Mets: Stroman Loses Game On A Strikeout – Gotta Be Rock Bottom

The Mets have nothing to do but turn the page on the calendar to a new month. Luckily, that’s all their competition in the NL East can do too.

If you watch enough Mets games, sooner or later, you’ll come across one that leaves you scratching your head, asking, did my lying eyes just see that?

It happened again the other night when Mets starter Marcus Stroman figured he had dodged a bullet by striking out Phillies pitcher Chase Anderson, leaving two runners stranded in the second inning.

But for the Mets these days, Murphy’s Law always seems to apply, as if anything could go wrong it did when the swinging strike scooted past Mets catcher James McCann, allowing two runners to score as McCann searched in vain for the ball behind him.

You can watch the video, listening as the Mets SNY announcers prove their value again with a forthright assessment of what they had just witnessed. Still, those two runs, accompanied by another anemic Mets effort with the bats, were it – Final Score: Phillies 2 Mets 1.

Mets: It Could Be A Lot Worse

Ironically, the Mets (9-11) remain locked in a duel with the rest of the NL East to get their heads above water in a contest to see which team will sport a record above .500, even as the season moves into its second month.

The Mets are 0-8 this season when the opposition scores first, representing the only remaining team in MLB that has not won a game after the opponent is the first to put runs on the board. (New York Daily News)

By now, most fans are aware of the Mets team as the absolute worst in the major leagues, with a paltry 58 runs scored over twenty games this season.

However, what may slip by is that there are only four teams in the majors with a worse fielding percentage than the Mets, and that doesn’t count McCann’s passed ball.

And we can go through all of the meager batting averages posted by players we know can hit (Francisco Lindor .189) Dominic Smith.206, Jeff McNeil .206, Michael Conforto .212), but all the Mets can do is wait.

While hoping there isn’t another team in the NL East that catches fire before they do, please wait, as we’ve seen with the Oakland A’s, who reeled off thirteen straight while zooming from last to first place in NL West.

Hope springs eternal among Mets fans, as it should, especially this year when their starting pitching has been nothing short of phenomenal. Second, only to the San Francisco Giants, the Mets team ERA stands at 2.90 and a mere 1.04 in their last three games.

We don’t have the rah-rah stuff we saw in the second half of 2019 when Pete Alonso‘s win the Home Run Derby set the Mets afire, but it’s not needed this year as the Mets are now a more seasoned team with an inner self-confidence brewing.

Mets: A Sleeping Dog No Longer Lying Still?

Though maybe Phillies pitcher Jose Alvarado should have thought about that before lighting a fire under Dominic Smith (video below), instead of grandstanding following his strikeout of Smith, leading to a benches-clearing incident and a possible carry-over to tonight’s game.

Mets: Turning The Page To A New Month

So, that’s one month down and five to go. The Mets are playing it “cool” with no sign of panic, as evidenced by Luis Rojas‘s decision to move Jacob deGrom back a day on his next start, affording him an extra day’s rest.

If anything, it’s a portion of Mets fans who seem to be panicking as they allot the best shortstop in baseball, Francisco Lindor, an assortment of boos in recent games at Citi Field. (I still can’t figure that one out)

Good or bad, we’ll know soon, but the Mets have only the Braves (6 games) and the Marlins (3 games) on their schedule for May.

All other games are with the NL West and Central (but not the Dodgers or Padres – whew), plus interleague action with the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays. (14 away and 12 at home)

This means the Mets will be pretty much on their own with a chance to build up some momentum away from the stress of playing teams in their own division, where one game played counts as a difference of two in the standings.

Duh – The Mets Bats Need To Wake Up

It’s no excuse, but it’s not like the Mets are the only team struggling to put up some serious offense in this – pitcher’s dominating season.

All the baseball cliches apply – good pitching beats good hitting, you can’t win if you don’t score runs, the law of averages takes hold over a long season…

Any one of the Mets players mentioned above can carry the team for a week or two, but it’s also true that none of them are playing within themselves right now.

This is why it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Luis Rojas to sit Dominic Smith tonight following yesterday’s brouhaha, lest we watch him trying to hit three three-run homers with no one on base.

It’s a given the Mets are nowhere near where they dreamed they would be on May 1. But so what? Neither are any of the teams in their division.

At least for now…

Fan’s note: Tonight’s game will begin at 6:05 pm ET, an hour earlier than scheduled.

Here’s What Readers Are Saying…

For More Mets 2021 Themed Stories
Link To Main Page Here

And Thank You For Sharing –
Steve Contursi – Story Teller