OK, so the Mets lost in Miami. Again. That drops their record against the Fish – Bob Ojeda was annoyingly cute with this nickname on the postgame – to 5-9 overall, 3-6 in Magic City. In a vacuum, this record looks horrible — and it is –- but context is key. That loss last night was frustrating, to be sure, but before it was over, a fan could say that a dragon had been slain. Such has seemed the case since June 16.
The garish, gimmicky, underpopulated Marlins Park has been a Metsian chamber of horrors since it opened and the Marlins have been unwelcome opponents since they came into being in 1993. A visit to Miami evokes memories of bitter elimination days in 2007 and 2008. It recalls Pedro Martinez sliding off a slick mound at WhateverItsCalledThisWeek Stadium in April 2008, casting an early pall over an ultimately doomed year. It brings up a thousand little insults suffered at the hands of the Marlins. But the latest loss was different. Fans had an air of confidence going into the 9th inning, an idea that this was not going to be the typical Miami heartbreak. That they’d scratched back from 3-0 down to bring it to the 9th down one was emblematic of the second half of 2013. It was genuinely surprising that the Mets failed to take the lead against Mike Dunn, especially after John Buck – after a couple of wild flails in a futile attempt to deliver the tying run – led off with a base hit. To run the phrase completely into the ground, it sure looks like the Mets have “turned the corner.”
If the Mets could somehow graft their inspired play from the first half of 2012 onto the first two months of 2013, they’d be printing playoff tickets as we speak. In 2012, they sailed into the All Star break 46-40, a respectable .534 clip. As we all know, they nosedived the rest of the way, finishing a craven 74-88. Since June 16 this year and heading into this afternoon’s tilt with the Marlins, the Mets have played 42 games, posting a 24-18 tally, good for a .571 winning percentage. So if we fuse the two together, we’d see a record through 128 games of 70-58, good enough to nip at the heels of the Braves at the top of the East. Now, we all know it doesn’t work that way. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride: cherry-picking records at will is a fool’s game and leads to nothing but false hopes. But it does give us a glimpse of what this squad is capable of and perhaps what the future would hold with a little more luck and a lot more offense. It’s up to Dr. Frankenstein Alderson to put it all together.
We Met fans may be able to shout “It’s alive! Alive!” in the near future…
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley
Turner Field: Ultimate House of Horrors
Marlins Park: House of Horrors
Nationals Park: House of Horrors
Citi Field: House of Horrors
(all below .500)
Citizens Bank Park: Mostly House of Horrors (.500 record)
We do not have a winning record in any stadium in the NL East.
The pitching is here to keep it alive in the second half. Travis d’Arnaud needs to come up and be above average and Lagares has to hit like an average NL CF (no tank job like the 2012 Kirk), and the Mets could play .500 ball going forward.That will put the Mets at around 77 wins, unfortunately enough to get Collins rehired.
The good news is 77 wins ain’t happening…so maybe Collins won’t be back! I still think 69-72 is the likely range.
I’m revising to 70-74 Ws.
I think we got Abby Normal working here!
The thing is, it is more probable to see the team fall into a malaise and contend for a top ten draft pick than it is for them to play even .500 the rest of the way.
Also the comments Alderson made about the outfield do seem troubling to someone expecting at least a little tinkering in the offseason.
The Mets had a chance to do something after the break, playing 4 games against every team in the NL East except for the Phillies who they only played twice. Sadly, they only went 7-8 during this stretch and failed to make any noise. This perception could have been greatly changed if they got a few more key hits: they were only 1-3 in one-run games during this stretch. If they had turned 2 of those into wins, i would probably be raving about them going 9-6 and most likely in this scenario they would be tied for 2nd place with the Nats.
Now they play a stretch of 17 games against all non-NL east opponents, with only the Royals and Dodgers playing well right now. Only takes .500 to make some noise nowadays… Let’s go Mets!