Mets' 3 takeaways from series victory against the Marlins
Starling Marte of the Mets bats during the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Here are three takeaways from the Mets-Marlins series.
1. Starling Marte is back.
Time will tell what that means, practically speaking, for the Mets.
In his return from a right knee bone bruise on Sunday, Marte went 1-for-3 — ugly strikeout, lineout into a double play, hard single — and played six innings in rightfield.
It didn’t tell us a whole lot. But the Mets are glad to have him back, albeit as part of an outfield timeshare as opposed to his previous role as the straight-up starter.
When Marte and Carlos Mendoza spoke to each other Saturday, the manager told Marte that he won’t play every day, in part to protect Marte and keep him healthy.
Although the Mets brought in Jesse Winker to face righthanded pitchers and Tyrone Taylor has proved valuable as a defensive replacement in particular, how playing time shakes out is TBD. The wild card is Brandon Nimmo’s status; he’ll get an MRI on his sore right shoulder Monday.
“I feel good, because everybody’s been successful since I’ve been out,” Marte said. “Everybody needs a chance to play. The manager will do the best for the team.”
Mendoza said: “He’s still going to play. They’re all going to play. How is he going to take it? Fine. I had that conversation with him, because he understands where we’re coming from. I don’t think this is a big deal at all.”
2. This rotation might actually be holding up?
That’s a question, not a statement, because the remaining six weeks of season may well be an eternity.
But after a collective rough go in the previous turn, all of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Paul Blackburn pitched well over the weekend. Yes, that is easier against the Marlins. But it nonetheless is encouraging, especially for Severino, who tossed a shutout.
Most of the Mets’ starters — perhaps everybody except Blackburn, the trade-deadline acquisition — have workload concerns and/or have been outperforming expectations/their peripheral statistics. If they keep it together, the Mets’ playoff hopes will stay very much alive. If they fall apart, the season will follow.
3. The schedule is about to get hard again.
The Mets had their chances against bad teams but wound up with a .500 record (6-6) against the Angels, Rockies, Athletics and Marlins.
And now? Ten games in 11 days against clubs that hold playoff spots: Orioles, Padres, Diamondbacks. That stretch probably can’t make the Mets’ year, but it could break it.
“We better step up,” Francisco Lindor said.
Nimmo said: “Sometimes when you’re playing teams that aren’t necessarily in it, they’re free and easy and just playing and whatever happens happens. When you play teams that are in it, every pitch matters. So it’s going to be more like playoff baseball here. I expect the guys to show up and for good baseball to be played over the next couple of weeks.”
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.
