Maybe It Wasn’t All Vogelbach’s Fault

Ironic that multiple starting pitchers from Mets’ past made their way to Citi Field for Tuesday night’s Subway Series game to see a future Hall of Famer pitch like he won a contest to get on the team. I mean, there are multiple starting rotation spots that could use an upgrade. If not Matt Harvey, maybe R.A. Dickey’s timeless knuckleball could help a team that is rapidly running out of time.

The sad truth is this: Even if the Mets had come back and won in the late innings tonight (they didn’t), it still wouldn’t have made me feel any better about the team’s chances this season. Because if Max Scherzer, who blew a 5-1 lead in the 4th inning to a team missing their league’s MVP from 2022, has fully transformed from a pitcher on a Hall of Fame level into the guy that’s in the next chapter of his career where he’s jsut a warm body … a ham n’ egger trying desperately to hold on to some semblance of relevance … then I have news for you: This season is over. Period, end of story.

Oh sure, there are other problems with this team. It’s bad enough that the Mets continually score enough runs to make you think that all is right with their lineup even as they fail in key spots (and in tonight’s case, against pitchers that are throwing one pitch and one pitch only). It’s bad enough that usually dependable outfielders let one drop allowing the eventual winning run to score. It’s bad enough that the bullpen is taxed beyond belief necessitating a rotating cast of miscreants and delinquents to grab innings as if they were free COVID tests. And it’s certainly bad enough that there you’ll see more pitchers you’ve never heard because the half wits at Major League Baseball can’t see fit to correctly fix the problem of sticky stuff on baseballs, as Drew Smith is made to face the Council of Trent in front of 42,000 people because he wiped sweat off his ear.

Drew Smith says he had an MLB official check his hands in the tunnel after his ejection.

He says the official laughed and said there was “nothing there.” pic.twitter.com/Vc1AfdCxA3

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2023

(Editor’s note: The guy you might eventually see replace Drew Smith for one or more of those ten games he’ll be suspended for because of this was also a victim of Major League Baseball’s habitual idiocy.)

But none of it matters if Max Scherzer continues to pitch like a guy that should be working at a steel mill. Hopefully Justin Verlander will realize that he’ll be pitching to a team that has a collective OPS of four without Aaron Judge and he’ll pitch accordingly. You warm yet, R.A.?

Today’s Hate List

1. People who can’t wait five minutes for you to take your laundry out of the washer because they need to use all three washers in the laundry room, so they take it upon themselves to grab your wet underwear and throw it into the dryer … and it’s the dryer you have to bend for on the bottom level because the person who violated your clothing is short.
2. The realization that hit me during the fifth inning tonight that Wednesday’s game is on ESPN, which means that we’ll have three mic’d up interviews, a poll on whether Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter, or Anthony Volpe is more like a Greek God than actual Greek Gods, and a special sneak peek at Marvel’s new movie which centers around Beta Ray Bill because they’re running out of characters.
3. The f*cking umpires.
4. The fact that the Mets wore their black uniforms on a non-Friday again, which is annoying on it’s own, but will be ten times as annoying when ESPN talks about it ad nauseum tomorrow night when they’re not asking David Cone whether he called them “spikes” or “cleats” in his career, or when they’re not throwing it to Buster Olney on the field asking a manager a dumb question. Perhaps after Smith’s suspension is announced, we’ll get to see more closeups of Cone’s hairy knuckles as he attempts to explain why molasses cut with lemon juice is illegal.
5. Chase Utley