Mets Week in Review: Dreadful Week Drops Mets to Third Place

This past week was absolutely one to forget for the New York Mets. They simply forgot to show up for one of the biggest series to this point in the season.

After back-to-back rough series against the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves to close out the homestand, the Mets took the road looking to turn things around against the last-place Miami Marlins.

Rookie right-hander Tylor Megill struggled early, and as was the theme this week, the Mets offense failed to pick him up. The Marlins bullpen tossed four scoreless innings behind young left-hander Jesus Luzardo, and they won the opener 6-3.

Taijuan Walker’s second-half struggles continued in the second game of the series, as he allowed four runs over 5.2 innings of work. The Mets attempted to rally late, but Brandon Drury grounded out to strand the tying run in scoring position and end the game.

Javier Baez worked his magic to propel the Mets to their only win of the week on Wednesday night. El Mago pulled off another one of his incredible slides to elude a tag at the plate, and launched a game-winning homer in the eighth for the 5-3 win.

Despite a strong outing from Rich Hill, the Mets weren’t able to pull out the series finale win. Jeurys Familia allowed three runs in the eighth, and the Mets scratched across just one in the ninth to fall 4-2 on Thursday afternoon.

After that miserable showing, the Mets were just a half-game up on the Phillies heading into a weekend three-game series. To keep it short and simple, as I stated above, the Mets simply did not show up this weekend.

After losing three out of four to the last-place Miami Marlins, the Mets went to Philly and were swept by Bryce Harper and company. To make matters even worse, old friend Zack Wheeler held them to just two hits in a complete-game shutout in Sunday’s series finale.

They scored a total of just five runs over the three-game weekend set in the Citizens Bank Bambox. The pitching kept them in the games for the most part, but the offense simply didn’t have the life to fight back. The Mets now find themselves sitting in third place in the NL East.

Weekly Record: 1-6

2021 Record: 56-55

162 Game Pace: 82-80

What Went Right: Dominic Smith’s Hitting Streak

One of the lone bright spots for the Mets at the plate this week was the production of left-fielder Dominic Smith. Prior to his hitless performance on Saturday afternoon, he was riding an 11-game hitting streak. Smith hit .294 this week with a run scored and a trio of RBI.

While the hitting streak was certainly nice to see, six of his seven hits during the week were singles. The Mets are going to need Smith and the rest of their big middle-of-the-order bats to pick things up in the power department if they want to turn this thing around.

What Went Wrong: Just About Everything

When you lose three out of four to the last-place team and then get swept in the biggest series of the year, yeah everything went wrong. It was just a beyond frustrating week to be a New York Mets fan.

As has been the case for pretty much the entire second half, the offense was nonexistent. When you have the likes of Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis swinging right through 94 MPH fastballs down the heart of the plate, there’s a problem.

There’s still time, and I don’t doubt this team will battle until the very end, but they need to regroup and figure things out. That has to start right away on Tuesday night as they take on Paolo Espino and the depleted Washington Nationals.

Injury Report

Jose Martinez began a rehab assignment with the St. Lucie Mets on Sunday afternoon, he played three innings in right field and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. Luis Rojas recently said the team expects to have him back soon.

Noah Syndergaard threw off a mound again on Sunday morning in Philadelphia, and was tossing around a medicine ball off the slope of the mound. The Mets said last week that they expect him to throw to live batters soon.

Francisco Lindor also continued his baseball activities on Sunday morning in Philly as he works his way back from a strained right oblique. He has been taking grounders, swinging lightly, and playing catch. he recently told reporters he still doesn’t know when he’ll return.

Javier Baez left Sunday afternoon’s game with what the team is calling hip tightness. Rojas said he is day-to-day, and will receive treatment and they will see how he is feeling prior to Tuesday night’s game.

Jacob deGrom is expected to receive his second MRI on his right elbow this Friday, August 13. The Mets are certainly hoping to receive some good news on their ace who currently has no timetable for his return.

Next Up

The Mets will return home to open up a three-game set with the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco will make his third start of the season against Paolo Espino.

This is a big series for the Mets to get back in the right direction, as they play 13 straight games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants following this series. It’s make or break time for this team, they have to turn things around or it will get even uglier quick.