Archive for Pennant Fever

Undercover Angel

And not a California Angel.

No instead it’s Luisangel Acuna getting the call (and the start!) today, playing shortstop instead of Francisco Lindor whose consecutive-game streak is ending. I don’t believe Acuna is here for injury but to pinch run. Given he OPSed all of .654 in triple A its not the bat you want out there.

Acuna gets the No. 2 worn most recently by released catcher Omar Narvaez. DJ Stewart is going down.

As we know Eddy Alvarez was acquired from Boston and took the spot of Pablo Reyes in a hot second, tearing the No. 26 off his back on the way. Reyes is among a long list of guys who probably won’t be getting World Series rings.

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All Aboard

As I’d mentioned often before, 10 games over .500 is the level I need my team to be at before I start getting excited about their possibilities. And unless the circumstances are exceedingly weird, that’s a minimum. Ideally a playoff team demonstrates this is a possibility in May or June on their way to 20 games up. That of course hasn’t happened for the 2024 Mets but something stranger and more powerful has. After plateauing at the ~4-games-under and ~7 games over marks they’ve blown past 10 on their way to 13, and perhaps more if they can keep this hot streak going.

And who’s to say they can’t? Mark Vientos, whom I’d once dismissed as a discount-store Giancarlo Stanton, is hitting for average and power; Francisco Lindor is having an MVP year and the role-players and reserves are all doing their jobs. The scrap-heap starting rotation has also been good and the bullpen after a few turns of the soil has also come through most nights. And don’t look now but Carlos Mendoza is a manager of the year candidate even after that awful start.

I don’t have to tell you this; just that it’s OK to believe.

Pablo Reyes was the only new callup when rosters expanded (they don’t expand like they used to). He was issued No. 26.

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Here Comes Jesse Winker

It’s a small step from “loves to hate” to “loves to love.” Jesse Winker is on his way to the Mets, reportedly, and my morning perusal of available media indicates fans love this move without even knowing what the Mets are giving up.

I like it too. Winker is a good hitter, especially vs. right handed pitching, can steal bases, and play the outfield better than DJ Stewart, whom I’m afraid is about to lose his job. Who knows, maybe Stewart is in the package. Winker is also a colorful performer so some new energy on the team sounds like second-half fun. Ryne Stanek also matches that description; the Mets made it official by the way and gave him 55.

Winker’s favored number, 33, is technically not available as it belongs to Drew Smith but this is an unusual circumstance. Smith has an injury he won’t return from this year, and will be a free agent before he can pitch again. Add to that Smith never seemed to care much what number he wore, loving from 62 to 40 to 33 over his Mets career. Winker is currently wearing No. 6 for Washington.

Still time to add that starting pitcher we need. No reason to half-ass it now

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Whole-Assed to the Finish Line

The biggest series in years starts tonight and with a surprise: Francisco Alvarez is batting 7th and wearing No. 50.

Alvarez is the fourth and we can assume final right-handed attempt at DH this year, and is no doubt energizing Met fans who’ve seen JD Davis, Darin Ruf, and now Mark Vientos try and fail. Alvarez is the biggest fish they’ve got and it surprised me.

Alvarez is considered the Mets’ top prospect and possesses the big-assed build of a catcher. He would be the first 50 to squat behind the plate for the Mets, if and when he gets there. He’s also the first non-pitcher to wear 50 in 17 years: Victor Diaz was last, but let’s hope Alvarez has some Benny Agbayani in him.

I regret to have failed to mark the arrival of Vientos here but little actually changed. Now is the time. Very exciting…

Let’s Go Mets!

 

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A Pennant Pandemic

Down by one ace pitcher and the most reliable of their outfielders, the Mets have tested positive for Pennant Fever.

Tyler Naquin appears to vomit into his helmet then look wobblingly unsteady up there at the plate, which may as well be symptoms, as were two walks, a hit, a run, and just one whiff last night. Mark Cahna, Eduardo Escobar and even Mychal Givens appear to have been exposed. And the slumping Daniel Vogelbach seems to have caught something last night too and looked again he that could be our good year blimp.

It’s still rough for Darin Ruf but perhaps the arrival of rookie Mark Vientos will make Ruf touch his own face and forget to wash his hands. Vientos is a right handed masher who has shown fearsome power at AAA Syracuse but the Mets have been wary of his defense. He’s been assigned No. 27 and may appear in today’s starting lineup at DH so you may as well forget the Jets this afternoon.

I caught something too in the form of a gentle rebuke for the cranky tone of the last post. I hadn’t fully realized that the building drama interfered with my Ya Gotta Believeism, either. I conked out before last night’s Seattle-Atlanta game but seeing the result this morning confirmed my case.

Here’s another thing I realized only today. Both of this year’s most exciting call-ups, Brett Baty and now Vientos weren’t even born when this site first went up. That was in 1999, another year where a Mets-Braves September pennant race was pretty sick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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