A picture of Fed Astaire and Ginger Rogers in a baseball article is, well, weird
Weird and unexpected stuff circumnavigates Mets World, which orbits in the NL Solar System.
How about 3 guys who I frequently wrote about pre-2021 - they needed to be excommunicated from Mets World sooner rather than later. The 3?
Steve Matz (horrific in 2020), Paul Sewald (horrific in his Mets tenure), and Chris Flexen (8+ ERA as a Met).
Those 3 are a combined 22-9 this year. A pitcher who went 22-9 in 2021 would be a heavy favorite to win the Cy Young award. Weird.
The 3 are making about $10 million in total this year.
How would those 3 HEALTHY arms have benefited the 2021 Mets? Tanta mucho.
Another ex-Met, Rafael Montero, was 6-16 as a Met, but this year is 5-3, despite a 7.03 ERA!
You pitch for the Mets, wins are hard to come by, but when you leave, you win. A lot.
Tylor Megill has kept this Mets season from capsizing with 5 surprisingly fine debut starts. Yet, his record? 0-0, through Wednesday. Anthony Banda, though, comes in, throws 1 1/3 innings, allows 2 runs in his Mets debut - and naturally, he wins.
Mets, meanwhile, take on superstar iron man Francisco Lindor for 11 years, $361 million. He struggles, heats up for a stretch, then sustains a significant injury. Signed through 2032, which is later than some politicians think the world will pass the point of no return, too. Undoubtedly, though, after he returns from this injury, he will return to Iron Man.
The Mets have been through 30 pitchers, but I guess no one including them wants Rick Porcello. 150 career wins.
Everyone thought Jarred Kelenic would be baseball’s newest superstar. So far, he is 11 for 100. Just super duper.
RISP: it may seem that the Mets stink with runners in scoring position. Well, they've scored 242 runs with runners in scoring position, same as the Yankees. So: does that stink?
Yes. Oddly, the two NY teams are tied for last in that category. Houston, though? First, with 393 runs. 393 runs with runners in scoring position is 30 more runs than ALL the runs the Mets have scored this year.
Edwin Diaz blew his last 3 save opportunities. That's one more than ex-Met Hansel Robles (10 of 12 in saves) has blown all year.
Brad Brach? 4.67 ERA as a Met? Now at age 35, he has a 3.70 ERA in 27 outings in 2021 with the Cincinnati Reds.
Michael Conforto goes 6 for 14 with 3 HRs in a 3 game stretch a few days back...we all felt "he's back!" Well, maybe not, the next two games, the free agent to be went 0 for 9 to slip to .206. If he had enough at bats to qualify, he'd have the 133rd highest batting average among MLB hitters. 2nd to last at # 135 (.177) - the free agent half the Mets' fans were coveting to be signed as a free agent - Jackie Bradley, Jr. If Jackie's .290 slug % was his batting average, he'd rank 21st in hitting.
Kris Bryant through the end of May: .320/.406/.611 - SUPERSTAR.
SINCE THEN, THOUGH? Just 21 for 122 (.172), 4 HRs, 12 RBIs, 10 walks, 36 Ks. The stuff of DFA candidates.
Still, every day, I see suggestions that Kris Bryant should be targeted by the Mets. I guess folks feel like he'll come to NY and over-perform (like almost no one does when the Mets acquire them - just ask Lindor).
And Chicago, Bryant's current home, is clearly the place to hit:
Former Met Jim Hickman never hit more than .257 - except for one year in Chicago, when he hit .315 with 32 HRs and 115 RBIs. He made his only all star game and got his first votes for MVP, finishing 8th.
Meanwhile, former Met Dave Kingman, who hit below .230 eight times (4 times as a Met, and one other Mets year hit .231), hit .288 in Chicago one year in 145 games, with the same 115 RBIs as Hickman. He was on fire thru July 31 that year, hitting .297 with 35 HRs in his first 88 games.
The grass truly is greener on the other side.
After all, Colorado has scored 285 games at home this season. The Mets? Dead last at 150 in 42 games. But the Mets are 12th in runs on the road at 210 in 50 games. Weird, hitting better on the road on almost a yearly basis. Home field disadvantage. Will the Mets ever fix it?
Yet, somehow, this year, they are 28-14 at home, and 22-29 on the road. The disadvantaged hitting has not caused disadvantaged losses at home.
The Mets used 15 pitchers in 1969, and 15 pitchers in 1986. But have used 30 this year (plus 2 position players), with 69 games to go...do I hear 40 pitchers in all of 2021? Weird.
I guess it would be weirdest of all if I did not stop here.
Except to add: Tylor Megill's opponent Friday night? Steve Matz.
4 comments:
And, of course, two years of nothing from Jed Lowrie. This year with Oakland, 92 games, though, .266, 11 HR, 46 RBIs.
Fun piece. I think the fact that no MLB team has even taken a flyer on Porcello despite all the injuries has to mean that he's asking for too much or there is some underlying physical problem. As for Robles, I always wondered why the Mets couldn't turn him into at least a decent setup man. I have to think that they're better set up to have a success with a pitcher like him today than they were a few years ago
I've read that with Lowrie, he needed an operation that the Wilpons refused to allow him to have
Mike, thanks. Robles? It seemed the front office gave in when he served up a series of golphers and banished him prematurely. Lowrie? Who know if it involved insurance proceeds offsetting salary. Just weird without details
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