The 2015 baseball season has not yet concluded, yet there
have been thrills, spills and more time in the infirmary than anyone had
reasonably expected to have happened, yet somehow as August draws to a close
the team finds itself five games out in front of the NL East. No one could have predicted the rapid collapse of the Washington Nationals just as no one could have predicted Steady Sandy Alderson suddenly doing his best Bob Barker impression in late July and early August. Take a moment to review just how this season
unfolded:
Opening Day Roster
Player
|
Position
|
Travis
d'Arnaud
|
C
|
Lucas Duda
|
1B
|
2B
|
|
3B
|
|
SS
|
|
LF
|
|
CF
|
|
RF
|
|
BE
|
|
BE
|
|
John
Mayberry Jr.
|
BE
|
BE
|
|
SP
|
|
Jacob
deGrom
|
SP
|
SP
|
|
SP
|
|
SP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
|
RP
|
Today's Roster:
Player
|
Position
|
Travis
d'Arnaud
|
C
|
Kelly
Johnson
|
BE
|
2B
|
|
3B
|
|
BE
|
|
Michael Cuddyer
|
1B
|
Juan Lagares
|
BE
|
Curtis Granderson
|
RF
|
Anthony Recker
|
BE
|
Michael
Conforto
|
LF
|
Juan
Uribe
|
BE
|
Ruben Tejada
|
SS
|
Yoenis
Cespedes
|
CF
|
Jacob
deGrom
|
SP
|
Matt Harvey
|
SP
|
Jon Niese
|
SP
|
Noah
Syndergaard
|
SP
|
Bartolo Colon
|
SP
|
Jeurys Familia
|
RP
|
Carlos Torres
|
RP
|
Hansel
Robles
|
RP
|
Tyler
Clippard
|
RP
|
Eric
O’Flaherty
|
RP
|
Sean Gilmartin
|
RP
|
Logan
Verrett
|
RP
|
Quite a few names have changed…in fact, only 15 of the 25
players are there who began the year coming north from Florida (and that
includes minimal contributions from long-injured players like David Wright,
Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Cuddyer and the demoted and promoted once again
Anthony Recker).
Then there’s the record of the club…it started out so well
for the team. After beginning the first
five games a lackluster 2-3, they went onto an 11 game winning streak which
brought them to a high water mark of 13-3, 10 games over .500 for the
year. All seemed to go better than even
the most optimistic fans among us would have hoped, but then the injuries began
to take their toll. Furthermore, the
lackluster bench at one point included five sub-.200 hitters (and it
showed).
On June 22nd a 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers
officially returned the team to mediocrity as the 10-games over .500 had
evaporated during a 7-game losing streak and the club was left sitting with a
36-36 record. Scoring runs became a
major challenge to the club and it had gotten to the point that even a 2-run
lead seemed insurmountable.
Give credit to manager Terry Collins for holding the team
together, maintaining that .500 mark for the next month or so. Yes, there were always the bizarre lineup
decisions and bullpen mismanagement that could likely have resulted in a few
more wins here and there, but given what the team provided in terms of roster talent,
they still remained within striking distance.
Then uncharacteristically Sandy Alderson went on a trading
binge to try to reshape the roster to drive towards the team’s first
post-season appearance since 2006. Tyler
Clippard became the first significant addition.
He was certainly most welcome, but many fans felt that a team bereft of
offense shouldn’t necessarily be spending its trading chips on high end
relievers when the pen already included Jenrry Mejia for the 8th
inning and Jeurys Familia for the 9th. Apparently a little birdie told Sandy
Alderson that Mejia’s days were rapidly coming to an end as he was cited for a
PED suspension just a day after the trade was made.
Alderson wasn’t done yet.
He acquired pieces to fortify the bench in Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson,
veterans who individually were having much more productive seasons for Atlanta
than the aggregate of Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Eric Campbell, John Mayberry, Danny
Muno, Darrell Ceciliani, Anthony Recker and Johnny Monell had for the Mets.
Next came the aborted near-trade that would have reunited
Carlos Gomez with the Mets, giving them power, speed and defense. It included the tearful revelation to Wilmer
Flores during the game in which the trade had been leaked by Milwaukee to its
affected players, but ultimately fell through over (depending on who you choose
to believe) disputed medical records or disputed salary dollars coming once the
foundation for the deal had already been set.
Mets fans were once again pushed to the brink of ecstasy through
the acquisition of an offensive force only to have the rug yanked out from
under them again.
Two days later Gomez was on the move, but this time to the
first place Houston Astros and the rabbit Sandy Alderson pulled out of his hat
as consolation prize at the 11th hour was Yoenis Cespedes coming to
the Mets. Granted, Gomez was under
contract beyond 2015 and Cespedes is thus far just a rental, but the two
acquisitions couldn’t have gone in more opposite directions. Cespedes is hitting well over .300 as a NY
Met and Gomez is around .180 for his new employers. Friday’s game in Colorado in which Cespedes
had 3 HRs, 5 hits and 7 RBIs demonstrated he could carry the team on his back
when necessary.
The last piece acquired was an attempt to fill that LOOGY
role that Alex Torres did not nail down during his Mets tenure. Eric O’Flaherty had been a shutdown reliever
for the Atlanta Braves before injuries hit.
Thus far he’s off to a rocky start, with a 14.73 ERA over 6 games. Some are quick to point out that he’s been
hit hard by right handed batters (which is not his forte), but that failing
belongs to his manager who, like other relief pitchers before him, has used him
in a suboptimal manner. Right handers
are batting an embarrassing .431 against him.
While the flurry of activity can be picked apart for what
has and what has not worked, the fact remains that on August 24th
the team begins its week with a 67-56 record, 11 games over .500 – the highest
they’ve been all year – and a 5 game lead over the favored Washington
Nationals. David Wright returns to the
lineup today, Steven Matz is likely back after his Wednesday appearance in
Binghamton, and optimism reigns supreme.
If they keep up this .545 winning percentage they will finish the season
88-74, not exactly the stuff of dynasties, but a surprisingly strong finish
after the malaise of May through July.
4 comments:
Terry Collins is a genius. Just needed guys who could hit.
The team needs to go to 25-12 to hit my pre-season target of 94. I'm holding at 94.
Let's hope this roller coaster finishes its ride like in 1969.
This season is proving again that the manager has little outcome on the actual games
Collins should get credit for keeping the team somewhat afloat during May / June
@Lew Rhodes -- and I did give him credit. It was looking mighty dire for awhile.
This might have been the most pro-TC Kaplan post ever :)
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