After J.D. Martinez walked in the second inning in Game 3, in the Game Chatter I joked that it wasn’t too early to pinch run for him. Matinez struck out twice after that, looking just as bad as he has since the start of September. Or even earlier than that. Martinez needs to be on the bench the rest of the series. Jesse Winker gives the team a better shot to win and that’s all that matters at this point. There’s no more – “We’ve got to get Player X going.” Over the 162-game season, you have to play the long game. But the season can now be over in two days.
The Mets activated Jeff McNeil for the NLCS. And they made a somewhat odd move to open up space on the roster. Instead of removing a position player, they subtracted a pitcher. Now, Carlos Mendoza has essentially lost all faith in Adam Ottavino, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see him left off the roster. It’s just that they opted to keep Luisangel Acuna, who was terrible in the minors this year and who after a good first week has posted a .250 OPS in his last nine games in the majors.
No one will accuse me of being an Acuna fan.
Yet at this juncture where the team appears lifeless, perhaps they need a jolt of enthusiasm. And there’s no one on the roster who could provide some spark like Acuna potentially could. Mendoza refused to start McNeil in any of the first three games versus the Dodgers, despite L.A. starting an RHP in each game. Is that a tactical error with an unreasonable degree of faith in Jose Iglesias? Or is it a concession that while he’s on the roster that McNeil isn’t ready and/or healthy enough to play nine innings?
The most-logical reading of the situation is that Acuna isn’t ready for this moment. But we’re pretty sure he’s healthy. It may not be much but it’s something.
As a team, the Mets have a .297 OBP in the NLCS. And most of that came in Game 2. Ideally, they’d get more hits – and more homers – going forward. But those rare times that they’ve gotten runners on base, the Mets have been passive. They have just one stolen base attempt, a successful one by Pete Alonso. And Alonso swiping second allowed him to score on a close play at the plate on a single to center.
There are few things in the game that you can control. But one of those is to push the envelope and be aggressive once you reach first base. Maybe Acuna’s odds of reaching first aren’t all that great. But if you’re not going to use him as a pinch-runner, you’re left with starting him and hoping that the opposing pitcher hits him. Or something.
Graybeards can wax nostalgic about the World Series heroics of offensive lightweights like J.C. Martin and Al Weis. They might even know that Wayne Garrett scored four runs in the 1973 World Series – second on the team behind Cleon Jones – despite a .167 AVG. It would fit in perfectly with team lore if an offensive black hole contributed something to a win.
As a McNeil fan and the most-bearish person you know on the MLB prospects of younger Acuna, it’s shocking for me to type that Acuna should get the Game 4 start. But this is what happens when you get shut out twice in three games when it matters most.
In the year where we saw Grimace, OMG and playoff pumpkins – is there any outcome more predestined than a scrub like Acuna picking the splinters out of his bottom and inspiring the team to victory?
Our pal Grimace has gone thru some changes in his life. He started out as a four-armed thief, stealing milk shakes as an accomplice to the Hamburglar. He then became a two-armed softie, who just wanted to pal around with Ronald. Then he became a gay icon – hey Jerry Falwell told us the purple Teletubbe was gay – and now a beloved symbol of an unlikely turnaround for a baseball team.
We can recite a baseball odyssey for Acuna. He went from a Covid-casualty that forced him to be overlooked, to a hot-shot prospect on the come, to overrated guy at the time the Mets got him, to a bum in most of 2024. And now he can add unlikely NLCS hero to his resume.
It’s time to bench Iglesias and start Acuna.
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Share with us your tales of desperation at tonight’s Game Chatter – https://substack.com/chat/1934025/post/761b91d9-4830-4953-b084-78ab80cabaf2
Game #4: Winker should be starting instead of Martinez and McNeil should be starting instead of Iglesias because of a RHP starting. The NY Post article speculated that McNeil can’t play the field because of his injured wrist. For what it’s worth, that could be the reason for McNeil’s limited playing time and Acuna roster spot. Inglesias has had a hit in each of his last three games. I am more confident with Iglesias than Acuna starting. Taylor should be starting instead Bader. Maybe Torrens should be starting instead of Alvarez. Every time I comment about the lineup with factual reasons , Mendoza comes up smelling like a rose. I’m sure he’ll do it again in game #4. LGM