Mets News: Mark Vientos disrespect, Edwin Diaz trust, pitching concerns

Pinch yourself, New York Mets fans. The illness you felt after Sunday’s loss felt completely gone with the 7-3 win in Game 2 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. A leadoff home run by Francisco Lindor changed the vibes around the team. A second inning grand slam by Mark Vientos capped off the strong early charge.

Vientos has had a strikeout filled yet incredibly productive offseason. He leads the Mets in hits. After his salami, his 11 RBI became the most of any player in the postseason. The Mets, with more games logged than anyone else still alive, doesn’t dampen the achievement.

Episodes of anything on PBS are brought to us by viewers like you. Unlike an episode of Arthur, Vientos’ grand slam was the result of the Dodgers intentionally walking Lindor in front of him. The choice of going after the expected MVP runner-up or the hottest hitter in the lineup this October couldn’t have been easy. Psychologically, the Dodgers gave Vientos the advantage. He took it personally.

Has Edwin Diaz earned back the trust of Mets fans?

Edwin Diaz finished off the game in what was as close to a repeat of his last time out in Game 4 versus the Philadelphia Phillies. A single and a walk put two on with Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, and Freddie Freeman up next. If your sciatica didn’t start acting up, you’re probably under 30.

The end result had Mets fans grinning like two bystanders in neon behind home plate to promote the sequel to the horror film Smile. There were only some brief jump scares with Diaz’s performance this time around.

Finishing off the 8th for the Mets and then getting three huge outs in the ninth on strikeouts should have us trusting Diaz again. To date, this is the most pressurized situation he has appeared in as a major league pitcher. Confident at times and not so at others, trusting his stuff and knowing when to go to his slider (credit for Francisco Alvarez there) is what can help turn Diaz into the weapon we know he can be.

The Mets pitching did have some problems in this one

Despite the final score and the Mets having a lead from the jump, this wasn’t an anxiety-free game. The three relievers used behind Sean Manaea all went 1.1 innings. Each allowed a hit and a walk. Phil Maton issued two.

Mets pitchers walked 8 Dodgers batters which has been an early theme of this series. They walked 7 in Game 1 with the first 4 happening with starter Kodai Senga on the mound.

The Mets are dealing with a noticeably more disciplined lineup than the Phillies. They walked 602 times in the regular season to lead the National League. Only the New York Yankees at a whopping 672 times saw more free passes. Let’s keep their name out of our mouth for at least another week.

Mets pitchers had calmly been able to avoid walks in the postseason until this series. A plague for two consecutive days, mastering the control again will be important to stay alive before the Dodgers start hitting grand slams against them. The Mets only walked 21 batters through their first 8 playoff games. They’re capable of letting this not become their downfall like it was too often in the regular season.