This Week in Mets: Good vibes carrying over in solid start
'You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.'
— 'Infinite Jest,' David Foster Wallace
Six months later, the vibes feel the same at Citi Field.
Although momentum in baseball should be as fickle as tomorrow's starting pitcher, the New York Mets have managed to maintain it with their fan base through a difficult playoff loss, through the winter and into a new regular season, as seen in a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays.
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Sunday's 2-1 victory polished off a sweep that revealed the length of New York's contributor list. The heroes included Hayden Senger, whose leadoff walk in the third sparked New York's two-run inning, and Max Kranick, who got the biggest out of the game with the bases loaded in the fifth. (Kranick replaced David Peterson, who had pitched well before a sudden feeling of nausea struck him in the inning.)
Jesse Winker and Huascar Brazobán came through on Saturday. Friday was more of what you'd expect, the offensive attack spearheaded by Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.
They did it in front of the most fans Citi Field has ever drawn through three games: 121,771. That's a stark contrast to last year, when the team set new lows for attendance at the ballpark. The opening series attendance this weekend was more than 25,000 clear of last year.
'The fans really showed up,' said Nimmo, who exhorted the fans to come out more late last season during a pennant race. 'I'm so happy to see that, and I want to see it continue throughout this season. We fed off their enthusiasm.'
'It lived up to the hype,' said reliever A.J. Minter, who visited often with Atlanta earlier in his career. 'It's good to be on this side of the fans now.'
The Mets have rewarded that faith early. Throughout this encouraging 6-3 start to the season, the Mets have been carried less by their lineup than by the depth of their bullpen. It tossed 4 1/3 scoreless frames on Sunday, from Kranick through Reed Garrett and AJ Minter — looking his sharpest yet — to Edwin Díaz. That's pretty much been par for the course. The pen averages just under four innings per game with a sparkling 1.29 ERA.
'The numbers speak for themselves,' Nimmo said. 'They've been a huge reason for our success early.'
Is that sustainable? Of course not. Is it banked in the standings in a division and a playoff race that may once again come down to the final day? You bet.
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'At some point, starters will go deeper into games,' manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Of course, the last few years have shown the Mets both the benefits and limitations of a good start. A 35-17 start in 2022 wasn't enough to put away Atlanta in the division race. A 22-33 start last season didn't bury them themselves. This is nine games. The Pirates were 7-2 at this point last season.
'It's a long year, man,' Mendoza said. 'We've got to stay the course and stick to our process.'
The Mets swept the Blue Jays and have won five of six. They're 6-3.
The Marlins were rained out Sunday in Atlanta, where they had split the first two games. Miami is 5-4.
The Athletics could not finish off a sweep of the Rockies at Coors Field, dropping the finale Sunday. The A's host the Padres for three games through Wednesday before welcoming the Mets. Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland/Sacramento/Las Vegas is 4-6.
v. Miami
RHP Kodai Senga (0-1, 3.60 ERA) v. TBD*
RHP Clay Holmes (0-1, 2.89) v. RHP Connor Gillispie (0-1, 3.60)
RHP Tylor Megill (2-0, 0.87) v. RHP Max Meyer (0-1, 3.09)
at Sacramento
RHP Griffin Canning (0-1, 2.79) v. LHP J.P. Sears (1-1, 3.46)
LHP David Peterson (1-0, 2.53) v. RHP Joey Estes
RHP Kodai Senga v. RHP Luis Severino (0-1, 3.75)
* Sandy Alcántara is heading to the paternity list, so Miami will use a spot starter on Monday.
Perhaps you wondered, like I did, why a Mets team that has emphasized playing more of its Saturday games in the afternoon played a Saturday night game on the first weekend of April (when it was 45 degrees outside). Well, once the Mets selected to play their home opener on Friday rather than Thursday, opting to give themselves a day off before the series rather than within it, they needed protection in case that game was rained out (as it had been each of the last two seasons). Had Friday been rained out, the Mets would have scheduled a split day-night doubleheader for Saturday. That way, everyone who paid extra for the home opener would still go to the first home game that day, and everyone who bought tickets to the Saturday game wouldn't have had to change plans.
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Red = 60-day IL
Orange = 15-day IL
Blue = 10-day IL
Triple-A: Syracuse at Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia)
Double-A: Binghamton v. Hartford (Colorado)
High-A: Brooklyn v. Hudson Valley (New York, AL)
Low-A: St. Lucie at Lakeland (Detroit)
When I sat down to read 'Infinite Jest' a second time, I told myself that this time, I'd really get into the nitty-gritty of the plot. I wanted to know what actually happened in this book rather than just enjoying everything about the writing. And then I was like 200 pages in and very confused again, so I decided to just enjoy everything about the writing.
With 1 1/3 scoreless innings Sunday, Max Kranick extended his season-opening scoreless streak to seven innings, one out behind teammate Huascar Brazobán.
The franchise record for scoreless innings to begin a season is 21, and it's held by three pitchers. Two are starters Jerry Koosman (1968) and Tom Seaver (1972). Who is the reliever, who accomplished the feat for a division winner?
(I'll reply to the correct answer in the comments.)
(Top photo of Juan Soto: Al Bello / Getty Images)
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