The New York Mets didn’t have their best night on Wednesday and were blanked at Citi Field by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. The 8-0 score shows how lopsided the game was — the home team never really stood a chance in this matchup.
That doesn’t mean the series is over — far from it. With a win on Thursday night at home, the Mets would tie the series and make it a best-of-three. To take the game, however, they need their pitchers to keep the walks in check.
The Mets need to keep the walks in check
On Wednesday, starting pitcher Luis Severino handed four walks to the Dodgers’ patient hitters. After Reed Garrett gave the Mets a walks-free relief appearance, Tylor Megill gave away three bases on balls in three innings of work. In total, New York pitchers walked seven and struck out eight hitters. LA hurlers issued four free passes and struck out 13. The Dodgers won the plate discipline battle on Wednesday, and that means more people on base for their robust lineup.
The Mets’ pitchers should be attacking the strike zone with confidence
Even in their Game 2 victory, the Mets walked a whopping eight batters. In Game 2, the number was seven in the series opener. If the Mets want to have a chance to win the series, their pitchers need to stop nibbling around the zone and throw strikes more consistently:
“Especially when you’re facing a team like this,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told SNY about the need to attack the strike zone. “That’s what makes this team such a good team offensively because they control the strike zone. They’re not going to chase as much. They don’t have guys there that chase as much.”
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Of course, it’s always easier said than done. There is a reason why pitchers try to avoid the strike zone; they don’t want to leave a pitch in the middle or close to the fat part of the zone only to see it sail away for a home run, a double, or a hard-hit ball. But Mets hurlers should be confident in the abilities that brought them to this point.
The truth is that walks have been an issue for the Mets all year. Per SNY, they “handed out the third-most (586) in the majors during the regular season. That’s 42 more than the nearest playoff team.”
That needs to change if they are beating the Dodgers.
