Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

The Yankees have placed second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, retroactive to April 30.

Infielder Jorbit Vivas has been called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill the spot on the 26-man roster ahead of a three-game set against Tampa Bay in The Bronx.

Chisholm exited Tuesday night's win in Baltimore in the top of the first inning. On the first pitch of his first at-bat, the 27-year-old fouled off a Kyle Gibson offering and appeared to immediately experience some discomfort as he stepped across the plate from the left-handed batter's box.

Trainers came out to speak with him, but he continued the at-bat and got his reward two pitches later with a double into the right field corner (taking third on an error). That's where third base coach Luis Rojas signaled to the dugout that the infielder needed to exit the game.

Chisholm had been off to a so-so start for the Yanks. He has tallied three doubles, seven home runs and 17 RBI, but is batting just .181. He did have a decent .714 OPS (102 OPS+).

In the field, Chisholm was showing good value at his new position, with FanGraphs crediting him with three defensive runs saved (second-best on the club) and Statcast giving him a fielding run value of two (tied for second-best).

Vivas, 24, has been swinging a good bat at Triple-A, with seven extra-base hits, 15 RBI, and a .319/.426/.436 slash line for an .862 OPS. He is the No. 19 prospect in the Yankees' system, per MLB Pipeline.

Pablo Reyes, 3-for-16 on the year, is also an option for New York at second. He got the start in the final game of the series against the Orioles, which included a minor dustup after Heston Kjerstad stole a base.

Jazz appeared to hurt something on this swing. He tripled but then left the game pic.twitter.com/C1iDokA7Q5

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 29, 2025

In examining the Mets’ rather startling pitching success under David Stearns, it’s instructive to go back some five years to a time when the team's baseball operations department was still in the dark ages analytically and owner Steve Cohen was just beginning to put his imprint on the organization. 

Zack Scott had been hired as assistant GM in December of 2020, shortly after Cohen had officially taken over as new owner, and was then promoted to acting GM in January of 2021 when Jared Porter was fired. 

Coming from the cutting-edge Boston Red Sox front office, Scott found an organization lacking in technology yet functioning well on the pitching side, thanks to some knowledgeable analysts and a "very impressive" pitching coach in Jeremy Hefner, then going into his second year in that position.

"They were really behind analytically," Scott recalled during a recent phone conversation. "It didn’t feel great, coming from Boston where they had so many analytical tools, and yet the Mets were in a decent place with pitching, mostly because of their communication process.

"They didn’t have (analytical) tools but they were getting good buy-in to what they were doing because of Jeremy. He has the rare combination of understanding the complexity on the data side, the ability to interact with analysts and speak their language, but also the ability to speak the players’ language. He could impart the information without shoving it down their throats and also has the even-keeled personality to deal with pushback and coach the human side of major league pitchers."

With that key piece of the puzzle in place, Scott went about upgrading the analytical side, with Cohen’s financial and emotional support. He hired Ben Zauzmer out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' high-tech front office to lead the baseball ops department into the modern age. 

"There was a lot to be done," Scott says. "They didn’t even have what was then a very popular tool, an analytical pitch-ranking system that takes all the tracking metrics and gives you a way to grade your pitchers’ stuff and command. We had to develop that. 

"We doubled the size of the analytics department in one year. Steve was very analytically-minded and it was clear what he wanted. We went from 13 to 26 people, including analysts, software developers, and data engineers. 

"One of the unique benefits we had then was being able to utilize the resources from Steve’s Point 72 (hedge fund) company. His head of data at Point 72 became the Mets’ head of data for a while. But it was going to take time. You just don’t snap your fingers and have the necessary advanced tools and the ability to implement them. 

"But the building blocks were in place, with Jeremy at the center of their communication. So it doesn’t surprise me that once they were getting caught up with the rest of the league, in terms of tools, that they could take a big step forward and have the kind of pitching success they’re having now."

Still, a lot has changed during that time. Scott was let go over a DWI arrest, though he was later acquitted in court of all charges, Billy Eppler was hired and operated as GM for two years, and then Cohen hired Stearns, the man he’d quietly sought for years, as president of baseball operations after waiting for him to be free of his contractual obligations with the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Scott is quick to give credit to Stearns for the Mets’ success last season and now in 2025, which is being driven primarily by excellent pitching that has outperformed expectations -- at least outside the organization -- despite the lack of name-brand starters. 

"The easy thing to do is go sign guys like Corbin Burnes and Max Fried as free agents," Scott said. "It takes some stones to say, no, this is the best way to do it. Being a bold decision-maker means doing things that aren’t popular. David has the ability to do what he thinks is best for the organization. But to do that you really have to believe in your process, and I think that’s where the Mets are now."

With that in mind, Scott and other baseball people I spoke to, including one currently in the Mets’ organization, all essentially make that larger point: that is, while it’s proper for Stearns to be praised publicly as the top decision-maker for the signings of the likes of Griffin Canning, Clay Holmes, and Sean Manaea, the spectacular results the Mets are getting are part of an organizational success story, one built on its advances in so many areas. 

"The guy in the big chair always gets too much credit and too much blame," was the way an executive from another MLB team put it. "It’s no secret around the league that the Mets have come a long way in a short time with some of their methodology, with competent people in key places. So Stearns should get credit but their process is the engine for what’s happening there."

For simplistic purposes, based on observations of various baseball people, the focus here is on two components to that engine: 

1) Hefner

2) The ballyhooed Pitching Lab. 

Let’s go back to Hefner momentarily. It’s not just Scott who sings his praises. Former Mets star pitcher Al Leiter was involved in the hiring of Hefner in December of 2019, when he was working as an advisor under then-GM Brodie Van Wagenen, and he too thinks the Mets’ pitching coach is a huge factor in the staff’s success. 

"It was an easy hire," Leiter said recently by phone. "Hef is very knowledgeable, very much in tune with the analytics, but the key is being able to take that to your pitchers and have their trust. 

"He has street cred as a former major leaguer, which to me is very important. A lot of the pitching coaches now are information guys who didn’t pitch in the big leagues, which is fine, but if you want your pitchers to really trust you in tough times, especially when you’re trying to make changes, it helps that you’ve done it at the highest level and understand how hard it is. To me, Jeremy is a snapshot of the ideal pitching coach."

As for the Pitching Lab, the mere mention of it draws chuckles from baseball people around the league.

"You guys have turned that pitching lab into a place where miracles happen," a rival exec said with a laugh, speaking generally of the New York media. "I give the Mets all the credit in the world for the success they’re having, but let’s not make that into some mystical place. 

"By now just about everybody has something like that in place, with all the necessary technology, so I don't think they're doing things that others are not. I just think they're people making good decisions to get the most out of what the information and technology provides." 

Leiter, now an analyst for MLB Network, concurs. And partly because he has a son, Jack, pitching in the big leagues for the Texas Rangers, he’s very informed on what teams do in those labs. 

"It’s technology that takes in all the data on every pitch and deciphers the good and the bad," Leiter said. "With video and high-speed cameras and pitch-tracking monitors and biomechanical cameras, it breaks down every little thing in how you deliver the ball, how it comes off your fingers, and why it works or doesn’t work. 

"They have pitch designers now who look at the information and come up with ways to pair pitches effectively, how often you should be throwing your slider, which pitches best complement your fastball. All that stuff. 

"You can sit and look at it for hours but it still goes back to whether you can implement it: 'What are the skills and drills that I have to do to make it work for me?' To me that’s the special sauce."

Scott adds that a big benefit of the lab is in the way the technology provides information beyond what even the best pitching coach can see for himself. 

"If you’re looking to change a pitcher’s effective spin rate," said Scott, "or the spin axis, that’s not something that can be seen by the naked eye.

"But it always comes back to feel: how did that feel to the pitcher? It has to feel right to him. That’s the relationship part of it, which, again is why Jeremy is such an important part of the process.”

Whatever the ingredients that go into the Mets’ pitching success, everyone I spoke to made the point that common sense says the starting rotation, in particular, likely can’t continue to pitch at this high of a level, leading the majors with an ERA of 2.24 going into Friday's action. 

"You have to pump the brakes a little," said Leiter. "I wouldn’t say it’s fluky but individually they’re mostly pitching way above the back of their baseball cards.

"Although I will say that if you’re limiting your starters to five and six innings, which they’ve done a lot, you’re going to put up better numbers. I remember all the times I told Bobby Valentine, 'I’m good, I’m good' and then went out and gave up a two-run home run in the seventh or eighth inning, so, yeah, that matters. But then you have to ask if the bullpen can handle that type of workload over an entire season."

Scott, meanwhile, said he believes the Mets’ success is largely for real, but admitted, "If you’re sitting in their front office, you kind of know there is bound to be some regression to the mean."

To that point, one MLB scout said, "As good as they’ve been, I believe the Mets are going to need more pitching. They could have help coming from a couple of big arms in their farm system. If not I’m sure they’ll be looking to add at the trade deadline."

How that plays out remains to be seen. But what seems clear by now, in Year 2 of this Stearns-led regime, is that by upgrading the inner workings of the organization so dramatically during the Cohen era, the Mets have a foundation for pitching success that is paying off now and should for years to come.

The Mets open a three-game series with the Cardinals in St. Louis on Friday at 8:15 p.m. on SNY.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

---

Mets Notes

• The Mets' team ERA of 2.68 is the lowest in baseball
• Francisco Lindor is hitting .298/.362/.484 with a career-best 141 OPS+
• Pete Alonso has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games and 16 of his last 17
• Clay Holmes has been tremendous over his last three starts, allowing just two runs in 16.0 innings

---

---

What channel is SNY?

Check your TV or streaming provider's website or channel finder to find your local listings.

How can I stream the game?

The new way to stream SNY games is via the MLB App or MLB.tv. Streaming on the SNY App has been discontinued.

In order to stream games in SNY’s regional territory, you will need to have SNY as part of your TV package (cable or streaming), or you can now purchase an in-market SNY subscription package. Both ways will allow fans to watch the Mets on their computer, tablet or mobile phone. 

How can I watch the game on my computer via MLB? 

To get started on your computer, click here and then follow these steps: 

• Log in using your provider credentials. If you are unsure of your provider credentials, please contact your provider. 

• Link your provider credentials with a new or existing MLB.com account. 

• Log in using your MLB.com credentials to watch Mets games on SNY. 

• Select the SNY Mets game you wish to view from the Multimedia Center. 

How can I watch the game on the MLB App? 

MLB App access is included for FREE with SNY. To access SNY on your favorite supported Apple or Android mobile device, please follow the steps below.  

• Download the free MLB App.

• Open “MLB” and tap on “Subscriber Login” for Apple Devices or “Sign in with MLB.com” for Android Devices. 

• Type in your MLB.com credentials and tap “Log In.”  

• To access live or on-demand content, tap on the "Watch" tab from the bottom navigation bar. Select the "Games" sub-tab to see a listing of available games. You can scroll to previous dates using the left and right arrows. Tap on a game to select from the game feeds available.  

For more information on how to stream Mets games on SNY, please click here. 

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Thursday, in case you missed it...

---

• Juan Soto homered twice, but the Mets lost to the Diamondbacks, 4-2, at Citi Field
• Soto discussed his performance and how he's feeling at the plate
• Kodai Sengaallowed one run over 4.0 innings while pitching through an illness
• Carlos Mendoza explained why Edwin Diaz, who hasn't pitched in nearly a week, went unused again
• Here are five things to watch as the Mets and Cardinals play a three-game series in St. Louis, with New York again in need of a sixth starter
• SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino opened the mailbag
• The Mets called Genesis Cabrera and Ty Adcock up to bolster the bullpen
• Dedniel Núñezcould be back in the big league bullpen soon
• WATCH: Mets prospect highlights from Thursday
• WATCH: Mendoza talked about Soto's big day

Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Cardinals play a three-game series in St. Louis beginning on Friday at 8:15 p.m. on SNY.

---

Preview

The bullpen is in flux

With A.J. Minter and Danny Young both out for a significant amount of time, the Mets have been relying on some of their depth relievers lately.

On Wednesday against the Diamondbacks, Chris Devenski pitched the final two innings after Brandon Waddell -- who had been starting in the minors -- tossed 4.1 scoreless frames in relief.

Both Waddell and Devenski were optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse following the game, with left-hander Genesis Cabrera and right-hander Ty Adcock called up to replace them.

Cabrera, who has had big league success as recently as last season with the Blue Jays, is New York's only lefty reliever at the moment.

Meanwhile, Dedniel Núñez -- who missed the second half of last season due to injury and has been shaking the cobwebs off in Triple-A -- could be back in the big league bullpen "shortly."

Can Tylor Megill keep it going?

Megill has been tremendous this season, and the results aren't a fluke.

To go along with his sterling 1.74 ERA (2.34 FIP) and 1.12 WHIP, Megill is striking out a career-best 11.3 batters per nine, allowing a career-low 6.7 hits per nine, and has an ERA+ of 224.

Megill's advanced stats via Baseball Savant are mostly above average, and his stuff is performing as well as it ever has.

The upside has always been there for Megill, but he entered this season after a rocky first four years in the majors, where he combined to put up a 4.56 ERA.

Perhaps it's all coming together for Megill in what is his age-29 season.

Luisangel Acuña's development

Acuña opened this season needing to make strides offensively following an up-and-down 2024 season in the minors and a promising taste of the majors toward the end of the year.

And he's succeeding.

Acuña entered play on Thursday with a 101 OPS+, which is a tick above league average.

He is hitting .288 with a .342 OBP to go along with five doubles, but Acuña hasn't homered in his first 79 plate appearances after cracking three homers in just 40 plate appearances late in 2024.

Home run power isn't expected to be a big part of Acuña's game, but if he can tap into it just a bit, it will make him that much more formidable.

The Cardinals have been tough at home

The Mets took care of the Cardinals with relative ease during a four-game sweep last month at Citi Field, outscoring them 19-9.

St. Louis entered play on Thursday with a 14-17 record, though their run differential of +10 suggested that they've been a bit unlucky.

At home, the Cards are 10-5, including series wins over the Phillies, Astros, and Brewers.

The Cardinals have also been a relatively strong offensive team, scoring the 10th-most runs in baseball.

Brendan Donovan has been dangerous

Donovan has been one of the toughest outs in the St. Louis lineup.

Through 29 games, he's slashing .333/.379/.491 with three homers, nine doubles, 17 RBI, and a career-best .870 OPS.

He also carried an eight-game on-base streak into play on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Nolan Arenado -- who was nearly traded during the offseason and could be moved before the trade deadline -- has been solid, with a .747 OPS.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Brandon Nimmo

Nimmo's nine-RBI outburst earlier this week shouldn't have been a huge surprise. He had been hitting the ball hard all season, but to that point had been the recipient of some seriously bad luck on balls in play.

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

Clay Holmes

Holmes has allowed two runs combined over his last three starts, spanning 16.0 innings.

Which Cardinals player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Lars Nootbaar

Nootbaar has been heating up.

The Mets dropped their first home series since last season after their 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field. After the game, manager Carlos Mendoza and the players spoke about the game and other topics...

---

Kodai Senga catches the bug

The Mets have had a stomach virus go through their locker room these last few days -- the same one that knocked Brandon Nimmo out -- and Senga was not immune.

The right-hander caught the bug and his start on Thursday was up in the air until the day prior when he told the team he was feeling better.

"He’s one of the guys with the same virus," Mendoza said after the game. "A couple of days ago, we didn’t know if he was going to be able to throw his bullpen. He ended up getting an IV, threw his bullpen, sent him home. Yesterday he felt a lot better. 

"We didn’t know until yesterday. He came in and said he was good to go tomorrow. Obviously, today he got an IV and he gave us what he had."

Senga gutted through just four innings (87 pitches/50 strikes) on Thursday afternoon. He allowed one run on five hits and three walks while striking out six batters.

Two innings got him, the second and the fourth, when the Diamondbacks got traffic on the bases, but Senga worked out of trouble. After the game, Senga, visibly tired, spoke about his outing and how he's feeling.

"Not great, but I made the decision to go out there and pitch," Senga said through an interpreter. "So as a starter, I wanted to go six-plus innings."

In the loss, Senga's four innings were the third-shortest start of his career, but he did extend his streak of not allowing more than two earned runs to 14 starts, which dates back to August 2023.

Decision not to use Edwin Diaz

Mendoza has mostly pushed the right buttons this season, but Thursday was the second consecutive game he elected not to bring in Diaz with his team behind in the later innings.

On Wednesday, the decision resulted in Chris Devenski -- in his second inning of work -- allowing two runs, which were enough to ice the game away. In Thursday's game, Mendoza had a similar decision to make. Entering the ninth inning, and the Mets down 3-2, he elected to keep Reed Garrett in instead of use Diaz who was warmed up.

Garrett allowed a solo homer, and that wound up being the final run scored in the game. Mendoza was asked about that decision after the loss and echoed the same sentiments pregame, that he wasn't going to "chase" wins so early.

"You’re talking about two high-leverage guys. Once Garrett got out of that eighth inning pitch efficient, you’re chasing," Mendoza explained. "I thought ‘he’s pretty good too.’ I decided to stay with him. And he gave up the homer. That’s all to it."

The home run Garrett allowed was the first earned run he's given up all season.

Mendoza was then asked if Diaz was fine physically, and the Mets skipper said he was.

"He got up yesterday," he said. "If it was tied [then], today, if it was tied or better, he was going to come into the games."

Diaz last pitched Saturday, April 26, against the Nationals.

Jose Ureña elects free agency

The 33-year-old Ureña was designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week, and despite clearing waivers, he elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to the minors, per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

Ureña pitched one game for the Mets back on April 28 against the Nationals. In that game, he allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk across three innings but did come away with the save because of the Mets' massive 19-5 win.

Giants eagerly rallying around Verlander in his search for first win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Father Time is undefeated for just about every professional athlete not named Tom Brady.

And while the 42-year-old Justin Verlander has pitched quite well throughout the twilight years of his illustrious MLB career, time is running out to secure one major milestone.

Now in his 20th season, Verlander (262 wins) sits 38 victories away from reaching the exclusive 24-player 300-win club. After signing a one-year contract with the Giants this offseason, Verlander got off to a slow start this season but has excelled in his last three outings, surrendering two or fewer runs over six-plus innings in his last three starts.

Verlander was in line for his first win in a Giants uniform on April 20 after tossing six innings of one-run ball against the Los Angeles Angels before San Francisco’s bullpen blew a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth. He followed up his strong start with a similar outing against the Texas Rangers on April 25 where he, again, allowed one run in six innings of work but received zero runs of support in a 2-0 loss.

That familiar trend continued in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night at Oracle Park, where Verlander (ND, 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K) once again pitched very well, only for his bullpen to once again blow his opportunity for that first win in Orange and Black.

“I really try and take a long view of this game, it’s really hard when you focus on a small sample size, so I’ve just got to keep trying to pitch well and hopefully a win will come,” Verlander said postgame.

“Look, of course we want to get him his first win, but it’s more importantly just winning the game period,” Giants manager Bob Melvin added. “No matter how you do it. But he pitched well enough to win, he’s done that probably a couple times now, so unfortunately hasn’t gotten that win yet. We’d like to get him one, but a team loss is a team loss.”

Verlander departed with one out in the top of the seventh inning after surrendering a solo home run to Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon that cut San Francisco’s lead to 3-2.

When Melvin walked out to the mound to pull Verlander, the two had a brief chat that initially appeared to be the veteran righty pleading his case to remain in the game.

That, as the self-aware Verlander revealed after the game, was not the case.

“I just asked him if he took me out because I’m old,” Verlander said with a chuckle postgame.

"I just asked him if he took me out because I was old."

Justin Verlander kept it light when he was taken out of tonight's game 😅 pic.twitter.com/pXhNVs5MXH

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 2, 2025

In fact, Verlander understood his manager’s decision and even admitted that he was not properly prepared to be stretched out for another frame after the Giants’ offense sent seven batters to the plate in a two-run bottom of the sixth.

“The long inning, I might need to make some adjustments here with the cold weather, throw a little bit if we have a long inning like that,” Verlander said. “Kind of had a little difficulty getting loose, so went back out there and didn’t have my best stuff. So live and learn.

“Looking up and my first fastball is 92 [mph] instead of [93-94]. It just wasn’t quite moving as well, gave up a homer. So that’s something I need to make an adjustment to.”

Verlander added that he has no issues pitching in the cold weather, but simply felt he needs to do a better job of staying loose in between long innings.

Despite his mid-inning departure, Verlander still was in line for the win after right-handed reliever Camilo Doval retired the next two batters in the seventh.

However, it was Tyler Rogers, one of the Giants’ most reliable bullpen arms and one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, who spoiled Verlander’s shot at his first win with San Francisco after surrendering two runs in the top of the eighth inning, giving Colorado the 4-3 lead that the Giants’ offense was unable to overcome.

“It kind of stinks to mess up the win for JV, he’s still searching for that first win as a Giant and he’s chasing down a lot of wins,” Rogers shared.

“He’s probably going to the Hall of Fame [regardless of] what we do for him or not. I think that will be something to think about when he does go into the Hall of Fame, like ‘Oh, I was a teammate with him.’ Hopefully we can help him out some more, but to take away a win from any starting pitcher doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t matter if it’s his first or 300th or whatever.”

While a win, and 37 more, certainly would be nice, Verlander just wants to do his part to help the Giants, as a team, notch victories. Regardless of which pitcher has the “W” next to their name in the box score.

“You want to do your part, but also I think you try and look at it like you give your team a chance and if you give your team enough chances the wins will start coming, you go deeper in games, keep a lot of runs off the board,” Verlander added. “Those things just kind of fall in line and start happening.

“We’re sitting here talking about it, it’s just been unfortunate, our bullpen’s been phenomenal all season. Unfortunately, just a couple starts for me, but that’s baseball. You can’t sit here and be like ‘woe is me,’ you’ve got a bunch of teammates and you’ve got to trust each other. And we do.”

That first win in a Giants uniform will come. So will others. Will he notch enough in 2025 and beyond to join the exclusive club? That remains to be seen.

However, if one thing is certain, it’s that Verlander will do everything in his power to put his team in the best position to win. And if he’s successful in doing so, he more often than not will be awarded accordingly.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

The Mets may have lost Thursday’s matinee against the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving them their first series loss at home this season, but there was at least one positive to take away from the rubber match, as Juan Soto blasted his first two home runs at Citi Field as a Met.

Soto, signed to the richest contract in baseball history, had gone 15 games at Citi Field as a member of the Mets without hitting a home run, but he launched two solo shots on Thursday, both of them going to left-center, as he showed off his patented opposite field power.

And if you ask manager Carlos Mendoza, the two-homer performance was something that’s been in the making for at least the past few days.

“It’s always good to see it, and we knew he was close,” Mendoza said after the 4-2 loss. “Whenever you have a guy who controls the strike zone as well as he does, continues to hit the ball hard even when he goes 0-for. I’ve been saying it for the past couple of days.

“Today I think the first at-bat was 110 [mph] right at the shortstop. Yeah, he’s hitting balls on the ground, but now finally not only hitting balls in the air, but when he’s going in that direction, left-center, he’s a pretty dangerous hitter, and it was good to see that today.”

“It feels good always to come through to help the team,” added Soto. “It just feels good... When I’m hitting the ball well that way, I feel [like] things are starting to get better for me at the plate. I start seeing the ball better and deeper and it’s a good sign.”

After signing a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, external expectations for the 26-year-old were sky high. And while he may have gotten off to a slower start by his all-world standards, Soto was still going a good job of working the count, getting on base, and scoring runs in front of a red-hot Pete Alonso.

And now his offensive numbers are trending upwards, with his OPS at .822 after Thursday’s performance.

According to Soto, there’s never been any extra pressure to perform at a high level, no matter what his contract looks like.

“What pressure? I don’t have any pressure,” Soto said. “Mendoza has been really clear with me to make me feel comfortable and going out there to play. I don’t have any pressure at all so it’s just two homers that weren’t enough to get the win."

Even with the loss on Thursday, it’s hard to take anything away from what the Mets have accomplished over the first month-plus of the season. They’re now 13-3 at home, 21-11 overall, and have been riding their starting pitching, strong defense, and timely hitting to a 3.0-game lead in the ultra-competitive NL East.

“I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job,” Soto said. “We gotta give credit to our bullpen and the starting pitching – they’ve been great. We have a couple of guys out who are hurt, but they’ve been showing up everyday day in and day out since Day 1 so really happy, really excited to play behind those guys”

“Look where we’re at,” he added later. “We just gotta keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing since Day 1. Try to get on, get them over, get them in. That’s all we gotta do.”