Reese Kaplan -- Rollercoasters Are Not for Everyone

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
Daniel Murphy	2B
David Wright	3B
Wilmer Flores	SS
Michael Cuddyer	LF
Juan Lagares	CF
Curtis Granderson	RF
Anthony Recker	BE
Kirk Nieuwenhuis	BE
John Mayberry Jr.	BE
Ruben Tejada	BE
Bartolo Colon	SP
Jacob deGrom	SP
Matt Harvey	SP
Jon Niese	SP
Dillon Gee	SP
Jenrry Mejia	RP
Jeurys Familia	RP
Carlos Torres	RP
Alex Torres	RP
Jerry Blevins	RP
Rafael Montero	RP
Sean Gilmartin	RP
Buddy Carlyle	RP

Today's Roster:

Player	Position
Travis d'Arnaud	C
Kelly Johnson	BE
Daniel Murphy	2B
David Wright	3B
Wilmer Flores	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 22^nd 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 8^th inning and Jeurys Familia for the 9^th.  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 11^th 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 24^th 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.