One of my odder Met hobbies is keeping track of the franchise’s ghosts — players who are on the active roster but never appear in a game. Going into Tuesday night, the Mets had rostered four ghosts in 2022, which would be a record for a season: Gosuke Katoh [1], R.J. Alvarez [2], Sam Clay [3] and Kramer Robertson [4] had all been trapped in ectoplasm, increasing the all-time spooky roster to 13.
Alvarez returned to the active roster Tuesday night as part of the shuffling necessitated by the Mets giving up 13 runs and losing Carlos Carrasco [5] to the IL for a month or so on on Monday, but I didn’t figure on seeing him — and certainly not in the third inning. I was on my way to a bathroom in a restaurant on the north end of Long Beach Island when I did a double-take: A hairy Met reliever was coming out of the bullpen, and my brain stumbled over the fact that a) Trevor Williams [6] was replacing Taijuan Walker [7]; and b) wait a minute that wasn’t Trevor Williams.
No, it was Alvarez (Walker was taken down by back spasms and is headed for the inevitable MRI on Wednesday) and Gameday told me he wasn’t exactly effective. There were the green circles of balls that were way over batters’ heads and too many announcements of IN PLAY, RUN(S). Robbie Grossman [8] took Alvarez deep, and then Matt Olson [9] hit a two-run shot that might wind up worked into the plot of next season’s For All Mankind.
Meanwhile, Charlie Morton [10] was simply obliterating Met hitters, juggling a sweeping curve and a fastball to keep them honest. Inning after inning went in the books with nothing happening, and even though the Mets were within three, you didn’t exactly feel a comeback in the cards. They did bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Dylan Lee [11] fanned Jeff McNeil [12], and two more Atlanta runs in the bottom of the frame made the rest academic [13].
The Mets, word has it, are calling up Brett Baty [14] in an effort to give the suddenly moribund offense a jolt — a tactic that’s worked wonders for the Braves, as it happens. That’s reason for hope — and even if Baty’s time on the roster is brief, it’s always fun to get a preview of a future that’s been billed as bright.
More immediate reason for hope, though, is that the next two games will be pitched by Max Scherzer [15] and Jacob deGrom [16]. Win those two and the Mets will have pushed the Braves right back to where they started this series. You’ve probably heard that momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher; the Mets, fortunately, will be sending out two of the best on the planet.