Did you miss me?
Some of you have reached out and asked where the hell I've gone (in general) and the 'From The Desk' feature (in particular).
I wanted to give ya'll an update.
I have neck stenosis like David Wright. Mine is hampered by two factors... one, a severe reverse curvature of the neck, and two, I'm 71 years old.
Because of this, I've been ruled 'inoperable'.
I have been on pain killers and therapy maintenance but have reached the max allowed on both. The pain and numbness is taking over.
Add to this the fact that using a laptop (neck angle down) just increases the pain, I've decided to take the month of August off.
I don't have an IPhone so all I can do is respond to other writer's posts and answer emails.
I'm getting reevaluated by the pain management specialists at MUSC Charleston to see if they can change my 'cocktail' to help.
This is starting to read like an old country song...
I will be back in September with a recap of the prospects in the pipeline and where I think they will open up come April 2019.
Past that, feel free to reach me via comments on other writer's posts or email me at:
macksmets@gmail.com
Mack
Updates were great - feel better.
ReplyDeleteWe need you to close in 2019!
Jake, Thor, and Zach insisted on a lock down closer.
Gotta get my K/BB % higher
ReplyDeleteGet well, Mack.
ReplyDeleteMack,
ReplyDeleteHang in there brother.
Get well, Mack. You are missed, but you have to take care of yourself first.
ReplyDeleteI hope the pain eases off for you.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you might consider for your articles is using voice to text software for your laptop. Here's a link for some free ones:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-free-speech-text-software/
Excellent Phillies game last night. A convincing victory...
ReplyDeleteThe Mets played great the whole game, and with the tie-in to the Little League it was tremendously fun time watching it for all of us baseball purists. Oddly, the stadium there did kind of/sort of remind me of Shea Stadium I thought. Was deja vu-ish!
Jason Vargas?
Who the heck is this guy anyway? Jason pitched great. Was in a zone. Really had his "A Game" on. His pitch location was perfect, he had the Phillies swatting flies off the plate, a lot. Could not have been better. He absolutely befuddled the Phillies batters. Mucho mango to the man!
The "nicknames" for both the Mets and Phillies players were pretty amusing as well. "Plaw Dawg" was one of my favorites. Kevin is starting to be less shy out there and "air out" his hits now better than ever, sending the ball for a nice long ride. And newbies Jeff McNeil and Daniel Zamora (with that extraterrestrial hook pitch) looked outstanding too.
Nice to see Jeff McNeil finishing up growing in his MLB legs, rapid learner, despite flying over the out of bounds wall chasing after a that pop up behind first base. Scored a "9" from the Russian Judges.
With newcomer Jeff McNeil now on second base, the NY Mets have not just very good, but outstanding middle infield coverage between he and Amed Rosario. I think the together they are the two fastest middle infielders who have ever played for these NY Mets. I can think of no other combination of middle infielders quicker.
Up until Amed and now Jeff, I had always thought that the fastest player running from first to third was probably outfielder Carlos Gomez, circa his rookie season with the NY Mets, or shortstop Jose Reyes.
So how fast is this Jeff McNeil?
Well, when he was running behind Amed Rosario on the bases recently in this series with the Phils, and running first to third, he kept up with Amed a base ahead of him pace by pace. With all three (Amed, Jeff, and "Nimms") in one batting lineup, stolen bases should soar and more runs be scored because of this.
Fabulous win last night, and seeing all the kids there having a blast and just being kids, it made the whole experience very special to see. Good job by the Little League and MLB! (Great camera work and angles too, I did notice as well!)
Note: Mets' MiLB third basemen Vegas 51's Patrick Kivlehan and Rumbleponies' Will Toffey both with the homerun blasts in yesterday's games. Both third basemen batting now for a healthy average. It leads me to believe, that Mets third base is well covered for not only 2019 but far beyond and along with Mets' "Crash Davis" Frazier looking 100% healthy again, we good.
A lot of subtle positives materializing lately that encourage us Mets fans for the future. The rotation is there, the middle infield is stepping up hugely, third base is covered aptly, there are quite a few players from the Mets MiLB ranks looking like they have a bright future here too. There also appears to be some distinct possibilities down on the Mets farm that should strengthen the NY Mets bullpen as well. So yea, I feel very Mets optimistic.
(Also: Reliever Matt Blackham looking solid too lately down at Binghamton. Wanted to mention here.)
My General Sports Observations of Late
ReplyDelete1. I don't see either the NY Giants or NY Jets doing much of anything in this upcoming season. It's a bunch of useless and silly media hype what we are hearing already. Maybe one can be 7-9 and the other 5-11?
2. The Philadelphia Phillies cannot get by the Atlanta Braves, unless a miracle happens. The Phillies have like what 1 1/2 homerun hitters. A horrible defensive team, almost laughable. And a so-so starting rotation and bullpen. Good Luck. Without Aaron Nola, they could be a .500% team.
3. The NY Yankees. You have to admire their gumption, but how good are they really? They have CC out hurt now from trying to field a bunt, Tanaka tanking, Severed Severino, and Sanchez too fat to catch or something. Ouch! And Judge realistically could be out the rest of the season with that shattered wrist injury thing that he sustained a few weeks back. It's a lingering injury, trust me here.
Maybe ARod and Derek Jeter can come back for a month? LOL Dream on!
4. To me, it is the Red Sox and Houston in the AL. Cubs and Dodgers in the NL. Everyone else can go home now to play some golf.