Good Morning,
Today we will talk about the debate around yesterday’s game suspended by rain, and preview today’s series with the Phillies.
But first: If you enjoy this free newsletter, please consider sharing it with others:
And with that, let’s catch up on everything that happened this past weekend.
🌧 RAIN GAME: If you started listening to The Who’s famous song Won’t Get Fooled Again when the Mets started playing the Marlins in the rain yesterday, you wouldn’t have reached the ending of the 8-minute and 32-second long song by the time the tarp covered the field and play was suspended. The Mets were fooled by the weather report or their own common sense in deciding to trot out their second best pitcher in a game that was clearly at risk due to the weather.
⏯ SUSPENDED: Despite only 9 pitches being thrown, the game was suspended after 7 minutes of play (followed by a 2 hour and 10 minute rain delay) until August 31 as part of a split doubleheader starting at 1:10 PM EST.
⚾️ HOW IT WORKS: Due to the health & safety protocols in place for COVID-19, all suspended games resume from their point of termination (rather than starting over as a game like this would have in the past). This means the Mets + Marlins will pick things up on August 31 with a 2-0 count on Jesús Aguilar with 1 out and a runner on first base in the top of the first inning. Since it is a suspended game, they will still play the full 9 innings, with the second game becoming a 7-inning affair as part of the new double-header rules due to the pandemic.
🎟 TICKETS: If you had tickets for Sunday’s game, they will not be honored for the August 31 resume date, according to the Mets. Contact the ticket office to receive a credit instead.
🤔 DECISION: As the home team, it was the Mets’ decision to start the game in the rain. Mets manager Luis Rojas memorably told reporters the front office, field staff, and ballpark operations met with “an exclusive forecast expert” before determining it was prudent to play.
🤦♂️ NOT SMART: Marcus Stroman suffered the most from the decision, as he could lose a start out of this, tweeting he wouldn’t pitch again until his next turn in the rotation in five days: “This game should have never been started,” Stroman tweeted during the rain delay. “Not smart at all. Those conditions put everyone at risk. Beyond happy no players on either side were injured. Hate that I have to wait another five days to pitch again. That’s a miserable feeling.”
🗞 HEADLINES: Several news outlets wrote headlines based on Stroman’s tweet to suggest he wasn’t happy with the Mets for letting him start the game. The right-hander quickly shot back at the “misleading” media:
🐟 PLAYING IT SMART: Unlike the Mets, the Marlins decided to hold back in naming a starter before going with an opener, John Curtiss, who never had to throw a pitch.
In other news from this weekend…
⬇️ DROPPED: Had Sunday’s game been played, struggling Michael Conforto would have batted 6th, as Luis Rojas moved him from his traditional 3rd spot to get him out of his 3-21 “funk,” while moving Dom Smith into the 3-hole, and Jeff McNeil into the 5th spot.
🤕 FRUSTRATING: Former Met Jed Lowrie (who had no hits in two seasons for New York, but is off to a hot start in Oakland this season) claims the Mets wouldn’t allow him to get a knee operation in 2019: “I’ve had some injuries, but this last situation with the Mets was really frustrating.”
⛑ HOW TO COPE: Here’s a free tip for Mets fans on how to handle the fact that Lowrie did nothing for the Mets over two seasons, but was good for the A’s both before and after his stint in New York: Just imagine he was on Oakland all along, never came to New York and was simply nursing nagging injuries for Oakland in 2019-20.
The only difference? The Mets paid him $20 million for those two seasons. However, it was the Wilpons’ money and they having nothing to do with the current franchise. (Perhaps this softens the pain a bit? 😂)
🍎 ROSTER MOVES: The Mets placed J.D. Davis on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 7, with a left hand contusion. INF José Peraza was added to roster in his place. To make room on the 40-man, the Mets designated Franklyn Kilome for assignment. (NOTE: Kilome, the return from the Phillies for Asdrubal Cabrera, was ranked the Mets #7 prospect just two years ago, according to Baseball Prospectus, just behind David Peterson.)
🗣 GREAT SCOTT: General Manager Zack Scott spoke to the media over the weekend, offering the latest on Michael Conforto’s contract negotiations (the “door isn’t fully shut”), along with injury updates on Seth Lugo’s recovery from his surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow (he’s expected back next month), Carlos Carrasco’s rehab from his hamstring injury (he’s “progressing well”), and Noah Syndergaard’s rehab from Tommy John surgery (he’s still on track to return in June).
💉 VACCINATED: As of Saturday, the Mets haven’t reached the 85% vaccination threshold that would allow them to relax some of their COVID-19 protocols. However, as we highlighted on Friday, several players have recently been vaccinated.
🔸 FRIDAY
The Mets had an off day on Friday.
🔸 SATURDAY
As you probably know by now, in a frustrating loss that felt all too familiar to Mets fans, Jacob deGrom pitched 8 innings, struck out 14, walked none, and allowed only 1 measly run on a random long ball by Jazz Chisolm… yet somehow lost. The Marlins added two runs in the 9th inning off Edwin Díaz to complete their 3-0 win. The Amazins only mustered three hits off opposing starter Trevor Rogers (striking out 10 times) and went 0-6 with runners in scoring position.
💯 SEARCHING FOR PERFECTION: “I think I'm more frustrated about the fastball that was hit for a homer,” deGrom told reporters after the game in response to his lack of run support. “[Chisolm] sold out for it, probably should've done a better job of recognizing that he was gonna try to get to that fastball. That's what kind of eats at me, is giving up that run there.”
📚 HISTORY: deGrom became only the third pitcher in Major League history to lose a game after recording at least 14 K’s and 0 BB’s, while allowing only 1 earned run, joining James Shields (2012) and, believe it or not, another Mets legend, Doc Gooden (1984).
DOCTOR K: Gooden’s start was a bit strange. It was the second consecutive game he struck out 16 batters, breaking Sandy Koufax’s National League record of most strikeouts in consecutive games. But he wasn’t nearly as sharp as deGrom yesterday. Gooden surrendered 7 hits, allowed 6 stolen bases (!), threw a wild pitch, made a throwing error, and committed 2 balks, with one costing him the win.
😎 HELPING HIMSELF: Move over Shohei Ohtani, Mr. deGrom is proving to be quite the two-way player, himself. In his two starts this season, he has more hits than any other Mets player during those games (3), adding another hit on Saturday.
⏭ NEXT UP
🗓 The Mets are scheduled to begin a four-game series against the Phillies at Citi Field today, with David Peterson looking to rebound off his rough start last week. Philadelphia has a quick turnaround after playing Sunday Night Baseball in Atlanta (winning in the 9th inning on a controversial play). Chase Anderson (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will take the mound for the Phillies tonight. They are 6-3, and the only team in the NL East with a winning record.
BULLPEN REPORT
😴 The benefit of only playing one game over the past three days is the bullpen is completely rested heading into this week’s series with the Phillies. Only Edwin Díaz and Jeurys Familia have pitched at all since last Thursday.
⚾️ Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce billionaire Marc Lore are finalizing a deal to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team.
⚾️ Joe Musgrove, a local San Diego kid, tossed the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history on Friday against the Texas Rangers.
⚾️ Angels right fielder Dexter Fowler is out for the season after tearing his left ACL.
🔗 If you’re looking for another fun baseball newsletter, check out Here’s the Pitch by the Independent Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA). One of the editors, Elizabeth Muratore, is a Mets fan, so it’s always good to support our own. She recently wrote an excellent piece on why Keith Hernandez should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
🔗 Why New York is not worried about early funks from Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil, by Tim Britton, The Athletic ($): “Nimmo’s rebound came in stages in 2019. He cut down on the strikeouts and made more contact but didn’t get his average back to where he wanted before a neck injury cost him three and a half months. It wasn’t until September that the Mets saw the best version of Nimmo that had been so valuable for them the year before. Nobody expects them to wait that long for Conforto.”
🔗 Mets turn routine April shower into embarrassing soap opera, by Mike Vaccaro, NY Post: “Yes, only the Mets could make something as annually routine as the April shower and turn it into a 2-hour and 10-minute soap opera. That’s how long it took everyone in charge at Citi Field on Sunday to wait out the rain, which refused to be waited out. To anyone with a weather app on their phone, this was the least-surprising news of the day.”
🔗 ‘You want to be an idiot?’ The story of ‘Get Metsmerized,’ the failed rap anthem of the ’86 Mets, by Rustin Dodd, The Athletic ($): “Get Metsmerized: The failed anthem of the best Mets team in franchise history. Conceived in the wake of the Chicago Bears’ “The Super Bowl Shuffle” and recorded in a Pittsburgh studio 35 years ago this week, “Get Metsmerized” was supposed to be a showcase of the team’s stars, a brash prognostication and a nice ROI for everyone involved. Instead, it’s a reminder of two things: The jock-rap era of the mid-1980s was a very odd time, and not everything went perfectly for the ‘86 Mets.”
And we leave you with, what else, but Get Metsmerized…
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... or Creedance Clearwater's "Who'll Stop the Rain..."Long as I remember the rain been comin' down Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground"
...am i the only one that thinks stroman has to go-man ? what a jerk ! As bad as the decison may have been - shut the &*% up - try to stop thinking of yourself only.