Edgy MD

"Vientos, you've been oh-for-your-last-14." "Oh, OK, I think I'll hit one 451 feet, then."

Mets haven't used Nuñez much of late. This has been a bear of an inning for him.

And there goes half the lead. Morel Murders Mets

Coming up empty with the baggies filled. Not cool. Nine outs for the pen.

I'm hoping that means that tougher competition doesn't bring out the Yanks' best. I'm also hoping that the Mets will be tougher competition.

And Bader pockets the flare to end the sixth! Big game players!

And Mendoza is leaving him in to face Suzuki. Gosh.

98 TO BELLINGER IS STRIKE THREE!!!

Can we just get all baseball broadcasters together in a room and get them to never mention Steve Bartman's name again?

Hit batsman is setting the Cubs up to come back.

McNerbles, sadly, is still star-crossed.

One home and into the pen. I'll take.

As Assad exits with the bags packed in the fifth, the Mets have chased another top pitcher early. Still need to cash in here though. One out.

So, Severino is finding his power here, isn't he? He may be getting stronger as the season progresses.

The printer is running out of purple toner!

[bIGPURPLE] That's what you get for bailing on us, Jim Frey!![/bIGPURPLE]

Francisco Lindor says we've got all we need in the lineup right here!

Remember, if things are tight in late innings, we've got Danny Heep, Jerry Martin, Kelvin Chapman, and Rusty all available off the bench.

Anudder leadoff dubble. Let's do it right this time.

Pete Crow-Armstrong throwing out Francisco Álvarez is wrong nine ways to Sunday. Making the first out of the inning at third base is also deeply wrong.

Fast forward 40 years. 1) F Lindor (S) SS 2) B Nimmo (L) LF 3) J Martinez ® DH 4) P Alonso ® 1B 5) F Alvarez ® C 6) D Stewart (L) RF 7) M Vientos ® 3B 8) J McNeil (L) 2B 9) H Bader ® CF Luis Severino RHP 1) N Hoerner ® 2B 2) M Busch (L) 1B 3) C Bellinger (L) RF 4) S Suzuki ® DH 5) I Happ (S) LF 6) C Morel ® 3B 7) D Swanson ® SS 8) P Crow-Armstrong (L) CF 9) M Amaya ® C Javier Assad RHP

Well, while you were fixing it, I swapped Mookie and Brooks. I must've gotten the wrong lineup from SportsPhone.

I kinda feel lucky to see Durham out of the lineup. He's been murdering the ball recently. [TABLE][TR][TH][/TH][TH][FIMG=250]https://cdn.freebiesupply.com/images/large/2x/new-york-mets-logo-transparent.png[/FIMG][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][FIMG=250]https://www.mlbstatic.com/team-logos/112.svg[/FIMG][/TH][TH] [TR][TH]#[/TH][TH]Player[/TH][TH]Pos.[/TH][TH]#[/TH][TH]Player[/TH][TH]Pos.[/TH][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]1[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Wally Backman (S)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]2b[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]1[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Bob Dernier (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]cf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]2[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Mookie Wilson (S)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]cf[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]2[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Ryne Sandberg (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]2b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]3[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Keith Hernandez (L)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]1b[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]3[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Garry Matthews (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]lf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]4[/TD][TD]=#002D72]George Foster (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]lf[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]4[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Bill Buckner (L)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]1b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]5[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Darryl Strawberry (L)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]rf[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]5[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Ron Cey (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]3b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]6[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Hubie Brooks (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]3b[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]6[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Mel Hall (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]rf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]7[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Mike Fitzgerald (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]c[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]7[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Jody Davis (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]c[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]8[/TD][TD]=#002D72]José Oquendo (S)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]ss[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]8[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Larry Bowa (S)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]ss[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#FF5910]9[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Walt Terrell (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]sp[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]9[/TD][TD]=#0E3386]Dennis Ecklersley (R)[/TD][TD]=#CC3433]sp[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

Indeed, while Brandon is, in the end, a victim of the Duke Ellis signing, he was a 26-year-old having a less-than-impressive season at AA, after spending some time at AAA last year. Due to be a minor-league free agent at the end of the season, Brandon was a srong athlete but with no standout skill. He had started his collegiate career concentrating on football, quarterbacking for South Carolina before transferring to Cal. By the time he switched to focusing on hardball, he was in catch-up mode, and he still hasn't quite caught up. Best wishes to him. Transactions, 6/23/2024 [th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][th]Transaction[/th][td90]Released[/td90][th]Position Group [/th][th]=#FFC2C2] Outfielder[/th][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_180/v1/people/666140/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][th]Name [/th][td90]Brandon McIlwain [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][th]DoB[/th][td90]1998-05-31[/td90][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][th]High Level[/th][td90]AAA (2023)[/td90]

I wouldn't draw such conclusions. Among other things, he's only played 45 games at AAA, far fewer than he's played (a little more than a season) in the majors.