Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
It’s no surprise that baseball’s return to something resembling normalcy in 2021 would involve hiccups, but as April turns to May, the Mets’ season has been downright wacky.
This past week produced another mix of frustration, missed opportunities and somehow, against all reason, a spot atop the NL East standings. After a two-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox – one in which Met pitching held the most prolific offense in the AL to just three total runs – the Mets traveled to Philadelphia to take two of three from the Phillies in thrilling fashion.
Like drama? All five games the Mets played this past week were decided by a single run.
Weekly Record: 2-3
2021 Record: 11-11 (1st Place, NL East)
162-Game Pace: 81-81
What Went Right: A New Approach
After a historically bad offensive start, one that saw the Mets at the bottom of the league in both average and with runners in scoring position, the team suddenly looked like the offensive juggernaut they were billed to be during wins over the Phillies on Saturday and Sunday.
According to Pete Alonso and the rest of the lineup, that success can be attributed to the addition of “approach coach” Donnie Stevenson. After a 2-1 loss on Friday, Stevenson joined the Mets hitters, who then combined for 13 runs and 25 hits the last two games.
The Mets seem to love Stevenson and his no-nonsense approach to hitting. It also seems worth mentioning that there’s a better-than-good chance Donnie Stevenson doesn’t actually exist. It appears that in desperation to cure the team’s season-long offensive slump, Stevenson has been conjured from thin air. If the Mets hit the way they did over the weekend, whatever or whoever Donnie Stevenson is will be a focal point of this team for as long as the players choose.
What Went Wrong: Making Things Easy
The feeling of frustration is a familiar one to the organization and fans alike, but the Mets toed the line of downright infuriating this past week. They wasted outstanding efforts from starters David Peterson and Jacob deGrom, as well as the bullpen, against the Red Sox, mustering just one total run in the two games.
In the series opener against the Phillies on Friday, Marcus Stroman allowed just two unearned runs (both coming on a two-out strikeout with the bases loaded when the ball got away from catcher James McCann in the second inning), but again the offense could only produce one run.
Even when the team finally started hitting, putting up eight runs and 17 hits on Sunday, the Mets couldn’t enjoy an easy win. Up 8-4 headed to the ninth, closer Edwin Diaz faltered, and it appeared Rhys Hoskins tied the game with a two-out, three-run opposite-field homer. After review, however, the call was changed to a double, as the ball hit off the very top of the railing in right field and bounced back into play.
Umpires originally ruled that this was a home run for Rhys Hoskins, which would've tied the game.
The call was overturned and ruled a ground-rule double. pic.twitter.com/iKIp6igtbu
— ESPN (@espn) May 3, 2021
Diaz then exited with what the team is calling a stiff back, and Jeurys Familia struck out Bryce Harper to preserve the narrow victory.
Stock Up: Michael Conforto
After a start in which Conforto seemed to completely forget how to play baseball, the right fielder is starting to look much more like the one fans saw in 2020. Over the last 12 games, Conforto is hitting .326 with an OBP of .990 and two home runs, including the game-winner in the ninth inning on Saturday.
Stock Down: Francisco Lindor
A mild booing at the end of last week may be the least of Lindor’s worries, as the shortstop continues to struggle offensively. Lindor’s average on the season is down to .171 with just one home run and three RBI. His OPS is at .508, over 300 points below his career average and it seems as if multiple times a game Lindor comes up with runners on, unable to bring them in.
For his part, Lindor has been stellar in the field, and there’s still no reason to think he won’t turn things around at the plate eventually, but there’s a reason Rey Ordonez wasn’t worth $341 million and Lindor has a long way to go to make that number fit his play.
Injury Report:
The Mets have been pretty fortunate to this point with injuries, but were bit hard by the bug this week.
Diaz exited Sunday with an aforementioned back injury, there’s no update on his status at this time. Meanwhile, Brandon Nimmo (finger) and JD Davis (hand) were absent from the lineup on Sunday, but the hope is they will both avoid an IL stint.
Stroman exited his start Friday after just five innings and 64 pitches with a sore hamstring, but he and the team are hopeful he’ll be able to make his next start Wednesday at the Cardinals.
On a positive note, Carlos Carrasco remains on track to return the second week of May. His return would give the Mets as good of a five-man rotation as there is in baseball with Noah Syndergaard still waiting in the wings for a possible June return.
Week Ahead:
If the Mets truly are getting hot at the plate, playing every day this week should certainly help them find their groove.
Monday starts a four-game set at the impressive 16-12 Cardinals, followed by a three-game home series against Arizona. The Diamondbacks are also over .500 on the year at 15-13 and just took two-of-three from both the Padres and the Rockies.
In addition to the potential offensive breakout, it should be interesting to see how the Mets starters line up the rest of the week. As of posting, no starter has yet been announced for Monday’s contest, as the Mets presumably decide between giving Joey Lucchesi another shot or going with a bullpen game before deGrom takes his turn on Tuesday.
