Tom Brennan - BULLPEN WOES

BULLPEN FAILURE STRESS IS PRETTY HORRIBLE, ISN'T IT?

I was wondering if this Mets team had the worst Mets bullpen of all time.

Of course, the first place to look was 1962, when the Mets finished 80 games below .500 - that team had to have a terrible pen, correct?

Yep.  It was terrible, all right.

Looking at Baseball Reference stats, the 1962 squad's pen allowed 5.89 runs per game equivalent, and saved just 42% of save opportunities.  Yep, 42%.

In 1968, the Mets may have had their best pen ever, performance-wise: 3.06 runs per game equivalent, and saved 80% of save opportunities.

Moving ahead to more modern times, the 2015 team that made it to the World Series had a pen that allowed 3.78 runs per game equivalent, and saved 70% of save opportunities.

In 2018, despite real bullpen problems, the Mets saved 41 out of 60 opportunities (68%) vs. an NL average of 65%.  So it wasn't all terrible.

In 2019, though, the pen has been "1962 bad" except for Edwin Diaz - but even with Edwin Diaz, the pen is allowing well over 5 runs per game and has saved just 18 of 35 (51%), while the league average excluding the Mets is 66%.  66% instead of 51% would mean 5 more successful saves in just half a season.

(Of course, after last night's pen impotence, turning a nice lead into a 1 run loss, make that 18 blown saves).

Edwin Diaz is 16 for 19 in save opportunities, so the rest of the pen is just 2 for 17, including Familia (0 for 4), Bashlor (0 for 3), Gsellman (1-4), and Lugo (0 for 3)!

The latter stats show that skimping on your bullpen is fool's gold.  Elite relievers deliver elite results, and those results are worth spending big bucks on.  I guess the Mets figured that Familia's 17 of 21 in saves for the Mets in 2018 would resurface in 2019, but it certainly hasn't.

Meanwhile, Craig Kimbrel has a career 91% save %.  

He was available - expensive, but available.  Then he was not.

And the Mets pen stays amazingly awful, except for Edwin.  

Who has been good, great at times, but not 2018 great.

SPEND ON THE PEN --- EVEN OVERSPEND --- 

OR THE FRAM OIL FILTER GUY WILL ASK YOU TO PAY LATER.

Lastl Night:

It was interesting to see McNeil, Alonso, Smith, Nido and, yes, Vargas, compile 10 hits and 2 walks, and the rest of the offensive squad take a complete oh-fer.

Prophetically, Robbie "Washed Up" Cano go 0 for 5, a sign that the Mets are likely to go 0 for 5 years on his inherited gargantuan, budget-stifling contract.  The one that is blowing up on the Mets like a dirigible. Oh, the infamy.

His former Yankee team, which largely always avoids washed-up, has-been bums, won their 1 run decision game and are now 24 games over .500.  And all around NY, Yankee fans shake their heads, laugh, and wonder why we follow this agonizing team.

The Wilpons are planning to send Cano to the Cespedes wreck and rehabilitation ranch in hopes that "events" will occur so that they can collect injury insurance money to offset the previously mentioned gargantuan budget-stifling albatross of a contract. 

The only thing that, over time, the Mets lead baseball in.