It’s amazing what a leader David Wright is. Think about it: He rigged it so that the announcement of his disabled list stint was timed to completely overshadow the fact that Noah Syndergaard played golf in the Bahamas during his off day.
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In all seriousness, you know the scribes were sharpening their pens to cause some havoc because it’s been too long since they have been able to call out the Mets on some sort of dumb nonsense that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
“Should Syndergaard struggle on Friday or worse, sustain an injury, then he may regret sharing the fact he was golfing in the Bahamas the day before a start.”
And why would he regret that fact? Because golfing had something to do with his injury? Or because he’d have to answer obnoxious questions from the media about it? If he gets injured the day after grilling a steak, will he regret sharing that he likes meat? What if he got hurt after wearing the Thor outfit in Times Square? The guy doesn’t do enough on his off days for SNY’s video series that he can’t have a day to himself during the season? I love how the media was already setting up the house of cards for themselves to knock down.
Then of course, there was the other media report which was titled “Matt Harvey and the Mets use off day to golf in the Bahamas.” So Harvey, the focus of this particular headline as if this is all his fault, is using golf to snap his pitching skid (even though he pitched well his last time out), but Syndergaard is threatening to ruin his career by playing golf. I’m really, really confused. And I have the feeling that I’m needlessly confused. To sum up: Crissakes.
So Syndergaard needed to come up with a big outing. First, to help get the victory. And a distant second, to squash this media created controversy before it starts. It didn’t look so good in the second as he gave up a home run to Marcell Ozuna, and then dropped a short toss from James Loney for what should have been the second out to set up runners on first and third with one out. It was then that the crowd in Miami could hear the ruffling from the press box from writers frantically looking for any leftover lighter fluid. But Syndergaard struck out Jeff Mathis and Tom Koehler (which he should have) to end the inning, and then only gave up one run over the next five innings to secure the victory. And thank goodness. Because SNY, the Daily News, and all of the cockeyed debate shows would have been in Full Bayless mode and I would have had to turn my cable to the soundscapes music channel and then smash my remote to bits.
But it was James Loney who provided the margin of victory with a two run home run in the seventh. The Mets had three home runs from guys who weren’t necessarily brought in to hit home runs. After Cabrera’s home run, Gary Cohen threw in the line: “Well from the team that lives and dies with the home run”. This is what bothers me about this narrative about being “too home run reliant”. Now when a Met hits a home run, everybody’s eyes roll. No, they don’t get enough hits with runners in scoring position. And they aren’t the greatest at situational hitting. But it isn’t the fault of all the home runs. One has zero to do with the other. But hey, narrative. Right?
Rene Rivera hit a two run homer in the ninth to seal the victory. If you try to think of it as situational hitting, then think of it as a really long sac fly to bring home Wilmer Flores from third, if that makes you feel better. Flores brought home the second run of the game with a broken bat two out single in the fourth inning to drive home a runner from third. That’s not only what the Mets need more of, but it’s what Flores needs more of now that he has the third base position for the time being. It was a fine idea to make Flores the utility guy, but it doesn’t seem that he’s the kind of player that thrives on irregular at-bats. Some guys can do it, usually veterans who know how to keep their minds sharp. The Mets had a chance to see if Flores could do the same thing, but his numbers so far tell another story. So before the Mets go half cocked and trade more assets for a third baseman, it behooves the Mets to see what Flores can do with a month of regular at-bats. He has never really had that chance between battling Ruben Tejada for playing time and all of his injuries. This is Flores’ shot now, and I can’t imagine it would be any worse for him than when he was the super-sub. If anything, regular play should do him well. And if not, then it’s time to see if a third baseman can be acquired.
Although getting Jonathan Lucroy to catch might be a better option than what they could get at third base. But that’s another discussion for another day.
Today’s Hate List
- Marcell Ozuna
- Justin Bour
- Ryan Braun
- Corey Seager
- Jeanmar Gomez
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