<Extremely Movie Trailer Voice> IN A WORLD where the names of disabled Mets are more prestigious than those still on the active roster </>, you’d expect to long ago (or at least two weeks ago) feel like injuries decimated the team’s playoff chances. Instead, entering Sunday’s slate of games, BP’s playoff odds page gave the Mets a near-two-thirds […]
Tag: Terry Collins
How Not To Bunt (A Run Expectancy Tale)
As a baseball fan, it comes naturally to second guess the decisions made by the manager. As a Mets fan dealing with Terry Collins this year … let’s just say there have been too many of these opportunities this season. Whether it was his handling of the lineup (starting Justin Ruggiano and Ty Kelly over […]
Our Picks for 2017 Mets Manager
In 1994, his first year as Houston Astros manager, Terry Collins inherited a team with 25-year-old Darryl Kile, 26-year-old Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez, Shane Reynolds, and Todd Jones, 28-year-old Craig Biggio, and 29-year-old Steve Finley and Greg Swindell. A 21-year-old Mike Hampton threw 41 innings out of the Astros’ bullpen. When Collins guided those mid-nineties […]
Looks Like Our Time Is Up, Terry Collins
There’s a healthy debate that pops up from time to time about the role of a manager. More precisely, the discussion usually centers on what sort of actual, tangible effect a manager can have on a baseball game. It’s probably something that is inherently more case by case than suitable to be filed under one […]
Dear Terry: Be Like Maddon
The Mets, coming out of the trade deadline, have a very strange roster. They’re carrying five outfielders—six if you count Kelly Johnson—yet all but Yoenis Cespedes are left-handed, and there’s no clear center fielder with Cespedes hurt. The infield looks more stable, but probably shouldn’t be, with James Loney and Matt Reynolds locked into regular […]
Terry Collins Needs a Day Off
This past week was not a particularly stellar one for Terry Collins—although, to be fair, his truly bad stretches as a manager have historically involved some kind of player uprising, so his bar might look unreasonably high. Nonetheless, it was a pretty putrid string of recent days by almost measure. To wit: On Wednesday, he […]
Terry Collins Is Afraid Of (Backup) Catchers
In Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Chicago White Sox, Terry Collins was faced with what looked like a simple choice: with a 1-0 lead, backup catcher Rene Rivera, who had the game’s lone RBI, but entered the day hitting .148/.281/.259 for the season and .210/.259/.329 for his career, came up with the bases loaded and […]
Game Recap May 17: Behind Blue Eyes
Executive Summary On the anniversary of Noah Syndergaard’s Citi Field debut, Thor bettered Max Scherzer and made two solo shots stand up. Mets 2, Nationals 0. Discussion and Analysis Noah Syndergaard’s dominating performance last night overshadowed: Max Scherzer’s next start after striking out 20 Tigers Daniel Murphy’s return to his old stomping ground Bryce Harper’s first […]
Terry Collins Rarely Has It Easy
The debate about removing Dodger pitcher Ross Stripling 7.3 innings into a no-hitter in his first career start recently raged within baseball, and my thoughts turned back to June 1, 2012. Most Mets fans probably know the date by heart–it was the night Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history. Santana, making a […]
Our Probably Irrational Beliefs About 2016
Behavioral economists theorize that human activity is strongly influenced by context, particularly how the world presents us with choices. As Mets fans, however, our animal brains are conditioned to expect the worst. It’s an evolutionary defense mechanism, protecting us against the horrific memories of 2007 and 2008, when the Mets’ comfortable division leads evaporated in the seasons’ last three weeks. […]