In the words of Forrest Gump, Mets baseball is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. After taking a series in Los Angeles from the Dodgers, the Mets came into San Francisco to face the 10-13 Giants as one of the hottest teams in the league. In tow came the momentum from winning six straight series and winners of 6 of their last 7.
The Mets train came to a screeching halt in San Francisco. This series was the opposite of the Dodgers series. The Giants won the series, taking 2 of the 3 games. The Mets salvaged the last game with a 8-2 win. Defending NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell was the expected starter for the Giants in the last game, but was scratched 3 hours before game with a left adductor strain that landed him on the 15-day IL. It would have been very Mets-like for Snell to have a statement start for the Giants after starting the season 0-3 with an 11.57 ERA.
San Francisco Giants Series – Key Takeaways
The Mets offense was non-existent in the first two games of this series. Game 1 was a 5-2 Giants victory. The Mets mustered four hits for the game, with only two of them escaping the infield. Starling Marte had a bunt base hit in the first inning but was thrown out going to second; he also had a single in the seventh. Pete Alonso reached on an infield single in the second inning but also hit a solo home run in the 5th to cut the Giants lead to 4-1. The Mets second run came in the 9th as Brandon Nimmo walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch. On the glass half full side, the Mets did not quit and got the tying run to plate in the ninth. Unfortunately, moral victories are not worth anything in the standings. Jose Quintana only lasted 5.0 innings and needed 91 pitches to do so, continuing the string of short outings for the Mets starters. He allowed 5 Earned Runs (ER) over that span, taking his record on the year to 1-2 with a 4.21 ERA. Jorge Lopez, Sean Reid-Foley and Josh Walker contributed 3 innings of scoreless relief. For San Francisco, Keaton Winn went 6 innings for the win. Former Met Michael Conforto hit a home run against his former club.
In Game 2, a 5-1 Giants win and the Mets 3rd straight loss, Giants starter Logan Webb took the mound and put on a show. He extended his scoreless streak to 19 innings, going 8 scoreless in this game to take his record to 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA on the season. Mike Yastrzemski drove in 3 runs with 2 hits. For the Mets, despite 9 hits they were only able to cross the plate once. Starling Marte continued the Marte Parte with 3 more hits as he raised his season average to .305 and OPS to .821. The Mets only run crossed the plate in the 9th as DJ Stewart grounded into a fielders choice to score DJ Stewart The starter, Luis Severino, went 6 innings but took the loss giving up 3 ER’s. His ERA for the season stands at a solid 2.67. Drew Smith gave up 2 ER’s in his 1 inning of work, and Jake Diekman finished with a scoreless inning.
Game 3 was the Mets opportunity to regain some momentum heading back to NY, and they did just that. As mentioned above, the Giants were without Blake Snell who was put on the 15-day IL 3 hours before the game started. The Giants utilized 7 pitchers to fill in the innings, with none of the pitchers going more than 2.2 innings. The Mets started Sean Manaea and he only lasted 4.2 innings that covered 101 pitches. The Mets early season hero, Reed Garrett, went 2.0 innings in relief to pick up his fourth victory of the season and move to 4-0. On the offensive side, Francisco Lindor had 4 hits in 5 at-bats, 2 of which were HR’s and drove in 4 runs. Tyrone Taylor, who has proven to be a solid addition so far this season, had 2 hits and drove in 3 including a solo HR.
Here are 3 Items to Watch Moving Forward:
We’re Going Streaking: The immortal Frank the Tank would be proud. The Mets good swings and bad swings have seemed to come in bunches. So far in the young season, the Mets have lost 5 in a row, won 6 in a row, and lost 3 in a row. When things are good, they’re great. When things are bad, they’re really bad. Such streaks will happen across any season, but to have this many this quickly is peculiar. Those streaks have netted together to produce a 13-11 record so far. Entering play on Wednesday, the Mets were ranked #4 in all of MLB in ESPN’s Relative Power Index (RPI), which takes into account the team’s record, opponents’ records and the records of opponents of opponents. The Giants were their first opponents of the season with a sub-.500 record.
Bullpen Needs a Breather: The epidemic of lots of pitches to get through not a lot of innings has continued for the Mets. In the Giants series, the starters went 5.0 innings in Game 1 (Jose Quintana), 6.0 innings in Game 2 (Luis Severino) and 4.2 innings in Game 3 (Sean Manaea). They continue to tax the bullpen on a daily basis, and while the pen has responded well for the most part, it cannot be expected to take on this many innings over a long time period. The Front Office has done well to call up reinforcements as necessary (namely Reed Garrett, and the DFA/Welcome Back/DFA saga of Michael Tomkin),there are only so many arms to go around.
Things Should Get Better: While the Mets lineup continues to improve after a disastrous start to the season, there is still ample room for improvement. Starling Marte has performed well recently, and his average after this series is .290 to go along with an On Base + Slugging Percent (OPS) of .780. Some of the other cornerstones of the lineup still need to hit their stride. Notably, Brandon Nimmo who is batting .186 with an OPS of .672. Francisco Lindor has shown signs of snapping out of his early season funk recently and was on fire in the last game against the Giants but is still batting .206 with an OPS of .652 exiting the Giants series. Keep in mind, the Mets are 13-11 without either the lineup or rotation being whole. J.D. Martinez continues to make progress toward making his Mets MLB debut and manager Carlos Mendoza has said he expects Martinez to be in the lineup on Friday against the Cardinals. Francisco Alvarez had surgery on his thumb on Tuesday, so the clock is starting on his expected 8-week recovery. There has not been much new news lately on Kodai Senga, and his return is still expected in late May/early June.
Who’s Next: St. Louis Cardinals
Up next are the 11-14 St. Louis Cardinals, the second consecutive Mets opponent of 2024 with a record below .500. The Cardinals are coming off a series win at home vs. the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks. They are 6-7 on the road on the season and are 4-6 in their last 10 games. Here are a few players to watch in this 3-game series:
Steven Matz: A name that is very familiar to the Mets and Mets fans, Matz has a place in Mets lore after an historic MLB debut with the Mets. Back in 2015, Matz delivered 7.2 innings of 2 run ball while contributing 3 hits and 4 RBI’s from the plate. He was the first pitcher in MLB history to achieve that from the plate. The videos of his grandfather, a Mets fan, celebrating in the stands, is legendary. Matz is not expected to pitch in this series, but will always be a familiar face at Citi Field.
Paul Goldschmidt: The 7-time All-Star is one of the top first basemen (1B) in the NL, along with the Mets’ Alonso. Goldschmidt is off to a tough start this season, so far batting .200 on the young season with an OPS of .572, 2 HR and 9 RBI’s. Similar to the Lindor, these are not numbers expected of an All-Star caliber player and he will break out on some point. It will be worth watching if that happens vs. the Mets. Goldschmidt has not faced the Mets expected Game 1 starter, Jose Butto, but has faced Game 2 starter Adrian Houser over 34 at bats and has a .265 average with 3 HR’s and Game 3 starter Jose Quintana 20 at-bat’s with an average of .600 and 3 HR’s.
Sonny Gray: 2023’s AL Cy Young runner-up, Gray signed a 3-year, $75 million contract with the Cardinals in the offseason. He has not disappointed in the young 2024 season. His record is currently 2-1, and he is sporting a 1.04 ERA, 23 strikeouts (K’s) and 0.87 Walks + Hits per Innings Pitched (WHIP). These are very strong numbers, and Gray will be pitching against the Mets in the second game of the 3-game series. Gray has been successful in his career against the Mets, with Lindor being the only member of the lineup with more than 20 at-bats vs. Gray. Over his 21 AB’s his average is .238 with 2 HR’s.
It will be interesting to see how the Mets respond after losing a series against the Giants that they were expected to win, and with the win coming in a bullpen game for San Francisco. On paper this should be another series win for the Amazin’s. However, the Mets provide again vs. the Giants that in baseball you just never know. Following the Cardinals, the Mets will remain at the friendly confines of Citi Field for a 4-game set against the Chicago Cubs. As always, Let’s Go Mets!
Written by: Jason Krom
Stats by espn.com
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