So Javy Baez is NOT going to be on Cohen's Christmas card list?

Holiday card list.

It seems that ''disciplined approach'' is at odds with a feeble .slug. Maybe I'm overanalyzing this

Maybe he needs to hire a better GM, or spend more to get the George Springer's of the world to sign up there. Of course, he blew $300+ mil on Lindor which is looking like a bad bet now.

We can only hope he starts making this personal and calling out names. This has been missing in NY for some time and it doesn’t work as well in Colorado

there IS something fundamentally wrong about the Mets' entire offensive approach.

seems like a pretty malleable group that bought into what the coaches were selling. it's just that what they were selling was dogshit. can't imagine it can get fixed this late in the season.

btw, it may be subtle, but last night was typical Mets - a late 2-run HR by Alonso cuts the gap to 3-2 and the tying run gets to second before the final out. in the completion of the Phillies sweep that marked the middle of the end, a 5-0 deficit in the 9th became 5-3 after back-to-back-to-back homers to start the inning.

sad to say, but this counts as somewhat of an accomplishment for this franchise. mainly it's the garbled hitting philosophy plus they just ran out of arms both starting and relieving.

but unlike some of their best train wrecks, it is more obvious that this bunch has a little fight in them before they inevitably circle the drain. I like spunk.

#babysteps

just remembered they are playing now

seems like a pretty malleable group that bought into what the coaches were selling. it's just that what they were selling was dogshit. can't imagine it can get fixed this late in the season.

And what was that? They fired the hitting coach mid-season to no effect.

if the Mets knew what it was, they might be able to fix it. seems like it was a contradictory list of ideas, and this is what you get.

at least they know how to run the bases. well....

Tim Britton
@TimBritton
·
17m
Villar was picked off again. That's his seventh, three more than anyone else in baseball.

....last night was typical Mets - a late 2-run HR by Alonso cuts the gap to 3-2 and the tying run gets to second before the final out. in the completion of the Phillies sweep that marked the middle of the end, a 5-0 deficit in the 9th became 5-3...

was the "completion of the Phillies sweep" in any way connected to last night? This is really hard to parse. Sorry.

Villar was picked off again. That's his seventh, three more than anyone else in baseball.

Looking at Villar's Rbaser value on Baseballref; does anyone know what goes into the algorithm? They have him with 5 CS stealing this year and -1 for Rbaser. He's kind of break even on the SB this year so maybe that's close.

But he must be 25 or more SB above break even in both 2016 and 2018 and he's -1 and +2 for those years. Huh? And its not like he hits into a lot of DPs, I think he's pretty good at that just be eyeballing those numbers.

And then he's +7 in 2019 and the SB arent quite as good. Just confused, I dont know what to think.

In tonight's top of the 10th inning, the runner starting the inning at 2nd (Villar) is immediately and easily thrown out at 3rd on a bunt (Mazeika) to the third base side of the mound fielded by the pitcher. Really crappy bunt, especially as he showed bunt on each of the four pitches before he laid it down, so it wasn't exactly a surprise.

was the "completion of the Phillies sweep" in any way connected to last night?

yes, a recurring theme of the season and especially of late is that when the Mets have reached the point where previous incarnations look like they just quit - and regardless, would not bounce back with any rally at all - this one keeps pushing, in spite of the growing pile of doom.

they are doing it AGAIN today, trailing 1-0 in the 9th with just 3 singles on a day where their 'beloved' owner shat on the batters. game over? not immediately, as they scraped together a run to tie it and force extras.

after the Manfred man was erased in the 10th by a poor sac bunt attempt, the Mets battled for another single before failing to score. then the Giants had the Manfred man on 3rd with 1 out in the bottom of the inning, and Diaz fought his way out of it.

the 'completion of the Phillies sweep,' with the 3 consecutive HR to start the 9th in a 5-0 game, is not indicative of a typical Mets self-immolating season, and neither are these other fights - even when futile.

I don't really think parsing is necessary here.

Oh, I so hope Cohen embraces his inner Steinbrenner and goes full-on Boss George! Baseball is more fun with a megalomaniac owning a team in NY.

I don't really think parsing is necessary here.

I should have said was it connected in time? Like was it the day before or something? As I was reading that, I was thinking that maybe that was the game the day before or something. But then I would have expected something like: "Just the last week when the PHI were sweeping..." So I was confused about whether you're talking about a series in May or Monday.

Like I said, I really do like reading your posts cause it reads like your talking. And you focus on the kinds of things that I find interesting. Its just that reading that passage I found it awkward.

I see.

The Mets lost a three-game series to the Phillies on Aug. 8-10, going from one-half game up to losing their lead for the first time since May to falling 2.5 games behind.

it felt like the end (and in the midst of the five stages of grief for deGrom's 2021 season), and was extensively-chronicled on the Omnichatters - I think it even revived the epic, 15-year-old Mets Fan Self-Immolation Thread.

then the Mets took 3 from the hapless Nationals - with even a couple of those being nailbiters, before heading into an absurd stretch of 13 games in 13 days vs the Dodgers, Giants, Dodgers, Giants. the Mets lost 3 to the Dodgers and then 2 to the Giants before today.

they took a 3-2 lead in the 12th in this one - only to have a double correctly reversed to foul as it missed the foul line by an inch (ironically, it was less of an inaccurate call than the double that Beltran hit in the phony Santana "no-hitter.")

but then Pillar hit a 3-run HR and the Mets won 6-2.

I made an assumption that the Phillies-Mets series this month was the one (and only, really) series of the season that MLB fans might reasonably be somewhat aware of, for a variety of reasons. even failing that, the theme was of a team that has been paddling furiously to try to stay afloat - rather than one that just heaved a last breath and then just surrendered to the briny deep.

feel free to attend BBTF softball next month - I got a million stories left to talk about.

I missed Sunday's game, but can you walk me through what the Mets were thinking when they had Carrasco hit in the 2nd only to not return in the third?

He gives up 6 runs in the first two innings. In the bottom of the 2nd, Mets have runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Carrasco comes up and bunts. He moves the runners over, but then Nimmo grounded out to end the inning.

You're down 6 runs and you bunt? With a pitcher who you plan on pulling anyway? I didn't see anyone talking about this, but I joined the game late and by that time the blowout/position players pitching was the story.

I imagine the formatting below will be tough to read, but here's B-ref on the inning

Bottom of the 2nd, Mets Batting, Behind 0-6, Dodgers' Max Scherzer facing 6-7-8
b2 0-6 0 --- 5,(2-2) O NYM J.D. Davis Max Scherzer 1% 93% Strikeout Swinging
b2 0-6 1 --- 1,(0-0) NYM Jonathan Villar Max Scherzer -1% 92% Single to CF (Line Drive to Short CF)
b2 0-6 1 1-- 3,(2-0) NYM James McCann Max Scherzer -2% 90% Fielder's Choice 3B; Villar to 2B/Safe on E4 (catch); McCann to 1B
b2 0-6 1 12- 3,(1-1) O NYM Carlos Carrasco Max Scherzer 2% 92% Bunt Groundout: 1B-2B/Sacrifice; Villar to 3B; McCann to 2B
b2 0-6 2 -23 1,(0-0) O NYM Brandon Nimmo Max Scherzer 3% 94% Groundout: 2B-1B (Weak 2B-1B)

Baseball is more fun with a megalomaniac owning a team in NY.

100% agree. It's shocking that this lineup is 28th in runs scored. If I were Cohen, I'd be publicly calling out the offense too.

I can't watch much Mets of late, but their pitching is so decimated across the board and there are so few hitting reserves and their win probability added may have broken even (both pitiful) with a sacrifice.

if Carrasco knows how to bunt, he's a rare gem. and since that part worked, I'm ok with that approach.

The Mets’ .380 slugging percentage ranks 26th in the league and their .693 OPS is 24th.

You know you are bad when your slugging percentage is 26th in a 15 team league.

Today’s 12-inning win should produce more ‘inspiring’ tweets, eh?

yeah that reads way better now. And gives more context to the story.

No worries. Cano will be back in the Spring.

We can only hope he starts making this personal and calling out names. This has been missing in NY for some time and it doesn’t work as well in Colorado

Whatever happened to the young Steinbrenners? After they took over the team it seemed like there were a couple of years where they were constantly in the news, commenting on the team. I don't remember which was which, but one was an Ivanka-type, being calm, saying the right things, etc. The other was a Don Jr type, calling people out and making wacky statements.

But I don't think I've heard anything from them for several years now.

I think that Rojas is a poor in game manager.
And the Mets' fundamentals (or as Keith sez "fundies") are abysmal.
A good manager can win 5 games a year and a bad one can lose at least 5.

Well, a good manager would have the Metsies above 500 and in 1st place.

But I don't think I've heard anything from them for several years now.

This might answer several of your questions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Steinbrenner

Hi long-time, first-time (in a long time).

I'm so baffled for an explanation of the Mets' struggles I'm thinking there almost has to be something rotten inside the clubhouse that we don't know enough about--the Covid separation of the writers/broadcasters & players is really hurting us fans here and leading people me to invent narratives to explain it.

That punch-up between McNeil and Lindor remains remarkably unpenetrated --it's obvious they weren't simpatico at the keystone, and that McNeil has a very hard head that's way up his own ass-- but is that only a symptom of infected chemistry? Or is it that McNeil, Conforto and Smith actually aren't good hitters anymore?

Rojas is about to oversee 2 clubs that will miss the playoffs in 2 of the easiest seasons you'll ever see to make them