Brandon Nimmo — Tim McGraw
“The one we danced to all night long
The moon like a spotlight on the lake”
Brandon’s country so let’s start at the beginning of the canon. Nimmo’s been reliably Brandon with a lower batting average this season of .266.
His defense has been solid save a few errors on balls coming in.
He’s been turning on more balls lately leading to homers, which is nice. I’d like to see more line drives in the second half please.
Tommy Pham — ‘Tis the Damn Season
“It’s the kind of cold, fogs up the windshield glass
But I felt it when I passed you”
Tommy has been a hookup that has more than worked out. His .277 batting average and .835 OPS both lead the team. Not ideal that a .277 BA is top of the club but that’s not Pham’s fault.
Defensively Tommy is fine. His arm is strong and relatively accurate.
Overall Pham has brought a sorely needed consistency to the lineup. He’s always game to answer the “u up?” txt which is exactly what you want a casual hookup to do.
Francisco Lindor — Never Grow Up
“And don’t lose the way that you dance
Around in your PJs getting ready for school”
Francisco’s wife had their second daughter a few weeks ago. I like that our shortstop is a girl dad.
Lotta folks got angry online when Lindor wasn’t named to the All Star Game. Not me. He has a newborn in the house and appears to care about that. Francisco has to be with his family too.
Lindor is a beautiful shortstop to watch on a daily basis. His glove is wide and in the right place nearly every play. Lindor throws hard, on target, and his instincts on in-betweeners tend to work out. A few errors here and there, but he plays well every game.
Francisco’s swinging a good bat lately and his power numbers have been large the first half. The strikeouts have been prominent but trending down.
Pete Alonso — Anti-Hero
“I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror”
Hey Pete Alonso haters, it’s you. You’re the problem it’s YOU.
Pete gets a grip of hate from other fanbases. It’s strange because he appears to be, and I mean this with the highest respect, a bit of a doofus.
I believe the real reason Alonso gets booed by other fans is because he scares them. Which means he’s effing killing it at his job.
26 Hrs and 61 RBIs in the first half. Grown man numbers. Average is lower but Pete is always one swing away from changing the game.
Alonso’s glove has been solid albeit with limited range. He has a good, long stretch from the bag and picks balls well. He’s not Keith Hernandez out there. But no one else is either.
Jeff McNeil — Shake It Off
“It’s like I got this music in my mind
Saying it’s gonna be alright”
Man I wish Jeff would chill out. He’s stopped throwing helmets after making outs but that’s gotta be the next step right?
We don’t have to go through McNeil’s numbers. They’re low.
Jeff has been fine in the field and he deserves credit for playing multple positions.
I just wish the guy wouldn’t take it so hard. Baseball is such a bastard. You’ll never beat it. The best who ever played this game look content with that.
Starling Marte — Red
“Remembering him comes back in flashbacks and echoes”
Starling had core muscle surgery in November and I have to believe that affected him. He looks stiff instead of fluid.
He has 23 steals in 82 games. A better hitting 2nd half will see that number go up.
In the field, Marte has been average at best. He hasn’t shown off the arm yet.
Hopefully Marte’s struggles have been physical. Nothing heals like time and the Mets have some of that left.
Francisco Alvarez — I Think He Knows
“He’s got my heartbeat
Skipping down 16th Avenue”
Alvarez appears to be that dude. His offense has come through in timely situations and his defense gives and takes. But it’s his handling of the overall job of catcher that means the most for me.
Francisco catches a staff that includes two 40 year-old kings and a rookie from Japan. He probably speaks English even though his interviews are through an interpreter. But his command of the language is probably limited and he’s 21 years old.
Yet he looks like he’s having fun. What a heartbreak prince.
Alvarez plays the game with a bop like Juan Soto. He is lithe when he steps in the box and during an at bat. Nothing brings him down more than a head tilt and then it’s gone. Because he’s a goldfish, which is the best thing for a professional athlete to be.
He has 17 HRs with 35 RBIs. The RBI number should be higher but the team hasn’t hit consistently to create baserunners.
Still a rookie but it’s hard not to believe in Francisco Alvarez. Man’s meant to be here.
Brett Baty — Karma
“Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma’s a relaxing thought”
Brett’s .241 BA with 5 HRs and 21 RBIs feels unfair. It seems like he’s hit into a lot of hard outs this season.
So if karma is real, Baty will have a large second half. You may want to believe in that. If you’re hesitant, try considering the alternative for a second.
Me and karma vibe like that.
Max Scherzer — Long Live
“It was the end of a decade
But the start of an age”
Max had a weird, inconsistent first half. There have been stretches where he’s been nasty but not enough.
Then there was the ejection and 10 game suspension for sticky stuff by umpire Phil Cuzzi. By the way, “Cuzzi” is Italian for “small dick energy.”
Scherzer has big dick energy and sometimes too much of it. His arrogance with challenging hitters with fastballs in the zone during favorable counts has been a problem. I’d like to see Max work the edges more in the second half.
We can’t live off the magic Scherzer made before he came to Queens. We need a slightly different Max. Still nasty, still mean, but with a little more care for location.
Justin Verlander — Out of the Woods
“Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet, good”
Justin is quietly returning to form. After a delayed start, Verlander has put in 70 innings and a 3.60 ERA. The stuff is still there but the command hasn’t been.
Verlander remains a joy to watch. When he’s right, he throws any pitch in any count all over the zone. It’s impossible to hit unless he misses his spot.
So if Justin is becoming Justin Verlander again, that’s a bad man on the mound every fifth day.
Kodai Senga — Cardigan
“The smell of smoke would hang around this long
‘Cause I knew everything when I was young”
Not “Welcome to New York”? Nope.
The hard truth is the Mets have had us feeling like an old cardigan under someone’s bed too often this season. And the one starter that has consistently put us on has been Kodai.
Senga-san has a 3.31 ERA through 89.2 innings. With extra rest he’s made every start.
The ghost fork is devastating but less effective when hitters lay off. Senga-san has adjusted to that as the season’s gone on.
When Kodai’s going right, he’s putting fastballs on the edge of the zone. His average velocity on the 4-seam is 95.9, which is pretty damn hard. 90.5 on the cutter. That’s about 5 miles an hour of difference to confuse a hitter.
Senga-san’s benders (sliders, sweepers, and curveballs) are unremarkable. But he’s still a rookie.
If, and I realize the tremendous amount of weight I’m putting on the word here, if, the Mets make it anywhere near the postseason, it’s because Kodai Senga was our best pitcher for the first half of the season.
Carlos Carrasco — 22
“We’re happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way
It’s miserable and magical, oh yeah”
Carlos walks out to “Summer of 69” for home starts. So we’re going straight pop here.
Unfortunately Carlos’s starts have been more of a party for the other team. 5.16 ERA in 61 innings.
The pitch clock appears to be part of the problem. But that’s not going away. So Carrasco will have to adjust and thrive if we’re gonna be dancing when the weather is cold.
Tons of crazier things have happened.
Tylor Megill/David Peterson — Speak Now
“Your time is running out
And they said, Speak now”
Both of these guys have been put in tough positions for the past few seasons. But this is the Show and there’s no crying in baseball.
Tylor’s ERA is over 5 and David’s over 6. The Mets aren’t getting any length from either pitcher as both are averaging less than 5 innings a start.
Either Peterson or Megill will have to prove they belong in the second half. With Jose Quintana about to enter the rotation, they each should have an opportunity to shore up a beleaguered bullpen. Time’s now, boys. Speak up.
David Robertson — Bejeweled
“I can still make the whole place shimmer”
At age 38 David is absolutely shoving it this season. 39.1 innings have yielded only 29 hits, 11 walks, and 12 runs.
Peterson’s been leaking oil a bit lately but perfection is unattainable in this jerk of a game.
He’s the only guy I have complete confidence in when he steps out of the pen. Just imagine if he was the setup man before Edwin Diaz.
Adam Ottavino — Ivy
“Oh goddamn
My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand”
Adam makes it too damn interesting. Ottavino has a 3.72 ERA in 36.1 innings. He’s allowed too many baserunners through 15 hits and 17 walks. And if runners do get on with any sort of speed, it’s an automatic stolen base against Ottavino.
The good is opponents are only hitting .202 against him. So contact usually leads to outs. Adam has wipeout stuff when he’s right. But goddamn.
Drew Smith — All Too Well (10 Minute Version)
“They say that all’s well that ends well but I’m in a new Hell
Every time you double-cross my mind”
If the Mets have a Jake Gyllenhaal it’s Drew Smith.
He steals scarves and leaves balls up in the zone. Stuff’s electric at times. But too many missed spots lead to pain.
Still he’s thrown 32 innings, a decent workload. It would help if Drew would stop leaving fastballs up in the zone and breaking hearts though.
Bonus Tracks — Mets Villains
Marcus Stroman — We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Get Keith Hernandez’s name out your mouth.
Joe Musgrove — I Forgot That You Existed
The guy with the ears, right?
Jesse Winker — Mean
Winker’s actually cool. Come to Queens, king.
