Frayed Knot

The Mets were only going to hit once more (most likely) and the pitcher's slot was going to be, where it traditionally was, in the #9 spot as Alvarez was both the last out of T-8 and the guy being double-switched out for Torrens, so it was unlikely that spot would ever come to bat. So not a high risk move and it got them better defenders in the OF and behind the plate.

Possibly. Although 15-6 is a pretty ridiculous deficit. Yanx had five singles, three of which knocked in four runs, a 2R HR plus a Sac Fly (both Bellinger). And then the Marlins catcher decides to wait until there's a runner on 3rd for both of his passed balls.

Baseball world, meet Angels RF'er Jo Adell Final score: Angels 1 - Mariners 0

Following up on my post yesterday about the relationship between hits and runs, the Yanx last night got out-hit by the Marlins 15 to 6 but won 9-7 despite the fact that five of the six hits were singles and the pin-stripers were a mere 3/13 w/RiSP. But Miami pitchers were kind enough to chip in with 10 walks and the Yanx scored twice on passed balls in a game. There were also EIGHT ABS challenges (seven overturned) in a game that ran 3:49 (gonna party like it's 1999!!)

So I was looking at our early season stats during last night's game: - In games one and eight the Mets scored a combined 21 runs on 26 hits - Games two thru seven: 14 runs on a total of 40 hits Not that anything about those numbers should come as a surprise to anyone who even partially watched the games since not only did they barely hit during those middle games but they barely scored even when they did actually manage to scrape up and handful of bingles. But I was struck by the contrast between games 1 & 8 where they scored nearly a run for each hit compared to the shit sandwich that was that middle stretch where it took nearly three hits just to score once. And that all got me to thinking (rarely a good thing) about what a 'typical' ratio was, something I don't think I even thought about before. So after some exhaustive research (aka: looking at league-wide totals for the most recent completed seasons) it turns out that the ratio for the seasons 2022 thru 2025 has hovered between 1.8 to 1.9 hits per each run scored. In the end I'm not sure that this 'discovery' is all that interesting and probably even less useful, except to maybe emphasize that not only do the number of hits matter but so does the power and grouping of those hits. But it does answer a question that I never thought to ask prior to last night.

Seven full-counts by McLean, but still a more than decent pitch count [67 thru 5]

The reverse curse of the 'Suxx' thread strikes again!

Don't you think he probably already has a place to live?

So Leiper was aggressive with no outs but passive with two outs. (and a fast runner)

Mets send eight to the plate in top 1 ... and manage to score the mathematical minimum possible. I'm not sure that Robert got the outs wrong. He appeared to duck the liner, or at least pause so as to not risk running into it. But then the coach seemed to make the premature decision to hold Robert while failing to read that the LF'er wasn't even looking to throw home.

There was a clash of the Titans at YSIII today as the AL best 5-1 Yanx hosted the NL best 5-1 Marlins for their home opener. The Fish got smoked. Pirates called up #1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin for their home opener today after just 500 total minor league ABs and less than 100 of them above A ball. The 1st round/9th overall 2024 draft* pick out of a Mississippi HS is a 6' 3"/222 R/R SS who doesn't turn 20 until three weeks from now. And, seeing as how he was called up just a week into the season, he'll still play enough (assuming he doesn't get sent down for any length of time) to get credit for a full season so his FA-gency won't be delayed (iow: NOT like the Cubs did to Kris Bryant) although that's likely a moot point as there's talk (not yet official afaik) of an immediate multi-year contract. He seems to have about 80 family members in the stands who have seen him hit an RBI double, walk, strikeout and gave him a Standing O for his successful ABS challenge. * he's not the first from his draft class to reach the majors, but he's the only high schooler in the top 10 so the others are all around three years older than him

He got unlucky in a few spots, but there's no disguising 19 batters faced with only 8 retired.

One trend from last year continues: Lindor and Soto never getting hits/on base in the same inning. When one hits the other doesn't and vice versa.

I'm hanging around for three innings or until they give up 17 runs ... whichever comes first.

Oh yeah, both SFG and, to a lesser extent, Oakland have long played the majority of their Saturday games during the day. This was especially true back in the Windlestick Park days when night games in SF were the equivalent to a Navy Seal survival test but it's still so now according to your stats there (9 day / 5 night) even if by a smaller ratio than before; in the past those D/N games might have been more like a 12/2 split So I just figured that a weekend series v the Giants meant a probable 2/2 split in D/N games, particularly in April, but, alas, it was Knot 2 B. By contrast, the SoCal teams have long played their Saturdays at night almost exclusively and long before it started to become the fashion in the east. Even back when the Padres were perennial losers barely drawing flies in that overgrown football stadium out where Interstates 5 & 8 cross, Saturday nights were often their biggest crowds of the week. No one wants to go to a ball game in the day time in LA or SD, they're all at the beach. And of course this means fewer late night games in the second half, but it still makes for a rough stretch now, especially since the Mets are on the road to 7 of the 10 West Division teams this year and two of the home series are with the ones only one time zone away (HOU & TEX). The only true PTZ team we skip visiting this year is West Sacramento. We hit the other five plus Arizona which is an honorary PTZ team once DST starts.

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.