3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Close Out Their Home Season

Well, that’s all for Citi Field in 2021, folks. The Mets took three out of four from the Marlins to finish with a 47-34 record in Queens.

Tuesday featured a doubleheader, which the Mets ended up sweeping. The Mets took an early lead thanks to Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. Marcus Stroman, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz held it down to secure the win. The nightcap marked the return of Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard made his first start in nearly two years and he retired the side on 10 pitches. The Mets wound up walking it off on James McCann‘s fielder’s choice. They lost Wednesday’s game due to Seth Lugo giving up three in the eighth but bounced back with a 12-3 win on Thursday night.

The Mets will now head to Atlanta to wrap up their season with the Braves. It will be a very busy few months following Sunday’s game.

3 Up

Walker Ends The Season On a High Note

The second half numbers for Taijuan Walker have been extremely ugly. Fortunately for the Mets and Taijuan, he ended his season with a 7.1 inning outing and gave up just two runs against the Marlins. Walker’s first seven innings were scoreless and he gave up just one hit in those seven innings. Hopefully Walker can carry his success from this season into 2022. He may not repeat his first half success but I think he is way better than his second half would indicate. I think a backend starter who posts a 4 ERA is a perfectly reasonable expectation for Walker.

Lindor Homers a Couple Times

Francisco Lindor’s numbers for this season will not look great but I think his numbers in September have been excellent and I think he will have a great 2022. His first homer came in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader. It was a two-run shot that gave the Mets two insurance runs. The second came in last night’s game. He hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to break the game open.

He is Still Worthy 

Yes, this is a reference to Endgame. Noah Syndergaard had a huge return to the mound. The righty struck out Miguel Rojas on a 96 MPH fastball upstairs and then he got Jazz Chisholm to whiff on his changeup. His final out came by getting Bryan De La Cruz to ground out to third. It was 10 pitches but they were pretty fun to watch. I anticipate Syndergaard receiving a qualifying offer from the Mets and he will almost certainly accept it. He will make one more appearance this weekend against the Braves.

3 Down

Lugo Struggles 

Seth Lugo’s overall numbers look fine for the season but his level of dominance was not at 2018 or 2019 levels. On Tuesday night’s game, he a two-run double to Alex Jackson, which tied the game. Moments later, he gave up the go-ahead hit to Miguel Rojas. I think Lugo’s surgery and not getting a proper Spring Training probably hurt. I expect him to be better in 2022 but I think the Mets expecting 2019 Seth Lugo to walk into camp next Spring will also be a mistake. They should build a bullpen as if this is what Lugo will be now and anything more should be seen as a win.

The Last of Conforto? 

Michael Conforto is an impending free agent and last night may have been his swan song at Citi Field. Conforto hit a long homer in Wednesday night’s game and had three hits in last night’s game. If this is indeed it, Conforto finishes his career with a .254/.355/.467 with a 123 OPS+ and a 15.5 rWAR/bWAR.

Last Game at Citi 

I think most of us on July 30th did not think that the Citi Field would close up shop just two months later. In my defense, I also did not think that Jacob deGrom was pitching with a partially torn UCL. While winning three out of four in this series was good, it is hard not to look back on losing three out of four in Miami in early August as a big missed opportunity for the Mets to keep their footing. The same can be said about their series loss from three weeks ago against these same Marlins. Missed chances and not having the horses to finish the race will ultimately be on the epithet for the 2021 Mets.