The worst thing that could have happened last year was eclipsing 100 wins and illuminating a façade that the Mets had the foundation for a winner and were only missing a few parts. So instead of working to build, management made very few changes and the only real noticeable thing was to give up on re-signing Jacob deGrom and replace him with Justin Verlander.
Edwin Diaz getting hurt in the World Baseball Classic and being out for the season did absolutely nothing to ruin the Mets season. That’s because the starting pitching was so absolutely brutal all season long that Diaz’s presence was nullified.
Thinking deGrom’s replacement, Verlander, would pair with Max Scherzer to replicate their time in Detroit was a novel idea. But while they are both headed to the Hall of Fame, neither is in their prime and it showed. Verlander was hurt in the spring and wasn’t around until mid-season (and by then it was too late) and Scherzer was average at best. Neither provided the presence of an ace.
What REALLY hurt was that neither Tylor Megill nor David Peterson progressed to be quality starters. Rather, they seemed to go in the other direction. With few exceptions, they have been awful all year. And Carlos Carrasco, you almost have to feel sorry for him. With everything he has gone through it is tough to be so hard on him…but he was the most awful out of all of them.
And the bullpen…talk about playing Russian Roulette. It was like playing Russian Roulette with five bullets in the chambers instead of just one. The worst? Drew Smith. You know that he was being counted on because he was brought in repeatedly in big situations only to give up the big home run. Is he THAT bad?
The Mets always seemed to be playing catch up. And the offense has been just as bad as the pitching. I would really like to know WHY there has been such a HUGE difference between last year and this year. Brandon Nimmo is having the worst season of his career. So big deal that he has a career high in home runs. THAT is not his game. His walks, his hit batsman, his on base percentage are all way down from his career numbers. And THAT’s his game.
Pete Alonso’s year has been tough to judge because he was playing with a bad hand for a long stretch. Still a power threat but his batting average is way down. Francisco Lindor will likely be always a target of Mets fans but, if you take a look at all of the high profile shortstops around MLB – Javy Baez, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, etc. – who would you really rather have?
It seems like Mets fans have a love affair with Jeff McNeil. Why? He won the batting title last year. But he was bad the year before, and he is bad this year. He is nothing more than a really good super utility player. That’s it. I am truly SICK of seeing him act like an immature Little Leaguer after every time he makes an out. Grow up!
Right now the lineup looks like something you would see in spring training – a few starters with a couple of prospects and a few has-beens looking to just hang on.
The comments on the threads on social media are so ridiculous.
“Bring in Wally Backman!” Make it stop…please. Wally Backman is NOT the answer. I loved him as a player. That’s it. His fiery attitude and his tantrums are not going to make the players any better.
“Change the lineup!” Switching the spots in the order is not going to make the hitters hit any better. See the ball…hit the ball. Let’s get that concept down…that should do it.
“Steve Cohen gave up and threw up the white flag by trading everybody.” Are you serious? Who was traded? The Mets traded away spare parts. Who was essential? Are you going to really tell me that Scherzer and Verlander were the difference on whether or not this team would be a playoff team? They had proven that their presence meant very little. Keeping those two and their $43 million salaries was money thrown down the proverbial toilet.
The truth is that the team was/is bad. After winning 100 games in 2022, management tried to continue to build while not looking like it was building, rather, they were trying to look like a contender. They were doing it to keep the fans happy. Guess what? It didn’t work.
So now if anyone wants two tickets to go to some games…I am giving them away…FREE!
