Remember Arizona when Arizona was really Arizona? When Arizona was a welcoming oasis for Mets bats [1]? Remember 14-1, 18-4 and 15-2? Those were scores by which the Mets pounded Diamondback pitching at Chase Field in 2005 and 2006. We didn’t always win by a ton but we always won when we visited the desert. We won thirteen consecutive games at one point. We won every series we played in Phoenix from 2004 through 2008. Hell, we swept in 2014 and took two out of three in 2013.
What happened, Mets? You used to love these trips. Now you act like your sinuses are too good for them.
Your bats aren’t, that’s for sure. Holy crap, it’s 1971 out there these nights. It’s great pitching and no hitting. It’s a bottom of the order whose worst hitter when Bartolo Colon [2] is pitching isn’t necessarily Bartolo Colon. Bartolo Colon has learned how to hit [3]. Ruben Tejada [4] has remembered how to hit. Maybe somebody else puts lumber to horsehide in a meaningful manner once per evening — Cuddyer on Friday night, Lagares on Saturday — but that’s it.
Our fellas sometimes get on base but don’t come around. Nobody drives them home. Everybody hits into double plays. Everybody else lofts balls into the outfield. Don’t hit balls on the fly to Arizona outfielders. David Peralta [5], A.J. Pollock [6] and Ender Inciarte [7] cover three-thirds of the earth’s surface. Even water doesn’t seep through.
The Diamondbacks play good defense. Shall we use that as the excuse du jour? Chase Anderson [8] and three relievers pitched pretty well. Shall we act as if they were impenetrable? The Mets suffer from multiple player injuries. Shall we pretend nobody informed those with personnel-procuring responsibility that major league teams should come equipped with a certain amount of depth? And while we’re making inquiries that ought to have obvious answers, can we ask the likes of Anthony Recker [9], Eric Campbell [10] and latest mystery guest Danny Muno why they can’t maybe bust out once in a while considering they’re in the big leagues collecting big league meal money?
Colon pitched wonderfully. Colon hit professionally. Colon made one mistake. Colon lost. The Mets lost [11]. Such outcomes seem to be recurring in the present, regardless of how wonderfully positioned we might be for the future.
Over the first sixteen games of 2015, the Mets’ winning percentage worked out to a full-season record of 131-31. Clearly, that was unsustainable. In the 41 games since, the Mets have played at a clip that would net them a full-season record of 67-95. It’s a larger sample and it’s more recent. It’s troubling. It’s not the stuff of good-pitch/no-hit 1971. It’s the stuff of no-chance 1980 (minus the Magic). It doesn’t have to represent the prevailing wind of the 64.8% of what remains of this year, but it sure does blow.