I don’t say it with pride, but I take after Scrooge McDuck as a world famous penny pincher. That means while I enjoy the ability to watch extended highlights of every Mets game for free via YouTube; I’m going to take full advantage of the premium service I’ve paid for and watch every second of every game. That means pausing after the first pitch and allowing enough time to elapse so I can skip past commercials; but it also means I’m watching every game.
So I was watching Thursday when Francisco Alvarez fooled the Cubs’ young star Christopher Morel, loudly reaching with his leg like he was setting up inside before sliding to the other side to catch Carlos Carrasco’s slider for strike three. The cameras caught the smirk from Carrasco, but SNY’s Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez were elsewhere in conversation and missed the exchange. I’m not here to criticize the best play-by-play team in the sport; I’ll leave that for Phil Mushnick of the New York Post.
What goes into the box score as another swinging strikeout is just that. But for those with the patience and time to watch 160+ baseball games in a calendar year, you notice the little things like a stolen strikeout. You see how the entire pitching staff have come to accept and adore Alvarez behind the plate.
“He’s doing well. We’re proud of him. Every once in a while you have to remind yourself: He’s a sponge. He’s a really good listener,” Buck Showalter recently told the New York Post. “He’s been a tough kid, and I love the way he’s absorbing everything. The effort and energy has been contagious.”
It’s an energy Alvarez kept under wraps early on, hesitating to stop play and speak with his starters. Now, you see him in total control; pausing towards the end of Mike Tauchman’s at-bat in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded before a simple groundout ended the inning. He’s also more controlled with his offensive approach. A free swinger when he first came up, I’ve watched Alvarez start take pitches the other way for singles.
“That’s a strength base hit,” Showalter said about Alvarez to the Post. “A lot of guys, that ball just kind of flares out to second base, [and the second baseman] goes out and gets it.”
Alvarez wasn’t involved in the four two-out singles that scored three runs, but those singles were a reminder how GM Billy Eppler has crafted this team to do. None of the singles had eye-popping exit velocity, but utilizing aggressive and intelligent base running put people in position to take advantage of soft hits. Starling Marte’s opposite field single scored the final two runs, which turned out to be more than enough in a 10-1 win that put the team over Mt. 500 again.
Cohen mentioned how stat sites were saying Marte’s speed was over the hill; that he was no longer the base-stealing threat the Mets signed an offseason ago. As if on cue, Marte stole second for his team-leading 14 swipe in 17 tries. Maybe it’s the lack of hustle from home to first on ground balls he’s determined are not worth it; similar to what Mushnick got on Alonso for. Metrics can’t calculate if Marte is observing conversation, only accelerating to max speed when necessary. Metrics show that Jeff McNeil stole a base in the fifth; it can’t show that after seeing Marte, he knew to test the arm of Yan Gomes. The latter threw the ball into left field, allowing the Flying Squirrel to scoot home with another run.
Every run is quickly becoming more and more important since Memorial Day weekend is here; the official end of “It’s too early in the season to worry about (enter your concern here)” Daniel Vogelbach is the easiest roster spot to be worried about for multiple reasons. His inability to play any defensive position and obvious lack of power numbers overshadow the fact he’s second on the team in OBP, so what metric should take precedence?
The eye test shows me that Vogelbach’s power numbers may never show; that he’s a gap hitter who pulls doubles down the line and is willing to wait for his pitch. He is the only left-handed bat on the Mets bench, but lacks the versatility that will keep switch-hitting Eduardo Escobar on the roster. Last year, Vogey was thought of as a backup at first base, but Mark Cahna already has a start there to lessen that need and turn last year’s starting LF into a viable infield option.
Pete Alonso doesn’t provide much room for a backup, being written into the lineup every day and taking the field. This year, I’ve watched him slug nearly half his hits for home runs. But he’s also swung more for the fences instead of taking what’s being given. There are certainly metrics that focus on exit velocity, wOBA and other fancy-talking words for numbers to explain away the fear of simple numbers like a .231 batting average going into Thursday.
On Thursday, I saw Alonso work a full-count walk with runners on base and pass the baton along to Brett Baty. The rookie further established his spot behind the Polar Bear in the lineup with a simple sac fly for a 1-0 lead. In Pete’s next at bat, he swung with less velocity but dumped a ball into left field, one of the four consecutive singles mentioned earlier. His OBP metric went up after he was hit by a pitch and soared even more with his 7th inning home run.
I focus on Alonso and what I see as offensive struggles because everyone else seems to be focusing on the minutia instead of the main. If the team’s cleanup hitter is batting .225 for the first two months of the season, the team is not going to score many runs. Focusing on the lower part of the lineup feels like questioning the produce at a local farmer’s market, but accepting the corporate grocery chain’s version without question and that’s the truth.
Upcoming Series: New York Mets at Colorado Rockies
Friday, May 26 - 8:40 pm
Max Scherzer (3-2, 4.01 ERA) vs. Connor Seabold (1-1, 5.97 ERA)
Saturday, May 27 - 9:10 pm
Justin Verlander (2-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Chase Anderson (0-0, 1.15 ERA)
Sunday, May 28 - 3:00 pm
Tylor Megill (5-3, 4.32 ERA) vs. Austin Gomber (4-4, 6.48 ERA)
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