Through the majority of a this-must-be-rock-bottom series at Dodger Stadium in which they were swept by a cumulative score of 14-3, the Mets did not have much of a chance. But on Tuesday, as the Dodgers sidelined Edwin Díaz and brought in the traditionally more-hittable Alex Vesia to face Nos. 3-4-5 in the lineup and attempt to preserve a one-run lead in the ninth, the Mets had a shot.
Vesia threw a first-pitch fastball to Jorge Polanco that touched the top of the strike zone. The lefty then threw nine consecutive pitches that left the zone, and Polanco, Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez swung at eight of them. A more disciplined group would have drawn a few walks and had a rally going; this group enabled Vesia, who either could not stay in the strike zone or who knew better than to approach it, to strike out the side for the save.
Because Statcast has not yet pursued a way to quantify how tightly a hitter grasps a bat, chasing pitches outside of the zone might be the most concrete manner to measure whether a player or team is pressing.
And it sure seems as if the Mets — who probably face the greatest pressure in the sport considering last season, considering the offseason and now considering the start of this season — are pressing.
