I think the biggest problem is Stearns inability to read a club house. We need leaders not just players who fit his statistical model. The Dodger have a core of Betts, Freeman and Ohtani who are the hardest works on the team and push players every day to be their best. Is Lindor, Soto and ? the best leaders ? Maybe Lindor is but I don’t see Soto as a leader and who else is there?
I'm going to say this with confidence. The Mets will win another ballgame before the end of the season. That's about all I can be confident in saying.
What I'm more concerned and confused by, is how an entire lineup of Major League ballplayers have suddenly forgotten how to hit. They don't hit to the opposite field (except Bichette and Alvarez). They strike out far too much and they don't work out walks. In fact, they don't make the pitcher work very hard at all. Say what you want about the Mets teams from the past few seasons, they worked the count and would regularly make the opposing team's starting pitcher throw 20+ pitches in the first inning, which would generally lead to an early exit and a chance to feast on their middle relievers. Now, starters are going into the 7th inning, without breaking a sweat. The only logical explanation is the hitting philosophy of the new Mets hitting coach, Troy Snitker.
Snitker came over from the Houston Astros and worked with star players like Jose Altuve, Jordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa and Jeremy Pena along with former Astros, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman. Those teams were known for working the count and hitting the ball to the opposite field. Hitting home runs was a byproduct, not a goal. Whatever wisdom Snitker gained from his six seasons of working with some of the best hitters in the game, somehow hasn't translated to these Mets. Not yet, anyway. I suppose it takes time to adjust to a new way of doing things, but... isn't that what Spring Training is for?
"At the risk of sounding maudlin, these middling Mets certainly have a knack for cultivating misery en masse." Nice. Anything that gives me a chance to smile about the Mets is a good thing! You may be the only sportswriter in America who's acquainted with the world "maudlin".
I'd quibble that the questions about Senga and Peterson HAVE been answered, i.e., the answer is that they're no longer good pitchers. The big downside about starting Myers is that now you've lost your best (only?) long reliever. I was thinking they might call up Christian Scott. Btw, we should have a readers' vote: Which fact is more sorrowful, that Baty has one walk on the season or that Lindor has one rbi on the season?
Lindor. I understand the cold start, but his overall play has been unacceptable. Maybe starting in May, if we all put on our orange and blue colored glasses, we go an historic heater and win it all!
I find myself thinking of the Mets broadcasters keeping things entertaining and positive in the early 60s when they stank. As in Bob Murphy saying things like, "(joe) Christopher now has a hit in 4 of the last 6 ballgames". He also said, "kranepool is not especially fleet afoot". Kranepool was slower than your grandmother or Bubby as the case may be.
Looking at Clifford and Mauricio murdering baseballs in AAA while Lambert blows guys away with 100 mph gas knowing he’s just wasting bullets there. Baty and Vientos are AAAA players and they are like blind a blind squirrel who finds his nut. Don’t the Mets need a first baseman? Clifford fits that bill. He also mashes baseballs. Mauricio needs to be given playing time when he’s called up again to really see what he’s got. Morabito is also hitting and actually has 3 HRs as he’s not been known to have power. That real issue here is none of the players brought in are known really to the fans. Polanco was a west coast player. Bichette played in Canada and Semein was down in Texas. Robert in Chicago. Everyone brought in is a mercenary and since they aren’t doing anything to help this team win Mets fans have no attachment to them which is creating even more harsher negativity than if this was happening with the core that was here last year. This team is not built to consistently score runs. They just aren’t. Everything has to go right every day for that to equal wins. You need to also not allow the other team to score more than you and the pitching isn’t there. Mendy needs to go. Stearns is the architect of this mess though. He screwed the pooch this off season and sold us a bag of shit.
Spot on. You beat me to posting about Ronnie and Ryan and the fearless leaders (only fearless about losing their jobs, apparently).
At this point, I'd rather have all the AAA guys up here struggling (i.e., Benge, Baty, Vientos) than these aging, overpriced has-beens.
If fans want action, they need to stop paying ridiculous ticket prices to support the pockets of this inept ownership and leadership. Money clearly isn't buying us success. We might as well follow the A's and Marlins' model, because the current one sure as heck ain't working.
I’m almost all for a complete tear down of this team. They haven’t done one since the late 90’s and sure it’ll waste a couple years of Soto but he’s making enough to be patient. We got some kids in the minors. Bring them up and let’s see what we got.
When you have 3 guys who can only play catcher that impacts the flexibility on the bench. Why not give Mauricio a chance and actually give him some at bats. No one else is hitting.
I checked the schedule. The Twins, Rockies, and Nats are well-timed series, though the Twins are okay, and even the Rockies managed to beat the Dodgers once. Which teams are supposed to do. Even horrible teams don't go 0-10. Anyway, then it's the Angels, and the Rockies again.
Better take advantage since some good teams (and the always pesky Marlins) are coming after that, including the Yankees. Though they are having issues too.
I don't expect him to badmouth his coaching staff, but if they are preparing the team defensively, they must be worse than I thought, given the final product.
This likely signals dedicated DH work for Alvy. Not the first bat I’d think to call up, but Senger’s been hitting pretty well to start his season in Syracuse - .257 with five homers and 11 RBI. OBP still leaves a bit to be desired but if it gets Alvarez more opportunities to focus on his swing and get hot, worth the risk imo
I turned the game off after Raley gave up that HR to feared slugger Carson Kelly. I don’t remember ever doing that before but I knew the game was over. Sad.
I think the biggest problem is Stearns inability to read a club house. We need leaders not just players who fit his statistical model. The Dodger have a core of Betts, Freeman and Ohtani who are the hardest works on the team and push players every day to be their best. Is Lindor, Soto and ? the best leaders ? Maybe Lindor is but I don’t see Soto as a leader and who else is there?
I'm going to say this with confidence. The Mets will win another ballgame before the end of the season. That's about all I can be confident in saying.
What I'm more concerned and confused by, is how an entire lineup of Major League ballplayers have suddenly forgotten how to hit. They don't hit to the opposite field (except Bichette and Alvarez). They strike out far too much and they don't work out walks. In fact, they don't make the pitcher work very hard at all. Say what you want about the Mets teams from the past few seasons, they worked the count and would regularly make the opposing team's starting pitcher throw 20+ pitches in the first inning, which would generally lead to an early exit and a chance to feast on their middle relievers. Now, starters are going into the 7th inning, without breaking a sweat. The only logical explanation is the hitting philosophy of the new Mets hitting coach, Troy Snitker.
Snitker came over from the Houston Astros and worked with star players like Jose Altuve, Jordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa and Jeremy Pena along with former Astros, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman. Those teams were known for working the count and hitting the ball to the opposite field. Hitting home runs was a byproduct, not a goal. Whatever wisdom Snitker gained from his six seasons of working with some of the best hitters in the game, somehow hasn't translated to these Mets. Not yet, anyway. I suppose it takes time to adjust to a new way of doing things, but... isn't that what Spring Training is for?
"At the risk of sounding maudlin, these middling Mets certainly have a knack for cultivating misery en masse." Nice. Anything that gives me a chance to smile about the Mets is a good thing! You may be the only sportswriter in America who's acquainted with the world "maudlin".
I'd quibble that the questions about Senga and Peterson HAVE been answered, i.e., the answer is that they're no longer good pitchers. The big downside about starting Myers is that now you've lost your best (only?) long reliever. I was thinking they might call up Christian Scott. Btw, we should have a readers' vote: Which fact is more sorrowful, that Baty has one walk on the season or that Lindor has one rbi on the season?
Lindor. I understand the cold start, but his overall play has been unacceptable. Maybe starting in May, if we all put on our orange and blue colored glasses, we go an historic heater and win it all!
....or not.
I find myself thinking of the Mets broadcasters keeping things entertaining and positive in the early 60s when they stank. As in Bob Murphy saying things like, "(joe) Christopher now has a hit in 4 of the last 6 ballgames". He also said, "kranepool is not especially fleet afoot". Kranepool was slower than your grandmother or Bubby as the case may be.
Looking at Clifford and Mauricio murdering baseballs in AAA while Lambert blows guys away with 100 mph gas knowing he’s just wasting bullets there. Baty and Vientos are AAAA players and they are like blind a blind squirrel who finds his nut. Don’t the Mets need a first baseman? Clifford fits that bill. He also mashes baseballs. Mauricio needs to be given playing time when he’s called up again to really see what he’s got. Morabito is also hitting and actually has 3 HRs as he’s not been known to have power. That real issue here is none of the players brought in are known really to the fans. Polanco was a west coast player. Bichette played in Canada and Semein was down in Texas. Robert in Chicago. Everyone brought in is a mercenary and since they aren’t doing anything to help this team win Mets fans have no attachment to them which is creating even more harsher negativity than if this was happening with the core that was here last year. This team is not built to consistently score runs. They just aren’t. Everything has to go right every day for that to equal wins. You need to also not allow the other team to score more than you and the pitching isn’t there. Mendy needs to go. Stearns is the architect of this mess though. He screwed the pooch this off season and sold us a bag of shit.
Clifford had a big game yesterday but otherwise has been disappointing.
Spot on. You beat me to posting about Ronnie and Ryan and the fearless leaders (only fearless about losing their jobs, apparently).
At this point, I'd rather have all the AAA guys up here struggling (i.e., Benge, Baty, Vientos) than these aging, overpriced has-beens.
If fans want action, they need to stop paying ridiculous ticket prices to support the pockets of this inept ownership and leadership. Money clearly isn't buying us success. We might as well follow the A's and Marlins' model, because the current one sure as heck ain't working.
I’m almost all for a complete tear down of this team. They haven’t done one since the late 90’s and sure it’ll waste a couple years of Soto but he’s making enough to be patient. We got some kids in the minors. Bring them up and let’s see what we got.
When you have 3 guys who can only play catcher that impacts the flexibility on the bench. Why not give Mauricio a chance and actually give him some at bats. No one else is hitting.
I checked the schedule. The Twins, Rockies, and Nats are well-timed series, though the Twins are okay, and even the Rockies managed to beat the Dodgers once. Which teams are supposed to do. Even horrible teams don't go 0-10. Anyway, then it's the Angels, and the Rockies again.
Better take advantage since some good teams (and the always pesky Marlins) are coming after that, including the Yankees. Though they are having issues too.
I don't expect him to badmouth his coaching staff, but if they are preparing the team defensively, they must be worse than I thought, given the final product.
Their "big shake-up" was to have someone else pitch for 2 innings and then replace him with the original starter????????
Is this the '26 Mets or the '62 Mets? In their first 22 games, the '62 Mets were 5-17, so we're 2 games better than that. I guess that's something???
Why Senger to replace Polanco?
This likely signals dedicated DH work for Alvy. Not the first bat I’d think to call up, but Senger’s been hitting pretty well to start his season in Syracuse - .257 with five homers and 11 RBI. OBP still leaves a bit to be desired but if it gets Alvarez more opportunities to focus on his swing and get hot, worth the risk imo
Allows flexibility in using Alvarez's bat and giving him more rest.
It also might suggest there aren't too many other compelling options that fit the team.
I turned the game off after Raley gave up that HR to feared slugger Carson Kelly. I don’t remember ever doing that before but I knew the game was over. Sad.
Fair. Still, they need to win a game like that. 4-1 should not be a lost cause.