3 UP

1. Lock Down Bullpen

While the Mets were largely disappointing in a sweep to the Brewers, the Mets bullpen was awesome. The bullpen pitched 16.1 innings, Ok. Name a closer worth $100 million and two top orand it allowed just two earned runs.

Those two runs were allowed by Chris Flexen who is a starter thrust into the bullpen.

The two biggest standouts were Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman who each pitched three scoreless in the marathon game. In fact, Gsellman pitched 4.1 scoreless in the series.

But it was more than just them. Tyler Bashlor pitched 1.1 scoreless including a big strikeout of Christian Yelich. With 1.1 scoreless Daniel Zamora appears to have claimed the LOOGY spot in the bullpen. The list goes on and on and includes everyone not named Flexen.

2. Zack Attack

In an alternate universe, Zack Wheeler was going to start a game in this series, but he would have been pitching for the Brewers, not the Mets.

Wheeler’s Saturday start is yet another reminder the Mets were fortunate the Carlos Gomez trade never materialized. In seven innings, he allowed two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out 10. Fortunately, he’d walk away with a no decision.

Since his brutal game against the Nationals, he’s been much better. Over his last five starts, he’s 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA while striking out 10.4 per nine.

3. McNeil with Something Extra

When you have an 18 inning game, there’s a number of ebbs and flows in the game. When you play that many innings, a hero can become a villain and vice versa.

Heading into extra innings, Jeff McNeil was hitless, and he looked to be on the precipice of another slump having gone two for his last 16.

Well, in extras, he found something. Starting with his at-bat in the 13th, he’d get a hit in three straight at-bats including what should have been a game winning RBI single in the 18th. He’d also make a diving catch in the 12th to rob Ryan Braun of an extra bass hit (marking one of the few times the Mets managed to get him out).

With the Mets losing that game, some of the good things that team did will be overshadowed. That said, what McNeil did was pretty special.

3 DOWN

1. Brodie Van What Are You Doing!

Recently, the Mets offense has ground to a halt. So naturally, the Mets response is to send their only left-handed bat off the bench, Dominic Smith, to Triple-A, so he and his 144 OPS+ could make way for Adeiny Hechavarria and his career 75 OPS+.

Another note is Van Wagenen’s plan of not suffering a starting pitcher injury hasn’t worked. With Steven Matz going to the IL, the Mets get to pick one of Hector Santiago, Corey Oswalt, or Flexen to start. With Jason Vargas leaving Sunday’s game with an injury, it’s possible two out of those three uninspiring pitchers gets a start.

By the way, Gio Gonzalez had two strong starts against the Mets. It’s an important note not only when Vargas has been bad this year, but also because the team knew Matz had a nerve issue and the team had ZERO depth behind him.

It’s all going to work out in the end because Van Wagenen is so confident he’s not seriously considering Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrel.

Come get us!

2. Please Sir, May I Have Some More Runs?

The Mets have played five games this month, and they have scored seven runs. That’s worse when you consider they’ve played the equivalent of six games.

This is the type of production you expect when the middle or the lineup features John Mayberry and Eric Campbell. That’s not what you expect with a lineup featuring Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Michael Conforto, and Jeff McNeil.

Looking at it, while fans may want to rightly vilify players like Todd Frazier, the problems go much deeper.

In the extra inning game, Cano was 0-for-7. Alonso is hitting .211/.250/.368 in the month. Brandon Nimmo is completely lost at the plate. Really, the one person hitting right now is Amed Rosario, and he’s been about as bad defensively as a shortstop can be.

Long story, short, this is a bad hitting team right now, and their best bench bat is in Syracuse.

3. Just a Bad Team

Mets jumped out of the gate in first place with a 10-6 record. Since that time, the Mets are 6-12.

They’ve only won one of out their last five series. Their record against teams with a winning record is 8-12. They’ve been out-scored by 23 runs.

And this is with the Mets having fairly decent luck on the health front. What happens when the injuries pile up, or when the team loses someone really important?