I Ain’t Talking ‘Bout The 2-3

I think we’re all well aware that the 1986 Mets, whose uniforms the current group modeled on Sunday, started with two wins and three losses, just like their 2016 counterparts. While the 1986 start was met with similar cries of panic after their start, it’s a little more easily explained back then, as two of the losses were attached to Randy Niemann. When Frank Cashen commented that it’s always the guys that do the least that spray the most champagne, he was talking about Niemann and his 35 & 2/3’s innings in ’86 which resulted in … oddly enough … a 2-3 record.

This year, two of the losses were attached to Matt Harvey. And that’s scary, because Harvey is no Randy Niemann. He’s supposed to be much better. And while I’m sure he will be, he earned Sunday’s loss against Philadelphia. Giving up a hit to an opposing pitcher is the best way to get yourself in trouble. And while Jeremy Hellickson is a career .224 batter which is great for a pitcher, he’s still a career .224 hitter. And his hit set up the sac fly which gave up the first run of the game.

Then he gave up a blast to Odubel Herrera (which rhymes seamlessly with Asdrubal Cabrera, but sadly I can’t think of a clever way to put these two in poem form) which made the score 3-0 in the sixth, and was lucky to escape further damage. That was all the Phillies needed, but it was painful to see Yoenis Cespedes battle through a long at-bat in the bottom of the sixth and get the two runs back on his first home run of the season, only for the Mets bats to go dark once again versus the Phillies bullpen. That’s the most disturbing part of this series loss. Navigating the Phillies bullpen shouldn’t be as difficult as the 12th hole at the Masters. But the Mets lineup turned into Jordan Spieth while the Phillies ‘pen played the part of Rae’s creek.

So yeah, not all 2-3’s are alike. ’86 was a fluke. ’16 needs to see Matt Harvey get back to being Matt Harvey. But more importantly, ’16 needs to see the Mets lineup stomp on bad bullpens, as all good lineups are supposed to do.

Today’s Hate List

1. Odubel Herrera
2. Hector Neris
3. James Russell
4. Jeanmar Gomez
5. Carlos Ruiz