A Bad April For the Mets

Author: Steven Chase

Editor: Brian Symons

April 2021 saw its ups and downs for the orange and blue. We saw the breakouts of players such as Brandon Nimmo, JD Davis, Marcus Stroman, Miguel Castro, and others. We also saw Jacob deGrom continue to show why he is the best pitcher in baseball. But, we saw players such as Francisco Lindor, Joey Lucchesi, and a few others struggle. The Mets finished April 9-11, amidst a three-game losing streak. To sum up April for the Mets, the best term is inconsistency; let’s get into it.

Firstly, let’s start off the good. Jacob deGrom comes to mind before anyone else. The April Pitcher of the Month posted a 0.51 ERA, 0.82 FIP, 0.57 WHIP, 1.38 SIERA, and a 1.48 xERA for this timespan. With the exception of possibly Corbin Burnes, nobody was particularly close to deGrom this month. This was to be expected by the 2 time Cy Young, and will most likely continue throughout the rest of the season. Additionally, the resurgence of Pete Alonso was seen to start off in 2021. Through May 3rd, Alonso has a 142 wRC+, .382 xWOBA, .578 xSLG, along with a few absolute moon shots. We have not seen this production from Alonso since the 2019 season, and I hope to see it continue throughout the rest of the season. In addition to Alonso, JD Davis and Brandon Nimmo have been electric to start off the season. Nimmo (148 wRC+) and Davis (198 wRC+) have been the Mets only hitters with above a .300 batting average, and have been a key part in all Met wins. To add on, Michael Conforto, who had an OPS under .600 to start the season, has brought his wRC+ back up to 118 to close out April.

Conforto, who bats third in the lineup, will need to keep this up for the Mets to win. On the pitching end, the bullpen has been electric. As of April 27th, the Mets had a 3.16 SIERA (2nd), 74 xFIP- (1st), 66 FIP- (1st), and 29.7 K% (2nd). A few stand-out performers throughout this span have been Aaron Loup (1.64 SIERA), Miguel Castro (1.69 SIERA), Trevor May (2.01 SIERA), and of course Edwin Diaz (3.62 SIERA). Diaz had a couple of rough outings in between some elite outings, which heavily raised his numbers. Evidently, even without Seth Lugo, the Mets bullpen has been elite. The bullpen feeds right into the starting pitching, which is good but not quite as good. Marcus Stroman (1.84 ERA, 3.51 SIERA, and 3.22 xFIP) has been very solid to start off the season. Considering that by summer, the Mets will have both Syndergaard and Carrasco back, Stroman is a great 4th starter. Following Stroman, Peterson has bounced back from a rough start in Philly to end April with a 2.85 xFIP and 3.22 SIERA. Although he has been overshadowed by deGrom and Stroman, Peterson has proved that he deserves the fifth spot in the rotation when fully healthy.

Now for the bad. The Mets have a .240 team BA, which is alright, but the concerns come from the teams .209 BA with RISP. This has been a large concern for the Mets since the start of 2019. Although he hasn’t been particularly bad, Taijuan Walker has had a confusing start to the season. Although he has a respectable 3.00 ERA, he has ranked towards the bottom of the league in hard-hit metrics; A 5.06 xERA and 4.33 xFIP shows that Walker has been somewhat lucky to be where he is to start the season. He should be in long relief once Syndergaard and Carrasco come back, as David Peterson has better metrics to start the year.

On the other hand, Jeff McNeil has been pretty unlucky to start the year. McNeil has a .235 batting average so far, which is unlike him as he came into this year with a .319 lifetime batting average. McNeil is middle of the back in max exit velo (59th percentile), but below average in barrels (21st percentile). He has a .335 xWOBA and a 105 wRC+, but things are trending up for McNeil as he had a 4 hit night in Philadelphia. Although things are looking up for McNeil, this is not the case for Francisco Lindor. The 341 million dollar man has not been comfortable in the box to start off 2021. Amidst an 0 for 21 stretch, Lindor has a .163/.284/.209 slash line along with a 51 wRC+ and .311 xWOBA. Obviously, the power has been non-existent for Lindor, and he has not been getting on base much either. Lindor has a 7.1 UZR/150, so his offense has not impacted his defense. But, the offensive numbers have not been pretty for Lindor. Personally, I am not very worried, as Lindor has gotten out of slumps like this before in Cleveland. But for now, it's ugly. Additionally, James McCann has also been a failed contract so far (3 years for 37 million dollars) as he has posted a 55 OPS+. Although he has portrayed a strong arm, he has done nothing at the plate. Finally, we will examine Joey Lucchesi.

Lucchesi has given up a great deal of hard contact and finds himself with a 4.30 xFIP along with a 10.13 ERA. Obviously, it's hard for a team to win if they have a pitcher giving up over 10 runs per 9 innings, and hopefully, Luccehessi will improve going into May and June.

To conclude, the Mets have had their good and bad moments in 2021. Even though the first 20 games have seen them 2 games below .500 they have one of the best rosters in the MLB, and things will improve once the team is fully healthy and Lindor’s bat comes around.

METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

Who Will Be the Mets Manager By The End of The Season?

Author: Frank Caggino

Editor: Brian Symons

One of the biggest takeaways from Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson’s early-season press conference, was Sandy’s response when asked about Mets manager Luis Rojas. Alderson said the Mets have not picked up Rojas’ 2022 option. This shows that the new owner and new front office will be watching Rojas closely. Luis has not done himself any favors in the first week of the season. Rojas has made multiple questionable decisions that have not been successful. The manager was not terrific last season, but 2020 was a year unlike any other.

Most Mets fans were willing to give Rojas a pass because of the uniqueness of the 2020 season. The season started, then stopped, and then did not begin again until later in the summer. There were only 60 games and the schedule was different than normal year, with every game being against local teams. Last year, Rojas decision-making was not the best and his demeanor was not loved by Mets fans. The front office also did not give him the greatest roster with the tight budget the previous owner had.

While some Mets fans wanted the Mets to get more star players, this team is significantly improved on paper. Their performance in the first week of the season does not resemble a team that is improved. Rojas has not made the most out of this roster and their very first game of the season was a perfect example. Kevin Pillar batted leadoff and Dom Smith was on the bench. Brandon Nimmo leads the league in on-base percentage and batted eighth in the first game of the season. To make matters worse, Rojas took out Jacob deGrom after only 77 pitches when earlier in the day he said Jake could go 100 pitches. deGrom had been pitching well and the bullpen wound up blowing the lead and the Mets lost. The other main head-scratching move by Rojas was having Jonathan Villar bat sixth multiple times and playing him over Luis Guillorme. If the Mets continue to struggle, it will be interesting to see if Rojas finishes the year as the manager.

The one thing that Rojas has to his advantage is the limited managerial replacement options. If the Mets were to move on from Rojas, who will replace him? There are no candidates that stand out which could make replacing him risky. There have been worse managers than Rojas, and the Mets cannot make another mistake with who their manager will be. Obviously, it is still early, but if Rojas wants to be the manager next year, he has to adjust to help get the Mets back to the postseason.

METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

How to Improve the 2021 New York Mets

Author: Spencer Reyes

Editor: Brian Symons

Mets fans haven’t had the greatest luck in 2021. To start off, our season was delayed because of COVID cases and quarantine protocols from the Washington Nationals. On top of that when the Mets had their long-awaited season opener against the Phillies, the bullpen crumbled and left DeGrom out to dry yet again. Our manager, Luis Rojas, has been criticized for not keeping his word and making the wrong lineup adjustments. He told the media before this past Monday that you can expect DeGrom to pitch 100 pitches but was then pulled after 77. In recent lineups, we have seen players like Jonathan Villar batting over superstars like the flying squirrel himself, Jeff McNeil. Although the Mets’ 2021 season isn’t getting off to a great start, there is still time for improvement. In this article, I’m going to give the best ways to improve the 2021 New York Mets.

Let’s start off with the root of our problems, the bullpen. In my opinion, we were set up for failure in terms of relief pitchers before we even stepped a foot on the field. The pitching staff has gone on to prove that during this past week’s games. To start, let’s look at some of the contracts for the Mets bullpen. 29-year-old RP, Jeurys Familia is owed $10M for the rest of the season and will be a free agent in 2022. He has proven day in and day out, that he cannot be trusted to pitch as a closer or a setup for the Mets. Familia hasn’t been his true self since 2015 and 2016, where he was easily one of the best closers in baseball. He hasn’t reached a sub 3.00 ERA since 2018 when he posted a 2.88 ERA during his split season with the Mets. Familia used to be one of the best pitchers of baseball, but unfortunately, he isn’t of that caliber anymore. His other expensive counterpart is longtime Yankee, Dellin Betances. Since playing with the Mets last season, he fell off from the top of the bullpen conversation. Similar to Familia, Betances is owed $10.5M this season and will be a free agent in 2022. I know Steve Cohen has money to throw around, but it’s not smart to overpay people who aren’t performing. The Mets are very lucky that they were able to defer Lindor’s contract so they can still be under the luxury tax for 2021. Let’s go even further under to help out extension talks for DeGrom, Syndergaard, and Conforto. I don’t recommend releasing them, but I would definitely want to put them in a trade package or trade them separately for a group of low-level prospects or even a high-quality bench player like Jonathan Schoop or Charlie Culberson. If you have to sweeten the deal by adding Robert Gsellman, by all means, do it. He is taking up a spot on the roster for another pitcher. At that point, getting rid of 2-3 MLB pitchers will free up some spots. The Mets can then bring up a relief pitcher like Stephen Tarpley or Jordan Yamamoto, and if they don’t receive an MLB-ready pitcher from their previous trades, they can sign both Roberto Osuna and Thomas Pannone. Although Osuna brings up the problem of his potential Tommy John surgery, he has proven to be a top pitcher at the age of 27. He has a lot of time to show he can excel with the Mets. Pannone is more of an unknown name, but he is a 26-year-old relief pitcher that recently pitched with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019, and with only 49 games in the majors, he will have a chance to prove his worth. At most, I would give him a minor league contract and worst-case scenario, he becomes a depth pitcher.

After the bullpen is fixed, most of the team falls in place. The Mets are currently waiting on Jose Martinez to recover from his knee surgery, and when he does, he’ll most likely make it to the major league roster. As far as I am concerned, the Mets starting nine and bench are set. The next position to worry about is the rotation. Everyone already knows DeGrom is a lock for the number one spot and is followed by Stroman at number two. Once Carrasco and Syndergaard recover from their injuries they’ll fall in at three and four. The fifth spot will be a battle between Luchessi, Peterson, and Walker. The good part about these 3 pitchers is they are ready to play in the MLB but can also play on the Triple-A team in Syracuse for the season. It’s always better to season young guns, and not to rush them into a tricky spot and set them up for failure. Knock on wood, but if somehow, someway more starting pitchers are injured, the Mets have a couple more arms to call up, or maybe they would entertain the thought of bringing back, “Big Sexy” for a farewell season.

The last way to improve the Mets would have to be our starting lineups for every game and choosing which pitchers to call from the bullpen in certain situations. It’s important to space out your lineup, so every inning, your team has a chance to hit and possibly score. With J.D. Davis currently day to day, it makes sense to give a look to either Villar or Guillorme at the position. Hopefully, Rojas can find a rhythm with certain players playing positions and batting higher or lower depending on the pitcher they are facing. Picking the right batters and pitchers at the right times is important and a key to future success for the Mets. At the Mets and Sport Universes, we wish the team the best and hope they can come back from their recent struggles. As always, stay tuned to TheSportUniverse for all of your sports needs, TheMetsUniverse, to get daily coverage on the New York Mets, and make sure to tune into our official Mets podcast, “Uncle Stevie’s Nephews” on Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

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