Centerfield

I shouldn’t have tuned in. I just clicked it on and saw 3 runs score.

You may be right. My breakdown of performance vs expectation (I’ve left the rookies out since there is no track record to set expectations): Hurt 1. Polanco. Never got going. A disaster. 2. Robert. Hurt, but at least he performed well in the short time he played. 3. Lindor. Not enough ABs yet to counter his traditional slow start. 4. Soto. Obviously amazing, but just missed so much time. Old 1. Semien. Bad numbers the last two years. This year was even worse, but that could be an age related downturn. Robert, Polanco and Semien were clearly a roster construction issue. Just Bad 1. Baty. Inexplicably bad after showing promise last year. 2. Vientos. Second straight bad year suggesting 2024 was a fluke. 3. Alvarez. Disappointing bad stretch after seemingly figuring it out. Still has a chance to end strong. 4. Bichette. The biggest disappointment. Sure maybe April/May was an adjustment period. But also had a bad July. Surprisingly Good 1. Taylor. Contributed to the Jefferson Rojas trade. 2. Torrens. Especially lately. 3. Jared Young. .765 OPS. Of this group, four players underperformed, suggesting a flaw in approach. But that is offset by three players having surprisingly good seasons as against their track record. So maybe it is just random sampling. Steve Cohen said in his interview that there was too much risk. Maybe that’s it. We said going into this season that there was incredible volatility to the lineup. I think I didn’t give enough weight to the injury risks on top of the inconsistency risks. Every player that was an injury risk got hurt. The old player played old. All the question marks achieved the low end of the spectrum. One “reliable” player had a down year (Bichette) and our two best players missed significant time.

Whose turn is it to pitch? Is it Christian Scott? Or is it the new callup? maybe someone better prepared should have started the IGT.

Agree. It’s never a good idea to mess with the IGT mojo.

Manaea sucks again.

More than any personnel moves the Mets make this offseason, they're going to need a deep dive on their hitting philosophies to figure out how talented players ended up performing so poorly.

So now we have a bit of a sample size of Senga, short reliever. I think when he’s rested and pumping 99/100, he’s very tough on hitters. But now we see that with a little bit of use he’s more in the 95/96 range. Which is plenty, but I’m not sure he feels that way. So he starts nibbling, and that leads to walks. All kidding aside, I don’t think he’s closer material, but maybe he can be an effective middle reliever. You just have to make sure to get him more rest than others.

If you're not crazy about seeing Stock, here are a couple of guys who might be here if not for him: Jonah Tong has picked things up as of late in Syracuse. He has a 2.39 ERA in the month of August, and that includes his stinker on August 5 where he gave up 5 HR in 5 IP. In his last 4 starts, he's pitched 21.1 innings, and given up 2 ER. That will play. I wouldn't be shocked if Jonah gets the call the next time through, but maybe the Mets want him to finish the season strong in AAA. Tobias Myers seems to be getting it back too. 2.89 ERA in August. In his last 5 appearances, he's pitched 12.1 innings, with 2 ER. Looks like he's been used as a reliever, so not really a starting option. Jack Wenninger probably needs more time. 5.00 ERA in August, though his WHIP is down to 1.06. That follows a 4.91 ERA, 1.58 WHIP in July. So yeah, not ready. Jonathan Santucci has a 7.58 ERA and 2.00 WHIP ion 5 starts at AAA. Not a realistic option. Not a starter, but Dylan Ross is unscored upon in his last 6 outings (6.2 IP).

Exactly right. The returns for Robert must have been so underwhelming that the Mets just decided to gamble and see if he stayed healthy enough and produced enough in August for someone to take on that salary. Robert was healthy, hit 6 HR in August, had an .841 OPS and I guess the O's figured that was good enough. Win win all around. The Mets save some money, the O's get a chance to add a productive player, and Robert gets to join a pennant race.

Really. He will probably never hit again.

I think the conclusion of this article is that Zac can be a productive MLB pitcher. I hope so. I realize he doesn’t throw that hard by today’s standards, but soft tossing lefties have been successful since MLB began. I don’t see why that can’t be true now. Plus 92-93 is not uncompetitive.

He changed his arm angle. Thats going to screw up anyone. The question is whether he’s better in the long run for having done so.

Tobias Myers is doing better? strange that he’s not with the big club.

I feel like this is his first XBH in like a month.

It’s crazy to not have any rehab games then to come in and hit. I guess he’s Juan Soto.

Yeah. The offense has gone back to being terrible. And AJ Ewing is a mess.

Wow. Senga looked great.

We need to delete the “AJ Ewing Slump is Fixable” thread.

John jastremski is the head scratcher for me. How anyone would want to hear from him is crazy.

We getting a look at what this lineup looks like without Bo.

I feel like these last two games show the ridiculous gap between Stearns old team and his current one.

Look at that lineup. What idiot expected this team to win games.

Meh. Win the series tomorrow. Anyway. dedniel looked better. Despite some hard contact.

Short Center is at this game with a buddy. Says the squirrel was the highlight so far.

In a regular free agent season I would vote to have him go. But given this crappy class I voted to stay. But the crappy class is probably why he’ll go.