CHICAGO – So that’s what it’s supposed to look like.
After two days of struggling through the late spring cold in Chicago, the Mets appeared to be a different team Thursday night as they defeated the Cubs 10-1. They recorded 15 hits, their second-highest total of the season (and the highest in nearly a full calendar month). They received strong pitches, most notably from Carlos Carrasco. And they put everything together to salvage their final game at Wrigley Field after suffering back-to-back losses.
“It all comes together,” Carrasco said.
Although Carrasco was referring to his own success on the hill, he might as well have been talking about the team as a whole. It was that kind of gig, that kind of night.
Three factors were slightly more important than the others:
sweet cookie
Those concerned about Carrasco’s form felt some relief Thursday as Carrasco not only gave the Mets his best start to the season, but also arguably his best performance since last July. That’s how long it had been since Carrasco conceded a run or less while also pitching in the seventh inning. Afterwards, Carrasco admitted he had never felt so good this year.
Of particular note was Carrasco’s split change, which caused five of his nine jumps that night. Carrasco throws with a bone spur in his right elbow, which isn’t causing him any discomfort at the moment, and is unlikely to regain his mid-90s speed any time soon. But if he can play his split change effectively on a low-90s fastball while also throwing in two different breaking pitches, there’s reason to believe the 36-year-old can still thrive.
“When I have a change like that, I don’t want to stop throwing it,” Carrasco said. “I can get a lot of ground balls.”
Behind Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Mets don’t have a consistent third option in their rotation. If Carrasco can become such a pitcher again, the team’s pitching situation will be significantly different.
“We all know what he could mean to us,” said manager Buck Showalter.
Casual polar power
With the game largely under control in the seventh inning, Pete Alonso attacked a Michael Rucker cut fastball on the outside edge of the strike zone, hitting it hard and then watching the wind carry it 372 feet over the right field fence. That made Alonso the only right-hander, alongside Dansby Swanson, to go deep into this part of Wrigley Field this season.
Over the course of two months into the season, the facts and figures about Alonso have grown into something impressive. For example, he is one of only nine players, along with the likes of Ralph Kiner, Albert Pujols, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, to have hit at least 165 home runs in his first five seasons.
Alonso leads the majors in homers and the National League in RBIs. He and Jeff McNeil even pulled off a successful double steal in the fifth inning on Thursday, taking Alonso’s career win rate to 91.2 percent. Oh, and he’s only had one error at first base all season.
“We purposely don’t talk about it much,” Showalter said. “Everyone makes their predictions and everything about how things might develop, but he also just plays with a lot of effort.”
Participate
Aside from Alonso, New York’s offense isn’t designed to hit home runs as consistently as most of its competitors. The Mets remain league average in the power department as they did last season. So it was heartening for Showalter to see the offensive stringing together multi-hit rallies in the third and eighth innings.
“It’s just a reminder of what we are capable of and what we must do,” Showalter said.
Of particular note are the multi-hit games by McNeil, Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte – the latter two seem to be recovering from recent slumps.
“Then we’re at our best — we’re taking good ABs, we’re coming down, we’re pressuring the defense,” McNeil said. “It leads to some runs.”