A Mets Fix announcement!

Breaking down the Mets’ weekend & our big plans

Jeffrey Bellone

Blake Zeff

, and

Peter Kauffmann

May 24, 2021

Good Morning,

The Mets lost their second straight to the Marlins yesterday, to drop to 21-19, but still lead the NL East by 1.5 games.

We’ll get to the normal newsletter in a bit, but first, some news.

What’s the news?

Starting next week, this newsletter will become partially subscription-based, which means it won’t be completely free anymore.

(But: this also means we will be able to give you more cool stuff!)

Why do you hate us?

We don’t hate you. We love you, like we love the Mets. But we love our families, too. And writing a newsletter that publishes every weekday morning takes time; time that we must value when it often means staying up until 2:00 in the morning (and then going back into the draft four hours later) to guarantee each edition is just right, and doing so after a full day of working and taking our kids to T-Ball practice and explaining to them for the n’teenth time why they need to brush their teeth before bed.

We love doing this. We hope we can continue doing it for a long time. But we need your help to make it sustainable. And provide you more cool stuff.

When is this happening?

In one week, so you’ll have all of this week to get used to this alternate reality / amazing opportunity to become a paid subscriber. (If you’re up for it, please sign up ASAP, below).

What do you mean not “completely” free?

We are still going to send out a complimentary newsletter every Monday to anyone who doesn’t want to pay. If you take no action, you’ll still get those in your inbox.

Ok, so how much is it going to cost?

$5 per month or $55 per year (you get a free month if you do the full year).

(You can also become a special “Founder” to get special access to our team.)

What am I paying for?

By now, you’ve obviously read us, so hopefully you have an idea of what we have to offer, but as a paid subscriber you will get this newsletter every weekday morning, which includes:

Game recaps. A rundown of key moments and takeaways, including video and gifs.
A daily summary of the latest Mets news. All of the updated information about the team consolidated in one place, and packaged into a digestible summary.
Unique graphics and reports, such as our popular Bullpen Usage chart.
In-depth analysis you won’t find anywhere else—whether that means breaking down film to understand Brandon Nimmo’s defense, or diving into the numbers to identify mechanical tweaks that would help Edwin Díaz.
Article links to the best stories about the Mets, regardless of source.
MLB news summary. A quick rundown of the day’s top headlines, so you know what’s going on outside the world of the Mets.
Fun guest contributors, such as former Met Ty Kelly and conversations with Mets front office alums, beat reporters and broadcasters.
And much more to come!

But wait…I was getting all of this stuff already. What else am I paying for?

When we first started this newsletter, we weren’t thinking about subscriptions. We literally just wanted something like this to exist. We are Mets fans who used to read Adam Rubin’s Morning Briefing and couldn’t find anything to replace it. We designed the newsletter as diehard fans: what would we want a morning email about our favorite baseball team to look like?

We never in our wildest dreams imagined Howie Rose tweeting about it, or Gary Cohen mentioning one of our articles during a broadcast, or Adam Rubin, himself, saying it reminded him of his old work. It’s been humbling to see our subscription list grow over the past five months.

So, yes, you will keep getting what you’ve already been getting, which we think is already pretty good. But! We will continue to add and improve additional content and formats. This is precisely why we are going paid: to allow us to invest more time and resources to keep expanding and innovating, such as:

adding audio products
expanding our publishing schedule
offering more giveaways
launching community events.

Is that it?

That pretty much does it. Of course, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by replying to this email. We would love to hear your feedback, good or bad.

Otherwise, we know a lot of you have been with us from the beginning, so we hope you continue to support our work:

We so appreciate all your support.

And now back to your regular programming…

⚾️ IN SHORT: Jordan Yamamoto started, struggled, and experienced right shoulder tightness, and the Mets never recovered from the Marlins’ five-run second inning, losing 5-1 in the rubber match of their weekend series in Miami. [Box Score]

🔑 KEY MOMENTS: The opposing pitcher, Cody Poteet, turned an infield chopper into a run-scoring hit when Yamamoto cut off Mets third baseman Brandon Drury and threw wild to home plate. Then, two batters later, Yamamoto failed to complete what would have been an inning-ending 3-6-1 double play by missing a throw by Francisco Lindor, who was charged with an error on the play. The two defensive miscues sparked the five-run second.

TAKEAWAYS

❶ FIRST START: Making his first start as a Met (and against his former team), Jordan Yamamoto lasted only four innings, putting his new team in a five-run deficit early in the game. The right-hander tried to convince his manager to leave him in past the fourth inning, but after 73 pitches, including a 38-pitch second inning that blew the game open, Rojas decided to pull him. While the Mets later revealed he had right shoulder tightness, Rojas told reporters he wasn’t aware of that when he decided to change pitchers due to Yamamoto’s high pitch count.

❷ QUIET BATS: An eighth-inning double by Johneshwy Fargas was the only extra base hit recorded by the Mets on Sunday. Making his third career start, 26-year-old Cody Poteet went seven innings, and allowed only three singles, striking out four and walking none. Francisco Lindor went 0-4 with a strikeout, as he continues to struggle in his new uniform. He is now 5-27 over his last seven games, and remains below the Mendoza line with a .194 average on the season. Ironically, two of the healthiest players on the roster (Lindor and James McCann) have struggled the most at the plate.

🌴 ST LUCIE REHAB: Noah Syndergaard will make another rehab start for the St. Lucie Mets on Tuesday. There was some thought he would pitch for Triple-A Syracuse, but the organization will evaluate his next assignment after Tuesday.

👍 GOOD NEWS (Sort of): Manager Luis Rojas told reporters Tommy Hunter’s MRI went better than expected. However, there is still no timetable for his return.

💪 MAKING PROGRESS: Kevin Pillar is still recovering, but he could start strength exercises this week after undergoing surgery to repair the fractures in his nose on Friday.

🤕 STIFF NECK: After hitting a home run on Saturday, J.D. Davis was out of the Syracuse lineup on Sunday due to a stiff neck. He will require a few more rehab starts before returning to the big league roster.

😍 WELCOME BACK: The Mets will receive a welcome return from their ace Jacob deGrom on Tuesday against Colorado.

🍎 ROSTER MOVES: The Mets designated outfielder Jake Hager for assignment and lost catcher Deivy Grullón on waivers to the Rays (whom they had originally claimed him from last month).

From the weekend…

FRIDAY: The Amazins nabbed one of their most exciting, inspiring wins of the year. In the 12th inning, Khalil Lee stopped striking out to record his first major league hit and drive in the go-ahead run against Miami. Johneshwy Fargas followed with a 2-run triple, and Aaron Loup made things interesting by coughing up two, before Jacob Barnes closed things off for a 6-5 win.

SATURDAY: This one was less jubilant. Joey Lucchesi had his best outing of the season, going four scoreless. And Dom Smith laced a huge 8th inning RBI single to tie the game at 1. But it was all for naught, as Drew Smith followed a sensational, game-saving Fargas catch by surrendering a walkoff 2-run HR to Garrett Cooper, to lose to the Marlins 3-1.

⏭ NEXT UP: COLORADO ROCKIES

🍎 The Mets host the Rockies for a four-game set before finishing off their seven-game homestand next weekend against Atlanta. David Peterson will take the ball tonight against left-hander Austin Gomber (2-4, 4.96 ERA). As New York tries to get healthy, they are in the beginning phase of a stretch in which they play 17 consecutive games without a day off.

🏔 ROCKIES: Colorado finished a sweep of the Diamondbacks yesterday with a walk-off home run by Trevor Story. The win lifted the 18-29 Rockies out of last place, but they remain 12 games out of first in the top-heavy NL West. Left-hander Kyle Freeland is expected to return on Tuesday (against deGrom) from a left shoulder strain that has kept him out all season.

🧑‍🍳 HOME COOKIN’: Following a 3-6 road trip, the Mets should be happy to be back at Citi Field, where they are 11-4 this season. Not to mention, the Rockies are a pitiful 2-17 away from Coors Field.

💤 RESTED: Surviving a marathon affair on Friday, the back of the bullpen (Edwin Díaz and Trevor May) is well-rested, and everyone except Yennsy Díaz and Robert Gsellman has at least one day’s rest.

To see how rested the entire pen is, just view our handy chart below:

⚾️ The Padres finished up a perfect 9-0 homestand with a 9-2 win over the Mariners.

⚾️ Aaron Judge gave the Yankees a true “walk-off” win, drawing a bases-loaded walk to beat the White Sox 5-4 to complete a weekend sweep.

⚾️ The Rays won their 10th straight after being down two runs in the ninth, beating the Blue Jays 6-4.

🔗 Francisco Lindor could learn a lot from banned Mets star, by Ken Davidoff, NY Post: “You know who might offer Francisco Lindor, a New York middle infielder already in the spotlight due to a contract situation and subsequently sees a boatload of his teammates go down with injuries, some valuable perspective? A Mets teammate, if not a current Mets teammate. Come on, you think Robinson Cano wouldn’t take Lindor’s call?”

🔗 Bobby V for victory? Ex-Mets skipper, to cheers of former players, seeking mayor’s office in his Connecticut hometown, by Larry McShane, NY Daily News: “The neophyte candidate for mayor of Stamford, Conn., already boasts some major-league endorsements. No shocker there: Former Mets skipper Bobby Valentine’s first foray into politics at age 70 was greeted with support (and a few wisecracks) by his former Flushing players.”

🔗 Mets’ Kevin Pillar slowly making way back after bloody beaning, by Ken Davidoff, NY Post: “Mets manager Luis Rojas said Sunday that Pillar, the outfielder who suffered multiple nasal fractures May 17 when he got hit by a Jacob Webb pitch, could start light activities as soon as Monday and then graduate to baseball activities by next week. Pillar underwent surgery to repair his nose on Friday in Manhattan.”

And… watch former Mets star Robin Ventura rib Jay Horwitz in the latest episode of the Mets alumni podcast: