Ruben Tejada

No Such Thing as Jinxes

One of the reasons The Natural is my favorite baseball movie is because it focuses on everything that makes baseball great. It showed baseball as a romantic, mythical, redemptive and magical sport. It also crushed the idea of jinxes in the sport. 

If you remember the movie as well as I do, you remember Pop lamenting he was cursed. That’s why he never win the pennant. He should’ve gone into farming like his father said. Instead, he needed players to win. Players like the farmboy, Roy Hobbes, to get him that pennant. With one swing of the bat, Roy Hobbes showed jinxes aren’t real:

The Mets also showed there was no such thing as jinxes. You could argue they were tempting fate, but it really wasn’t the case. Whether it was the Mets website prematurely listing the Mets as the pennant winners . . . 

   

. . . or Yoenis Cespedes prematurely ready to party . . . 

. . . or Ruben Tejada pre-ordering special bottles of Johnny Walker Blue:

  

Despite all of that, this happened:

So no, I don’t believe in jinxes. Now, would anybody like to join me for some sesame chicken in Tuesday?  

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Back to the Mets Future 

Today is widely known as Back to Future Day because this was the day Marty McFly went to 2015:

  
Watching Back to the Future Part II in theaters, I remember thinking 2015 was so far away. I remember watching the Mets during this year, I thought the World Series was so far away. Let’s travel back to see the Mets starting lineups:

April 21, 2015 Mets 7 – Braves 1

  1. Curtis Granderson RF
  2. Juan Lagares CF 
  3. Lucas Duda 1B
  4. Michael Cuddyer LF
  5. Daniel Murphy 2B
  6. Eric Campbell 3B
  7. Kevin Plawecki C
  8. Wilmer Flores SS
  9. Jon Niese P

May 21, 2015 Mets 5 – Cardinals 0

  1. Juan Lagares CF
  2. Wilmer Flores SS
  3. Lucas Duda 1B
  4. Michael Cuddyer LF
  5. Daniel Murphy 2B
  6. John Mayberry, Jr. RF
  7. Eric Campbell 3B
  8. Kevin Plawecki C
  9. Jacob deGrom P

June 21, 2015 Braves 1 – Mets 0

  1. Curtis Granderson RF
  2. Juan Lagares CF
  3. Lucas Duda 1B
  4. Michael Cuddyer LF
  5. Wilmer Flores SS
  6. Kevin Plawecki C
  7. Dilson Herrera 2B
  8. Eric Campbell 3B
  9. Matt Harvey P

July 21, 2015 Mets 7 – Nationals 2

  1. Curtis Granderson RF
  2. Ruben Tejada SS
  3. Lucas Duda 1B
  4. Daniel Murphy 3B
  5. Wilmer Flores 2B
  6. Kirk Nieuwenhuis LF
  7. Kevin Plawecki C
  8. Jacob deGrom P
  9. Juan Lagares CF

August 21, 2015 Mets 14 – Rockies 9

  1. Curtis Granderson RF
  2. Daniel Murphy 3B
  3. Yoenis Cespedes CF
  4. Lucas Duda 1B
  5. Wilmer Flores SS
  6. Kelly Johnson 2B
  7. Travis d’Arnaud C
  8. Michael Conforto LF
  9. Bartolo Colon P

September 21, 2015 Mets 4 – Braves 0

  1. Curtis Granderson RF
  2. Daniel Murphy 3B
  3. Yoenis Cespedes CF
  4. Lucas Duda 1B
  5. Travis d’Arnaud C
  6. Kelly Johnson 2B
  7. Michael Conforto LF
  8. Wilmer Flores SS
  9. Jon Niese P

October 21, 2015 (estimated)

  1. Curtis Granderson RF
  2. David Wright 3B
  3. Daniel Murphy 2B
  4. Yoenis Cespedes CF
  5. Lucas Duda 1B
  6. Travis d’Arnaud
  7. Michael Conforto LF
  8. Wilmer Flores SS
  9. Steven Matz P

Looking over these lineups, it was not until August that anyone could believe the Mets had an offense that could be capable of winning in October. Now, Mets fans believe this team can’t be beat. I hoping that’s the case tonight. 

I want to see the Mets Back to the World Series. 

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Justin Upton Was Right

I’m sure everyone remembers that dirty play by a coward named Chase Utley. In case you didn’t, here it is again:

Sure enough, there would be people who defended Utley even with Ruben Tejada suffering a broken leg. The best response came from Justin Upton: 

Did we hear outrage over the play?  Yes. However, there was no outrage over the umpiring. This crew botched the play entirely. They missed Tejada missing second base. They missed Utley interfering with Tejada, which would’ve resulted in an inning ending double play. They also missed Tejada trying to throw the ball, which would’ve made it a non-reviewable neighborhood play. 

Did anyone call to look into the umpiring?  No, of course not. However, when this happens . . . 

. . . people call for an investigation into the umpires. 

Justin Upton was right. All it took was for something to happen to Tulo instead of Tejada for someone to take notice the umpires have been terrible. 

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Disregard Mets 0-7 Record Against the Cubs

I’m sure you’ll hear several times over the next week that the Mets are 0-7 against the Cubs. It’s not indicative of what will happen in the NLCS. 

First off, the 1988 Mets beat the Dodgers 10 out of 11 times. Secondly, this is a completely different Mets team. Here is a breakdown of the players who have played against the Cubs this year:

Juan Lagares 1-9 with 1 BB, 1 double, 2Ks
John Mayberry, Jr. 2-12 with 2 RBI, 1 double, 2 K
Daniel Murphy 9-25 with 1 BB, 3 doubles
Michael Cuddyer 2-17 with 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Lucas Duda 7-25 with 3 R,  2 BB, 2 RBI, 3 HBP, 1 double, 1 HR, 12 K
Wilmer Flores 4-23 with 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 double, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
Kevin Plawecki 3-17 with 2 RBI, 4 K
Curtis Granderson 5-24 with 3 BBs, 2 RBI, 1 double, 6 K
Dilson Herrera 2-11 with 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Ruben Tejada 1-18 with 1 BB, 8 K

Johnny Monell 1-8 with 4 K
Kirk Nieuwenhuis 0-7 with 2 K
Anthony Recker 2-4 with 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, 2 K
Darrell Ceciliani 1-7 with 3 K

Eric Campbell 0-3 with 1 BB, 1 K
Overall, the Mets had a combined 70 ABs from players not on the playoff roster. They went 9-70 against the Cubs this year. There were an additional 50 ABs from players on the playoff roster, who are either on the bench or are platoon players. Those players went 6-50. Of a total of 171 ABs, 120 of them went to players who will not be in the starting lineup in the NLCS. Therefore, how can you glean anything from these games. 

As you may notice, there are no ABs from David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, or Travis d’Arnaud. That’s half of the position players in the current Mets starting lineup. This is more than enough to turn an 0-7 deficit to a winning record. 

I’m confident the Mets changes will be enough to make it to the World Series. 

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If Mets Lose it Won’t Be because of Utley

We all know that the coward‘s “slide” had a profound impact upon Game 2. If the play is called properly, Chase Utley is ruled out, and it’s and inning ending double play. The Mets lead 2-1 going into the eighth. We don’t know what happens from there. 

We do know that the game was tied at 2-2. I believe the Ruben Tejada injury weighed on the team that night. It’s hard to do your job when someone you care about is sick or injured. Athletes are no different. It may explain the strange decisions Terry Collins would subsequently make. 

Even if I concede the Mets lost Game 2 because of the play, it does not mean the Mets lose two more games. Tejada was playing well, but he’s not the most important piece. He’s not the reason David Wright and Lucas Duda have failed to hit. It’s not the reason why Clayton Kershaw was so dominant yesterday. 

Unless Game 5 comes down to a Ruben Tejada defensive miscue or Matt Reynolds having to do anything, you can’t point to Tejada’s injury. No, Game 5 is going to come down to whoever the best team is tomorrow. It won’t have anything to do with Utley’s play in Game 2. In fact, since he won’t come off the bench, he may not be a factor at all. 

I think the Mets are the better team, and I think they win tomorrow. 

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Not This Murphy Garbage Now

There appears to be two types of Mets fans: (1) those who love Daniel Murphy; and (2) those who don’t. I’m in the former camp. Gary Cohen is in the latter (full audio). 

Now, it is way too early to do a postmortem on the Mets season. It’s too early. There’s still an important Game 5. However, I can’t fault Joe & Evan for addressing the topic with Gary Cohen. You don’t get him everyday, so when you get him, you want to address everything with him. That includes addressing the free agency situations of Yoenis Cespedes and Daniel Murphy. 

I don’t disagree with Gary regarding how the Mets will treat the Cespedes and Murphy situations. I agree that neither one will be back. Where I disagree with Gary is his statements about Murphy. 

First, he called Murphy a “net negative.”  Frankly, that’s nonsense. I understand Murphy’s flaws. He’s not a high .OBP guy. He sometimes makes curious fielding and baserunning mistakes. However, calling Murphy a net negative is a gross overstatement. 

If you’re using WAR, he’s generally been between a 2.5 – 3.1 player, which means he’s a solid starter. That’s nothing to sneeze at. If you’re using weighted runs created, or wRC+, his range is between 107-126 in the years he’s been a starter meaning he’s an above average player. Basically, Murphy’s a good player; not a “net negative.”

My other dispute with Gary is that Wilmer Flores and/or Dilson Herrera can take Murphy’s spot. First of all neither of them is the hitter Murphy is now. Murphy is a career .288/.331/.424 hitter. This year he hit .281/.322/.449. This year Flores hit .263/.295/.408, and Herrera hit .211/.311/.367. These two are young (22 and 20 respectively) with potential, but they’re not in Murphy’s league as a hitter yet. 

This is a playoff team now. Next year regardless of their free agency maneuvers, they will be a possible contending team with their pitching staff. It would be better to have some proven hitters like Murphy. It would also be nice to have Murphy as an insurance policy.

This year the SS situation was never fully resolved. It seemed like Ruben Tejada finally wrestled the position away until Chase Utley‘s dirty “slide.”  It’s the second time he’s broken his right leg. Flores may be forced to play more SS than anyone would like next year. 

Also, who knows about David Wright?  The Mets want to limit him to four games in a row. That means you need someone capable of playing third base on a semi-regular basis. It would be preferable to have someone like Murphy who can move other there and competently play the position. 

That doesn’t mean I think the Mets should give Murphy a huge free agent deal. Rather, I would start by offering him the $15.8 million qualifying offer. If he accepts it, great. You have him for one year while you wait for Herrera to develop and you find out about Wright’s back over a 162 game season. It’s an expensive insurance policy, but it may be a necessary one. 

If he rejects it, you at least get a compensation pick if he signs elsewhere. Alternatively, it will limit is market allowing the Mets to negotiate with him on their terms. With all that said, I don’t want to be talking about this. I want to talk about his two homeruns this postseason. I want to talk about Game Five. I want to be talking about the NLCS. 

So, let’s focus on what’s important here. That’s Game Five. The only Murphy discussion now should be how he can help the Mets win that game. 

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Clayton Kershaw is a Second Baseman?

Everyone had their own take on Chase Utley‘s “slide” injuring Ruben Tejada and the subsequent suspension.  Of all these people only Clayton Kershaw would play the you ever played card. His full quote: 

I feel like MLB got, you know, a little bullied into suspending him. I’ve seen slides a lot worse. And then, you know, the main thing I want to say is we all feel bad for what happened to Ruben. You know, that’s a terrible thing. You know, you never want to see that happen. It’s devastating. You never want to see a guy get hurt. You know, with that said, there’s a lot of people that have a lot of different opinions about it that probably shouldn’t because they’re not middle infielders and they have no idea what they’re talking about.  [emphasis mine]

So, if we go by Kershaw’s standard that only middle infielders can offer an opinion, why is he talking?  He says he’s seen worse. When?  Every example you could present was before his time. 

This play wasn’t as bad and it lead to a brawl:

Here’s the main example:

The Hal McRae slide was arguably worse. However, I didn’t see the Yankees accept it as a hard nosed play. They lost it and rightfully so. So to act like a bad slide is part of the game is nonsense.

Regardless, this play should stand on its own merits. Kershaw effectively asked us to dismiss his opinion since he’s not a middle infielder. I guess since I was a catcher, I can’t offer an opinion. With that said, here’s the opinions of some middle infielders:

So you know what Clayton, the middle infielders say it was dirty. I’ll take your advice and listen to what they have to say about it. Maybe you should do the same, you know, since you never played there. 

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Yotober Dominance

Mets fans had every reason to be pumped before the game. The fans came and they brought it tonight:

From the first pitch to the last pitch, the crowd was amazing. I loved the Mets pausing introductions when Utley was introduced to prolong the booing. This is what happens when the Mets haven’t been in the playoffs for nine years. It’s what happens when Chase Utley injures Ruben Tejada on a dirty slide. It’s what happens when Matt Harvey finally gets to start in October. 

After a smooth first, Harvey got into some trouble in the second. There were three soft singles, and Terry Collins brought in the corners with bases loaded and no out. Why?  No one knows. In any event, Yasmani Grandal hit an RBI single to right. If the infielders were properly positioned, it would’ve been a 3-6-3 double play. Because they weren’t, it was a single. 

The bases would clear on the single after a Curtis Granderson throwing error. It was 3-0 with a runner on second. Harvey struggled from that point forward, but he kept the Dodgers at bay. His final line was five innings, seven hits, three runs, two earned, two walks, and seven strikeouts. He kept the Mets in the game, and he gave them a chance to win. 

The Mets seized that opportunity. Everyone reached base at least once. Travis d’Arnaud got the Mets on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the second. The Mets loaded the bases and Curtis Granderson came up to the plate. He hit a double off the wall clearing the bases giving the Mets a 4-3 lead. 

d’Arnaud would expand the lead with a third inning two run homer. The Mets would put the game away with a six run fourth capped by a massive three run Yoenis Cespedes homerun:

It’s officially Yotober. 

In total, the Mets put 14 runs on the board. They were lead by three big bats:

  1. Granderson 2-5 with two doubles and five RBIs;
  2. Cespedes 3-5 with three runs, one homerun, and three RBIs; and
  3. d’Arnaud 3-4 with three runs, one homerun, and three RBIs. 

The Mets also got big contributions from Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares. Flores played well at short, and I’m not grading on a curve. Lagares went 1-3 with three runs, one double, and a walk. Neither player was thought to get any start in this series, and yet, due to extenuating circumstances, they came in and played extremely well. 

Essentially, none of the Dodgers played well. Trash talking lefty starter Brett Anderson only pitched three innings allowing seven hits and six earned. The Dodgers bullpen went five innings allowing six hits, seven earned, and, five walks. On top of that the Dodgers and/or Chase Utley were gutless in not putting him in the game. They couldn’t find a spot for him in a 13-7 loss. Pathetic. 
The Mets rallied around Ruben Tejada. The only downside was having to use Jeurys Familia after Erik Goeddel allowed three runs and couldn’t record one out. 

The Mets are a win away from the NLCS. They’re one win away from exacting revenge on the Dodgers for what Utley did to Tejada. I can’t wait to be there tomorrow. Lets Go Mets!

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Mets Did What They Needed to Do in LA

Prior to the NLDS, I predicted the Mets would win in four games. I anticipated the Mets would split in Los Angeles and take care of business at home. 

I know everyone is angry over Game 2. The Mets had a 2-0 series lead taken from them. The Dodgers took advantage of the play where Ruben Tejada got hurt, and they rallied to tie the series at 1-1. It looks like the Dodgers have all the momentum, but this is baseball. Momentum is today’s starting pitcher, and the Mets have Matt Harvey. 

This year Harvey is 8-3 with a 2.23 ERA, 0.938 WHIP, and 9.2 K/9 at Citi Field. The Mets are 49-32 at Citi Field this year. The Dodgers are 37-44 on the road this year. The Dodgers are pitching Brett Anderson, who is whipping Mets fans into further frenzy. Advantage Mets. 

Citi Field should be the loudest it’s ever been. The crowd is going to be great. With the Chase Utley suspension and appeal, the Dodgers may actually be the more distracted team. Behind Harvey, the Mets are poised to win. 

I was nervous about Game 1. I was excited for Game 2. I’m confident about Game 3. LETS GO METS!

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We Knew It Would Come Down to Flores

Let’s be honest. We all knew Ruben Tejada earned the right to be the everyday SS in the playoffs with his incredible second half. However, we all knew deep down that it would come down to Wilmer Flores [standing ovation]. 

We knew it when he broke down into tears in the field when he thought he was leaving:

We knew it when he came back from that incredibly tough moment to do this:

Through everything that happened his teammates picked him up. With what happened to Tejada, the Mets need him to pick them up. They need his bat. They need his glove. 

They need him to be Ruben Tejada. 

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