The scoreboard doesn’t always tell the truth about a game. You could tell by Jacob deGrom‘s line that he had a great day, going seven strong innings of one-run baseball. He ended his day by striking out nine, walking one and only a first-inning Freddie Freeman home run to blemish an otherwise perfect afternoon. What the scoreboard doesn’t show was his fantastic defense that prevented another run from scoring.
The boxscore can tell you that Bobby Parnell gave up one hit and a ground out without allowing a run in his first game back in over 400 days away from Citi Field. But it can’t tell you that fans’ hearts were probably in their throats as Terry Collins brought him in for a crucial late inning role. But as Collins has said, he will throw Parnell into that fire, and we’ll just have to see how recovered our former closer is.
It certainly was a weird one. Wilmer Flores showed some nifty fielding, then less so later when a double play was in order. Daniel Muno might need a new glove, as his old one collected three errors tonight. Travis d’Arnaud is making fans breathe a little easier, as he’s picked up right where he left off. It was shaping up to be a really good day overall. Until the bullpen showed up. Let’s just say, Jeurys Familia was sorely missed.
Horrible loss. Infield defense is completely unreliable.
Off topic: Just started following this site. Fantastic content you guys. I’ve been a Mets fan since my dad took me to Shea in ’68. Living in Texas it is hard to get insightful Mets coverage. You guys fill the void. I’ve been reading Metsblog for several years but the trolling and poor writing have been a real challenge. So thanks for putting this out here.
On topic: Tough loss. Hate to see deGrom not get his W. It happens. Hopefully evidence is mounting that the roster needs some additions. And that Collins is not the guy. His decision making is rote. Why keep putting Torres out there against lefties? Will this continue until his split shows that lefties are hitting over .300?
Hey Bull – thanks for the kind words!
I hope you’ll become a regular commenter. Gus doesn’t want to be the only one from Texas.
Mets can’t afford loses like this. Hope they get Familia and Tejada back from baby sitting soon.
Hansel Freaking Robles. Why TC continues to trust this guy i do not understand. Coming into today, he had appeared in 3 high leverage appearances and bombed in 2 of them already and had a 4.97 ERA overall.
Why is he even still on this team, let alone given a save opportunity?
deGrom pitched a great game. He came out for a pinch hitter and the Mets took a
lead. It had the makings of a great day. Then TC made some some bullpen management decisions that I found baffling. Familia was unavailable. They had a 3-1 lead over a team that was breathing down their necks in the standings. He held back his most experienced relievers for 9th inning. He opened the 8th with Leaathersich and then went to Parnell. Many on the chatter thought the move suspect becaue it was his first appearence and it was too high leverage. It worked out though. Now he had the Torres Twins to mix and match with. Instead he brought in Robles. ????? Why bring in a rookie when you can bury the third place team? Where was the smell of blood, the move in for the kill, the urgency? Foxsports South showed Miller going ballistic and kicking and throwing stuff when he got knocked out. We beat their ace, and the Braves were had.
I hang this loss on TC for a very poor decision. You should lose with your best available. Robles should have been the last option, not the first.
We are still in first, shake it off, get them tomorrow. LGM
I can’t fault the Manager for Playing the guys he has…and the guys Collins has add up to 84-87 wins— they lack power, speed and defense, and the roster is consistently “missing pieces”. Muno and Campbell are barely MLB players.
However, he’s batting Granderson Leadoff—statistically, that might be a smart move, universally, but the 7-9 positions provide him with little opportunity to drive in Runs. I don;t understand the stubborness of continuing to bat Grandy 2nd.
“I don’t understand the stubborness of continuing to bat Grandy 2nd.”…. i did mean to say …”…..batting Grandy Leadoff….”
Eraff you state that you can’t fault the manager for playing the guys he has and then you fault him for batting Granderson first. I faulted him for using Robles first. I faulted him for not putting the best players on the field. If pitching Robles in that situation was a ” growth step” for his confidence then he also should not of thrown Flores under the bus with his postgame quote.
Sure Flores should have turned two but his confidence is very important to the presently constructed team. I do agree that Granderson should not bat first and that TC can’t be faulted for the roster construction but yesterday he made tactical mistakes with his personnell and compounded it with his postgame “Teflon Terry” remarks.
Mejia is sorely missed.
TC needs to go. He is terrible at making adjustments – everyone knows lefties are killing A.Torres but he sent him out to the wolves and (surprise) got beat. You can’t do that in divisional games, or any game for that matter. It really shows that he is the oldest manager in baseball and his attitude and vibe does not mix with the young players on this team. The team is suffering because he can’t deal with adversity whatsoever and creates unneeded pressure and tension. Same thing happened when he managed the Astros in the mid 90s. And once he was replaced, the Astros became postseason contenders.
What an awful job by Collins, not using the relief pitchers who can get five outs to make up for the terrible roster construction.
Again, imagine how terrible Matt Reynolds must be. If I was in Triple A and Muno and Campbell were promoted over me twice each I would find another line of work.
Bring up Tovar! Flores starts, they get a lead. They bring in the defensive SS. Mets win.
Jim, this makes a lot of sense, a lot more than three left handed guys in the pen. In other words, forget it!
I keep thinking about how offended AAAA players must get when they hear Muno or Campbell referred to as AAAA players.