Pretty much all fans of professional football dislike the fact that most years there is a built-in two week wait separating the NFC and AFC championship games and the Super Bowl. There have been a few years when the wait was only one week and it seems that these years have had more entertaining and competitive games than in the two week wait ones.
The baseball schedule was drawn up so that Tuesday October 27th was to be the date on which the 2015 World Series would start come heck or high water. And with the Royals and Blue Jays needing Friday for a game six and possibly Saturday should the Jays force a game seven, the Tuesday start for the Fall Classic is reasonable.
But had Kansas City closed out Toronto on Wednesday, the same day the Mets completed their sweep of the Cubs, it would have looked silly and almost wasteful to have both teams sit on their hands waiting for next Tuesday to arrive. Certainly the longer the two teams wait the less forgiving the weather becomes. In Toronto with their dome this is not an issue but it is a factor in New York and in Kansas City.
There are mostly pros and a few cons for the Mets in having to wait until Tuesday to get going again.
One big plus is the opportunity this affords Manager Terry Collins to set up his rotation in whatever order he most prefers. A side benefit is also that in creating a rotation he can make Matt Harvey his game three or four starter so as to only ask him to make one more start. This should keep Scott Boras’ feathers only minimally ruffled. Reportedly Harvey’s triceps issue has been improving. Being able to rest an extra week figures to help.
Another advantage is that some of the wounded in action will have time to heal. Juan Uribe has just started to rehab and if things go well in the next few days he might be able to rejoin the team. One would imagine that if he is healthy enough to go then he would be added to the roster with Kirk Nieuwenheis being dropped from it. Since Uribe would likely get some of the pinch-hitting assignments that currently go to Michael Cuddyer I’m sure you join me in signing his Get Well Soon card.
Mets fans gasped when Yoenis Cespedes left Wednesday’s game with what was described as a sore shoulder. Assuming that there is no severe structural damage the few extra days off can only help him be ready for game one.
On the other hand the Mets have a momentum (if you believe that that actually exists in sports) that might be slowed by having to wait from Wednesday until this coming Tuesday.
Certainly the hottest hitter on the planet right now, Daniel Murphy, can not benefit by the wait. We can only hope that if he falls back it will be from blazing surface of the sun hot to just regular red hot.
Really the guy whose timing looks to be coming around is Lucas Duda. In game four against the Cubs it finally looked like the tricky getting the right leg down at the correct time was working. We all know Duda to be streaky. He has been quite awful during the post season but on Wednesday he had it together. One can only hope that he can start the World Series in sync and that the delay doesn’t mess him back up.
One other possible benefit of the wait is that if the KC/Toronto series goes seven games then game seven might see each team use whatever pitchers necessary to win their do-or-die game. This could mean that the opening day starter for the AL champion in the World Series might not be one of that team’s top two or three starters.
The bottom line is that it is what it is. Come Tuesday let’s all enjoy the fact that the New York Mets are in the World Series.
Great stuff Larry. I was wondering about this myself. Are there any KC players who need some time to mend?
I’m also interested in what the staff thinks about the DH. Does this help the Mets more than KC having to hit their pitchers in Citi games? I confess to not knowing much about the KC rotation, esp with regard to R/L.
I assume that Conforto will be the DH with righties throwing? What about lefties? Cuddyer? Uribe? I assume that Lagares and Cespedes are in the field. Maybe TC gets creative and put Flores as DH with REynolds at SS? This is where the Tejada injury hurts even more.
So, Cueto, Volquez, Ventura and Young are all righties. Unless I am missing something, all of their primary relievers are righties too.
Here’s an interesting read from bleacher report about their struggles.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2580835-royals-inconsistent-rotation-remains-kcs-postseason-achilles-heel
Since the reality is the Mets fortunes rely on their pitching staff, the extra days off benefit the Mets as we now have Harvey ready for games 1 and 5. The pitch count is out the door with 4 more wins needed. Also as noted in this upbeat writing the extra time gives a chance to add Uribe back into the mix who has had some big hits during his stay and gives us flexibility in the infield. As long as Cespedes is ready to go, and we should all have our fingers crossed on that, we will hit the Royals’ righties with the Grandy Man, Lucas and even Conforto ready to break out. Got to favor a Met DH over a Royals pitcher with a bat in hand.
Royals were here last year which should give them two wins. Mets in 6, unfortunately having to poor champagne once again in the visitors clubhouse. Get the NYC parade route ready. Let’s go Mets!!!
Unfortunately, the All-Star game results dictate that the AL team gets home field, but if it went by regular season record, KC woukd have it anyway. It’s a little tough to compare these teams since they didn’t face off this year, but KCis a terrific, well balanced and hungry team. That said, the Mets are destined and we hve unstoppable arms. Uribe will be a nice presence in the clubhouse but, as a player, I don’t see him as a difference maker. A suddenly hot Duda against all righties makes me smile.