Neil Walker. Travis d’Arnaud

Reynolds Is Here To Replace One Of The Many Injured Or Under-Performing Players

Betsy Helfand of the Review Journal reports utility player Matt Reynolds has flown to New York presumably to join the Mets. As of this moment, the Mets have not announced a corresponding move. Normally, in these situations, you can surmise what the corresponding move will be. However, given the current state of the Mets, we really have no idea what that move will be.

First and foremost. Yoenis Cespedes has been injured, and he has insisted that he could play today. Before letting him do that, the Mets were supposedly going to really make Cespedes test out that hamstring to make sure he is healthy enough to play. It is possible Cespedes is not healthy enough to play, and as a result, the Mets are going to move him to the disabled list.

If not Cespedes, it’s possible the Mets could move Asdrubal Cabrera to the disabled list. The shortstop has been clearly hobbled and limited. After each play on the field, he noticeably winces, and he takes time to get back to his position. Over the last two games, there have been multiple instances where you question if he could continue playing in the game. Given how he’s played, it’s possible he could be headed to the disabled list.

Then again, this is the time of year Travis d’Arnaud usually heads to the disabled list. On Wednesday, he hit his arm on a bat trying to throw out a base stealer. In every game since, Terry Collins has penciled his name in the lineup only to remove him afterwards when d’Arnaud said he couldn’t throw (insert your own joke here). With him not being able to do more than pinch hit for a solid week, it’s possible the Mets move him to the disabled list.

Then again with the way things are going, it’s possible someone got hurt on an off day. It wouldn’t be the first time in franchise history. You never know with this team.

Maybe the aforementioned players are healthy and ready to go, and the Mets are just moving the deck chairs due to some under-performing players. Although he has received limited opportunities, T.J. Rivera is just 1-10 on the season with no extra base hits or RBI. Maybe the move will be for Kevin Plawecki, who once again looked over powered by major league pitching in the one game he played. Save for Michael Conforto and Jay Bruce, you can really make a case for any one of the Mets players to be sent down or designated for assignment. With that said, no one really believes at this juncture that either Jose Reyes or Curtis Granderson will suffer that indignity yet.

It’s also possible Reynolds is here as a precaution. There is so much wrong with the Mets in terms of injury and under-performance. The Mets may look to see how Cespedes, Cabrera, and d’Arnaud respond to the off-day, and if any one of them can’t go, Reynolds will. At this juncture, we just don’t know.

Ulimately, Reynolds getting called-up to the majors is a microcosm of the 2017 season.  He’s here because we don’t know who can play.  We don’t know who’s too hurt to play, and we don’t know who’s capable of playing at this level.  Sooner or later, this is nonsense is going to have to end.

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RISP Is the Difference 

Logan Verrett did his job tonight with his quality start. Verrett allowed five hits, three earned, and three walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings. 

The Cardinals scored all three runs in the third beginning with Verrett issuing a lead off walk to the opposing pitcher Adam Wainwright. Lead off walks are bad, but lead off walks to the opposing pitcher are worse. Wainwright would come along to score on a Matt Holliday two RBI double. By the way, remember when the Mets thought Jason Bay was a better option in free agency?  Holliday would come around to score on a Matt Adams double. 

For a while, it seemed as if the Mets were going to lose this game 3-1 as they were leaving everyone on base:

From the first until the seventh, the Mets were 1-11 with the usual culprits failing to deliver. The only hit was a first inning RBI single off the bat of Neil Walker scoring James Loney. It really seemed that the Mets would need a miracle to score another run. 

The miracle happened in the bottom of the seventh. Alejandro De Aza would hit a pinch hit single, and Travis d’Arnaud, who led off the inning with a single, would go from first to third. Naturally, as there were runners in scoring position, Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera would strike out. Cabrera struck out looking on a pitch inside that might’ve been a ball, but it was too close to take. 

At this point, the Mets had runners at the corners with Yoenis Cespedes at the plate. If something was going to happen, you knew it would be with Cespedes at the plate. First, it was a wild pitch getting past Yadier Molina allowing d’Arnaud to score and allow De Aza to get to second. For what it’s worth, three years ago, Molina stops that ball. He really is a shell of hseof behind the plate. 

The Mets were down 3-2 and still needed Cespedes to deliver. He would work out a 3-2 count, and he would foul off three straight pitch. Then on the ninth pitch: 

Just like that it was 4-3. There was extra satisfaction that Cespedes gif the big hit. There was even more with Wainwright having the meltdown. From there, Addison Reed locked down the eighth putting the Mets and Verrett to win the game. 

Then it finally happened Jeurys Familia blew a save. He had saved 36 straight to start the year and 52 straight dating back to last year. He would issue a one out walk to Jedd Gyorko, who after yesterday, is becoming a Mets killer. He would score from first off a Molina RBI double to deep center past defensive replacement Juan Lagares. 

Familia was so close to getting out of it. There were two outs after a Jeremy Hazelbaker fielder’s choice led to Familia nailing Molina at third. Mike Matheny would pinch run Kolten Wong. Wong stole second ahead of d’Arnaud’s throw. He would score on an Aledyms Diaz bloop double. 5-4 Cardinals. 

In this game, you saw the big difference between these two teams. The Mets cannot hit with runners in scoring position, and as such, they need homers and wild pitches to score runs. The Cardinals are the best team in baseball with runners in scoring position. They were 3-9 with runners in scoring position, and they scored four of their five runs with two outs. 

It’s the slimmest of margins between these teams, and the Cardinals ability to hit with runners in scoring position that put them ahead tonight and ahead of the Mets by a half game now in the Wild Card standings. 

Game Notes: The Mets just had six straight games against the Marlins and Cardinals, who are two of their main competitors in the Wild Card race. The Mets went 3-3 in that stretch. Jose Reyes missed tonight’s game with an intercostal strain. He’s expecting to miss the next few games. Walker woke up a bit at the plate going 3-3 with a walk and an RBI. 

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