3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Avoid Series Sweep In San Francisco

Talk about a productive road trip for the New York Mets.

The Mets finished .500 on their West Coast swing. During that span, they took 2 of 3 from the juggernaut Dodgers, before avoiding the sweep against the Giants.

All in all, some positive trends continued to emerge. However, some red flags did appear as it pertains to one or two fatal flaws that may ensure this is nothing better than a .500 team over the full 162.

Anyway, before looking too far ahead, let’s focus on the series with the Giants in the latest edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 Up

LONG TIME COMING

It wasn’t exactly a great series for the Mets, who dropped two of three to the Giants. That included a three-game losing streak after being beaten in the final game of the Dodgers series. However, the team did get some great news in the form of J.D. Martinez finally being ready to make his Mets debut. The All-Star slugger is expected to make his long-awaited first appearance for the team on Friday against the Cardinals at Citi Field. With the offense showing signs of regression on the West Coast, adding Martinez to the lineup will come as a huge boost.

FINISHING STRONG

Sticking with the offense, Francisco Lindor enjoyed a stellar finish to the road trip. The shortstop was unstoppable at the plate in the series finale against the Giants, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, four RBIs and two runs scored. It was Lindor’s best outing of the year from an offensive standpoint. It was also a much-needed one for a lineup that had gone cold in San Francisco. Lindor went a combined 0-for-7 at the plate in the first two games against the Giants. After his explosive performance on Wednesday, the four-time All-Star finished the road trip with three homers and eight RBIs. Lindor should now return home with some confidence after ending his, and his team’s, slump in a big way.

It is also worth pointing out that Lindor became just the second shortstop in MLB history to have more than two games with at least four hits, four RBIs, and two homers. Cal Ripken Jr. (3) was the other.

BEST OF THE BUNCH

The Luis Severino experiment is paying off for the Mets. So far, at least. With the rest of the starting rotation starting to show some concerning cracks in the foundation, Severino has been pretty consistent. That extends to his latest start. The righty was mostly dominant against the Giants on Tuesday, retiring the first 12 batters he faced. Granted, the Giants did put three runs on the board in the fifth inning. However, that blip aside, Severino had his fastball working, and he elicited 11 swings and misses, the second-most he’s had in a start this year.

With a 2.67 ERA on the year, there is no doubt that Severino has been the Mets’ best and most consistent starter so far this year. He also leads the team in strikeouts (26) and has been able to give them some much-needed length.

3 DOWN 

COOLING OFF

Some regression to the mean should be expected with young players. As such, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Brett Baty has hit a valley and gotten himself mired in a slump. After a hot start, the third baseman has seen his batting average drop 58 points. Since returning from injury, Baty has struggled, and he went 2-for-11 with no extra-base hits in the series against the Giants. As our own Michael Mayer pointed out, unless Baty improves considerably on his ground ball rate, Hardhit% and chase rate, then these struggles will only continue. Baty is putting the ball in play via soft contact a ton, and that just isn’t conducive to long-term success in the major leagues.

GOING DEAD COLD

This was not a good series for the offense. After being shutout in the series finale against the Dodgers, the lineup managed just three runs and 13 hits in the first two games of the Giants series combined. They left a ton of runners on base, including going 1-for-7 with RISP on Tuesday. Okay, so the Mets have averaged 5.6 runs per game over their last 17 outings. That’s great. But I think some regression is expected, and even with the addition of Martinez, this could be a lineup that blows hot and cold. However, given the significant concerns over pitching, the offense is going to have to be almost perfect from here on out. That’s a lot of pressure. If the bats go cold for a sustained period, as they did on this road trip, then that could spell trouble come the end of the season.

PITCHING CONCERNS

Who else is worried about the Mets pitching? Probably a lot of you. After all, we’ve seen plenty of warning signs already and trouble could be on the horizon. Outside of Severino, the starting pitching seems incapable of going deep in games. That is going to tax the bullpen eventually. And, with the way things are going, it is feasible to wonder if the bullpen will be gassed by the time we get to July.

Furthermore, both José Quintana and Adrian Houser have had more bad starts than good. Plus, Sean Manaea couldn’t even pitch five innings in his start on Wednesday. Ultimately, unless the starters can go deeper into games and pitch more innings, then it is only a matter of time until the pitching implodes for the Mets. And that would have dire consequences for their hopes of making the postseason in 2024.