Mets’ woeful Saturday performance displayed painful truth about remainder of 2023

NEW YORK — The Mets starting lineup for the opening game of Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader told a stark tale about the state of the roster and the disparity between them and their NL East rivals with more than seven weeks remaining in the 2023 season.

Aside from Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso and Daniel Vogelbach, who composed the heart of the Mets’ lineup, the other six members had combined to play 96 games for the team this season.

The Mets felt the wrath of the Braves, who deployed five of their eight National League All-Stars and bullied their way to a 21-3 victory in the first half of the teams’ doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.

New York Mets right fielder DJ Stewart is unable to make a play on a two-RBI single hit by Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies during the fourth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Denyi Reyes was called up by the Mets to make his third start of his major league career and was gashed by the team with the top record in Major League Baseball. Reyes, who had given up five earned runs in one inning against the Braves in his only other start in 2023, lasted 4⅔ innings on Saturday but gave up five earned runs on eight hits and four walks.

“Yeah, it’s no secret that they’re one of the best teams in baseball,” Reyes said through translator Alan Suriel. “I think the most difficult part is to be ab;le to consistently execute pitches that you want and to make good pitches against them.”

Reed Garrett gave up six earned runs in 2⅓ innings, and Josh Walker gave up solo home runs to Matt Olson, who increased his MLB lead to 42 with a pair of long balls, and Sean Murphy. The Braves padded their lead with eight runs off Danny Mendick.

Daniel Vogelbach supplied the only runs of the series for the Mets through two games with a three-run home run in the eighth inning.

“We’re trying. Fortunately, we’ve got a game to take away that feeling before too long. It’s tough,” Buck Showalter said. “Denyi gave us everything he could there. We took him as far as we could there with innings at a premium. Same way with the Garrett. Obviously, it got away from us. Just not doing much offensively until Vogey’s home run. It’s been a really challenge for us to get some people out and make it work for us.”

The Mets’ opening two games of their series against the Braves, when they were outscored 28-3, painted a cautious outlook for how they will handle the workload of their stars the rest of the way.

Aug 11, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) looks at the scoreboard in the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo are two of the players on the Mets who have “posted up” consistently throughout the last two seasons.

After Saturday’s defeat, the duo had combined to play in 96.6 percent of the team’s games this season. But with Lindor dealing with right side soreness and Nimmo with a left quad contusion, but players were noticeably absent from Saturday’s opener.

Normally, a series against the Braves would call for the best players to push through discomfort. But this season, with the Mets toiling at 10 games under .500 entering the series with their rivals, the Mets decided to take it easy with their stars.

An MRI early Saturday morning brought good news for Lindor, but the Mets shortstop remained out for a second straight game after playing in each of the team’s first 114 of the season.

“I talked to him a little bit back in the weight room, he was doing some exercises, but that was as good of news as we could’ve gotten,” Showalter said. “Your body’s always trying to tell you something. We’ll keep our eye on it.”

Meanwhile, Showalter said he did not feel comfortable playing Nimmo in two games on the same days as he deals with a quad ailment that he has been dealing with for nearly two weeks.

The Mets manager said that the team was considering playing Nimmo in left field to lessen the toll on his body.

“Everything’s connected. You push up against it as far as the pain or where you might hurt it and not lose all the things you’ve gained getting there, so we’re close,” Showalter said. “We’re trying to keep him from having any setbacks.”

Atlanta Braves pitcher Allan Winans throws to the New York Mets during the first inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in New York.

The Mets drafted right-handed pitcher Allan Winans after a successful career at Cambell University in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Winans had been the Big South Conference’s Pitcher of the Year in 2018. He pitched to a 1.91 ERA between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton in 2021 but was not protected by the Mets and picked by the Braves in the 2021 Rule 5 Draft.

Less than two years later after working up through the Braves’ system, Winans’ second career start game against the team that drafted him. The 27-year-old held the Mets scoreless across seven innings, allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out nine.

“He spotted the fastball but the changeups, guys who have a quality changeup play up here,” Showalter said. “He’s got command of the fastball and obviously when you get some runs on the board, it allows you to work a little freer.”

The Mets left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning and stranded four more runners against WInanas.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Mets roll out patchwork lineup, rocked by Braves to open doubleheader