Frayed Knot

So tomorrow starts a long slog for both the players and us. This current road trip is the first of five the Mets make between now and June 7th, four of which will take them out west for at least part of the trek. So over the next two+ months (67 days) they’ve got 59 games, 32 of which will be on the road, 22 of them in either the Pacific or Mountain time zones, and 15 of those 22 will be late night starts here in the east. So more than 1/4 of the next 59 games (36% of the entire schedule) will be 9:30 EDT or later starts. There will be no days off prior to the first game of each west coast series although the day before each trip will at least all be day games. There will be a (mandated) day off following each trip as they return east. April 2, 3, 4, 5 (Thu - Sun) in SF: N, N, N*, D (4:05) April 13, 14, 15 (Mon - Wed) @ LAD: N, N, N May 1, 2, 3 (Fri - Sun) @LAA: N, N, D (4:07) Yeah, good move by scheduling two trips to LA two weeks apart rather than all at once. May 4, 5, 6 (Mon - Wed) @ COL: N, N, D (3:10) May 8, 9, 10 (Fri - Sun) @ ARZ: N, N**, D (4:10) Jun 4, 5, 6 (Mon - Wed) @ SEA: N, N, D (3:40) Jun 5 - 8 (Fri - Sun) @ SD:: N, N, D (4:10) *The Saturday game in SF suxx cuz the NoCal teams (or, I guess, Team-singular going forward) traditionally play their Saturday games in the afternoon but not here for some reason. **4:15 local start/7:15 EDT so we catch a bit of a break here

So you're saying they got a fab five (and 1/3) out of Freddie?

Longest active on-base streak: Shohei Ohtani, 36 games Longest active scoreless innings streak: Shohei Ohtani, 22-2/3 innings Both extend back to last season obviously, but the fact they're both held by the same guy might be just as obvious. And if our game ever gets off the runway it'll be a good day for scoreboard watching: 15 games today, 14 of them are day games with only KC not getting with the program.

So I guess you're saying we shouldn't pass this one over?

That was the group that recorded their album at Electric Lovelady Studios, right?

He's got one of their three hits tonight.

Except in those innings when they don't even get the first hit.

Cuz they were out of sushi?

The season to date has been the art of never getting more than one hit per inning.

Mary Leaky found these very early impressions.

Seeing as how I was the guy doing the most flag-waving for full-on Robo-Ump (which I'm still convinced is coming, it's merely a matter of when) I'm not the one to complain here. And once you've got the technology to determine B vs S down to fractions of an inch it becomes impossible to say that it'll only be used to overturn truly rotten calls but not the somewhat rotten or even slightly rotten ones. I like that the challenge has to be instant and can only come from one of the three principal sources -- no dugout 'time-out', no eye-in-the-sky, no replay coordinator -- and then that the verdict is rendered in a matter of seconds. Plus the challenges themselves have limits (low ones) that can only be augmented by being consistently correct and not by whining and pleading your case for a 'crew chief review' that somehow doesn't count against the inventory of the team doing the asking (aka: The Mattingly Exception*) What has long ticked me off about video replay challenges is that it's always sold under the notion that it will be quick, decisive, and only for obvious mistakes but frequently it's not any of those. ABS, on the other hand, at least lives up to its billing. * one of Robert Ludlum's more poorly received efforts

Bad Puns R Us

I'm not mixing the issues up, merely saying that the combo of the two made a CDT game end at the same time when a typical EDT game used to end. The closing comments about MLB failing act as the issue got worse and worse were aimed at the pace of play part of the equation

btw, this was obviously a Central time zone game but, due to speed-up rules and earlier start times being adopted by some clubs, this game ended (10:17 EDT) right around where an Eastern TZ game typically did prior to the new rules [a 7:10 start when the average game peaked at right around 3:07]. Or, if it were an 8:15 first pitch as StL games were a few seasons back, then this one runs to near 11:30 NYC time where I'm guessing I'm not the only one who opted to cash in my chips before the late innings. And to think, it only took MLB a couple of decades to realize that these (ever worsening) conditions were affecting the popularity and access to their games.

On Monday night the Yanx lost (Cal Raleigh walk-off PH single) as did the Marlins, Blue Jays, Brewers, and Dodgers, leaving no undefeated teams four games into 2026. Meanwhile the Rockies, White Sox, Giants, and Diamondbacks all won leaving the Athletics (0-4) as this season's only winless team.

Same bat time, same bat channel as the series opener. Kodai (Chrome) Senga makes his season debut vs Andre Pallante who I thought had played with Zidane on the French National team but apparently he's just a 27 y/o RH going into his 5th season with StL. He even started twice vs the Mets in 2025: 6 innings/4 ER in an eventual 4-1 NYM win; then just a few weeks later he also gave up 4 in 3.1 IP in a game the Cards won 5-4 There will be lineups but my sources aren't coming through with the goods quite yet. Either that or that's just what they want me to think.

This seems like one of those: we should be up by more than just 2 kind of games

I'm also not picking up the bal off the bat well. It's like the lighting And sound is off.

That was his first ever AB for the Braves

I/we never saw a replay either so I just assumed he was sent. And, as mentioned above somewhere, no one in the booth brought up the subject of the pros and cons of sending him there ... which was kind of odd.

So the Braves & Phils also lost on Sunday so the only undefeated team in the NL East is ... your Miami Marlins!! All four other NLE teams are 2-1 as we end the first half-week of the 2026 season.

So 8 of the first 9 Sunday nights are PEACOCK only and then it's mostly available on both until the NFL starts. And not just Peacock but Peacock Premium.

And then he got a face-full of leather sliding into the plate.

ROAD TRIP!!!! First one of the year (Duh!) - 7:45 EDT Monday Night start:; Clay Holmes vs Kyle Leahy. This will be the third full ML season for the soon-to-be 29 y/o RH Leahy who started in 2024 [33 starts, 4.07 ERA; 1.03 WHIP] then worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen in '25 [62 G, 88 IP, 3.07 / 1.23] As for the rest of the lineup, the Cardinals, after 71 wins in '23, 83 in '24, and 78 in '25, are in full-out rebuild mode under new PoBO Chaim Bloom. Gone from the '25 squad are the likes of Willian Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, and Sonny Gray. All of which leaves a mostly under-30* roster all over but not a lot of recognizable names beyond SS Masyn Winn and massive disappointment (to date) Jordan Walker in RF. Even fan fave Lars Nootbaar (cuz who doesn't like a good Nootbaar after lunch?) is on the 60 day IL to start the year. Cards took 2 of 3 in their first series at home vs TBR, all of them high-scoring for whatever that's worth: 9-7 (W), 6-5 (W in 10), 11-7 (L) on Sunday. The only ex-factor is StL being the current home for Ryne Stanek * P - Riley O'Brian, 31; P - Ryne Stanek, 34; 3B - Ramon Urias, 32 ... that's it, that's the over-30 portion of the roster!

So apparently the 'NBC Sunday Night Game' actually means 'Peacock'. Or at least it probably will until the NBA ends once their regular season followed by the 13 month playoff deal finally ends.