Mets: First impressions from the opening road trip of 2019
The New York Mets opened the season with a road trip which went exceptionally well: they will head to Flushing with a 5-1 record to start the season. They are one of the best teams in the league thus far, and fans are eager to see what the team can do the rest of the way.
Before the Mets begin their homestand, let’s analyze what we’ve seen from the starting rotation, the offense and defense, and the bullpen.
Starting Rotation
So far, we haven’t seen much worth complaining about with regard to the Mets’ rotation. This comes as no surprise, as the baseball universe was well aware of the fact that the Mets’ rotation would be entering the 2019 season as one of, if not the, best in baseball.
The fact that Mets’ pitchers have reached double-digit strikeouts in their first three games for the first time in franchise history shows you how dominant this rotation has been so far and how dominant it can be.
Noah Syndergaard wasn’t great in his start on Saturday, allowing seven hits and four earned runs over six innings. He struggled early on, later blaming his slider, but we were relieved to see him settle in as the game went on. He ended up whiffing seven batters. This should be a rare outing for “Thor”, and it would be a surprise to see a recurrence.
The Mets’ only loss thus far came during Zack Wheeler’s start. His numbers that game were not pretty (5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER) but his performance is no cause for concern. He made some mistakes early on in the game and recovered very quickly, notching seven strikeouts in the process. The mistakes were all fastballs, as he threw too many of them. He pitched wonderfully as soon as he started using other pitches in his arsenal. It looks like Wheeler’s 2018 was not a fluke, and he can do what he did last year again in 2019.
Steven Matz was very solid in his outing to kick-off the Mets’ three-game series in Miami. He pitched 5.1 innings and the Marlins scored three runs, but only one of them was earned. Matz was just unlucky that his teammates played bad defense behind him that day.
Even Jason Vargas was able to get the job done during his start on Tuesday. He allowed just two earned runs over five innings. He did pitch himself into many jams as evidenced by the eight hits, many of which were extra base hits, that he gave up, but he was able to strand most runners.
This is Jacob deGrom’s world, we’re all just living in it.
The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner is showing us all from the get-go that he can easily repeat. He has not allowed a run in 13 innings to begin the season and has 24 strikeouts and only two walks. He is already 2-0, as he’s finally getting run support, and just keeps breaking records.
On Wednesday, he notched a career-high 14 strikeouts and hit a home run, joining Mets’ legend Tom Seaver to become the fifth pitcher since 1969 to do so in a single game. He has allowed three runs or fewer in an MLB-record 31 straight starts. He has also tied Bob Gibson’s MLB record of 26 consecutive quality starts and is the first Mets pitcher ever to strike out at least 10 in his first two starts of the season.
It is not irrational to genuinely believe that he will be baseball’s best pitcher again in 2019 and if anyone can lead the Mets to glory, who better than Jake?
“Thor” will be on the bump in the Mets home opener and will hope to lock up a sixth win for the Mets in this young season.
Offense and Defense
The Mets offense has been nothing short of spectacular so far this season. They are knocking in hits left and right and generating runs, something that we are not used to seeing them do. Let’s take a look at 2019’s most effective Mets hitters.
The vast majority of people admitted that the Mets’ biggest priority during this past offseason should have been to acquire a catcher. They did just that by signing Wilson Ramos, and this decision has proven to be invaluable.
He is boasting a whopping .474 batting average and has already notched five RBIs. His bat has quickly become crucial to this lineup, and we already know that he is a consistently productive hitter, so we should get used to what we are seeing from “The Buffalo”.
More from Rising Apple
- NY Mets News: Marcus Stroman sees “potential fit” with the Angels
- NY Mets were too “seek” and not enough “destroy” last winter
- NY Mets: 1 trade target to consider from each 100-loss team
- NY Mets: Top 12 free agents the team should look to sign this winter
- NY Mets: Jeff Wilpon’s legacy continues to plague the Amazins
Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto have been excellent, even though Conforto has yet to drive in a run.
A player worth noting is shortstop Amed Rosario. Rosario was baseball’s second-best prospect not too long ago, and Mets’ fans have been itching to see the young shortstop break out. Will this finally be the season? Rosario has been one of the most clutch players on the Mets. He has already knocked in five runs and has made much better contact in the batter’s box.
Plate discipline has always been a problem for him and we will still see him swing at questionable pitches, but he has made many improvements and will continue to do so. Many believe he can become one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and he is proving it this season.
And now for the true star of the show: Pete Alonso. Alonso proved that he belonged on the Opening Day roster during Spring Training, and his hot bat has not cooled down since. This kid truly is something special and the entire baseball universe should be excited to watch him continue to put on a show.
Alonso is slashing .409/.458/.727 so far this season and his defensive woes are a thing of the past. Don’t be surprised if he grows into the best first baseman in baseball: after all, he was the best first base prospect for a reason.
Even Dominic Smith, who has been a recurring disappointment during his time in Flushing, has been hitting so well: he is slashing .500/.545/.500 and has four RBIs. Alonso claimed the first base job and won’t be looking back, but it’s definitely nice to have a guy putting up numbers like Smith has as his backup.
With regard to the Mets’ offense, the only player of concern has been Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo has just two hits in his first 20 ABs with 13 strikeouts. No one sees this as the end of the world because the rest of the lineup is producing, but we can’t help but wonder what’s going on with him and hope that he’ll get out of this slump soon, especially since he is the Mets’ leadoff man.
Defensively, the Mets have generally done a fine job. The only exception was Monday’s game against the Marlins when they committed multiple errors behind Matz leading to runs being scored, but I’m sure that will be an anomaly.
Bullpen
The Mets bullpen has been in disarray for much too long, and it was understood that the organization would have to work on bolstering it during the offseason. Now, looking at the members of the Mets’ bullpen, one has to be impressed.
They have one of the best relievers of the past few years in Jeurys Familia, the best closer of 2018 in Edwin Diaz, and the impressive and much-improved Seth Lugo. The players comprising the pen are effective and talented, so it all comes down to management.
Mets’ skipper Mickey Callaway has already made some questionable decisions when it comes to dispatching who, and when. On Wednesday, Callaway decided to bring Lugo in to relieve Robert Gsellman. Lugo had an atrocious outing on Saturday, during which he allowed four runs and two walks, and hit a batter while throwing a whopping 41 pitches.
Lugo had been sick, and Callaway was aware of this. Callaway put him in any way and Lugo was abysmal again. He allowed three runs and threw 37 pitches. Not only was the result of this outing unfortunate, but this also practically eliminates the chances of us seeing him again this week.
Callaway also managed the bullpen quite poorly on Wednesday. Luis Avilan came on in relief of Jacob deGrom in the eighth inning and did a solid job. But there was no reason for him to come out and pitch the ninth.
Callaway kept him in, anyway, and the results weren’t great. He didn’t notch a single out and allowed three runs. Just using Avilan in the eighth and starting the ninth fresh with Gsellman should have been the way to go.
Not only did Gsellman come in with men on base but he, too, could not get the job done, and Callaway was forced to hand the ball over to Diaz, as it had turned into a save situation. Of course, Diaz ended the game almost immediately, but things became very ugly, very quickly for the Mets in the ninth inning and Diaz should not have had to been used, at all.
Callaway needs to realize, sooner rather than later, that he cannot and should not stretch relievers. Callaway was not appointed by the newly-hired Mets General Manager Brodie van Waganen. As most of us are aware, General Managers are not particularly tolerant of managers whom they did not personally hire, so Callaway is on a short leash.
If his mismanagement of the bullpen continues and ends up costing the team games, Van Wagenen will not hesitate to replace him.
It seems as though the only reliever who has been of semi-serious concern so far is Justin Wilson. He has not looked entirely comfortable on the mound and has given up more than an optimal number of hits. Even when he doesn’t give up hits, many of his outs have come in the form of very deep fly balls, which is never a good sign. Let’s just hope those don’t end up turning into home runs.
Mets fans should get ready to be spoiled by good pitching and good hitting. However, we mustn’t forget that the Mets are historically quite good at the beginning of the season. They are 38-12 in their last 50 Opening Days, which stands for the best record in all four major sports for opening games in the last 50 years. But, alas, the team has nothing to show for it.
Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!
Let’s hope this is the year where everything changes and the Mets stay hot until the very end.