Mets got a HUGE assist from the Phillies, courtesy of Ranger Suárez & company, in their 1-0 defeat of the Braves. Atlanta still has another game in hand on the Mets, but they needed to win them both to stay with the Mets in the loss column. The standings now look like this in the NL East with only 11 games left to go for the Mets in the regular season (the Mets' magic # is 11 btw):
The Braves will make up their remaining game in hand on September 26th in D.C. against the Nats (see below):
The Braves and Mets are each off six days form now on the 29th, and then play their big three-game series in Atlanta. The Mets are off on the 26th as well, giving them three off-days in the span of eight days
(September 22nd, 26th, and 29th). Here are their other remaining opponents though the end of regular season:
It's imperative that they sweep the Triple A's in Oakland. Zero excuses for them not to, particularly with their Big 3 on the mound in Bassitt, deGromi, & Scherzer (in that order). Hopefully the Phils can win a 2nd game too to help the Mets even more in case the Marlins win one of the two in New York next week on Tuesday or Wednesday.
It looks like the Mets will miss Alcantara's turn in the Marlins' rotation since he's pitching Saturday against the Nats. Another HUGE assist. Had there been a third game to conclude the upcoming Marlins series at Citi Field, they would have. Things are lining up as favorably as possible now.
Tiebreaker-wise, the Mets have a 9-7 edge on the Braves head to head. If they were to win just one game against them, then they'd have an overall 10-9 edge to end the regular season, thereby giving them the division if they each end the regular season with the same record. So, if the Mets were to head to Atlanta up a game against the Braves, then they'd be guaranteed to still be in command of the division if they win just one game there.
The Mets have their top 3 pitching in Atlanta--in the same order that we'll see them lined up against Oakland for this series:
Hopefully the Phillies can help the Mets out by winning one more game in this four-game series against Atlanta in Philly. Here are the probable starters for the remaining three games:
Probable Starting pitchers for Braves at Phillies from 9/23 to 9/25
Bottom line: the Mets got they help they needed. They did well to win 2 of 3 from a desperate Brewers club in Milwaukee, and are now out west playing the second worst team in all of MLB, aside the Nats. Here are the three lefties that the Mets will face over the next three games:
The Mets will be sans Vogelbach for this series unless and until the games gets into the bullpen, so it's time for Ruf and Vientos to step up. Bassitt gets to pitch against the club that traded him, so he'll some extra adrenaline flowing for this one.
Win these next five in a row and get rested, and the Mets are right where they need to be. Hopefully McNeil is ok for this series because they'll need him. Nimmo is day-to-day (see below):
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Brandon Nimmo’s MRI Clean; Day-to-Day with Quad Tightness - By Patrick Glynn
We're still waiting to see what happens with Marte too with his broken right middle finger (occurred 17 days ago). Check out the article below for other related notes:
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Mets Morning News: Phillies help Mets out, Nimmo MRI comes back clean - By Vasilis Drimalitis | Sept. 23, 2022 | 8:30am EDT | amazinavenue.com
By the time the Mets game starts in Oakland, the Barfs and Phils should be in the 7th inning or so. We should do a separate game-thread for the Mets and Triple A's since it's so long from now and will be late for folks on the West Coast and/or people overseas. Links to follow of course.
Let's consolidate any other Mets and Mets related news here on this thread since it's a long wait until the game later (9:40 pm EST first pitch). Braves and Phillies are scheduled to play at 7:05 pm EST later in Philly, so we can chat about it here if you'd like too as well as any other news that pops up between now and then.
Toodles for now :-)
Vientos with the BB.
Why do they keep showing this lady in the yellow shirt creepily smiling at the camera? Did I miss something?
I saw that creepy lady too, lol.
She must be a big fan of that horror movie that’s out right now.
0 ER (0 R)
1 H
1 BB
1 K
3.24 ERA
Hope he can throw 7 innings vs. his old team so the bullpen can continue to stay rested. Bassitt's next start might be a week from now in Atlanta with off-days on the 26th and 29th.
She must be a big fan of that horror movie that’s out right now.
Is that the backstory?
In case you missed it, it's a thing on Mets Twitter right now:
https://mobile.twitter.com/ag72345139/status/1573501129157132299
Smile - ( New Window )
Please leave Ruf here in Oakland.
Well, I guess I applaud the unconventional marketing, lol.
We've all seen the smile, now Chris.
Blink twice if you need help.
She's still grinning. I hope she's getting paid for this.
Fantastic. What a machine!
Fantastic. What a machine!
Yes great for him!
BTW - I’ll gladly eat crow on Escobar- took him 5.5 months, but he finally got hot for a prolonged period of time. Better late than never.
1 R (1 ER)
4 H
1 BB
1 K
0 HR
3.24 ERA
I'd assume that Bassitt's done for the night. No reason for him to go back out there. Drew Smith time? lol
2 R (2 ER)
6 H
1 BB
2 K
1 HR
3.27 ERA
Bassitt's night looks to be over. May was up in the pen before. Assuming the 9th is May's on his 33rd birthday.
Keep it going tomorrow, Jake…
hilariously (or sadly?) all it took was 1 ho-hum 2/3 game and now vientos has more extra base hits than Darrin Ruf has had since august 18th (1-0). his 2 hits were also just 1 shy of Ruf's 3 total hits in that time period and the 2 rbis tie them.
i dont expect vientos to win a postseason spot but it starts to glimpse "what could have been". ruf did make a decent catch or 2 in RF and he takes good at bats off the bench so he's not a wasted piece, just not a piece who should have blocked a prospect with legitimate upside in the bat for as long as he did. and obviously the experience only helps make the org depth better because if there were some kind of injury you can start getting more comfortable about him (vientos) as an option.
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I really can’t take anymore of McCant and Nidont. Absolute zeros offensively.
McCan't and Nidon't
they aren't in there for their offense though. Defense and managing the game are also important factors.
Honestly I find that much more important especially with our pitching staff.
I'm worried Chavez is going to get a hard look in the offseason.
I think Hefner is a Met for life.
In any case, Baty and Alvarez will be critical to the Mets' future success. They're young, cheap, & cost controlled for 6 seasons. The Mets need more of that, especially with seemingly half the team being FA vets. If we're stuck with Escobar at 3rd for one more season and McCann & Nido at Catcher for 2023, then there are worse things that could happen.
I'm worried Chavez is going to get a hard look in the offseason.
I think Hefner is a Met for life.
None of us would be sad to see Joey "send 'em all home" Cora find emplyment elsewhere, lol.
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In comment 15828982 CooperDash said:
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I really can’t take anymore of McCant and Nidont. Absolute zeros offensively.
McCan't and Nidon't
they aren't in there for their offense though. Defense and managing the game are also important factors. Honestly, I find that much more important especially with our pitching staff.
Well, not quite. I don't totally disagree with you but they need to be something remotely close to a major league hitter. They aren't. Nido is here (and has been here) because of his defense. But he's a zero offensively. That's fine for a backup - which is what he is, or should be.
McCann was absolutely brought here in large part because of his offense. And his offense has fallen off a cliff from the day he got here. And defensively, I'm not impressed. Statistically, he's a poor pitch framer and I really don't think he calls good games.
Depending on the number of plate appearances (which can be tough with catchers - I used 170 PAs so that it would include McCann) - there are 36 catchers with a higher wRC+ than Nido and 51 catchers higher than McCann. Kewin Plawecki is a better offensive catcher than James McCann - let that sink in for a minute.
James McCann has been an absolute loss. Poor on the offensive side and the defensive side. It happens, that's fine. But this team needs to sort out the catcher role (Alvarez, fingers crossed) and allow Nido to go back to the bench and fantasize about being a major league hitter.
Darn
With the Padres’ loss tonight, The #Mets will officially begin their postseason at Citi Field because they can’t be any worse than the No. 4 seed in the NL. - ( New Window )
hee-hee...
Losing Strider for the rest of the season is a big blow to the Braves.
Gee, that’s such a shame….
The Dodgers' magic number to clinch the #1 seed in the NL playoffs is 3.
MLB - Week 25 of 27: National League Winning Magic Numbers - ( New Window )
McCann can only throw runners out, the other three he is below average or worse
Nido can throw runners out and metrics apparently say he can frame pitches well - but that comes at the expense of blocking balls. He cant call a game, either
If Nido can hit even .240 it would be a plus. McCann making 10M is yet another major Sandy fail. Perez in his brief stint showed he was miles ahead of both defensively, but he cant hit
McCann can only throw runners out, the other three he is below average or worse
Nido can throw runners out and metrics apparently say he can frame pitches well - but that comes at the expense of blocking balls. He cant call a game, either
If Nido can hit even .240 it would be a plus. McCann making 10M is yet another major Sandy fail. Perez in his brief stint showed he was miles ahead of both defensively, but he cant hit
+1
How far along is Alvarez though now with respect to the four aforementioned categories? It stands to reason that Alvarez still needs to work on calling games from what we've heard. or am I mistaken?
To his credit, he has done a better job this year. But under pressure in the playoffs, old faults have a tendency to re-emerge.
IMO Nido should really be the number one catcher (until Alvarez arrives). Tomas has actually hit very well (for him) the last couple of weeks. If the opposing team has base stealers, start McCann. Otherwise, it should be Nido behind the plate. Or pitcher's preference. No need to alternate them in playoffs with all the off days.
But next year, it will be so great to have a hitter like Alvarez as catcher. He supposedly "struggled" at AAA. But still hit 9 HRs in 140 ABs with .810 OPS. Only 20 years old!! What a career he has in front of him!!
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Blocking balls, throwing runners out, calling a game, pitch framing - those are the 4 defensive items for a catcher
McCann can only throw runners out, the other three he is below average or worse
Nido can throw runners out and metrics apparently say he can frame pitches well - but that comes at the expense of blocking balls. He cant call a game, either
If Nido can hit even .240 it would be a plus. McCann making 10M is yet another major Sandy fail. Perez in his brief stint showed he was miles ahead of both defensively, but he cant hit
+1
How far along is Alvarez though now with respect to the four aforementioned categories? It stands to reason that Alvarez still needs to work on calling games from what we've heard. or am I mistaken?
With a veteran staff like Mets have, game calling is not that important because guys like Degrom and Scherzer know exactly what they want to throw. Bassitt too. He was getting worked up last night that McCann could not get on the same page with him.
So with starters i think its a non-issue. Guys like Drew Smith and Megill and DP, it might affect. But then you just might have to bring in Nido as a defensive replacement