All Star Broken

When the Mets were bad, barren, broken, it was easy to pick a particularly bad loss and say “that’s it, the season is over”. Because you knew that those teams weren’t coming back to life. If I said that now … if I typed the words “We’re Dead, Season Over”, it would be nothing more than disingenuous hyperbole. And I hate hyperbole. Just like I hate the notion that there’s a right and a wrong in Daniel Murphy … who hit yet another crushing home run on Sunday to provide the margin of defeat and send his former team to the All-Star break sad … being let go to join Washington (I still think the Mets were right), and that there is one specific reason that Murphy is hitting .350. There isn’t. Murphy is good, but Bryce Harper providing protection, and bad pitches that were thrown this whole series, whether it be by Bastardo or Syndergaard or, on Sunday, Matz, certainly helps.

And maybe a little revenge thrown in.

So I’m not burying the Mets. But I’m not burying the Mets mainly because they’re in the thick of the wild card race. I think we need to come to grips with the fact that the division might be gone. The Nationals are good. Murphy helps. Dusty Baker really helps. Wilson Ramos raising his average 100 points definitely helps. Stephen Strasburg becoming the Stephen Strasburg that everybody thought he would be from day one is the piece that puts them over the top. They’re humming, they’re six games ahead, and most importantly they’re 9-4 against the Mets. The very best the Mets can do is sweep the last six to go 10-9. And you could give me last year all you want. Do you really expect to sweep the last six games after seeing the way the last seven went? When the Mets swept those last six meaningful games (the last three meant nothing so I’m throwing them out) they had just undergone a team transformation, and even the weak version of the 2015 Mets went 4-6. Unless there’s another transformation coming … and I’m not sure there is a realistic option out there unless Sandy Alderson wants to bleed out the farm for Evan Longoria … or unless Murphy becomes Tab Hunter again, I think those six games are going to be enough to keep our team at arm’s length.

The Mets are battered, beaten, and they don’t have enough hits with runners in scoring position. They’ll regret getting swept by the Braves … or losing any games to the Braves. But it isn’t as if the Nationals haven’t had their slumps against the likes of Milwaukee and Cincinnati. A quick check of the schedules tell me that the Mets could creep back in the race the rest of this month, but Washington’s August schedule is a thin sheath of corn. Which leaves the head-to-head games as the Mets’ best hope. and as I’ve said, the way the teams are currently built I don’t think there’s a scenario for the Mets to dominate those last six games. Not with the strength of their team compromised by bone spurs and thoracic outlet syndrome. And to expect a team not managed by Matt Williams to collapse isn’t realistic.

Now here’s the good news:

There’s the wild card. And the Mets are in that race. And the Mets still have a roster that can get on a roll and put that second wild card spot away. Of course, Clayton Kershaw probably awaits them, but the Mets can worry about that then. But there’s a ton of work to be done before then. And hopefully, Sandy can pull some more magic out of his hat to give this roster what it needs. If not, then our worst fears … ones that have been voiced to me recently … will come true:

This will be 1987 all over again.

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