Three takeaways from the Mets' series victory over the Rockies
Mets leftfielder Tyrone Taylor leaps at the warning track and makes the catch for an out during the fourth inning against the Rockies at Coors Field on Thursday in Denver. Credit: Getty Images/Justin Edmonds
DENVER - The Mets escaped Coors Field with a series victory, rebounding with back-to-back wins over the Rockies after dropping the opener. Here are three takeaways from the past few days.
1. This weekend in Seattle probably will be more difficult
Scoring a bunch of runs against a terrible team at a hitter-friendly ballpark is one thing. Doing so again this weekend against the Mariners — who entered Thursday with a 3.51 ERA, the best in the majors — would be much more impressive.
Seattle’s pitchers have carried them in a tight AL West race with the perennial power Astros. The Mets are slated to see a trio of righthanded starters: Bryce Miller (3.63 ERA) on Friday, Logan Gilbert (3.05 ERA) on Saturday and Luis Castillo (3.48 ERA) on Sunday.
They’ll counter with Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea and Luis Severino in that order.
“I know they got pretty good, young arms,” Pete Alonso said. “I remember facing them last year. All their guys seem to have pretty good stuff. I’ll be prepared. I think all of us will be prepared.”
That last game — “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN at 4 p.m. Pacific Time — will serve as the finale of the Mets’ 10-day, 10-game, four-city road trip.
2. Every team could use a guy like Tyrone Taylor
That Taylor has been slightly below league-average at the plate barely matters because of how good he is in the outfield.
On Tuesday, he drew a start in rightfield. On Wednesday, he spotted Harrison Bader in center. On Thursday, he filled in for Brandon Nimmo in left.
Whatever his position on a given day, Taylor has been an ace defender. That included making three running catches to save at least six bases — and several runs — in the last game against the Rockies.
Consider: He began Thursday tied for second with seven Defensive Runs Saved in rightfield — and he is only a part-timer there. Those ahead of him had played nearly twice as many innings (the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio) or well more than three times as many innings (the Yankees’ Juan Soto).
“It’s super fun to watch,” Alonso said of Taylor. “He plays like a free safety out there.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza said: “You know you can put him anywhere in the outfield. Talking to [outfield coach Antoan Richardson] yesterday, with this outfield and how big it is, he suggested putting him in left. I just said after the game, good call there.”
3. Alonso getting hot would help the Mets tremendously
Obviously. This has been true for most of the season, during which Alonso has been just OK, relative to his usual power performance. Thursday was just his second multi-homer game of the year. (Last season, he had five.)
Mendoza would like to see more consistent production from his cleanup batter. Alonso is trying to keep it simple but said he “for sure” has a big surge in him.
“I just want to keep having good at-bats and do the best I can to just stick to my plan, stick to my approach,” he said. “Regular-season stats, it’s tied to individual effort, but I want that effort to go toward team wins.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
