Wildcard Watch

Imagine if they had this many wild card spots back in the 80's...Mets would have made the playoffs so much more over the years...

whereas prior to May 18th (the day that Lindor started his role as a leadoff hitter):

.195/.268/.362/.630

I know that people like the OBP guy batting leadoff, but we were generating almost no first inning runs prior to Lindor batting leadoff...

Marte since May 18th:

.388/.444/.649/.1.094
14 runs; 13 RBI; 2 doubles; 2 triples; 3 Home Runs

Nice to see that Gary's speculation on Nunez getting demoted today was WRONG:

www.northjersey.com/story/sports/mlb/mets/2024/06/13/ny-mets-dedniel-nunez-makes-case-stay-mlb-roster-news/74070254007/


How Dedniel Nunez proved he belongs in Mets bullpen with latest lockdown outing
Andrew Tredinnick

NEW YORK — It's an ovation usually reserved for ace starting pitchers and balls that clear the fence, but Dedniel Nuñez earned that reception from the Citi Field crowd on Wednesday night.

The 28-year-old right-hander entered the game with the Mets holding a two-run lead and exited following seven straight outs between the sixth and eighth innings and the home side in even better shape.

As Carlos Mendoza took the ball, Nuñez raised his hands and looked toward the sky as the fans rose to their feet.

"It was incredible," Nuñez said through Mets interpreter Alan Suriel. "It was something that I couldn't believe. Obviously when you're watching it on TV, you see it, the fans give applause to guys who have actually done in a lot in the show, but to be on the other end and to see how the fans kind of embraced me in that moment, it was really special."

Nuñez's performance against the Marlins might have been his most supreme among his 10 major-league appearances as he recorded seven straight outs and picked up five strikeouts to help the Mets storm off with a 10-4 win in front of 19,803 fans on Wednesday night.

The victory helped the Mets improve to 29-37.

With Edwin Diaz's return from the 15-day injured list scheduled for Thursday, Nuñez made his case to remain with the Mets loud and clear in his last opportunity. Nuñez took advantage of the free-swinging Marlins to strike out a career-high five batters. In his 10 relief appearances this season, he has recorded three or more strikeouts in six.

After using 25 pitches to get through the sixth and seventh innings, Nuñez exited emphatically after striking out Jake Burger on a slider away.

"Go out there in a pretty big spot in the game when we needed to shut them down and come in, attack the zone, stuff-wise, (it was) electric," Mendoza said. "Heavy fastball, slider, threw some splits there. For him to go out there for the third up and get Burger, it was huge for us."

The journeyman, who was a Rule 5 pick by the Giants in 2020 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021, has appeared to unlock some of his potential with the Mets. He has used a high-90s fastball and buckling slider to strike out 24 batters in 15⅔ innings, while posting a 2.30 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in his first major-league action.

"Every day is a new opportunity," Nuñez said. "Even if you have success, you have to go out the next day and if you get that opportunity, you have to take advantage of that opportunity because the day before doesn't matter. That's already happened."

the biggest woe so far, the Mets have only 19 "Quality Starts" (which is 25th among the 30 teams)...the Bullpen could benefit if some of these starters start going a little deeper in games...

thats a lot of posts

Offense has been better the past month. shame the BP and SP fell off in the same period. Hoping we can start to put it all together, Diaz comes back as the Diaz we need, and we can win some games in this weak portion of the schedule.

3 back is one hot week! Equally crazy, they are only 6.5 back of the #1 slot. NL is absurdly bad right now. 30 and 37 would be 6 out in the AL and 14.5 from the #1 WC spot.

And with the Mets beating up the Padres, both the 2nd and 3rd wildcard are separated by a half game.

Subway ride home from Citi. Chatting with random guy, who mentioned all the guys being gone at the trade deadline. I asked him "if the Mets were within 1 game of the wildcard at the deadline, does he think Cohen would sell?". He said yes. Is anyone else's mind blown by the prospect of selling when 1 game out?