Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)

Soul_29 said:
 ml1: The Skip would like to see you in his office. 

That is a good one.  I was thinking of posting that Bobby Bonilla was going to return to the Mets given that he is still being paid, but the return of Perez is a far better story.

Who's this Alonso kid again?

Who's this Alonso kid again?

I give the Mets credit for not leaving him in the minors for three weeks to get the extra year.

The Mets continue to hit to the opposite field in clutch situations.  It is wonderful for this old-school baseball fan to see, and it is winning them games already.  

Sure, Donny Baseball has some legitimate beefs about calls yesterday, especially when Lagares was hit on the hand bunting but it was called a hit-by-pitch.  It is not clear whether Lagares was protecting his face by lifting his hands (which held the bat) or whether he was offering at the pitch--but it was a close enough call for Mattingly to have a legitimate gripe.  My more pressing question is why the heck Callaway had Lagares bunting with a 2 strike count, given that he had homered earlier in the game.   Oh well, it worked out.  And then Rosario racked a shot the other way to set up Alonso's blast.

And this is the main thing:  the Mets are winning these kinds of games so far, and that is the difference between being a third or fourth place team and being a first place team in this division this year.  And they are winning with situational baseball, a term I would not have thought of using in conjunction with the Mets in recent years.

I am really enjoying watching the Mets play this year.

I agree, mfpark. Lots of going the other way with their hits. I worry when Frazier comes back. Who will see less time? Am excited to see Lowrie finally play at some point but yet another player will lose playing time. JD Davis will certainly be the one. I sure hope McNeil doesn't lose many AB's. Good problems to have but there's a certain chemistry in evidence in this small sample size. I really can't get over the playful/chumminess between Dom Smith and Pete Alonso. What's great is the Mets are hitting without any contribution from Cano and Nimmo. Back to Alonso...that homer was crushed. He's so powerful. His hits all sound loud on TV. It won't be long before he gets very few fastballs. Caleb Smith kept the ball away with breaking stuff - he's a pretty good pitcher - and Alonso chased a few. It seems he misses very few fastballs so he better be ready for the few that he will see. So far, so good! 

That is my concern, too.  In the past the Mets have always played the older, more expensive player over the young hot bat.  I think Frazier should be a backup until someone is seriously struggling.  Don't mess with what's working, other than an odd rest day.  

Frazier, Smith and Lowrie are going to get themselves into games almost every day between PH appearances and defensive replacements.  Both McNeil and Alonso are going to be leaving games in the late innings when the Mets are ahead because they're both below average fielders.

Who will Frazier and Lowrie displace on the roster. I know they have the young shortstop up, do I assume that's one spot.  Will the other be a reliever?

Guillorme? He’s on the active roster.

Won’t be a reliever. 12 pitchers is light these days. Davis? Does he have a major league contract? 

I think you are right on both counts.

Mets are looking good tonight.  Poor Nimmo must feel left out.

Well, the bullpen needs to shut things down.

If they can't save this game for deGrom after he pitched 7 shutout innings and hit a dinger they should all be fired.

Wow.

DeGrom just tied Bob Gibson's record of 26 quality starts in a row.

deGrom stats:

13 innings, 2-0, ERA 0.0

https://www.mlb.com/news/jacob-degrom-quality-start-streak

Straw speaking at Columbia tonight at 7.

https://www.someanj.org/2019/03/07/darryl-strawberry-is-coming-to-somsd/

is it too early to worry about these middle relievers?

FilmCarp said:
is it too early to worry about these middle relievers?

 Maybe?

Too bad today. Good effort by Thor.

I think Seth Lugo might be a concern. He's been horrid thus far. 

I think everyone in the pen past Diaz and Familia is suspect.  Lugo has lost it completely.

Mets can’t hit because Citi Field.  Science is Real.

Robert_Casotto said:
Mets can’t hit because Citi Field.  Science is Real.

 Visiting teams also benefit or suffer from the science of any given park.  Just read a Colorado fan's nerdy stat crunching analysis showing that visiting teams get a big boost from playing in Denver. 

FilmCarp said:
I think everyone in the pen past Diaz and Familia is suspect.  Lugo has lost it completely.

The pen has been a complete sh#t show. 

I just checked on Jay Bruce.  Pretty wild.  He's hitting 186, only 8 hits, but 6 are home runs.  What is this world coming to?

yahooyahoo said:
The pen has been a complete sh#t show. 

 over at Rising Apple, they're suggesting the problem is in part because Calloway is sending guys out for a second inning of work.  That's been my feeling as well.  A number of the really bad innings have been from guys who completed an inning, then sat in the dugout cooling off for a while before going out fo another .  Starters can deal with that, but relievers aren't really used to it.  I'm hoping Calloway learns how these guys are responding, and adapts as the season progresses.

I thought Riggelman was hired specifically to help with those sorts of decisions.

I guess we'll need to see if they change how they use guys.  I think they need to ask them to do things early in the season before they decide what they're capable of.  It's looking like they are asking most of them to do too much.  The other thing the bullpen needs is for Matz and Wheeler to pitch into the 7th once in a while.