Jacob deGrom

The Mets Are Just a Bad Dream

For the first time in quite a while, I was legitimately excited to watch a Mets game as we were guaranteed a great pitching matchup with Jacob deGrom and Madison Bumgarner.  Admittedly, when I saw a lineup with Ty Kelly and Justin Ruggiano, I was less excited.  Still, whenever deGrom takes the mound, the Mets have a legitimate chance to win.

I didn’t even make it to the fourth inning.  I missed Ruggiano giving the Mets false hope with the grand slam.  I missed deGrom and Bumgarner failing to hold up their ends of the bargain in the pitching duel. I missed the Mets show some fight in the sixth by them trying to crawl their way back into the game with a Kelly triple scoring Ruggiano and Travis d’Arnaud to make it 8-7.

I did manage to wake up in the eighth inning.  I tried to keep my eyes open for as long as I could.  As I watched Addison Reed give up a two run RBI double to Buster Posey, I asked myself why I was bothering.  If the Giants are lighting up Reed, there really is no chance for a comeback.  With that, I went back to sleep.  While I missed the ninth, I was pretty certain the Mets were going to lose by a score of at least 10-7.  As it turns out, that was the final score.

The Mets are back to a game under .500, and they fell to 4.5 games behind the idle Cardinals.  The hope is that Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera coming back will help spark this team, but I’m not holding my breath, especially now with the Mets having to skip Steven Matz in the rotation with bone spurs – no wait, they have to skip him now due to bone spurs and a shoulder injury.

Sooner or later this bad dream has to end, right?

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Is the Mets Window Closing?

Right now, the Mets are four games out of a Wild Card spot, and they are desperately hoping with Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera coming off the disabled list this week that the team goes on a run that will bring them back into the postseason.  Whether or not that works, it is fair to ask if this is the Mets last chance to win the World Series.

The foundation of this team is its starting pitching.  Matt Harvey has gone from Opening Day starter to question mark with his season ending surgery to address his thoracic outlet syndrome.  There is no telling how effective he will be if he is able to come back.

Zack Wheeler was supposed to be back by the All Star Break.  Now, it appears that he will miss his second consecutive season.  While rehabbing from the surgery, Wheeler has had to have a second surgery to deal with forearm irritation caused by stitches, sensory nerve irritation, and now a flexor strain.  He had been treated by Dr. Dave Altchek, and he sought a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews.  We are continuously assured there are no structural issues, and yet, time and again there is a new excuse why he can’t pitch.  At the end of the day, it does not matter if he is unable to pitch due to his elbow or for other reasons.  Who knows when he can return or how effective he will be when returning.

There are more question marks in the rotation.  Steven Matz has yet to have a healthy season in the majors.  Bartolo Colon will be 44 years old next year meaning there is no guarantee that he pitches beyond this year.  Even if he does, there is no guarantee he will be this effective.  Logan Verrett has shown he is not capable of being a member of the starting rotation.  Sean Gilmartin‘s season ended early with shoulder problems.  The Mets aren’t going to pick up Jon Niese‘s option, and even if they did bring him back, you should probably expect more of the same from him.

The Mets other options are Gabriel Ynoa and Robert Gsellman, both of whom are probably not ready to start in the majors.  Even if they are, both realistically project to be middle to back of the rotation starters.  That certainly helps, but that also a huge drop off from someone like Harvey.

As if the starting pitching wasn’t a big enough issue, there is the issue of the Mets offense.

As we saw this year, you cannot rely upon David Wright at all.  The Mets have no internal options to replace his bat in the lineup.  Worse yet, there is a lack of very good options on the free agent market choices available even if the Mets were so inclined to add a bat.  Keep in mind, they may also have to replace Lucas Duda at first base.  In 2015, Duda had a disc issue.  This year, Duda will miss almost the entire season with a stress fracture in his back.  There is a very real chance that he is a non-tender candidate.  The Mets do not have a first base option in the minors who is on track to play in the majors next year, and again, the free agent market is less than promising.  That means James Loney can once again be the Mets best option, and as we have seen, he is not a terribly good everyday option.

This isn’t even the Mets biggest problem, not by a long shot.

Cespedes can opt out of his contract at the end of the season, and he will easily become the best free agent available.  The narrative coming out of last offseason was how much Cespedes wanted to be a Met, and that is why he returned.  That’s the hope why he will stay.  However, it’s more narrative than fact.

The fact is Cespedes didn’t get a fair market value offer on the free agent market.  Judging from the free agent contracts handed out, teams placed a higher value on Jason Heyward and Justin Upton.  The teams you would think would be interested in Cespedes gave the money to somebody else.  The Nationals were interested, but due to budgetary constraints, they only offered Cespedes a largely backloaded deal. It is possible that after another postseason berth, and Jonathan Papelbon‘s salary off the books, the Nationals could make another run at Cespedes in the offseason.  It is also possible that the Giants, Dodgers, Rangers and/or the Angels could emerge as suitors for Cespedes.  There’s always the phantom mystery team that could join the bidding.

It is certainly plausible the Mets get outbid from Cespedes, or they simply move on from him.  Keep in mind, there were rumblings all over that the Jay Bruce trade was made, in part, as insurance for Cespedes leaving in the offseason.  If that is the case, the Mets outfield will yet again be left without a true center fielder.

The main task may first fall to Curtis Granderson, who has struggled mightily this year and should not be counted on to rebound in 2017.  The Mets could go with a Juan Lagares/Brandon Nimmo platoon in center, but that would leave no room for Michael Conforto to play everyday.

Speaking of Conforto, there is another major issue with this Mets team.  Both Conforto and Travis d’Arnaud have regressed this year.  Certainly, Conforto’s wrist and d’Arnaud’s shoulder are factors, but the fact remains, they have regressed.  Couple that with Kevin Plawecki not progressing at all, there is a major issue.  Either the Mets young talent is not as good as anticipated, or there are impediments at the major league level that is preventing them from reaching their full potential.  In order for the Mets to remain contenders, they will need their young players to step up.

Between the aforementioned free agent market and lack of major league ready prospects, the Mets only real hopes of improving the roster is on the trade front.  The problem there is the cupboard is getting bare.  The Mets have already moved big pieces in Michael Fulmer and Dilson Herrera.  They’re not willing to move Amed Rosario, and they are really unlikely to move Dominic Smith.  The Mets could move Nimmo, but that depletes from their depth for next season, and as we have seen, the Mets need all the depth they can get.

Keep in mind that over the past two seasons, the Mets have also moved Robert Whalen, Luis Cessa, John Gant, Akeel Morris, and Casey Meisner.  They lost Matthew Bowman and Dario Alvarez without getting anything in return.  Their departures leaves a gap of mid-tier prospects the Mets could move for upgrades.

Yes, the Mets can field a very competitive baseball team next year.  As long as you have pitchers like Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, you are going to have a chance to compete.  With another year of Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia, it is a seven inning game for the Mets.  It’ll become a six inning game if Hansel Robles takes the next step.  But after that?

You’re counting on Neil Walker returning, which is not a guarantee.  You’re counting on Asdrubal Cabrera developing more range at shortstop while hitting better than .255/.308/.410.  He was a .249/.307/.405 hitter from 2013 – 2015.  You’re counting on Jose Reyes to hit better than his .250/.302/.466 and be healthy all of next year.  Reyes hit .274/.310/.378 while hitting in two of the best hitter’s parks last year.  You’re counting on Wilmer Flores being able to learn to hit righties.  You’re counting on the Mets not having to rely on the Eric Campbells and Ty Kellys on the world for prolonged stretches of time over the next season.  It’s all possible, but it’s not likely.

As things look right now, the Mets better start winning some ballgames and make a run because there is no guarantee that the Mets window to contend will remain open past this season.

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Jacob deGrom Is Better Than He Was Last Year

One of the issues surrounding Jacob deGrom all year is what has happened to his velocity.  According to Brooks Baseball, deGrom’s fastball velocity has dropped from 96 MPH to 94 MPH this year.  Part of the reason was his lat injury to start the season.  Another reason could have been the troubles he had at home with a sick child.  Whatever it was deGrom has admitted he wasn’t as prepared this season as he had been in years past.

The result was deGrom getting off to a sluggish start for him.  For the first two months of the season, deGrom allowed batter to hit .246/.301/.354 against him.  Midway through June, deGrom had a 2.96 ERA and a 1.137 WHIP. Now, these are not poor numbers to say the least, but they did represent a step back for deGrom who emerged as an ace last year going 14-8 with a 2.54 ERA, a 0.979 WHIP, and a 149 ERA+.

Starting in the end of June, deGrom has started to piece things back together.  His June 25th start against the Braves saw him go on a nine start streak where he has been dominant.  In that nine start stretch, deGrom has gone 4-1 with a 1.49 ERA and a 0.945 WHIP.  In this stretch, deGrom pitched his first ever complete game shutout, and he has allowed one run or less in seven of his nine starts.  As the season as progressed, deGrom has slowly but surely gained velocity with him throwing 95 MPH during the month of August.  Overall, deGrom has completely turned his season around.

Now, deGrom has a 7-5 record with a 2.30 ERA, 1.050 WHIP, and a 177 ERA+.  The ERA and ERA+ figures are better than the numbers deGrom put up during his breakout 2015 season.  Not only has deGrom gotten better as the season has progressed, he has just gotten better.  Diminished pitcher or not, deGrom is putting up the best numbers in his career, and he is doing it at a time when the Mets need him the most.

This should come as no surprise to Mets fans.  We saw him outpitch Clayton Kershaw to start the NLDS last season.  In Game One he only allowed five hits over seven shutout innings while walking one and striking out 13.  Perhaps more impressive than that was him defeating Zack Greinke in Game Five of the NLDS.  In that game, deGrom had nothing going for him, and yet he still won the game allowing just two earned runs over six innings.  In that game, deGrom dug deep and was able to figure out how to get batters out.

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that deGrom has been even better this year despite his having less velocity on his fastball.  It should never come as a surprise that deGrom is coming through when the Mets need him most.  In the end, it should come as no surprise that once again deGrom has emerged as the best pitcher on the Mets staff.

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Neil Walker’s Place Is with His Wife and Daughter

Recently, Neil Walker has been the hottest hitter in all of baseball.  Over his last 19 games, Walker is hitting .455/.488/.740 with two doubles, one triple, six homers, and 14 RBI.  He is making last year’s version of Yoenis Cespedes look like Mario Mendoza.  For a Mets team that is struggling to get above .500, let alone be relevant in the Wild Card race, the team can ill afford to lose his bat especially with injuries to players like Asdrubal Cabrera and the aforementioned Cespedes.

And yet, that is exactly what is going to happen.  Neil Walker’s wife is expecting to deliver the couple’s first child – a daughter. Walker keeps his cell phone close waiting for the notice saying, “I’ll pretty much have my phone on me everywhere but second base.  You try to bottle up those three hours any way you can. In between at-bats, I’ll shoot in [the clubhouse] just to check my phone and make sure nothing is going on.” (MLB.com).

Once that happens, Walker is on the next flight out to New York as he intends to take paternity leave.  He is going on paternity leave with full knowledge that his team needs his bat in the lineup, and that his taking time off may have an impact on his production.  Walker joked, “Obviously, when you are swinging the bat well, you want to continue to get as many at-bats as possible, but I certainly am not going to go blaming my newborn if I don’t stay on fire.  I’ll be mentally taking at-bats.”  No matter what happens with Walker’s bat, he is doing the right thing by going to be by his wife’s side.

What is bizarre is that someone actually had to say that.

Back in 2014, when the Mets weren’t expected to go anywhere, Walker’s predecessor, Daniel Murphy, took paternity leave, and he was outright chastised.  Boomer Esiason, a former New York athlete himself, said, “Bottom line, that’s not me.  I wouldn’t do that. Quite frankly, I would have said ‘C-section before the season starts. I need to be at Opening Day. I’m sorry, this is what makes our money, this is how we’re going to live our life, this is going to give my child every opportunity to be a success in life.”  (Boston.com).  Obviously Boomer wasn’t the only one to chastise Murphy, but he was one of the few that had the audacity to challenge both Murphy’s commitment to the team while instructing Murphy’s wife how she should deliver their baby.

Lost in the shuffle was the fact that Murphy’s wife needed to have surgery.  As Murphy would say, “It’s going to be tough for her to get up to New York for a month. I can only speak from my experience — a father seeing his wife — she was completely finished. I mean, she was done. She had surgery and she was wiped. Having me there helped a lot, and vice versa, to take some of the load off. … It felt, for us, like the right decision to make.”  (ESPN.com).

A husband needs to be there for his wife because you never know what will go wrong.  We were reminded of that this year with Jacob deGrom.

Back in April, deGrom found himself on the Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List as his newborn son had difficulty breathing with apnea.  The deGrom family went through the harrowing process of not knowing if their child was healthy.  At the time, deGrom was home to not only be there for his wife emotionally, but also to spend time with his son Jaxon.  Fortunately, deGrom’s son would be alright allowing him to put in the work he needed to for the baseball season.

Fortunately, Murphy’s wife and deGrom’s son were ultimately okay.  During that time, Murphy and deGrom got to spend time with their families that desperately needed them home.  But that’s not the only reason for the paternity leave.

The birth of your child is the greatest experience of your life.  It certainly was for me.  In fact, each day with my son is better than the next.  No father should be robbed of that experience.  Not me, not you, and not Neil Walker.

Furthermore, your wife needs you.  There are no words to describe what your wife goes through not just during pregnancy, but also during labor.  Her reward after that grueling experience?  She has to feed a baby every two hours followed by burping and changing the baby.  By the way, she also has to find some time to sleep.  She needs all the help she can get, even if it is just a day or two with her husband.

Walker making the decision to remove himself from the lineup at a time the Mets need him most does not make him a bad teammate, it makes him a good husband and father.  Walker’s place is with his family.  It is his teammates job to pick him up during his absence the way Walker picked them up in April and over the course of August.

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The Stolen Bases Are Not Travis d’Arnaud’s Fault

The runner takes off from first, and Travis d’Arnaud pops out of the chute unleashing a throw to second base.  The throw isn’t even close as the runner swipes the bag easily.  Mets fans groan as it is yet another time d’Arnaud has failed to throw out the runner.  It happens all too often, and seemingly most of d’Arnaud’s throws to second are either off line or spiked in front of the base not giving Neil Walker or Asdrubal Cabrera a chance to put down the tag in time.  It should come as no surprise that d’Arnaud has only thrown out 22.6% of would be base stealers.  It should also come as no surprise that d’Arnaud has allowed the seventh most stolen bases in the majors despite a stint on the disabled list.

However, what may come as a surprise is that d’Arnaud is not really to blame at all for these woeful statistics.  It’s really the starting pitcher.  Here is a breakdown on how successful base stealers have been when each of the Mets starting pitchers are on the mound:

Pitcher SB CS Success Rate
Noah Syndergaard 40 4 90.91%
Bartolo Colon 7 6 53.85%
Jacob deGrom 3 3 50.00%
Steven Matz 20 6 76.92%
Matt Harvey 7 3 70.00%
Logan Verrett 3 5 37.50%

As you can see, teams run wild when Syndergaard and Matz are on the mound.  However, when Colon and deGrom are on the mound, teams tend to stay put, and when they do run, they are much less successful when attempting a stolen base.

These results are all the more surprising when you consider that Rene Rivera, who is generally regarded as a much better defensive catcher, has effectively become Syndergaard’s personal catcher.  Here is a breakdown of how successful Mets catchers are trying to throw out base stealers when Syndergaard is on the mound:

Catcher SB CS Success Rate
Travis d’Arnaud 12 1 92.31%
Kevin Plawecki 6 1 85.71%
Rene Rivera 22 2 91.67%

In reality, it doesn’t really matter who is back there, teams are going to run wild when Syndergaard is on the mound.  The catcher is always going to look bad trying to throw out base stealers when Syndergaard is on the mound.  We saw it again last night as the Diamondbacks were a perfect 4/4 in stolen base attempts.   It’s a big reason why Rivera is only throwing out 25.6% of base stealers this season.

It should also be noted that with veteran pitchers who actually hold on baserunners, d’Arnaud throws out more baserunners.  With Colon pitching, d’Arnaud throws out 37.5% of base stealers, and with deGrom on the mound, he has thrown out one of the three players who have attempted a stolen base with him behind the plate.

This isn’t to say d’Arnaud doesn’t have room to improve.  He can certainly work on winding up less on his throws, and he can work on making better throws to second.  However, at the end of the day, the base runners are running on the pitcher and not d’Arnaud’s arm.

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Mets Are Out of Excuses

Approximately 117 games into the season 2.5 games is all that separates four teams for the final Wild Card spot.  As we have seen repeatedly this season and again this past weekend, injuries have played and will continue to play a major role in this Wild Card race.

Over this past weekend, it was announced that Giancarlo Stanton is going to miss the rest of the season with a groin injury.  It’s a devastating injury for Stanton and the Marlins as Stanton had turned his season around hitting .287/.349/.588 with 10 homers and 30 RBI since July 1st.  With him gone, the Marlins have lost both the most feared hitter in their lineup, but also the only hitter in all of baseball that can truly say owns Jacob deGrom.

Stanton’s injury comes on the heels of the Marlins having to send back Colin Rea and his torn UCL to the Padres as it turns out he was damaged goods.  The Marlins also do not anticipate their big free agent addition, Wei-Yin Chen, to contribute for the rest of the season as he is dealing with elbow issues of his own.  Joining Stanton and Chen on the disabled list is Adam Conley, who is arguably the Marlins second best starting pitcher.  In addition to losing two of their starters to injuries, the Marlins are without their closer A.J. Ramos as he was put on the disabled list with a fractured middle finger on his pitching hand.  Add all of that to the Marlins needing to skip a couple of Jose Fernandez starts to manage his workload, and the Marlins are in real trouble on the pitching front.

The Marlins have been relatively healthy all season, and now it seems as if they are starting to get bit by the injury bug at the wrong time of the season.

A team that has been decimated by injuries all year has been the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals season got out on the wrong foot when they began the year without starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta as he was recovering from a surgically repaired thumb.

Joining Peralta on the disabled list this year has been his replacement Aledmys Diaz with a broken thumb of his own.  The Cardinals are also without Matt Adams, who had been the starting first baseman during the stretch that the Opening Day first baseman, Brandon Moss, was on the disabled list.  Centerfielder Tommy Pham has spent much time on the disabled list this year leading to the Cardinals experimenting with Kolten Wong in center.  This is the same Wong who had to be sent to the minors due to his struggles at the plate and at second base.  The most recent and possibly most devastating injury is Matt Holliday going down with a broken thumb.

As bad as things have been for the Cardinals position players, their pitching staff is just as decimated by injuries.  Lance Lynn has not made one start for the team this season as he is still recovering from Tommy John surgery.  He has been joined on the disabled list by one time NLCS hero Michael Wacha who may not only be done for the season, but also may need to have his role as a starting pitcher be re-evaluated all together with his scapular issues.  This duo joins a number of Cardinals bullpen arms on the disabled list.

Neither Jordan Walden or Mitch Harris have thrown one pitch this season as they have dealt with injuries.  Kevin Siegrist was recently put on the disabled list with arm fatigue, and Tyler Lyons is done for the year as he is dealing with a stress reaction in his right knee.  The reliever problems are only exacerbated by the fact that their closer Trevor Rosenthal was first ineffective to start the year and then landed on the disabled list with a flexor tendon injury.  Like most of this Cardinals team, it is questionable whether he can return this season.

Unlike the Marlins and the Cardinals, the Mets are starting to get healthy.  This weekend the Mets not only had Jose Reyes return from the disabled list, but the team also saw him score a Reyes Run on Sunday.

Reyes should soon be joined by some of his teammates.  Today, Yoenis Cespedes is expected to start his rehab assignment.  Tomorrow, Asdrubal Cabrera will begin his own rehab assignment.  Their return will dramatically improve a Mets lineup that has been starting Ty Kelly and his .200 batting average in left field all too frequently.  Matt Reynolds and his .211 batting average had already been sent to the minors when Reyes was activated from the disabled list.

Long story short, the Mets will soon be as close to full strength as they have been all season.  They are getting healthy as two of their main competitors for the Wild Card are dealing with some disastrous injuries.  With all these injuries, the Mets are a better team than the Marlins and the Cardinals meaning the Mets are out of excuses.  It is time for the Mets to go on a run and take control of the Wild Card race.

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Steven Matz’s Near No-Hitter Throws Padres for a Curve 

Regardless of the results what Steven Matz has been doing this season has been admirable. Matz knows he’s going to need surgery in the offseason to remove bone spurs in his elbow, and yet he still goes out there and pitches because his team needs him. 

With that said the results haven’t been pretty.  From June 7th until August 9th, Matz has gone 1-7 with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.435 WHIP. That is a precipitous drop from the guy who started the year 7-1 with a 2.28 ERA and a 1.030 WHIP. The main reason for the dip is he’s getting hit much harder. He’s gone from an 18% line drive rate with batters hitting .225/.272/.294 with four homers to a 28% line drive rate with batters hitting .297/.346/.475 with 10 homers. 

During his slump or whatever you want to call it, Matz has been without his main breaking pitch – the fabled Warthen slider. In the beginning of the year, he threw it 15% of the time. Beginning June 7th, he was only throwing it 8% of the time. 

In place of the change, Matz began throwing more changeups going from throwing it 9% of the time to throwing it 14% of the time. It’s not a wise move as opposing batters hit .340 against the pitch while slugging .630. He’s fooling no one with the changeup and the opposition has been teeing off on the pitch. 

Sunday, Matz effectively scrapped both his changeup and his slider focusing on his fastball and curveball. The result was a near no-hitter. 

Over 7.1 dazzling innings, Matz only allowed the one hit allowing no runs and two walks with eight strikeouts. It was his best start since May. It was a return to the Steven Matz everyone once believed would emerge to join Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, and Noah Syndergaard as one of four aces atop the Mets staff. 

Matz did it, in part, because he threw a lot more curveballs. He threw 29% curves on Sunday after throwing it 14% of the time ro start the year. It was the right move as it’s arguably his second best pitch (after his abandoned slider). Matz limits batters to a .235 batting average with his curveball, which is the second lowest batting average allowed against any one of his pitches.

With the fastball and curveball working, the only player who would get a hit off of Matz would be Alex Rios‘ former teammate Alexei Ramirez.  Like Harvey, Matz wouldn’t get the no-hitter. Unlike Harvey, his teammates would score runs did him a get the win. 

Wilmer Flores and Neil Walker hit solo homers in the first two innings respectively off Padres left-hander Clayton Richard giving Matz and the Mets a 2-0 lead. 
In the eighth, the Mets actually scored some insurance runs. Jose Reyes led off the inning with a single. He’d steal second and move to third when Padres catcher Derek Norris threw it into center. Reyes then scored on a Jose Dominguez wild pitch.  All of this happened during Ty Kelly‘s at bat.  It was vintage Reyes. 

The rally continued after the Reyes one man show, and it culminated in a T.J. Rivera two out two RBI double scoring Kelly and Jay Bruce. It was the first extra base hit and RBI in Kelly’s young career. It made the score 5-0. 

The final score would be 5-1 after Gabriel Ynoa allowed a run in the ninth. On the bright side, the Mets are 2-0 in games Ynoa pitched. Speaking of which, the Mets have finally won two games in a row. 

Overall, the story was Matz. He had a magical afternoon, and he made an adjustment to allow him to pitch more effectively. 

Pennant Race: Thr Marlins beat the White Sox 5-4. The Nationals beat the Braves 9-1. Three Cardinals beat the Cubs 6-4.  The Pirates bested the Dodgers 11-4. 

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Mets and the Power Outage

Last thing I knew, Jeurys Familia was toeing the rubber to save a Jacob deGrom outing. 

Over seven innings, deGrom only allowed three hits, one earned, and one walk while striking out nine. The Mets only scored two runs giving both he and Familia the thinnest of margins – as usual. 

Around this time, a tree fell knocking out the electricity until 3:00 AM or so. 

Apparently, I missed out on a Wil Myers two out home run off Familia with two outs in the ninth. I also missed Gabriel Ynoa making his  major league debut in the 11th pitching a scoreless inning, striking out one, and earning his first major league win. I also missed out on Wilmer Flores with the walk-off scoring Neil Walker. I missed out on a lot of aggravation and some fun. 

Hopefully, the Familia frustrating blown save against a woeful Padres team and Flores extra inning walk-off will kick-start this Mets team like it did in 2015. 

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Its Time – The Mets Should Fire Terry Collins

Normally, you don’t fire someone until you have a viable replacement in place. It’s not the prudent course of action, and ultimately, you can make matters worse by acting off raw emotion to quickly fire someone. However, it’s time. The Mets need to move on from Terry Collins despite the lack of an obvious suitable replacement.

This isn’t said lightly. It was his ability to manage the clubhouse that kept the team together last summer until the Mets could make the trades to add Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, and Yoenis Cespedes. Despite your impressions of his in-game management, Collins was the manager of a team that went to the World Series last year.

More than that, Collins appears to be a good man. He has written notes to Mets fans who are mourning the loss of a loved one. He stopped Spring Training practice so a young heart transplant survivor could meet his idols. Make no mistake, when you lose a human being of the caliber Collins is, your entire organization is worse off for it.

And yet, there comes a time when being a good person and past results need to be pushed aside. You need to focus on the job he’s doing and how he’s hurting the team.

This isn’t just about the Mets disappointing season thus far. You cannot pin a player underperforming on the manager alone even if Michael Conforto has regressed as the season progressed. Players certainly have to share in their responsibility as well. Furthermore, injuries have certainly played a part in this, and injuries cannot always be blamed on the manager.

It’s also not about Collins in-game management, which can be head-scratching at times. There are many factors at play to which we are not always privy. A player may feel under the weather or not ready to play in a game. Also, even if it may seem strange to people, a manager should be allowed to draw from 48 years of baseball experience to play a hunch every so often.

No, the reason why Collins needs to go is his decision making process and how it has hurt the team.

In April, there was his ill-advised decision to pitch Jim Henderson the day after he threw a career high 34 pitches. It was even worse when you consider Henderson is pitching in his first full season after having had his second shoulder surgery. Eventually, Henderson landed on the disabled list due to a shoulder impingement. Collins’ excuse for pitching Henderson was Henderson telling him before the game that “he felt great.”

That signals that what was Collins’ greatest strength is also his biggest weakness. He puts too much trust in his players leading Collins to sometimes play players when they shouldn’t be playing.

It was the big issue with Game 5 of the World Series. He let Matt Harvey talk his way back into the ninth inning despite Collins belief that the Mets should go to Jeurys Familia in that spot. That moment wasn’t about whether anyone thought it was the right move to let Harvey stay in the game. It was about Collins thinking it wasn’t he right move and his letting the player control the situtation.

Speaking of Familia, Collins recently overworked him as well. Over a six day stretch from July 22nd to July 27th, Familia had worked in four games throwing 76 pitches. He was tiring, and in his last appearance, Familia finally blew his first save. The following game the Mets got seven innings from Jacob deGrom, and the rest of the bullpen was fairly rested and ready to go. Instead, Collins went back to Familia who would blow his second save in a row. Collins’ excuse? He was going to sit Familia until Familia approached him pre-game and told him he was ready, willing, and able to pitch.

With Henderson, Harvey, and Familia, it appears that Collins is losing control to the players. That seemed all the more apparent during the Cespedes golfing drama. The Mets star player and key to their entire lineup had been hobbled for over a month due to a quad injury, and yet he continued to golf everyday. That was news to Collins who said, “I didn’t know he played golf until you guys brought it up. Had it been bothering him then, he would’ve said something about it, but not a word.” (Ryan Hatch, NJ.com).

It is not fair to blame Collins for Cespedes’ injury. It also isn’t fair to blame Collins for Cespedes playing golf. However, your star player is injured, and his injury is severely hampering your team. Doesn’t a manager have an obligation to speak with Cespedes knowing he is an avid golfer that played golf throughout the postseason last year despite having a shoulder injury?

On it’s own the Cespedes golf situation would be overblown as well as the aforementioned pitching decisions. If that was the only issue, you could argue Collins should be permitted to stay on as manager. However, his decision making this past week was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

On August 5th, the Mets lost a game 4-3. The fourth and decisive run was set-up by a J.D. Martinez double. Upon replay, it appeared that Matt Reynolds had held the tag on Martinez appeared to came off the bag. Reynolds looked into the dugout, but there would be no challenge. Now, that’s not necessarily Collins’ fault as he is relying upon the advise of the replay adviser. However, it was important to denote this when setting the stage for what happened the following night.

The Mets trailed the Tigers 7-6 in the top of the ninth. Jay Bruce started a two out rally in the top of of the ninth, and he would try to score from second off a Travis d’Arnaud single. Martinez would throw him out at the plate, and the Mets just walked off the field without challenging the play to see if there was a missed tag or if Jarrod Saltalamacchia was illegally blocking the plate. Why? As Collins said himself, “Because I didn’t think about it — that’s why. Plain and simple.” (Ken Davidoff, New York Post).

The Mets literally lose the game without that challenge. They lost the night before, in part, because they failed to challenge a play where it appeared Martinez was out at second. Even with all of that, Collins still didn’t at least try to challenge the play to try to get the tying run home.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was the matter of why Brandon Nimmo wasn’t pinch running for Bruce in that spot. Collins didn’t choose Nimmo as a pinch runner because he simply doesn’t know which one of his players is faster:

When you cede decision making to the players, when you fail to do everything possible to win games, and when you don’t fully know the capabilities of every player on your roster, it is time to go.

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Walker’s Home Run Saves the Day

With everything happening with the Mets right now, you knew they had a chance as they were throwing Jacob deGrom in a day game. 

deGrom didn’t disappoint allowing just seven hits, one run, one earned, and three walks with three strikeouts in 6.2 innings. He would only get a no decision as Collins lifted him in a 1-1 game with him having thrown 103 pitches. 

It should be noted that run deGrom allowed was after he departed the game. Apparently, Terry Collins believed Jerry Blevins was a better option to get out of a bases loaded two out jam with Ian Kinsler looming as a pinch hitter. That was the option Collins picked over deGrom against Tyler Collins, who is a career .260/.314/.423 hitter and was 1-3 with a strikeout. This was apparently Collins decision because:

  
Blevins came in and Brad Ausmus turned to Kinsler just as everyone else thought would happen. Kinsler hit a soft grounder neither Matt Reynolds nor Neil Walker could handle. Tie game. 

It spoiled not just a win for deGrom, but also a big moment for Michael Conforto. It’s been mostly a lost season for him, but he came through huge in the top of the seventh hitting an opposite field home run off Anibal Sanchez giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. 

Naturally, the Mets couldn’t touch Sanchez who entered the game with a 6.26 ERA and a 1.629 WHIP. 

The game was tied heading into the ninth because, well, this happened:

Give Curtis Granderson credit for making a heady veteran play running that ball back into the infield catching J.D. Martinez off guard and too far off the base creating that inning ending run down. 

This set the stage for Walker in the ninth:

Walker has been even better than his April form over the past two weeks. With the way things have been going for the Mets lately and Yoenis Cespedes on the disabled list, the Mets need him to keep this hot streak going. 

They also need Alejandro De Aza and his hot bat, but that may be in jeopardy. He scored on the Walker home run after leading off the inning by getting hit by a Francisco Rodriguez pitch on the hand. Fortunately, x-rays were negative. 

Jeurys Familia came on and recorded his 39th save of the season. It wasn’t easy, but then again, what is lately for him or the Mets?  
With the win, the Mets set themselves up to win two in a row for the first time in a month. They’re set up perfectly to win not just two in a row but many more in a row as their next nine games are against the  Diamondbacks and the Padres. 

At the end of that stretch, the Mets should be firmly in Wild Card position. As of right now, they trail the Cardinals by one game for the second Wild Card spot. 

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