The Polar Bear Gets it Done After Familia Territory

I'm sure many people have made that "Familia" joke or a rendition of it, but at least it allows me to use my favorite "badum tsst" gif.

Also...oy, I had one-a doze emotional posts yet again. Ironically, the last one like that, coinciding after deGrom ended his crazy-good streak, was written while I waited for my tires to get fixed, and yesterday, after the post was published, I discovered my driver's side rear tire losing air as well. Got it fixed again, but not sure what the universe is trying to tell me...

Thankfully, I nipped it in the bud rather quickly so I could keep driving and earning yesterday evening. I decided to end the day just in the nick of time to catch Familia 1 out into the 9th inning. "Alright!" I thought to myself. "Jeurys is going to use this Edwin Diaz offnight to get it together as Wayne and Howie take me home." So, if you're playing the home game, the Mets had a lead and Familia was pitching well before I started listening, and then I listened to it all fall apart. If it weren't for Jeurys's 2019 track record, I would think I was the jinx.

Brad Penner/USA Today Sports
Photo via amazinavenue.com

I kept listening, however, and heard the new cavalry of JD Davis, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso combine to give us a much needed walkoff win in extras. I'm not quite sure how to approach the JD Davis situation, though. I do understand that he's hit rather well when he gets his chances, but his defense leaves much to be desired. Todd Frazier is a pro out at 3rd base, and keeps running into baseballs with his bat at opportune times. We're not talking garbage time home runs, no matter whether he swings and misses a good amount of times as well. I'm not going to go outrageous about whether JD Davis should be starting over him at this particular junction. If Todd becomes a major liability, it will most likely play itself out.

Pete Alonso cannot help but swing hard. Though it was a classic Citi Field warning track shot, it was all we needed last night but man, is that guy strong. His energy is also contagious, and he seems to have taken a quick leadership role in his rookie season. With the Captain David Wright no longer there (single tear) it is nice to see such a young player taking some of the responsibility lost as Wright, head held high, marched into the sunset at the end of last season.

Back to Familia, however. I don't know how to dissect what is going on. It seems to be more mental than physical as his confidence is completely through the grass, scratching the bottom of the soil. Do I agree they should continue to put him out there in high leverage situations? On the one hand, he needs to fix these moments somehow, some way, but as players like Drew Gagnon proved last night, proper performances should be rewarded. It may behoove management to let Familia take some of the pressure off himself and pitch in moments when the game isn't on the line, because every time the game is on the line, he has come undone. We need these W's right here, right now, because this East of the NL is proving quite the crap shoot.

Here we come to another deGrom start. Luckily, the weather doesn't look to be nearly as volatile this evening as it was the night last week he should have never started in the first place. All of a sudden, Jason Vargas isn't the worst pitcher on the Mets, and I was hoping to not invoke his name in this post, but you know what? His performances lately has left me no choice. The Mets, however, need to put all their pitchers in the best positions to succeed and hopefully deGrom can do so once more going forward as the best pitcher in baseball.

MAKE. IT. SO. DUDES.

LET'S. GO. METS.