The New York Mets returned home and lay an egg on Tuesday to begin a new series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Usually, everyone is to blame after a 7-0 defeat. Freddy Peralta wasn’t very good. The bats did not appear. Momentum passed away too soon.
Every supporter should continue to believe that “there’s still time left to turn things around.” A Wild Card spot is within striking distance of them. The issue is that you’re giving yourself games you’ll regret if their ace allows six runs in six innings and the batsmen don’t score a single run.
The Mets had a more busier day than their on-field performance; among other things, there were many injury bulletins and a persistent slump.
Francisco Alvarez’s speedy return from the IL should be commended. An injury that was expected to take six to eight weeks barely lasted four. Since Hayden Senger isn’t a big league bat, Luis Torrens’ days off frequently resulted in games where he was used late. No one should be happier than him.
Alvarez was one of four Mets players to score a hit after his comeback. Carson Benge hit into an inning-ending double play in the third, so a single out of the nine spot with one out never mattered.
Alvarez’s comeback is still only a “what if” situation because his presence in the ninth place won’t have much of an impact on the team’s outcome. In the starting lineup on Tuesday, MJ Melendez, Brett Baty, and Marcus Semien all scored before him. Melendez is currently below the Mendoza Line for the season, and everyone is below it this month. The power potential can help extend a Mets lineup that frequently appears to be three or four hitters shy of being competitive, even if he just hits ninth for the team.
Jorge Polanco expectations have been set
can we anticipate from Jorge Polanco this year? We got a hint from Carlos Mendoza. This converted second baseman that the Mets sold us could, at most, play first base and, should he ever recover sufficiently, be a DH option.
Jared Young can play first base on a regular basis, and Polanco’s defense is still in doubt regardless of his health, so it’s not the worst-case situation. The Mets most likely privately hoped that this would happen, but in a different way. The emergence of Mark Vientos as a viable Pete Alonso substitute and perhaps Brett Baty could have worked instead of Polanco being forced to play DH due to injury.
Recently, Polanco was my most annoying Mets player of the year. Given that he was one of the team’s greatest offseason additions to go missing, this revelation simply serves to prove it.
Juan Soto has cooled off considerably
Juan Soto, who is currently 3 for 27 in June, is among the Mets’ coldest players. Despite a few unlucky at-bats, he hasn’t been terrible. But given that he didn’t run out a ball in Friday’s victory over the San Diego Padres, we might want to start wondering whether he’s feeling under the weather.
The Mets’ most crucial player, he had an incredible May with 10 home runs and 21 RBI while hitting.281/.369/.615, but it was never a sustainable pace. Dustin May is not among the excellent pitchers the Mets have faced.
On Tuesday, Soto managed a single against the Cardinals. He hasn’t hit a double since April 30th, which is odd. Since then, all of his hits have been home runs or singles. For a player the Mets rely too heavily on to lead them, it’s a mini-slump at the moment.
