SAVAGE VIEWS – Not Ready for Prime Time

October 8, 2022

This article was supposed to be written at least five days ago.  Been recovering from a nasty head cold that sapped my energy, but here goes. 

Before the season began, I wrote that the Braves are a far better team than the Mets.  Top to bottom their lineup is superior.  At best, we would finish the season a distant second.  Coming out on top would be a pipe dream.

So here we are, tied with the Braves with a 101-win season.  Mets fans are dancing in the streets.  We have exceeded pre-season expectations.   Jeff McNeil has won a batting title, Alonso has not only hit 40 homers but driven in 131 runs and Lindor has had an exceptional season.

In reality, it has been a disappointing season.   For all of those exploits, we are still no better than number two to the Braves.  Our key players continually came up short in key situations.   Prior to the Braves series I told my son that I would pick Max Fried to prevail over deGrom every day.  My thought process was that as good as deGrom is, Fried is better against the Mets.

Also, I view Swanson as more of a clutch hitter than Lindor and that was proven in the Braves three game sweep.

The Division was ours for the taking.  We failed to take advantage of the relatively easy September schedule.  Had deGrom and Scherzer been ordinary over the last six weeks, we would have run away with the Division.  Turns out we won only about half the games they pitched.  Instead of a bye, we were forced into a wild-card playoff.

Going into game one versus the Padres with Darvish on the mound, our only chance was for Scherzer to match zeros.  That did not happen as mighty Max melted down and allowed four homers.  Makes you wonder if he is suffering from physical malady.

Under normal circumstances, we could expect deGrom to pitch well enough to force a game three.  But we have no idea what to expect given his recent below par performances.

Looking back, some blame can be placed on the front office for a number of curious moves.   The failure to address the lack of left-hand options in the pen – we could have resigned Brad Hand as one option.  Not retaining Brandon Drury left us scrambling for a right-hand bench player.

The deal for Ruff never made any sense.  At the very least, JD plus three prospects should have netted us Wilmer Flores.  And someone needs to explain the me why Vogelbach is entrenched in the five position while McNeil spent the majority of the year in the seventh or eighth spot.  And now that Marte is back, why is he batting behind Vogelbach.

The consensus opinion is that manager Bucky is a genius.  I guess he deserve some credit for a 101win season, but I questioned a lot of his moves during the season.

The “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on SNL peaked early and failed to replicate their early success.   Unfortunately, our team is also moving in the wrong direction.  We can only hope for a successful game three.

 

Ray