3 UP

1. 100

In Tuesday’s start, Zack Wheeler had about as dominating a game as any Mets pitcher has ever had. In addition to pitching seven scoreless, he would strike out 11 Phillies while walking none. At the plate, he was 2-for-3 with a double, homer, and three RBI.

The reason for his greatness on that day was on the mound, he hit 100 MPH on his fastball, and at the plate, his homer had an exit velocity of 104.3 MPH.

That is a rare feat indeed. In the StatCast Era, he is just the 14th pitcher to accomplish that feat. It should come as no surprise that Shohei Ohtani was one, and for at least Mets fans, it should come as no surprise the other was Noah Syndergaard. Speaking of Syndergaard, the Mets have already tied a franchise high with three pitchers homering in the same season. Digging deeper, the Mets are the first team since 1908 to have three pitchers homer in a team’s first 25 games.

2. Matzterful

Wheeler isn’t the only one pitching well right now. Like Wheeler, Steven Matz dominated the Phillies. In six innings, he allowed just one earned on three hits while striking out six.

So far, that’s four very good starts in his five starts. You can’t ask much more than that from someone who entered this season as the fourth starter. Really, you can’t ask for much more from any pitcher.

3. Finally Competent Defense

By DRS, the Mets entered the series with the worst defense in the Majors with J.D. Davis and Amed Rosario as the biggest culprits. The duo has combined for a -11 DRS, which is by far the worst for a left side of the infield in the majors. To put it into perspective, there are 24 Major League teams who do not have a team DRS that low.

With Todd Frazier coming off the injured list and with Luis Guillorme playing for an ill Rosario, the left side of the Mets infield defense was dramatically improved. With them, we saw two infielders who not only made all of the plays, but they also made all of the throws. With them playing, the routine was the routine.

We also saw them contribute offensively. On Tuesday, Guillorme had a key hit extending the inning setting up Wheeler’s RBI double. As for Frazier, he made the Phillies pay for intentionally walking Jeff McNeil in front of him by hitting a grand slam.

By the way, as good as Frazier and Guillorme were defensively, it was McNeil who had the defensive highlight of the series nailing Maikel Franco at the plate by more than a mile.

Well, at least things were good for two games.

3 DOWN

1. Mets Value Vargas Above Winning

Entering last night’s start, Jason Vargas has had a 6.25 ERA, 1.543 WHIP, and a 2.08 K/BB since the 2017 All Star Break. He’s been worse this year with a 9.58 ERA, 2.323 WHIP, and a 0.86 BB/K.

Almost everyone is a significant upgrade over him, including Gio Gonzalez.

But no, the Mets opted to offer no resistance to Gonzalez signing with the Brewers. The Mets actually advertised they didn’t believe Gonzalez was more than a marginal upgrade, and they reiterated how they want to keep Vargas in the rotation. That’s wrong.

And no, Vargas once again failing to go 5.0 innings means it was not a nice start.

2. Are There Magnets in the Batting Gloves

While the Phillies were somewhat justifiably making a huge deal about Jacob Rhame apparently throwing at Rhys Hoskins, they were overlooking their own pitchers actions.

On Monday, both Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil were hit by pitches. On Tuesday, Drew Anderson was going up and in to Michael Conforto. It’s not just Phillies pitchers either.

So far this year, Mets batters are getting thrown at more than any other team. The Mets lead the majors with 15 HBP. It would be more than that, but somehow an incompetent umpiring crew in St. Louis determined Robinson Cano was swinging.

What is the most troubling aspect of the HBP is how many of them have caught Mets batters on the hand. So far this year, the Mets have been lucky with Cano missing just one game. However, if this continues, the Mets are going to lose someone important for an extended period of time.

3. When It Rhames, It Pours

Despite Paul Sewald pitching effectively and finding a role in the Mets bullpen as an effective mop up reliever who could absorb some necessary innings, the Mets just couldn’t leave good enough alone. No, the Mets would feel complellrd to send him down for Jacob Rhame.

Really, it was not a move the Mets could justify. Rhame had made six appearances for Syracuse, and he had a 9.53 ERA, and he was a walking 7.9 per nine.

So naturally, Rhame was predictably ineffective in his two appearances, but it was worse than that.

This was a Phillies team in turmoil with and angry Jake Arrieta pointing fingers. The Phillies were hurt, bickering, and they were on the verge of getting swept.

So Rhame, intentionally or not, buzzes Rhys Hoskins up and in not once but twice. Suddenly, the Phillies were united. They also got revenge with Hoskins hitting a homer and having a home run trot which made Darryl Strawberry look like Usain Bolt.