So the trade deadline passed without any major moves for the Mets, just a lot of stitching up the corners. Will the new guys make a difference? Sure, as long as the other 22 guys already on the team continue doing what they can do well.
Until he broke out with three hits last night, I was worried about Nimmo who wasn’t even sprinting to first on walks with the same gusto. And if you stayed up late last night you also saw Paul Blackburn make his debut, wearing No. 58 and ringing up his WHIP score with guys on base every inning. He persevered though, with the help of a couple DPs and generally wasn’t hit hard.
The other night it was Huascar Brazoban making his Mets debut, wearing R.A. Dickey’s former 43. Tyler Zuber has been assigned No. 54 but is still in the minors.
One way the Mets made room for the new guys was cashing out Jake Diekman and Adrian Houser, trading Josh Walker to Pittsburgh and Cole Sulser to Tampa Bay and releasing Ty Adcock. Will Adam Ottavino survive the pending return of Sean Reid-Foley and Reed Garrett?
I know I’ve been running behind schedule but I didn’t think I’d miss the entire Gary Sanchez Era. The Mets solved the problem of too many catchers today and designated the former Yankee for assignment. We’ve got to stop giving catchers No. 33, it did so little for James McCann.
Tomas Nido is back but he’s not about to be the starter any longer now that Francisco Alvarez has settled in. He’s pretty good. Brett Baty isn’t bad either though he may be having his first Big League slump. Mark Vientos? His swing looks long to me and I’m afraid he’s going to strike out too much. I’m a little scared to pull the plug on Tommy Pham yet.
I was in the stadium when Josh Walker made his first and still only appearance as a Met. He became the first 91 since Carlos Gomez broke it in in his brief return to the Mets in 2019.