Everyone needs reasons to cheer. Especially on the internet cause it gets dark.
Mets Twitter has a speakeasy just off the ninth circle of Dante’s Hell. There’s no ice cream there. Only loud misogyny, gross intolerance, and casual racism.
Basically there’s a lot of assholery and performative crybabies. And it gets promoted.
But it’s not unique. Every fanbase has these idiots but they seem to scream louder in New York City. Yankees fans actually booed Aaron Judge in the playoffs last year.
The Mets intolerables have set their sights on Eduardo Escobar this season. Apparently he is the reason the Mets haven’t won a world series since 1986. What an asshole.
The angry want Brett Baty at third. He will save us. Praise him. Amen.
I have nothing against Baty and everything for him. He’s a Met. But the powers that be believe he’s better served in Triple-A to start the season. Whether it’s service time manipulation or actual player evaluation, Baty isn’t here yet.
Escobar is and he’s off to a rough start. His average is currently .111 with a homer and 4 RBIs. Not ideal.
But it can also be a positive. Escobar is a career .253 hitter so there’s nowhere to go but up. Better to get the big slump out of the way early.
Also he has 4 RBIs in his last 5 games. I took another look at his at-bats from those games. It looks like he’s seeing the fastball well. While he’s not on time with it yet, he’s not swinging at it out of the zone.
Anything that bends has been a problem. Escobar is chasing breaking balls out of the zone. And unless you’re a good bad-ball hitter, that leads to outs.
So pitch recognition is key. If it’s spinning, he might want to stay the hell away and don’t swing. Easy to say from my couch. Harder in the box.
To be fair this has been a problem for the whole lineup this season. Seems like all Mets are swinging over benders outside the zone. And no one, save Marte and occasionally Alonso, is on time with the fastball.
Sure it isn’t great but this isn’t an insurmountable problem. It’s a team of professional hitters that will figure it out. Let’s just hope the pitching can give us a chance each game. So far, except for Carrasco, they have. And Cookie will get it right too.
Eduardo Escobar has been an everyday player since 2014. He has, at the time of this post, 1,124 hits in his major league career. He deserves respect. Not lame nicknames, not aggression, and absolutely not hate.
He volunteers his time to charity without fanfare. He’s an example to the young players and popular with everyone. Ever notice that before each game, he and Alonso put their arms around each other? It’s unclear what is said but it looks like they’re thanking God for the opportunity to play today. This is the guy you cheer.
While struggling last June Escobar said, “I understand the frustrations of the fans… One day, I’m going to give them the reasons to cheer for me.”
I believe in Eduardo Escobar. And I cheer him for hitting .111 so far. He’s a pro and he’ll get it right. And I want him on the field after the final out this season. Hopefully he’s part of the dogpile after we win the whole fucking thing.
Notes from the Last 6 Games
Pete Alonso is the only guy on the team with more than 1 home run. That’s gotta change. I’m looking at you, Daniel Vogelbach.
Nobody is hitting over .300. That will change.
David Robertson looks nasty. If he stays healthy we’ll continue to protect leads in the 9th.
John Curtiss is shoving it right now. He’s making the loss of Seth Lugo much easier.
Can’t overstate how important David Peterson, Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill have been so far. Verlander should be back soon too.
We’re still 6-6 despite how we’ve played. A trip to the west coast this week could be what we need to come together.
#LGM #LFGM
4/12/23
