Peter Alonso
There are ebbs and flows to the season, and the New York Mets were fighting it. Fortunately, Jose Alvarado and the Philadelphia Phillies were there to help them out:
1. Alvarado is a punk. He throws at batters. He talks a good game, but when he’s confronted, he goes hiding behind teammates.
2. Dominic Smith announced to the world he and the Mets will not be pushed around. Unlike Alvarado, Smith would back it up.
3. Before the Alvarado nonsense, he fell to a paltry .206/.225/.324. After that, he’s 4-for-9 with two doubles.
4. As much as he’s heated up, it’s Michael Conforto carrying the Mets offense. He hit the huge go-ahead homer, and he’s hitting .327/.400/.551 over his last 14 games. It’s like he’s always been this good, and we shouldn’t have overreacted to a slump.
5. Jeff McNeil looked awfully comfortable batting lead-off.
6. Pete Alonso had his own take on why the Mets have started hitting – Donnie Stevenson. Stevenson is apparently a mix of Sidd Finch and that mustachioed man who looked like Bobby Valentine.
7. Mets need McNeil’s ability leading off if Brandon Nimmo is more hurt than originally expected.
8. Mets are also going to need to see Kevin Pillar step up. His game in the series finale with the big homer was a great start.
9. Jonathan Villar‘s scoring from first was an incredible and shocking play. We haven’t really seen a Mets player make a difference in a game with pure speed since Jose Reyes‘ first stint with the team.
10. Villar running the bases is like what we used to see from Daniel Murphy except with speed.
11. Edwin Diaz continues to both be great and completely unreliable.
12. Considering Diaz has issues going consecutive days, pitching with runners on base, and the like, it might be time to start considering him more for a set-up role.
13. Diaz faltered because he faltered. That’s not Luis Rojas‘ fault. Not everything that goes wrong with this team is Rojas’ fault.
14. The Mets can consider that because Jeurys Familia seems back to form. We saw that again with his big strikeout of Bryce Harper and resulting save. He and replay really bailed out Diaz.
15. You can’t kill Miguel Castro for having one poor outing. He’s been phenomenal all year. Really, the Mets pitching as a whole has been.
16. The Mets seemingly are getting nicked up of late. At the moment, Marcus Stroman‘s hamstring is the biggest issue. Hopefully, the reports he’ll be alright prove true.
17. David Peterson has been pretty good, but he needs to be more than a five and fly pitcher.
18. Taijuan Walker increasingly looks like the steal of the offseason.
19. Francisco Lindor is going to be fine, and while we await his bat, we can just enjoy what is just truly special defense.
20. Mets are just starting to get going, and they’re already in first place. It’s going to be a great May and an even better year.
Game Recaps
Phillies Awoke a Sleeping Giant
Mets Make Alvarado and Hoskins Pay
The New York Mets responded to the loss and Jose Alvarado‘s disrespect by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. It all started with a Francisco Lindor HBP, and there were big RBI doubles by Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso.
3-0 #Mets! #LGM pic.twitter.com/KAl16sPHH6
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 1, 2021
The Mets had a chance to build from there, but James McCann grounded into a double play. That hurt because Zack Wheeler was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies. You get what you can get in the first because he’s much stingy later in the game.
That was the case here. After that first inning, Wheeler shut down the Mets over the next six innings. That gave the Phillies a chance to get back into the game.
Now, Taijuan Walker pitched well but not quite well enough.
The Phillies jumped on him in the second. After a Nick Marton double, there were runners and second and third with no outs. The first run scored on an Andrew Knapp RBI groundout. Walker was close to getting out of the inning further unscathed, but Wheeler helped his own cause.
Walker went on cruise control after that allowing just a walk heading into the sixth. That’s when the Phillies started going through the third time through the lineup. It came to bite him and the Mets when Alec Bohm hit a game tying two run homer.
From there, two things happened. First, the Mets bullpen stepped up again and pitched well. Aaron Loup and Trevor May pitched a scoreless inning apiece to ensure the game was tied heading into the ninth.
In addition to the bullpen stepping up, the game went haywire. It wasn’t haywire in the way it went with Alvarado throwing at people and trash talking. Rather, it all hell broke loose.
In the seventh, Brandon Nimmo swung at a pitch, missed, and he came out of the game with an injury. He’d be replaced by Kevin Pillar. Pillar’s strikeout was attributable to Nimmo. Nimmo wasn’t the only Met to leave the game with a hand injury.
Loup was double switched into the game with Jonathan Villar taking over at third. There wasn’t an obvious play which caused it, but he left the game with a sprained hand.
In that inning, we’d see an absurdly bad umpire call. Matt Joyce hit a grounder towards Lindor, who went to tag Andrew McCutchen, and missed. It didn’t matter as the umpire ruled it was a double play.
Francisco Lindor turns two (?): pic.twitter.com/7KN45O7zJv
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2021
McCutchen was ruled to have run outside the baseline. He didn’t, but it’s not reviewable because the replay system is completely broken.
Bryce Harper, who couldn’t play because he was hit in the face by a Genesis Cabrera pitch, was thrown out of the game.
In any event, Hector Neris entered the game for the Phillies in the ninth. On the second pitch he threw, Conforto hit a go-ahead homer:
? BOOM? pic.twitter.com/MdAWXBhfBV
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 2, 2021
With the Mets ahead 5-4, Edwin Diaz entered the game looking for his third save of the season. Now, this is a spot where Diaz had issues in the past. Not tonight. He mowed down the Phillies in order to preserve the win.
This was a big response to the loss and disrespect last night. It was a big win with Conforto getting a huge hit, his second homer of the season. Now, they need to make this stick by winning tomorrow.
Game Notes: Luis Guillorme landed on the IL, and Jose Peraza was called up in his place. Nimmo was diagnosed with a left index finger contusion.
The New York Mets had not lost a home series or been swept once this season. That was until the Boston Red Sox came to town:
1. The best way to sum up Jacob deGrom‘s greatness is a bad start is one run over six innings.
2. In four starts, deGrom is 2-2 with a 0.51 ERA. That’s beyond absurd.
3. The long story short is if deGrom doesn’t shut ’em out and hit one out, he’s going to lose the game.
4. That may not be a deGrom thing anymore. The Mets offense has been that bad lately.
5. This isn’t exactly by chance. The Mets are following the pattern of teams who previously retained Chili Davis as hitting coach.
6. As noted and will continue to be noted, Francisco Lindor is a slow starter. If you’re booing him over that, you’re an idiot.
7. Also, imagine booing him when he makes a great play to turn an unassisted double play.
8. Speaking of defense, Pete Alonso has been great at first. While we note the diving play, that stretch on the James McCann throw was excellent.
9. With the Mets offense the way it is, making bad pitching look great, they need all the great defense and pitching they can get. Fortunately, the pitching has been great leading the league in FIP.
10. Keep in mind, this is before Carlos Carrasco, Seth Lugo, and Noah Syndergaard come off the IL. That’s how good the pitching has been.
11. Mets really need to navigate this Brandon Nimmo hip issue because he’s the one consistent bat in this lineup. He’s also playing well in center.
12. Jeff McNeil homered and was dropped in the lineup. It’ll be interesting to find out what Sandy Alderson comes up with to bench McNeil again and/or drop him in the lineup again.
13. Mets held the best offensive team in 2021 to three runs TOTAL over two games. Somehow, the Mets were swept over the two game set.
14. With the Mets pitching and hitting this way, it’s reminiscent of the summer of 2015. The only difference is these Mets are healthy and the other batted Eric Campbell and John Mayberry in the heart of the lineup. These Mets are healthy.
15. It’s way too soon to panic or overreact, but the Mets problems have gone from bad to worse. That said, there is still plenty of time to turn things around.
16. The at-bats by Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis at the end of the second game where literally as bad as you can get. They were swinging at pitches in the dirt.
17. Jeurys Familia and Trevor May have been nearly unstoppable since their struggles in their first appearances. Miguel Castro has been unstoppable all year.
18. Jerry Blevins seemed to be a casualty of the dumb three batter rule when he announced his retirement. Same goes for former Met Oliver Perez who was designated for assignment by the Indians despite pitching well.
19. As Joe Girardi was rightfully flipping out over Genesis Cabrera hitting Bryce Harper in the face and Didi Gregorius in the ribs, he has no issue putting Jose Alvarado on the mound who threw consecutive dangerous up and in pitches to Conforto. If you’re going to be upset about hard throwers with zero control endangering batters, don’t put one on the mound yourself.
20. Despite what people want to tell you, the Mets are going to be fine. They’ll finish April near or at first, and they’re primed for a big May.
Garrett Richards made four starts in 2021 averaging under 5.0 innings per start. He’s allowed 14 runs over 16.2 innings while walking more than he’s struck out.
Naturally, he dominated the New York Mets over 7.0 innings. In fact, he struck out 10 batters, which nearly matched his 2021 total. He picked up the win after allowing one run on seven hits with no walks.
Now, every now and then, every pitcher has a great game. Perhaps, that was just that for Richards. It’s also possible this is just the Mets continuing their season long offensive struggles.
On the night, the Mets only run scored on a Jeff McNeil second inning homer. At the time, that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
First pitch fastball ambush by the ?.@JeffMcNeil805 | #LGM pic.twitter.com/GutvYIRbew
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 27, 2021
The problem is that was just one of two Mets extra base hits on the day. The other was Michael Conforto in the fourth, but in what doesn’t remotely come as a shock, he was stranded there.
James McCann had tried to get his own extra base hit in the fifth, but he was thrown out by J.D. Martinez.
Conforto was the only Mets player with multiple hits. Francisco Lindor was the only Mets player not to strike out, but he went hitless. Pete Alonso had the golden sombrero. Both of those players did come to play defensively.
They needed it too because with the way the Mets were hitting, they needed to keep it close. David Peterson did that, and he’d be the hard luck loser for his efforts.
Peterson had kept the Red Sox at bay until the third. Right after the Mets gained the lead with the McNeil homer, Peterson gave that lead right back when Bobby Dalbec homered off of him.
The Red Sox didn’t get anything going until the sixth. Enrique Hernandez led off the inning with a double. He then scored on a Rafael Devers RBI single. That was the scoring in the game.
Peterson rebounded, and he got out of the sixth. That was partially due to Lindor turning a double play. That wouldn’t be his best one of the day.
With the Mets trailing 2-1 heading into the seventh, Jeurys Familia relieved Peterson. Familia allowed a one out double to Hunter Renfroe, and Marwin Gonzalez hit a liner up the middle which Lindor turned into an unassisted double play:
The master at work. @Lindor12BC | #LGM pic.twitter.com/Akvlw8sgmO
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 28, 2021
This was an amazing defensive play. However, it wasn’t enough for the Mets fans in the ballpark who had the temerity to boo Lindor. You’d think early season offensive struggles caused by a number of factors would be excused for Lindor, but the people at Citi Field are morons.
The bigger problem than the idiots booing was the loss. The final 10 batters of the game failed to reach.
When that happens, you really can’t win games. The Mets didn’t here, and they fell back to .500.
Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo was held out of the lineup with a hip impingement. Lindor went hitless. Stephen Tarpley was sent down to the alternate site, and Jose Peraza was called-up. Lindor batted lead-off.
Well, after the first series of the season was canceled due to COVID19, the Washington Nationals and New York Mets finally got to play in a series. The Mets would win yet another home series and stay above .500:
1. Jacob deGrom is already the second best pitcher in Mets history, and in short order, we will consider him the second best Mets player to ever wear a Mets uniform. In fact, he may already be there.
2. To put in context just how great deGrom is, he’s set the record for most strikeouts to start a season, and he has passed Tom Seaver in Mets ERA and ERA+. Yes, he has been so great he has put himself in Seaver territory.
3. Seeing deGrom hit, you are reminded pitchers can actually hit and help themselves at the plate. The fact other pitchers don’t do it is their own failing, and it is not a good argument for the universal DH.
4. deGrom has driven in and scored more earned runs than he has allowed.
5. Marcus Stroman had one bad day. There is nothing more that should be read into it.
6. We saw Robert Gsellman step up, and he has looks ready to be a solid contributor to the bullpen. Overall, the bullpen has picked it up across the board, and they seem to be outperforming the early season expectations. In some ways, this could be attributable to Jeremy Hefner who had a similar effect in Minnesota as an assistant pitching coach.
7. Once again, Taijuan Walker was really good, and he appears to be the steal of the offseason for the Mets. Notably, when starters are going deep into games, that also helps the bullpen.
8. Michael Conforto‘s defense is still worrisome, especially his arm, but he appears to be getting going at the plate. We saw him hit his first homer of the season, and we saw him get extra base hits on back-to-back days for the first time all season.
9. For reasons that defy expectation, this Mets front office seem to believe more in J.D. Davis than Jeff McNeil. Davis can cost Mets consecutive games with his glove, and they give him on brief rest, but McNeil has some struggles at the plate, and they refuse to try to put him where he thrives in the lineup or let him work through it.
10. Albert Almora doesn’t play much, but when he does, he makes an impact. He scored from first in a pinch running opportunity earlier in the season, and he robbed Kyle Schawarber of an extra base hit as we have only seen Juan Lagares do previously.
11. Jonathan Villar has contributed quite well in the games he has played, and he has earned his playing time. It is really curious why the Mets won’t sit Davis for him, but they will sit McNeil. It’s also curious what Luis Guillorme has to do to get into the lineup.
12. The Mets sat Dominic Smith against a left-handed pitcher again despite his being one of their best hitters against left-handed pitching. Again, better players sit so Davis can be force fed into the lineup.
13. While Sunday was a really good game defensively, the Mets defense continues to be atrocious, second worst in the National League by DRS, and the Mets show little to no interest in playing their best defensive players.
14. It needs to be mentioned again. Jacob deGrom is doing things we haven’t seen since Seaver, and we may never get to see greatness of this level in a Mets uniform again for quite some time, if ever. He is that good, and he is going to be the player we tell our children and grandchildren about for years to come.
15. The Mets better not fail deGrom the way they did Mike Piazza and David Wright. They need to make sure he wins a World Series in a Mets uniform.
16. Brandon Nimmo is very quietly emerging as one of the best players in baseball. He is an on-base machine, and we see his defense steadily improving. This is someone using all the information at his disposal to be better. He should be an All-Star, and at some point, we may need to have serious MVP discussions about him. Then again, that award should go to deGrom.
17. The state of umpiring in the majors may be at its worst. We see calls routinely blown, especially by the home plate umpire. Needless to say, if Nimmo takes a pitch, it’s a ball.
18. Pete Alonso is really heating up at the plate, and we have seen him just demolish homers.
19. Put aside the offense, the work James McCann and Tomas Nido have done behind the plate has been nothing short of phenomenal. They are getting their pitcher the calls they need, and they are playing all around great defense. If McCann can start hitting like we know he can, watch out. Hopefully, that RBI single on Sunday for McCann was a start.
20. Listening to the game on the radio really makes you miss Josh Lewin. No one really wants to hear Francisco Lindor needs to run out foul balls or Nimmo is swinging at pitches because he’s finally confident at the plate. The Mets can and should do better than that, but in some ways, that’s an allegory for their season so far.
The New York Mets sent Taijuan Walker to the mound to take the series against the Washington Nationals. He did everything the Mets could possibly ask of him, and we saw his team step up around him.
We got a sense of what type of day this was going to be when Josh Harrison reached on a lead-off single. However, he was not there for long when Walker, who has an excellent move, picked Harrison off of first:
That @tai_walker pickoff move ? pic.twitter.com/nIch6I7RUR
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 25, 2021
Long story short, Walker and the Mets were going to make this a long afternoon for the Nationals offense. That topsy turvey first inning would end for the Nationals when Jonathan Villar robbed Josh Bell of a hit:
Jonathan Villar with the leaping catch to save a run ? pic.twitter.com/vV43qbzFXM
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 25, 2021
We saw this again in the third when Victor Robles got greedy. Robles had hit a ball to the right center field wall where Michael Conforto fielded it. Now, to Robles’ credit, Conforto’s arm hasn’t been good at all this year. However, on this play, he was perfect with a relay to Jonathan Villar, who nailed Robles at third:
Conforto ➡️ Villar ➡️ JD to gun down Robles at third ? pic.twitter.com/baYTzI3qvu
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 25, 2021
Here’s what is so fascinating. The first two hits by the Nationals off of Walker were IMMEDIATELY erased off the basepaths. That’s a real problem when you are trying to score runs. That’s an even bigger problem when you get all of three hits off of Walker over his seven scoreless innings.
Of course, a very large part of that was the way the Mets played defense in this game. There was perhaps no bigger defensive play in this game or even the season than what we saw from Albert Almora in the sixth.
In the sixth, Walker had issued a one out walk to Yadier Hernandez and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. After a fielder’s choice by Bell, there were runners at the corners with Kyle Schwarber at the plate. Schwarber would give one a ride which Almora tracked down in Juan Lagares fashion:
Albert Almora with his best Juan Lagares impression ? pic.twitter.com/eC4AIma2EU
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) April 25, 2021
There was literally nothing the Nationals could do to crack what was seemingly an impenetrable Mets defense. What was odd about that is the Mets defense was the second worst in the National League coming into this game with a -7 DRS. However, this still made the plays when it counted, and they would put Walker in a position to win.
One of the reasons why is the Nationals started Patrick Corbin, who is not only just a shell of himself so far this year, but he also struggles against the Mets hitter. Chief among them is J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto. It should come as little surprise both had a good day at the plate.
Davis was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs, a homer, and two RBI. We also saw Conforto go 1-for-4 with a double, but he deserved a better fate. In the bottom of the fifth, Conforto had hit what was originally ruled a sacrifice fly. However, upon reply, Francisco Lindor missed touching home plate making that a double play and not an RBI:
Btm 5th – @Nationals challenge call that Francisco Lindor is safe at HP; call overturned, runner is out. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/hda9mPEtpN
— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) April 25, 2021
Honestly, it was just one of those weird days for the Mets offense, and home plate umpire Doug Eddings just had one of those really bad days. Case-in-point, in the fourth inning, the Mets had already scored a run on a James McCann RBI single. They had loaded the bases thereafter with two outs with Brandon Nimmo coming to the plate.
As is usually the case, Nimmo worked the count full. The last pitch was further outside than a pitch already called a ball in the at-bat, and frankly, it was well off the plate and towards the opposite batter’s box. As Nimmo started sprinting towards first, Eddings rang him up.
Robot Umps please.
Mets should've been up 4-0 with Pete Alonso hitting with the bases loaded. pic.twitter.com/GA9iKioHEK
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) April 25, 2021
What really hurt about that was not only was that going to be another run to make it a 4-0 game, but Pete Alonso was going to come up with the bases loaded. Instead, with the game 3-0, Alonso would lead off the fifth, and he would make it 4-0 all on his own:
Alonso is ready for take off. ? pic.twitter.com/PZZ55f40zu
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 25, 2021
The Mets offense wouldn’t do much from that point, but it didn’t matter as the pitching and defense carried them the rest of the way. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any drama.
Miguel Castro relieved Walker to start the eighth, and the Nationals offense seemed to come alive. Andrew Stevenson and Yadiel Hernandez book ended a Harrison striking out to put two on and one out. Castro responded by striking out Ryan Zimmerman, who was pinch hitting for Turner after he had been hit by a pitch earlier in the game, and Bell to end the jam.
Edwin Diaz came on for the ninth, and he pitched a perfect inning. With that, the Mets are once again above .500, and they have won two out of the three series at home (tying the other). In the end, we see the Mets taking care of business at home, which is a recipe for a good season.
Game Notes: This marks the first time the Mets have played consecutive series all season without a postponement. Nimmo has reached base safely in 15 out of the 16 games he has played. Jeff McNeil did not start for the fourth time this season.
New York Mets manager Luis Rojas rolled the dice a number of times in the game against the Chicago Cubs, and he kept getting lucky. Really, it was a number of just interesting, weird, and outright wrong decisions.
With J.D. Davis incapable of playing third, the Mets finally relented and put him on the bench. The Mets also sat Jeff McNeil. That led to Luis Guillorme at third and Jonathan Villar at second, instead of the reverse, which would’ve been the better defensive alignment.
So, naturally, right off the bat, Rojas’ (or front offices’) decision looked genius when Guillorme robbed Ian Happ:
? @lguillorme13 pic.twitter.com/icoaKiVyNq
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 22, 2021
This helped Joey Lucchesi get through the first two innings unscathed. Unfortunately, the Cubs would get to him in the third.
After walking two with one out, Lucchesi was on the verge of escaping the inning unscathed after a Happ flyout. Lucchesi had some bad luck with he got hit by a Willson Contreras comebacker driving in a run.
Kris Bryant then hit a two run double giving the Cubs an early 3-0 lead. That would prove to be it for Lucchesi as he would be lifted in the fourth for a pinch hitter.
The Mets responded in the fourth immediately. Dominic Smith doubled, and then Pete Alonso followed with yet another homer to pull the Mets to within 3-2.
Another one for PEEEETE! #LGM pic.twitter.com/ys5HaAhjfT
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 23, 2021
The Mets would have a chance to build on this but couldn’t. Michael Conforto would double, and Villar drew a walk. That was it as neither Kevin Pillar nor Nimmo, who pinch hit for Lucchesi, could drive home the tying run.
At the time, Lucchesi had only thrown 60 pitches, and the Mets bullpen had been worked hard the past few nights. Rather than err on the side of caution, Rojas went to recently called up Sean Reid-Foley.
Reid-Foley was phenomenal pitching three scoreless. A pitcher who has struggled all of his career with control walked none and struck out four.
In the seventh, Rojas got lucky again. With one out and one on, Rojas tapped Davis to pinch hit over McNeil against Ryan Terpera. It worked as Davis hit a game tying RBI double, which should’ve been a triple as the ball got away from Jake Marisnick.
After a scoreless seventh by Trevor May, Rojas made the very curious decision of having Aaron Loup start the inning with the first Cubs LHP due up sixth.
The decision looked like an immediate disaster with Marisnick hitting a lead-off triple. Loup bore down getting Austin Romine to pop out, and Happ to strike out.
Rojas then went to Miguel Castro. Why Castro didn’t start the inning is anyone’s guess. Castro came up big striking out Contreras to end the inning.
Rojas then made yet another curious move. He only used Castro for the one batter. He would wind up double switching Edwin Diaz into the game which was setting the stage for Diaz to pitch two innings.
Notably, Diaz is not accustomed to two innings, and he’s not great with runners on base. With his being set up to pitch the 10th, and there being the ridiculous runner on second rule, that’s an important consideration.
The Mets got to the 10th partially because James McCann threw out another runner. On the play, Bryant had the bag stolen, but he came off the bag for a nanosecond. McNeil, who was double switched into the game with Diaz, kept the tag on leading to Bryant being called out.
In the 10th, Villar started the inning on second because Rob Manfred hates baseball. He’d quickly be on third due to a wild pitch. After McNeil struck out, Guillorme and Francisco Lindor walked loading the bases with one out.
Dominic Smith had the chance to deliver a huge hit. He hit the ball hard, but right at the second baseman David Bote, who started the inning ending 4-6-3 double play.
The Mets would not get another opportunity as Rojas’ luck finally ran out.
Diaz started the 10th, which meant a runner on second. His first pitch of the inning hit Matt Duffy. Bote would lay down the sacrifice. On the bunt, Alonso had a play at third, but he’d slip leaving only the out at first.
Rojas ordered the intentional walk to load the bases, and Jason Heyward came up as a pinch hitter. Diaz would throw one down the middle, and Heyward ripped a game winning single.
With that, the Mets suffered their first sweep of the season. They lost to a bad Cubs team and really looked bad in the process. At least, they are still .500 and in first place.
Game Notes: Trevor Hildenberger was sent down to make room for Reid-Foley. Mets were 1-for-8 with RISP stranding seven.
For two nights in a row, J.D. Davis made errors which cost the New York Mets dearly. In back-to-back nights, his defense was a direct cause of Taijuan Walker and David Peterson being unable to navigate through five innings.
The problems with Davis at third are multi-faceted. He sometimes has difficulty hitting balls hit right at him. He doesn’t have range. While he has a strong arm, he seemingly has the yips where he is taking multiple steps before releasing the ball.
Honestly, this is a player who is crossed up right now, and it is an adventure when he is out there. Right now, his play is on par with Todd Hundley in left field or Mike Piazza at first base. Put another way, the Mets are putting a player in a position to fail, and despite Davis’ best efforts, he’s failing miserably.
This is not a direct reflection on the effort. We all saw the reports of Davis working with Gary Disarcina and Francisco Lindor. There is really nothing to doubt the effort. That said, there is every reason to doubt he can play third base or any position.
Since joining the Mets in 2019, Davis has a -19 DRS at third base. That is the worst at the position by a significant margin. In fact, on just his play at third base alone, he’s the fifth worst defender in the majors. When you include his -9 DRS in left field, he surpasses Jurickson Profar as the worst fielder in all the majors.
The Mets were attempting to hide him at third, and they thought putting him next to Lindor would help. Seeing him in action this year and over the past three years, it’s not working. It can’t work.
Also, keep in mind, the Mets are not just trying to hide Davis’ glove. Because they refused to make the hard decisions, they put Pete Alonso at first pushing Dominic Smith to left field. That put Brandon Nimmo to center. Of all those moves, Nimmo in center seems to be the only one working well. That’s the Mets getting lucky.
The Smith in left field is another factor. The Mets left side defense is atrocious. He and Davis combined are working to neutralize Lindor. Honestly, what is the point of getting Lindor if you’re going to surround him by terrible defenders? That’s like putting a great sound system in a Ford Pinto.
The bigger problem is the Mets pitching staff. We saw it with Walker and Peterson, and we will see it with Marcus Stroman. In fact, we will also see it with Jacob deGrom. The Mets have a ground ball pitching staff. That issue will further compound it self when Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard return from the IL.
Overall, the Mets have built a team based on ground ball pitching. That is why you could believe you can get away with Smith in left and Nimmo in left. That’s all well and good. However, you can’t assemble a ground ball staff and put literally take the worst defensive third baseman in the majors and make him the starter.
The Mets decision is compounded by the fact they have Luis Guillorme, who is a great defender. We also see Guillorme is hitting to start the season. He’s a grinder who is just never going to give up. Case-in-point is Guillorme’s at-bat last night. The Mets were down 12 with two outs in the ninth, and he got a base hit after battling in a seven pitch at-bat.
Overall, when you look at how the Mets built this team, Davis cannot start. When you look at how mightily, he’s struggling, Davis cannot start. When you see his numbers over the past three years, Davis cannot start. When you see the other options available, Davis cannot start.
Yes, this is getting redundant, but then again, so is the Mets insistence on trying to make Davis an everyday player. They tried. Davis tried. It’s not working, and they are putting an entire season at risk by doing so. It’s time to make Davis the strong bench player he was always meant to be and allow Guillorme and/or Jonathan Villar play in his stead.