Edgy MD

Brett Baty, the walking, talking reason that Morabito, Mauricio or Clifford aren't on the roster.

It's gonna be a finish not to be missed.

My first instinct would be very different from "today's game," and that would be Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, but then I remembered neither played in 1945 and 1946 because old Bill and young Yogi were fighting Hitler. Also, catchers don't play every day, and Dickey was kind of a platooner the first half of his career, and Yogi playing a lot of outfield the second half of his. Carl Yastrzemski took over for Ted Williams pretty directly, creating an uninterrupted line of succession in left field, but Carl kind of drifted to other positions too from time to time.

Red-jot Jorge Polanco back in your Mets lineup. Slinger Christian Scott RHP 3-3, 3.15 ERA, 92 SO Lineup A.J. Ewing (L) CF Francisco Lindor (S) SS Bo Bichette (R) 3B Carson Benge (L) RF Jared Young (L) 1B Marcus Semien (R) 2B Brett Baty (L) LF Jorge Polanco (S) DH Francisco Alvarez (R) C Twirler Bryce Elder RHP 8-6, 3.69 ERA, 104 SO Lineup Drake Baldwin (L) DH Ronald Acuña Jr. (R) RF Matt Olson (L) 1B Michael Harris II (L) CF Ozzie Albies (S) 2B Mauricio Dubón (R) LF Austin Riley (R) 3B Jim Jarvis (L) SS Sean Murphy (R) C

Things that happened this season: Craig Kimbrel was a 2026 Met, for a not insignificant part of the season. He didn't even start the season as a Met. He pitched AAA ball for a few weeks to get in game shape and then became a regular part of the bullpen rotation until he wasn't. I know you remember this, but doesn't it feel like forever ago? Like it happened sometime between the Guns 'n' Roses reunion and the Covid lockdown? Also a Met in 2026 — Tommy Pham. It happened. There was this thing where a guy pitched the eighth inning, got the job done, and nobody told him he was out of the game, so he returned to the mound in the ninth, only to see another guy approaching from the direction of the bullpen, in between the lights flashing on and off, and they just stood there and looked at each other wondering who didn't belong. You probably remember this, happening, if not all the principles, but these pitchers were Huascar Brazobán and closer Devin Williams. Doesn't it feel like this happened during the Willie Randolph era?

I imagine the idea is that Pache is with the team in order to get two or three trips to the plate a week, and they don't see an advantage to the team or to the development of those three players to call them up to serve in such a role. That may change as things go forward, if and when they decide perhaps to give up on Baty's or Polanco's seasons, or perhaps if an injury creates a need.

Keith Keith wasn't working this series, but he's reported in the past that one of the first players to greet him when he arrived in the Mets clubhouse was Kingman saying "Mex, you're my ticket out of here." I'm kind of surprised Kong made it to the end of 1983. I certainly don't remember him lasting the full season. Looking him up, now, his last 23 appearances were as a pinch-hitter, going 0-for-his-last-10 with a walk.

He's definitely a fifth outfielder, ballhawk/pinch-running specialist. And while those come and go, the Mets got lucky as their last 50-BH/PR guy got red hot and valuable right at the trade deadline. The other guy character of that type that the Mets had in reserve in Syracuse was Jihwan (also sometimes stylized as Ji-Hwan) Bae. They released him last week and now he's in the bigs with Milwaukee.

Firstly, there's no H in "Cristian." So get with the program. I'm talking to myself as much as anybody here. Secondly, back in the 2021-2022 offseason, the Braves sent him to the A's in the Matt Olson deal, and holy heck does that deal keep giving. Going to the Athletics were: Pache, who has earned -0.6 fWAR in his career since, Joey Estes, who has earned 0.0 fWAR in his career since, Ryan Cusick, who has yet to appear in an MLB game. Shea Langaliers, who is the prize, with 11.4 fWAR in the nearly five seasons since the trade. Olson, meanwhile, has performed the highly unlikely feat of replacing Freddie Freeman for the last five years, and earned 25.1 fWAR while occupying one roster spot. Nonetheless, Pache is still considered an elite outfielder, despite being a survivor of surgery in both his knee and elbow, and dropping a ball in left field last week. His 28.5 ft./second sprint speed ties him with Carson Benge for third on the team, behind Ewing (29.5) and Robert (29.1). Also, he seems to wear something like a compass tattooed on his Adam's apple.

Break up baseball.

Start a thread. Please. I'd consider starting a thread with each film I watch, but the truth is that most films I watch are either really old, and I'm rewatching them, and I probably started a thread about them ten years ago, or their really new and so terrifically bad that I either don't get through them or if I do, I'm massively embarrassed about it.

The Mets miss Sale this series. I still wish I could be there yelling "BALK!" after every move their pitchers make.

He's found his velocity. His stuff — a sinker that is he can spot and keep down and a sweeper that gets chased — has always been good enough. He just had no fastball to keep people honest. Now he does. Whether that's persists is guesswork, but it's been persisting now (or, at least, progressively improving) since early June, and he's also been keeping the pitch count down (mostly) enough to pitch deep(ish, by today's standards) into games.

Five games behind the Reds (who are filthy communists), putting the sweet smell of 12th place within range of a soft, breezy waft of being detectable. We'd be within four and a half of them, as well as these same Pirates (who are filthy marauders), if we had only pulled out the oh-so-close middle game of this series.

Five and one since the trade deadline. They should have a deadline every week.

Lindor visits Hitsville against the position playa. Everything is coming up Brian Roses, offensively, but Baty is going to Atlanta on an 0-for-5 thought. Let's see if Weisass has one more of those innings in him.

Well, it's not just a factor of such. Alvarez came into the game slugging .520 with the bases empty and .298 with men on base. With runners in scoring position, that drops to .264, nearly half his number with the bases empty.

And a deep fly ends the seventh on 91 chucks.

Six and a third on 82 pitches. Maybe he makes the eighth. Three strikes later, it's 6 2/3 on 85 pitches.

Ewing, Lindor, and Baty are the only guys not in the hit column. The first two, though, have each scored two runs.

I can't speak for all of us, but it is addressable. Bichette, meanwhile, is having a day.

After two hits, it might be a good idea to get Benge out of there, and have his wrist heal up a little for Atlanta.

The booth is missing a big part of the story in discussing Dave Kingman. His career ended after hitting 35 homers not so much because teams changed their priorities (although he wasn't good), but because teams were (somewhat openly) engaging in collusion.

Unlikely, but it's a shame that his season has to end at the end of September, because he's just getting started. But he sure looks likely to be a part of the opening day rotation in 2027, which is certainly a step forward from where he started 2026. He hit 95 today — more than once, I think, and I don't think he's done that in two years. And Alvarez shoots a solo shot out.

Eight to one lead after a three-run double by Boba. Payback.