FULL STEAM AHEAD
Yanks roll into Citi looking to run over helpless Mets
This could be a rough weekend for the Mets as red-hot Yankees come barreling into Citi Field for yet another Subway Series.
THE METS STAGGER into the Subway Series, losers of 31 of their last 47 games, facing a Yankee team that has scored nearly 100 more runs than they have, and you have to think they have probably not yet reached their lowest ebb.
Their minus 33 runs differential, 28th out of 30 ranking in runs scored and 26th ranking in OPS is, on the surface, a fair indication that this Mets team just isn’t very good. And yet, we still wonder if this extended slump — following that exhilarating club record 11-1 start — isn’t in large part due to the fact their three top right-handed hitters, Yoenis Cespedes, Todd Frazier and Juan Lagares (who was leading the team in batting when he tore up his toe and was lost for the season, May 16) have been out of the lineup for most of May and June.
What’s been most disheartening about this Mets hitting malaise is that it’s come at the expense of some really encouraging starting pitching, with Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler finally beginning to live up to the hype that’s accompanied them from when they first showed up on the Citi Field scene. In the last 18 games, Mets starters have a 2.36 ERA, which should have been good for a whole lot better than 5-13 over that span.
Well, Frazier’s back now and Cespedes is presumably not far behind, possibly as soon as this weekend. According to the Elias Bureau, the Mets are 157-134 (.540) lifetime when Cespedes is in the starting lineup and 5487 when he isn’t. That’s how much of a difference-maker he’s been for the Mets, but it’s not just been his absence that’s given rise to the growing belief, for all the excellent starting pitching, this team is still going nowhere.
Yes, they haven’t hit a lick for almost a week, but at the same time they’ve been playing dead-ass baseball for much longer (at the same time the young upstart Atlanta Braves are playing with energy and enthusiasm day in and day out) — and that’s on the manager. So, too, are the alarming lapses of fundamentals.
Never mind the batting out of order fiasco, or the curious moves like failing to double-switch in the first game of the May 28 doubleheader against the Braves resulting in Seth Lugo having to bat in the ninth inning with the tying run on first base, or the strange responses to questions from what is becoming an increasingly skeptical media corps — when Mickey Callaway made that “I’m not in Cleveland anymore, Toto” comment about the pressure in New York possibly affecting his players, most of whom have been here for a few years, you had to ask yourself: Is this really the guy who’s gonna inspire and lead this team back into the race?
If this continues, if the Mets continue to struggle even after Cespedes comes back, and the lowest ebb turns out to be the end of the season, someone, most likely the GM Sandy Alderson, is going to take the fall (after the poor hitting coach, Pat Roessler). You can’t blame Alderson for Jay Bruce having just one home run at Citi Field for his $13 million and reminding too many of Jason Bay. In his defense, Bruce is playing with plantar fasciitis and after what he did last year with the Mets and Cleveland, the threeyears/$36 million looked like a pretty fair deal. Same thing with the two years/$16 million W for Jason Vargas. hat you can blame Alderson for is the Mets’ player development system, ranked 27th out of 30 in January by Baseball America, which is devoid of any near-term help for the parent club. Of course, it was also Alderson’s choice to hire Callaway, the Indians pitching coach who had never managed before but was billed as this great communicator. Gave him a three-year contract, essentially sight unseen since nobody really knew if he could manage.
Starting now, we’re going to find out.