I May Be Wrong, But… Podcast, The Next Nine, Nats, Luck Of The Draw

1.     I went on the Mets360 podcast with Brian Joura today. I will post it up on the right column once Brian sends it to me. This is the second one I have participated on with Brian and if you haven’t visited his site, you should. It is absolutely the most intelligent ‘parent’ Mets site out there and also features David Groveman, who covers the minors. David used to write for us and he has joined Petey Pete (Mets Merized) as the two other dominant voices on the Mets minor league players.

2.     The next nine games are going to determine an awful lot in Willet’s Point this season. Let me add something… the first three that begin today will determine if you will get to see Matt Harvey join the Mets rotation this season. The nine will determine if you will also see Zack Wheeler wind up there. Either way, look for either a decreased role for Chris Young or a six-man rotation for the remainder of the season. That doesn’t work for R.A. Dickey, so he would still get to pitch every five games.

3.     The only chance the Mets have to win the NL East is to begin the divisional process of beating the Washington Nationals. They have six chances (with new umpires) in the next nine games and they need to win at least four of them if they have any chance at all. We’re running out of games folks and their lead looks insurmountable; however, David Wright would gladly remind you they said that about the Mets a few years ago. Terry Collins will take these games one at a time because that’s how he is paid. IMO, the key here is defense and mental errors. The Mets probably lead the league in dumb decisions and there are plenty of those trophies to hand out. That being said, today has to begin with the best bats because the Nats currently have the best pitching.

4.     You must walk away from the Atlanta Series knowing that two of those games should have been won. All the Mets needed (IMO) was a neutral umpire crew and leaving Jordany Valdespin in Buffalo (okay, I’ll get off the soap box). The team did more than enough to win, even with what they currently call a bullpen. I lost my hearing in in my right ear eight years ago and my left one is now down to around 50%. I have learned to read lips, not by choice, but necessity. I ‘heard’ what Bob Geren told Bobby Parnell when he came out to the mound. He told Parnell that he (Parnell) was the best he had and there was no one left in the pen that could do the job better than Bobby (Ramirez was warming up). We all know the outcome, but the team, nor Bobby would have been in that position if if wasn’t for early runs given up for no reason other than an error, either physically or mentally. Did you see R.A. Dickey go into the dugout and pound his glove three times on the seats after Daniel Murphy made that throwing error during the 3-man shift? Those were three pounds for three runs scored for no reason and that game would have been won regardless of what happened later in that game. You just can’t keep doing these things in critical game. The Mets need perfect baseball,  starting today, for nine games. If they play perfect ball, against the Nats, they should win six of them.

5.     This was written in the lobby of Savannah VA waiting for my appointment today with one of my head Doctors. Across from me is someone that looks like Snoop Dog, who is obviously off his meds. He’s ranting and raving about a myriad amount of things and I quietly walked down the hall to the police station and asked the gentlemen to follow me around fifteen seconds later to check the guy out. I also told him that he’ll have no trouble determining who it is because he will hear him before he sees him. That was over five minutes ago. Still no police man. Snoop is now yelling at some black man about racism. I’m signing off.