The New York Mets continued their streak of losing series by dropping three of four games to the Milwaukee Brewers. Each game, each week, it’s something else. Although Steve Cohen said that he remains hopeful, hope is fading fast for the Mets.
Every time I write this column, I get comments that this should be “zero up, six down.” I don’t make the rules, but finding positives for the Mets gets more difficult by the day.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
3 Up
Four Decent Starts
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Mets got four decent outings from their starting pitchers. Justin Verlander, David Peterson, Kodai Senga, and Max Scherzer combined to allow four earned runs in 22 innings, a 1.64 ERA. This despite 22 hits, nine walks, two hit by pitches, 414 pitches (18.8 per inning), and a combined 1.41 WHIP. The Mets still didn’t get length from their pitchers, as only Peterson and Scherzer mustered the six innings. But in a league that is increasingly reliant on the bullpen, the Mets’ starters did their jobs. The offense was the primary culprit in the four losses.
The biggest surprise was Peterson, who went six shutout innings after entering the game with an 8.08 ERA. It took him 110 pitches to complete those six frames, and he did get two key double plays to escape jams. But the Mets will take it from the scuffling left-hander.
Phamily
Tommy Pham continues his tear. After going 0-for-3 in the opener, he went 6-for-11 over the next three games with a double and a homer, including a 3-for-3 effort in the Mets’ 5-2 Game 3 loss. Pham expressed recently that he’s aware he might be traded away, as his value to a contender keeps increasing. He is slashing an incredible .324/.375/.578 over his last 30 games and has been one of the Mets’ lone pleasant surprises this season.
Ironically, Pham’s success against left- and right-handed pitchers is fairly even. He’s slashing .257/.337/.514 against lefties with six homers in 74 at-bats; against righties, he’s hitting .286/.349/.469 with two homers in 98 at-bats. This comes after Buck Showalter showed him that the Mets’ analytics team recommended that he start only against left-handers.
Baty Piecing Together a Comeback?
Despite Showalter’s insistence on sitting Brett Baty against lefties, the Mets’ third baseman is showing small signs of snapping out of a prolonged slump. He went 3-for-10 in the series with his first home run in over a month. He added a double for the extra-base hits that just hadn’t been coming.
Quietly, Baty has picked something up over his last seven games. He’s slashing .286/.318/.476 in that timeframe. The slugging percentage is notable, as it’s just .313 over his last 30 contests. With the Mets’ season nearly lost, getting Baty on track is one of the key goals for the remainder of the year. (Sitting him against left-handers isn’t the way to do it, especially when the pinch hitters are Danny Mendick and Luis Guillorme.)
Of course, Baty committed two key errors in the last week, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. But there is something to build on.
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
3 Down
Alonso & Álvarez Are in a Funk
Pete Alonso hasn’t been the same since returning from his IL stint early. He went 2-for-15 in the series with no extra-base hits. Interestingly, Alonso did not strike out once, which is unusual for him. He’s making contact, but it’s not strong contact.
It’s been a strange season for Alonso, who is still among baseball’s home run leaders but is batting just .221. He’s never been quite the Adam Dunn-style hitter, but he’s been that way this season. Alonso is hitting .164/.233/.418 over his last 15 games and .185/.241/.333 over his last seven.
Francisco Álvarez can’t buy a break at the plate or in the field either. He went 1-for-10 with a passed ball and a dropped foul ball, bringing his error total up to seven on the season. The rookie is now hitting .125/.192/.208 in his last 15 games with 14 strikeouts, a 29.1% rate, and just one homer.
A Homer a Day
Drew Smith‘s return from suspension wasn’t exactly positive.
The right-hander gave up the deciding two-run shot in the series opener, which was his first outing back. He has now allowed four long balls in 26.2 innings pitched, but all four of them have come since the beginning of May in 17 total innings, a 2.1 HR/9 ratio. Dating back to last season, Smith has given up 13 homers in 72.2 innings, a 1.62 HR/9 clip. You just can’t have a reliever giving up those kinds of numbers. Smith is becoming liability every time he enters the game.
Offensive Futility
In general, the Mets’ offense went absolutely dead in this series. They scored seven runs in one game but mustered just five total in the other three losses. They went 19-for-97 (.196) in those three games and 28-for-130 (.215) total. Shockingly, they lost three out of the four games.
