Missed It by THAT Much

As promised in my last post, I have no intention of spending what little writing time I have these days complaining about the current edition of the New York Mets. While it's gratifying that they actually played a really solid, complete game against LA in their final meeting this season and — gasp — actually won a game against them yesterday, it doesn't change things that much. Their play since the All-Star break speaks for itself. I never expected them to be in quite the same class as the Dodgers this season, but it really strikes me how many of the contests against LA and San Francisco have been close games that the Mets time and again failed to find a way to win. They might as well have gotten their asses kicked every game for as much difference as it makes in the standings.

Circling the Drain

For the reasons that I mentioned in a personal note at the bottom of my last post, I haven't been able to post as regularly as I wish to. The New York Mets have decided to make things somewhat easier on me by continuing to play some awful baseball that isn't really worth writing about. They've been a somewhat frustrating team to watch, root for, and write about most of the season. That's only been more of the case as they can't even muster the fight to challenge for a division that seems likely to be won by a team with a win total in the mid-80s. Then again, last season's Mets didn't come very close to making expanded playoffs that included teams that barely finished over .500.

Surviving the Slump

When I last wrote in this space 8 days ago, the New York Mets were floundering but still in first place. It's been pretty much all downhill since that point. As I finished my piece last Monday, the Mets were in the process of dropping a game to the last-place Marlins. They would lose 3 of 4 to Miami, then get swept in their 3-game set in Philadelphia. If you were somehow transported forward in time, basing your opinion on the 2021 Mets strictly on the games they played over the last 10 days, you'd probably think you were watching a last-place team in the midst of a rebuild.

(Still) Waiting for a Turnaround

The just-completed weekend wasn't a high point in New York Mets history. The Mets are coming off a long homestand where they did nothing to solidify their tenuous hold on the National League East. The Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves are doing all they can to give the division to the Mets, but the New Yorkers refuse to accept the gift. Instead, after taking 2 of 3 from the one good team they would face — the Toronto Blue Jays — the Mets offense slipped back into stone-cold mode against the mediocre Braves and Cincinnati Reds. The end result was losing 3 of 5 to the Braves and 2 of 3 to the Reds. And it could have been worse. They only scored 3 runs combined in the 2 games they took from the Braves, and it took a rare late-game comeback to win once against the Reds.