If things were going better for them, the Mets would have won a game in Cleveland, maybe two, possibly all three. I realize that’s akin to invoking the old saying that if Carlos Mendoza’s aunt’s frog had wings, then every day would be Christmas; there are a lot of old sayings tantamount to declaring things would be different if only they were. But you know how it is with baseball teams. Ones in a good groove make the most of their situations. If the Mets were currently inhabiting one of those grooves, the scattered positive trendlines detectable here and there would tie together, and suddenly defeats would be victories.
Alas, frogs are still bumping their behinds, dear old Aunt Maria isn’t Uncle Pablo, and Christmas Day still comes only once a year. It surely didn’t arrive on Wednesday afternoon, when the Mets finished their stay in Northeast Ohio packing coal-filled stockings as souvenirs. Despite some bats waking up and several innings appearing well-pitched, the Mets lost, which is something the Mets have been doing a lot of late, no matter who hits and who pitches.
For those who’ve stopped keeping track, the Mets have lost ten of their last thirteen, encompassing four series in which brief individual pulsations haven’t added up to a collective heartbeat. I’m tempted to say it’s one of the most deathly stretches of baseball I’ve seen in 56 seasons watching this franchise, though I know there are veritable dugouts full of orange-and-blue ghosts demanding I hold their dismal beer. It doesn’t really matter that the 2024 Mets are probably better than dozens of previous editions of Mets. It’s the Mets right now who almost daily make one regret an investment of time and commitment.
Thanks to the playoff system that bestows potential contender status on almost everybody on Rob Manfred’s green earth, the season isn’t near over in the figurative sense. Should the Mets find the groove that’s eluded them and start capturing the games and series that mysteriously keep winding up in somebody else’s win column, tunes are designed to be changed. This is where my instinct is to invoke that golden handful of campaigns in which the Mets looked awful before the All-Star break and then made a spirited run to the finish, the lesson being it ain’t over until you believe it is, or however that one goes.
Yet it’s too early for that framing and there haven’t been enough substantive signs of life to imagine a meaningful turnaround. What would change the tune? Get into that groove. Be watchable for nine consecutive innings, then another nine consecutive innings. Make a habit of good baseball rather than the kind you’ve been playing. Do some actual winning rather than talking about how capable you are of winning and how surprising it is to you that you are losing. At this point, you’re the only ones who are much shocked by what you’ve been doing.
I’m still watching, but that’s not shocking. Questionable habits are hard to break.
In his post game comments, Manager Carlos Mendoza remarked: Era un verdadero habitante de los acantilados!
Narvaez is a liability.
Mendoza is getting a bit edgy (post-game).
Lindor is paid 34 million and change per annum.
A team now dreaming of being a .500 ball club.
Mrs. Cohen is happy as Lindor finally got an extra base hit after 47 AB’s without one … let’s give him a standing O!
The boxscore says:
F. Lindor
I could not agree more.
This team is starting to have the feel of those late 70’s teams from my teen years. Something you watch out of habit and duty but without any real hope. By 50 games in you’d think someone would have started hitting besides Bader and Vientos.
Better pitching than anyone could expect had us around .500 for 35 games or so. Lately that has gotten back to roughly normal without the bats picking up.
The key difference is that the Grant’s Tomb teams went into those seasons devoid of all hope. No one expected them to be anything but terrible. Their biggest stars back then were Mazzilli, Stearns, Steve Henderson, Craig Swan. Fine ballplayers, but not exactly high-wattage star power. This team, though, won 100 games just two seasons ago. Their lineup is studded with guys who were supposed to be big-time players, as well as highly-touted prospects. Exactly two years ago today, the present was rosy and the future was full of promise. And it’s all been unfulfilled. We all keep waiting for Alonso to go on a Cespedes-ish rampage, and Lindor to start raking, and McNeil and Nimmo to start scrapping and hustling for runs. And it just never happens. So to me, it’s even worse than having no hope whatsoever.
I totally don’t get the “Mrs. Cohen” references, but maybe we were expecting too much from this season. It may have always been meant to be a transitional year. The main difference between this bad Mets team and other recent bad Mets teams is that they don’t have an ace or a solid starting rotation. Maybe Senga will help. The Mets rarely had hitting, but usually had solid pitching and defense. I don’t know where we go from here.
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“I’m tempted to say it’s one of the most deathly stretches of baseball I’ve seen in 56 seasons watching this franchise, though I know there are veritable dugouts full of orange-and-blue ghosts demanding I hold their dismal beer.”
I’m hard-pressed to remember one that was as unpleasant to watch as the 2024 Mets are, although in fairness I’m probably blocking a lot of them from my mind at the moment, as bitching about this version is really the only fun thing about them. And you have to have SOME reason to keep watching, right?
The unique thing about this current roster is how the “core” (hate that term) of the lineup kind of seems to have already come and gone without winning a damn thing. The ’69 core remained respectable enough to almost win it again in ’73. The 80s Mets had a sustained run of decentness, and two playoff appearances. The 1999-2000 team did as well. The 2006 Mets were decent enough to at least make (ugh) 2007 & 2008 interesting. And even the 2015 Mets made a pretend little run in 2016.
But this sad-sack sorry bunch hasn’t won a damn thing, and it’s difficult to not think that maybe their time has already come and gone. Sure, Petey is a franchise icon, but so was Dave Kingman, kind of. Would anyone be crushed if McNeil, Lindor or even Nimmo were shipped off to Tampa or Texas or wherever? They kind of stink, and there’s only one way to rectify that. And as of right now, I don’t believe they have it in them.
The math is worse than last year. A few games out in the race for the last WC spot. But there are SEVEN other teams to pass. Who all play each other a lot, so some of them usually win every day. Can we outplay ALL of them and win more than 81 games? Unlikely…But I will watch for the rare fun nights.