Last night, the Mets were dominated by CC Sabathia, who has not been good for three years. He has a 4.80 ERA. Last year, it was a 5.28 ERA. Two years ago, it was 4.78. This was all the more disturbing because the Mets featured an almost all righty lineup.
This is alarming because the Mets will face three lefty starters in the first round. This triumvirate features Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, and Brett Anderson. Each of these pitchers are significantly better than Sabathia has been this year. Since I was concerned, I decided to look at the numbers.
The first thing I noticed was the Mets bats have gone cold. Over the past week, the Mets are hitting .194/.263/. This means we shouldn’t put too much emphasis on one start or anything that has happened over the past week. Accordingly, we should focus on the lefty-right splits over the course of the season:
- vs. LH starters .244/.310/.401
- vs. RH starters .245/.313/.399
Essentially, the Mets hit righties and lefties equally well. That doesn’t mean I’m confident about their chances against Kershaw, but it does mean I’m not going to panic when Wood and Anderson start.
The Mets have two weeks to snap out of this slump. Once they do, it shouldn’t matter who’s on the mound . . . so long as it’s not Kershaw or Greinke.
I was talking to one of my loyal readers a while back, my cousin Brian, and he said to me, “you really hate Terry Collins.” Honestly, I don’t. I think he’s a good man that makes baffling moves. However, I will admit he irked me yesterday. Here is his quote regarding Matt Harvey:
It’s hard for me to get it, because I am, at heart, the old-school guy. But I understand where it’s coming from. Therefore, you adjust to it. Because I’ve said before, there’s a lot of things in our game today I don’t necessarily agree with. You either adjust to it, or get out. So, I’m adjusting to it.
I read that as a veiled shot at Harvey and the innings limits. I read that as Collins wanting to push Harvey in a relatively meaningless September game when he should be getting his team ready for the playoffs. I wasn’t expecting that from him.
When it came to Johan Santana and his no-hitter, Collins was moved to tears over the possibility of ruining the guy’s career post-surgery. Three years later, Collins said he was still affected by it. He says he’s learned from it, and he will act accordingly. I don’t think he was lying. I just think old habits and views are tough to break.
I think he admires Johan for going out there and getting it, as we all should. I think he has disdain for the innings limits, but he just won’t come out and say it. It’s amazing the man crying over possibly ruining a guy’s career for a moment of glory is irked by getting a young pitcher rest so he can pursue his moment of glory.
I thought Collins learned something three years ago, and maybe because of that, he was the right guy to handle Harvey this year. I saw a guy that wanted to protect his players. I saw a guy who knew the right time to go for it. I guess I was wrong.
I’m well on the record defending Matt Harvey. Overall, in my opinion, unless you’ve been in his shoes, how can you properly judge him for ignoring a doctor’s advice and risk everything? Personally, I know my father and I ignored doctor’s advice and went to work. We’re both idiots, and we’re both on Harvey’s side.
However, there is a person with real credibility on the issue, who has taken umbridge with Harvey. That’s Curt Schilling, who said:
This entire episode with Harvey and innings and pitch counts is a joke. It's now the story instead of this teams run up to a WS.
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) September 21, 2015
Because of a well earned suspension and the rise of Jessica Mendoza, Schilling took to Twitter with his comments rather than being able to offer them on Sunday Night Baseball. It’s a shame because Schilling saying these comments on live TV would’ve been interesting, especially since he’s got credibility on the issue:
The “Bloody Sock Game.” Schilling risked his career to get the Red Sox to the World Series. The man literally had his tendon sewn into place so he could pitch. Then, he did it again in the World Series. If anyone can talk about risking your career for your team, it’s Schilling. I’m not going to parse out that Schilling did it in the playoffs after getting his money while Harvey still has a career to consider. The fact is Schilling did it.
Instead, we get John Kruk criticizing Harvey. The same Kruk who retired mid-game due to injuries. He got his hit, was taken out of the game, and he drove home before the game was finished.
So while I disagree with Schilling’s take, I respect his opinion. It would’ve made the broadcast last night better.
The narrative after last night’s game was Matt Harvey was soft for following doctor’s advice. The other part of the narrative was David Wright is the anti-Harvey because he’s playing through a back injury.
Let’s start with Wright. He didn’t begin his rehab until doctors signed off on it. Furthermore, spinal stenosis is a degenerative and permanent condition. The Mets are making accommodations for Wright’s injury by limiting him to playing only four games in a row. People call Wright tough, but they fail to realize he only had two options: play or retire and forfeit approximately $87 million dollars.
Harvey, who is coming back from major Tommy John surgery, is labeled as soft. This ignores everything that has happened. He was told he shouldn’t go past 180 innings. The team wanted to limit him to less than 180 innings so he could pitch in the playoffs. The team abandoned the six man rotation on three different occasions due to the sixth starter’s injury or ineffectiveness. However, the Mets made sure to publicize Harvey’s disdain for the six man rotation to make it seem like the six man rotation was abandoned on his orders.
Harvey suffered from arm fatigue and decreased velocity (major warning signs). He left a game with severe dehydration. He pitched through all of this in his first year after Tommy John surgery, and he’s not tough? That’s insane. He doesn’t want to win? Then why is he working to come up with a modified schedule so he can pitch unfettered in the playoffs?
That doesn’t stop Mets fans from blowing up on Harvey went he only goes five innings against the Yankees, but there was no peep when Wright sat against the Marlins in a loss two weeks ago. Seriously, in a game the Mets lost on a walk off hit, Wright didn’t so much as pinch hit. Why the double standard?
I don’t know why the Mets can make accommodations for Wright and not Harvey. I don’t know why people want Harvey to risk his career pitching in meaningless September games when he’s clearly gearing up for a postseason run. I don’t know why no one respects the fact that he’s making under a million, and the Mets have made no financial incentives to ignore his doctor’s advice and pitch. Wright has $87 million reasons to play. Harvey had hundreds of millions reasons not to pitch, and yet, he’s still out there pitching.
Overall, Harvey and Wright are tough and want to win. That should be the narrative. Any other narrative purposefully ignores the facts.
Tonight, Matt Harvey was brilliant for five innings. He allowed one hit and a walk in conjunction with seven strikeouts. As October is more important than Septrmber 20th, especially with a 6.5 game lead in the division, Harvey was lifted.
The Mets then blew the lead. Twitter blew up. Everyone acted like it was Harvey and Boras that was the reason the Mets lost. It wasn’t even close to the reason. Here are some of the bigger reasons why the Mets lost:
- Mets leave the bases loaded in the first.
- Mets only score one run off CC Sabathia, who came into the game with a 4.93 ERA.
- Mets only mustered five hits and struck out seven times against Sabathia.
- David Wright dropping a throw from Hansel Robles after an awful Brett Gardner bunt, which set up a big inning.
- Robles emulating Jon Niese after the Wright misplay.
- Mets committing four errors.
- Terry Collins pitching Eric O’Flaherty.
- O’Flaherty being O’Flaherty (allowing all three lefty batters to get on base).
- Erik Goeddel walking in one of the batters he inherited from O’Flaherty.
- The Mets bullpen in total allowed eleven runs.
The Mets lost this game because their bullpen was terrible. The Mets lost because their offense was terrible. They didn’t lose the game because Harvey was amazing for five innings.
So when the blame game starts tonight, let’s start with where it belongs, which is everyone but Harvey.
Since the trade, Yoenis Cespedes has been insanely hot. He was carrying a vastly improved offense. With his play, fans have been clamoring to re-sign him. They wanted to make him the MVP.
Well, he’s come crashing down to earth. He’s 0-16 with a .194 Citi Field batting average. It’s a slump. Just as we couldn’t believe his earlier numbers would hold true, we can’t overreact to this slump. His early stats with the Mets were not congruent with his career numbers. Early on, he was hitting, .307/.354/.660. As he’s not Babe Ruth, these numbers weren’t sustainable.
Another reason why these numbers aren’t sustainable is the fact that it isn’t who Cespedes is. Cespedes is a career .270/.318/.486 hitter. Now, he may improve due to a change in leagues or the presence of Kevin Long, but not that much. So as much as his recent hot streak wasn’t him, this cold snap isn’t him either.
He’ll settle in as the hitter he’s always been, which is a terrific player. He’s a cleanup hitter. He’s just not the player you thought he was. That’s fine. I’m happy with the player he is. We need that player to win the World Series.
My first dream growing up was to be a baseball player. Unfortunately, as I make Sid Bream look like a speed demon, that was never going to be an option for me.
My next dream became to become a Mets’ season ticket holder. Trust me, I had much bigger aspirations . . . this was just one of them. Unfortunately, my job wouldn’t permit that type of commitment. Better yet, no one would join me for that many games. However, my father and brother were on board for the Sunday plan. Today was my day to go to a Mets game. It was for 13 glorious games. Even better yet, we would have access to postseason games.
Something interesting happened over those 13 games. You got to know the other people in your section. A vast majority of them were nice people and terrific Mets fans. We got to know them all. We saw them in subsequent seasons. You always acknowledged each other in and out of the ballpark. We sometimes talked strategy. It was nice seeing them return the next year as well.
Shea Stadium closed after the 2008 season. The Mets moved to Citi Field and ended the Sunday Plan. I never got to see those people again. Sure, some of us exchanged numbers and talked about going to a Mets game together in Citi Field, but it never happened.
I’m still in constant contact with the two Mets fans I know and care about the most. It doesn’t mean I don’t miss the sense of community amongst Mets fans. Right now, I don’t think another ticket plan is in the cards right now. It’s a shame because I’d love to go to a home World Series game.
I’d like to be there celebrating with not only my son, father, and brother, I’d like to be there with you Mets fans.
