Everyone loves to bash the manager.
Which reminds me of a story that it is sometimes warranted. At a home game back when Art Howe was mismanaging the Mets, a team in the dumps, and my brother snuck down to seats behind the dugout to watch.
A close out call went against the Mets at 2nd base, Art started out, arguing mildly, and turned around after a few steps. My brother screamed at him to get out there, grow a set, be a man, and fight for his players.
My brother said that Art looked directly at him, ran out to 2nd, argued loudly, and got tossed. Fans cheered.
What game, I have no idea, but it made for a good story.
And with managing, sometimes what you do works, sometimes not, because you can't swing the stick. You can't throw the pitches. You can't field the balls.
Take Pete Alonso:
Last year, after 46 games, he had 15 HRs, 35 RBIs, and .259/.344/.590
This year, after 46 games, he is .216/.318/.433 with 11 HRs and 26 RBIs.
Rojas didn't cause the overall slippage.
In 2019, in his first 37 games, Ramos struggled:
.231/.299/.306, with just 2 HRs, but 23 RBIs, just before he got hot.
In 2020, in 37 games, 4 HRs, just 13 RBIs, .233/.301/.375.
Hitting a little better, but lousy with RBIs in mind.
Rojas didn't cause the drop in RBIs.
Thor and Wheeler last year had ERAs of 4.28 and 3.96.
Porcello and Wacha so far have ERAs of 6.06 and 7.50.
Steve Matz, meanwhile, had a 4.21 ERA last year, but an ERA of 8.63, showing more hyperinflation than the Weimer Republic once experienced.
Similarly, Robert Gsellman went from 4.66 in 2019 to 9.64 in 2020.
Porcello, Wacha, Matz and Gsellman are 2-12 with a combined ERA somewhere north of Uranus. Good grief - guys on the 1962 Mets pitched better. Gil Hodges had no such dreck in 1969.
Rojas isn't the one serving up the biggest meatballs this side of Little Italy. They are.
Maybe you armchair QBs want to assign a grade to Luis Rojas, want his fanny fired in a house cleaning.
Me? I say get him some pitchers who can pitch.
How would Rojas have done with those 1986 Mets?
I'll bet he wins 100+.
LAST NIGHT:
The Mets stared into the abyss...deGrom ineffective, leaves down 4 with leg issues (oh, no!), but Luis Rojas' Mets crawl back as Wacha pitches well in relief, then the Tres Hombres (Wilson, Castro, and Diaz) fan 8 in 3 scoreless innings, JD Davis awakens with a roar, and clutch Andres Gimenez breaks the tie late with a bullet single to center. And the abyss moved back a few yards. The playoffs now still seem possible.
GREAT JOB, LUIS ROJAS! PUSHED ALL THE RIGHT BUTTONS. GREAT MANAGER!
Let Me Leave You WIth A Question:
Does Luis Rojas deserve any credit for turning Edwin Diaz back into an ABSOLUTE BEAST again? 45 Ks in 21 innings? Making them look like little leaguers. That trade is not looking so bad now, huh?
"The Playoff? The Playoffs? Are you Kidding me? - Ex-Colts Coach.
ReplyDeleteGreat win last night. Credit Rojas for playing Gimenez as much as he has. Gimenez missed the one throw that allowed a runner to get to third and is not perfect but think he is the clear SS of the future.
None of it is his fault.
ReplyDeleteJimmy
John, Gimenez is no doubt the SS of the future. Looks for all the world like a winner. Winners have to play.
ReplyDeleteTom, Rojas does deserve the blame of pulling pitchers too early. He has done that many times. He doesn’t get credit for Diaz, but Diaz had great K numbers last year too. The problem was when they hit it, it went a mile.
ReplyDeleteNow, that doesn’t mean I’m knocking him, in fact I like how Rojas has made changes that may not have been politically correct. He benchEd Rosario, he dropped Cano to #5, and Alonso has hit 6th and 7th. I would think Callaway’s wanted to do that too, but wasn’t allowed by the morons that worried what the newspapers would write.
I definitely give Rojas another round, but I’d get Luhnow to run my team.
Jimmy, we both conclude the same on Rojas. If Hodges (the team he was on) managed the Mets in 1962, doubt they win much more than 40 games. Core players are MIA or have sucked. Hence, the record.
ReplyDeleteTexas Gus, fair enough. Agree in Luhnow.
ReplyDeleteBut bad talent makes decisions look like mistakes far more often than great talent does. So I cut him great slack. If they do replace him, it better only be with someone demonstrably better.
Luhnow? The former GM of the Astros? No thank you. Once you get over the cheating scandal, he pays way to much attention to analytics. Saw it first hand in their farm team here in Albany when they played the Cyclones. They had ZERO bunts last year. ZERO for the entire season! They play the shift religiously. Brooklyn stole 5 (later reduced to 4 by the official scorer) against them in one inning because players were shifted like crazy and bases were not covered. NO THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteWho gets the blame for all of the baserunning blunders? Its like the Mets run themselves out of games countless times. Not knowing the number of outs (Conforto lucked out last night...), getting picked off, stealing in bad situations(Hamilton), advancing when you shouldn't be (McNeil several times, Frazier, etc). Its like the whole team needs a baserunning clinic..
ReplyDeleteI agree people do like to hate the manager. My biggest complaint is all the times you see your hottest hitters getting less at bats because they are at the bottom of the lineup and the guys not hitting at the top. Smith, McNeil, Conforto should pretty much always be in the top 4 the way they have been hitting all season..
I was in favor of the Rojas hiring. However, concerned about his decisions. His managing of the pitching staff has been poor. Batting a mostly unproductive Davis third while McNeil bats seventh is inexcusable. How about benching Nido after a big night in favor of Ramos who had been terrible this year. What galls me the most is his passively as a manager. Never puts a runner in motion to put pressure on the other team. Recent examples with Gimenez on firdt and Ramos grounding into double plays. If Callaway was still mgr. he would be getting bashed by the same folks praising Rojas.
ReplyDeleteDallas, good point on the baserunning. That 4th run last night on the JD Davis high fly off the right center fence, when Conforto barely scored - I agree - WHAT WAS THAT?? Way to close. If he was running when the ball was hit, it could not have been close. And in such a critical moment. I also agree on dropping cold guys in the line up. Drop Pete to 8th, he'll be too pissed to stress, and start clubbing the ball.
ReplyDeleteRds, I agree on Nido's benching after his 6 RBI game. Gotta reward the dude there. Ramos has killed them lately, not sure the manager can do much there, though. I wish Robbie Chirinos could hit the frickin' ball - what happened to him this year?
Back when I watched the quality relief work of Ron Taylor and Tug McGraw, if someone told me then that someday, in his first 79 Mets innings, we'd have a reliever who fanned 144 guys, I'd just have never believed anything like that was possible. But that's Edwin.
ReplyDeleteReese's Peace
ReplyDeleteI read your article today. Here are my thoughts.
You have to admit that this is a totally unique offensive first NY Mets team right now. I have never seen anything like this before here as a NY Mets fan. This is a team of outstanding offensive talent, cohesion and unselfishness. I simply mean that it is so deep with really good hitters, that even the great Albert Einstein could not predict, before any one game, which Mets batter will be the hitting star of that game.
Look at last nights game as a prime example and illustration of what I am saying. In the last four Mets games, the NY Mets have hit 50 base hits, a good percentage for extra bases. Seth Lugo struggled starting last night, but the NY Mets bullpen was almost flawless to the end.
It's just the starting pitching now, to complete the equation Reese.
Reese's Peace part 2
ReplyDeleteBecause the real strength to the NY Mets offense is actually its phenomenal depth of really good hitters, I would not advise shaking this up very much at all. Maybe none. Sure other teams would love to get an up and comer like a Dominique Smith (you mentioned )on their ball club. Who wouldn't? But I would much rather prefer the Mets fully acknowledge this amazing hitting depth as their team's true strength, and then protecting it heading into the 2021 season. Adding in that one really outstanding lefty starter more if possible, since there are so actually few of them out there right now. A young and oncoming righty may have to do, then add in as the fifth starter maybe a David Peterson or a Thomas Szapucki as the rotation's lefty.
Here's how I might rather see it Reese.
1b Pedro (The Conqueror) Alonso and Dominique (Smooth) Smith share first base and the DH role evenly. Both get to play a lot, thank God. 2b Jeff McNeil takes over with Robbie Cano backing up and an occasional DH and third base substitute. SS Against the riptide I realize here, I go with Amed Rosario. He may concede a little glove to Andre Gimenez, but you cannot disagree here that Amed has this uncanny volcanic explosiveness that does not come along every day. He can turn games around with it. Plus, Luis Guillorme and Ronnie Mauricio would be a most suitable combo infield backup. 3b JD Davis LF Brandon Nimmo (did you see last night's game people?) CF Jake Marisnick RF Michael Conforto (The New Rocky Balboa) C A tandem to keep both on the field and healthy: Tomas Nido, and then Ryan Jeffers via a trade with Minny. Manager: Luis Rojas Alou, GM: Brodie VW, Owner Supreme: Mr. Steve Cohen, Mascots: Mr. and Mrs. Met and new bouncing baby ball head.
I love this 2020 Mets team, and I believe in it 200%! LGM!
On Edwin Diaz.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the truly sensational athletes and even certain entertainers (like singers and actors for instance) take a few years to become what they were truly meant to be.
Even the great Chicago Bull's star Michael Jordan was this way.
He had all the natural ability from the get-go, then willed himself (through practice of his art) to become that star athlete that we all appreciate. It's simply honing one's skills, God given.
It's just people being human really.
Edwin has it. And it is good.