Morning.
The NL EAST
I feel so blessed being in a baseball division that is producing three of the top teams in baseball.It seems quite apparent that the Mets, Braves, and Phillies will all make the playoffs this season. Who wins the division is a moot point. The Mets 1-2-3 punch of deGrom-Scherzer-Bassett are built for this format.
I will say that I look forward to the schedule modification that begins next year. Five fewer games will be played against division rivals and one series will be played against all the teams in the other league. MUCH more fair.
CURRENT BRAVES SERIES
It's hard to analyze a series between two great teams when one of those teams starters in BOTH first two games goes down with an injury in the 2nd inning. But. And this is a big but. The team with the injured pitchers could try to keep up with things by picking up a bat and hitting something.
Insert Buck's math lesson here about scoring one more run than the other team.
Game Two could have been easily accomplished this way, even if it had to start by McNeil NOT swinging at ball four when Lindor and Vogy were on base.
The only negatives here have come from announcers and fans, but we'll discuss that a few paragraphs down.
And remember what I said about the defensive skills of our new backup catcher? Well, you and the Braves found out in Game Two how hard it is to steal against Perez' cannon arm.
BRETT BATY
You can thank injuries for this one. Still, the prospect floodgates that will continue over the next three seasons, have begun to swing open.
His current fate will eventually be determined when either Eduardo Escobar or Luis Guillorme get back first, but, trust me, he will not have PAs taken away from him by Deven Marrero.
One reminder... Marrero was touted as a future all-star when he was drafted by Boston in the 1st round ages ago.
Just another reminder of the fragility of the drafting process.
MARK VIENTOS
Yes, Vientos' failure to develop a major league level defensive game at third caused Baty to hopscotch over him, but it is the addition of Dom Smith being on this team that is hindering his development at FIRST BASE as well.
Going forward, Vientos' future as a Met is limited to a backup 1Bman to Pete and a RHH DH replacement to Ruf.
Too talented to be traded in season for a three month rental but not fully dimensional enough to play this year for the Mets.
Will he be the Mets 2023 RHH DH for the Mets? Good question. Ruf is signed through the 2023 season.
FEELING LUCKY?
The negative rhetoric between these teams did start with that rookie Braves on-air guy, followed by another rookie mistake being made by a rookie pitcher, but it has now bleed down to Twitter with memes of both twin towers being struck by planes.
And this negative shit has come from both fan bases.
You know what I feel about those Mets mutants that wear the same shirt and sit out in right.
Our great nation is turning out a whole new inferior strand of DNA that stretches from the political world, to the streets of our big cities, and now even into our National Pastime.
Sometimes I truly am glad I am approaching my end of days.
Mack, I agree there is so much toxicity - I drop occasional postings in Facebook about different Mets topics, largely to see reactions, and the inability to see one's point of view, to be sarcastic and nasty and unable to write a sentence without expletives, all while being ignorant about what they are commenting about, is quite concerning. Lots of rage out there. Most of them I would NOT want being commenters on this site.
ReplyDeleteAnd political comments? SO much worse.
I still think the pitching will be OK, but it seems Megill is at least 2 weeks off, and I have not heard much about Drew Smith. Just gotta get past the 3 LAD games in one piece.
Vientos? I am baffled how some guys cannot minimize errors. I mentioned earlier that Jose Peroza has been almost flawless with the glove. It seems easy to reduce errors, just hard work to be at least adequate, and I just am baffled how Vientos and Mauricio continue to make excessive errors. If Vientos in 2022 was fielding like Peroza, he'd be a Met today.
I played third.
DeleteLots of factors but main are speed and instincts
Having good foot.work helps too.
I agree with many of your points in this article. The NL East competition is great for the Mets, for the fans, and for preparing the team for playoff competition. This stretch of Phillies, Braves, Phillies, Yankees is like a playoff in itself.
ReplyDeleteI love competition, but we're competing for a championship that will be replaced by another championship next year. And again and again. Lives are not at stake, so don't take it too far fans...Mack is right about too much polarization and outspoken people saying the wrong things.
On Baty, it was such a thrill to watch him last night. I remember meeting him at the Ponies' pre-season dinner this year. I said, "Welcome back to Binghamton but hope you won't stay too long." He gave me that far away smile like he had big dreams...and now they have been realized.
Baty faced a lefty last night.
DeleteHis shot.down third had an exit velo of 103.
There.is no need to platoon him
This is your Mets third baseman going forward
Without adding pressure, wouldn't it be great to have Baty and Wright used in the same sentence 15 years from now?
ReplyDelete