Mets Lose While Cardinals Lose Their Cool

Over the course of a 162 game season, there are going to be games like this. Frankly, Carlos Carrasco just didn’t have it, and as a result the New York Mets just weren’t going to win.

With the Mets winning six straight series to open the season, we shouldn’t be dwelling too much on a game like this. That goes double with the Mets resting players in advance of a travel day.

Where the focus needs to be is how the Mets comport themselves and are rattling their opponents.

Again, Mets batters were thrown at by the opposing pitcher. Steven Matz went up-and-in on Brandon Nimmo. J.D. Davis left the game with a foot injury after being plunked by Genesis Cabrera.

Finally, for the first time all season, the Mets responded in a way that wasn’t Starling Marte or Max Scherzer threatening the other team. Yoan Lopez took the ball and buzzed Nolan Arenado.

It was a pitch reminiscent of Noah Syndergaard and Alcidies Escobar. It was up-and-in, but the batter was not in danger of getting hit. Like with the 2015 World Series, an overreaction ensued.

Arenado chirped, attacked Tomas Nido, and then, he headed for Lopez. He wouldn’t get there as the benches cleared, and Arenado backed off. During the melee, the Cardinals went after Pete Alonso.

That was done by the Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp, a coach whose name is reminiscent of what Jimmy Duggan advises young boys to avoid. Things might’ve gotten worse, but Albert Pujols stepped in and de-escalated the situation.

At this point, the Cardinals had hit five batters. That included hitting Alonso in the helmet. Then, they went after him in a scrum.

Chris Bassitt tried to throw the Cardinals pitchers a lifeline by blaming MLB. Instead, Miles Mikolas effectively called Bassitt a liar and said Bassitt needed to take responsibility for his own control issues. Again, this was in response to Bassitt trying to absolve Cardinals pitchers of throwing at his teammates.

After the game, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol not only whined after the non-HBP, but he went on to defend attacking someone from behind:

When Buck Showalter was asked about the same course of events, his reaction was markedly different. He noted how when Alonso was ACTUALLY HIT IN THE HEAD, he went to first base.

This is where the Mets and Cardinals could not be more different. The Mets are angry they keep getting hit by pitches, but they’re channeling that anger towards beating you. So far, it’s not only worked, but it’s also galvanized the team.

With respect to the Cardinals, they couldn’t handle it. They threw with reckless abandon and kept hitting Mets batters.

When the Mets said, we get what’s happening here. It’s not your fault. The Cardinals response was to tell the Mets to take responsibility.

When the Mets three inside, the Cardinals freaked out and attacked Alonso from behind. Then, they went and pretended like all of their actions were justified.

In the end, the Mets are better than the Cardinals because they’re a better and more mature team. Every time you hit them, they get you back by winning. As for the Cardinals, well, they’re there to whine, complain, and point fingers.

The Mets took two of three, and they’ll have the mental edge when the Cardinals come visit Citi Field.

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Robinson Cano Should Accept Assignment To Triple-A

Back in 2001, things weren’t going well for Steve Trachsel. Over his first eight starts with the New York Mets, he was 1-6 with an 8.24 ERA averaging 4.2 innings per start. With that struggle, the Mets approached him and asked him to go down to Triple-A to get himself right.

For Trachsel, he didn’t want to lose a spot in the rotation and move to the bullpen. In the end, Trachsel accepted the assignment saying, “It’s going to make me better. In the long run, that’s a good thing.” (Tyler Keper, New York Times).

It turned out to be the best thing for him. After that rough start, he would go 10-7 with a 3.35 ERA over his final 20 starts. That included a two hit complete game shut out in his final start of the season. From there, Trachsel would go on to have a solid Mets career highlighted by two one-hitters during the 2003 season.

Fast-forward 21 years, and the Mets are facing a conundrum with Robinson Cano.

Due to the altered roster rules resulting from the lockout, the Mets have to pare down their roster from 28 to 26 by the end of this month. In all likelihood, that means they need to drop one pitcher and one position player. If this was Spring Training, the answer to that would probably be Travis Jankowski, but he has shown his value to this team, and it is highly unlikely he will be designated for assignment.

That leaves Dominic Smith, who has an option, and Cano, who is easily the worst player on the roster right now. If this was purely merit based, the answer would be Cano. Before delving deeper into that, the question is what does Cano want for himself?

At the moment, Cano’s bat has been slow, and his legs are even slower. His defense has slipped entirely. He’s chasing pitches he never chased in his career, and he looks like he’s just about done. You have to imagine Cano doesn’t want his career to end like this.

It should be noted Cano missed the entirety of the 2021 season due to a PED suspension. He did play in the Winter Leagues, but he has nowhere near the amount of at-bats needed to get into a rhythm and shake off the rust. Truth be told, he’s not going to get that with the Mets.

The team is deploying Luis Guillorme when there are groundball pitchers on the mound. The DH spot is being used to keep their position players fresh and healthy. Jeff McNeil is the regular second baseman, and his bat is not coming out of the lineup. This leaves Cano with no regular playing time, and as a result, he has no ability to get back up to game speed.

If Cano truly wants to get back to being Cano,, this is where accepting an assignment to the minors helps him. At the moment, there isn’t a second base prospect blocking his playing time down at Syracuse. He can go down there and play everyday. He can work to hone his approach much like Joey Votto did last season. He can get up to game speed and help him stop pressing and flailing away at pitches.

This would be his best avenue to truly get ready to contribute to the 2022 Mets. He can agree to a certain time frame, and in all honesty, there will likely be an injury permitting the team to call him up sooner rather than late.r

If this is about the team and his future, Cano should accept the assignment to Triple-A. Time will tell if this is something he will consider. If it’s offered, he should accept it.

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Mets McCann Beat Good Teams On Road

When you have a staff like the New York Mets have, all the offense needs to do is score a couple of runs. When they didn’t for Max Scherzer last night, they needed late inning heroics.

Tonight, the Mets got runs for Chris Bassitt, and it seemed like everything was in cruise control. Again, Bassitt was terrific.

Bassitt did have to navigate through the first inning, but it was relatively smooth sailing from there. He was working well up in the zone much to the consternation of the St. Louis Cardinals.

He pitched so well Paul DeJong didn’t even have a hit. When things are going good, they’re going good.

On the other side, the Cardinals started Jordan Hicks getting the start. He was the only Cardinals pitcher to give up runs.

The Mets opened the scoring in the third on back-to-back doubles from Jeff McNeil and James McCann. McCann had a three hit game and is apparently heating up.

After Brandon Nimmo walked, Hicks left the game with an injury. Starling Marte greeted Andre Pallante with an RBI single.

The Mets were up 2-0 with two on and no outs, and they appeared poised to blow it open. After Francisco Lindor grounded into a double play, that was it for the scoring in the inning.

One thing that was noticeable was how the ball wasn’t carrying. It was a cool night in St. Louis, but this has been a much talked about issue in baseball this season. That said, this was seemingly the first time it was truly noticeable in a Mets game.

While there wasn’t much in terms of threats after that third inning, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t drama. In the eighth, Cardinals reliever Kodi Whitley hit Pete Alonso in the helmet.

Alonso and the Mets were furious, and the benches cleared. Intentional or not, Alonso was hit in the head for the second time this season.

The Mets wouldn’t make the Cardinals pay in the eighth, but they would in the ninth.

Mark Canha hit a one out single, and Travis Jankowski pinch ran for him. Jankowski went first to third on a McNeil single.

After McCann struck out, Nimmo had a typical tough at-bat where he drew a walk. That brought up Marte who was hit by a pitch forcing home a run.

Marte wasn’t happy, but a run scored showing it was unintentional.

An interesting aside here is after Alonso was hit by the pitch, warnings were issued. Despite that Adam Ottavino plunked Tommy Edman in the eighth. Marte was plunked by Aaron Brooks in the ninth.

With no intention adjudged, neither Ottavino nor Brooks were ejected.

Drew Smith had pitched a scoreless seventh in front of Ottavino’s scoreless eighth. Even with Seth Lugo also warming, Buck Showalter went with Edwin Diaz in the ninth.

Traditionally, Diaz isn’t good on a second straight day. After a leadoff walk, it seemed like he was in for trouble again. However, he’d settle down and record the save.

With that, the Mets secured their fourth shutout of the season. It’s also the first time in franchise history they won the first six series to open the season.

Game Notes: Mets batters have been hit 18 times which is the most in the majors. Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez were unavailable leading to Todd Zeile to join Gary Cohen.

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Neon Moment Of The Week: The Stretch

After a 7-3 start to the season, there was genuine excitement about this New York Mets team, but there was still some naysayers. After all, the Mets were beating up on the likes of the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Some questioned how the Mets would fare against a good team.

On that note, the San Francisco Giants came to town. Last season, the Giants led the majors with 107 wins, and they were off to a 7-2 start. Simply put, this series was going to be a real litmus test for the Mets.

Things did not get off to a great start. Tylor Megill, who had been great in place of Jacob deGrom finally struggled. The pitcher who was unscored upon would allow four runs over six. Fortunately, the Mets would tie the game in the fifth on RBI doubles by Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor. The score stayed that way until it was sent to extra innings.

With extra innings comes the gimmick Manfred Man on second base. Brandon Belt was the runner, and he would move to third on a Wilmer Flores flyout. After walking Darin Ruf, Brandon Crawford lined out. That left Thairo Estrada for Adam Ottavino. Estrada would hit a routine grounder to Lindor, but Lindor made an errant throw:

Initially, the umpires ruled Pete Alonso was pulled off the bag. However, upon replay, we saw Alonso made an incredible stretch to stay on the bag. That kept the game tied for the Mets to walk it off on a Lindor game winning RBI single.

That stretch was a key moment in the Mets winning that game. From there, the Mets went on to sweep the doubleheader and take three out of four from the Giants. As a result, the Mets proved they can beat a good team.

That moment was also indicative of just how far Alonso has come. Alonso was known as a poor defender when he was first called up to the majors. He has since made tremendous strides to vastly improve there. As a result, Alonso has shown himself as a player who can help the Mets win with their defense, and that is why “The Strech” is the Mets Neon Moment of the Week!

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Buck Showalter Is Why Robinson Cano Must Go

One of the biggest mistakes the New York Mets made in their history was trading for Robinson Cano. It wasn’t just about who they gave up. Really, it was about acquiring a 36 year old infielder coming off a PED suspension with just about the worst contract in baseball.

Cano’s first year in Queens was a disaster for him, but he did rebound in 2020 to look like the player the Mets thought they were getting. As we discovered, Cano was using PEDs that season. As a result, he was suspended for the entirety of the 2021 season. During that 2021 season, the Mets were forced to move in another direction.

Now, Cano is back and was always going to get chances because of the contract. Yes, the Mets have acknowledged the sunk cost by at least making Cano a part-time player, or really a semi-regular. That said, they seem to be letting that contract get in the way of some decision making. To the point, it is difficult to discern reasons other than Cano’s contract as to why he is getting the playing time.

To a point, there is the Billy Eppler  and Buck Showalter consideration. Eppler has a relationship with Cano from their time with the New York Yankees. With respect to Showalter, with respect to Cano’s return, he said, “We’re excited about having him back on the club and contributing..”

Now, words are words, and actions are actions. With respect to Cano, the actions are what’s troubling.

First, we need to acknowledge the Mets are in a difficult pot with Cano. They have one month to determine if he can be a viable Major League player. They need to decide if it’s worth carrying one fewer pitcher or designating Travis Jankowski, or another viable player, for assignment. As a result, Cano is going to be forced into the lineup even when it doesn’t make sense.

However, it doesn’t make sense for Cano to be batting ahead of Jeff McNeil. It also doesn’t make any sense why he is up for key at-bats late in games.

Before addressing that point, it should be noted Cano is hitting .184/.225/.263 with a homer and three RBI. After Cano went 2-for-3 on Opening Day, he has been 5-for-36 (.143) since.

Cano is chasing everything, He’s having issues with velocity and breaking pitches. This may be due to a number of factors. He was away from the game for a year, and there’s bound to be some rust. He’s also older. There’s also the presumption he’s no longer taking PEDs.

You can take a look at that and justify giving him chances to start. After all, back in 2006, a 36 year old Jose Valentin came to the Mets looking like he was done as a Major Leaguer, and his hitting .136 over the first month of the season seemed to confirm that. Of course, Valentin emerged as a key piece to that 2006 team. That was only possible because the Mets stuck with Valentin.

However, Valentin was a part-time player to start, and he was not force-fed into late inning game situations like Showalter did with Cano against St. Louis.

Revisiting the game. Giovanny Gallegos was on the mound. There was one out in the inning, the Mets were down 2-0, and Eduardo Escobar was on first. A double play ends the game. Cano is among the slowest players in the majors, and he is hitting the ball on the ground 57% of the time. Long story short, this was a situation primed for an inning ending double play.

On the bench, the Mets had Dominic Smith. Yes, Smith is off to a slow start, but right now, he’s a significantly better hitter than Cano. Certainly, he gives you a better chance. The same goes for Luis Guillorme. Really, it is the case with anyone on the Mets roster.

Instead, Showalter stuck with the veteran Cano. He put Cano above trying to win the game. He stuck by the veteran over opting for the best player. It was in this moment it was clear having Cano on the roster is a detriment to this team because Showalter will stick with him instead of making the moves that need to be made to win a game.

No, it’s not necessarily Cano’s fault Showalter has stuck by him. In the end, that doesn’t matter. So long as Showalter is going to prioritize Cano over winning games, the Mets need to remove Cano from the equation. The Mets won despite this decision, but they may not be so lucky the next time or the time after that.

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Mets Shock Cardinals

This game featured an absolutely incredible pitcher’s duel between Max Scherzer and Miles Mikolas over the first seven innings. If not for pitch counts, they’d still be pitching with no one scoring.

Really, it was a shame each of them had to come out. It was a joy to watch them one up each other.

Scherzer only allowed two hits while walking one and striking out 10. Mikolas allowed four hits and walking one while striking out five.

As is typically the case, after a pitchers duel, things tend to get a little haywire with the bullpens. This game was no different.

After a scoreless top of the eighth, Mets killer extraordinaire Yadier Molina led off the inning with single off Trevor May. Again, May didn’t have it, and he’s starting to run out of excuses.

The eight and nine hitters singled, and with the Mets having the wheel play on, Tommy Edman swung away. May jumped and got a piece of it allowing Jeff McNeil to make a quick reaction to get the first out at first.

Buck Showalter then made a curious decision to have May pitch (around?) to Paul Goldschmidt rather than just walk him. The at-bat seemed to take a lot out of May as he wound up walking Goldschmidt anyway to load the bases.

Tyler O’Neill hit a two run RBI single, which at the time seemed like the game winner. Some credit should go to May here for recovering by striking out Nolan Arenado en route to getting out of the inning.

The Mets entered the ninth down 2-0 with Giovanny Gallegos entering the game. That’s usually game over.

It certainly seemed that way when Pete Alonso lined out on the first pitch. Eduardo Escobar followed with a single to give the Mets some hope.

Now, you really had to wonder what Showalter was thinking. It’s one thing to slot Robinson Cano as DH. It’s another to bat him ahead of McNeil. It’s beyond baffling how Showalter let Cano bat in this spot.

In all seriousness, the Mets were lucky Cano didn’t hit into an inning ending double play. That at least gave Mark Canha and the Mets a chance.

Canha had a terrific at-bat. After falling down 0-2, he battled his way back into the at-bat. On the seventh pitch, he grounded it to Arenado.

That should’ve been game over. However, Arenado threw it away. Between the Escobar advancing on the difference indifference and the home town scoring, Canha had an RBI single.

For the baffling decisions Buck made, he made a very good one here inserting Travis Jankowski as a pinch runner. Jankowski absolutely flew around the bases on the ensuing McNeil double, and if not for perfect Cardinals execution on the play, Joey Cora might’ve sent him.

Instead, Cora went against his nature and held Jankowski (the right move) putting the game in Dominic Smith‘s hands. Smith was up pinch hitting for Tomas Nido.

Smith ripped one down the line, and he was robbed by Goldschmidt. Had Gallegos broke immediately, the game was over. Instead, it was a foot race, and Dom beat him to the bag.

That not only allowed Jankowski to score the tying run, but it also allowed McNeil to score. On the play, McNeil never slowed up, and he scored rather easily.

A point here is you have to wonder what the Cardinals were thinking. With Smith pinch hitting (and looming all inning) and Brandon Nimmo lurking, T.J. McFarland was warning. You’d think they use him for the consecutive left-handed batters.

Well, we got a sense of what the Cardinals might’ve been thinking when Nimmo greeted McFarland with a two run homer to put the Mets up 5-2:

It needs to be reiterated the Mets were down to their last strike with Canha. If Arenado makes a routine play, it’s over. Gallegos going to first immediately ends that game.

Yes, the Mets got the breaks here. However, that underscores how good they are. They got those breaks, and they took advantage of them to score five runs and shock the Cardinals.

The 5-2 win was complete when Edwin Diaz came on and earned his second save of the season.

Remember, this is a very good Cardinals team, and the Mets just flew in from Arizona. That’s just two of many factors which just makes this such an incredible win.

Game Notes: Mets still have not been shut out. McNeil had two doubles. Nido struck out three times. Jacob deGrom had an MRI and the results will be shared tomorrow.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Win Fifth Straight Series

Another series and another series win for the New York Mets. That’s five in a row to start the season.

1.  As Starling Marte said, Brandon Nimmo‘s hustle rubs off on other people. That’s what makes this team great. They’re making each other play better and harder.

2.  While the extra inning rule stinks, with Marte’s infield single and Pete Alonso‘s stretch, you can get used to extra inning replays for the Mets.

3.  Marte gave the Mets two wins with his speed. It was the infield single, and then, it was the go-ahead run with the double, stolen base, and error on the throw. We’re seeing he can have an impact while still struggling at the plate.

4.  Seth Lugo is back. He’s throwing strikes, getting spin on his curve, and dominating again.

5.  As we saw with the homer, so is Edwin Diaz. He’s always a mixed bag, so we just have to ride the wave this season.

6.  Tylor Megill shook off a rough start to have a very good start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He may very well be a special pitcher.

7.  David Peterson did not deserve the demotion. He showed he is a Major League caliber pitcher right now, but he’s still seventh on the depth chart with Taijuan Walker set to return. This is a good problem to have for the Mets.

8.  With the rosters shrinking May 1, Trevor Williams is putting himself on the bubble with his struggles. Part of that is Buck Showalter‘s usage of him not allowing him to get into the flow of the season.

9.  In some ways, the Mets biggest hit of the season was the James McCann homer. If he gets going at the plate, this is a truly elite team with the way he has framed this season.

10. There aren’t a lot of positives with Trevor May‘s performance so far, but much of that is explainable. He dealt with arms issues, and Showalter is just asking him to do things he has never been comfortable doing in his career.

11. Showalter needs to stop shoehorning Robinson Cano into the lineup. While he can still contribute some, he is just not an everyday player or semi-regular right now. Other players deserve the playing time.

12. Luis Guillorme has earned his playing time, and he should be getting more. The DH allows to get his bat into the lineup and get rest for the outfielders who have been injury prone in their careers.

13. Mark Canha has cooled off, and he still doesn’t have an extra base hit. His hard hit rates are also concerning as is his poor defense to start the season.

14. While he’s had his moments, Alonso has been mostly poor to start the season. His defense has slipped completely, and he’s swinging at a lot of the zone. In some ways, this is very promising because once he gets going, watch out!

15. The Mets are beating bad teams, which is the key to making the postseason. In fact, that’s basically all they did in 2015, and they came within Terry Collins of winning the World Series that year.

16. It is a real shame Michael Conforto is done for the year. Not only is this costing him a year of his prime, but it is also costing the Mets a draft pick and pool money because Conforto had turned down the qualifying offer.

17. Given the year he had, Conforto probably should’ve accepted the qualifying offer and built back his value. That said, the talk around him rejecting the extension is plain wrong. That was a severely discounted offer anyone would’ve rejected.

18. Noah Syndergaard has been excellent to start the season, and Marcus Stroman has been quite bad. This hasn’t been discussed much because the Mets have been excellent with a very good rotation. That’s something the Wilpons never figured out. Make those decisions but make other ones to justify it.

19. In some ways, the Mets are about to get their real first test of the season with a long flight to play the St. Louis Cardinals on the road. This is a true measuring stick of where they are, especially with the Mets having Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt pitching in the series.

20. The Mets are the only team in baseball with 12 wins. It is a really good time to be a Mets fan right now.

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Mets Extra Inning Replay Magic

This was just the latest example of how good this New York Mets team is and can be. There was every excuse not to win, but win they did.

They flew cross-county after playing the San Francisco Giants at home. The travel and let down after a big series win wasn’t a deterrent.

The Arizona Diamondbacks had the upper hand in the starting pitching department. Zac Gallen is a good starter, and David Peterson entered that season as seventh on the Mets starting pitching depth chart.

The Diamondbacks took the lead partially due to a Pete Alonso miscue in the third.

Pavin Smith hit a lead-off double, and he’d advance on what was ruled a Jose Herrera infield single. Truth be told, it was rather routine for Jeff McNeil (even with the shift), but Alonso ventured too far leaving McNeil with no one to throw to for the out.

The subsequent Cooper Hummel groundout drove in a run instead of being the last out of the inning.

There’s no sense in belaboring Alonso’s misplay. After all, Peterson didn’t cover. Also, he made a sterling play earlier robbing Matt Davidson of extra bases.

Alonso would also get the run back.

Gallen was perfect through three, but the Mets made him work. In the fourth, Brandon Nimmo had the first crack hitting a ball against the shift for a hustle double.

There would be runners at the corners with one out after a walk and fielder’s choice. Alonso went the other way to drive in the tying run.

Gallen would get through five allowing just that one run. The Mets were very lucky Gallen had a pitch restriction. They were also lucky Peterson was great.

After allowing that one run, he kept the Diamondbacks off the board. Sure, there was some luck, but Peterson did his job.

In the fifth, Smith forgot how many outs there were. After a flyout, Smith was on third allowing the Mets to double him off easily.

In the sixth, he gave up a two out double to Ketel Marte. Drew Smith entered and got him out of the inning with a lead.

The Mets got that lead in the top of the inning.

Nimmo and Starling Marte led off the inning with consecutive singles off Oliver Perez. On Marte’s single, Nimmo was overly aggressive going first to third. He was lucky Davison dropped the throw. Marte followed the play and went to second.

Nimmo scored on a Lindor sacrifice fly with Marte advancing. That allowed Marte to score on the Alonso fielder’s choice.

The Mets were not done scoring. In the seventh, we saw James McCann break out hitting a LONG home run expanding the Mets lead to 5-1.

The Mets needed everyone of those runs as the bullpen struggled.

It started with Chasen Shreve allowing a pair of singles leading to a Daulton Varsho sacrifice fly.

Trevor May looked a little rusty allowing Hummel to double. May almost worked his way around that, but Christian Walker shocked everyone by hitting a very rough pitch up-and-in for a two run homer.

Edwin Diaz came on in the ninth to save the Mets 5-4 lead. After getting two quick outs, Varsho hit the game tying homer sending this to extra innings.

McNeil was the Manfred Man, and McCann led off the inning with a ground out to the right side allowing McNeil to advance. With the infield in, Nimmo hit one on the screws at Nick Ahmed.

Ahmed bobbled it, but with McNeil already holding, he was stuck at third. From here, we’d again see replay help the Mets in extra innings.

Marte hit a ball fielded deep and on the line. Davidson made a string throw leading to the out call. Upon replay, Marte beat the throw allowing McNeil to score the go-ahead run.

With Diaz already used, Buck Showalter went to Seth Lugo for the save. This looked like the Lugo of old.

He struck out Hummel and Marte to start the inning. After walking Davidson, he got Walker to pop out to McNeil in shallow center.

Overall, this wasn’t pretty. The Mets blew a lead and then find a way, but that’s what they did. They won 6-5.

Game Notes: Mets bullpen scoreless inning streak ended at 17.2 innings.

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SNY App Sucks

If you have been trying to watch the Mets on the SNY App, good luck. All over Twitter and the internet there are complaints about the app. For those using Roku, Fire TV, or an ipad, there are many instances where they need to constantly reload the app. Often times, this is multiple times an inning.

This makes watching Mets games on the app next to impossible. You lose chunks of the game just trying to restart the app. There’s also the matter of how far delayed it is from the actual broadcast. Another issue is even if you are a paid cable subscriber, it will not permit you to watch the Mets games on the app when you, yourself, are out of your home thereby defeating one of the features which would make the app desirable.

It’s beyond frustrating when the app crashes only for you to have to watch two commercials to get back to the action. Yes, that is the norm for loading any app, but it is all the more problematic when you wind up spending more of your time rewatching the same commercials over and over again than you do watching the actual game.

Another issue is how the app did not cut the audio from Gary Cohen when SNY cut to highlights. Fortunately, there was no Nick Castellanos moment, but rather, Cohen complaining about why SNY is showing Yankees highlights while Ron Darling was trying to alert Cohen to the issue.

Of course, what makes this all the more frustrating is this Mets team is really good and has a real chance to win the World Series. As a fan, you don’t want to miss a moment, and yet, you’re forced to miss many.

Given the Wilpons own SNY, we shouldn’t be all that surprised. After all, this was a family who set out every year to make the Mets unwatchable. Now that they don’t have the power to do so with their personnel decisions, they are setting forth and doing it with their app.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Win Another Series

The New York Mets have played four series this year and have won all four.

1. Now that the Mets have beaten an excellent team in the San Francisco Giants, it will be interesting to see the next talking point as to why the Mets aren’t this good.

2. The DH seems to be magic for the Mets with whomever bats there.

3. The universal DH is still an abomination.

4. Francisco Lindor is playing like a man who is going to be the 2022 NL MVP.

5. When looking into just how great that trade was for the Mets, remember they also got Carlos Carrasco, who has arguably been the Mets best starter so far this year.

6. We got a glimpse of the real Max Scherzer when he flirted with a no-hitter. Man-o-man is this going to be fun.

7. The bullpen has been phenomenal with 15 scoreless innings. Things are going so well even Sean Reid-Foley is putting up zeros.

8. Let’s never do that manager by committee thing again. Putting J.D. Davis at third and using Robinson Cano over Jeff McNeil to pinch hit (and using McNeil as a defensive replacement) is enough to see that never be invoked again.

9. To be fair, Buck Showalter has had his share of those moves. For example, pinch hitting Luis Guillorme to bunt over runners for Travis Jankowski in the ninth was something else. Oh, and he didn’t pinch hit Nimmo.

10. Sometimes the dumbest things work. For example, Guillorme couldn’t buy a hit. After shaving his beard, he’s on a hot steak.

11. Wilmer Flores, who doesn’t have arthritis, absolutely robbed Dominic Smith of the RBI double he desperately needed. Just the latest hard luck out for Dom.

12. Tylor Megill might’ve had a poor outing, but he fought, gave the Mets innings, and he kept it to where the Mets could comeback and win. That’s another huge step for him.

13. Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, and Brandon Nimmo have an OPS of 1.000+.

14. Starling Marte has really struggled to start the year, but when things are going this well, you can easily overlook these things.

15. The Mets have gone from completely inept to lethal with RISP. Part of that is Mark Canha who is 5-for-10 with RISP.

16. You have to love Gary Cohen all the more for his annoyance over SNY showing Yankees highlights.

17. The SNY app has been horrible, and you’re reminded the Wilpons never really had interest in making the Mets watchable.

18. Carlos Rodon is a terrific pitcher who pitched a great game. However, behind that is the fact the Mets haven’t hit left-handed pitching well this season.

20. Its a small thing now, but the Mets are doing something they didn’t do last year. They’re putting separation between themselves and the division while the other teams are struggling.

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