Just Mets

The Mets lost to the Dodgers by the score of 7-2 on Friday at Citi Field, their third straight loss as they fell to one game over .500 for the season. Here are my takeaways from the loss…

Jon Niese was not in this game.

Niese is expecting his wife to deliver their first child any moment, and it’s clear that’s where his head was on Friday night. It’s ok, but he probably should have been placed on paternity leave instead of taking the mound.

He had his second-worst start of the season against the Dodgers on Friday, allowing six runs in only six innings. He was erratic, wild in the strike zone and just throwing batting practice to Justin Turner, Yasiel Puig and the rest of the Dodgers lineup which is pretty dynamic.

He gets a pass personally for this game. It’s not his fault he was sent out there when he clearly wasn’t mentally ready to pitch in this game. Having said that, the Mets didn’t have any legitimate or immediate options available to them, as Terry Collins pointed out before the game. Unfortunately for the club, it came at a time the Mets can’t afford to be losing at the rate they have, and his poor performance put the Mets in a deep and insurmountable hole virtually immediately.

The rejuvenated Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins has been terrible all year long. His OPS is well below .600 for the season, showing the signs he is at the end of his long career.

But in this series against the Mets, he looks like he could play another 10 years. Two of his three hits are home runs in this series and he’s scored three runs in the first two games this weekend.

He now has 32 home runs in his career against the Mets – he is a true Mets killer.

Payback is a you know what.

Hat tip to Justin Turner, who is hitting just about .330 playing regularly at third base for the Dodgers. He destroyed the Mets tonight with his 13th home run of the season, a double and a single to continue his magnificent 2015 season.

He’s a good, jovial guy and got an unfair reputation on a losing team during his time with the Mets. I happen to be very happy he’s found a home (in his hometown) and playing well.

With the offense, what else is new?

It didn’t really matter Zack Greinke was scratched tonight, did it?

The Mets put up a minimal fight yet again against the Dodgers tonight, grounding into a couple of double plays, scattering six hits, and giving no contest to Dodgers spot starter Ian Thomas.

And so it goes for the Mets offense.

The cold hard truth of the matter is the player who was in Double-A 24 hours ago drove in the first run of the series for the Mets, in the second game. Seriously.

The Mets have scored 21 runs in their first eight games since the All-Star break. That’s well below their season average of 3.4 runs per game, which is terrible in it’s own right.

They’re presumably going to have some big league reinforcements tomorrow, which is nice, but they’re not saviors. At some point, Lucas Duda and Juan Lagares are going to have to start contributing consistently, otherwise unless they’re replaced, runs will still be difficult to come by. Terry Collins has said this and Sandy Alderson has said this too.

Other notes:

Curtis Granderson’s eighth inning walk was the first walk by a Mets hitter in three games.

Michael Conforto went 0-for-3 with an RBI in his big league debut.

For the 38th time this season, the Mets have scored two runs or less in a game.

In his last 44 games, Lucas Duda is hitting .166 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI with 56 strikeouts.