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Kodai Senga. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets ended their seven-game losing streak with a win in the middle game of a three-game set with Pittsburgh. However, they still dropped their third straight series and have now lost eight of nine games. They are 31-35, stuck in fourth place in the NL East, and 9.5 games behind the division-leading Braves.
3 Up
Senga Dances Around Trouble
After a miserable 2.2-inning showing against Toronto, Kodai Senga rebounded to snap the Mets’ losing streak. He tossed seven innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run while walking four and striking out six. His 96-pitch outing was once again marred by some free passes, specifically three consecutive walks with two outs in the third. However, he escaped on a 104-mph, 406-foot flyout by Connor Joe that Brandon Nimmo leaped to snag. The shot would have been a home run in 13 of 30 ballparks.
BRANDON NIMMO SAVES THREE RUNS WITH A SPECTACULAR CATCH! pic.twitter.com/2QCj7aanxl
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 10, 2023
In the fourth inning, a walk once again prefaced trouble for Senga. Ke’Bryan Hayes reached on an error by Luis Guillorme, allowing Jack Suwinski to go to third. Suwinski then scored on another error by Jeff McNeil. Senga retired the next two batters to limit the damage.
Senga got the Pirates in order in the fifth but allowed a baserunner on an error by Mark Canha in the sixth. The 30-year-old rookie bore down and got the next two batters. He finished his day with a 10-pitch, one-two-three seventh.
What’s impressive is that Senga pitched well against a disciplined lineup. The Pirates rank second in baseball with a 24.2% chase rate. Until now, teams that don’t chase have been Senga’s downfall. They have the patience to wait out his ghost fork until they get pitches to hit. Other than the blip in the third when Nimmo bailed him out, Senga mostly pitched efficiently.
It was also encouraging that Senga threw effectively on the road. Still, the fact that he was not in one of the 13 ballparks where Joe’s drive would have gone out was certainly a stroke of luck.
Canha Catalyst for Only Win
Sporting a seven-game losing streak, the Mets were tied at one in the seventh inning when Canha struck. Limited to three hits through the first six innings, New York threatened in the seventh when Starling Marte singled and stole second on Brett Baty‘s strikeout. After Tommy Pham struck out swinging, Luis Guillorme was intentionally walked to pitch to Canha. That was a mistake, as any Mets fan could have told the Pirates. Canha promptly made them pay, stroking a two-run double to put the Mets ahead. He later added to their 4-1 lead with another RBI double in the ninth.
Overall, Canha went 4-for-11 in the series with those three RBIs and at least one hit in all three games.
Pham Figuring It Out
Pham endured a stretch from May 5-26 in which he went 4-for-31 (.129). Since then, he is 11-for-29 (.379) with hits in seven of the nine games in which he took at-bats. The only two games in which he did not record a hit were when he had just one at-bat.
Against Pittsburgh, Pham went 4-for-13 (.308) with at least one double in each game. He had a two-run double in the opener. His slash line is now at .246/.326/.491 this season, a far cry from the .188/.284/.348 line he had on May 16. He is working his way back into the lineup with his production after Mets fans were ready to run him out of town.
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Tylor Megill. Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
3 Down
Road Warrior, He Is Not
Unlike Senga, who shook off his road demons against Pittsburgh, Tylor Megill continued his absolute disarray on the road. He lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up eight hits and nine runs (seven earned) with three walks and one strikeout. After the Mets had tied the game at two in the third, Megill pushed it out of reach by allowing five runs in the bottom of the inning.
For the season, Megill has a 7.42 ERA and 6.01 FIP in 30.1 innings away from Citi Field. Opponents have an unfathomable .341/.420/.514 slash line against him in those road starts. (For reference, Ronald Acuña is hitting .331/.402/.563 this season, so it’s as if Megill has been facing Acuña repeatedly on the road.) Rather than pitching Senga on regular rest to keep him at Citi, perhaps it’s Megill whom the Mets should confine to their home park at all costs.
Lindor Cannot Build Streak
After a solid series against the Braves, Francisco Lindor once again fell back into a funk. A solo homer in the opener was his lone hit in the series, as he went 1-for-10 with a walk and two strikeouts. The season continues to be strange for Lindor. He often hits for extra bases when he does hit at all, but his .216 batting average indicates that he is just not doing so all that often. He also made another fielding error (as opposed to throwing), which could be carrying over from his hitting despite the pride he takes in his defense.
With Pete Alonso on the shelf, it’s all the more critical that Lindor steps it up for the Mets. In the first series without his iron-man teammate, he failed to answer the call.
Baty Buried Deeper in Slump
There were several Mets who did not hit well in this series, but Baty’s slump is quite profound at this point. Over his last 30 games, the rookie is hitting just .184/.277/.276. Baty went 0-for-7 against the Pirates with two walks and two strikeouts. He is now down to .228/.311/.352 on the season. After appearing to settle in for a little while, Baty has not been able to recapture his stroke.
Baty is still hitting the ball very hard, as he is in the 90th percentile for hard-hit rate and the 83rd for average exit velocity. His xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG are all slightly above average, and his barrel rate is basically at the league average. While he continues to strike out at a high rate (33rd percentile), he is also walking at an above-average rate (63rd percentile) and chasing less than average (65th percentile).
Baty’s biggest issue, though, continues to be his sky-high groundball rate at 51.5%, which ranks in the 11th percentile among hitters. He also struggles against non-fastballs, hitting .214 with a .381 SLG against breaking balls and .105/.105 against offspeed pitches.
These are typical rookie struggles. Whether Baty can work through them will likely determine his future as a major-league hitter. Will he merely be a mistake hitter, or can he grow into the batting eye and line-drive power that he has displayed at times?
The Mets head home to face the Yankees for a two-game Subway Series beginning on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m. ET).