What’s next for these guys?
As you might have noted I’d been kinda leaving the Mets alone in hopes they’d reveal themselves as one thing or another but looks again that might be a while.
Waiting to hear the result of Jacob deGrom’s MRI as I write this and fresh off the midnight whacking of the club’s two hitting coaches, still waiting for any kind of consistency, injuries, frustration, dreadful slumps, sloppy play, moments of glory, innings of crap, hours of games: Mets Baseball 2021!
I even got out to Citi Field for the first time in more than a year a week ago tonight and can report that it remains 20% colder and damper than anywhere in NYC. That evening Peterson struggled, the offense struggled even more and we lost to a Red Sox team that should have beaten us worse. I’m now fully vaccinated, licking doorknobs, and you’ll find me out there most every Tuesday night.
Catching up on roster moves we’ve seen the debut of Jose Peraza (18) finally after a couple non-appearances and had Daniel Zamora (73) up and back. Word is Jordan Yamamoto (45) is on the way and I thought only hours ago that could be for Stroman and not deGrom.
That was a strange firing, a weird press conference and some curious dat-after reactions: I miss the beat writers in the clubhouse to sniff these things out. I found Zach Scott’s detachment and business-speaky remarks dissatisfying, as were the softball questions from the participating journos and the day-after narrative: Pete Alonso crying? After last season? The strong relationships Davis forged over zoom? Has anyone noticed Francisco Lindor has 3 RBI, is leading the team in plate appearances, and is hitting .160?
The roster doesn’t yet list the uni numbers of the new coaches, perhaps we’ll know when deGrom’s diagnosis comes in. By the way, coaches all wear sweatshirts over the unis anyway–and I’m certain Chili Davis didn’t suit on Zoom last year– so I’m barely aware that they Davis had been wearing No. 54 and Slater 56. You’d think Hugh Quattlebaum and Kevin Howard would take those respectively, then wear sweatshirts over them.
I’m beginning to have some doubts about Luis Rojas. I know it’s not his fault the club suddenly cannot hit but as we saw last year, inconsistent play and an no demonstrated ability to correct things when they go wrong is already bleeding over to this year. I think it’s also troubling to confront the fact that the second choice of the previous administration somehow survived the appointment of a new owner and two new general managers. It’s really been a bad start to a promising year.
JD Davis and Dellin Betances are on the DL. Betances, whose spring performance seemed to indicate something was very wrong, has been replaced for now by Trevor Hildenberger, the former Twins righty signed as a minor league free agent over the offseason. Hildengerger is wearing No. 35 but chances are we’ll never see him because Rojas so far only trusts a couple of his relievers.
Capturing the speedy, switch-hitting utilityman Jonathan Villar may or may not turn out out to be one of them, but it’s a good act by acting GM Zack Scott. I like when the club can get these young veterans who flame out as regulars at the moment their careers transition because they’re not too old yet to fake it in the event of an injury. It’s probably not the most welcome news for Luis Guillorme (and maybe worse still for Jose Peraza, the reserve shortstop acquired on a minor league deal earlier this offseason) but Villar, the former Astro-Brewer-Oriole-Marlin-Blue Jay, can play 2nd, 3rd, short or the outfield, switch hits, stole as many as 62 bases in a year, and hit as many as 24 home runs as a regular. That’s a pretty good resume.