The One Thing Holding the Mets Back is Their Bullpen

The New York Mets have finally won a series, taking each of the first two games against the Washington Nationals.
While they won both games, ninth-inning scares still make it hard to completely buy into the Mets playing better ball.
Host Ryan Finkelstein breaks down the emotions of watching it all unfold in the ballpark and where the Mets are at with their bullpen moving forward.
Also, is Pete Alonso clutch? And can this lineup find some consistency with the group that is on the roster right now?
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[@kenip9800]

The bullpen was a strength for a while, but too many starts that only went 4 or 5 innings forced it to take too much of the load.

[@LockedOnMets]

If this team was clicking on all cylinders, they would have so many more wins. But when the rotation struggles, the bullpen looks good. When the bullpen struggles, the rotation looks good. The Mets never have both working in their favor at the same time.

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Because Luis Rojas Mendoza over-worked them. He pulls the starters too soon, even with a 6-man rotation.

[@SplooshNoonley]

Great point about Pete

[@mattg2071]

You should listen to the jolly clip. He only talked about this season not his career, and talked about his stats in wins vs losses and Alonso’s stats when the team is up I believe 4 or more runs vs when they aren’t. The stats are massively different from the numbers he read

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Nunez is the closer. Luis Rojas, I mean Mendoza just doesn't know yet.

[@ericB3444]

Nunez used to play second for Yankees.

[@LockedOnMets]

Would love to see him get more high-leverage opportunities. I’d say he’s definitely deserving of it.

[@bena4072]

starters need to go longer - that’s what holding them back. McNeil was partially holding the Mets back and once his a** got benched they started scoring

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Because Luis Rojas Mendoza pulls the starters too soon, even with a 6-man rotation.

[@arcadeperfectreviews2653]

Am I the only one not getting video on these podcasts anymore? I just got the still image yesterday and today

[@kenip9800]

It's audio-only while Ryan is away from home.

[@arcadeperfectreviews2653]

@@kenip9800 thank you

[@JumpingJack6]

There is more than one thing holding this team back. The BP has been the largest black eye recently. It was odd, April was stellar and like a light switch went from great to atrocious over night.

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Because Luis Rojas Mendoza over-worked them. He pulls the starters too soon, even with a 6-man rotation.

[@JumpingJack6]

@@jamesbuckley8917 I do not disagree, the BP has been overworked for the duties BPs are to perform in the modern day mode of baseball. Honestly, I see this entire disaster of a season in the management first and foremost. Mendoza is clearly in over his head in my opinion.

[@servingjesussinnersavedbyg8456]

Pete is good at hitting pitcher's mistakes. That said, the eye test tells me, he was CLUTCH in his ROOKIE year. But if you want CLUTCH, see 2016 Yoenis Cespedes and Daniel Murphy - when the Mets needed to be put on their backs, they came thru.

[@mikesaje37]

Deadnail Nunez should get some closing opportunities!!!

[@StarCooki3]

“Low leverage “ homers OMG please stop

[@aharonbrand8044]

They need to sweep because there defense needs to shine 💪 before they play the Red ♥️🍒 hot 🔥🥵🔥🥵 Phillies in the UK UK

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Option Stewart and bring up Ben Gamel(.962 OPS in AAA). Gamel is a left handed 32 year old who could DH and pinch hit and play OF/1B. Release Taylor, who his not hitting, is a right handed hitter, and an outfielder. Bring back Baty and platoon him at 2B with Iglesias. Bench McNeil. He can play occasionally in RF/LF or 2B.

[@lordt78]

Ben Gamel? Is you insane?

[@jamesbuckley8917]

@@lordt78 .962 OPS

[@johncummings5350]

Lindor is obviously coming around..... unfortunately it took two months and one third of the season to accomplish finding his swing. This isn't the first time he's struggled mightily for extended months in Queens. So what happens now?? Well....if its like the past.....he will finish with good numbers overall and everyone will forget how many games he could have helped win if his bat was reasonable early in the season. Im not trying to bash Lindor. Hes very talented but i can't accept his inability to add to the offense for the first 60 games of the season. He needs to figure out before the season begins why he can't find his swing until he steps up to the plate 200 times.

[@christineg7888]

Perhaps the "sleep expert" who zeroed in on Severino's sleep pattern may help Jeff McNeil. If I remember correctly, McNeil started his slide around the time of the birth of his first child. Maybe it is a sleep issue. Just saying. 🤷‍♀️

[@fr2ncm9]

If you keep this core, you will go through the same thing next season.

[@servingjesussinnersavedbyg8456]

a healthy Peterson is a good Peterson. He is still not all the way back, wait till we see the strikeouts tick up, he is capable of 10 most times out.

[@jamesbuckley8917]

This year, Pete's RISP AVG is .222 That is way down from his previous years. Pete's OPS with RISP: 2024 .690 2023 .918 2022 1.099 2021 .824 2020 .891 2019 .946

[@luisdiego22002]

Uncanny how this team has not been able to align all it’s facets.

[@SplooshNoonley]

No it's not, this happens more often than it doesn't

[@warriorfan7663]

Nunez 🔥🔥🔥

[@mikesaje37]

And the main reason we signed Martinez was to hit behind Alonso forcing the pitchers to pitch to Pete and he's not hitting behind him!!! Tell me why

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Luis Rojas Mendoza

[@mikesaje37]

@@jamesbuckley8917 🤣🤣 that's funny

[@Marcus-jb1cp]

Could Lopez possibly be forgiven? Can Mets hep him get the treatment(s) he needs? Seems like bullpen is missing an arm.

[@StarCooki3]

“Low leverage “!homers ?? Are we trying to run Alonso out of town … we did that with Straw how did that work out for us?

[@alpascarella8794]

Strawberry had one good year with the Dodgers, then tapered off.

[@lordt78]

He can't hit elite pitching. What you gonna do, damn Pete fanboy!

[@lordt78]

Straw won a world series with the Mets.Pete's done shit!

[@Unconsciouzone]

I'm no defender of advance metrics, but if the argument for keeping a.220 hitter in the four hole is RBI ops then this statistic is damning.Certainly aligns with the eye test. Only time I ever see this guy walking off is back to the dugout.

[@BruceRichwineJr]

Put your foot on the breaks. We’re playing terrible teams at the moment. You can’t make an assessment after playing the D-Back and Nats. We could go on another huge slide after this series again. But the positive is Lindor looks better. He needs to be the lead off guy permanently.

[@jeffteyrosado9966]

The bullpen is overworked ppl cause the rotation can go over six innings

[@fr2ncm9]

I know that some Mets fans will have hope if the team gets to 4 games out of the wildcard, but they still need to clean house. Trade Alonso, Marte, Martinez, Bader, Sevi and Manaea. Stock the farm system with good, young talent and play the kids next year.

[@aharonbrand8044]

The Mets need to sweep there defense is unbelievable 🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀

[@aharonbrand8044]

They need to Bett up 😲😞😞😔😬😳😬 the bad 😞😔 teams

[@michaelw6193]

So if Pete is only valuable and good in low leverage situations then he can't get a big contract..

[@walterbison]

The "ONE" thing huh. Perhaps you haven't been watching the erratic starting pitching and offense that goes stone cold on any given night.

[@mamalannightshyaman]

Pete Alonso has the most game winning rbi in mets team history in 5 years. Come on

[@lordt78]

False.

[@mamalannightshyaman]

@@lordt78who is it then…he set the record in 2022

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Not this year

[@wilwhite8557]

Not at all, this freaking offense isn't fixed 🫣🤮

[@jayboegs6268]

starting pitchers killed the bullpen

[@jamesbuckley8917]

Luis Rojas Mendoza is why

[@JoelTurrell]

Fix the pitching and you've only got a .500 team; that is not enough for the postseason. Address the field: you have one decent outfielder, one decent infielder, and one catcher. Retain those guys and rebuild. It will take some time, and in the meantime, do the Bill Veeck thing.

[@SplooshNoonley]

Bad take. They'd be over .500 with just a closer that didn't set the game on fire. If you fixed the rest of the BP and starters went deeper they'd be way over .500

[@robpatrone2145]

Well the bullpen and then there’s the defense.

[@madwax1360]

They'll have to pull off a 20 win month in order for me to believe in them. These guys are notoriously known for getting red hot for 3 days, then ice cold for weeks or months.

[@LockedOnMets]

The Mets have a prime opportunity to make up some ground in June. We’ll have to see if they can take advantage.

[@aharonbrand8044]

They need to sweep away the marlins the marlins suck ass this year

[@frontier6937]

there are a gazillion things wrong with this team of which the bullpen is the least - they can't hit, field, run or last the full season. What a pathetic $302M payroll. Cohen ruined this team.

[@jamesbuckley8917]

The Mets cannot beat RHP because their left handed batters stink (Stewart, McNeil, Baty, Nimmo). They do well against LHP. June 4 LHP W June 3 LHP W June 2 RHP L June 1 RHP L May 31 LHP W

[@omairchaudhry4936]

Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor are not clutch. J.D. Martinez is far more dependable.

[@jayboegs6268]

I’ll probably never believe in Lindor. 👎👎

[@tonyd1308]

Ace? Severino is not an Ace, he can't even pitch 5 innings! He's a failure

[@joselopezmoya9786]

The METS' bullpen is not the problem. The problem lies with starters that hardly ever go past the 5th or 6th innings thus you have an overworked bullpen.

[@LockedOnMets]

It would be great to have the starters go 6-7 innings every time. But regardless of how long the starters go, you can’t enter the ninth inning up 3 and have that lead threatened every single time. That’s a bullpen issue and someone is going to have to step up and force themselves into the closer role.

[@SplooshNoonley]

No, the bullpen is the issue.

[@jamesbuckley8917]

The issue is Luis Rojas Mendoza

[@SplooshNoonley]

@@jamesbuckley8917 that's not his name.

[@jayboegs6268]

Lindor is good not great. Over hyped and over paid. Lindor and Alonso BOTH only perform in low leverage situations

[@jamesbuckley8917]

True for Lindor, but only this year for Pete: Pete's OPS with RISP: 2024 .690 2023 .918 2022 1.099 2021 .824 2020 .891 2019 .946

[@ericB3444]

The Mets mostly suffer from the loss of Jeff Wilpon. Steve should have let him run the club for five years.

[@michaelcassara2880]

WtF u talking about SMH

[@ericB3444]

@@michaelcassara2880 is YOUS scratching YOUS head. I’d hate to see how confused you get when cooking an egg.

[@michaelcassara2880]

No I'm a chef I cook very well but again WTF u talking about SMH

[@michaelcassara2880]

@@ericB3444 is I confused no I thk it's you bro lol 😂

[@ericB3444]

@@michaelcassara2880 I can make a good egg. You should be proud.

[@jayboegs6268]

Get rid of the times Lindor is terrible and look he’s a slight lily above average hitter.