2021 New York Mets season thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Man really hope coming away with nothing with the bases loaded and no one out in the 8th doesn’t come back to bite the Mets here.

Didn’t take Diaz long to face the potential tying run.  I will never feel secure with him on the mound with the game on the line.

And now 4-2…gutless fvcking turd.

Somehow he got out of it…gotta give him some kudos, but man he scares me.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

As this 33 games in 31 days stretch begins to wind down…Mets are 14-13 so far, with 6 games left.  The 18-15 record I was hoping for remains within reach.  This stretch was a bitch.

Mets now halfway done…on pace for 88 wins.  The rest of the division is still struggling to go above .500.  Starting to feel like one real hot streak from the Mets (say, 10 out of 12) will bury the East.  

[NJDevs4978]

Yeah even if it got hairy at the end can't really quibble too much about squeezing out a win in a Megill vs. Woodruff matchup.  Megill's earned himself a few starts at least though.

Edited July 6, 2021 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Agree about Megill…he’s been pretty good so far…he’s been prone to high pitch counts, but at least has given the Mets a shot in every game he’s started so far.  Can’t ask for more than that from a rookie who didn’t figure to play for the big club this season.

BTW the Mets have gone 9-12 in their last 21.  That’s cost them all of one game in the standings…they were five games up before that stretch, and are now four up.  Still feels like if the Mets can find a way to reach 90 wins, that none of the teams chasing them will be able to catch them.  Everyone else in the division has less than half a season to do it…and all of these teams that are under .500 so far will suddenly have to go at least 19 over just to get to 90.

Of course, it’s fair to wonder if the Mets themselves can reach 90.  I can see them winning 86 or so.  That’s still a lot of work for the teams chasing them (again, considering the teams behind them aren’t even .500 at this point), but certainly more doable.  Also gotta see if any of them attempt to become buyers.

['7']

I'm getting that John Maine feel with Megill. Tall righty who will battle through 5...deep counts, will walk guys here and there and give up a long ball but the damage will generally not be extensive. You just don't want to push him far...know when to pull the plug.

big one tonight with deGrom on the hill. Brett Anderson is not very good and really not very good on the road. He's been beat up a bit the last two starts. Need to jump on him early

Brewers are coming off a very long winning streak so hopefully we're catching them during a cool down stretch

Edited July 6, 2021 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Piggybacking off my previous post...if the Mets turn in a second half exactly the same as the first, and finish with an 88-74 record, here's what the teams behind them have to do to overtake them:

Nats:  48-31 (currently 41-42)

Braves:  48-30 (currently 41-43)

Phillies:  49-31 (currently 40-42)

And of course they all have games against each other.

Never say never of course, but it's really hard to imagine one of these teams getting hot enough to win 89+.  None of have them have been able to play .500 ball to this point, but now one of them will find a way to play over .600 ball the rest of the way?  Just seems like it's too tall an order...and as previously mentioned, one nice 10-15 game burst of .700 - .800 ball from the Mets seems like it will be enough to wrap this thing up...of course, the Mets actually have to DO that.  They really have to clean up against the Pirates...7 straight games coming up, with the ASB breaking that up.  Win 5+. 

For whatever it's worth, I do think the Mets will find some way to win at least 88, unless they suffer a rash of injuries to the starting staff (namely deGrom, Stroman, or Walker).  

28 minutes ago, '7' said:

I'm getting that John Maine feel with Megill. Tall righty who will battle through 5...deep counts, will walk guys here and there and give up a long ball but the damage will generally not be extensive. You just don't want to push him far...know when to pull the plug.

big one tonight with deGrom on the hill. Brett Anderson is not very good and really not very good on the road. He's been beat up a bit the last two starts. Need to jump on him early

Brewers are coming off a very long winning streak so hopefully we're catching them during a cool down stretch

Funny you should mention Maine...Boomer and others made the same comparison this morning...I remember after 2007, some were predicting that he could be a Cy candidate in 2008...unfortunately he started laboring more (BBs went up) and had injury issues.  2007 turned out to his peak year, by quite a bit.  

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I've brought him up before, but maybe one sign that there's less "same old Mets" as in previous years is that Steven Matz didn't go up to Toronto (Buffalo?) and suddenly figure things out.  His numbers since that 3-0, sub-1.50 ERA start have been, well, pretty Matz-like:

54 IP, 69 H, 34 ER, 9 HR, 15 BB, 60 K, 5.67 ERA (league is hitting .303 off him for this stretch...overall MLB BA at the moment is .240)

Kinda nice for an ex-Met not to shed the blue and orange and immediately find success elsewhere...not that I want to see Matz fail, but not like I wanted yet another Met to go on a rampage after leaving.

Kelenic is back to shredding in the minors (1.011 OPS)...his BA has gone up from .263 on 6/23 to .320 as of today.  Curious to see if he gets another call-up...of course, it's fair to point out that the AAA West (as it's now called) is 100% a hitters' league...league ERA is 5.67.  Still, friggin' BVW...that fvcking guy...

Edited July 6, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

I like the Maine comparison, 7. I’ll always remember two of his most memorable Met moments (especially since I was there for both), the Game 1 emergency start against LA after Duque blew a tire where he at least bulled his way to the middle innings and of course the 7.2 inning no hit attempt against the Marlins on the next to last day of the season in ‘07.

I was so disgusted with the Met collapse I didn’t even want to go to the game but dragged myself there and it was at least a brief, fleeting release from two weeks of misery. Although I doubt Willie would have ever pulled him it would have been an interesting conversation if he got to the 9th inning since his pitch count was already at like 114, and it was a 15-0 game or whatever it was.  It’s tricky when you’re maybe hoping not to burn a guy out before a possible playoff start, he was cruising though - 14 K’s I think…damn swinging bunt. Of course instead of his next start being in the playoffs, it was in Spring Training 2008.

Edited July 6, 2021 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

As usual, Mets are playing some Yearbook episodes…right now they’re showing 2015.  Syndergaard and Matz obviously made their debuts that year…their careers obviously haven’t gone as hoped.  The future seemed so bright with deGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard and Matz in the fold.  So hard to plan around pitchers these days.

[NJDevs4978]

 

LOL figures

Edited July 7, 2021 by NJDevs4978

['7']

Idiotic. They could've started this game at 9:45...10 if need be whatever. All the rain is gone. Nope, once again a little league double header incoming. It's literally Seattle weather anywhere the Mets go. Bizarre

[NJDevs4978]

And a split DH at that, where they get two seperate gates for seven-inning games.  That's borderline criminal but every team's doing that sh!t too, that needs to be fixed somehow but there's no union for the fans.

Of course the rainout changes the pitching matchups too, cause instead of deGrom versus one of their humpty dumpties, he goes against Burnes in the first game.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Last night was a night of duds, for various parties:

Matz with another not-good outing.  His misleading W-L record remains solid overall (7-4), but since that 4-0 start, his team has lost 8 out of his next 11 starts (he's put up a 5.77 ERA in those games, and is giving up longballs galore...teams are hitting .311 off him in those 11 starts, and he's given up 10 HR in 53 IP for that stretch).  

Since winning two out of three from the Mets (to pull to within 3.5 games of first), the Braves have gone 2-3 and are now 5 games back...and have lost two in a row to the Pirates.  They've been .500 exactly four times this season:  12-12, 17-17, 24-24, and 29-29.  They've yet to climb above the mediocrity mark all season...I just find it very difficult to fear them all that much at this point...they have "constant tease" written all over them.  And it's not like they've killed the Mets so far this season...they're 5-6 against the Mets to date.

The Nats have now lost 5 out of 6...their schedule has gotten a lot tougher.  They did lose a major player for them of course in Schwarber, but it's not like the Mets or several other teams haven't had injuries of their own to deal with.  Schwarber or no Schwarber, outside of Scherzer, their starting pitching has been rather ordinary at best...maybe that team just isn't all that good?  And it's like I pointed out before...it's one thing to go on a surge and get to the outskirts of a race.  It's another to keep it going long enough to actually overtake the team that you're chasing.  On 6/22, the Nats were 4 games out.  They're now 4.5 out...sure, at one point they were just 2 back, but it just goes to show how hard it can be to truly challenge for a division title when you've been inconsistent all season.  Two steps forward, two more back. 

The big question is, if the Braves/Phils/Nats have it in them to make this a race...when exactly do they finally get their sh!t together?

Just hope the Mets don't suffer any major slumps...that really feels like the only way anyone else will get back into this thing.  

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

If you're the Mets, do you think about making a deal for Craig Kimbrel?  Not that upgrading the closer is the top priority, but based on the year he's having, he'd be a serious upgrade over Diaz.  And a lot more trustworthy.  The Mets' pen would be about as stacked as it gets (by 2021 standards, anyway).  He's under contract through next season.  

['7']

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Last night was a night of duds, for various parties:

Matz with another not-good outing.  His misleading W-L record remains solid overall (7-4), but since that 4-0 start, his team has lost 8 out of his next 11 starts (he's put up a 5.77 ERA in those games, and is giving up longballs galore...teams are hitting .311 off him in those 11 starts, and he's given up 10 HR in 53 IP for that stretch).  

Since winning two out of three from the Mets (to pull to within 3.5 games of first), the Braves have gone 2-3 and are now 5 games back...and have lost two in a row to the Pirates.  They've been .500 exactly four times this season:  12-12, 17-17, 24-24, and 29-29.  They've yet to climb above the mediocrity mark all season...I just find it very difficult to fear them all that much at this point...they have "constant tease" written all over them.  And it's not like they've killed the Mets so far this season...they're 5-6 against the Mets to date.

The Nats have now lost 5 out of 6...their schedule has gotten a lot tougher.  They did lose a major player for them of course in Schwarber, but it's not like the Mets or several other teams haven't had injuries of their own to deal with.  Schwarber or no Schwarber, outside of Scherzer, their starting pitching has been rather ordinary at best...maybe that team just isn't all that good?  And it's like I pointed out before...it's one thing to go on a surge and get to the outskirts of a race.  It's another to keep it going long enough to actually overtake the team that you're chasing.  On 6/22, the Nats were 4 games out.  They're now 4.5 out...sure, at one point they were just 2 back, but it just goes to show how hard it can be to truly challenge for a division title when you've been inconsistent all season.  Two steps forward, two more back. 

The big question is, if the Braves/Phils/Nats have it in them to make this a race...when exactly do they finally get their sh!t together?

Just hope the Mets don't suffer any major slumps...that really feels like the only way anyone else will get back into this thing.  

 

I felt it would only be a matter of time for Matz. He'll stay in the majors for a while...being a lefty and all who's had some success he will keep getting chances until he is 40. But he is so damn fragile mentally. When things start going south you can really see how emotional he gets on the mound...loses his focus. I knew watching him if a borderline pitch or two didn't go his way that a big hit was about to follow

Have to admit the Nats scare me a bit with Turner, Josh Bell, Soto. Josh Harrison is also a nice under the radar player who always seems to kill the Mets. But outside of Scherzer there is nobody on that pitching staff who scares me and their SP may be what inhibit them from making a true big run...because they're going to be getting too many clunker starts mixed in

Edited July 7, 2021 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, '7' said:

I felt it would only be a matter of time for Matz. He'll stay in the majors for a while...being a lefty and all who's had some success he will keep getting chances until he is 40. But he is so damn fragile mentally. When things start going south you can really see how emotional he gets on the mound...loses his focus. I knew watching him if a borderline pitch or two didn't go his way that a big hit was about to follow

Yeah same, re:  the bolded...there was some chatter about how good he looked in spring training, and then of course he won his first four games...but then he returned right to the form that made the Mets give up on him.  You are right in that he's not SO bottom-of-the-barrel terrible that he won't get more looks...hell, friggin' Matt Harvey is still in the league, and there's some truly god-awful starters somehow hanging around (especially with so many arms going down these days).  But Matz will be one of those guys who won't settle in somewhere and find a home...he'll bounce around, play for another 6-7 teams, maybe turn in an occasional 4-6 stretch of good starts...it won't surprise if he eventually finds a second life as a decent lefty out of the pen...he won't be anything special, but I can see him becoming better as a reliever than he's been as a starting pitcher. 

And yeah, toughness isn't something that can often be taught.  Matz just doesn't have that.  Another guy who seemed to have so much promise earlier.  

[Devils Pride 26]

Jesus Christ. Would you take conforto back next year FOR FREE at this point? 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 minutes ago, Devils Pride 26 said:

Jesus Christ. Would you take conforto back next year FOR FREE at this point? 

Hard to be any worse at the plate than he's been, and in a walk year to boot.

I've never been a huge fan myself...he just reeks of a guy who's never going to come through in key moments.  The comparison I made to him earlier was Nick Swisher (Pat Burrell comes to mind too...he did win a couple of rings)...the big difference is Conforto is represented by Scott Boras, who will act like he has some killer asset that teams should be lining up to sign.  Conforto is just so damned all-over-the-place...when he's cold, he's beyond invisible.  And it seems like the Mets have a way of obtaining or developing hitters that can put up some nice numbers, but don't scare ANYONE in the big spot.  The 1986 Mets were full of guys who you knew would find a way (Hernandez, Carter, etc).  Piazza had that way about him too.  Francesa (much as I hate to admit it) was always dead-on about Wright and Reyes...they both had a way of not coming up with that big hit.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Damn, only two hits off Jake so far.  If only one of them had stayed in the yard...

Still, hardly a bad game for Jake by any measure...would be nice if these dipsh!ts could plate more than one run, and pick him up.

Jake's suddenly given up 7 runs total over his last three starts...what's odd is it's not like he suddenly allowing more baserunners...his numbers are still largely awesome:

19 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 27 K

Longball is hurting him a little...three HR allowed in his last two starts.  Even though he's not allowing many baserunners (only 14 total in these three starts, including a HBP in his last start), those guys are somehow finding their way home.  It's not like Jake was going to finish the season with an ERA under 1.00, but at least his numbers are still quite dominant otherwise.  Gerrit Cole this ain't.

The guess here is if he can keep the ball in the yard, he'll be back to his insanely unbeatable self.  Even with this "slump" (I hate to even use that word), this guy has somehow pitched 91.0 innings and allowed just 38 hits...and 12 walks.  And struck out 144.  I've never seen anything like it.

 

Oh boy, Confailure time.  Does anyone expect him to get a hit here?

Edited July 7, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

LOL oh well.  Can you really trust ANYone on the Mets in the clutch?  Nimmo I suppose, maybe Alonso and ???

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Well, I guess technically Conforto did get "hit".

Sucks, this offense (lack thereof) is so infuriating to watch at times. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

LOL oh well.  Can you really trust ANYone on the Mets in the clutch?  Nimmo I suppose, maybe Alonso and ???

That's how you get to be near the bottom of the majors in runs scored.  Guess the Mets are back to wasting deGrom's good starts.

My mistake, deGrom's only walked ONE batter over his last three starts.  And needed just 85 pitches today to get through 7 IP.

Last three starts:  20 IP, 12 H, 7 ER, 3 HR, 1 BB, 29 K, 0.65 WHIP...and a "shameful" ERA of 3.15

And somehow this sh!tbag salami bat offense is going to find way to lose two of those three games.  Because apparently whenever Jacob dares to give up runs, the team is completely incapable of supporting him.  Sorry Jake, I almost forgot, with these clown it's on YOU to drive runners home.  So aggravating that we've seen this script so many damned times with deGrom.  I don't know how he doesn't completely lose his sh!t sometimes.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Wow...Peraza with a huge knock, off a VERY tough closer to boot.  At least Jake isn't getting tagged with a loss today. 

Ok Francisco, here's your chance for a signature moment...

Nope...of course not.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

LOL of course it was Peraza...it's almost always the little guys that come through here and seldom the big names

[NJDevs4978]

It's a problem when your closer with a 100 MPH fastball no longer has spider tack to use.  Just ask any NY baseball fan now.