I had to go to bed before I listened to a single pitch last night. I was hoping for similar alerts on my phone to when I woke up yesterday morning, most of them focused on Michael Conforto's game-winning grand slam. Unfortunately, the first alert I saw before the At Bat ones showed me the blown game was a friend of mine in LA texting, "nice finish by LA." Other fans really know how to push Mets fan's buttons, that's for sure. I texted back, "Terrible text to wake up to."
I cannot make absolute statements, however, that Edwin Diaz is just another bum closer and the Mets lost the trade. Yes, Cano has left a lot to be desired, but Diaz has been pretty lights out up until last night, give or take a couple home runs during tie games. It is a symptom of the reactionary social media environment, as well as the Mets track record, that we would make definitive statements about the legacy of certain players, or even seasons, before anything has actually run its course. Robbie Alomar was a letdown, we know that now. The 2005-2008 Mets stretch was a great disappointment, we also know that now. Jason Bay didn't pan out, that is for sure. No matter how well Jared Kellenic is doing in single-A, however, and no matter how poor we think the players we got back are performing, nothing is definitive as of yet. We do ourselves a disservice by making such statements before everything has played itself out, as far as I'm concerned. I'm guilty as much as the next, but I'm trying to train myself wherever possible to remember the words, "So far." This stretch will continue to be a big test for this team, and so far, they have unfortunately fallen flat when they had a chance to gain a lot of goodwill last night. We're only 3 games into it, and though it will not feel like a lot have progress has been made if they don't come out of this over .500, we have to remember you're supposed to go .500 on the road, win at home. They've been so bad on the road, if they can go .500 on this stretch, that will certainly be progress. Maybe I'm settling for mediocrity, but you have to start somewhere. Considering I am having trouble in my personal life this week staying optimistic, color that progress for me to even stay this optimistic about the Mets. I'm going to be talking to Gil Hodges, Jr. about his father's Hall of Fame candidacy at 12pm ET on my Bedford & Sullivan podcast today. That's certainly something to be optimistic about. Please, take a listen when you have a chance.
There is no end to dePuns we can come up with when it comes to deGrom. What a sight for sore eyes, even though my ears were doing the work last night when I got a chance to tune in. Throughout the night, I and most Mets fans had flashbacks to his Cy Young season, when luckily he was too damn good to overlook giving the award. The lack of support he got on the offensive side, however, was a big reason we were mired in the disgusting grime of the sewage that was the 2018 season.
The Reds, who are trying to grow themselves after years of frustration, have not yet won the series but have already left two bad tastes in our 9th inning mouths. I have never been a fan of pitching your closer in the 9th inning of a tie ball game. Logic would dictate you want your best relief pitcher out there to keep the game intact. Edwin Diaz, and numerous other closers, however, have a history of having ERAs and AVG against that tick up when in these situations. I couldn't tell you why this is, but even going back to Mariano Rivera, and of course the 2016 Wild Card game with our former closer now on our IL, I would love to see how widespread this is across the league over the last 20 years, and whether my trepidation is warranted. Many point to the fact Seth Lugo only pitched to one batter before Diaz was brought into the 9th, a valid point to make about the managing. The turnaround to the next game is the first of its kind this year with a 12:10 game today and temps heading into the 70's. No matter whether we split this 4 game series, the bad taste of yet another uneven series, where even the game we've won so far had to be salvaged in extra innings, makes optimism with the way this team plays the game right now hard to process. Still, you must keep that head held high, because no one in the NL East is running away with anything as of yet. I wish I could just stop everything and head on out to Flushing, Queens, today, but alas, I will have to find another time to take in my first game of the year. I wasn't able to make it out to Citi Field until September last year, the two games I watched the Mets lose in Denver notwithstanding. No matter how much I currently have on my plate, I could use a little Metsian teacup as soon as possible.
KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.
LET'S. GO. METS.
(as I got back to work last night having taken a dinner break that coincided with the end of the game, this was the first song the Pandora app played for me on the oldies station I was listening to. I voiced it on Twitter as well at the time that I appreciated the optimistic sentiment.)
I wish I could pay attention to every single facet of the Metropolitan baseball team. The ironic element of where I find myself is that I'm getting back into the habit of writing everyday after too many years of inactivity, yet I cannot pay enough attention to the baseball team I love. I'm supposed to "do my homework" as one particular facebook Mets group peer kept uttering to me the other day when we were debating the worth of Travis d'Arnaud, but I have debt to get out of and loads of other obligations I don't even need to detail here. Trying to find the proper balance is an obvious, real struggle for me.
Last night, I was back in a 10-week improv class I decided to take at this particular time because 1)I've been trying to segue back to performing, 2)I was being lobbied to join back up again, and 3)I'm trying to get out of my head some, which improv can be beneficial in doing. I checked in on the game when I had a bathroom break, and a tie game it was already. The moment I got out of class, Edwin Diaz had just given up the home run in the eventual 5-4 defeat. Strange to think that as frustrating as this team can be, I wish I had more time to observe, recollect, debate, and what have you all the aspects of what comes with being a fan at this particular junction of my life. The Mets, as miserable as they can be, are the last thing making me miserable right now. Keeping up with the posts and the podcasts feel like a necessity because I have fun, win or lose, talking about this team. There is always good moments to look back on from their history. There can only be darkness if there was light in the first place. A beautiful sadness, as Butters on South Park once said. I love this city, but I'm letting all the noise and distractions slowly drive me insane. There is an aspect of attempting to cut through the distractions by using them as motivation to block them all out and focus on what you need to to get the work you need done. However, since my dad died and the whole process leading up to it, I've been letting it all get the best of me. There is a tug of war in my head of whether I need to stay or escape, playing into my ADHD nature by going city to city because the sensory overload of my favorite place in the world is not the best for my current incarnation of being. I have so many things I need to clean up around the tristate before I have the foundation under me to do so, rendering that feeling rather moot right now. It stands as motivation, however, an incentive of what to work towards. Plans, however, have a way of shifting very quickly. In February of 2017, I made a decision to save my money up to head to London for a substantial period of time as that is where my girlfriend is from and lives currently. The goalpost kept getting moved, starting at October of 2017, pushing towards Jan of 2018. Then, it moved to April of 2018 when my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At that point, it was a pipe dream to begin with. I was in complete denial as to the severity of the situation, keeping on the positive side of things that he was going to beat this thing, and quickly do so. I blocked out all the noise of reality of what pancreatic cancer has been in the scope of things. I held that nature for as long as I could, completely breaking down come the end of January when I let an extraneous situation leave me completely breaking down. All blinders were stripped at that point, and though I decided right after that moment to produce a movie about my bit-part film actor dad looking back on his life and career as he took on the biggest role yet, I was so distracted that I could only do so much in the new role I had placed myself in as producer of the film. My director and I are still working hard on it, but as I approach the anniversary of my father's death on May 27, I feel like I've let the last two year's completely strip me of all the positivity I used to go through life with, as much of that however was denial about a lot of my issues, such as my addictive personality and my unfocused nature. Optimism must rule the day, however, and as you can see and read from above, whether it is my own life or the Mets chances, I struggle to find the positive aspects of things. There are always other lives who have it worse than you and perspective to gain to remind yourself of the positive reinforcements that come along. This morning, it has been tough to do so to the point I've completely tangented off of Edwin Diaz and the Mets to spilling my soul on this Mets blog I write. If you're familiar with this blog, though, then you are aware of some of these things I have mentioned about myself to an extent. This fanbase can be so inspiring that I made a movie about them and the team, after all. Through the struggles, whether it is faith in this team or faith in the general direction I'm attempting to travel, optimism and positivity HAVE to rule the day. All you can do is ask for the ball back after you give up the home run, just like Diaz in the photo above. There is always another game to play the next day, and there is always another chance to get it right some how, some way. Clearly we all have an end game, but we never know when that day will arrive and we must fight the challenges we face tooth by tooth, nail by nail and grass blade by grass blade. I appreciate every single one of you who come to this blog on a daily basis and I appreciate your attention to my sensitive, emotional fashion. I'm overloaded with obligations and the noise and distractions can get the best of me sometimes. I appreciate you keeping the faith, and I will do my best to keep up mine.
Yesterday's 5-1 win over the Phillies was the first game all year I have been able to watch and it was a great game to have done so. Ironically, it will be a short post, relatively speaking, or as short as I can make it sitting down this morning to write, since I have to make my way upstate for a previously scheduled engagement.
I was able to relax with my aunt and uncle in Rockland County, catching these innings for the first time on the network that houses our Metsies. I've been driving around so much that I have only been able to listen to the games so far this year. What I saw on the screen was Bryce Harper get thrown out for the 12th time by a 12th different umpire. I'm not sure if that means he understands he needs to cool it the next time he is in the box with the last ump who threw him out or what. The way I see it, however, he has a history of removing himself with his behavior prematurely from contests his team desperately needs him to continue in. I would be interested to see how many of those contests the team has either won, lost and/or what the outcome was versus where the team was at the time of the tossing. Other than the tantrum, I saw a team come back from a lethargic road trip looking like how teams should look at home: reinvigorated by their welcoming fan base. The fans that stuck around after the rain delay were clearly the die-hards, and their voices rang loud and clear. Pete Alonso had a ridiculous hit that was such impressive baseballing, taking it the other way down the line to get us on the board. I know I keep saying, "I think this kid is for real," but I think this kid is for real, folks. Hits like that that I know I HAVE to embed 'cause it was so damn impressive make you confident that this slugger may not be a Dave Kingman type one-dimensional player.
Jeff McNeil kept Jeff McHitting, and I couldn't help but McOut with my McPuns on Twitter last night.
Steven Matz rebounded for an impressive win. He buckled down when the Phillies started attempting a comeback and didn't let the pressure get to his head. He did a good job of relaxing and staying within himself when sometimes he has a tendency in those moments to overthink. And in what world is Edwin Diaz NOT the closer the Mets thought they were getting? He has been absolutely nasty albeit one or two non-1-2-3 innings. A man named Andy Martino had a tweet saying more or less Diaz is still not the guy the Mets thought they were getting but um, 7 saves and a 1.04 ERA isn't what it used to be, maybe? Uh... So many impressive moments in a game the Mets needed to show that they could shake off that disappointing road trip and get back to some sound, fun baseball once more, giving this fanbase hope that this team is truly for real. Yeah, it is one game, and maybe it was 'cause it was the first game I've witnessed on screen this year live, but I had loads of fun and reminded myself that sometimes even I need to take a breath, relax and take some baseball in. Maybe I'll actually make it to a game one of these days.
See? I told you it was gonna be a "short" one...uh...
(Firstly, Happy Passover to my Jewish brethren, and a Happy Easter to all reading who celebrate.) Though the 800-pound gorilla in the room is Jacob deGrom's elbow, I will address this more once we have info after the MRI. Clearly not the headline we wanted to see yesterday afternoon, but we're almost numb to headlines of this nature at this point so let's all take a breath, hope for the best (try not to expect the worst) and focus on the recent win at hand. I don't want to talk about Jason Vargas, who was serviceable albeit not very trusted to give quality longevity, as he was taken out after 4 innings of work. I do want to talk about Robinson Cano, who I believe was the offensive star of this game but was overshadowed, like last Thursday in Atlanta in the case of Amed Rosario, by one swing, which we'll get to shortly. Cano showed off why Brodie Van Wagenen wasn't hesitant to accept that contract in the trade with Seattle focused on closer Edwin Diaz. That sweet swing was on full display as Cano collected 3 hits, scoring once and driving one in as well, getting his average up to .218 in the early part of this season. He was driving the ball soundly and thoroughly, which hopefully are good signs of great things to come.
Once more, however, Pete Alonso, who collected 2 hits and scored twice in 4 turns at bat, is all anyone is talking about. He hit yet another straight-away center field home run, this time onto the grass in Busch Stadium in St. Louis. What is so impressive is the way he went down to get it and drove the barrel so far through the ball, I'm amazed it even survived to make its way out there. When a ballplayer can drive the ball from spots on the plate as you'll see below. That is a hard thing to formulate a pitching plan against.
That's RIDICULOUS strength. How in the hell, with such a swing, did he get ANY power behind that?! It is the type of swing that cuts the gap, or falls in for a single. NOT a straight-away center field 432 footer! Color me massively impressed by what we have seen so far from this rookie sensation. He will have to continue to work as hard as he has to adjust to whatever the league throws his way, but the signs all point to him not being just an April wonder. Keep powering through, Polar Bear. Meanwhile, the Mets struggled to keep the lead as wide as it was initially, but they hung on, with runners on the corners, no less, in the bottom of the 9th to pull out a much-needed 1-run 5-4 victory. It is always sweet to beat Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina (who was the last out) and those red-bird Cards (and I had started the day actually seeing a real-live cardinal in far-north Jersey. I had worried it was a bad omen like the other day but maybe it was actually a good omen after all...gotta win the series first, though.) And MASSIVE props to Jeff McNeil, who just keeps impressing more and more at 3rd base. Also, he always seems to be even sharper with his defense at the most crucial moments of these games. Keep collecting those acorns, Squirrel.
Monday nights these days are set aside for improv classes as I try to get out of my head a bit. A bit is a bit of an understatement. Improv is therapeutic that way as you have to be on your toes and ready to accept offers as they come from your fellow improvisors. There technically aren't any wrong things you can say; just say it, stop thinking. It is only wrong to throw off the rhythm and flow.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports Photo via Metstradamus
I found myself turning off the radio feed of the game just before the Mets scored their first 2 runs of their eventual 7-6 win over the Phillies on Jackie Robinson Day. At points where my attention wasn't directly needed, whether it be myself improvising or giving the respect ones on stage deserve, I saw a prototypical Mets-Phillies battle ensuing as I was checking the score on the At Bat App. It was the type of game we have gotten plenty used to these teams partaking in against one another. Back and forth, up and down, never a moment where you felt any particular relief on either side of the respective fanbases. And I don't want to get into the Noah Syndergaard factor right now. The Phillies' ace, Aaron Nola, was pitch-for-pitch basically not as sharp as well. The biggest issue right now is the bullpen for us, other than the Jason Vargas issue. I got out of the improv class just in time to see a runner on and no outs with Jeurys Familia on the mound in the 8th. He both did a poor job of sticking to the script as well as keeping the rhythm and flow of the scene moving with a Mets 1 run lead at 6-5. After his sensational breakout season of 2015 where, from my memory, he was the most reliably consistent closer the Mets had ever had (up until his 2nd quick pitch in a row to Alex Gordon in game 1 of the World Series) he has resorted to typical Mets closer fashion, i.e., forcing you to self-manicure with your teeth as the clippers. Whatever is going on with him, he cannot seem for one second to find the plate with any pitch he administers, lolligagging the ball every which way. When he's over the strike zone, his pitches are way too hitable, and he provides no sign he will be getting any better any time soon. At 3 years and 30 million dollars, let alone the familiarity factor of why Brodie decided to offer him the sizable contract, Familia must figure out how to get out of his head before he is a non-factor on the field but a huge factor on what we know is a tight, specific, non-altering budget the Wilpons have come up with. In the end, however, the Mets persevered. They came up with big hits in their first extra inning game of the year to pull a much-needed division win against the Phillies in their first match with Bryce Harper in a different logo's red. We were all wondering why Edwin Diaz wasn't in there instead of Robert Gsellman in the 8th inning after Familia walked the world. Apparently the answer is they are committed to only using Diaz for 3-out saves. While I'm not sure I agree with this, Gsellman settled down in the 9th inning after walking in the winning run and WOW did Diaz deliver when he got the opportunity in extras, striking out the heart of the Phillies order to close out the game. Also, if the Phillies fans weren't aware of Jeff McNeil before last night, they sure as heck are now, as he collected 3 hits, 1 RBI and made 2 spectacular defensive plays. They were able to push past the lost momentum from the Atlanta weekend and get what we hope is back on track. Lock down the series tonight and render Wednesday's day game only playing for icing on the cake. Stay focused, but out of your head. Transition, revelation, resolution. It's a long season, but sharpen the senses now and it will make the rest of the stretch that much easier.
