The Mets pick up a ton of momentum with a huge series win against the Atlanta Braves, winning 2 out of 3 in Atlanta. Up next for the 5-7 Mets as they continue to climb their way out of an early season hole are the 9-4 Kansas City Royals back at Citi Field in Flushing.
Atlanta Braves Series – What Did We Learn?
With the series originally scheduled for 4 games, the teams only got 3 in with Mother Nature preventing game 3 on Wednesday. That game will be made up in September. The Mets outscored the Braves over the 3 games that did get played by a combined score of 29-17 with over half of their runs coming in the rubber match, a 16-4 victory that sent the Mets out of Atlanta with good momentum. There is certainly a different feel about this team now, compared to the series against the Brewers and Tigers, and even following the series win against the Reds. Beating the Braves is never easy for the Mets, and to do so with such an exclamation point like a 16-4 rubber match victory, sets the team up well moving forward.
Here are 3 Key Takeaways from the series:
They CAN Hit!: One of the biggest concerns about the Mets after their first few series of the season was the ability to get hits, and timely hits in particular. If the Braves series is a predictor of the future, they will be just fine. The Mets were 12-31 with Runners in Scoring Position (RISP) over the 3 games, with some extremes mixed in. In the 16-4 victory they were 7-13 with RISP; on the flip side in the 6-5 loss they were only 1-10. Tyrone Taylor delivered a grand slam in the rubber match, though the pitcher was Luis Guillorme. Yes, the same Guillorme that previously played infield for the Mets. He was on the mound in the 9th inning as the Braves waved the white flag.
Of particular note, a few player callouts:
– Brandon Nimmo: Finding Nimmo became a question coming out of the first few series, but he really picked it up in Atlanta. In the first game, an 8-7 Mets victory, Nimmo was 4-4 with 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s. Following a 1-5 performance in Game 2, he finished the series going 2-5 with a double and a triple and 2 RBI’s. His average is now up to .233. Coming into the series he was batting .103.
– Jeff McNeil: After missing Spring Training, McNeil seems to be coming into his own. Entering Atlanta batting .115 with a .438 OPS, he is up to a .200 average and .647 OPS exiting Atlanta. Still not numbers expected from the 2022 NL Batting champ, but a definite step in the right direction.
– Francisco Lindor: In the last game in Cincinnati, Lindor hit a HR and was feeling better about the trajectory of his season. In Atlanta, Lindor went 2-15 (an average of .133) and is batting .098 on the season with an OPS of .379. It still seems to be a matter of when, not if, Lindor starts putting up numbers closer to his career Silver Slugger-worthy metrics. It will be interesting to see if manager Carlos Mendoza still bats Lindor in the 2 or 3 spot in the lineup or drops him. Of equal interest is fan reaction to Lindor returning to Citi Field on Friday. There have been some calls for standing ovations to show him support, a la Philadelphia fans with Trea Turner.
Stearns is Smart, but the Jury is Still Out: There was no doubting the intelligence of David Stearns, a Harvard graduate. However, would the analytics and smarts translate to winning in the Big Apple? While the season is early and the jury is still out, there are certainly signs that the success he had in Milwaukee was no fluke. Of particular note, believing in Brett Baty at 3B seems to be paying off, as Baty is batting .311 on the season with 1 HR, 6 RBI and an OPS of .732. He has also been a solid defender at the hot corner of 3B. There were also questions as to some of the pitching staff signings, with the appearance of a piecemeal mediocre staff. Sean Manaea has been great early on, with a 0.82 ERA through his first 2 starts, with 14 strikeouts in 11 innings. Contrast that with some questionable pitching staff moves like Adrian Houser and one-and-done Julio Teheran (who has already been DFA’d), and you can see why the jury is still out. Don’t get me started on the J.D. Martinez signing for the DH spot. He hasn’t even taken a swing at the major league level this season and is already getting cortisone shots for his back.
The Starting Pitching: Please see above for some of the good and bad. On the plus side, Sean Manaea (0.82 ERA) looks like the real deal through his first two starts. Jose Quintana (3.45 ERA) has been solid, with the expectation for his starts being about 5 innings or slightly more with 2 or so earned runs. Adrian Houser (5.40 ERA) was roughed up a bit in the loss to the Braves, giving up 5 ER in 5 innings which raised his season ERA to 5.40. He had not had much success against Atlanta coming into this season either. Luis Severino (3.60 ERA) has been up and down through his 2 starts, with a solid start in Cincinnati following a tough Mets debut vs. the Brewers. Tylor Megill (2.25 ERA) was solid in his only start, but is on the IL. Julio Teheran (13.50 ERA) was signed by the Mets after the season began, but only made one start, gave up 4 ER in 2.2 innings and was DFA’d right after that. Kodai Senga, the team’s ace, was moved to the 60-day IL this week, which is worrisome for the staff moving forward.
Who’s Next: Kansas City Royals
Up next are the 9-4 Kansas City Royals, coming in to Citi Field for a 3-game weekend set. The Royals will, for the foreseeable future, still be remembered by Mets fans primarily as the team that beat the Mets 4 games to 1 in the 2015 World Series. Coming into Citi Field for this weekend’s series, Kansas City has won 7 in a row, with a sweep over the Chicago White Sox followed by a sweep over the Houston Astros (both in Kansas City). Here are a few players to watch, with ties to the Mets or who were discussion points for the Mets:
Seth Lugo: A solid option coming out of the bullpen for the Mets in 2019 and 2021-2022 following being both a starter and reliever for the Mets. He started all 26 games he appeared in for the Padres last season has made 3 starts so far for the Royals. While not expected to start this weekend, he’ll be someone to watch for the Royals this year.
Michael Wacha: While not with the Mets long, he appeared in 8 games (7 starts) in 2020 with New York, pitching to a 1-4 record with a 6.62 ERA. He has made 2 starts this season for Kansas City, pitching to a 2.25 ERA. He is expected to make the start on Friday, in Game 1 of the series, opposite Luis Severino.
The team is feeling good leaving Atlanta, and will be hoping to continue the momentum returning home to Citi Field against the Royals. As always, Let’s Go Mets!
Stats by espn.com and baseball-reference.com
By : Jason Krom
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