In the game of baseball, there is nowhere to hide. Adversity will find you. And so the Mets, cruising along after a successful west coast trip and riding a six game winning streak with comebacks that strengthen resolve, ran into a boulder called the Tampa Bay Rays.
Game 1, Holmes pitches well, but appears to be tiring somewhat in his transition to starting, so he gives way to Blackburn who is tuning up to become a fill-in starter for the injured Kodai Senga. Four hits and four earned runs later (in 1/3 of an inning) and the momentum is lost. Max Kranick (filling the roster spot opened by Senga's injury) can't stem the tide and gets roughed up himself. Mets lose 7-5.
Game 2, Tylor Megill and a sloppy defense get hammered 8-4.
Game 3, the Rays hit everything that is thrown, including a bag of peanuts in the stands. It was that bad.
The pitching that everyone has been raving about for the last month took a pretty significant hit to their ERA. The hitting that was picking up some significant momentum ground to a halt.
Are you worried yet? I am not. This is the roller coaster that every team rides during a season. There are periods where nothing goes right, and it seems bad things happen at absolutely the wrong time. It just happened to the Phillies. They had surged into first place on a 9-1 tear, only to go 3-10 in their next 13 games while losing the NL East back to the Mets.
One could be concerned about Kodai Senga's health after last year's lost season and a very slow recovery this year, and now an unfortunate hamstring injury on a simple 3-1 groundout. But that was a fluke, a play where an errant throw turns into an off-balance attempt to save the play. He will be back and he will pitch well because he will be rested.
One could be concerned about Tylor Megill running into some rough innings in several recent starts. But those rough innings are surrounded by some pretty dominant ones, so I don't think he forgot how to pitch and I don't think he is hurt. He is just going through some mental lapses that will require adjustment from a very capable pitching staff and analytics department.
One could be concerned about the bullpen wearing down given some of Ryne Stanek's and Max Kranick's recent outings. But maybe that was a hot hitting Rays team rather than a pitching collapse.
It is pretty easy to get used to winning every day, and then when you don't it seems like the roof is falling in. The Mets are 45-27, 2.5 games in front of a very good Philadelphia team, and had a great month of June going before the Tampa series. The injury to Senga was unfortunate, but the Mets' roster is in much better health than many teams. So once again, I am not going to fall victim to over-reaction. The team will work through this behind the steady, calming influence of Carlos Mendoza.
9 comments:
I think you hit the nail on the head with Megill. When he gets some traffic on the bases he seems to lose focus and things unravel. His body language changes hinting at mental gymnastics
Megill is like McNeil. Very emotional and very hard on himself
Traits like that are inert.
I can't see this changing when things go wrong for him
Megill needs to toughen up. However, keep in mind that Tampa has averaged over 5 runs per game in May and June. They are a tough opponent
I express some targeted displeasure in my 11:00 today on two other pitchers whose names start with M.
Sorry, I am officially off the McGil bandwagon, he really just isn't that good. He has a 4.5 lifetime ERA. That's just who he is. Without his traditional good start, his ERA would be over 5.00. Same goes for Blackburn and Canning.
Perspective: The Rays continue to surge up the American League standings. They shut out the Mets, 9-0, at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep and have won 18 of their last 24 games, which is the best record in baseball dating back to May 20.
Seaver was 12-20 lifetime versus the Big Red Machine. Perspective.
Tom, you know that's blasphemy to invoke McGil's name in the same sentence as Seaver. He is not even a pimple on his arse.
He's not hurt; he's just a head case.
Peña led off with his 1st homer.
Megill is a .500 career pitcher. Maybe that is all he will ever be. It is up to him. It is mental.
For instance, he is career 3.67 in Citi, but a far higher 5.38 ERA career on the road. That shows he is weak in hostile situations. He is also a terrible .297 BAA with RISP.
Worst indicator: A 2.00 ERA in his 26 career wins, but 8.00 in his 26 career losses. If you can do 2.00 in your wins, you should not be 8.00 in your losses. But then again, those stats on wins and losses ERAs are very close to Sean Manaea’s career comparables, so who knows.
Good article. Tough to stay patient as a fan, but you’re right.
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