I am of the belief that Buck is in a sit back and find out mode with his team. That is, he's not going to rush to PH someone in their first AB against a bad matchup on paper. Give them a chance to succeed or to fail. His treatment of Cano is interesting and defensible, but one wonders how long it can last. The power outage is a concern; I really don't like him vs. LHP; and it's insane to bat him 3rd. Davis is a better hitter and Dom might be, too. That said, we're early and Buck has gone out of his way -- and so has the Mets media, too -- to treat Cano with out-sized respect and deference. Okay, fine, give him an opportunity to contribute, earn playing time. Get a good look at who you've got. I see him getting less as the season moves forward and there may be a point where he's not valuable at all. Before you make that move, you'd want to know for sure what you've got. 50 ABs? 100 ABs? I don't know.
Very productive weekend. Always like to win the last game of a series, but 3-1 and a completely reset pen is a good weekend. Nice to see Carrasco pitch so well, they need him to be good.
Good analysis on the bullpen. I tend to loathe all the complaints we hear from fans about "bullpen management" -- whatever that even means. There's so much we don't know about health & availability. The only concern I have is that May was warming up and then, according to your note, was "unavailable." So he's either dealing with a dead arm or something similar, he maybe he's just got Buck's back. Relievers like clean innings and, given the splits, probably made most sense to start Williams in the 8th. Nursing a one-run lead with two innings to go is not easy. They didn't hit, didn't score, didn't defend.
Pete had a tough weekend on the field but I have no doubt he’s working on it as we speak. I liked the way the team looked: intent and professional. Even Squirrel only threw his bat once. I like Buck - he gives the Mets credibility. And he works those umps.
I’m glad he had to face the music with lockerside interviews. He’ll get the message, unlike last season when his dillusional “we got this” statements went unchallenged. Players do better when they have to answer for their errors and mess ups right away.
It is surprising, even very surprising, to me that there has been very little attention to the real story behind the loss in DC, and not just Alonso's specific plays, but rather how it reveals that Dom should be playing 1B every time he is in the lineup - period, hard stop. To have him sitting on the bench as DH while Alonso demonstrates how unnatural he is in the field - though he has made himself somewhat respectable - makes no sense. It's been said that Alonso is somehow owed playing the field, like it's a diss to admit the obvious, that Dom is star quality in the field while Alonso's natural position is hitter. Will Buck have the guts to do the right thing?
Tim: Pete is a core player on the NY Mets, popular with fans, and a middle-of-the-order slugger. I know you realize this. He has also been very clear, as a young player, his desire to be on the field and not be relegated to DH. If a team ignores that, it will sour the player's disposition and probably lead to Pete walking away come free agency. Most days, Pete's defense doesn't hurt and last season we saw improvement. We know he works at it. I think all things considered, the Mets are living with it. This is the first week of baseball after a short spring. Not the time to over-react. As for Dom, based on last season, it's not entirely clear he should be in the lineup at all. Let him earn it. I personally would like to see Pete DH 2x a week. We'll see how that goes.
Jimmy, Don't get me wrong, I love Pete as much as the next Mets fan, and clearly if Dom doesn't hit like last year, this won't be an issue because Dom will sit. But here's my point more precisely: with the Mets depth, Dom is likely to get 350-400 AB if he hits anywhere near how he did in 2020. He'll sit against lefties and against some RHP, which means Pete will still play somewhere near half the time at 1B, and the rest he can DH. Is that such an insult when everyone knows Dom is a plus defender in the tradition of Keith, while Alonso has made admirable strides but is not a glove guy?
I’m kind of with Tim. As long as Dom’s bat justifies it, he should play first. But that’s yet to be established. Pete’s ego will survive it if the team is successful.
While 3 out od 4 is always good - the bottom line is Alonzo gave a game away. Sure the other guys get paid to - it is really bad when they don't earn their money and they get a free one.
Pete’s defensive play led to the Mets losing but I cannot think of a player more accountable than Pete. I have no doubt that this is early season rustiness for Pete. Car accident, hit in the face, shows up every day...he earns his money.
He denied he made a mistake when he throw badly & softly to home - that is not being accountable. He claims that was the way to do it "not throw hard" Really ? Just accept you made a bad throw to home to tie the score.
It was a lousy underhand toss. But he might have thrown it away if he through hard. And he still might not have gotten Strange-Gordon even with a perfect throw. Not a guarantee Dom gets him on that play either. Maybe his soft toss was him saying that it wasn’t worth the risk of throwing it away, that the run was gonna score.
But the next one, awful, just awful. The spin, the soft toss, and not even accurate.
He was defensive on that one but he admitted his play in general lost the game. I have no problem with Pete in terms of him earning his money or dogging it.
Hi - I guess no one has heard the terminolgy " the other guys get paid to". In sports that means - they are playing to win as your team is and on that day they did , or a good play against your player. It has nothing to do what so ever with what a player is making for salary. In this case - The other team is getting paid to win doesnt apply cause alonzo gave them the game. In my opinion, I have no problem getting beat but not when it is handed to them.
Jimmy you never heard the expression "the other guys get paid to" ? That means they are playing to win as well. In this case as much as they were trying to win Alonzo gave them the game - that simple. What you are saying is not what i was conveying.
I am of the belief that Buck is in a sit back and find out mode with his team. That is, he's not going to rush to PH someone in their first AB against a bad matchup on paper. Give them a chance to succeed or to fail. His treatment of Cano is interesting and defensible, but one wonders how long it can last. The power outage is a concern; I really don't like him vs. LHP; and it's insane to bat him 3rd. Davis is a better hitter and Dom might be, too. That said, we're early and Buck has gone out of his way -- and so has the Mets media, too -- to treat Cano with out-sized respect and deference. Okay, fine, give him an opportunity to contribute, earn playing time. Get a good look at who you've got. I see him getting less as the season moves forward and there may be a point where he's not valuable at all. Before you make that move, you'd want to know for sure what you've got. 50 ABs? 100 ABs? I don't know.
Very productive weekend. Always like to win the last game of a series, but 3-1 and a completely reset pen is a good weekend. Nice to see Carrasco pitch so well, they need him to be good.
Good analysis on the bullpen. I tend to loathe all the complaints we hear from fans about "bullpen management" -- whatever that even means. There's so much we don't know about health & availability. The only concern I have is that May was warming up and then, according to your note, was "unavailable." So he's either dealing with a dead arm or something similar, he maybe he's just got Buck's back. Relievers like clean innings and, given the splits, probably made most sense to start Williams in the 8th. Nursing a one-run lead with two innings to go is not easy. They didn't hit, didn't score, didn't defend.
I think JB misread the quote in the article. May said he was available.
Yes, you are right. And that makes a lot more sense. Glad I continued to write as if he was available lol
Pete had a tough weekend on the field but I have no doubt he’s working on it as we speak. I liked the way the team looked: intent and professional. Even Squirrel only threw his bat once. I like Buck - he gives the Mets credibility. And he works those umps.
Boy he looked so bad on those plays.
I’m glad he had to face the music with lockerside interviews. He’ll get the message, unlike last season when his dillusional “we got this” statements went unchallenged. Players do better when they have to answer for their errors and mess ups right away.
It is surprising, even very surprising, to me that there has been very little attention to the real story behind the loss in DC, and not just Alonso's specific plays, but rather how it reveals that Dom should be playing 1B every time he is in the lineup - period, hard stop. To have him sitting on the bench as DH while Alonso demonstrates how unnatural he is in the field - though he has made himself somewhat respectable - makes no sense. It's been said that Alonso is somehow owed playing the field, like it's a diss to admit the obvious, that Dom is star quality in the field while Alonso's natural position is hitter. Will Buck have the guts to do the right thing?
I hope so. He’s not so fragile, or shouldn’t be. Dom needs to hit though. So far not much of that.
Tim: Pete is a core player on the NY Mets, popular with fans, and a middle-of-the-order slugger. I know you realize this. He has also been very clear, as a young player, his desire to be on the field and not be relegated to DH. If a team ignores that, it will sour the player's disposition and probably lead to Pete walking away come free agency. Most days, Pete's defense doesn't hurt and last season we saw improvement. We know he works at it. I think all things considered, the Mets are living with it. This is the first week of baseball after a short spring. Not the time to over-react. As for Dom, based on last season, it's not entirely clear he should be in the lineup at all. Let him earn it. I personally would like to see Pete DH 2x a week. We'll see how that goes.
Jimmy, Don't get me wrong, I love Pete as much as the next Mets fan, and clearly if Dom doesn't hit like last year, this won't be an issue because Dom will sit. But here's my point more precisely: with the Mets depth, Dom is likely to get 350-400 AB if he hits anywhere near how he did in 2020. He'll sit against lefties and against some RHP, which means Pete will still play somewhere near half the time at 1B, and the rest he can DH. Is that such an insult when everyone knows Dom is a plus defender in the tradition of Keith, while Alonso has made admirable strides but is not a glove guy?
I’m kind of with Tim. As long as Dom’s bat justifies it, he should play first. But that’s yet to be established. Pete’s ego will survive it if the team is successful.
I may have missed it before, but is it too late to get in on the Slack channel?
While 3 out od 4 is always good - the bottom line is Alonzo gave a game away. Sure the other guys get paid to - it is really bad when they don't earn their money and they get a free one.
Pete’s defensive play led to the Mets losing but I cannot think of a player more accountable than Pete. I have no doubt that this is early season rustiness for Pete. Car accident, hit in the face, shows up every day...he earns his money.
He denied he made a mistake when he throw badly & softly to home - that is not being accountable. He claims that was the way to do it "not throw hard" Really ? Just accept you made a bad throw to home to tie the score.
It was a lousy underhand toss. But he might have thrown it away if he through hard. And he still might not have gotten Strange-Gordon even with a perfect throw. Not a guarantee Dom gets him on that play either. Maybe his soft toss was him saying that it wasn’t worth the risk of throwing it away, that the run was gonna score.
But the next one, awful, just awful. The spin, the soft toss, and not even accurate.
He was defensive on that one but he admitted his play in general lost the game. I have no problem with Pete in terms of him earning his money or dogging it.
Hi - I guess no one has heard the terminolgy " the other guys get paid to". In sports that means - they are playing to win as your team is and on that day they did , or a good play against your player. It has nothing to do what so ever with what a player is making for salary. In this case - The other team is getting paid to win doesnt apply cause alonzo gave them the game. In my opinion, I have no problem getting beat but not when it is handed to them.
I definitely missed your point and I have never heard that phrase.
Its ok Wendy - but not you can use it in a sentence i.e. Darn it that guy just hit a HR off of Sherzer - well the other guy gets paid to ! (LOL)
I don't think it's about "earning money." No one is getting paid to be perfect every night. You get paid to show up and play hard.
Jimmy you never heard the expression "the other guys get paid to" ? That means they are playing to win as well. In this case as much as they were trying to win Alonzo gave them the game - that simple. What you are saying is not what i was conveying.