The Mets lost a golden opportunity to win a series on the road for the first time since April today.
Not only that, the Mets had a chance to go into Philadelphia and take on the flailing Phillies with some serious momentum on their side.
Many people thought that this road trip might be the death blow for the Mets in 2019. Credit to the Mets for showing some heart. The series in Atlanta was a disappointment, but they came alive in Wrigley.
What a difference a couple of days can make! Pete Alonso has all but secured the Rookie Of The Year award and has set his sights on MVP. Jeff McNeil looks like Wade Boggs. All of a sudden, second half of 2018 Zack Wheeler has returned. The Phillies are in a free fall!
Whoa, we may have something here. After dropping the opening game against the Cubs, the Mets took the next two contests in dominating fashion. Don’t look now but Philly is getting smoked by the Marlins and Jacob deGrom is on the mound for the series finale!
Hold your horses. Did the Mets suck you back in? Rookie mistake.
The Mets will tell anyone who will listen that Jacob deGrom doesn’t have a personal catcher. Knock it off. Tomas Nido and deGrom make a good team. It’s not broken so don’t fix it. We lose Wilson Ramos in the lineup but it makes sense.
Do we have to play without Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto too? Well, apparently we do. Mickey Callaway told reporters before the game today that both Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto had scheduled off days.
Who is responsible? Does Mickey Callaway have total autonomy in regards to the lineup? It’s 2019. That’s very doubtful. More than likely, a group of highly paid baseball executives decided that trotting out this lineup was the best course of action today.
Shameful. You would think someone in the room would suggest a different off day for either Conforto or McNeil. You’d hope that someone would point out that Wilson Ramos wasn’t playing. Hey, maybe they could have sat them down yesterday when the Mets jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
In spite of the questionable off the field decisions, the Mets almost won and left the windy city on a high note. Jacob deGrom was fantastic over 6 innings and even had an RBI single. Rookie phenom Pete Alonso broke the Met rookie single season home run record. Tomas Nido added a home run of his own.
Enter Mickey Callaway.
Seth Lugo was handed the ball in the seventh inning tasked with protecting a one run lead, and he was not sharp. He labored through the inning, fortunate to induce a double play.
Just like the “scheduled days off” I guess the “Lugo will go two innings” is something that they refuse to deviate from. After Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo reached base in the eighth inning without a pitching change, you knew it was written in stone.
You know what happened next even if you didn’t watch the game. Javier Baez hit a three run home run which gave the Cubs a 5-3 lead. The Mets went down 1-2-3 in the ninth and we settle for a split.
Here are some post game quotes.
Mickey Callaway on Seth Lugo: “I thought he had good stuff.”
Seth Lugo: “My stuff wasn’t there.”
Makes sense.
We had to listen to Mickey Callaway tell anyone who would listen last spring about how he would never “dry hump” a pitcher. Watching Edwin Diaz warm up without entering today’s game is cause for Callaway’s termination.
Or does that decision come from the front office? Did we leverage our future for a reliever who can only pitch in save situations?
So, which is it? Do we have a completely inept front office with a puppet in the dugout? Or do we have a manager who has absolutely no instincts for the game?
Mickey Callaway has limited options in the bullpen. That’s on the front office. The Mets have blown 16 saves. If we had a mediocre relief corps we’d be in first place. But, somebody in a coma could have taken the place of our manager today.
I’ll leave you with this. After Seth Lugo gave up the game winning home run, Mickey Callaway double switched Robert Gsellman and Jeff McNeil into the game.
McNeil took Todd Frazier’s place in the lineup. He was due to hit fifth in the bottom of the ninth and never got an at bat.