3 Up
1. Starting Pitching Did Their Job
All three starters this weekend for the Mets had solid outings. Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon, and Matt Harvey combined to allow just five runs the entire series. You would figure that would be enough for the Mets to at least take the series against a weaker Phillies team, however that wasn’t the case. DeGrom was solid in his first outing of the season during Friday’s home opener, allowing only an earned run in six innings pitched. However his day was cut short due to a sore right lat muscle. Colon pitched brilliantly Saturday night, going six innings while allowing just a run on five hits, but it was his one mistake to Ryan Howard that cost him the win. On Sunday, Matt Harvey was strong through the first five innings of play, but surrendered a two-run homerun to Odubel Herrera in the sixth inning which proved to be the difference in the game. The bottom line is, Mets starting pitching this series was good enough to allow them to win all three games, but…
2. Jim Henderson Continues to Marvel
In three innings of work so far this year, reliever Jim Henderson has been perfect, striking out seven of the nine batters that he’s faced this season. In the seventh inning of Sunday’s game, Henderson struck out the side on just 17 pitches. He turned a lot of heads this spring down in Port St. Lucie, and he is continuing to do so at the start of the season. He provides Terry Collins with another viable option out of the bullpen, and he will be a legitimate threat to opposing teams in late innings. Should anything ever happen to Jeurys Familia, Collins may look to go with Henderson to close games. In 2013 with the Milwaukee Brewers, Henderson saved 32 games.
3. The Throwback 86 Uniforms Looked Great
When the news came out months ago that the Mets would commemorate the 1986 World Series Championship team by wearing the throwback 86 uniforms every Sunday, I was very intrigued to see how they would look. Guess what? They looked fantastic, and quite frankly it may have been one of the few positives from yesterday’s game, or the entire series for that matter, hence why it made my list of three. I look forward to them wearing these every Sunday for the rest of the year, and hopefully they bring a little of that 86 magic with them. Unfortunately, they didn’t this time around.
Honorable Mention: To the fans that decided to come out despite the elements on Saturday night, only to sit and watch the Mets muster up three hits and get blanked by Vince Velasquez and the Phillies.
3 Down
1. Where Were the Bats?
Aside from their seven run outbreak on Friday’s home opener, the Mets would muster just two more runs the entire rest of the series. Saturday night may have been the first Fireworks Night at Citi Field, but there were no fireworks from the Mets lineup. Phillies starter Vince Velasquez struck out nine Met batters and allowed just three hits over six innings pitched. On Sunday, starter Jeremy Hellickson had the Mets lineup MIA up until the 6th inning, when finally Yoenis Cespedes was able deposit his first homerun of the season over the left field fence to push the Mets to within one run. In the last two games of the series, the Mets lineup combined for just seven hits and struck out a total of 21 times. We knew going into this year that strikeouts could be an issue with this lineup, and so far that has been the case.
2. Curtis Granderson Has Looked Lost
I know, I know, it’s early. I also know that historically April has never been too kind to Curtis Granderson. However, he has only managed to get one hit in first 20 at-bats so far this year while also striking out six times. That’s just one behind the team lead held by Yoenis Cespedes. Overall the Mets have very little team speed, so it’s even more important for Granderson to get things going at the top of the order. Again, it’s VERY early, and let’s not forget the type of year he had last year. So while he has most certainly struggled in the first week of the season, I do fully expect him to pick things up. I just hope its sooner rather than later.
3. Home Field Advantage?
In 2015, it wasn’t until May 2nd that the Mets lost their second game at home. Yesterday, they did just that. Last year, they went on to finish the year 49-32 at home, one of the best records in the majors. While they very well could be on their way to another successful year at Citi Field, they sure aren’t off to a good start. You would expect the reigning National League Champions to defend their home field a little better than they did this past weekend… especially against the worst team in their division, Now while it may be just the first home series of the season, never did I imagine that the Philadelphia Phillies would be the first team to come in and take two out of three from them in 2016.
