Posted on

Mets Path For Return Is In Front Of Them

The Mets are not “back” in the race. They’re not relevant again and the ship is not righted. They beat up on a bad team, but they also managed to drop a winnable game in the mix.

 

Still, those wins count. This is a three game winning streak, and the road to actually climbing back into things is in front of them. The Nationals come to town next week for four crucial games, in which the Mets almost have to win at least three of, but first they get three against the talented but slumping Chicago Cubs. The World Champions.

 

It’s a crucial test.  If they can win the same amount against the Cubs as the Nationals win against the Braves, and then take three of four head to head, they move to seven games back. That’s not great, and even 5-2 would still have them two games under .500, but it’s something. It’s prolonged progress chipping away at the Nationals’ division lead.

 

They’d still be up against the wall, but if they can prove that can and will play better than their chief rival, there’s reason to re-ignite some hope for this team after all.

Posted on

Optimistic Notes for the Cubs Series

The Chicago Cubs are 20-25.  That’s not exactly much worse than the Mets, but they’ve been getting worse every year with plenty of drama along the way.

 

Their top player so far is Kosuke Fukedome, according to WAR.  They’re actually a team that can hit some, with Starling Castro, Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano.  Still, they have not won three games in a row all season which would give hope that the Mets at least won’t get swept.  Like much of baseball in the early months and the cold, tickets are available on Stub Hub for $3.

 

The Cubs flat out can’t pitch.  They’re second to last in ERA, last in runs scored and have walked the most batters in the National League.

 

The Mets will face Ryan Dempster ( 2-4, 6.91 ERA), Casey Coleman, (2-3, 6.03 ERA), and Carlos Zambrano (4-2, 4.88 ERA).  Zambrano is probably the best of the bunch and he hasn’t been great this year at all.  The Cubs might be a team the Mets could pick on to add a pitcher later in the year if/when the Cubs fall completely out of it, but so far none of them have looked that enticing.

 

Marlon Byrd and Geovany Soto are both injured and out of the lineup, although Soto may return Thursday.

 

The Cubs actually have a lower OPS with RISP than the Mets do.

 

The Mets are 343-343 historically against the Cubs.  Winning this series would go a long way towards having a winning record against another club.

 

The Cubs are 4-6 over their last ten and are 9-13 at home.  The Mets can take this series and it would go a long way towards getting them back to .500 and over the hump.   They’ll have a tough pitching assignment this weekend in Philadelphia so bouncing back after a series loss would be key.

 

 

 

Posted on

I Do Not Prefer Rooting for Underdogs

Underdogs? This is really what you want?

underdog_cartoon

There was some talk around Mets fandom after Beltran went down that now the team is more likable, because they’re fighting underdogs. Sure the St. Louis series was fun, but since then we’ve gotten swept by the Yankees, and lost the first game to the Brewers. Is this really your idea of a good team to root for?

No, it’s not. I’ve long been discouraged by the idea that most Mets fans identify with the “lovable losers” idea. Ask Keith Hernandez what he thinks about lovable losers. No one can seriously tell me you like rooting for this team this way, given what we could have. This is not a “Let’s be competitive” year, this is a win it all year. Injuries are no excuse.

The same way some fans get on Wright or start talking about “Trading the core”, some tout the lovable losers line. The reasoning is usually the same: It’s a way to steel themselves for the disappointment they think is coming, again, at the end of the year. It’s one thing rooting for underrated players like those on the ’69 Mets that show up and suddenly lead the team to a championship, and it’s another to root for talented stars, like in ’86, that take no prisoners and play exciting baseball. Right now, this team is neither.

The Mets do need to find a way to win games the way they are currently setup. Whether that’s firing the underachieving manager for someone who will field the best people on the roster in the best order, (This means your high OBP guys, like Castillo, don’t bat 8th. Especially when in Castillo’s case he’s not a huge RBI guy. This means not having Argenis Reyes playing at all, especially at the top of a lineup where he’ll get the most AB of anyone. This means giving up on Tatis who occasionally hits the ball hard, but mostly grounds into out(s). This means playing Murphy regularly, playing Fernando Martinez regularly, playing Evans regularly. Maybe these guys are all busts, but the upside is so much better than Argenis or Tatis and has the added benefit of maybe giving Omar some focus on what position to look for a bat. If Murphy starts/continues hitting well when he’s playing, Omar can ignore first base and focus on the outfield. Or vice versa if Evans appears to be solid, or Fernando crosses the prospect->talent line.), making a big trade for a bat from outside the organization, or getting the current batch of unsuccessful players to work harder, take extra batting practice, watch more video, read more scouting reports and practice more fundamentals to get what we can from them.

And one last thing: Lovable Losers is more a Cubs thing than Sweet Caroline is a Red Sox thing. So is throwing home run balls back, which seems to have taken wind across baseball. As Keith says, “Don’t do it.”