5 bigger NY Mets concerns right now than Francisco Lindor’s mental errors

Francisco Lindor would have put the Bo Bichette boos to shame on Wednesday if the game took place at Citi Field. Alas, it didn’t. Forgetting how many outs there were on defense and later getting picked off of first base right before Juan Soto hit a home run for the lone New York Mets run of the last two days, it was maybe the worst baseball IQ game Lindor has had.

The 3-3 Mets are far from buried, not worth your panic, and have the room to pick themselves up and completely change the narrative. If you’re prone to finding something wrong with the team, these five concerns might headline your worry.

Graded on a 1-10 score with 1 causing no concern and 10 being full-blown Frank Fleming riding NJ Transit, these five concerns are far bigger than Lindor’s pair of brain farts.

Five bigger concerns for the Mets than Francisco Lindor’s mental game

1) Marcus Semien’s offense, 8 out of 10

Marcus Semien is 2 for 20 and his biggest hit was a gift from Oneil Cruz on Opening Day. He now leads the team with 8 strikeouts in a tie with Bichette. The worry with Semien was the Mets were trading for a broken player. So far, it looks like we’ve gotten the shortest end of the stick. Stay away from Brandon Nimmo’s offensive numbers as long as you can.

2) Brett Baty has gotten cold, 3 out of 10

Gifted on Opening Day with a bases loaded triple, Brett Baty has cooled off in a major way and is now just 5 for 23 without a walk. The Mets gave him consecutive starts off against the St. Louis Cardinals with Baty entering each as a pinch hitter. The concern level here is pretty minimal with potential to grow big.

3) The offense struggling as a whole, 6 out of 10

This is a bigger concern than Baty simply because it includes the early slumps of Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco, and everyone else not named Juan Soto or Luis Robert Jr. It’s not unusual to play 6 games and see batting averages below a player’s weight. A .162 batting average with runners in scoring position is the bigger problem. It seems a little too much like the same old problems with different faces.

4) Bullpen usage, 5 out of 10

Carlos Mendoza is sure to aggravate some fans with his bullpen choices. Others understand the thinking. Seeing Richard Lovelady in 3 of 6 games doesn’t help but it becomes difficult when you go to extra innings half of the time. The law of averages tells us the current usage won’t stay the same. The bigger problem is how the relief corps was constructed.

5) The pitching staff construction, 8 out of 10

Carlos Mendoza can only work with what David Stearns gives him. A bullpen that currently includes Sean Manaea as a starter piggybacking (even though we have yet to see him used this way) plus Tobias Myers who’s a really good multi-inning reliever is a bit unique. Having both is a bit redundant and likely not permanent with Manaea as a candidate to maybe join the rotation. The bigger frustration so far has been the usage of Richard Lovelady and even how unimpressive Luis Garcia has been. It seems like two relievers are working in one role (Manaea and Myers) with two others looking already on the edge of DFA. We completely overlook the other questions with the relievers considered good, Huascar Brazoban suddenly being one of the more valuable arms the Mets need a lot from this season.