Eric Campbell
All Alejandro De Aza and Eric Campbell jokes aside, how many times has this Mets team played a game with a full 25 man roster at its disposal? Given the fact that Hansel Robles had to serve a two game suspension to start the season, it didn’t even happen on Opening Day.
There have been several occasions where Mets players have gotten nicked up forcing the Mets to make the decision of whether they should play with a short-handed roster for a few games or whether they should put that player on the disabled list. Time and again, the Mets have understandably gone with a short roster as it is better to be without an important player for a game or two rather than being without an important piece for a 13-15 game stretch. With the Mets in a tight race for one of the two Wild Cards and them trying to claw their way back into the race for the National League East race, they do not want to lose a player like Yoenis Cespedes for two weeks even as he is now clearly hobbled out there with his right quad injury.
Instead, the Mets will put Cespedes in left field hoping that he can manage his injury while Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto, who had struggled in part to due a wrist injury that required a cortisone shot, try to hold down center field in the interim. Keep in mind this isn’t the first time that Cespedes has been nicked up this year. Earlier in the year, he was dealing with a hip issue that sapped him of some of his power. The Mets tried to give him a day here and there, but ultimately, they had to run him out there as he is the most important hitter in that lineup. Cespedes isn’t the only Mets player who dealt with injuries the Mets tried to navigate without a disabled list stint.
With Conforto and De Aza struggling in June, the Mets tried to avoid putting Juan Lagares on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his left thumb as the team needed his defense and his bat in the lineup. Asdrubal Cabrera has played much of the season with a knee injury that has troubled him since Spring Training. There was a stretch where Robles pitched through a sprained ankle. Steven Matz has the bone spurs in his elbow, and he could clearly benefit from a little breather to give his arm a bit of a break.
Putting teams in a position where they have to play with short-handed rosters is not good for the team. It’s not good for baseball or its fans. Regardless of your favorite team, when you sit down to watch a game, you want to see two teams at their best face-off. But that doesn’t always happen. Part of the reason is the current disabled list rules are antiquated.
The current disabled list system has been in place for 26 years. In 1990, MLB had added a 60 day disabled list to go in conjuction with the already existing 15 day disabled list. It replaced a system that had been in place for 24 years to reflect how baseball had changed.
And baseball has changed since 1990 especially with the banning of amphetamines and other PED substances. Whether true or not, it seems players get nicked up a little more frequently than they did a decade or so ago.
With that in mind, baseball should shorten the disabled list from 15 games to seven games. It should be noted baseball already has a seven day disabled list for concussions. It should be further noted there is a seven day disabled list in the minor leagues.
Speaking of minor leaguers, those players aren’t getting as much of a chance with the current 15 day disabled list. Right now, the Mets are trying to navigate through Cespedes’ quad injury while a player like Brandon Nimmo is playing in AAA. If there was a seven day disabled list, the Mets might be more inclined to utilize it so their best player could get healthy. It would give the Mets a full 25 man roster at their disposal. It would make them a better team, which in turn, would make for a better product for the fans to watch.
All that would need to happen for fans to see a better product is for baseball to implement the seven day disabled list. It already exists for concussions and the minors. It should be in place for all of baseball regardless of injury.
With homefield advantage on the line and the Mets in playoff position, Terry Collins managed the All Star Game like seemingly every other manager has previously managed the All Star Game. He put more of a premium on getting all the players in the game than winning the game. Well, everyone except his own players Jeurys Familia and Bartolo Colon. Other than the Mets players apparently being upset at this, it is hard to criticize Collins for how he managed the All Star Game. Still, there are many managerial decisions Collins has made in the first half of the season that invite scrutiny.
First and foremost, there is the way he handled Michael Conforto. First, he didn’t let him get any time playing right field in Spring Training. The end result of that was Collins putting Juan Lagares in right and Yoenis Cespedes in center on days that Curtis Granderson was given the day off. There really is no excuse for putting Lagares, possibly the defensive center fielder in the game, anywhere but center.
The other mistake is not letting Conforto hit against lefties until Madison Bumgarner took the mound. Collins was hampering his development by doing that. At the end of the day, this is the Mets best position player prospect, and in many ways, he was the second best hitter on the team. Collins was willing to sacrifice all that to get Lagares’ bat in the lineup instead of sitting an older Granderson who had the very platoon splits that worried Collins. By the way, Granderson is also 35 years old and could use the occasional day or two off. Conforto’s season began to fall apart, and he needed to be sent down to AAA. By the way, Collins is making the same mistake with Brandon Nimmo. However, it’s even worse with Nimmo as he’s doing it to get Alejandro De Aza‘s bat in the lineup.
While on the topic of developing players, Kevin Plawecki has faltered for yet another season under Collins’ tutelage. Last year, there were a number of excuses why Plawecki didn’t succeed from his being rushed to the majors to his sinus issues. This year, he had no such excuses, and he still didn’t produce. While Plawecki deserves a large amount of the blame, Collins certainly deserves some of it, especially when his position with Conforto is that he is not here to help players develop as major leaguers when the Mets have a win-now team.
Another major issue this year was Collins’ handing of Jim Henderson. Henderson was a feel good story that turned into a potential nightmare. The day after Henderson threw a career high 34 pitches, which is puzzling in its own right, Collins used Henderson to pitch in the very next game. He did it despite knowing that Henderson needed to be handled lightly due to his having two shoulder surgeries. He did it even after watching what happened with Johan Santana. Collins knew all of this, and yet he used Henderson in that spot as he said an April 13th game, the eighth game of the season, was deemed to be a must win game. Henderson’s production fell off after that, and now he is on the disabled list.
There was also his handling of Noah Syndergaard. Last year, the Mets wanted to initiate a six man rotation to alleviate some of the early innings Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom pitched early in the season. The idea was to both keep them healthy and keep them fresh for the length of the season. To be fair, Collins use of Syndergaard in any one particular start has not been egregious. However, it was curious how he shoehorned Syndergaard into a relief appearance after Syndergaard was ejected throwing at Chase Utley. The Mets had an opportunity to rest their ace until his next start. Instead, Syndergaard got the adrenaline going and was ramped up in a relief appearance on his throw day. By the way, in Syndergaard’s last start his fastball velocity dropped to 91 MPH, and he left the game with a dead arm.
Speaking of how he is handling pitching, it is amazing that Collins took part in talking Steven Matz out of opting for season ending surgery to address the bone spurs in his elbow that has clearly hampered his pitching. Not only was Collins willing to risk Matz suffering a more severe injury, he’s also willing to put a limited pitcher on the mound every fifth day. Keep in mind that since the bone spurs became an issue, Matz has been 0-3 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.430 WHIP. His slider usage has dropped from 13% to 3% of the time. It’s always troubling when a manager doesn’t protect his players. It’s even worse when he doesn’t protect the young injured ones.
There is also the curious drop in production this team has had since May 1st. Here’s how some of the Mets best hitters have fared since that point:
| April | Since | |
| Curtis Granderson | .241/.347/.471 | .238/.335/.453 |
| Neil Walker | .307/.337/.625 | .232/.318/.345 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | .300/.364/.400 | .249/.305/.435 |
| Michael Conforto | .365/.442/.676 | .148/.217/.303 |
Now, there are many factors to this including some of these players getting nicked up a bit. There’s something to be sad for the natural ebbs and flows of a season as well. There should be some note about the injuries to the players surrounding them. However, with all that said, these players have had a significant drop off in production under Collins’ watch. Whether it was helping them make adjustments and finding days for them to get the rest they needed, Collins didn’t do that as their manager.
There have been other issues dealing with Collins in-game management that could be highlighted as well. To be fair and balanced, it should be pointed out that Eric Campbell, Ty Kelly, Matt Reynolds, and Rene Rivera have played far more games than the Mets ever wanted or expected them to play. It’s hard to expect a manager to win under those circumstances. It should also be noted that there were significant injuries to David Wright, Lucas Duda, and Matt Harvey which have further weakened the Mets.
Through all of that, Collins still has the Mets in a position to make the postseason. If he makes better decisions, and the Mets begin playing better, they should be in the postseason, and with that pitching staff, they still have a legitimate chance to return to the World Series.
There exists two Dilson Herreras. The first Dilson Herrera is the player who absolutely rakes in the minors hitting .310/.362/.504 over two seasons at AAA. This is the player the Mets see as their second basemen of the future. They see him being the Mets everyday second baseman as soon as Opening Day 2017.
Then there is the other Dilson Herrera. This Herrera has struggled at the plate in his limited time in the majors. When Daniel Murphy went down in 2014, Herrera struggled in the 18 games he did play hitting only .220/.303/.407. Last year, when David Wright went down, Herrera was first summoned as the Mets long-term plan to improve the team. Herrera struggled again only hitting .195/.290/.317 in 25 games. Ultimately this forced the Mets to start looking elsewhere to fulfill the void left by Wright’s injury. It seems the Mets believe the Dilson Herrea who has struggled in the majors is the true Dilson Herrera.
In 2016, David Wright went down again. However, this time, the Mets did not turn to Herrera. Instead, they went with a combination of Eric Campbell and Ty Kelly until Wilmer Flores returned from the disabled list. Even when the Mets lost Lucas Duda to his own long-term injury, the Mets still refrained from calling-up Herrera. Instead, they made a trade for James Loney. You could make the argument that the Mets could have moved Neil Walker and moved him to third base. However, the Mets made the arguably rational decision not to ask Walker to play a position he has only played 15 times in his career and a position he hasn’t played in about 10 years. With that in mind, it didn’t make sense to call-up Herrera as he would have had to stay on the bench. You want a young player like him getting regular at bats and improving. It is hard to do that from the bench. Overall, the Mets seemed content to go with Loney and Flores at the corner infield positions.
Yes, the Mets have struggled offensively with Flores and Loney at the corner infield positions. However, it’s hard to blame either of them for these struggles. Loney has hit a respectable .291/.349/.405 since coming over to the Mets. Since he has returned from the disabled list and taken over third base responsibilities, Flores has hit .262/.319/.415. The production isn’t exactly awe-inspiring, but they are solid numbers not only for temporary replacements, but also for bottom of the lineup hitters. Still, the Mets have World Series aspirations, and they realize that if they want to get to that point, they probably need to do better than Loney and Flores on the corners.
Accordingly, the Mets have begun to consider different possibilities. Next week, the Mets are going to bring in Yulieski Gourriel for a workout presumably to see if he is capable of playing second or third base. Also, it seems increasingly likely that the Mets will bring Jose Reyes back to Queens to either play second or third. If the Mets were to bring either Gourriel or Reyes aboard, it is at least possible, that move would require the Mets moving Walker to third. With that in mind, it is surprising that the Mets haven’t at least investigated the possibility of calling-up Herrera to play second. It’s simply ponderous.
If you want justification for the Mets decision, you could point to Herrera only hitting .290/.337/.496 in AAA this year. However, this overlooks the fact that Herrera had an extremely slow start after dealing with some early season injuries. Since April 24th, Herrera is hitting .301/.354/.488 with 13 doubles, two triples, and 11 homers. Over the course of the entire season, Herrera is hitting .338/.385/.606 with runners in scoring position. Herrera is hitting, and he can certainly help the Mets. It is surprising that the Mets are going to pursue other opportunities before even giving Herrera a look in the majors. It’s even more surprising given the fact that they have also given Kelly and Matt Reynolds opportunities this year.
The Mets haven’t even tried calling up Herrera through the Mets offensive struggles. They gave lesser prospects chances at playing time. Now, they are looking outside the organization for offensive help. Overall, while no one is saying it publicly, it seems that the Mets are not as confident in Herrera as they once were. It’s odd that it may have come to this when Herrera is still only 22 years old.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com
Seriously, Alejandro De Aza is not as bad a player as he has seemed in his limited time with the Mets. Up until this season, De Aza was a .267/.337/.405 hitter with a 101 career OPS+. Essentially, he was an average major league baseball player. You don’t necessarily want that in your starting lineup day in and day out the way it once appeared he was going to be. However, a player like that could be a vital and important piece for your bench.
Unfortunately, it has not turned out that way.
It is quite possible this all started when the Mets signed Yoenis Cespedes in the offseason. At the time the Mets signed De Aza two things were fairly evident: (1) the Mets didn’t have the stomach or money to give Cespedes a contract like the one he was expected to receive in free agency; and (2) he was going to be part of a center field platoon with Juan Lagares. As it turns out, the Mets got very lucky. No one really offered Cespedes a fair market value free agent contract allowing him to return to the Mets for what was effectively a one-year deal. By extension the Mets seemed to be extremely deep in the outfield as their fourth and fifth outfielders, De Aza and Lagares, were major league quality everyday players in some capacity. It was great on paper. However, De Aza has clearly suffered from the lack of playing time – playing time he reasonably expected when he signed with the Mets as a free agent.
So far this year, De Aza is only hitting .165/.224/.241 with a 27 OPS+. He has gone hitless in his last 20 at bats. In his limited starts (13 games), he is hitting .128/.180/.213. Keep in mind those stats are inflated due to a 3-4 game he had in a start against the Indians in May. Other than that De Aza has been flat out terrible. Things have gotten so bad for him that Terry Collins is starting Matt Reynolds over him in games, and Reynolds had never played a game in the outfield as a professional. His stats are in Ty Kelly and Eric Campbell territory, and as we’ve seen with him, he’s a much better player than either of these players. Overall, it is fair to say that De Aza has been affected by the lack of playing time.
As it turns out, De Aza might get a chance to leave an impression on the Mets and turn his season around. Yesterday, Cespedes had to leave the game with what turned out to be a sprained wrist. Right now, Cespedes is day-to-day, and in reality, De Aza is the only person on the roster right now who can play center field on a regular basis. As a result, Collins has no choice but to put De Aza in the lineup until Cespedes is ready to return to the lineup. As fortune would have it, the Mets are about to begin a four game series against the Atlanta Braves, who despite sweeping the Mets last weekend, are the absolute worst team in baseball. There really is no excuse for De Aza not to seize this opportunity and start playing better.
Right now, there are some offensive issues overall with the Mets. One of them is bench production, and De Aza is a large part of that. Hopefully, De Aza is able to use these starts to turn his season around and help improve the Mets bench. Both the Mets and De Aza need him to have a big weekend.
Lucas Duda went on the disabled list almost a month ago due to a stress fracture in his back. So far, the stress fracture in his back is not allowing him to do anything other than ride a stationary bike. As each day passes, the question needs to be asked about whether Duda can play again in 2016. The question needs to be asked about whether the Mets can sit and wait for Duda to return.
For the time being, the Mets solution has been James Loney. In his 13 games as a Met, Loney has hit .260/.302/.340 with 77 OPS+. This is as short sample size, but based upon his .280/.322/.357 batting line and 91 OPS+ last year, it may be fair to say that this is now who Loney is as a player. The positive aspects of having Loney is that he’s a better option than Eric Campbell and Ty Kelly. The negative is that his bat is just not going to cut it over the course of a season. If Duda is not going to be able to return, Loney’s bat is going to force the Mets to make another move for a long term solution at first base.
Obviously, if the Mets are going to make a move, they are going to have to obtain a player who is going to put up better numbers than Loney. At this point in the season, there are going to be very few sellers, and there are going to be very limited options at first base. At this point, the line of demarcation are teams that are under .500 teams who are at least ten games out of the division. That means if the Mets are going to upgrade at first base, they would be looking to swing a trade with the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Diego Padres. With those parameters in place, here is the list of potential trade targets
Joe Mauer – he’s returned to form hitting .286/.388/.420. However, given his contract and the fact that he’s the Twin’s David Wright, it’s hard to imagine the Mets would add his salary, and that the Twins would trade him.
C.J. Cron – Cron is the Mets version of Wilmer Flores. He’s a low OBP hitter with some pop in his bat. This year he is hitting .249/.305/.389, and he is a career .257/.389/.431 hitter. While Cron is still only 26, and he has some upside, he is not a clear upgrade over Loney.
Kole Calhoun – Presuming Calhoun can play first base everyday is a stretch considering he’s only played nine games there in his five year career. At the plate, he’s amidst a career year hitting .295/.369/.461 with eight homers. However, if the Mets do think he can play first base, it is going to take a lot to get from from the suddenly stingy Angels as Calhoun is still under team control until 2020.
Albert Pujols – there are $140 million reasons over the next five years why this will never happen.
Yonder Alonso – As a prospect in the Reds system, Alonso was supposed to be a slugging on base machine. This year he is nothing more than a .245/.306/.324 hitter. While his career .270/.336/.385 line is an upgrade over Loney, it is not clear that this version of Alonso will be.
Danny Valencia – it can’t be a Mets trade rumor analysis without mentioning Valencia who has played 25 career games at first base. He’s been great this year hitting .335/.379/.567 with 10 homers. He’s under team control until 2018. If Duda does return, he can shift to third. If Duda and Wright return, it’s a nice problem to have. The main sticking point with Valencia is going to be the cost.
Billy Butler – While Butler is best suited for DH, he has played first base almost every year of his career. Unfortunately, the question with respect to Butler isn’t his glove, it’s his bat. Butler is hitting .257/.296/.396 this year, and he has not had an OPS+ over 100 since 2013.
Ryan Howard – stick a fork in him, he’s done.
Freddie Freeman – the Braves have removed everything of value from this roster including the copper wiring. The only thing that remains is Freeman who is having a poor year hitting .248/.343/.432, which is to say, he’s a big upgrade over what the Mets have. Before this year, the 26 year old Freeman hit .286/.368/.467 in each of his five seasons as a starter. The main sticking points to a Mets/Braves trade will be the $106.5 million Freeman is owed through 2021. It’s a reasonable contract given his skill set and the fact that he will be 31 when the contract ends. However, it does not appear the Mets would be willing to take on that type of contract even if they were willing to part with the necessary prospects.
Chris Carter – This year Carter has been what he has always been – a pure slugger. Carter doesn’t walk, he strikes out a lot, and he hits a lot of homeruns. He’s hitting .223/.295/.507 this year with 17 homeruns. He would be the Mets homerun leader, but he is not getting on base. Carter is the all or nothing player that has been the entire Mets offense this year.
Joey Votto – he was a superstar, and he’s one of the few trade pieces the Reds actually have. He can be a real difference maker. However, he’s due $172 million until 2023, which is his age 39 season. After that he has a $7 million buyout.
Jay Bruce – he has three career games at first base, and he has a very reasonable $13 million trade option for next year. He has returned to form this year hitting .271/.329/.584 with 15 homers. The issue is the Reds turned down a straight up trade for Zack Wheeler last year. With that said, it does not appear there is room for a trade for Bruce even if you’re willing to ignore his limited first base exposure.
Paul Goldschmidt – there is absolutely no way the Diamondbacks are trading him.
Jake Lamb – he’s a young player having a breakout year, who is also under team control through 2o21. He’ll be easier to acquire than Goldschmidt, but this trade isn’t happening either.
Yasmany Tomas – Tomas is interesting because since he’s came to the majors from Cuba, the Diamondbacks aren’t quite sure where to play him. With him owed $55.5 million through 2020, the Diamondbacks may be willing to move their .260/.313/.425 hitter to retool so they can make another run for it next year (or the second half). However, his salary may be just want keeps the Mets at bay.
Wil Myers – The 25 year old Myers is finally living up to some of the potential everyone envisioned when he was traded to the Royals for James Shields. He’s in the All Star conversation as he is hitting .283/.324/.506 with 14 homers. He’s also versatile, which could be of great benefit to the Mets. All of this is also why the small market Padres would not want to trade him unless they are getting a massive haul in return.
Yangervis Solarte – like Myers, he’s having a terrific year, he’s versatile, and he’s under team controll. The Mets are going to part with a lot to get him.
Brett Wallace – Like Loney, Wallace is not hitting for power. Unlike Loney, he gets on base with a .208/.352/.369 batting line which is good for a 101 OPS+.
Overall, the first base upgrades that would be available for the Mets have bigger contracts. Seeing how the Mets have operated the past few seasons, it is difficult to imagine them being willing to pay someone like Freeman. It is also difficult to imagine the Mets would be willing to part with the prospects necessary to acquire a Solarte. In the end, this means the Mets are most likely sticking with Loney until Duda is able to return to the Mets.
The minute there was the hint of trouble with David Wright, the popular opinion was to move Neil Walker over to third base. The concept behind the move was two-fold: (1) Walker should be able to move over to a position he played 15 games in his career; and (2) it would permit the Mets to call-up Dilson Herrera to play second base. Herrera is the Mets second baseman of the future, and it appears that the future is now. Lost in this is an analysis of how Walker’s bat would actually play at third base.
It’s easy to overlook that fact when the Mets have been trotting out Eric Campbell, Matt Reynolds, and Ty Kelly at third base. Yes, anything would be an improvement over them. However, the idea is not to simply get better; the idea is to put a team on the field that is capable of winning the World Series.
This year Walker has been terrific at the plate hitting .275/.346/.498 with 14 home runs and 28 RBI. He is definitively one of the best second baseman in the league and should garner serious consideration for the All Star Game. He is nearly in the top 10 in each and every statistical category, and he has the most home runs among second basemen. Here is how Walker would rank among National League third basemen this year:
- Hits – 7th
- Homers – 3rd
- RBI – 7th
- Average – 5th
- OBP – 8th
- Slugging – 5th
These are not awe-inspiring rankings. However, these stats show that Walker’s bat could very well play at third base this year.
Overall, you would prefer to have Walker play second base this year because he is more comfortable at the position, and he has a plus bat for the position. However, beggers can’t be choosers, and the Mets are in a position where they are begging for some offense from first and third base. If Dilson Herrera can handle being an everyday player in the majors now, it would make sense to move Walker to third as he can handle it offensively.
The real question is going to be whether he can handle it defensively. With Wilmer Flores getting hit on the hand yesterday, we may find out soon.
After the game, Terry Collins revealed Juan Lagares was scratched from the lineup because he couldn’t close his left hand. At a minimum, it seems like a DL stint is inevitable.
The natural inclination would be for the Mets to call-up Brandon Nimmo. He’s certainly earned the promotion hitting .330/.411/.529 with five homers and 32 RBI. The 23 year old 2011 first round pick appears to be ready for a promotion to the majors. He could take the place of Michael Conforto in the lineup while Conforto waits for his wrist to react to the cortisone shot.
With that said, Conforto is expected back this weekend. Once he returns, it is likely Terry Collins will play him everyday. That will leave Nimmo on the bench which would be detrimental to his development. Nimmo needs to get regular at bats, and that does not appear likely at the major league level.
However, Lagares and Conforto aren’t the only Mets that are ailing. Neil Walker had to pull himself from a game on Saturday. He hasn’t been able to play since. Tomorrow, he is going to see a back specialist to be evaluated. Given the Mets luck lately with Lucas Duda and David Wright, no one should be holding their breath.
With that in mind, the Mets should call-up Dilson Herrera.
Herrera is the second baseman of the future, and depending on Walker’s back, the future may be now. Herrera is hitting .298/.344/.517 with ten homers and 36 RBI. Like Nimmo, Herrera has earned the call-up. Unlike Nimmo, Herrera has some major league experience. Moreover, Herrera doesn’t have an obvious impediment to his playing time.
In Walker’s absence, Collins has had to pick between Matt Reynolds and Kelly Johnson. Both have played well recently, but there shouldn’t be expectations for that to continue. Reynolds is the same player who has hit .282/.335/.420 in the Pacific Coast League, which is about as favorable a hitter’s league there is. Even with his hot streak, Johnson is hitting .226/.288/.308 this year. Herrera should be an upgrade over these players.
Accordingly, Herrera should be called-up to play second until such time as Walker is ready to return. In the interim, Collins can go with either Johnson in left, like he did Wednesday, or Alejandro De Aza, who Collins wants to get more at bats. Herrera can and should effectively man second base until Walker is ready. When that happens, the Mets will do what they always do in these situations:
They will call up Eric Campbell.
However, before that happens the Mets need to call-up Herrera. He’s the best option at second base behind Walker. Additionally, in Wright’s absence, the Mets can judge whether it is time to let Herrera play second while moving Walker to third. This is an option the Mets have internally discussed. They now have a window to see if it is feasible.
It’s time to call-up Dilson Herrera.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsminors.net
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America. It’s up to you to decide whether or not it was created by Betsy Ross at George Washington‘s behest. There’s no harm in perpetuating the fantasy. As baseball fans at least pretend that baseball was invented by Union General Abner Doubleday in the quaint little village of Cooperstown, New York. It’s why the Baseball Hall of Fame is located there.
As Americans and Mets fans, we all carry the fantasy that this October we will once again see the American Flag stretched across the outfield in Citi Field. We will all be getting residential flagpole installation services to fit our front yards with as many flagpoles as we can physically fit on the grass, and raising the star-spangled banner high into the sky for all to look upon in pride. Flag Day is a proud moment in our history, and I for one can’t wait for it.
In actuality, it’s not really a fantasy. The Mets faced the same issues last year with the injuries and the poor offense. On this date last year, the Mets were 34-30. This year, they are 34-28. Lost in the David Wright and Lucas Duda injuries as well as the struggles from Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto is the fact that this Mets team is simply better than the one the Mets fielded last year. Even in the worst of times, the Mets now have Yoenis Cespedes in the middloe of the lineup instead of John Mayberry and Eric Campbell.
So yes, on this Flag Day, we can still dream of the days in which the American flag once again adorns the Citi Field outfield. We can hope for Wright and Granderson to hit homeruns while Noah Syndergaard intimidates batters from 60′ 6″ away. We can also await the Mets raising a World Series flag in centerfield.