Just Mets

The Mets were blown out again on Sunday, losing to the Pirates by a score of 9-1 at PNC park today. They were swept by the Pirates in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2009.

Here are my takeaways from Sunday’s loss…

More of the same.

There’s not much to say about this Mets team. It’s the same slice of pie every single night, and it doesn’t have much taste to it.

Five singles, one double, 12 strikeouts, seven runners left on-base, 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Pretty much a carbon copy of each game at this point.

As I wrote this morning, the offense is simply not Major League competitive right now. Take Lucas Duda and Juan Lagares out of it, and now you have what resembles a split-squad lineup forced to take a bus trip from Port St. Lucie to Lakeland in the middle of March.

The problem is, these games count, and right now with this group, there isn’t a single team this offense can compete with on a day-to-day basis.

Jon Niese was ineffective, again.

This is the third start in a row Niese just didn’t have it. He looked a lot like he did the other night against St. Louis – lack of crisp command of the two-seamer, inconsistent arm angles and hanging cutters and curveballs the right-handers just crushed. He was fortunate to only give up four runs – he allowed 11 baserunners and four of them scored.

For now, it sound like Niese is going to stay in the rotation as long as he’s healthy, which he and the manager say he is. But it’s no secret the six-man rotation is not ideal, and with Dillon Gee  coming back (he should be back already), the Mets may need to skip a start for Niese so he can get back to work and straighten things out.

I mean, the program right now just isn’t working, and they simply cannot afford consecutive throwaway starts with their lack of offense.

When is enough enough?

For all the talk about winning, all the talk about being beyond rebuilding , I continue to wonder why the Mets are managing the roster the way they are with three catchers and three left-handed relievers on the roster, the handicapped middle infield, and the severe lack of depth overall.

I know, there are 13 players who are essentially unavailable that they were counting on coming into the season, and it’s hard to mitigate that even if they make some acquisitions. But this team is getting blown out of the water on a daily basis now, they’re playing horribly, and every weakness, every sub-optimal player, and every mistake is being exposed.

It’s not acceptable, especially for a club which was doing so much talking just two months ago.

What’s worse is they’re fading and fast, they looked dejected and beaten up on the field, and there really is no change in sight, unless the front office does something, and soon…

Other notes from Sunday:

The Pirates recorded five infield singles on the day.

The Mets were outscored 21-4 in this three-game series.

The bullpen sprung a leak – they allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings today.

The Mets went just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position – they left seven runners on base.

The team has struck out 57 times in their last five games, 36 times in this three-game series.

Eric Campbell pinch hit and struck out in the eighth inning – he is 0-for-his-last-20.

The Mets scored four runs in this three-game series with the Pirates.

The Mets finished a 14-game stretch against the National League Central with a 4-10 record.