3 thoughts on the NY Mets after they were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies – NorthJersey.com

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PHILADELPHIA Multiple times this season, the Mets have seemingly built momentum, only to see it wiped away in the coming days.

It happened again.

They won two in a row against the Nationals and looked to build on that against the Phillies, who had just been swept by the Orioles. Instead, the Phillies swept the Mets.

Why can't the Mets find their footing?

Its hard to say," Rick Porcello said. "Idont think its for a lack of effort. I think everyones going out there playing hard and everyones going out there to win games, but were just not coming out with them.One night its the pitching, one night its hitting or whatever. We havent been able to get everything firing on all cylinders consistently.

We have a couple games where we look like were rolling, then we have a couple tough ones and were right back in that position again. Its hard to point to exactly what it is."

Here are three thoughts on thesweep in Philadelphia.

The Mets, who have completed 38 percent of the season, are 9-14. They know that's not good, but they're confident they can quickly turn it around.

The reason: They still have a lot of games remaining against division rivals.

Theres still plenty of season left, plenty of games left," J.D. Davis said. "Were facing our division a lot, so we can bounce back pretty quick within a week, week and a half. All of the sudden, were sitting here saying: What happened? We just turned it around in a week, week and a half.

Davis also recalled last season's second half in which the Mets made a fierce run toward postseason contention. They fell short, but showed that their season was not "over" when many believed it to be.

Instant analysis: Rick Porcello unravels, Zack Wheeler beats former team as Mets swept by Phillies

The Mets have four games in Miami. The Mets then play a series against the Yankees before the Marlins are at Citi Field for three more games.

The Mets and Braves have played more games than the rest of the National League East because their schedules have not been affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. So, based on winning percentage, the Mets are last place in the division. Sunday's loss dropped them to four games back.

There's time to make up ground, though.

For right now, the only thing we can do is keep our head up, keep grinding, keep working," Davis said. "I know its 60 games and everybody likes to have this sense of urgency, but at the end of the day, were facing our division a lot. Our future, our destiny is in our hands. We can change it real quick."

The Mets made a few baserunning mistakes over the weekend. The poor defense a major issue early in the season returned on Sunday.

First, the baserunning.

In a one-run game on Friday, Billy Hamilton stole second base ... then bolted for third as the ball squirted away from second baseman Jean Segura.Shortstop Didi Gregorius sprinted, picked up the ball and threw it to third to nab Hamilton. Hamilton acted far too aggressively for the situation.

Aug 14, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Jean Segura (2) is unable to make the tag on New York Mets center fielder Billy Hamilton (21) during a steal attempt in the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park.(Photo: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports)

On Sunday, after an errant throw, Andrs Gimnez raced around the bases and the Mets sent him home. He was thrown out. You could argue if it was the correct move to send him.

The Mets trailed by one why not get it back when gifted with a poor throw?

Then again, Luis Guillorme who is batting .458 was due up next.

Later on Sunday, Guillorme sliced a two-run double down the left-field line. The Mets took the lead, but Ramos was thrown out trying to take third.

"Its definitely something weve definitely got to minimize if we want to keep those innings going," manager Luis Rojas said. "Those will haunt us."

Now, to the defense.

To begin Sunday's bottom of the seventh, Davis who has been reliable at third base committed a throwing error that allowed Segura to reach. In that same inning, these also occurred: Ramos allowed a passed ball, and when Davis fielded a ball and slung it to first base, it went off Dominic Smith's glove and a run scored.

Outs are big against any of these teams," Rojas said. "They can build up. Trying to get an extra out, they can make a big inning."

The baserunning and defense must improve.

"Those are the things that we need to correct immediately in a season like this," Rojas said, "just to make sure were playing the baseball at our best."

Before summer camp, the Mets maintained their player pool would only be made up of players they felt could help them at the big-league level in 2020.

Their pool received a couple interesting additions on Saturday.

The Mets put catcher Francisco Alvarez and right-hander Matthew Allan in the player pool. Both will be at the Brooklyn alternate site.

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Per MLB.com, Alvarez is the team's No. 2 prospect, while Allan is its fifth-ranked prospect.

Adding those two guys, it kind of gives us that balance in our depth," Rojas said. "Theres more depth to it adding the arm, adding the catcher, two of our biggest prospects. For them to come in and be in an environment where theres competition at a great level. We have some guys with experience at that site and they can have that competition created there for their development. Theyre going to take advantage.

"And at the same time, these guys are also going to be exposed to that and we can see if they can come in and help us as well. Its great depth for us. I think knowing the depth that we created and the guys that we put on the site that have MLB experience, it balances well with these two additions to that."

The 18-year-old Alvarez has not played above rookie ball. Allan, 19, has not pitched above Class A short-season (and there, he only pitched two innings).

"Were looking for them to just to go ahead and keep getting their reps at that site," Rojas said. "If we feel they can come and help the team win some time, then definitely they can come do it. ...Well see them take advantage of that situation over there and we can see if we can use them in the future here.

Justin Toscanois theMetsbeat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to allMetsanalysis, news, trades and more, pleasesubscribe todayanddownload our app.

Email:toscanoj@northjersey.comTwitter:@justinctoscano

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3 thoughts on the NY Mets after they were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies - NorthJersey.com