Paul Articulates – Six things that need to change

So many thoughts run through my head lately when observing what is going on with the Mets – from their on-field play to their managerial decisions to their development system transactions.  Of course we all have different thoughts on how we would do things based upon our experience and shaped by our conversations with other Mets followers.  So here are a few of my musings from the past week and I look forward to your reactions.

Edwin Diaz returns after his suspension, and says he “does not feel guilty” because he did nothing wrong.  Paul’s take: It doesn’t matter if he followed the rules or not.  MLB has imposed a subjective criterion called “stickiness” to a rule that could cause players to lose time and money and certainly causes teams to lose games and positioning in the playoff standings.  It is ridiculous that anything with those consequences could have non-deterministic criteria.  MLB needs to change the rule right away.  List what is banned.  Use a chemical test to determine if a banned substance is used.  Period.

Matt Festa is called up to help the Mets’ bullpen.  He gets thrust into a tight situation in the late innings and gives up a few hits and runs on two strike counts.  Then he gets DFA’ed.  Fortunately, no one realizes that the kid has a sub-1.00 WHIP and he clears waivers and is reassigned to Syracuse.  What a disastrous gamble by the front office with an asset that is probably one out-pitch away from being a productive reliever.  This and many other things are the unintended consequences of not pushing the starters to go deeper into ballgames.

The Mets drop three straight after their magical 16-8 June run.  I guess that the magic is over.  With a faltering pen and the offense starting to fail with runners in scoring position again, their three game losing streak is not an anomaly.  The June run was the anomaly.  In the first two games in Pittsburgh, the Mets have gone 2-17 with RISP.  Saturday’s win was still plagued with occasions of multiple runners on base with zero outs, then one out, then two out with no productive at-bats.  

Strikeouts and popups are unacceptable in those situations – the ball must be put in play with a strong likelihood that runners advance.  Once again it comes down to the hitting approach – are the hitters trying to mash 400 foot home runs or trying to get a ground ball through the right side of the infield?  With zero outs, the latter is the most productive approach.

DJ Stewart is the new Daniel Vogelbach.  I have always rooted for DJ, and for that matter, I always rooted for Vogey.  They were likeable power hitters that always made you wonder, “What if”.  But “if” didn’t happen with Vogey in 2022 or 2023 and the management forced him into the lineup repeatedly while guys like Mark Vientos sat on the bench or watched from AAA.  Eventually the team figured out that his wasn’t helping and moved on, but the cost was an unproductive lineup.  

Now they are doing the same with DJ Stewart.  As of yesterday, Stewart was slashing .176/.331/.321 yet he has started in two of the last three games.  It doesn’t matter that Marte is out – there are more capable defenders with better offensive slash lines on the team, and we lost 1-0 to the Nationals by fielding a lineup that couldn’t buy a hit.

Reed Garrett needs some time off.  He was such a pleasant surprise coming out of the bullpen early in the season when he was well rested and confident.  Now he just looks scared or frustrated – you name the emotion but it does not sync with confidence.  He has proven that he can pitch – but if you keep running him out there in his current state of mind it will break him.  Once again this is gambling with a valuable asset.

Kodai Senga should return after the all-star break.  Every Mets fan is anxiously awaiting his return and hopeful that he will spark some kind of a surge.  In fact, his return will be even more damaging to a compromised bullpen.  The team will take an extremely cautious approach with the valuable Senga, which means low pitch counts and early hooks when he is in stressful situations.  

This will exacerbate the overused bullpen problem and leave fatigued arms for all the other games in the rotation.  This is why more long relievers are needed and the Mets need to prepare Tylor Megill to become a 3-4 inning guy that bails out those 3-4 inning starters.