MINNEAPOLIS — The Mets’ 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Twins on Wednesday afternoon turned a solid road trip into a suddenly blah one.
They went 3-3 against the Athletics and Twins, neither of which hit, pitched or fielded particularly well. Neither, however, did the Mets, who have been able to pull out a few ugly wins in recent weeks but came up short in the finale at Target Field.
Here are three takeaways from the series:
1. Jeff McNeil might be an option in centerfield
He will play there for Low-A St. Lucie on Thursday, manager Carlos Mendoza said, the latest interesting wrinkle with an evolving, fluid position-player group.
Without Jose Siri (fractured leg), the Mets are keeping their options open. Tyrone Taylor has absorbed the playing time so far. Brandon Nimmo is viable. Luisangel Acuna can go out there. And the Mets are curious enough to give McNeil a look.
More than anything, this is a testament to the Mets’ desire to keep playing Acuna, who has heated up at the plate (three strikeouts Wednesday notwithstanding) and manned second base in five of the past six games. With McNeil nearing a return from a strained right oblique, putting him in the outfield would create additional playing time for Acuna, who would stay in the majors only if he can play regularly. The Mets love his infield defense and double-play chemistry with Francisco Lindor.
“He’s on board with it,” Mendoza said of McNeil and centerfield. “There’s a reason why we’re doing it . . . We just felt like, since he’s down there now, why not use this opportunity to get him some exposure?”
McNeil has dabbled in center since college, most recently starting two games there in 2023.
2. Max Kranick has been great — and will deservedly be back
The Mets’ roster creativity this week saw Kranick, on paper, being sent down to Triple-A Syracuse. In reality, it’s not that serious.
The club can bring Kranick back to the majors Thursday by putting Siri on the injured list. (That would have to be paired with swapping out another pitcher for a position player to align with MLB’s rules regarding roster balance.)
Kranick, for sure, deserves to stay in the majors amid his continued emergence. He has a 1.54 ERA in seven appearances (11 2⁄3 innings), striking out seven and walking none. His ability to pitch multiple innings is valuable, but Mendoza is open to trying him in additional shorter outings — which would make him available more days and would aid a potential transition to a high-leverage, late-and-close role.
3. Juan Soto will get better
Soto’s slow start — relative to his norm — featured him still getting on base at an elite rate. Against Minnesota, he homered on consecutive days, which had a funny way of bumping up his still-small-sample season numbers from fine to good.
Nothing Soto has done so far is worth worrying about. The power and production will come.
“I’m not trying to hit a homer at all,” Soto said. “We’re trying to play team baseball right here. So whenever I gotta take my walks, I’m going to take my walks . . . I don’t mind. That’s baseball.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
