Hot Trash

Where to begin? I am beyond aggravated with where the Mets find themselves two days into the Cardinals series, with all that has transpired. I shouldn't blame anybody but the Mets for what they themselves can control. They could have taken adversity and gotten over it. They unfortunately continue to be the first and foremost thing in their own way.

Photo via My Motherlode

What a metaphor. Maybe that is why we all can relate. So many of us have such potential for greatness, yet we find ourselves continuously self-sabotaging. You have to think to yourself, of course, there is no way the Mets are doing so in this particular instance. Whether it is fear of success...for the more we succeed, the more we have to lose...because obviously why would the Mets and their players not want to achieve greatness? They clearly don't WANT to continuously trip over their own two feet. Top down, however, they continue to put themselves in the position to be the most glaring reason they have the entire league shaking their heads wondering if the Mets will ever get it together for a prolonged period of time.

I begin writing this without having gotten enough sleep but with a parking spot on my block in Manhattan that at least renders me some time to gather myself. I, however, am a hot mess indeed, so I might as well take a moment to rant without the rave about the hot trash that has helped to keep the Mets on the losing end of things 2 strange games in a row.

1. The Umpires - Could you make a decision with any conviction at all? Thursday night and the debacle with the tarp is front and center why most fans in the league think you are the worst officiating in sports and with absolutely no accountability amongst your ranks. Of course we all would rather wrap the game up as quickly as possible but the conditions were clearly within the traditional form of unplayable and you stand around, while things get worse, going back and forth about what to do AFTER you've already made a decision to begin the tarp proceedings. I mean, look at that photo I used. It looks like it was taken underwater. There is no thought given to what your indecision means for the young arm being forced to get up and sit down, attempting to stay warm before finally throwing a baseball in a downpour. Edwin Diaz will not be included in my hot trash takes because our young closer whom some fans want to give shit to right now has been nothing but dicked around.

2. Jeurys Familia - There was a hot second when I thought he may be turning a corner, but he continues to be put into high leverage situations and continues to fail miserably. The body language is completely off and the confidence of his youth has been completely wiped away. It is sad considering I keep flashing back to us fans dreaming of what could be when he was just a lil-ol' B-Met in Binghamton. Whether or not he should have even been brought back in the first place this past offseason has no place in my discussion right now. The only thing is he is what brewed the phrase in my head, "Hot Trash" after last night's horrendous 8th inning. At this point he should clearly not be anywhere near situations of that nature, no matter who may be rendered unavailable at the time. Speaking of which...

3. Mickey Callaway - I keep telling myself he will get better as a manager. I see no proof, however, of this way of thinking as of now. He would look much better as a manager if Familia was anywhere near dependable this year but he keeps making himself look bad by continuing to trust Familia in those moments. I can't tell you what the other options could have been considering apparently Gsellman had some back aches after his 7th inning last night, but at some point, Familia clearly once more did not have it, yet Callaway gives him all the room to fail. That isn't even the most egregious moment of the day. WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS YOUR CLOSER DOING STARTING THE 10TH INNING OF A SUSPENDED GAME WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED HIS ARM COME THE 9TH INNING LATER ON THAT NIGHT?! I'm sure that was indeed the plan had Familia gotten through the 8th, but why, oh why, was Diaz even close to an option earlier?! It makes absolutely no sense. The only thing I can think of is you're trying to save other arms in case it goes deep and also trying to save other arms for the night billing. So, you think, I want my best available arm to shut these guys down immediately. Complete backfire. I just wouldn't have gone that route and I'm irrationally upset Callaway did.


As I write this, I've been back and forth with a fellow fan who said it's time to move Wheeler or Matz. I would keep Matz 'cause he is still cost-controlled for a few more years (and better at this point) and Wheeler is on his way out most likely. I'll just go ahead and copy-and-paste the rest....At some point, if it keeps going this direction, move Frazier, Wheeler, and maybe even Diaz. I don't know, (to reiterate something I wrote way above) the Mets have all the potential in the world but cannot get out of their own way, and the Wilpons keep operating like the way they have all these years has been a formula for success. So frustrating.

I'm spent. Time to go driving.

TAKE. A. BREATH. NOW.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Give and the Take

Sometime while driving around New Jersey on Saturday evening, with the Mets offense softly fizzling, I realized, or at least saw the facts through a figurative magnifying glass, that they had been utterly nonexistent since the behind-the-back statement made to Rhys Hoskins and the Phillies on Tuesday evening. The momentum, the cliché goes, is as good as your next starting pitcher, but no matter how good or bad the opposition's starting pitcher is, you have to back up your assertion that "we're not going to take it anymore." The Mets, ever so inconsistent, had given none of their starters since then, albeit only 2, any real chance of gaining the momentum back, removed from the completely botched, naturally, Jacob deGrom activation Friday night.

At some point Saturday night after thinking the above about the offense to myself (and whoever saw it on Twitter) the Mets staged a semi-comeback that was hot enough for an At Bat alert. I stayed silent, literally with the "speechless" emoji being tweeted. Jeurys Familia, however, decided to hand the momentum directly back to the Brewers and so went the game 8-6 Brew Crew.

I should have once again stayed silent on Sunday, an opinion many of you out there may echo, when I gave Steven Matz props for the performance, outside of 1 inning this year against the Phillies, he has rendered so far in 2019. Though the Brewers basically immediately tied it after I tweeted as such, the Mets were able to take back the lead and win the game 5-2, including on a hit by their new backup catcher, Tomas Nido.

There isn't much to say regarding Sunday morning's DFA of the failed Travis d'Arnaud chronic experiment. I was going back and forth, in favor of giving up on him, with someone on a facebook group page when the news came through that he had been designated. He gave us some brief memories and was an anchor in the 2015 late-season run, but he's been given chance after chance and it didn't work. Yes, a lot of that had to do with not being able to stay on the field, but that just comes with the overall picture. I still do not like that Devin Mesoraco did not make the team in the first place but I do not have the energy to go back into that right now. Yes, I've just used a lot of words after starting this paragraph with, "not much to say," but in my defense, there could have been more. I wish Travis nothing but the best and I'll leave it with this: one of my favorite memories is some random Twitter video back in August 2015 I saw of a fan finding d'Arnaud leaving in his car from the player's parking lot. The fan said some words of encouragement, and as Travis pulled away, he said, "Let's take this shit." To an extent, he backed up those words all the way through to the pennant. Wherever you go from here, take that shit, d'Arnaud.

Seth Wenig/AP Photo
Photo via msn.com

It truly is a give and a take with this team. Every time we think they're going to run with it, they take a step back. Every time we think they're going to continue to crash and burn, they give us reasons to believe. I can only hope for consistency out of this franchise one day, though I personally have to find my own as well. I, us and they have to continue to put in the work, find the balance and get better as much as possible every single day.

That's all we all can do. And that always brings me back to a familiar phrase I tend to use below.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Energy & the Tantrum

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.

Frank Franklin II/AP
Photo via courant.com

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.

McNeil keeps McHitting pic.twitter.com/bJMWcpbLx0

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) April 23, 2019

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...

KEEP. IT. MOVING.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Omen

I was trying to take the signs as the arrived my way. Staying positive can sometimes be difficult but you need to not only do so for yourself, but I believe it helps others to push that positivity outwardly. Pay it forward. Some find that annoying, but obviously, there is a balance involved.

I was trying to hit a certain level of money for the week on my Lyft application so I could lay that foundation and go from there. After my lunch break, I was ready to build off of what I had done that morning, and low and behold, the first ride I received was a semi-long ride taking me from Nutley, NJ, to Perth Amboy.

From there I bounced around the area, being brought a bit west to the Edison area. All of a sudden I got a ride taking me all the way to Yonkers. It was hailed by a mother and her daughter who were looking for apartments together down there while staying at a hotel in the north-of-the-city-New-York-town. With an arrival time of 4:30, it was about an hour fare, one that put me over by 15 dollars the financial threshold I was looking for. I was thrilled, but now the real work for the week was to begin.

So, I put the fastest possible rush hour Jersey navigation on. Within 5 seconds of pulling out of the hotel parking lot, I saw a Planet Fitness right next door.  I can visit any location in the country because of the plan I have that they offer. It works out well in my line of work. I had planned on going at some point that evening wherever my rides took me anyway. So, to avoid the rush hour traffic, I took it as a sign and pulled into their respective parking lot, ready to get my reps in.

The routine I've recently settled into is as follows: loosen up my muscles with the hydromassage, 1 set each of pull ups, push ups and sit ups, hit the treadmill for 25 minutes, another round of muscle reps, bike for 15, last round of muscle reps then back to cooling down with another massage. I was prepared to do all of this but when I got to the cardio section of this Yonkers PF, all the treadmills were taken, except one that was out of order. Another sign. Multiple people had been telling me I was looking skinny, and in analyzing what my workout routine had recently been, I realized that I may have been going too hard on the treadmill in congruence with staying disciplined on my changed diet (I've cut out bread and cheese most meals.) I have also not been offsetting that with enough ever-increasing amounts of muscle reps. So, I decided that losing close to 300 calories on the treadmill was not for this session (as well as cutting out the bike set), plus it meant I would be able to get back to work quicker as well. So, I went back to my spot on the crowded floor where I would continue to attempt to add muscle to my frame.

In this region of New York, I can fully accept how many Yankees hats there are. Whether it be Westchester, The Bronx, North Jersey, Washington Heights or Yonkers, this is the most obvious Yankee territory there should be in the entirety of North America. There weren't an obscene amount of Yankee hats, but they did pop up in this specific gym. As I got my reps started, however, into the stretching area walks a man in a blue, red-rimmed Phillies hat. With the impending 2nd game in the early season 3-game series, I literally said to myself, "I hope that's not an omen."

After finishing up my gym session around 6, I navigated back through the lightened traffic to a place in Jersey I had honed in for dinner. I ate dinner, caught up on the phone with my girlfriend, which happened to take me past the start time of last night's Mets-Phillies match. Just before I got back to work, I naturally checked the score.

And there it was.

A big, ugly 8 next to the Phillies in the 1st inning.

Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Photo via newyork.cbslocal.com

We had all been rather optimistic about Steven Matz, taking his last start as a sign that he was finally on his way, after all these years, to consistency. If he could just avoid injury and stay out of his head, he'll come into form, much like Zack Wheeler finally did in 2018. Last night, however, was not a good sign. Apparently, some errors were made behind him as well, but those are obviously things every Major League pitcher has to shake off.

I had hoped the Phillies hat in my peripheral would not be an omen of ugly things to come later that evening, but alas, I had let negative thoughts creep in my way. Obviously, it isn't my fault, because no matter how superstitious us sports fans are, it most likely doesn't affect a single thing when there are millions of us who think if we sit a certain way, or wear the same socks, or eat fried chicken before every game, the team will win a championship. I had hopes after seeing the 8 spot (which morphed into a 10-run 1st inning) that it would just be one of those Citizens Bank Park games and the Mets would prevail 12-11. 'Twas not meant to be, and the Mets now have an afternoon rubber game to play following a 14-3 defeat at the hands of the Phillies.

I guess I just have to avoid that Yonkers Planet Fitness from now on. For the Mets sake. 

Though omens follow you wherever you go.

HAPPY. THOUGHTS. 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.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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.

The Legacy

For me, it's hard to think about the Mets and see the Mets without thinking about the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. There's a legacy, lineage and likenesss there, and it's always evident in my eyes.

Now, a man from Long Island named Steven Matz did something on Sunday that even his grandfather had never seen, who is, was and will ever be a die-hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan from Bay Ridge, born in 1933.

He didn't STOP being a Dodgers fan because it was his choice. They were taken away from him.

But he did have a choice of becoming a Mets fan, because...well, wait, actually....as he explains it, he didn't there either:

“We couldn’t change our loyalty to the Yankees. There was no way,” said Moller, who currently resides in Commack, LI. “Then the Mets came along, and we’ve been with them through all the years, the good years and the bad years.”

--New York Post 

It's crazy to say this, but that is, in some way, what Omar Minaya got right. Being a Queens kid himself, something deep down inside must have had that legacy in mind when drafting Steven Matz as the 72nd overall selection in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. Sure, he probably didn't know yet how deep the roots go, but still, mysterious ways are the ways it works sometimes.

The Mets are a unique beast. The team and its region and legion of Mets fans are the only of their kind to exist because two teams abandoned the New York National League Way of Life, with one abandoning the BROOKLYN way of life, period. Nothing exists like us anywhere else in this world. That didn't happen to any other city or state of fans.

And no pitcher since 1914 has collected 4 RBI's and 3 hits in his debut, and the ONLY PITCHER EVER to collect 4 RBI's in the debut as well.

Talk about a legacy.

This kid's got it.

New York National League to the MATZ.

LET'S. GO. STEVEN.

LET'S. GO. METS.