Last night in the Game Chatter, we were talking about the Bingo card made up of things we know Keith Hernandez is going to say. This came about because he said, “The Marlins always play us tough.” At one point during the game, the thought was that today’s open thread would be the complete Keith Bingo card. But instead of shooting fish in a barrel, here’s a card with things that it would be nice to hear the announcers explicitly say:
Citi Field is playing as an extreme pitcher’s park this year
Starling Marte‘s defense in left field has been awful
Jose Quintana does not deserve another start this season
Brandon Nimmo‘s 25.6 K% is a problem
Jeff McNeil has an .838 road OPS
After a .361 BABIP in his first 45 games, reality is setting in for Harrison Bader, who now has a .317 BABIP
Francisco Lindor went 2-13 in his first three games in the leadoff spot
Pete Alonso is a 3-WAR player and not worth a long-term deal
Brett Baty needs a multi-month stay in Syracuse
Carlos Mendoza needs to demand more from his SP
Tylor Megill is as maddeningly inconsistent as ever
Edwin Diaz has had two elite seasons in his career and has otherwise been nothing special as a closer
Ten of Mark Vientos‘ 24 hits have gone for extra-bases
Adrian Houser has a 1.20 ERA as a reliever and should never start another game for the Mets
With an 85% success rate on SB attempts, the Mets should run more, especially at home
The typical Bingo card is a 5×5 grid, with the star in the middle and 24 numbers. Ours will have to be a 4×4 grid.
Some random thoughts
Being a stellar defensive CF requires several highly focused skills. In HB’s case, he seems to have excellent instincts as to which way to go as soon as the ball is hit. What keeps him from being elite is that it seems that his hand-eye coordination isn’t considerably above average. Don’t know if that can be fixed.
What are some of the Mets’ problems. Well, as much as I appreciate BN’s batting skills, that SO rate is definitely a problem. Further, his OBP is inarguably elite, but to bat third in a lineup, one needs to hit for a higher average. He should remain at leadoff, the spot in which he is most useful
Loved the bingo card and your comments on all the players. Seems we won’t be yelling bingo this year because even though we’re only 3 1/2 games back in the wildcard race, and everyone in front of us is under .500, there are a number of teams in front of us that are simply just better.
Bader should’ve caught that ball in centerfield and Nimmo should’ve backed off. It was like the game last week when Marte and Bader almost collided because no one called the ball, or maybe both of them called for it, And they just weren’t listening to each other. There were simply not enough fans in the stands that they couldn’t hear each other. As always, keep the faith. Ya Gotta Believe. But I am still a sell sell sell and restock the farm system.
As for Diaz, his story is one of good season followed bad season, his who career. This bad season follows suit, which has been going on since the start, in ERA+
146
128
208
74
246
117
297
72 (so far this year)
His whole career is a roller coaster
With JT Realmuto going to IL for a meniscus tear (and saying only 4 weeks to recover — after 2 of them I would be a little closer to 6-8 weeks), rumor is that Nido might be heading down the 95 for a spell.
Nunez and Young are doing well (short sample). Diaz will be active and if Quintana to the bullpen then Nunez and Young will be optioned.
Ottavino, Houser and Smith are free agents next off season. The Padres and Orioles are looking for help. Maybe those teams would trade with the Mets for their pending free agents?
The Rangers and Phillies are looking for catching. Maybe Nido will be traded to one of those teams because maybe another will claim him on waivers first. Unlikely, but it should be investigated by Stearns.
On another thread, I asked Brian
“Right off the top of your head, can you think of any Mets pitching staff – season ending stats exclusively – which is less inspiring than the current?”
I decided to post my response to my question on this here thread instead.
So, I examined end of year ERA+ stats for each season from 2015 to 2023, and current stat for 2024, through 6/12/24
For those 10 seasons, three best scores were 113, 111 and 108 for 2016, 2015 and 2022 respectively
Three worst scores were 83, 86 and 92/92 for 2017, 2020 and 2018/2024 respectively
No big surprise about 2017 since their 70-92 record was the worst among these 10 years.
Also, it’s hard to give tremendous relevance to 2020 as it was only 37% of a season
2018 and current 2024 are tied at 92, so I don’t know which is better.
However, their (non-plus) ERA for 2018 ranked 10th end of season, and current ERA ranks 11th for 41% of a season
So, I conclude that compared to the previous 9 seasons, only 2017’s ERA+ is inarguably worse than the current
Thence, I feel mostly vindicated about being uninspired by the current staff
There were some in these parts that wanted the Mets to sign Jose Abreu as a free agent following his 2022 season. From today’s The Athletic:
“The Houston Astros released José Abreu on Friday, ending his miserable 15-month tenure with a team that could no longer afford to have him active in any capacity.
According to Baseball-Reference, Abreu accrued negative-1.6 wins above replacement across his star-crossed Astros tenure, solidifying the three-year, $58.5 million contract as the worst in franchise history.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5565204/2024/06/14/astros-designate-jose-abreu-assignment/
FanGraphs had him as even worse, as Abreu had a (- 2.0) fWAR in his career with the Astros.
Ive certainly advocated for Abreu but that was ages ago. He fell off a cliff after the move to Hou for age 36. It is th real caution for Alonso, who is killing his value. He should have taken the 158M$ because he will not get the offer he thinks is coming.
Max Scherzer ERA+ for 2024 = 0
Justin Verlander ERA+ for 2024 = 97
Cohen is paying the freight, but Im glad as hell they are gone. There is hope we get some major leaguers from their trades. Both are done.