While many people gnash their teeth about what’s gone wrong
as the 3rd and 4th wheels came off the Mets’ express
train this week, simply blaming injuries is convenient but an incomplete look
at the whole picture. There is plenty of
blame to go around, but lack of execution by the players when they are capable
of playing is really the crux of the problem.
Robinson Cano
While some applauded the addition of a professional hitter
of Cano’s stature, others wondered about the wisdom of obligating the team to
four more years as he will cross the 40-year old threshold while still
collecting a rather hefty paycheck. To
be fair to BVW, he got the Mariners to pay down some of his contract and take
on the salaries of some unwanted players in Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak. Oh yeah, then there’s a guy named Edwin Diaz
came over in that deal, too. Now the
price paid in terms of younger prospects Jared Kelenic and Justin Dunn was a
stiff one. I won’t lose any sleep of
Gershon Bautista. However, the point
here is about what Cano has (or more appropriately has not) done since donning
a Mets uniform. It’s ugly. He is currently on the IL and sports a
.241/3/13 line more than 25% of the way through the season. He’s been worth -0.2 WAR and certainly is not
earning his bloated paycheck, yet he’s in the lineup day after day save for the
one game benching after two recent loafing incidents.
Wilson Ramos
Things started off quite well for Ramos who made the signing
look like pure genius, but the man with the checkered injury history has
managed to stay healthy, but his bat less so.
He did have a two-hit game against the Nationals on Wednesday and when
they walked him in deference to his recent hot hitting, that was nice
compliment and defied conventional baseball strategy putting the go-ahead run
on base. Carlos Gomez hit a three-run
homer to bury the Nationals for that decision, but we’re here to talk about
Ramos. His slash line thus far almost
mirrors Cano. Although he’s driven in
quite a few more with a .241/2/24, he’s actually worth less with a -0.3
WAR. Still, I have more confidence about
Ramos being productive than I do Cano.
Brandon Nimmo
Maybe it’s his infectious smile, maybe it’s because he plays
hard, but Brandon Nimmo has gotten a pass on his very poor play thus far this
year. His slash line of .200/3/14 has
him in the negative WAR column as well.
We’ve seen him play well and we’ve seen him have prolonged slumps, but
two months have gone by in the season and he’s not come out of it (before
landing on the IL himself).
Other Assorted Warm Bodies
You can name them in any particular order – Juan Lagares,
Keon Broxton (sayonara to Baltimore), Todd Frazier, Tomas Nido, Travis “we
hardly knew ye in 2019” d’Arnaud, and way too many pitchers to list…it’s been
more than ugly, it’s been fugly.
Mickey Callaway
Remember the Wizard of Oz? What was the Scarecrow's theme song? That's my official nickname now for Mickey Callaway -- Scarecrow!
Now here’s a guy who has control over something called the lineup…choosing who to play, where to play them and when to play them. Still he seemingly goes out of his way to minimize the playing time of guys who ARE getting it done like J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith, in order to give maximum opportunity to those players drawing the largest paychecks. Is the game supposed to be about winning or merely a test of seniority? I don’t know…if it was up to me I’d put my best team on the field, not the highest-paid one. His in-game decision making has not improved one iota with Jim Riggleman by his side. If anything, it's gotten worse.
For example, the Wednesday decision to leave a running-on-empty Robert Gsellman in the game after he let the 1st run score was dumb. Then when the tying runs was on 3rd, the go ahead run on 2nd and Diaz warm in the pen, leaving him in during that crucial spot with the game on the line was criminal. After all, hadn’t Scarecrow publicly declared earlier that same week that the reins were off Diaz and 4-out saves were now in the mix? We all saw what happened and he would be getting crucified in the papers this week had it not been for Carlos Gomez hitting a 3-run homer to regain the lead in the bottom of the 8th. How many games have his empty-headed lineup decisions and in-game decisions cost in the win column already?
Now here’s a guy who has control over something called the lineup…choosing who to play, where to play them and when to play them. Still he seemingly goes out of his way to minimize the playing time of guys who ARE getting it done like J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith, in order to give maximum opportunity to those players drawing the largest paychecks. Is the game supposed to be about winning or merely a test of seniority? I don’t know…if it was up to me I’d put my best team on the field, not the highest-paid one. His in-game decision making has not improved one iota with Jim Riggleman by his side. If anything, it's gotten worse.
For example, the Wednesday decision to leave a running-on-empty Robert Gsellman in the game after he let the 1st run score was dumb. Then when the tying runs was on 3rd, the go ahead run on 2nd and Diaz warm in the pen, leaving him in during that crucial spot with the game on the line was criminal. After all, hadn’t Scarecrow publicly declared earlier that same week that the reins were off Diaz and 4-out saves were now in the mix? We all saw what happened and he would be getting crucified in the papers this week had it not been for Carlos Gomez hitting a 3-run homer to regain the lead in the bottom of the 8th. How many games have his empty-headed lineup decisions and in-game decisions cost in the win column already?
1 comment:
Reese, all true. But the near complete absence of Justin Wilson and complete absence of Jed Lowrie are critical factors in this overall failure, despite the 4 game sweep of the Nats.
And the starting Big Four...isn't their ERA north of 4.00? Not good.
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