George Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it.”
This often misquoted line came to mind when I learned of the Mets’
decision to dispatch Eric Hanhold back to Syracuse to make room for the
returning Jeurys Familia.
For those folks with short term memories, Familia was
stinking up the joint in his 8th inning setup role to the tune of a
6.28 ERA along with 16 hits given up in 14 innings pitched as well as an
alarming 13 walks. He did notch 15
strikeouts as well, but he’s not the seemingly automatic pitcher he once was.
When it was revealed that he had a Bennett lesion, the Mets
decided a week and a half or so on the IL along with an injection was all that
was needed. If you peruse the articles
on this condition, you will quickly find that the majority of people
experiencing the symptoms must usually undergo arthroscopic surgery to correct
the bone spur type of condition. The Mets
have decided not only to forego the exploratory surgery but also to have
Familia return without going through minor league rehab appearances.
Again, in case you’ve forgotten, the Mets recently had lost
and placed FA reliever Justin Wilson on the IL with arm woes and he was allowed
to return without any minor league rehab appearances. He appeared in just a single game for the
Mets at the big league level before being once again placed on the IL.
So we come back to the Santayana thought. Apparently the Mets are slow learners who
like to experience a déjà vu episode.
Does anyone think Familia is going to return to the 2016 form when he
saved 51 games? A betting man would
probably be better off wagering that he’ll hit the IL again in the near future.
Of course, rehab stints mean nothing if you’re at the tail
end of your career and haven’t been productive in a few seasons. Turd, er, Todd Frazier is a good example of
that. On the flip side Jed Lowrie was
finally starting to show a little bit of life in one minor league game and then went into
the equivalent of the witness protection program until word finally came out Tuesday that he's headed back to Florida to deal with a theoretically unrelated hamstring issue.
In the interim the Mets have rallied to once again reach mediocrity with a .500 record while they have two starting pitchers and a few relievers on the IL. Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel both remain
unsigned, and likely will remain so until the deadline for compensation passes
in June.
About the only positive lately is that the Mets have decided
to take a longer look at J.D. Davis at 3rd base apparently in an effort
to decide how to resolve the upcoming roster logjam if and when Lowrie comes
out of hiding. Do they demote the player
with options in Davis, cut the highly unproductive Frazier or part ways with
the man nobody wanted here in Adeiny Hechavarria? Time will tell…
8 comments:
Dr. Reese reading up on Barrett's lesion - we have the best writers. Doctoral dissertations only, please.
Syd Barrett recommended surgery, with soothing Pink Floyd music in the background: Us and Them - and after all, we're only ordinary men.
I will be doing an article soon on the laws of thermodynamics and their effect on Mets dysfunction.
Go easy on the Turd - he got a hit last night. All is well.
We're rolling - and the Nats are not. Wow. Bury them this week? Win the next two.
Maybe I should go easy on Frazier. He's up to a scorching .151. Why, he's just an eyelash behind Keon Broxton!
Frazier and Broxton are .300 hitters - when you combine them.
Keep in mind that in MLB player stats of qualifying hitters, Frazier would be (if qualifying) 2 points ahead of the last (177th) guy, Jackie Bradley, and 10 points behind the current # 176. Mind numbingly bad.
On this date last year, Jose Reyes was hitting a similar .146. He ended up at .189. Do we really want a repeat of Jose in 2019 with the Turd?
Take away Todd's grand slam and in 52 other at bats, 1 HR, 1 run (the HR), 3 RBIs, 0 BB, 18 Ks.
Come on, man. That spells washed up! Why play him?? Why not release him??
Do you know that in comparable at bats, the Mets pitching staff is hitting better than Broxton and Frazier combined?
More homers, higher average, about the same rate of strikeouts.
This isn't 2 weeks - this is a full quarter of the season. Come on, Brodie.
Good morning Reese.
Slept late after a great night of Mets and minors baseball and then woke to read this.
I do; however, agree with you on many things. I sometimes think we are trying to win at this game with only a 21-man roster.
One thing about last night...
We don't have a lot of consistent results to show for ourselves so far this season in the pen... and Mickey just told us that Lugo and Gsellman would remain as out backenders in front of Diaz.
So then he pitches Lugo last night with a large lead?
Wouldn't this have been a good opportunity to see if Familia has regained somehting?
I'm just saying...
A 6-2 lead is tie-able (if that is a word) when Familia gives up a few bleeders and walks to load the bases.
He probably wants him in a lost cause game first -- either with a truly huge lead or an insurmountable deficit -- to see what he's got. It's not like they have his rehab efforts to look at since they deemed it unnecessary for him to do that in preparation for a return to the majors.
The team hasn't played since Saturday, so Lugo could use the work to stay sharp. I expect Gsellman to get some time tonight, and (depending on the score) maybe Familia.
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