Two of Mets' vulnerabilities apparent vs. Dodgers

NEW YORK -- There are inflection points to every game, moments when things can change for better or for worse. In the Mets’ 4-3 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday night, those moments happened to involve James McCann and Joely Rodríguez -- two players whom the Mets chose to keep central in their plans following the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline.

So far in a post-Deadline world, the results for those two have been inconsistent. Both McCann and Rodríguez were unable to convert their opportunities on Tuesday, leading to defeat against the Major Leagues’ best team. Might those trends continue? Might the Mets still find other options? Or could McCann and Rodríguez turn things around?

The situations are complex:

The catching situation
The Mets could have done more to acquire Cubs catcher Willson Contreras or A’s backstop Sean Murphy, both of whom stayed put (and homered in their respective games on Tuesday). Instead, the team stuck with its in-house combo of McCann and Tomás Nido.

How did it hurt the Mets on Tuesday?
McCann struck out in all three of his plate appearances, stranding two men on base in both the fifth and sixth innings. With the game on the line in the ninth, the Mets pinch-hit for McCann.

How can the situation still end well?
There are no easy answers here. Since coming back from injury, McCann has essentially entered into a timeshare behind the plate with Nido, who isn’t hitting much better over the same stretch. If McCann continues to struggle, Nido could begin commanding even more playing time regardless. Both are sound defensive catchers.

Under different circumstances, the calls for top prospect Francisco Álvarez might be intensifying, but Álvarez hasn't played since Aug. 23 due to an ankle injury and could be done for the season. The Mets will know more about Álvarez’s status by the end of the week, but even if he manages to return to play, his lost time, combined with struggles following a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse, make it unlikely he’ll sniff the big leagues this season.

That puts the onus on McCann to improve, which he believes he can.

“Just keep going,” was McCann’s proposed solution. “Don’t let a night like tonight ruin things. Prior to tonight, I had been hitting the ball harder, more consistently, just going right at guys. And that’s part of the game. Sometimes, it doesn’t go in your favor. Right now, that’s how it feels for me.”

The lefty relief situation
Despite a trade market that general manager Billy Eppler once referred to as “robust,” the Mets ultimately found the price too high for lefty relief help. They acquired only one reliever -- right-hander Mychal Givens, who worked two scoreless innings Tuesday -- at the Deadline, leaving Rodríguez as the lone left-handed option in the bullpen.

How did it hurt the Mets on Tuesday?
Because he’s the only lefty in the bullpen, Rodríguez was the obvious choice to face Freddie Freeman in the seventh inning of a tie game. Freeman doubled against an overshifted infield, leading to the game-winning rally when another left-handed hitter, Gavin Lux, sent an RBI single back up the middle.

How the situation can still end well
It begins with Rodríguez, whose underlying numbers have always outpaced his mainstream statistics. In particular, he entered the night having held opponents to the lowest average exit velocity (83.9 mph) of any National League pitcher, and the Dodgers’ seventh-inning rally didn’t do anything to change that. The Mets acquired Rodríguez back in Spring Training because they believed he was better than his 2020 performance indicated. There’s still time for Rodríguez to show that more consistently.

“The game’s not always fair,” manager Buck Showalter said. “It seems like Joely’s had a lot of tough luck.”

If Rodríguez can’t turn things around, the Mets have two obvious options to replace him as Showalter’s primary left-handed reliever. They could convert David Peterson, who has served as their sixth starter for most of the season, to relief work, which is likely to happen if he’s not needed in the rotation. The Mets could also take a long look at Joey Lucchesi, who’s due back soon from Tommy John surgery.

Finally, the Mets could rely more heavily on their best weapon against left-handed hitters: closer Edwin Díaz, whom Showalter has used aggressively outside the ninth inning in recent days. If Freeman (or someone similar) comes up in a big spot in October, Díaz could be the pitcher most likely to face him, because there’s rightfully no one whom Showalter trusts more.