Category: Baseball

First Pitch: 6:10 PM CDT

TV: Twins.TV

Radio: TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy App, LosTwins.com

Know thine enemy:Amazin’ Avenue

Since my last game thread, a 6-0 win against the Red Sox, the Twins have proceeded to lose 4 in a row. Its funny how quickly the vibes of a baseball season can change. They will try to get back on track against a tough customer, the Mets starter Nolan McLean. In his young career, McLean has made 12 starts, and only one of them could be classified as bad, and even in that bad start he struck out 11 over 5 innings. He is quickly looking like one of baseball’s best starting pitchers.

The Twins will counter with Simeon Woods Richardson, who has struggled in his last two starts, allowing 5 and 6 earned runs in them, respectively.

The good news for the Twins is that the Mets are in the middle of an 11 game losing streak. So, somebody’s losing streak ends tonight, let’s hope it’s ours.

Lineups:

The San Francisco Giants made a roster move on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before starting a series against their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. And unfortunately, it’s a move that sees one of the best stories of the young season come to a halt … for a while, at least.

San Francisco announced that backup catcher Daniel Susac had been placed on the 10-Day Injured List, retroactive to April 20, with right elbow ulnar neuritis. Taking Susac’s place on the active roster is veteran Eric Haase, whose contract has been purchased from AAA Sacramento. Haase was not on the 40-man roster, so the Giants cleared a space by moving injured reliever José Buttó to the 60-Day IL, as his season is presumably over.

It’s a bummer of a setback for Susac, who was enjoying a stellar rookie season after being a Rule 5 selection from the A’s back in December. Susac started his career with back-to-back three-hit days, and on the year is 11-23 with two doubles, one triple, one walk, and just three strikeouts, with five runs batted in and some decent defense behind the dish. That, combined with Patrick Bailey’s miserable start to the year in the batter’s box — the two-time Gold Glove winner is slashing just .151/.211/.151 — had resulted in the catcher situation inching a little closer to an even split rather than a pure starter/backup situation. But that will be on hold for a while, and hopefully Susac’s injury doesn’t take long to heal.

As for Haase, he was brought in over the offseason on a Minor League contract, and given a chance to compete with Susac for the backup role in Spring Training. He had a pretty decent spring, hitting well (8-28 with two home runs, one double, and four walks), but striking out 14 times. He was granted his release at the start of the season when he didn’t make the roster, but after not receiving any offers around the league, re-signed with the Giants on a Minor League contract, and has been playing in AAA ever since. In nine games with the River Cats, Haase is hitting 9-36 with two home runs, two doubles, two walks, and 13 strikeouts. He has also helped the roster by playing a little bit of left field after the Giants found themselves shy on bodies following the promotions of Drew Gilbert and Will Brennan to the Majors.

It’s interesting that the Giants opted to bring up Haase, rather than Jesús Rodríguez, an exciting prospect who was already on the 40-man roster, and who is having a blistering season so far in AAA (.344/.408/.492, with just six strikeouts in 71 plate appearances). Perhaps they’re waiting to bring up Rodríguez for when they have a larger role for him, rather than icing him on the bench where he’ll only play once or twice a week. Or maybe they just prefer the defense, leadership, and dependability of the veteran Haase, a 33-year old who has been in the squat for nearly 300 Major League games.

The Giants are nearly a month into the season now, and still all of their transactions have been due to injuries.

Freddie Freeman was activated off the paternity list ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, after the Dodgers first baseman missed two games for the birth of his daughter.

Freeman and wife Chelsea welcomed their fourth child on Sunday, London Rosemary Joy Freeman, they announced on Instagram.

In the series opener against the Giants, Freeman is back at first base and batting third.

Ryan Ward was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after playing in both games in his first stint in the major leagues. The 28-year-old started at first base on Sunday at Coors Field, and had two hits, including a run batted in, in his major league debut against the Colorado Rockies. Ward also struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of Monday night’s blowout win in Denver.

Ward in his two games with the Dodgers had two hits in six at-bats.

The Dodgers got very good production out of first base in Freeman’s brief absence. In addition to Ward’s two hits and RBI on Sunday, Dalton Rushing started at first on Monday and hit two home runs with three RBI, continuing his sublime start to 2026.

Anytime the Yankees show up on the schedule, regardless of the standings, it presents an opportunity for either a dramatic shift in mood, or a dramatic amplification of whatever mood is already in place. Tonight is no different as the Red Sox and Yankees meet for the first time in 2026 with the Red Sox off to a horrible start, but still somehow only four games behind New York.

The good news for the Red Sox is they have the pitching advantage on paper tonight. The bad news is each game of the series presents a more unfavorable matchup on the mound. In other words, it would greatly behoove the Sox to grab this game tonight as a loss tonight could quickly start mounting the deficit by Thursday.

For Early, this matchup also presents an opportunity to turn the page on last year’s loss in New York during Game 3 of the Wild Card series when he was thrown into the fire just four starts into his major league career and outpitched by the extremely unlikeable Cam Schlittler.

Lineup wise, the odd man out in the latest chapter of the “five guys don’t fit into four spots” saga is once again Jarren Duran. Masataka Yoshida will bat third as the DH, and Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu once again make up what’s establishing itself as the best version of the Red Sox outfield.

It’s Red Sox vs. Yankees, and even on a cold Tuesday night in April, there’s still nothing else quite like it!

⚾️ First Pitch: 6:45 pm – Fenway Park

📺 TV: NESN+

📻 Radio: WEEI

Entering the 2026 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation contained the reigning Cy Young winner, the No. 2 pitching prospect in baseball, and the former franchise leader in strikeouts by a right-handed pitcher.

None of the three, or Braxton Ashcraft, have been the Pirates best starting pitcher this year. 

It’s the guy everyone, including myself, thought was destined to start in the bullpen.

Carmen Mlodzinski has been Pittsburgh’s most consistent and most effective starter through the first month.

Hear me out.

The Pirates have one of the best rotations in baseball and contribute largely to the team’s 3.22 overall team ERA, the second-best in baseball. 

Mlodzinski leads the rotation with a 1.77 ERA and is the only starter below 2.00. He’s only allowed four earned runs over 20.1 innings.

Paul Skenes’ ERA sits at 3.27 and is inflated due to five runs allowed and only recording two outs on Opening Day against the Mets, largely due to two defensive blunders. Skenes has allowed three runs in his other 21.1 innings.  

When examining who’s been the best, it’s hard to ignore the expectation vs. reality.

Pirates fans and media members thought the Bucs were bound to sign a left-handed starting pitcher as the fifth starter out of camp, but it never happened.

The initial belief was that Jose Urquidy could be a bounce back option… he’s in Triple-A Indianapolis.

Mlodzinski recorded a career-high eight strikeouts in his first start against New York and has pitched deeper into games every outing, from 4.1 innings to 4.2, 5.1, and six full innings pitched.

In his last two starts against the preseason NL Central favorite Chicago Cubs at windy Wrigley, Mlodzinski allowed six hits, walked three, and struck out two, but a run didn’t cross the plate.

He appeared in relief of opener Mason Montgomery against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday and pitched arguably the best game of his MLB career.

Mlodzinski totaled a career-best six innings with two hits, two walks, five strikeouts, and another scoreless outing.

The 27-year-old starter hasn’t allowed a run in his last 12 innings. 

Pirates starters didn’t allow a home run over the first three series. Mlodzinski hasn’t allowed one in four outings.

Mlodzinski isn’t overpowering hitters, but changing speeds and using solid location to put away the game’s best hitters. 

Mlodzinski is in the 98th percentile in offspeed run value (3) and the 90th percentile in barrel percentage (1.7%). While opponents are hitting the ball hard off him 51.7% of the time (10th percentile),  his even ground ball rate of 51.7% has limited the damage. 

The first full month of baseball has gone better than anyone could have imagined following a 6.04 ERA in five April starts in 2025.

Another concern for Mlodzinski was facing the lineup for a third time. In 9.1 frames past the third inning, Mlodzinski has given up only three runs. 

In 11 innings over the first three innings, the starter has allowed one run and five total hits. 

Not taking anything away from Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, or Bubba Chandler, who have all had great moments, Mlodzinski is pitching the best he’s pitched since the Pirates drafted him in 2020.

The Pirates are short on pitching depth after Johan Oviedo and Mike Burrows were dealt for bats, plus Jared Jones not expected back for another month.

Mlodzinski has been everything the Pirates could have asked for and more, but the key is sustaining it

Mlodzinski will start Tuesday night as the Pirates begin the first of three against the Texas Rangers.

First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. as Mlodzinski will pitch against the American League for the second time. 

The Seattle Mariners announced Tuesday afternoon that they have designated RHP Casey Legumina for assignment, recalling rookie RHP Alex Hoppe for additional bullpen depth.

The move comes on the heels of a difficult outing for Legumina, but the righty had been reasonably effective in the early stages of the season prior to being tasked with the heart of the lefty-heavy Athletics order in the 8th inning of Monday night’s knotted affair. Asked predominantly for mop-up and low-leverage work, the Gonzaga product amassed a 5.43/4.15 ERA/FIP in 61.1 innings over the past two seasons with Seattle, a total of -0.9/0.0 bWAR/fWAR. At times, Legumina became the de facto long reliever for the M’s, pitching at least parts of multiple innings in half his appearances in 2026 and more than a handful a season ago. Though the Bean Man could be claimed to fill out another club’s bullpen, it’s plausible he passes through waivers and returns to Triple-A Tacoma for Seattle to call upon again.

His departure gives the Mariners a nearly fully rested bullpen headed into the final two tilts of a 13-game set without off days. The 27 year old Hoppe has yet to make his major league debut, having spent the first few weeks of 2026 with the Rainiers in Tacoma. Even without Legumina’s tough outing a night ago, Hoppe was pushing the M’s to make a move, with eight scoreless outings (well, one unearned run) as Tacoma’s de facto closer, punching out 12 and walking just three while yielding only four hits in 8.0 innings.

Nick Vitalis wrote Hoppe’s 40 in 40, which you can read here for some detail and a spectacular celebrity comp, and Kate should have some more details on Hoppe this afternoon to boot. The short of it is… Hoppe has had command issues, having been a 6th round pick out of UNC Greensboro by the Boston Red Sox in 2022 as a cost-saving senior sign whose expectation was to climb the ranks swiftly. Instead, it’s been a trickier traversal, with three rounds at Double-A Portland from 2023-2025 before cracking Triple-A Worcester last year.

As you can see from the clip below, Hoppe eschews some recent trends in pitch design and development. He’s “just” 6’1, but creates a steeper angle with a rather over-the-top delivery that makes his heater and breaking ball appear to tunnel well.

These pitches also make it difficult for hitters to elevate, as Hoppe has run high groundball rates for much of his career and has continued to do so in his short time this season. If and when he pitches for Seattle, he’ll be the first Mariners player to make their MLB debut in 2026.

It is undeniable that the heartbeat of the Cincinnati Reds roster is their starting pitching. During the 2025 regular season, in particular, that group posted an impressive 19.4 fWAR combined, a mark that was good for third-best in all of Major League Baseball (behind only the big spending Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers).

That’s by design, too. A quick glance at the projected 2026 rotation shows a cadre of former 1st round picks (Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, Nick Lodolo, Hunter Greene) as well as a 2nd rounder (Andrew Abbott). In other words, the Reds are well aware the importance of the rotation, the attrition that always hits it, and how their business model means they need to draft and develop the best arms they can get as early in drafts as it can be.

The 2026 group hasn’t been exactly as planned, however. Greene is out until mid-summer after having elbow surgery this spring, while Lodolo has been sidelined as he battles through a recurring blister issue that’s cost him time as well as impacted which pitches he can actually throw. The current group, buoyed by veteran Brady Singer and lefty Brandon Williamson, has obviously held up well enough for the Reds to sport a 15-8 overall record so far, but they haven’t exactly been brilliant in leading the roster there.

For instance, their 6.21 K/9 ranks second worst among starting rotations league-wide. Their 4.80 expected ERA is the 8th highest, while their 4.77 xFIP ranks 3rd worst. Getting guys like Lodolo – and Greene, eventually – is only going to improve that mark, and it appears the Reds are finally getting close to that happening.

As MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, Lodolo threw 50 pitches across a trio of innings in a simulated game yesterday down in Tampa, and he’s set to head out on a rehab assignment with High-A Dayton where he’ll pitch four innings, ideally, on Sunday.

One of the batters he pitched to in said simulated game was Jose Trevino, who’s been on the IL for the last two weeks with a back/neck issue. Trevino came through the sim game unscathed, too, and it appears he could rejoin Cincinnati’s active roster as early as Wednesday.

The band is getting closer to being back together!

Here’s the Astros’ lineup:

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

For the Cubs:

Let’s talk about it.

Tuesday notes…

• STREAKING: The Cubs’ current winning streak is their 181st of at least six games since 1901, first year of the Modern Era, and their 33rd since 2000. The previous one was Aug. 26-Sept. 1, 2024. It was among 73 that ended at six games. In the seventh game, the Cubs led the visiting Reds, 3-0, after seven innings, then gave up four runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to lose, 5-3. The last of more than six games was eight in a row, July 21-29, 2023. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HITTING: Alex Bregman, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner each has made the Cubs’ first hit of a game four times, tied for most on the team. All of Happ’s have come in the last six games: April 14 and 18-20. All were singles leading off the second inning. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• PITCHING: The Cubs allowed 13 runs in the last game they lost, Monday, April 13 at Philadelphia. They have allowed 14 runs total during the six-game winning streak, the fewest of any MLB team in that stretch.
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Jake Arrieta throws his second no-hitter and the Cubs defeat the Reds by the biggest margin ever in a no-hitter, 16-0 at Cincinnati. It happened 10 years ago today, Thursday, April 21, 2016.

Cubs lineup:

Phillies lineup:

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Jesús Luzardo, LHP

Here we have a pitching rematch from last Wednesday in Philadelphia, the most recent start for both Shōta Imanaga and Jesús Luzardo.

As you’ll recall, Imanaga was brilliant, allowing three hits and one run in six innings, with a career-high tying 11 strikeouts.

Do that again, Shōta.

Also to do again: Hit Jesús Luzardo the way the Cubs did in Philly: 12 hits, nine runs (eight earned) in 5.1 innings. Nico Hoerner homered off Luzardo, who has had a rough start to his 2026 season.

Keep that going, Cubs.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight. If you do go there to interact with Phillies fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The San Diego Padres’ offense met its match in Orange County this weekend. But the challenge did not seem to affect their starting arms. With a chance to win a road series against the Los Angeles Angels, Michael King had another strong start.

He bolstered his claim to the No. 1 starter role by allowing just one hit over five innings. The lone blemish to his day was issuing four walks. King struggled to throw his sinker for strikes all outing long. He relied on his secondary pitches (changeup/sweeper/four-seam fastball) to record outs. Those pitches accounted for 62 percent of the 105 King threw against the Angels.

He might be on the road to dominance, but the exit is a few miles away.

Consistency has been an issue since Spring Training

Throughout Spring Training, the Padres indicated King was on track for his scheduled Opening Day start. Friars skipper Craig Stammen found King’s side throwing sessions more encouraging than his Cactus League performances.

He began the 2026 campaign with a solid showing against the Detroit Tigers. King stumbled during his second start at Fenway Park but quickly got back on course, delivering strong outings against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners in his next two starts.

The sinker has abandoned King

Consistency has been missing from his starts this season. His control, which is usually reliable, has betrayed him. King has issued 14 walks in 27.2 innings pitched. He needs to break the pattern by harnessing his tantalizing repertoire to achieve better success.

The right-hander pitches best when he throws like an old-school starter, establishing his sinker by working off the four-seamer. Unfortunately, he is struggling to locate the sinker for strikes in the season’s first month. 

Opposing hitters find themselves in hittable situations. Thankfully, they have not been able to make solid contact off him. Despite his control issues, King is 3-1 with a 2.28 ERA, having surrendered eight runs while striking out 26 batters. 

Still, more work ahead before his next start. Despite all of the control problems, King is close to solving the location issues with his sinker. He might be a start away from shutting down an opposing lineup.

His pitching repertoire is that good. 

The Houston Astros (9-15) and Cleveland Guardians (13-11) will play the 2nd game of this 3-game set tonight at Progressive Field.

RHP Ryan Weiss (0-2) will start for the Astros vs. Guardians LHP Parker Messick (3-0).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP Ryan Weiss will make his second start of the season tonight.

Weiss began the 2026 season in the Astros bullpen, making 5 relief appearances before making his first career ML start on April 16 vs. COL (3.2 IP, 2 ER).

About Ryan: Weiss is back pitching in the United States in 2026 after spending the last two seasons in the KBO. He made 46 career starts in Korea for the Hanwha Eagles and posted a 3.16 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and 305 strikeouts in 270.1 innings over those two seasons.

The Astros signed him to a Major League deal in December.

VS. THE LAND: Tonight is the 2nd game of six scheduled meetings vs. the Guardians in 2026,

After this 3-game set at Progressive Field, the two clubs will play a 3-game series at Daikin Park, June 19-21.

The Astros were 2-4 vs. CLE last season, going 2-1 at Progressive and 0-3 at Daikin Park.

AT PROGRESSIVE: With last night’s victory, the Astros are now 5-1 in their last 6 games at Progressive Field. They were 2-0 here in 2024 and 2-1 in 2025.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE: Since April 13, C Yainer Diaz has been successful in 9 of his last 10 ABS challenges. In that span, he has been successful twice in the same game 4 different times.

A PERFECT 10:Yordan Alvarez has had a torrid start to the 2026 season as he leads the Majors with 10 HR, which matches the club record through a player’s first 24 games of a season, joining Lance Berkman (2002).

ON THE LEADERBOARD: Alvarez currently leads the AL in WAR (1.6), RBI (21), XBH (17) and TB (65), and is 2nd in SLG (.756), OBP (.459) and OPS (1.215).

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE: The Astros have placed OF Taylor Trammell on the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain.

To take his place on the active roster, the Astros selected OF Daniel Johnson (#31) to the Major League roster.

To make room for Johnson on the 40-man roster, the Astros designated RHP Christian Roa for assignment.

MR. 2000: 2B Jose Altuve needs to appear in one more game to reach 2,000 for his career, which will make him the 3rd Astros player to reach this milestone.

Hall of Famers Craig Biggio (2,850) and Jeff Bagwell (2,150) also surpassed 2,000 career games (all for HOU).

Only four active players have reached 2,000 career games: Andrew McCutchen (2,276), Carlos Santana (2,212), Freddie Freeman (2,199) and Paul Goldschmidt (2,082).

THE ORDER: The Astros have used 24 different batting orders in their 24 games so far this season. Only LF Yordan Alvarez has started every game in the same spot in the lineup (second).

EXTRA! EXTRA!: 2B Jose Altuve recorded his 750th career extra-base hit on Thursday (4/16 VS. COL) with his 461st career double. He also has 32 triples and 258 home runs, all coming as an Astro.

Only Craig Biggio (1,014) and Jeff Bagwell (969) have more extra-base hits than Altuve in franchise history.

BEHIND THE DISH:C Christian Vázquez is hitting .375 (12×32) with a .444 OBP and a 1.132 OPS.

He has also tallied 10 RBI in just 10 games (8 starts) and has four catcher caught stealings on the season.

HARD TO HIT: Opponents are just 7×48 (.146) vs. RHP Kai-Wei Teng, who is just the 2nd Taiwanese-born player to appear with the Astros in their history.

Among AL relievers, Teng ranks T-2nd in innings (13.2) and T-8th in strikeouts (14).

Sunday was his 4th scoreless appearance of at least 2.0 innings this season, tied for the most among AL relievers.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1999 – In a record-setting 10-3 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Jeff Bagwell goes 3×5 with 3 HR and 6 RBI. Not only does Bagwell tie the franchise record for HR in a game, he also passes Jimmy Wynn to become the club’s all-time career HR leader. Bagwell would have another 3-HR game later that season, also in Chicago on June 9, 1999, homering 3 times at Comiskey Park vs. the ChiSox. He end his career with 449 HR, which still stands as the franchise record.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, April 21, 5:10 p.m. CST

Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland OH.

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

According to manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets are calling up Christian Scott to start Thursday’s game with the Minnesota Twins. Kodai Senga will remain in the rotation for now, while David Peterson will be in the bullpen for at least this turn through the rotation. Due to that, it is likely that a reliever will be the corresponding move when Scott is called up.

Scott has made three starts for Triple-A Syracuse this year, with one being quite bad and the others being good. In 13 and two-thirds innings, Scott has walked just two and struck out 17. Scott made nine big league starts in 2024 before requiring Tommy John Surgery.

With Nolan McLean already up and Jonah Tong not far behind, the Mets are hoping their young pitching can turn their season around after a series of not great starts from their veterans. However, it is the lack of offense that has really hamstrung the club, and no amount of elite starting pitching can fix that. However, with Juan Soto rejoining the lineup on Wednesday, the Mets are at least have some help on the way and are not stagnantly waiting for their luck to improve.

The Mets, behind McLean, start a homestand tonight against the Twins. Former Met farmhand Simeon Woods-Richardson starts for Minnesota.

No worries, Ronald Acuña Jr. hasn’t gone anywhere. Also, Eli White returns to the starting lineup in an outfield corner.

Usually, I do a batter-versus-pitcher thing, but there’s not much to do here. Foster Griffin made one MLB appearance in 2020 and six more in 2022, and then went to Japan. No one in this lineup has ever faced him at the major league level.

The Nationals roll out a similar-ish lineup to yesterday. Jorbit Vivas takes over at third for Brady House, and a bunch of spots are correspondingly reshuffled around the 1-2-4 enscocement of James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr., and CJ Abrams. Six of these guys (not Vivas, Daylen Lile, or Nasim Nunez) have actually faced Lopez before, but none have more than seven PAs. Their collective line is a .271 wOBA and .318 xwOBA in 27 PAs, with CJ Abrams once hitting a go-ahead 0-2 homer off Lopez back in 2024.

Here’s a weird thing: this will be the first time Jacob Young has hit third in his career. Also, the Braves have only used 12 different batting orders through 23 games so far, but this will be a new one, as White hasn’t yet hit ninth this season.

Listen, there is no good introduction to this other than to just give you a trigger warning because if you read on, you will see the worst meter you have ever laid your eyes upon. And once you lay your eyes upon it, you will not be able to unsee it. I can’t.

I don’t need to rehash for you why the meter looks like this. The Mets have lost 11 straight games. They only have one win in the time period encompassed by this meter. They are last in baseball in runs scored. The only two guys in the lineup with a pulse at the moment are Francisco Alvarez and a guy they just brought up six days ago.

So to serve as your buffer and make it so that you have to scroll down a bit to actually see the meter for the sake of your own mental health, I will include this image to serve as the introduction to the meter instead of more developed thoughts.

Okay here’s the actual meter (you were warned).

Player	Last week	This week
Francisco Alvarez, C
Brett Baty, UTIL
Carson Benge, OF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Francisco Lindor, SS
Ronny Mauricio, INF	—
MJ Melendez, OF	—
Tommy Pham, OF	—
Jorge Polanco, 1B/DH
Luis Robert Jr., OF
Marcus Semien, 2B
Tyrone Taylor, OF
Luis Torrens, C
Mark Vientos, 1B/3B
Jared Young, 1B/OF

Before we get into the really ugly, horrible weeds of this, we’ll start out with some logistics. Jared Young, who had actually been doing pretty well with the bat, hit the injured list before the Dodgers series with a torn meniscus, which will unfortunately sideline him for quite some time. After much hemming and hawing, Jorge Polanco was placed on the injured list as well retroactive to April 15 with a right wrist contusion; in theory he will miss less time.

The Mets called up Hayden Senger to take Polanco’s roster spot, but Senger has yet to appear in a game so he does not appear on this meter. Presumably the decision to roster a third catcher—other than the fact that the Mets have very few options right now—is rooted in their desire to be able to DH Francisco Alvarez sometimes, since he is the only regular actually hitting. Alvarez has posted a 120 wRC+ over 39 plate appearances in the past couple of weeks. He leads the team in walks with six. Only one of his eight hits went for extra bases, but that hit was a home run. The Mets have not yet opted to DH Alvarez since Senger was called up and that might partially be because Luis Torrens has just two hits in his last 11 plate appearances.

When Young was placed on the injured list, the Mets recalled outfielder MJ Melendez from Triple-A. Other than Alvarez, Melendez is the only other Mets hitter to receive a positive grade this week. As you may recall, he was a candidate for King of Spring Training this year and he has carried that momentum into the regular season, maybe in part because he does not yet have the stink of the team’s bad vibes on him. He has collected five hits and two walks in 16 plate appearances, including a home run in Sunday’s game which represented the Mets’ only run in their most recent loss.

It’s hard to imagine Melendez losing his spot on the roster when any of the injured Mets return—starting with Juan Soto tomorrow. Senger will likely be the first to be sent down, but it’s hard to imagine Tommy Pham, who was called up on April 13, is long for this roster, even as haggard as it is. Pham is hitless in eight plate appearances so far and struck out in half of them, looking very much like a guy who doesn’t belong in the big leagues right now. Pham replaced Ronny Mauricio on the roster when he was called up. Mauricio was briefly recalled when Juan Soto first hit the injured list, had his one heroic walk-off moment in four plate appearances, and then was sent back down.

Speaking of guys that don’t look like they belong in the big leagues right now, that unfortunately applies to Carson Benge as well. Benge has put up a 38 wRC+ in 36 plate appearances over these last 12 games and looks overmatched. He has six hits over that span—one double and five singles. He has scored two runs and walked three times, but did not drive in any runs and struck out seven times. But to be fair to Benge, he is far from alone in his struggles.

Brett Baty and Mark Vientos join Benge, Pham, and Torrens in the poop emoji brigade and those two are arguably the poopiest of all. Ever since we all wondered if we were perhaps witnessing the resurrection of Mark Vientos, he has put up an almost incomprehensible -50 wRC+ in 34 plate appearances. He hit one very cool moonshot in Chicago that looked like he may be showing signs of life, but that’s one of just two hits he’s had since our last meter and that is not enough to save him from the poop. Baty’s wRC+ in the past two weeks is also a negative number (-2). Baty has five hits—four of them singles—and three RBIs in 35 plate appearances. He has walked just once and struck out a whopping eleven times, which leads the team. Both Baty and Vientos have also had challenges defensively.

Bo Bichette matches Baty’s 11 strikeouts to lead the team, which says something about how things are going for him. Unlike Baty and Vientos, his defense at third base has been much better lately and he’s actually made a few really spectacular plays in the past couple of weeks, but unfortunately his poor hitting is more memorable as part of the Mets’ collective ineptitude at the plate. Bichette’s 73 wRC+ is sadly actually one of the better marks in the regular starting lineup, which demonstrates how bleak things have really been. His 11 hits are second on the team and he’s one of just two Mets with double-digit hits in the past two weeks, which again says more about the lineup that it does about Bichette.

Francisco Lindor is the team leader in hits with 13. Normally being the team leader in hits for a given meter would be close to an automatic positive grade, but even with leading the team in hits, Lindor holds a mediocre 70 wRC+ over the past 12 games (50 plate appearances). Ten of those 13 hits were singles, which is not ideal. Lindor leads the team in runs scored with five (lol) and has recently been dropped to third in the lineup in an attempt to bolster run production, but he has just one RBI over the past 12 games—the result of a solo homer.

Luis Robert Jr. is with Bichette and Lindor in the “mediocre, but not absolutely terrible” category with a 73 wRC+ in 44 plate appearances. Early on, when the Mets were still winning once in awhile, Robert was one of their hottest hitters, but he has cooled off significantly. He has eight hits in the past 12 games—5 singles, two doubles, and a home run. He is still also taking the occasional walk; he has walked four times in those 44 plate appearances. But he also has struck out 11 times to match Bichette and Baty for the team lead.

Marcus Semien is another player whose arrow turns upside down from green to red. After his very slow start, Semien perked up a bit right in time to get a positive grade for his very first meter, but he has not been very productive since. He posted an ugly 41 wRC+ in 45 plate appearances since our last meter. Of his nine hits, just one went for extra bases. He scored a run, drove in two, and walked twice. He also stole a base—something the Mets aren’t doing much because they aren’t getting on base all that much. Lindor, Benge, and Baty each also have one steal since our last meter and no one on the team has more than one.

Juan Soto’s absence has meant more playing time for Tyrone Taylor and he has been…okay. He has four hits—three singles and a double—and a walk in 17 plate appearances, good for an 87 wRC+. He’s scored a run and driven in two runs while playing his usual solid outfield defense.