It’s easy to blame the Mets 4-0 home opener loss to a lack of sleep and it probably had something to do with the lack of offense.
Not only did they have to travel from Miami during the wee hours of the morning, the Amazin’s had to go through a random drug test.
Sure, they are random, but you have to wonder if a member of the Lerner family had something to do with the timing on this one.
Needless to say, the team looked a little lethargic out there today with only Noah Syndergaard answering the call, with two earned runs over six innings, but old Thor was sent home early to get the right amount of ZZZZ for today.
“I though there was good energy,” said manager Mickey Callaway. “They just beat us. We didn’t get the good hits at the right time.”
Maybe after beating up on pitching for the past five games, the Mets deserved the benefit of the doubt. And the fans noticed the effort the team gave in Washington and Miami. New hitting coach Chili Davis received the loudest cheers, outside of Jacob deGrom and even last year’s punching bag, Dom Smith was warmly received.
Yes, these are not your 2017-18 New York Mets. Something changed here. You can tell Brodie Van Wagenen has built something special at this 10 year-old ballpark.
More importantly it’s how the Mets bounce back after this loss. There’s no shame in losing to Stephen Strasburg, when he’s on, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball and today, he was on, scattering three hits over 6.2 innings and nine strikeouts.
It’s how the Mets do after a game like this. Can they beat Patrick Corbin on Saturday and will they hit during the Twins series?
Last season, Mickey Callaway started 11-1 and everyone had the Mets ticketed to the playoffs and Callaway was considered a genius and we all know how that ended up. Heck, the Mets couldn’t hit to get Jacob deGrom more than 10 wins and he had an ERA of 1.70.
So yeah, let’s be cautious here. This was a tired team that ran into a good pitcher with his stuff and shutting the Mets down. There isn’t much more to say.
However, there are so many positive signs on this team. You have Jeff McNeil, who looks like he can hit no matter what and there’s Peter Alonso, who may be a better hitter and fielder than advertised. Even Wilson Ramos looks like the right call after one week.
You also have these ninth inning bullpen meltdowns, but those not named Edwin Diaz, so there’s some worry there.
But again, it’s one week and we have seen this story last season. It’s early, sure, and the Mets are 5-2, so we don’t know what this team will be come September.
The bottom line, though, is they can’t mail in games and even if they were tired, they can’t complain about it. Instead the Mets need to take every division game like it’s a playoff game. With the Nationals, Phillies and Braves all competing for the division.
So don’t get upset, just watch and hopefully this game was just a blip the Mets will laugh at the end of September.
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