Have you ever watched a professional bull riding event? Maybe not intentionally, but on a night when there isn't much else on TV and you are randomly "channel surfing", perhaps. You know, you are clicking along and suddenly you see a crazy "cowboy type" trying to stay on top of a bull that is doing it's best to get the dude off his back.
There are "rodeo clowns" running around the periphery and all of this is taking place on a dirt floor in some far flung arena, while being covered by ESPN 8 (the "ocho").
In addition to this sounding like a scene from Citi-Field the last few weeks (kidding....mostly), the sport of bull riding seems to be one of inevitability. Everyone knows that the rider is going to get thrown off at some point and they are just waiting to see when and how violently it will take place.
So, how does this relate to the Mets?
Currently, they have a record of 27 wins and 30 losses which puts them in fourth place in our division. Additionally, they are 6.5 games behind the first place Braves (just got a little sick there) and 5.5 games behind the Nationals who would be the second Wild Card team is the season ended today.
There are also six different teams between the Mets and the Nationals, which is even more daunting.
The team is also sporting a -31 run differential for the season, which equates to a record of 25 wins and 32 losses in most instances, so the poor record isn't a fluke. While I am piling on the "good news", they also have 2 wins and 8 losses in their last ten games, which was capped by a four game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs (who would be the first Wild Card team if the season ended today).
Where it gets more interesting (if that is possible), is that the next fifteen games on the schedule just might be more difficult then the season has been to date.
Consider the following schedule;
Baltimore (17-41) - 2 games at home
NY Yankees (38-18) - 3 games at home
Atlanta (35-25) - 3 games on the road
Arizona (31-28) - 4 games on the road
Colorado (30-29) - 4 games on the road
For those of you counting at home, there are five games at home followed by a brutal ten game road trip. Four of the five opponents are over .500 and playing well, no less. Can you honestly look at that slate of games and think that the Mets will win more then four or five of them?
If things look a bit tenuous now, how will they look by the end of the listed road trip?
In my opinion, the Mets are the proverbial cowboy in our story and the bull that they are attempting to ride is the 2018 season. After a fast start, the rider has lost his grip and he is just about to get thrown to the ground in the most violent of ways.
The silver lining here (if there is one) is that the Mets can come to grips with the fact that what they are attempting to do is not working and change is needed. The draft seems to be off to a decent start, which is a good first step. Every personnel move going forward should be done with an eye on the future, to include jettisoning unnecessary veterans and playing the "kids" where appropriate to see what you have on hand and what is needed moving forward.
Still not convinced?
If the next fifteen games go like I think they will, then the rest of the fan base will have a definitive answer. End the charade and finally do what this team has needed over the past few seasons and REBUILD!
I know a "rebuild" is not a popular term with most fans, but it is time.
There is always women's college softball to watch.
ReplyDeleteWhy, at 27-32, does this feel so bad? I mentioned to Mack the other day, we started 11-1, and at 19-18, we won 5 of 6. Two concentrated pockets of excellence.
The rest of the time, we have lost 30 of 41. Those 41 miserable games span 70% of the Mets games so far, so it honestly feels like they are always losing.
I was very high on Cespedes at the start of the season. I thought 50-150 if he stayed healthy. But I chose to overlook one thing: HE'S STUPID.
Because smarter people getting $28 million per year would realize job # 1 is to not get injured.
In 2017, he hurtles into the stands, gets hurt, gets hurt worse, misses half the season.
This year, just as he is heating up, he decides (coming off a season with multiple leg injuries) that risking his legs by trying to steal 2nd and 3rd in one sequence is a smart thing to do. Leg and hip injuries pop up right after that, and he does not sit some games out, and ends up on the DL. I read he will miss this sink-or-swim Yankees series, essentially missing a month.
Some call that playing the game hard. What do I call it, when your bat is SO CRUCIAL to this team's offense, the team that is paying you the astronomical sum of $28MM per? STUPID. And season-killing.
La Potencia is really El Stupido.
Like I said before, these Mets find ways to lose.
ReplyDeleteThey hit, they don't pitch. They pitch they don't hit. They pitch and hit, the defense gives the game away.
This is the most depressing team in all of MLB. Every year it has high expectations and yet, every year, they seem to find ways to just suck the life out of their fans.
Up and coming players like Conforto suddenly forget how to hit. The usual players get hurt when you need them most as in Lagares, Flores, Cespedes, d'Arnaud.
Is funny how you spend all winter waiting for the baseball season to start and for us Mets fans, is over after one third of the games. I just can't watch these clowns anymore. Too depressing.
But here we are after 7/8 seasons of Sandy the "Genius in his own mind" with no minor leaguers that can help and a bunch of old stiffs at the ML level. Great job of getting paid for doing nothing Sandy. Do us a favor, retire.
Viper, so true.
ReplyDeleteBut be of good cheer - Dom Smith had 3 hits last night to crack .270, but he remains at 2 homers in a league that has hit 896 homers this year.
Alonso hit # 15 - if they have a bad (i.e., sweep) weekend this weekend, bring him up.
Yanks will have it tough, though, presumably facing deGrom, Matz and Thor.
And yet this FO will promote Smith before Alonso...Sad.
ReplyDeletePoor mgmt, and cheap owners,
It has to start at ownership..please Sell.
This unfortunately is not surprising... even at full strength this team was bad... actually the start just made it worse because it gave false hope...
ReplyDeleteFan want to be positive... but reality is not always positive...
Well, I wrote this piece before the two game sweep by the Orioles (who have a horrible record), so things may be progressing faster then I thought.
ReplyDeleteI figured we could split with them at home, but alas, I was wrong.
Man, this thing is getting out of hand, yet Sandy can sit there and say that
he "doubts" a full tear down is necessary?
Really?