Benjamin Grimm

It looks like Griffin Canning was a good find, but unfortunately he got hurt early. Turning Clay Holmes into a starter could have gone better, but it wasn't a disaster. He's pitched well (3.69 ERA in 158.2 innings) but he makes too many early exits. Trading for Helsley looked good but turned out poorly. Jose Quintana has made 24 starts, with a 3.96 ERA in 131.2 innings. Luis Severino 28 starts, 4.72 ERA, 156.1 innings. Either one of them would have been better than Frankie Montas.

The Mets are once again sitting in a playoff spot, so let's take a fresh look at the numbers. The Mets no longer have to worry about the Giants. At best, they can finish in a tie with the Mets and the Mets have the tiebreaker. However, the Giants aren't necessarily eliminated. If there's a three-way or four-way tie at 81-81 that includes the Mets and Giants, along with the Reds and/or Diamondbacks, the Giants may be able to emerge from that mess. Who knows? The Mets are one game ahead of both Cincinnati and Arizona, both of whom own the tiebreaker advantage over the Mets. The Mets have to avoid losing more games than either team over the last five games. I'm not optimistic, but I'm hopeful. Let's see what happens! We really have no other alternatives. Mets Magic Number by team: Arizona Diamondbacks 5 Cincinnati Reds 5 St. Louis Cardinals 1 San Francisco Giants 0 The Mets hold the tie-breaker advantage over the Giants and Cardinals. The Reds and Diamondbacks have the advantage over the Mets. Meanwhile, it's the third wild-card spot or nothing, as the Padres have clinched a better record than the Mets. Current Playoff Odds: [table][tr][th][/th][th]FanGraphs[/th][th]Baseball Reference[/th][/tr][tr][th]Mets[/th][td]67.4[/td][td]50.7[/td][/tr][tr][th]Arizona[/th][td]10.9[/td][td]24.9[/td][/tr][tr][th]San Francisco[/th][td]0.0[/td][td]<0.1[/td][/tr][tr][th]Cincinnati[/th][td]21.4[/td][td]24.9[/td][/tr][tr][th]St. Louis[/th][td]0.1[/td][td]< 0.1[/td][/tr][/table]

Don't worry about Maja, she'll be fine. And the Tabloid Cover Derby isn't going anywhere.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer10goob.jpg> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote! Bumping this to the new page.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: If the Mets win today and the Reds lose, things will look a bit brighter. And it happened! If it happens again today, things will be even more brighter!

http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer10goob.jpg> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote!

The Stockholm headquarters of the Crane Pool Forum announced today that 2025 will be the final year of Schaefer voting. A spokesperson indicated that the reasons include voter attrition, overall declining interest, and pressure from the Federal Communications Commission. The CPF Schaefer Player of the Game voting was inspired by similar voting performed by the WOR Mets broadcast team during the 1970s. Its current iteration has lasted for 21 years. The inaugural winner in 2005, David Wright, would amass six Schaefer titles. Pete Alonso is a four-time winner, and Jacob deGrom won the award three times. Other winners were Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, and Francisco Lindor. Voting will continue for the remainder of the 2025 season, and the 2025 winner will be announced some time in October. Any lapsed voters who wish to return to the fold for the final days of this long-standing tradition will be welcomed.

So what happens if the shortstop yells "Challenge it!" ? Or if the shortstop yells "French Onion Soup!" and the pitcher knows that that's a secret code for "Challenge It!"

Hopefully the Cubs will play dead for the Mets like they did for the Reds. If the Mets win today and the Reds lose, things will look a bit brighter. The Mets will no longer have to out-win the Reds the rest of the way. They'll just have to match them.

http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer9.jpg> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote!

http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer8.jpg> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote!

http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/images/schaefer7.jpg> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/index.phpCast your vote!

http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10215> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10216> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10217> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10218> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10219> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10220> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10221> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10222> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10223> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10224> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10225> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10226> http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/potg_results.php?game=10227>

I think Jet Williams and Carson Benge are the most likely internal candidates. I suppose another option would be to put McNeil in the outfield and let someone else (Acuna, Baty, Mauricio, external option) replace Jeff in the infield.

I'd be inclined to keep the first base coach. It appears he's figured out something about when is the best time to steal second base. But it's hard to say that any of the others have made a meaningful positive contribution to the team. I don't know if Mendoza comes back or not. I wouldn't be surprised either way.

I guess Siri, Taylor, and Mullens could be categorized as dead weight, but I really think it's been the collapse of the starting rotation that's been the real problem. Going into the season I worried that they didn't have enough depth in the pitching staff, and the first few months of the season seemed to disprove that. But it's hard to hide a weakness over 162 games, and it caught up with them. (EDIT: I posted the above before I saw FK's post.)

Yesterday: Mets won. Reds won. Giants lost. Diamondbacks lost. Cardinals won. Mets Magic Number by team: Arizona Diamondbacks 6 Cincinnati Reds 7 San Francisco Giants 4 St. Louis Cardinals 3 The Mets hold the tie-breaker advantage over the Giants and Cardinals. The Reds and Diamondbacks have the advantage over the Mets. Today: Mets host the Nationals. Diamondbacks host the Phillies. Reds host the Cubs. Giants visit the Dodgers. Cardinals host the Brewers. Meanwhile, the Padres magic number over the Mets to clinch that second wild card spot is 5. Current Playoff Odds: [table][tr][th][/th][th]FanGraphs[/th][th]Baseball Reference[/th][/tr][tr][th]Mets[/th][td]89.9[/td][td]76. 6[/td][/tr][tr][th]Arizona[/th][td]1.3[/td][td]5.3[/td][/tr][tr][th]San Francisco[/th][td]0.2[/td][td]0.9[/td][/tr][tr][th]Cincinnati[/th][td]8.9[/td][td]17.7[/td][/tr][tr][th]St. Louis[/th][td]0.1[/td][td]< 0.1[/td][/tr][/table]

Please note my second paragraph, above.

If the Mets can win six of the last nine games, however they're distributed, they'll be in very good shape. They can still make the playoffs with as few as zero wins, but let's hope they don't attempt that.

Yesterday: Mets won. Reds won. Giants lost. Diamondbacks and Cardinals were idle. Mets Magic Number by team: Arizona Diamondbacks 8 Cincinnati Reds 8 San Francisco Giants 6 St. Louis Cardinals 4 The Mets hold the tie-breaker advantage over the Giants and Cardinals. The Reds have the advantage over the Mets And as Gwreck noted in another thread, there's no longer a possible scenario where the Mets win a tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks. The magic numbers, therefore, are the amount of wins that the Mets need to match the most possible wins by the Giants or Cardinals, and the number they'd need to have one more than the most possible for the Diamondbacks or Reds. Tonight's action: Mets host the Nationals. Diamondbacks host the Phillies. Reds host the Cubs. Giants visit the Dodgers. Cardinals host the Brewers. If the Mets, Phillies, and Cubs all sweep this weekend (it could happen!), and the Dodgers win at least one out of three, the Mets could clinch a playoff spot as early as Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Padres magic number over the Mets to clinch that second wild card spot is 5. Current Playoff Odds: [table][tr][th][/th][th]FanGraphs[/th][th]Baseball Reference[/th][/tr][tr][th]Mets[/th][td]86.9[/td][td]71.9[/td][/tr][tr][th]Arizona[/th][td]4.5[/td][td]11.6[/td][/tr][tr][th]San Francisco[/th][td]1.0[/td][td]4.2[/td][/tr][tr][th]Cincinnati[/th][td]7.5[/td][td]12.7[/td][/tr][tr][th]St. Louis[/th][td]0.1[/td][td]< 0.1[/td][/tr][/table]

Yeah, that didn't last long.

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The Mets won today, so all of these magic numbers will go down by at least one. Tonight the Reds will be hosting the Cubs and the Giants will be visiting the Dodgers. Diamondbacks are idle, and so are the Cardinals, though they're quickly ceasing to matter.

Yesterday: Mets lost. Giants and Reds won, Cardinals and Diamondbacks lost. Mets Magic Number by team: Arizona Diamondbacks 9 (possibly 8 based on extended tiebreaker rules) Cincinnati Reds 9 San Francisco Giants 8 St. Louis Cardinals 5 The Mets hold the tie-breaker advantage over the Giants and Cardinals. The Reds have the advantage over the Mets The Mets/Diamondbacks tiebreaker is still TBD, but Arizona currently has the lead. Here's how it shakes out: The Mets are 23-23 against teams in their division. (Braves 5-8, Phillies 7-6, Marlins 5-5, Nationals 6-4). The Diamondbacks are 25-21 (Dodgers 5-5, Giants 7-6, Padres 5-5, Rockies 8-5). The Mets have six more games against division foes, three each against Miami and Washington. The Diamondbacks have six, three each against the Dodgers and Padres.

This feels like a big win, doesn't it?