Good Morning,
The Mets salvaged a split in their twin bill in St. Louis last night, losing 4-1 in Game 1, but taking the nightcap 7-2 thanks to some unlikely heroes. They find themselves in second place in the mediocre National League East.
Game 2 in particular brought some intriguing storylines to discuss. So with that, let’s start by recapping both games, beginning with the Mets’ win.
GAME 2 RECAP
⚾️ IN SHORT: In a game the Mets used an “opener” for the first time ever and fielded a lineup that didn’t include Francisco Lindor or James McCann, they got contributions from their replacements, strung together solid pitching from Jordan Yamamoto and their bullpen, and won 7-2 to preserve a split of the doubleheader. [Box Score]
🔑 KEY MOMENT: Starting in place of James McCann, it was backup catcher Tomás Nido, of all people, who sparked the Mets offense with a two-run home run in the third inning to give the Mets an early 3-0 lead.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ “ILLAR” BROS: If we were playing Wheel of Fortune, two different letters would be appropriate to complete the word “illar” off the clue “Player of the Game.” The Mets finally decided to give Lindor a game off following another 0-fer performance in Game 1 (he is now hitless in his last 24 at-bats), and Jonathan Villar made the most of the opportunity, going 2-4 at the plate with a home run and two RBIs, while making a dazzling play in the field late in the game. Meanwhile, Kevin Pillar is the team’s hottest hitter, collecting two more hits.
❷ PITCHING: Miguel Castro acted as the “opener” and pitched the first inning against the top of the Cardinals lineup. He gave up a hit and a walk, but escaped without any damage. Jordan Yamamoto followed Castro and got the W in his Mets debut by pitching 2.2 innings, striking out one and giving up one run. In contrast to Joey Lucchesi, who relies on two pitches, Yamamoto flashed all five of his offerings within the first five pitches he tossed.
FAMILIA: It’s time to take some notice of Jeurys Familia. He pitched the final inning of the game and lowered his ERA to 1.13 on the season. While he still has work to do to earn our trust, he’s trending in the right direction, showing subtle signs of improvement with his command (while still not great, it’s the best it has been from a strikeout-to-walk ratio since 2018). He has always been pretty good at inducing soft contact, and he is doing that at an elite level this year. A player to keep an eye on, especially as Edwin Diaz’s health is in question.
❸ CATCHING: Tomás Nido started his fifth game of the season and became an unlikely offensive hero (as discussed above). With Nido’s defensive prowess, if he can handle himself with the bat, it could give the Mets an opportunity to spell McCann more often. McCann has never played more than 118 games in a season.
GAME 1 RECAP
⚾️ IN SHORT: The Mets offense looked lifeless (resulting in two hits), a bunch of strange things happened concerning mound visits, Marcus Stroman was hurt by a Francisco Lindor error, and the Mets lost 4-1. [Box Score]
🔑 KEY MOMENT: After an error led Marcus Stroman into trouble in the 4th, and a mound visit seemed to upset him — but also raised his intensity level to strike out four straight batters after it — Stroman was about to get through five innings with only two runs allowed when Francisco Lindor made an errant throw on what should have been an inning-ending ground out. Met-killer Paul DeJong promptly hit a two-run home run to give the Red Birds a commanding 4-1 lead.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ NO OFFENSE: After mustering only two hits, manager Luis Rojas made an interesting comment to reporters after the game: “We were off balance. We didn't square anything up — almost like guys didn't have a good plan at the plate.” A day after firing Chili Davis, the Mets rolled out an unusual lineup that had Lindor leading off and Kevin Pillar batting clean-up (stacking righties against left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim). Obviously, the lineup change didn’t work.
❷ STARTERS: Once again, the Mets got a solid performance from their starter with Marcus Stroman pitching five effective innings (of the 7-inning game), spreading out seven hits, while striking out six and walking one. He allowed four runs, but only two were earned. He was ultimately hurt by the long ball—surrendering a solo shot to Paul Goldschmidt and the two-run blast to DeJong after Lindor’s error.
❸ DELAYS: If you were watching this game while eating dinner, you could have had a four-course meal during the top of the 4th inning. Let’s do a quick rundown of the madness (or lack thereof):
MOUND VISITS: Inexplicably, the game was delayed while the umpiring crew reviewed whether the Cardinals had too many mound visits. Yes, they went to the replay booth about mound visits. And they still got the ruling wrong! The Cardinals technically made two mound visits (when the rules clearly state teams can only make one per inning without needing to remove the pitcher), and the first should have never been allowed, as Kim’s interpreter went to the mound without a coach present, which is prohibited.
MORE MEETINGS: To make the inning even longer, the umpires met with both coaching staffs to explain their ruling on the mound visits (who said only desk jobs can have meetings about meetings?). And then they went to the replay booth again to rule a Nolan Arenado error (which resulted in him awkwardly tripping over the third base bag) was in fact a fielder’s choice out.
YAWWWN: After 41 pitches, 28 minutes, 2 mound visits, 2 walks, 1 hit, and a foul ball that hit Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizer in the wrong place (not quite a partridge in a pear tree ending to that verse), the inning finally ended with the Mets scoring their lone run.
As always, Keith summed it up best:
⏭ NEXT UP: The Mets will close out their series with the Cardinals in a matinee affair starting at 1:15 PM EST. Taijuan Walker takes the mound looking to salvage the series against former Mets farmhand John Gant. The St. Louis right-hander with a funky delivery carries an impressive ERA (2.16), but his underlying numbers aren’t so great. His fastball velocity is down over three ticks this year and opponents are barreling 7.1% of pitches they put in play.
🤕 INJURED LIST: Brandon Nimmo was placed on the 10-Day IL, retroactive to May 3. Nimmo injured his left index finger last Saturday, but played as a defensive replacement the following day. He has been held out of the lineup since then, and the team finally made a move on Wednesday, with catcher Patrick Mazeika called up to replace him.
👍 FEELING GOOD: Meanwhile, Jacob DeGrom told reporters that he is “feeling good now” after experiencing pain in his right side, “The plan’s to see the doctor again tomorrow and let him re-evaluate. Then the plan is to play catch again tomorrow if everything goes well.”
POSSIBLE CAUSE: “I noticed my mechanics were off,” deGrom said about his last start before he started to feel sore. “Looked at some of the video and got some of the numbers and my arm was down a little bit so, like I said, flying open. So that’s obviously going to put more stress on the arm.”
RELEASE POINT: You can see what deGrom is talking about by looking at his vertical release point in the chart below. It’s not uncommon for him to have some games with a higher release point (as he did in his first start), but he rarely has his arm as low as he did against Boston on April 25.
📝 BACK TODAY: While Lindor sat the second game last night, manager Luis Rojas expects to put him back in the lineup today.
🤔 FOOL’S RULES: Mets radio announcer Wayne Randazzo pointed out a bizarre quirk in the rules regarding pitcher wins last night:
🏃♂️ PLAYING CATCH-UP: Hugh Quattlebaum seemed as surprised as everyone else that the Mets abruptly hired him to replace Chili Davis as hitting coach. New to the organization and having spent his short time working with players in the minor league system, he told reporters he needs to get to know the Mets hitters and “know the words that link up with how they like to think about their swings and their approaches.”
HAPPY MEDIUM: “Everything in this game for me is a happy medium,” he said when asked whether he favored an analytical approach. “At the end of the day if the results are good, it doesn’t really matter how a guy’s getting there, what he’s thinking, what his thoughts or approach are.”
💐 MAY FLOWERS: After a tough opening day outing, RHP Trevor May has been lights-out, compiling ten straight scoreless appearances for a 1.74 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
🏆 HALL-OF-FAME: Keith Hernandez was voted by the fans into the Cardinals Hall-of-Fame. An official ceremony will take place on August 21 in St. Louis. He was inducted to the Mets HOF back in 1997, but has failed to get his due in Cooperstown.
⚾️ Orioles LHP John Means threw a no-hitter against Seattle last night, with no walks or hit batsmen. It would have been a perfect game, but a third strike that went for a wild pitch enabled former Met Sam Haggerty to reach first (before he would be erased trying to steal, immediately afterwards).
⚾️ Cincinnati’s Joey Votto fractured a thumb and is expected to miss a month.
⚾️ Pittsburgh closer Richard Rodriguez has achieved a reliever’s perfect game, having now retired 28 straight batters.
🔗 How is the Mets’ Jacob deGrom throwing this hard and still getting better? by Tim Britton, The Athletic: “Over the last decade, no starter at any age has added more velocity to their fastball over any stretch of time than deGrom has. Caravan cited research done by Jeff Zimmermann at FanGraphs that showed the average pitcher lost 2 mph on his fastball from age 26 to 32. DeGrom gained more than 4 mph during that span of his career.”
🔗 The Mets make a mess of their offensive struggles, by Jay Jaffe, FanGraphs: “It now falls to Quattlebaum and Howard to help Lindor climb out of this hole, which might be a bit less concerning if the shortstop’s 2020 season didn’t already represent a notable downturn in production, but that’s the kind of pressure that comes with big money in the Big Apple. Lindor isn’t alone in his struggles, either, and so the new guys have plenty of other players who need their help while also reaching those such as Alonso, who feel stung by the sudden move.”
And… meet new hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum, as he talks about connecting with players who miss Chili Davis:
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