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.
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?
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.
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.
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 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.