3 Up 3 Down: Defense Costs Mets In Milwaukee

The New York Mets ultimately beat themselves in Milwaukee.

Losing two out of three to the Brewers, the Mets only had themselves to blame for dropping the series. Sloppy defense, bad pitching, and a lack of clutch hitting ultimately doomed them in two of the three games.

Fine margins are often the difference between winning and losing baseball games. And this team just isn’t doing the small things well enough that help to win games.

With that, let’s recap everything from the Brewers series in the latest edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 UP

THE FUTURE IS HERE

Zac Thornton looks like the real deal. The rookie secured his first career MLB win with a stellar outing on Tuesday, allowing just three hits over six scoreless innings. Furthermore, over his first 23+ MLB innings, the lefty owns a stellar 1.93 ERA with a 0.86 WHIP. What really stands out about Thornton is just how poised he is on the mound, while his command and location are both excellent. At this point, it looks like the Mets could have another young stud to build next year’s rotation around.

OLD SELF ACTIVATED

Francisco Lindor is starting to settle in at the plate. The shortstop has seemingly shut out the outside noise and has been dangerous offensively post-All-Star break. He continued his recent eruption in Milwaukee, recording at least a hit in all three games. Lindor’s finest work came on Tuesday when he went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. This is the Lindor we know and love, and why he’s still important to this franchise.

KID SPIRIT

A.J. Ewing is easy to fall in love with. He’s all action all the time, and he does everything well. Just look at the series against the Brewers. He made another superb diving catch during Tuesday’s game, while he made several other big-time plays out in left field too. Then, offensively, the rookie reached base three times in the first two games, before going 2-for-5 with a double in the finale. Ewing is incredibly fun to watch every single day, and he can be an impact player in a multitude of different ways.

3 DOWN

UNHAPPY HOMECOMING

It is official: Freddy Peralta has been an absolute bust in Queens. The veteran couldn’t use his return to Milwaukee as extra motivation to get the train back on the tracks. Instead, he imploded yet again. Peralta allowed a gaudy seven earned runs on eight hits over 5.1 miserable innings. Consequently, Peralta has allowed 15 earned runs over his last five outings. At this point, it would behoove the Mets to try and trade Peralta and wipe the slate clean.

ANOTHER DEFENSIVE MISCUE

The whole mission to improve run prevention has backfired. The Mets have been awful defensively, and they continue to doom themselves thanks to routine mistakes. Just look at Wednesday. Brett Baty misplayed a routine fly ball in right field, leading to the Brewers taking the lead on an RBI triple. The entire tenor of the game changed in an instant. As much as Baty was to blame for the mistake, it is also the Mets’ fault for consistently playing players out of position. Furthermore, the Mets now have the second-most errors in baseball with 69, while they rank 24th in baseball with minus-11 Fielding Run Value, per Statcast. That just isn’t good enough, and it is on the Mets for how they built this team.

CROWDED HOUSE

Luis Robert Jr. returning to the lineup and hitting a monster home run on Tuesday was certainly a highlight. However, let’s not celebrate it too much. Once Juan Soto returns on Friday, the Mets suddenly have a crowded outfield. And, while Robert Jr. can offer power and great defense, I don’t think he’s a better option than either Carson Benge or A.J. Ewing. Furthermore, it would be criminal at this point to take meaningful playing time away from either of the two rookies. That just can’t be allowed to happen. If the recently reported trade interest in Robert Jr. becomes concrete, then maybe it would be best to pull the trigger on that for the good of the future.