Soto is funny. When he was up against Paddock after the first pitch he smiled. It was like he knew the guy didn’t have the stuff to get him out and the next pitch hit it out of the park. I’ve seen him a couple of other times this season and I guess that’s how elite he is. He may as well just pointed to the seats because that’s what it seemed to me he was doing. I even told my wife after I said watch this and he cranked it. Watching him closely this season the way he bats is different than anyone else from what I’ve observed in baseball. He almost crouches to his backside and uses that to explode through the ball. Everyone else steps and uses the torque through their midsection to generate power. He is a different animal and I think we are very lucky he’s a Met forever ( unless he gets traded) which I highly doubt. Can’t say enough about McClean. The kid was searching for it almost the whole game and still retired the last 14 batters he faced. That has all the makings of a number 1 in my book. I don’t care about the K’s ( although I love them) but the grit to muscle through limiting the damage and keeping the team in it is an attribute not many pitchers have. They may all want to do it but being able to do it is another story. I think this kid has it. Time will tell but the early results are pointing to yes. Let’s see what Holmes can do today. The pen is rested so 5 I guess is fine. LGM
Nice piece. Never heard the witticism "a day that ends in a Y" before. Mr. Baron writes about "unfair to the manager and unfair to bullpen" and said something about "roster construction"...I was ready to hear a criticism of Stearns, so I'd like to preemptively come to his defense. No one could have predicted that both Senga and Manea would perform as badly as they have. Or that Minter would miss almost the whole season. Or that Helsley would stink it up. Or that Rogers and Soto would be mostly ineffective. I think they were forced to coddle both Senga and Holmes. I can fault him for the Montas signing but on the other hand, Canning performed better than expected, at least for about his first 10 starts.
Well all the cards are on the table....Met pitchers ALL know what's wrong with their specific situation and if they can't correct probs before spring training breaks in late March, they will be sent to minors, get traded or retire.
McLean was impressive as he started without his best stuff, battled and still completed 6 innings. Reminiscent of a young guy who came up in 1967.
Soto is funny. When he was up against Paddock after the first pitch he smiled. It was like he knew the guy didn’t have the stuff to get him out and the next pitch hit it out of the park. I’ve seen him a couple of other times this season and I guess that’s how elite he is. He may as well just pointed to the seats because that’s what it seemed to me he was doing. I even told my wife after I said watch this and he cranked it. Watching him closely this season the way he bats is different than anyone else from what I’ve observed in baseball. He almost crouches to his backside and uses that to explode through the ball. Everyone else steps and uses the torque through their midsection to generate power. He is a different animal and I think we are very lucky he’s a Met forever ( unless he gets traded) which I highly doubt. Can’t say enough about McClean. The kid was searching for it almost the whole game and still retired the last 14 batters he faced. That has all the makings of a number 1 in my book. I don’t care about the K’s ( although I love them) but the grit to muscle through limiting the damage and keeping the team in it is an attribute not many pitchers have. They may all want to do it but being able to do it is another story. I think this kid has it. Time will tell but the early results are pointing to yes. Let’s see what Holmes can do today. The pen is rested so 5 I guess is fine. LGM
Nice piece. Never heard the witticism "a day that ends in a Y" before. Mr. Baron writes about "unfair to the manager and unfair to bullpen" and said something about "roster construction"...I was ready to hear a criticism of Stearns, so I'd like to preemptively come to his defense. No one could have predicted that both Senga and Manea would perform as badly as they have. Or that Minter would miss almost the whole season. Or that Helsley would stink it up. Or that Rogers and Soto would be mostly ineffective. I think they were forced to coddle both Senga and Holmes. I can fault him for the Montas signing but on the other hand, Canning performed better than expected, at least for about his first 10 starts.
Ohtani — 100th HR *as a Dodger.* He has 271 total.
Well all the cards are on the table....Met pitchers ALL know what's wrong with their specific situation and if they can't correct probs before spring training breaks in late March, they will be sent to minors, get traded or retire.