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3 justified fan complaints about the team right now
The New York Mets are in a dogfight with the defending champion Braves in an effort to win their first National League East title since 2015. The Mets held onto first place for most of the season, but thanks to the Braves playing at a historic clip since June, the Mets find themselves on the outside looking in.
This is not only because of how the Mets have played. The Braves seemingly never lose unless they play against the Mets. This has made virtually every day a must win, which is impossible to do in this game.
The Mets are still a great team and have been playing alright even with some injuries, but they could be playing better. They haven't played up to their standards lately especially against some of the worst teams in the National League.
1) Justified NY Mets fan complaint about the team right now: Buck Showalter's Managing
Buck Showalter was hired this past offseason to be the Mets manager. For the most part, he's been better than anyone could've expected. He's had this team gelling from day one and has been a big reason why this team has played like a team that can win 100+ games.
A big reason why I did not want him this past offseason was his history of bullpen management. I always turn to the baffling decision to not use Zack Britton in the 2016 AL Wild Card Game. The Orioles were locked into a tie with the Blue Jays and despite having a 0.54 ERA, he could only watch as Ubaldo Jimenez served up the walk-off home run to Edwin Encarnacion.
This season, I haven't loved how Buck has used the bullpen. I've found him to be too passive at times, turning to guys he probably shouldn't in spots they shouldn't be in, but gave him the benefit of the doubt thinking he'd turn to his best arms in September.
This has not happened. The Mets have found themselves down by one or two runs late multiple times down the stretch and instead of turning to reliable arms like Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, or Edwin Diaz, he turns to the worst arms the Mets bullpen has to offer like Joely, Bryce Montes de Oca, and Adonis Medina.
This has caused games that were within reach for the Mets to fall out of reach late. He's done this with his top arms being as rested as they've been all season.
It's impossible to know if the Mets would win those games or not, especially with how inconsistent the offense has been of late, but we'll never know since these decisions have put close games out of reach
I worry come playoff time he will have the same conservative attitude. I worry he'll be thinking about tomorrow or thinking about the ninth inning when the game hangs in the balance in the eighth.
I love how he's used Edwin Diaz in the eighth inning at times, but that sense of urgency has seemed to have disappeared. He's been overworking his low leverage arms and has cost the Mets multiple winnable games down the stretch.
Showalter is not the problem, but he hasn't pushed the right buttons either. It's justifiable to say he's done a good job overall but has to improve his bullpen management. The Mets bullpen is not deep enough for him to keep being so conservative with the 'pen down the stretch.
2) Justified NY Mets fan complaint about the team right now: The roster construction.
The Mets had an uneventful trade deadline. They decided on trading for a DH platoon in Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf to fix that horrible problem. J.D. Davis and Dom Smith had struggled mightily in that role, and it seemed like Vogelbach and Ruf would be a massive upgrade.
It seemed like Vogelbach was on his way to giving Pete Alonso the protection he'd been seeking all season. A power guy who mashed against righties would be the perfect fifth hitter to force pitchers to pick their poison. After a hot start, he's cooled down significantly and most recently found himself hitting seventh, behind Tyler Naquin who wouldn't even start if Starling Marte was healthy.
Darin Ruf has crushed left handed pitching in his career, posting a .902 OPS against southpaws. He was going to be the right handed version of Vogelbach. Unfortunately, Ruf hasn't hit at all since becoming a Met.
He had a big double in his first plate appearance as a Met, but since then things have gone south for him. He has a .422 OPS as a Met with no home runs and has one hit in his last 27 at bats. He's given the Mets virtually nothing as a guy who's supposed to be great in the position he's being put in.
The Mets had one of their top prospects Mark Vientos sitting in AAA despite an .877 OPS and 24 home runs. He's a guy who's crushed lefties all season as well.
The Mets chose to roster guys like Deven Marerro who's appeared in one game since his recall when the rosters expanded and a pinch runner in Terrance Gore over Vientos who could give the Mets a spark and a much needed power bat. Thankfully they appear to be giving Vientos a shot.
The Mets not getting production from their DH's and waiting months to call up a guy who could hit at a high level was a mistake. Vientos should've been with the club in July before the deadline with J.D. Davis' struggles just to see if he's any good. If he was good, maybe the Mets don't trade for Vogelbach and Ruf.
3) Justified NY Mets fan complaints about the team right now: The offense has to wake up
Overall, the Mets offense has been good this season. They're tied for fifth in all of baseball in runs scored.
However, things haven't been great recently. In the last 30 days, the Mets are 23rd in baseball in runs scored. In the last 14 days they're 24th in runs scored. That's simply not good enough.
With Starling Marte hurt, even more pressure lies on the Mets big bats. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso carried this offense for much of the year but have both cooled down at the worst time.
Lindor has not homered since August 17th, almost a full month. Since his last home run he's slashed .232/.308/.293 with just six RBI. As the guy who's hit third almost that entire time, the lack of run production is unacceptable. I assume he will heat up, but if the Mets want to win the division it is going to have to happen soon.
The other struggling Met is Pete Alonso. He was the Mets best position player for most of the season offensively and has hit a prolonged slump at the worst time.
Since August 1st he's slashed .243/.323/.424 with seven home runs and 23 RBI. Alonso had the National League RBI lead and was on pace to shatter the Mets single-season RBI record. That's up in the air now as he sits at 108 RBI, 16 shy of the record.
Seven home runs in a month and a half is very out of character for the guy who once hit 53 home runs in a season. He had been so consistent in all of 2022 but just looks out of sorts at the plate and has for some time now.
It's very possible that Lindor and Alonso could just be tired. Both players have only missed one game this season which is unheard of nowadays.
I don't know if a day off will revitalize them or not, but something has to happen. Showalter has been toying with different lineups which is good. I hope he can find one that sticks.
The Mets offense will not function without its two best hitters performing. Lindor and Alonso both played like top-five MVP candidates for much of the season. The Mets need those guys back.
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