Bright spots are rare in season of despair
SAN FRANCISCO — These Mets will take the small miracles. It has been that kind of year.
On the same day Tim Tebow was promoted to Single-A St. Lucie, they finished off a three-game sweep of the pitiful Giants with an 8-2 victory at AT&T Park on Sunday.
If not for the first leg of the trip and a four-game sweep at the hands of the mighty Dodgers, the Mets might be in a better mindset.
The Mets are in the patsies part of their schedule with an off-day Monday and then a three-game series against the Marlins in Miami, followed by a threegame series against the Phillies at Citi Field. They need to keep the sweeps going to have a chance to get back to .500.
Like the promotion of Tebow, a sweep of the Giants does not mean much. Now, at least, the Mets get to sell more Tebow jerseys in Florida. The biggest plus of the day were trade chips Jay Bruce bashing his 20th home run and Curtis Granderson his 10th, a splash shot into McCovey Cove.
As for the Mets 34-41 record, this is the bottom line.
Against the three teams leading their respective divisions in the National League — the Nationals, Brewers and Dodgers — and the one wild-card team they have faced — the Diamondbacks, they have yet to play the Rockies — the Mets record is 5-19.
That number tells you all you need to know about where the 2017 Mets stand.
They have five wins and 19 losses against teams that would make the postseason. Bruce is a veteran who knows the score.
“We still need to play great baseball to have a chance,’’ Bruce said. “We just have to play well and see what happens.’’
Even on a day the Mets got some well-pitched innings by Rafael Montero and the first two home run game of catcher Rene Rivera’s career, there was an injury concern. Michael Conforto was drilled with a pitch on his left hand in the fifth and left the game an inning later with a contusion. X-rays were negative. Conforto was in left field with Yoenis Cespedes getting the day off to rest his weary legs.
Injuries are part of the Mets and when Terry Collins was asked about the club’s injuries again he offered this: “We came into [last] season, Sports Illustrated had those five guys on the cover. I don’t even know where they all are right now.”
Noah Syndergaard, Jeurys Familia and Matt Harvey are all down, of course.
The Mets are hoping Conforto is OK to play Tuesday because Collins was planning to give the red-hot Granderson the day off.
Injuries and terrible play have put the Mets in the hole they are in and they simply don’t measure up to the better teams. Most of the National League is mediocre at best and there truly are some dreadful teams such as the Giants, Padres and Phillies. The Mets went into action Sunday with a better record than only four teams, those three lost causes and the Reds.
If the Mets had not swept the Giants, who have fallen deeper into the abyss than the Mets after beating them in the wild-card game in October, that would have been an upset.
As for Tebow, who was promoted despite hitting only .222 in 63 games at Columbia, general manager Sandy Alderson said, “We felt this was the right time to get him to High-A. His OPS has been twice as high at home. We certainly think he can handle it. The average isn’t there but he is improving.’’
Asked what he views as Tebow’s ceiling, Alderson said, “I don’t think about his ceiling. There was a chance that he would completely bomb in spring training, that didn’t happen.’’
Tebow is now back in Florida where he is a living legend.
Alderson said Tebow has been “outstanding’’ in the clubhouse.
“There’s been nothing but positives and I expect that will continue at St. Lucie as well,” the GM said.
After the debacle in Los Angeles, Alderson and the Mets are looking for any positives, no matter how small, they can find these days.