Reese Kaplan - Mets Fans Held Hostage: Game Two

So Terry Collins is spared decision making yet again with the departure of Chris Young.  Now he can insert both Eric Young, Jr. and Juan Lagares into the lineup at the same time alongside handsomely paid Curtis Granderson.  He gets the leadoff batter he craves and doesn’t have to face the media onslaught for benching Lagares (who is hitting .500 through two games while playing his usual stellar defense). 

 

Gonzalez Germen got into today’s game and demonstrated why his checkered minor league career resulted in his last three seasons pitching to a 3.93, then a 4.34 and then a 5.52 ERA.  Does anyone see a disturbing trend here?  Last season was an outlier for him by producing a surprising 3.93 ERA but an unsightly 1.398 WHIP.  If you’re a fan of the more advanced sabermetrics, his future is not projected to be pretty.  The positive thing to take out of today’s game is that although he did give up a run in his 2 innings of work, he struck out 3, didn’t walk a batter and kept the WHIP to a more appealing 1.00. 

What can you say about Kyle Farnsworth?  At one point in his career he was what Bobby Parnell was when healthy – a guy who could bring it at 100 mph.  His up and down performances have been serviceable with a career 4.26 ERA and an ugly 1.364 WHIP.  Now that he can no longer blow the ball by people, his ERA and WHIP have both ballooned, resulting in being cut from arguably one of the worst bullpens in baseball.  The Parnell injury could have been handled any number of productive ways, including taking chances on newcomers or rookies who could possibly flourish (or fail), but again the team went with the proven mediocrity and today’s game demonstrated what that approach contributes to the prospects for a 90-win season. 

Going forward it’s possible that once again injuries (or more childbirths) will force the team’s hand and open up some possibilities for an injection of fresh blood.  No one wants to see players get injured, but it’s sad to see that’s the only way new faces get their chance in Queens (well, that and when the Super Two deadline passes).  Of course, by then the team will be 20 games out of contention and Sprint may have to revive its “pin drop” ad campaign of long ago to describe the solitude one will find in CitiField.