John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
“Dear god, just let the pitcher hit” is what I found myself saying after watching the at-bats of J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith, and James McCann on Tuesday.
Who would’ve entered the season thinking the universal DH would actually hurt the Mets?
That trio went a combined o-for-8 with three strikeouts and six runners left on base. Three of them were left in scoring position with two outs.
But they’re hardly the only reason the Mets fell 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Mets batters combined went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position as their offense continues to fall behind.
New York’s offense seemed primed to take advantage of the universal DH. Between Davis, Smith, and Pete Alonso, the Mets would have an extra power bat in the lineup every day. That’s hardly been the case.
Davis is a black hole on defense and it’s carried over to the plate, Smith spent a month back in the minors, and who can forget Robinson Cano who was so bad the Mets were willing to eat his $20 million owed just to keep Smith on the team for two more weeks.
What happened?
The Mets need to make a change. It’s become clear they’re ready to move on from a player if the opportunity presents itself. Prior to Tuesday’s game, they designated reliever Chasen Shreve for assignment to make room on the roster for Max Scherzer.
Without Shreve, that leaves Joely Rodriguez as the lone left-handed deliver in the bullpen. Another position the Mets need to address quickly with no minor-league arms ready to take over the role in the intermediate.
Before the trade deadline, the Mets need to find a DH, a left-handed reliever, and another high-leverage arm out of the pen.
The last one was evident by pitching Seth Lugo on back-to-back nights. A move that hasn’t worked since before his major injury. Lugo had no feel for his curveball and danced around the strike zone. He allowed a leadoff double, intentionally walked a batter, then actually walked a batter to load the bases with no outs. Four pitches later, the Reds walked off the Mets.
Edwin Diaz and Drew Smith were unavailable. Trevor May is still on the injured list. They had already used Joely Rodriguez and Tommy Hunter. Which left Buck Showalter the option of Lugo for a second-straight night or Adam Ottavino who hadn’t pitched since Sunday.
Ottavino is the logical choice but he’s been unplayable against lefties who are hitting .314 with a .845 OPS off of him.
The Mets are a good team. They have the second-best record in the National League and fourth-best in baseball.
But they can be better and that’s what’s so frustrating. All their roster holes are fixable, it’s up to the front office how many new faces they want to bring in on a year where winning the World Series is an attainable goal.
