An Amazin' September
🎧 Mets Fix Podcast: Episode 38
☀️ Good Morning:
Happy Friday, the 13th.
Let’s hope it’s a horror show for the Phillies tonight instead of the Mets.
After a deserved off day, the Amazins embark on the toughest remaining schedule in baseball.
They play seven of the next 10 against the hated Phillies, interrupted by three at home against the Nationals, before concluding with a six-game road trip that stops in the Mets’ House-of-Horrors, Atlanta, and Milwaukee.
Everyone in the immediate wild-card picture was idle last night, so the standings remain the same: New York holds a one-game lead over Atlanta, trailing Arizona by two and San Diego by one in the loss column.
☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!
🎧 Mets Fix Podcast
To get you ready for the weekend, check out our latest episode. Blake and JB break down an exciting week of baseball, while allowing themselves to look ahead at potential postseason match-ups and roster decisions. They discuss the bullpen, the slumping offense, the work of the coaching staff, and much more!
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☆ TEXAS METS: Almost-Met Kumar Rocker struck out seven Mariners in his debut for the Rangers on Thursday. He pitched four innings, allowing only one run on a homer by another familiar name, Justin Turner.
It’s a What-if rotation for the Rangers this weekend, with Jacob deGrom making his long-awaited season debut tonight, followed by Max Scherzer on Saturday.
deGrom will be making only his seventh start for Texas after signing a five-year, $185 million contract to pitch there and live on a range after the 2022 season.
For Scherzer, he is making only his ninth start of the year (2–4, 3.89). He has made 16 starts since being dealt at the deadline last year, battling injuries the entire time.
🚜 DOWN ON THE FARM: Meanwhile, Ryan Clifford, acquired in the Justin Verlander deal, had a big night for Double-A Binghamton, going 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and a double on Thursday. After a slow start, he now has 18 homers, with an OPS of .819.
Not to be outdone, pitching prospect Nolan McLean threw six shutout innings for Binghamton. He has allowed one run or less in five of his last six starts.
🗓️ UP NEXT: The Mets have shifted their rotation to align their top three starters for the looming series in Atlanta. New York will start David Peterson on Sunday, allowing Luis Severino, Peterson and Sean Manaea to be lined up to pitch in Atlanta in 13 days. The Braves’ rotation is set as such that Chris Sale, Charlie Morton and Max Fried are slated in order to start those three games.
The Amazins still have a potential rabbit in their hat with the return of Kodai Senga, who is eligible to come off the injured list on September 25 (right in the middle of the Atlanta series). At this point, the organization prefers to keep him as a starter, per Andy Martino, but since he obviously wouldn’t be stretched out upon his return, he would have to act more as an opener.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the Mets have plenty of business to take care of against Philadelphia. The Phillies are jockeying for a top seed in the National League, which would give them a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They are one game up on the Dodgers for the #1 seed, and four games up on Milwaukee to secure a bye.
📸 WILD CARD SNAPSHOT: It will be a competitive weekend for each of the teams in the wild-card hunt. The Braves open a four-game wraparound series against the Dodgers, while the Diamondbacks host the Brewers and the Padres travel to San Francisco.
🕷️ Find headlines for all of your favorite teams at SportSpyder, the number one source for sports news links.
◾️ As Aaron Judge went his 16th straight game without a home run, Juan Soto delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning for the Yankees to defeat the Red Sox, 2–1.
◾️ The Twins released minor-league catcher Derek Bender on Thursday after he reportedly told opposing hitters which pitches were coming in games that eliminated the team from playoff contention last week.
◾️ Texas Rangers star Corey Seager will undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia, ending his season.
🔗 Inside the mind of Luis Severino: Mets pitcher breaks down a start pitch by pitch, by Tim Britton, The Athletic ($): “Severino is slated to start four of those remaining 16 games: twice against the first-place Phillies, once against rival Atlanta and, if needed, in the season finale against first-place Milwaukee. Few Mets loom as critical down the stretch as the rebound candidate who has been everything they could have wanted.”
🔗 Everything's clicking for the Mets. Edwin Díaz knows exactly why, by Scott Chiusano, MLB: “Everything appears to be clicking at the right time for the Mets, on the field and in a close-knit clubhouse, which isn't much of a shock to star closer Edwin Díaz. The chemistry they've built through the highs and lows of this 2024 season has sustained them as they stare down the final stretch toward a potential postseason run.”
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Good podcast, two questions though. 1) it seemed like you were talking as if the Mets already had the tie-breaker v Atlanta. Maybe I misheard, but that tie-breaker comes down to the last series. 2) re: the playoff roster; I read the following text from the MLB site as if there is a little more flexibility than someone has to be on the 40-man:
In a typical season, any player who is on the 40-man roster or 60-day injured list as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 is eligible for the postseason.
A player who doesn't meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team's roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner's Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation. (For example, a player on the 10-day injured list who has been on it for at least 10 days, or a player who has been on the 60-day injured list for at least 60 days.) Players who are acquired in September or after are ineligible.
In this example, someone like Ritter could replace McNeil via "petition to the Commissioner's Office". Am I reading that correctly?
I haven't enjoyed a Mets team this much since the 2015 team. Yet sadly, I can't be in the chat anymore during the game. If I were a Mets player on the verge of free agency and I read through Wednesday's chat, I'd look for a different team to play for. I love our fans—at times, but the level of despair and anger sometimes bordering on hate and vitriol is just not good for one's health and wellbeing. Even when we are losing, I am optimistic and hopeful. I have been a Mets fan since 1983 and was raised on Ya Gotta Believe. Everyone gets the be a fan how they want to be. But, oh how I wish, we could all cheer on this team at all times.