Inside Yolk

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.

I was actually feeling good about the Mets on Monday morning. They were coming off a series win over the Marlins and were sitting in playoff position as the No. 8 seed in the National League despite having a 7-9 record. Andres Gimenez was well on his way to becoming Rookie of the Year, and the bullpen was pitching surprisingly well.

Then Monday happened. Marcus Stroman, who started the season on the injured list, announced that he was opting out for the remainder of the season. With Michael Wacha recently heading to the IL as well, that left the Mets with Steven Matz, Rick Porcello, and David Peterson alongside Jacob deGrom in their rotation. The scenario only got worse in the evening when Matz took the mound and gave up eight runs to the Nationals in fewer than five innings. The Mets lost 16-4.

That’s a good point, Gimli. The severity of the defeat should not have a lasting effect on the Mets’ title chances, but it’s not great for morale. When deGrom’s not on the bump, fans can’t have much confidence in the team that day. Maybe Rick Porcello can do something to encourage the faithful tonight. He’s coming off his best start of the season and going up against Washington’s ace Max Scherzer.

We really need to see another solid outing from Porcello in order to feel good going forward. The rotation is going to be thin the rest of the way, and I don’t think much will be available in the trade market due to the expanded postseason creating a huge seller’s market. The lineup should continue to hit, and the bullpen has several options, albeit volatile ones. I think the fate of these Mets will come down to making the rotation work. And, you know, MLB getting this season to work during a pandemic.

I’m starting to think that J.D. Davis might be my new favorite player. Not only is he a lovable goof who came out of nowhere to shine at the plate for the Mets last year, but in 2020 he’s continuing to hit line drives everywhere while sparkling on defense at third base.

Last night in New York’s 8-4 win over the Marlins, Davis hit a huge opposite field home run in the seventh inning that extended the lead from one run to three. It was a huge relief after the bullpen allowed a comfortable 4-1 advantage to become a 5-4 predicament. Davis also threw out a Miami batter from shallow left field on a ground ball. Clutch opposite field home runs and ridiculous throws from third base? Those are the things that David Wright is known for.

Calling Davis the next Wright is jumping the gun by more than a little bit, but I can’t stop myself getting exciting while watching him play this past week. If this keeps up, the trade that brought Davis to the Mets from Houston will probably go down as the only good move of the Brodie Van Wagenen era.

That 11-10 loss to Atlanta in which the Mets blew a 10-5 lead in just three innings was pretty bad, but I think last night’s debacle is the new leader for most Mets loss of the season so far.

With Miami’s roster depleted due to positive COVID-19 tests, the Mets had a chance to make up ground on the unlikely division leader. Of course, they did not count on (although many fans did) Marlins starter Humberto Mejia pitching striking out six batters in a little more than two innings. Mejia had not ever played beyond Class A Advanced, but the Mets only scored a single run against him on a Dominic Smith home run.

That wouldn’t have been too much of a problem, but Michael Wacha gave up a three-run bomb to Francisco Cervelli in the second inning, and the New York offense looked listless against the no-name Miami bullpen. When the Mets finally did break through for a crooked number in the eighth, they came tantalizingly close to tying the game only to fall one run short.

Even a brutal throwing error by Brian Anderson wasn’t enough to put the Mets over the edge. And of course, Edwin Diaz pitched brilliantly when it didn’t matter. At least we got another great defensive play by J.D. Davis, who might have to change his phone number to 877-GLOV-NOW.

Yeah, it was a pretty brutal loss. Considering the dire straits of the opposition, the fact that the Mets had to have this game, and the way they left the bases loaded while down a run in the eighth inning, it might be the worst of the campaign.

I knew it was smart leaving the door open for a Mets victory yesterday, and the boys pulled it off, defeating Max Scherzer and the Nationals 3-1 to split their two-game series in Washington.

Sure, the Mets caught a break when Scherzer sustained a hamstring injury and had to give way to Erick Fedde after one inning. But New York might have come out on top anyway because Rick Porcello was reunited with the Cy Young stuff that we thought was a thing of the past from watching his first two starts of 2020.

Slick Rick was hammering the lower part of the strike zone with his sinker and getting great downward on his changeup and slider. I didn’t watch a lot of Porcello before this season, but it’s clear to see why he was such an enticing young pitcher with Detroit and how he finally fulfilled his potential in Boston.

It also helped that the Mets played their finest defensive game of the season. We’ve talked before about how Porcello needs good defense behind him to be successful, and last night we finally saw a POSITIVE example of that.

Yesterday we found out that Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil, and Amed Rosario would be out of the starting lineup when the Mets started a two-game series vs. the Nationals. So far, two of those players have avoided the injured list, but Cano didn’t at will be out at least 10 games with a left adductor strain. Hopefully that means that McNeil (intercostal) and Rosario (quad) will be back in action soon.

The Mets’ lineup could sure use the boost after it mustered just three runs last night with Brian Dozier and Ryan Cordell in the lineup. Those two aren’t a pair you want starting every day, but at least Cordell was just designated for assignment when the Mets traded cash to the Rangers for right-handed pitcher Ariel Jurado.

Then again, we have Billy Hamilton starting in center field tonight instead of Cordell. I’m not sure if that’s an improvement, but Hamilton more of an exciting player for sure.

That bottom half of the lineup is not great, but Gimenez is looking more and more like he’s going to be a mainstay. The kid has made solid contact so far and he can play good defense at third base or shortstop. He’s got wheels too, which is something the Mets have lacked in recent years. You can tell from Luis Rojas moving him up in the lineup that the Mets need Gimenez to step up with Rosario and McNeil sidelined.

I had a feeling that getting rid of that negative vibes machine Yoenis Cespedes would lead to good things for the Mets. It wasn’t just because Jacob deGrom was on the mound last night. Besides, there was scientific evidence that something had shifted in the Mets clubhouse, because they finally got some hits with runners in scoring position.

Michael Conforto, Robinson Cano, and Wilson Ramos all hit RBI singles in the third inning to spot New York a 4-0 lead. With deGrom on the mound, that was plenty. The back-to-back Cy Young Award winner was money as usual, completing six innings with 10 strikeouts, one walk, and two runs allowed.

However, the Mets came not-so-shockingly close to giving up the lead in the seventh when Atlanta loaded the bases against Jeurys Familia. Good thing the old standby sacked up and struck out Ozzie Albies or we could be telling a much sadder story. Justin Wilson came on and got Freddie Freeman to ground out to end the threat.