The New York Mets start the month of June with a 29-27 record. While not the dominant start many were expecting, the Mets have still found a way to stay within striking distance of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
While it has been a disappointing season in Queens so far, there are some positive signs starting to show for the New York Mets. A pair of strong pitching performances to end the month gave the Mets consecutive road wins over the Philadelphia Phillies to close out May. Now, Max Scherzer is scheduled to take the mound on Thursday in Philadelphia to start June for the Mets and potentially give New York a sweep over its division rival.
New York Mets: Max Scherzer adds more to his Hall of Fame resume
We were in Denver as Memorial Day weekend began to watch Scherzer and Justin Verlander square off against the Colorado Rockies at altitude. Scherzer provided one of the highlights for the Mets during the weekend, throwing a season-high 102 pitches and striking out a season-high eight while not allowing a walk to earn the victory on Friday night. With the win, Scherzer has now won in every MLB park except one — PNC Park in Pittsburgh. However, the Mets are scheduled to visit there from June 9-11 and, with the way the rotation lines up, it's possible Scherzer won't get a start there.
Still, while Scherzer might not be able to accomplish that feat this season, he's feeling more like Mad Max than he has at any time during the regular season he told reporters inside the Mets clubhouse in Denver.
"I am starting to turn the corner," said Scherzer, who has battled neck and back issues this season. "I am finally getting healthy."
That's excellent news for a Mets team that needs Scherzer and Justin Verlander to be the one-two punch everyone expected them to be before the season began.
New York Mets: Pete Alonso was a mixed bag in May
While Alonso continues to rip home runs and lead all of the Major League Baseball with 20 long balls, there are some other things to note about the numbers Alonso put up during the month of May.
In 105 at-bats during May, Alonso had a slash line of .219/.339/.543 while still gathering more hits in the month (23) than strikeouts (21). Compare that to a March/April slash line of .257/.328/.562 and there was a clear drop-off in average. However, Alonso was consistent with his power numbers, hitting 10 homers in May and 10 in March/April as well.
Overall, the Mets as a team slashed .250/.319/.412 in 29 May games so Alonso pulled down the average while boosting the on-base and slugging percentages. As our friends at Rising Apple said in this article, "Pete Alonso keeps driving in runs. Sure, his batting average couldn't get a date to the prom this month. His ability to continue to create chaos on offense makes him arguably the most important player on the entire Mets roster."
With Alonso, Mets fans will have to focus on that chaos and power rather than diving too deep into all of the numbers. The Polar Bear is a masher, and if the Mets ahead of him can get on base, perhaps that's good enough this season.
New York Mets news: Brandon Nimmo may be best bargain on team
Sure, Steve Cohen threw around a lot of money this offseason, and there were plenty of signings that drew attention. However, it could be New York's choice to bring back Brandon Nimmo that could be paying the biggest dividends so far this season.
Inked to an eight-year, $162 million deal before the season began, the 30-year-old Nimmo is second on the team behind Pete Alonso in bWAR, logging 1.7 so far this season. In May, Nimmo slashed .267/.331/.417 with 10 extra-base hits, including four doubles, four triples, and two homers. His 32 hits in May paced the team.
Still, following a night when he hit a pair of triples to support Max Scherzer's win in Colorado on May 26, Nimmo was quick to give praise to the entire Mets lineup.
"It's amazing," Nimmo said. "That's how this lineup was designed, and that's it at its best is me getting on in front of those guys and them driving me in. Really happy that we were able to grind tonight and put together the runs to support Max. Max did an amazing job and really allowed us to keep pushing on the offensive end."
Even at altitude, Nimmo, who grew up not far away from Denver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, said all of the running from those triples at a mile high was worth it.
"I let Max have all of the oxygen," Nimmo chuckled. "He's an older guy and he needs it."
In June, the Mets will need more of what Nimmo has been doing in order to keep climbing in the standings.
