“To see something is not the same as to acknowledge it.”
—“The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” John Fowles

I’m going to be honest: This is generally the hardest “This Week in Mets” to write all year. It’s off half a week of games rather than a full week, and the overwhelming temptation is to make a lot out of what is definitely only a little.

(It doesn’t help that I’m writing this with sadness derived from a bad turnover at halfcourt in the final 10 seconds of a regional final.)

So let’s take a few of the bigger events from the Mets’ series win over the Pirates and ponder whether they point to anything larger.

Bo Bichette’s rocky opening weekend isn’t a concern

Bichette had a rough time at the plate (1-for-14 with eight strikeouts) and a couple wide throws in the field at his new position. After Sunday’s loss, he was accountable and understanding of some boos from the fan base.

“I thought my at-bats were terrible, too,” he said.

Two other players have started their Mets career with eight strikeouts in their first three games: Darryl Strawberry and Khalil Lee. Strawberry has his number retired by the franchise. Lee, whose eight strikeouts came in eight plate appearances, has two career hits. So that represents a wide range of potential outcomes, no?

Bichette looked better playing third base on Sunday than he did on Thursday and Saturday, when he had three throws go up the first-base line — two of which were still turned into outs by Jorge Polanco, and one of which went for an error.

This is too early to spend much time fretting over Bichette. It is reasonable for a player transitioning to a new team and a new position to press a little too hard in the first series of the year — something Bichette himself acknowledged Sunday. He’s got a few teammates in that clubhouse who have gone through it themselves. He should be fine, especially once he gets more and more reps at third to iron out his throws.

Luis Robert’s excellent opening weekend is reason to be encouraged, but not ecstatic

Everything the Mets said about Robert in spring looked prescient over the weekend. He had the most important plate appearance in both wins — a 10-pitch walk against Paul Skenes on Thursday and the walk-off three-run homer in the 11th inning Saturday. He reached base three more times Sunday and is slashing .455/.571/.727 through three games. He’s already shown some defensive value as well; the Pirates didn’t want to test his arm in extras on Saturday.

That gaudy 1.298 OPS through Robert’s first three games with the Mets only sits 22nd in team history (for guys with at least 10 plate appearances), behind Juan Soto last year, Luis Torrens the year before, Mark Canha in 2022, etc. (The whole list is topped by Rickey Henderson, with Xavier Nady second and Mike Jacobs third. Again, the range is wide.)

Robert has shown everything you could want to see in three games, aside from maybe that caught stealing Sunday. It is three games. Let’s revisit down the line.

Sean Manaea’s lagging velocity is a real worry

Manaea’s fastball velocity was still lingering around 88 to 89 mph in his relief appearance for the Mets on Sunday. Any hope that the adrenaline of the regular season, or even of a short outing from the pen, would juice his velo dissipated.

How difficult is it to survive in today’s MLB while throwing 89? Only five starting pitchers averaged under 90 mph on their fastball last season; their combined ERA was 4.80, and three of them (Clayton Kershaw, Kyle Hendricks and Andrew Heaney) retired at the end of the season. Of the remaining two, Tyler Anderson remains unsigned and Trevor Williams is on the injured list after undergoing internal brace surgery on his elbow last July. Thus, none of those five may throw a big-league pitch this season.

Sure, 90 is an artificial barrier. Ranger Suárez averaged 90.5 on his heater and signed a $130 million contract in the offseason. But Suárez sure looks like the exception rather than the rule, and Manaea’s velo has dipped from 93.6 in 2023 to 92.3 in 2024 to 91.7 last year. If this is where his velocity is going to be this year and next — his three-year deal runs through 2027 — he’s going to have to alter his pitch mix to succeed.

The exposition

The Mets couldn’t finish off a sweep of the Pirates, dropping Sunday’s finale in extra innings. New York is 2-1, a game behind the Marlins in the National League East.

The Cardinals also fell short of their own sweep against the Rays on Sunday. Their 2-1 record has them a game behind the Brewers in the NL Central.

The Giants didn’t lose Sunday, but that’s because they lost three games to the Yankees before that. They are one of three 0-3 teams in the National League, all of whom play in the NL West. The Giants play three in San Diego before coming back home to face the Mets.

The pitching possibles

at St. Louis

RHP Clay Holmes (12-8, 3.53 ERA in 2025) v. RHP Kyle Leahy (4-2, 3.07 ERA in 2025)
RHP Kodai Senga (7-6, 3.02 ERA in 2025) v. RHP Andre Pallante (6-15, 5.31 ERA in 2025)
RHP Freddy Peralta (1-0, 7.20) v. LHP Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 1.80)

at San Francisco

LHP David Peterson (0-0, 0.00) v. LHP Robbie Ray (0-1, 3.38)
RHP Nolan McLean (0-0, 3.60) v. RHP Tyler Mahle (0-1, 4.50)
RHP Clay Holmes v. RHP Landen Roupp (7-7, 3.80 ERA in 2025)
RHP Kodai Senga v. RHP Logan Webb (0-1, 10.80)

Injury updates

Mets’ injured list

Player

  

Injury

  

Elig.

  

ETA

  

Left lat surgery

4/9

May

Rib fracture

5/24

June

Tommy John surgery

5/24

2027

Tommy John surgery

5/24

2027

Tommy John surgery

5/24

2027

Red = 60-day IL
Orange = 15-day IL
Blue = 10-day IL

  • A. J. Minter will spend the next two weeks back in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in extended spring training, aiming to throw three to four times there before heading out on a rehab assignment. Minter’s build-up has gone smoothly, and an early May return remains possible for the lefty.

Minor-league schedule

Triple-A: Syracuse v. Toledo (Detroit)
Double-A: Binghamton at New Hampshire (Toronto) starting Friday
High-A: Brooklyn v. Hudson Valley (New York, AL) starting Friday
Low-A: St. Lucie at Palm Beach (St. Louis) starting Thursday

Trivia time

Strawberry and Lee struck out eight times in their first three games as Mets, but those weren’t the first three games of the season. Before Bichette surpassed it this weekend, which recent Met owned the record for most strikeouts in the first three games of the season?

(I’ll reply to the correct answer in the comments.)B