Controversial Mets starting lineup decisions continue after a night of failed rallies

It’s hard to reveal a perfect starting lineup throughout the entirety of the postseason. In Game 3 on Wednesday, Carlos Mendoza revealed a starting nine that had New York Mets fans scratching their heads.

Against a Los Angeles Dodgers team loaded with right-handed pitchers, he sat the lefty-swinging Jesse Winker in favor of J.D. Martinez. Winker has been electric this offseason and involved in many of the club’s biggest moments. Martinez was in a power slump with his most recent home run coming on August 30 against the Chicago White Sox. An epic hitless streak had the Mets sitting him often in September and they’ve continued to platoon him at the DH spot.

Martinez had the most meager of games. He walked twice. He struck out the other two times. This wasn’t a game won or lost by this one hitter in the lineup. One swing away multiple times from making things interesting, the takeaway here is how consistently the Mets murdered rallies.

The Mets were active on the bases early and continued to fail in big spots

The Mets put up a goose egg and yet it wasn’t a completely silenced ball game. They had opportunities. Especially early on, the Mets had their chance to show some sign of life.

How the endings ended was far too frustrating. The first three especially.

First Inning: Pete Alonso K with runner on first
Second Inning: Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor K with bases loaded
Third Inning: J.D. Martinez K with runners on first and second

Then came the next six frames. Alvarez and Brandon Nimmo struck out to end the fourth and fifth. Jose Iglesias grounded into a double play to end the sixth. Two runners were on base.

The Mets would have just one more base runner. A one-out walk to Nimmo in the 8th was quickly erased. The game was out of hand by then anyway. The first quadruple play in MLB history wouldn’t have even been felt by Mets fans after the effort.

An overall sloppy game by the Mets, changes don’t appear on the way. Jeff McNeil isn’t about to go into the starting lineup in place of Jose Iglesias. He pinch hit but that was it. How healthy is he really?

Winker could replace Martinez again. He probably should. It never made sense to sit him at all.

Then there’s Alvarez who struck out in all 3 trips to the plate. When he came up in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded, even his bat wanted no part of the plate appearance. We all knew he was about to have his moment or continue the trend. It was the latter.

Mendoza has already given Alvarez a vote of confidence and named him the starting catcher in Game 4.

With Jose Quintana on the mound, knowing how well they’ve worked together, it’s almost a must.

The 8-0 final score looks worse than the game actually was. Half of the runs were charged to innings eater Tylor Megill.

The same message applies from Game 1. It’s only one game. There just can’t be two more of these against the Dodgers.