Centerfield

Back to the original question, I have no idea what you say to Major Leaguers to get them to play better. I'm not sure there is a right answer, and if there is, I don't see how a fan could ever know. I do know this. Mendoza's answers are infuriating to fans. Much like Pete's. The "we have to play better, we have to execute, we're too good" schtick gets old really quick. It's aggravating to hear the same thing, with no answers again and again. That's why so many people have re-written the Terry Collins story. Terry wasn't a great manager. I think there's plenty of evidence of that. But Terry had fire, and sometimes that came out at press conferences, and it made us feel better. Fans see losses. They feel angry. If a manager comes out angry, then fans relate to that. But was Terry a better motivator of the players than Mendoza? I have no idea. I guess if I were thrown into Mendoza's situation, the one thing I would tell the team is to try to win every inning. And immediately after that inning is over, forget about it and win the next inning. And maybe if you can get them to think in small chunks, they won't play like they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Cuz it certainly seems like they're playing with that weight every day.

If I were Carlos Mendoza, I would: 1. Play McNeil, Vientos and Baty every day. Regardless of what hand the pitcher throws with. 2. Stop wasting my pinch runner by batting him. 3. Stop asking my relievers to work multiple innings in games that are still in reach. 4. Stop playing Cedric Mullins. 5. Ask Stearns to call up Jett as a CF option. 6. Stop using Ryne Stanek in games that are within reach. Even if that means using Justin Hagenman. 7. When you pull your starter with men on base, don’t go to Soto.

I think Mauricio needed to be aware of the possibility that the ball could be caught, but not only did he pause too long, he paused too close to first. That's a young player trying not to make a mistake. Was it readable that Castellanos had no chance off the bat? Maybe, but we can't see it from Ronny's angle. His mistake was not getting closer to second and understanding that if Castellanos made the catch, it would be with all of his momentum taking him into the corner. Ronny could have been around second and had time to make it back. But let's go back to the 8th inning. The real mistake was Mendoza batting our pinch runner making him unavailable. This is a mistake he makes repeatedly. Luisangel Acuna cannot hit. He's here to run and play defense. And by batting him in the 8th, you make him unavailable for the role where he's elite. He's also an amazing defender. So maybe he reads Vientos ball differently and runs more aggressively. Baty has a .653 OPS against lefties. Acuna hits .659 against lefties. Is it better? Not really. And by burning him as a pinch hitter, you make him unavailable as a pinch runner. Now, maybe he also reads the ball poorly and holds up. Or maybe he tries stealing and gets caught. But the one thing Mendoza has to stop doing is burning Acuna by using him at the plate. He's not here for that.

They’re gonna ****ing blow it.

As a group, they are 9th in MLB in runs scored. Which I guess is ok, but going in, I think we were all hoping that this would be a top 5 offense. Pitching, the Mets are 13th overall in ERA, which I think is lower than we were hoping, but something we thought could be a possibility given the question marks going in. When you break that down, the Mets are 10th in Starter ERA, and 13th in bullpen ERA. The issue is that the Mets are 25th in IP for starters, and have the 7th highest IP for relievers.

Off the top of my head: Outperforming Expectations: Nolan McLean Edwin Diaz Brooks Raley Performing at Expectations: Juan Soto Pete Alonso Francisco Lindor Francisco Alvarez (but was hurt) Jeff McNeil Brett Baty Starling Marte Luis Torrens David Peterson Clay Holmes Reed Garrett Tyler Rogers Gregory Soto Huascar Brazoban Performing Under Expectations Brandon Nimmo (slighty) Mark Vientos Luisangel Acuna Tyrone Taylor Jesse Winker (injury) Cedric Mullins Jose Siri (injury) Kodai Senga Sean Manaea Frankie Montas Griffin Canning (injury) Ryne Stanek Dedniel Nunez (injury) Ryan Helsley Danny Young AJ Minter (injury) Tylor Megill (injury) Too Early to Tell Jonah Tong Brandon Sproat Ronnie Maurico

I would argue that this year's team will be far more disappointing than those teams you mention. Those teams fell short, but realistically, they had huge holes as constructed. The 2025 team is stacked with talent from top to bottom. It's disappointing that so many of these talented players are underperforming, and that they collectively seem to be less than the sum of their parts.

I guess the one good thing is that the Giants will spend the next 15 games playing the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Cardinals. Arizona and St. Louis are both .500-ish teams with a slim chance to snag that 3rd WC themselves, so I guess they'll be playing for something. And LA, despite struggling lately, is still LA. But as FK mentioned in the other thread, only one of SF, CIN, STL or ARI needs to get hot. And if the Mets don't at least go .500 the rest of the way, they're likely on the outside looking in.

Last night's loss was bad. Per ESPN, our playoff percentage dropped to 92.3%. It had been hovering around 96% for a long time. Three days of pain might be underselling it. They face Suarez, Sanchez and Luzardo over the next three days. Then come home to face deGrom. By the time Friday ends, they could possibly be out of a playoff spot. 2-2 might be the best we can hope for here. After deGrom they'll face: Saturday: Patrick Corbin. 4.36 ERA, 1.32 WHIP Sunday: Jacob Latz. 2.91 ERA, 1.24 WHIP Tuesday: Nick Pivetta. 2.85 ERA, 0.96 WHIP You figure they can beat Corbin, lefty or not, and you match up McLean against Latz on Sunday. Tuesday night Pivetta against Manaea is a mismatch.

Was on with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman on his podcasts. Says it was an adjustment issue. Last year no one had any info on him. This year, the book was out on him, and he had to make adjustments. In the recent weeks, he's learned to play the cat and mouse game and has had to adapt to how he's been pitched. When asked specifically what adjustments he made, he fell into cliches. So obviously he doesn't want to give anything away. Separately, he suggests he was too focused on not striking out. Now, he's focused on hitting the ball hard. His strength is his power. So if he strikes out, he accepts it, and understands he'll get another AB to help the team.

They're not just "not eliminated". They're 4 games up on a playoff spot. A better argument can be made that failing to call these guys up cost them the division, or a chance at a first round bye. I think that's a more plausible argument. With McLean, I think there's no question it would have been better for the team had McLean been up earlier, but it's tough to know if he would have arrived here had he been called up earlier. Tong, is still an open book. We have no idea what he will be. Sproat hasn't even thrown a pitch yet.

I like bringing up Sproat, but McLean should get the start on Sunday. First of all, that’s a tough game to give a rookie starter. The Philly games are less meaningful at this point. Also, you don’t want Philly to see McLean again so soon. Not just for the this game, but in case we see them in October. This is short sighted in my opinion.

It's not just the rotation that's thin. The bullpen is looking a little lean too. Diaz is your closer. Tyler Rogers has a much higher WHIP since coming to the Mets, but still reliable. Raley has been pretty good. Beyond that, Reed Garrett is hurt, Gregory Soto has come back to earth. No one else is any good.

Maybe I missed some nuance here, but with a completely rested bullpen today (except Stanek) and an off-day tomorrow, why did Mendy go to Helsley in a one run game?

So are we accepting the Gelbs explanation that this turnaround came after they decided to be aggressive on fastballs? I don’t know what’s changed, but it’s crazy that all of a sudden everyone is hitting. If the story is true, give credit to Chavez and the organization making an adjustment. Though you have to wonder about the philosophy that caused them to suck in the first place. I feel like we had an episode of this a few years ago. Where hitters complained that they went up with too much info. Maybe that was Jeff McNeil? Anyway. Let’s hope this is is sustainable.

On a deep fly ball it’s not usually clear that it’s a routine play. Outfielders get twisted around. You have to go halfway in case it drops. Allows you to get to third and the batter to get to second. If you tag and you’re wrong, you give your batter a long single. By the time you realize the outfielder is under the ball, there isn’t enough time to go back and tag.

Man. I hope this kid is good. The Mets need a good 21. (No offense Lucas Duda)

I wonder if that means play through the broken pinky, or wait until after it's healed.

He wore 21 as a Salt Potato.

Wait. Did I miss something? Did we get offended by the schedule last year?

Wow! After just 2 starts in AAA. The stuff I read tells me his stuff is amazing and he'll be a star, and also tells me he depends too much on a fastball that won't fool MLB hitters like it did in the minors. So we'll see. I hope this kid is good. I love watching his interviews. I feel like I'm watching a kid that could have easily played on one of my son's teams.

Anything other than a sweep is fine for Philadelphia. If they lose three in a row, then maybe it becomes something. Tonight is a BIG GAME.

The closest they’ve come was the May 23 game against LA, scoring 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and force extras (losing in the 13th). Yup. That was an incredibly frustrating game. Torrens needed to put the ball in play to win it. There was one more game. I think it was the Sunday game in KC? Where McNeil tied it in the ninth. Then they lost in the bottom of that frame.

I think it's impossible to know if it was the right time to call up a particular player when it comes to that player's development. But as far as a team in contention is concerned I think it would be far fetched to argue that the team couldn't have used McLean, even a lesser version of him, during the losing streak in June. McLean said he got better against lefties in his recent starts. Would he have not made that progress pitching in the bigs? I don't see how anyone can know the answer to that. As far as Jonah Tong, I can't figure out how he's that good. The clips I'm seeing of him shows a lot of swing and miss on his fastball, and a decent change up. Hopefully that can translate to the big leagues, but who knows.

I remember trading for him in 2024 and wondering what Stearns saw in this guy. And then he sucked and got hurt and you figure that's the last we'll see of him. And then his spine starts leaking fluid and I was sure that's the last we'll ever see of him. And then astonishingly he's tendered a contract by Stearns. $4M that could have gone to re-sign Jose Quintana. And then he finally came off the IL and pitched one good game against LA, then absolutely sucked every time he pitched after that. He was the one that started the avalanche in that June 13 game against Tampa. He started three games in that miserable losing streak in June and sucked in all of them. You wonder how many of those games the Mets might have won if he simply didn't exist. Even Austin Warren or Chris Devenski would have given us a better chance. I'm shocked that the Yankees signed him and ran him out there. I don't see how this guy has a job.