20/20 Hindsight: Phillies Awaken Mets

There are ebbs and flows to the season, and the New York Mets were fighting it. Fortunately, Jose Alvarado and the Philadelphia Phillies were there to help them out:

1. Alvarado is a punk. He throws at batters. He talks a good game, but when he’s confronted, he goes hiding behind teammates.

2. Dominic Smith announced to the world he and the Mets will not be pushed around. Unlike Alvarado, Smith would back it up.

3. Before the Alvarado nonsense, he fell to a paltry .206/.225/.324. After that, he’s 4-for-9 with two doubles.

4. As much as he’s heated up, it’s Michael Conforto carrying the Mets offense. He hit the huge go-ahead homer, and he’s hitting .327/.400/.551 over his last 14 games. It’s like he’s always been this good, and we shouldn’t have overreacted to a slump.

5. Jeff McNeil looked awfully comfortable batting lead-off.

6. Pete Alonso had his own take on why the Mets have started hitting – Donnie Stevenson. Stevenson is apparently a mix of Sidd Finch and that mustachioed man who looked like Bobby Valentine.

7. Mets need McNeil’s ability leading off if Brandon Nimmo is more hurt than originally expected.

8. Mets are also going to need to see Kevin Pillar step up. His game in the series finale with the big homer was a great start.

9. Jonathan Villar‘s scoring from first was an incredible and shocking play. We haven’t really seen a Mets player make a difference in a game with pure speed since Jose Reyes‘ first stint with the team.

10. Villar running the bases is like what we used to see from Daniel Murphy except with speed.

11. Edwin Diaz continues to both be great and completely unreliable.

12. Considering Diaz has issues going consecutive days, pitching with runners on base, and the like, it might be time to start considering him more for a set-up role.

13. Diaz faltered because he faltered. That’s not Luis Rojas‘ fault. Not everything that goes wrong with this team is Rojas’ fault.

14. The Mets can consider that because Jeurys Familia seems back to form. We saw that again with his big strikeout of Bryce Harper and resulting save. He and replay really bailed out Diaz.

15. You can’t kill Miguel Castro for having one poor outing. He’s been phenomenal all year. Really, the Mets pitching as a whole has been.

16. The Mets seemingly are getting nicked up of late. At the moment, Marcus Stroman‘s hamstring is the biggest issue. Hopefully, the reports he’ll be alright prove true.

17. David Peterson has been pretty good, but he needs to be more than a five and fly pitcher.

18. Taijuan Walker increasingly looks like the steal of the offseason.

19. Francisco Lindor is going to be fine, and while we await his bat, we can just enjoy what is just truly special defense.

20. Mets are just starting to get going, and they’re already in first place. It’s going to be a great May and an even better year.

Game Recaps

Phillies Awoke a Sleeping Giant

Clutch Conforto

Mets Make Alvarado and Hoskins Pay

Mets Make Alvarado And Hoskins Pay

This had all the makings of a New York Mets brutal Sunday Night Baseball loss. They weren’t hitting, and they blew a late lead . . .

Entering the bottom of the sixth, David Peterson was in line for the win. He had allowed one run on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Really, he cruised along after allowing an Andrew McCutchen to start the first.

Now, Peterson did get some help with Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor performing pure defensive magic behind him. That included one beauty of a double play:

Peterson had that 2-1 lead because of his defense. He also had some help from the offense. The first run came when Conforto singled home McNeil in the third.

Notably, McNeil was batting lead-off with Brandon Nimmo unavailable. With McNeil returning to a familiar and comfortable spot in the lineup, he was much better at the plate going 4-for-6 with two runs and a double.

It was a double again that got the Mets going again in the sixth. Dominic Smith led off the inning with a double, and there were runners at the corners with no outs after a Kevin Pillar single.

After Jonathan Villar struck out, the Phillies had the opportunity to get out of the inning unscathed with a double play. James McCann obliged by hitting the require grounder, but Phillies starter Zack Eflin threw it wide to second allowing everyone to reach safely and for the go ahead run to score.

The Mets would load the bases with two outs with Lindor coming to the plate. Lindor would fly out to right leaving behind a golden chance to blow the game open.

Keep in mind, that wasn’t their only shot to put up more runs. Back in the second, Smith led off the inning with a single, and Gary Disarcina needlessly sent him home on a Pillar single. Smith was out at the plate, and J.T. Realmuto would deliver a cheap shot.

The Mets would regret blowing those run scoring opportunities in the bottom of the sixth.

Now, the Mets bullpen has been great with a 19 inning scoreless streak. Miguel Castro has been one of the Mets best pitchers in the pen, but he didn’t have it tonight.

On a rally started when Castro made an error, Didi Gregorius hit a go-ahead three run homer. At 4-2, it seemed like the Mets might be done.

In fact, they weren’t. The momentum shifted when Pillar homered to lead off the eighth:

This was easily Pillar’s best game as a Met. The player who struggled so mightily to start the season stepped up in Nimmo’s absence. In addition to the homer, he was 3-for-5.

As good as Pillar was, no one was ready for what Villar would do. Villar singled off Brandon Kintzler to start off the rally. With no one really left on the bench, partially due to injuries, Jose Peraza pinch hit for Castro. Peraza hit one Rhys Hoskins couldn’t handle, and well, Hoskins misplayed it just about every way you could:

Villar scored all the way from first on an infield single to tie the game at 4-4. That’s when the Phillies brought in Jose Alvarado to try to keep the game tied.

What’s interesting is Alvarado was suspended for his antics the other day. However, he was able to appear in the game because he appealed that three game suspension. As it turned out, the Phillies probably wish he accepted that suspension.

Alvarado faced McNeil, Lindor, and Conforto, and he failed to get any of them out. McNeil singled, and then Alvarado issued consecutive walks forcing home the go-ahead run.

The Mets were up 5-4, and Pete Alonso faced Phillies reliever David Hale. He’d go the opposite way for a three run double giving the Mets an 8-4 lead.

Now, Luis Rojas had Edwin Diaz warming when the Mets initially got the lead. After getting him up, it made little sense to not use him. Instead, Rojas (justifiably) believed his closer would lock down the much needed win.

Well, Diaz imploded, and it started with a leadoff walk to Gregorius.

Roman Quinn tripled him home to bring the Phillies to within three. Diaz was on the verge of getting out of it, and then he issued a two out walk to Matt Joyce. That brought Hoskins to the plate representing the tying run . . .

What was a game tying home run was ruled to be a ground rule double. That meant instead of a tie game, the Mets still had a lead at 8-7.

Things were still dire with the tying run in scoring position. It was all the more so with Diaz hurt. That led to Jeurys Familia coming on to face Bryce Harper to earn the save.

In a flashback to 2015, Familia delivered by striking out Harper. With that, the Mets won a game they blew twice (or almost twice), and they find themselves not only back at .500, but also delivering a message to the Phillies.

Game Notes: Jacob Barnes earned his first win as a Met. This was Familia’s first save with the Mets since 2018.

Neon Moment Of The Week: Clutch Conforto

This was the toughest week so far for the New York Mets this season. Their woes with RISP reached new levels of despair, and the Philadelphia Phillies felt awfully comfortable trying to push them around.

After Jose Alvarado threw two at Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith gave him a mouthful the last series these two teams squared off, Alvardo struck out Smith in a big situation. Alvarado disrespected Smith, and the benches emptied.

They lost that game, but the Mets were fired up. We saw that when they grabbed a 4-0 first inning lead against Zack Wheeler. The problem is it ended there, and the Phillies got back into the game.

While this was not a “must win” game, the Mets needed to make a statement. They needed to show they do have the mental toughness to win these games. They needed to show the Phillies they will not be pushed around or disrespected.

In the ninth, Conforto came up against Hector Neris. This is the same Conforto who was booed during this season, and his ability to hit in the clutch has always been questioned. He would silence everyone with one big swing:

That was a game the Mets needed to have. In some ways, with the way the season has played out, they probably needed the hit all the more. Getting that hit and getting that win makes this the Neon Moment of the Week!

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Clutch Conforto

The New York Mets responded to the loss and Jose Alvarado‘s disrespect by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. It all started with a Francisco Lindor HBP, and there were big RBI doubles by Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso.

The Mets had a chance to build from there, but James McCann grounded into a double play. That hurt because Zack Wheeler was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies. You get what you can get in the first because he’s much stingy later in the game.

That was the case here. After that first inning, Wheeler shut down the Mets over the next six innings. That gave the Phillies a chance to get back into the game.

Now, Taijuan Walker pitched well but not quite well enough.

The Phillies jumped on him in the second. After a Nick Marton double, there were runners and second and third with no outs. The first run scored on an Andrew Knapp RBI groundout. Walker was close to getting out of the inning further unscathed, but Wheeler helped his own cause.

Walker went on cruise control after that allowing just a walk heading into the sixth. That’s when the Phillies started going through the third time through the lineup. It came to bite him and the Mets when Alec Bohm hit a game tying two run homer.

From there, two things happened. First, the Mets bullpen stepped up again and pitched well. Aaron Loup and Trevor May pitched a scoreless inning apiece to ensure the game was tied heading into the ninth.

In addition to the bullpen stepping up, the game went haywire. It wasn’t haywire in the way it went with Alvarado throwing at people and trash talking. Rather, it all hell broke loose.

In the seventh, Brandon Nimmo swung at a pitch, missed, and he came out of the game with an injury. He’d be replaced by Kevin Pillar. Pillar’s strikeout was attributable to Nimmo. Nimmo wasn’t the only Met to leave the game with a hand injury.

Loup was double switched into the game with Jonathan Villar taking over at third. There wasn’t an obvious play which caused it, but he left the game with a sprained hand.

In that inning, we’d see an absurdly bad umpire call. Matt Joyce hit a grounder towards Lindor, who went to tag Andrew McCutchen, and missed. It didn’t matter as the umpire ruled it was a double play.

McCutchen was ruled to have run outside the baseline. He didn’t, but it’s not reviewable because the replay system is completely broken.

Bryce Harper, who couldn’t play because he was hit in the face by a Genesis Cabrera pitch, was thrown out of the game.

In any event, Hector Neris entered the game for the Phillies in the ninth. On the second pitch he threw, Conforto hit a go-ahead homer:

With the Mets ahead 5-4, Edwin Diaz entered the game looking for his third save of the season. Now, this is a spot where Diaz had issues in the past. Not tonight. He mowed down the Phillies in order to preserve the win.

This was a big response to the loss and disrespect last night. It was a big win with Conforto getting a huge hit, his second homer of the season. Now, they need to make this stick by winning tomorrow.

Game Notes: Luis Guillorme landed on the IL, and Jose Peraza was called up in his place. Nimmo was diagnosed with a left index finger contusion.

Phillies Awoke A Sleeping Giant

Last night, the Mets offense was again the Mets offense going 1-for-14 with RISP and leaving 10 men on base. Marcus Stroman was good for 5.0, but he had to leave with a tight hamstring.

The key focus of the game is the eighth when Jose Alvarado came into the game. If you recall last time, he threw two pitches up and in at Michael Conforto. He’d do the same just once to Conforto, but this time Conforto lined out.

That’s probably a ball that goes for extra bases, but the wind was crazy and knocked the ball down. There was a lot of that last night.

As it turned out, the inning set up where Dominic Smith, who was the most vocal when Alvardo threw at Conforto, stepped to the plate with two on and two out. After a wild pitch, it was runners at second and third. In tough at-bat, Smith struck out, and Alvarado had something to say.

Smith went to confront Alvarado, who suddenly wasn’t a tough guy anymore. He found his teammates and did the “hold me back routine.”

This wasn’t over. Later in the game, Miguel Castro came inside twice to Rhys Hoskins. Yes, it was really inside twice, but it was lower. It’s difficult to determine intent, but for a Phillies team who likes to hide behind Alvarado’s selective wildness, the Mets could also do so here.

As Ron Darling noteed, Castro was actively trying to get Hoskins out, but that didn’t matter. Hoskins has something to say as we went up the baseline, and he didn’t come to meet Castro.

The Mets might’ve lost this one 2-1, but they did show some fight. This might’ve been that moment that wakes them up and gives them some fire. As we saw, the Mets are ready, and the Phillies were the ones flinching. We’ll see how that plays out tonight.

Mickey Callaway Still Angels Employee One Month Into Season

The news Mickey Callaway was harassing women while a member of multiple organizations came to light in an article written by reported by Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic. That was the beginning of February.

In reality, the Los Angeles Angels and really all of baseball were aware prior to that report being published. After all, Callaway’s actions were termed as “the worst kept secret in baseball.”

Callaway denied the allegations, even with their being pictures and texts, and as such, an investigation was launched. That investigation is nearing its third month, and its carried through the first month of the season.

At this point, we cannot be sure what the hold-up is. This does seem like a lengthy amount of time for contract buyout talks. Maybe Callaway is looking to negotiate a deal where he gives up others while keeping his job and/or salary. No one can be quite certain.

The only thing we’re certain is Callaway is still employed for the time being, and no one can be quite sure how much longer he will be an Angels employee. All we do know is he’s currently employed by the Angels.

Wherever the Angels and MLB are doing now better be good. After all, with baseball obsessed with pace under Rob Manfred, everyone is certainly slow playing this.

20/20 Hindsight: Mets Get Red Sox Knocked Off

The New York Mets had not lost a home series or been swept once this season. That was until the Boston Red Sox came to town:

1. The best way to sum up Jacob deGrom‘s greatness is a bad start is one run over six innings.

2. In four starts, deGrom is 2-2 with a 0.51 ERA. That’s beyond absurd.

3. The long story short is if deGrom doesn’t shut ’em out and hit one out, he’s going to lose the game.

4. That may not be a deGrom thing anymore. The Mets offense has been that bad lately.

5. This isn’t exactly by chance. The Mets are following the pattern of teams who previously retained Chili Davis as hitting coach.

6. As noted and will continue to be noted, Francisco Lindor is a slow starter. If you’re booing him over that, you’re an idiot.

7. Also, imagine booing him when he makes a great play to turn an unassisted double play.

8. Speaking of defense, Pete Alonso has been great at first. While we note the diving play, that stretch on the James McCann throw was excellent.

9. With the Mets offense the way it is, making bad pitching look great, they need all the great defense and pitching they can get. Fortunately, the pitching has been great leading the league in FIP.

10. Keep in mind, this is before Carlos Carrasco, Seth Lugo, and Noah Syndergaard come off the IL. That’s how good the pitching has been.

11. Mets really need to navigate this Brandon Nimmo hip issue because he’s the one consistent bat in this lineup. He’s also playing well in center.

12. Jeff McNeil homered and was dropped in the lineup. It’ll be interesting to find out what Sandy Alderson comes up with to bench McNeil again and/or drop him in the lineup again.

13. Mets held the best offensive team in 2021 to three runs TOTAL over two games. Somehow, the Mets were swept over the two game set.

14. With the Mets pitching and hitting this way, it’s reminiscent of the summer of 2015. The only difference is these Mets are healthy and the other batted Eric Campbell and John Mayberry in the heart of the lineup. These Mets are healthy.

15. It’s way too soon to panic or overreact, but the Mets problems have gone from bad to worse. That said, there is still plenty of time to turn things around.

16. The at-bats by Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis at the end of the second game where literally as bad as you can get. They were swinging at pitches in the dirt.

17. Jeurys Familia and Trevor May have been nearly unstoppable since their struggles in their first appearances. Miguel Castro has been unstoppable all year.

18. Jerry Blevins seemed to be a casualty of the dumb three batter rule when he announced his retirement. Same goes for former Met Oliver Perez who was designated for assignment by the Indians despite pitching well.

19. As Joe Girardi was rightfully flipping out over Genesis Cabrera hitting Bryce Harper in the face and Didi Gregorius in the ribs, he has no issue putting Jose Alvarado on the mound who threw consecutive dangerous up and in pitches to Conforto. If you’re going to be upset about hard throwers with zero control endangering batters, don’t put one on the mound yourself.

20. Despite what people want to tell you, the Mets are going to be fine. They’ll finish April near or at first, and they’re primed for a big May.

Mets Fail Jacob deGrom

In the second inning, Jacob deGrom allowed doubles to Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez to give the Boston Red Sox a 1-0 lead. That qualified this as a bad deGrom start.

Overall, deGrom “only” struck out nine and “only” pitched six innings. His punishment for allowing the one run on just three hits and one walk and for his failing to get a hit himself was a loss.

While deGrom was having an “off-night,” which by the way is better than anyone else’s best, the New York Mets offense was making Nick Pivetta look like deGrom.

Pivetta entered the game with a 3.48 ERA and 1.355 WHIP while walking nearly as much as he struck out. That made him unhittable to this Mets lineup. His final line was 5.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K.

It’s not like Pivetta was having the game of his life either. He was throwing hittable pitches. The problem is the Mets can’t hit those right now.

The Mets also couldn’t do anything against the Red Sox bullpen. What makes this so maddening was the Mets pitching was PHENOMENAL.

After deGrom, Aaron Loup, Trevor May, and Edwin Diaz each pitched a scoreless inning. The four pitchers combined to allow one run over nine with one walk and 15 strikeouts.

It was just a lame effort all around. Things were at their worst when Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis struck out on pitches in the dirt and in front of the plate. That’s not just how this night went. It’s been like this for a while now, and it needs to change.

The Mets have been swept for the first time this season, and they lost their first home series. They’re also under .500. At least no one in the NL East is really playing any better.

Game Notes: Jerry Blevins was at the game after announcing his retirement. Francisco Lindor was booed again.

Mets Fans Should Boo Themselves

Earlier in the season, Michael Conforto was struggling mightily. There were a number of reasons why from his having COVID19 entering Spring Training and how the New York Mets weren’t playing games due to COVID19 and weather shutdowns. This happens to everyone now and then.

Conforto is a homegrown Mets player who has expressed his interest in staying with the team for his career. He is a leader in the clubhouse who could one day be captain. He was arguably their best player last year, and he was a former All-Star who seems to be getting back to that level.

Naturally, during his struggles Mets fans booed him.

The fans who could not attend games last year decided to boo their team’s leader. He didn’t get any rope from his previous seasons with the Mets. His homering twice in a World Series game didn’t matter. All that mattered is he struggled over a handful of games.

Now, Conforto is hitting, so as a result, the Mets fans ire must be directed towards another player. Naturally, that player is Francisco Lindor, a player who signed on to be a member of the New York Mets for 11 years and could one day wear a Mets cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Mind you, Lindor was booed on a day when he did this:

But Lindor didn’t get a big hit while the Mets have been struggling at the plate; so, therefore, he must be booed. It doesn’t matter Lindor is historically a slow starter, or that he has been otherworldly with the glove. Lindor has saved the Mets a number of times already with his defense. That doesn’t matter the least bit. All that matters is he didn’t come through in that spot.

This isn’t to say players shouldn’t be booed. There are certainly times where fans are within their rights. After all, there are players who are clearly dogging it out there. There are players like Jose Reyes who beat his wife, and Bartolo Colon who didn’t pay child support. Beloved Met J.D. Davis was part of the biggest cheating scandal post-steroids. However, none of those players have been booed for those actions.

No, you get booed because you have some struggles at the plate. You didn’t get a hit in one spot. What you have meant to the team, your wanting to be a big part of the franchise’s future, and all of your goodwill means absolutely nothing. Mets fans need to be much better than this. They are embarrassing themselves booing players like Conforto and Lindor.

Instead of trying to stake claim to different sections of the ballpark and coming up with cute names for themselves, they should actually be paying attention to the players on the field. They should know what those players have and will mean to the franchise. If they can’t grasp that, they should just go out and boo themselves because in the end, they’re the ones making everyone look bad.

Mets Now Not Hitting Bad Pitching

Garrett Richards made four starts in 2021 averaging under 5.0 innings per start. He’s allowed 14 runs over 16.2 innings while walking more than he’s struck out.

Naturally, he dominated the New York Mets over 7.0 innings. In fact, he struck out 10 batters, which nearly matched his 2021 total. He picked up the win after allowing one run on seven hits with no walks.

Now, every now and then, every pitcher has a great game. Perhaps, that was just that for Richards. It’s also possible this is just the Mets continuing their season long offensive struggles.

On the night, the Mets only run scored on a Jeff McNeil second inning homer. At the time, that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The problem is that was just one of two Mets extra base hits on the day. The other was Michael Conforto in the fourth, but in what doesn’t remotely come as a shock, he was stranded there.

James McCann had tried to get his own extra base hit in the fifth, but he was thrown out by J.D. Martinez.

Conforto was the only Mets player with multiple hits. Francisco Lindor was the only Mets player not to strike out, but he went hitless. Pete Alonso had the golden sombrero. Both of those players did come to play defensively.

They needed it too because with the way the Mets were hitting, they needed to keep it close. David Peterson did that, and he’d be the hard luck loser for his efforts.

Peterson had kept the Red Sox at bay until the third. Right after the Mets gained the lead with the McNeil homer, Peterson gave that lead right back when Bobby Dalbec homered off of him.

The Red Sox didn’t get anything going until the sixth. Enrique Hernandez led off the inning with a double. He then scored on a Rafael Devers RBI single. That was the scoring in the game.

Peterson rebounded, and he got out of the sixth. That was partially due to Lindor turning a double play. That wouldn’t be his best one of the day.

With the Mets trailing 2-1 heading into the seventh, Jeurys Familia relieved Peterson. Familia allowed a one out double to Hunter Renfroe, and Marwin Gonzalez hit a liner up the middle which Lindor turned into an unassisted double play:

This was an amazing defensive play. However, it wasn’t enough for the Mets fans in the ballpark who had the temerity to boo Lindor. You’d think early season offensive struggles caused by a number of factors would be excused for Lindor, but the people at Citi Field are morons.

The bigger problem than the idiots booing was the loss. The final 10 batters of the game failed to reach.

When that happens, you really can’t win games. The Mets didn’t here, and they fell back to .500.

Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo was held out of the lineup with a hip impingement. Lindor went hitless. Stephen Tarpley was sent down to the alternate site, and Jose Peraza was called-up. Lindor batted lead-off.