I've come to believe that the dream we all had for this season is over.
The 10-1 start had us all fooled again. Things were clicking, players were healthy, pitchers were pitching, hitters were... well, you get the picture.
Then, the bump came in the road. Now, the bump looks like one of those cracks in the roads in Hawaii. Our 'innings eaters' can't get out of the third inning, players are falling like flies, our manager is trying to out-puzzle us all with daily lineup changes(remind you of anyone?), and fans are returning to the 'sell the team' chants we saw written on Twitter during the off-season.
I look up and down the Mets 25-man squad and I like the names and love the experience. There are a lot of great players here that have had much success in this game. The problem is we seem to have them in the sunset of their career, rather than the height of it.
Having a custom built roadster is one thing. Having one that is 10 years old with 150K miles on it is another. They have issues.
We must continue to make the changes needed to put the genie back in the bottle.
1. The Matt Harvey trade and the Luis Guillorme promotion are two steps in the right direction.
2. The best catcher available seems to be Kevin Plawecki, who will be back soon, Until then, play Devin Mesoraco and send Tomas Nido back for more seasoning (and, for those of you that don't think there is much difference from hitting in the majors to hitting in the minors, let's not forget that Nido finished as the league leading hitter two years ago for St. Lucie). One wild card here... the last time Mesoraco played healthy was 2014 when he made the All-Star team, hit 25 home runs and knocked in 80 runs... just sayin'.
3. You can continue to keep Jason Vargas in the rotation, but, in my opinion, you are just handing the other team one win out of every five games you play. The rest of this team is not playing well enough to do this. Replace Vargas with Corey Oswalt and send Vargas to Vegas to work on getting out of the first three innngs.
4. Don't waste one of the best middle infielders in baseball by playing him at third. Move Astrubel Cabrera to third base and let Guillorme join Amed Rosario as a middle field combo that could be around for a decade.
5. DFA Hansel Robles.
6. Jose Reyes needs to be moved; however, I would wait until Todd Frazier returns. For now, Reyes gives the Mets much needed third base depth (even though he doesn't play it very well).
All constructive suggestions for a non-producing team.
Ummm... Wilmer Flores is available and beginning to hit . the more things change....
ReplyDeleteWilmer needs to play.
ReplyDeleteReyes, an early season saboteur in both 2017 and 2018, when a team is trying to set a winning tone, needs to sit or go. Cincy can take him, too.
Luis is red hot and should start today. I guess he was called up due to his hot bat and superior D, as opposed to Cecchini, who needs to start smacking home runs to get major league teams' attention. Gavin has just 8 homers in 560 AAA at bats in 2017, and 2018. TJ Rivera added power to his game in AAA, making him more attractive - time for Cecchini to do the same.
The season is 1/5 over and Conforto is still trying to find his way. Let him play the next 5th in Vegas, and call up Dekker (7 hits and 2 walks in last 4 games, and 6 homers) or Kelly.
Vargas needs to be out of the rotation - another terrible Mets gamble that an old guy would find magic like Colon - there is only one Bartolo. For every bartolo, there are several Shawn Marcums.
Robles off the team. Today. Gives up more homers than Reds pitchers Matt Harvey and Homer Bailey.
Anyone have an address for a get well card to Frazier, Swarzak, TJ Rivera, d'Arnaud, Plawecki, and Wright? No rush to send the card - they'll all be recuperating for a while.
Agreed, Mack......Harvey is addition by subtraction.
ReplyDeleteI like the new catcher....lottery ticket type, with very little downside.
Vargas.....ugh
Alderson's philosophy of team building for this franchise has to officially be recognized as a failure at this point.
ReplyDeleteThe emphasis on 5 maximum effort/high velocity starting pitchers and power + walks
Has resulted in the triage starting pitcher unit and an offense which stands men on base yet achieved a high number of solo homeruns.
Robles needs to go. I'm tired of him giving up late inning homers. Why is he still here? Reyes ill always have a soft spot for cuz he's one of my all time favorite Mets but he's gotta pick it up ASAP or his spot will go to Guillorme long term.
ReplyDeleteBeen watching the Red Sox/Yankees series.
ReplyDeleteBrentz starting to get noticed down at Vegas, leads team in HR's with Borenstein at seven. Look at Brentz 2017 and 2018 stats. If you multiply out by 3X his 2018 numbers thus far, you get his 2017 numbers.
I like the new catcher. Let's call him "Chucky dos." Nido? Might re-think his batting mechanics, get it smoother, more fluid.
Liked Zachary Wheeler's outing yesterday, very impressive. If he can lock it in now, he'll be fine. Even Boston's Porcello has bad days too, like yesterday for instance. It's all how a pitcher feels that day and how he warms up in the pen pre-game.
Mets can turn this back around, but it will take team work and chemistry, plus a little more amperage infusion. Guillorme could help, maybe Brentz or Cecchini too. Maybe keep working into the lineup Lagares and Nimmo? Get them more playing time.
RP Gerson Bautista still struggling at Vegas right now. Team could use another good fireballer, he just needs to settle in. He will.
Good comments
ReplyDelete