WASHINGTON — This time final yr, the Mets had been the discuss of baseball. They appeared as if they had been working away with the NL East.
Now, they limp into Washington to face the lowly Nationals, a staff that has all however been out of postseason competition since Opening Day. However, the Mets (18-20) have solely received two extra video games than the Nationals (16-21). They’re 3-7 within the final 10 video games, 4-13 of their final 17 they usually’ve misplaced their final 5 collection, marking the primary time they’ve misplaced 5 straight since 2012.
“It doesn’t matter where you are in May,” Pete Alonso instructed the Daily News just lately. “It matters where you’re at for Game 162.”
While this would possibly true, this dismal early-season stretch has left many questioning what occurred to a staff that received 101 video games final season.
The circumstances are totally different this yr and although the roster was constructed to mannequin the staff from final yr, a number of the personnel is totally different as nicely. And plainly getting older by one yr has made all of the distinction for essential members of the 2023 staff like proper fielder Starling Marte, left fielder Mark Canha, third baseman Eduardo Escobar and, most troubling, right-hander Max Scherzer, who was scratched from his final begin with neck spasms.
But it’s Scherzer’s personal expertise in coping with adversity early on in a season that has helped the Mets retain some optimism. Scherzer was part of that 2019 Nationals staff that began so gradual that there was hypothesis that supervisor Dave Martinez might be dismissed solely a 3rd of the way in which by way of the yr. They went on to win the World Series.
On Memorial Day of final yr, the Atlanta Braves had been 23-26 and sat 9.5 video games again from the NL East lead. The Philadelphia Phillies had been 21-28 and 11.5 video games again. The Milwaukee Brewers led the NL Central at 32-18.
We all know what occurred from there: The Braves performed an insane second half to overhaul the Mets and win the division in the course of the ultimate week of the common season, the Phillies went on to win the NL pennant and the Brewers didn’t even make the playoffs.
The Mets suppose they’ll take classes from these groups.
“We can’t let a certain amount of games let us get discouraged no matter what part of the season we’re in,” Alonso stated. “So yeah, losing can be discouraging, but also, that’s the adversity that I talked about in spring. There are going to be times when certain guys may not be healthier, certain guys are going through a tough time on the mound or on the plate or whatever. Guys will go through some tough times.”
The beginning pitching workers goes by way of the hardest of occasions proper now. The most obtrusive subject is their lack of ability to pitch deep into video games, which then forces the bullpen to shoulder the load. The beginning workers has pitched solely 185 2/3 innings this season, tied with the Miami Marlins for the fourth-fewest quantity. They’ve had to make use of 23 pitchers this season, the second-most within the league, due to accidents, doubleheaders and simply plain ineffectiveness.
The drawback begins within the first inning. The Mets have been outscored 34-9 within the first inning this season.
Oftentimes the pitchers settle in after these first-inning blowups, however with bloated pitch counts within the first inning, they’ll’t make it into the seventh inning. The Amazins are 5-18 when their opponents rating first however 13-2 after they’ve scored first.
All of that is magnified by the Mets’ current offensive struggles.
“It’s a tough mindset to pitch in,” supervisor Buck Showalter stated Thursday after the Mets’ loss in Cincinnati.
The Mets have a mixed 0.5 pitching fWAR, the second-worst mark within the league. Their -15 run differential would counsel that they aren’t in horrible form offensively, however the Mets lineup is constructed to “pass the baton,” so to talk. The baton is getting dropped an terrible lot proper now.
The good factor is that there’s nonetheless time to select it up.
“It’s going to be really exciting at the end of the year when hopefully, we’re looking back,” Alonso stated. “We’ll be like, ‘Man, remember that? That was tough, but look where we are now.’”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com