Right now, the Mets need great performances from their players game-in and game-out to pull off the near impossible. Tonight, they got it from Marcus Stroman.
Stroman didn’t just look like the pitcher who the Mets sought at the trade deadline, or the pitcher who was having a great year in Toronto. This was the pitcher who was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic.
Even with him pitching in Coors Field, to say this start for Stroman was unexpected is unfair. Aside from his showing he can pitch like this in Toronto, he’s been gradually improving with each start. So far in his Mets career, this was his best start.
Thorough the first five innings, he allowed just two hits and one walk. At that point in time, the question is whether the Mets bats which had been asleep since the fourth inning last night would awaken in time to give Stroman and the Mets a win. They would in the sixth.
After a Todd Frazier leadoff single against Rockies starter Tim Melville, Amed Rosario would hit his 13th homer of the year, which not only have the Mets a 2-0 lead, but it would also start the home run brigade.
.@Amed_Rosario must have read our mentions. He gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/Mg7pzR11Qj
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 18, 2019
After Rosario homered, Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso would also homer in the inning giving the Mets a 4-0 lead.
A mile high and two miles gone. ❄️? pic.twitter.com/i6JJG42SIF
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 18, 2019
That was plenty for Stroman. He’d shut down the Rockies in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh, he and Wilson Ramos combined for a strike ’em out (Raimel Tapia) – throw ’em out (Charlie Blackmon) double play.
With that Stroman threw seven scoreless allowing no runs on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. This is the deepest he’s gone in a game with the Mets. In fact, it’s the best he’s looked in Mets uniform.
With the way the Mets bullpen has been all year, you can argue the 4-0 lead wasn’t sufficient. If you’d argue that, the top of the fifth provided some peace of mind.
Joe Panik led off the inning with a pinch hit single off Rockies reliever Wes Parsons, and he’d be on second after a Nimmo walk. Alonso, who is clearly busting out of his slump, blooped an RBI double to right.
As noted, Panik scored. However, that’s all they’d get as Daniel Murphy hustled back, and he’d nail Alonso trying to stretch the single to a double.
In the eighth, it was Justin Wilson, who is just one of two relievers in whom Mickey Callaway has any faith. Even with his allowing a double to Pat Valaika, he shut the door.
The Mets added another insurance run in the ninth on a Frazier RBI single scoring Ramos giving the Mets a 6-0 lead. That lead would be enough for Callaway to go with Luis Avilan and not Seth Lugo in preserving this lead.
The Rockies scored one in a on Blackmon solo homer in the ninth, but the Mets would still win 6-1 keeping them afloat.
The Cubs lost to the Reds, and the Brewers beat the Padres. This means the Mets move to 4.0 back. It’s something, and that something is hope.
Game Notes:Frazier played for the first time since getting hit on the hand.
If you want to pinpoint the point where the Mets Wild Card hopes might’ve finally ended it was Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela breaking an 0-for-44 streak to hit a two out two RBI single to tie the game at 4-4. Right then and there, you had your sign this was not to be for the Mets for the night or for the 2019 season.
That is a Senzational swing ?#PitchersWhoRake pic.twitter.com/4HVPFihoKB
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 17, 2019
If you had any remaining doubt, Trevor Story would follow with a three run homer to put the Rockies up 7-4. It would be the fourth win in a row for the Rockies, and it would be the second straight loss for the Mets and their third loss in four games.
This was the exact sort of meltdown Steven Matz has avoided throughout the second half. While this hasn’t been the Matz of the second half, this is the Matz of Coors Field. In his career at Coors, he has allowed batters to hit .328/.397/.607, and he is now 0-2 with a 9.20 ERA and 1.773 WHIP there.
Matz struggling in Coors makes his a starting pitcher. Even with the humidor, mixing the new ball with the thin air is a recipe for disaster for any starting pitcher.
What is troubling is the Mets couldn’t overcome what was just a three run deficit. Before the bottom of the fourth, they were winning 4-1 having scored in three of the four innings. They had homers from Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, and Pete Alonso seemed to snap out of his cold streak.
The pivotal moment came in the sixth. An Amed Rosario infield single set up runners at the corners with one out. With Wilson Ramos out due to fatigue, Tomas Nido was due up. Mickey Callaway would send up Luis Guillorme instead of Ramos or as a pinch hitter. After he struck out, Callaway sent Joe Panik to the plate instead of Ramos, and he would ground out to end the inning.
Even if Ramos was fatigued to the point he couldn’t catch in the game, especially with the thin air, you can’t understand his not pinch hitting when the Mets needed a big hit there with his being the one guy on the bench with real power. Of course, that assumes Todd Frazier can’t go after getting hit on the hand.
In the end with the Mets 9-4 loss, they have now fallen to five games back of the Cubs, and they are four games behind the Brewers. Their postseason odds are 2.4 percent. Even if they go 10-2 from here on out, they need the Cubs and Brewers to essentially play .500 ball. As you can see with the odds being the way they are, the Mets chances aren’t impossible, just really improbable . . . just like the odds of Senzatela getting an RBI single
At 77-72, the New York Mets have been officially eliminated to the National League East race, and they are 4.0 games back of the Cubs for the second Wild Card with 13 games remaining in the season. To that end, they are also three games behind the red hot Milwaukee Brewers who are making a charge for the second Wild Card.
This means the Mets next stretch of games is likely going to be their entire season. They have 10 games to get back into this race to put themselves into position to fight for that last Wild Card spot.
First up is the Colorado Rockies who are playing just terrible baseball right now. They are just 21-40 in the second half. That said, they are three games over .500, and they are just one game under .500 in September after sweeping the Padres. There is also the matter of Daniel Murphy, who has been a Mets killer and has been hot at the plate.
Still, the Rockies are 33-56 against teams over .500. As a result, the Mets can sweep them.
After the Rockies, the Cincinnati Reds are next. The Reds are better than their record indicates with a +10 run differential. Like the Rockies, they are just one game under .500 for the month, and they are five games over .500 at home. Fortunately, the Mets are going to miss Luis Castillo, but they are going to get Trevor Bauer, but that may not be such a bad thing with Bauer having a 6.39 ERA with the Reds.
Again, the Mets might be able to sweep them.
That brings the Marlins into town. These aren’t the Marlins of 2007-2008 with Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, and Cody Ross. No, this is a very bad Marlins team who appears to be the only team in the National League who will lose 100 games this year.
The Mets second half run and impressive march from 10 games under .500 until this point started by taking two out of three from the Marlins in Miami. In August, the Mets really made things interesting by sweeping a four game set against the Marlins in Citi Field in what part of an eight game winning streak.
The Mets need to get part of the way there. Likely, they will need a 10 game winning streak to get them to 87-72 to have a real chance of getting into the postseason.
If the Mets do go 10-0 over this stretch, they will need the Cubs to go 6-4 against the Reds, Cardinals, and Pirates. Given how terrible the Pirates have played of late, that means the Mets need the Cardinals to sweep the Cubs, which is certainly possible but not entirely likely to happen.
The trickier part is the Brewers. Over their next 10 games, they have the Padres, Pirates, and Reds. Even with the Brewers being without Christian Yelich, again, the Pirates laying down is a major impediment to the Mets chances of catching either club. Fortunately, the Mets “only” need the Brewers to go 7-3 over this stretch of games to tie them.
Overall, with the Cubs and Brewers both playing the Pirates, at minimum the Mets need to go 9-1 over this stretch. Realistically speaking, that is probably not enough. They need to sweep the 10 games. If they do that, they will be likely giving themselves an opportunity to have a shot at being the second Wild Card entering the final weekend of the season.
While September series against the Braves are typically horror stories for the Mets, the Braves likely will have nothing to play for at that point and will be more interested in lining up their rotation for the NLDS. If things stand the way they are, the Mets will also be definitively sending Steven Matz to the mound.
Matz has been great in the second half, has a 1.94 ERA at Citi Field, and has limited the Braves to a .189/.255/.400 batting line against him this year. After that, if there is still hope left for the final game of the season, it’s all on Stroman to keep it alive to maybe put the whole season on Noah Syndergaard where you hope the Mets are just not stupid enough to start Wilson Ramos over Tomas Nido or Rene Rivera.
Put another way, right now, the Mets still have a puncher’s chance. Considering where they were coming into the break and their losing two out of three to the Braves, you’ll gladly take that.
The New York Mets faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a series the Mets and their fans had hoped would be an NLDS preview. Judging what we saw in this series, if this was a preview, Major League Baseball would’ve been thrilled, but it seems like this won’t be the series they’ll get:
1. Not only did the Dodgers beat the Mets, they beat the best the Mets could throw at them. This is the biggest sign the Mets were just not good enough to claim the Wild Card or have a real shot at the World Series.
2. Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, and Jeff McNeil combined to go 0-for-25 with two walks and five strikeouts. If they’re going to do that against any opponent, the Mets have little to no chance of winning no matter how good their starting pitching is.
3. For the most part, the starting pitching was really good too. Jacob deGrom further cemented his being the Cy Young front runner going toe-to-toe with Hyun-Jin Ryu. After that game, deGrom was the only starter in the National League in the top five in innings, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, FIP, ERA+, bWAR, and fWAR. If that’s not a Cy Young Award winner, we don’t know what is.
4. Back in 2015, when Zack Wheeler was on the precipice of being traded with Wilmer Flores for Carlos Gomez, Wheeler called Alderson to ask to not be traded, so he could pitch for this Mets team in a pennant race and hopefully win a World Series. He got his chance, and he took full advantage of the opportunity pitching great against the Dodgers limiting them to one run over seven.
5. In that game, Wheeler got a number of big outs. After allowing a leadoff double to Joc Pederson in the sixth, he struck out the next three. After allowing a single to Gavin Lux putting runners at first and second with one out in the seventh, he struck out the next two.
6. Wheeler showed more emotion he ever has in a Mets uniform, and the way he is closing out the season, it is a reminder the Mets are going to have to do better than the qualifying offer for him. They are going to need to lock him up if they want to legitimately have an opportunity to win in 2020.
7. The criticism of Mickey Callaway for lifting Wheeler was inane. He saw Wheeler was tired, and Wheeler admitted as such. He was turning over the game to Justin Wilson and Seth Lugo, who have been great all year. This is the exact opportunity you want, and they didn’t deliver.
8. There’s no need to criticize Wilson or Lugo. They’ve been great all year. Just lament what could have been and tip your cap to them for being what they’ve been to this team.
9. You can’t help but think that a year or two ago Juan Lagares robs that Enrique Hernandez double in the ninth, and if that was the case, Lugo gets out of that ninth unscathed.
10. The only Mets starter who did not pitch well was Noah Syndergaard. Of course, the Mets thought it more important to send a message to him by having Wilson Ramos catch him than to set him and the team up for success by having Tomas Nido or Rene Rivera catch him.
11. For all the talk of the desperate need for Ramos’ bat in the lineup, he was 1-for-10 with a walk and three strikeouts in the series, and he is hitting .211/.268/.368 over the past two weeks. That should’ve been a further indication he should have sat when Syndergaard started, but you know, messages trump winning.
12. That next message came during Sunday Night Baseball. All season long, Jessica Mendoza has refrained from offering insight into what the Mets are thinking about anything or any one player. However, during the broadcast, she took the time to smear Syndergaard and pretend like the whole issue was blown out of proportion.
13. Saying Syndergaard needed the training wheels taken off was both a stupid thing to say and an unwarranted insult. Syndergaard is the last Mets pitcher with a World Series win. He has proven to be the only pitcher in Major League Baseball who has matched zeros with Madison Bumgarner in the postseason. But sure, he needs his training wheels taken off like Greg Maddux did in his career, or A.J. Burnett did as he helped pitch the Yankees to the 2009 World Series.
14. It’s interesting how Mendoza offered insight on Syndergaard, but there was no discussion on the Mets thinking on Wheeler, who was an impending free agent, when she was discussing the starters available in free agency. That makes the shot all the more unwarranted.
15. If not for Rajai Davis, the Mets likely get swept as the Mets starters did not do anything at the plate against the excellent Dodgers starting pitching. Seeing him deliver, it makes you question why the Mets wasted so much time on Aaron Altherr, Keon Broxton, Gomez, and whatever flew through the 40 man roster this year.
16. Actually, there was one Mets starter who delivered – Brandon Nimmo. His RBI triple was a huge hit. The same goes for J.D. Davis‘ homer off Clayton Kershaw. Other than that, the Mets starters did little to nothing.
17. When you break it all down, this was a series where the Mets showed they could stand toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, but they also showed they are not good enough to beat the Dodgers right now. Sure, it’s possible in the NLDS the Mets could still pull it out like they did in 2015, but it’s an uphill climb to get to that point.
18. The Mets are really behind the eight ball being four back with 13 games left in their season. The good news there is the Mets next 10 games come against the Reds, Rockies, and Marlins. That means a 10-0 stretch is not out of the question, and if they do that, it can make the final weekend all the more interesting.
19. Ultimately, no one in that Mets clubhouse deserves any blame. They gave the Mets everything they could give, and they’ve played their hearts out. Really, if you want to blame anyone, look at the front office who completely failed to build the type of roster that was needed to win this year.
20. Lets just enjoy the final stretch of the season and do post mortems later. This team still has a pulse, and they’ve earned our faith and belief in them. No one should speak of them being done until they are actually done.
There isn’t too much to over analyze with this loss. Unfortunately, the Mets lost because the Dodgers are just that much better.
No, it didn’t seem that way when Zack Wheeler was on the mound. He was legitimately great tonight. It was his fourth straight start allowing just one earned with him lasting 7.0 innings in three of those starts.
Wheeler struck out nine batters while walking just one. He got out of jams in the sixth and seventh unscathed, and he showed emotion like he never has. After those seven innings, the Mets were up 2-1 with Justin Wilson and Seth Lugo lined up to close it out.
If you’re the Mets, that’s exactly where you want to be. You want the lead to entrust to your two best relievers, the only two guys who have been legitimately very good all year.
Still, it was just a one run lead which is zero margin of error.
The Mets only had a one run lead because they only had one hit after Brandon Nimmo‘s second inning two run triple. In fact, after Nimmo’s triple, Walker Buehler and Pedro Baez would combine to retire 14 straight Mets.
The Mets threatened against Dustin May in the seventh, but ultimately, that rally went nowhere. As a result, Wilson and Lugo needed to be perfect. Sadly, they weren’t.
Wilson got himself into trouble walking the leadoff batter Jedd Gyorko. He then allowed a one out game tying double to Chris Taylor.
Wilson did step up after that. After intentionally walking Cody Bellinger, he struck out Corey Seager before Mickey Callaway brought in Seth Lugo, who retired Will Smith to get out of the jam.
Given the state of the Mets bullpen, there was no one available to bail Lugo out in the ninth.
Enrique Hernandez led off the inning with a double. On the play, Juan Lagares gave everything he had to get it going so far as to kick in part of the wall on the leap. He just missed it. You really can’t help but shake the feeling that last year Lagares catches it.
Lugo rebounded retiring two straight, and for a split second it looked like he may get the Mets into the bottom of the ninth tied. On his fourth fastball in the at-bat, Gyorko hit the 1-2 pitch for a go ahead base hit.
The Mets didn’t go down feebly. Robinson Cano drew a two out walk against Kenta Maeda, and Callaway would send Rajai Davis to pinch run. He’d also send up Joe Panik, who has excellent numbers against Maeda, to pinch hit.
Davis wouldn’t take off, and Panik would strike out to end the game. What we don’t know is if the Mets falling to four games behind the Cubs effectively eliminates them from the postseason.
What we do know is the Mets have 10 straight against bad Rockies, Reds, and Marlins teams. They also have the starting staff which came very close to taking down the Dodgers.
Overall, the Mets need some help and some luck. Probably a lot of luck. But that’s what happens when you build the very flawed roster the Mets have.
Both Jacob deGrom and Hyun-Jin Ryu were great pitching seven scoreless. On the night, deGrom struck out eight compared to Ryu’s six. On the flip side, Ryu’s two hits allowed were one fewer than deGrom’s.
In all, this game did little to separate these two pitchers in the Cy Young voting, especially with both getting no decisions. With respect to deGrom, that should shock no one.
While the Cy Young is of importance, that’s not where the Mets concern now lies. No, it’s the Wild Card. The Mets entered tonight’s game three back, and the Pirates essentially no showed against the Cubs again making this a must win if there ever was one.
Knowing that, Mickey Callaway double switched J.D. Davis out of the game and brought in Brandon Nimmo and Seth Lugo in the hopes Lugo would go two innings. Even with Lugo striking out the side in the eighth, he wouldn’t.
The reason is the Mets put together a rally by taking advantage of the Dodgers plunking both Todd Frazier and Nimmo. The other thing the Mets took advantage of was the Dodgers bullpen as it was Joe Kelly who hit Frazier and Julio Urias who hit Nimmo.
With there being two outs and an opportunity to not just get out of the inning but also get Lugo out of the game, Urias pitched around Amed Rosario to force the Mets to go to a pinch hitter to get Lugo out of the game.
It should be noted here Michael Conforto did not start the game against the tough lefty. During this inning, Callaway had let Juan Lagares bat for himself against Kelly. While that decision might’ve seemed odd, it seemed like it was about to pay off for Callaway.
Except, he didn’t go to Conforto with the left-handed Urias on the mound. No, he went to Rajai Davis. While many first guessed this move, Davis, who was actually batting for the spot in the lineup held by the other right-handed hitting outfielder named Davis, made Callaway look smart:
?️?️?️ FOR THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/FEU6Vugirp
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 15, 2019
That bases clearing double gave the Mets a 3-0 lead. After Justin Wilson pitched a perfect ninth, the Mets had a 3-0 win thereby staying alive in the Wild Card race.
Game Notes: Sam Haggerty scored the go-ahead run. He had pinch run for Frazier in the eighth.
On Thursday, I had the privilege of being to be invited on the Simply Amazin‘ Podcast. On the podcast, I mentioned Wilson Ramos, Tomas Nido, Rene Rivera, Pete Alonso, Gerson Bautista, Jarred Kelenic, Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Brad Brach, Daniel Zamora, Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Marcus Stroman, Luis Santana, Keon Broxton, Felix Valerio, Juan Lagares, Luis Guillorme, Paul Sewald, Luis Avilan, and others.
The Mets are not interested in doing all they can do to grab the second Wild Card. No, they’d rather prove a point and send a message to Noah Syndergaard than do everything they can do to win a pivotal game.
Despite Syndergaard pitching like a Cy Young caliber pitcher with Tomas Nido and Rene Rivera behind the plate, the Mets started Wilson Ramos. After all, as an organization, you’d rather be invested in the 31 year old catcher than the 26 year old pitcher who is the last Mets pitcher to both win a World Series game and have a scoreless postseason start.
Well, as is usually the case, Ramos couldn’t get the low strikes, and as is typically the case, he wasn’t calling for Syndergaard to throw those pitches. The ball was elevated, his pitch count was going up, and eventually he hung one to Gavin Lux who hit a three run homer capping off a four run inning.
With Clayton Kershaw, it was game over. In his 12 year career, he’s lost just one game where he’s had four runs of support. He’s now 104-1. As was expected, he shut down the Mets offense because he’s Kershaw.
Throw in Jeurys Familia, Luis Avilan (why is he allowed to face RHB), and Walker Lockett getting roughed up to that tune of five runs combined along with the Mets only getting one home with the bases loaded in the seventh, you get a 9-2 loss.
That’s on a day the Cubs won pushing the Mets to 3.0 games back of the second Wild Card.
There were a couple of middle fingers to Syndergaard and the fans in this game from the Mets. Despite the purported need for Ramos to catch Syndergaard due to his offense, Juan Lagares would start, and Pete Alonso would sit. Finally, Nido would catch the ninth.
Hopefully, sending this message to Syndergaard was worth it. Judging by the score and losing a game in the standings, it wasn’t making this just a petty decision to cut their noses to spite their ace.
Game Notes: The Dodgers have won nine straight at Citi Field. That’s 10 straight if you include Game 4 of the 2015 NLDS.
The Mets have swept the Arizona Diamondbacks, and once again they are back in the thick of the Wild Card race after having played their way out of it. This has been one of the most mercurial seasons in team history setting forth what should be a fun emotional roller coaster ride over the final 16 games.
1. If you want to get off to a great start, there is no better way to accomplish that than starting with Jacob deGrom. He proved that by going seven innings of shut out ball. When you follow that up with Seth Lugo for two innings, there is no team in baseball that has a chance.
2. To put into perspective how incredible deGrom’s season was last year, he may be the leader in the clubhouse for the 2019 National League Cy Young award, and his ERA this year is a full run higher than it was last year.
3. In terms of this year’s Cy Young Award, tonight will be the second time over his last three starts where he faces off against another Cy Young leader. He pitched better than Max Scherzer the last time out, and this time he is facing off against Hyun-Jin Ryu, who has not been the same pitcher he was in the first half.
4. It is not just deGrom who is pitching great for the Mets lately. Zack Wheeler has three straight starts of 7.0 innings and just one earned. It might’ve taken a little more time than expected, but second half Wheeler finally arrived, and it could not have happened at a better time.
5. As good as deGrom and Wheeler are going, that is nothing compared to Steven Matz at Citi Field. This year, he is 7-1 with a 1.94 ERA at home. This is part of his pitching very well in the second half with a 2.52 ERA limiting opposing batters to a .227/.281/.364 batting line.
6. Then Marcus Stroman followed this trio with his best start in a Mets uniform. With him keeping the ball on the ground, you got a glimpse on just the pitcher the Mets thought they were going to get when they traded for him.
7. On Stroman, you see the impact a catcher can have on a pitcher. With the Blue Jays, Stroman had a 44.2 GB%, but when Wilson Ramos was catching him, it went down to 44.2 percent. Yesterday, the Diamondbacks only got the ball in the air 40.7 percent of the time.
8. This is another reason why we should note Noah Syndergaard‘s objections over Ramos are fact based. Even if it’s not, there is clearly a psychological impact upon him. Really, if the Mets are interested in winning, they would pair Syndergaard up with Tomas Nido or Rene Rivera.
9. What was surprising was seeing Nido homer yesterday. That wasn’t as surprising as Juan Lagares having a two home run game. We had Gary Cohen’s voice cracking as evidence of that. It was a great moment for Lagares who has been a good Met likely playing his final games in a Mets uniform.
10. Homers were a theme in this series with the Mets setting a team record hitting five homers in two straight games. They also set team records for homers at home in a season (114) and homers in a series (13). What is really surprising about this stretch is while everyone went homer happy, Pete Alonso didn’t hit one over the final two games.
11. Alonso is struggling now in an 0-for-12 stretch with seven strikeouts. Things must be getting to him as he took time to go into the clubhouse and shave his mustache mid-game. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and it may get worse with the Dodgers coming into town with Ryu, Clayton Kershaw, and Walker Buehler.
12. Of course, it was not all bad news with Alonso. He had a two home run game to surge to the Major League home run lead. However, that was nothing compared to his getting first responder cleats for the entire team. That was an incredible move which not only shows character, but it also shows he gets it.
13. The fact Alonso was forced to go that route is because yet again Major League Baseball refused to permit the Mets to wear the first responder caps. They did it while touting Sammy Sosa running with the American flag, and Mike Piazza hitting that homer.
14. They also sell special 9/11 patched caps. That’s Major League Baseball for you. They won’t let players do the right thing because it would interfere with their ability to profit off of a tragedy were many Americans lost their lives, and they continue to do suffering from 9/11 related illnesses.
15. It was not only special to see all the Mets wearing them, but specifically the local Mets like Matz, Stroman, Todd Frazier, Rajai Davis, Joe Panik, and Brad Brach. On that note, Matz pitched six shutout innings, and Frazier would homer wearing those cleats.
16. Matz wearing them was reminiscent of John Franco wearing an FDNY cap in the Mets first game post 9/11. With respect to Matz, he has undertaken charitable work to help those first responders, and due to his efforts he has been a Roberto Clemente Award nominee for the second straight year.
17. On Frazier, he his red hot right now. He has hit three homers over two straight games, and he is playing his usual good defense at third. He is getting hot just at the right time because the Mets need their absolute best from everyone right now.
18. That is something which has made this Mets team really special. They are all giving what they could give. Robinson Cano is playing as much as his leg would allow, and based upon what we heard from Mickey Callaway, J.D. Davis is doing the same. Brandon Nimmo has returned from a potentially season ending injury to play great. Brach is dealing with a shoulder injury, and Justin Wilson has an elbow issue. Right now, everyone is giving this team what they can. That deserves the fans’ love and admiration.
19. We’re also seeing players doing all they can to come back. Dominic Smith is hitting off a tee and running. Robert Gsellman is throwing on the side. They are both doing this despite both having suffered what really was season ending injuries. Again, say what you will about this team, but this is a special group of players.
20. The 1999 Mets overcame a two game deficit over the final three games of the season to force a one game playoff. This team has 16 games. Anything is possible.
This game wasn’t even close. The Mets absolutely destroyed the Diamondbacks hitting six homers and Marcus Stroman having his best start as a Met in their 11-1 win. There were all sorts of records.
There's no sweeter sound than a well-hit homer
Here's all six(!!) of today's Mets home runs pic.twitter.com/JWQ9etZvTd
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 12, 2019
It was the first time in team history they hit five homers in consecutive games. With the six homers, they’ve eclipsed their single season team record of homers at home.
Those homers came courtesy of Todd Frazier, Juan Lagares, Robinson Cano, Tomas Nido, and Michael Conforto (number 30 for number 30). If you noticed that’s just five names meaning someone must’ve hit two.
That would be Lagares. If you think you are incredulous, you should’ve heard Gary Cohen’s call for Lagares’ first career grand slam:
Go to bed with some positive vibes heading into Friday, courtesy of Juan Lagares and Gary Cohen pic.twitter.com/sWUFpm44GO
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 13, 2019
It was Lagares’ first homer at home since September 7, 2017. He wouldn’t have to wait much longer for his next one. The liost of Mets center fielders fo homer and collect such RBI are Lagares and Yoenis Cespedes.
His game had everyone happy for him. Fans cheered him. His teammates were elated. There was universal love and admiration for the player who is currently the longest tenured Met. He’s also a player who is a pending free agent, which means these could be the final days of Lagares’ Mets career.
Lagares has been the single most talented defensive outfielder. He won the Gold Glove in 2014, and he probably should’ve won the year prior. He was a player who always played the game the right way. He always hustled, and as you would hear from the Mets, he would leave no stone upturned in trying to improve as a player.
There are some who may want to dwell on his never being the player they hoped he would be. Part of the reason that was the case was the injuries, which were largely the result of his hustling like none other. It did lead to the Mets moving him away from being an everyday player to his being a role player. He never did receive enough credit for willingly accepting the role for the betterment of the team and not disrupting the clubhouse.
In the end, Lagares was a player who just wanted to win. On that front, he did all he could do with an excellent 2015 postseason. He also had an excellent stretch this year helping the Mets get back into contention. If the Mets are going to continue to contend this year, they’re going to need his glove, and on days like yesterday, his bat. When he hits like that he’s going to receive the love and admiration of Mets fans and players.
Yesterday was probably his last great game as a Mets player. It was probably the last time he’s going to receive the cheers he received. It might’ve been the last time the Mets fans got to say thank you for his performance on the field without having to say good-bye.
It was a great moment yesterday for someone who has been a good Met in his career. He’s been someone who has always played the game the right way, and he is someone who has been worthy of our admiration and respect. This was probably his last hurrah on this front for personal accomplishments. The good news is there is still more time for him to help experience glory in a Mets uniform. If that’s going to happen, the Mets are going to need him.