The Metropolitan: Homeward bound!
Mets lose first series... But the home opener is finally here!
Good Morning,
Today we’ll talk about the Mets’ 8-2 loss to the Phillies, with a deep dive on David Peterson’s performance. Plus, we’ll preview the long-awaited home opener.
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And with that, let’s recap last night’s action.
⚾️ IN SHORT: The Mets once again couldn’t buy a hit with runners on base, David Peterson gave up four runs in the 1st inning, and the bullpen struggled (outside of Joey Lucchesi), as the Phillies beat the Mets 8-2 and took the opening series of the season. [Box Score]
🔑 KEY MOMENT: The entire context of the game changed in the bottom of the 1st inning when Alec Bohm turned a poorly-located fastball into a 3-run home run to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead.
📣 RALLY KILLER: After falling behind 4-0 early, the Mets responded with a run and had the bases loaded in the 4th inning with Michael Conforto at the plate. But he quickly fell into a two-strike count and eventually struck out looking. Conforto left 9 runners on base over the course of the game. NINE! He is off to a dreadful start at the plate: 3-15 with 14 runners stranded.
🧙♂️ WIZARDRY: Francisco Lindor made an incredible defensive play in the 6th inning that reminds you how good he is playing the shortstop position.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ BAD START: David Peterson put the Mets in a hole they couldn’t climb out of despite plenty of opportunities. We will talk much more about Peterson in a bit.
❷ RISP: Perhaps it would be more appropriate to preface this takeaway as RIP. Continuing a theme from previous seasons, the Mets bats have gone dead when they needed a clutch hit. They ended this game 1-12 with runners in scoring position, and stranded 14 baserunners in total. Over the three-game series, they left 30 men on base while hitting an abysmal 6-29 with RISP.
❸ THE BULLPEN: Another game, another bullpen disaster. Jacob Barnes introduced himself to Mets fans by serving up a 3-run home run to J.T. Realmuto on the first pitch he tossed. Dellin Betances replaced Barnes the following inning, and promptly hit a batter and walked another, before escaping with only one run of damage. The highlight of the evening came from Joey Lucchesi, who pitched two shutout innings of relief, striking out three and walking one, while allowing only one hit.
🧑🏫 SOUND SMART: After telling you Lucchesi struck out three batters, you’re probably assuming his famous “churve” must have been missing bats at a high frequency. But oddly enough, the pitch that had a 47.4 whiff percentage last season didn’t get one swing-and-miss yesterday (on 11 pitches). Instead, he used his sinker to earn nine called strikes (perhaps the Phillies were ready for this one to be over with) in helping him build up his strikeout total.
🎥 HIGHLIGHTS:
⏭ NEXT UP: It’s the Home Opener! While Citi Field will only be at 20% capacity, it will be a more than welcome sign to see Mets fans watching their favorite team in person for the first time since 2019. Taijuan Walker takes the hill for the Mets, with either Paul Campbell or Nick Neidert starting for the Marlins.
IN THE CELLAR: The Marlins, who feature a promising young pitching staff, but less imposing daily lineup, are off to a 1-5 start.
IF YOU GO: Remember to present a negative COVID-19 test or proof of full vaccination. And be sure to come early, so you don’t miss the opening ceremonies and player introductions.
FRIDAY OFF: After today’s game, the teams will take tomorrow off before resuming again on Saturday. '
❌ NO SHOWS: In a bit of a surprise, Mets closer Edwin Diaz did not appear in the first series of the season. Also yet to appear in any capacity was Robert Gsellman. Every offensive player made it into action.
😅 EXCITED: Taijuan Walker is excited to pitch the home opener today, adding it will be “a special day” because of “fans in the stands.” He said he will be nervous, but that “nerves are good.”
🏥 PHEW: J.D. Davis received additional x-rays on his left hand yesterday, which came back negative, meaning no bones were broken. He's listed as (the famously meaningless) “day-to-day,” but appears to have avoided a serious injury, per Anthony DiComo.
📅 SCHEDULE: MLB announced that games from the postponed series with the Nationals will be made up, with a split doubleheader on June 19, a night game on June 28, and a split doubleheader on Sept 4. All games will be played in Washington.
🦸♂️ OUR GUY: Former Met — and the most athletic member of the Mets Fix writing staff — Ty Kelly was traded from the KC Monarchs to the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, for a player to be named later.
Hidden positives for Peterson, amid the muck
🧓 by Jeffrey Bellone
Imagine the frustration of being a Major League pitcher: you come out of your warm-ups with a slider that Bryce Harper couldn’t hit on three consecutive tries (he finally bunted to make contact later in the game), but the rest of your pitches fail you early, so you find yourself in a 4-run hole and ultimately on the losing end of the scoresheet.
Such is life for David Peterson, who made his first start of the 2021 season on Wednesday and got lit up for six runs over four innings. While making that line look pretty would be like dressing up the old Veterans Stadium to look like Ebbets Field, the final numbers don’t completely tell the story of his outing. If you watched it unfold in real-time, you actually got to see a glimpse into how he works as a pitcher, and how he responds to adversity. There were several positives hidden beneath the pile of muck.
Peterson started the game by throwing the pitch he relies on most often, his 4-seam fastball. The problem was he couldn’t command it inside on right-handed hitters. You can see in the video below how James McCann positions himself low in the zone and sets the target inside on Rhys Hoskins, but the pitch ends up much higher and on the outer third of the plate.
As we showed earlier, Alec Bohm’s back-breaking 3-run home run also came on a pitch that missed his target up and over the wrong side of the plate.
If you blinked every time Peterson threw a slider in the 1st inning, you would have thought he had absolutely nothing working for him. But his slider was really really good. He threw it 14 times in the opening frame and got six swings-and-misses.
After leaving the mound with a 4-0 deficit, Peterson adjusted his approach beginning in the second inning. He ditched his 4-seamer and used his sinker and change-up to fetch called strikes, while continuing to use his slider to miss bats. After throwing 16 4-seamers in the first inning, the left-hander only tossed 8 more over the next three frames. And by being more selective with its usage, he was able to hit his spots more consistently later in the game.
Before Jacob Barnes turned two inherited runners into instant runs, Peterson had turned an awful beginning into a steady performance. If he can consistently produce a 43% called strike + whiff percentage (CSW%) on his slider, like he did yesterday, he will be effective in the future.
His 4-seam fastball generally finds the strike zone, he just needs to command it in the right spots. And being able to pivot from his primary 4-seam offering to his sinker and change-up, both pitches he struggled to find results with last season, is also a promising sign.
⚾️ Trevor Bauer allowed two runs while striking out ten over 6 2/3 innings, in the Dodgers’ extra-innings loss to the Athletics.
⚾️ Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks reached 103.2 mph on the radar gun during a scoreless appearance against the Marlins.
⚾️ Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and ended up finishing with seven shutout innings in the Brewers’ 4-2 extra-innings defeat of the Cubs.
⚾️ Atlanta pitcher Mike Soroka felt right shoulder discomfort and will be shut down for two weeks, although there’s no structural damage in the shoulder.
🔗 After his most eventful week, what did we learn about Steve Cohen and the Mets? by Tim Britton, The Athletic ($): “Typically the kings of Opening Day, it was only the second time in the last seven years the Mets have lost their first series of the season, though it’s also the second season in a row. It’s been one week since the Mets signed Francisco Lindor to his extension, one week since their season was supposed to start. What have we learned in the most eventful week of the Steve Cohen era to date?
🔗 Luis Rojas explains Mets' reasoning for sitting Jeff McNeil for Jonathan Villar, by Danny Abriano, SNY: “Rojas said that he expects McNeil to be in the lineup on Thursday when the Mets face the Miami Marlins in their home opener at Citi Field. But Rojas stressed that the way the team is built this season will allow for everyone to contribute in the lineup at one point or another.”
🔗 Mets’ series loss to Phillies cause for concern, but not panic, by Mike Vaccaro, NY Post: “OK, OK, OK. It’s three games. It’s one series. There’s plenty of ballgame left, plenty of season, 159 games and counting. The 1969 Mets started their season 2-5 and 3-7 and 6-11. The 1986 Mets started their season 2-3. Early April is for working kinks out, setting tone, settling into the season. Check. Check. Check. Check. You still have to be a little concerned by what you saw these first three games.”
🔗 The Mets’ Trevor Hildenberger on America’s Two Favorite Pastimes, by Caroline Golum, Screen Slate: “[B]efore he followed his life-long dream of playing professional baseball, Hildenberger toyed with the idea of becoming a film critic. Enchanted by this unconventional trajectory, I quickly took to Twitter — that antic nexus of film and baseball — and fired off a few zingers at the young hurler. Would he be interested in contributing to this very periodical? To my great surprise, Hildenberger responded enthusiastically.”
And… get pumped for the home opener today as the grounds crew gets Citi Field ready for fans, for the first time in ages…
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Intersting on the pitch selection - however shouldnt McCann be telling this kid which pitches to use from behind the plate ? Or is it McCann that doesnt know what he is doing ?
If this series showed us anything, it was something we all knew, bullpen is going to be a roller coaster and Realmuto is a way superior all around catcher than McCann.