18
2012
Take Me Out To The Bawl Game
An article by 
So what’s that five in a row now? I’m not in the mood to check, but I’m pretty certain this may be our longest losing streak of the season. The worst part of course is that three of those five games should have been in the win column including last night’s. Ugh… Last night…
With all due respect to my colleague’s “rah-rah, there’s plenty of season left” post this morning, I think I’ll take the dark-side approach to this recent debacle and get some angst off of my chest. I’ve never been one for rainbows and butterflies after a loss like that.
Jason Bay came back last night and the good news was that he looked like his old self, and that was the bad news too. He went 0-for-3 and he seemed to be spending most of his time in the dugout alone and not huddled with any of his other teammates. At least that’s what we saw whenever the camera panned into the dugout. It reminded me a lot of the final days of Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. Perez sitting alone in the bullpen, while Castillo sat at the opposite end of the water cooler always alone and with his head down.
It looks like even Terry Collins is running out of patience with him too. An hour before the game he was singing Bay’s praises and what an impact his presence will mean to a lineup that is struggling to score runs. Yet when the ninth inning came around and the Mets were down to their last gasps of air, he didn’t let his $66 million dollar slugger go up to the plate. Collins had already seen enough and decided to pinch hit rookie Jordany Valdespin for his dead man walking. The move paid off and the kid with the so-called attitude problem launched a three-run shot to put the Mets up 3-2. Know your place, rook…
It was an electrifying moment, but it was very short-lived. You see, the Mets still needed three more outs to win the game, and when you looked beyond the outfield fence it was Bobby Parnell and Miguel Batista throwing in the bullpen. <sigh>
I’ve ranted enough about Bobby Parnell including a legendary blast just two days ago, so I’ll spare you my replenished supply of venom on that matter. If any of you are still clinging to this warped notion that Parnell is going to be a solid closer for us one day because of his great advanced metrics and because Fangraphs says so, I’m convinced that nothing I say will ever change your minds anyway. If seeing isn’t believing, and you can’t admit that Parnell is the last person you want pitching in the ninth inning, then I’ll just move onto something else.
We had a rare treat yesterday in Washington before the game. Mets GM Sandy Alderson came out once again to emphasize that the Mets are buyers, even though he has yet to buy anything. Strike up the band. Apparently he is waiting for a Macy’s One Day Sale or one of those legendary K-Mart Blue Light Specials. Until then, he’ll just go window shopping and not much else. “Prices are too high”, he explained yesterday. Someone should tell him, so is the price of losing.
I look at the standings this morning and see that we’re now seven games behind the Nationals. Teams lick their chops whenever the Mets starting pitcher hands the ball to the bullpen now. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing the worst of the worst (Chicago Cubs) or the best of the best (New York Yankees), whenever they see Bobby Parnell, Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez or Tim Byrdak they don’t see a reliever, they see a pinata.
Pedro Beato certainly threw that wild pitch that ended the game, but lets not pretend that a real defensive-minded catcher wouldn’t have easily reached to his right and kept that ball in front of him. There’s another one of those plays that won’t ever show up in the error column…
I don’t know what to say anymore… Usually I like to follow-up my complaints with some sort of a solution to the problem, but my cupboard is bare this morning. How many times can I say this bullpen stinks and is one of the worst I’ve seen in a long, long time? It isn’t like in 2007 and 2008 where it fell apart in the second half and got worse from there. This year’s model has sucked wire to wire even going back to Spring Training. The ship feels like it’s sinking and Alderson standing on the deck proclaiming that we are buyers seems odd to me and out of place. The next time I see him I’ll expect him to say something like, “women and children first”.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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“This year’s model has sucked wire to wire even going back to Spring Training”
This is completely wrong. The bullpen was much much better in June and has been not the worst in the league since Acosta left. It’s simply the scapegoat right now.
ARE YOU SERIOUSLY DEFENDING THIS BULLPEN????
When the slurpiness is going to end.. Even Alderson Avenue is conceiding the season based on how their lord has failed them and you come up with this?? Wow… the scapegoat??? 4.98 ERA, Worst in the majors, all kinds and shapes of BLOWN SAVES, already like 18 losses… Wow… Just Wow..
Did you just use “slurpiness” in a sentence? That’s actually an outstanding job by you.
Just stick to the subject and never mind about what phrases people use. Your God Alderson is STINKING UP THE JOING since arriving here and that’s why you people go off topic.
Since the day he arrived he has done NOTHING to help this club except maybe obtaining a minor league pitcher with potential and moving the fences in.
NOTHING. He has actually COST this team it’s place in the standings the last 2 years not helped. Some boss.
Oh. Hey.
What has Acosta to do with three of the last five losses? Get serious man.
I’ll take littl solace in knowing that the bullpen was not the worst in June. Only 5th or 6th worse.
Ceetar, you’ve said some truly wacky things, but this one might take the cake.
With all due respect, there is no defending the idiocy of your statement
You say his comment is idiotic Oleo but you don’t ask him or tell him why it is wrong.
Depending on how you want to weigh the pen he is not completely wrong to say they were better in June. I keep seeing posted the Mets pen ERA as a measure to show how bad they are and if you followed that same measure the pen ERA in June finished at 3.77/ERA 8th best or worst take your pick. Which is much improved from 16th in both April and May at 5.02 and 5.82 respectively.
The pen BAA was also much improved in June which happens to also be the month where the pen pitched the least amount of innings in the Nl except for the Giants who pitched an inning less.
So you may be viewing the pen differently say by blown saves or what have you but when Ceetar says they were much improved in June he is not completely wrong. You just need to say why you disagree.
There you go NJ with your pesky numbers again.
and you do point out the single best way to have a good pen. Don’t use it. Because any pen that gets run too hard will fall apart.
There is a slogan in there somewhere. Something like “A good Mets pen is a hardly used Mets pen” or something to that effect. Joe D print up the bumper stickers. Try using a Mets pen that you can see is full of ink as a graphic.
Alderson says we’re buyers, but I say SHOW ME THE MONEY!
Well, Hodges14, he did sign C.J Nitkowski Lol…. My goodness… that small market mentality has ruined this franchise…
It was good to see Bay and healthy, though. Seriously, there was talk of his career possibly being over, and that’s certainly something I never wish on anyone. Hopefully he gets his career back in track in the AL real soon. I mean, REAL soon. In the AL. VERY, VERY soon.
If not for the BP (understatement!) we are a really competitive team. My rainbow and butterfly for the day.
Nobody is dealing because only maybe a handful of teams are out of it right now. This isn’t 2011.
The game and the deadline have changed. FA comp has changed, playoff scenario changed… it changes things but people want to ignore that because they want to be bitter.
If somebody can answer me what exactly the Mets can acquire that will turn Thole, Torres, Duda, Kirk, Bay, Ike around? Those hitters are hitting a combined .237.
That’s 5 out of 8 starting positions hitting a combined .237.
Fix it, tell me how. Tell me how getting Huston Street or Jon Broxton fixes that?
Everybody was tooting Omar’s horn for all his minor league guys who have helped us. Well now after a half season, where are the Mets weaknesses? 1B, LF, RF, C, RP and CF.
Omar Minaya’s minor leaguers that everybody bragged about in early May are now hitting .239 and filling up LF, RF, 1B, C and half of CF.
There are clearly some players to be excited about in the future but for the most part, they aren’t here right now.
It’s unrealistic for any new GM to come in and overhaul an entire roster.
What bullpen arms did Minaya leave in the farm system? Parnell who people here want cut after last night (over reaction).
Maybe people need to start realizing that the 1st half was largely due in part to incredible performances from 3-4 players, and that cannot keep up.
Maybe people need to realize that there is a larger problem here than just get 1 bullpen arm or fix the bullpen.
You can overhaul the entire bullpen every year, and it doesn’t change the fact that 5 out of your 8 starters are hitting like a borderline AAA player.
If you only look at the bullpen as the problem for the NY Mets then all you are doing is looking for another reason to talk solely about Sandy Alderson.
For this team to sustain success they need a lot more than just a few other veteran bullpen arms
Fix it, tell me how. Tell me how getting Huston Street or Jon Broxton fixes that?
Pretty sure for one thing that either of them could have gotten the last three outs of the game and got the save.
You win baseball one game at a time. Last night one of them could have won the game. That’s how you fix things.
What you’re suggesting is fixing ten things all at the same time, real teams don’t do that. They don’t operate that way. You fix things one at a time. You adjust and reassess along the way.
a better bullpen would certainly make our record better, but would it make us playoff bound, I doubt it.
Bringing K-Rod back is the obvious answer. Pay the entire salary and give up some RP prospect in Savannah or St. Lucie that won’t be terribly missed and there you go.
Ramirez/Beato, Rauch, Parnell, FF, Edgin, Byrdak, K-Rod is good enough where they won’t suck anymore. Won’t be a great pen, but they won’t be costing us games every series…
It sure would!
They have cost us 19 games in the loss column….
Lets just for argument sake say they only cost us half of them!
9 games in the plus column means out record is 55-35 3.5 gamjes up at the top of the division!
Thats is they only lose HALF the games they have!
We should stop making excuses for the pen and stop trying to make them sound better than they are.
It’s all coming from the same guys who loved all of Sandy’s moves in the offseason and no one is buying it!
That ship has sailed and the only thing that can save you from those past statements is that pen being unbeatable the rest of the way!
So save your prayers for that and stop trying to make excuses or downplay how bad they have been to date!
See that’s unfair. I’m sorry but you do not pin every loss on 1 pitch.
You’re telling me the bullpen is solely responsible for losing every game that earned them a L?
So what, Duda-Thole-Ike-Kirk-Torres-Bay haven’t cost the Mets any games with their lack of offense?
My POINT is its a collective problem.
The team was being carried by a select few players and that cannot keep up.
Did the bullpen blow it last night, yes. But when your offense is getting more production, you put your bullpen in less circumstances than the one last night.
My point is, adding a guy like Street or Broxton doesn’t make your entire team better. It may help under a circumstance of last night (yet they could fail too) but it doesn’t make your OF corners better. It doesn’t turn Ike around. It doesn’t make Thole a better/more consistent hitter.
The bullpen isn’t the team getting shutdown by Ben Sheets who hasn’t pitched in 2 years. The bullpen didn’t GDP in the 2nd inning, or leave runners at the corners in the 2nd inning. Or leave Wright stranded in the 7th,, or Murphy in the 8th.
Up to that point, the bullpen was not responsible for losing the game.
So through 7.5 innings, if the game ended… we’d be talking about the offense doing a bad job. But because the game ended how it did, everybody wants to ignore the offense.
You put less pressure on a bullpen when you have good starting outings and you score runs early.
Getting Huston Street doesn’t mean Dickey or Santana keep up their 1st half pace. Getting Broxton doesn’t mean LF, RF, CF, 1B, C start hitting consistently.
That’s the point.
Oh please the only way the Bullpen can even GET a loss is to enter a game tied or blow a lead given to them!
That means the rest of the team DID what they were supposed to but were not enough to overcome the Bullpen giving up runs!
You want to make that point your trying to make…
Show the record of the Pen in games where the starter left with the game tied and then show the record of when he left with a lead!
I know you won’t because doing so would expose what you just said as unsubstantiated bull!
I mean your quickly running out of fingers to point at all the excuses you have tried in the last two days to make this Pen you LOVED look not so bad!
I’m sorry but you’re looking at 1 inning. You’re choosing 1 targeted group to point the finger at because of the GM.
You’re ignoring the point. The point is this team could add Street and Broxton and the offense won’t be fixed. Santana and Dickey will not suddenly shake off the cobwebs and pitch as they did in May.
Can this team realistically from this day forward win 90 baseball games just because they add Street or Broxton?
The answer is no. Not if guys like Davis, Duda, Bay, Torres, Kirk, Thole continue to bat a combined .237.
The answer is no. Not if Santana and Dickey hit a slide, or Batista/Harvey cannot succeed as a starter.
The bullpen is a scapegoat and its creating a blindfold because nobody wants to say this team, while fun, has a lot more problems than just 1 bullpen arm.
Yeah which inning am I looking at Jessup?
What inning (or GAMES) are YOU looking at?
You can get a loss in any inning after the Starter leaves the game as a Bullpen arm.
They got 19!
You got something to say about how they got them then feel free but no one is buying your crap!
And again let me make this clear.
I simply showed the bullpen is not the worst. I didn’t say they were good.
I don’t think the bullpen is good. I had 100% confidence last night that Parnell would blow the game. I even sent my Nats friend a txt saying so.
My point is in 2012 at the deadline, 1 or even 2 bullpen arms won’t fix the OVERALL problems of this team. It may make you sleep better at night but it doesn’t fix Duda, Bay, Thole, CF, Davis.
You cannot have 5 out of your 8 starters hit a combined .237. You cannot survive a 162 game season and expect Dickey to win 24 games or Santana to be dominant all year round or Wright to be an MVP every single day.
Can’t do it. And getting a bullpen arm is nice. It doesn’t fix the big picture though. It fixes what is easiest to complain about because it’s the most recent memory in your head.
The Mets lost last night because of the bullpen. Well, through 8 innings of AB’s, the Mets offense was shut down. the bullpen had nothing to do with that.
Comebacks like last nights are not how you survive. You can’t play every game and just wake up in the 9th or expect to comeback. It doesn’t work like that.
Your only correct to say they won’t be solved unless they don’t blow another 19 games!
But stop those further 19 games from being blown and most if not all of our problems and losses go away!
You don’t think BP help is going to solve anything but mostly because you didn’t think the fixes you liked was going to solve anything either…
Only recently have you gotten on the Mets can win bandwagon and now that that pen you liked before and make excuses for now seems to be on the verge of killing that you back to the old Team needs rebuilding and the Pen isn’t as bad as it looks mantra!
Come back to reality dude….
Yes you were wrong about the good day, Big Fing Deal! don’t exacerbate it by the exscuse making you tried yesterday or run back to the old the team isn’t good enough crap that was not what you were saying a week ago!
Bottomline here is if we had done a better job when we focused on our pen a little 5 game losing streak wouldn’t be the issue it appears to be now cause we would only be 2 games ahead in the division instead of 3 if the Bullpen had just been a coin flip on game decisions!
If they were we would be tied for the Division right now. If they had blown as many saves as they have we would lead it!
With the same players you are pointing at in desperation to explain yet another attempt by you to apologize for that Bullpen!
Just move on dude!
They Suck they need changing and if we are successful in that goal then the rest of the team is a playoff and division leading ballclub!
But you appear to keep on trying to get out from under the Good Day post via multiple finger pointing!
It isn’t working dude!
LoL, I have to say Joe D the little boy supposedly disappointed with his hand over his face is a nice touch. How you often find just the right pictures for the different posts you do is something.
I understand that as you said it’s difficult to be “rainbows and butterflies” after a loss like last night but if somehow this team finds themselves relevant come August may I suggest a picture for a future post considering you used the sinking of the Titanic in this one?
http://www.filmiveeb.ee/db_images/movies_gallery/6414_203176.jpg
I fully expect us to be out of the playoff contention (by other’s last year July 28th Standards, not mine) by the time our West Coast road trip ends.
And if thats the case it will be proof positive and vindication for all of those who lamented Sandy’s lack of even trying in the offseason by shopping K-Mart to fix an issue that has cost us 19 games this season!
Thats almost a month worth of games folks!
But they are not as bad as we think…Noooooooooooo
They are WORSE!
All I will point out here is whatever people are using Sabermetrically or otherwise to say that or pick these players out of all the free agents available needs a new kind of Math Formula!
Cause their current analytics suck!
K Rod really? Did you see his performance last night replacing the Ax Man in Milwaukee.
The BP alone is not the answer but lately it has, apart from defensive issues, because when the team has fought back to take lead or tie someone comes in that can’t get 3 outs at the end of the game.
Was it any worse than some of what we have seen from our guys?
Doubt it!