. This one gave the Mets a 6-2 lead.

With the four run lead, Jeurys Familia came on to finish the game. Familia retired the first two quickly, but the second batter, Smith, hit one off Familia’s hand.

Familia shook everyone off, but there was some concern after a Reddick bloop double. Whatever concern that might’ve been, Familia put it to rest striking out Domingo Leyba.

Game Notes: In addition to Alonso, Kevin Pillar and Seth Lugo were activated off the IL. Sean Reid-Foley, Khalil Lee, and Patrick Mazeika were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Sam McWilliams and Cameron Maybin were designated for assignment. The Mets had 13 hits with James McCann being the only starter without a hit.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Sweep Braves?

With the weather, the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves only played one game of the weekend series. With the Mets winning, they swept all the games they did play:

1. You just can’t beat the Mets at Citi Field. So far, they’re 15-5, and that’s even with a Triple-A roster.

2. The Braves are an incredibly flawed team, and there’s only so much Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuña can do.

3. The Mets are starting to get healthy with Taijuan Walker back. They also have Seth Lugo and Pete Alonso ready to be activated any day now.

4. Lugo presents an interesting dilemma for the Mets as they robbed Peter to pay Paul by opening up roster spots. Lugo coming off the 60 day IL means someone has to come off the 40 man roster.

5. In past years, the Mets really didn’t have enough players for an everyday lineup, and now, we’re worrying about the backups to the backups. Things really are different.

6. Walker picked right up where he left off, which is to say, he was very good.

7. Mets were cautious with both Walker and Jacob deGrom in their returns from the IL. Again, it’s nice to see things are different around here.

8. One of the biggest changes we see are rain outs. Steve Cohen is making the calls sooner preventing fans from having to unnecessarily make the trek.

9. A side point here is we’ve seen Mets players get injured and seasons get turned sideways with players playing in poor conditions as the Wilpons push to get another gate.

10. James McCann needs to be commended. He got pushed to first due to his own play, Tomas Nido‘s play, and injuries. He responded to the challenge by playing great.

11. Seeing McCann at first, and seeing his bat come alive again, you do wonder if he can play third. After all, it is a shift Todd Zeile (permanently) and Gary Carter (as a sub) have successfully made.

12. Seeing how McCann has played of late, there’s nothing wrong with the McCann/Nido platoon. In fact, it’s a good plan to get the most out of them and the starters.

13. Its a very small sample size, but Billy McKinney looks really good. He could well be someone who more than adequately fills in that 4th/5th OF role.

14. It’ll be something people overlook when they talk about how disappointing Dominic Smith has been, and he has, but he’s been playing hurt at a time when the Mets needed him.

15. Maybe it’s due to overwork, regression to the mean, or something else, but Miguel Castro is starting to look like the enigma he was with the Baltimore Orioles again.

16. Jason Bay got a much longer leash than Francisco Lindor has when it’s come to the booing.

17. On Lindor, this team is winning with pitching and defense, and he’s on the forefront of that. It’s something to remember when the Mets are healthy and debating putting in the full can’t field lineup.

18. By every objective measure, Jonathan Villar has been a below average player, but man, he finds a way to make an impact on a game.

19. The fact Kevin Pillar is going to be one of the first players back is a minor miracle given the injury he suffered and a testament to how tough he is.

20. The May games are over, and the Mets are in first place. They have the largest division lead while they’re getting healthy. Let’s hope this is enough to stave off the usual June swoon.

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Mets Should Promote Mark Vientos To Triple-A

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:

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.

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Neon Moment Of The Week: Tomas Nido Winner

The story of the 2021 New York Mets has been the “Bench Mob.” They’ve been pressed into action much more than anticipated, and they’ve responded by propelling the Mets to first place.

In some ways, the leader of that group is Tomas Nido. More to the point, he’s been the glue guy of the roster. You see it with his wearing Pete Alonso‘s Donnie Stevenson t-shirts and donning Marcus Stroman‘s HDMH caps.

The thing is Nido may not be a “Bench Mob” player anymore. Recently, he’s started to take over as the team’s starting catcher. Yes, it’s partially due to James McCann‘s struggles, but it’s also because of how Nido has played.

So far this year, Nido has been one of, if not the Mets best hitter, and he’s been phenomenal defensively. All told, Nido has been great and has been a driving force for the Mets.

Case-in-point was the Mets game on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves. The depleted Mets team had squandered a two run lead and found themselves tied at 3-3 in the ninth. That was until Nido homered off it Will Smith:

That homer was the first shot between the Mets and Braves, the two teams who will presumably be fighting for the division. That homer announced to the Braves no matter how many injuries the Mets face, they’re not going anywhere, and they’re going to beat the Braves.

That homer not only sparked the Mets to take that series, but it also was a strong indication this Mets team is the toughest in the game. As it pertains to Nido, it might’ve been a sign he’s ready to become one of the best catchers in the game.

With the Mets beating the hated Braves, and Nido pushing more and more to become the starting catcher, that game winning homer 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).

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Khalil Lee And Johneshwy Fargas – Just Like They Drew It Up

Miguel Castro came into the seventh of a game the New York Mets led 3-2, and he surrendered a game tying solo homer to Garrett Cooper. Of course, this is the 2021 Mets, so it was a crazy game.

The double guessing of Luis Rojas started as he pulled Marcus Stroman after six even with a tired bullpen. Stroman might’ve gotten the no decision, but he gave Castro a big hug.

We’d all need a big hug after this emotional roller coaster.

Trevor May, who has been struggling of late, got himself into a bases loaded two out jam in the eighth. Worse yet, he fell behind 3-1 in the count. May would rally back, strike out Cooper, and help keep this game tied.

Jeurys Familia had two on and no outs in the ninth, and he battled back to send the game into extras.

In the 10th, we’d see one of the craziest things of all with Wilfredo Tovar getting a base hit. Of course, Tovar is one of many pressed into action no one thought would even be contemplated to play for the Mets this year.

That hit was Tovar’ first Mets hit since 2013. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough to score Tomas Nido, and the Mets would somehow squander that opportunity.

For his part, Nido got yet another start, and he again proved he deserves the job. In fact, it was his third inning RBI double which increased the then Mets lead to 3-1. He also had two caught stealings including a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play:

Fast-forward to the 11th, and the Mets had a golden opportunity with Jonathan Villar starting the inning at second. At the plate was Francisco Lindor, who opened the scoring in the first with an RBI double scoring Villar.

Lindor got the hit, but Villar stopped at third. That proved costly when Villar was PICKED OFF OF THIRD?!?!?!?

That’s a horrid job by Villar, but you do wonder where third base coach Gary Disarcina was. On that note, it was another terrible job by Disarcina tonight with his getting two runners caught at the plate. One of those was Nido in the fourth. Nido wasn’t even close.

After Drew Smith navigated his way through the 11th, the Mets would not be denied in the 12th. It was just how the Mets drew it up in Spring Training.

Dominic Smith was the runner on second (because Rob Manfred hates baseball), and he moved to third when Jake Hager had his first career hit. He wasn’t the only one.

Khalil Lee came up to the plate despite literally striking out in literally all of his career plate appearances. He’d hit a go-ahead double.

This wasn’t good enough. Johneshwy Fargas would hit a two run RBI triple to give the Mets a 6-3 lead. It was 6-3 partially because Fargas went for the inside the park homer but was nailed at the plate.

Initially, it was up to Aaron Loup to earn the save. It didn’t go too well with his allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning pulling the Marlins to 6-4. That’s when Lindor bailed out Loop with a big double play:

Better than the heads up play by Lindor was the Smith pick at first. Yes, a run score, but the Mets were that much closer to winning. They’d get that win with Rojas going to Jacob Barnes.

When Barnes recorded the final out, the Mets had a very hard fought 6-5 win in 12. They’re down 16 players, and they have Triple-A talent out there. Despite all that, they’re 21-17 and in first place.

Game Notes: Pete Alonso was placed on the IL. Brandon Drury was called up to take his place, and Daniel Zamora was designated for assignment. Tommy Hunter was also placed on the IL.

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20/20 Hindsight: M*E*T*S* Nearly Sweep Braves

The New York Mets have been an injury a minute, and somehow, they went to Atlanta and took two out of three from the Braves:

1. If Tomas Nido keeps this up, the discussion may shift from whether he should be the everyday catcher to whether he’s one of the best catchers in the game.

2. Khalil Lee can keep striking out if he is going to continue to make outstanding game saving catches in right field.

3. Kudos to Edwin Diaz to taking that significant step in his career where you can rely on him on consecutive days.

4. The front office people who told Diaz to put on more weight deserves a raise. The same goes to Jeremy Hefner, who is getting all you can out of Diaz and the entire bullpen.

5. The same goes for the people designing the Mets shifts. They’re shifting nearly more than everyone, and they’re doing it better than almost everyone.

6. Seeing how the Mets played this series and the improvements he seems to be making, Luis Rojas should be getting more credit than he is.

7. Jonathan Villar is a guy with poor numbers across the board, and yet, he just finds a way to have an impact in nearly every game.

8. Kevin Pillar suffered the worst HBP this side of Ray Chapman. It’s miraculous he didn’t suffer more than multiple nasal fractures.

9. Pillar certainly made himself more fans with his play and his talking about how it’s breaking his heart he can’t be out there when his team needs him.

10. That should serve as a reminder we shouldn’t be rushing to judgment to players after a week. Remember, there were plenty of very vocal fans who were convinced Pillar would do nothing this year.

11. It’s not hyperbole to say the Mets play a game and someone else turns up injured. It’s so bad we find out Pete Alonso suddenly has a wrist issue and can’t play.

12. It looks like Dominic Smith could supplant Alonso as the first baseman for now. Hopefully, that helps get him going.

13. For as much as the Mets didn’t want to give Jordan Yamamoto a real chance, they have no choice now. Oh, and we’re probably going to see Thomas Szapucki soon.

14. There’s joy, and then there’s Tommy Hunter, a 14 year MLB veteran, getting his first career hit.

15. Good job by the Chicago Cubs honoring their commitment to Cameron Maybin by trading him to the Mets for $1.

16. It wasn’t that long ago Brodie Van Wagenen and Jeff Wilpon didn’t honor their agreement to Devin Mesoraco. That led to Mesoraco retuning, rushing to activate Travis d’Arnaud, and then rage cutting d’Arnaud.

17. If you’re looking for a comp for David Peterson, it’s Mike Pelfrey. Both were sinkerball first rounders rushed to the majors from Double-A, and the team didn’t let them go back and develop after the initial panic call-up.

18. If you’re even being competitive with a Maybin-Johneshwy Fargas-Lee outfield, you’re doing something right. Seriously, what the Mets did in this series was beyond impressive.

19. Think of everything that has gone wrong with this team. They’re still over .500 and in first place.

20. Sometimes teams just have one of those special seasons. So far, this is shaping up to be one of them.

Game Recaps

Mets Win Game And Lose Two More

Tomas Nido Wins It

Mets Bullpen Too Exhausted To Hold On

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Tomas Nido Wins It

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mets Win Game And Lose Two More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s when everything changed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Swept Up In Rays

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Game Recaps

Mets Lost Due to Glasnow and Clutch Rays Hitting

Joey Lucchesi Beings Bullpen Game Implosion

Mets Banged Up

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