Inside Yolk

I feared the worst for the Mets’ 2020 season when we found out that two members of the team had tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday. Fortunately, all subsequent tests have been negative and the team is set to resume play tonight after having four games postponed.

The Mets will get the action restarted with two seven-inning games against Miami tonight, but ace pitcher Jacob deGrom won’t be on the mound for either of them. Instead, he’s slated to start on Wednesday. It’s a strange decision since it means deGrom would miss all five games against the Yankees (two doubleheaders to make up for last weekend and one standalone game) this weekend.

I guess what the Mets are trying to do is save deGrom for nine-inning games in which they need the starter to go longer. I get the appeal of deGrom easily completing a shortened game by himself, but with the rotation already in shambles, it’s easy to defend what the Mets are doing. Plus, games against division rivals are more valuable in the standings than the Subway Series games, no matter what your heart or the back pages might tell you.

I was just starting to have a little faith in the Mets’ bullpen, but last night it almost blew a game along with all the good vibes that the team has built up in Miami. With the Mets holding a 3-1 lead in the eighth thanks to six rock-solid innings pitched by Jacob deGrom, Dellin Betances allowed the bases to be loaded on two singles and a walk. He then hit Eddy Alvarez with a pitch to force in a run. That prompted Mets skipper Luis Rojas to bring in Edwin Diaz with two outs and the bases loaded.

I’ve liked the way that Diaz has looked over his past few appearances — his month of August: 19 strikeouts, two walks, one run allowed in eight and one third innings — but even I wasn’t ready for Diaz to be inserted into a huge spot like this. My fears were confirmed when Diaz walked Logan Forsythe on five pitches (could have easily been four) to tie the game. Diaz then struck out Jonathan Villar to end the threat, but this was still looking like a typical Mets disaster game.

Brandon Kintzler took the mound for Miami in the ninth and got two quick outs before Brandon Nimmo reached on a line-drive single. That brought Michael Conforto to the plate.

Boom. Biggest hit of the season. Just when it looked like the Mets were due to take one step backwards after two steps forward in Miami, Scooty McFreakingBooty delivers a BOMB to center field, putting the bad guys back on top. To top it all off, Diaz was untouchable in the bottom half, striking out the side on just 12 pitches. Big win, baby.

The Mets found out on Tuesday afternoon that David Peterson wouldn’t make his scheduled start in Miami. Instead, he went on the injured list with shoulder fatigue and Corey Oswalt took the mound against the Marlins. It was another tough blow for a rotation that has dealt with injuries and poor performances throughout the season. Michael Wacha is dealing with shoulder inflammation, Marcus Stroman opted out due to COVID-19 concerns, and Steven Matz has been a gas can all year.

New York continues to persevere, though, thanks to a deep lineup and bullpen. Oswalt didn’t make it out of the fifth inning last night, but that was plenty against a Marlins team that has been stretched thin by the pandemic. Justin Wilson, Jared Hughes, and Dellin Betances combined to throw three and two thirds scoreless innings before Edwin Diaz scared everyone by allowing three straight hits before striking out the side in the ninth. The Mets won 8-3 thanks to Brandon Nimmo, Dominic Smith, and Amed Rosario each driving in multiple runs.

Nimmo has been an on-base machine all season, but he’s stepped up his power game lately and is developing into a guy who can help in all aspects. With 22 walks, 20 strikeouts, four home runs, and two triples so far, Nimmo is a jack of all trades and a master of working deep counts.

The Mets are now at the very bottom of the National League East after losing three straight games to the rival Philadelphia Phillies. The series started out rough with Jacob deGrom being scratched and then Philadelphia winning by mere inches on a very close play at the plate. It was the consecutive 6-2 decisions on Saturday and Sunday that were particularly frustrating.

On Saturday night, Steven Matz appeared to get back on track, allowing one run in his first four innings, but he combusted in the fifth, which allowed the Phillies to take a 6-0 lead while the Mets were shut down by Aaron Nola. New York didn’t score until Dominic Smith homered in the final inning.

On Sunday with the Mets trying to salvage a game, Luis Guillorme came up with a huge two-RBI single to put New York ahead 2-1 in the fourth. Our new ace Rick Porcello had settled down after a rough first inning and appeared to have everything under control. However, in the sixth, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm both doubled to tie the score before Andrew McCutchen delivered the decisive blow with a two-run homer.

That was fun while it lasted. There are now just 37 games left in the Mets’ 60-game slate, and it’s going to be tough to move up in the standings when you can’t squeeze a quality start out of any member of the rotation. deGrom should be back soon enough, but he can only do so much. Porcello needs to keep it rolling in the sixth after dominating for four straight innings. Matz needs to go to the Jamie Moyer school of not getting lit up when you’re a lefty with less-than-elite stuff. Besides deGrom, David Peterson is the only starter performing at or above expectations right now.

I had a feeling that Friday night’s Jacob deGrom vs. Spencer Howard matchup looked a little too good to be true. What could have been an easy win for the Mets turned into anything but when deGrom was scratched due to a stiff neck. New York’s ace isn’t expected to miss much time, but there isn’t much time to spare in a short season in which deGrom is the Mets’ only dependable starting pitcher.

Walker Lockett stepped in and did a decent job. During the first five innings, Lockett allowed two runs while the Mets offense took care of business and scored four times against Howard. Two of those tallies came on back-to-back home runs by Dominic Smith and Robinson Cano.

However, in the fifth inning, the red-hot J.T. Realmuto smash a three-run bomb to left that gave Philadelphia the lead.

New York’s bats turned frustratingly silent against a Phillies bullpen that has been a dumpster fire in 2020. The Mets wasted leadoff hits in the sixth and the seventh. With one out in the eighth, Luis Guillorme reached with his third hit of the game before giving way to pinch-runner Billy Hamilton. That appeared to be a sound strategy when he immediately stole second base, but when the ball came loose, Hamilton took off for third and was thrown out by Didi Gregorius.

I know I’m not the only one who figured that the Mets were doomed when David Peterson started Thursday’s matinee by walking Trea Turner. The impending sense of dread only worsened when Adam Eaton reached on a Tomas Nido throwing error and Starlin Castro walked to load the bases for Juan Soto. We discussed yesterday how dangerous Soto is, but Peterson sacked up and struck him out looking.

After Howie Kendrick drove in a run by driving a grounder off of Peterson’s foot, Asdrubal Cabrera came up with two runners in scoring position and two outs. Cabrera drove a slider deep to left-center field gap, and it would have scored two Washington runs if not for Jeff McNeil making the best defensive play of his life.

Don’t worry, Jeff. We get all our highlights from the internet these days. McNeil stayed down for a while after the play and had to be carted off the field. Later, we heard that he had sustained a deep bruise on his knee and will avoid a stint on the injured list for now.

Following the heroic display of defense, the Mets dominated the rest of the way. Peterson didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, and Nido of all people drove in six runs with the first multi-homer game of his career.

Dominic Smith also homered in the game, while Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto each reached base three times. I know it will still be a while until most Mets fans trust Edwin Diaz again, but he was in good form in a low-leverage spot yesterday. In the eighth inning, he recorded the equivalent of five outs in a row with two strike outs, and pop-up, and two soft ground balls that became an infield single and an error. Washington had a lot of trouble squaring up his stuff.

It’s no secret that Pete Alonso has gotten off to a cold start this season. We haven’t see the ridiculous power that fueled his record-breaking 2019 campaign. Other Mets have helped pick up the slack, like J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto and the surprising Andres Gimenez, but we all know the Mets’ offense won’t reach its full potential until Alonso is treating baseballs like a polar bear does ambitious tourists. That is, clobbering them.

Last night was a big step towards Alonso getting on track. He cranked out three extra-base hits in New York’s 11-6 win over Washington. Two of those hits were opposite-field doubles and the other was a monster home run down the right-field line. It didn’t match up to what Juan Soto did to Robert Gsellman in the first inning, but it got the job done.

Soto is four years younger than Alonso and is one of the best hitters in baseball right now. If he keeps going like this, Soto is going to be one of the best hitters of all time. He’s so good that Washington fans should be happy their team lost Bryce Harper in free agency to a division rival. If the Nationals had retained Harper, I’m not sure they would be able to afford what Soto will eventually demand. I’d be shocked if the team’s front office isn’t planning the entire future around keeping Soto, because he’s as special a talent as you’re going to find.