The backsliding continues. These losses are getting tougher and tougher to take. Last night’s 1-0 defeat was particularly painful because we wasted yet another incredible pitching performance. It’s become the narrative for this team.
I don’t know who these guys are anymore. What is this team and what are they prepared to do to win? This is a complete offensive meltdown that has now lasted in this state for well over two months. The lineup is in shambles with no defined roles for anyone aside from Curtis Granderson and even he has been miscast all year.
Nobody is getting it done. Too many strikeouts, too few walks, and an alarming amount of softly hit balls. And it’s not just one guy, it’s everyone in that lineup. Their inability to string a few hits together is staggering and when they do get on base the fundamental baserunning errors are mind numbing.
You can almost see the desperation setting in. Terry Collins looks more and more like a dead man walking with each suffocating defeat. He said he attempted that botched suicide squeeze because he wanted to do something different, anything to wake this lethargic offense up.
But it backfired horrendously and only showed how inept and dysfunctional things have really gotten.
“I wanted to try something out of the box to spark the team. Whatever we’ve been doing hasn’t been working. We’ll continue to press forward and try to come up with some answers.”
His next move? Apparently picking his lineup out of a hat.
“We’ve gotta flip-flop some guys somehow, shake it up a little bit,” he explained.
The Mets have not scored a run in their last 21 innings, during which their pitching staff has allowed just three runs. I don’t know whether to cry or scream.
What’s concerning about this entire situation is that they’ve pretty much exhausted all of their internal options and there’s really nobody left that can realistically come up from the minors to help this team.
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals are 9-1 in their last ten games right now and their offense is absolutely potent even with all the injuries they’ve sustained. Isn’t quality depth something?
Their starting pitching is among the best in baseball and unlike the Mets who have great pitching too, the Nats have the offense to match and not squander great pitching performances like the Mets do with such alarming regularity.
So Mr. Alderson, is this a “long con” as Joel Sherman called it, or are you serious about wanting to contend, especially now when all your stud pitchers are finally assembled and eager to win?
How many more pitching performances do we have to waste until you say enough is enough? What is your threshold for pain and all these agonizing losses?
Are you going to let the team fade away as they do every second half for the last six years, or are you willing to stay in the race and keep fighting while your team is still only 3.5 games back?
What’s it going to be Sandy? If Fred is holding you back why don’t you just say so? You may have read that your counterpart in Los Angeles Jerry DiPoto resigned on Wednesday because he felt his integrity was far more important than being a paper GM.
Your offense has been held to one run or less 20 times this year. The 20 games are tied for the most such games in the majors. That’s on you.
This is your offense. Their struggles are your struggles, and every whiff is your whiff. What are you prepared to do about it – I mean short of letting your manager be the fall guy for the disastrous offense that had you declaring “mission accomplished” after the Cuddyer signing.
What’s your contingency plan for this apparent debacle? Or do we just sit back and let our elite pitching wither on the vine? It’s time for action. As I said two weeks ago, the era of half-hearted measures is at an end.
