Mets Win A Road Series, But Can’t Get Their Stories Straight

The Mets are exhausting.

On the one hand, they finally won a road series for the first time since early April (also the Marlins) with a 6-2 victory. Robinson Cano had a four hit game, and also hit a home run for the second straight day. Adeiny Hechavarria had two hits and an RBI in a game that he started because … well, we’ll get to that later. Jacob deGrom slogged through five innings with less than his best stuff, and the bullpen was decent outside of Jeurys Familia … we’ll get to that later too.

But even when the Mets win, it always seems to be paired with some dopey nonsense that shouldn’t be a factor for a baseball team. In fact, stuff like the following should be a layup. So now we come to Hechavarria and the reason he was starting.

During his routine pregame media session, Mickey Callaway said Amed Rosario had a "scheduled off day." Apparently, during his meeting with team broadcasters, Callaway said it was punishment for not running out a ball last night.

Hence, a discrepancy. https://t.co/eiaBF0H7fO

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 14, 2019

This is what’s knowing as “screwing up a free lunch.” This should be a layup. Either you call Amed Rosario out, or you cover for him. When you tell different people different things, you look like a moron. And when you tell different people different things while being employed by an owner and a CEO who have the reputation of being meddlers and a general manager who has reportedly made managerial moves from his couch, then you look like either someone who is covering for somebody, or you look like somebody who was called in to the principal’s office. In short, it doesn’t look good.

Nothing was clarified after the game neither …

Was Rosario's benching today a punishment for not running last night?

Callaway: "I wouldn’t call it disciplinary. It was a night game/day game. There’s opportunity there for another play to get in there."

Rosario: "It was the consequences of me not running out that fly ball."

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 14, 2019

For f**k’s sake! Be straight with us! Think about this: If Handsome Art Howe had just gotten his story straight one way or the other, he would have looked like a hero. If he doesn’t say anything to team broadcasters about Rosario’s benching and Rosario volunteers the information himself, then at least Handsome Art comes across as a manager who is protecting his players. If he admits to everybody that Rosario got benched because of lack of hustle, then he comes across as somebody who is finally trying to instill some accountability. Michael Conforto beat out an infield hit and drove in a run because he ran hard. F’ing Wilson Ramos legged out an infield hit! You tell me that wouldn’t have been spun as Callaway sending a message and the team receiving it.

Of course, the way Callaway did it makes him look like a fool.

Coincidentally, I think all this falls in line to a recent interview with our old friend, former SNY employee and current FOX Sports studio host Kevin Burkhardt, from The Atlhetic. It’s a pay site so I’ll quote the pertinent details. First, on why baseball is too hush-hush with their inner workings and details:

To think that you’re going to reveal a state secret that another team doesn’t already know is completely ridiculous in my view. And I think that the NFL, see that’s what — I’m right with you. We can be their marketing tool. I’m not going to say that we’re going to take their word for word and be a commercial for whoever it is, player, product. That’s not who we are. But doesn’t it make a lot more sense for the coach, and this happens, to be like, “Hey, if this happens in the game, we’re going to look to do this, and this is why?” Now all of a sudden,  instead of me going on the air and just trying to understand or trying to rip somebody, we at least understand what the hell they’re thinking, and maybe why they’re doing it. So you can convey to the audience, “Hey, I think this is what’s going on here.” Or, “This is what they’re trying” — doesn’t that make a lot more sense than to be uneducated and be like, “What were they doing? What’s going on, what are they doing?” That to me makes a whole lot of sense. So why wouldn’t you educate us?

I’m pretty sure that if the Dodgers know something, then the Brewers know the same exact thing. Or if the Dodgers have a number, then the Brewers have the same damn number. So I’m 100 percent with you, and I don’t get it. I don’t get the hush-hush of baseball. I don’t think the NFL is like that, at least to us. Baseball, I think, has to get over it. You know, tell people why you’re doing this. It makes it more palatable, it makes it easier to understand.

Maybe that’s part of what is happening here with the Mets in terms of the general secretiveness of MLB teams. But it seems that the Mets shoot themselves in the foot with this particular gun more than any team in the league. And Burkhardt addressed that part of it as well when he was asked what the deal was with the Mets:

It really is the same old Mets, unfortunately. And there are a lot of things that have changed and then there are a lot of things that have not. It’s the same stuff. It’s the same issues, communication issues up and down. I think it’s similar, in just trying to understand what they’re trying to do with their concept this year. I like the rogue hire of Brodie (Van Wagenen), I like the moves he made. They obviously haven’t worked, but I liked going out on a limb and taking a chance and making the moves. But I cannot understand why the simple things that appear to every human being who watches the team on a nightly basis always have to be covered up, or not talked about openly, or some ridiculous story. There are things that every human being in a stadium sees every night that they don’t acknowledge.

Bingo.

I guess I shouldn’t keep harping on this. I mean, some of you probably think this is just more media driven bullshit. I get it. Some media driving bullshit is just that. But something like this, especially when it’s a pattern, is a direct reflection on how a baseball team or a business is run. Look, Handsome Art Howe is under no obligation to tell us everything that goes on in a clubhouse. No manager is. But if you’re going to lie, lie well. Stupidity like this is a direct reflection on your ability to run things. Just like Brodie Von Monorail’s chair throwing is a direct reflection on his demeanor, and Jeffy’s, well … everything is a direct reflection on him. And it’s exhausting.

But if you would rather I complain about something on the field, it’s this: The conglomerate of HAH and BVM can’t keep putting Jeurys Familia out there. Familia threw 16 pitches on Sunday and six for strikes. Whatever recovery he made from his Bennett Lesion spur obviously didn’t work the way the Mets had hoped. If he’s still hurt after his stints on the IL, end his season. If he’s healthy and he just can’t find the plate, make him mop up.

Because here’s what’s going to wind up happening: He’s going to continually force Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman to pitch more innings than necessary because he can’t get it done. Familia’s struggles could have a lasting effect on the arms of the other two. Gsellman threw two innings in a 6-1 game, and Lugo threw two thirds. If they keep logging extra pitches because of whatever is ailing Familia, then Jeurys is going to cost them two pitchers: Himself, and whichever one of Lugo or Gsellman develops an arm problem because of this. The Mets are lucky because of the day off tomorrow. But do you really want to keep handing Familia seventh inning leads against the Twins on Tuesday and Wednesday?

Exhausting.

Today’s Hate List

1. Jack Clark
2. Tom Lawless
3. Danny Cox
4. John Tudor
5. Todd Worrell