Tom Brennan and Mack Ade - Mets Recap

No Colorado Rocky Mountain High on Friday night.  That ain't dandruff tumbling out of the skies there.  Let it NOT snow, let it NOT snow, let it NOT snow.  And in a mountainous area where there is an occasional bear bite, this weekend is more likely to result in frostbite.  And to think - it hit 90 in Denver on Thursday.

But squint hard and you may see a Polar Bear rolling around in the snow at the ballpark, the one the Mets were scheduled to play at tonight just a month sort of the official start of summer.

To make up for this mini-blizzard cancellation, there will be a Saturday split doubleheader, started by Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco and David "Drumstick" Peterson.  

(I make up nicknames sometimes, usually involving food).

Meanwhile:

Frankie Lindor in the past two games decided to give Brandon Nimmo a run for his money: 3 hits, 4 walks, and a HBP.  It nicely jumped his season on base % from a sub-par .315 to a career-equaling .343.

I'd take that base acquisition propensity from him, along with his characteristic hustle and potential for superior defense.  And, unlike deGrom, Max, May, McCann, and Megill, if "the Buck stops here" says, "I want you out there today", only Lindor can say, "YES, SIR!"  

So ya gotta like that.  Time to get 110% behind the Mighty Lindor.  Because I sense we are about to get 110% from him.

Jeff McNeil is tied with Rafael Devers, Vlad Guerrero, Anthony Rendon, and George Springer for 33rd in the majors in RBIs, despite hitting down in the order fairly frequently and having just 1 HR.  He also is 13th in the majors in batting average.  He gets an MVS award in my book:

MOST VALUABLE SQUIRREL

Polar Bear Pete is just 18th in slugging %, but first in RBIs with a whopping 36.  I like that a lot more than if he was first in slugging % and 18th in RBIs.  And, if he had hit game winning HR not in dead-air Citifield but in the rarified air of Denver, that ball would be entering Nevada air space just about now.

Perhaps Escobar, Smith, and JD Davis will have left their hearts in San Francisco, but found their long ball strokes in Denver this weekend.

Edwin Diaz no doubt can hit 110 MPH on the radar gun in the thin air of Denver.   

He is currently my co-MVP of the team, with Pete Alonso.  

We all love Sugar.  At least I do.

The whole Mets team is 5th in runs scored and first in on base %, while toiling in a hitter-unfriendly park.  Good for them.  Remarkably, though, the Nationals in road games have scored 102 runs in 19 games, while the Mets have scored 88 in 19 games.  Head-scratcher.  That's baseball.

Mets' pitchers are tied for 4th in ERA, and are second in Ks.  Nice.  

Let's just keep winning series, people, while waiting for the Cy Young hurlers continue to mend up and rejoin the Mets by July.

MINORS:

SYRACUSE: Tom Szapucki threw a perfect first inning - and was then pulled.  Either hurt, or getting ready to be called up to the Mets.  I am guessing the latter.  

Syracuse hitters won't go on a hunger strike, so they resort to a base hit strike instead. Shut out on 2 hits tonight.  If you remove the miraculous 25 for 71 hitting in AAA by neophyte wunderkind Wyatt Young, Syracuse is hitting slightly below .200 this season. 

BINGHAMTON: The Ponies don't have pitchers batting, but I wish they had hitters who could hit like former Mets pitcher Tyler Pill.   Pill ended his minor league career hitting a Jeff McNeil-like .301/.358/.408, and fanned just once every 7 plate appearances (35 times in 245 times up). 

Instead, Matt Winaker and Antoine Duplantis, after tonight, were hitting .120 and .119 (19 for 159).  Their goal seems to be, as best I can tell, to hit at least .250 - combined. Baffling. 

Jose Butto was not having a good outing tonight. 4-2 loss. 3 hits.  Like Syracuse, this team has an aversion to hitting.

BROOKLYN: yet another night game postponed after beautiful weather during the day.  Two recent games were fogged out - that's right, fog - after a beautiful day.  Snake-bit. 

ST. LUCIE: First time up, Omar de los Santos singled for the tough L-Mets, promptly followed  by his 21st steal in 22 attempts. Meanwhile, demoted Khalil Lee got a hit and a walk his first two times up,  but was caught stealing - twice.   Oddly, after stealing 53 of 65 in his last Royals' minor league season in 2019, he is just 13 of 25 in swipes since. Remarkable.  

Dominic Hamel was surprisingly yanked after just 1.2 IP, in which he allowed 3 runs on two hits and a walk.  Maybe the manager wanted to avoid a shaky outing getting worse.  Ultimately, a 7-3 loss.  Lucie can't win them all.

Plenty to chew on.  

Enjoy the drumsticks.