Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)
Okay I missed something... didn't they have the bases loaded with no outs?
Okay well they notch the W. Familia gives us a little heartburn (where's that Rolaids, Davey?) but gets the job done.
Blown scoring opportunities aside, now the Mets are 8-1. Nothing to complain about here!
It was fun to watch Cespedes gun down Lee at second base. Pretty amazing throw. Cespedes was moving to his left when he fielded it, then righted his feet and fired to second even as he was still moving to his left.
In the just sayin category, Stanton is batting 167 on a .500 Evil Empire Team that was supposed to have 100 home runs by now.
I liked Stanton and the last incarnation of the Marlins. Not sure I understand the total breakup of that team but I haven't read much about it so I don't know that the return has been for players like Yelich, one of my favorite non-Mets.
bub said:
In the just sayin category, Stanton is batting 167 on a .500 Evil Empire Team that was supposed to have 100 home runs by now
Careful Bub. Stanton will be tearing it up before you know it! Coming from a Met fan like you...
Maintain the stiff upper lip in the face of our often-fleeting success. ;-)
All the more reason to enjoy an OMG for the teams' respective performances last night, even if its a fleeting pleasure (what isn't?).
jimmurphy said:
bub said:
In the just sayin category, Stanton is batting 167 on a .500 Evil Empire Team that was supposed to have 100 home runs by now
Careful Bub. Stanton will be tearing it up before you know it! Coming from a Met fan like you...
Maintain the stiff upper lip in the face of our often-fleeting success. ;-)
jimmurphy said:
bub said:
In the just sayin category, Stanton is batting 167 on a .500 Evil Empire Team that was supposed to have 100 home runs by now
Careful Bub. Stanton will be tearing it up before you know it! Coming from a Met fan like you...
Maintain the stiff upper lip in the face of our often-fleeting success. ;-)
both Judge and Stanton strike out by the boatload. If a guy whiffs 200 times a year, he's going to have weeks where he strikes out 20 times. I think I wrote in the hot stove thread that there are going to be periods of time where the Yanks have a hole in the middle of their lineup with both sluggers striking out in bunches. But the team is so deep, they can probably get through those patches without losing too many games.
We know from the Mets' side of the ledger that sure fire power hitters can come to NY and wilt. There's added pressure here based on last year's team performance because the always entitled Yankee fan base expects the team to be in championship caliber form this year with the addition of Stanton.
I continue to be impressed with the smart baseball the Mets are playing, and I think you have to thank Callaway for setting this up.
In the bottom of the fifth, some weak fielding by Frazier and some bad pitches by deGrom turned a 3-0 lead into a 4-3 deficit.
In the top of the sixth, Frazier led off with a solid double. He then alertly went to second on a relatively routine fly ball to left. He then scored on another routine fly ball to right center. In both cases you could tell that the Mets' scouting was that the Marlins' outfielders have inaccurate arms. Frazier was slow back when his wheels were new, but his timing was perfect last night.
The Mets may be old and relatively slow but they make up for it with great preparation and experience.
And it starts...
MIAMI — The Mets have hit their first obstacle of an extraordinary early 2018 season. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud was diagnosed with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He was placed on the disabled list Wednesday and could face season-ending surgery.
I put my daughter to bed and was able to tune in at the top of the seventh. Great timing! They are playing with such confidence now that it felt inevitable that Gonzalez and Conforto would get big hits. And Gsellman's sinker was incredible.
Once again the Marlins' outfielder's terrible arms made a difference as well.
over 162 games there are a bunch of little things that can make a difference in winning or losing a half dozen or so games. And that can be the difference between contending or not. Right now, the Mets are taking advantage of poor-throwing opposing OFs. And on the flip side, that's a strength of their team. All of the guys they put in the OF have accurate arms, and Cespedes and Lagares are among the best at their positions.
I looked it up -- in his first year, Lagares had 15 assists in only 116 games. He hasn't had as many since, mostly because guys stopped running on him. But he had a nice one on Sunday in DC, throwing a guy out at the plate.
Losing both catchers sucks, but neither was a Carter or even a Hundley. Maybe Mike Fitzgerald. I heard a caller on the radio suggest trading Nimmo and a guy for Realmuto and almost spit out my drink. Who else is available at reasonable cost?
Based on the very small sample from the other night, the kid looked pretty sure handed behind the plate. Can he hit worse than the d'Arnuad/Plawecki combo? Give him a chance.
FilmCarp said:
Losing both catchers sucks, but neither was a Carter or even a Hundley. Maybe Mike Fitzgerald. I heard a caller on the radio suggest trading Nimmo and a guy for Realmuto and almost spit out my drink. Who else is available at reasonable cost?
Flores talked the other day about making sure you get wins when you're playing well. They've already banked 11 wins, and that's something to be happy about even this early in the season.
I always get peeved when a team struggles early and claims it doesn't matter. When the Mets choked in 2006 I was thinking that one more win in April would have done it. This is a great start.
Refusing to lose even when you're not at your best or have to come from behind is a hallmark of championship teams. I'm not saying the Mets are a championship team but teams rarely steamroll their way through a whole season, plus playoffs, without blips. The winning attitude of this version of the Mets is great to see.
I think he is still learning how to pitch. If things keep going this way he will be competing with Vargas.
mlj said:
I am concerned about Harvey.
me, too. While the homer seemed flukey it may have unnerved him. Harvey still has velocity but no movement. You watch someone like deGrom's fastball that always seems to have late lift or Matz, when he's good, which seems to bore in on righty's hands, both types that can be effective at 93-94 mph. But Harvey's comes in flat and very hittable. I think he doesn't trust his stuff enough, mixes his now-average slider, gets into deep counts and then offers a meatball to hitters.
Gotta say I'm a big fan of driving in runs with 2 outs.