3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Swept By Phillies

There was a hint of what could have been for the New York Mets in Philadelphia.

In the midst of being swept by the Phillies, who moved a giant step closer to clinching a postseason berth, the Mets must have thought they should have been the team piling up wins down the stretch and playing meaningful baseball into October.

Instead, New York was the bottom-feeder being beat up on and the end of the regular season can’t come soon enough for a franchise desperate to wave goodbye to a miserable 2023, and instead focus on a 2024 season that should bring a lot of hope.

However, with just six games remaining on the slate, the Mets’ first focus will be ensuring they aren’t leapfrogged by the Nationals and finish rock bottom in the NL East.

3 UP

RIGHT-HANDED EXCELLENCE 

There is never going to be a whole lot of positives when you get swept, but another eye-catching highlight reel play from Ronny Mauricio is certainly one. The rookie continued to flash plenty of promise offensively, and he was able to absolutely crush his second home run in the big leagues. This one was more special given that it was Mauricio’s first as a right-handed hitter, and it was an impressive shot in every way imaginable. The two-run blast came 1.23 ft above the ground, while leaving the bat at 112.9 mph. Per the excellent Sarah Langs of MLB.com, that’s the hardest-hit home run on a pitch that low or lower under Statcast since 2015. The previous mark you ask? That happens to be Yoenis Céspedes on a 1.21 ft pitch for the Mets back in 2018. Mauricio is now hitting .260/.305/.377/.682 on the year with three doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and six stolen bases. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, Mauricio also made a stunning play with his glove in the fourth inning on Sunday to bail out Mark Vientos at first and showcase his defensive acumen.

NOT MAILING IT IN

You can tell a lot about certain players when the season has been over as long as it has for the Mets. For instance, it wouldn’t be surprising if certain players lowered their effort levels a little bit. Or even mailed it in completely. Not Brandon Nimmo. The veteran has been playing as hard as ever down the stretch and even earned an off day on Sunday after going a little too hard on Saturday. The leadoff hitter experienced some right leg soreness sliding into home plate. He is, however, expected to be good to go on Tuesday. And that sums Nimmo up. He has built a career on playing hard, and that hasn’t stopped even with the Mets being an absolute hot mess this year. Nimmo had himself a good series in Philadelphia, hitting a double and a triple and his 13 triples since the start of 2022 are tied for fifth in the majors. Furthermore, as long as he plays out the remaining six games of the year, Nimmo will achieve a new career-high in games played, beating the 151 mark he set last year. This has been a healthy Brandon Nimmo for the most part in 2023, and he’s one of the very few positives to emerge from a lost year. His attitude towards playing the game will be a big plus for the Mets’ slew of young players heading into 2024.

THE LONG WINDING ROAD BACK

Anthony Kay‘s baseball journey has certainly been an interesting one up to this point. Selected in the first round of the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft by the Mets – three years after being drafted by the same team but not signing with them – Kay was sent to Toronto as part of the package to acquire starter Marcus Stroman in 2019. Kay spent a few seasons for Toronto before locking on with the Chicago Cubs, where he posted a 6.35 ERA in 13 games in 2023. Then came the full circle moment. The Mets opted for a third spell with Kay, claiming him off waivers earlier this month. He was called up to the big leagues on Sunday, finally making his Mets debut all these years later. And it was well worth the wait. The lefty struck out a pair and induced a double play over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Although a very small sample size, it was an impressive outing from Kay who could provide the Mets with another useful lefty weapon to use out of the bullpen in 2024. His journey with the New York Mets started years ago but, in many ways, it could actually just be the beginning.

3 DOWN

PAIN THRESHOLD

Francisco Álvarez is getting used to being banged up behind the plate by foul balls. After leaving a game earlier this month thanks to an errant foul ball, it happened again on Sunday as the catcher exited the game in the seventh inning. Álvarez took consecutive foul balls off his left hand, with manager Buck Showalter revealing after the game that his catcher had suffered a finger contusion. The good news is that the X-rays came back negative but, again, you do worry about the amount of punishment Álvarez is taking behind the plate at the moment. You just hope that one of these foul balls doesn’t cause serious injury and that he has to miss a substantial amount of time. Leaving games early twice in a month has hardly been ideal for his development, with Álvarez needing to take advantage of every rep he can get both at the plate and behind it.

NIGHT TO FORGET

This was hardly a vintage series for starting pitching for the Mets. José Quintana and José Butto struggled in their respective starts. However, David Peterson really put up a dud in his outing on Thursday that set the tone for the remainder of the series. The lefty walked two and gave up two singles to put his team in an early first inning hole, and it didn’t really get any better from there. He gave up a further three hits in the third, including a home run to Alec Bohm, and he left the game after the fourth having given up four earned runs on five hits while allowing two walks and striking out seven. With time rapidly running out on the regular season, this was hardly the lasting impression Peterson would have wanted to leave as he battles for a bigger role in 2024.

UNWELCOME CONFIRMATION

We all knew it was coming. The writing has been on the wall for a considerable amount of time when it comes to this being a lost year. We just got ugly confirmation of that over the weekend. With a loss to the Phillies on Thursday, it was guaranteed that the Mets would finish under .500 in 2023. It confirmed the franchise’s 35th losing record in 62 seasons. Then, with another loss on Friday, the Mets were officially eliminated from playoff contention. The sweep in Philadelphia just hammered home how big of a hot, steaming dumpster fire this year really has been. Armed with a whopping $364 million payroll entering the year – the biggest in baseball – these not so Amazins’ have fumbled the bag at every opportunity, a myriad of failures that led to what was supposed to be a legit contender missing the postseason and the franchise opting for a rapid change in direction as a result. Just six games remain before the Mets can pack away their lockers, depart for the winter and really reflect on one of the biggest busts and most bitter disappointments in franchise, and indeed baseball, history.

The 71-85 New York Mets have an off day on Monday before opening up their final homestand of the year against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday. The Mets have six games remaining in 2023, three against the Marlins and three against the Phillies, all at Citi Field.