Things are not going as planned for the New York Mets. Is this an early slump or is an impending disaster ensuing?
- New York Mets 3 (2-4)
- Miami Marlins 10 (2-3)
- MLB, Final, Box Score
- Citi Field, Flushing, New York
That was…brutal.
Just a brutal game for the New York Mets faithful, as they dropped their third contest in a row on Monday night, 10-3, to the lowly Miami Marlins.
Right now, the Mets are in a rut, and thus, as are their dedicated fans.
So, while there was a lot of bad in this game, we’ll start with a couple pick-me-up silver linings.
VISIT ESNY’s New York Mets Team Center
Yo, Cap is back:
Seriously, Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright‘s recent play at the plate is the only thing keeping #MetsTwitter from going completely off the rails.
Coming in, Wright had 121 career RBI vs. Miami, his most against any other team. Additionally, he was hitting .327 in 178 career games against the Fish.
He hasn’t cooled off just yet. After a 2-for-4 performance against the Phillies on Sunday, Wright followed up with another 2-4 line, including a double ripped to left field, a walk, and run scored.
Plain and simple, he’s been the best bat in the Mets’ order so far, plus, he’s seeing the ball extremely well. He’s now batting .316 on the season.
And hey, look! “Cespy” is slowly, but surely, pulling himself out of a rut of his own. Sunday, he went 2-for-4, including his first homer of the year. Today, he provided 33% of the Mets’ total offense, with two hits and an RBI in four ABs. He’s now at a .250 average on the year.
deBaby is Coming:
According to ESPN’s Adam Rubin, Jacob deGrom flew back to Florida today, to join his wife for the birth of his baby.
The more deGrominators in this world, the better. And hopefully, that lat-tightness heals in the next week, the Mets could use his arm.
The Bad:
Coming into the game, the Mets were last in the NL in two major offensive categories: batting average at .180, and a .529 OPS.
Though, they have admittedly, been unlucky at times. Their batting average on balls in play is .235, with the NL average lingering around the .300 mark.
Summing up the Mets offense’s first go at it, Monday:
Through six games this season, the New York Mets have 36 hits and struck out 52 times. Certainly, not a favorable statistic.
Curtis Granderson has been the weakest link for Mets, during this terrible stretch. Monday, he went 0-for-4 with a walk. Now, he’s 1-for-24 on the season, with a .042 average.
The Ugly:
The season debut on the mound for top-prospect Steven Matz went awry.
Coming in with a 4-0 record and 2.27 ERA in 6 regular season starts last season, everyone had high hopes for the 24-year-old to get his team back on track. He normally does the trick, as New York owned a 5-1 record in his starts…until Monday.
After an incredibly solid first inning, that had Curt Schilling declare, “he’s looking pretty sexy on the mound tonight,” crap began to hit the fan, to the tune of a 7-run second inning for Miami.
By the game’s end, each of the Marlins 1-through-8 hitters had at least one hit.
Sure, Matz was squeezed at the plate by the umpire, and likely thought more strikes than balls were called. Still, that’s no excuse for the rate at which Marlins were making contact with his pitches. After a 2-run bomb from MVP Candidate Giancarlo Stanton, all hell broke loose.
Matz ended with 7 ER – the most in his minor and major league career – in just 1.2 innings pitched, the shortest outing by a Mets pitcher since 2014.
We’ll forget about the 37.80 ERA for now.
Awards:
Cespedes was presented with his 2015 AL Gold Glove Award before the game tonight. He was awarded it as an American Leaguer for spending the majority of last season with the Detroit Tigers.
Luckily, Cespedes didn’t drop or boot the award as he received it.
What’s Next:
A battle of aces awaits, Tuesday.
The New York Mets will send out the physical embodiment of a losing-streak stopper. His name is Noah Syndergaard, and he’s pretty good.
He’ll face Jose Fernandez and the Marlins. Game time is at 7:10 pm ET. You can catch the game on SNY.