Jay Bruce Walks It Off!!!!!
Tonight’s game against the Phillies and the 2019 season as a whole can be summed up like this:
Never doubt the bamboo.
Ever. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/T7Qzxmpvax
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 27, 2019
In the 10th inning of a game the Mets once led 4-0, Jay Bruce hit a walk-off double against Stephen Nogosek.
That’s right. A player the Mets traded away got the game winning hit against a reliever who began the year in Double-A and was rushed up to the majors because the Mets had little other option.
Robinson Cano was 0-for-5, but it’s alright because Edwin Diaz pitched a perfect ninth in what was a non-save situation. That’s certainly worth $100 million over five years plus Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn.
At the end of the day, the Mets got what was coming to them for all they did this past offseason. As a fan, you might as well laugh because if you don’t, you’re going to go crazy.
Game Recap: Chris Mazza was called up from Triple-A. To make room for him on the roster, Walker Lockett was sent down, and Ryan O’Rourke was designated for assignment. Dominic Smith homered in his third straight game.
Two years ago Lagares makes that catch. Pity. And was it Lagares’ ill-advised, offline throw home in the 7th that let Segura go to 2B? He’s 30. How is he still making those throws?
7 games under .500 at the halfway point. No chance to win the division. Essentially no chance of making the wildcard, even though as of yesterday’s game BBRef has the Mets with a 6.4% chance of making the postseason. Ahem. Clearly time to seriously explore dealing everyone including, sadly, deGrom.
I cast my non-existent vote for “keep this team together.” No interest in rewatching the 2010-2014 Mets, and just as this FO and GM had almost no chance of building a contender, it currently has no chance of rebuilding successfully, even with all the trade chips the team possesses.
I had the same thought on Lagares.
If only Drew Smith was there to go 1-2-3 in the 10th?
Diaz looked sharp…. is conditioning the improvement he needs?
If the Mets generally do not usually score trailing or tied after the sixth, if the bull pen after the sixth has an astronomical ERA, why take the hot player, recently hitting for power out on a double switch where the chances are slim that his bat will NOT be needed?… I mean Dom Smith..
This is my first Callaway criticism… but maybe it was Brody’s and Jeff’s decision they said …. “Assume that Cano is your best hitter, never double switch him” … ?
Sandy drafted Dom but we traded for Robby.
Lugo will never be anything close to being a sure thing unless he starts getting swings and misses for Ks on a 96-97. He did that on his last batter.
Maybe they recognize that and had him in before Gsellman or maybe they hoped Lugo would pitch two innings?
Can Conforto ever adjust his swing in the later innings, more level, hit the ball for a quick single or are they just alternating and FBs and it does not seem to be so cut and dry?
Nido is starting to intrigue me.
Whatever Chili Davis is doing … is this it?
With respect to Davis, it’s funny how at a time when the balls are juiced and flying out of the ballpark Mets players who have historically hit for significant power aren’t this twat.
The Lagares era is over.
Maybe some team will pick him up every 8/31 for playoff late inning defense or is that gold glove long gone ?
It’s a real shame to see him fall apart like this. I always appreciated his hustle and hard play.
I do not know what trade chips there are for a hot everyday player prospect in return but here goes:
Wheeler
Vargas
Frazier
Hech
Ramos
What?!!!
Yikes
Why can they just play six innings and just go home?
Sure it is a forfeit.
Leave on a high note.
The bullpen needs two solid arms that get Ks.
The 7-9 inning HR philosophy really is stale.
They are 4-10 in last fourteen games
They’ve blown leads every game this week.
Ownership’s philosophy of being just good enough to fake contention or otherwise get people in the seats for a few months probably precludes the kind of complete teardown that would let the Mets build the best farm in the game.
As does the FO’s skill.
Say that tomorrow Wags and the Wilpons get religion and respectively retire and sell the club. Let’s also say that payroll goes to $190m-200m. What do you do? Any way to salvage this season? And if not, what can you get for all of the following?
Ramos, Cano, Rosario, Frazier, Lagares, Conforto, JD Davis, Hech, deGrom, Syndergaard, Wheeler, Matz, Vargas, Diaz, Gsellman, and Lugo.
Everyone must go?
I’m leaving off players like Nimmo, Wilson, and Familia for now because there’s no point in selling at rock bottom. (You can probably put Lagares on that part of the list.) As for Alonso, he might actually still be under control by the time the Mets are good again, and they need will somebody to put on the posters while they’re winning 52, 50, and 56 games.
A real GM could build a top-notch system by selling off the farm then drafting well as the resulting teams founder, but he might also instead be able to put the Mets in contention in 2020 by building on what’s currently there. BBRef has the 2020 payroll at around 177m. 183m if Vargas’s option is exercised, which it probably will be (8m if they reup, 2m if they drop him). The M’s 4m for Cano, and Cespedes’ insurance (roughly) and Wright’s settlement probably knocks payroll down to about 153m. That leaves enough for a 4 win OFer and a #2 starter.
Unlikely to happen, but as a Met fan i’ve learned to imagine realities parallel to this one, out of self-defense.
I don’t think the bullpen talent should have been an issue–with the exception of the very large mistake in acquiring Familia. (And why was he automatically the 8th inning designee going into the season, instead of Lugo?) It’s the lack of depth and the lack of skill in the FO in assembling that depth, the #8-14 relievers every team gives several hundred innings to, which pushes the over reliance on the few at the front of the pen. It’s hardly a surprise that the Mets just DFA’ed Wags’ first (iirc) acquisition, Ryan O’Rourke. It was the peripheral guys I kept a weather eye on this offseason. When he started picking up the Rajai Davises of the world it spoke of a GM who didn’t understand basic team building.
Diaz, Lugo, Gsellman, and someone like Ottavino should have been the foundation of a strong pen, and the secondary group behind them had enough talent to be competent, but this is the second year in a row that Callaway, a pitching coach, and his preferred, subordinate pitching coach, haven’t been able to coax even mediocrity from many of their pitchers. Too many pitchers leave the Mets and perform better, or come to the Mets and do worse. As for their pitchers this year being unable to adjust to the new ball, it was a new ball back in February. Why did it take so long for Met pitchers to figure out they needed to change the mix and frequency of their repertoires? Wasn’t that a key job of the manager and pitching coach? Where was the GM in figuring this out? It seemed in May like the team was still puzzled by the new ball and what it favored and discouraged. That’s baseball malpractice. Why is this FO continually baffled by developments?
It’s all about the Wilpon dictate of meaningful games in September. Sacrifice everything (except money) to accomplish that goal.