3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Reach New Lows In Cleveland Sweep

Can it get any worse for the 2024 New York Mets? Can it? You are probably trying to convince yourselves that it can’t, but based on what we’ve seen over the first two months of the season, this is perhaps just the beginning of the bad times. After all, it will only get worse before […]

The post 3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Reach New Lows In Cleveland Sweep appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Can it get any worse for the 2024 New York Mets? Can it?

You are probably trying to convince yourselves that it can’t, but based on what we’ve seen over the first two months of the season, this is perhaps just the beginning of the bad times.

After all, it will only get worse before it gets better, as the old saying goes.

The Mets are the perfect picture of ineptitude right now, and an embarrassing stretch of losses and performances only continued in a three-game sweep to the Guardians.

The bats never really showed up, and when they did, the pitching was a horror show. This team also seems incapable of playing fundamentally sound baseball over sustained stretches.

As a result of the three losses in Cleveland, New York is now a season-worst seven games under .500.

All in all, things seem pretty bleak for the Mets right now. With no game until Friday, let’s linger in the losing for a while longer in the latest edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

Francisco Alvarez. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

3 UP

REINFORCEMENTS 

Not a whole lot of good came out of Cleveland for the Mets, that’s for sure. However, there was some good news with Francisco Álvarez set to take batting practice soon. That’s a positive development for the catcher, who has been out for over a month following thumb surgery. New York has struggled to get any substantial offense from either Tomás Nido or Omar Narváez in Álvarez’s absence. As a result, the fact that Álvarez is closing in on a return sometime in June should be seen as a major boost for a beyond-struggling lineup.

MAKING HIS MARK

Mark Vientos has held up his end of the bargain since being recalled to the majors. The power hitter went a combined 3-for-7 in two games in Cleveland, hitting two doubles, one homer and scoring two runs. Since rejoining the Mets, Vientos is 7-for-21 with four doubles, one homer and three walks. He also owns a 1.067 OPS in six games since returning from Triple-A Syracuse. Vientos was given another chance and has run with it so far.

SIGNS OF LIFE

I’m still not convinced that this lineup will be consistently dangerous over the long haul, but it did show some signs of life in Cleveland. Aside from being limited to just one run on six hits in the opening game, the offense did some damage in this series. The Mets hit three home runs in the second game, scoring six runs in total. That arguably would have been enough to clinch the win were it not for another mammoth Adrian Houser stinker on the mound. Then, on Wednesday, the lineup hit three home runs for the second consecutive game. Again, pitching proved to be the downfall. However, arguably the biggest positive was the struggling Jeff McNeil hitting homers in back-to-back games—something to build on for both McNeil and the lineup in general.

Photo by David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

3 DOWN

FINDING NEW WAYS TO LOSE

Okay, it’s time for the painful part of this feature—the bad stuff. And, spoiler alert, there was plenty of bad and a lot of ugly from the three-game set in Cleveland. Let’s start with a more general point: this team keeps finding new ways to lose. If it wasn’t putting up just one run and being embarrassingly awful on the basepaths, it was being outscored thanks to another collapse on the mound. Then, and perhaps worst of all, the Mets clubbed three homers in the finale and seemed in control, only to implode and end up losing anyway. The fact that former Met Andrés Giménez clubbed the game-tying three-run homer just adds insult to injury. As a result of the sweep, the Mets have lost 20 of their last 29 games and 10 of the last 13. They are seven games under .500.

With a tough stretch coming back at Citi Field, things could get even bleaker for New York.

CRUSHING BLOW

It is official. Brooks Raley is officially done for the year. The lefty reliever will undergo season-ending elbow surgery next week, it has been confirmed. What that means for the long-term future of the 35-year-old pending free agent remains to be seen. What we do know, however, is that losing Raley for the year is a crushing blow for the bullpen. The lefty hadn’t given up an earned run in eight outings this year. While other left-handed options are available in the bullpen, Raley’s loss can’t be overstated for what is already a taxed pen.

THE END IS NIGH

Adrian Houser may as well be a cat. With the amount of chances he keeps getting in the rotation, he sure is leading nine charmed lives. However, after another stinker on Tuesday, it has to be a matter of time before Houser’s future with the Mets comes into real doubt. The righty was shelled for six earned runs on six hits, elevating his ERA to an ugly 7.88. Furthermore, Houser’s latest implosion doomed the Mets despite the best efforts of the lineup. With a bad outing out of the bullpen to boot, has Houser now used all nine of his lives?

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