Mets' biggest strength, greatest weakness exposed in first 2 games against Braves

The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves will get a chance to play each other one more time before the All-Star Break this afternoon. The rubber match of the series has already revealed the truth about what we already knew about the Mets.

Max Scherzer was dominant for them in the opener. His 7 innings of work shortened the bullpen to Adam Ottavino for one inning and Edwin Diaz for the final 3 outs. The Mets scored just enough runs against the Braves to make it an easy enough victory.

Then came Tuesday. That’s when the weakness showed. Despite a dominant start from David Peterson, he fell apart in the sixth and Seth Lugo was unable to hold things steady when he entered in relief. It wouldn’t have made a difference because the biggest weakness of the Mets right now, their offense, had already fallen behind.

The Mets have top-heavy starting pitching without the offense to guarantee victory

The Braves are a great opponent for the Mets. They have their own shakiness along the roster. It’s a club driven to win through hitting home runs—the exact opposite of how the Mets score. Their rotation is a little shallower but their top guys can get one over on the Mets starters in any given matchup.

It only takes 1 run to win a game.

These two clubs share another difference when it comes to the bullpen. The Braves have a lot going right for them in the relief corps with only a question in the ninth following Kenley Jensen’s health scare which has landed him on the IL. The exact opposite is the case in Flushing. It’s the closer spot that we trust completely and everything before it giving us fears.

The game and a half difference between these two heading into the finale is scary. The Braves ripped apart the division last year late and look poised to do something similar in 2022. The difference, however, is how good the Mets are.

Last year’s Atlanta club only had poison darts spit at them from far away. Once they took the National League East, it was practically theirs. The Mets are a greater foe for them in 2022.

With the finale being a match between Chris Bassitt and Charlie Morton on the mound, it’s up to the former to limit the damage and the players behind him to bring a wrecking ball when they step up to the plate.