Centerfield

Oh, his team had a session at the batting cage. Indoor place on 74th street. They have TVs in the hallway and lobby.

Last night, during his baseball practice, I heard my son get it from his teammates about the Mets losing and batting out of order. There is one other Mets fan on the team, the rest root for the Yankees. As we were leaving the cage, all of them stopped to watch the exciting (and very relevant) Yankees-Red Sox game. My son glanced at the TV, then walked out. That game doesn't concern him, and he clearly doesn't want to stick around to get the ribbing they'll throw at him. It's good natured, but even at 12 years old, I can see it starting to get old. This morning, I watched him put on his Mets hat again and walk out the door. I'm sure he'll hear it again today about the high-flying Yankees, his friends will rightfully tell him that the Mets will be irrelevant again before the end of May. And as a parent, you wonder. What the fuck have I done. There are very few Mets fans his age. If I had to guess, I'd say less than 20% of his age group root for the Mets. And all of those kids have parents that are Mets fans. In other words, if the parents aren't Mets fans, there is virtually no chance a kid his age will root for the Mets. (There are plenty of Met fan parents who say their kids root for the Yankees, almost none the other way around.) And this makes all the sense in the world. In what universe would a kid voluntarily root for this team? ShortCenter will be 13 this year. Since was born, the Mets have made the post-season three times (including the one game WC in 2016). The first one was in 2006, when he was one, and too young to know what was going on. He started understanding the game of baseball at age 4, and then grew up watching 6 straight losing seasons. During that time, I told him to be patient. Losing was part of baseball. The Mets were building to something. That something came in the second half of 2015, when the Mets caught fire all the way to the World Series. They followed that with a respectable 87 win season in 2016. Since then, misery again. That's his payoff. That's the extent of his baseball joy as a kid. One real post-season, one Wild Card game. He's gone to 1 post-season game. And sure yes, there's joy to be taken from winning and losing. But at the end, you want to see your team fucking win. His buddy, a big Yankee fan, was born a month earlier than him. During his lifetime, the Yankees have made the post-season 9 of his 12 years. He's gone to at least a dozen post-season games. Just when SC was starting his run of 6 losing seasons, his buddy went to the World Series parade. And the thing is, it's not going to change. Not as long as the Wilpons are owners. The Mets will never commit to winning above all else, so this is what it's going to be from now on. Why on earth would I make him a fan of this team when there are teams (not just the Yankees) that commit to winning each year? It's one thing if you live in Cleveland, or Pittsburgh, where the team is limited by geography. You can justify the David vs. Goliath angle. You can teach your kids the value of getting the most of what you are given. But there are no lessons to be learned from self-imposed financial restrictions caused by participation in an illegal Ponzi-scheme. There is no nobility in handicaps arising from one's own wrongdoing. I used to say for years "Well the Yankees just buy their championships. There's no pride to be gained from that." You know, that's not at all true. The Yankees, and the Dodgers and the Red Sox, and the Cubs have all developed terrific home-grown talent. Then taken advantage of the rules of their sport to supplement that talent with high-priced acquisitions to create kick ass teams. The Mets, with their "let's try to be good enough to get a wildcard" outlook, will never be able to compete with that. Get lucky here and there? Maybe. But on a long-term basis? No. So why the fuck do we root for them? Sure son. Winning seasons and post-season baseball may be good for some. And other people might like rooting for clubs who show a commitment to being the best. But instead, come with me to CitiField, where we can root for a second-tier team owned by guys who lost money participating in fraud. All because daddy decided to root for a player named "Strawberry" when he was 8 years old.

Jake Arrieta is 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. I would guess he has about a 40% chance of throwing a no-hitter Friday.

Especially when you consider Sabathia was more or less a contemporary of Johan Santana. During his time with the MFY's, the Mets have had 2 ace pitchers blow up on them. Say what you want about the Wilpons, and payroll, and Mickey and Sandy, but we have had some real shit luck in the past decade.

A week ago I'd be pissed about a loss like this and it would eat at me until Friday night. Today, I stepped into a meeting during the final innings. When I came back, I wasn't surprised at all to see they had lost, and I find I'm barely phased to find out. Maybe they have another hot streak in them, but I don't see any way these guys are a realistic contender.

Frayed Knot wrote: bmfc1 wrote: After Sunday, the players talked about how much they were looking forward to playing in a hitter's ballpark. That lasted exactly one game. Really it lasted half a game because, after scoring in each of the first five innings on Monday [1, 1, 3, 1, 1], they were shut-out for the rest of that game and in 20 of the next 22 innings while scoring a total of 3 runs in those two isolated frames. We can blame the starters, or the bullpen, or Mickey and today's lineup snafu all we want, but when the bats put up 2 runs or fewer in 7 of the last 9 games, a 1-8 stretch is about what you can expect. Which is to be expected when you don't improve your team in the off-season. Last year, the Mets finished 19th in runs scored. This year, after failing to make acquisitions to improve the offense, the Mets are (big surprise coming up here)....19th in runs scored.

Edgy MD wrote: A leftover from spring training, but a good story about Luis' playroom. I had believed the Mets' site which had reported him as US-born. Luis Guillorme Sr. knocked down a wall to turn two rooms into one large one. With a little imagination, Luis Jr. turned it into his personal defense experimentation zone. He’d get whatever balls he could — baseballs, tennis balls, racquetballs — and entertain himself for hours while unknowingly building his now-incredible hand-eye coordination. “Kids here have a little playroom with toys and stuff,” Guillorme said. “I had an empty room with nothing in it but a ball and a glove.” Too bad pops didn't also build a batting cage.

Is this for real? I don't even know where to start.

bmfc1 wrote: Oh Mickey, you F'd up real bad. What happened?

bmfc1 wrote: bmfc1 wrote: Also: Blevins is on baby watch so the Mets might be without their only bullpen lefthander for a few days. [tweet] [/tweet] Was something in the air last August? The entire series? Is that what players are doing now?

From Healey of Newsday: Yoenis Cespedes has been playing hurt, Mickey Callaway said. His right hamstring issue has affected mobility and cost the Mets on defense the past couple of days. Hip to quad to hamstring. May he still be mobile by next week. Healey issues correction: Yoenis Cespedes has been playing hurt, Mickey Callaway said. His right QUAD** issue has affected mobility and cost the Mets on defense the past couple of days. (**fixed body part) I think this makes all the sense in the world. Rest Cespedes. We can't risk a long term injury. And play Nimmo. Was starting to think everyone on the team would have to get swallowed in lava before he saw another start.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: In all fairness, Vargas has been better far more recently, and consistently decent over the last few years (even in seasons when he has been injured). I think Harvey's departure has far more to do with his inability to deliver in any capacity-- high-end performance, consistency, health-- in any role he's been given during the last two-plus years... and that he hasn't begun to resemble the pitcher he once was, or shown any sign of adjustment to changed circumstance, for that same time. He's been crap AND terrible at making/handling changes. I guess it depends on what you consider decent. In 2017, he had an ERA over 4 and a WHIP right around the league average. He was hurt in 2016, pitching in only 3 games (but was good in that small sample size). He was hurt in 2015 as well and only made 9 starts, posting similar numbers to what he did last year. 2014 was the last year he was healthy prior to last, and his numbers again, were right around league averages (3.71 ERA, WHIP of 1.273). The only stat that suggests he is anything but an average pitcher is the number of wins, which is why we heard so many times from the Mets that they signed "18 game winner Jason Vargas". He was signed with the intent that he be a stabilizing, dependable part of rotation. But I look and see an oft-injured, league average pitcher, signed at age 35 to a 2 year deal.

I've said a few times that no one puts their team into an early whole more often than Zack Wheeler. "He's the king of 5-0 before you even get into your seats.". This is largely fueled by two actual occasions where I attended Wheeler starts. But since I've been saying this, I figured I should test this rather than be colored by my skewed sample size. Since his debut in 2013, Zack has given up 5 runs or more in three innings or less seven times. Once in 2013, his rookie year, and once in 2014. He was out for 2 years with TJ surgery. Then he did it 4 times last year, and once this year. Overall, he's made 71 starts in his career, so in just under 10% of his starts, Zack will give up 5+ runs in 3 innings or less. That's terrible right?

Fucking Bruce. Guy is useless.

That’s what happens when you judge a pitcher by wins instead of looking at other numbers like ERA, WHIP and age.

Oh please be hurt.

Vargas: holy crap I suck. Robles: Hold my beer.

No really. Why is Robles on this team?

Feel extremely lucky to be down only 2-0. You know, to the Reds.

Holy fuck Vargas.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Mesoraco in uniform, wearing #29. He should be starting.

Would have loved to see Cecchini. But looking forward to see bat-catching Luis.

Hitting .220. Which doesn't sound like much until you realize it's double what our current guys are doing.

Nymr83 wrote: Mets agree to pay Harvey's salary on the condition he appears against them at least once per series for the acquiring tram. I think you might be right. Imagine facing Harvey at that ballpark.

Cespedes's leg has been hurting him. He said he felt pain Saturday and had to be removed from the game Sunday. It's the same quad injury that has plagued him in the past. The one where he came back too early causing him to suffer a much more serious injury. The Mets have struggled to find at-bats from Brandon Nimmo, their best offensive player not named Cabrera. So naturally, Ces is back in the lineup tonight.