Francisco Lindor is heating up, but the rotation is in flux: Four takeaways from a Mets split doubleheader (2024)

While there are no ties in baseball, there are still doubleheader splits — days that provide a muddled message for a team’s progress. The Mets broke out of an offensive slump in a 5-1 opening win Saturday against the Nationals before settling back into one in the 6-2 nightcap loss.

New York has two more of these doubleheaders this week against division rivals: Monday against Atlanta and Friday against Philadelphia. What were the takeaways from Saturday’s twin bill?

Francisco Lindor is heating up

Francisco Lindor had his best offensive game with the Mets in Saturday’s opener, going 3 for 4 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs. His first-inning blast to left-center opened the scoring and halted New York’s scoreless stretch at 21 innings. His fifth-inning shot to right provided the Mets with all the insurance they’d need.

It was the kind of game that helps put a bow on a resurgence.

Lindor’s first homer reinforced what manager Luis Rojas has been saying all season: The shortstop doesn’t need to pull the ball to get to his power. While it was Lindor’s first home run to the opposite field this season, he’s also hit balls hard to the track or off the wall in center since the series in Arizona that started this month.

“The one opposite way was more like, I’m learning how to hit. It was something I wanted to do, and I stayed through that ball and I was able to get it out of the stadium,” Lindor said. “That’s something that as I continue to learn how to be a better hitter, that was very satisfying.”

“I’m glad he’s trusting his power. He can create power, and he doesn’t only need to pull the ball,” Rojas said between games on Saturday. “That’s going to make pitchers come and probably attack him in, and he’s going to be able to pull the ball naturally.”

Of course, Rojas said that after Joe Ross came inside on Lindor two at-bats later, allowing him to pull the ball naturally into the second deck.

“The second home run felt like Cleveland,” Lindor said. “I knew the pitch I wanted to hit, and it was short, quick, to the baseball and then run after that. I didn’t feel the baseball.”

Previously, Lindor has pointed to his bunt hit against the Braves on May 29 as a moment that locked him in more at the plate. He homered later that day, and in his past 19 games, he’s hitting .293 with a .369 on-base percentage and .942 OPS.

“Everyone knew it was coming,” David Peterson said. “He’s a special player. There’s a reason we went out and got him and signed him to keep him here for a long time. You’re starting to see what we’ve seen in the past from him.”

Pete Alonso appreciated Lindor’s other two hits across the two games, the first a single to drive home a run and the second a single to beat the shift.

“Seeing him swing like that is nothing but a good sign of things to come,” Alonso said. “It isn’t just the home runs that impressed me. It was his consistent approach in how he attacked the pitcher … being able to hit the ball to all fields not just for power but situationally.”

Peterson pointed out that Lindor has been the same person throughout this season — through the early boos at Citi Field amid his slump and now through a more successful stretch.

“All credit to him because no matter what he’s gone through offensively this year, he’s come to the ballpark, showed up, he’s been a great guy in the clubhouse,” the lefty said. “He works his ass off.”

“The best players in the game can do that: They can stay in that line whether they’re successful or not,” Lindor said. “You can’t really tell if I’m 0 for 20 or if I’m 5 for 5. That game is already done; now I’ve got to focus on what I’ve got next.”

There’s no dancing around the struggles the Mets’ offense has endured through the first 64 games of the season. New York is scoring 3.75 runs per game — down a full run per game from last season.

But that doesn’t doom them for the next 98. The Mets’ personnel for the rest of the season might barely resemble what they’ve deployed so far, as they’re eagerly awaiting the returns of Jeff McNeil (scheduled for Monday), Michael Conforto (perhaps next week), Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis (both further into the future). Sixty-four games into the season, Jonathan Villar has more plate appearances than McNeil and Davis combined, Kevin Pillar has played more than Conforto, and Nimmo has fewer plate appearances than the trio of Cameron Maybin, Mason Williams and Johneshwy Fargas.

But another reason for optimism is that Lindor has so seldom looked like Lindor this season. The more he hits the way he did Saturday, the higher the ceiling gets for an offense that, theoretically, should be much better going forward than it has been to date.

“I know for his confidence and the player he is, this is another boost,” Rojas said. “He’s consistent day to day and is confident and trusts his abilities, but you get a day like this and go, ‘Here we go.’”

Even if Jacob deGrom is OK, the rotation is in flux

Jacob deGrom threw his usual bullpen session on Saturday, and barring unexpected soreness in the next 48 hours, he’ll start one of the two games for New York on Monday.

But between games Saturday, the Mets placed lefty Joey Lucchesi on the injured list with left elbow inflammation. Rojas said after the games that the inflammation was not going to let Lucchesi go through his usual routine ahead of his next scheduled start on Wednesday. Lucchesi will get an MRI in the next few days.

“Our medical staff is not highly concerned,” Rojas said.

It is obviously bad timing. Not only was Lucchesi finding a groove with a 1.19 ERA in his past five starts, but the schedule means the Mets need as many starters as possible between now and the All-Star break.

This is how the rotation sets up right now until the break, presuming a healthy deGrom. With the doubleheaders, New York can go in different directions with the order: DeGrom could pitch on regular rest against the Braves on July 1 or on an extra day against the Yankees on July 2. If he does the former, he’d get an additional start ahead of the All-Star break. If he does the latter, New York can start him earlier in the second half of the season.

Lucchesi can come back as soon as June 29, which would eliminate the final three TBDs on this list. But that still leaves the first three, and the Mets learned on Saturday night just how tenuous it can be trusting a seven-inning game to the bullpen.

Let’s run through the options in the organization again:

• Thomas Szapucki has allowed nine runs and 20 base runners in his past two starts combined (7 2/3 innings). Szapucki’s walk rate is up to 13.8 percent in Triple A. He last started Wednesday, which would put him in line for Monday.

• Jerad Eickhoff is with the Mets in Washington as a member of the taxi squad. Eickhoff has allowed 12 runs in his past two Triple-A starts (11 innings). He would need to be placed on the 40-man roster, though the Mets currently have an open slot. Eickhoff’s trip to DC means he missed his last Triple-A start and can pitch whenever.

• Nick Tropeano hasn’t appeared in a game this month, as he moved from the Giants organization to the Mets. He’s been a serviceable reliever in a small big-league sample the past two seasons but hasn’t started successfully since 2018.

• Tylor Megill has had the best results of this group this season, posting a 3.35 ERA with 59 strikeouts and 12 walks across two levels. He started Friday night for Syracuse, so he would be in line to take Lucchesi’s spot. Like Eickhoff, he’d need to be added to the 40-man roster.

• Corey Oswalt has allowed five runs and 10 base runners in his two abbreviated starts so far for Syracuse (6 1/3 innings). He pitched Thursday, so like Megill, he wouldn’t be available Monday. He also isn’t on the 40-man roster.

“We’ll come up with something,” Rojas said, which is not necessarily the world’s strongest endorsem*nt.

Managing a bullpen is hard

In the first game of the doubleheader, Rojas ran through most of his best bullpen options despite the Mets having leads of 5-0 and 5-1. Behind Peterson, he used Aaron Loup, Miguel Castro, Seth Lugo and Trevor May.

“The main thing is winning this game; that’s the priority,” Rojas said. “We’re facing a really good lineup, these guys can build momentum (in a snap). We saw it happen in a couple innings.”

Rojas pointed to Washington’s sixth inning, when Alex Avila and Victor Robles worked consecutive walks against Castro. The tying run wasn’t up yet, but if it did come up in the inning, it was likely going to be represented by Trea Turner or Juan Soto. That’s why the manager got Lugo hot and brought him in to face Kyle Schwarber for the last out.

“You’ve got to win the game, you’ve got to stop momentum,” he said. “That was the thought process.”

Turner’s 11-pitch double off Peterson in the fifth likely triggered that cascade reaction in the Mets’ bullpen. Had Peterson retired Turner to end the inning, Loup could have taken over and perhaps finished the sixth, leaving the seventh and final inning to May and skipping over Castro and Lugo.

The relative scarcity of available arms — Rojas said “it’s really tough to throw a guy in both games right now” in between the contests — probably didn’t have too big of an effect on the nightcap, given that the Mets offense struggled.

David Peterson is throwing harder

Peterson’s velocity has been up in his past two starts, reaching career-best averages of 93.4 miles per hour on his sinker and 93.9 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball.

“The fastball had really good zip, once again,” Rojas said. “I like the velo. He’s able to pitch inside to guys and it doesn’t have to be a strike. He creates something out of it.”

“It’s a reflection of the work we’ve put in,” Peterson said, alluding to coaches Jeremy Hefner, Jeremy Accardo and Ricky Bones. “It’s just something that, as the season goes on, you keep building up, a little warmer weather is nice. I think it’s a product of work between starts and keeping my body ready physically.”

(Photo: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)

Tim Britton is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Mets. He has covered Major League Baseball since 2009 and the Mets since 2018. Prior to joining The Athletic, he spent seven seasons on the Red Sox beat for the Providence Journal. He has also contributed to Baseball Prospectus, NBC Sports Boston, MLB.com and Yahoo Sports. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimBritton