MAKE…OR BREAK
The good news is that the Mets are playing meaningful games in August. As I write this, we have completed three games of the ten-game west coast swing. Unfortunately, we lost two games against an underwhelming Angels team. Once again, we failed to show up offensively against a rather mediocre starting pitching staff.
As I’ve said
before, prior to the season, I predicted the Mets would be playoff bound. Here we are in early August in contention for
one of the three wild card slots. In spite of us being in the running, I now
believe we will fail to qualify for the playoffs. Let’s look at the competition.
The Atlanta
Braves look to be
a lock for post-season play. They have a
true number one starter in Chris Sale and enough pitching depth to ward off all
comers. In addition, the Braves have a
solid manager in Brian Snitker.
The San Diego
Padres have an ace
in Dylan Cease and a good number two in Michael King. The rest of the SPs are
more than adequate. Their lineup is very good from top to bottom. Mike Shidt is
okay as the manager.
The Arizona
Diamondbacks
have a more balanced lineup than the Mets and just enough pitching to secure a wild-card
spot. Adding AJ Puk to the bullpen was a
good move. They also have a solid
manager in Torey Lovullo.
The best chance of the Mets making the playoffs is to beat out the D-backs. The problem is that all the teams in front of us have at least one Ace SP and better bullpens. Losing Senga and Scott left us in a bad position.
Our starting pitching lacks a true number one or number two
starter. It’s rare for one of our guys to go longer than 5-6 innings. In fact,
when a SP has a chance to go into the seventh inning, he gets pulled, i.e. Peterson
pulled after 82 pitches with a two-run lead.
The pen is
still mediocre at best even with the new additions. While Phil Maton has looked good thus far, the
jury is out on Brazoban and Stanek. Are these three newcomers better than
Nunez, Reid-Foley and Garrett? The
question remains as to who gets sent down once these three come off the DL.
Our offense
has been simply offensive. The middle of the lineup has been a black hole and I
include JD Martinez in the group of lack-luster players. Alonso, JDM, Nimmo,
Alvarez have not been productive since the all-star break. Getting a runner in
from third with less than two outs has become a major challenge.
This past
Saturday, our team with a problem scoring runs sat out their most productive hitters
as Iglesias, Bader and Alvarez warmed the bench.
Carlos
Mendoza continues to make questionable decisions in managing the pen and filling
out the lineup. I don’t understand why the
hot-hitting McNeil and Iglesias are in the seventh and eighth position in the
lineup.
I’m afraid
that we will return home from this west coast trip, against beatable opponents,
in dire shape. Ah, won tonight’s game against the Cards with limited production
from our core players. Manaea looks
better with each game.
Ray
August 6,
2014
7 comments:
Ray, everyone has learning curves and Mendoza does too. I believe that Mendoza underestimated the Angels and left Brazoban out there to get out of that mess he created. If it was the Braves, Diaz would be coming in for a four out save. I bet that never happens again.
On the slumping hitters, they aren’t slumping, they are regressing to their mean. I have said that Alonso is a #5 or #6 hitter two years ago. The guy can bring in base runners but doesn’t get on base enough to keep the line moving. His interview yesterday where he claims to be satisfied with his season because he made the all-star team is not the Pete Alonso we used to hear. He is being hypnotized and told what to say by either his wife or agent and doesn’t have any hunger. Thus, the lack of adjustment. He is done mentally and I would not want to hear a player say that’s ever.
Alonso’s wife may (or may not) have more say where Pete plays next year than does Boras. Happy wife, happy life.
Pete still has hit better career on the road. That is a penalty to him. If he played in Colorado, he’d be headed for the Hall of Fame.
Ray, Manaea has pitched like an ace over his last 10 starts. He’s my ace until the 5.1 inning guy comes back.
Gus, in fairness to Mendoza, Brazoban had allowed just 9 homers in 122 prior MLB innings. That one may have cost them the division. Let us SWEEP the Rockettes. 41-72 would be enough to earn some fan high kicks. Colorado is -180 in runs and has allowed nearly 6 runs per game. Score 30, win 3.
It's disturbing how quiet the core Mets bats have become. Even Lindor has become less productive lately.
Ray, agreed. No time to pull foot off pedal. Colorado should (better) be the hitting antidote. Batting average against Rockies pitchers in Coors is .286. May the Mets hit .386.
Hi Ray, great piece, as always. I’m going to disagree a bit on the ‘pen. I think it’ll end up being a strength the rest of the way. As to Mendoza’s decision-making, I was stunned that he used Butto, his best reliever at the moment, up 5-1 in the 7th in game 2 of the Angels series. Would have been nice to have him for two innings up 4-2 in game 3. I 💯 agree on Martinez. Other than a couple of games, he’s looked absolutely lost at the plate for a month. Maybe he’s finished, but the guy’s been a premier hitter for a long time, including last season, and it would be huge if he suddenly found it again. Not expecting much offense from Alvarez the rest of the way. Hard to hit with a bad hand and a bum shoulder. He’s really had the crap beaten out of him this year.
I think Alonso has talked himself off the team for next year.
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