Last night was Buck Showalter‘s first game during the regular season as a manager in the Mets-Yankees rivalry, as interleague play was not around when Showalter managed the Yankees. He did not manage against the Yankees when he led the Diamondbacks, either. In four years with the Rangers, he had a 14-24 record against the Yankees and in eight years and part of a ninth with the Orioles, his record stood at 73-81.
In the Game Chatter last night, some suggested that Showalter was over-managing. Be that as it may, no one is complaining after the Mets emerged with a 6-3 win. It will be curious if Mets fans feel the same way about tonight’s game, too. Does Showalter want to beat the first club he ever managed more than the rest of the teams on the schedule? If asked directly, he’d undoubtedly say no.
His lifetime record against the Yankees now stands at 88-105.
deGrom’s line at Syr last night:
4 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 67 pitches
ummmm, googly eyes rolling…
DeGrom throws 5 shutout innings against Nats on trade deadline day.
I have a comment about baseball in general. The Blue Jays will have a significant advantage in the playoffs.
Any unvaccinated player will not be allowed in the country. Like their recent series with the Cardinals, when MVP candidate Paul Goldschmitt could not play.
It is an interesting point.
That’s true – but it’s no different from the advantage they’ve had all season. And there’s no guarantee that they’ll even make the playoffs.
You are right Brian. The advantage doesnt seem to have helped them thos year.
Don’t you think unvaccinated players get vaccinated?
I’d like to think that would be the case. But how many games did Kyrie Irving miss because he wouldn’t get vaccinated?
Mets made a move to strengthen their bench, acquiring Tyler Naquin and a lefty reliever (not on 40-man) in exchange for two minor leaguers. The lefty-hitting Naquin likely replaces Travis Jankowski on the roster. Naquin has a 97 OPS+ this year, compared to Jankowski’s 34 OPS+
Edit – Naquin has a big platoon split, with a lifetime .805 OPS versus RHP, in 1,678 PA. It’s possible this becomes a platoon situation with Canha down the road.
Naquin is a depth acquisition and a partial platoon for Canha (.646 vs RHP) and and can occasionally rest Marte in RF. He is an above average corner outfielder but below average centerfielder. McNeil is now a second baseman and Guillorme will get his AB by being the partial platoon with Escobar at 3B and resting McNeil at 2B. Naquin is an upgrade to Jankowski and the trade helped the team now and was a lottery pick for the Reds. Unfortunately Jankowski didn’t hit. It was a good trade.
Yes, an end-of-the-bench improvement.
Little things count.
It would be something if the Mets ended up running platoons with both Escobar and Canha, two of their big offseason free agent signings. Trying to paint the Naquin acquisition as a plus for Guillorme has to mean a platoon at 3B. Anything short of that means Guillorme ends up with significantly less playing time than he’s had since May 1, when he became a quasi-regular.
From May 1 to today, Guillorme played in 60 games and made 50 starts. In that same period, Canha played in 66 games and made 58 starts
w00t w00t.
Balance is restored in the world again with the Braves DFAing Robinson Cannot this morning. After inexplicably getting 3 hits against the Mets, he reverted right back to form with 1-19 and a sub .400 OPS. How many times will it take for teams to learn to shun this loser?
I think as long as the Mets are paying the freight and theres an even slight chance of catching lightning in a bottle, the possibility of someone picking up his contract for league min is not out of possibility.
Of course he stinks. He stinks as bad as BVW stunk. Just a hideous time in Met history to have them in Queens.
It was a good July for the Mets. They were 17-8 for the month. On June 29th in the thread , I said, just for some fun, that they should expect a 15-10 record in July and a 17-8 record would be elite. I guess they are Elite!
Now we will look at the August schedule, just for fun. There are 20 games against good teams, the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves and Phillies. Winning five games from the Braves and four games against the Phillies would make September a lot easier. It could be troublesome, but don’t fret the Mayor of Panic City, it will be okay. I expect a 18-12 record for a .600% winning record. 19-11, .633 would be nice and 20-10, .667 elite. LGM
Soto to the Padres.
Wow, with Hader yesterday and Soto today – Padres going all in