With the new CBA, teams are limited to just two September call-ups instead of calling up the entire 40 man roster. This really limits what a team can do.
The New York Mets went the warm body route. Instead of opting for looking at a top prospect and/or seeing who can surprise, they opted for Deven Marrero and Adonis Medina, two players who will not factor into the Mets postseason plans.
That’s all well and good for a team if their postseason roster was set. When looking at the Mets bullpen, it’s difficult to make that case. That goes double when you consider Joely Rodriguez.
On the season, Rodriguez is 0-4 with a 5.03 ERA, 1.525 WHIP, 5.5 BB/9, and a 10.3 K/9. While he was expected to be a left-handed specialist, he’s yielded a higher OPS against left-handed batters.
Those batters are hitting .239/.342/.352 off of him. In total, that’s a .314 wOBA. This is a big reason towards his -0.4 WAR and 78 ERA+.
Taking that all into account, it’s unfathomable the Mets never brought in competition or an insurance policy. They didn’t at the trade deadline, and they didn’t with September call-ups.
With rosters expanding, this was the perfect opportunity to get another look at Nate Fisher.
Fisher was a surprise call-up earlier in the season, and he probably wasn’t expected to pitch. However, with Jose Butto struggling, Fisher was thrown out there.
Fisher shocked us all when he threw three scoreless innings against a pretty good Philadelphia Phillies lineup. His final line was 3.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, K.
It wasn’t always pretty. However, he was not hit hard (12.5% hard hit rate). Mostly, he got the job done, and when you pitch this well, that typically merits another look.
After Fisher was sent down, he continued to pitch well. In two Triple-A appearances, he pitched six innings allowing two earned on four hits and one walk while striking out four.
Yes, it is a lot to ask of Fisher to go from being out of baseball over a year ago to pitching in the postseason. However, the Mets did put themselves in a position where it must be contemplated.
Rodriguez has shown he cannot be trusted. David Peterson has struggled in a relief role. In the end, the Mets still don’t know who can get big outs against left-handed batters in the postseason.
The Mets could’ve signed or traded for a different reliever. They could’ve added a left-handed reliever at the trade deadline. They didn’t leaving then to sort through their internal options.
Not even looking at Fisher again is a massive error by this team. They know they’re not carrying Medina in the postseason. Having him here does nothing to prepare the Mets to win the World Series.
Fisher might’ve done that. Instead, the Mets have now triple-downed on Rodriguez even at a time when he can’t get left-handed batters out in a big spot. It’s time to rectify that and at least give Fisher a look.
Timmy Trumpet coming to Citi Field was a huge deal. Everyone in the stands and watching on TV were waiting with baited breath to see him play Narco with Edwin Diaz running in from the bullpen.
Instead of watching Timmy Trumpet blow his horn, we got to see Joely Rodriguez blow the game. The pitcher brought to the Mets specifically to get out left-handed batters out was beaten by them turning a tied game into a 4-3 deficit.
Keep in mind, that game was close enough to try to find a reason to use Diaz. Instead, Buck Showalter did the right thing and saved his arm.
That isn’t something that would’ve happened under the Wilpons. With Timmy Trumpet there, they would have forced the manager to make sure Diaz enters the game.
We know this because of Pedro Martinez.
Back in 2005, doctors recommended Martinez shut it down due to injuries. With the postseason out of reach, Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson were of the same mind.
As Pedro detailed in his eponymous book, Pedro, Jeff Wilpon ignored the advice of the medical and baseball professionals. Rather than let Pedro heal, Wilpon pushed him to pitch in a game against Dontrelle Willis in an attempt to generate a gate.
The end result was Pedro worsening his toe injury, and it might’ve been a contributing factor in Pedro’s eventual career ending shoulder injury. With respect to the Mets, it might’ve cost them the World Series in 2006.
That was a problem with the Wilpons operation of the Mets. Not all decisions were baseball decisions. In some ways, you could sell they were selling the Mets but not baseball.
This led to odd choices. In a juxtaposition with Timmy Trumpet, the Mets invited the Baja Men in 2000. Now, we get the far superior Timmy Trumpet.
Except, we didn’t quite get what we expected, and there was disappointment. Assuredly, the team wanted to make good on Timmy Trumpet blasting Diaz as he ran in from the bullpen.
From a fan engagement standpoint, that’s what we all wanted. From a baseball standpoint, it didn’t make sense to use Diaz. To a certain extent, that’s why Cohen’s Mets (in a move the Wilpons probably don’t make) are having Timmy Trumpet again as a guest in the hopes that this time the moment will happen.
Make no mistake here. Both Wilpon and Cohen are trying to get people to the ballpark. The key difference is Cohen is trying to do that with baseball first and everything else second.
That wasn’t always the case with the Wilpons. In fact, you could reasonably argue baseball never really came first under the Wilpons ownership of the Mets.
The Wilpons very likely don’t leave Diaz in the bullpen, and in a similar vein, they don’t bring back Timmy Trumpet. Part of the reason we know this is they didn’t hold Old Timers’s Games bemoaning the costs involved.
Ultimately, Cohen understands the best way to get fans engaged and happy is putting a winning team on the field. The other stuff is great and important, but it comes a distant second to winning. In the end, the baseball is the product.
Sadly, the Wilpons never got that. That’s why Pedro pitched, and Diaz didn’t. It’s also why the Mets are far better run now than at any point during the Wilpon ownership of the team.
It may be a bit unfair to Edwin Diaz, but back in 2019, the pressure could not have been higher. Keep in mind, he plays a position that is among the most pressure filled in all of pro sports.
There were high expectations based upon what he did with the Seattle Mariners. In some ways, it was on his shoulders to try to justify the dumb and ill-received trade to acquire him and Robinson Cano.
As we all know, Diaz faltered. It was easily the worst season of his career. The common refrain from that season from fans was Diaz could not handle New York. The corollary to this was never would’ve been able to do it here.
It’s been a crutch for New York fans. The common explanation as to why players thrive elsewhere is they can’t handle New York. It’s a convenient catch-all, which helps overlook the real reason why players failed.
Justin Turner didn’t thrive in Los Angeles because he continued the launch angle approach taught to him by Marlon Byrd. No, he couldn’t handle New York.
Jason Bay wasn’t an outfielder dealing with absurd outfield walls and concussions. No, he couldn’t handle New York.
Travis d’Arnaud wasn’t an injury prone catcher at a time Jeff Wilpon was meddling with medical decisions. No, he just couldn’t handle New York (also apparently, 2015 never happened).
There are countless examples through Mets history. All of those examples and the narrative is being proven absurd this season.
The funny thing is Diaz admitted he struggled with New York. In many ways, he was the epitome of can’t handle New York. In reality, he needs to adjust.
Diaz is not unique in this respect. Players struggle coming to new teams sometimes. For some reason, that does seem to apply to the Mets more than others.
Carlos Beltran needed a full season to get comfortable and return to his Hall of Fame form. It appears Francisco Lindor is going through the same transformation.
For that matter, Curtis Granderson struggled when he first came to the Mets. Keep on mind, Granderson played the previous four seasons with the New York Yankees.
That brings us back to Diaz. Yes, he struggled with New York. However, he mostly struggled with his mechanics. Back in 2019, the Mets just couldn’t get that right.
Jeremy Hefner was hired as pitching coach, he’s been vital for Diaz. He’s gotten his mechanics right, and now, Diaz is having a great season.
It’s at the point where Mets fans love him and await his entrance into games. Narco and the trumpets are a major feature at Mets games. It’s now at the point where the Mets have invited Timmy Trumpet to games.
That’s not bad for someone who can’t do it in New York. It’s almost as if that narrative was always a poor excuse, and Diaz proved it was nonsense all along.
Yes, this is raining on the parade. It’s a contrarian opinion on a celebrated moment. All that said, when you actually look at it, Willie Mays number 24 should not be retired by the New York Mets.
If this was 1973, you could understand it. The Mets were around for all of a decade, and they had little history. The franchise had already retired Casey Stengel’s 37, which had much more to do with his New Yankees tenure than anything.
However, Joan Payson, as much as she loved Mays (justifiably so), did not retire his number. Yes, she took it out of circulation, but she opted not to retire it.
Keep in mind, she ran the Mets until her death, which was two years after Mays retired. As much as people want to reframe history now, this wasn’t she never got around to doing it.
It’s now 2022, and the Mets have a 60 year history. One way to look at it is the Mets have existed for about as long as the Yankees had when the Mets were founded.
This is now a franchise with a real history. There are two World Series titles and five pennants. There are two Hall of Famers with Carlos Beltran joining this group maybe later this year, and Jacob deGrom going there one day.
It’s a team with their own Hall of Fame. While oft overlooked, it has 30 members. Of note, Mays was never inducted as a member. Now, he has his number retired.
The former was the more correct position when viewed through the lense of the New York Mets franchise.
Mays was a Met for two seasons playing 135 games total amassing a 1.6 WAR. He hit .238/.352/.394 with 19 doubles, one triple, 14 homers, and 44 RBI.
In the postseason, he was 3-for-10 with two RBI. It was his last postseason game winning RBI. That postseason would also mark the lowest point of his career serving as a juxtaposition to his catch robbing Vic Wertz.
All told, Mays is arguably the best player who ever lived. He’s New York baseball royalty lyrically memorialized by Terry Cashman as THE part of “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.” (Say Hey! Say Hey!”). He’s just not Mets royalty.
As an aside, Duke Snider was a Hall of Fame center fielder in the above referenced song. He was a beloved Brooklyn Dodger, who was part of the 1955 Dodgers. He returned to play with the Mets in 1963, and no one even mentions retiring his 4.
The reason they don’t say that about Snider is because he wasn’t a great Met. Snider, as a Met, didn’t deserve the honor. It’s the same for Mays.
Despite that, the Mets opted to gild the lily. Yes, it was popular, but it was unnecessary. Mays was not a Mets great. Meanwhile, true Mets greats who will never get their number retired watched on.
There are many injustices Steve Cohen corrected since taking over from the Wilpons. This wasn’t one of them. It was unnecessary, and in some ways, actually overlooked Mets history on a day it was being celebrated.
After the New York Mets pushed him back a game (two days), Jacob deGrom pitched for the first time in a week. We saw deGrom throw 87 pitches over six innings.
That was a bit of a surprise. After all, deGrom had thrown 95 pitches in 6.2 innings in his last start against the Atlanta Braves.
Remember, deGrom was given an extra couple of days. Part of that was getting Taijuan Walker back into the rotation. Still, there is cause to ask why deGrom didn’t go as long in this game.
As a point of reference, in deGrom’s fifth start last season, he threw 93 pitches over 6.0 innings. What does that mean now? Well, not that much.
In 2021, deGrom was in a much different place. He had a full Spring Training behind him. That’s not the case now.
Yes, deGrom pitched in Spring Training. However, he had to shut it down due to the shoulder injury. He could not throw until May.
During the rehab, deGrom did have a setback. It was not significant, but it did lead to his rehab schedule being delayed.
That’s just it. We see deGrom is still trying to get back up to speed. He has shown that in spurts, especially the earlier innings. After that, there are some signs of fatigue.
As a practical matter, deGrom dominated over six innings. That’s just part of the story.
We saw a pitcher uncomfortable with his fastball. He did throw it, but he was going to the slider note frequently. The end result was typical deGrom dominance.
However, he was tiring Part of the reason was the hot and humid August weather. Mostly, it was deGrom returning from an injury and not having pitched in a full season since 2019.
In the end, it’s just one start. You might’ve expected more and for deGrom to go deeper. The thing is he’s not ready, and mostly, it’s about October. Give it a month, and then let’s talk about how deep deGrom can go into games.
Bottom of the seventh. One out. Oswaldo Cabrera at first. Joely Rodriguez delivers an 0-1 fastball to the pinch hitter Jose Trevino. It’s a weak pop in short right field.
It went for a double.
No, this is not Luis Castillo. Far from it. That said, it’s a play Pete Alonso should’ve made. It’s a play indicative of how Alonso’s defense has slipped considerably this year.
When Alonso first came to the majors, he was not a good first baseman. However, the New York Mets were more than happy to live with it because Alonso could scoop balls, and more importantly, hit homers.
Much to Alonso’s credit, he was not remotely satisfied with that. In fact, he talked about winning a Gold Glove one day, and he made improvements each year.
In his rookie year, Alonso was a -6 OAA. He improved that to a 1 OAA last year. That was good for 11th among Major League first baseman. That’s an astounding leap.
This year, Alonso is back to a -6 OAA.
Again, Alonso is mashing homers and driving in runs. To that extent, not many care all that much the defense has slipped considerably. Even with this game, some may argue it’s yet to hurt the Mets (not true).
For Alonso, it’s arguably taken him completely out of the MVP discussion. There was a time ranking fourth in the league for homers and first in RBI for a first place team made you a near lock for the award.
The problem for Alonso is 2022, and the more informed electorate look at total production, defense included. On that point, Alonso “only” has a 3.0 bWAR and 2.7 fWAR.
That’s despite a 142 OPS+ (seventh in the league) and 138 wRC+ (ninth). His bWAR is tied for 26th in the NL, and his fWAR is 23rd. That’s a far cry from what his offensive production would indicate.
Really, Alonso’s defensive issues impact him more than the occasional poor play. In the end, it’s going to cost him an MVP. That’s not just this year. That’s any year he’s this poor defensively.
So, even if you choose to ignore the impact on the Mets, the voters won’t. In fact, they’ll likely see the hit his defense has had ok his WAR and vote accordingly.
Overall, no matter your perspective, Alonso’s defense has taken a significant step back, and it’s a problem for him and the team. We’ll see how he (and maybe the Mets) address it before the end of the season.
The New York Mets took the first two games of the Subway Series at Citi Field. Because it was the New York Yankees, there was much rejoicing.
Now, the Mets are heading to Yankee Stadium for the final two games of the Subway Series. They appear poised to clinch the series with Max Scherzer and maybe Jacob deGrom slated to pitch.
There are many reasons why this is a big series. First and foremost, all series are big series with the Atlanta Braves trailing by 4.0 games in the division. One slip up, and the NL East race can get more interesting than anyone wants it to be.
There’s also the bigger picture. The Mets trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by eight games for the best record in the NL. It’s a sizable lead, but maybe, just maybe, the Mets can close the gap to get home field advantage in the NLCS.
On that note, the Mets also want to stay up on the St. Louis Cardinals in the event of a potential matchup there. Long story, short, the Mets have eyes on the postseason and their path to the World Series.
Certainly, there is homefield advantage in the World Series. On that front, the Mets lead the Yankees (by four games) and Houston Astros (by a half-game). The Mets want to keep those leads.
So yes, this makes this a big series. The fact there’s the usual buzz for these games adds to it. However, unlike the past, the Mets will not be defined by these games.
When the Subway Series (Interleague Play) began, the Yankees were always a litmus test for the Mets. After all, the Mets were coming off six straight losing seasons, and the Yankees were reigning World Series champions.
However, that was then. Now, Steve Cohen owns the Mets. Unlike the Wilpons, he’s not using the Yankees as a measuring stick bemoaning how the Yankees financial model is unsustainable.
Cohen is building the Mets as a franchise who is a true perennial World Series contender. The Mets measuring sticks are whomever the best teams in baseball are (Yankees are one of them).
The Mets are now defined by how they finish seasons, not by these Subway Series. This means Mets fans can truly enjoy them without unnecessarily attaching any overlying meaning to them.
Unlike what other fan bases may say, the Subway Series is not the Mets World Series. That will come in late October to early November again with Scherzer and deGrom leading the way.
With Carlos Carrasco on the IL, Taijuan Walker battling back spasms, and a doubleheader, the New York Mets are recalling Jose Butto. He will make his Major League debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Butto entered the season as MMN’s 11th ranked prospect. After the Chris Bassitt trade with the Oakland Athletics, he moved to the top 10 by Opening Day.
At the moment, Butto is a two pitch pitcher still searching for that third pitch. As of now, it’s an inconsistent curve. In the long run, it would seem a slider would work better with his repertoire and 3/4 arm slot.
That’s the bad news. The good news is he has a lethal fastball/change-up combination. He has above-average command of both pitches, and there is about a 10 MPH difference.
The fastball is around the mid-90s topping out around 90 MPH. Both the fastball and change generate both a high spin and swings-and-misses.
In 20 starts and two relief appearances for Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse, Butto has a 10.2 K/9 while striking out 26.2% of the batters he’s faced. At the moment, the K/9 is on pace for a career high, and the strikeout percentage would be the second best of his career.
In previous seasons, he’s shown better control. That especially goes to last year when he had a 2.2 BB/9. That’s creeped up to a 3.4 this year. However, with the strikeouts and .245 batting average against, he has been effective.
With the walks up and still predominantly being a two-pitch pitcher, Butto has averaged just under five innings per start. That carries the caveat of the Mets being cautious with young starters to begin the season, and his being lifted after one inning in his last start to prepare for his Major League debut.
Overall, he’s 6-6 with a 4.12 ERA, 1.312 WHIP, 3.4 BB/9, and a 10.2 K/9.
While there is still some debate over whether he’s a reliever or starter in the long term, that fastball/change combination is Major League caliber. For now, he gets his chance against the Phillies. From there, we’ll see.