Without knowing what they paid, I’d say the Mets got an excellent rate on their weekend spa treatment. They’ve rarely entered a Monday appearing more relaxed and ready to face whatever awaits them. In this case, it’s a playoff chase in September.
The 2024 White Sox will make anybody look and feel fantastic. The 2024 White Sox have elevated the 1962 Mets into a position the 1962 Mets have never been in: well ahead of competition in any standings. The 1962 Mets lead the 2024 White Sox by four games pacewise, 35-103 to 31-107. I do believe the Worst Ever record we’ve treated as treasured will belong to another before the month is over. This makes me happier than I would have imagined when I began to fathom another team could actually win fewer and/or lose more than 120 games. The 1962 Mets haven’t played since 1962. It’s about time they passed somebody in some standings.
The 2024 Mets have more pressing aspirations and tangible potentialities. Last Wednesday, which feels like five months rather than five days ago, the Mets of the current year blew a lead and game in horrific fashion and fell four lengths behind their perennial bête noire the Braves. Several August leads and games had been blown in horrific fashion, and the result was our Wild Card chances receding in size in Atlanta’s rearview mirror. The only thing we might have had going for us was the Braves were about to visit first-place Philadelphia, while once we finished licking our Arizona wounds, we had that spa weekend reserved on the South Side of Chicago. Despite the name on the front of the joint, three games at the Sox’ place held no guarantees. Relying on ourselves to start winning while our bête noire somehow starts losing hadn’t worked particularly well through the years, but there’s always a first time, we might have told ourselves.
If we did, we were on to something. We beat the Diamondbacks on Thursday to rekindle our hopes (despite the Diamondbacks all but extinguishing our hopes the night before) and the Phillies — who I believe we hate more viscerally than we do the Braves but with not nearly as much depth — began doing us an extended solid. Checking in at Guaranteed Rate Spa didn’t hurt, either.
As the deeply detested Braves commenced the process of losing three of four to the viscerally loathed Phillies, the Mets relaxed and went about sweeping the one series a fan would say absolutely needed to be swept to be considered an adequate showing. Other than in a three-out-with-three-to-play type situation, you can’t pout and stamp your feet with a straight face if your team doesn’t sweep a three-game set. Yet had the Mets dropped the third game of their series with the White Sox after taking the first two, pouting and stamping would have constituted socially acceptable behavior.
The scoreboard indicates it could have happened. Mets 2 White Sox 0 ultimately did the trick, though the gap between our first and second runs ran uncomfortably long. Perhaps there was no way Chicago’s contemporary Hitless Wonders were ever going to produce anything but zeros, but we couldn’t be sure. As was, Francisco Lindor’s homer to lead off the fourth wove all the cushion Sean Manaea would require. Manaea, to that point, was matching everything Garrett Crochet was throwing in terms of result if not flair. Each starting pitcher retired his first nine batters. Crochet struck out the first seven Mets he faced, three shy of tying Tom Seaver’s consecutive K’s record, normally the one standard in this world I deem immune to records being made to be broken — I’m still sore it was tied in 2021 — but as September dawned and I was making September deals in my head, I decided I could cope with Garrett Crochet being this September’s Steve Carlton. You set a record, we conjure a win. Plus the karma of rooting for a team that wasn’t the Braves or Phillies (or Yankees) to go 39-123 or worse probably earned me a statistical love tap where it could hurt most.
Then Luis Torrens made fair contact with one out in the third; and Lindor did his characteristic thing in the fourth; and Crochet took a powder at his organization’s future-thinking behest; and Manaea kept being splendid for seven innings. His bid for perfection fell away, but he was more than adequate to the task at hand. The White Sox didn’t push a runner into scoring position until the seventh. The ninety feet from third to home remained their bridge too far once Sean shook off the only threat they manufactured all day.
Reed Garrett, who makes us nervous, threw an eventless bottom of the eighth. Pablo Reyes, who was new to us, took first base with two out in the top of the ninth after J.D. Martinez walked. Starling Marte rose from the annals of past achievement to deliver a ringing double to center, and pinch-runner Pablo took off, leading me to discover “C’MON REYES!” is one of those things you never forget how to yell at your television. This Reyes scored his first Met run, leaving him only 884 behind Jose for Reyes franchise leadership (Argenis Reyes totaled 13 runs during his 2008-2009 stay; 2023 pitcher Denyi Reyes ran smack into the adoption of the universal DH and was never invited to test his speed on the basepaths).
A two-run ninth-inning lead entrusted to Edwin Diaz was once upon a time insurmountable for Met opponents. Has that time returned? Sugar’s rushed back to dominance all of a sudden, fastballs setting up sliders and batters finding only air for their efforts. If you were worried he’d revert to the Diaz of the previous Wednesday, he wasn’t and didn’t. Edwin struck out the side swinging, completing the Mets’ spa weekend with an “aaahhh, that felt Amazin’…do we really have to leave?
Alas, they did. A Braves loss to the Phillies on Sunday night (in eleven innings, no less) made the reality of facing the rest of the schedule enticing rather than a chore. Recriminations over August leads and games blown in horrific fashion now belong to our fickle friend the summer wind. One game out of a postseason berth with twenty-five to play. One month of meaningful games in September even Fred Wilpon wouldn’t feel compelled to explain. Meteorological summer is over. Metropolitan autumn brims with the possibility a fan lives for.
This really does feel Amazin’.
Not gonna complain after a sweep, even if we didn’t hit (did I contradict myself in a single sentence?).
“If you were worried he’d revert to the Diaz of the previous Wednesday, he wasn’t and didn’t. Edwin struck out the side swinging, completing the Mets’ spa weekend with an “aaahhh, that felt Amazin’…do we really have to leave?”
Diaz reminded me of the term, “effectively wild.” Used to be with Ryan and Randy Johnson that they threw a hundred but you were never quite sure where the ball was going making it hard to dig in. After a couple of 98 mph balls from Diaz that flew near heads I had the sense that batters may have decided that discretion was the greater part of valor.
As usual, once we got nothing from 1st and third nobody out (right after the Lindor hit) I was sure it would come back to haunt us. But this is the White Sox who don’t hit.
A bit concerned right now with the other Chicago team, the one that just scored 99 runs in 10 games. But we’re playing games that matter in September. That’s pretty good whatever happens the rest of the way.
And Manaea is gonna get PAID this winter. It would be nice if we were the ones doing the paying.
“A bit concerned right now with the other Chicago team, the one that just scored 99 runs in 10 games. But we’re playing games that matter in September.”
According to Tankathon’s MLB “Remaining Schedule Strength” chart, the Mets have the 4th toughest remaining schedule. Braves: 24th. Cubs: 19th. Diamondbacks: 6th. Padres: 21st. Cardinals: 20th. Giants: 1st. Phillies: 18th.
I agree the Braves aren’t the only team the Mets are racing against. The Cubs are hot and have a good shot at leapfrogging the Mets and the Braves, and the Mets don’t have any games left against the Cubs. The Cardinals and Giants aren’t out of it. I’m glad the Phillies helped the Mets this weekend, but they won’t play favorites when it’s the Mets’ turn. That’s going to be a tough 7 games. It’s going to be a tough stretch run.
On this date in 2022, the Mets had just beaten the Dodgers and were comfortably in 1st place because we looked at the September schedule and saw a practical glide to the division title and a 1st round bye. Then, 1 win in Atlanta would have been enough. This time, the Mets have just beaten the White Sox and are 1 game out of the playoffs, and we’re looking at a hard September schedule that, objectively, should defeat the Mets. This time, a sweep in Atlanta might not be enough. A proper redemption is harder.
“According to Tankathon’s MLB “Remaining Schedule Strength” chart, the Mets have the 4th toughest remaining schedule. Braves: 24th. Cubs: 19th. Diamondbacks: 6th. Padres: 21st. Cardinals: 20th. Giants: 1st. Phillies: 18th.”
I didn’t check a SOS site but did look at remaining schedules this morning. IIRC, the Cubs and Braves each have 9 or 10 games remaining against teams with winning records. We have 16. It is what it is. Play ’em out and see where things end up.
To be clear, I don’t mind the harder remaining schedule. It’s more a help for the wildcard competition than it is a hindrance for the Mets because while the 2024 Mets play down, they also play up. A harder September schedule for the Mets makes me more confident, not less. It’s the significantly weaker schedules for the wildcard competition that make me more anxious.
I also don’t mind the harder schedule because I view this September as a redemption opportunity for September 2022. The 2022 Mets stand out for peaking at the end of August, and then we witnessed a slow-motion collapse over a supposedly easy September that finished with them falling to their knees in Atlanta. So let’s try a different way this September that forces the Mets to fight for every step to the post-season, instead of starting at the top and sliding.
In 2022, the Mets that collapsed in September and left Atlanta defeated in the standings and spirit were the same team that lost to the Padres in the wildcard round. My hope for the 2024 Mets is that a hard-fought September tempers the Mets so that when they go to Atlanta in game 157 and the wildcard round this time, a tougher team than 2022 refuses to lose.
“ And Manaea is gonna get PAID this winter. It would be nice if we were the ones doing the paying.”
It’s funny – I keep seeing articles assuming that Manaea will be leaving the Mets via free agency this winter. Ditto for Alonso. News flash – Fred Wilpon no longer owns this team. For the foreseeable future, Zack Wheeler is the last free agent to walk away from the Mets because they couldn’t afford him. There’s no reason to assume that either of these guys can’t be enticed to stay Mets next year – and by enticed, I mean paid incredible oodles of cash. And they should be.
After taking the proceedings into account and performing a comprehensive baseball analysis of the game, I have one question: who the heck is Pablo Reyes?
Pablo Reyes’s Baseball-Reference page is linked above. Unless that was a rhetorical question.
Yes, I had forgotten that new faces tend to appear after Sept 1.
Apparently, Pablo Reyes is a really fast dude. Always good to have someone like that in September.
According to on-line scouting reports on Reyes and his career stats, he isn’t a burner. The consensus credits him with ‘average’ speed. Reyes has enough speed to pick his spots for an occasional steal. More importantly, as we saw, he’s fast enough to go 1st to 3rd or 2nd to home on a single, or like he did yesterday, 1st to home on a long double. In other words, he’s fast enough to pinch run for Martinez.
We’ve seen that Mendoza likes to substitute early for defense. Yesterday, he added the wrinkle of substituting even earlier for offense with a 2nd substitution for defense later. (Both White Sox hits landed in front of Winker; Taylor could have caught them.) So when the moment came to pinch run for Martinez in the 9th, the Mets’ fast runners were already used. Reyes’s position versatility plus ‘average’ speed allows Mendoza to have a quicker trigger with his bench than he already has.
He does remind of a 1980s-1990s baseball video game roster filler, like Duke Ellis on the Yankees.
From what I gather, Reyes checks the boxes of speed, defense, and infield and outfield position versatility, and veteran. On offense, his stats say he’s a light hitter that doesn’t strike out too much. Has laid down a sacrifice bunt before.
With Mauricio and Baty out, I prefer Acuna, Gilbert, or Williams, ready or not, over a journeyman. Reyes’s versatility, besides his light hitting, should be useful though.
Sorry, but I’m not especially interested encouraged by this weekend. The White Sox are perhaps the only team the 8/30 thru 9/1 Mets could have beaten three games in a row. They didn’t hit particularly well, and they were pitching more or less against the 2024 version of 1910 Chicago White Sox.
Now comes the Red Sox, we’ll see…
Just getting it done was encouraging because the Mets have failed to sweep or lost series to other cellar dwellers, though the White Sox have a bottom tier all to themselves. Sweeping them wasn’t a sure thing given that the Mets chronically play down, have lost too many sweep or rubber Sunday games, and the White Sox have beaten a surprising number of contenders among their 31 wins, including 5-5 versus the Guardians and 2-1 versus the Braves.
The Mets offense wasn’t cured in Chicago, but the White Sox have decent pitching. Their offense on the other hand…I doubt Megill and Quintana would have done as well against many other, or any other, teams. Butto’s very shaky 9th inning in game 2 continued a trend of shaky performances from the set-up man with Nunez out.
The Red Sox will be a good test to start the stretch run in earnest. 4th place in their wildcard race like the Mets, but further back, so they need to win these games even more than the Mets do.
This goes back to what Jason posted yesterday, about bad teams being just bad enough to lose. Well, sometimes good teams are just good enough to win. In the end, it doesn’t really matter if the Mets “only” beat them by a couple of runs. At this point in the season, a W is a W, and a sweep is a sweep.
In August, the Yankees, Astros, and Giants (and A’s) failed to sweep the White Sox.
Starting on June 1st, the Mets have the second best record in the league at 49-31, trailing only Arizona. The Braves are 0nly 42-40, which may auger well for the Mets. By the way, the Yankees are 39-39.
That’s good, but the Mets pulled even with the Braves on July 26th, the Senga game. What the 2 teams have done from that point is more telling as far as looking ahead.
Weren’t we tops after the Senga game?
Yep, just checked, half game ahead of Atlanta and SD.
True, a win up, but also even in the loss column with the Braves.