At least this year they got it over with at the beginning of the season, rather than fool us into believing that they had a shot, only to stick a dagger in our hearts later in the year. The “May Swoon” has been unbelievably painful to watch.
On Saturday, May 25, Luis Severino took a no-hitter into the 6th inning. Like all die-hard Mets fans, thoughts of a no-hitter after the 2nd inning popped in my head. As the innings kept piling up hitless, my wife insisted that I go to get something to eat. Inside my head was the thought, ”there are outs in this seat.” Baseball superstitions are the best. In the fifth inning, she asked when we were leaving. Crickets. A single to left in the sixth. People applauded Severino. It’s great that so many of us knew what he was working on.
We left the game in the bottom of the 8th. Edwin Diaz blew it in the top of the 9th.
On Tuesday, May 28, they lost a double header to the LA Dodgers. Not a terribly unusual occurrence – the Dodgers are a top tier team and the Mets are not. But the Mets took a 2-0 lead into the 8th inning of the first game. The bullpen gave up single runs in the 8th and 9th and then a 3-run HR to Freddie Freeman in the 10th.
It’s never just one play, but it’s always just one play. In the 8th, Brett Baty – who has been playing a pretty good Third Base recently – fielded a hot ground ball to his left, but couldn’t grasp the ball cleanly out of his glove. What should have been at least a force play at second – maybe a 5-4-3 double play – landed behind him toward the third base line. It should have been no worse than runner on first with two outs. Instead, it ended up being first and second with one out. The inevitable single to left ensued, scoring a run.
In the second game against the Dodgers on May 28th, Gary Cohen cited a trend in Mets games played in May that should make one want to vomit. As of that day, the Mets were 7-18 for the month of May. In that month there were nine games in which the team held a lead after seven innings. Nine.
They won three of them. Three. To continue and simultaneously buck the trend, they were ahead by five runs on Friday night and managed to eke out a 10-9 victory.
That means they won more games – four – where they didn’t have a lead after seven innings. Two of those four wins were stirring comebacks. If they had only won eight out of the nine where they led after seven innings, they would be 14-15 for the month and still on the fringes of the playoffs. As it is now, they are on track for a 65-70 win season.
No Mets regular has an OPS over .800 – not one.
The ultimate sign of complete failure was the game on May 29 and Jorge Lopez’ antics/comments because of a check swing call. He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and then threw his glove over the netting and into the stands. Then he blamed himself (appropriate) and labeled the team as the worst in baseball, prompting his immediate DFA. It’s just embarrassing.
One of the primary reasons for the team’s woeful play since mid-April is the continuing struggles of Pete Alonso. The signs of Alonso’s collapse are evident in his recent penchant for warning track power. In Sunday’s game against the Giants, Pete hit three balls to the warning track. Left field, left center field, right field. Every one of those balls is a home run in his previous five years on the majors. He has 12 HRs on the year – on pace for a career low full season of 36. Alonso has a career .861 OPS – this year: .768 – with only 27 RBI’s. A third of the way through the season, he’ll be lucky to get 80 for the year. His OPS+ is 122 – the lowest of his career. I’ve loved watching Pete play as much as any player in our history. But he is on the wrong side of 29 with declining performance numbers going into his walk year. He turned down a reported $158 seven year deal last June. The front office should wait for the trade market to heat up and get as much for him as they can.
In the meantime, they should rest him as often as possible and put Mark Vientos at First Base. The rest would benefit Alonso’s performance – he clearly looks exhausted. Putting Vientos at First would keep Baty in the lineup. David Stearns has to get an accurate assessment of what the teams has in Baty and Vientos. He won’t get that if they are on the bench or in Syracuse. Play them as often as possible. *Baty was demoted to AAA Syracuse on Friday, May 31 – to work on his hitting.
Another reason for the woeful play so far this year is a missing piece in the lineup and on the field. It’s never just one player who makes a difference, but it’s always just one player who makes a difference. The long and torturous slide into the losing abyss started when Francisco Alvarez stumbled around first and tore the ligaments in his thumb. They are 15-25 since April 19 when he left the game injured.
A post script: A dark horse favorite of mine, Nate Lavender, a lefty strike-out specialist who lit up Spring Training this year, fell victim to UCL injury and has undergone TJ surgery. I feel really bad about this. He had a shot at the majors this year. Hopefully he takes the rehab seriously and we see him pitching at Citi Field next June or July.
Mayday, Mayday!
Lopez was embarrassing for the organization.
They are have a true All-Star that can carry the team and your comment about .800 OPS verifies it.
Alonso hasn’t won anything in his tenure, and yes, they should get as much as they can. Let Stearns mold his own team and not have deal with another high salary that he apparently is reluctant to retain.
Vientos is not Alsono but he should get a chance at 1B when Alonso is traded.
Alvarez is a budding star but let him grow into it. He is 22 and didn’t need the pressure. Last year he was a 97 OPS+. Patience and not immediate high expectations would be prudent for the fan base.
I will confess that another year and another swoon has triggered the vomiting sensation for me as well. While the expectations this year are far lower than last year, the disappointment is on par…ruining seasons in May and June stinks on every level.