Morning Briefing: Mets Battered by Braves

Good morning, Mets fans!

Wednesday night, the Mets were embarrassed by the Braves by a score of 20-2. After a first inning two-run homer by Pete Alonso to give the team a quick lead, just about everything went wrong.

Where to start? David Peterson went just three-plus innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits and a walk (only two strikeouts), and was removed with right side soreness. Don’t get your hopes up though, there’s no silver lining coming — no Met pitcher had a good night. Sean-Reid Foley took over in the fourth inning, and recorded just one out while giving up five runs of his own (four earned).

Thomas Szapucki made his major league debut in a tough spot, and gave up earned runs on seven hits and three walks over 3.2 innings. To cap things off, Albert Almora pitched the bottom of the eighth, and gave up a three-run homer to Ozzie Albies, who enjoyed the batting practice Mets pitchers threw (5-for-6, 2 HR, 7 RBI). Almora now has as many runs given up this season as hits recorded. Move over, Jacob deGrom. 

Tonight, New York plays the finale of a three-game set with Atlanta at Truist Park. It will be the great Jacob deGrom toeing the rubber as the Mets aim to take the series from their division foes. DeGrom is coming off of the worst start of his season — he went six innings against the Phillies, scattering two runs on three hits and a pair of walks, striking out just five.  Of course, this is a great line for a normal human — but the worst of the year for Jake, a telling fact about just how great the right-hander has been.

This start closed out his month of June, in which those two runs were the only ones he allowed — good for a 0.67 ERA over 27 innings, including a 40:4 strikeout to walk ratio. The two-time Cy Young winner has been just otherworldly this season (4.4 fWAR), somehow featuring an ERA (0.69) and FIP (0.98) both under one. DeGrom will look to bounce back (by his standards) tonight, and he’ll match up against Braves youngster Ian Anderson.

The 23-year-old is having a very strong year, after a breakout stretch down the line and in the postseason for Atlanta last year. Anderson is coming off a loss in his last outing against the Reds, despite a quality start (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). It’s been a great first half for the right-hander, who has racked up 1.9 fWAR over 81.2 IP, thanks to a stellar 3.21 FIP, which has translated to a very strong 3.42 ERA. 

Now, let’s get into the briefing.

Latest Mets News

The rosters for MLB’s 2021 Futures Game have been released. It will take place on Sunday, July 11 at Coors Field (during All-Star Weekend), and two Mets have made the roster. 19-year-old catcher Francisco Alvarez (MLB Pipeline #34) was selected. After mashing at A-ball St. Lucie (1.213 OPS, 7 XBH, 15 BB), Alvarez was promoted to high-A Brooklyn after just 15 games. He’s kept it up in the next level, with six home runs in only 103 plate appearances, as well as an OPS over .940, helping him earn honors to the game.

The potential backstop of the future will be joined by a third baseman who the organization hopes will man the hot corner for years to come, Brett Baty (MLB Pipeline #73). The Mets selected Baty with the 12th pick in the 2019 draft, and he has produced alongside Alvarez in Brooklyn this year. In 42 games, the sweet swinging left-hander is slashing an impressive .318/.417/.534, with 12 doubles and 6 home runs across 175 plate appearances. 

The Mets put out a cryptic tweet about the infamous “Bobby Bonilla Day,” the day on which the team will pay the former Met 1.19 million dollars until 2035, since 2011. The team signed Bonilla to a deferred contract, which came as a result of an overly confident Mets ownership tangled in a Bernie Madoff account. Instead of paying Bonilla $5.9 million at the time, it would be almost $1.2 million starting in 2011, on every July 1, until Bonilla turns 72. Back in November, current team owner Steve Cohen tweeted, “How about we have a Bobby Bonilla day every year. Hand him an oversized check and drive a lap around the stadium. Could be fun.” This was thought to be in jest, but is it possible something along these lines could be coming true today? We’ll find out soon enough.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Mets released OF Drew Ferguson. The 28-year-old was picked up in last offseason’s Rule 5 Draft from the Astros, and was released yesterday after a poor start to his minor league season, putting up a lowly .550 OPS in AAA Syracuse. 

RHP Steven Tarpley, who appeared in one game for the Mets this season and has the unfortunate ERA of “inf” (2 ER allowed, 0 outs recorded), announced that he’s having surgery. Tarpley owns a 7.05 ERA across 44.2 career innings. 

Eric Orze, a right-handed pitcher who the Mets selected in the fifth round of the 2020 draft, was promoted to Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday. In High-A Brooklyn, Orze performed well out of the bullpen– 20 IP, 26 K, 6 BB. 

Jeff Passan wrote about the upcoming MLB trade deadline, and what players might be at risk of being moved. In relation to the Mets, Passan mentioned some spots that could be upgraded: “Starting pitcher, center fielder, bullpen. For being as good as they are, the Mets have plenty of room to improve.” One player in particular that he mentioned was Marlins CF Starling Marte, who has come up in Mets trade talks several times over the years. Passan writes, “Starling Marte would be phenomenal with the Mets.” Would you like to see the 5-tool outfielder sent to New York?

Latest MLB News

Trevor Bauer is under investigation for assault in Los Angeles, following an unnamed woman’s claim that he was overly physical. An article from The Athletic details the horrific account from the victim, including information about the case and hearings that have taken place in relation to the investigation.

Jared Porter, who worked as the Mets GM until his sexually explicit text messages with an MLB employee came out, has been placed on MLB’s ineligible list. This comes following the league’s investigation. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that “Mr. Porter violated MLB’s policies, and… placement on the Ineligible List is warranted. He will be unable to work in baseball until at least the end of the 2022 season. 

The Dodgers claimed RHP Bobby Wahl on waivers from Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon. Wahl appeared in seven games for the Mets in 2018, and has only 15.1 career innings to his name. In a corresponding move, Los Angeles transferred infielder Corey Seager to the 60-day IL.

Minor League playoff baseball is back, as announced by the league via Twitter. All four levels will have a postseason, a great step forward for the developmental leagues.

Latest on MMO

Dellin Betances will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, which almost certainly means his disappointing career with the Mets is over. Haley Zemek wrote about this in depth.

Thomas Hall wrote about Sean-Reid Foley, and why Hall believes that SRF deserves an extended stay with the big league club. Maybe Thomas’ opinion changed after last night’s game, though…

Read here the MMO roundtable, in which several writers discussed the team’s up-and-down month of June. 

Beyond the Blog

Empire State of Mind: On this week’s Empire State of Mind Podcast we sit down with WNYT-13NBC Sports Director and 104.5FM The Team ESPN Radio’s Rodger Wyland. As the Mets get ready for three games against Atlanta, and then three against the Yankees, Rodger and I break down both the NL and AL East.

As well, we break down this weekend’s Subway Series in the Bronx, and how Mets and Yanks aces deGrom and Cole with handle the elimination of Performance Enhancing Substances in the second half of the season. Plus, we celebrate Bobby Bonilla day with the top five worst contracts in the history of the Mets franchise, and our Twitter poll will ask you who you think was the worst Mets contract in history.

Locked On Mets: On today’s episode, host Ryan Finkelstein, makes light of last night’s blowout loss, because it’s easier to laugh than cry. He also talks about the unfair circumstances of Thomas Szapucki’s debut and how the Mets are going to deal with the potential loss of David Peterson.

On This Date in Mets History

2003: After a disappointing season and change with the Mets, Roberto Alomar was traded by the team, along with cash, to the Chicago White Sox for prospect Andrew Salvo, right-hander Edwin Almonte, and southpaw Royce Ring. The 12-time Gold Glove second baseman did not find success in Chicago, where he hit just .253.

Let’s go Mets!