Mets Treading on a Slippery Slope
A short memory with a task-minded approach is the only ladder out of this pit
Image via Chris Simon
That’s it, friends. Pack it up. Season’s over.
I’m just messing with you. What do you think you’re reading, the [redacted random New York tabloid]?
Are the Mets mired in a nasty funk at the plate? Yes, indeed. Has New York’s starting pitching taken a step back in recent weeks? For sure.
Could the front office have done more to reinforce this roster in preparation for what’s been shaping up to be a battle down the stretch all season? Most definitely.
That all being said, it is what it is. Stay moving forward.
Following their seventh loss in 10 games — a 5-4 loss Tuesday to the Marlins, slicing the Mets’ lead in the NL East to a game-and-a-half over Philadelphia — Mets skipper Luis Rojas kept on the even-keel he has throughout this wild campaign.
“You can’t do anything different than what you’ve done when you know you’re a team and that team knows its identity,” Rojas said. “We just can’t feel panic at all at any point. We gotta go one game at a time. Our biggest challenge is the game tomorrow.”
As the remarkable Andre 3000 once said, “You’re only funky as your last cut. You focus on the past, your ass will be a has-but”. Rojas is 39 years old. Maybe he remembers that tune.
There are no trophies handed out for inspiring first-halves. What the Mets were able to accomplish over the first three months of the season was incredible.
But if this group wants to make that indelible mark that all teams do, they’ll have to trudge through this muck they currently find themselves in and regain solid footing. Quickly.
Punching up has become a hallmark of this squad. As we said here yesterday, they fall behind, rise from the dead, then maybe they pull it off. It’s become uncanny.
However, that carriage is going to turn back into a pumpkin at some point. Midnight’s coming in that regard. The Mets need consistency. Not just from their bats, but on the mound.
Signed as back-end depth after the 28-year-old’s early career was derailed by injuries, Taijuan Walker emerged as the steal of the offseason, pitching to a 2.50 ERA over his first 16 starts and earning his first All-Star nod.
Over his last four starts (15 IP), Walker’s given up 20 earned runs on 26 hits with 10 walks and seven home runs allowed. He gave up just six homers total during that aforementioned 90-inning stretch.
Walker working a full shift after logging minimal innings over the last few seasons (67.1 IP total from 2018 through 2020; 105 IP in 2021) may very well be having an effect. That’s one heck of a ramp-up.
Whether additional adjustments are in order or a new leaf simply needs to be turned, Walker’s contributions — past, present, and future — will be essential to this team’s success moving forward.
Walker did set down eight Marlins in a row after going down 4-0 in the third on Tuesday. This team has been picking themselves up all season. Tai’s clearly no exception. Build off that.
A few more notes…
Jacob deGrom told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game that additional testing on his right elbow ruled out ligament damage and bone spurs as the affliction that’s shelved him (retroactively) since July 11.
DeGrom remains confident that he’ll pitch again this season, but his next MRI (mid-August) will shine more light on that process.
Another integral cog to the Mets’ good fortune, Seth Lugo, has not been the consistent, dominant reliever we’ve grown accustomed to since returning from the IL.
His 3.91 ERA this season is a far cry from the 2.68 ERA he posted between 2018 and 2019. Lugo’s had his moments, but there are times he just doesn’t appear to have it. Par for the course in this game.
He’s certainly chipped in solid outings and remains a net positive for this team, but the multi-inning weapon that he’s been used as in previous years may not be the most effective course of action for the right-hander.
James McCann’s RBI double in the ninth on Tuesday brought the Mets to within a run, but their efforts stalled soon thereafter.
Keeping the deficit at one run in the bottom of the eighth, as Lugo was tasked with doing after putting together a perfect seventh, was imperative. Jorge Alfaro’s RBI double to score Lewis Brinson ruined that plan.
Lugo needed just 10 pitches to get through the seventh so it’s very fair to call on him to do it again. Though, with Miguel Castro (activated Tuesday after negative COVID-19 test), Drew Smith, and Yennsy Diaz available, the Mets had other options.
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