Edgy MD

I confess that I wanted Francisco to lay one down there. Good thing he missed my bunt signal.

Vientos' new bat is a hero!

Mets destroying a lot of bats in bases-loaded frustration tonight.

That surly 16-year-old boy with the bird's nest hair and the sky-blue golf shirt behind home plate is just freaking me out.

Amazing to get a caught-stealing when the guy beat the throw by twelve feet.

Somebody tell Nimmo how to keep a ball in front of him.

Or he is going to get parked.

Pete is going to park one here.

CARLOS MENDOZA: "You did a great job, Kodai. Pat yourself on the back. We're going to turn the game over to Alex Carillo." KODAI SENGA: "Who the hell is that?" CARLOS MENDOZA: "Not sure, to be honest."

Ronny Mauricio at third may end up being a thing.

Frayed Knot wrote: Whatever we do tonight, getting into a brawl is probably not a good idea. Salvatore Perez: 6' 4" / 255 Vinny Pasquantino: 6' 3" / 245 Jac Caglianone: 6' 5" / 250 The only team that scares me in a brawl is the Cards, because they have Stubby Clapp.

The Mets are making hard throws, and it appears because these Royals have a couple of guys that are capable of beating out routine grounders.

I fear Mauricio is going to get beaned.

Jonathan India don't look right without a Reds uni. I guess Salvador Perez is the only veteran of the 2015 World Series out there.

I ain't sure, but given a draft, Bobby Witt, Jr. is pretty close to my first overall pick.

Broadcast underway. Steve Gelbs with the play-by-play tonight, and apparently for the weekend.

This will be the third series in a row when the Mets match up with a former World Series opponent of theirs.

One thing that makes watching Pete Alonso interesting is that the traditional first baseman's stretch simply does not seem to be in his arsenal. Maybe he cannot loosen his groin enough, maybe he cannot make glove adjustments from that position, or maybe he just hates it, but the stretching toward the thrown ball and putting his front foot way out to keep his balance — as shown below — is mostly not part of his game. [FIMG=500]https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/530523b9e4b00af361a0c61c/1526340791192-YRGD625931R109XZG7VG/First+baseman+Stetch+Splits+5.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=500]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PiqcV07NQDA/maxresdefault.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=500]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55868235/Screen_Shot_2017_07_24_at_11.47.55_PM.0.png[/FIMG] [FIMG=500]https://www.internationalsoftball.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20f9c67e-239a-4e9c-9638-4472dc41399f.png[/FIMG] What he does instead — keeping the leg facing the runner back — he seems to have made work for him (and maybe saved an injury or two). The tough part of that play — stretching his upper body beyond the center of his leg base — is that he almost always falls down. He has to really time the maneuver, to make the catch before his body really collapses on him, and still hold the bag with his back foot as he falls. In this collection of his scoops, there are one or two traditional long stretches, but more frequently, he keeps his front leg further back, and makes the play falling, sometimes planting his right knee or his right hand, or sometimes rolling onto his hip and back, as his back leg falls or rolls off the bag just after his catch. It ain't Keith Hernandez, but it has gotten the job done. [media=youtube]wtiP163Ed8c[/media]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=197821 time=1752254901 user_id=68] Nobody's saying that Alvarez won't ever live up to his promise. But I take your comments with a big grain of salt because there isn't a single Met in the history of mankind till the end of the world that you're not head over heels in love with. You'd be touting Alvarez even if he was oh for the season having struck out in every single one of his at bats. You'd probably be complimenting him instead, for not swinging at the first called strike or something.

Well, I miss him, even if his ability was far more symbolic than concrete. For the most part, his defense was far more consistent this year until his last week or two. And Hayden Senger's next RBI will be his first. In the past, I thought he swung so hard that his arms grew tired over day-to-day play. He would swing like a maniac for a few weeks, and then for six-weeks after that his bat would be really late. That hasn't been an issue so much this year, when his swings have been far more controlled but no less ineffective. Maybe his gym regimen slows him down. I dunno. His abilities are real, and hopefully he figures out what his game is.

Sticking with Mets, there's Robert Kevin Appier. Sticking with great, there's Rik Aalbert Blyleven.

It is probably a good split topic, and a good theme for a SABR presentation — Catchers Who Provided Stealthily Effective Offense by Putting a Catcher's Knowledge of the Strike Zone to Use Offensively. Ron Hodges was one of them, kinda.

He actually leads all MLB catchers in walks. In history. 1) Gene Tenace: 984 2) Mickey Tettleton: 949 3) Joe Mauer (HoF): 939 4) Jorge Posada 936 5) Rick Ferrell (HoF): 931 6) Darrell Porter: 905 7) Johnny Bench (HoF): 891 8) Mickey Cochrane (HoF): 857 9) Ted Simmons (HoF): 855 10) Carlton Fisk (HoF): 849 Also: 12) Gary Carter (HoF): 848 14) Mike Piazza (HoF): 759 18) Yogi Berra (HoF): 704 Another catcher that had a better career than folks realized because of under-appreciation for the walk tool was #2 Mets manager https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/westrwe01.shtmlWes Westrum, 54th all-time in walks by a catcher, despite playing in only 919 games.

And outfielder for the Mets did get dinged up.

Francisco Álvarez was on a pace to reach his free-agency rights after the 2028 season. If he is not recalled to the Mets by Saturday, tomorrow, the Mets will have successfully pushed back his free agency by a year with his demotion. So says https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6481510/2025/07/08/mets-francisco-alvarez-free-agency/Tim Britton and Will Salmon in The Athletic. Drama. [FIMG=500]https://www.northjersey.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2025/05/28/PNJM/83903608007-usatsi-26109020.jpg?crop=8053,4530,x0,y419&width=660&height=371&format=pjpg&auto=webp[/FIMG]