MIAMI — Brandon Nimmo watched the first pitch go by at 98 mph. Jesús Luzardo’s next three fastballs on Friday night each also hit 98 mph. His fifth fastball of the game reached 99 mph. From there, Luzardo kept unleashing more of the same heat, throwing harder than he ever had before. In the Mets’ second game of the season, they encountered a buzzsaw.
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Luzardo, the Marlins’ talented 23-year-old lefty, looked like an emerging star while stymieing the Mets over 5 ⅔ innings in New York’s 2-1 loss.
“Electric,” Mark Canha said. “The ball was jumping out of his hand. He locates pretty well, too. It was not an easy task tonight.”
Perhaps you can forgive the Mets for this one. Along with the Marlins’ defense, Luzardo deserves some credit for why New York recorded just four hits. Also, 160 games remain left on the schedule. However, at a minimum, the outcome at LoanDepot Park underscored an issue worth monitoring over these first couple of weeks.
The Mets entered the season wanting to perform better than last year against left-handed pitching. Late in the winter, they added right-handed batter Tommy Pham to help against left-handers. Late in the spring, they jettisoned right-handed batter Darin Ruf because he failed to produce against left-handers. After Luzardo, the Mets will face a couple more left-handed pitchers in the Marlins’ Trevor Rogers and the Brewers’ Wade Miley over the next few days.
How the Mets fare against left-handers looms as a significant early storyline similar to how it did last year because New York returned mostly the same lineup. Familiar personnel. Familiar challenge.
Last year, the Mets produced a .717 OPS against left-handers, which ranked 14th in the majors, compared to a .753 OPS against right-handers, which ranked third.
The Mets’ production at DH against left-handers emphasized the problem. When facing a lefty, the Mets’ DHs produced just an 82 wRC+ (100 is average). Only six teams had DH units fare worse. The problem grew over time. With Ruf installed as the main DH against left-handers from Aug. 1 until the end of the season, the output from the position resulted in just a 71 wRC+, fourth-worst in the majors during the span. Thus, Pham, who went 0-for-2 against Luzardo while drawing a start in left field, stands out as an important player to watch.
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Singling out the DH spot only points to part of the topic. Last year, the Mets’ fifth through ninth batters in the order accumulated just a .642 OPS against left-handers. On Friday night, no one from those spots recorded a hit beyond pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach, who reached base against right-handed reliever Dylan Floro on a batted ball with an expected batting average of .040.
Pete. pic.twitter.com/Bmq7Zq2SYg
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 1, 2023
Just as one example, Canha, who batted fifth behind Pete Alonso on Friday, sported reverse splits last year. A right-handed batter, Canha produced a .790 OPS against right-handers and a .733 OPS against left-handers.
“When you face a lot of righties, it’s a little easier to get into a rhythm that way,” Canha said. “Sometimes, a lefty, seeing a ball from that angle is a little bit different. There aren’t as many lefties as righties so you can see a lot of righties in a row and it’s not often you see a bunch of lefties in a row. So sometimes, I think I just get in a rhythm, get more comfortable.
“There have been years where I’ve hit lefties really well. I don’t know, I can’t point my finger on it. To me, hitting is hitting.”
Over the winter, the Mets focused on restocking their pitching staff instead of improving their lineup for a couple of reasons. They had more holes in their rotation and bullpen. And they believed they could eventually turn to position-player prospects such as Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos. The Mets decided to start the season with all three of them in Triple A. While Alvarez seems like he needs more seasoning at catcher, how long the Mets wait until calling up Baty or Vientos will remain another interesting subplot to monitor early on.
On Friday night, the Mets needed more from their lineup. They received solid pitching from starter David Peterson and reliever Tommy Hunter. They received mostly outstanding defense from Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo. But the Mets’ offense didn’t get going until Alonso hit a solo home run against lefty reliever A.J. Puk in the ninth.
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Too early to be too familiar?
“(Peterson) gave us a hell of a shot,” Alonso said. “He made some really high-quality pitches. There was a lot of traffic on the bases but he was able to stay poised and execute. I thought he pitched excellent tonight. I thought our bullpen did a great job. Only giving up two runs, that’s a hell of a job. It’s just that we got the short end of the stick because, I mean, really good pitching performance from not just Luzardo but the bullpen of theirs as well.”
(Photo of Mets right fielder Starling Marte hitting a single during the fourth inning against the Marlins: Sam Navarro / USA Today)
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