Just As Well

I didn't see any of Sunday's game as other commitments drew me out of the house for a majority of the afternoon. It's just as well. Based on the 7-1 final score I didn't miss much. Rafael Montero, from what I'm told, wasn't good, but also wasn't terribly lucky. Nonetheless, he battled, which I guess is sort of the zero-sum argument for the Mets this season. They've battled. But that only counts for so much. Montero might have battled, but he still stuck the Mets in a 4-run hole and they couldn't hit their way out of it against Nick Pivetta, who became the 13th Phillies player to appear in this series that I've absolutely never heard of before this weekend. His performance, I would think, assures him being the darling of Fantasy league Waiver Wires at this hour.

The only other noteworthy news was of course the announcement of the annual All Star Team. The game itself has become more spectacle than anything else, which I guess was inevitable, but nonetheless, you still root for your guys to draw the honor and Michael Conforto is the lone Mets representative. He's of course hurt now, and was finally put on the DL yesterday after spending the previous 5 days essentially sucking up a roster spot in spite of being unable to play. And he'd slumped through most of June. But, if there was a Met to deserve this, it would be Conforto, I'd think. Plus, guys are always dropping out of the game at the last minute and as such the potential exists for other roster changes, so perhaps a name like deGrom might find themselves in LoriaLand on July 11th, where Joe Buck will sneer his name during the pregame introductions.

The Brightest Spot

The Mets are sending but one player to the All Star Game in 2015, at least at the moment, and said All Star celebrated his selection by delivering perhaps his best outing of the season, pimp-slapping the Giants over 8 innings to the tune of no runs, 2 hits, 1 walk and 10 Strikeouts.

Yes, Jacob deGrom certainly proved himself worthy of the selection.

deGrom has, at least since early May, been the most consistent pitcher in a very good Mets rotation. Any thoughts that he might regress following his out-of-nowhere Rookie of the Year campaign in 2014, or that he might suffer from the fabled Sophomore Jinx can, I believe, be thrown out the window. Yes, deGrom's record sits at a mere 9-6—the same record he posted last season—but considering how often the Mets offense has backed him with no runs or 1 run, 9 wins is pretty good by itself. Imagine if this team actually could hit? He could be 12-3, 13-3?

But I digress. The offensive woes of this team are nothing new. Eric Campbell started in Left Field for the Mets on Wednesday afternoon and at this point we're so used to the mediocrity that we barely bat an eyelash. Michael Cuddyer's knee is still bothering him, so given that Terry Collins was assumedly advised by Cortisone Shot Ramirez that he just needs a few days, I think we can assume Cuddyer's season is done. You would think, then, that a move should be made but it's becoming more and more obvious that one or two bats, with what the Mets are likely to give on their end, isn't going to fix the problem. We're just going to have to suck up the rest of this season and hope for the best with what we've got. It's been pretty bad. But then again, sometimes it's been OK. But just OK. Like today, when Eric Campbell started in Left Field. He hit a Home Run. It was the first time a Mets player hit a Home Run since May 19th June 27th. Campbell's Home Run helped to extend a 2-0 Mets lead into a 4-0 Mets lead (Giants errors conspired to plate the first two Met runs) and spared everyone from a Bobby Parnell-induced Heart Attack in the last of the 9th. Parnell, who very quietly hadn't allowed a run since returning to the bullpen, finally got a taste of life without teeth on his fastball and the Giants reached him for a run on 3 hits, before Jeurys Familia rescued him.

Familia, like deGrom, has been one of the main reasons the Mets have made it to this point still afloat. He deserves to be an All-Star, like deGrom. Unfortunately, he wasn't elected, in spite of 24 Saves in 26 opportunities and a 1.12 ERA, and was instead relegated to the "Final Five" ballot, where he's currently going down in flames, in spite of the Mets and Twins forming an alliance to get both he and Brian Dozier elected. Familia's problem here is simply the poor fortune of being on a ballot with players named Kershaw, Cueto and Tulowitzki...and what's the use. Maybe one of the relievers on the squad will sprain a giblet this weekend and he'll make it anyway. Or maybe he'll get 4 much-needed days off.

So, yeah. Not much to report about the game; as an oddly-placed 3:45pm start prevented me from seeing anything. But for all their foibles, the Mets actually won both series on this road trip and return home 4-2. A week ago, we might have been happy with 1-5. At this point, you take what you can get.

Don't Feel Too Bad...

Although many of us, and perhaps David Wright himself, feels that it's an injustice that he's not on the All-Star team, we shouldn't feel too bad that he won't be there.

Yes, after being an elected starter for two years in a row, and after putting up numbers in the first half of the season that are certainly worthy of a place on the All Star team, Wright is certainly as deserving as the other 3rd baseman on the NL All Star team (Larry, for one, and Aramis Ramirez, the other). In fact, Wright has, for the course of the season, outperformed Ramirez, but it's Ramirez getting the call instead of Wright.

As if being outvoted by Larry and snubbed for Ramirez wasn't enough of an indignity, Wright was then subsequently beaten in the Final Vote selection by Corey Hart, a mystery in and of itself. The Mets and many of their fans, and media outlets pushed hard for Wright's selection, to no avail. Admittedly, Wright was disappointed. In an era where many big-name, big-ticket players see this exhibition as a waste of time and often don't show up, Wright's desire to be there is refreshing. I think many Mets fans are disappointed as well, particularly with the game in New York (although, clearly, the game itself is just going to be a World-Class Yankee Lather job), and particularly with the lone Mets All-Star being Billy Wagner, whose performance may be All-Star worthy, but at the expense of all of our stomachs.

If there were a Met who by all rights deserve to represent the team at the All-Star game, it would be David Wright, wouldn't it? Jose Reyes can make a strong case for himself as well, but it really would be Wright. He's been the Matinee-Idol, Face of the Franchise, Captain America or whatever you want to call him for the past 4 seasons. His performance is generally graded at a higher curve than anyone else on the team. He got his first "Reputation" award last season, earning himself a Gold Glove that had many people scratching their heads. But since most of these things are, inherently, popularity contests, it should have been that Wright, given his exploits on the field and his popularity off the field, should have been elected.

The problem arises when you have too many dopes, like the slovenly, 13-year old kid in Anaheim who goes to games wearing a hat 2 sizes too big and wears a Vladimir Guerrero jersey covered in chocolate ice cream stains who sees that the Mets, as a team, faltered last season, and thinks to himself, "Hey, the Mets suck. Their team sucks! I'm voting for Aramis Ramirez since the Cubs are in first!" and proceeds to mass-punch 75 ballots with Aramis Ramirez. It's nice that the All-Star Game is a democratic election process, but, similar to the Electoral process in this country, if you have too many idiots making the decisions, you'll eventually end up with something pretty bad for everyone.

And what of Wright? It certainly wasn't his fault that the Mets played poorly last season. True, he started slow, but the end result was Wright's finest season to date, boasting a .325 BA, 30 HRs, 107 RBIs, 34 steals and even 113 runs. Numbers not just All-Star worthy, but almost MVP worthy, had his team turned out a little better. This year, Wright got off to a similar slow start, and he's scuffled quite a bit at times, with his protection in the lineup lacking. His BA is a little low right now at .288, but with 17 HRs and 70 RBIs, the power numbers are right there, and certainly better than Ramirez's numbers (Larry's too, although Larry is currently hitting .375).

So why, then, should we not feel so bad for Wright's being severly snubbed?

Here's why:

More often than not, Wright has looked as if he could use a day off here and there. Until Jerry Manuel purposely sat him one night against Seattle, Wright had played every inning of every game the Mets had played, to that point nearly a half season, and he looked every bit of it. The season is a haul, and Wright could use the 3-day break. True, even if he gets in as a last minute replacement, the game is in New York, and Wright could still have the luxury of sleeping in his sprawling Flatiron pad, Wright would still have to truck his ass out to the Bronx on Monday night for the ceremonial crotch-grabbing, and again on Tuesday for more crotch-grabbing and then playing 3-4 innings in the game itself, being out late, being fawned over and having to put his best face on all the time. Wednesday would be no better, since he'd have to then fly himself out to Cincinnati for Thursday's game.

If Wright has the 3 days off, he'll go home to Virginia, horse around with his brothers, have a few nights of mom's cooking and a chance to relax and not deal with the pressures of being David Wright and having to impress everybody every time he steps into the spotlight. He can sit home, lie in bed, pick his nose and enjoy a few days off. Not having to deal with having to impress anyone should be good for him as the season wears on. Wright has, in the past, been a strong second half performer. Maybe, with this little break now, Wright will be better served in the long run.

So, sure, we can feel bad that Wright's going to miss out on this year's All-Star game. But let's think about it this way: In 2006, Wright went, did the Home Run Derby and sufficiently cocked up his swing and had a lousy second half. This year, the extra rest now might mean a few more big hits later in the season.

You know, when the Mets might really need them.

(Note: At around 3:45, I was informed that Wright was indeed selected to the All-Star team as a replacement, not for Chipper Jones, but for Alfonso Soriano. So much for him getting some rest. But good for him nonetheless. He deserves it.)

Gettin' Silly with the Philly

It was a nice weekend for the Mets in Philly. Of course, I would have preferred that they win on Sunday to cap off the revenge sweep and kick the Phillies in the nuts at the same time, but winning 3 of 4 is just as acceptable. It is nice, overall, to see the team finally put a nice little streak together after the struggles of early June. I'm not going to officially say "They're Back," but they're pretty close.

So, for some quick hits and observations from the weekend...

Gamesmanship
Philly seems to have some sort of bizarre chip on its shoulder, has anyone noticed that? Starting from the first inning of the first game on Friday, it seemed like the Phillies were doing everything they could to somehow get in the Mets heads. First, it's Manuel checking the rosin on El Duque's hat. Then Hamels was jamming Reyes high and in. But it didn't seem to work at all. It's almost as if the Phillies seemed to think they could somehow bully the Mets into losing. But after sweeping the Mets in New York, you knew the Mets were going to be fired up, and not much was going to distract them. In fact, just about everything Philly tried ended up backfiring. El Duque got pissed off (someone on the Mets noted that "He was stomping around, yelling in 'El Duque-speak'") and subsequently pitched great, Reyes was on base. LoDuca and Beltran hit homers, and Philly only managed to eke out the last game because Heilman imploded in the 7th inning on Sunday. But trying to pull the stuff that Manuel and the Phillies tried to pull was a dangerous game to be playing with a team that looks ready to go on a run, and it certainly didn't gain the Phillies an inch.

Speaking of a Rampage...
With 2 HRs in the nightcap on Friday and 2 more on Saturday, it looks as if Beltran is about ready to go on another of his ridiculous hot streaks. And it's about damn time. We all know that Beltran had been playing hurt, and his struggles at the plate certainly didn't acquit him of anything. He needed to sit, maybe go on the DL. But he didn't. And now he appears to be healthy again and with the Mets going to Colorado and Houston this week, one of those sick, .450/.520/.745, 5HR, 14RBI weeks could be on the horizon for Mr. Beltran.

Also pretty hot of late has been Paul LoDuca. It seems like Paulie has flipped the power switch ever since his blowup last Saturday against Oakland, and even moreso after his blowup to the press on Thursday night. LoDuca's 5 HRs this season have already matched his season total from last year, and 2 of them have come in the past week. Plus, he was snubbed for the All-Star game (although, admittedly, both Martin and McCann are more worthy candidates) and perhaps that will serve to fire up Paul even further. Then there's that suspension hearing...

All-Star Snubs?
I know, I know, nobody really cares about the All-Star game, although I do find it fun to watch for about 3 or 4 innings, once they get through the Ceremonial Crotch-Grabbing that seems to take longer than the game itself. Beltran, Wright and Reyes were naturally voted in, and considering that the balloting process is basically a popularity contest (although kudos go to the fans who voted in Prince Fielder over Poo-Holes), I'm not too surprised. You could make the case that Miguel Cabrera may have been more deserving than Wright or that Rollins or J.J. Hardy were having better years than Reyes, but that's not to denigrate either of them. They're there and they absolutely deserve to be there.

Wagner also made the team, and deservedly so, considering how good he's been this season. But if there was one player on the Mets who was outright snubbed for the All-Star team, it was John Maine. Pitchers like Penny, Peavy, Sheets and Smoltz are all worthy and all deserving of an All-Star selection. But the one argument, and it's a good one, is whether or not Cole Hamels should have made the team over Maine. Now, we've seen these two match up more than once this season. The first time, at Shea, at the Home Opener, neither pitcher threw especially great and neither got a decision. The second time, last Friday night, Maine clearly outpitched Hamels, throwing into the 9th inning in a solid Mets victory. Right now, Hamels stands at 9-4, with a 3.87 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 116 strikeouts in 111.2 IP, for a third place team that has been up and down all season. Maine holds an identical record of 9-4, with an ERA of 2.74, a WHIP of 1.15 and 84 Ks in 102 IP. And Maine also won a Pitcher of the Month award for his unconscious April, and the Mets have been in first place pretty much all season. But Hamels has the reputation of being the ace on the team he pitches for. Maine has only been counted on to be a #3 starter on the Mets, although at times, he has pitched like an ace. Maine holds better numbers pretty much across the board. I wouldn't go so far as to say Hamels is a bad choice, but it's clear that Maine has been the better pitcher to this point in the season. Then again, Maine is scheduled to pitch the first game after the All-Star Break, so perhaps it's better to let him rest and rejuvenate for the second half of the season.

All the Eggs in the World can't Fix him...
Finally, we have the case of Julio Franco and his fully organic diet of 37 egg whites a day, and he can still barely make it up the first base line on the last out of Sunday's game. It's getting to the point now where it's like he is just a black hole on the bench. Putting him up at the plate is tantamount to resignation. It's obvious that he's done, and I know he's a leader on the team and a sage for the younger players, but he's a waste of a roster space. I wouldn't want to be in a key spot in the postseason and see Julio coming up. Especially with 2 outs. I'm sure it would not happen, but it is worth the consideration to think about offering him a Bench Coach position and just sort of fade him out slowly but surely as the season wears on.

Happy Anniversary To...
Sunday was the 20th Anniversary of WFAN, who has carried the Mets games on the radio ever since their inception in 1987. We can thank them for creating the monster that is the Sports Talk Radio industry in America.

So, Colorado and Houston this week. Time to break out the bats.