New York Mets beat Pittsburg Pirates – Rico Brogan Live Episode 298

New York Mets beat Pittsburg Pirates – Rico Brogan Live Episode 298

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it’s the amazing Rico bronia podcast with your host Evan Roberts yeah baby we are back at 500 and it feels like feels like magic doesn’t it the New York Mets win back-to-back games after getting their asses kicked on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates it’s odd this is not the end of the series it’s a four game series it’s a wraparound affair which the Mets are also going to do in a couple of weeks against the Marlins but I figured we would give you your traditional Sunday afternoon Sunday night Monday morning Rico uh even if this series hasn’t concluded now it may feel like the Mets have won two out of three it may feel like they’ve won this series but they do have to complete the deal on Monday afternoon we will give you a RICO bronia sometime Monday night as well recapping that game and looking ahead to the final home stand before the All-Star break we are recording this I would say about four to five hours after the finale not the finale see I already screwed up it’s such a weird thing to have a series continue on a Sunday we are recording this about four to five hours after the conclusion of Sunday afternoon’s game and so I’ve had a little bit of time to let this marinate my brain but even just four and five hours removed from that game let me say that in this moment that feels like the best freaking victory of the year and I think a part of what makes a game a great win versus oh that was a good win versus a okay win is how you would feel if you lost and if the Mets would have lost that game and it appeared like they were going to multiple times but if the Mets had lost that Sunday game to Pittsburgh think about how we would feel they would be two games under 500 that’s number one number two all the good feelings from the OMG concert would now be cited as hey this is their record since the concert which if I’m not mistaken would have been three and six also it just would have felt like a kick in the you know what to have the Mets get a big run in the eighth Inning on a clutch hit by Brandon nmo who’s been clutch all year to have and we’ll break this down in in more specifics to have the questionable maneuvering of Carlos Mendoza in going to Edwin Diaz early to have Diaz I don’t want to say implode but sort of implode a four- pitch walk a first pitch two-run single to lose that game especially when they then put the first two guys on base against the RIS Chapman in the ninth inning and then it looks like they’re just going to get mowed down I think the feelings of negativity would have been so high if they didn’t win this came and to come back and win the way they did the incredible at bats they had against Chapman in the ninth inning Diaz coming back for the bottom of the ninth and actually giving us a stressfree one two three inning I think when you combine all that crap together that’s as good of a win as you’re going to have now the beauty of this and the reason I say that is because coming up in about a week the Mets are going to have the allstar break we’re all going to have the allstar break but we are not going to have an All-Star break on Rico Bron we’re going to have a bunch of new podcasts including ranking the best wins of the season and ranking the worst losses of the season and this game on Sunday against Pittsburgh on June 7th 2024 to me from my money we’ll see if my view changes in a week when I have more time to think about it goes right up at the top of the list if you think I’m crazy or if you agree with me or if there are other games that to you are the best wins of the year or the worst losses of the year you can email us we want your opinion when we put that podcast together so you can email us to Rico gmail.com or you can leave us a voicemail 725 222 8699 now let’s get back to this game and the feeling of this game so I did what a lot of red-blooded Americans do on a Sunday afternoon I went to an outdoor party where kids were involved and it was hot and it was disgusting and so I started this game at about 3:30 in the afternoon and I had one of those bugaboos that occurs with DVR something got spoiled so as I’m beginning this game for some reason my iPad which I have to fix this has never happened before on its kind of like screen before you uh swipe up to like unlock it I guess that’s what it’s called on the unlock or the lock screen it had the score of the freaking game but the only thing I saw was a big fat dut next to the mess it’s all I saw so now I’m thinking wait a second I’m an hour and a half into this game maybe two hours as I’m starting it because I’m starting it at about 3 o’clock game started at 1:30 3:30 3:30 now I’m doing the math like if they haven’t scored a run what what is this are we losing five nothing in the eighth inning so I begin watching this game and this is a weird way to watch a baseball game because I did not see how many runs the Pirates had okay my eyes quickly diverted away I am watching this baseball game knowing we can’t give up a run because I know we don’t have any I don’t know how deep into this game we are so when Shawn manah walks the leadoff hitter to start this game I’m thinking we’re screwed I mean geez we’re done but Shawn manah I give him a lot of credit because as shaky as he was in the first thing think about how manah starts this game he walks the lead off at in L gets a double play great he walks Conor Joe and then gets Nick Gonzalez to fly out he then commits his own error when on that ground ball to first base he isn’t even late getting over there he just can’t kick first base and then makes the mental mistake of not realizing that after missing first base cab Brien Hayes had turned and all he had to do is tag him out and he would have gotten a reprieve and he’s too busy looking like confused at Marvin Hudson Sean what are you confused about if you’re the guy covering at first base and you missed first base aren’t you the one that knows you miss first base like if you felt your foot kick the base I could understand being perturbed by the call but you didn’t you would feel it if you did so sha maniah is walking the the first two of three hitters he’s committing this horrible error and mental error so I almost think it’s like two teris in one and then immediately throws a wild pitch but showed great Poise getting out of that second inning and imagine if you’re watching this game not just being a negative Met fan but thinking we cannot give up a run because I already know the Mets aren’t scoring runs for at least six or seven Innings that almost made Shawn mania’s performance even more impressive in my dumb brain got good defense from Mark Vientos and then after that second inning we saw sha man had a very good underrated season for this team really kick it in a high gear pitched incredibly well got a big strike out of Andrew McCutchen when he ran into trouble in the fifth inning had a clean one two three sixth inning which included a great diving play by Brandon emmo the Met defense besides the manah error that he made was awfully good I thought Mark Vientos had a great game at third base Jeff mcneel made a good play in left field on that base hit by Joey Bart which he quickly got to the baseball that hit the jetted stands and makes the very good throw to second base Jose glacius by the way is just chef’s kiss defensively at second base very very flashy I know that pissed off Keith Hernandez on that double play in the first inning when a glacius kind of like flips it to Lindor I didn’t even flip it to Lindor basically flips it to second base and Lindor darts in and makes the play very flashy play but he is so smooth at second base he is so smooth to the point where whether it’s mcneel in left field or mcneel in right field or mcneel not playing Jose glacius and I know I’ve said this before this is a broken record comment but I’ll say it again because I believe it for many reasons Jose glacius has to play every day a and he did remind us that late in the game with the at bat against Chapman which we’ll get to but let me continue giving flowers to Shawn Mania who gives you the six scoreless Innings throws the 89 pitches I’ll tell you why I wasn’t against Mendy taking him out spoiler alert there are going to be things that we’re going to discuss that Mendy did that I don’t like but in this case the reason I didn’t mind it is because sha maniah has already shown us he is even on his good days a five six inning pitcher now granted in his last start he win seven but for the most part he is an 85 90 pitch kind of guy and sometimes when you get six good Innings out of a guy like instead of pressing your lock by saying ah let me let me try to squeeze out a seventh inning out of him I think sometimes you say you know what golf clop let me get you out of this game you also have a bullpen that while we don’t love it is sort of refreshed refreshed to the point where nobody yet to pitch Friday because of the blowout and so you have yourself for the most part a very well-rested Bullpen and nobody pitched the day before either because they got the strong outing from K and it was only Adrien Hower so you really have your full compliment of relievers that you can use so I I was not against pulling sha manah after six Innings by the seventh inning I’m looking at the clock thinking wait a second is this where I saw the Mets at zero runs it’s funny when Francisco Alvarez said that Mike Piaza like double in the seventh inning and and I’ll tell you the way he hits line drives to right center field that’s why I say Mike Piaza I’m not trying to tell you he’s going to be better or Francisco is going to go down as the greatest hden catcher of all time he certainly has a long way to go but in terms of the power he has to WR field it does remind you at least reminds me of Mike Patza but when Alvarez hit that double now I’m playing the mental gymnastics of can they score the run here or when I got the spoil that they’re at zero runs where am I at in the game either way it worked out either way it was fine Reed Garrett let’s get to him so he comes into the seventh inning first of all I was confused on why Mendy went to Reed Garrett and I give you the reason why I was curious Reed Garrett the day before through 25 26 pitches dead Nell Nunes who I think we’d all agree is the Met’s best reliever and he got screwed in this game which we’ll get to why not go to your best reliever especially because dead Nell Nunes barely pitched yesterday or by yesterday I mean Saturday’s game if I can get a quick seventh out of Nunes maybe he comes out for the eighth inning I don’t know if I have to use Reed Garrett as well Reed Garrett had an inning in which I cursed him out a million times I’m sure everybody did he gets ahead of cab Brien Hayes 0 and2 he can’t get krien Hayes to bite on that splitter basically nobody is biting on O2 Splitters from Reed Garrett anymore early this season he’s getting swinging misses all the time now if he isn’t walking the ballpark like he did against Houston he’s getting ahead of hitters and then just not being able to put guys away and you know credit to grien Hayes he did have a 10 pitch at hat he hits that ball to right center field for a base hit and and I thought we’re screwed this is where my negativity came in and not just being because I’m a negative Met fan it’s not that it’s the moment it’s Garrett it’s not believing in him especially after the base hit he falls behind O’Neal Cruz 2 and0 and it looks like here we go again now credit to Reed Garrett also thank you to O’Neal Cruz he battles him and Strikes him out and then shockingly gets Rowdy tles to gr into that double play Reed Garrett ends up putting together a nice scoreless wless which was stunning inning in the seventh inning so kudos to read Garrett but I’m being honest my confidence level was not very high after that 10 pitch war with gabrian Hayes with that said same issue he’s not getting nearly as many swing and misses as he was getting earlier this season and he continues to have this problem of putting guys away now you go to the eighth inning the eighth inning was a very weird inning because when you get a one- out single from Jose glacius and I didn’t have a problem with him steel I got no issue with that doing it against the great former met Colin Holderman which just reminds us of Daniel VAB back and then reminds us of Billy Epler and reminds us that despite holderman’s struggles in this game can we not use KH Holderman but no we had to deal him for Daniel vogle back in one of those just horrendous trades like the Darren Ruff TR I know Darren Ruff was less productive there’s nobody in that trade as of now who’s coming back to bite Us in terms of oh my we could use him but in the Daniel vogle back trade considering the Met’s desperation for relievers and that was one of those trades I’m sorry to harp on that but I have to for a minute before we get to the rest of this game that’s one of those trades that in the moment I didn’t like you know sometimes there are trades where in the moment you like it and then you realize oh that didn’t work out and vice versa obviously vice versa where I hate a trade and it works out beautifully when they made the Holderman vogle back trade I remember saying this on the fan I don’t know were we doing yeah we were doing the RICO at the time absolutely trade deadline 2022 the heart of the early days of Rico bronia so I’ve definitely said it here and you could go through the archives but why would you I mean that’s just a waste of time you really have no life if you’re going into the archives of Rico Bron to hear my opinion initially on the Daniel vogle back trade so just trust me when I say this I didn’t mind acquiring vogle back I wasn’t anti- Daniel vogle back I was anti why did they have to trade a reliever on their roster for a July 31st Edition now we’ve talked about that possibly being something that happens this year where you’ve got two contenders making deals with each other but in 2022 as the Mets are on their way to a 100 win season you know most other teams are making deals in which they’re trading a a b-level prospect for a player that can help especially on the level of Daniel VAB back the fact that the Mets couldn’t find something in their farm system because it’s different if they had traded a reliever we had never heard of who two years later became decent I wouldn’t be bitching about it I wouldn’t even be talking about it right now and say yeah that trade didn’t work out you never know when you trade prospects this was a guy on the roster on the team helping them whatever I don’t want to talk about it anymore it’s my fault for bringing it up anyhow the Met’s rocked Colin holder I mean that’s the good news Lindor draws that walk an innocuous two out nobody on walk after a glacius gets caught stealing and then Brandon nmo Brandon nmo and I know that the commissioner doesn’t look at this that the other players who are voting for the All-Star Game don’t look at this I’m sure nobody looks at this except for us as the stupid Met fans but Brandon nmo in clutch situations however you wanted to find it you wanted to find it as late and close you wanted to find it with just runners in scoring position you want to Define it as two outs and runners in the scoring position however you want to define those numbers Brandon nmo has been an ass kicker in fact you want to hear some numbers for Brandon nemmo I’ll give it to you in case you think I’m lying two outs and runners in scoring position Brandon nmo leads the team in rbi’s with 15 hitting 44 with a 1218 batting average that’s with two outs and runners in scoring position if you just want your traditional runners in scoring position statistics Brandon nmo is hitting 347 with a 1,079 Ops and 35 RBI I don’t want to put anybody down but just compare that to let’s say Francisco Lindor 234 740 Ops or Pete Alonzo 224 734 Ops I’m not putting them down I’m merely saying Brandon nmo despite there being moments this season where he was frustrating has been an incredibly clutch player for this team all year long and the numbers back it up and he smokes that RBI double and I pop out of my chair with my brain also thinking can they score run when was I spoiled on the Zero send them send them send them that’s what I’m screaming at the TV my wife is downstairs she was concerned send them and then O’Neal Cruz can’t catch the uh throw in from the left fielder there will be no throw to the plate and the Mets take a one- nothing lead and boy did that feel good it felt good because rallies that come out of nowhere feel good it felt good because I knew the spoiler of the Mets having not scored a run is now dead and gone because I just saw the MET score a run and it felt good because this game as long as it went at 00 felt bigger and bigger and bigger this felt like one of those games and I’ve said this many times before that feel just a little bit bigger than the others there are some in the 162 that are just a little bit bigger for a variety of reasons and I think putting together a two-game winning streak on the heels of a three-game losing streak yeah that feels big and they grab that one- nothing lead now Pete Alonzo can’t come through with a big hit after JD Martinez walks but it’s one- nothing Mets and now I’m starting to think about that stat that had been popped up over the last few days that the Mets are the only team in major league baseball that hasn’t shut out an opponent and up one nothing in the eighth inning with deell Nunes coming in it’s in the back of my mind can they pull this off so let’s go through this eighth inning because quite frankly deell Nunes got screwed all right he really did he gives up the lead off hit to Jack swinsky okay he gets the gift from the gods that Michael Taylor is trying to bump three times in a row and bunts a foul ball on 0 and2 super Andrew McCutchen hits a Little Blooper for a base hit and now our boy deell Nunes is being tested big spot one nothing game two on one out the Pirates best hitter their Allstar Brian Reynolds comes to the plate and Gary Cohen was so uh what’s that word when you say so poetic there you go Gary Cohen was so poetic because I think it was right before Nunes threw the 3-2 Slaughter to Brian Reynolds he said one thing about dead nil Nunes is he doesn’t give in and he stuck with that slider it was out of the strike zone but Brian Reynolds chased it and dnell Nunes reacted animalistic excitement on that strike out Brian real soon as he gets it I’m thinking all right deep breath you got to get one more I hated hated Mendy coming to the mound to bring in Diaz and I say that and I wish I could go back in time this is why maybe one of these days we do have to do like a live game Rico like almost do a show during a game and talk about the game the entire time because I would have given you for two and a half minutes before d came back on the mound and did anything my dissertation on why I hated this now I heard what Mendy said after the game and for those that didn’t I’ll summarize it like this Mendy said he’s our guy he’s our best reliever he even threw in the line of I’ve told you if we’re gonna go where we want to go we need Edwin Diaz by the way I agree with if you’re GNA go where this team wants to go and we want them to go you’re gonna need Edwin Diaz I’m playing the Edwin Diaz bobblehead trumpet right now I agree okay I’m with you on that but in the eighth inning with two outs with a reliever that we still believe in that has shown guts that has made the bid pitch when he’s needed to I didn’t love taking him out like if this was reversed and it was Reed Garrett who just got a big strike out of Brian Reynolds everything we’ve seen from Marie Garett over the last couple of weeks I’d say fine go to your best relever or go to the guy that you believe will be your best reliever because pound-for-pound this season he has not been their best reliever but I understand reputation and I understand need for him to morph back into that guy if it was Adam ovino fine go to Edwin Diaz I am normally a big believer in use your best pitcher your best reliever in the biggest spot of a game and with two on and two out up by a run in the eighth inning I’m telling you 90% of times I’d say this is a great move I love the guts I love the balls I don’t love it here because Edwin Diaz is not fully back to being Edwin Diaz at least this is my thought for the two and a half minutes in which Diaz is coming into the game and replacing Nunes but a lot of this was about Nunes a lot of this is about him he just struck out Brian Reynolds in a huge spot he didn’t get smoked when he gave up the big hits he wasn’t giving up laser all over the place he wasn’t walking the ballpark he deserved the opportunity to get through the inning that’s really what it came down to if this is late August mid-september and we’re talking about a different edwi Diaz and maybe we’ve got more data points on dead nil Nunes and struggles I could offer you a very different opinion in this moment I thought Nunes deserve the opportunity to go get Joshua palasio and get out of this freaking inning and instead he goes to Edwin Diaz now this is before Edwin Diaz does anything I’m being perfectly honest with you about how I felt and he freaking walks Palos on four pitches four pitches all of them outside basically I think all of them were either fast balls or Slaughters that were just off the plate and then yeah Nick Gonzalez doesn’t hit the ball 110 miles hour but a first pitch two run single to put give the Pittsburgh Pirates the lead oh brutal it felt like 2019 it felt like 2019 not because Edwin Diaz was just so bad in 2019 it felt like 2019 because when I think back to that year it’s been five years now the only thing that comes to mind is how many games the Mets blew that they shouldn’t have lost I think about all the games that they left on the table and if they win half of those games they’re a wild card team maybe not the Nationals and who knows what happens this season even though it hasn’t necessarily happened recently though it kind of has when you look at five run leads and six run leads being blown so I should take that back it has had recently happened recently they’ve had way too many games that they’ve completely blown and this felt like one of them and that’s why in that moment even after Diaz gets bailed out on the great defensive play by Harrison Bader let’s not forget that because krien Hayes rips a allall to center field this game could get far worse as Edwin Diaz is walking off the mound this felt like it was going to go on that list of worst losses of the season and then you have the ninth inning and there are so many things to wax poetic about in that ninth inning let us start off with the Forgotten man himself the guy who’s at bat to start the ninth inning has caused me to go on mets.com and start pre-ordering pre-ordering ordering my Francisco Alvarez Jersey he is going to be the first guy since Jake to get a schmuck like me to drop 120 bucks or whatever it is and get that Alvarez Jersey because quite frankly I’m in love I am head over heels in love with Francisco Alvarez and there are certain things that are obvious the power to right field we talked about that earlier reminding you of Mike Piaza his ability to get the big hit the clutchness that he’s had so far this season runners in scoring position hitting 316 this year in 992 Ops you could even talk about the obvious erra difference when Francisco is catching it’s a part of why he needed to be out there for Shawn manah the splits are ridiculous when Francisco Alvarez is catching all that is nice and obvious but I think what has put me over the top that has put me madly in love with Francisco Alvarez of those at bats because when Francisco Alvarez first came up he was a hacker he was not looking to walk and I’m not suggesting he’s looking to walk now but he wasn’t giving you those Wars those at bats that Al like it’ll take a lot out of you and he has a ton of them now I mentioned going back to that Yankee series a week earlier that his at bat against Garrett Cole early was the at bat that changed the game we’ll go to the ninth in see there is something that’s been said Pete actually said it to me I don’t want to pick on Hof uh sha morash said it even though he’s probably just trolling but I’ve heard few people bring up well that’s a rolish Chapman man he does this he melts down look a ralis Chapman is not a guy I want on my team and he does melt down all that’s true if you watch this ninth inning ask yourself this did he meltdown or did the Mets melt his ass because I’d argue the New York Mets melted his ass and what I mean by that is aalis Chapman threw strike one to everybody aalis Chapman was ahead of guys a ralis Chapman was a pitch away from putting almost everybody away and whether it was Francisco Alvarez or it was Harrison Bader or it was Jose glacius you name it the Mets battled him they fought him Chapman didn’t melt down if you watched it now maybe we have a difference in terms of meltdowns like to me a meltdown is he walked Alvarez on four [ __ ] a meltdown is he couldn’t find the strike zone but that app at to start the ninth inning by Francisco Alvarez set the entire tone for that inning and I know didn’t win them the game cuz they’re certainly at patch later that won them the game but I just want to give him major major credit for the tone setting app Bat that started the ninth inning and same goes with Harrison Bader look Harrison Bader is another one of those guys that’s been clutch all year long 306 840 Ops with runners in scoring position now granted this at bat wasn’t with runners in scoring position but it set the whole inning up works the count to 3-2 base hit the center field Mark Vientos I don’t know what he was looking for on three and two Luis Terren pin [ __ ] jet for Jeff mcneel I don’t know what he was looking for on 0 and2 by the way let’s not gloss over that pin [ __ ] Jeff mcneel with Luis Terren th% spoton move I know it’s a limited amount of that bats that torren has had but he’s earned that moment against aalis Chapman Jeff mcneel has not he was over for three with two strikeouts he made a great play in left field kudos to him for that but quite frankly that to me was a no-brainer managerial move but nevertheless I give him credit for it even if I think it’s no-brainer is because sometimes things that are no-brainers don’t normally happen with that said love the move Terren couldn’t get the bat off the shoulder with two on and two out this game was now being elevated into another level of bad loss from being shut out to the eighth to the Diaz dead Nell Nunes decision to now the te’s if you get the first two guys on base and you got back-to-back guys looking at strike three and then you have Jose glacius another one of those at bats similar to Francisco Alvarez the Pirates and Chapman are a strike away numerous times and I love the way a glacius responded to Ball Four as well Soo like in terms of how pumped up he was and during that entire at bad and I guess this is a testament to Francisco Lindor and the way I feel about him and the way maybe most of us feel about him I kept saying just find a way to get on base just get me to Lindor get me to Lindor because there was a feeling at least I had and maybe you had it see this is where I’m positive I’m not just straight positive or straight negative different situations different players different emotions will elicit that get me to Francisco Lindor and Francisco Lindor and this is why today and we’ll get into the All-Star decision this is why the All-Star decision pisses off a lot of Met fans because no offense to Pete we all like Pete we all love Pete Francisco Lindor even if the runners and scoring position numbers don’t back it up even if the two outs with Runners and scoring position don’t back it up your eyes have told you how clutch Francisco Lindor has been this season and that was as clutch As It Gets a two-run single against the RIS Chapman to flip the score and give him a lead and now as soon as they do that the question is what do you do in the ninth inning now obviously the hope is you could break the game open JD Martinez didn’t but the hope is JD rips a double up the alley they got a big lead maybe the decision isn’t that difficult so I’ll be honest I didn’t want to go to Edwin Diaz in the eighth inning I turned out to be right here’s where I was wrong I did not want Edwin Diaz pitching the ninth inning for two reasons reason number one the layoff I don’t know how he’s going to respond to the fact he hasn’t thrown a ball in 25 minutes that was an incredibly long nth inning aalis Chapman threw 40 pitches and then there was a pitching change so it was a long amount of time of Edwin Diaz not pitching that’s number one and number two I didn’t trust Edwin Diaz think about about how bad that eighth inning was when he came in a four- pitch walk a two-run single and then Harrison Bader made a diving catch to save him I mean you have confidence in that I certainly didn’t so despite Adam anino not being a guy any of us love I preferred that even against the three left-hand hitters they were going to face I I can’t I couldn’t bring myself to say J deckman the only Lefty in the bullpit I I couldn’t do that I I mean Jose budo I don’t know if they would use him back-to-back days so that one’s probably not in but I probably would have gone ovino I admit that with that said I I think this may be one of the most important aspects of this win and that is the fact that Edwin Diaz pitched a one two three in it and that his response to the confidence that Carlos Mendoza had in him the reprieve that Edwin Diaz was given he was given a reprieve in this game by coming back out getting a clean ninth inning with a one-run lead and to respond the way he did that was huge hopefully that leads to Edwin Diaz not blowing any more saves that that would be the hope but I thought that was that response that he had by pitching a nice easy one two3 inning against three left-hand hitters lefties he has struggled against this season I thought was a wonderful sign and as a part of why that victory was so freaking important and it was so important because after they lost that finale to Washington on the heels of blowing a five-run lead the day before they respond on Friday Night by Luis srino having another one of those kind of mediocre performances gets off to a good start makes the big pitch when he has to and then throws freaking batting practice with tled and suwinski and Reynolds and all of a sudden the Mets have a two nothing lead not quite a 5 nothing lead and they’re down 4-2 and then things get very very worse in the seventh thing I mean who cares the bullpen imploded they lost 14 to two at that point it doesn’t matter What mattered was the Mets couldn’t hit they couldn’t take advantage of some opportunities they had early in this game and Luis srino was very very mediocre and when the Mets lose that game on Friday night 14 a two and they have a three-game losing streak and now you have the whole what’s their record since the concert how they been doing since the concert they’re two and five here we go it was very important for this team to respond Friday night on the heels of Thursday was an ugly ugly day it was ugly because the offense which got shut down a day earlier and you want to blame it on the start time you want to blame blame it on Jake Irvin putting it all together whatever you want to blame it on the facts are the facts they got shut out and they responded by scratching out two measley runs against Paul SK even though Paul SK does look very very good I think what really bothered me was they didn’t do anything after that like they had a chance to kind of knock skin around early they drove up his pitch count there was a big error by the second baseman Nick Gonzalez and they just couldn’t take advantage of it especially in that fourth inning when Pete Alonzo got that lead off double and they had a run around second nobody out they’re up one- nothing and then Francisco Alvarez gets hit by a pitch caused all of us to like die inside thinking he’s going to be hurt that had a chance to be The Knockout blow they couldn’t do it so the Mets had put together I think it was like a 22 23 inning run where they’ only scored two runs and then you pile it together with the bullpen imploding and making it an embarrassment and you know Luis teren having to come into the game just like think about how you felt Friday and a Saturday about this team probably thinking the magic scan the OMG magic’s gone the uh what’s the character Grimace is gone I’ve already forgot his name it was just kind of a I don’t know a feeling of hey maybe everything we saw for a month just meant nothing and what I thought was really important and remains important was not that the Mets had to continue to play at that clip but they had to stabilize and when you lose the last two to Houston you lose the last two to Washington the opener to Pittsburgh and you pile all that together when you really think about it may not be the end of the world you’ve lost five out of seven okay it happens but you couldn’t let it turn into something worse and that’s why I thought responding on Saturday the way they did and then obviously the win on Sunday I thought was huge as far as Saturday is concerned how about Luis teren Luise teren you know Hof you should apologize to Luis teren I think it was at the end of the last podcast we did we very very quickly briefly talked about the trade deadline and Hoff said you think we should get a better backup Catcher And I’m like well you know you always look to improve but what’s what’s wrong with Luis torren what’s wrong with Luis Toren Pete first of all what’s wrong with your impersonation that that’s that was terrible that’s how sound oh my God here’s the thing is first of all Saturday was depressing because if it wasn’t for Terren how many people we leave on base the first few Innings it was it was gross I could I could not stand watching that game yesterday because I’m so frustrated yes he came through I’m very happy about that but on the other hand too like I’m just thinking I was thinking more of if Alvarez is not going to be seeing regular time around behind the dish and and torren is going to have to catch or backups going to have to catch I want someone that’s going to be able to mimic his defensive strategy so that the piters could feel comfortable and torren doesn’t do that well right now I don’t think anybody does it I mean that’s the beauty of Francisco Alvarez I mean a lot of guys in this rotation sha manai being prime example are just different pitchers and it’s not picking on Luis Tren specifically look at Tomas Neato look at Omar narvas I mean the Mets have had other catchers on this roster and the common denominator is that none of them bring out the best in pitching the way Francisco Alvarez does what torrenz has been able to do to the point where he’s used as a pin [ __ ] I mean think about that if you’re using your backup catcher as a pin [ __ ] it says a couple of things one it says something about the guy you’re pin [ __ ] for Jeff mcneel but it also shows you a confidence in him and you’re right you said something earlier when you look at that game on Saturday they got the first two guys on base to start that game two1 and nobody out and they got nothing JD Martinez Pete Alonzo Mark ventes do nothing they get the same situation if not better in the second inning second and third and nobody out or a runner on second and one out because they actually got a leadoff hit by Terren and then for some reason he’s trying to steal second base which made no sense so they get a leadoff man on and then a runner on second one out and they do nothing and then in the third inning they load the bases up bayy falter comes out of the game because he’s hurt so you’ve got a cold reliever with the bases loaded and nobody out in a one0 count and you got Pete Alonzo and Mark Vientos coming up and Pete Strikes Out Vientos strikes out and Luis Terren bailed everybody out because that felt like maybe the worst first three Innings you’ll see but torren hits one that’s probably a a Grand Slam at a lot of other ballparks the bases clearing three-run double and that was the biggest hit of the game now as far as David Peterson was concerned David Peterson was not great he battled in and out of trouble he gave up the big home run to O’Neal Cruz I was surprised that Mendy pulled him as quickly as he did did I love it I didn’t love it I didn’t hate it I was more like wow okay huh now remember what the situation was his pitch count was about 87 88 so it was getting up there 86 was when he was pulled he gets the lead off men out in the fifth and gives him a base hit they’re up three to2 and you got caben Hayes and Conor Joon coming up so it didn’t scream like a situation where David Peterson had to come out but I think a lot of that also may have been hey I got Jose budo he’s fresh he can give me multiple Innings let me deploy this new weapon and he is a new weapon Jose budo changes this Bullpen a little bit because I’ll be curious to see how they continue to use him I like using him in the multi- inning role especially when you deal with a starting pitcher that can’t get through the fifth inning which the Mets are always going to get at least to turn through the rotation even if they get Innings out of sha manah there may be a turn through the rotation where canana only gives you four or five innings his last start was deep but you’re not getting through multiple turns where your starters are all giving you six seven Innings doesn’t happen so he deploys the budo weapon and how about that budo weapon gets the two outs in the fifth even though Peterson was a little sad gets through the sixth inning and then hands it to the formula the new formula for the New York Mets Reed Garrett dead nil Nunes and Edwin Diaz I didn’t say it’s the perfect formula but it’s the formula Jose glaus came through with a big RBI double again continuing to prove he needs to play every single day and the Mets are able to hold on because they get a good effort from their pen to their credit you know Reed Garrett has a very very very shaky seventh inning gets a little bit lucky with krien Hayes lining out with the bases loaded but he gets through it Dell Nunes gives you a nice easy eighth inning Edwin Diaz gave you a clean ninth inning that was a very very important Victory and yes I’m not going to ignore the blown call by uh tupan tay with Jack swinsky that changed the Reed Garett inning completely no question Jack swinsky should have walked it should have been a five to3 game with the bases loaded and two outs and Mar uh Nick Gonzalez coming up absolutely was a bad bad call if it went against us we’ just spent 10 minutes on it it went for us I gave you 30 seconds what do you want me to tell you it’s a bad call not gonna apologize sucks it’ll go we’ll get one against us soon don’t worry there’ll be plenty but yes it was the talk of baseball it was the talk of anybody that watched the game it was a gamebreaking kind of call doesn’t mean the Pirates definitely win doesn’t mean the Mets definitely blow it but look there still is a pitch after that Jack swinsky can still hit a grand slam after that he could line out he could walk he struck out kudos to Reed Garrett and thank you to John Tay for giving us a call because trust me I know just like you know just like we all know there will be one if not more that go against us but a very important Victory on Saturday you compile that with the win on Sunday and it sets up the finale of this road trip and if you’re rewind the tape to the beginning of this trip eight games against quote unquote peer tier teams the Washington Nationals the Pittsburgh Pirates my goal realistically was three out of four and a split and I framed it as three out of four against Washington a split against Pittsburgh well the Mets are a win away from doing the opposite the split against Washington three out of four against Pittsburgh a five 5 and3 road trip is a major success no what no matter what anybody tells you the idea of going seven- one it was never happening six- two probably not happening just win games and you know what four- four wouldn’t even be a disaster I gotta be honest with you I kind of looked at it that way too five and three or four- four and then yeah do your damage at home where the Mets have still not done enough consistent damage they are 21 and 25 at home they have a six-game home stand coming up against Washington and against Colorado you know what no more of this miss the ice guy they should go to the all-star break at 500 at home which means a five- one Homestead but on the road four and four five and three is fine now they’re four and three so I’m certainly not going to go into the finale of this series Sunday afternoon and say whatever it’s house money I don’t believe in house money that’s crap but they have avoided this road trip from being a disaster and I think there were many times over the course of this road trip where it felt like a disaster let me get to some of your emails and we will get to the Pete Alonzo Allstar bid but let me start off with negative Dan negative Dan has uh triggered me he triggered me usually I read sometimes I agree sometimes I disagree but the subject line of his email today triggered me he wrote another Sunday Salvage now before I get to the rest of his email are you effing kidding me this isn’t a Sunday Salvage a Sunday Salvage was when they would lose the first two games of every freaking series and then win on a Sunday and I’d come on the RICO and say oh G golly maybe they’ll get hot now that’s a salvage They just won back-to-back games if you want to look at this as a three- game series with an extra game on Monday they just won two out of three Salvage what are you talking about Salvage their road trip which doesn’t just start when they blow a five run lead their road trip which began Monday and has taken place for a full week now they’re four and three that’s not a salvage and look if your implication is well the Nationals and the Pirates you have to beat up on them that’s to me was never realistic Road games against teams that are what two games worse than you that’s not like they have to go seven and one so I’ll read the rest of his email but Dan I expect you to apologize I expect you to say you know what that’s not really what I meant I didn’t mean a Sunday Salvage now let’s get to the rest of his email maybe I’ll agree with it well that was an absolute disaster that was avoided thank you aalders Chapman and I guess Francisco Lindor I I got to stop here okay number one yes it would have been a disaster to lose this game thank you to aolis Chapman I I completely disagree with that and I said that earlier yes AIS Chapman if you’re a pirate fan you pissed off at him the Mets took it from him he’s ahead of guys the Mets are taking close pitches they’re fouling a million pitches off this was not like meltdown City and you think Francisco Lindor you’re not sure if you should thank Francisco Lindor he was on base four times it’s forgotten about because they didn’t score a run he had an 11 pitch at b in a sixth inning that ended with a double off the top of the fence and yes he had the two-run single that avoided the disaster so you don’t think you’re thanking Francisco Lindor thank him acknowledge Him anyhow can we stop putting DJ Stewart and Jeff mcneel in the same lineup there you go now we’re on the same page neither of them should even be playing anymore let alone on the field at the same time they bring down the entire offense when they are in there together and the stats and record show it I can’t get them off this team fast enough and then he included some factoids the Mets are 26 and 37 with DJ Stewart this season the Mets have a record of 38 and 43 with Jeff mcneel this season I agree with you I do not disagree with you on that uh Jose glacia should be out there every day I think that’s the fifth time I’ve said that and Tyrone Taylor has certainly earned the playing time for now in right field until Starling Marte comes back let’s get to the Pete Alonzo stuff uh and I’ll let Brian Smith author his opinion on the Alonzo is an All-Star debate that will go on there is no defensible argument that has Pete Alonzo in the All-Star Game Over Brandon nmo or Francisco Lindor Pete Alonzo is tied for sixth among NF first baseman in F war and tied for sixth on his own team he’s also the fourth worst player in Major League Baseball defensively by F4 Nemo is far by far the most clutch performer on the team and likely should have been the Met loan selection he included some stats the FW for each team f War means the fangraphs version of War part of my issue with war is that it’s not even one number baseball reference has their calculation fan graphs has calculations in fact I I’m going to debut the Evan War the Evan war is coming out soon that’s right War based on mate and how I decide to rate these guys anyhow the F War for Lindor is 3.3 2.8 for nmo and a 1.2 for Alonzo High leverage Ops stats which I I kind of referred to earlier but this will back me up nmo is at 1,240 Lindor 754 Alonzo 750 Alonzo seemed to suggest he would only take part in the derby if he was selected to the all-star game so Rob Manfred went for the ratings I’m not sure to Alonzo stands such as yourselves can defend the selection in good conscience yes as an Alonzo St uh let’s see how I’m GNA respond there is I’ll put it this way Brian and I appreciate those numbers and some of those numbers I I look at and I agree with some of them I my eyes disagree on but that’s that’s a story for another day there is no samean defense and I love Pete for Pete Alonzo being the lone Mets All-Star representative he’s not he shouldn’t be if we want to go through the determination of figuring out why he made it I think Brian brings up a fair point that they want the Home Run Derby to be an event Pete Alonzo is a is a character in this Home Run Derby and so yeah maybe Pete’s on this team for that reason Christian Walker a first baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks defensively offensively you name it has had a far better year than Pete Alonzo so despite first base not being the deepest position in the world once you get past Bryce Harper and Freddy Freeman and Christian Walker you know Matt Olson’s had a down year you look at the rest of the first baseman in the National League look Pete Alonzo is probably the fourth best first baseman in the National League this season just basting on this season no doubt about it Freddy Freeman Bryce Harper Christian Walker Christian Walker not making the team makes you say what because my initial reaction when I saw Pete was the Lone Allstar and I’m not gonna lie to you and I love Pete I was disappointed because I just don’t think he earned it I don’t think he was an All-Star in the first half of this season uh I saw his interview that he did after and he was asked what do you think of your first half and I I I think Pete was right about some things he’s like look there are certain things I’m happy about there’s certain things that got to be better he’s certainly been more of a doubles machine than he was a year ago he’s cut down on the swing and misses compared to a year ago his batting average is up from a year ago so yeah there are certain things that are better but we’ve talked about it Pete has not had that sustained hot streak he hasn’t had that period where he has been a guy that you cannot face Lindor has nmo has clutchness Brandon nmo Takes the Cake by far in terms of overall performance it’s Francisco Lindor and I do agree with Brian if they had announced Lindor or nmo we would have talked about it maybe would have debated it but I think we would have ended the discussion by saying look you can’t go wrong with either for my money it’s Francisco Lindor despite all of those clutch numbers that we’ve given the bouquet to Brandon M4 and he deserves it he’s been their most clutch player pound for pound but lindor’s also had more clutch moments than some of those numbers really show he’s also been a completely different player since he’s been moved to the leadoff spot we know about how good defensively he is it’s Lindor Lindor is the Met Allstar and I looked at the national league reserves to think well is there position issue here there isn’t like Pete Alonzo did all you need is one backup at each position so once Freddy Freeman is there because Harper is there you’re just picking an Allstar it could have been an outfielder it could have been a short stop could have been a first it didn’t matter so the position didn’t matter especially when you look at the guys that are on this roster so look I’m not going to get crazy about it in terms of screaming and yelling but obviously look I I love Pete I love the fact he’s a career met I like his doof I want him to be a met forever we’ll talk more about that during the offseason but I am not blinded have I really been blinded we just have disagreements about the value of players that’s all it is but I am certainly not blinded enough to sit here on the RICO and tell you he’s an Allstar he does he’s not he’s not an Allstar and that’s okay because at the end of the day may I ask a simple question who gives a rat’s ass well well that that’s my my biggest point is I don’t care it really doesn’t make a difference who makes it I just want to I just want to win I want to go to the playoffs I want to make a Deep Run try to win World Series but I will say this much I will make the case why Lindor is not the allstar for the Met just because you have to have the other side I think dude he had the worst two months of the Season he played Terri and it was April really was awful but may wasn’t the best either so you’re going to give him an All-Star nod because he had a great June I mean that’s the same thing with Pete Alonzo as well I it’s none of them really deserve to be all stars in my opinion well you know it’s it’s so funny to say that so let’s also not forget the Mets need an All-Star and I remember the first time we talked about this was like early may I made a joke I was like man who would their one All-Star be and we talked about Luis srino and Reed Garrett literally those were the two names we mentioned you may be right in terms of at the end of the day is anybody an All-Star on the New York Mets maybe not I mean they’re a 500 team which is not and fine but you are right that Lindor got off to a terrible start so did Brandon nmo Pete has also Pete’s been different in that his hot streaks have never been as hot as Nimo or Lindor but he probably was also never as I mean he did have that one cold streak where he was like over 25 so I don’t know he I guess I would still say his valleys were never as valish as some of the other players but you may be right like if we didn’t have that rule where each team needs a representative maybe the Mets are completely shut out but but also and look for the younger listeners the younger Ricos out there there was a time in which I cared about this there was a time in which I watched the All-Star Game and when the Met came on the field there was a lot of Pride and there was a lot of excitement I don’t want to minimize that to anybody who still feels that way so when I say I don’t give a rat’s ass that’s me the guy who’s about to turn 41 but I fully understand and respect that there are still a lot of people out there and then they not necessarily young they could be old too who are like no man it’s the allstar game it’s a big deal I’ve got to the point with the All-Star game we’ll talk more about this next week where I glance at it but even as the baseball geek that I am I need a break and I think a part of that is because I watched so much you know take this Sunday afternoon yeah I did a lot of stuff with my family and then they knew at some point I’m coming home and I’m watching nine innings of a Met game so I watched so much baseball over the course to the regular season that I think the allstar game and the All-Star break is a break for me and others let me get to a couple of your quick emails um we’ll do a heavy email voicemail podcast on Monday night because I do want to keep to the tradition of doing a RICO after every series ends this series obviously has not ended so we will do one on Monday night little bit about the game we’ll preview the final home stand and we’ll read a lot of your emails and and if you have any thoughts of course you can email us the RICO gmail.com and leave us a voicemail this is Jose writing Jose writes guys you claim Mendoza’s done a great job you can claim it all you want but the guy can’t manage a pen of his life dependent on it he can’t wait to pull guys out for the next guy and it has cost us constantly this season and don’t get me started on leaving starters way too long to squeeze an extra out from time to time and lastly he continues to go to guys that are not reliable like Jake thean and others love the Pod be well Jose appreciate the email I disagree with you I think that the broad generalization of Carlos Mendoza does not work if you listen carefully to all of our critiques of Carlos Mendoza because I certainly don’t blindly defend them I mean listen to this podcast I’ve ripped them for a few moves they’re not consistently the same thing and that’s a compliment to him so when you try to generalize he keeps start in too long I’ll counter with Saturday and David Peterson or even Sunday with sha manah but there are days in which sometimes it’s based on Bullpen usage sometimes it’s based on other factors where he will push a starter too long sometimes he will be more aggressive at taking a reliever out we saw this on Sunday when Nunes came out for Diaz so I disagree I don’t think there’s a good way to broadly generalize the way he handles bullpens and I I think that’s actually a compliment secondly guys you can trust all right the New York Mets have eight guys in their Bullpen Jake dakman is one of them dead Nell Nunes Adrien Hower Jose budo Edwin Diaz Reed Garrett Adam ovino who do you trust not like there’s a long list of trustworthy Bullpen arms right now it’s Edwin Diaz dead nil Nunes Reed Garrett shaky shaky shaky and Jose buo they need to add a lefty out of this Bullpen let’s see where they are standings wise when we get to July 20th July 25th but for the sake of this team for the sake of our brains as Med fans we need to see them add a bullpen armor too I’ve got a whole list of guys they should Target we’ll get to that coming up in the next couple of weeks anyhow another Rico coming up Monday night uh and then we’ll get you set for this big home stand the final home stand before the All-Star break the Mets take on the Nationals for three they take on the Rockies for three you could always hit up the Pod we will read a lot of emails on the Monday night Edition the rco gmail.com and we will get some of your voicemails so leave us voicemails we will play them I promise on Monday 725 222 8699 thank you very much for listening subscribing and downloading another edition of Rico brona we hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ric brono podcast it’s amazing isn’t it make sure you download it now to keep it on you at all times [Music] [Music]

Mets win back to back games vs the Pirates after losing three straight. They’re back to .500 with 7 games to go till the all-star break. How will they finish this up? Plus, who gets the all-star nod?

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