SAFE AT THE PLATE..............WITH TONY PLATE
The New York Mets lost three very tough games and were swept by the National League Eastern Division leading Atlanta Braves this past weekend. Friday’s loss went into extra innings, they were down by four runs in Saturday’s game and rallied back to go ahead, but ended up losing by four runs and they fell one run short on Sunday.
The Mets are still in the wildcard hunt
with thirty- two games to go, because the Chicago Cubs were swept by the Washington
Nationals. Tough losses are all part of a pennant race. A pitcher or a player will
have an off series which is what Todd Frazier went through. It does happen. You
win some close games and you lose some close games.The Mets do not have anything to be ashamed
of.
The Braves are a very good team. They are the defending NL Eastern Division Champions. They are 11-5 against the Mets this season and they
just to have their number. Now it’s time for the Mets to move on to the next
series.
The Mets now face the
Chicago Cubs and I think the fight for the final wild card spot will be between
the Cubs and the Mets. In my opinion next to the Colorado Rockies the Milwaukee
Brewers have been the biggest disappointment in the National League this season.
Before the season began, I thought they would be the favorites to win the NL Central Division after coming off a superb season last year.
I thought
they would have had a better record than the Los Angeles Dodgers at this time
of year. They can still win a wild card spot, but it seems as though they don’t
have that spark in which they had last year to make the playoffs. As for the
Philadelphia Phillies their starting pitching isn’t strong enough to make the
playoffs.
With over a month in the season left it will be interesting.
I think it will go down to the last series of the season for the final wild
card spot. The Mets have most of their remaining games at home which can be an
advantage. The Cubs have fourteen games left with two of their arch rivals, the
St Louis Cardinals and the Brewers which can work against them.
The Cardinals
have given the Cubs a tough time throughout the years. The Brewers stole the
National League Central Division Championship from the Cubs by clinching it at
Wrigley Field during the last week of last season. I think the starting
pitching of the Mets will enable them to claim the remaining wild card spot.
Anything can happen. Unlike clubs looking for other teams' castoffs, the Mets are getting back Nimmo and Lowrie (and possibly Cano).
ReplyDeleteQuestion -
ReplyDeleteWill all 3 of them be eligible for the playoffs?
Reese is the roster expert but I think they can be eligible as injured players can be added. Probably has changed since 1973 but George Theodore was added to the post season roster that year after being hurt. I think the three you mentioned Mack are better.
ReplyDeleteLooked on MLB website and answer appears to be yes, which makes sense. The injury was no fault of his, so that seems logical,
ReplyDeleteMLB says:
Per MLB's Collective Bargaining Agreement, players must meet certain criteria in order to be eligible for postseason play.
Any player who is on the 40-man roster or 60-day injured list as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 is eligible for the postseason.
Those on the restricted list at that point are also eligible if they haven't been suspended for performance-enhancing drugs during that season. (All players who have served a suspension for PEDs in a given season are ineligible for postseason play that year.)
A player who doesn't meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team's roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner's Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation. (For example, a player on the 10-day injured list who has been on it for at least 10 days, or a player who has been on the 60-day injured list for at least 60 days.)
Players who are acquired in September or after are ineligible.
Postseason roster rules
Teams submit a 25-man roster prior to each round of the postseason comprised of postseason-eligible players. A club may request permission from the Commissioner's Office to replace a player who is injured during the course of a series, but that player is then ineligible for the rest of that round and the subsequent round, if there is one. A pitcher may be replaced only by another pitcher, and a position player only by another position player.
Teams carry extra players throughout the postseason in the event of injuries, and those players, as well as players on the injured list, can be in the dugout during games, within reason.
Tom -
ReplyDeleteI ask because David said no to Cano and Lowrie
If Nimmo & others come back it would be a big help.
ReplyDelete