On Thursday afternoon, the Detroit Tigers spoiled Justin Verlander’s return to the active roster after more than a month on the shelf.
They won 2-0 against the New York Mets, a team that once again looked punchless and incapable of representing even the slightest threat to score runs.
As of Friday afternoon, 12 teams have scored more than the Mets’ 141 runs.
It’s not a disastrous performance, but with the names in New York’s lineup, you clearly would expect better production.
This is a team that has Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Starling Marte, Jeff McNeil, Mark Canha, prospect Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo, and more.
It was the sixth time this year that the Mets lost without scoring any runs, which seems abnormally high.
Insider Deesha Thosar helped put some context to that stat.
“That was the sixth time this season the Mets have been shutout. Last year, their sixth shutout of the season did not occur until Aug. 16,” she tweeted.
That was the sixth time this season the Mets have been shutout. Last year, their sixth shutout of the season did not occur until Aug. 16.
— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) May 4, 2023
The Mets won 101 games last year and had a solid offense.
It makes little sense to see them struggle like this, but the season is young still.
They are 16-16, but they have enough time to recover some crucial injured players and start climbing back in the standings.
There are big expectations surrounding this team, one that has spent a lot of dollars in the last three seasons to make sure it stays competitive.
At the moment, they are six games behind the NL East leaders, the Atlanta Braves, so there is a growing sense of urgency to start winning some ballgames.
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