Mets retire Darryl Strawberry’s no. 18, proceed to lay a goose egg in lopsided loss
Sean Manaea got tagged for a grand slam, Josh Walker got shelled and the Mets could not catch up
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets got shelled by the Diamondbacks 10-5 at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon (box)
Sean Manaea started for the Mets and got rocked for six runs - five earned - thanks in part to a grand slam from Christian Walker in the third inning
Josh Walker didn’t fare much better in relief as he allowed four runs in 2.1 IP of work
The Mets offense continued to produce, highlighted by Pete Alonso’s two RBI day and Mark Vientos’ fourth home run of the year. Jeff McNeil also notched a pair of singles
Saturday was the seventh time the Mets have allowed ten or more runs in a game
Darryl Strawberry 🍓
“I wish I would’ve never left this organization. That is the biggest regret I will have for the rest of my life. My eight seasons here were the greatest seasons of my career. And I will always be a Met. No matter how anyone will look at it or how anyone wants to talk about it, I’m a Met.” ~ Darryl Strawberry
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (24-34) vs. Diamondbacks (26-32)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP José Quintana (1-5, 5.06 ERA) vs. RHP Brandon Pfaadt (2-4, 4.16 ERA)
When: 1:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
Despite the clunker on the field, it was still a special day for Darryl Strawberry and the Mets… ✍️
Needless to say, the Mets can’t stand any sort of prosperity.
They laid a giant egg on Saturday in what has become an all-too familiar movie with the Mets this season, getting shelled for ten runs against the Diamondbacks on a day that started off in celebratory fashion.
The Mets retired Darryl Strawberry’s number 18 before Saturday’s game. He now forever sits atop the rafters at Citi Field alongside Dwight Gooden, Willie Mays, Keith Hernandez, Jerry Koosman, Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver, Gil Hodges, Casey Stengel, Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner, Jackie Robinson, and Bill Shea.
His speech was rather moving, I must say. He reminisced about his time with the Mets and sincerely apologized for leaving the organization following the 1990 season.
“I mean this from the bottom of my heart,” Strawberry said. “I am so sorry for ever leaving you guys.”
He walked onto the field to a vintage, “Daaaa-rrryyyyl” chant before greeting his family and former teammates. It was a very sincere, genuine speech from his heart. I figured he would take the opportunity to apologize for leaving when he did and under the circumstances he did all those years ago. I’ve often wondered how his career might have turned out if he stayed. He remains the most prolific home run hitter in club history with 252, although if Pete Alonso stays beyond 2024 that is sure to be his record in relatively short order.
Maybe it’s not so much how his career might have turned out as much as how his life might have turned out. The Mets were all he knew as a professional anything between the ages of 18 and 28. He admitted he was a broken person even during his time with the Mets thanks to a rocky childhood and other things which created instability for him, so who really knows. Maybe remaining inside the comforts of what the Mets offered him for all of those years might have prevented some of the things that happened to him later.
Nobody will ever know.
He has been hanging around the Mets for years now, pretty much ever since the Mets closed Shea Stadium in 2008, but it feels like Saturday was sort of a homecoming for him even though he’s in New York a lot with the club. Seeing him again, seeing the tribute video for him and all of those old teammates of course made me reminisce about the countless times I got to witness the greatness of Darryl Strawberry, but also wonder once again what might have been with better decision making on his part and the parts of the people he surrounded himself with during those very dark years of his life in the mid-1990s.
One thing is for sure.
Regardless of what happened before, I am sure glad he has straightened himself out and found the balance in his life he so badly needed. In the end, like Dwight Gooden, these are good people with fractured pasts that both damaged and infiltrated their adult lives and their ability to make the right decisions. They’ve survived those bad decisions, lived to tell their stories and of course, been able to celebrate their glorious careers with the club by having their numbers retired.
Whenever the Mets retire a number - and it’s happening with more frequency over the last eight years than it did in the club’s previous 54 years - the question is always who might be next. Maybe it will be Gary Carter? How about David Wright? Howard Johnson was one of the greatest players in club history himself with two 30-30 seasons under his belt. He is easily the best switch-hitter they’ve ever had, for what it’s worth.
Of course, HoJo wears number 20, which is currently donned by Alonso. But it’s hard to argue the facts.
Anyway, we will see how the Mets handle the next round of number retirees. I’m willing to bet they take a little break from it for now. But, you never know.
As for the game on Saturday, well, it wasn’t good. Sean Manaea got rocked early by Christian Walker with a grand slam in the third inning and that was pretty much that for the Mets, who were trying to build off two very energetic wins against the Diamondbacks on Thursday and Friday and take this four-game series.
They still have a chance for a series win on Sunday, but the Mets really needed to get on a roll after hitting what seems to be their nadir for the 25th time already this season and a roster shakeup as well.
To Manaea’s credit, he had pitched really well over his first ten starts of the season and arguably well enough for an All-Star selection. He also managed to pitch into the sixth inning and struck out ten. The stink of it is, he allowed that grand slam to Walker with two outs but he issued two walks in the inning which set the whole thing up.
It happens of course but it put the Mets in an early hole and they were generally non-competitive at the plate until the ninth inning.
At any rate, it was still a special day for the Mets despite the loss. The team is what it is at this point - we have beaten that one to death time and time again.
Around the League 🚩
Ryan Mountcastle drove in four runs and the Orioles hit three home runs in their 9-5 win over the Rays
The Red Sox pushed themselves back over .500 with a 6-3 win over the Tigers
Clayton Kershaw - who is recovering from shoulder surgery - recently threw a sim game. He hopes to rejoin the Dodgers this summer
Both Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes homered as the Pirates rolled over the Blue Jays 8-1
Still can not believe All the Alonso haters out there. Hello 👋 Guys we are Not getting Soto - even his so called friend saying he won’t play for losers. Hello 👋 only using Cohen to drive his price up so u better embrace Alonso or do u think HR hitters like him grow on trees. 2025 is going to be another tough year - the prospects we have all slowed in their progress this year except for the pitchers so don’t be so eager to trade Alonso for some mid tier prospect. Some of u still don’t get it a Prospect is a Prospect is a Prospect !!! Also please remember many FA’s don’t want to play in NY and can we really afford signing FA’s that require draft pick compensation- we are penalized enough already with the BS Cohen Rule. So which FA’s are we going to sign that are going to make us competitive with the Phillies and Braves next year - Soto does not count ????
Three starters were signed in the off season as stopgaps. M. is a decent back-end type. They tried to stretch him to six innings. Looks like he is more of a five inning pitcher. He gave up a grand slam but the game was not out of reach until later. Severino is doing well. Houser has done well as a long reliever, which is useful with so many pitchers who can't go long. So, overall, not a bad haul really.
One day at a time. If they win today, they can look forward to playing the Nats, another team on their level. They can manage to have a reasonable 10 game stretch overall.