The Jake & Jeff show
Two key Mets make hotly awaited returns tonight
Good Morning,
The Mets lost 3 of 4 in the nation’s capital this weekend, but the schedule only gets more difficult tonight, as they play their second intra-division doubleheader in three days (this time against the Braves).
We’ll discuss Jacob deGrom’s return to the mound since his aborted start last week, and Jeff McNeil’s eagerly anticipated return to the club.
But first, let’s recap yesterday’s action.
⚾️ IN SHORT: Kyle Schwarber walloped three home runs, Patrick Corbin kept the Mets’ hitters in check, and the Washington bullpen held on to close out the 5-2 Nats win. Taijuan Walker turned in a gutty performance — he never seemed all that comfortable, but still went 6.1 IP, striking out 5. [Box Score]
🔑 KEY MOMENT: After Pete Alonso homered to make it a one-run game in the top of the 7th, Gerardo Parra (aka “Baby Shark”) pinch hit in the bottom of the inning, lining a double to left that drove Walker out of the game. Schwarber promptly homered off Jeurys Familia to make it a 5-2 game and the Mets never threatened again.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ SEND IN THE CAVALRY: As inspiring as the play of the replace-Mets has been over the last several weeks, this team is in need of some offensive pop. The Mets scratched out just 4 hits yesterday against a pitcher with a 5.40 ERA after getting 2-hit on Thursday and Friday. Fortunately, McNeil is expected to be activated today, Michael Conforto should be back by the end of the week and Brandon Nimmo will hopefully follow after that.
❷ LEADOFF IS THE NEW CLEANUP: Non-tendered by the Cubs this offseason, Schwarber has had a resurgence of late for the Nationals. He homered three times yesterday and has 9 HR in his last 10 games and 18 HR for the year. Schwarber was moved into the leadoff spot on June 12, providing a much-needed spark for the Nationals.
❸ WATCH OUT FOR THE NATIONALS: On June 12, the Nationals were 8 games under .500 and struggling to stay relevant in a weak NL East. Since then, they’ve won 7 of 8 to pull into third place, just 5 games behind the Mets. They’ve done this all without their two aces, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg — and Scherzer is expected back tomorrow.
🧑🏫 SOUND SMART: Only 18 players in Major League history have hit 4 home runs in a game — and no player has ever hit 6 home runs in 2 games. Schwarber, who smacked two dingers the game before, was denied a chance at both feats when Nationals Manager Dave Martinez lifted him for defense in the 8th inning (a decision that really seemed to irk Gary Cohen on the Mets telecast!).
⏭ NEXT UP: The Mets return home, where they are 20-7 this season, for a 4-game set with Atlanta. It’s a celebratory homestand as Citi Field is open to 100% capacity for the first time since 2019. The Braves will pitch left-hander Kyle Muller and right-hander Ian Anderson in today’s doubleheader, but they haven’t announced who will pitch which game. The Mets are expected to lead off with Jacob deGrom (6-2, 0.54 ERA).
JAKE: This is obviously a huge outing for the two-time Cy Young, whose health has raised alarms after he failed to go long in several recent starts. Despite leaving his last one after completing the third inning (thanks to shoulder soreness), the ace insists he is ready to go. It’s no over-statement to suggest that the season depends on deGrom being able to stay healthy for much of it.
JEFF: McNeil has been on the shelf for more than a month, due to hamstring trouble, and the .312 career hitter’s return comes when the Mets bats have been ice cold. Upgrading at second base from Jose Peraza to McNeil should help ignite some much-needed offense, at a time when the team is struggling to score any runs (more on this in a minute).
ATLANTA: Like the Mets, the Braves are playing some catch-up on their schedule. They travel to New York after splitting a doubleheader yesterday against the Cardinals in which Ronald Acuña Jr. hit his 100th career home run and Drew Smyly took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. After taking 3 of 4 from St. Louis, the Braves are five back of the Mets.
📈 STANDINGS: After losing 3 of 4 to the surging Nationals, the Mets’ record fell to 36-29, but their lead above the Phillies remains at 4 games.
🍎 Owner Steve Cohen was in DC and met with reporters on Sunday. A few key highlights:
BIG SPENDERS: If needed, Cohen is ready to flex his financial muscle and exceed the luxury tax threshold to add talent at the trade deadline: “We're not going over for a million, two million bucks. That's stupid," he said. "If you're going to do it, you're going to do it. We'll see what's available."
TUNED IN: The new owner has surprised himself by how much he cares about every game, saying he “lives and dies on every inning.”
EXTENSION TALKS: Cohen “loves” Jacob deGrom but said the timing isn’t right for a contract extension: "I don't think it's the right moment. We're focused on this year. Obviously, it's something we're thinking about." deGrom has an opt out following the 2022 season.
🏥 GETTING HEALTHY: Brandon Nimmo played in his first rehab game on Sunday with Triple-Syracuse, going 1-for-2 at the plate. The outfielder, who has been sidelined since early May, could finally return to the major league lineup next weekend. As mentioned earlier, Jeff McNeil is expected to be activated today, and Michael Conforto appears days away from returning.
🤕 HURT: Meanwhile, Joey Lucchesi will receive an MRI on Monday. The left-hander was placed on the 10-Day IL over the weekend due to elbow inflammation.
⚾️ ROSTER MOVES: The Mets called up right-handed Jerad Eickhoff for pitching support in today’s doubleheader. To make room on the roster they designated outfielder Mason Williams for assignment.
FROM THE WEEKEND: It became obvious it wasn’t going to be a great weekend when the Mets extended their 21-inning scoreless streak by being shutout on Friday in a game they were forced to use Edwin Díaz in a non-save situation when Seth Lugo was “gassed” after throwing six pitches in the eighth. The Mets would lose that game 1-0. They then split a doubleheader on Saturday, receiving a breakout performance by Francisco Lindor (3-for-5, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs) in the first contest (to temporarily mask the team’s woeful offense) before losing the nightcap in which they surrendered two home runs to Kyle Schwarber.
📚 ON THIS DATE:
Thank you, Jose Peraza
🧓 by Blake Zeff
Mets fans will be justifiably thrilled to see Jeff McNeil finally return to the club today after a 35-day absence. As noted above, the offense has been severely hurting and McNeil is a lifetime .312/.379/.489 hitter. With Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo still days away, and JD Davis nowhere close, McNeil's bat will give the club a much needed offensive boost and their first glimpse of first-string cavalry since a freakish rash of injuries led to lineups starring Cameron Maybin, Khalil Lee, Brandon Drury and Travis Blankenhorn.
But while McNeil's return is big, it's easy to overlook the job that was done in his absence to help the club tread water. With him and Luis Guillorme both out for weeks, the Mets wrote Jose Peraza's name into the lineup at 2B, and hoped for the best from a long-time Reds utility guy who sported -1.3 WAR in 2019.
When it comes to third-string godsends, Billy McKinney has gotten much of the acclaim. And, let's face it, Peraza's traditional numbers -- .198/.250/.386 -- are grotesque. But for roughly a month, the 27-year-old Venezuelan stabilized the position, and offered some value in unexpected ways.
Offensively, he showed surprising pop, smacking 5 home runs over 101 at-bats (for context, McNeil had 3 in 99 ABs) — and all five mattered, to varying degrees. The first four gave the Mets a lead (giving Peraza the most go-ahead homers on the team), and the fifth was a 2-run blast in their 6-2 loss Saturday that spared the Mets from being shut out for a third time in four games.
Defensively, Peraza is tied for second in baseball among second basemen with 6 Outs Above Average (OAA), tied for first in runs prevented (5), and tied for first with an 8 percent "success rate added" (the difference between his "success rate" and "estimated success rate").
Now, none of this is to suggest that Peraza's time as a starter isn't up. McNeil is a legit top-of-the-order hitter on a playoff caliber team. And Guillorme is clearly the second best option at the position. It's frankly questionable whether Peraza -- who's really started to be exposed at the plate as he's hit the 100 AB mark -- even deserves a role on the big league roster anymore.
But when you look at quality teams over the course of a 162 game season, there are always key contributions from unexpected places that help you get far. And while Jose Peraza may not be at the front of our minds come September or October, he will have played a role in steadying a position, at a time when the club really needed it.
So, thank you, Jose Peraza. You may end up heading back to AAA-Syracuse. But you played a small role in saving this season.
⚾️ A pitcher for the Angels named Shohei Ohtani happens to now lead the majors in homers with 23, after launching a majestic 414 foot bomb last night. It was his eighth over his last 17 games.
⚾️ Tampa is reportedly set to promote Wander Franco, the sport’s top prospect, in time for tomorrow’s game. The 20-year-old shortstop smacked .323/.376/.601 with 7 HR, 6 triples, 35 RBI and 5 steals in AAA.
⚾️ Future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols smoked a three-run bomb yesterday, his 6th homer in 26 games since joining the Dodgers last month.
🔗 Mets bats still unhelpful, Nationals take four-game series, by Deesha Thosar, NY Daily News: “The Mets collected just nine runs and 21 hits in the four-game series at Nationals Park over the weekend, culminating in a 5-2 loss to the Nationals in the finale on Sunday. They went 1-3, winning just Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader thanks to Francisco Lindor’s 5 RBI game, and they headed back to New York following a dispiriting matchup against their division rivals.”
🔗 Brandon Nimmo moves a step closer to rejoining Mets, by Mike Puma, NY Post: “Brandon Nimmo, who has missed nearly two months after tearing a ligament in his left hand that was originally thought to be nerve damage, began a minor league rehab assignment Sunday for Triple-A Syracuse, going 1-for-2. Michael Conforto played in that same game and could be within days of rejoining the Mets after a strained right hamstring cost him the last month.”
🔗 Here is each team's All-Star of the future. Mets: OF Dominic Smith, by Anthony Dicomo, MLB.com: “Smith likely would have made the All-Star team last year had there been a game. He won’t make it this year due to a slow start at the plate. But there’s too much talent here for Smith to spend every Midsummer Classic at home. He’ll remain an integral part of the Mets’ lineup next season no matter how the rest of the roster shakes out, and his left-handed swing should continue to generate production for him in future seasons.”
And… we leave you with this video of Francisco Lindor mic’d up and having a blast…
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Nice nod to Peraza. Defensively, he was huge. The subs kind of faded out at the end, were exposed for their limitations. When all the injuries first hit, I imagined the Mets plummeting to the cellar. They held the line. I've missed McNeil most of all. Nimmo, second.
Note to Gary Cohen: If McNamara had taken Bill Buckner out of the game for defensive purposes like he should have, there is likely no 1986 championship. Martinez's job is to win the game, not to promote Kyle Schwarber's chances of breaking a record. Sentiment doesn't always win games.