3 UP
1. Rosario Heating Up
With the Mets heading out to the Great American Ballpark, it was expected the Mets bats would awaken. Well, that theory did prove true for one batter – Amed Rosario.
In the series, Rosario would go 4-for-9 with two doubles and his first stolen base of the year.
Even better news is this may not just be an isolated hot streak. As noted on Fangraphs, Rosario is chasing fewer pitches, and when the pitch is in the hitting zone, he is swinging and making good contact. Overall, these are the things Rosario needs to do to become a better hitter, and we saw the effects of that in Cincinnati.
2. Mesoraco Trade
With Matt Harvey being designated for assignment coupled with his performance over the past few seasons, the Mets did extremely well in getting Devin Mesoraco from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Harvey.
Yes, Mesoraco has struggled mightily both this year and over the three seasons due to his suffering a number of injuries. Still, as noted by MMO‘s own Mathew Brownstein, Mesoraco’s .282 wOBA, 75wRC+, and .122 ISO far surpassed the .241 wOBA, 52 wRC+, and .080 ISO Mets catchers had produced this season.
Combine that, and Mesoraco being a much better pitch framer than Jose Lobaton, and the Mets really upgraded their catching position in Kevin Plawecki‘s absence.
We saw how much of an upgrade Mesoraco could be in his first game. Where Zack Wheeler would normally fall apart, you could see Mesoraco coaching Wheeler through the inning and calling a good game for him. After the game, Wheeler would say, “Mes called a nice game back there. I feel like I’ve thrown to him a few times now. It’s good when you have that camaraderie with somebody.”
If Mesoraco is going to have this good a rapport with his pitchers, his personal 0-20 record to start the season is bound to end.
3. Joys of Getting Called Up
Both P.J. Conlon and Luis Guillorme were drafted in the 10th round or later, and there were aspects of their game which caused many to think they would never be Major League players. Well, both players proved everyone wrong in getting called up during this series, and both had terrific tales about getting called up.
There were sheer joy on each of their faces, and there were proud families who were a part of each player’s journey to the Majors.
With Conlon, it was a big deal with the Irish flags waving for the Belfast born pitcher. With Guillorme, it may have seemed more subdued, but it was no less emotional for him and his family. In quite an apropos tweet, Guillorme’s father said, “We made it!!!” He may have been talking about getting the ballpark, but really, it was about his son finally making it to the big leagues.
Conlon and Guillorme are great stories, and it is reminder of how great baseball can be.
3 DOWN
1. . . . And No Justice for Mets
If you want to perfectly synopsis just how bad everything has been for the Mets lately, look no further than the top of the Mets lineup doing their best Al Pacino impersonations. Basically, Jim Riggleman and Home Plate Umpire Gabe Morales said to Asdrubal Cabrera, Wilmer Flores, Jay Bruce, and the entire Mets team, “You’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole lineup is out of order! They’re out of order!”
Flores batted when Cabrera should have wiping out a double and ending the inning. Then, just when you think the Mets would make sure everything is perfect Adrian Gonzalez bats in Bruce’s spot.
Really, this is inexcusable. Mickey Callaway should have known which lineup card he was handing in to the umpire. As the bench coach Gary Disarcina is supposed to notice these things and prevent them from happening. No one noticed, and it cost the Mets an out, and with Cabrera on second, it could have cost the Mets a run in what turned out to be an extra inning game.
If you’re looking for an excuse on how this can happen, there is none. If you want to question if Callaway was ready for this job or if Sandy Alderson messed up by not having one coach on this staff with Major League managerial experience, you have your ammunition.
Plain and simple, this was something that can never happen. It’s embarrassing, and it makes you long for the days when Gabe Kapler was the National League East manager that made dumb mistakes and Aaron Boone was the New York manager who couldn’t win games.
2. Bullpen Decisions
Does anyone remember before the season when Callaway was saying he was going to use Jeurys Familia and his best relievers in the highest leverage situations and not wait around for save situations? Well, apparently Callaway did because AJ Ramos was on the mound in the 10th inning when Adam Duvall hit a walk-off home run.
There’s also the issue of Corey Oswalt.
After P.J. Conlon‘s short start in his Major League debut and Jason Vargas being Jason Vargas, the Mets needed to call-up a bullpen arm who could give them some real length out of the bullpen. Now, they could have called up Chris Flexen, who was scheduled to start Tuesday.
No, the Mets opted to call up Oswalt, who was on three days rest. Understandably, the Mets did not want to use Oswalt for fear of overworking him. Of course, with that being the fear, you get Hansel Robles pointing to the sky on a game altering home run, and Ramos pitching for the third time in four games, allowing a walk off home run.
That was just part of the problem. Really, the Mets went to the whip with Robert Gsellman, Paul Sewald, and Seth Lugo in this series while not being willing to pitch the one guy who was supposed to be there to give the Mets some length. That’s inexcusable poor bullpen and roster management.
3. Cushion Gone
The Mets started the season 10-1 and 12-2. They were the best team in the National League. Now, they’re a game over .500, and they are in fourth place in the National League East. More than that, they are teetering.
With the exception of a few isolated instances, things have gone quite sour for the Mets, and things are getting worse. Todd Frazier is on the disabled list. Jay Bruce and Jerry Blevins are going on paternity leave. Jason Vargas still can’t pitch. They’re batting out of order, and they are calling up pitchers who are too fatigued to pitch. It’s a mess.
We all expected the Mets to just go to Cincinnati and sweep the worst team in the National League. We thought that ballpark was going to get the bats back on track. Baseball doesn’t work that way.
If you’re playing poorly and making even the simplest of mistakes, bad teams are going to beat you just like how the Reds won their first home series of the year while limiting the Mets to three total runs in the final two games of the series.
Things are bad, and they can get worse with the Mets going to Citizen’s Bank Park to face off against a hot Phillies team.
