A Good Davis

Mets romp Marlins in series opener

Good Morning,

Baseball is a funny sport. 36 hours ago, Mets fans were pulling out their hair over an offense that had scored only two runs in the previous 19 innings against the worst team in baseball. The designated hitter spot in the lineup might as well have been filled by the pitcher, and rain delays have seemed more common than RBIs from the catcher position.

Fast forward to this morning and the Mets have scored 16 runs over the past 11 innings. J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith and James McCann have accounted for ten of those runs. Two glaring weaknesses in the lineup have been productive for a few days.

“We all know what J.D. is capable of, and Mac’s track record,” manager Buck Showalter said after the game: “We’re trying to see if everybody can play to their potential. A lot of times the pitchers don’t cooperate, but I like our guys. I like the players we have, and I don’t spend any time coveting anybody else’s.”

While it’s sweet that Buck follows the managerial commandment, Thou Shall Not Covet Other Players, the front office can’t afford to be as wholesome—they continue to monitor the market while hoping Davis’ hard-hit rate translates into better results (more on this in a bit).

Despite an historic performance by rookie Spencer Strider, the Braves lost last night, pushing New York’s first-place lead back up to 3.5 games. The two teams will play each other in a mid-summer showdown next week. But before we get to that, let’s catch you up on the series opener against the Marlins.

▼ IN SHORT: Trevor Williams pitched seven shutout innings, J.D. Davis hit his first career grand slam, Starling Marte added three hits and James McCann hit a three-run homer to lead the Mets to a 10–0 drubbing of the Marlins in the first of a four-game set at Citi Field [Box Score].

🎬 SPOT START: On a night the Mets scored ten runs, let’s begin by talking about the starting pitcher. Trevor Williams was the “throw in” player in the Javy Báez trade last summer. He has proven to be extremely valuable. Last night was the third time this season he hasn’t allowed a run in one of his starts. He threw 30 of his 41 fastballs for strikes, allowing him to deploy his slider when ahead in the count.

Granted, Williams has had a few rough outings as a starter, contributing to his 2–4 record and 4.67 ERA in that role, but his versatility has been a blessing for this team. He carries a 2.00 ERA as a reliever.

“It’s tough not knowing if you’re starting or relieving, long relief,” McCann said last night of Williams, via SNY. “But something that’s so special about (Williams) is that any time his name is called, he’s giving us a quality outing. It’s not an easy role and he’s taken it on and doing extremely well with it.”

With Chris Bassitt returning to the rotation this weekend, Williams will pivot back to his bullpen role, always ready to step in for a spot start when needed.

⚾︎ DESIGNATED HITTER: You are going to read a lot of stories in the next 24 hours about whether the Mets have solved their DH problem. Both Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis have shown us over the past two games what the offense can look like when they are actually hitting.

Davis has been hitting the ball hard all season long, to little results. In fact, nobody in baseball has a higher hard-hit rate than the Cal State Fullerton product. These are the players who rank behind him:

• Yordan Alvarez

• Aaron Judge

• Austin Riley

His problem has been making contact. He has struck out in 31.5% of his plate appearances. You can’t hit the ball hard when you miss it. This is why his expected statistics are a bit lower than you would guess based on his quality of contact. While Alvarez and Judge rank first and second in expected wOBA when accounting for strikeouts and walks along with quality of contact, Davis ranks 51st.

Still, it is reasonable to assume there are more nights like last night ahead for the Mets’ right-handed DH option. I’m not sure we can say the same yet about Dom.

HOT STOVE: In terms of external options, Nelson Cruz is the latest name to be linked to the Mets. The veteran slugger turned 42 at the beginning of the month and hasn’t lived up to his career numbers in Washington, batting .239 with only eight home runs.

🍎 CATCHER: The Mets have won a lot of games this year, but they are nearly unbeatable when James McCann contributes to the offense. His three-run homer last night came on the heels of a clutch, 2-out RBI single in extra innings on Wednesday. New York is 7–1 in games in which McCann drives in a run, a telling stat for different reasons.

In celebration of McCann recording RBIs on back-to-back nights for the first time this season, I am going to extend yesterday’s “non-complain order” for 24 more hours.

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Some more news and notes from yesterday…

👍 ALL SYSTEMS GO: Jacob deGrom will make his second rehab start tonight in Florida. After throwing 24 pitches last Sunday, he is expected to get up to 40 on Friday.

🍎 ROSTER MOVES: Coming off his stellar relief performance on Wednesday, the Mets optioned Adonis Medina and called up right-hander Jake Reed, who entered Thursday’s game and tossed two perfect innings behind Trevor Williams.

🔥 HOT BAT: Starling Marte has been one of the hottest hitters in the Mets’ lineup, hitting .429 with two home runs over his last seven games and a solid .301/.368/.496 over his past 30 contests.

“I definitely think he’s under the radar,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Marte, who played for him last season. “He’s not a guy who’s worried about the bat-flips, or any of that stuff. He’s not out banging his own bell or anything like that. He’s just coming to play the game.”

⚾️ DONNIE BASEBALL: Ahead of Keith Hernandez’ number retirement, Mattingly talked about the first baseman’s influence on his game:

“Keith, he played in St. Louis, too, which was close to home [in Indiana], so I knew all about Keith early on,” Mattingly said, via the NY Post. “Just being here [in New York], I was always trying to catch his first-base play.”

⏭ FUTURE’S GAME: Top prospect Francisco Álvarez will participate in MLB’s Futures Game on July 16 as part of the All-Star Game festivities in Los Angeles. It will be the catcher’s second time playing in the event. He hit a home run last year.

🗣 RUMORS: The Mets have scouted right-hander David Robertson, per Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated. The veteran reliever has a sparkling 1.89 ERA in 30 appearances with the Cubs this season.

🧢 SANDLOT: Brandon Nimmo will host a sandlot game today at Hinton Park in Flushing. His goal is to inspire kids to play baseball and to exemplify sportsmanship.

🗓 UP NEXT: Chis Bassitt returns to the mound after missing two weeks due to COVID. The right-hander expressed regret for notifying the team he had tested positive with a home test after feeling minor symptoms.

“Stop testing it, stop acting like COVID is far worse than a lot of other things,” Bassitt said, via the NY Daily News. “I’m not trying to get too much into it, but I was never sick. I never had a symptom. So, sitting out for two weeks possibly or a week for zero symptoms, I don’t know.

“I guess the answer is I never should have said anything,” he added. “I never should have said that I tested positive. I probably won’t for the rest of my career, there’s no way. There’s no reason.”

1️⃣7️⃣: On Saturday, Keith Hernandez will have his No. 17 retired by the Mets in a ceremony at Citi Field. His jersey will join the already retired numbers of Casey Stengel (37), Gil Hodges (14), Tom Seaver (41), Mike Piazza (31) and Jerry Koosman (36).

Anthony DiComo @AnthonyDiComo

📸 Mets preparing for Saturday's Keith Hernandez celebration with No. 17 mowed into the outfield grass.

🆚 MATCH-UPS: The Mets will pitch Bassitt (6–5, 4.01) against Pablo López (5–4, 2.97) tonight; Carlos Carrasco (9–4, 4.64) will face off against left-hander Braxton Garrett (1–3, 4.25) on Saturday; and Taijuan Walker (7–2, 2.86) will take the series finale against Cy Young candidate Sandy Alcantara (9–3, 1.82) on Sunday.

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◾️ Braves right-hander Spencer Strider became the first rookie since 1900 with at least 11 strikeouts and two or fewer hits allowed in consecutive starts. But his 12 K’s and two hits over six innings weren’t enough to lead Atlanta to victory last night.

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🔗 Keith Hernandez just what Mets needed to go from losers to champs, by Mike Vaccaro, NY Post: “On June 15, 1983, at the doorstep of a sultry Virginia summer, word leaked to the Tides: The big club had made a move. The Mets had shipped Rick Ownby and Neil Allen to the Cardinals. In return they’d received Keith Hernandez. The first reaction was understandable: That Keith Hernandez? MVP in 1979 when he hit .344, World Series hero just eight months earlier, winner of five Gold Gloves?”

🔗 It took a while, but Edwin Diaz has settled in with Mets, by David Lennon, Newsday: “Is it safe yet to say the Mets won the Edwin Diaz trade? That’s what we should be calling the 2018 deal with the Mariners. It started as the Robinson Cano swap and briefly transitioned to the Jarred Kellenic giveaway, but only now is former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s parting gift truly appreciated.”

🔗 Mets’ J.D. Davis and Dom Smith are good hitters, you know, by Andy Martino, SNY: “The Mets should -- and almost certainly will -- still add a hitter. The possibilities are obvious: Trey Mancini, Nelson Cruz, Charlie Blackmon, Mike Moustakes and the like. As previously reported, the Mets are willing to pick up the salary for a player of this type, which they prefer to trading prospects for a younger or more controllable hitter. Still, the past week of actual baseball games has served as a reminder that a season is long enough to tell more than one unexpected story. Suddenly, Smith and Davis are producing.”

And we leave you with some of Gary Cohen’s best work…

Just Mets @just_mets

There was a bug crawling on the SNY camera, which led to one of the best calls of Gary Cohen's career 😂😂

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