Has it really been 3 weeks since I wrote a post? We all know I’m far more opinionated than that; Work has just kept me incredibly busy with having an event in Cooperstown, NY during the Hall of Fame induction weekend and now getting ready for the biggest autograph/memorabilia show this weekend in Baltimore, MD.
So anyway, I guess I have to address the situation of my Metsies now. What a rollercoaster of emotions fans of the team have been on this season. I’d say we’re pretty much stuck on the downward spiral part right now.
So what is going on? Is it their bats? Although the Mets have seemed to lose some of their two out magic, they do still put up that fight. They are one of the few teams who remember that there are three outs in a half inning and continue to battle each time they’re at the plate. Post-All Star game, the Mets as a whole are only batting .002 less than they did in the first half of the season (which was .261), and their OBS is actually .015 higher than the first half, currently at .328.
But here is a obvious stat which speaks volumes as to why the Mets have lost their luster: ERA over the first half of the season – 3.97 (which was not great to begin with), but since the break it has jumped to 5.60! And of course everyone knows that the bullpen is horrific. For one game they brought out R.A. Dickey in relief. Honestly, besides the fact that it didn’t work out, how embarassing is that? That a team’s bullpen is so bad that they use a starter as a reliever for a game in mid-July. This wasn’t a Randy Johnson in the World Series type situation, it was just a regular season game.
Numbers aside, as a Mets fan I can say that the team has just lost it’s spark. I used to get excited about this group of guys, truly believing that they could beat any team on any given night, and even if they lost, I knew that they gave it their all. Well, forget that. Hustle and hard nose play seem to be long gone (exception: Tejada. Love that guy’s play). As dumb as this sounds, even the Mets players have seem to cease interaction with fans on twitter. Granted I’m sure they aren’t exactly getting a ton of love, but it just seems as it’s all over. The run they had going through the beginning of July just ended abruptly.
The worst part is having no answers as to why this happened. Poor Terry Collins who has to make up excuses every night, and puts entirely too much blame on himself. Someone needs to call out Sandy Alderson. Why has the bullpen remained the same? Clearly viewed as buyers, not one purchase was made. Un-freaking-believable.
And then there’s Jason Bay. ::crickets:: Moving on…
I also want to briefly touch on Matt Harvey. I feel like too many people are counting on him to be the savior. While it’s exciting to see a prospect perform well in his debut, let’s not forget that he pitched his first game against a .500 Diamondback team. 11 K’s = awesome. But I just want everyone to be realistic, not just praise his every move because he’s the new kid in town. [Edit: He had another great game last night as well against San Fran, but again, I’m just not ready to buy into the Harvey-mania.]
Now of course I hope something lights a fire under this team and somehow they get back into the mix of things. Until statistically proven otherwise, I will always believe my team can get it done. Why be a fan if you think otherwise? This team had something really special. I’m hoping for some kind of movie magic moment where something among the team clicks, everything gets figured out, and then a 5 minute montage of highlights begins. I’ll go get my popcorn and wait for that moment…