Maybe it is true that Carlos Gomez is the prodigal son, returning to the Mets, and basking in the recent stretch of hot play that is partially his responsibility for starting. Gomez, who had been away from the Mets organization since 2008 when they traded him to the Twins as a part of the deal to bring Johan Santana to the franchise, launched a home run to propel the Mets to a sweep over the lowly Washington Nationals on Thursday. Gomez ignited the Mets with the blast, and has contributed to an interesting cast of characters that has surprisingly kept the Mets afloat when it seemed they were destined to be a sinking ship.
Just a week ago, the sinking ship appeared it would soon be without a skipper. Mickey Callaway, after his team was swept by the Miami Marlins, was headhunted by both members of the media and fans due to frustration with the lack of performance by his team. After receiving a vote of confidence from his general manager, he also received a vote of confidence from some unlikely players. The injury bug that bit their cross-town rival New York Yankees finally caught up to the Mets, and injuries have begun to pile up. Robinson Cano and Jeff McNeil are the latest victims, and especially with the loss of McNeil, the Mets are going to be missing a big piece of their lineup for a bit. Little did Calloway expect to receive backing from a gaggle of misfits.
Gomez has not seen success in the big leagues since 2016, when he was a member of the Texas Rangers. He saw success as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, even accumulating two All-Star appearances and a Gold Glove from 2013-2014. While Gomez certainly doesn’t produce at the same clip that he did when he was a member of the Brewers, he still has the spark that has been a trademark of his career. He brought the most exciting moment of the season for the Mets so far this season, and we should expect nothing less than for him to be an entertaining, true center fielder for the team.
In addition to Gomez, the Mets have had other depth pieces come up in the clutch for them that you necessarily wouldn’t expect. For those who watched the 2016 World Series, one of the most memorable moments was Rajai Davis smacking a home run to tie Game Seven against the Cubs. While the Cubs ended up taking the World Series, the Davis home run was still a defining moment of the 2016 playoffs. Nearly three years later, Davis smacked a shot for the Mets that was eerily similar to the one that he hit when he was with the Indians. Davis still brings a lot of athleticism to the outfield for the Mets, but don’t expect him to regularly hit home runs.
Adeiny Hechavarria continues the misfit depth of the Mets, this time filling a void in the infield. Seeing that all of the other odd replacement players for the Mets seemed to be hitting important home runs, Hechavarria decided to join in on the party on Friday night. He launched a three-run shot that at the time put the Mets ahead of the Detroit Tigers. The point is, all of these players, these goons that the Mets have assembled, have somehow begun to save the Mets season.
While this success has been found against the Nationals, and somewhat against the Tigers, this goon squad has brought excitement back to the 2019 season. Fans are back to being invested in this team, not because of what is was billed as at the beginning of the season. They are genuinely interested in seeing what happens next with the random assortment of players that Brodie Van Wagenen signs. With Matt Kemp and Ervin Santana signing on Friday, expect this season to get a lot more interesting.
Would be great if the Mets can catch lightning in a bottle with either Kemp or Santana. The latter has had an up and down career where at times he’s been a really good pitcher. Maybe we can catch him on an upswing.
They are both interesting pickups. With all of the injuries, I’d much rather have Gomez, Davis, Santana and Kemp rather than a bunch of rookies who probably would never see the show if the starters didn’t get hurt.
It’s also a great way to try out players to build a great experienced bench when the regulars come back.
Heck, look at the Yankees. Who needs Stanton, Judge, Andujar and Gregorius when you are in first place.
The move to Syracuse is already paying dividends. There’s no way that Rajai Davis would have made it to NY to hit that homerun if the club was still in the Pacific Coast League. There would be no Uber story and perhaps no win.
Playoff teams have players like Hech, Gomez and Davis as fill-ins in exact situations like this. Let’s hope that they’re stopgaps and not regulars, I’m excited for Conforto to be back, nervous about McNeil and Lowrie.
Across an entire season, even the slightest positive run production from the back end of the bench adds up significantly. They’re upgrades to the Austin Jackson and Wilmer Flores’ of the game which hopefully translates to just a few more wins.
Then it will be up to the stars to come through for the ‘meat’ of the wins…
Lets Go Mets! Exciting times for sure!
The Font and Santana additions tip BVW’s hand a bit. There’s pressure to compete and the moves signal that they’re aware that starting pitching is a weakness (by depth and quality).
I wouldn’t be surprised if Keuchel is very much in the cards once the draft is over.
Speaking of, has this happened in baseball recently? Does waiting until after the draft set a bad precedent?
We’ve played the Nationals and Tigers.
Next week?