Carlos Mendoza was seen in the dugout scratching his ear and subtly grimacing as the Marlins’ Xavier Edwards hit a run-scoring single. It was the fourth run in a disastrous six-run frame for the Mets. “You might take your whole travel ball squad off the field if something like that happened,” SNY announcer Ron Darling said in the moment. Darling said the quiet part out loud:...
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Ryan Helsley probably wasn’t going to be this bad forever. In the weeks following the trade deadline, what seemed like a boost to the bullpen turned into a disastrous acquisition in a hurry. But Helsley turned in his third straight solid outing in Friday’s 12-6 win over the Nationals. Given Helsley’s ceiling, and how he’s been trending lately, he’s making an...
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It was too much to reasonably ask of Jonah Tong to be a savior. Nolan McLean’s start has been extraordinary to watch, but most pitchers don’t just come up and dominate right away — even if they were mowing through the minor leagues. As the Mets’ losing streak hit seven on Friday, Tong looked like he perhaps wasn’t quite ready for the big leagues. This series could have...
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For most of this season, batting Mark Vientos cleanup would have been viewed as a liability. It might have even elicited eye rolls from Mets fans. The Vientos of last year didn’t show up for the better part of four months. But over the last month-plus, Vientos has transformed back into that dynamic presence in the lineup. He continued that Friday night with a 2-for-4, two-RBI performance,...
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The screen cuts from black to show Francisco Lindor, riding in the back seat of a car, wearing a black leather jacket. “Baseball’s always been kind of my coping mechanism,” he declares. What follows is 45 minutes detailing Lindor’s ascent — from his humble beginnings in Puerto Rico, to his early days with Cleveland, to becoming the superstar now beloved in New York. MLB...
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