Stop Me If You've Heard this One...

Just the other Metsian offday, I wrote about how much Mickey Callaway contradicts himself. Well, last night, taking Noah Syndergaard out when he was cruising wasn't so much a contradiction as it was precisely in Mickey's wheelhouse. Second-guessing the moves he makes with the pitching staff is all too common these days, and even he was second-guessing himself after the game, apparently even going as far as to apologize to the team for the move.

Charles Wenzelberg
Photo via NY Post

I don't see this carrying on much longer. Not his bad decisions... unfortunately I'm no longer giving him the benefit of the doubt, as much as I do not want to be reactionary with his performance. At this point, there is cause and effect to the reactions he is garnering from most of the fanbase, and I can't see him holding onto his job if all of this keeps trending the way it has been going.

Enough words have been said on Mickey Callaway. My gut feeling is there will have to be a major change of direction for us to believe in his performance, or for the front office to believe in his long-term potential with this team. If they don't bottom out this June like they did last year, he at least won't make it into another offseason. I think, however, he won't make it into another 2nd half...

One way or another, you know how the saying goes...

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Contradictory Nature of Mickey Callaway

After Sunday's loss, Mickey Callaway had no positive spin to put on the exemplarily bad play of his New York Mets ballteam. According to the NY Post:

“Overall game, bad defense, bad pitching, no offense," Callaway said. "We can't allow people to have the best games of their career against us. That's the bottom line. 

Inconsistency is not going to win you games. That is why we are where we are in the standings and what our record looks like. We are just too inconsistent. I don’t think it is a focus issue at all, it’s going out there and trusting you are going to get the job done and doing it every time. We play great at home and then we go on the road and what we do on the road is not acceptable.’’

“We put ourselves in a position to win more games than we did but we lost them so it doesn’t matter what position you put yourself in, you gotta go get the job done,’’ Callaway said. “We have to do better. I’m kind of getting sick of saying we have to right this ship.’’ 

Norm Hall/Getty Images
Photo via Yahoo! Sports

Up until this point, he has tried to stay positive, using clichés such as "hard fought" and "toe-to-toe" and what have you. Obviously, after yet another listless loss following a game the Mets should have won, which is standard practice for this team, he couldn't take it anymore.

Unfortunately for Callaway, in my opinion, no matter how awful you want to say the roster is, he himself has been inconsistent in doing what he says is the strategy they are taking.

I have a habit of being a chronic reneger. I'll say one thing, and then eventually do another. I lose steam on momentum and the goals fall by the wayside. I get life is a hard thing to overall follow through with sometimes. Maybe that is why, as I personally try to correct my reneging nature, I'm so sensitive these days to when Callaway says one thing then does another.

When Jeurys Familia got back from his injury, Callaway said they would ease him back into high-leverage situations. The Seth Lugo injury certainly left them altering strategy, but only within a few days was he given back the 8th inning mantle, and a day after giving up a run in the 7th, no less.

Then, as another example, Callaway overall preaches taking everything one game at a time, but then is quoted as not committing to Tomas Nido being deGrom's personal catcher because they'll need Wilson Ramos's bat out there in the playoffs.

He makes a point, for sure, that it won't be ideal for the light-hitting Nido to be starting game 1 of the division series if we even make it that far. Guess what, though? There are better ways to frame that. Say, we need Ramos to be catching our best pitcher because we need all of our personnel on the same page. Whatever is the wording, don't be mentioning the playoffs when you are struggling to even push over the .500 mark.

For the Mets, and for Mickey Callaway in his green managerial career, it's 1 step forward, 3 steps back. For two years in a row, Mickey has struggled to maintain his club's hot start. Last June, the Mets went 5-21. Any chance they had for the season completely fell by the wayside then, obviously. I and others wondered whether they were going to lose 100 games for the first time since the 90's. The way they were playing, it was a grand possibility.

Now, this June, they play the likes of the Phillies, the Braves, the Yankees, the Rockies, the Cardinals and the Cubs, with the Giants the only team under .500 they face. As we saw on this past road trip, every flaw the team has was exposed by the better clubs after they were able to mask their flaws, which still bled out some, against the Nationals and Tigers at home. Callaway may not survive long enough for his team to have yet another similarly bad month.

I am not sure I like the way Brodie Van Wagenen is operating the ballclub. We all know it always comes back, regardless of the management personnel, to the way the Wilpons operate the team. Callaway, however, is leaving much to be desired. I talk about the nature of New York sports in not letting anybody, whether it is a player or a manager, settle in to their role. Callaway is only in his sophomore year managing at all, though this may be why it is so difficult for a newbie to get his feet wet with a team like the Mets. Tony LaRussa survived a few 90-loss seasons to go on and have a very successful career split between the White Sox, the A's and the Cardinals. Terry Francona, Callaway's supposed mentor with the Indians, was not immediately the genius he is viewed as now, beginning his managerial career with the Phillies and 4 losing seasons. We never give anyone, whether it is Amed Rosario or Mickey Callaway, a chance to settle in.

Mickey, however, is making it rather hard for us to give him the benefit of the doubt when he contradicts himself so much.

June is here, buddy. What have you done for us lately?

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(too fitting a song title to not use twice this year)

LIVE at 9pm ET, A Metsian Podcast Memorial Day Weekend Special - Assessing the 2019 Mets

LIVE at 9pm ET, A Metsian Podcast Memorial Day Weekend Special is here! Once more, there isn't a shortage of places to travel on this full service podcast. Gary McDonald of Mets Musings will join us for the chat!

On top of wrapping up the final results of the Nationals series, the heat was on Mickey Callaway entering the week after 5 straight losses. This prompted the "seal of approval" presser with Brodie Van Wagenen on Monday, while yet another flurry of Meddin' Jeff articles were written by the media, local and national alike. Just another year in the world of the Mets.

Injuries have lead to some shuffling of the roster. Of course, after getting heat for a perceived lack of hustle, Robinson Cano pulls a hammy legging out a double. Of course. Rajai Davis got called up after Brandon Nimmo was placed on the IL and immediately makes his presence felt with a 3-run home run to cap off a 6-run come-from-behind inning Wednesday night. What is to be expected of him and will he stick around?

Carlos Gomez has yet to truly make his presence felt with the bat though his notorious energy has been there both with on-the-field flare as well as cheerleading from the bench. He's been walking some so he hasn't been completely absent. Can he ever regain his Major League prowess?

Jeez, there's even MORE to cover! Yoenis Cespedes violently broke his ankle NOT falling off a horse, but apparently stepping incorrectly in a hole on his Port St. Lucie ranch. Is it time to completely write off him ever playing another inning for this team?

So much to cover, so little time! Join us at 9pm ET for the latest edition of A Metsian Podcast!

You can listen LIVE down below, or at the link here.

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.

Let's Talk About Pete, Bay-bee

(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.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
Photo via washingtonpost.com

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.

BEAT. THOSE. RED. BIRDS.

LET'S. GO. METS.