Wednesday, August 28, 2024

MLC x GTB: Vol. 1 Episode 2b

The Week in Mets

Record: 69-63
9 GB NL East, 3 GB Last Wild Card

After we checked in on the Metropolitans last week, they went 4-4. Not awful. Not great. Two winnable losses from a leaky ‘pen. Two losable wins thanks to walk-off dramatics. And four games that were never much in question. 

A little bit of drama in my life
A little bit of ho-hum by my side
A little bit of vict’ry is what I saw
A little bit of lead blow’n stuck’n my craw
It’s Metbo Number 5!

Yep. Lotsa rust on the old MLC engine. Give us some time. 

To celebrate: Jesse “Be Odd” Winker! (You gotta say it out loud. Likely more than once. And even then...)

Jesse Winker used to ruffle feathers among the Township turkeys with his on-field antics and fan-gibing. Some bad blood, though you’d see a few barbs hurled his way that were tempered with the “although, if he were a Met…”

One deadline trade later, and one walk-off tater later, he’s the flavor of the week in Queens. Keep it up, Jesse. We need ya. 

I just spent four days in Maine (Portland and Boothbay Harbor) eating lobster (6 meals of 8) and drinking (every meal) and memorializing my stepdad. I’d say we did our guy some justice. It also meant that I watched Red Sox games on NESN and talked a ton about the Mets with my family. 

Consensus: nobody’s giving up yet. Even to squeak into the postseason would be a little bit of a coup for a team clearly rebuilding. (Rich owner rebuilding has upside some clubs aren’t blessed with, obviously.) We can do this, even with a flawed roster. 

Also agreed upon: lots to like, starting with Francisco Lindor’s season. There have been times over the past few seasons with a wee bit of meh, but he’s now fully Met. After a slow start to 2024, he’s got an OPS+ of 134 with 27 bombs while flashing some serious leather at short. We don’t take this output for granted from any player. 

Polar Pete still has my family… well. polarized. A thought was dangled that we could move Mark Vientos to 1B if/when Pete signs elsewhere. But I say 3B has been a black hole since His Holiness of the Hot Corner David Wright hung ‘em up. Maybe I’m just hoping against hope that Pete Alonso doesn’t wind up in Atlanta or Philly or anywhere else. 

After splitting with the Padres (who hold one of the 3 wild card spots), the Mets are in the desert for 3 against the D-backs. .500 ball won’t get it done. Caulk the bullpen and finish the job, night in night out. 

* * * * *

I got back home in time to watch all of the opening game of the series. Mets 8, Diamondbacks 3. Alrighty then. Sean Manaea was lights out for 6 frames. His surrendering a pair of gopher balls in the 7th gave me the "here we go again" indigestion, but the bullpen locked it down. The Polar Bear homered and everyone contributed. Especially the Arizona D. Just awful. They misplayed, booted, and threw away enough balls to extend every rally. We will take it. A trio of AZ's best everyday players are on the IL right now... this is a must-win series, maybe must-sweep. LFGM. 

24 comments:

Marls said...

When did the Mets move to the AL east? Why wasn’t I notified!

Whitney said...

Why Timmy, whatever do you mean?

Whitney said...

Tribe opens their football season tomorrow night at home against VMI. Seems like I should try to go... why did I just figure this out now?

rob said...

or, you could stay home and watch my daughter on espn at 8, accompanied by some colorado football buffaloes.

Marls said...

69 wins…just sayin

Whitney said...

That’s right. It’s a good day to be a Met fan.

Whitney said...

Maybe a few days, evenP

rootsminer said...

Wally Backman ain't walkin' through that door.

Marls said...

Wally’s meltdown - still the best.

https://youtu.be/QOZxT9MHAJU?si=XOK2KIXxgaEumv-3

rob said...

djokovic is a goddamn metronome

rob said...

buffs! bison! ungulate on ungulate violence in boulder this evening.

Whitney said...

It’s a good thing I don’t have to recap every Mets game any more. My brain hurts trying to interweave the words “Diaz” and “Disaster.”

Mark said...

I'm going to watch my daughter's best friend (and many other middle schoolers) perform Beauty & The Beast tonight at 6:30. Quite sure I'll have earned football and a drink by the time I get home.

rootsminer said...

I think Diazaster has a nice ring to it.

Mark said...

I don't know why any team would schedule North Dakota State. There's absolutely no upside to it - and there's good chance you'll lose. Same goes for the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State (cranes neck at Mike Gundy)

rob said...

especially not a team that's desperate for a good start to the season. high risk, not a lot of reward for coach prime.

rob said...

steph just signed a $62.6m extension. for. one. year.

rob said...

save for diaz today. whit coached him up.

Whitney said...

Like Cameron and Morris Frye, he and I just had a little chat.

Mark said...

Looks like we’ll have a fun one in Boulder. Not sure how fun it’s going to be to watch that CU defense all season.

rob said...

take the over every week when the buffs are involved

rob said...

embarrassing that you can’t get a yard on two tries against an fcs defense. danger, will robinson.

rob said...

vibes-based opinion: buffs remain as poorly-coached on gameday as they were last year. take the under on wins for the season.

rob said...

on the positive side, shadeur is a really talented kid, and the buffs have some elite wideouts