Mets Game 111: Loss to Marlins
Marlins 13 Mets 0
A game like this is called a “laugher.” Somehow I doubt there was any laughter in the Mets clubhouse after this ballgame.
Mets Game Notes
The ugliness began with Chris Young. To be kind, it just wasn’t his night. Young allowed 7 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 4 1/3 innings, including 3 home runs. My first thought upon witnessing this barrage by the Fish was, “did the Marlins miss pregame BP, so Young is giving it to them now?” Because in all seriousness, the slop that Young was offering very strongly resembled what one would expect to see from a batting-practice pitcher: 83-MPH, straight-as-an-arrow, belly-button-high fastballs over the middle of the plate. If you watched the game you know I’m not exaggerating, but rather, reporting fact. It is a wonder that Young didn’t allow MORE runs, he pitched so poorly.
Once a team falls behind by seven, the game gets very long. Players lose motivation, and do what they can to just get the game over with as soon as possible. That was the feeling of this game.
Remarkably, Garret Olson managed an uglier line than Young, as he gave up four runs on three hits and a walk while retiring just one batter. Not an auspicious debut for the man chosen to replace Tim Byrdak on the roster as the second lefty in the ‘pen. I’ve been rooting for Olson since his Baltimore days, as I like his mechanics and he was always one of those extremely hard-working guys who tried to squeeze every last ounce out of limited talent to succeed. But, the bottom line is that he simply doesn’t have the stuff to pitch in MLB, and that has been proven time and time again. The idea of him as a LOOGY is laughable, since in his career he’s only marginally better (if “better” is the correct word?) against lefthanded hitters as he is vs. righties. I really, really want him to succeed but not seeing it as a realistic expectation. Perhaps most concerning in this, his first outing as a Met, was that his body language and facial expressions expressed fear and lack of confidence. A man can’t accomplish much of anything with that kind of mental state.
What positive is there to take away from this game? I have no idea. Besides allowing a baker’s dozen of runs, the offense didn’t score once. They managed only five hits and were 0-for-10 with RISP against less-than-spectacular pitching. Right now, the Marlins are a MLB club only because there’s no rule to force bad teams down to AAA. Sure, they have a handful of incredibly talented stars, but overall, they’re a depleted team that is looking toward 2013 and trying to figure things out. I thought the Mets had bottomed out a week and a half ago, when they lost 13 of 15. Now I’m wondering if we haven’t yet seen the worst of this club.
Final note: Giancarlo Stanton has become one of those hitters that cause me to stop everything and watch. He is a legitimate beast.
Next Mets Game
The final game of the series begins at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. R.A. Dickey goes to the hill against Josh Johnson.
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers.
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I’m beginning to wonder if Terry is losing this team. It’s not a criticism about him, because overall he’s done a really good job as manager. But, this post All-Star break slide seems to be only getting worse. If the wheels completely fall off and they finish in last I really think they need to look at Backman in 2013. Because either way I think Terry Collins is lame duck manager in 2013 regardless. This is a flat, listless team right now.
Collins doing a good job? Whatever…. How about the guy that /alderson didn’t hire…Hurdle…. There’s a guy doing a GOOD job. One star hitter one star reliever and a bunch of rejects and average guys elsewhere and he’s 16 over 500. I guess Clint wasn’t good enough for the rotten failure the Mets call their GM.
The consistent mantra / talking point in the first half was “these Mets may not be as talented, but they never give up.”
Unfortunately, tenacity is not unique when you are playing at a world-class level such as MLB. Also unfortunately, a team has to remain tenacious throughout a 162-game season — not through 80 or 90 games.
It’s clear that this team’s success is directly tied to David Wright and Johan Santana — in terms of both performance and confidence. Can two men carry a baseball team? Only so far.
Good points Joe. But I think you have to include Dickey w/ Wright & Johann, especially after today. He is our true ace or stopper.
I agree that Dickey is the Mets’ ace, and they’d be up sh*ts creek without him. But, I think that Johan’s presence had much to do with the good feeling in the Mets clubhouse in April and May, and in turn had something to do with the team playing over their head.
That’s not to undermine Dickey’s incredible season. By himself, Dickey can’t turn this team into a winner — not unlike Steve Carlton on the 1972 Phillies. But Dickey PLUS Johan gives the Mets a feeling that they can match up most teams.
Now that Dickey has established himself as a superstar moundsman, I would put him into that same category with Johan and Wright — but I’m not sure he had that much weight as of, say, April, May, early June.
Note to author: please consider utilizing “fugly” in place of ugly for the rest of the season.
5 whole hits!! – Alright!!
Joe,
This is now an official disaster. Collins will need to be replaced if this continues much further. He can’t say this team is giving effort when the offense is this inept 4 of the last 5 games against inferior pitching, how can anyone buy that? Young needs to be immediately removed from the rotation, Hefner deserves a chance to win a 2013 offer. I am starting to agree with Izzy’s assessment of Alderson. To me he gets his last chance this winter. I don’t know why ownership, even clueless ownership, would pay a GM $3 million a year to do nothing, which is basically what he has done. Can we at least see Carson as the 2nd lefty? Olson needs to be released, his is not a major league player. Bringing him up is a joke. I’m lefty, they can pitch me and get the same results. Also, release the useless Ramon Ramirez and bring back Elvin. Let’s see what he can do the final two months. Torres needs to join Bay on the pines as well. Please don’t waste one second of playing time on anyone that doesn’t have a shot at being on the 2013 team. Sorry for the rant.
Dave, please don’t apologize for the rant, it’s therapeutic for you and comforting to the rest of us who feel similarly. I’d much rather you take out your frustrations on MetsToday than on your TV or the office water cooler.
Ehn, we had a streak of fabulous clutch hitting for a while; we’re bound to hit some funks in that department as well. A few hits with men in scoring position and we win the last 2 series. I’m glad we’re still working long ABs and getting baserunners; to me, that’s a good sign of not mailing it in.
I don’t think Collins is any better or worse now than he was in June. The .500-talent team he’s charged with has just hit an inevitable skid, and the competition hasn’t been kind enough to stay within striking distance.
Dave- is actually on the mark. So is Izzy.
Clint Hurdle came up in managing as a Davey Johnson protege, but we CONTINUALLY pass him over when we need a manager. He has done phenomenally everywhere. He would be great here (again). But before we talk about TC, the guy I really dont want to see back is Warthen.
To support Dave: Yes, we should be looking at Jeurys, Satin, Valdespin (in CF), Carson and even Wheeler.
RE: Warthen — I’ve said it for years……no idea how this man still has a job. Or how he’s survived so many regimes.
I can’t wait ’til the day he’s the hell outta here. And it’d better be this winter, before he has kids like Harvey and Wheeler running at the same speed on the treadmill for the next 5 years – with no progression under his watch.
I view him as the coaching version of Perez or Castillo.
Hurdle was Johnson’s protege? I know he was a favorite of Johnson for his willingness to do anything (i.e., catch), but I always thought Wally Backman was the guy Johnson saw as a future manager. I could be wrong, of course.
In any case, I’m not sure ANY manager could have made the Mets much better in 2012. Sandy Alderson did a horrific job of building a bullpen, provided zero rotation depth, and did absolutely nothing to address glaring holes behind the plate and in the outfield (sorry, he did do something for the outfield — he acquired Andres Torres). In particular, Alderson completely underestimated the importance of the catcher and defense in general. This team has far more problems beyond the manager.
And since the GM is responsible for the choice of manager, a failing there is also on the GM.
But I think it’s really ownership creating the situation, since what can any GM do to improve the team when the goal is to cut costs enough to keep the owners afloat until they get more investors and a piece of the Madoff recovery pool?