J.D. Martinez Impresses But Mets Lineup Comes Up Short

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J.D. Martinez looked good in his Mets ORG debut, but the team did not. A breakdown Friday night's loss on today's edition, Locked on Mets.

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You are Locked on Mets, your daily New York Mets podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network ORG, your team every day.

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Hello to all you amazing Mets fans. You're listening to Locked On Mets, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you for making Locked on Mets your first listen every day. Locked on Mets is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube ORG. On the show today, we have J.D. Martinez's Mets ORG debuted to discuss a breakdown in the first segment. In the second segment, since the Mets ORG have now officially made their roster move for J.D. Martinez by D.F.ang, Zach Short PERSON.I want to talk about some concerns I have at the bottom part of this line. I'm not that short's gone, but that there's going to be less playing time for the guys on the bench, and could some of those bats get cold? We'll also talk about Brett Bady PERSON, who's been struggling lately. That'll lead into the third segment, as I'll discuss how long of a rope will the Mets give Beatty PERSON.Is there any point this season where Mark Viantos will get a shot at third base? We'll talk about all of it. First, though, I'm your host Ryan Finkelstein PERSON. If you want to find any of my work, follow me on X at Finkelstein, Ryan PERSON. You could also find semi-writing at just baseball.com, where I work as the managing editor. Well, the Mets did not have the magic on Friday night.There was a fleeting moment where I thought, hold on, this Mets ORG team might be able to have a comeback victory here. And it came in the sixth inning when Francisco Linderor had a double with one out. Pete Alonzo PERSON ends up striking out. So you got Linder on second, two outs, who comes out to the play, none other than J.D. Martinez PERSON. And we saw the impact in that moment.As J.D. Martinez goes the other way, crushes a baseball over 100 miles per hour off the bat. And does it so effortlessly, too, the way he is just able to barrel up balls and connect that way and just narrowly misses a home run, hits off the top of the wall, the right fielder. Try to make a leap and catch could not. Lindor PERSON comes around to score and you think, all right, momentum. The Mets ORG grab momentum, but they didn't.And it was a game where they just never had any momentum because Jose Budo PERSON got ambushed early. Now, the second inning was a rough one for Budo PERSON. He ends up, you know, hitting the leadoff man, Nolan Aronado PERSON. He walks Paul Goldschmidt PERSON. So he's got two runners on. And then he just hangs a change up to Alec Burleson PERSON.You know, you look at where Nita was setting up. Pitch probably wanted it to be low and outside. Instead, gets too high up, ends up coming inside with the pitch where it's just right in, it was Alec Burleson's PERSON wheelhouse, and he demolishes it three-run homer. And it was a tough hole for the Mets ORG to get out of. It got worse than the next inning as he gives up another home run to Wilson Contreras PERSON, a sinker thatwas right down to the middle. And Contreras swing at first pitch, he hit that ball 114 plus miles per hour. So just a couple of loud swings against Budo PERSON. Overall, I don't think he was bad by any stretch. I don't think that you look at his performance top to bottom and say, man, the shine is completely off on him.He's not going to be able to hang as a starting pitcher for the Mets ORG. No, it was a rough outing. He got hit hard with those couple of home run balls. And of course, he hurt himself by letting two free runners on before that first home run ball, which made it so much worse. But he still pitched into the sixth inning, got a couple of outs there.He did leave a couple of runners on for the Mets ORG bullpen to clean up in the bullpen. Great as always. Josh Walker PERSON did load up the bases, but got a huge strikeout with the bases loaded to strand those two inherent runners from Budo PERSON. And then you got Jorge Lopez for five outs, three strikeouts. He was great.Sean Reed Foley, a perfect inning, couple strikeouts. So the bullpen did its job for sure. But ultimately, just not enough offense in this game. And the Mets ORG had their chances. First inning, you start off with a leadoff double from Brandon Nimmo PERSON. Starly Marte PERSON reaches on an infield hit.So you got two runners on, nobody out, and they just left him there. Francisco Indoor PERSON popped out. Pete Alonzo PERSON hits into a double play ball, which hurts more because the next inning, J.D. Martinez PERSON, leads it off with a base hit. So that could have been a run. Had Alonzo PERSON just not hit into a double play ball.Maybe J.D. PERSON comes through in that RBI situation as well. Good piece of hitting in that first to bat where he just takes one the other way, you know, hits a pass the first baseman, just showing his ability to flat out hit as a guy that's still probably not even close to comfortable yet when it comes to being in midseason form. But to get two hits in his first game, that that was pretty impressive from Martinez PERSON. And that was the lone bright spot, really.Him and Tomas Nito PERSON, who had a great game offensively, a double and a home run. But other than that, the Mets ORG just couldn't string hits together. They did out-hit the Cardinals ORG,eight to five, but only put up the two runs. And that's really the story of the game for the Mets ORG. It was a frustrating effort offensively. I don't think that it's a game that we can take away too much from. Pete Alonzo PERSON had a rough one, and we've seen a lot of that.The stats are there for Pete PERSON, but the consistency has alluded to him. And that's the big question mark with Pete Alonzo PERSON. You know the 40 and 100 are going to be there by the end of the season. But there are times where it hurts you in the middle of that lineup. And tonight was a perfect example of that. Brandon Nimmo, Lise, he got a couple of hits today.So that was good to see. Lindor PERSON, he hit a double and he scored a run. So one for four days is not a bad night at the office for Lindor PERSON. But there was also a couple instances like that first inning where he came up small in a moment where the Mets ORG could have been able to get something going. And he just didn't get that big hit when they needed him to. I think having J.D. Martinez in the middle of this lineup is going to do wonders for the Mets ORG because he's just such a polished hitter.And it does lengthen everything else out. But you need more. And one of the big concerns I have that we're going to talk about a little bit more in the next segment is that bottom third of the line that's been so great up to this point. How much were those guys benefiting from all the playing time? Being able to cycle in a Tyrone Taylor, a Harrison Bader, DJ Stewart PERSON getting consistent run.Now that those guys are going to have to share a little bit when it comes to playing time, can they continue to produce? And then there's also Brett Bady PERSON, who I'm really concerned about as well, because he has really struggled since coming back from injury. And you look at some of the underlying numbers on Beatty throughout this year, it does feel like a guy that probably performed a little bit better than he should have based on the quality of contact.And now you're looking at a team that no longer has Zach Short PERSON. They DFAed him today to bring up J.D. Martinez PERSON, where he's pretty much set up to play every day, which is a good thing, but it also leads you without a lot of alternatives. There's not a righty you can stick in there against a left-handed pitcher. This is Beatty's job every day. And if he's not hitting, if you're not getting enough from Harrison Bader PERSON, and that bottomin the lineup starts to struggle, particularly now with Francisco Alvarez PERSON out of the lineup and your catcher position being held by Nerva as Nita, who have had their moments this year. Like I said, Nita with a great game, but guys that certainly are known for the bats overall here, I do begin to wonder, can that bottom of the line and produce the way it has up to this point? And if it's not going to produce, well, you really need those guys at the top with Nimmo, Lendor, Marte, Alonzo PERSON, all those guys hitting in front of J.D. Martinez PERSON to play to the back of the baseball cards as well as Martinez,because you're going to need them to drive this offense. So I want to discuss Brett Beatty PERSON and now the current roster construction after the Zach Short PERSON DFA. So we'll get to all of that in just a minute. First though, today's episode is brought to you by DoorDash ORG. I want to make Mom smile this year for Mother's Day?Why don't you get flowers or shop from her favorite brands and surprise her with Gifts delivered the very same day with DoorDash ORG? You can get thoughtful gifts that she deserves with the convenience that you need by choosing same day delivery or schedule a week ahead when flowers and gifts should arrive at her door on Mother's Day with DoorDash ORG.Shop with savings that would make her proud with a Dash Pass PRODUCT membership. We'll save with a $0 delivery fee and reduce service fees on eligible orders from DashPass merchants that meet the minimum subtotal off other fees including a service fee. Apply. Terms apply. 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I am not surprised, but it hurt all the same to see that Joey Wendell has survived another day in the Mets ORG roster.Zach Short was the roster casualty for J.D. Martinez PERSON, which is not surprising. I said on yesterday's show that I hope the Mets would keep short in DFA Wendell, but I also said that the expectation should probably be that short's going to end up DFA because he's not on the $2 million contract. The Mets gave to Joey Wendell PERSON. Joe Wendell PERSON has more experience. And so they like them more. And I understand, I guess, the thought that, hey, if things don't work out with Brett Bady PERSON, Joey Wendell PERSON is a more accomplished playerthat would be the plug-in-play third baseman. I just don't agree with it because I don't think that Joe Wendell is a better player than Zach Short PERSON right now. But that is neither here nor there. We'll see what happens or short. Does he get claimed by somebody?Does he end up in Syracuse GPE? We'll have to find out soon here. But now let's look at how this team is comprised because your bench is basically Joey Wendell, Tyro, and Taylor, and D.J. Stewart PERSON. And obviously, you have a catching tandem right now of Nito and Nervaias PERSON. If you're looking at this starting lineup, Francisco Indoor, Pete Alonzo, Brandon M.o, and Brett Beatty, I believe those four will be in thelineup every day. I don't think that you're going to see many Joey Wendell for Brett Beat Beatty PERSON starts. It might happen some, but ultimately I feel like those guys are going to get every day run as will for the most part, J.D. Martinez, Staling-Marty and Jeff McNeil. They'll give those three a blow here and there, get Wendell to start at second base, you know, to get, you know, Starling Marte off his feet for a day and have Tyrone Taylor get a start or, you know, use that D.H ORG spot maybeto put Marte in there to give D.J. Stewart a day at D.H. I imagine those three could see a day off here and there. But for the most part, they also will be in a lineup every day. So what you're looking at right now when it comes to this bench, a timeshare, as I've already mentioned, a catcher between Nido and Nervaez PERSON, and then some form of a timeshare between Harrison Bader and Tyrone Taylor PERSON.And I think DJ Stewart PERSON is pretty much relegated to being that bat off the bench. We saw him get an opportunity tonight. What was that in the ninth inning? I think it was in the ninth inning with Ryan Helsley PERSON on the mound. He made the last doubt of the game. He might have.Regardless, D.J. Stewart PERSON comes into that spot. Tough, tough situation, but he hits for Harrison Bader PERSON because Harrison Bader would have had no chance on it. So that was, it was Stewart PERSON. It made the last doubt as I'm looking at here on a pitch that came in 102 miles per hour, mind you. But that's going to be the task then for Stewart PERSON.There'll be games where it's going to be Harrison Bader's spot coming up in the lineup and they'll go to DJ Stewart PERSON instead. I think you could even see in some rare instances maybe a pinch hitter for the catcher or a pinch hitter for Brett Beatty if he continues to struggle right now. So Stewart PERSON's going to have that type of a role where you're going to expect him to get one at batting game right now while he's still hot. And ideally in a spot where he can come through and deliver and give him at some poweroff the bench, Tyrone Taylor, you know, he would be able to come into a situation like tonight. Let's just say that DJ Stewart PERSON got a hit. And then behind him, there was a home run. And all of a sudden, the Mets tied it up and it was going to the bottom of the ninth inning. I don't think DJ Stewart goes out there and plays left field with Mimos PERSON sliding the center. I'd imagine Tyrone Taylor PERSON gets out to the outfield.So they're going to be able to use those two guys in conjunction as well as Bader when Taylor PERSON starts to try to get those matchup dependent at bats. But it's also tough for all those guys then in that instance to stay on top of their game. Joey Wendell PERSON, I don't know how much we're going to see him, but he's obviously going to get the occasional start at second base, maybe some at third. And that's pretty much what you're rolling with.I like that they have a group that they can count on each and every day. But what concerns me is that bottom half the lineup, really the bottom three in the lineup. Even, you know, Jeff McNeil to a certain extent, if you want to go six through nine. But when you have Brett Beatty PERSON struggling right now, Harrison Bader PERSON struggling, yes,they're giving you something defensively. But that becomes a real problem at the end of this lineup, particularly when you can't expect Tomas Dato to double in Homer PERSON in most of his starts. A lot of times, he's going to go over for four. And he's only going to be in there for defense.So as much as defense was a priority from David Stearns PERSON, you know, this offseason and something that they really care about, it can't be a third of the line that is just focused on defense. So you really need to see something from Brett Beatty PERSON in particular. Beatty PERSON's the guy that has the highest ceiling. And we got a glimpse of it early on this year. He had safely in 13 of his first 16 games.He was hitting over 300. He's getting on base at a 370 clip for a period of time. He looked great. Well, here's the problem with small sample sizes. You then come back off of a hamstring pull. And in the start sense or in the game sense, he's two for 19 since coming off the injury.All of a sudden, that average went from over 300. Now it's hovering down the 250, 260 range. He's got to get back to what he was doing before. But unfortunately, you look at some of the contact numbers, the hard hit percentage, the average X of velocity. These stats show that he was playing a little bit better than he should have.The results were probably greater than the contact that he was putting forth. I will say that I like the fact that he's not whiffing. I like the fact that he's not striking out. He has cut his strikeout rate from 28% down to 15.9% and he's playing great defense at third base. Those are things they're going to keep him in the lineup right now.

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But he has to tap into his offensive potential

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because there just isn't an alternative on this roster right now.

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It's Joey Wendell or Brett Beatty PERSON.

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And if that's the choice to me, it's all right, no matter what, put Brett Beatty in the lineup. That's why I said he should be an everyday player right now. The question then becomes for me, and something that we'll spend some time on today. We'll probably have to spend some more time later if these struggles continueand we'll do a dive similar to what I did with Lindor this week, really getting into the stats. But how long of the least does Brett Beatty PERSON have? And at what point do you look at Mark Viantos and AAA ORG and decide to go offense instead of defense at the third base position? I'll talk about that in the next segment.First though, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel ORG. It's playoff time in the NBA and NHL and baseball is now in full swing, which makes this the perfect time to go to Fandul ORG. You're placed a bet on every game because right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed. It's $150, win or lose, bet on everything from slap shots to home runs and slam dunks on an app that is safe, secure, and super easy to use.I don't know what you're waiting for because, listen, go to fandul.com slash locked on right now. Again, you're going to get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed. Make your first bet an automatic win at fandul.com slash locked on. Fandle, America's number one sports.

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If not Brett Beatty, then who at third base? Joey Wendell PERSON. Zach Short PERSON comes through waivers, I guess. Ryland Bannon playing in AAA ORG right now. But really, you look at the farm system, and there's a little one answer because Luis de Heliccuna PERSON has not gotten off to a great start. Jayette Williams PERSON hasn't gone off to a great start.I think it's not realistic to expect either of those guys to make an impact until July or August at the absolute earliest. I just don't know if I see it. If they were tearing the cover off the bar right now, you can maybe talk yourself into something sooner. But it's been a rough start for those guys. So if you don't have a top prospect that can fill in, it really comes down to the two guys that were competing at third base in spring training.That's Brett Beatty and Mark Viantos PERSON. Beatty has gotten off to a great start this season offensively. He's hitting 302, 388 on base, 535 slug. He's walking about 13% of the time. Strikeout rate of 25.8% is better than last year when he was striking out a 29 plus percent clip in AAA ORG. But it's still not great. So you still have the strikeoutconcerns. Defensively, he's made two errors in 24 chances. You're not going to like your defense at third base with Viantos out there instead of Bady. But Mark Viantos PERSON can hit home runs. He has five home runs so far this year, three doubles and a triple. I don't think we're going to see Mark Viantos unless Brett Bady PERSON gets hurt or if he just goes on a brutal slump. I'm talking this two for 19 turns into a three for 73 and the entire month of May is just awful.

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And even then I could see them playing Joey Wendell PERSON instead.

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I can't envision Mark Viantos getting that chance unless Brett Beatty PERSON gets hurt or if, again, that type of a stretch happens and Viantos is taking things to an even greater level in AAA ORG. He's hitting 300. He's getting on base at a 388 clip, but he almost has to do more, which is crazy to say, because he's putting up good numbers, but you need to see a stretch where Mark Vantos PERSON, homers in five out of six games, and he's sitting in the double digits for home runs on the season.And he's getting on base at a 400 clip instead of a 388 clip. And he's hitting 3.20. He's got to be so overwhelming with that bat that the bat's considered going to an inferior defensive third baseman and hurting themselves at a place or at a position that I think they just really value. You don't want to be in a spot where your weak pitching staff hasSean Mania in the game with the bases loaded one out, and you get a hot shot hit to third. It's the perfect ball to turn two on, and it's hit right at Mark Vientos PERSON. And he fields it cleanly, but throws wide a second base. Everyone's safe.And all of a sudden, you go from being out of a spot where you maybe get a double play ball with Brett Beatty PERSON. And you save potentially, you know, anywhere between one and four runs on the board to having Mark Viantos make a mistake there, at least one run comes in, the inning prolongs, somebody hits a double, and all of a sudden you're wondering how this game just slip away from us.That's the issue with Mark Viantos PERSON. I don't know if I can buy into the defense, and he doesn't have a chance to play DH here. So I think Brett Beatty PERSON's going to have a lot of rope, and I do believe that he can get comfortable again and ultimately produce. The ground ball rate is alarming, but we've seen that throughout Brett Bady'scareer. And there's been times where his ground ball rate has been high. I'm looking at 2021 before his breakout, whereas ground ball rate was very high. It was over 50% double A, but he still hit 270. He can do that because typically in the past, he's hit the ball hard on the ground, and that's going to end up finding some holes for hits.This year, though, you'd be surprised to learn that his hard hit percentage is 15% worse than last year. So last year, as bad as he was, hit the ball hard 44% of the time. This year, that's down to 29%. He's got to get back to scorching some baseballs, finding the barrel, and ideally lifting more, of course. I mean, when he's at his best, you're going to see that ground ball ratedip to around 40% instead of over 50%. And he's going to get the ball in the air a lot more. That's going to help him with the extra base hits. But for now, you just want to see Brett Beatty PERSON get out of this funk and just contribute any way he can. He doesn't have to post an 800 OPS this year. If he can be sitting at 720 and he's giving you great defense and he's poppingthe occasional home run, and he's running the base as well, and he's just doing all the little things, I think they'll be fine. But the more that he struggles, the more that Harrison Bader PERSON struggles offensively if they come and continue, he's won for his last 18. So he's gone through a rough stretch here when you have a lack of offense from the catcher position. It all just adds up.So we'll see. I'm not hitting the panic button yet on Brett Bady PERSON, but it is something that will have to monitor moving forward here. Now tomorrow's game, Sunny Gray versus Adrian Houser PERSON. I was talking about this on yesterday's preview, not a game where the Mets ORG would be considered favorites by any stretch.This could be a chance here or a situation, I guess I should say, where they lose a series before they can even get to the final game. Because I just don't like that matchup with Adrian Hazer PERSON on the mound.

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But hey, I hopefully by telling you how unlikely I think it is that the Mets are going to win on Saturday, they proved me wrong. And I jinx them enough here.

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So that can actually end up working out. Regardless, though, that's going to be all for today's edition of Locked on Mets. Unless we get some crazy thrilling game on Saturday that I just can't wait to talk about, I'll be back on Monday for your next edition of Locked-on Mets ORG. If you're listening on the audio side, make sure you follow, rate and review wherever get your podcast.If you're watching it on YouTube ORG, hit that subscribe button. We're trying to make a push of 9,000 subs. So I appreciate all of you who subscribe. If you want to be a Locked-on Mets insider as part of our texting service, you'll find a link in 9,000 subs. So I appreciate all of you who subscribe. If you want to be a Lockdown Metz ORG insider as part of our texting service, you'll find a link in the episode of description. Or you can go to subtext.com slash Lockdown Mets ORG.Now for your second watch today, head over to the first ever 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube that covers everything in the world of sports. Of course, I'm talking about Locked on Sports today with your local hosts from each team and your league-wide host from each league. For Locked on Sports today, your local host from each team and your league-wide host from each league. I'm on Lockedon Sports Today streaming 24-7 on YouTube ORG.

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