Mets Fans Owed Apology For Watching This
While Mickey Callaway was finally giving the apology which was demanded of him (which was summarily dismissed) and Jason Vargas barely did the bare minimum, Brodie Van Wagenen filled out a lineup card with Robinson Cano batting third and an outfield of Dominic Smith–Michael Conforto–Jeff McNeil.
However, it wasn’t discussed as there were “more pressing matters.”
If you didn’t think anything could be more embarrassing, Cano was the only position player in either starting lineup who did not have a hit in a game where there was a combined 20 runs and 34 hits in the Mets 13-7 loss. You think that’s bad? Well, Jay Bruce came and got the Mets:
?BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/gyedv7WZZR
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 25, 2019
This is a solid reminder Van Wagenen’s trade with the Mariners was a disaster and with each passing day things get worse.
Steven Matz couldn’t keep a lead or last five innings. He blew a 2-0 and a 6-5 lead. He was chased after allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings.
It blew a big game at the plate for Conforto who hit a double and a homer. In fact, the Mets as a team teed off on Phillies starter Zach Eflin. In addition to Conforto, Todd Frazier, Wilson Ramos, and Smith homered.
It was all for naught as Matz didn’t have it, and the Mets outfield defense let Brooks Pounders down including Conforto playing a what should’ve been a J.T. Realmuto single into a triple. Pounders would give up the homer to Bruce.
In the end, the Mets blew another winnable game, and when you break it down, the only people owed an apology are those who watch this terribly assembled team.
Game Notes: Jeff McNeil‘s hitting streak grew to six games, but he snapped his streak of five straight multi-hit games.
Not a Mickey fan by this Wilpon ordered hit piece by that scumbag Martino is sickening https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/mets-mickey-callaway-displays-failure-of-leadership/308431988
At least he’s no longer begging for Mets fans to leave Utley alone
“This is a solid reminder Van Wagenen’s trade with the Mariners was a disaster and with each passing day things get worse.”
–As dismal as the Cano-Diaz deal was, as misguided, wrongheaded, and just plain stupid as it was, I confess I did not particularly expect Bruce to be more valuable by bWAR in 2019 than Cano, or that Swarzak would be more valuable than Diaz. With Kelenic moving into the top 25 of all MLB prospects this trade has a real chance now of being something truly special, something generationally awful.
“….an outfield of Dominic Smith–Michael Conforto–Jeff McNeil.”
It’s hard to read that without wincing. Without looking comically bad it’s still an OF that can give up a couple of runs a game. Misjudge a ball that goes for a double, misplay a single into a triple–how many pitchers can survive even just a couple of miscues like that? You can’t win every game by three runs in order to win them by one.
At this point Wags should be combing track meets for 22 year old sprinters who played some college baseball, and stick a CF glove on them. See if he can’t find a kid who can hit something like .125/.250/.200 and field like peak Lagares. Anything’s better than watching this.
I don’t think there’s a person alive who thought Bruce would be better. What’s scary is Bruce has provided what you thought he’d provide.
Well, the Mets did score a run after the seventh. Robinson Cano got lift. Don Smith may have realized that the past week was school. McNeil’s defense will improve and he might have the arm they need in right field. In a blowout, Alsonso may yet just get up there in the later innings and just target a soft single on the first pitch.
Tonight is an another example of how frugality and overusing bullpen arms can bring humiliation to Met Nation.
Fernando Salas was an useful late 2016 pickup for the Mets. Sandy resigned him in 2017 out of necessity to pitch the seventh.
Yet, as the team brass mostly decided to focus to keep the 2015/2016 pen mostly intact up into the 2018 season Fernando Salas was a perfect example of destruction of confidence and destruction of value via either too little spending, poor analytics, improper spending, poor roster choices, poor coaching or poor managing.
In many eyes, Salas was used properly in 2016 and with career samples and splits easily available then abused in 2017.
Different pitching coach, same results?
No, same coach.
So the Mets just faced three previous pitchers of theirs in Blevins, Swarzak and Salas.
Each left the Mets after they left me with the conviction that all three were washed up.
Tonight, Salas pitched the ninth. Last week, Swarzak got his scoreless inning and incredibly so, so did Blevins…
What are the takeaways?
For one, these pitchers were not washed up.
Two, there may be many individual factors, one may be more specific to each pitcher yet maybe it comes down to how the organization is run and the continuity of it all.
A) You need healthy pitchers
B) To be healthy you need to know how they succeeded before, pitch counts, days of rest, how do pitchers age, where do each need to improve their skills sets, how they might adapt coming to a new division, small city to large city, new league, post injury — how to manage expectations.
C) You need effective pitchers (A and B)
D) You have to use them well, communicating all the way
E) You need depth
F) You need pen stoppers for if everyone fails then the entire pen loses confidence, then the whole team goes down.
G)If you consistently need 18-22 innings from your pen every week how do you leverage having so many of your relievers potentially throwing two innings or 30-50 pitches at a time ?
H) If you have a starter on the IL, call up a spot starter do you also call a spot long reliever also, for you may need an additional 3-16 innings in that six day time game if the spot starter pitches twice and gets pummeled each time.
Let me make it simple for myself.
Draft college relievers.
Stack AAA
Trade for the Biddles, the discarded prospects, the 40 man roster constraints of others, eat the salary of an injured Viscaino to get a Biddle, find the non tendered, the guys coming off a bad year, the guys who were over used on a team in a tight race or on a team with sub par starters….
Be creative,
Get everyone onboard
Have extra coaches in AAA for reclaim projects
Convince the FA why they should come to your organization
Show everyone loyalty and respect
Have a July rainy day fund to eat salary to get relievers
Have money in the bank
Spend!!
Spend wisely….
Spend, stay on plan and everyone take the fall if you fail
Fail together, win together…
Drafting collegiate relievers is a strategy which rarely works. Always go get the best arms you can get.
That was an incomplete reply to the comment.
Would you agree?
Have you considered doing a similar piece on relievers?
I addressed something specific to the core of the comment. As for doing a similar piece, I do not currently have plans to write a piece on drafting and developing relievers.