The sweep eluded the New York Mets in their series against the Minnesota Twins.
Having won the first two games at Citi Field – by a combined score of 17-2 – the Mets lost 8-3 in the series finale to end the homestand 4-3.
Overall, it was an impressive July, with the Mets going 17-10 last month. They will now head out on a long 10-game road trip, which begins on the West Coast against the Angels.
Before that, however, let’s dive into another edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…
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While taking the series against the Twins, the Mets front office made a very clear statement. Although their business at the trade deadline could never be described as being sexy, they did make moves to improve this team. Given the long-term plan and it being a seller’s market, the organization could have moved expiring contracts for future assets. Instead, they added depth and bullpen help. In doing so, they sent a very clear message to the players in the clubhouse. The Mets intend to go for it the rest of the way, and that is to be applauded. After all, the players giving it their all every day don’t care about the future. They are only interested in the now. And in winning in the now. They were rewarded for salvaging the season from the depths of despair. Now, the rest is up to them.
Mark Vientos has been one of baseball’s third basemen this year. The stats don’t lie. He hit two homers with three RBIs in this series, continuing an incredible run since being recalled. Vientos has 16 homers on the year, and his 2.2 fWAR since returning to the majors on May 15 ranks second among NL third basemen. Furthermore, it ranks fourth among all major leaguers at the hot corner. Vientos ranks in the 97th percentile for barrel percentage, 91st for expected slugging, 74th for hard-hit percentage and his barrel percentage sits 8th among qualified batters in the bigs.
If that isn’t enough to impress you, Vientos’ 26 home runs in his first 144 career games for the Mets ranks as the fourth-highest mark for any Met. Only Pete Alonso (47), Darryl Strawberry (31) and Francisco Alvarez are ahead of Vientos. David Wright, who knows a thing or two about third base, is fifth with 25. It looks like the Mets have found their long-term third baseman in Vientos.
There was a tough battle for the third Up. The bullpen was impressive in this series, and there were other notable performances. However, given his recent struggles, Sean Manaea deserves his moment in the spotlight. The lefty, who had allowed 10 earned runs in his previous three starts, was stellar on Tuesday. He pitched seven scoreless innings with two hits and one walk while striking out a season-high 11 batters. More importantly, Manaea gave his team much-needed length by going a full seven innings. That’s the version of Sean Manaea the Mets need the rest of the way and in the postseason, if they get there.
Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets finished Wednesday out of a Wild Card spot after dropping the series finale. They entered their off day a half-game back of the Diamondbacks for the third NL Wild Card berth. Now, it is just a half-game, granted. But, given how tight the postseason race is, this team needs to develop a killer instinct and finish off the sweep. After all, with how things are shaking out, the Wild Card will probably be decided by a game or two. The margin for error is razor-thin.
We all have off days. It happens even to the very best of us. Therefore, we can relate to Luis Severino‘s struggles in the series finale. The veteran just didn’t have it, allowing a total of six runs, including five in a third-inning implosion. He didn’t even make it to the fourth inning. As such, the Mets never really stood a chance. Now, again, we all have a bad day at the office from time to time, and hopefully, we can chalk Severino’s nightmare outing up to that.
However, we also can’t ignore that Severino has now thrown 123 2/3 innings in 2024, the most he’s thrown since tossing 191 six years ago in 2018. So, if Severino is beginning to feel the effects of that workload, then that could be a bigger problem waiting to happen further down the road this year.
Brandon Nimmo hasn’t been great coming out of the All-Star break, and his woes were compounded on Wednesday. The outfielder took a foul ball off the top of his left foot in the sixth inning, forcing him to leave the game. The X-rays came back clean, and the hope Nimmo will be back in the lineup on Friday to face the Angels. However, after going 2-for-10 against the Twins with no extra-base hits, Nimmo is now hitting .111/.268/.111/.379 in his last 12 games. Being banged up is hardly conducive to ending a slump like that.
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