Which one is worse – listening to Steve Gelbs do play by play or watching the Mets’ bullpen? Neither one is a treat. While it’s difficult to put a measurement on Gelbs, the pen allowed 5 ER in 2 IP to turn a close game into a laugher, as the Twins emerged with an 8-4 win Saturday afternoon in Minnesota.
Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a homer and Daniel Vogelbach added an RBI single to give the Mets the early 2-0 lead. But David Peterson allowed two runs in the second and another in the third to put the Twins ahead, 3-2. The score remained that way until Peterson left the game after six innings.
Peterson gave up just 1 BB and had 7 Ks. It was an encouraging, if not great, outing.
It was Drew Smith’s and Jeff Brigham’s turn to bring their gas cans to the mound. Smith gave up 4 ER in 0.2 IP and Brigham gave up a homer. It sets it up for Phil Bickford and Trevor Gott to implode on Sunday.
Pete Alonso and DJ Stewart added solo homers for the Mets. It’s a sad indictment that the Mets hit three homers and lost by four runs.
It’s hard to believe that Smith was considered one of the five sure things in the BP. He’s no better than any of these other scrubs that are rotating through the late innings. Relievers are a crap shoot in any given year and Eppler rolled snack eyes fourteen times in a row.
Agreed. And the crazy thing is he had options left so he could have been considered one of the option relievers and the Mets could have gotten another reliever to be one of the locks.
Nice start from Peterson. This is who he needs to be. As usual we don’t score runs and our pen sucks. It’s an old story. Let’s also remember that the Twins have a good team who actually do score runs and lead their division, however crappy it is. Can we salvage one game tomorrow? Not sure. And then the competition gets tougher with each opponent actually playing for something. The off season can’t come soon enough.
If the Mets are going to spend money, they should try to build a super bullpen. We get Diaz back, we signed Hader and that is a powerful start. The bullpen is Epplers fault. So is the rotation.
So, what does everyone think about the David Stearns rumors? If he gets hired, does Buck get the ax? Probably replaced by Counsel. Does Eppler get the ax? Not sure.
This team needs a purge and careful consideration on the youngsters. So far, we know that Alvarez is a lock. Vientos, eh, a question mark. Baty, looking like a good AAA player. Mauricio, off to a great start, and has some pop, but the jury is out.
Most of the bullpen needs to go. I am concerned that without oversight, Eppler could make some boneheaded moves.
To continue Bull’s point about Smith, what is it that makes him so inconsistent? It has to be something…
On the Mets lineup, they seem to be the anti-Twins… the anti-Orioles…. These are teams that have an energy level. The Mets are more like the Braves, that are juggernautistic but the Mets aren’t. I don’t understand batting Lindor cleanup… what was wrong with the way it was? It’s the lower half that stalls the scoring, not the top half.
Peterson did a good job today. Nowadays, six innings with just one run is fine. I’d like to see Buck give them a chance to stretch themselves out and get out of their own mess in the middle innings. Buck is not the same manager from last year. I can’t believe it’s the same guy… and he wanted to sit Baty against lefties…. He has a real disconnect to the younger player, and that’s probably why Girardi failed in Philly. That needs to be considered for next year.
Gus, in my opinion, Smith’s breaking balls are BP. It seems like everytime he throws one of his flat, slow curves, it’s a gopher ball. He needs to be fined $10,000 every time he throws a breaking ball for a strike. He has a decent fastball. IMHO, hitters wait on that meatball curve and hammer it.
Gut Reaction: Peterson gave the Mets a chance to win. Smith and Brigham did not.
Both are eligible for arbitration and both have options. They aren’t awful, at least when compared to the other bullpen personnel. They should be tendered a contract but shouldn’t be relied upon for 2024. Eppler needs to sign three free agent relievers that are better than Smith.