Benjamin Grimm

Stearns has said that it takes 45 games to evaluate a team. We're almost there.

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=155605 time=1715947769 user_id=68] Also, Cohen could have just the same meant that the Mets can't be buyers until the trade deadline nears.

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Mr. Met looks weird without a cap.

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Benjamin Grimm wrote: http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer48.jpg> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote! This is brilliant. Did you do those letters yourself? Impressive! Thank you! It's been a few years now. I'm not sure where I got the lettering from. Maybe there's a Toulouse-Lautrec font somewhere that I found? I do remember deforming one of the two E's so that they wouldn't be identical. And maybe some of the other letters as well.

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How horrible.

Reggie Cleveland?

While you wait for the game, be sure to listen to the latest episode of "National League Town" as G-Fafif and I discuss my trip to "The Lou". I don't want to sound judgy, but why would anyone want to listen to a podcast about your bathroom activities?

I was wondering what was notable about Alabama, but it just clicked with me that it's the first state alphabetically. I assume this quiz was intended to keep going all the way through to Wyoming. And it would have happened too, if not for that meddling Lance Johnson.

Maybe he needs fifteen minutes with Rick Peterson.

Somehow, it's all Lance Johnson's fault.

A few things from this week's edition: Until a couple of years ago, Christian Scott barely consumed caffeine. He was not a coffee guy. Occasionally he'd splurge on a Red Bull, but in general, Scott avoided the stuff. His habit changed when Scott met Trey McLoughlin, a reliever in the Mets system who first became his teammate at High-A Brooklyn. McLoughlin turned Scott on to the Orange Dreamsicle flavor of Reign Total Body Fuel, a pre-workout energy drink that contains, according to its website, 300 milligrams of caffeine. That's the equivalent of about two to three cups of standard drip coffee, or a bottle and a half of the popular energy drink Celsius. Scott is disciplined in his intake. He only drinks Reign on days he starts, about 90 minutes before first pitch. He can have trouble sleeping those nights, given all the caffeine still coursing through his bloodstream, but his circadian rhythm falls back into place within a day or two. And the benefit? "It's kind of like a cheat code," Scott said, laughing as he described the extra jolt of energy. I'm going to see if they have Reign at my local grocer. If they do, I'm going to become a major league pitcher. I'm only a couple of years older than Satchel Paige was when he pitched his last big-league game. When J.D. Martinez broke Willson Contreras' left forearm with a swing on Tuesday, folks in the Mets' clubhouse took notice. Like most teams, the Mets have trained their catchers to creep closer to the plate to make framing easier. But Mendoza believes there is a "fine line" between doing that and putting oneself at risk. The Mets keep scouting data on which players' swing paths are most likely to strike a catcher. Martinez, in part because of the violence of his swings, ranks near the top of that list. Earlier this season, Mendoza feared Francisco Alvarez had been seriously hurt on a Henry Davis swing that struck his glove. Alvarez wound up being fine, but the concern never dissipated from Mendoza's mind. "It's been a topic throughout the offseason with every team, because we see it more and more nowadays," said Mendoza, who would like to see a rule change preventing catchers from crossing a certain line behind the plate. "It seems like every day, people are going down. You hate to see that." I think we're getting a little rule-change crazy these last few years. (Okay, I know we are.) The solution is simple: If you want to avoid your catcher breaking his arm, have him position himself further back. If being closer to the pitcher gives an advantage, but also makes it more likely to result in a battered catcher, teams can do their own cost-benefit analysis. Finally, back to Scott. Although the former college reliever has never thrown more than 87 2/3 innings in a season, Mets officials don't intend to put a hard cap on his contributions this summer. The days of limiting a young arm to, say, a 30-inning increase year-over-year are long gone, according to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Instead, the Mets intend to measure Scott routinely on biomechanical markers such as range of motion, while also making sure his pitch metrics don't deteriorate in quality. "The other way didn't work," Hefner said, referencing the history of pitcher injuries throughout the game. "So this is the information in front of us. You try to make the best decision possible with the information that you have." I had no idea the 30-inning increase thing was "long gone". I'm sure I heard about it being in effect as recently as a year or two ago. But if it's gone, and replaced by something more scientific, then that's a good thing, assuming the science is reasonably valid. This is the first I've heard of this.

Yeah, there's definitely that guy! I also thought of Craig Swan, who had a brief cup of coffee with the Angels after the Mets gave up on him. EDIT: Swan had two games with the Angels in 1984, one start and one relief appearance. He pitched a total of five innings and was 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA. Despite his brief stint with the Angels, he did manage to get a Topps baseball card: https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/99/99-116TFr.jpg>

I'm really starting to think that he'll be an ex-Met by 2026.

This is Will Sammon answering a reader question in The Athletic: What's the likely return for trading McNeil? — Lee B. WS: It's interesting: Luis Arraez just netted the Marlins a solid haul of prospects, and it wasn't all that long ago — 2022, really — that people were talking about McNeil and Arraez within the same breaths. Arraez, however, is five years younger than McNeil, 32. And unlike McNeil, Arraez has continued to hit above .300. At a time when the league's batting average is around .240, McNeil is barely passing that mark, and other metrics like OPS+ point to below-average production. So, if McNeil isn't doing the thing he's supposed to be great at — batting average — he just isn't of much value. Speculatively, unless McNeil reclaims some success, the Mets may have to pay down a significant amount of the money owed to him in order to get a decent return on a possible trade. At an annual average value of $12.5 million, McNeil is signed through 2026 with a club option for 2027. The Mets may have replacement options in the future — but none of them are ready. Jett Williams (wrist) has been out the last couple of weeks in Double A, Luisangel Acuña has struggled offensively in Triple A and Ronny Mauricio is likely lost for the year.

Holy cow! I live in the Philly metro area and I had no idea the Phillies were doing so well. It's comforting to know how well I've been able to tune them out.

I wonder how many fans are still in the ballpark?

It may not matter. The latest weather forecast indicates that there will be heavy rain in St. Louis until around midnight. It looks like the Mets will have to make a one-day return trip later this season.

I think my prediction was that no Mets pitcher would get to the 162 innings required for the ERA title. That's never happened before, but we've come close, including last year.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: [bLOCKQUOTE]Finally, the following members had a perfect voting record for the month of April, and will be receiving this keepsake trophy.[/bLOCKQUOTE] Wait I don't see that list Oops. It's there now.