2019 New York Mets Season Thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Didn't realize how beastly Seth Lugo has been since the start of July...but damn his numbers are sick:

35.1 IP, 16 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 46 K, .343 OPS against

Take out that one brutal outing (5 ER in 0.1 IP), and they're even more insane:

35 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 46 K

Mets gotta consider him for the closer's role next year.  Not even trying to suggest that he could ever become Mariano Rivera, but Rivera flourished in a similar kind of role to Lugo's current use in 1996, before becoming the Yankee closer in 1997.  We saw how that went.

I guess for next year, you try to right Diaz by making him a set-up man (this worked with Armando Benitez when he first came to the Mets, who set up for Franco for a while until he became the Met closer about midway through his first year as a Met).  And if Lugo is doing the job, sorry Edwin, even if you're bouncing back, you don't get the closer's job back.  That's what you get for basically almost singlehandedly killing the Mets season, with your 8.72 ERA and 1.013 OPS against since 5/29.  Congrats, you were actually WORSE than Mel Rojas!  Didn't think I'd ever see the day where someone could out-suck Blow-jas.  Well done dipsh!t. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah, these last two days have put the Mets in a similar position to where the 1987-88 Devils were as the season wound down...they were in it, but not REALLY in it.  Mets basically still have to win a ton AND get a lot of help. 

Crazy as it sounds, we might be better off hoping for the Nats to stumble than the Brewers...yes, we've been over the schedule game and how that's not always a great way to predict results, but I can't see them screwing up THAT badly against their remaining opponents. 

After a three-game set against the Marlins (Mets REALLY need the Nats to stumble in that series), they play five games in four days against the Phillies, and then finish up against the Indians.  If the Nats somehow lose two out of three to the Marlins, and four of five to the Phils, with the Mets winning ALL of their games at the same time...

But yeah, in the end, this is still a serious longshot...3 games back is a lot at this point in the season.  Cubs and Brewers both with games tonight, Mets are off...would be nice to wake up and see the lead cut to 2.5 games. 

Yeah I’m not counting on much help from the Phillies, they folded big time down the stretch last year and see no reason why they won’t do the same this year once the games get meaningless for them.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Phillies trail 5-4 heading into the bottom of the 8th in Atlanta.  Not sure if that's good or bad...another loss or two and they made fold up their tents for 2019.  Really need them to try to show up against the Nats...but like Has just alluded to, not sure how much longer they'll remain interested if they don't win their series in Cleveland.

And the Phillies lose 5-4.  Now 1/2 game back of the Mets with a game in hand, even up in the loss. 

Padres and Brewers about to start.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Cubs lose...wow have they been wildly inconsistent as of late...they lose five of six, then win five straight, then lose three in row...but then again, they are 47-47 since 5/15, so maybe that's just who they are at this point.  They should probably feel a little lucky to still be so in this.

Pretty much feels day-by-day for the Mets now...any loss in the next seven games is going to feel like this team has effectively been eliminated.  And even if the Mets do win all of those games, the friggin' Braves will be waiting to curbstomp the Mets one last time...

Edited September 20, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Have to say I'm annoyingly impressed with the Brewers especially in the aftermath of the Yelich thing

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, '7' said:

Have to say I'm annoyingly impressed with the Brewers especially in the aftermath of the Yelich thing

Weird team...not only have they survived losing Yelich without appearing to miss a beat, their run differential is terrible.  Somehow 13 games over .500 with a run differential of -21 (their "expected" under/over .500 for that differential is five under).  Mets by contrast are +37...hell, the Reds are 9 games UNDER .500 and have a run differential of +7.  Of course you see anomalies like this...the team that wins a bunch of games close but gets blown out in a number of losses, or the team that wins a number of games handily but loses the tight ones. 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Cubs now only one game ahead of the Mets in the loss.  

['7']

Mind boggling. Never did I I think a Met would hit 50

I don't know what kind of baseballs the MLB will use next year....kind of have a feeling they'll still be juiced but less so. It may be a long long time before we see 50 again in a Mets uniform. Truly a special achievement

[NJDevs4978]

Yeah part of me wonders if we'll look back on this season the way we look back on 2005-06 in the NHL with the one-season weird spike in numbers when you had Gionta scoring 48 and Cheechoo 50+, etc.

That said Alonso is definitely the real deal, a nice complement to deGrom on the pitching side.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

What else can be said about Alonso?  Juiced ball aside, this rookie has still managed to hit more dingers than anyone else.  He may never hit this many again, but I can see his other numbers improving as he develops.

Conforto with an RBI to put the Mets up 8-0...that couldn’t be more HIM, lmao.

Looks like Jacob’s insane consistency (1.99 ERA in his last 22 starts) and ability to stay healthy (Ryu and Scherzer couldn’t quite muster either one) will earn him another Cy Young, in spite of the fact that his team continues to waste an unfathomable number of his starts.  Still funny to look back and remember being so stoked about Harvey when he first came up, and soon-to-arrive Syndergaard and Rafael Montero...and oh yeah, this other guy named deGrom who had had TJS.  What Jake has become is just unbelievable.  Everything Thor could have been, even if he wasn’t such a gutless phony and a complete diva.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Man have the Pirates been dreadful since the ASB.  21-44 since then, and outscored by well over 100 runs over that time frame.  They were 44-45 at the break...is there a team that’s quit harder than them?  You almost wonder how they managed to win those 21 games.  Brewers gotta be loving this.  

Edited September 21, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Brewers overall have been kind of a juggernaut. Not even a single hiccup we could exploit. What are they like 14-2 in their last 16? Mets have played hard...done the best they can. But they're going to fall short. And you can't really complain about lack of help with all the games our pen has blown

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yeah Brewers got hot at the right time for sure...they've won 15 out their last 17.  They've taken just about all of the drama out the WC race. 

Here's why the Mets don't deserve a WC berth:  they generally get exposed and suck against good teams (just look at their record against the NL division leaders), and just came up way too small in those back-to-back sweeps.  They basically had almost no margin for error after that six-game losing streak, and it shows, in that they've gone 14-8 since then...and that hasn't been nearly enough...they needed something more like 18-4 or 19-3. 

I still think the Mets' only minuscule chance is to hope for the Phillies to sweep the Nats in their 5-game series, while the Mets sweep the Marlins.  And no, when you need THAT much help from another team that's not all that great to begin with, you're already screwed.  But I sure as hell don't see the Brewers fvcking up THEIR WC berth.  They'll probably win 4 more games minimum and finish with 90+ wins and a hell of a run heading into their WC matchup.

['7']

One encouraging thing I read of late is that Callaways future is up in the air still.

https://www.nj.com/mets/2019/09/mlb-rumors-mets-playoff-contention-not-enough-to-save-mickey-callaways-job.html

This gives me hope. Normally a 40-23 2nd half run like we're on would lock a manager in for 2020. But I'm glad that it seems like they're not duped by this and are perhaps seeing Callaway for what he truly is, a detriment that costs us games

[NJDevs4978]

At most the Mets probably finish with 85-86 wins, no that won’t deserve a spot. Usually it takes more than that even for a WC spot. Whether it’s enough for Mickey to keep his job, honestly there were two or three times Brodie could have fired him during the season and nobody would have batted an eye. To do it now after their late surge, while I wouldn’t have an issue with it would still be odd timing.

Edited September 23, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, '7' said:

One encouraging thing I read of late is that Callaways future is up in the air still.

https://www.nj.com/mets/2019/09/mlb-rumors-mets-playoff-contention-not-enough-to-save-mickey-callaways-job.html

This gives me hope. Normally a 40-23 2nd half run like we're on would lock a manager in for 2020. But I'm glad that it seems like they're not duped by this and are perhaps seeing Callaway for what he truly is, a detriment that costs us games

Oh his idiocy has been on full display just as much during the second half surge as it has at any other time.  He's not any better or smarter now.  And yeah, if the Wilpons ever decide that maybe meaningful games in October are hell of a lot better than meaningful games in September...then try to get a real manager.

The one catch is I'm not sure how much respect BVW and eternal meddler Jeffy actually have in MLB.  I could see almost no one we'd LIKE to see get the job actually WANT the job.  That's the real problem here, even with a nucleus that looks like it should lead to the Mets being competitive for a while.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Steven Matz...a gutless p*ssy to the very end.  

['7']

Gotta hand it to the hitters at least. They go down fighting. Load the bases and a nice grand slam by Rosario gets them back in it late

Also looks like it's totally over for our old friend Curtis Granderson. Down to .186. Nobody seemed to want him at the deadline. May call it a career soon. Kind of sad to see him playing out the string with a dead franchise like this

['7']

6 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Oh his idiocy has been on full display just as much during the second half surge as it has at any other time.  He's not any better or smarter now.  And yeah, if the Wilpons ever decide that maybe meaningful games in October are hell of a lot better than meaningful games in September...then try to get a real manager.

The one catch is I'm not sure how much respect BVW and eternal meddler Jeffy actually have in MLB.  I could see almost no one we'd LIKE to see get the job actually WANT the job.  That's the real problem here, even with a nucleus that looks like it should lead to the Mets being competitive for a while.  

Any experienced well connected managerial candidate probably would never consider the Mets just because of the Fred/Jeff meddling dysfunction. We see it leak out in the papers in such but to those who are actually on the inside of major league baseball probably hear stories 10x worse than we do. Until that cycle is broken and we can attract top talent to stock all levels of the organization I don't think we can ever go on a true prolonged run of success

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

10 hours ago, '7' said:

Gotta hand it to the hitters at least. They go down fighting. Load the bases and a nice grand slam by Rosario gets them back in it late

Also looks like it's totally over for our old friend Curtis Granderson. Down to .186. Nobody seemed to want him at the deadline. May call it a career soon. Kind of sad to see him playing out the string with a dead franchise like this

Yeah, he's done.  He obviously had some flaws (mostly a low BA...he was a .249 career hitter, but since the start of the 2012 season hit just .230), but despite his weaknesses, was able to play over 2000 games in the major leagues, and hung on until he was 38 years old.  And of course, he was a genuinely great guy. 

[NJDevs4978]

Mets retiring Jerry Koosman's #36 next year...he had a very good career but meh, I feel like if this were totally merited it would have been done already, it's been what 40 years since Koosman pitched for the Mets?  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, NJDevs4978 said:

Mets retiring Jerry Koosman's #36 next year...he had a very good career but meh, I feel like if this were totally merited it would have been done already, it's been what 40 years since Koosman pitched for the Mets?  

Looks like the Wilpons are now asking:

WWTRD

 

[NJDevs4978]

Catch up?  I get putting more contributors into the HOF and I'm more than fine with retiring #5 but number retirement isn't something you need to catch up with, it's either merited or isn't.  Are they chasing the Yankees' tail again?  Heck THEY retire too many numbers but most of them are a lot more merited.

The only other one I'd MAYBE think of retiring is Keith, but that's personal bias in part and also team employee bias since at least most current people know of Keith and his career these days through SNY.  Carter was terrific for a 3-4 year period but not really long enough to merit a number retirement.  Darryl and Doc, we know their issues - though I could see them retiring 18 one day I wouldn't.

Edited September 24, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I would say you could retire Keith's number, because it all started with him.  He really was a leader, and maybe one of the most clutch hitters ever for the Mets.  Guy just came through constantly.

Wright played long enough to compile some franchise numbers after an awesome start to his career, but man I wouldn't be thrilled to see his number retired.  Guy was just the opposite of Keith when it came to getting important hits over his last number of seasons...infuriatingly so.

 

Anyway, I agree, it's one thing if you want to induct some players into the Mets HOF, but good lord, don't just start retiring numbers now for the sake of belated nostalgia...that's supposed to be an honor you don't need decades to think about bestowing.  Once again, the Wilpons come off looking a bit buffoonish here.  They can't help themselves, ever.

[NJDevs4978]

I'm sure we'll go through this when the official announcement is made but there are actual reasons to retire Wright's number...several HOF caliber seasons, a 162-game average of .296-25-99 with 20 SB's, a career Met who was a long-term captain and an exemplary example off the field.  Yeah you would have liked a World Series win or a better postseason among the 'two' he got to play in but ultimately part of number retirement is can you see anyone else wear the number and with how long his career was and how tied he is to the Mets I'd say no, you can't really see anyone else wear the number.

Edited September 24, 2019 by NJDevs4978