Frayed Knot

So while we're dealing with the Braves this weekend: - the Phils will be in Milwaukee where they kick things off by having to face Les Mis tonight - the Nats will host the Mariners - and the Marlins will be in Pittsburgh I'll likely have either Phils/Brews or Yanx @ Blue Jays on TV with the sound down while listening to NYM on radio. And then maybe flick on US/Paraguay when that game rolls around.

But wait (as they say on informercials) there's more ... and it gets worse! So not only is Atlanta 4th in MLB in BA (.256), 9th in OBA (.323), 3rd in SLG (.428) and 3rd in OPS (751) -- behind only LAD & NYY in both SLG & OPS -- but put duckies on ponds and those numbers jump across the board. This is a concept very unlike the 2025 Mets who had every starter (except Pete) lose 100 or more points off his (or her, we have to be inclusive these days) OPS when runners were involved including a 300 to 500 point loss in the cases of Lindor and Soto until the universe at least started to align itself somewhat in the post-ASB portion of the season. A bit of regression to the mean and all that. So that .256 Braves BA? .... yeah, that turns into .283 w/men on and .285 if they're RiSP. The .323 OBA? that becomes .354 & .355. A .428 slug stat? Not with men on it isn't, try .460/.459. All of which combines for a 706 bases empty OPS, an 814 Runners-on OPS, and an 813 RiSP OPS I'd like to find out what color the sky is in a world where my team does that sort of thing.

First meeting with Atlanta but not the last. As Gary mentioned during Wednesday's game, the fact that the Mets have yet to face either Atlanta or Philly means that over 27% of their remaining games this season [26 of 94] will be against one of those two. The Braves, a 76-86 team last season, sit with the best record in the sport this year and an 8 game lead in the NL East. So while we watch NYM bats hit significantly under their back of the baseball card stats, Brave hitters are almost all going in the other direction. C - Drake Baldwin: 128 OPS+ last year / 163 this season; 1B - Matt Olson: 140 / 153; 2B - Ozzie Albies: 90 / 121; Cf - Michael Harris: 90 / 140 Annnnd they're getting ridiculous contributions from bench players/injury replacements. SS Ha Seong Kim goes down, pick up two 31 y/o career backups in Mauricio Dubon and Jorge Mateo and watch them put up by far the best seasons of their careers: Dubon = 107 OPS+ vs career 85, and Mateo 135 / 77. Or sign on the verge of being out of the game entirely Dom Smith and watch him hit near .300 with his best season since the shortened 2020 campaign, aka: the year he picked up some down ballot MVP votes (finished 13th). Now they are dealing with some injuries, namely Ronald Acuna was just IL'd with (yet another) hamstring issue, and Both of their catchers: Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy. But their pitchers are all healthy with all the starters pitching above league average and basically half their pen has WHIPs under 1.00 The Braves are on a two game losing streak right now having lost two one-run games to the suddenly resurgent (and 1st Place!!) White Sox before getting rained out on Thursday. Prior to that, of course, they had won 8 of 10 so I don't think this 'slump' will bust them. Friday's opener will be a 7:15 game on Apple+ game (boooo) featuring Spencer Strider [7 starts this year, 4.00 ERA, 1.27 WHIP] vs Nolan McLean. Then a 4:10 game on Sat (SNY) and 1:40 on Sunday (PIX).

Just talked about various ballplayers of that era: Gary Carter, Mike Schmidt, Bob Horner

Day Game Alert!! 1:10 get-away-day start. Christian Scott vs Hunter Dobbins Dobbins [26 y/o, R/R] was an 8th round pick by the Red Sox in 2021 out of Texas Tech. Made his ML debut in 2025 and made 11 starts. Was traded over the winter to StL for Wilson Contreras and this will be his 4th game/2nd start this season. So far 4 ER allowed over 13 innings. Only 10 hits but also 7 BBs Let's see if our hurlers can hold the Cards to under a touchdown in this one.

It's not good when you're being out-scored by the NHL playoffs: Last four games: Mets = 2 + 7 + 0 + 2 = 11 Carolina Hurricanes: 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 =17 Las Vegas Golden Knights: 5 + 3 + 5 + 3 = 16

So Peterson goes for the comebacker he should have let go and lets the one go that he should have gloved.

I have no idea who that mascot thingie is.

There are professional dry cleaners and airline pilots who don't use the word 'Hanger' as often as Keith does.

I got a good idea, let's wait until there are two outs with runners on to give up all our HRs Mets, in the meantime, can't get a ball out of the infield much less a hit in six tries with RiSP

Second inning in a row with runner on 2nd/no outs and once again no one gets the ball out of the IF: HBP - K - K - BB - GO

The Cards on the other hand, start with two outs and none on and go: BB, HR

So a leadoff (gift) double ... but none of the next three batters gets the ball out of the infield [K, GO, K]

Giants down 9-1 in Top-8 at home vs Nationals, Paxton Schultz pitching M. Chapman - HR (9-2); R. Devers - HR (9-3); J.H. Lee - Walk + SB; B. Eldridge - Walk; D. Susac - Double (9-4); <Orlando Ribalta replaces Schultz> D. Gilbert - GO (9-5); Wild Pitch (9-6); B. Kennedy - K Nats add a run in top-9, Gus Varland in to pitch with a 10-6 lead L. Arraez - Double; M. Chapman - Double (10-7); . Devers - Walk; <Mitch Parker replaces Gus Varland> J.H. Lee - Single; B. Eldridge - Grand Slam ... Giants 11- Nats 10 That's 10 runs allowed by the Nats pen while getting only 3 outs.

And we still can't retire #9 hitters named Fermin And now the Cards hit their third grounder in a GiDP situation (in ten batters) that was too slow to turn two. And that's followed by a hit

Single - Walk - Weak grounder (so no GiDP, 1-0) - RBI Single - Walk - Weak Grounder (so no GiDP, 2-0) Shirley the Mets would have managed to hit into a GiDP there, maybe two!

They did. Not to a 28 man roster but to 26. And I don't think going to 28 would do much to lessen the need/temptation for tinkering anyway. We've gone from 9-10 man pitching staffs to 13-14 since I've been following but larger staffs have only led to more shuttling, not less. Also, instead of having players subject to promotion/demotion without limit for a set number of years they did set limits on the number of times within a season a few years ago. But those limits simply made the shuttle service involve more arms not fewer transactions. I agree that so many transactions is often difficult to keep track of --'Who's this guy again?' -- but I don't think it hurts those being transported back and forth. They're getting ML service time while they're up (possibly for the only time in their career which also gets them into the MLBPA pension plan) as well as a significant bump in pay for as long as it lasts. Plus you never know if/when their performance might lead to a longer stay either with their current team or because it piqued the interest of another.

There were always a decent percentage of NYG fans who didn't like/trust Phil Simms, even after they won a Super Bowl with him at the helm (and where he was MVP by going 22-for-25 in pass attempts) and felt that the Giants won despite him not because of him. So my NYG fan buddy Paul was at a game one time -- must have been 1988 when the two backup QBs were Jeff Hostetler and Jeff Rutledge -- where the Giants were losing and a crew in the section behind him starting chanting, WE WANT JEFF! WE WANT JEFF! So Paul turned and asked them which one. WE DON'T CARE! WE DON'T CARE! That the Giants were in the midst of a 10-6 season that year, had just come off a SB year and would shortly win another, or that Simms would wind up with a much better career than either of his backups didn't seem to matter to some. He was still the problem rather than the solution backing up the old adage about how the second (or third) string QB is often the most popular guy on the team since he hardly ever throws key interceptions like that damned starter does.

So was Mendy. Beware of buying too much into the backup quarterback syndrome.

So it's free as long as you pay extra for it in advance?

Butchery?

There were also a record 16 ABS challenges in that Brewers/A's game Monday night.

Kodai Senga has been scratched from his next rehab start (tonight) due to "ulnar nerve irritation" in his upper right arm. Mendoza also mentioned that his velocity had been down in his most recent outing. And so it goes. https://nypost.com/2026/06/09/sports/kodai-senga-scratched-from-rehab-start-in-latest-mets-injury-mess/

You've got to remember that, in those pre-expansion days, St Louis was not only MLB's westernmost town but also its southernmost and that radio station KMOX, 'The Voice of St Louis', broadcast Cardinals games to not just Missouri but Arkansas, Texas and beyond. So there was a certain degree of the Cardinals feeling like they represented the south even if not all of them were from it. The Redskins were the same in the NFL and they stayed white only until into the '60s* (not that you'd ever hear the NFL acknowledge that) because their games were carried by radio into Virginia, the Carolinas and beyond well before there were teams in Atlanta, Florida, Charlotte, etc. The Cardinals finally integrated in the early '50s after Anheuser-Busch bought the team. The story was that when 'Gussie' Busch toured the team's training camp he asked where the black players were. When told they didn't have any black players he asked, 'Why not, we sell beer to black people why wouldn't we sell baseball to them as well'. So maybe not an altogether humanitarian gesture on Busch's part but a practical one to him which in turn led to the same result. * I once saw some pictures (probably in a magazine though I can't remember) about the Redskins one of which was of a teenager/young man carrying a sign demanding to KEEP THE REDSKINS WHITE. I wonder if that guy ever realized the irony of his wording.

That's what's needed, of course, a run that no one sees coming. Something like 27-28 being followed up with 40-15. Or two years ago when the Tigers sold off parts at the deadline and were seven games under .500 after Tarik Skubal got roughed up on August 2nd only to close out the season 34-17 and won four playoff games. The problem is that they've put themselves in a position where they Need such a run. But they occasionally do happen.