Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)
This season just doesn't matter. None of the stats matter, the playoffs and WS will have giant asterisks next to them. The Mets should try some different stuff, like keep the last lineup that won a game on the field for a day or two. Or send Cano home for the year. Nimmo confounds me. Lots of enthusiasm and energy, takes walks, can't hit for his life.
FilmCarp said:
This season just doesn't matter. None of the stats matter, the playoffs and WS will have giant asterisks next to them. The Mets should try some different stuff, like keep the last lineup that won a game on the field for a day or two. Or send Cano home for the year. Nimmo confounds me. Lots of enthusiasm and energy, takes walks, can't hit for his life.
to me, the postseason matters. A team is still going to have to win a 3 game series, a 5 game series, and a 7 game series to be champion. The season stats aren't going to mean that much with the context of 60 games. But winning the WS this year will still be an accomplishment. It may end up being weird if a 29-win team is the champ, but that team will need to win at least 13 more games in the postseason to be the WS winner. So now we're looking at at team that ends up at worst with a full record of 42-40, and more than likely better than that (assuming at least one series won't go the full 3, 5, or 7 games).
DaveSchmidt said:
Conforto RISB: .238. (Ahead of Ramos .118, McNeil .154, Alonso .206 and Nimmo .222.)
Conforto bases empty: .289.
He must be hitting .400 with a runner on first, because his average is .313. I'm not surprised by any of the others. McNeil and Alonso press whenever there are runners on and fall behind in the count. I waffle back and forth between saying trade Dom Smith while his value is high and saying to keep him and build around him. I would like to see them in the playoffs, but I wouldn't mind them trading guys either. I find myself only watching them on days when deGrom or Peterson are pitching.
jfinnegan said:
He must be hitting .400 with a runner on first, because his average is .313.
Bingo. Just checked: .417.
24 AB with a runner in first, 21 AB with RISB.
which site do you use for stats? It's difficult even being able to grade Rojas since the lineup must be given to him by BVW and his analytics team. That's the only explanation I can think of for why you wouldn't use the same lineup two days in a row if the team scores 11 runs.
Depends on what I’m looking for, jfinnegan. I can be pretty scattershot in my searches.
This is where I found the Conforto stats, in the Select a Split dropdown menu:
ETA: I think ESPN.com and maybe Baseball-Reference have easier ways to call up splits directly for a specific player, but I wasn’t remembering right away how to get to them and stumbled on the MLB page first.
Thanks. I tried baseball-reference and it had more info than I was looking for. Good luck with your Phils. I like seeing Wheeler doing well. I thought it was a crazy contract, but the Mets sure could use him.
Thanks, too. I’m looking at this season, playoffs included, as a mulligan that I can enjoy for purely entertainment purposes. I just want to see good baseball. And it has been a rare pleasure watching Wheeler pitch good, smart baseball.
I haven't seen much good baseball so far. I'm sure it's hard coming back after a 4 month layoff, but I never saw guys misjudge flyballs so badly as I did in the first Phils/Mets game. The Phils' centerfielder ran in and had the ball go over his head by at least 20 feet. And don't get me started on hitting. I really dislike how most hitters don't even worry about trying to make contact with two strikes. Of course all this gets overlooked when your team is winning.
jfinnegan said:
I haven't seen much good baseball so far.
Agreed. That’s why Wheeler, especially his start before his last one, is such a relief to watch.
And it helps me as much as I hope it helps you that unlike the players on either team, the Mets broadcasters — even from the darkened confines of Citi Field — remain in peak form.
The banter the other night when Darling casually referred to “a lucky hit” and Hernandez interjected “A LUCKY HIT?” — how could there be such a thing? — was priceless.
The broadcasting team has kept me watching through a lot of fruitless years. I enjoyed the other night in Philly when Keith said,"Good crowd!" I also enjoy when Keith sighs on plays that he feels should have been made.
jfinnegan said:
I haven't seen much good baseball so far. I'm sure it's hard coming back after a 4 month layoff, but I never saw guys misjudge flyballs so badly as I did in the first Phils/Mets game. The Phils' centerfielder ran in and had the ball go over his head by at least 20 feet. And don't get me started on hitting. I really dislike how most hitters don't even worry about trying to make contact with two strikes. Of course all this gets overlooked when your team is winning.
I don't think any of that is COVID-related. The emphasis on hitting over fielding one's position has been trending for a few years, as has the lack of concern over strikeouts. The Mets have guys in the OF who are there for their bats, not their gloves. And it shows, especially among the left fielders.
The fielding has been going down for years, but I don't recall seeing so many misplays on routine plays. It only hurts when there's a ball into the gaps that there should at least be a play on and neither outfielder is within 10 feet of it. I think they're going to stick with Dom in leftfield, which means they really need an above average centerfielder. Is Marisnick coming back anytime soon? Hamilton couldn't even hit it hard off of a position player last night.
MLB's "unwritten rules" rear their head once again:
Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. angers Rangers with late grand slam in rout
The Rangers were peeved that Tatis swung 3-0 in the top of the 8th with a seven run lead. Turns out he missed a take sign, so his manager was abiding by the unwritten rule about running up the score. And Tatis apologized.
I hate that. I've seen enough of my team blowing 6 or 7 run leads in the last couple of innings to say that anything short of a dozen run lead in the ninth and I want my team pouring it on. I'd be completely fine with Rojas giving Alonso a hit sign in that circumstance.
"You play to win the game!"
A lot of the unwritten rules are pretty petulant baby stuff IMHO. You don't want a guy hitting a grand slam? Don't put three guys on base in the eighth inning when you're already losing. If you do, then TS and take your lumps and say nothing.
Just last night the Mets had to start warming up their decent relievers, because their mopup guy was having problems closing out the game. It's not like a team has never scored 8 runs in an inning. And for his manager to apologize was ridiculous. It's not like he's taking a guy out at 2nd with a dirty slide.
if a guy on an opposing team did that to the Mets, it wouldn't even occur to me that it violated an "unwritten" rule until Keith and Ron would point it out.
I'm just gonna say it, and then accept my predictable rest-of-the-season suspension from the commissioner. I'll always love Keith the player. I'll always love Keith the Met legend. I'll always love Keith the Seinfeld boyfriend. But Keith the broadcaster is, to me, insufferable.
See y'all in November.
Train_of_Thought said:
I'm just gonna say it, and then accept my predictable rest-of-the-season suspension from the commissioner. I'll always love Keith the player. I'll always love Keith the Met legend. I'll always love Keith the Seinfeld boyfriend. But Keith the broadcaster is, to me, insufferable.
See y'all in November.
Just can’t agree. Nothing wrong with having a personality as an analyst. A little too self-referential, but he’s one of our own, so he gets a pass.
jimmurphy said:
Just can’t agree. Nothing wrong with having a personality as an analyst. A little too self-referential, but he’s one of our own, so he gets a pass.
by himself or with the likes of John Sterling he'd be impossible to listen to. But he does bring out some good responses from Gary.
I like the perspective that Hernandez brings. Last night Rosario was up with the bases loaded and the Mets up by a bunch, and Hernandez was hoping that he would dig in and not give up the at bat.
FilmCarp said:
Last night Rosario was up with the bases loaded and the Mets up by a bunch, and Hernandez was hoping that he would dig in and not give up the at bat.
What, and run up the score? 
I liked that they interviewed Conforto and he said he had no problem with a hitter swinging 3-0 with a big lead. They then mentioned the Mets being up 6 runs in the 9th last year and blowing the game, which I didn't need to be reminded of. And regarding Rosario, I doubt the count would ever get to 3-0 with him. He hasn't walked once.
Luis Rojas alluded to that (I think) when he was asked. He said something like "I've seen a lot of big innings" from teams that were trailing a lot. So he didn't seem to have an issue with "running up the score."
Again last night they had a 6 run lead going into the 9th and Diaz made it interesting. The one rule I sort of agree with is hitting the other team's best hitter if that team keeps hitting your best hitter. Syndergaard seemed to be the only pitcher willing to do that.
Let teams forfeit without penalty if they really believe the game is already over and don't want to be humiliated (boo hoo) by a further running up of the score. There have been some amazing late game comebacks in sports history, with my teams often being the victims of them. There's also a difference between baseball and games that are on a clock. If you're up by three touchdowns in football and have the ball at midfield with a minute left, yeah you probably shouldn't be throwing a bomb to score another TD. But a half inning can last forever. You can score endless runs.
Some people actually thought this was a real story:
jfinnegan said:
Some people actually thought this was a real story:
I'm going to guess the "some people" were older white guys railing about the "snowflake" Millennials.
amirite?
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this is the kind of thing that can kill a team in a short season. Over 162 games, BA with RISP and not will tend to converge. But a 30-35 game stretch like that this year, and you can kiss the season goodbye.
With 8 teams making the postseason, almost all of the teams will be in the race mathematically until late September, but unless the Mets start driving in runs, they'll be too far out for any realistic hope for the playoffs sooner than that.