I generally keep track of what the Mets are doing even if I’m away, sneaking looks at MLB.tv, popping an airpod into an ear, or at least letting GameDay do its pantomime thing in my lap.
But combining a trip to Iceland with the Mets’ Road Trip from Hell was a perfect recipe for being well and truly out of pocket. With the additional time change, the games started after I was asleep and concluded before I was awake. I heard Paul Blackburn‘s debut against the Angels, with the last out recorded shortly before boarding a midnight flight (oh, things looked so promising then). And I caught the first couple of innings of the middle game against the Mariners because I couldn’t sleep.
Between them, nada: I’d look at my phone over skyr and coffee in the Icelandic morning and try to make sense of things that had already transpired. There’s always a funny moment when you look at the score of a baseball game and your brain needs half a second to parse it: Oh, the bigger number’s here and the smaller number’s there, that’s good/bad, and now that I’ve got it straight, let’s figure out exactly how that happened.
What this sequence of revelations told me was, above all else, frustrating: We can’t win a series against the Angels, really? Figured they’d drop that dumb makeup game in St. Louis, so whew. OK, nice bounceback series in Colorado. And then the buzzsaw of the Mariners’ starting staff and the bats returning to slumber.
I got to watch the Mets uninterrupted for the first time in nine days on Sunday evening, and for a while that even seemed like a good idea. Luis Castillo was dealing, but so was Luis Severino, with the shadows of a Seattle afternoon game turning an already tough job for hitters on both teams into the stuff of borderline farce. But then a taut, tight duel turned when the Mets let in a run on a little infield hit that Francisco Lindor‘s best effort couldn’t quite convert into an inning-ending out, Severino left a changeup in Cal Raleigh‘s wheelhouse, and suddenly the Mets were down 4-0.
Down 4-0, and it was about to get a whole lot worse. Jeff McNeil homered to keep the Mets from being shut out all three times in Seattle, but that was all that went right. In the sixth the annoying ESPN crew ooh’ed and ahh’ed over a bald eagle soaring above Seattle; a moment later I was fervently wishing this majestic bird would swoop down and carry Ryne Stanek off to Syracuse or the Ross Ice Shelf or some other place where I’d never have to see him again. Soon after that I was imagining other eagles dropping by to remove Adam Ottavino and Danny Young from view. Alas, those relievers stayed around to do unhelpful things until the Mets were mercifully allowed to slink back to New York, grateful the whole thing is finally behind them.
Except it isn’t. The Mets apparently pissed someone off in the MLB scheduling department, as they’ll be heading back to the West Coast in 11 days.
Maybe I’ll go back to Iceland and miss that one too.
Sweepless in Seattle just was not meant to be. I blame the Grimace.
Jason, please take us with you.
This was pathetic.
When the 2024 Mets go cold, they can look like a cellar dweller. Except how many series losses by the White Sox, Athletics, Rockies, or Marlins this year have been as bad as 22-1? I’m disappointed because the hot version of the 2024 Mets have hit good pitching exceptionally well. I expected more runs in Seattle. The Mariners have good pitching–the best ERA in MLB–, but it’s not 0.33 ERA good. Unfortunately, the cold Mets showed up. The starters failing to limit the damage and the revamped bullpen being roughed up by a weak offense are worrying.
On the upside, while the Padres and Diamondbacks are running away with the 1st and 2nd wildcards, the 3rd wildcard race is as closely contested as designed. The Mets are only .5 back. The Phillies are still stumbling, so they’ve stayed in sight for the possibility the Mets get hot again with 7 games against them in September.
The Mets were cold to fall out of it, then hot to get back into it, reaching as high as the 1st wildcard, and now they’re treading water to stay alive. But it’s not just them. The Braves and Cardinals are struggling to keep afloat, too. The Giants are right there again, and the Cubs are right behind the Giants. It remains to be seen whether either team will stay hot enough, long enough to climb over the scuffling Mets to take back the 3rd wildcard, or if they’ll go cold and sink again.
A’s and Marlins at home next. While there’s no such thing as a ‘soft’ or ‘easy’ part of the schedule for these Mets, there shouldn’t be a carryover from the Mariners series. Right now it looks like if the Mets win the 3rd wildcard, it’ll be with a grind that’s just warm enough and a lot more anxious than pretty.
“Winless in Seattle” aside, I have an ongoing concern about Pete Alonso’s status after the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Alonso should be a Met for the entirety of his career. His hiring of Scott Boras has put the likelihood of that in jeopardy.
Steve Cohen obviously honors Met tradition. His retiring of Straw and Doc’s numbers attests to that. To let Pete go to another team seems perverse.
Alonso is having a mediocre season – but he deserves to continue with Lindor and Nimmo as a Met for the duration.
Alonso’s recent odd reply about being on a 40 HR pace (actually, he was on a 33 HR pace) and an all-star this year clearly showed his free agency is on his mind. That was a negotiation statement.
Assuming his season finishes the way it’s gone so far, do you think Alonso accepts the qualifying offer after all? Or do you think, entering his age 30 season, he’ll roll with his career resume as it stands no matter his results this year and go with the highest bidder on years and dollars? In which case, it’ll only take one for Alonso to leave the Mets.
Agree LeClerc, we have to re-sign him. He WILL get big money based on his past performance, and will come back and destroy the Mets when he signs with the Phillies or whoever. Need to get this deal done.
Matt Olson signed for $22m/yr for 8 years coming off a much better year than Pete’s having. I’d be OK with giving Pete around that much – IOW, about what we offered last summer. I don’t think he’s raised his value this year though there’s still time. But he’s barely hitting .200 with RISP. I don’t think a $30m/yr deal is justified.
Too bad contracts can’t include incentives for things like OPS.
But would the Mets repeat the same offer to Alonso who’s a year older and now coming off 2 progressively worse seasons (assuming his season finishes the way it’s gone so far)?
Absolutely putrid performance this trip, minus the W in St. Louie. The Mets are like the girl with the curl; when they’re good, they’re very good, but when they’re bad they’re awful. If Pete Alonso wants to walk, show him the door. What we have now is a modified version of Dave Kingman.
This roller coaster ride of a year has left me empty. The ’24 Mets are the Bad luck Schleprock of baseball. If it can go wrong, it will.
James Paxton hurt his calf in a similar way to Senga’s calf strain. Ball in play, move to cover 1st base, immediate calf strain. When Senga got hurt, I wondered if it was a consequence of Senga’s rehab, maybe overworking his legs to lessen strain on his shoulder and arm. But Paxton’s been pitching this year. I wonder if there is a common cause.