Mets frustration was on full display in the last 24 hours particularly for David Wright, Anthony Recker and even Matt Harvey who isn’t even on the active roster.
This may have been best illustrated during the bottom of the 11th inning in last night’s 5-1 loss to the Brewers. With the bases loaded and one out, the Mets were a hit or even a warning track flyball away from a walk-off victory. But Wilmer Flores grounded into a force at the plate and then Anthony Recker struck out looking.
Recker’s reaction was one of outrage at the the call and within seconds he was quickly ejected by plate umpire Angel Hernandez, never once stopping to consider the team still had a game to play and that Taylor Teagarden was the last player on the bench. Recker continued venting in the dugout smashing his bat into pieces over his knee.
Third baseman David Wright is mired in a 2-for-31 slide that has seen his average slip to .270 and for the first time in his eleven year career his OPS is under .700. He was the the player thrown out at home in the 11th and he was hot. He is getting pitched heavily inside and teams are making sure he gets nothing to hit.
On Wednesday, the Brewers’ Wily Peralta moved Wright off the plate with a fastball up near his head, and that elicited a strong reaction from Matt Harvey on Thursday, telling the Daily News that it’s time someone responds as a way of protecting the Mets’ best player.
“It’s hard for me to watch David keep getting pushed back,” Harvey told the Daily News. “I’m not happy about it. It’s not right how guys are being able to manipulate his entire at-bat by pitching him up and in.
“It’s tough for him. He’s had to adapt to a different style. And it’s frustrating to watch from the sidelines and not be able to do something about it.
“When it would happen once in a while last year, I’d be the first guy to throw one behind somebody’s ear. And I don’t forget. Once I’m back I’ll be excited about getting the chance to help the captain.’’
It’s amazing to hear Harvey talk like this because he’s essentially saying that the rest of our pitchers are doing very little or even nothing to retaliate and he’s probably right.
Wright is clearly frustrated about the dimensions at Citi Field taking a veiled shot after last night’s game. “I have to do a better job, especially when I’m here, getting on top of the ball and hitting line drives.”
Terry Collins, who seemed to get some lip from Jon Niese when he came to take the lefty out, offered little solace saying the same-old, same-old about his team being in every game and not getting blown out.
The Mets have lost eight of the last nine games, are a season-high eight games under .500, and have fallen into a virtual tie with the Philadelphia Phillies for last place in the NL East.
