April Fools
Morning Dose: Wednesday, April 1
☀️ Good Morning:
If you don’t hit, you don’t win.
It’s pretty simple.
The Mets have stolen a few wins despite futile efforts with men on base. On Tuesday, they worked four walks but managed only three hits and wasted a strong start to lose 3–0.
It’s five games. But that’s what we have to work with so we will count the numbers.
After scoring 11 runs on Opening Day, the Amazins have scored 11 runs since. The revamped lineup that is supposed to be better in clutch situations is 11-for-57 (.193) with runners in scoring position, which is actually better than the combined production (4-for-38 with 14 strikeouts) of newcomers Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien.
The Mets could score 12 more runs this afternoon and Bichette could hit a grand slam and the numbers would quickly stabilize. That’s the benefit of the calendar just crossing over into April today. Perhaps these first few games were a long April Fool’s joke before the offense kicks into gear.
On the positive front, Kodai Senga looked as impressive as he did all spring. We will talk about that in a bit.
🗓️ UP NEXT: A matinee affair to close out the series in St. Louis. Freddy Peralta makes his second start of the year against southpaw Matthew Liberatore. Facing a lefty, Mark Vientos is expected to emerge from the bowels of the Mets’ locker room for his first start of the season.
📲 METS FIX SITE: I continue to update the Mets Fix site based on your feedback and new ideas. Most recently, I added a “Starter Snapshot” card that tracks the most recent starter and shows you their pitch mix statistics. You can also find “Key Highlights” from the most recent contest. Both of these features appear alongside the live scorebug so you can track progress during the game (and review the next morning). Note: The key highlights are linked to MLB pages. There are also several videos embedded in the site, such as SNY interviews and a new section that shows top performances from around the league.
Keep checking the site for new content and new features (more are added everyday)!
❶ Kodai Senga pumps gas in impressive start.
❷ J.D. Martinez joins the staff.
❸ Details on the Luis Robert Jr. trade negotiations.
And stay for the final outs for some interesting notes.
📰 ABOVE THE FOLD
❶ ALL GAS
Kodai Senga arrived to camp on a mission. He was healthy, his mechanics felt good and his fastball popped gloves like it was the middle of summer.
How would that translate into the regular season?
If one start is a signal, pretty damn well.
⇢ Need for Speed: The right-hander tossed six innings of two-run ball, walking three, but striking out nine. His fastball reached nearly triple digits and averaged 97.4 mph, 2.7 ticks higher than his previous season’s average.
