It was a tough night for the Mets as they dropped the second game of a four game series to the Marlins by a score of 5-2. The Mets were 0-7 with runners in scoring position, and Eduardo Escobar was 0-3 in that situation to round out an 0-4 night overall. It got so bad for Escobar that he had changed his bat and shoes in the middle of the game, going back to the yellow Venezuela belt that he was using during a recent hot streak, and changing out of his Kawhi Leonard spikes.
Eduardo Escobar changed his belt and shoes IN-GAME
baseball is the best
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 9, 2022
The mind is a fascinating beast. In response to Escobar’s wardrobe change, I got a DM from a friend who basically said “maybe Escobar should stop thinking and just hit.” It got me thinking to how the mind works and how baseball players work. I myself drove my mind into a never ending circle when the NY Rangers were in the playoffs, thinking that I could change the outcome of their playoff games by sitting on my chair at home doing things like drinking iced tea, watching the games on my phone instead of a very available 51 inch television screen, wearing jerseys, not wearing jerseys, stuff like that.
Now, I don’t control the outcome of the Rangers good or bad from my chair. But Escobar does have a hand in what the Mets do, good and bad. And if he had gotten a hit in the 8th (more on that later), the yellow belt and the white shoes would have been part of the lore of the 2022 Mets, and it would have been another victory for superstitious ballplayers everywhere. He didn’t, and it wasn’t. And it begs the question: “Should Escobar have a new superstition which would be to forget about superstitions?” Maybe he needs to clear his head right now and reset. Turk Wendell famously ditched a lot of his superstitions including the licorice and the tooth brushing between every inning, and if I remember correctly, he had said that the superstitions started to take over his life. Without superstitions, he remained a very good pitcher, and even got better. Could that be Escobar’s necessary next step at this point?
Coop doing Coop things. 😌 pic.twitter.com/Du7dv7tCXu
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 9, 2022
Okay, so that’s the macro. The micro was that at-bat in the 8th that Escobar had. So let’s set it up. After Chris Bassitt had a mostly successful return to the mound after being on the COVID list, Drew Smith gave up a two run dinger to Garrett Cooper off the right field foul pole to make it 4-1. But in the 8th, Francisco Lindor got one back with a towering home run to make it 4-2, and then after Steve Okert struck out Pete Alonso, he all of a sudden lost the plate, He hit Jeff McNeil with a pitch, then walked Mark Canha and J.D. Davis to load the bases and set it up for the great redemption for Escobar.
Okert, true to the night’s form, goes 2-0 on Escobar. Escobar, for his part, does the right thing and takes the next pitch, which should have been ball three.
Phil Cuzzi’s strike zone was expanding, and was generous to Okert, which I don’t understand because not only was it the wrong call, but it was also undeserved for a pitcher who had lost the strike zone. So now Escobar has to expand his strike zone, and that’s not helpful to a hitter who is already in a bad way. So Escobar chases the next pitch on the outer edge and pops it up to end the inning and let all the air out of the building. Should Escobar have stayed patient? On a 2-1 pitch, probably. He still had the upper hand. If Escobar isn’t struggling and changing his belt and shoes in the middle of the game, he probably does take the 2-1 pitch. But he definitely takes it at 3-0 no matter what. So Escobar certainly lost the belt on this one, there was outside interference from Bobby “The Brain” Cuzzi.
Maybe Escobar quits the superstitions. Maybe Drew Smith starts one. I don’t know, I just write here.
Today’s Hate List
1. Phil Cuzzi
2. Bryan De La Cruz
3. Jon Berti
4. Eduardo Escobar’s bats
5. Eduardo Escobar’s shoes
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