Just another loss. Stop overdramatizing! Right?

Lest, I incur the wrath of amateur statisticians, let me just say the BP is fantastic, league-leading in fact, but it just so happens they’ve blown two good starting performances in two days. No need to worry, right? I mean, the BP is fixed—the first three weeks of April proved it.

Today’s 4-3 loss to the Marlins was unforgivable, and the lineup and bench are to blame, too. Why Manuel sent for Santos in that instant with the confusion and lengthy trip to the plate given bases loaded. Ugh! It all seemed symptomatic of the disarray the 2009 Mets now embody. For the record, I like Santos, and I think he has real potential to be a fine catcher, but why would you bring to the plate someone so inexperienced in so pressure-filled a situation?! Of course, he’s been hitting well, had a grand slam…spare me.

Manuel is the goat for today. Santana threw a flawless 7th. His pitch count was about 115. It was not his best game; three walks, etc. BUT…he’s the best man on the team. I know the formula is Putz and Rodriguez when the game is close and your pitcher is tired. Yeah, they make lots of $ to prove this, too. It’s only April, so why stretch Johan? Here’s why: nobody but nobody on the team—excepting JS—is in any kind of a rhythm. The Putz-ROD combination has been used so infrequently till now that neither of these guys has any kind of dominating consistency with the Mets yet. The Mets, newsflash, are playing bad baseball. So, in my humble and uniformed opinion, this is the point at which a manager approaches his ace, and says: “Johan, I sure don’t want to tire you out, but we need this game badly, and you are just about the only proven commodity on my staff thus far. Since I can’t depend on my lineup scoring again for you (not like there’s a precedent for that), I would love it if you can give us one more inning. And if you put a man on base, I’ll replace you.”

Well, maybe JS said he was finished. If he didn’t, Manuel made a huge mistake with the BP again. This was a must-win game given our problems and issues of late. I don’t see the biting, scratching, and clawing at this point that allows a manager to trust or have confidence in the team’s lesser lights—the TEAM itself!

We were managed out of this game. Wow!

Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s redemption to be had against the Phillies who stink and are playing horrible baseball. Oh, no, that’s wrong. Shoot!