Catching up on the Mets, Part 2

Since I wrote Part 1 of this post, the Mets winning streak came to an anticlimactic end in game 2 against the Nationals on Saturday night. The New York Mets lost that game the same way they have lost many games in this 2021 baseball season: fielding a less-than-optimal starting lineup thanks to a depleted roster and mustering little offense in an eminently winnable game. Then in today's series finale, they failed to convert runs to build a comfortable lead, leading to a heartbreaking (and backbreaking) loss. Raise your hands if you were shocked by either of these outcomes. Anyone? Yeah, me neither.

Time for the Bats to Show Up

No, not that bat

The New York Mets are inching closer to having their Opening Day lineup back. Jeff McNeil will be back today while Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto are doing minor league rehabs. Oh, and Albert Almora has also returned, though it's hard to imagine his bat contributing very much to the cause. It would be nice to make some sort of declaration that the days of scratching for runs against mediocre pitchers are over. Maybe that will happen eventually, but these guys coming back weren't hitting all that well before they left. I'm sure they'll have some rust to shake off, too.

Gratitude

The New York Mets are 58 games into the season. If this was 2020, we would almost be at the end of the regular season. In 2021, as in so many other seasons past, there are still 104 games left to play. My purpose in noting this is not to show off my second grade math skills. It just drives home once again how very different 2020 baseball was from what a baseball season is supposed to be.

Why This June Is Different

The New York Mets opened their month of June with a bad loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. As I was wallowing a bit in the disappointment of the loss, the thought crossed my mind "this reminds me so much of awful losses from previous Junes." When you're talking, writing, or even thinking about the baseball club you root for, it's often tempting to lean on simplistic narratives like that one.

The Challenge of Surviving June

Since I last posted here, the New York Mets managed to play one of their three scheduled games against the Atlanta Braves this past weekend and the first game of the Arizona Diamondbacks series last night. Putting aside the uncharacteristic offensive explosion Saturday night, it was still going to be difficult for them to win games against Atlanta with a Triple-A offense. I guess we can hope that the Mets are in better shape to play these games later on, but the number of doubleheaders they'll be playing in June and July is going to be tough, also. This year was supposed to be the year that we at least made progress towards returning to a normal baseball season, but the injuries and postponements have got in the way of that journey. Last year's extreme abnormal pandemic season has given way to the year of endless injuries.

98 Pound Weaklings

I mentioned in yesterday's post that a really hectic week kept me away from watching the two games our New York Mets played against the Red Sox this week. I guess someone on the Mets noticed. Last night they "treated" me with a game that was essentially a replay of their anemic 2-game set against Boston. Apparently, they didn't read the second sentence of that paragraph where I mentioned that I had no regrets about missing those games. Not that it would really matter, anyway, as the Mets have been losing a version of that same game since the season got underway.

Borne Back Ceaselessly

There's no point in trying to sugarcoat it; last night's game really sucked. Losing on Opening Day is always tough. You wait months for baseball to come back, then you get to wait again a few days longer because the Washington Nationals waited until the end of training camp to have a covid outbreak. Then the Mets blow a lead showing some of the weaknesses that we all worried about before the season started. The bullpen, check. Manager, check. Defense, check. I felt really miserable by the end of the game.

Stumbling Toward the Light

As I wrote yesterday, I'm going to shy away from writing prediction pieces for the season. I've seen too many springs where a player was absolutely en fuego, only to watch those flames quickly die out once the games start counting. I've also seen players look as just plain awful as Jeff McNeil has this spring, only to see the player rebound just fine in the regular season. And, while I think prediction algorithms are good for sparking entertaining discussion and debate, I don't put much stock in how they foresee the season going. There are just too many variables once the season gets underway to allow myself to get excited that PECOTA is bullish on the Mets' chances.

Spring Fever Dreams

Today is the first day of spring. It's always among my favorite days of the year. Although I tolerate winter pretty well, I'm absolutely not a winter enthusiast. This day always feels significant to me, even though Mother Nature often doesn't show much respect for the Vernal Equinox here in the northeast. The weather gods have been generous in 2021, giving spring a warm and sunny Opening Day after a few cold, blustery days leading up to it. Even my two dogs have taken note of the upgraded meteorological conditions, giving up cherished couch time to enjoy the warm sunshine in the yard.

Spring Training Thoughts

When you have a team that's been together for a while, with most of the key players returning, spring training becomes boring fairly quickly. That's certainly not the deal with the Mets this season. Two, possibly three, members of the starting rotation are brand new to the club. In the field, there will be a new catcher, shortstop, and a rebuilt bench. There will be new guys in the bullpen this season as well.

The coaching staff has undergone some changes, too. Dave Jauss is replacing Hensley Meulens as bench coach, Tony Tarasco replacing Tony DeFrancesco as first base coach (an exchange of Tonys, if you will), and hitting coach Chili Davis doing his job in person rather than remotely this season.

Signing Taijuan Walker Was a Terrific Move

Mets fans received some good news today. Signing a starting pitcher to compete for one of the two bottom-of-the-rotation slots really was a must for this team. Don't get me wrong, David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi are both perfectly acceptable options for the role, but there needed to be more competition for those spots. Now there is. Bringing Taijuan Walker into the fold for a reasonable 2-year, $20 million deal seems to be, at least in my opinion, exactly the right balance of risk and potential upside. While it seems almost comical to refer to a $10 million per year salary as "reasonable," it really is in the context of how players are valued these days. As a fan, I feel much better about the Mets' chances of having enough starting pitching to survive this season today than I did yesterday.

Have the Mets Done Enough? Let the Evaluations Begin

The Mets signed OF Kevin Pillar yesterday. Nice depth move, but hardly a game-changer. There was a time that he was an excellent CF, but that is no longer the case. You can make an argument that, by defensive metrics, Pillar is no longer that big of a defensive upgrade over Brandon Nimmo. I'm no expert on defensive metrics, nor have I had much chance to watch Pillar play CF in recent years. Perhaps the Mets think they see something in Pillar that the metrics are missing. In any case, it's quite doubtful that Pillar was signed to be the starting CF. He's a right-handed bat who hits lefties fairly well, and he'll most likely be doing that in some sort of part-time role with the Mets. His track record shows he's a better bet to contribute with the bat than recent pickup Albert Almora. Almora also has a minor league option left, so they're not necessarily going to be on the active roster together.