The Mets are 3-0 in games streamed by Apple TV+. If the only way we can have wins is by exclusivity that’s wrong, then as Luther Ingram declared in 1972, I don’t want to be right. But it was just one night…on top of two other nights…on top of the Peacock wagging its tail this past Sunday. Novelties have a funny way of becoming norms. I opted for the dependable word pictures delivered via WCBS-AM, so let’s just say that on Friday night versus the Rangers at Citi Field, the Mets sounded real good.
I don’t know if Eduardo Escobar wants to be Wright, but he delivered like the best of Met third basemen, socking the differencemaker in the fourth inning. Mark Canha had already driven in one run to tie Texas. Eduardo gave us immense momentum with his three-run shot. The Mets had four on the board. It was more than they’d accumulated in their previous three games, all losses, not coincidentally. It also represented half of the RBI total Escobar had managed in the 22 games between his cycle on June 6 and his swing off Glenn Otto. Esco’s 2022 has been rather all or nothing. Having experienced a little too much nothing, we prefer the bursts of all.
The Mets in the other seven innings they batted were all nothing, extending a disturbing trend that began in Sunday’s finale in Miami, continued during Houston’s visit to New York and lingered through at least the beginning of the Rangers’ drop-by. In their last four games, the Mets have scored in no more than one inning of each game. In the third game, they scored in no innings, which was most troubling. In the fourth game, it worked out all right, as the four runs in the fourth were enough for David Peterson, Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz to steer home a 4-3 victory. David was dynamite (6 IP, 10 SO, 0 BB), when not being a tad disturbing (3 ER, featuring 2 HR). If one of the veterans had produced Peterson’s line, I’d probably praise the savvy and write off the gophers. Or if the Mets had provided more of a cushion, I would have relaxed a little more. Fortunately, Lugo, Ottavino and Diaz did not require the GEICO, Progressive or Liberty Mutual insurance runs of the game.
A win, however it’s eye/earwitnessed, is always welcome. Breaking a losing streak is always welcome. Escobar is welcome to make raking more than something he does on special occasions. Fifty years ago, when Luther Ingram was weighing the pros and cons of fidelity, General Foods was introducing Stove Top Stuffing with the message that it was something you could have any night, not just for Thanksgiving. Think of it that way, Eduardo. Hitting isn’t only for eleventh cycles in franchise history or Blackout Fridays. Feel free to bust out that Fogo Power again real soon. Peterson, meanwhile, is beginning to feel essential to the meat and potatoes of the rotation, with his last three starts yielding 25 Ks, only two walks (none in his last pair of outings) and exactly what the Hefner ordered.
So put me down as in favor of Eduardo Escobar and David Peterson as well as winning. Sometimes I’m all about the last thing I heard.
The next thing you hear? Hopefully it’s the latest episode of National League Town, which explores the orange and blue blood pumping through the geographic and spiritual heart of the METropolitan Area.
Peterson was a 1st round draft pick, for what that’s worth in baseball, so there is an expectation there. He’s not out of Niese and Matz’s shadow yet, but he’s shown promise over a growing body of work. A homegrown Mets left-handed starting pitcher that becomes a reliable member of the rotation is a long time coming.
I prefer baseball played on the field, but it’s frustrating when the baseballs put in play on the field find gloves, aren’t productive, and strand RISP, which is all too familiar for Mets fans. Then home runs are needed. I don’t prefer scoring runs with home runs, but I also prefer winning over losing.
Guillorme right now is the harshest example of BABIP regression. He’s still consistently making contact, but the same contact that was finding holes for him is now finding gloves. I still want his glove on the field, though, and he is still making contact, so I hope his BABIP swings back the other way soon.
I would have enjoyed the Mets running away with the division, like the Yankees are doing. But I’m also enjoying that the regular season has turned into a tense race with the Braves chasing the Mets like the champions they are. Like the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Braves set the standard in the NL East. They’re going to make the Mets earn it and that’s good. The Phillies with their injuries look like they’re staying in the race, too.
The third WC slot and 3-game WC series help dampen anxiety about the possibility of losing the division lead. But as we learned in 2020, fallback play-off slots can’t be taken for granted. The Mets aren’t that far ahead of the 7th place NL team that a WC slot is safely in their pocket.
It’s true, these relievers were more like Farmer’s insurance – they know a few things because they’ve seen a few things.
As you say, Eric, the WC slots are not a shoo-in by any means, but they remove all teeth-nashing anxiety from the regular season, because we kinda think we are going to make it in somehow.
It has diluted the regular season and has made it less fun, unfortunately. We can all act like every game is still the most exciting thing on earth, but win or lose, it’s Que Sera Sera, and it is truly passionless.