Opening Week Recap: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Mets went into their 2024 season with expectations not nearly as high as they were one year ago. Despite tampered expectations, Steve Cohen remained optimistic about this year’s squad.

“I think the goal is to make the playoffs… If we don’t make the playoffs I’d be disappointed.”

The Mets (3-6) currently sit in third place in the National League East, tied with the Washington Nationals. Following an 0-5 start, they have shown signs of life over the last four games, but there is still plenty of work to do before many start believing again.

The Good

While the first week was not the start they hoped for, there have been some positives on the field. The Mets starting pitching has been well above average to this point. The rotation had plenty of question marks entering the season, with multiple departures from last year’s roster and a flurry of additions throughout the offseason. That was before the injuries to Kodai Senga in spring training and Tylor Megill being placed on the 15-day injured list on Monday with a right shoulder strain. With that, the Mets team ERA currently ranks fifth in MLB (2.92). Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Adrian Houser, Jose Quintana and even José Buttó have all had solid outings that kept the team in their respective games. Manaea has impressed over his two starts, posting 14 strikeouts over 11 innings and allowing just one earned run.

Francisco Alvarez, Pete Alonso and Brett Baty have complimented each other well in the middle of the order, although the offense has struggled mightily overall. Alvarez is showing signs of becoming one of the top offensive catchers in the league. Entering Sunday’s game, Alvarez led the team with a .943 OPS and four extra-base hits. Baty is having a terrific start to his season, both with the bat and the glove, highlighted by his diving catch on Saturday in Cincinnati. If Baty can continue this type of production, he will put himself in a position to potentially lock down the starting third base job for the long term. Just don’t expect him to lay down too many sacrifice bunts.

The return of a healthy Edwin Díaz might be one of the most crucial components for the Mets to succeed in 2024. He’s shown around the same velocity he had pre-injury and has looked mostly sharp in his first four outings, only allowing one earned run in five innings pitched. The lone run came in Friday’s game, where he notched his first save of the season. He worked a clean inning Sunday to record his second save while striking out two.

Francisco Lindor‘s bat finally woke up on Sunday afternoon after being an almost non-factor through his first eight games. He slugged his first home run of the season, a solo shot to extend the Mets lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning. Hopefully, this is the beginning of an early season turnaround because the Mets will lean on him to be a focal point in this offense.

The Bad

The Mets’ 3-6 record is certainly not how first-year manager Carlos Mendoza hoped to start his managerial career, and he quickly learned about some of the extra responsibilities he has as manager. He took over the job in Queens following the firing of Buck Showalter, with much to prove in year one and little known about his approach. MLB handed Mendoza a one-game suspension, along with Yohan Ramirez, after Ramirez threw a fastball behind Rhys Hoskins. On another subject, some questioned Mendoza’s reasoning for having Baty bunt in the tenth inning against the Detroit Tigers, which was not a successful attempt. The Mets didn’t score that inning before losing to Detroit later in extra innings.

Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo did not produce at the top of the lineup in the first two-plus series of the season. Lindor was 1-for-31 with only one RBI throughout the first eight games. These guys are key for success on the offensive side, especially with Alonso and Álvarez producing at the moment behind them in the lineup.

Michael Tonkin only lasted three games in a Mets uniform after picking up two losses in three appearances. Tonkin was designated for assignment on Friday after his rough start.

The Ugly

There has been quite “the ugly” over the first week of the Mets’ season. Getting one hit on Opening Day was far from the start any team would like to have. They were swept at home, lost games in extra innings, didn’t hit with runners in scoring position and only mustered up one win in their first homestand.

The most troubling aspect has been their utter lack of offense and inability to score runs. After nine games, they rank last in the NL in batting average (.193), only behind the Minnesota Twins (.191) for the lowest batting average in baseball. They rank last in the NL in runs scored (25) and last in all of MLB in slugging percentage (.290). In almost every offensive category you can name, they rank toward the bottom of the league. It’s no secret that the offensive production is severely lacking right now.

Saturday’s meltdown was a huge shot in the foot. The Mets had an opportunity to be on a winning streak after dropping their first five games. The bullpen was solid heading into the sixth inning on Saturday, when they allowed seven runs over three innings of work, which included a five-run eighth inning for the Reds.

The second half of the week showed brighter skies for the organization, but those first five games were a brutal beginning.

Looking Ahead

Baseball season is a long and grueling schedule, and it only being nine games in allows every team to get moving in the right direction to make the postseason. The glass half-full view for Mets fans is that the team is 3-1 over their last four games. J.D. Martinez will not join the team as they travel to Atlanta for a four-game series starting Monday night with a chance to make up some ground in the NL East. If the offense can find ways to bring in runs, they’ll have a fighter’s chance at Truist Park. Keeping the Braves lineup in check is not an easy accomplishment.