☀️ Good Morning:
Over an 162-game schedule, there are plenty of throwaway games.
Yesterday was not one of them.
It was what I like to call a “vibe” game.
Meaning, the feeling among the fanbase would drastically change based on the final outcome. Not only was a home series win over Oakland on the line, the stakes felt even higher after a 5–0 lead vanished in a game that felt like it would never end.
By finding a way to win, the Mets would have taken two of three from the A’s, like they are supposed to, while gaining a game on the Braves to sit only one game out of the playoff picture. Fans could feel good about the offense finding a rhythm, as the team could with the Marlins on deck.
Instead, the Mets lost for the fifth time in their last six games, and only added to the sense of mediocrity that has surrounded this club since the end of July.
Luckily, the Braves were blanked by the Giants, keeping Carlos Mendoza’s group within two games of the final wild-card spot. While the Diamondbacks and Padres continue to solidify their playoff positions, the Mets have some work to do to turn this nine-game homestand into something positive before they head back on the road to play those same Diamondbacks and Padres.
It was Bad Vibe Thursday from the ceremonial first pitch. Let’s hope they can quickly turn things around this weekend.
🎧 We dropped our latest episode of the Mets Fix Podcast this morning. Blake and Peter jump right into a spirited discussion about the Mets’ listless play of late, and a disappointing start to the homestand.
☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!
🔋 Power Surge
Let’s start with something positive: Mark Vientos.
We always knew he had power. Now, with the help of special assistant and former Met Carlos Beltrán, he is unleashing it to all sides of the field.
“He said, ‘You should think center and right-center [when approaching an at-bat],’” Vientos told reporters about advice Beltrán had given him back in June. “‘That will simplify the game for you.’”
👉 Opposite way: Vientos has made a concerted effort to let his strength power the the ball to where his swing takes it. Since meeting with Beltrán in June, he has gone from hitting 15.3% of balls in play to the opposite field to hitting the opposite way nearly 25% of the time.
I should note, these numbers are before his oppo- power display on Thursday.
After sending a fastball over the right-field fence in the third inning, he did it again in the fourth inning:
Vientos rewarded his manager for batting him second in the lineup, where he hasn’t batted since high school. Hitting second, fifth or sixth, facing righties or lefties, mashing to left field or right field, no matter the situation, the Mets’ young third baseman is doing damage.
He is hitting 43% above league average with 19 home runs in 73 games.
🤔 Decisions
Trailing 7–6 in the seventh inning, Mendoza called on Francisco Álvarez as a pinch-hitter for Jeff McNeil against southpaw Scott Alexander, with runners on first and second and one out.
While McNeil has found his swing against righties (he doubled earlier in the game off Mitch Spence), he is still only 6-for-his-last-25 with five strikeouts against lefties.
And since Tyrone Taylor had already pinch-hit for Winker to start the inning, that left Álvarez as the most dangerous right-handed bat on the bench.
At least, that’s the logic. In normal times, this would be a no-brainer. But the way McNeil has been hitting the ball, overall, compared to Álvarez, it felt like the wrong moment to make this switch.
So it went: Álvarez chopped the ball in front of the plate and was ruled out when it hit him in fair territory — he is now 6-for-his-last-29 against lefties, worse than McNeil.
Luis Torrens had a chance to let both Mendoza and Álvarez off the hook but recorded the final out of the inning.
🚶 Walk this way
It’s hard to beat yourself up over a home run that hooks and barely clears the right-field fence. It was only the second curveball a left-hander had turned into a home run against Quintana since 2017.
The problem is the two walks that preceded the home run.
Quintana has had pretty good control this season, walking only 8.7% of the batters he has faced, but he has walked at least four batters in three of his past five starts, and that really hurts when he’s allowing more and more home runs.
As a team, only the White Sox have walked more batters than the Mets this year.
The Amazins might have survived JJ Bleday’s grand slam had the bullpen done their job in the middle innings, but Huascar Brazobán and Reed Garrett walked three more batters and allowed three more runs to score, while none of the six relievers escaped an inning without issuing at least one free pass.
A high walk rate explains why a revamped bullpen that ranks second in baseball in strikeouts per nine innings since the trade deadline has an ERA over four runs during that time.
Not a recipe for a playoff team.
🎧 Mets Fix Podcast
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🍎 LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE: David Stearns confirmed he hasn’t decided yet whether to hire a general manager to operate under his role of president of baseball operations, matching what Andy Martino describes as the general sense around the industry that the Mets aren’t in a hurry to hire or appoint a GM.
If he were to hire a GM, Martino names Eduardo Brizuala, who followed Stearns to New York from Milwaukee, as a possible candidate, while noting it would be an exhaustive search that could target the likes of Matt Klentak of the Brewers and Mike Groopman of the Red Sox.
👎 SHUTDOWN: Reliever Sean Reid-Foley has been shutdown from throwing for a few days, according to manager Carlos Mendoza. “Structural-wise, the shoulder is fine. We just want to make sure that we get that stable, so he’s probably going to be shut down from throwing for a few days to get that stronger,” Mendoza explained, via SNY. “So, we’re going to pull him, obviously, from the rehab assignment and then we’ll see where we’re at after a couple of days and then kind of get him back up again, ramping up.”
💰 PAYDAY: Industry experts polled by the New York Post predict pending free agent Juan Soto could earn as much as $600 million on his next contract. The Mets will have a lot of payroll flexibility after this season; we will see if Mr. Cohen tries to pry him away from the Bronx.
☝️ NUMBER ONE: 2024 First Round pick Carson Benge recorded his first hit as a Met in his debut with Low-A St. Lucie.
📲 MEME WORLD: Yes, that was the Hawk Tuah Girl, Hailey Welch, throwing out the first pitch on Thursday.
🗓️ UP NEXT: The Amazins will look to turn the page against the Marlins, who have played them tough this year with a 5–5 record.
Sean Manaea (8–5, 3.44) will start the opener against right-hander Roddery Muñoz (2–6, 5.67), who has handled the Mets in two starts this year, allowing only one run, while striking out 10 in 11 innings.
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Well, I did not know about the first pitch until I read this! I don't care what she said or about the celebrity she has built since, but I think it's not a good look for the Mets to propagate.
Social media stars shouldn't throw out first pitches in my mind. Nothing against that young woman but aren't there more deserving options?