Tom Brennan: Vientos, Senga, McNeil, Iglesias, and Alonso

TWO HOMER VIENTOS

Tough game 2 loss 

In a tough house against a tough team. Kudos to Mark Vientos.  No one outside of Metsville knew his name. Two HRs last night, and everyone does now.

Severino was very good - but he is HR prone, as are the Phillies' big hitters.  His mistake IMO was going to the breaking ball one too many times to Trea Turner in the 6th. I wanted him to go with 98 MPH heat up and in.  He hung one, Turner singled, Harper and Castellanos immediately homered and it was 3-3 in a heart beat. Kudos to Nimmo and Pete for going deep, and coming back from 6-4 to tie at 6-6, but Edwin just is not the same, and his immortality of 2022 has morphed to 2024 mortality. 

Megill failed.  Yes, it was a tough spot, tough house, but that game winning hit was off a beach ball.  Can't lose on that pitch which was set up on a tee.  I wish we had Trevor Megill instead.

Back to Citi Field, where the weather will be perfect. 

It will be rocking.

It is reported that Jeff McNeil has returned to the Mets and is ramping up.  My guess, having had a similar broken bone is a similar spot at a similar age, is that he will be good to go for the next series.  

When I had mine, and my wrist came out of the cast, it was sore as heck and stiff as a board.  A week later, it felt like it never happened.  Total mobility, no pain.  Never any sign whatsoever since then that I ever broke anything there. Just have to get into the next round to get Jeff to help.

Before thinking adversely at all about McNeil, as many tend to do (we have Iglesias!) please remember Jeff hit .289/.376/.547 in 41 games after the ASB until he got injured.  Compare that to the season-long stats of Bryce Harper, .285/.373/.525.  

We want Jeff back as soon as he is really ready.  The Mets got their flash in the pan with Acuna, and are eternally grateful for it.  I'd rather have McNeil out there as needed.

Kodai Senga was excellent for 31 pitches on Saturday, the lead off super bomb HR to Kyle Schwarber notwithstanding.  It had good velocity coming in, more velocity going out.  But he pitched like an ace after that.  No reason he could not ramp up to 40-50 pitches in a game 5 on Friday, if one is needed.  If he is not needed, and gets in side work before the Mets hopefully advance to the next round, a side session could get him to 50+ pitches in his next outing.  The idea would ultimately be to get him to 80-90 pitches if the Mets make it to the World Series.

Not enough credit goes to David Stearns for shrewdly acquiring Jose Iglesias.  In past years, the Mets would have had a McNeil go down and tried to get by with a Luis Guillorme type.  Or some other bum from the minors that would go 2 for 20. 

Iglesias is a force.  Guillorme was a back of the bench sub that Mets fans liked, but who didn't do nearly  enough in an extended situation like a McNeil injury.  Good job, Mr. Stearns.

ALONSO AND QUEENS…A DEEP CONNECTION

Saw this in a random on-line Facebook post from the Players’ Tribune…he may want to stay with the Mets more than we realize:

Pete Alonso: “By now, I’m sure a lot of Mets fans know a bit about my ties to New York. That my great-grandpa moved his family to Queens in the ’30s when things were getting unstable and dangerous in his home country of Spain.

But the bonds between my family and this city go so much deeper than just that. My grandpa grew up in Queens and graduated from NYU after serving in WWII. He actually met my grandma down on Wall Street while he was in grad school. The story goes that he didn’t know how to type, so his plan was to try to find the best-looking receptionist in New York City to help him with his papers … and the rest is history.

My grandma delivered my dad at a hospital in — where else? — Queens. And when he was a kid, there were aunts and uncles and cousins around all the time. I was born down in Florida, but from the very first time I visited New York as a teenager … man, I just felt such a special connection to this place.

Then, when the Mets drafted me, it was like destiny or something. When they brought me to town to sign my contract, I couldn’t stop looking around and thinking about how my grandpa might have driven down the same streets back in the day, or walked past the same buildings.

And now, every time I put on my uniform, there’s real, genuine significance there. I feel it deeply. I absolutely cherish the fact that the name ALONSO is what’s on the back of my jersey. It’s not my name, as an individual. It doesn’t say PETE back there. It’s my family’s name. My family’s history! And I feel truly blessed by all the connections there.

My grandpa passed away before I made it to the bigs, but in so many ways I feel like he’s out there with me when I pull that jersey on and head out to first. He loved baseball — he’d tell me stories all the time about listening to Brooklyn Dodgers games on the radio back in the day — and I know he’d be so proud. Not just because his grandson made it to the show. But also because he made it to the show here. In this particular place."

THE IDEA OF A BLOSSOMING BIG POWER BAT LIKE MARK'S JOINING WITH PETE'S IS SOMETHING TO PONDER.  ADD A DOSE OF SOTO AND WHAT A TRIO. MAYBE IT WILL HAPPEN.

Lastly....

Arizona Fall League baseball has begun. 

The team the Mets are on starts on Tuesday.

We will watch closely as Drew and Jett seek to position themselves for 2025.