The Mets won 2 of 3 in their series against the hapless Marlins this weekend.
The Mets also lost 0 of 3 against the Marlins.
The other game was won by Mother Nature, with kudos to the Mets on Mothers Day to realize that the expected rainy, March-like weather was going to make the game unplayable, and especially on Mothers Day, cancelled it early, to allow ticket-buying fans to make other plans.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, ALL YOU MOMS OUT THERE.
Anyway, the Mets got a breather. The Marlins may well challenge the 1962 Mets for baseball's all time record low wins of 40, and the Mets needed a team like that to win against after going a very disappointing 8-16 in their prior 24 games.
This season:
5-0 against Marlins.
14-20 against everyone else.
Thank heavens for that Miami team.
Bad teams have stats like ex Met Neil Walker, with a very nice split of .287/.379/.436 in 37 games - but only 7 runs scored and 6 RBIs!
Another break the Mets caught with the Sunday awful weather rain out was not having to face Caleb Smith, the lone bright spot on the Marlins. Smith is 3-0, 2.11 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 56 Ks in 42 IP, and an early Cy Young candidate.
Next up? The reeling Nationals, who just got shut out on 1 hit and are 8 games under. The Mets will miss Strasburg, but face Mighty Mad Max Scherzer, who got a gift win Saturday night, leaving the game after 7 innings trailing 2-0, but the Nats scored 5 in the 8th to secure him a win.
It will be the Mets' job to keep 'em reeling.
Now, thinking about the current state of the Mets, a line in an old, old Johnny Mercer song made famous by Bing Crosby and sung by many comes to mind:
ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE, ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE
In baseball terms, I apply that to mean that if you want to continue winning now that the Marlenes have left town, play your best, sit the rest.
As I have said many times in recent weeks, it makes no sense to play Todd Frazier and Keon Broxton, who are a loss-inducing 14 for 95 with 38 Ks, other than for defensive reasons.
Releasing both might turn out to be helpful.
ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE.
It worked with 2 for 23 Travis d'Arnaud - spring cleaning and purging can be helpful.
Former MLB star Carlos Gomez in AAA in his last 13 games through Sunday went 19 for 51 with 4 homers and 15 RBIs. I think it is past time to replace K-K-Keon the K Machine (.152/.220/.174) with Senor Gomez.
Jed Lowrie is returning Tuesday - he has not hit well, except for 1 rehab game, but hopefully he will ignite and be close to the player he was last year (when he hit .267, with 61 XBH and 99 RBIs).
I would release Todd, but much more likely, they will send Hechavarria (2 for 11) down.
To accentuate the positive, I would start Lowrie 5 games per week tops, and try to keep giving at bats to JD Davis (.276/.357/.425). And don't get any ideas about giving Jeff McNeil any games off. His .360/.440/.496 is invaluable. Lots of "Squirrel" reduces the number of nuts.
To accentuate the positive, put out a strong hitting line up every single game - which means Todd and Keon never start, except for Todd to perhaps give Pete Alonso a blow once every two weeks at first base.
Pitching?
To accentuate the positive, the Mets' Big Three (Jake, Zack, Thor) need to get deep into games to sidestep as much as possible the still-porous bullpen.
In the pen, Diaz, Lugo and Gsellman need to be on their game and carry the load, and hopefully Familia in his return will be back to being a solid pitcher. Drew Gagnon and Daniel Zamora have great opportunities to prove they belong. Wilmer Font, too.
Hopefully, the all-too-oft-injured Matz and Vargas get healthy soon, although Vargas coming back from an injury scares me - don't rush his rehab, please.
To maximize your team's wins you have to:
"Accentuate the positives, eliminate the negatives."
The Mets have a similar situation with Carlos Gomez that they faced with Adeiny Hechavarria. Their deadline is June 1st to promote him or risk losing him as a FA elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI saw that - and Anthony DiComo (I believe) indicated that it was unlikely the Mets would call him up because they have control for a few more years over Keon and gave up 3 prospects for him (Wahl - hurt; Adam Hill - doing pretty well in A ball; And Ross Adolph doing poorly). Also, having 2 righty reserves in the OF being redundant.
ReplyDeleteOn the latter point, I disagree - one could be ice cold, the other hot - play the latter, sit the former.
Once again, a team should start with "does the guy I am keeping have fatal flaws?" It sure seems Keon's extreme strikeout rate qualifies. He makes Chris Davis look like a contact hitter. That seems beyond realistic fixing.
Sadly, the upper minors outfield prospects are really weak in terms of possible call ups. They might be concerned that if Gomez comes up and fails, is there another option? And what about 2020? Good teams (like one whose name I won't mention) reject such concerns and write off the mistake and move on to get someone else good.
So - I bring up Gomez. That's me. I want to win.
Ah, therein lies the rub. You want to win. The Mets want to maximize profits. Calling up Gomez would cost money as would writing off Broxton.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Broxton will stay.
ReplyDeleteThe Wilpons don't throw money at people.
Dumb-de-dumb-dumb.
ReplyDeleteThey're like politicians - the ability to quickly admit a mistake is not there, even when it hinders the overall result.
It only takes one game to miss the playoffs.
Davis has 12 steals for Syracuse. How many does the Mets team have?
ReplyDeleteJohn from Albany, the Mets have a slight lead, with 16 steals, over Rajai Davis. The Mets are 16 of 20 without Jeff McNeil, but speedy Jeff is somehow 0 for 4. Proof that McNeil is nearly, but not quite, perfect.
ReplyDeleteBroxton would have steals but he'd have to steal first base first. That's not going too good.
Tom
ReplyDeleteFunny.
But that's because you are a comedian by trade.
Hey folks! Wanna see him?
Go this Sunday 2pm to the Presbyterian Church of Islip (L.I.) at 340 Main Street.
Tom will be on stage.
Yep.In the flesh...singing clean up.
DeleteTom, when does the tour hit Upstate?
ReplyDeleteJed Lowrie diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. Wonder when we will see him in NYC. Have the Mets ever signed a free agent that never played for them?
ReplyDelete