Mets

[Amazin69]

Current expected injury returns:

Early June: Blackburn (yay?)
Mid June: Siri, Mount-ass
Late June: Manaea (a month later than previously projected), Winker, Raley

See ya in 2026: Minter, Danny Young (who needs lefties in the pen, right?)
[Along with previous victims Christian Scott, Drew Smith, Nick Madrigal]

Hey, at least he's playing in Syracuse!: Mauricio.

[Amazin69]

I liked 28-15 better than 29-19. Just saying.

TBS tonight, Ronnie! In Boston! Woo!

(Now if Soto could hit and Peeete could field…)

[Déjà Bru]

I'm declaring it: Much of baseball analysis and reporting these days is a crock.

I am also saying, don't worry about Juan Soto. He will come around sooner or later. Too much talent.

First, the crock pot. Uh, part.

Why Juan Soto has been so un-Soto this season: Three red flags behind Mets' $765 million man's troubles

Succinctly, the three red flags are:

1. His bat speed is down. A mere 2 mph (3.2 km/h for you, Westy). How do they measure that and what does that difference, if accurate, signify? Anyway, the author speculates:

Why his bat is slower is difficult to answer. Is it intentional? Lots of Mets have shown big bat speed declines this year. Is he nursing an injury? Is it age-related decline? That last one would be hard to believe at age 26, though I suppose stranger things have happened.

But wait, he gets dumber than that:

The decline in bat speed is real, though because Soto still has above average bat speed, he's still hitting the ball very hard. He's near the top of the league in average exit velocity (94.2 mph), 90th percentile exit velocity (109.8 mph), and hard-hit rate (55.0%). Even with reduced bat speed, Soto's hammering the ball.

Which sort of puts the entire idea into the trash can, doesn't it?

2. His batted ball direction is off. Say that again? What does that mean? Something to do with launch angle. But, hits can result from a wide array of angles, up and down. Basically, hitting the ball hard, where the fielders are not, and with some luck. How's that for analysis?

3. He's too passive. Here, I will let him explain himself:

His in-zone swing rate hovered in the 62% range from 2020-24, which is ever so slightly below the 64% league average. This year it's down to 58%, and in May, it's 54%. Compared to 2020-24, Soto's May in-zone swing rate equals one fewer swing at a pitch in the zone every game, give or take. Going from 62% to 54% may not seem like much, but it really is a big difference on a day-to-day level.

Got that? Not buying it? Neither am I. He is in a mild slump. Anybody else, his numbers would be quite acceptable: .246/.376/.439 with eight home runs. Sure, you expect more from Soto but be satisfied that, when he is in a slump, he still produces more than most guys.

Following is the only intelligent thing this author said:

Is Soto a bad hitter now? No, of course not. Even this "what's wrong with him?" version of Soto is still a very good hitter. The Mets did not give him $765 million to be a very good hitter though. They gave him that record contract to be one of the best hitters in the game, if not the best, and he is falling short of those expectations. Soto is 48 games into a 15-year contract. There is plenty of time to rewrite the narrative. Lindor did exactly that after his first year with the Mets. Carlos Beltrán too.

Right. But you needed to write this crap now in order to earn your salary.

I have become crotchety over all the bullstuff that is written about baseball these days, with phony analysis and made-up statistics. CBS Sports is free — so far — which is good because otherwise I am thinking of rolling up the carpet when it comes to following sports. I will not pay to support charlatans like this fellow (to say nothing of obnoxious loudmouths like Smith and McAfee). And I already watch games with the sound turned down.

Don't worry about Soto. It's a long season and the hot days of summer are coming.

[Westheim]

The thing that concerns me more about his $765M contract is that after roughly $12,000 of that we're already seeing headlines of Carlos Mendoza going, "oh yeah, we'll talk to him about hustle" ...

Also, where did the rest of the lineup go? Couldn't watch any of the last three night games, obviously, and when I click on the box score I always have to double-check whether I haven't accidentally hit the White Sox game.

[Amazin69]

It's cold in Fenway.

Also, it was Frenchy instead of Ronnie, so…boo.

(What, bias? Frenchy was a Met, too. He just sucks on the mike. Also, the PbP was Dom Orsillo [no complaints] and Francoeur even teased him about the Fens being an old stomping ground.)

The "Six Most Common Words in Baseball" meme goes back years…but "765, when you gonna come alive?" hitting .217 below his RISP BA from last season ain't helping, let's just say.

[Amazin69]

I like things better when the Mets hit, even if it's only Blastin' Brett Baty, mostly.

Megill setting a personal best for strikeouts and yet not being able to finish 5 innings is so…

Mike Sarbaugh needs to be fired for his 3rd base "coaching" in that 3rd inning. Vientos doesn't score on Torrens' double because he can't see if the CF will catch it? That's what the Coach is for. Vientos doesn't go on contact on Acuña's grounder? That's what the Coach is for. Torrens is out at the plate on Baty's hit because he didn't take a good secondary lead off Crochet's wind-up and didn't break on contact with 2 outs? THAT'S WHAT THE COACH IS FOR.

Sheer incompetence. But now bring on LA.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

I like things better when the Mets hit, even if it's only Blastin' Brett Baty, mostly.

With the recent run, I'll just say that a win is a win is a win, and you don't spit a win in the snout.

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Megill setting a personal best for strikeouts and yet not being able to finish 5 innings is so…

...Megill?

[Amazin69]

I was going to say it's very David Peterson, but I wanted something with a wider range of applications, lol.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

I was going to say it's very David Peterson, but I wanted something with a wider range of applications, lol.

The Mets have a whole bunch of those starters. Senga's in the same pile. Five and you're in luck!

[Westheim]

Too much water.

Too much lousy pitching.

Too much lousier hitting.

Too much Dontrelle Willis.

Too much stranding the winning run on third base.

Too much 0-for-X by the Billion Dollar Boys.

Too much utter, utter frustration.

[Westheim]

I like crapping on Boom-Boom Diaz, but that was an impressive outing. That's the worst at-bat of Freddie Freeman against the Mets I have seen in a decade and a bunch.

Never mind that they were still batting nope-for-plenty with runners in scoring position. Couple of wallbangers by Soto and Baty got enough offense home at least to overcome some early David Peterson being David Peterson and get even with the Fudgers, 5-2.

And I like it when the Mets win, but I don't like it as much as the guy that doused himself with a gallon of milk afterwards. I bet he watches the Indy 500 today.

Of course, it was a typical Fox broadcast of self-indulging, meaningless waffle, and they're also blind on one eye, as usual. Oh, the poor Dodgers! Oh they have 14 pitchers on the DL! Oh, the poor babies! The Mets can't be THAT far behind!!

I am afraid to count.

What else? Nimmo is apparently injured now because "he made breakfast and his neck tightened up on him". No words.

Also this wisdom: "There are not a lot of home runs on the ground."

Can we please get Gary, Keith, and Ron back?

[Westheim]

How appropriate to have diaper talk in the second inning, given how utterly **** those ESPN broadcasts are.

But Big Pete finally clonked one after like three weeks, and that was enough to beat the Fudgers, who made almost as many errors as they got hits. The game went straight into the toilet for them after that huge homer Shohei-sama bashed off Senga-san to start the game.

Also, two outta three from L.A. ain’t bad. Of the next 13, the Mets have four more with them (thankfully midweek and out of reach for me, because who knows what other channels there still are to show the bloody Mets on), but also nine with the White Suxx and the Colorado Mountaintops.

Watch us go 4-9 in that string…

[Westheim]

Yesterday's 2-1 win against the ***** Sox was a bit like a 2000s sitcom mom telling their teenage offspring that "I was in labor for 19 hours, and all I got is YOU!"

Then again, the Mets offense still ran smoother than this forum for the last 24 hours.

[Amazin69]

Needing sacrifice flies to beat the White Sox is fairly embarrassing. Albeit not as embarrassing as not getting them would have been.

Gary must really have been suffering during Peeete's home run drought. Any time Blastin' Brett Baty made solid contact, Gar sounded ready to go into his HR call…and none of those balls made the track. On Tyrone Power's double to start the 9th, Gary sounded as if it would have taken a Willie Mays highlight for Luis Robert to catch it, whereas fly balls to deep center are why we put people in CF. Deep, yes, but not a lot to read and you're supposed to be fast enough to get those. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the gift, but still.

I'm just saying if the bats look like that against Adrian Houser, imagine the trouble we might have against real pitchers.

[Westheim]

It pains me greatly to say that, but Gary's been that little bit off the whole season. His ball/strike quips are sometimes off, he's mixed up names, and a few games ago he lost the train of thought in the middle of a sentence in the opening. He might be past his prime.

Of course, still miles ahead of the preserved heads in jars that ESPN rolls out on Sundays to torture America.

[Amazin69]

Brandon Perna (Denver's answer to Tom Grossi, if you will) has a nice vid explaining the collapse of the Rockies.

Including this:

PERNA: That [mile-high] environment has historically been hostile to pitchers, and explains why free agents have been deterred from signing with the Rockies.
ME: Except for ****ing Mike Hampton, of course! Enjoy the Famous Denver School System, Mike!

You may not know that I didn't want Mike Hampton to begin with. (He and Derek Bell came to us in trade for Roger Cedeno [off a fantastic season] and promising young pitchers Octavio "Sh!" Dotel and Pat "Championship DNA" Mahomes. I thought we got screwed, which wasn't reallly the case.)

But you probably do know that the compensation pick we got for Hampton was DAVID FREAKIN' WRIGHT!!.

So, it's arguable that Hampton (and the Famous Denver School System) actually did more for this franchise than any pitcher not named "Seaver", "Gooden" or perhaps "de Grom".

And yet…still bitter.

[Amazin69]

Happy Birthday to Me! At 62, I am now Officially Old! I have to decide when to receive Social Security! Yoicks!

So does MLBN give me the Mets for my big day? They do NOT.

Instead I can view Dodgers-Ingdians as the matinee, followed by Braves-Phillies and Yanquis-Angeles at night.

A team that deserted NY playing a team that gave into "politically correct" shouters, followed by two divisional foes (so I can't like either outcome) and the team I like the least playing the deeply unimpressive Anaheim Angels of Disneyland. Oh, JOY.

Guess I get to spend the Big(ish) Day rooting on Cobra's Hurricanes. Yay?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Happy Birthday to Me! At 62, I am now Officially Old! I have to decide when to receive Social Security! Yoicks!

Happy Birthday, you spring chicken! Age is only a number; as a matter of fact, I am in much better condition these days, physically and mentally, than I was when I was your age.

Social Security, well, I am of two minds. First, I benefited greatly by delaying benefits for the maximum amount of time. Each year, my rate of benefits went up 8% per year by putting it off. And yes, I intend to live long enough to come out ahead.

Second, however, is the current state of affairs in Washington. I will not despoil your thread by going into those circumstances.

As a matter of fact, I will turn this back to the discussion of sports. I saw Mike Piazza being interviewed at Citifield the other day. He's already 56, just six years behind you and six years away from his own decision about Social Security.

All leading to this thought: Are ex-ballplayers who made millions in their career entitled to Social Security and do they draw upon their benefits? It seems incongruous but I imagine they do.

[Westheim]

Mike Piazza's MLB pension probably beats out whatever you can draw from

Or what I might be getting decades from now.

[Amazin69]

Crikey! Mikey is that old? (Turns 57 c. Labor Day) I mean Doc is only a year younger than I am (61 in November). I spent the 1980s fantasizing of learning a knuckleball but I was well rid of such delusions by 1998.

Feels as though there should be a bigger gap between those eras. Huh.

***************
Saw yesterday's highlights and I can sum it up in 4 words:

FIRE MIKE SARBAUGH!!!!! NOW!!!

Worst 3B coach in MLB, by a mile!

Nimmo should NEVER be trying to get back to 1B on a trapped ball…he had rounded 2B and it's the COACH's job to guide him.

This cost the Mets two runs, if not more! (Soto would have scored on Peeeete's bomb, and Vientos would have scored from 3B on Lindor's grounder that ended the inning. Not to mention we still would have had two runners in scoring position, with two out and Nimmo coming up again.) If Sarbaugh doesn't screw up, the game never gets as close as one run, and we can use a different bullpen strategy. Just awful.

Glad for the offensive contributions from Jared (Not That) Young. (If you want to know how old he is, check his uniform number.) And McNeil scampered all over CF like a good Squirrel should.

So all in all, good work…but we can't let Sarbaugh keep screwing up. (See my previous remarks.)

Also, it would be good if Megill wouldn't lose the plate in the middle innings, seemingly on a regular basis…