3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Suffer Tough Weekend Against Giants

This weekend will be one the New York Mets will want to flush quickly.

Despite loading up at the Trade Deadline, the Mets lost two of three to the Giants to drop their second straight series. Furthermore, they’ve now lost five of their last six games.

There were some positives sprinkled in among a sea of negatives. But, overall, this series was another step in the wrong direction for the Mets.

To that end, let’s dive into another edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 UP

ELECTRIC FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Ryan Helsley sure put on a show in his Mets debut. The right-handed reliever, acquired from the Cardinals at the Trade Deadline, was electric on Friday night. He entered in the ninth and treated Citi Field to another awe-inspiring walk-out entrance. Helsley backed up those theatrics by allowing just two hits while striking out three in an impressive first impression. He also touched 101.4 mph on his fastball. The Mets went on to lose the opener, but Helsley did give the home fans a tantalizing glimpse of just how valuable a bullpen piece he could become.

Now, technically, Cedric Mullins also made his Mets debut on Friday night. However, he came off the bench and got just one at-bat as a pinch-hitter. His first full outing on Saturday was the more notable first impression. The veteran center fielder delivered a hit, two runs scored, and a stolen base. In doing so, Mullins showcased the variety of ways in which he can be an asset to this offense going forward.

WAKING UP

Both Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have largely struggled since the All-Star break. However, both players are now trending in the right direction in the wake of the Giants series. Alonso hit a home run and drove in another run on a sac fly in the opener on Friday. He also hit a huge three-run bomb in the bottom of the first inning of Saturday’s game to open the scoring and set the tone for the day. Alonso finished the middle game of the series 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, three RBIs, and a walk. As a result of his two home runs in this series, Alonso now has 250 career homers and is just three away from becoming the Mets’ new home run king.

As for Lindor, the shortstop went a combined 5-for-11 over the weekend, including a monster 3-for-4 day at the plate on Saturday. Lindor drove in four RBIs in the middle game of the series, before hitting his 21st home run of the season on Sunday. He is hitting .310/.370/.524 with two home runs and three doubles over his last 10 games. Overall, Alonso and Lindor coming out of their respective slumps was one of the biggest positives to emerge from this weekend.

TASTE OF THINGS TO COME

Saturday’s win provided us with an exhilarating first glimpse at the new-look bullpen. Tasked with protecting a one-run lead over the final five innings, five relievers combined to get the job done. Reed Garrett got things rolling with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out one while not allowing a hit or a walk. Gregory Soto came in and struck out two in the sixth, before Tyler Rogers delivered a clean inning in his Mets debut. Brooks Raley tossed a scoreless eighth, and then Rico Garcia shut the door despite allowing a two-run homer. All in all, those five relievers allowed just two runs on five hits in five innings of work. If Saturday is anything to go by, then this bullpen could quickly become the real strength of this team moving forward.

3 DOWN

TIME TO WORRY?

Concern is growing over Kodai Senga. The righty is stuck in a downward spiral right now, and that continued in his latest start on Saturday. He allowed four runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts. That included three doubles and a home run. As a result, Senga lasted just four innings. He’s now allowed three or more earned runs in three straight outings, while he’s pitched five innings or more just twice in his last five starts. Senga is throwing a lot of uncompetitive pitches during this stretch, and the Mets will hope that the righty can get the train back on the tracks as quickly as possible.

POWER OUTAGE

Juan Soto reached base safely in all three games against the Giants, but still finished the weekend 3-for-13 with no extra-base hits. The superstar hitter is now mired in a 10-for-68 slump. Furthermore, he has just one home run and one double since July 18. He’s also gone five straight games without a walk. We’re in August now, and the Mets can’t afford for Soto to be this pedestrian offensively. The fact that he’s also hitting just .184 with runners in scoring position is also incredibly concerning. All in all, the Mets need Soto to hit at an elite clip and play to the back of his baseball card consistently, and fast.

BUYER’S REMORSE

Is the Frankie Montas experiment already a failure? There were doubts when the Mets signed the veteran pitcher back in the offseason. And now we’ve seen Montas get a few starts under his belt after coming back from injury, those doubts are only growing by the day. His latest start was a house of horrors. Montas gave up seven earned runs on seven hits and two walks in an outing that very quickly got ugly. He gave up a three-run home run to Rafael Devers in the third inning that effectively won the game for San Francisco.

Montas has now allowed 19 earned runs in his last five starts, and he’s failed to give the Mets six innings since his return. New York starting pitchers have a 5.01 ERA over their last 43 games, and Montas has been a huge part of those struggles. Concern is rapidly growing over Montas, and over this starting rotation as a whole.

 

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