Amed Rosario

Things Getting Wild For Mets

Things are going real well for the Mets right now. Actually, that’s an understatement. Take today’s game for example.

Suddenly, Amed Rosario is not just playing well at shortstop. Now, he’s starting to look like a Gold Glover:

He wasn’t the only one out there with web gems. In fact, despite the Mets being a terrible defensive team most of the year, they’d get great defensive plays from Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil:

If that wasn’t shocking enough, Robinson Cano powered the Mets offense. After a 2-for-30 stretch, he homered in the second, and he’d hit an RBI double in the sixth.

In that sixth inning, Wilson Ramos would hit an RBI single, and in a twist of irony, Welington Castillo‘s inability to field a throw home from Leury Garcia let the originally non-hustling Cano score as well on the play.

When Ramos isn’t the catcher botching plays at the plate, things are really going the Mets way.

Another thing going the Mets way was Zack Wheeler. The Mets looked brilliant not trading him when he came out looking like he had no-hit stuff. It wouldn’t be until two outs in the fifth until the White Sox got a hit.

In total, Wheeler only allowed four hits, and no White Sox player would advance past first with him on the mound. His final line would be 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Despite his only throwing 88 pitches, Wheeler was lifted because he just came off the IL with the tired arm. If not, he might’ve gone the distance.

Wheeler leaving after seven provided what might’ve been the biggest shock of all. Jeurys Familia would pitch a clean ninth to preserve a 4-0 win.

As you can see in this game, things are looking really good with the Mets right now. They’ve won seven straight, and they’re back to just two games under .500. They’re also just 4.0 games back in the Wild Card race.

Game Notes: Once again, it was Aaron Altherr and not Juan Lagares who came in for late inning defense.

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Mets Should Reasonably Stand Pat Today

The New York Mets are five games out of the Wild Card. The two teams immediately ahead of them, the Diamondbacks and the Giants, appear to be selling. After the dust clears today, it would appear the Wild Card race is going to be the among the Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Nationals, Phillies, and maybe the Mets.

On the National League Central front, it is three teams fighting for the division. There will be a lot of head-to-head games between them, and it is possible one of those teams fall way out of the race. Reasonably speaking, that could be the Brewers who have a -17 run differential and don’t have the pitching they did last year. It should also be noted after a big May, the Cubs have been a sub .500 club.

In the National League East, the Mets have six games each against the Nationals and Phillies putting the Mets fate in their own hands. For that matter, they also have three at home against the Cubs. As things stand, the Mets can really help themselves against everyone against the Cardinals and Brewers.

This doesn’t mean the Mets have a good chance. They are four games under .500, and they are still without a real center fielder. With Dominic Smith on the Injured List, they are down one key bat. We have also seen Pete Alonso slump in the second half. And yet, the Mets still have a viable chance to claim a Wild Card.

After all, at the moment their starting five is Jacob deGrom–Noah Syndergaard–Marcus Stroman–Zack Wheeler–Steven Matz. There is no better starting five in baseball. With the pitchers going deeper into games, and with their bullpen arms being healthier, the bullpen has been better of late. Of course, it helps that the team has Seth Lugo, who is phenomenal.

The question for the Mets today is what do you do? Do you add, sell, or stand pat?

If the Mets are willing to give Wheeler a qualifying offer, the team should keep him unless they are getting an offer for a player significantly better than the player they could draft with their compensation pick. The team should not trade Edwin Diaz unless they are going to be like the Indians and get a package similar to Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Scott Moss, and Victor Nova. Short of that, pass.

Under no circumstances should the Mets trade Syndergaard. It’s not worth it. You’re not going to improve the team this year or the next by doing it.

Overall, the Mets could trade Todd Frazier, but it would seem odd to do that when they just obtained Stroman who needs a good infield defense. The Mets could put Jeff McNeil at third, but they don’t have anyone to put in the outfield. The team should trade Wilson Ramos for whatever they can get. He’s not helping this year or the next. He’s a hindrance. Perhaps, the Mets could look for cost controlled relievers like Mychal Givens but only for the right price.

Overall, the Mets are in a limbo right now. They’re in a position where they could contend this year, but probably won’t. Still, their schedule will allow them to make a run. With Stroman, they are setting themselves up to compete next year, so they can’t purge long term pieces, and with them having a chance now, they shouldn’t be just salary dumping players like Frazier.

In the end, the Mets just need to stand pat. That is unless they are blown away with an offer for Diaz, or they could make an offer to get that center fielder not in their system or on the free agent market this offseason. There are so many different possibilities, but in the end, perhaps the best choice is just to do nothing and ride this out.

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Noah Syndergaard Shows Why He Should Not Be Traded In Crazy Win

If the Mets thought they could improve the team by trading Noah Syndergaard, he went out today and showed the Mets why the idea is monumentally stupid.

Syndergaard was Syndergaard pumping his fastballs up to 100 MPH. The White Sox didn’t have a hit against him until a Ryan Goins double to lead off the fifth. The White Sox only scored a run off of him because of a Todd Frazier error.

Other than that, the White Sox could touch Syndergaard through the first seven innings. Up until that point, Syndergaard had allowed just the unearned run on three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts.

Things were different in the bottom of the eighth with the White Sox going through the lineup a fourth time.

Yolmer Sanchez led off the inning with a single, and he went to third on an Adam Engel single. With Jeff McNeil throwing to third on the play and hitting Sanchez on the throw, Engel moved to second.

Syndergaard bore down and got a huge strikeout of Leury Garcia. Mickey Callaway then brought in Justin Wilson to face the left-handed hitting Jon Jay who had good career numbers against Syndergaard entering the game.

Jay popped up a bunt which Pete Alonso could not get to in time, but with it being a pop up, the runners froze. As a result, the bases were loaded with Jose Abreu coming to the plate. Callaway countered with Seth Lugo. What ensued was a classic matchup.

It was an eight pitch at-bat which ran full with Abreu fouling off four pitches. On the eighth pitch, Abreu grounded into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play.

Frazier, who was spiked earlier in the inning, got it quick to Robinson Cano, who made a poor throw to first. He was bailed out by Alonso’s terrific scoop.

The Mets needed that double play to preserve the 2-1 lead and keep Syndergaard on the long side of the ledger.

Syndergaard has now pitched 7.0+ innings in four straight starts allowing three earned or fewer and striking out 8+ in each of those starts. You’re not getting a better pitcher than this. It’s Exbibit AA why the Mets cannot trade him.

In the game, the Mets only scored two runs because they squandered opportunities going 0-for-12 with RISP and leaving 11 on base. To that end, the Mets only two runs came on RBI groundouts.

In the second, Tomas Nido plated Frazier with a groundout. In the fifth, a Cano groundout scored Michael Conforto. In both innings, and in eight of the nine innings, the Mets left runners on base. It was something front and center in your mind in that stressful eighth, and Edwin Diaz‘s eventful ninth.

Diaz led off the ninth walking Goins. After striking out Eloy Jimenez, he lost control of one hitting James McCann up and in. Fortunately, it hit McCann’s shoulder and then bill of his helmet.

Unfortunately, with Tim Anderson at the plate, he threw a wild pitch putting runners at second and third with one out. The pitch was ruled a wild pitch, but it was one Nido should’ve had.

It hurt as Anderson hit a sac fly. One more here is Callaway went with Aaron Altherr as the late inning defensive replacement in center instead of Juan Lagares. Even thigh Altherr’s throw was off line allowing the runner to score easily, it probably still didn’t matter. That said, it was an interesting development.

Diaz would get out of the inning sending it to extras, but it was still his fifth blown save.

This was not your typical Mets loss. Robert Gsellman pitched a scoreless 10th and 11th. That would give him the win with McNeil and Conforto going back-to-back in the top of the 11th.

The rally was started by a Rosario single. He’s sizzling hot now with a four hit game under his belt. He scored on the McNeil two run homer, and Conforto hit a massive homer giving the Mets a 5-2 lead.

The game ended on July 31 meaning it’s now the trade deadline with the Mets increasingly looking like buyers. Perhaps, but this run may be too little too late for that. It may not be for the Wild Card.

Game Notes: Conforto’s and Amed Rosario‘s hot second halves continued. Conforto was 3-for-5 with a two runs, a walk, double, homer, and an RBI. Rosario was 4-for-5 with a stolen base.

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Mets Infield Defense Will Not Negatively Affect Marcus Stroman

Aside from the prospect cost, one of the areas in which people have evaluated the wisdom of the Marcus Stroman trade has been the Mets infield defense. It was an issue brought up by Buster Olney of ESPN, former Mets executive and SNY contributor Adam Fisher, and others. Certainly, with Stroman having a career 59.4 ground ball percentage, it is a very important consideration.

Before looking at the Mets, we should first analyze the Blue Jays defense. After all, this is the defense Stroman has pitched in front of during this season.

In total, the Blue Jays as a team have a -6 DRS which ranks them as 19th in the Major Leagues. As a team, they have a .310 BABIP, which is the sixth worst in the majors. When you look deeper into those numbers, the Blue Jays do not have a very good infield defense:

  • First Base -4 DRS (24th)
  • Second Base -9 DRS (27th)
  • Third Base 1 DRS (16th)
  • Shortstop 0 DRS (15th)

In total, this is a -12 DRS infield defense. Seeing the Blue Jays right side of the infield defense, you can see why left-handed batters are hitting .272 off of him with a .310 BABIP this year. Another factor to contemplate here is the opponent’s OPS against Stroman is 105 points higher on the turf of the Rogers Centre than anywhere else.

Now, it is fair to say the Mets infield defense has not been good. In fact, earlier this year, Mark Simon of The Athletic noted the Mets were one of the worst infield shifting teams in the majors being one of the few teams who have cost themselves runs by shifting. The Mets team defense is a -61 DRS which stands as the worst in the National League, and it has helped contribute to a .307 BABIP against Mets pitchers.

That .307 BABIP is only slightly better than the one the Blue Jays have yielded. That gives an indication as to how there is not much separation between the two clubs defensively. On that front consider the Mets regular infield defense:

Even with Alonso and Cano being negative DRS defenders, their combined -5 DRS is significantly better than the Blue Jays -13 DRS on the right side of the infield. That should help Stroman against left-handed batters. That’s important in a division with Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Juan Soto, and Bryce Harper.

On the left side of the infield, Frazier has performed better than the Blue Jays third baseman. That gives the Mets three better defenders than what the Blue Jays typically put behind Stroman. Then there is the issue of Rosario.

At a -15 DRS this year and a -31 DRS over the past two years, Rosario has been the second worst defensive shortstop in the majors. Looking at this, it would appear this is a significant downgrade from the Blue Jays 0 DRS this season. This is damaging when you consider it is at what is considered to be the most important position on the infield.

Lost in that is how Rosario has been a much better defender of late. While it is not the best barometer of defense, it should be noted that while Rosario has 13 errors this year, third worst in the majors, he has only made one error over the past month, and that was on a ball Alonso should have had at first. Looking past that, Rosario has made just two errors since May 8.

Looking at a advanced metrics perspective, Rosario entered the All-Star Break with a Major League worst -16 DRS. That means in the 15 second half games, he has played to a positive 1 DRS. That is similar to what we saw from him when he was called up in 2017 when he had a 1 DRS over 302.0 innings.

If Rosario has figured things out, he is at or better than the 0 DRS Blue Jays shortstops have this year. With Rosario being just 23 years old, his improving defensively is a possibility no one should discount.

With Rosario playing significantly better at shortstop, the Mets defense is actually significantly better than the Blue Jays defense this year. That is an important note to consider when you see Stroman is 6-11 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.227 WHIP, and a 153 ERA+. Overall, it would seem as if Stroman coming to the Mets is actually more beneficial than pitching on the Rogers Centre turn in front of what might’ve actually been an inferior infield defense.

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Assessing Mets Marcus Stroman Trade

Before going into the weeds on the cost, it should first be noted the Mets are a much better team for getting Marcus Stroman. This is a pitcher who has pitched quite well in the AL East, and he is a pitcher with big game experience being named the World Baseball Classic MVP in addition to some really good postseason performances.

Stroman grew up a Mets fan, and as a result, the Mets are getting a player who should become a fan favorite in short order. Assuming no other moves for a moment, the Mets rotation is very clearly the best in baseball, and you can argue acquiring Stroman makes their chances of making the postseason this year significantly better.

The one ding people will bring up with Stroman is he’s reliant upon a good infield defense to be successful, and the Mets defense has not been good this year. On that note, the Blue Jays have been a below average defensive team this year with a -6 DRS with them having a -4 DRS at first, -9 DRS at second, 1 DRS at third, and a 0 DRS at shortstop. With the Mets having Todd Frazier at third and Amed Rosario playing a to positive DRS in the second half, they fair well in comparison to the Blue Jays. Eliminate the turf, and you can argue this is actually a better situation for Stroman to be even better.

Now, if the Mets were in the position the Braves were in, you understand this trade. Stroman is the piece which arguably puts the Mets over the top. When you roll out Jacob deGrom–Noah Syndergaard–Marcus Stroman–Zack Wheeler–Steven Matz in your rotation, you’re dangerous in both the regular season and post season. As for the bullpen issues, with that collection of five guys, the Mets could take a page out of Alex Cora‘s book last postseason and utilize their starters to dominate the entire series.

Stroman would be an overpay, but it would be one along the lines of the Cubs trading Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman. If you win the World Series, who cares? In some ways, Stroman is even better than that because he is under control for next year as well. This not only gives you the best rotation in baseball right now, but it puts you in a position where you’ve insulated your team from losing Wheeler in the offseason.

The problem with the Mets is they’re five games under .500, and they are six games out of the division and the Wild Card. They are in real striking distance, but they also have many obstacles in their way.

The Mets have three teams ahead of them in the division, and they have four teams ahead of them in the Wild Card standings. The team just lost Dominic Smith which somehow depletes an already suspect outfield depth even further, and it also stands in the way of the Mets finding some more games for Pete Alonso, who is really struggling so far in the second half.

Speaking of depth, the Mets already suspect starting pitching depth did take a hit. On the one hand, yes, assuming no other moves, acquiring Stroman exponentially improves the depth as he’s a significant upgrade over Jason Vargas, who should now find himself in the bullpen. On that note, the bullpen also looks better. However, that assumes no other moves.

At the moment, it seems the Mets are looking to move Noah Syndergaard in a companion move to help fill out the current roster. Of note, the team still desperately needs a center fielder. It should be noted with the current rumors, Manuel Margot isn’t that guy. He’s yet to be a league average hitter in his career, and he’s a -1 DRS this year in center. On that front, it should be noted he was really good prior to this year with an 8 DRS in 2017 and a 9 DRS in 2018.

If the Mets move Syndergaard, they are again relying on Walker Lockett and Corey Oswalt to be their starting pitching depth this year and the next. Aside from one Lockett start this year, that is misplaced faith. This means the Mets need David Peterson to step up instead of hoping one of him or Anthony Kay are ready.

Like with trading Justin Dunn to the Mariners, trading Kay hurt the depth, and it deprived the organization of real starting pitching upside. It also eliminated the possibility of taking either pitcher to send them out there and try to replicate with Seth Lugo or to a lesser extent Robert Gsellman are doing.

Being fair, in the end a package headlined by Kay was a fair return for Stroman. It did make sense to gamble Kay away for the year plus of Stroman, especially if you are really going to go for it as an organization. On that note, they did not do that after trading Jarred Kelenic and Dunn in the trade for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano. On the Cano point, the Mets are up against the luxury tax next year, and they seem to be already using it as an excuse not to add despite the team collecting tens of millions of dollars in insurance proceeds on David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes while also deferring $12 million of deGrom’s contract.

From a Mets standpoint, the part of the deal which really hurts is Simeon Woods Richardson. This is an 18 year old pitcher already pitching for a full season affiliate. He is getting his fastball up to 97 MPH with a promising and developing curve and change which could both be plus pitches. Despite being almost four years younger than the competition, he is striking out 11.1 batters per nine while having an incredible 5.71 K/BB. This is a special arm, and the Mets traded him away with a top 100 prospect for one plus year of Stroman.

On the Woods Richardson front, the Mets were beyond loaded with teenage talent heading into this year. In addition to him, the Mets had Kelenic, Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, Francisco Alvarez, Shervyen Newton, Luis Santana, and others along with a pitcher like Thomas Szapucki. This was a group poised to break into the majors around 2022, and when they came up, the Mets could have really had a prolonged World Series window open.

With Brodie Van Wagenen as the General Manager, that is what he has been trading away. He has severely hampered the next window from opening. Of course, that assumes the Mets window is currently open. This is a big reason why many baseball people don’t understand this trade. This seems one of those moments like when they pulled off the Cano deal or Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano the Mets are trying to tell us they are smarter then everyone when they’re really not.

Ultimately, you may not like this trade, but you would have certainly understood it if the Mets were 10 games over .500. They’re not. This trade becomes all the more puzzling when you consider they are supposedly doing this as a precursor to trading Syndergaard. Really, when looking at the entire plan right now, none of this makes sense. It makes even less sense if you are trading Syndergaard for prospects because the Mets just obtained one plus year of Stroman and not five.

Overall, this was an overpay for Stroman, and depending on what the Mets do now, it could be a completely unforced error. Typically in these moments, you like to sit and wait before passing judgment on the total plan, but considering how Van Wagenen has lost every trade he’s made thus far, there shouldn’t be much hope this was the first strike in what is one grand master plan.

In essence, enjoy Stroman while he’s a Met. He’s a fun player and really good pitcher who is coming home to pitch for the team he rooted for when he was growing up. Also, root for another hometown kid in Kay and hope Woods Richardson fulfills his potential. Root for everyone to succeed because it helps the Mets in the short term, and it will also help in the long run to remind the Mets that they’re really not better at this than everyone else. They have been and will continue to be considerably worse until Jeff Wilpon realizes he’s the problem.

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Simply Amazin’ Podcast (Noah’s Arc) Appearance

This past week I appeared on the Simply Amazin’ podcast to discuss a number of issues facing the Mets right now.

During the podcast I mentioned Anthony Kay, Ali Sanchez, Vince Coleman, Mackey Sasser, T.J. Rivera, Noah Syndergaard, David Peterson, Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, Ryley Gilliam, Steve Villines, Andres Gimenez, Juan Centeno, and others.

Please click the link and listen.

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Wheeler Leaves Mound A Winner

After coming here in the Carlos Beltran trade, which was arguably the first significant move in a rebuild which culminated in the 2015 pennant, after the Tommy John surgery and set back, after Carlos Gomez‘s hips negated a trade, and after all the drama with necessarily comes with being a member of the New York Mets, Zack Wheeler took the mound for what could be the last time as a member of the team.

With his free agency looming and the Mets being sellers, Wheeler may soon be gone. If he does go, he’s going out a winner.

Coming off the IL, Wheeler had a pitch count. Through the first five, he was terrific. That’s been par for the course for Wheeler during the second half of the season. Up until that fifth, he allowed just one earned off three consecutive second inning singles.

In the fifth, Wheeler tired. After he allowed a two run homer to Adam Frazier, the Mets lead narrowed to 4-3. Mickey Callaway gave him a little rope, but he eventually had to get Wheeler. He would depart the mound to a well deserved standing ovation:

He’d also depart a winner because the Mets offense hit the long ball, and the bullpen continued their best stretch of the season.

Jeff McNeil gave the Mets the lead with a three run homer in the third which just cleared the right field wall. Todd Frazier hit a solo shit in the fifth, and Wilson Ramos and Pete Alonso hit solo shots in the sixth. That accounted for the Mets six runs.

From the bullpen front, Luis Avilan continued his strong stretch getting Wheeler out of his sixth inning jam. With Edwin Diaz getting hit on the foot yesterday, it was Robert Gsellman and Justin Wilson setting up for Seth Lugo who recorded his first save of the year and fourth of his career.

Overall, however, tonight was about Wheeler. He earned his 40th win as a Met. Who knows which uniform he’ll be wearing for his 41st win.

Game Notes: Amed Rosario made his first error since June 28. Alonso misplayed his throw going into foul territory and losing his glove trying to get the ball. Later in the game, Alonso dropped a foul pop up.

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Jacob dayGrom Brilliant Again

Jacob deGrom is a great pitcher, perhaps the best there is in all of baseball. When he pitches during the day, there isn’t anyone better. It’s only slightly hyperbole to say you’d take deGrom in the daytime over pitchers like Tom Seaver, Pedro Martinez, or Christy Mathewson.

Today, deGrom pitched like daytime deGrom allowing just four hits over seven scoreless innings while walking one and striking out nine. Really, he was just toying with the Padres.

No Padre would reach third. His season ERA is down to 2.86, and he’s pitching like a guy who is getting momentum towards real Cy Young considerations

In what was a pleasant surprise, he’d get some help. Juan Lagares was able to recover from misreading an Eric Hosmer sixth inning liner to catch the ball and keep the Padres off the board. We’d also see a terrific defensive play from an improving Amed Rosario:

More than that, deGrom would get some rare run support with the Mets jumping all over Eric Lauer in a four run first which was capped off by a Todd Frazier two RBI double and a Michael Conforto RBI single against the shift.

After that Conforto RBI single, the Mets stranded 14 runners on base. That included not scoring runners from scoring position in the second, third, sixth, seventh, and eighth. In the latter two, the Mets left the bases loaded.

Those four runs held up because deGrom was brilliant, Seth Lugo was Seth Lugo, and Luis Avilan pitched a scoreless ninth.

Originally, it was Edwin Diaz in the ninth, but he was hit hard by a Manny Machado liner, and as a result, the Mets played it safe and lifted him from the game.

If the Mets took care of business in San Francisco, there would be real room for excitement in taking two of three from the Padres. Instead, we can just marvel at deGrom’s greatness.

Game Notes: Pete Alonso is struggling out of the break hitting .125. This will certainly cue the Home Run Derby curse takes.

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Give Dominic Smith A Break

Last night, Dominic Smith had two errors in the third inning which led to what would prove to be the Padres game winning rally. Later in the game, Smith would have a misplay which would not be charged as an error. When you add in his letting a ball drop with Amed Rosario running towards him, a play which happened to both of them last year, Smith has not been good in left field recently.

As a result, Mets fans have begun again talking about how he is not a left fielder and that the team needs to trade him this offseason. The calls to get him out of the outfield and off the team are partially the result of Smith having a down July hitting just .170/.188/.340 albeit with a .171 BABIP.

Calls to remove him from the outfield and to get Smith off the team are a complete and utter overreaction to a rough stretch, and they need to stop. In fact, with all Smith has gone through in his career to get to this point, you would think at some point Mets fans would give him a break and just believe in him.

No, Smith has not been good in the field. However, even with those struggles, he is just a -2 DRS, and he is a week removed from being a 1 DRS. He also only has 307.0 Major League innings in the outfield and just 837.0 innings as a professional. Of note, Smith has never had an offseason or Spring Training to really work on the position. Because of the way the Mets are perpetually run, it has always been on the fly.

The point being here is no one can really tell you if Smith is really capable of being an everyday left fielder or not. It remains very possible he isn’t. It also remains possible he could be. After all, even when accounting for his poor play, he is still not a butcher out there. Certainly not anywhere near the level Todd Hundley, Daniel Murphy, and Lucas Duda were before him.

We should also note even with this recent cold streak, Smith is still hitting .283/.358/.514 (132 wRC+) on the season. That makes him the Mets third best hitter this year. If he had enough plate appearances to qualify, that would be enough to rank as the 27th best hitting outfielder in the majors. Put another way, he has the bat to play out there. The question is if he can play well enough defensively.

The answer to that question is we don’t know yet. As noted he has well less than a full season’s worth of experience in the outfield over the course of his entire professional career. It is possible with a full offseason and Spring Training to prepare he would be adequate to good out there. Maybe he will never be, but we should never make snap judgments about his ability.

After all, when Smith struggled over parts of his first two Major League seasons, people made snap judgments he was never going to be any good. With him getting his sleep apnea treated and having real time to put in the work this offseason, he has proven everyone wrong. For those who doubt him, they should allow Smith to prove them wrong again.

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20/20 Chances: Mets Leave Postseason Hopes in San Francisco

The Mets went to San Francisco with a chance to take a series against the Giants, pull to at least five games under .500, and surpass the Giants in the Wild Card standings. Instead, they managed to blow three games and probably leave their chances of making the postseason in San Francisco.

1. The Mets outscored the Giants by a healthy margin in this series, but that was only because of Saturday’s blowout. Putting that game aside, both teams were as feckless as can be at the plate. In some ways, both teams being alive in the Wild Card chase is a black mark for baseball.

2. The play which blew the Friday night game perfectly encapsulates the season. Dominic Smith doesn’t make a play partially because he is playing out of position. Unlike Robinson Cano, Alex Dickerson hustled around the base paths. Then, after Todd Frazier astutely cut it off, Wilson Ramos was nowhere near the play, nor did he even attempt to get into position.

3. In short, on one play we saw the effects of the Mets playing guys out of position, playing poor defense, and having their high priced veterans not perform up to the level they need to perform. Throw in the Mets blowing a completely winnable game, and you have the 2019 Mets in a nutshell.

4. The more you look at it, the more you realize Ramos is the biggest issue with this team. His catching has forced the pitching staff to bring pitches up in the hitting zone because of his framing and inability to effectively block pitches. As we saw on Friday night’s play, there are times you question how fully engaged he is. Finally, he’s a shell of himself offensively. Moving him at the trade deadline needs to be a priority.

5. By they way, for the cost of Ramos ($7.25) and Jed Lowrie ($10), the Mets could have had Yasmani Grandal this year and been a vastly superior team.

6. As pointed out by @MeekPhil_ on Twitter, last year’s gaffe between Smith and Amed Rosario happened last year against the Giants. With this being the Mets, no one should be surprised by this.

7. The way Smith responded to the play was incredible. On the first pitch he saw, he would hit a homer. In that game, he was 3-f0r-5 with that homer and four RBI. The way Smith put everything behind him speaks well to his future.

8. Of course, we should not be surprised about Smith’s response. After all, this is the same guy who responded to struggling in parts of his first two Major League seasons, getting surpassed on the depth chart, and his battles with sleep apnea. Smith is a fighter and a hard worker. Dealing with him this offseason is going to be a conundrum.

9. As we saw with his snapping the bat over his leg, Pete Alonso is both fatigued and frustrated. That sums up how every Mets fan feels after staying up or trying to stay up for the Thursday and Friday night debacles.

10. Alonso sitting on Saturday is a testament to the veteran presence of Frazier, who told Alonso and Mickey Callaway about the fatigue which sets in after the Home Run Derby. Considering how the Mets clubhouse fell apart when the Mets moved Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce in 2017, the Mets should consider keeping someone like him around to help this team continue to develop and prepare to be contenders in 2020.

11. It should also be noted with all the deals Van Wagenen has made in his Mets tenure, no one should trust his ability to trade anything for any value at the trade deadline. In all likelihood, when he is done, we will long for the days of the return of “prospects” like Nogosek, Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan, Ryder Ryan, Will Toffey, Drew Smith, etc.

12. Maybe it is time Jeff McNeil gets a day off. So far in the second half, he is hitting .268/.318/.488. Mets need much more from him than this.

13. It gets frustrating seeing how Mets fans choose to overlook some guys while constantly making others a perennial target. For example, Michael Conforto was chastised for not coming through in one pinch hitting attempt on Friday night, but McNeil, who three times failed to knock in the go-ahead run, had nary a bad word said about him.

14. Really, Mets fans don’t deserve Conforto much in the same way they don’t deserve Noah Syndergaard. With both players, all we hear is nitpicking over them instead of just enjoying them for the really good players they are.

15. The Mets offensive cold snaps were beyond frustrating in this series. After scoring a run in the first inning of the first game, they did not score another run until the 16th inning. After that, they didn’t score another run until Saturday’s game. After hitting two homers in the second inning Sunday, they didn’t score another run. If you’re not scoring runs, you can’t win.

16. The pitching staff was as good as you could ask during this series. The only blips were Chris Mazza and Stephen Nogosek. For Mazza, he was pressed into action in a spot where it was going to be difficult to succeed, and Nogosek struggled in mop up work.

17. Going back to Mazza, it shows how seemingly meaningless decisions come to matter. When the Mets needed someone to wrap things up in what became a laugher in Minnesota, the Mets turned to Mazza for the final two innings. The team did this despite knowing Jacob Rhame had a suspension looming. The end result was being an arm short in a 16 inning game the subsequent day pressing Mazza, a pitcher who just threw two innings, to work multiple innings again.

18. In what is becoming a lost season (if it wasn’t one already), the Mets need to stop pushing Seth Lugo. He’s too valuable a bullpen arm going forward. Don’t mess that up to chase games in July and August when you did nothing to really build the bullpen when you had the opportunity.

19. The hopes for a Cano turnaround are quickly fading with him now three for his last 21. If Brodie Van Wagenen had a clue, he’d spend the offseason finding a way for a team to take on Cano’s contract because Cano is one of the reasons why the Mets are going to struggle to compete in the ensuring seasons.

20. It was sad to see Matt Harvey get designated for assignment. For years, he was the source of hope for Mets fans, and he really did all he could do to get the Mets a World Series in 2015. Hopefully, he finds a way back to the Mets to work with Phil Regan and build himself back to being a good pitcher. More than that, here’s hoping he finds a fit like he did in Cincinnati last year where he can get the most out of the stuff he still has.

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