Not So Fast

I guess Neil Walker got sick of it all too.

After a summer slump which had all the Daniel Murphy cultists in full historical revision, Walker is now 12 for his last 19 to goose his average 20 points to .259, and his three run HR on Sunday was the difference in a very much needed 6-4 victory to avert the sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies. Just as Jonathan Lucroy to the Indians has taken a detour (though not in our favor), Walker has turned his season around. Maybe not enough to quell the Cult of Murphonality, or to bring the Mets back into a playoff spot. But at the very least there is some level of hope for these final two months.

Now, I wouldn’t call that level very high, as Walker’s triple brought home Asdrubal Cabrera at the expense of Cash Cab’s patella tendon which he strained and probably disintegrated rounding third base. And with the Mets still out on Lucroy even after Jonathan said no to Cleveland, the Mets prospects don’t look a heck of a lot better than they did 18 hours ago. Also of concern is Noah Syndergaard continuing to work harder to get hitters out as his 118 pitches (8 on intentional walks) are a career high just one start after chucking 114 pitches. The amount of foul balls teams are getting off him means he’s working harder than ever, and one can only hope the extra pitches aren’t causing more strain than usual which will send him off to the doctor.

But at least Walker’s big day, Syndergaard’s battle level, and Addison Reed dominating the eighth in conjunction with Jeurys Familia climbing back on the horse with his first save in three stays our eventual execution for a few more days. And with 20 hours until the deadline, Mets fans will wait with held breath and urine soaked Cheerios until it becomes official that nobody will be traded, and that Cabrera will spend the rest of the season in Port St. Lucie with a mojito after it is discovered that a squirrel has been residing in Asdrubal’s leg and chewing on his ACL all season.

Unless the Tigers decide to train their secret Yoenis Cespedes clone to the Mets for future considerations, I have a feeling that this is going to be a very different deadline feeling than last year.

Today’s Hate List

1. Roger Clemens
2. Roger Clemens
3. Roger Clemens
4. Roger Clemens
5. Roger Clemens