Working in the Walkoff

Look, I don’t have much time today, so I’m going to get right to it. I know Seth Lugo just went on the injured list, rendering Mickey Callaway the need to improvise what he was going to do with a lead in the 8th inning. I just don’t think, after having recently come off the IL himself, having given up a run in the 7th in the game prior and with management stating they were going to ease him back into the role, Jeurys Familia should have been given the 8th so soon. He has struggled this year, continues to do so, and you have a pitcher in Robert Gsellman who has succeeded more often than not so far this year. I think it is a no-brainer to go to the latter, as much as you want to show confidence again in Familia. A big part of what is going on with him may be mental, and showing you believe in him can go a long way. You have to, however, if you’re Mickey Callaway, be practical right now, especially with the microscope clearly finely tuned your direction.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Photo via Washingtonpost.com

The weird thing about games like this where the bullpen gives up the lead and the tie is it can lead to beautiful memories and other players stepping up. Whether it was JD Davis stepping up to initially give us the lead, Pete Alonso to tie it with that gargantuan moon shot over the foul pole, or Amed Rosario legging out the winning infield single, the youth of this team, including Dominic Smith off the bench, has stepped up big time on the field and off of it where the veterans have struggled. The future is on full display, they are owning the present and stepping up amidst the overall team struggles. This is the way the game should be played, especially at home where the franchise has struggled to gain consistency.

Two more games left in this 4-game series, and the Mets have taken care of business prior to facing the meat of the Nats starters, Max Scherzer and Steven Strasburg. They’ve got a tall order ahead of them, but you know what I always say…

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN’.

LET’S. GO. METS.

Getting Ahead of Not Getting Ahead of Ourselves

They've trained us plenty at this point, but that doesn't stop a fan from getting excited after one game. It's the reason why we get excited on Opening Day. It's the reason why fans start posting standings with the Mets in 1st place at a 7-3 record, something I cannot stand, as cautiously excited as we all can be.

AP Photo/Sara Stier
Photo via https://sports.yahoo.com

I've given them props for responding well to adversity before. They've come off of miserable road trips and played with life at home after looking so lifeless prior. They understood there was a lot of heat, at least in the press, on their manager after they played so atrociously for 5 straight games, and a good portion of this season since starting off so strong. It is certainly better than losing their 6th straight, and they needed an insurance run provided by the combo of a Carlos Gomez walk and a Dominic Smith single to more securely lead themselves back to the win column. This is all well and good. Even the worst teams, however, tend to win 70 games.

Everyone wants to point to Brodie Van Wagenen only going so far to state the security of Mickey Callaway's job. There is no reason, however, for BVW to state unequivocally that Mickey's job is safe. Mickey could take a shit on Jeff Wilpon's desk tomorrow, something I can only assume is a fireable offense, though you never know with this shit show of an organization. There could always be a fireable offense that pops up, so it isn't exactly surprising that this kind of lawyer-like language is used.

Good for Wilmer Font for serviceably pitching 4 innings, who's fault it is not that he's having to start every fifth day for this team. Good for Amed Rosario and Pete Alonso and Todd Frazier and Carlos Gomez and Dominic Smith for their RBIs. Good for Gagnon, who collected the dubbya, good for Zamora, good for Gsellman and good for Diaz (notice who's "Familiar" name I passed over?)

Until we see more consistency from this team, however, there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves. Hell, until they secure a playoff berth, there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves. Until this team wins the World Series, there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves. I will always be frustrated over the fact that the Wilpons keep proving us all right; that the organization will never have sustained success year to year as long as they are owners. I thought it in 2015 and I desperately wanted them to prove me wrong. They reverted to the mean, however. And I'll always be sad about that.

I'll also be sad that Yoenis Cespedes will most likely never play another inning for the New York Mets after breaking his ankle...falling into a hole on his ranch?

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Starter & The Defender

It was yet another disappointing weekend for the New York Metsies. So far, on Saturdays and Sundays in 2019, the Mets are 1-5. Sue me for the #SmallSampleSizing. For a fanbase busting their butts Monday through Friday (and sometimes through the weekend, like in my case where the most money I can make as a Lyft driver are those party days), our favorite baseball team has been anything but a respite from the work grind. Watching them has been as difficult as any job we do.

Getty Images
Photo via nypost.com

Do I sensationalize much? You betcha, but drama is the name of the game in this day and age, and as much as I personally work towards scaling it back some, my nature can only be suppressed to a point.  When my favorite baseball team's supposed 2nd starter has an ERA pushing 6 (at 5.90) you're going to be in a heightened state as a fan.

Syndergaard has not been able to hone in on finesse yet. It's power, power, power (including a homer created by Dexter Fowler's best Jose Canseco impression), but the control is not there at a WHIP of 1.28 (according to mets.com.) Seven walks in 29 innings, which means he's giving up a base on balls close to a quarter of the time he is facing batters, while also giving up just over a hit an inning. Noah (notice how I have yet to use the word, "Thor" in this post?) needs to figure out what kind of pitcher he is, because outside of his fantastic 2015 and 2016 seasons,  he has been pretty inconsistent when he has been able to stay on the mound. With a slider in the 90's and a fastball pushing 100, if he can hone in the control and consistency, the dream could seriously be reality.

Noah, however, has not gotten much help behind him these days. I'd like to hone in on one particular player whose elite defense has not come to fruition. Amed Rosario, while trying to figure out consistency at the plate, has left much to be desired with his defense up the middle. Mike, Rich and I discussed this on last week's episode of A Metsian Podcast, wondering when we were going to see the range we have been looking for out of our young shortstop. He followed that conversation up with 2 errors behind Noah yesterday. In 1826.1 innings fielded in the majors, according to Fangraphs, 20 runs have scored because of his defense. That is a far cry from the bill of goods sold to us. We have wanted him to come around offensively, but I will take a .250 avg if he can tighten up that defense ASAP.

Our "superhero" starter may be leaving much to be desired, but players like Amed Rosario are not giving him the best chance with a lack of defensive prowess behind him. They both need to tighten up considerably, but if the latter can do so sooner than later, Noah's success may follow as well.

There was a lot of concern to be had from the weekend series in St. Louis (outside of the continuing power prowess by Pete Alonso), but one of the more disappointing moments was Robinson Cano's HBP wrist injury (I'm not embedding any of these because most of them are eye-roll inducing, outside of Alonso's homer yesterday. Click at your own risk.) We'll see how it ends up affecting Cano, but he was JUST starting to hit his offensive stride. It is too cliché from a Metsian standpoint for a heralded acquisition to finally be coming around only to go down in throbbing pain.

The Mets stumble home for a weekday series against their Turnpike rivals, the Phillies. I wish I could say they desperately need some of that home cooking, but home has given them plenty of food poisoning over the years.

TIGHTEN. UP. NOW.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Amed, Alonso and Matz, Oh My

The headlines all went to Pete Alonso, and understandably so. I mean, the guy can crush it, and now has, along with Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, one of the hardest hit home runs in recent memory. The towering shot was hit directly to straight-away center, plopping down into the pond that sits all the way out there in the Braves' Suntrust Park. It floated there for the remainder of the game, a glaring reminder to all of the power that be with the Mets' new first baseman.

He's taken the league by storm, for sure, or at least our Metsian hearts. If they rest of baseball isn't talking about Pete Alonso, they should be and very well could be soon.

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Photo via amazinavenue.com

The two others, however, who were the unsung heroes of the 6-3 win over the Braves last night were Amed Rosario and Steven Matz. We Mets fans have been waiting for both to break out of their shells, and there is a possibility we are witnessing both coming into their own. 

Rosario drove in the first 4 runs of the ballgame before Alonso's mammoth 2-run shot, first with a lead-grabbing 3-run home run, followed by a opposite-field ground ball single. Rosario has been on point so far this year, carrying some late-season success over into 2019. With all the spotlight on Alonso and others, Rosario can silently become the grand shortstop we have been waiting for him to become.

Steven Matz has always seemed to be too hard on himself. As soon as things seem to go wrong, he has always had that look of frustration on his face, whether it just be with himself or with the circumstances surrounding him. Last night, however, he hit some roadblocks along the way early, but did not allow the potential frustration to carry over into the remainder of the game. After giving a run back the half-inning after Rosario's home run, Matz settled down to control the game the rest of the way. The bullpen too, who we've talked about being a sore spot at the beginning of this season (that seems to be a league-wide trend, by the way) settled in to lock down the game sans Luis Avilan's 1-run blemish.

Now, Zack Wheeler needs to get back on track and the timing might be right for him to do so in his native Georgia land. The Mets need him to show that last night was no fluke, and continue the early season statement they are trying to make to the National League East. The Braves this weekend. The Phillies starting Monday.

Never ever a better time than now.

CARRY. ONWARD.

LET'S. GO. METS.