IGT 6/28 - Mets at Nats for the Sweep!

[Frayed Knot]

And just when I was about to suggest that teams might start IW'ing hitters to get to Alonso.

[Frayed Knot]

Nice camera work MASN, have the cameras zoom in on the lower deck as McKinney's shot is sailing 10 rows deep in the upper tank.

[Frayed Knot]

Who DIDN'T see that one coming?

[nymr83]

Frayed Knot wrote: Who DIDN'T see that one coming?

boo.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Another week of offense behind

[Edgy MD]

Well, multiple hits from McNeil, Smitty, and Alonso is something, but it is no time for moral victories.

[Edgy MD]

So Schwarber is really becoming a one-man destruction machine, huh?

[bmfc1]

In the TV show "The Good Place", we are told that in "The Bad Place" you are continuously tortured and the act is specific to you. I had my experience last night: sitting with 10,000 morons while the Mets are behind by five runs, the "Baby Shark" song is playing, the morons are doing the "Baby Shark" movements, and then the Mets Pitching Coach goes to the mound so the song keeps playing.

[Benjamin Grimm]

http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer24.jpg>



http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote!

[bmfc1]

As I sweated and steamed last night, I couldn't figure out the following:

Why pitch to Schwarber at all? When he came up to bat in the 5th, I said, "walk him". Then it was 3-0 and I said, "just give him ball 4". then at 3-1, I said, "at least it will only be a solo HR." Luis told us that they kept trying to figure him out. Stop trying.

Why did Eickhoff hit in the 5th with a runner on? Sunday, Oswalt hit with 2 on and we were told it was to preserve the BP for Eickhoff's start. Then he lets Eickhoff hit presumably to preserve the BP for Tuesday. Martinez managed with urgency all night. Luis manages as if it's an exhibition game or the season is indefinite. Maybe if Eickhoff is out WSH doesn't score in the 5th and 6th and the rally in the 8th wins it. But at least the BP was underused.

Why PH Conforto for Luis when it was obvious that Martinez would bring in Hand (LHP)? Luis had 2 hits and maybe Martinez doesn't use his closer in the 8th for Luis.

Why use Castro down one in the 8th? He's erratic. Lugo was warming, too. May is pitching better. Why use Castro in that spot?

Why move McNeil to 3B in the 8th where he hasn't played all season? Blankenhorn has started at 3B. That decision lead to the "miscommunication".

[Benjamin Grimm]

Conforto hitting for Guillorme didn't make sense to me either. The bench is already thin, and Guillorme is just as likely to get a hit as Conforto is. (Or close enough, anyway.) Save Conforto to hit for the pitcher a couple of batters later. I'd rather see Guillorme and Conforto batting in an inning than Conforto and Almora.

[Edgy MD]

Well, I agree with both of those last two thoughts.



Guillorme is also more likely to reach via walk. I think the reasoning is that Conforto is more likely to handle the lefty. The team is suddenly lefty heavy again, and probably needs to swap out Blankenhorn for a righthanded hitter.

[Lefty Specialist]

Unless they can get a pitcher and find a hitter, this is going to slip away from them. They've benefitted from the rest of the division playing crappy ball. That can only last for so long.

[Edgy MD]

=bmfc1 post_id=69449 time=1624971855 user_id=73]Martinez managed with urgency all night. Luis manages as if it's an exhibition game or the season is indefinite.

[bmfc1]

Thanks, Edgy.

[bmfc1]

As I sweated and steamed last night, I couldn't figure out the following: Why pitch to Schwarber at all? When he came up to bat in the 5th, I said, "walk him". Then it was 3-0 and I said, "just give him ball 4". then at 3-1, I said, "at least it will only be a solo HR." Luis told us that they kept trying to figure him out. Stop trying. Why did Eickhoff hit in the 5th with a runner on? Sunday, Oswalt hit with 2 on and we were told it was to preserve the BP for Eickhoff's start. Then he lets Eickhoff hit presumably to preserve the BP for Tuesday. Martinez managed with urgency all night. Luis manages as if it's an exhibition game or the season is indefinite. Maybe if Eickhoff is out WSH doesn't score in the 5th and 6th and the rally in the 8th wins it. But at least the BP was underused. Why PH Conforto for Luis when it was obvious that Martinez would bring in Hand (LHP)? Luis had 2 hits and maybe Martinez doesn't use his closer in the 8th for Luis. Why use Castro down one in the 8th? He's erratic. Lugo was warming, too. May is pitching better. Why use Castro in that spot? Why move McNeil to 3B in the 8th where he hasn't played all season? Blankenhorn has started at 3B. That decision lead to the "miscommunication".

I aired a few of these grievances to Tim Britton in a chat and he disagrees with me on a few:

[bLOCKQUOTE]I still don't think Rojas is a bad in-game manager. Does he make moves that are questionable? Yep, and so does every other big-league manager. (Why did Davey Martinez allow Wander Suero to face Dominic Smith and *then* bring in Justin Miller?) You're not going to walk Schwarber with nobody on base to bring up Turner and Soto -- not when he's batting with two outs in the second (when he grounded out) or leading off the fifth. My problem with Castro and Lugo was basically that I'd have only been warming up one of them and going with that pitcher regardless of whether it was tied or a one-run game.[/bLOCKQUOTE]

[Ceetar]

[attachment=0]f02b8c3c-cd2b-4235-8b3f-d5a24b2553be.jpg[/attachment]yeah but it's Tim Britton. He's not gonna criticise the manager unless it's a good story or he's slightly evasive in questioning.



the "EVERYBODY does it!" argument is dumb. Yes, other managers make bad in-game decisions. That doesn't change anything.



The issue with the last Eickhoff-Schwarber matchup.. I dunno, I don't like walking guys like that, period, but what you CAN'T do is hang a slider in the exact same place you just grooved a get me over 3-0 fastball.



Rojas has to know if he can trust Eickhoff to pitch around a guy, give him sliders and see if he'll chase. Arguably once you got to 3-0 and he didn't (pitch 3 was probably a strike) you definitely just give him the ball four.



The approach seems sound, throw him a 3-1 slider off the play after a fastball in the middle, maybe he'll swing and you're at a full count. If pitch 5 was where 2 was. But I don't think Eickhoff has the track record, this year, this game, this career, to trust in those spots. If it's Stroman? sure, the math is more in the favor of 'trust your guy to make the right pitches'.

[Edgy MD]

the "EVERYBODY does it!" argument is dumb. Yes, other managers make bad in-game decisions. That doesn't change anything.

I don't think it's dumb. I think the difference between a particular problem and a systemic problem is important.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: the "EVERYBODY does it!" argument is dumb. Yes, other managers make bad in-game decisions. That doesn't change anything. I don't think it's dumb. I think the difference between a particular problem and a systemic problem is important.

He's basically saying it's not a problem, because you can't get better at that aspect of the game. Whether it's systemic or exclusive to Rojas is irrelevant to if the Mets can improve on it. It's like saying you shouldn't throw out your milk if the power goes out on your block because the power is out on the whole block, not just your house.

[Edgy MD]

I don't presume to know what he's "basically" saying. I know what he is saying.



If a manager's action is common to all managers is different than if a manager's action is unique to your own manager. I think the difference matters.

[Frayed Knot]

My 2 pennies: ONE of Schwarber's HRs was (assuming the above chart is accurate) grooved, the other was a HOWDAHELLDIDHEHITTHATONETHERE!?!?!? kind of pitch.

Whenever a hitter is hot a certain pct of fans tend to bring up the 'we should walk him every time' strategy. But that's a dumb card to play.

You IW great/hot hitters sparingly and situationally, not constantly and haphazardly.

[Ceetar]

Here's the other one. A little tougher to bomb that one you'd think, but a 90.5 mph fastball to a guy like Schwarber who I think is pretty free-swinging plus locked in, and i dunno. Should've probably been a little more in than that, though looks like Eickhoff was gipped on that first pitch in this AB too.



Eickhoff confessed concern that he was tipping his pitches. If so (or if they have a camera somewhere) it's not surprising he cranked this one.


[attachment=0]78814080-1d36-4e4e-95a6-0965048c2e04.jpg[/attachment]

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: My 2 pennies: ONE of Schwarber's HRs was (assuming the above chart is accurate) grooved, the other was a HOWDAHELLDIDHEHITTHATONETHERE!?!?!? kind of pitch. Whenever a hitter is hot a certain pct of fans tend to bring up the 'we should walk him every time' strategy. But that's a dumb card to play. You IW great/hot hitters sparingly and situationally, not constantly and haphazardly.

And, of course, there's always the middle ground of pitching around a guy. If all you're trying to do is scrape the corners and/or make him chase, and he still takes you deep, you accept that he has succeeded and you have failed. Despite the odds being with you, the talent and execution was with him.



You focus tighter and mentally expand the strike zone just a little bit more the next time.



A good player beat the Mets. It's gonna happen. There's a lot of reason to complain. We had the wrong pitcher in there. We had the right pitcher but hadn't effectively prepared him. We cheaped out on more pitching in the offseason. We should've pulled the pitcher earlier.



But the notion that we didn't surrender quickly enough is a tougher one to swallow. Willie Randolph walked Barry Bonds with two out in the first and the Giants OPSing at .582 or something with all the batters they'd been using behind him. Bonds still scored. And unlike Bonds, the Mets were dealing with a guy batting leadoff.



Really, where Eickhoff succeeded was mentioned (albeit, mostly sarcastically) earlier in this thread. He kept folks off base in front of the homers (or simply gave them up at the top of the game/top of innings), to limit the bombardment. Ultimately, it was Ryan Zimmerdude in the eighth who put the game away, driving in more runs with one swing than Schwarber on anybody else did all night.



I'm more concerned about offense. Not a walk all night. Sitting around and waiting for bombs is boring and counterproductive. There was never any heat on Espino all night, and it sure felt like a gift when Dave Martinez lifted him after only 67 pitches.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, strategical arguments aside, it was simply one of the worst games all year.

Eickoff put us in a hole in the first three pitches, and was still XBH-prone even when going 6-8 batter stretches of pitching effectively.

The offense stunk, the defense was worse, and it took one pitch for an aging PH to re-put the game out of reach when we got to the pen.



After a while I was having trouble paying attention and/or caring ... but at least the pace of the game was slow and tedious.