So yeah, I may have fallen a little behind with the weekly Mets blogs. With school, work, and other stuff getting in the way, I kept pushing it back, but now that the Brave series is over, I think it’s a good time to start the weekly blog. In the future, I will try to get these blogs out on either Monday or Friday. I’m still undecided, so for now, it is TBD. But there will be a weekly Mets blog on SmallDog Sports. So, with that out of the way, let’s talk some Mets baseball.
I had a shitty blog all written out for how bad the Mets offense was. I had stats and examples, but my mood has changed after winning these last two games. I had to rewrite the blog because things have changed. I don’t know what mental illness I have that makes me completely forget the past whenever something good happens, but I have completely forgotten the last two weeks. The Mets won their last two series, but most importantly, they won a series in Atlanta against the Braves. Miracles really do happen, and I now believe in this Mets team for some reason. I still have my doubts, but these last two wins were huge.
It is funny because the Braves were feet away from making this a depressing start to the Mets’ weekly blog series, but Tyrone Taylor came in clutch. Tyrone Taylor saved all of us Mets fans from having such a sad, depressing Tuesday at work or school. They were able to squeeze by Monday’s game, and yesterday, they killed the Braves. 16-4 with this offense is something I did not know was possible. The only thing that sucked about yesterday was Tyrone Taylor had to hit a grand slam against our beautiful boy, Luis Guillorme. The Braves making that his debut is so fucked up, and it’s sad they had to massacre our boy.
Now, let’s talk some bad stuff. I’m not calling for Carlos Mendoza’s job, but I am concerned. Already three weeks into the season, the Mets are having bullpen usage issues. There should be no scenario where Edwin Diaz, Brooks Raley, and Adam Ottavino all have the same game off. At least one of those guys should be available on any given day. Also, my biggest problem with Mendoza was how he handled the Rhys Hoskins situation. That narrative was talked about so much, so I don’t feel that needs to be talked about anymore, but I hated how the Mets and Mendoza handled that. Carlos Mendoza has given me a lot of concern, and it is making me wonder why we hired a manager who learned under Aaron Boone.
Some more stuff that has me worried about this team is the offense. This offense has looked god-awful outside of Baty, Alvarez, and Marte. I have no clue what is happening to Nimmo, Lindor, Alonso, and McNeil. For the Mets to succeed this season, they need those four players to pick it up because adding JD Martinez can’t fix that all by himself. Nimmo and McNeil have started to pick things up, but I need to see more.
With that, at least Brett Baty has had an excellent start to the 2024 season. He has shown up in a year where he had to prove he could be a full-time MLB player. So far this season, he’s hitting .311 with 1 HR, 6 RBIs, and an OPS of .732. His OPS is no DJ Stewart, who has an OPS of .791, but still impressive nonetheless. He’s swinging the bat really well and is also showing that he can be a good defensive third-baseman. Brett Baty’s defense was pretty bad since he got called up in 2022, but in 2024, he has made a huge step. While the rest of the offense has its struggles, it’s good to see Baty finally showing us the player we thought he could be.
Players of the Week:
(I’ll be using the whole season just for this blog for obvious reasons)
Brett Baty: .311 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .354 OBP, .378 SLG, .732 OPS
Starling Marte: .271 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 SB, .340 OBP, .354 SLG, .694 OPS
After a struggle in Spring Training, Marte has really turned things around.
Francisco Alvarez: .297 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .333 OBP, .486 SLG, .820 OPS
Things have slowed down for Alvarez, but he started off red hot.
Tyrone Taylor: .300 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .364 OBP, .467 SLG, .830 OPS
Supposed to be the platoon, Tyrone Taylor might earn the starting gig the way he’s playing.
Jose Quintana: 1-1, 3 GS, 3.45 ERA, 12 K
Sean Manaea: 1-0, 2 GS, 0.82 ERA, 14 K
Edwin Diaz: 5 G, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA, 8 K
Drew Smith: 6 G, 0.00 ERA, 8 K
As long as Drew Smith isn’t talking to the Sports Illustrated hoes, he is an amazing pitcher.
Brooks Raley: 5 G, 0.00 ERA, 4 K
Needs Improvement:
(Same thing as before, going off season stats for this portion)
Francisco Lindor: .098 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .203 OBP, .176 SLG, .380 OPS
Pete Alonso: .220 AVG, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .291 OBP, .420 SLG, .711 OPS
Tylor Megill: Getting injured all ready is such a pain in the ass
Jake Diekman: 4 G, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Now, let’s check out what the Mets have coming up.
Let’s start with the owner’s request before we get into what’s up next for the Mets. Steve Cohen has asked us to do what the Phillies fans did with Trae Turner: give Francisco Lindor a standing ovation. He needs to get his mind back on track. There are a lot of shitty Mets fans DMing his wife and being absolute scumbags. We must show Lindor that we still believe in him, and hopefully, he can turn things around. Lindor was a Silver Slugger last season. He didn’t just lose his ability to hit the ball.
Now for the games, the Mets will have a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals at home. First of all, fuck the Royals. That goes without saying. They are a young team that has started off the season hot, winning their last seven games. The Mets begin the series against a former Met, Michael Wacha, as Luis Severino takes the mound for New York. Michael Wacha has been a pretty good pitcher as long as he isn’t wearing blue and orange. I need the Mets to shell him tonight. After that, the Mets have Sean Manaea going up against Alec Marsh, and then finally, the Mets take on Royals ace Cole Ragans, as the Mets still have a TBD on Doc Gooden’s jersey retirement day. With how the Royals are playing lately, it might be difficult for the Mets to win this series. The hope is that the offense can continue to play like it did against the Braves.
After that, the Mets stay in New York to take on the Pirates. The Pirates are off to another hot start to the season, as they are 9-4. The Pirates are just like the Royals, a fun, young team with a lot of potential for the future. It’s a three-game series, and the pitching matchups will be Adrian Houser V. Martin Perez, Jose Quintana V. Jared Jones, and Luis Severino V. Bailey Falter. These next two series are important for the Mets because the Royals and Pirates are two good teams right now that are overachieving. If the last two series have taught us anything, this Mets team can be good, so I expect at least a 3-3 record. And they need to get some wins now because, after the Pirates series, they are off to the West Coast.
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