00:03How are you doing everybody? It's Tyler Ward here, a.k.a. Wardy to many of you, and our latest
00:07segment here for the New York Post Sports YouTube channel covering all things New York Mets.
00:10As many of you guys know, I'm the co-host with Dexter Henry for the official Mets podcast straight out
00:15of Flushing here at the Post.
00:16And today, we're recapping live from Citi Field itself, the Mets being taken down by the Arizona Diamondbacks by a
00:22final score of 7-2.
00:24The Mets were trying to have themselves a fifth straight victory, but instead, they were snakebitten as the Diamondbacks were
00:29early and often with their offense against David Pearson,
00:32who yet again was not able to get the job done for the New York Mets with far and away
00:36his worst star of the year.
00:38In today's show, we're going to break down not only Pearson and where he was not able to hit where
00:42he wanted to hit, how Carlos Mendoza felt about him postgame today.
00:45We'll get into his remarks as well as the Mets offense as a whole, what we liked versus what we
00:49didn't like, and what was yet again another very frigid day at Citi Field.
00:53And I would like to start by leaning into that. I understand the Arizona Diamondbacks came to hit today, and
00:57while the Mets didn't,
00:58but there is something to be said about every single game since opening day. It has been pretty much winter
01:03weather here at Citi Field.
01:05And while I had, of course, the luxury of being in a press box, the fans that attended today didn't
01:09have that same luxury,
01:10nor did the players, obviously, dealing with that wind chill.
01:12So, again, I'm not trying to make every excuse in the book for a Mets loss because, naturally, they were
01:17the worst team between the two today.
01:18But I do want to highlight that just because there is a commonality behind the Mets' lack of early season
01:24success with the offense and the weather.
01:26You know, there's a commonality behind opening day breakout, beautiful sunny at Citi Field against Paul Skeens versus what we
01:33have seen in all the other games here for the most part.
01:35Every game has been a nail-biter in extra innings three out of the next four games at home with
01:40the exception of what just happened today.
01:41And all the Mets' main success that they've had this season hasn't even been at home.
01:45It's been on the road where they took three out of four against the San Francisco Giants.
01:49And what was the commonality in some of those games in San Fran, if not all of them?
01:52Gorgeous weather that the Mets were dealing with.
01:54So, again, not to make every excuse, but something to make note of to begin the show.
01:58Now, let's get into David Pearson, where he simply, again, did not hit the way that Mets fans were hoping
02:03that he would from a pitching standpoint in this one.
02:05David Pearson's final line today leaves quite a bit to be desired.
02:08He was not pinpointing at all with his accuracy.
02:11And the main highlight that I saw in the remarks postgame in the scrum talking to Carlos Mendoza is that
02:16many reiterate that it was another start of the same with David Pearson with his struggles,
02:21specifically as he was throwing glove side to those hitters for the Diamondbacks.
02:25They were really giving him trouble that we saw early, and that's what led not only to the first run
02:28of scoring the first inning by the Diamondbacks,
02:30but that breakout where the game was essentially over before it began there in the second inning, a four-run
02:36second for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
02:38And David Pearson today, again, had his entire arsenal.
02:41He threw the kitchen sink from the four-seam to the sinker to the change-up to the curveball to
02:45the slider,
02:45and everything was pretty much around a year average for him when looking at velocity, but the effectiveness, again, just
02:52wasn't there.
02:52He was able to go five innings, which you didn't think was maybe going to happen after what was such
02:56a terrible second inning.
02:57He did allow six hits, five earned runs, two walks, six strikeouts, no home runs allowed on 85 pitches, but
03:03he's up to a six-year run this season.
03:05Not that it means too much this early in the year, but between David Pearson's very overwhelming underlying numbers throughout
03:11his career
03:11and knowing that now since pretty much the second half of last year, over his last 12 collective starts, David
03:18Pearson has an ERA just under eight.
03:21So to say that this is a continuation of David Pearson's struggles going back to June onward of 2025 is
03:28factually correct, okay?
03:29He has looked Jekyll and Hyde, two completely different pitchers.
03:32Remember, there was that span for a calendar year when he returned from that hip surgery in June of 2024.
03:37It was absolutely nails for the Mets, and it was nails for a calendar year.
03:41Was there a most reliable starter in that rotation over a calendar year span?
03:45But from June onward, with the Kodai Senga injury last year, with Griffin Canning going down, with Tyler McGill going
03:50down with injury,
03:51with Shamanai not looking good returning from injury, with Frankie Montas certainly not looking good returning from injury,
03:56I mean, David Pearson sadly fell in the column of being an ineffective quality starter when the Mets needed him
04:02to step up down the stretch most that year.
04:05And while 2025 is in the past, it's in the rearview mirror, there are similarities from the lack of success
04:10for David in 2025 to what we are now seeing here in 2026.
04:13So, for Mets fans, should there be a level of concern with Pearson?
04:16I think it's justified to say that David Pearson's time in this Mets rotation could be dwindling as we speak.
04:22Mendoza did reiterate his confidence in him, saying how, you know, he's nails when he's right.
04:26We know that he is our guy.
04:28So, as of now, and Mendy did reiterate at the time of him talking at the podium behind me just
04:32a couple minutes ago
04:33that David Pearson is going nowhere in this Mets rotation.
04:36Shamanai was able to give the Mets, you know, not the best outing, but also not the worst thing either,
04:40as he was just playing cleanup for the remaining four innings of the ballgame.
04:43He won five hits allowed, two earned runs, but he has a steady three-year rate as a reliever so
04:48far this year
04:48and did throw 70 pitches across his four innings.
04:50So, the Mets are purposely stretching Menaia to get around 70 to 80 pitches each of his last couple outings
04:55for the sole factor that if they do want to throw him back in the rotation,
04:59they know that he's stretched out to do so, even if he's not, say, coming in the ballgame in the
05:03beginning
05:03the way that you're looking for.
05:04So, is there a question to be had as to if David Pearson doesn't look good,
05:08his next couple turns in the order, Menaia looks reliable somewhat in a reliever role?
05:12There is definitely a possibility, if not a probability, that we could see a swap there
05:16sooner rather than later should things continue the way that they have.
05:20But knowing that's only April 8th of this season, there's a lot of baseball to be had.
05:24Whether you Mets fans like it or not, the Mets are not going to be quick to cut the cord
05:27on David Pearson,
05:28who they know for a calendar year was their stronghold in their rotation.
05:32They know that he still has the ability to get back to being that starter that can go deeper into
05:36the ballgames
05:37to give them six, if not seven, quality innings of work every single time out there
05:40while doing it at an effective rate, working those ground ball outs.
05:45To be determined as to what the Mets are going to get in Pearson next time out here,
05:48but rest assured, I think now is the beginning of what you could argue is a ticking time bomb
05:52for David Pearson's tenure in this Mets rotation if he's not able to clean things up over his next couple
05:58starts.
05:58If we find ourselves getting to the end of April, if not early May,
06:01and David Pearson is putting up early similar lines every single time out there,
06:05it would not at all be a shocking thing to see Carlson Mendoza be proactive, make the move,
06:09and I think David Stearns would probably back that as well at some point
06:12just because I think the Mets have learned their lesson.
06:14I hope they've learned their lesson from being way too, way too conservative
06:18in their decision-making last year from June onward
06:21when everything and anything imaginable was going wrong for their rotation.
06:24Again, we have some time to get to June, but in the meantime,
06:27I'd love to know your thoughts as Mets fans in the comments down below,
06:30your thoughts on David Peterson and ultimately the potential of Shamanai swapping with him
06:35or maybe, you know, an outsider's chance could be someone like Tobias Myers
06:39who's still eating a good amount of innings when he's been out there.
06:42I think Myers is best suited in the bullpen.
06:44I think he's perfect as a swingman option for this Mets team.
06:47And last year with the Brewers, he was far greater as a reliever than as a starter.
06:51He did not look great as a starter and as a reliever had a sub-two-year raise.
06:54So there are encouraging signs with Myers there, more in the reliever role than maybe as a starter
06:58with the exception of him mowing down the Mets across five strong innings in the 2024 wildcard matchup.
07:04It's kind of crazy how the Mets have had so many of these guys from Milwaukee,
07:07including Frankie, who obviously is no longer here,
07:09but he was obviously in that mix for the Brewers down the stretch in 2024.
07:14But going on from the pitching in which, again, left quite a bit to be the desire today.
07:18If you're looking at David Peterson and Shamanai,
07:21the most encouraging thing about him is that he wasn't a complete liability.
07:24That's obviously good.
07:25And when we looked at the velocity for Shamanai today,
07:28he did top out that we saw right just under 89 miles per hour.
07:31So he still has more work to do, obviously, when trying to get that VLO up.
07:35And he said heading into the season that he was going to be able to do a better job,
07:38obviously, on trying to get that VLO going once the season was getting going.
07:42Well, he has had a fair share of outings so far this year.
07:45We haven't seen the VLO yet.
07:47I would give him a badminton doubt, though.
07:48It has been absolutely putrid at Citi Field weather-wise.
07:51So hopefully Shamanai, next time he's out here, is a bit warmer.
07:55Maybe if it's going to happen as soon as this weekend or something along those lines,
07:58that he can give the Mets, you know, a more effective outing,
08:00but also one that is giving you what you're looking for in the sense of velocity.
08:05So, again, to be determined on that.
08:06But let's get into the offense, okay?
08:08David Pearson got rocked early in this one.
08:10And the Mets' bats just were not able to prevail.
08:13Again, it's been great to see the rallies that they've had.
08:15Three out of four games, extra innings at home to begin the season.
08:18And it's great to see the two walk-offs that they had in those three games.
08:22Having said that, though, the bats were going to come down to life a bit.
08:24I did not expect the offense to be consistent all throughout this series, given the weather.
08:28It just really felt like that inevitably was not going to be the case.
08:32And among the guys that were best offensively for the Mets today,
08:35we did see a couple standouts, including Bo Bichette, who had himself a nice multi-hit game.
08:39Still not pulling a baseball, but that's okay.
08:41How the Mets first hit of the day that we saw up the middle, then had an opposite base hit
08:44as well.
08:45Luis Robert looked very effective, too, which was great.
08:48He had himself a couple hits.
08:49Did strike out a pair, but Robert got on base twice with a couple walks yesterday.
08:53I was really encouraged with his at-bats.
08:55Then we saw him get a couple hits today as well.
08:57You saw Brett Beatty driving a run today, the Mets' first run that they drove in,
09:00which was awesome to see.
09:02Beatty had a multi-hit game for the hitman, as I love to call him.
09:04And then you also had Francisco Eltril Alvarez, who continues to be productive,
09:08who I would argue should not be batting ninth from the Mets in this order right now.
09:11I think he should move up to, at minimum, the top six with the way that he's been swinging the
09:15bat right now.
09:15300 average, 1,000 OPS on the season.
09:18One for three that we saw today with a walk.
09:19Carson Benj finally snapping what was a rough 0-for-24 skid to begin his young career.
09:25We know Benj is going to be perfectly fine for the Mets in the long run,
09:28but obviously an adjustment period, to say the least, with how he's handling now.
09:32Big league pitching, big league velocity, and trying to make sure he's not swinging out of his shoes.
09:36So we'll see how the Mets can rebound as he looked for the series finale victory,
09:40which, if we're going to give any benefit of the doubt besides weather,
09:43hopefully it being a night game for the series finale bodes this team well.
09:46You know, normally during the week, a series finale day game where the weather isn't great
09:50and the Mets' offense is not looking like it's going to blossom,
09:54we've seen this team roll over and die in the past.
09:56But hopefully this 2026 Mets team continues to prove that they are different than years past
10:00and can get off to the right foot tomorrow in their Game 3 matchup against Diamondbacks.
10:05So I hope you guys enjoyed our nice recap here for the New York Post Sports YouTube channel.
10:09Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
10:11And the Mets, again, faltering by a final score of 7-2.
10:13David Pearson not having this stuff, and as he continues to not have this stuff,
10:17the more I will be blunt and reiterate, as many other talking heads and fans in the space swell,
10:22that maybe, just maybe, it's time for the Mets to make a change.
10:25Thank you so much for watching.
10:26You guys can check me out on all my platforms if you know me at Wardy NYM.
10:29And this is your guy Tyler Ward signing out here for the New York Post.
10:31We'll see you next time.
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