Mets Game Notes for Jackie Robinson slash Harvey Day

Happy Anniversary to the Mets Police blog which turns 13 today.

Here is today’s Lineup-Safe Lineup (TM)

8 Nimmo

6  Lindor

7 Dom

3  Peter K. Alonso

4 Jeff

9 Conforto

5 Villar?????

2 Nido

P The Guy Who Never Wins

Following last night’s game, the following scoring change has been made: In the top of the second, J.T. Realmuto reached second on what was originally scored an error by Dominic Smith…That has since been changed to a double.

The Mets finish their first homestand of the season today…The Mets are 4-1 on the homestand so far…The Mets have won three straight for the first time in 2021…It matches their longest winning streak in 2020 (August 17-19 and August 26-28)…The Mets are a season-high two games over .500…It marks the first time the team is two games over .500 since the end of the 2019 season (86-76)….The Mets will play one more game against Philadelphia before hitting the road for a six-game, seven- day road trip to Coors Field followed by Wrigley Field.

JACKIE ROBINSON DAY: Every major league manager, coach and player will #42 today to commemorate the Anniversary of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier in 1947…MLB retired Robinson’s number throughout the Majors in 1997 in ceremony at Shea Stadium and every player and all on-field personnel has worn his Number 42 during games scheduled on Jackie Robinson Day since 2009..

Of course it’s idiotic to NOT wear names on uniforms on the one day everyone wears the same number.  Uniforms should never have names, but if they have to have names TODAY IS THE DAY TO DO THAT.   And that’s how the blog started.

The Mets claimed their first series win of the season last night…The team is looking for their first sweep of the year…The Mets have never swept the Phillies in a four game series in New York…The last time the Mets swept the Phillies in a four game series was from August 24-27, 2015…New York’s last four-game sweep came at Citi Field against Arizona, September 9-12, 2019.

In his first two starts, Jacob deGrom has utilized his fastball more than he ever has before…His 76.6 percent usage rate of his fastball on Opening Day was by far the highest in any start of his career (previous high was 64.4 percent in his August 26 start last season vs. Miami)…In his most recent outing, he again used his fastball more than 70 percent of the time…His fastball has averaged 99.1 mph this season, the fastest in the majors (min. 100 FB thrown).

Among all major league pitchers with at least 50 career starts in day games, deGrom’s 1.80 ERA during the day is by far the lowest all-time…The next-best daytime ERA belongs to Eddie Cicotte (2.22)…Clayton Kershaw is the next-closest active player (2.39 lifetime ERA in day games).

Is this guy deGrom even any good?  He never seems to win baseball games which is the entire point of playing.

Dominic Smith is batting .298/.360/.568 with 64 runs, 32 doubles, a triple, 23 homers, 73 RBI, 33 walks and a .928 OPS in 147 games since the start of the 2019 season…This includes a .292/.375/.506 slash line against fellow southpaws and a .300/.355/.587 mark against right-handers.   Dom had an OPS over 900 last season but wasn’t allowed to start on Opening Day 2020 or 2021.

Peter K. Alonso finished the spring batting .340 (17-50) with six doubles, four homers, 16RBI, six runs scored and a 1.121OPS…BUT GUESS WHAT METS, NONE OF THAT COUNTS.  He is now hitting like .210 or so with ONE HOME RUN.   The Mets couldn’t’ even make up enough stuff to fill the game notes without talking about Pete’s spring.  It’s April 15th guys.

Happy Harvey Day.