MIAMI — Oddly, the Mets had a scheduled day off Sunday.
That was a product of early-season schedule machinations, plus MLB’s willingness to cede to its broadcast partners. Originally, the Mets were set to be off Friday (a not unusual blank day after Opening Day) and play Sunday. But when Apple, the Friday rights-holder, wanted Mets-Astros, they got Mets-Astros, creating the unusual Sunday off instead.
That is just fine by the Mets, who are happy to ease in their pitchers via rest between their first two series. After dropping two of three to Houston, they headed back to Florida — weren’t they just there for six weeks? — for a three-game set against the Marlins beginning Monday.
The Mets provided plenty to overreact to, if that is your sort of thing. We prefer levelheaded takeaways. Here are three:
1. The offense needs to (and will) wake up
Juan Soto did Juan Soto things, reaching base seven times in 13 plate appearances. That included a .333 average (3-for-9), a home run, a double and four walks. That’ll do.
Everyone else, not so much. The rest of the Mets combined for three extra-base hits, barely edging Soto’s two. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos went a combined 4-for-42 (.095), an ugly effort that featured a perfect .000 mark from Lindor.
This is not cause for concern. The Mets will score plenty of runs, and those above will be the primary reason why. Lindor will get hot, Alonso will start slugging, Nimmo will get on base. If the Mets have at least most of those things going at any given time, they’ll hit their way to a fair number of wins.
“We didn’t do our thing this series, but it’s the start of the season. It’s nothing to worry about,” Vientos said. “As much as we’re not getting hits and doubles and extra-base hits, we’re putting in walks and putting in quality ABs right now. That’s the best that we can do if we’re not feeling ourselves right now.”
2. The bullpen could be great, especially with this version of Edwin Diaz
Diaz and the Mets professed not to overthink his diminished spring training velocity, insisting that when the real games started, Diaz’s fastball would be there. And in his season debut, it was. His heater averaged 97.6 mph Friday in a low-stress save, a bona fide rarity in 2024.
If that is indicative of who Diaz will be this season — and, as always, it is too small of a sample at this time of year to tell for sure — the Mets’ late-inning picture will be a pretty one.
Each of the Mets’ eight relievers made one appearance against the Astros. They had a 0.00 ERA and allowed three hits in 9 2⁄3 innings.
Along the way, we caught glimpses of manager Carlos Mendoza’s preferred roles for each guy. Diaz, Ryne Stanek and A.J. Minter are the primary high-leverage arms. Reed Garrett is the middle-to-late-inning fireman, able to escape a jam with his high strikeout rate.
Jose Butto is the multi-inning guy when the Mets are ahead or tied (or perhaps down by one). Huascar Brazoban is the multi-inning guy when the Mets are behind by a couple, wanting to keep it close but too far back to use the more important arms. Danny Young is a prototypical second lefty.
Max Kranick ideally would’ve gotten a “soft spot,” as Mendoza described it, for his first appearance. But he showed major guts in escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam against Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker.
3. The Jose Siri Experience is electric
When the Mets acquired Siri from the Rays in November, they knew what they were getting: an elite centerfielder who strikes out a ton and doesn’t make much contact but can create havoc when he gets on base.
They got their first taste of that Saturday when Siri, making his Mets debut, created a run practically out of nothing.
He walked, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout to not-that-deep centerfield and scored on a routine groundout to the pitcher. The Astros’ Spencer Arrighetti fielded the ball and looked him back to third base, but as soon as he turned his back — and lazily threw the ball to first — Siri took off for the plate.
“Pretty good play by him . . . He shows good instincts,” Mendoza said. “He can impact and help you win baseball games a lot of different ways. Not only with his defense, with his legs, with the way he runs the bases, but he also has power. It’s a good player with a lot of tools. He’s going to impact this team in a good way.”
