The 2016 season is hurtling toward its inevitable conclusion. For three and a half months, the Mets have looked old, lethargic and inept. A 45-52 record – as of this writing – since May 1 will do that to you, never minding the fact that their projected starting lineup has not been on the field together since April 25. That was the last game Travis d’Arnaud played before being placed on the disabled list with a rotator cuff strain. Lucas Duda played his last game on May 20, a couple of days before he was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back. That was a week before David Wright played his last game of the year – possibly the last game of his career – after being diagnosed with a herniated disk in his neck, requiring surgery and scuttling whatever season he might have had. That’s three of the major pieces of last year’s pennant winners on the shelf. Anybody who projected a staring lineup that included James Loney, Jose Reyes, Kelly Johnson, T.J. Rivera or Alejandro De Aza before the season started, raise your hand and be called a liar: those five all graced the lineup card for last night’s game. Such are the vagaries of a long baseball season, and the Mets ask no sympathy. The way the rest of the NL is playing, though, they may not need any.
With their record at 60-59, the Mets entered last night’s play three games out of the second Wild Card spot, in third place in that race. The leaders, the St. Louis Cardinals have only just righted themselves, winning three straight after losing seven out of eleven. The Mets sit a game behind both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the odious Miami Marlins, neither of whom can muster better than a .500 record lately, either. This race may be decided quite soon – as far as the Mets are concerned, anyway – because after this last game in Arizona, the Mets go to San Francisco for four tough games against the holders of the first Wild Card spot, then stop in St. Louis for three on the way home for series against Philadelphia and Miami. You could reasonably say this Mets team, which has no business sniffing around a playoff spot, will have their season determined by what happens over the next 15 days. They could catch fire. They could split with the Giants and bulldoze St. Louis and Miami, for instance. If that happens, then anything is up for grabs. At the same time, they could just as easily drop three-of-four in San Francisco and totally pack it in against the teams they’re chasing. At the moment, the latter seems far more likely than the former, but if the Mets are to salvage any sheen of respectability, they have to start right now.
They’ve burnt a lot of daylight on this season; it’s gonna start getting dark really soon.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
The Mets are an inconsistent team. If they won 4 of 6 from the Diamondbacks (which was a reasonable expectation instead of going 1-5 against them) then their record would have been 63-57 and only one game out of the wildcard and looking up at only the Cardinals. The manner in which they lost three of those games is very telling. The pitching staff gave up a bunch of runs and the runs the Mets scored were usually stat padding runs. They did not hit when it mattered. That has been the problem all season.
If the Cardinals open up any more space then the “light” September schedule may only serve as a “flicker of hope”. Charlie your excellent conclusion sums up the situation; “if the Mets are to salvage any sheen of respectability, they have to start right now. They’ve burnt a lot of daylight on this season; it’s gonna start getting dark really soon.”
Everyone is saying its over will getem next year wait a minute,this year’snot over yet not untill the fat laidies signs!!!
The Mets have allowed 63 runs in their last 11 games. Until and unless the pitching gets straightened out, they’re going to continue to sputter.
Last night on the bump: Niese, Lugo, Ynoa, Goeddel, Edgin.
How does that group not win?
Internal solutions.
Weak farm system.
Not enough talent to call up, not enough talent to trade, not enough talent to win.
But, hey, you never know!
I know you take great pleasure in bashing the farm system but let’s not pretend that the pitchers who’ve been here all season are all pitching great while the new acquisitions are the only ones struggling.
Syndergaard has a 4.09 ERA in his last 10 games and opponents are batting .302 with an .814 OPS against him
Colon has a 4.47 ERA in his last 8 games and opponents are batting .298 with an .844 OPS against him
Familia has a 4.82 ERA in his last nine games and has blown three saves
Robles has a 9.00 ERA and an .871 OPS against in the month of August
Blevins has a 4.91 ERA and a .779 OPS this month
Plenty of blame to go around.
I feel compelled to offer a counter-narrative to what I’ve been reading in the Metsblogosphere — including here — since the day Alderson/dePodesta arrived. I am still in the minority on this topic, though some people are beginning to catch on.
And it gives me no pleasure.
If the goal is sustained success, a top of the line farm system is paramount. The current 25-man roster is filled w/ the cast-offs from other organizations.
if 3 pitchers can be healthy and hot…if Reyes, Ces, Bruce, Walker, Cabrera play “Professionally”….. If they can find 1 X Factor—The Upside of a Conforto Return????,,,,,, they could find themselves at Game 163.
Brian, FYI Ive posted 2x to this thread and neither have gone up.
Do these missing posts have links in them? Anything with more than one link gets rejected.
One had 1, the second had 2
Careful what you wish for. If by some miracle we get it together and sneak into the playoffs we’ll get rewarded with a one game do or die on the road against Kershaw.
I’m not really worried about that. Remember NLDS Game 1 last year? He can be got in a big spot.
Not that they’re, y’know, getting there…
I have a tough time blaming the pitching, personally. Yes the pitching has been sub-par of late, but ultimately is the only reason this team is hovering around .500. Our top 5 players in 2016 by bWAR are all pitchers – the 4 SP and Reed. Overall in the NL, the pitching staff is #1 in HR allowed and BB allowed, #2 in SV, #3 in ERA and ER allowed, and #5 in K. On the other hand, the hitting is borderline worst in the league in almost every way except HR (#3) and SLG (#8). Not to mention worst in the MLB in RISP by .021 (!) percentage points. Recently the pitching has faltered a bit, and it’s extremely unfortunate that it has been during the very rare interval of time that the Mets are actually scoring some runs.