Reeled In: Four Takeaways From The First Series Of 2023
Metsies take three of four from Marlins to start campaign
The Mets and Marlins faced off inside loanDepot Park for the first *real* baseball played in 2023, with the Amazins’ coming out on top of three of those contests.
Timely hitting, slick fielding, and excellent pitching were the main flavors of the series, with so many positives, and very few negatives to take away from the 3-1 start.
Relieving the Nerves: When Mets closer Edwin Diaz Tore the patellar tendon in his knee, the back end of the bullpen seemingly took a hit. Instead of folding, each pitcher stepped up and proved that the ‘pen was just fine. So far.
The group of guys pacing behind the outfield wall combined for 13.2 of work, striking out 16 and only walking three. David Robertson recorded the only save of the series. Manager Buck Showalter utilized all eight arms he had available, as each reliever made at least one appearance in the series. We like that a bunch.
Of course, there will be peaks and valleys throughout the 162-game season, but the bullpen got off on the right foot to start the 2023 season.
Contacts? Contacts!: New Mets outfielder Tommy Pham struggled in his first four at-bats to start the season, but after Friday night’s game, the 35-year-old outfielder got a little boost. Pham just needed some new contact lenses, to help adjust his vision to see clearer on both sides of the ball. With the newly acquired help, Pham had three hits in Sunday’s contest, including a two-run home run.
Outfield depth is plentiful on the Mets’ big league roster, with six different players spending time roaming the green grass over the weekend, including Jeff McNeil. Pham’s offensive success will earn him playing time, whether that be in the outfield or in the DH platooning role. The new follicles will only help the Mets in the long run.
Let The Kid Play: When the news came out that the Mets front office decided to option third baseman prospect Brett Baty to Triple-A Syracuse, he took it personally.
In 14 at-bats with the Syracuse Metsies, the 22-year-old hot corner defender has shined. He’s hitting .357 with two round-trippers, including a grand slam that capped off a 5-for-5 day at the plate in Sunday’s game against the Worcester Red Sox.
Down in Miami, Eduardo Escobar has been the polar opposite. The current third baseman is hitting .063, going just 1-16 with a lowly single for his only base knock. Combine his hitting woes and his sub-par defending, Escobar is playing his way out of the line-up.
This is an obvious case of service time manipulation in the case of Baty, so the expectation is that he will be manning the hot corner in due time. Baty certainly deserves a call-up following his scorching hot start to the 2023 season.
Ghostly Debut: Kodai Senga made his first big league start Sunday afternoon, hurling 5.1 innings and striking out eight.
You could tell during the first two innings the 30-year-old rookie had some visible debut jitters. He seemed to be trying to get on the same page with catcher Tomás Nido early on, consistently shaking his battery mate off. But he settled in rather quickly once he got his feet under him.
The ghost fork was doing wonders, fooling guys like Yuli Gurriel who was flailed at the mysterious pitch for Senga’s first career strikeout. He gave up only one run, a Jorge Soler RBI double in the first inning.
Senga’s success in his first start will be considered a building block for the right-hander, who will look to take the ball again on Saturday afternoon for his first start at Citi Field in front of the Mets faithful.
Overall, leaving Miami with a 3-1 record is a success. The one loss felt a bit of “too little too late” losing by one in a 2-1 loss on Friday. As the Mets head to the Midwest for their second roofed stadium series of the season, the Mets will look to build off of their solid start to the 2023 campaign.
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