The Mets’ offense is still essentially missing in action but they were able to eke out enough to earn a 2-1 win over the Marlins to snap a four-game losing streak and salvage the final game in the series against Miami.
- Logan Verrett made a spot start in place of the injured Jacob deGrom and he did an excellent imitation of the 2014 Rookie of the Year winner, throwing six shutout innings in which he allowed just three hits and fanned six.
- Kevin Plawecki drove in both runs with a single past a drawn-in infield. More than once during the radio broadcast, Howie Rose mentioned that the Marlins’ starting shortstop was not in the game, hinting that perhaps it was a play that could have been made.
- The Mets needed Jeurys Familia, pitching for the fourth time in the last five games, including three in a row, to record a five-out save to clinch the win.
- There was some really questionable bullpen moves in this game. Terry Collins called for Jim Henderson to replace Verrett, despite the face that this would be his third game in four days and he threw 34 pitches last night. Henderson has been a pleasant surprise coming back from shoulder problems and this type of usage was, what’s the phrase I’m looking for, oh yeah — unnecessarily abusive.
- Hansel Robles, who should have started the inning given that he didn’t pitch yesterday, came on with no outs and the bases loaded and struck out two batters. And then was removed because Collins gets a bonus if he uses three relievers in an inning.
- Jerry Blevins came on because, well you know why. He went to 3-0 on Dee Gordon, gave up a ball hit barely foul into the upper deck and then got out of the jam. It was the third straight day of action for Blevins.
- Thankfully there’s a day off tomorrow. The bullpen is burnt out after having to provide 7.1 innings on Monday and essentially being a pitcher short on top of that, as Collins didn’t want to use recently recalled Rafael Montero. Robles and Bastardo should have been the first two choices for Collins, being the relievers with the most rest. But that’s not the way this played out at all.
- At some point, Collins needs to find out if Henderson can pitch in back-to-back games. Why he chose to do it in a day game after he threw 34 pitches the night before, and when he had two other guys, three if you count Montero, to use in a tight game, well it’s a mystery.
Missed today’s game, but not the sarcasm of one of Terry’s biggest fans!
Ironically, at last year’s end, I was kind of ok with Collins. But, I see a leopard can’t change its spots. Hence, Collins is still a moron.
Chris, it seems like someone is trying to cut-in on you:
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2016/04/collins-runs-for-mayor-of-panic-city.html/
(Just joking buddy)
Everyone knows Im the mayor….!!!!
TC stated “it was a game we had to win.” …..”to show people that we mean business.” Vaccaro in the Post called it “boderline recklessness.”
Brian is correct to question the bullpen usage.Reed only threw 5 pitches 2 nights ago. Henderson is coming off shoulder surgery. I was shocked he wasn’t pulled earlier the other night because of the elevated pitch count. It was a poor choice to use him yesterday. Familia for a 5 out save in April? Familia did not belong in the blowout game they lost. It was very questionable use of the bullpen during the Marlin series. It was Panic City and “boderline recklessness” yesterday.
I’m conflicted on the bullpen use. On Henderson, yes, that seemed terrible. However, we don’t know what was communicated. I certainly hope that he gets two days rest before he’s used again.
Otherwise, I get that he sensed the Mets were desperate for a win. I wish that his comments about the importance of the win were directed at the clubhouse — how the team needed it — rather than at the fanbase. But still: It was a win and not a sweep.
Right now, it feels like TC is fumbling and stumbling. But I hope this isn’t the beginning of a pervasive, season-long whine-fest against the Mets manager. It makes for tough reading.
Only two games back of the WC.
James, since I am a major Collins detractor, you are giving me good thinking material. On one hand, you’re right: we shouldn’t spend the year whining about him. He’s not worth it. On the other hand, we spend too much emotion watching this team (obviously that’s a conscious choice) and it’s hard to overlook what we deem as mistakes by the field leader.
Again, I believe you are making a good point up front as to what we should expect this year and how much is “going over the line” with regard to his knee-jerk reactions – rather than planning – that have become a norm.
But you cannot overlook how many different people are killing him on this game.
Tex,
I think it’s a fine line and it moves on a daily basis. As thoughtful baseball fans who appreciate and love the game, it is certainly valid to question strategy. Sometimes moves are defensible — we might disagree, but recognize that there’s reasonable people who think differently — and then there are moves that strike us more forcefully as completely wrong-minded. So speaking only for myself, the issue comes down to the regularity of the complaints and the tone. I think we all agree that TC is not a first-tier game manager. I’m more concerned with his overall vibe — I’d hate to see the return of the “tight” TC, the one who can’t find a day to rest David Wright, etc.
In the clubhouse, and in the bullpen, I don’t know how the players felt. I wonder how they might have reacted if TC threw Montero into the fire . . . and the Mets lost. Maybe they had a sense of pride and told him, “Skip, I can get you some outs today.” We don’t know. OTOH, the upside of Montero succeeding could have also been a great message to the team. In the end, I am very glad they won, though I believe Henderson should not have gone into that game.
The situation is pretty unpleasant, and for Collins to get up and say it was a must win shows one thing: the pressure in the clubhouse must be gigantic. Last year was organic and fun. This year things are obviously different with expectation, even though not so much with a team that is noted for terrible offense if you ask me. This is going to make this season the painful grind we saw the Nats go through last season…bickering, crazy pressers, inexplicable moves, and lousy play. The pressure always attacks where the conditions are most vulnerable, which is offense on this team. Coming back from the worst offense in the land already is going to take time, meanwhile the Nats are 6 over .500.
My biggest concern in record is just how things look by series 0-2-1. Thats devastating because it should be 2-0-1. Everyone can say its a long season, but we took the NL east largely on the early tear we had last year, and by the end of April the Royals had essentially clinched the AL C.
I don’t pretend to know the pressures in the clubhouse. But I’m quite willing to say that you are correct.
But I think if you look back at the history of Mets managers, the ones who were successful dealt with the pressures without cracking. Did Gil Hodges ever claim an April game was a must-win? Did Davey Johnson worry about what the fans or ownership thought?
In 2015, the Mets great April kept them afloat between May and July. Who’s to say the Mets won’t use the middle of the year to make up for a poor April this year?
I wish they were hitting better now. But anyone who wants to write the narrative of the 2016 season after fewer than 10 games is, in my opinion, making a giant mistake.
Instead of worshiping Jim Leyland, perhaps Collins would do well to spend some time hanging around Davey Johnson, instead.
Collins: Davey, can we make the lineup now?
Johnson: No Terry, it’s 6:00 in the morning. Go back to sleep. We’ll do it later.
Collins: What time should I ask you again?
Im not ready to say the narrative is over as of today. However, it is important to note that very strong early runs can be the kind of thing a team con spend a lot of time playing .500 ball and be fine. The Nats dont have a difficult series until May when they face KC and the Cubs back to back. But suppose the Nats are 15-20 over .500 on May 1, and the Mets are 5 under. Thats an awful lot to expect to recover from.
Collins was right…it was a critical game. But he came unhinged, made some pretty poor decisions, and talked about the fans and media as a guide to what he does between the lines. If we can see that, you know for a fact the players do. And its showing up at the plate. I mean really, 20 runs in 8 games, but really thats a measly 13 runs in 7 games.
Collins was right to get a win, but I think not taking the approach he did by extra leveraging Henderson and Familia. I cant think for one second this team is having the lest bit of fun right now.
The Nats play 23 games in April. If they end the month 20 games over .500 — I’ll tip my cap to them. Perhaps 15 games is realistic but will that be because they are an unbeatable juggernaut or because they had 14 games against the Braves, Phillies and Twins?
I’m so much more concerned about the Mets than I am the Nats. If on May 1 the Mets are 5 games under .500 — I’ll definitely be alarmed.
Maybe a nine-game road trip is just what the doctor ordered right now.