Reese Kaplan -- Let's Be Proactive, Not Reactive

An interesting debate arose last night among a group of Mets fan friends regarding the fundamental problems with the mediocre 2019 Mets ballclub.  On the one hand, people bemoaned the terrible offense that routinely takes the field, including Adeiny Hechavarria, Brandon Nimmo, Juan Lagares, Tomas Nido, Carlos Gomez, Aaron Altherr and Todd Frazier.  Then there’s the camp that feels that the real problem is the ho-hum starting pitching and the horrific bullpen.  About the only thing people did agree upon was that the guy making the lineup and in-game decisions was not going to make anyone forget the likes of Connie Mack.

Now to be fair, the myriad of injuries has forced the club to field a great many substandard players in place of the regulars.  The Opening Day vision back in February included Pete Alonso at 1^st, Robinson Cano at 2^nd, Amed Rosario at SS and Jed Lowrie at 3^rd.  The outfield would have been some combination of Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto.  Of that group, only Alonso and Rosario have missed stints on the DL.  That opened the door for the sub-Mendoza Mets, as well as the recently hot Todd Frazier who’s all the way up to .230.  Ugh.  Currently the team is 10th of 15 spots in batting.

Now we hear that while Cano is due back shortly, there’s no timetable for the returns of McNeil, Nimmo and Lowrie.  Cano’s return will at least take Hechavarria out of the starting lineup, but unless Matt Kemp suddenly returns to form and gets promoted to the big club, expect to see a lot more of Michael Conforto and the hold-your-nose trio.  We have seen a little of J.D. Davis in LF, so there is the potential for only having to endure one of the odiferous three.

Pitching is a puzzling problem.  Jacob deGrom has not pitched like the Cy Young Award winner he is.  Noah Syndergaard has not pitched like the Cy Young Award contender most people feel he is.  Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler have been up and down in performance, though Matz leads all starters with a 3.63 ERA.  Then there’s Jason Vargas, recently returned from his IL stint.  In this Bizzarro World Season, over his last five starts (which included the 20-day gap for his injury), he is sporting a 2.74 ERA.  Who could have predicted that?  They are consistent, however -- also 10th of 15 spots in team pitching.

The bullpen, of course, is one horror show after another.  You get some streaks of competency from the likes of Robert Gsellman and Daniel Zamora, followed by major meltdowns.  You had people who never got on track at all like Luis Avilan.  You have the injuries that befell Justin Wilson, Jeurys Familia, Seth Lugo and others.  About the only saving grace is Edwin Diaz who, despite a recent blown save, is still delivering what they’d hoped to get – a 1.71 ERA with 34 Ks in 21 IP, 13 saves and a WHIP of just 1.048. 

Now the glass-half-full crowd will say that with the team hovering around .500 despite the subpar performances out of a great many players and the necessity to use AAAA types and has-beens in more prominent roles than intended, there’s nowhere to go but up.  There is a kernel of truth in that. 

To the less optimistic sorts, we’re watching a rerun of the Sandy Alderson years when holes were filled off the scrap heap of powerhouse teams like Cincinnati and San Francisco who deemed players not even fit to play for a last place ballclub, yet somehow we think they are the answers in New York.   Players are available on the FA marketplace who did not sign a deal before the season began but we haven’t gone down that avenue.  Nor have we engaged in the trade market to send some of the excess number of infielders and cornermen to address needs such as the bullpen. 

Right now it’s still relatively early in the season and no one is running away with the NL East.  Reinforcements are indeed coming.  That theoretically should help, but haven’t we heard the same soundbites about when our players come back from injury it will be just like adding new talent for each of the past several years?  How has that worked out?  What happened to the bold and aggressive GM that made his presence known this winter?  Sure, some of his deals have not worked out as hoped (Cano, Broxton, Wilson, Familia, etc.) but at least he was trying.  It seems as if he’s already given up.  Soon, too, so will the fans if things don’t change.