The starting rotation and the bullpen were considered to be the biggest weaknesses for the New York Mets entering the season. That has not been proven true, as the team ranks sixth in all of baseball with a 2.92 ERA. Critical mistakes in the field is what has really cost them on a handful of occasions, giving opponents additional opportunities to score. That was on full display in the Mets’ 9-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds Saturday.
Tyrone Taylor got things started in the bottom of the second inning, misjudging a fly ball near the corner in left field. He lost it in the sun and lost his balance, resulting in a leadoff double for Jeimer Candelario. The Reds would go on to score two runs in that inning, something that could have been avoided if Taylor had made that play. Eventually, the Mets offense would come to life and score five unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth inning, but that lead would only last for so long.
With the score 5-3 in favor of the Mets, the Reds had runners on first base and third base in the bottom of the sixth. Reds manager David Bell put on a double steal and instead of allowing the back runner to steal second, Omar Narváez threw the ball all the way down to second base. Spencer Steer stole home for the second run of the inning and just like that, the Mets led by just one.
Omar Narváez. Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The bottom of the eighth inning was the nail in the coffin for the Mets, who bent but did not completely break in the previous frame. Candelario started the inning by drawing a walk against right-handed reliever Yohan Ramírez. With Bubba Thompson running for the much slower Candelario, he caused the pitcher to commit a balk. Ramírez recovered to strike out Jake Fraley, but Narváez failed to corral a relatively innocent “wild pitch” in the dirt, putting runners on the corners with no outs. The Reds would score five runs in the eighth to complete the comeback, with the big hit being a three-run home run to left center field from Spencer Steer.
This was a game the Mets could and most definitely should have won, a phrase used far too often when speaking about the team this early into the season. Luis Severino did more than enough to earn his first win of the season, but the defense failed to back him up. Many of the advanced metrics show that the Mets are one of the worst defensive teams in baseball, at least so far. They rank 24th with a negative-4 outs above average and 26th with negaive-4 defensive runs saved.
One can argue that the Mets’ inability to score runs in bunches has been the team’s biggest issue, but they broke out to score six runs in Saturday’s loss. If the defense remains as a point of concern, starters and relievers will be asked to throw more pitches and that will most certainly come back to bite them later on in the season.
“We’re a pretty good defensive team. We just got to do a better job of preventing runs in a situation like this,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. The Mets will look to put that past them and win their first series of the season on Sunday, with Sean Manaea on the mound for his second start with the team.
