Tom Brennan - "THE ILLAR TANDEM", THE "M&M BOYS", AND OTHER STRAY METS THOUGHTS

The Mets' top 3 starting pitchers have been terrific.  

Other-worldly. 

(Of course, we hope the Top Dog Jake is OK)

 

But heck, even 4th man Joey Lucchesi has been sono buoni.

Pitching aside, my latest non-fiction book (which would also be my first) might be entitled "THE ILLAR TANDEM."

In case you were wondering, Illar is (according to Google) "a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 10 kilometers northeast of Tulkarm."  

OK, enough geography - I like Queens better - now back to sports.

Honestly, where the heck would this team be without new Mets Kevin Pillar and Jonathan Villar?

Pillar has played very well (128 at bats, and 5 HRs and 17 RBIs, despite a beaning and an early benching behind a hot Nimmo), and injected toughness beyond belief and fostered "TEAM".  What an acquisition!

Villar, meanwhile, started to fill in for IFs McNeil and Davis, and now plays daily (162 ABs, 26 runs scored, 6 HRs, 8 steals with great D, except for last night) and is indispensable - I did not realize until a few weeks ago he played 162 games in 2019 and scored 111 runs.  Wow.  What an acquisition!  Now, if he sits, you'll be asking yourself, "what the heck are they doing?"

At the start of the season, I was expecting a healthy and very offensively productive five-some of McNeil, Nimmo, Conforto, Davis, and Smith. 

Smith hasn't carried the load so far nearly as I thought he would (he still can over the last 2/3 of the season, though), and the other 4 were playing a whole lot early, with 2 being productive and 2 not pre-injury, and all 4 ended up with extended injuries.  

Early on, Pillar and Villar sat a lot.  The infield and outfield were very crowded.

Now I don't know how you can sit them much at all when the 4 injured folks return.  

A good dilemma.  Championship teams have such dilemmas.

In so many prior years, when the Mets failed to invest in high quality available non-starters like Pillar and Villar, and frankly, even Jose Peraza and, why not, throw in recent quality pick-up Billy McKinney, it led to a team collapse when the injuries came.

Without them on board in 2021, if instead we had the old Wilpon scrubby borderline offensive player fill ins, the Mets would likely not be in first place, at least that's how I see it.

Me?  I LOVE  The Illar Tandem.  

You can find my book near the mints section, alongside Season Savers, which is right next to Breath Savers, should you need them.  I know you guys, and I do recommend the latter.

M&M BOYS

I am keeping my eyes on the M&M boys - (Bryce) Montes de Oca and (Brian) Metoyer.  The original M&M Boys - Mantle and Maris - were terrific.   Montes de Oca is a huge fireballer who is getting established in Brooklyn's pen, and his strikeouts are coming up.  

He needs to further refine his control, but heck, after not pitching at all due to injury in his career, the Mets immediately assigned him to High A, which says a heck of a whole lot, IMO.  21 Ks in 15 innings, and just 7 hits allowed.  

My sense?  Future Mets bullpen beast.

Metoyer is a 40th rounder who, pre-pandemic, had control issues, but struck out a lot of guys and was stingy with hits.  Exclude one bad outing this year, and for Brooklyn, he has allowed few hits, fanned a lot, and walked a lot fewer.   

I am hopeful Metoyer can continue to refine, rise and shine.  He did the other night, grabbing a win on a 2 inning, 1 hit, 3 K relief outing.

Of course, it should be M&M&M Boys, with Tylor Megill lighting up the minors this year for the Mets.  He goes tonight.  If Jake is out, perhaps he gets his next start for the Mets.  After all, Tom Szapucki in his last 2 AAA games?  7.2 IP, 11 H, 9 BB. Not exactly the script from "How to Impress Your Boss."  After those 2, the minor league cupboard seems bare to me.  

Nick Tropeano?  Just picked him up, but he hasn't pitched in a game (majors or minors) since May 31, and just 15 innings on the year, so he seems unlikely.

STRAY METS THOUGHTS

Just one - Carlos Cortes.  He is rapidly hitting his way into major league consideration, IMO.  It may or may not happen this year, but after his 1 for 12 season start in AA, the 23 year old is hitting close to .325 over the following 31 games through Saturday.  

He has a sensational 22 extra base hits in 34 games, and he is not strikeout prone.  26 runs and 22 RBIs hitting lead off for a team that has otherwise struggled to score.  His numbers remind me of early-2018-in-AA Jeff McNeil, and we all should remember what Jeff did in his Mets debut later in 2018...300+.

Cortes' claim to fame?  When the 83rd overall pick in 2018 plays 2B, he throws righty, but in the OF, he throws lefty.

Me?  I'm more amphibious than ambidextrous. Just call me Gil.

I almost wrote how a demotion can help a player reset, and in Quinn Brodey's case, his .189 average in 23 AAA games has been followed by a much improved .310 average in 7 games (9 for 29) - but then I noticed that somehow, 16 of his 20 outs in AA have been by strikeout, giving him 44 in 30 games this year.  Maybe he can build on the .310 aspect and cut the Ks.  He has to cut the Ks.  He ought to be able to  - in 2019, he fanned just 107 times in 130 games.  But 2021 (after a non-2020) has been a strange season for a lot of hitters.

On that note, I will stray no more - have a great day.