Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)

Walker was impressive today! And battling through a back issue.

He was fun to watch.  He played good defense as well.

That double play (although as Gary said it technically wasn't) was WILD!

Nice game.   Sorry that Diaz gave up that homer in the 9th but what can you do other than tip your cap to Soto.

I have a real gripe with major league hitters.  Not just the Mets.  Third inning, Seattle pitcher on the ropes.  50 pitches already, first game of three.  Now is the time to get to the bullpen .  Wear them out.  Marte and Alonso swinging and making outs on the first pitch.  Lindor worked a 9 pitch walk.  These guys have to have four or five pitch at bats, even if they strike out.  It could change the whole series.

Same thing with the Mets backup catcher today early in the game.  They have an elite pitcher on the ropes and he swings at the first pitch and pops out.  

He swung at the first pitch 2 games ago and won the game for them. Most of them have the philosophy of looking for a pitch in a certain spot and they're going to swing if it's in that spot regardless of the count.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/ex-angels-pitcher-matt-harvey-suspended-60-games-after-admitting-to-taking-pills-with-tyler-skaggs-trial-211707608.html

Former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Matt Harvey was suspended 60 games by Major League Baseball on Tuesday for his role in the death of former teammate Tyler Skaggs.

MLB suspended Harvey, who is currently with the Baltimore Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, for participating in the distribution of a prohibited drug of abuse. The suspension is retroactive to April 29.

jfinnegan said:

He swung at the first pitch 2 games ago and won the game for them. Most of them have the philosophy of looking for a pitch in a certain spot and they're going to swing if it's in that spot regardless of the count.

i know.  I think that's a mistake most of the time.  And in that game no one was on base.  Big innings come from walks and singles.

I agree. The one that drives me crazy is when they're down 2 or 3 runs in the last inning and will get ahead 2-0 and then swing. Take a strike! 

I heard Buck interviewed the other day, and when this was raised he equivocated by saying that while this may be so, you also cannot get a hit unless you swing at the ball.

I hope he only said this to protect his guys, while in the dugout he is giving them hell for it.

Well, I hope he is discussing these things in advance and during games moreso than afterwards.

I don't have a problem with first pitch swinging sometimes. If a guy has a plan and he's looking for a pitch in a certain zone and he gets it, go for it. If we remember last year, the Mets often had hitters who were too passive and taking too many strikes. Hitters have to mix it up a little, because if pitchers know you're 95% likely to take the first pitch, they can just toss some kind of get-me-over pitch and be up 0-1 right away.

ml1 said:

I don't have a problem with first pitch swinging sometimes. If a guy has a plan and he's looking for a pitch in a certain zone and he gets it, go for it. If we remember last year, the Mets often had hitters who were too passive and taking too many strikes. Hitters have to mix it up a little, because if pitchers know you're 95% likely to take the first pitch, they can just toss some kind of get-me-over pitch and be up 0-1 right away.

yes, but I'm talking about situations where a guy has walked two guys on 8 pitches, or a starter is struggling to get through one more inning.  Even if he grooves a strike, take it and make him do it again.  

DanDietrich said:

yes, but I'm talking about situations where a guy has walked two guys on 8 pitches, or a starter is struggling to get through one more inning.  Even if he grooves a strike, take it and make him do it again.  

we'll have to agree to disagree on this.

IMHO if you think a guy is going to groove one, be ready to hit. 

Great response by the offense. Fingers crossed.

Now I really wish Scherzer had beaned Arenado and gotten thrown out. Hopefully he caught it early,

an example of being ready to hit was last night in the 1st.  Hicks had walked and then hit two of the first four batters and was already about 20 pitches in when McNeil batted with runners on 2nd and 3rd. What did McNeil do? Swung at a first pitch right down the middle and drove in the first two runs. Being selective at the plate can be smart, but taking a strike shouldn't be something to be rigid about.

ml1 said:

an example of being ready to hit was last night in the 1st.  Hicks had walked and then hit two of the first four batters and was already about 20 pitches in when McNeil batted with runners on 2nd and 3rd. What did McNeil do? Swung at a first pitch right down the middle and drove in the first two runs. Being selective at the plate can be smart, but taking a strike shouldn't be something to be rigid about.

Yup, thought of your exchange with Dan when he did that.

I'll admit that McNeil seems to make it work more than others.  But how often does it fail?  I followed most of yesterday's game from a hockey rink, but I think there was more than one first pitch out.

DanDietrich said:

I'll admit that McNeil seems to make it work more than others.  But how often does it fail?  I followed most of yesterday's game from a hockey rink, but I think there was more than one first pitch out.

How often does taking a first pitch down the middle fail? Sometimes that's the best pitch a guy is going to see. 

Just received this update re: Scherzer. :-(
"to miss 6-8 weeks with oblique injury"
So combine that with deGrom not scheduled until June the earliest the Mets are continuing to lose to Lady Luck. Oy.

Let McNeil pitch.  He's doing everything else anyway.

this will go down as a blown save for Diaz, but I don't think the Cards hit a ball with an EV above 65 MPH.

Wow!

holy cow. Alonso with one of the hardest hit balls I've seen in a very long time to win the game. It's been a long time since I said out loud "it's out of here!" at the crack of the bat

nothing to do with today's game but how about this?

Nimmo entered Tuesday ranked third among all center fielders in FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Above average statistic — behind only the Angels’ Mike Trout and the Nationals’ Victor Robles — and he is first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games, ahead of former Gold Glove winner Lorenzo Cain. The sample size remains small, but Showalter has seen enough to feel bullish about an outfield defense that, most days, will feature Nimmo, Starling Marte and Mark Canha, all of whom have experience in center.

(probably behind the pay wall) https://theathletic.com/3318113/2022/05/18/mets-brandon-nimmo-mlb/

I was sitting in the 3rd row of the left field “bleachers” yesterday.  My god did he crush that ball.  Way over my head.  

jeffl said:

I was sitting in the 3rd row of the left field “bleachers” yesterday.  My god did he crush that ball.  Way over my head.  

Pretty incredible shot.

It has been interesting watching the Cards-Mets after seeing them in ST a couple of times. Pujols has more in the tank than I thought he would. We saw Yepez play at 1B and RF IIRC - seems like he’ll be a good one.  CFer is damn good too.

jeffl said:

I was sitting in the 3rd row of the left field “bleachers” yesterday.  My god did he crush that ball.  Way over my head.  

I love then the Mets and Cards games have juice. It was such a great rivalry back in the day. 

Nice clubbing of SF last night.  This is a good team.