Are you excited for the final month of baseball, Mets’ fans?
Clearly that’s a rhetorical question.
With the Mets dropping six of their last seven games, the grittiness and fight that this team displayed shortly after the All-Star break, all but seems to have dissipated. The air has been let out of the balloon as far as this season goes.
Obviously, it’s not just the mounting losses that is breaking the spirit of the Mets and their fans.
On Monday, the collective hearts of Mets’ fans were broken when Matt Harvey was diagnosed with a UCL tear and will be shut down for the season. Tommy John surgery is likely and if he goes through with it, Harvey will assuredly miss all of the 2014 season.
Ouch!
Then the Mets did what they ultimately had to do; trading away Marlon Byrd and John Buck to the Pittsburgh Pirates for prized prospect Dilson Herrera, as well as solid pitching prospect Vic Black (the player to be named later). When the Pirates offer you a high-upside prospect(s), you have to accept the deal. The Mets, obviously, were going nowhere with Byrd and Buck, and both, more than likely, had no future with the Mets outside of this year.
I haven’t even mentioned David Wright yet, who’s return may be in doubt this year, as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Combine that with Jeremy Hefner and Jenrry Mejia being shut down for the year, and the Mets are looking at a very gloomy September finish. Oh joy!
While the Mets were playing some solid ball in the middle of the summer, extenuating circumstances will now make it difficult for the Mets to play any semblance of solid ball for the duration of the season. Between devastating injuries, players underachieving and trades that, in essence, had to be made, it appears the Mets will limp to the finish line.
Or will this team show some intestinal fortitude and use these setbacks as motivation? You’d like to see that, but chances are slim this team wins anymore than 70-74 games.
The good news is that the Mets will likely finish in the bottom ten of the MLB standings, and will likely have their pick in next summer’s MLB Amateur Draft protected.
The positive momentum the Mets were building this season will likely all but evaporate, and that will still sting. With the Mets putting nothing much better than a Triple-A squad out on the field, it’s hard for Mets’ fans to give a reason to tune into games.
On the other hand, these setbacks should give Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson a chance to do some key evaluations in regards to players like Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares, Matt den Dekker (who’s set to make his debut today, August 29) and others when the September reinforcements make their way to Flushing.
Player evaluation and development is ultimately what this final month will be used for.
However, with the so-so product being put on the field, it’s hard not to think any excitement will be built heading into the 2014 season. It’s just been a bad week for Mets’ fans and any sort of good news may just be delayed until the start of next year.
Here’s to hoping the Mets can give us some hope this final month (and no one should ever thrown in the towel-that is not what I’m implying), but doing so might require some heavy lifting.
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If Harvey has surgery, he will miss the 2014 season, not 2015. Don’t jinx the guy.
My bad, gotta edit that.
Watching the Mets in September will be an on and off thing. Football is starting, schools are back in, and the annual playing out the string will give them some low pressure situations. Whoever (including Davis) cannot perform now, don’t expect anything when the lights get brighter again next year.
From August 28th to the end of the season is strictly evaluation time.
The time frame between June 18th and August 27th is the time frame to study because that was when the Mets were a competitive team. Defense along with good pitching turned this team around to an above .500 team during this time span. This was with the closer and best hitter injured for significant time.
EY solidified the OF and added a speed and baserunning dynamic that improved the team. He isn’t even an average defensive player and has a weak OBP for a leadoff. Imagine Ellsbury instead? Or Choo?
Byrd was the power bat RF and they need now to replace him. Imagine Byrd again, or Beltran, or Pence ?
Quintinilla was adequate enough to win with. But imagine a 2011 Tejada?
Davis/Satin proved that 1B is a platoon but imagine the more consistant Duda instead.
Buck had begun to fizzle so d’Arnaud just needs to be average.
Lagares is the standard bearer of defense but imagine MDD contributing also?
Harvey may not be with us next year but Montero/Syndergaard will. No team can replace the best pitcher in baseball but these replacements are not throw aways either.
If Sandy makes the right moves then next September we should be a competitive +.500 team. LGM
Why can’t you bring up Montero/Syndergaard for the last month of the season?
A) Innings limits
B) Neither is on the 40-man and neither require being added this year.
Darin Gorski, on the other hand…
Also I don’t think either of them are Major League ready right now. Syndergaard is still in AA, albeit dominating, and Montero has had mixed results at AAA so far, although how much of that is owing to Cashman Field is debatable. There is no sense in rushing prospects up just for the sake of bringing them up.
How can you expect this team to be competitive when you have rejects like Dice-K pitching every 5th day? I don’t understand why management continues to roll out players past their prime when they have so many talented pitchers in the minors. Why not bring them one of them up and see if they can rise to the occasion? Wouldn’t that be a better solution then watching a Japanese Shaun Marcum? Why not give a taste of what the majors is like and give the fans a reason to come to Citifield. After 2 inept starts why would you pay to go watch Dice-K when the game is over after 2 or 3 innings. Some how the baseball gods have a way of evening things out. Fred Wilpon have a nice day!
This season was a building operation from the start line. In terms of competition baseball in Sept and Oct, the season was over on 1 April. Word up Mets fans: its no different next year either.
While I agree with you on this year, I disagree about next season. 2013 is a year full of stop-gap players and letting prospects develop while the ML team treads water. Next year there needs to be major steps taken forwards towards competitiveness, namely a .500 record and perhaps, in the best case scenario, a flirting with the second wild card. I do not expect 2014 to be a playoff season.
I dont see it Joe. And .500, as welcome as that would be, wont have anything to do with a wild card. Im not even interested in talking about playoffs until we have a team that plays more that “stomachable” baseball. We arent anywhere near that. Next year wont be any different.
We wont have a complete pitching staff, even with the promotions of ______, _______, and ______. There will be plenty of innings caps and injuries. We have no obvious power at the plate. We will not be promoting “Will Myers” from our ranks, nor is it smart to buy into a big name now with ’14 not a big deal. We have no known outfielders (while I like Lagares a lot, I am aware that he might platoon or be in LV). 1B and SS are mysteries. Will d’Arnaud be able to play a full season…ever? And we get back to pitching, starting and relief…its bad news bears.
The other night Keith said there were “two, no, three” position players fixed for next year: Wright, Lagares, and d’Arnaud. Does that sound like the playoffs to you? Not me. Id be surprised if next year looks any different than this.
Well,Dice-K stunks but they only scored 2 runs for him.Not going to win many games with only 2 runs.The struggles on offensecat Citifield continue.Fire Terry Collins!
And when Wheeler gets shut down? How many more innings does he have left? 12? I guess its fair to say the Mets will finish in the bottom 10 this year again.
Good. Maybe the team can get a protected pick so they can sign a free agent without having to worry about sacrificing a top draft pick.
[…] this column is taking on a funereal tone – and this isn’t the only one doing that today around here – it is because the hope generated for the future has been lost […]
Isn’t the rule to never trust Spring Training stats and September stats? With the quad-A Mets playing 22/31 games against other quad-A squads, there’s no reason to disregard that rule . September is just about giving the kids some MLB experience.
Name…thats a classic TCism. Never trust the numbers in March or September. OF course, if you are a playoff team, September numbers may take on more meaning!
Unless you are playing for a division or wild card berth. Atlanta is playing for home field throughout the playoffs so don’t expect them to hold down the scores.
These guys really are teflon.They get blamed for nothing.
Much has been made of manager Terry Collins’ job security, but Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports that pitching coach Dan Warthen is also highly likely to return for the 2014 season. One team official told Martino: “Dan does a great job. If our pitchers don’t succeed, it is because they don’t execute a pitch. It is never because Dan Warthen failed to prepare them. He works hard at what he does.”
And all the season ending injuries prove hes doing great! Its like the Stockholm Syndrome around Flushing. The captives have fallen for for their captors.
[…] of Parnell the last couple of weeks has been another drain for a team that seemingly is void of any good news lately (but hey, they have won two games in a row), this injury shouldn’t be too serious. Parnell […]
[…] After being shutout for the second time in three days to the Washington Nationals (and only registering 13 hits in the three games against them thus far), the Mets are limping—all bandaged and wounded—to the finish line. The spirit has been sapped out of this club, and a team could only take so much bad news before they completely break down. Ever since the news of Matt Harvey’s injury, and the subsequent trading of John Buck and Marlon Byrd to the Pirates, this Mets’ ball club has seen the wind being taken out of its sail. […]