3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Endure House Of Horrors In Pittsburgh

It is official – the New York Mets have now hit rock bottom.

In a worrying continuation of their recent slide, the Mets were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. Yes, swept by the Pirates. Not only that but New York was outscored 30-4 by its lowly opponents.

As a result, the Mets are now 3-13 in their last 16 games. That’s not good to say the very least. Overall, this team will finish the month of June 12-15.

It was a nightmare weekend all around. The starting pitching continues to regress with alarming speed. The offense looks lifeless. And, perhaps more concerning is the fact that the entire team and coaching staff look out of ideas.

Even a players-only meeting on Saturday wasn’t enough to stop the slide.
And, on that note, let’s unpack all the ugly from a horrific weekend in the latest edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 UP

OFF DAY

Look, let’s be honest – there isn’t a single positive to draw from what was a nightmarish weekend. But given that this feature is called ‘3 Up, 3 Down’, we need to at least try. Therefore, let’s start with the fact that the Mets are off on Monday. Why is that good? Well, firstly, the bullpen gets a bit of a breather. Secondly, the entire team has some time to figure out what exactly is going wrong and why. With no game, the Mets can instead go back to the drawing board, regroup, reset and refocus. After all, they have a tough stretch coming up with the red-hot Brewers, followed by the Yankees.

HANGING ON IN THERE

Despite this recent horrible skid, not all is lost for the Mets. At the time of writing this, New York is only 1.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East. The Mets also still hold the top Wild Card spot in the National League. That’s something to cling to. After all, despite a nightmare June and despite being embarrassingly swept by the Pirates, the Mets are still alive and well. Sometimes, it helps to focus on the bigger picture.

STAYING HOT

While the offense stunk this weekend, Juan Soto still made massive strides in the right direction. The superstar hitter got on base in all three games in Pittsburgh, hitting a home run in the opener and finishing the series with a pair of RBIs. As a result, Soto will finish June hitting .322/.474/.722 with a 1.196 OPS. That’s significant because Soto’s 1.196 OPS is the second-highest in a single calendar month in franchise history. Only Darryl Strawberry‘s 1.209 OPS in June 1990 is better. That’s just how good Soto has been this month. And he was the only bright spark for the Mets over what was a dark weekend.

3 DOWN

NEW LOWS

The Mets were already mired in an all-time slump heading into the weekend. But, then, things took a turn for the worse in Pittsburgh. Going up against the worst-scoring team in the NL – a team that was on pace to lose 100 games – the Mets stunk the building out. They didn’t put up any fight on the way to being swept in embarrassing and alarming fashion. They were outscored 30-4 by a team that has struggled to score runs all season long. The pitching imploded. The offense never showed up. And New York has now lost 13 of its last 16 games. This team looks lost right now. And that’s not good for a group that’s supposed to be a World Series contender. If the wheels continue to fall off, the inexcusable no-show in Pittsburgh will no doubt go down as the defining point in a horrific stretch.

NOSEDIVE COMPLETE

There is seemingly no stopping the current pitching free-fall that is directly contributing to this current slide. The starting pitching continued to be a problem in this series. David Peterson allowed five runs in just 4.2 innings in the opener. Paul Blackburn lasted just over an inning, giving up three runs on six hits on Saturday. And, in the finale, Frankie Montas was shelled for six runs in only four innings. As a result, the Mets have now gone 12 straight games without a starting pitcher recording an out in the sixth inning. Consequently, the bullpen continues to operate under unsustainable strain. That showed against the Pirates. Combined, the pen gave up 16 earned runs on 20 hits and eight walks in the three games. Unless something gives on the pitching side, the Mets could continue to be in big trouble.

WEAK STRENGTH

Not helping the pitching is the fact that the offense is so hit-and-miss. What was supposed to be the strength of this teamis rapidly turning into a fatal flaw. The Mets could only score four runs against one of the worst teams in baseball throughout the weekend. That tells you all you need to know. Furthermore, this lineup couldn’t even solve its RISP woes against bad opposition. In the three games against the Pirates, the Mets went a combined 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position, leaving a whopping 24 runners stranded on base.

Also adding to the offensive struggles this weekend was the fact that Francisco Lindor went 1-for-12 in the series. The returning Mark Vientos could only go 1-for-13. Meanwhile, Lindor, Pete Alonso, Soto and Brandon Nimmo went a combined 2-for-15 with four strikeouts in the finale. And the bottom of the lineup continues to fail to contribute on a consistent enough basis. All in all, the Mets have a lot of fixing to do if they want to return to true contender status.

The post 3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Endure House Of Horrors In Pittsburgh appeared first on Metsmerized Online.