What a frustrating weekend it’s been. Turner Field has been a house of horrors for our Mets, and this particular sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves was deflating to say the least. I’ll be happy when they tear that damned stadium down in 2017 and make it a parking lot.
Listening to Terry Collins‘ post-game media session on Sunday night, sounded a lot like a man who was drowning and desperately crying for help. Honestly, I felt bad for the guy and some of what he had to say resonated with me.
Most of you know that I’m not a big fan of Terry Collins, but his subliminal pleas for help these last few days have certainly painted him as a very sympathetic figure.
“We’ve had everybody from Triple-A here,” Collins said. “One guy was hitting .500 with Las Vegas, he’s here. Another guy was hitting .375, he’s here. Another guy hitting .350, he’s here. I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”
Collins is alluding to that long conga line from Triple-A Las Vegas to the big-league team that hasn’t provided any relief or thump to the lineup and lackluster results on defense.
“We’ve done everything we can. We’ve brought all those guys up that are swinging the bats good. This is not the Pacific Coast League. You can make all the changes you want.”
He’s right.
Fans clamored for the Mets to bring up Eric Campbell who was batting .440 with a 1.323 OPS in Vegas. But Campbell is currently batting .174 with a .523 OPS for the Mets and has 8 errors in just 32 starts at third base.
I was one of thousands on the bandwagon for 22-year old second baseman Dilson Herrera who had a .367/.398/.505 slash line in Triple-A. But he too has disappointed, batting .202/.307/.316 for the Mets and looking completely overmatched at the plate.
Kevin Plawecki has shown flashes, but how long can the Mets carry his .233 average and .276 on-base in the lineup?
Those three were intended to replace David Wright (.333/.397/.424) Daniel Murphy (.285/.335/.414) and Travis d’Arnaud (.296/.338/.535).
Of course all teams have to deal with injuries, look at the Washington Nationals who have been without Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman nearly the entire year. The only difference is they had productive players to back them up while we didn’t.
That’s on Sandy Alderson, not Collins.
It’s also on two high-priced sluggers, Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer, who have failed to step up when the team needed them to.
I guess you could say that’s on Sandy Alderson too.
Some readers felt I was giving Alderson a pass in my last article, but honestly I wasn’t. I was merely trying to convey that I’m glad Alderson isn’t listening to the lunatic fringe demanding he trades one of our young arms for some overpaid and overrated bat. That’s all.
Believe me, I have plenty of issues with Sandy. And the makeup of this offense is certainly one of them.
One person who seems to be flying under the radar is our rock star hitting coach Kevin Long. What part, if any, does he play into this underwhelming offensive nosedive?
You can’t blame him for the injuries, but what about Granderson, Cuddyer, Mayberry, Lagares and Duda who have all regressed on his watch?
The guys I really feel bad for are Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey.
Did you see how distraught deGrom was in that dugout slamming his glove to the ground in frustration?
Did you see the look on Harvey’s face on Sunday when Cuddyer ground into the game-ending double play in the ninth?
Those two deserve better.
The trouble is that we have nobody else left in Triple-A to call-up. They’re all already here.
Terry Collins says he’s out of answers. And don’t look at me, I don’t have any answers either.
What’s that you say, Mr. Alderson? Mets Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
