Month: June 2016

Goodnight Sweet Prince: Wright Out For Season

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David Wright officially gave up on the rest and rehabilitation plan for his neck injury and decided to get surgery on the herniated disk. First the Mets said that his season was over, but now it’s being reported that they won’t know that with certainty until the surgery is completed today. That being said, Thor is already sending out RIP David tweets, so I think it’s safe to say the Captain is out for the season. Honestly, he’s probably out for good as a result of the spinal stenosis and now this neck injury. We knew this was a lock before the season started. The fans don’t want to give up on David. Unfortunately, the Mets have also refused to give up on David, and consequently they failed to appropriately planned for his demise. Well today is the day that the Mets need to officially change their approach. Starting now, the Mets must operate under the assumption that David will never play a game again. His contract is a sunk cost. The Mets need to assemble a roster that can win without David. Whether they do that before the trade deadline or in the 2016 offseason, that remains to be seen. Any contribution from David going forward should be considered a bonus.

I will miss David. Mike Piazza and David Wright are my all time favorite Mets. David had two chances to win a World Series, and the team failed despite coming so close both times (2006, 2015). The moron Wilpons built a stadium designed for Jose Reyes, and then they let him walk away. They took years to move the walls in and by the time they did, David’s youthful opposite field power stroke was gone. The Wilpons wasted away his prime as they scrambled to pay back creditors and the investors they swindled. David did everything in his power to stay on the field, and give the fans something to root for. Whenever I was down because of the Wilpons indifference regarding the state of the organization, I watched David play and was reminded that somebody gave a damn. I hope he comes back. I hope we win him a ring. Get well soon David. Thanks for caring so much.

Mets Finally Get Mad As Hell; Offense Erupts

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Final Score: Mets 11, Pirates 2

Last night the Mets finally got mad as hell and unleashed their fury on the Pirates.

Thunderous Rage: Noah Syndergaard was mad as hell. He wanted every Pirates head on a pike last night. He was out for blood. He went 8.1 innings, gave up 5 hits, 2 runs (1 ER), and struck out 11. He was untouchable until the 9th inning when he gave up a leadoff double to degenerate crust punk John Jaso. When he gave up the one out double to David Freese that scored Jaso, he smacked his glove and howled at the moon. He wanted the complete game, but I’m sure he’ll take the win. Terry brought in Jeurys Familia with a ten run lead to finish the game off. Terry is hilarious.

Offense Mad As Hell (And Also Supposedly Having Fun): The Mets offense finally erupted last night. They pounded lefty starter Jeff Locke (who stinks by the way) for 7 runs and 9 hits over 4 innings. Curtis Granderson led off with a single, Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single, and then Yoenis Cespedes walked to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Wilmer Flores hit a dribbler up the first base line that essentially served as an RBI squeeze bunt to make it 1-0. With two outs and two on, Matt Reynolds hit a two RBI double to make the game 3-0. The early outburst really allowed me to exhale as a fan, so I’m sure it was a welcome sight for the players too. Kelly Johnson added a solo bomb in the third inning to make it 4-0. In the fifth inning, the Mets piled on the runs. Cabrera, Cespedes, and Flores started the inning with back to back to back singles to make it 5-0. The Pirates starter Locke was yanked after the Flores RBI single and the new reliever gave up RBI singles to Johnson to make it 6-0. Then with two outs, Rene Rivera singled to make it 7-0. In the 6th inning, Wilmer Flores added a two run blast and James Loney hit an RBI double to make it 10-0. Rivera also added an RBI single in the 8th inning to make it 11-0. It was an absolute hit parade. Yoenis “The Engine” Cespedes had three hits. Kelly Johnson had three hits and two RBIs. Flores had two his and four RBIs. Matt Reynolds finally broke out with three hits and two RBIs. The Mets said after the game they were finally having fun. Duh! Winning and dingers are fun.

The Opportunity: Wilmer Flores has been on fire offensively since taking over for David Wright. Good for him. You know what? It’s about time he stepped the hell up. Everyone step the hell up goddamnit. We need to score runs and support this pitching staff.

Thumbless Juan: Juan Lagares was scratched last night due to his torn thumb ligament. It flared up. So much for “playing through it” to avoid season ending surgery. How long did that last a week?

New Left Fielder: Kelly Johnson drew the start in left field for the injured Michael Conforto. Honestly if Conforto, Neil Walker, and Juan Lagares ever return from their injuries, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Terry go back to the play whoever is producing model. Kelly should play somewhere if he is hitting. That’s for sure. Speaking of Neil Walker, he’s supposedly going to play tonight.

Yo Says Go Do It: The NY Post asked Yoenis Cespedes about the new Cuban Yulieski Gourriel. Yo said Gourriel was the best player in Cuba when he played with him on the National team, and that they are good friends. Yo also said Gourriel is going to get paid big money as he should. Just a reminder that we should 100% sign this guy. He plays third base now, and if David Wright decides to try and play again next year, he can be moved to second base. Then when David gets injured again we can play Gourriel at third and Dilson Herrera at second base. Go get the Cubano. It’s a no brainer.

Today: Please win this series today Mets. Please score for Big Sexy Bartolo Colon. We need a series win big time.

All Aboard The L Train To Losertown

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Final Score: Pirates 4, Mets 0

The Mets L train of despair is spiraling out of control on it’s way to Losertown. The Mets can’t beat the worst teams in the league like the Brewers. They can’t beat the coldest teams in the league like the White Sox a couple of weeks ago and now like the Pirates. You know what that means? It means our worst fears have been realized. Right now, we are one of the worst teams.

Can’t Stop The Starters: Jacob deGrom was great per usual. He went 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 runs, and struck out 9. He made one bad pitch when he gave up a two run blast to Jung Ho Kang. Also deGrom’s ERA is 2.82 and he’s 3-3. The Mets starting pitching is as good as it’s ever been. Shame on this organization for wasting it.

Two Innings: Terry brought in Jim Henderson for two innings. “Oh Jim Henderson! Great find by Sandy.” Remember when we used to say things like that back when the season didn’t feel like it was crumbling before our eyes. Anyway, he was fine in the 7th, and in the 8th he gave up a leadoff walk followed by a two run blast to Starling Marte. His arm easily gets tired. Terry should probably stop bringing him in for two innings when he knows he’s guaranteed to fail. Just a thought.

Offense: Nothing to recap. The Mets had three hits and were no hit by rookie Jameson Taillon through 6 innings. Curtis Granderson broke it up with a single in the 7th inning. Taillon ended up going 8 scoreless innings.

Plawecki: Mike Nickeas, Anthony Recker, Juan Centeno, Johnny Monell. With two horrendous errors last night (he dropped a foul pop and tossed a ball into center field), Kevin Plawecki is beginning to earn a place in the Mets Hall of Horrendous Catchers.

Root Canal: Juan Lagares was scratched from starting last night’s game with a toothache. And by scratched I mean he ended up pinch hitting with said toothache. Also if Juan was actually supposed to start, then I love how quickly the Mets have abandoned the Alejandro De Aza/Lagares platoon. De Aza is really bad. He’s channeling his inner Mayberry big time.

Casual Cortisone: Michael Conforto got a casual unexpected cortisone shot in his wrist, and the Mets said he’d sit out 48 hours to let the shot take affect. Then the Mets immediately scrapped that plan and pinch hit him last night. He struck out in pathetic fashion. It’s pretty obvious that he’s been playing injured. Might as well just keep playing him until his hand falls off.

The Big Surgery: The Mets announced David Wright is expected to decide at the end of the week whether or not he will get season ending neck surgery, or if he will try and rehab the injury so he can come back later in the year. I hope he does what’s right for him. The Mets implied that their approach to the trade deadline will be impacted by Wright’s decision. That is completely ridiculous, and his decision should have no impact on the Mets approach. No matter what he chooses, the Mets should be pursuing an impact bat to replace him in the short and long term.

No Cubano: Speaking of impact bats, the Mets basically reiterated that they don’t typically test out the international market for free agents like the new Cuban third baseman Yulieski Gourriel. They implied they’d consider him if Wright will be out for the season. The funny part was the Mets made these pre-game comments, and then Jung Ho Kang went on to punish them. You know Jung Ho Kang? He’s the guy from Korea, who plays all the infield positions, gets paid like nothing and blasts home runs all day. Sandy and the Mets passed on him. He’s an international player so it was too risky. We don’t need offensive studs like that. Better to stick with reliable Quadruple-A bums. You know what you’re going to get from those guys. Nothing.

Wheeler: Zack Wheeler will supposedly start his final Tommy John rehab stint and is on track to get his first major league loss of the season as a starter after the All-Star break. Take your time Zack. We suck.

Last Bullets In The Chamber: Sandy talked about how great Brandon Nimmo is doing in Vegas before the game. Honestly, I’d say the Mets will consider promoting Nimmo and Dilson Herrera by the end of this homestand if they keep playing this bad. Those two guys are the last internal bullets in our minor league chamber. That’s it. If this losing keeps up you need to call up Herrera and put him at second base and move Neil Walker to third base. And we would also need to consider designating De Aza for assignment to make room for Nimmo.

Giving Up Is Not An Option: One thing is certain this season. We cannot give up. I’m not talking about the fan base giving up. The fair weather fans can do whatever they want. I’ll be watching no matter what happens. My point is the organization cannot give up on the season. I don’t care how many injuries the Mets have. As long as Yoenis Cespedes and this entire pitching staff is intact, they must try and win it all. It’s really as simple as that. The Mets have the second best pitching staff in the league behind the Cubs in terms of runs allowed, and they have the 28th ranked offense. It’s outrageous that we are in this position again, but we need to be all in. Selling at the deadline is not an option. Figure it out Sandy.

Today: Noah Syndergaard pitches today. Bet the under on Mets runs and the over on Thor Ks. Both locks.

Can The Mets Please Sign Another Cuban?

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So it’s official, the next potential Cuban stud Yulieski Gourriel has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball and is now free to sign with any team. The guy is 32 and he’s touted as arguably the top dog in the international market. Not just the top talent in Cuba but in the world. Also for the record, I checked with MLB and the Mets do qualify as “any team” so they technically are eligible to sign him despite never getting involved in the market for Cuban players or for international talents in general. I’m not talking about the international market for amateur players. The Mets do a ton of scouting and signing of amateur international players that are subject to the international bonus pool restrictions and signing process. I’m talking about international talents that are over 23 and are exempt from the definition of an amateur player. Typically to be exempt from amateur status you need to be 23+ and you need to have played in a league recognized by MLB as a pro league for a prescribed period of time. Because of his age and experience in the Cuban pro league, Gourriel is not subject to international spending limitations. The Mets can just sign him on the open market like any old free agent. And they should sign him.

The guy hits right handed and has played 15 seasons between Cuba and Japan. He has a career hitting line of .335/.417/.580 with 250 home runs in 5491 plate appearances. He’s supposedly a plus defender at his natural position of third base. Do the Mets need a third basemen? Can somebody help me with this one? Last I heard David Wright has been frozen in carbonite to help him maintain his posture and Wilmer Flores is booting grounders at third base left and right.

Signing international guys is never cheap. The Dodgers signed Hector Olivera to a 6 year 62.5m deal at 30 years old. Yasmany Tomas signed a 6 year deal with Arizona worth 68.5m at 24 years old.  Rusney Castillo signed a 7 year 72.5m deal with the Red Sox at 27 years old. Alex Guerrero signed a 4 year 28m deal with the Dodgers at 26 years old. Yes I realize it’s a risky move. Guerrero just got released by the Dodgers and was a total bust (although they never really gave him a chance to play full time). Rusney Castillo is in the Red Sox minor league system and has struggled at the ML level. That being said, he has so many talented players in front of him in the Sox organization, that it’s hard to call him a bust until he gets a real opportunity to play regularly. Tomas has been decent for the D-backs with a .270/.309/.411 line so far at the ML level. Olivera got arrested for a domestic violence incident after being traded to the Braves. So it’s fair to say he’s been a disaster.

But how can we ignore the success of Yoenis Cespedes, Aroldis Chapman, Jose Abreu and even Yasiel Puig in the majors. They have essentially been winning lottery tickets for their respective teams. Puig’s production has declined since his breakout 2013/14 seasons and Chapman has turned out to be a jerk off the field but their talent is undeniable.

My point in all this is the Mets should have the resources to take a risk on a promising Cuban player that fills a position of need. Sure he may need some seasoning at Triple-A. Maybe he won’t even have a big impact in 2016. But we need a replacement for Wright in the long term. And do we really expect Wright to just retire at the end of the season? It’s more likely that he lingers and tries to play another season or even beyond that. What proven major league free agent third basemen is going to join the Mets to be Wright’s understudy? Do we really want to give up a bunch of prospects for some stopgap solution like Danny Valencia or Aaron Hill? Do we want to give up Zack Wheeler for Jonathan Lucroy or overpay for someone having a career year like  Yangervis Solarte? Listen, we may need to do one of those things anyway to compete this season, but there’s nothing prohibiting the Mets from signing a Cuban talent and pursuing trade opportunities for short term solutions in the infield. Plus who better to help Gourriel get acquainted to life in the majors than Yoenis Cespedes, someone who’s made the adjustment from Cuban ball/life to the MLB.

I’m sick of watching other teams sign these Cuban studs. If the Mets don’t sign him, he’s just going to wind up on the Dodgers, Yankees, or some other team that isn’t afraid to open the wallet and take a risk. If the Wilpons have actually loosened the purse strings, then let’s see it. Sign another Cuban please.

Mets Crumbling; Darker Forces At Work

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Final Score: Brewers 5, Mets 3

Quick Recap: I don’t even have the energy to dissect this .500 road trip the Mets just finished. They just split a series in Milwaukee in truly embarrassing fashion. You want a recap of this game? The Mets committed 3 documented errors and an additional mistake that should have been an error. In the first inning with 2 outs, Ryan Braun hit a ball to Wilmer Flores that he deflected into the outfield. Alejandro De Aza then misfired to second base and Braun advanced to third on his error. The Brewers didn’t end up scoring that inning, but Flores should have been given an error on the play too. The Brewers scored three runs in the second inning. Keon Broxton hit an RBI single to make it 1-0. Then with runners on second and third, pitcher Zach Davies hit a sac bunt and Matz threw it away. Two more runs scored to make it 3-0. In the fifth inning, pitcher Zach Davies singled and then Jonathan Villar bunted to third. Wilmer Flores fielded the bunt, threw the ball away, and Davies advanced to third due to the error. That error set up a sac fly by Braun and an RBI double by Jonathan Lucroy to make it 5-0.

As far as the Mets offense goes, there was none other than Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes adding some meaningless RBI hits in the 8th inning. The Mets left the world on base per usual. Cespedes went 2 for 4. He’s our only real threat right now.

Darker Forces At Work: The Mets injury plague has jumped to frightening levels. Before the game, Terry Collins went to the hospital for tests. Pray for Terry. Now we have Travis d’Arnaud out, Lucas Duda/David Wright out for basically the season, Neil Walker battling back issues, Michael Conforto battling a wrist injury, and Cespedes sore in every part of his body. Essentially, the entire starting lineup is injured.

These 2016 injury woes go way beyond the standard Ray Ramirez inept training staff issues that we’ve all come to expect. We went to the World Series last year, and everyone is now disintegrating before our eyes. My running theory is this:

In mid-July of 2015, the Wilpons, the Ricketts Family that owns the Cubs, the Madoff trustee Irving Picard, and Lucifer himself all met with Bernie Madoff at his current prison facility in North Carolina.

The Deal:

  • The Wilpons got Yoenis Cespedes and a promise from Satan that he would help them make tons of money from future ticket sales so they could keep their fortune and pay back the money they owe for Madoff.
  • The Cubs got Satan to lift their curse and a promise of a World Series championship in 2016.
  • The Madoff trustee was promised he would get enough money from the Wilpons to pay back all the Madoff victims.
  • Bernie Madoff got his soul freed from Satan’s grasp, and a promise that he’d spend his afterlife in a nice mildly entertaining section of purgatory.
  • Satan got the souls of Daniel Murphy and Michael Fulmer, and in return the two athletes would go on to be the best hitter and pitcher in Major League Baseball for years to come.

Now in true Bedazzled fashion, there’s always some cruel spin on these deals with the devil. So here’s what we’ve seen happen since the deal went down. In August and September, Satan possessed Yoenis Cespedes who single-handedly sparked the Mets offense and led them to the playoffs. Satan simultaneously cursed Matt Williams and the Nationals. In the playoffs, in a cruel twist Satan transferred his influence from Cespedes to Daniel Murphy and used him to put a dagger through the Chicago Cubs heart thus keeping their curse in place in 2015. In the World Series, Satan temporarily left Murph and consequently he returned to being a defensive bum thus costing the Mets the championship. The Mets losing the World Series did not matter however because the playoff run combined with the continued presence of Cespedes has given the Wilpons all they needed to generate ticket sales to pay back the Madoff trustee.

Now in 2016, we have seen the second half of the deal. Daniel Murphy is the best hitter in baseball and carrying the Nationals who Satan wronged in 2015. Michael Fulmer is emerging as an absolute rookie of the year pitching stud for the Tigers. The Cubs so far are the best team to ever step foot on a baseball field, and seemingly nothing can stop them from ending their championship drought. And of course, the Wilpons were never actually promised a championship or any extended run of success as part of the evil negotiations. But they continue to sell tickets despite their entire team crumbling due to injury.

So that’s my running theory. I think the Wilpons made a deal with the devil, and now everything is falling apart because those mooks couldn’t negotiate a good business deal to save their lives. It’s June, the Mets are 34-28, and still technically hold an NL Wildcard spot despite their recent struggles. The season is so long and things can absolutely turn around in the summer for the Mets like they did last year. But yeah if you couldn’t tell from my tone above, I’m feeling kind of pessimistic about the direction our season is going.

NL Toilet Bowl Rages On

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Final Score: Brewers 7, Mets 4

Well the NL Toilet Bowl matchup between the Mets and Brewers raged on today. This time the pathetic Mets got shellacked by the actively tanking Brew Crew. Here’s a quick summary: The Mets offense continued to be absolutely pathetic and Logan Verrett and Antonio Bastardo got rocked. Half the bullpen was unavailable today because the Mets took 11 innings last night to win that torturous marathon of a ballgame. The Mets are 28th in runs scored this season. They are right ahead of the Phillies and Braves. We’ll be last in runs scored soon enough. But right now we are the king of the toilet teams.

Let’s start with the offense. Also keep in mind the Mets scored 3 runs in this game off of starter Wily Peralta. His ERA on the season is over 6.

Asdrubal Is Going To Disintegrate: Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two run shot in the second inning to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead. Cabrera has appeared in all 61 games for the Mets this year. He’s only played more than 146 games in a single season once in his career. We are going to kill him just like Michael Cuddyer. He’ll be a pile of bones by the end of the season. We should really put Wilmer Flores at shortstop for some games and Kelly Johnson at 3B. That combo in the field will make for some horrendous defensive blunders. But we can’t play Cabrera into the ground. He’s been one of the only guys on this team that can actually hit.

Grandy Is Back (I Think): Curtis Granderson hit a solo blast in the fifth inning to give the Mets their third run and make it 5-3 Brewers. He went 3 for 4 and was a double away from the cycle.

Why Bother Trying: In the first inning, Curtis Granderson led off with a single, stole second, and the Mets couldn’t get a hit to drive him in. In the third inning, Grandy tripled to lead off the inning. Michael Conforto proceeded to line a ball right at the third basemen who was playing on the line, and he nearly doubled up Curtis who was slightly off the bag. The play was challenged, reviewed, and Curtis was ruled safe. Conforto is an ice cold bad luck magnet right now. Then Yoenis Cespedes was unintentionally intentionally walked (duh why face him?) and Neil Walker hit into a double play. The Mets cannot buy a clutch hit. They strand everyone. The offense is worse than last year. That’s not just my gut feeling. Before today’s game, the Mets had scored 222 runs through 60 games. In 2015 through 60 games they had scored 224. There’s just no words left to describe this joke of an offense.

Logan Has No Powers: When I think of Logan Verrett, I think of Logan/Wolverine from X-Men. The Mets have the Dark Knight, Thor, and Captain America. It would be awesome if Logan Verrett was resilient, constantly fighting his way out of trouble, and his powers mirrored the regeneration mutant powers of Wolverine. Unfortunately, our Logan sucks. His powers include walking people, giving up home runs and really just sucking. He went 4 innings, gave up 5 runs, 3 home runs, and he walked 4. The Mets walked 7 overall in this game. Verrett’s ERA is up over 4 officially. Maybe we should take a look at Sean Gilmartin.

Chrissy Longballs: Chris Carter crushed a solo dinger off of Verrett in the second inning to make it 2-1 Mets. It was his 17th of the season. He’s such a homer or strikeout classic slugger. He’s just an Adam Dunn and Dave Kingman type. Incredible. I’m not sure if Sandy and the Mets regret letting Daniel Murphy go (they probably should). But I have to believe the Astros regret non-tendering Chris Carter.

Cheater Braun: Ryan Braun slugged a solo homer in the third inning to make it 3-2 Brewers. Screw you Braun you cheating bastard.

Pitcher Dinger LOL: Verrett gave up a two run bomb to pitcher Wily Peralta in the fourth inning. The Mets should consider demoting him for that gaffe alone.

Bastardo Sucks: In the 7th inning, Antonio Bastardo gave up solo bombs to Scooter Gennett and Ryan Braun (his second of the game) to make it 7-3. Soooo Bastardo sucks. I mean he sucks so far this season. That’s for sure. Look at this:

I hope he turns it around, but boy is it looking like we need another dependable reliever.

Another Back Plague Victim: Neil Walker left the game today. No it wasn’t because of his smashed heart from a couple days ago. He has….yup you guessed it, back soreness. The back soreness plague rages on. Terry said he’s very concerned, and Neil won’t play on Sunday. Pray for Neil. The injury hits just keep on coming for us. I want to laugh, but it’s not funny at all. The injuries are completely screwing us as they always do every season.

We’re Cursed: People say the Mets aren’t the most injured team in baseball history. I respectfully disagree and refuse to accept any facts to the contrary.

Suck It Up Conforto: Michael Conforto is really struggling. If we weren’t so short handed, I’m sure the Mets would consider playing him less often or even demoting him. But everyone’s dead and buried so he needs to play every day. Brandon Nimmo is raking in Vegas. I suppose that’s an option.

Don’t Trade Wheeler: Every fan that tries to come up with a hypothetical trade to save our offense says “okay so Wheeler and (prospect) for…(offensive savior)”. Umm I’m not buying that idea. I thought the plan was 5 aces? I like that plan.

Tomorrow: The Mets better win 3 out of 4 in this damn series. Steven Matz has to win tomorrow. The Brewers stink, and if we are going to keep pace with the other NL contenders we need to beat these teams. Period.

Mets Take Wild Gift Wrapped Victory

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Final Score (in 11 innings): Mets 2, Brewers 1

This game was an absolute slopfest. Sweet Jesus Christ. The Mets left the world on base, and ultimately won in the 11th inning because the Brewers misplayed what should have been an inning ending double play.

Dark Knight: Matt Harvey is really back. He’s put together a few great starts, and now he’s consistently showing the velocity and command we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the years. Harvey ran out of gas late. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 2 hits, 1 run, and struck out 8. His only slip up came in the fifth when he gave up a triple to Kirk Nieuwenhuis, a walk to Aaron Hill, and a sac fly to Ramon Flores to make it 1-0. Also the Mets gave him no run support and he didn’t get a W. Duh.

Double Challenge?: In the third inning, Aaron Hill walked, the pitcher Junior Guerra sacrificed him over to second base. Then with two outs Jonathan Villar singled and Guerra initially scored on a close play at home. The Mets challenged the call arguing the tag was applied before Hill’s foot touched home plate. The Mets won the challenge, and the call was reversed. Then the Brewers challenged that Kevin Plawecki blocked home plate illegally. That challenge was overruled. It was a stupid challenge by the Brewers as Plawecki clearly gave the runner the path to score. I’m not sure I can remember ever seeing the double challenge. I’m in favor of replay challenge and getting the calls right. But even I can agree with Keith that the double challenge is an insane time waster. I can’t believe they don’t just take one long look at the play and assess everything. It’s completely ridiculous.

Return Of Kelly: Kelly Johnson returned to the Mets and went 2 for 4. Captain Kirk also robbed him of either a home run or double off the top of the center field wall in the 7th inning. He doubled to leadoff the third inning and with one out, Matt Harvey hit a ball right up the middle. For some reason Kelly was basically frozen a few steps off the bag and at the last minute decided to retreat to second base. Unfortunately, Jonathan Villar was basically standing in his way to easily make the tag and then make the throw to first to complete the double play. Also when he stepped into the bag, Johnson’s leg bent and he fell over. I thought he blew out his knee. He did not. That’s just how I think as a Mets fan.

Yo Duh: In the 6th inning, Yoenis Cespedes crushed a solo blast to make it 1-1 thus ensuring these two teams would be tied forever and play for hours. He went 2 for 5. Thanks for being our only elite hitter Yo.

The Pen and Finger Problems: After Harvey came out, Hansel Robles, Antonio Bastardo, Jim Henderson, Jerry Blevins, and Jeurys Familia combined for 5 scoreless innings of relief. The only downside was Henderson kind of struggled in the 9th inning issuing a couple of walks. But he got out of it. Then he came out for the 10th, issued a walk and was pulled from the game because his finger nail ripped off. Yikes.

The Blown Chances: In the fifth inning, Wilmer Flores hit a leadoff single. Kevin Plawecki hit a single with one out to put runners on first and second for Harvey. Matt sacrificed the runners over to second and third. The Brewers intentional walked Curtis Granderson to load the bases for Alejandro De Aza. De Aza promptly grounded out to second base in pathetic fashion. In his gift start, De Aza went 0 for 5. So much for more playing time. In the 9th inning, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a walk, Wilmer Flores singled, and then Kelly Johnson singled to load the bases. The pathetic Mets offense couldn’t get a sac fly. Kevin Plawecki popped out, Neil Walker struck out, and Curtis Granderson grounded out. We didn’t deserve to win this game. We had 10 hits. Not scoring with the bases loaded and nobody out is inexcusable.

The Gift Wrapping: In the 11th, we nearly did the same thing as the 9th inning. Asdrubal singled, Wilmer doubled, and Kelly Johnson was intentionally walked to load the bases. Plawecki fouled out in pathetic fashion. Then Matt Reynolds hit a liner to the shortstop Villar who dropped the liner and threw the ball to second base to make the force out there. The runner scored from third. The runner that was on second base went to third without a play. Reynolds was easily safe at first base. As Terry said after the game, “You just take the win and go get ready for tomorrow. You don’t try to analyze that one.” Amen to that. But FYI the analysis is it was a gift wrapped run and should have been an inning ending double play. Thanks Milwaukee.

Today: Logan Verrett gets the spot start today thanks to this week’s doubleheader throwing off the rotation. We should win again. The Brewers are pathetic.

Playing Milwaukee Is The Best

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Final Score: Mets 5, Brewers 2

Can we modify the rest of our regular season schedule and just play the Brewers the rest of the way? Maybe we can petition the league to realign the divisions. The Mets can be the powerhouse in the newly constructed NL Toilet Division. We want Atlanta, Philly, Milwaukee, and San Diego. I’d ask for the crummy Rockies, but they already beat our asses. So maybe they belong in the next tier of teams. Against the Brewers, the Mets can make errors and get away with them. In Milwaukee, Bartolo Colon can give up 8 hits and only wind up surrendering 1 run over 7 innings. Against the Brew Crew, the Mets can leave men on base like they always do, and it won’t matter because we’ll still score enough runs to win. In Milwaukee, Wilmer Flores goes 3 for 4 and Kevin Plawecki can get singles that drive in two whole runs. Even Matt Reynolds can get an RBI single in Milwaukee to give the Mets a late insurance run. Yes, I only want to play the Brewers the rest of the way because I want to feel this way after every game.

Grandyman and Co: Curtis Granderson led the game off with a solo bomb. He loves hitting leadoff homers. God I hope this means he’s starting to come around. He also hit an opposite field double in the third inning of this game to go 2 for 4. With two outs and Grandy on second base, Yoenis Cespedes drove him in with a single to make it 2-0. Cespedes went 2 for 5. He’s our team engine.

Big Sexy: As I said above, Tolo gave up many hits. He got an inning ending double play in the first inning. In the second inning Chris Carter doubled with one out and Hernan Perez singled with two outs. But Tolo got out of the inning unscathed. In the third, Scooter Gennett singled with two outs and Bartolo picked him off. Whoops! In the fourth Ryan Braun reached on a bad throwing error by James Loney. Loney’s throw beat Tolo to the bag. But who cares because Tolo got a double play off the bat of Jonathan Lucroy and struck out Chris Carter. No problem there. In the fifth inning stanky Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off with a single and Hernan Perez promptly hit into a double play. Every single mini-rally for the Brew Crew got squashed by a double play or something. They’re just like the Mets. Their only run off of Tolo came in the 7th when Kirk hit a two out double and Hernan Perez crushed an RBI grounder right at Neil Walker to make it 2-1. The ball came up and rocked Neil Walker in the heart, and it bounced far away from him. It was called a hit. Neil’s alive so that’s really all that matters. But boy has his glove been crummy lately. He’s Murphin it up big time.

RBIs For All: In the 8th inning, the Brewers brought in Corey Knebel who was awful. James Loney led off with a single, he walked Asdrubal Cabrera, and Wilmer singled to load the bases. Kevin Plawecki then hit a single between third and short that scored two runs and made it 4-1. It was a clutch hit. I hope this means Plawecki will start to show something. Travis d’Arnaud will be back soon, and that probably means Vegas for Plawecki. The final Mets run came in the 9th inning. Juan Lagares aka Juanny one thumb hit a leadoff double. I guess he’s okay. And with one out Matt Reynolds (who came in for the injured Neil Walker) hit an RBI single. Almost every Met joined the party last night except Michael Conforto. Conforto went 0 for 4 and came up in the fourth inning with bases loaded and two outs and popped out to short. He threw his bat in disgust. He’s really struggling.

Reed Ain’t Perfect: Addison Reed gave up an RBI double to Scooter Gennett in the 8th inning. He’s been untouchable all season. Terry pitched him two innings on Wednesday and brought him back out on Thursday. Why? I guess Terry wants to kill him? Insanity.

Smashed Heart: Pray for Walker. He got hit in the heart/chest by that hard hit liner in the 7th inning. Supposedly he’s fine other than the fact that he’s developing a bad case of the Murphs in the field. I wish his bat would develop Murphy syndrome and he’d hit .400.

Trade Chip: Outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo is hitting .325 in Vegas. After his early season foot injury he’s really taking off in the minors. In last night’s Vegas game he went 3 for 5 with two home runs. Honestly, I think he’s going to be the trade chip the Mets push on teams if they look to make a big time upgrade to replace David Wright. Juan Lagares is signed through 2020 and Conforto is under team control through 2021. I’m not even going to entertain the notion that the Mets won’t give Yoenis Cespedes the 6-7 year contract he deserves when he opts out at the end of the season. If the Mets let Yo walk obviously we all need to riot. But assuming the Mets have those three outfielders signed long term, there’s really no room for Nimmo at the ML level. So it would make sense that Nimmo would be the guy they shop. We shall see. I’m not saying we should trade him. I’m just saying it could make sense for the right return.

Local Guys: Speaking of young studs, the Mets drafted Justin Dunn from Boston College with the 19th pick in the Amateur draft yesterday and then with the 31st pick (the Murph compensation pick) the Mets grabbed lefty Anthony Kay from UConn. And both of these guys are from Long Island. In fact Kay went to the same high school as Steven Matz. I love the move to replenish the farm with arms after we dealt so many at last year’s deadline. And I love that we snagged a couple of local dudes. Plus college arms tend to be more advanced. Hopefully they are on a slightly accelerated ML track.

Today: The Mets have Matt Harvey on the mound today against the stinko Brew Crew. Supposedly Kelly Johnson will finally be here, and I’m guessing he draws a start right away. What the hell is with all these incredibly slow post trade arrival times? James Loney seemingly came to the Mets by horse drawn carriage. And now Kelly Johnson takes two days? I feel like he’s being escorted to Milwaukee in a Presidential motorcade going 5 MPH and waving at everyone he passes. Let’s roll on the Brewers.

Mets Somehow Win Game In Pittsburgh

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Final Score (in 10 innings): Mets 6, Pirates 5

The Mets needed this win in a big way. Sure they could have easily lost this game a bunch of different times. Sure it was helpful that Mark Melancon was unavailable after pitching both games of the doubleheader. Sure they failed to capitalize on a number of run scoring opportunities. But they scored just enough to get the W. Noah Syndergaard pitched just gritty enough to keep them in the game. Jim Henderson and Jeurys Familia sucked a lot last night. But they didn’t suck enough to fully blow the game.

Gritty Thor: Noah Syndergaard pitched 6 innings, gave up 7 hits, gave up 3 runs (2 ER) and only struck out 5. He did not have his best stuff. In the first inning, Neil Walker made an error that let John Jaso reach base. Thor then walked Andrew McCutchen. Gregory Polanco promptly made the Mets pay with an RBI double. Jung Ho Kang followed that with an RBI single to make it 2-0. But Thor retired the next three batters and got out of a sticky situation. He got out of a jam in the third inning. He got in trouble in the fourth inning and surrendered an RBI double to John Jaso to make it 3-2. But he limited the damage yet again. He gave a gritty performance on a night where he was getting hit more often than we’re used to.

Just Take The Base: The Pirates stole on Thor once in the first inning, twice in the third inning. I think they had four stolen bases. He really doesn’t hold people on base. Have we given up on fixing that problem? Maybe we’re so focused on our offensive woes that we don’t have time to fix the other cracks in our team infrastructure.

Old Kelly: Yesterday the Mets traded for Kelly Johnson. But last night it was old Ty Kelly who came through with a huge two run blast in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2. I complain an awful lot about the Quadruple-A mooks that make up this roster, but look at that picture up top. It was Kelly’s first career home run. Good for him. I feel like the Mets are going to keep him on this roster somehow. I can feel it in my plums.

Conforto Stirs: Michael Conforto hit a game tying sac fly in the fifth inning to make it 3-3, and he added an enormous game tying two run blast in the 8th inning to make it 5-5. He said he felt like he had better ABs last night. Keep it up man. We need his bat back in a bad way.

Somebody Please Hit: I’m so happy the Mets won this game, but it was tough to watch. They left a bunch of men on base and hit into a number of double plays as usual. Brutal. They left Cespedes on base in the first inning. With two men on base and one out in the second inning, Rene Rivera hit into a double play. They left a man on in the third inning. Conforto was only able to get a sac fly in the fifth inning because Thor led off with a double and was sacrificed over to third. In the 10th inning, Yoenis Cespedes led off with a single and Neil Walker followed that with a single. James Loney sacrificed them both over and then Asdrubal Cabrera was walked intentionally to load the bases. Wilmer Flores came through with a pinch hit bloop RBI single up the middle to make it 6-5. But then with the bases loaded and one out, Matt Reynolds and Kevin Plawecki were retired to strand everyone. Familia almost blew the game in the 10th inning, but luckily the squandered opportunities didn’t matter in the end.

Familia Tightrope: Jeurys Familia walked the first two batters in the 10th inning. Then he got a double play. With two outs, he proceeded to walk the next batter. He ended up striking out David Freese with first and third and two outs to end the game. Familia has not been lights out this season. He’s walking the damn tightrope every single outing. I hope he hits his stride in the summer. Otherwise we’re screwed eventually.

Guerrero No Deal: The Dodgers released Cuban 3B/OF Alex Guerrero. He’s been pretty bad in his first two years in the states. He did hit 11 bombs last year, and he bats righty. I’d bring him in if I ran the Mets, but I’m pretty sure they already said they have no interest. Ty Kelly it is!

Draft Day: Today is MLB draft day. The Mets have the 19th, 31st, and 64th overall picks. The 31st pick was compensation for Daniel Murphy signing with the Nats. I bet they’d trade that pick to get Murph back right now huh? Well it’s fine. Honestly we need to replenish the farm system. We’ll need more picks to send the Braves when we reacquire Kelly Johnson in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Mini-Series Preview: No off day today?!? I’ll have to keep my Milwaukee Brewers series preview brief. The Brewers are 6-4 in their last 10, but ultimately they stink. Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy are both studs. There’s a preview, that’s a preview. We need to come up big in this four game series and get our season back on track.

Game 1: Bartolo Colon vs. Jimmy Nelson

Game 2: Matt Harvey vs. Junior Guerra

Game 3: Logan Verrett vs. Wily Peralta

Game 4: Steven Matz vs. Zach Davies

Mets Bring Back Kelly Johnson; Reassembling The Band

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The Mets bringing back Kelly Johnson in a trade with the Braves is laugh out loud hilarious. In fact, I’m laughing at how ridiculous it is right now. Just sitting in my chair laughing it up. We give up minor league pitching assets to the same team in our division for the same mediocre bench player two years in a row?!? That’s so very Mets of us. The Mets do deserve some praise for realizing that their ship has been sinking as the Nationals steamliner forges full speed ahead. Sandy was as frustrated with that horrendous doubleheader as the fans were and addressed our non-existent roster depth the next day. Okay I have offered the appropriate amount of praise. Now let’s continue to criticize. The Mets and particularly Sandy deserve real criticism for being so shortsighted that they didn’t sign Kelly Johnson when they had the chance this spring. We had the need on our roster in February. And clearly if we are bringing him back now, we had the financial flexibility to take on his miniscule salary. The Mets passed on Johnson in favor of Eric Campbell. Ridiculous. Now for the second year in a row we give up a pitching prospect (this time Akeel Morris) to patch up our bench problems. Good thing pitching grows on trees in our organization.

Obviously cranky rant aside, the return of Kelly Johnson is big news. He’s a tremendous upgrade over what we currently have on the roster. He’s been god awful so far this season at the dish (.215/.273/.562) and he’s not really a good fielder at all, but he’s definitely better than Ty Kelly. He’s a net positive. He’s certainly not the straw that stirred the drink last year. But I fully expect the fan base to put that level of pressure on him as soon as he arrives. We are officially bringing the band back together. Now all we need is Daniel Murphy, Tyler Clippard and Juan Uribe and we should be all set. Oh wait what? They are major contributors on all their respective teams this year? Whoops!