TotS

[Edgy MD]

Thoughts on the Sweep

2. Sometimes you don't get the breaks, but the Mets were truly the lesser team all three days.



4. In fact, some of the Mets' best opportunities were handed to them by uncharacteristically sloppy Rays' defense



6. The DH might lessen the effects of reckless roster construction, but it can't just make it go away.



8. Relatedly — and it really might be the same thing, but I'd like to get ten thoughts out here and I don't know how many fish I'm holding — when Keith Hernandez justifies the Mets' use of an opener by saying, "Well, you've got ten guys out there in the bullpen, and it's hard to find enough work for everybody," isn't it screamingly apparent that maybe they shouldn't have 10 guys out there in the bullpen?



10. Conforto getting hurt sucks. But McNeil getting hurt is negligence. I realize there weren't lot of options on who to use, but that might not be true if you didn't have 10 guys in your bullpen.



12. I try to stick out every loss until the bitter end, but Hell is watching your team down by multiple runs and chasing sliders out of the strike zone.



14. It's sadly a highly contested race for the role of guy in the lineup you least want to see come up in a big spot, but James McCann has really been carrying that torch for a while now. And when your starting catcher is guy in the lineup you least want to see come up in a big spot and your third-string catcher is guy in the lineup you most want to see come up in a big spot, something is wrong.



16. As much as the booth spoke about it, I didn't get the impression Tampa Bay is necessarily smarter than other teams. I think they're frequently not as dumb as other teams, and certainly weren't as dumb as the Mets this weekend, but that's not really the same thing.



18. Dom Smith has stopped striking out all the time, but his transfer into the role of hit-pretty-hard-but-right-into-the-shift guy isn't that much of a promotion.



20. The staying with the pitcher too long vs. staying with the pitcher not long enough argument is dumb. That's a false choice.

it'll be very interesting to see where they go from here.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: it'll be very interesting to see where they go from here.

Typically, Alderson would find "moments" like these-- either in a rut or cresting -- to make a impactful promotion, but the Mets don't really have anyone who could help now.



Unless... UNLESS .. they strap on some gigantic nuts and call up Mauricio who's crushing it at Brooklyn. With Lindor in his way for the next decade they'd have to use him at 2nd or 3rd anyhow.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: and your third-string catcher is guy in the lineup you most want to see come up in a big spot, something is wrong.

The last time anyone was comfortable with the third string catcher coming to bat in that situation were fans of the 1961 MFYs, when their catchers were Elston Howard (111 G, 21 HR), Johnny Blanchard (48 G, 21 HR) and Yogi Berra ( 15 G, 22 HR). Berra played 81 G in Left Field that year.



Later

[Edgy MD]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Typically, Alderson would find "moments" like these-- either in a rut or cresting -- to make a impactful promotion, but the Mets don't really have anyone who could help now.

Binghamton is red-hot right now, with yesterday's 7-3 victory over Altoona raising their record to 1–10. Together with Syracuse, their combined record comes to an overall 3–20 (.130).

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Unless... UNLESS .. they strap on some gigantic nuts and call up Mauricio who's crushing it at Brooklyn. With Lindor in his way for the next decade they'd have to use him at 2nd or 3rd anyhow.

You don't just like rolling the dice. You like rolling the big old set of fuzzy dice.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

It's not ideal, and they'd sooner call up Brandon Drury, but Mauricio hung in there in ST and circumstances are what they are.

[G-Fafif]

TotS also made school cafeteria lunches worthwhile.