I haven't posted much on Facebook Mets fan sites lately.
People there often seem extraordinarily incapable of seeing the big picture.
For instance, I posted how phenomenally Edwin Diaz has been pitching.
The visceral hatred comes out:
If he hadn't blown those 4 saves.....
He's awful....
Package him in a trade....
I counter with, "How about that 1.64 ERA despite the slow start and the 19 Ks per 9 innings?"
NAH - CRUCIFY HIM, is more or less the response of many...to be fair, some showed Edwin some love.
Anyway, it is an indicator of Mets fan frustration. While the crosstown team that is ever on many Mets' fans minds has been utterly crushing the baseball lately and has righted THEIR ship on their annual sail to the playoffs.
The Mets find themselves on the brink. Why?
The pitchers not named Edwin Diaz on the Mets that DO stink.
Long list. Thirteen such guys.
Guys with an ERA over 5.00.
Thirteen such guys over 5.00 after just 51 games is NOT a formula for making the playoffs.
The guys on that list have thrown 200 innings, which is 44.6% of the Mets' 448 innings this year. FORTY FOUR POINT SIX PERCENT.
They've allowed 175 runs. 175 runs in 200 innings is 7.9 runs per 9 innings.
Stop and ponder the carnage:
175 runs in 200 innings. Oooogahhh!!
200 innings, 263 hits, 77 walks, 41 HRs. Oooogahhh!
Who are they? You know.
It is seared into your Mets fan brain.
Oswalt, Hughes, Porcello, Lockett, Betances, Smith, Wacha, Strickland, Kilome, Jurado, Gsellman, Matz, Sewald.
The Bomb Droppers. The Scorched Earth Crew.
The guys where pie-eyed optimist Mets fans would say, But, id they only had 162 games, they'd ALL COME AROUND.
NOPE!
So, as the madding mob on Facebook called for the great Edwin Diaz to be banned from the Mets, I countered with:
"So you want to get rid of the 1.64 ERA guy, when half the staff already does not deserve to be here?" How does subtracting THE GUY WITH THE BEST ERA ON THE TEAM (OK, Erasmo Ramirez is lower, but let's see where he is at after 20 innings first) help you when half the staff needs a major upgrade?
Do you really think Steve Matz will pitch well for the Mets again? Do you want to try and find out? Ship him to Atlanta, perhaps, so he can become a 17 game winner next year while Travis d'Arnaud wins the MVP, but not here.
Gsellman? On the outside margin of marginal.
Hughes? Maybe.
Kilome? Good luck there. Prospect love can quickly morph into prospect reality.
Betances? A year older than the old that he already is.
Sewald? 1-15 career. Do I hear 1-20, anyone?
I arrive at three conclusions:
Thank heavens we have Edwin Diaz.
And boy, does Steve Cohen have a lot of pitching stink to sanitize.
And finally, look no further than this unprecedented pitching dreck to see why the Mets are on the brink of missing out on the playoffs to the Phillies and...MARLINS???
Maybe instead of Neil Diamond doing Caroline, we can get him to rewrite Love on the Rocks.
Call it: STINK ON THE BRINK. Ain't no big surprise.
Kinda catchy, huh?
I wrote similar articles the past two seasons - where the lower 50% of the staff - 14 to 15 guys over the course of the season - allowed seven runs per 9. This year, almost 8.
ReplyDeleteYou can't win like that.
Even last year...Diaz was awful, sure...but a big part was the awful pen pals he had. If that back half allowed just, say, 5.5 runs per 9, I think a lot of pressure would have been off of him. And he would have done better. Perhaps better like he is this year.
Imagine how Pete would be doing if the rest of the team was not hitting the way it is. PRESSURE. My guess is he'd be doing worse. PRESSURE.
Good Morning, Tom.
ReplyDeleteIt is my own opinion, but Facebook is a cesspool that is better avoided altogether.
Anyway, more on topic with your post, the pitching has been brutal! I know we lost a few key pieces due to
injury and/or opt out, but that staff is a mess!
What is odd is that there isn't much chatter on Jeremy Hefner (new pitching coach)......I can't point to more then a couple
pitchers that are better this year, compared to last year (Diaz the primary example of improved performance, albeit scary at times).
We are at the point where planners need to look ahead and see what is salvageable and what isn't, because this season is
pretty much kaput.
Tom 32 comments yesterday
ReplyDeleteGreat convo piece
Mike, my brother keeps screaming every winter that they are not stocking up on enough proven pitching, and roll the dice a lot. Not just in this 2020, but the last 3 years, that has been an abject failure. He has been right, they have been wrong. Three straight years wrong in that key regard.
ReplyDeleteThey gambled Betances would be ready in April. He wasn't ready in July. They gambled on comebacks from Porcello and Wacha. Uhh, uhh. They gambled on using Sewald again, that Kilome would show up and dazzle, that Oswalt would somehow break through this year, that the Gsellman of 2015 might show up again, that the Matz of 2016 might show up again, etc.
Too many ifs that turned into decision whiffs. Because too many of the ifs turned out to be stiffs.
Tom
ReplyDeleteStay away from the FB kiddies.
Thanks, Eddie. Always good to hear from ya.
ReplyDeleteThere are many geniuses on Facebook, Mack. Once I find one of them, I will tell everybody. So far, no luck.
ReplyDelete