Well Mets fans, not the start that anyone was hoping for to the 2024 season. Let’s take a look back at the just-finished series vs. the Milwaukee Brewers and look ahead to the next opponent, the Detroit Tigers.

Milwaukee Brewers Series – What Did We Learn?

The Brewers took the series fairly easily, sweeping the three-game series by a combined score of 14-8. Hat tip to “almost” all of the Brewers and their fans, as the Brew Crew looked solid throughout the series. I say “almost” so I can exclude Rhys Hoskins, who throughout the series almost ended Jeff McNeil’s season with a dirty (but legal) slide and then ended the Mets chances of taking game 2 by going 3-4 with 4 RBI’s in the 7-6 Brewers win.

The Brewers team that the Mets were just swept by was built by an executive who’s no longer with the team, but whose fingerprints are still apparent on the roster and organizational strategy/culture. That executive is David Stearns, and he is now the President of Baseball Operations for the Mets. Let’s take that as a bright spot, that given time Stearns can turn the ship around and set the Mets up for sustained success.

The McNeil/Hoskins drama is what will be remembered most from this series. Hoskins has a history with the Mets, and it’s not a cordial one. Going back to his days with the Phillies he once took a 34-second trip around the bases after a home run and has been brushed back on numerous occasions. The most anticipation felt in the series was how the Mets would respond after Hoskins called McNeil a crybaby from the comfort of the dugout behind all his teammates (said nothing as McNeil called him out right after the slide). 

Buck Showalter’s 2023 Mets would have not responded with a bean ball or brush back (see lack of response to multiple Pete Alonso HBP’s last season). Would Carlos Mendoza’s (Mendy’s) Mets respond similarly? Kinda. It took until the 7th inning for Yohan Ramirez to throw a 94 mph heater behind Hoskins. Both Ramirez and Mendy said it was not intentional (not surprising). MLB felt differently and suspended Ramirez 3 games and Mendy 1, and Ramirez was ejected right away. Mendy served his suspension for the final game of the series, and I’d expect Ramirez to drop his appeal of his 3-game suspension imminently, as he pitched 3 solid innings in the series finale, a 4-1 Brewers win.

Here’s the good I take out of this series:

Franchise Catcher: Through the first 3 games of 2024, Francisco Alvarez has been one of the very few bright spots. He finished the series batting .500 with a double, a home run, and 2 RBI’s. He did strike out 3 times so that’s something we’ll want to keep an eye on moving forward. Alvarez caught the first 2 games of the series and DH’d the finale.  

Polar Bear Ready for His Contract Year: Owner Steve Cohen has said he’d welcome paying Pete Alonso coming off a strong contract year, a la Aaron Judge with the Yankees. His season is off to a great start. His average is .364 and he had a clutch ninth inning HR in game 2 to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 7-6. Of course this is the Mets, and there’s always some controversy. For Pete, on Saturday night between Games 2 and 3 he was recorded onstage at UBS Arena at a Zach Bryan concert. There were fans that were upset over this, being onstage at a concert on a work night, but from my perspective no harm no foul. Pete knows what is at stake for his team and him, and he can manage his own time off the field. Looks like he had a great time too.

Clutch Bat from the Young 3B: Coming to the plate as a pinch hitter down 7-2 in the bottom of the 8th inning, Brett Baty came through in the clutch, delivering a 3 run homer (off a lefty for that matter) to cut the lead to 7-5 and get the Mets back in it.  This was also soon after the Ramirez/Hoskins drama so this could have partially been driven by the energy of the intentional/non-intentional throw-behind. But, we’ll take it from Baty, and he was clearly excited about delivering for the Amazin’s.

Here’s what needs to improve moving forward:

Consistency Through the Lineup: Other than Alonso, Baty, and Alvarez, it was very difficult to find bright spots through the lineup. Starling Marte’s home run in Game 1 of the Series was the Mets only run (and hit). Brandon Nimmo’s average exiting the series is .077, Francisco Lindor’s is .083, and Jeff McNeil (who strangely batted cleanup twice) is at .091. J.D. Martinez, are you ready yet?

Ace Mentality: It’s no secret that the Mets will benefit from the return of their ace, Kodai Senga. In the interim, the rest of the staff needs to step up. While pushing through their starts, none of Jose Quintana, Luis Severino or Tylor Megill had their best stuff. Given the tension coming out of Game 1, it would have been great for Severino to step up and give the Mets a quality start in Game 2, especially after a very strong Spring Training. His stat line in his first regular season 2024 start was 5.0 IP, 12 hits, 6 K’s and 6 ER’s, good for a 10.80 ERA.

Who’s Next: Detroit Tigers

The Mets will be thrilled to see another team coming in to Citi Field. Up next are the 3-0 Detroit Tigers. They are coming in feeling great about the first series of their 2024 season, which was a sweep over the Chicago White Sox. Here are a few players to watch, with ties to the Mets or who were discussion points for the Mets: 

Javier Baez: Looks like the Mets dodged a bullet by not resigning Baez. Strange how things work sometimes, as his thumbs-down gesture that probably clinched the finish of his time with the Mets was actually a positive. Baez comes in with a 2024 season to date average of .154 and 4 strikeouts.

Gio Urshela: I know, I know. Another former Yankee, but he would have been a good fit for the 3B spot in the Mets lineup and very reasonable from a financial perspective (he signed a one-year, $1.5M contract with Detroit).

Mark Canha: The return to Citi Field for last year’s starting LF, Canha had a solid if underwhelming tenure with the Mets. He comes in batting .364 this season with a home run.

In summary, the 2024 season is not off to a great start. However, we’re only 3 games into a 162 game season. As always, Let’s Go Mets!!

Stats by espn.com 

By : Jason Krom

Photo Credit; The Athletic, Daily Mail, Yanks Go Yard

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