Shifting Into Park

You can see from tonight’s game why Jacob deGrom’s season has been beset with injuries. Neck and hamstrings can easily strain and spasm when you spend too much time using your arms and legs to drag a rotting carcass across the finish line.

deGrom’s 14 K’s in 7 innings weren’t enough to drag a Met lineup, a lineup without Michael Conforto (more on that later) but with somebody named Guillermo Heredia, to the promised land. It wasn’t enough because the Mets were stifled by supreme infield shifting by the Rays which resulted in Willy Adames basically stealing the game.

(Okay, so Gare said that these plays should be in every writer’s story about this game, so I’m going with it because who am I to argue?)

Rays Infield stifles Mets https://t.co/RswOVmMjcX via @MLB

— Metstradamus (@Metstradamus) September 22, 2020

So the first play you see is in the first inning. Jeff McNeil lines out to Adames, shifting perfectly, on a ball which not that long ago would have been a base hit. The Rays had shifted differently before the count got to 0-2, so that ball might have been a base hit on another count. But the Rays, with Pete Fairbanks playing a key role as the opener, made sure that McNeil’s line drive came on the 0-2 pitch and not before. (The Rays’ marketing slogan should be “there are no coincidences.”)

The second play is the play that Gare wanted to truly highlight. It’s the infield hit by McNeil to bring home the only run of the game for New York (NL). The Mets had scratched together a two out rally to bring McNeil up with the bases loaded. This time, he smacked the first pitch up the middle. But the Rays, always shifting, were ready. And Adames made a great play to keep the ball in the infield to keep it at 2-1. That’s how the game ended. You wonder why a team that doesn’t have a lot of stars plays so well? That’s why. They put their players in the best possible position to win the game. Adames made a great play on that ball because he was put in the best possible position to succeed. It’s something to think about for our new regime. Little things matter.

As for the old regime? Enjoy getting a long look at Guillermo Heredia this week.

Today’s Hate List

Speaking of the old regime … Jesus Christ, if Conforto is hurt, say he’s hurt! Don’t keep pulling the okee doke:

Michael Conforto’s absence is just a day off, the Mets say. https://t.co/sWeftzdNhU

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 21, 2020

Oh, JUST KIDDING!!!

Update: The Mets now say Michael Conforto is out of the lineup due to hamstring tightness.

He is day-to-day and might be available off the bench tonight. https://t.co/1zAVKC2de8

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 21, 2020

You want to know why the Mets are forever the LOLMets? This is why. People in suits can’t control injuries. But they can control not looking like liars and fools. And yet, these are the clothes they continually put on for the baseball community catwalk. Maybe this is the role that Sandy Alderson will play if he comes back: Quality Control. The one thing that Alderson was able to control when he was the GM was the stupid leaks and the nonsense like this. Please, just make this stop.