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.
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.
When I woke up on Saturday, the game against the Nationals was already about a half hour in. The trendy topic of note on #MetsTwitter was how awful of a decision it was by Mickey Callaway to hit JD Davis, the Mets' new infielder brought in from Houston, in the four spot. He was after Robinson Cano but ahead of both Wilson Ramos and Michael Conforto. It did seem rather perplexing, but with southpaw Patrick Corbin on the mound for the Nats, the logic was that JD Davis hits lefties well. It didn't stop a solid amount of tweets in my feed to be the latest outrage trend sweeping Mets nation. And everybody was thrilled to eat their words.
Photo: Andy Marlin - USA Today Sports Photo via northjersey.com
JD Davis not only hit the first Citi Field home run of the year for the Mets, it was the first run of the young season at home for the team, and the hardest hit homer in the Major Leagues so far this year according to statcast. He wasn't done, hitting another one to make it 2-1 after the Nationals tied it, and in the same inning that Michael Conforto crushed a goner as well. Of concern, however, is and was the bullpen, who could not hold the lead for Steven Matz (who had an uneven 5 innings but kept the runs off the board.) Both Robert Gsellman and Jeurys Familia struggled mightily, the latter giving the lead over to the Nationals in the 8th inning. The homer brigade wasn't over, however, as Pete Alonso crushed a solo shot to center in the bottom half with Robinson Cano following to tie the game with a no-doubt-about-it bridge blast that was his first big moment in front of the hometown fans, and the Citi went nuts. Up until that point, the Mets had 4 homers to their credit, more than doubling that number with 5 yesterday. I don't think it was a coincidence that on the first day of the season temperatures soared close to 70 that the ball flew a little easier out of the offensive-soul-sucking Citi Field ballpark. Going from the sun of St. Lucie to the early spring chill is probably a big reason why it is being reported that the cold bug has been going around the clubhouse, but those affects were not felt by the team yesterday. What was so nice about this game was how the offensive contributions were spread around, including the game-winning opposite field single by Keon Broxton, another Brodie Van Wagenen complimentary pick up from the offseason. Now, if only we can figure out what is wrong with the prolifically striking out Brandon Nimmo... It's still so early, and whether it's 1978 or 2012 or 2018, we all know how important it is to take an early hot start with a grain of salt. Still, I like what I see (though the bullpen DOES need to Tighten Up like Archie Bell and the Drells...)and with the roster turning over the way it has as well as it being just the first few games of the Brodie Effect, it was important for the Mets to look as good as they have. They've just got to sustain it past the 13th game of the season this time.
