3 UP

1. Mets Have an Edgin Against Lefties

Bases loaded, one out, Jeurys Familia struggling, and Bryce Harper walking to the plate. With a two run lead, Terry Collins entrusted Josh Edgin to get the biggest out of the young season.

Edgin made Collins look like a genius by inducing Harper to ground into the game ending 1-2-3 double play. For an encore, Edgin struck out Daniel Murphy the next day to end a Nationals rally thereby preserving a one run Mets lead.

Edgin has been quietly excellent of late allowing no runs over his last five outings while recording his second career save. Another positive, Harper is 2-12 with four strikeouts against him.

2. Resiliency 

The Mets could not have been in worse shape entering the series. The team lost six straight, 10 of 11, and Yoenis Cespedes. That left the starting lineup with three starters under the Mendoza Line and six of the eight hitting .247 or lower.

They responded by beating Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in consecutive games and taking two out of three from the Nationals while scoring 17 runs in the series. Those are two of the best pitchers in the game and it would have been very easy for the Mets to roll over and lose both games. Despite that, they bucked up and got the job done, winning the series.

3. Reyes Broke Out Of The Mother Of All Slumps

Before April 23rd, Jose Reyes was hitting .095/.186/.127 with no home runs, no triples, and one stolen base. However, in the last six games, Reyes has shown signs of life, slashing .391/.462/.783 with two home runs, a triple, and two stolen bases. This raises his season line to .174/.260/.302 which shows that while he still has plenty of work to do, he is starting to get on the right track.

3 DOWN

1. Mets Let Their Synder-Guard Down

After refusing an MRI, presumably because he assumed it meant Mets Related Injury, Noah Syndergaard departed after 1.1 innings Sunday with what is now being described as a partial lat tear.

More than that, the Mets show they learn no lessons. The team lost their most important position player in Cespedes playing him in a game after he couldn’t even take batting practice without pain.

With regard to Syndergaard, the team pitched him despite his not getting an MRI. No, the team couldn’t force Syndergaard to get the MRI, but they didn’t have to start him without seeing the results of one. You’d think after losing Cespedes, and with the prospect of Rafael Montero joining the rotation, the Mets would’ve been more careful. As usual, they weren’t.

2. Middling Infield

Jose Reyes‘ and Curtis Granderson‘s slow starts have received all the publicity, deflecting attention away from Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera. They have been underperforming as well as Walker is hitting .195/.273/.310 with a 63 OPS+, 65 wRC+, and -0.5 WAR and Cabrera is hitting .244/.299/.333 with a 70 OPS+, 75 wRC*, with a matching -0.5 WAR.

The two have combined for a -9 DRS, which is the worst among double play combinations in the majors. Essentially, they’re not hitting, and they’re not fielding. This is a subtle reason why we hear the calls for Amed Rosario.

3. Salas Getting Tossed Around

In a forgettable game on Sunday, Fernando Salas allowed three runs in his one inning of work effectively sealing the Nationals victory. It was his third straight appearance and his fourth in his last five games he has allowed at least one run.

Speaking of runs, Salas’ current run is worse than you can imagine. Over his last five games, he’s 0-1 with a blown save, 12.26 ERA and a 4.36 WHIP. He’s becoming completely unreliable after he was used very heavily to start the year.

After getting swept by them at Citi Field, the Mets travel to Atlanta for a four game set in the brand new SunTrust Park. Hopefully, it won’t be the House of Horrors Turner Field was for the Mets, and the team can exact revenge by sweeping the Braves.