2021 MLB Season / 21-22 Offseason Thread

[The Buscher]

I like that most team Twitter accounts have over a decade of history to them.  So tweets like this can be dug out on anniversaries.

 

[MalaCloudy Black]

The way Mets fans talk about the Mets you'd think they were constantly in dead fucking last, all the time, forever.

[The Buscher]

To be fair there is a lot of infighting within the Mets fanbase and it’s mostly generational.  Older fans trend optimistic/ya gotta believe, etc because they had the ‘69 Miracle Mets or even the ‘86 Mets.  They’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Fans around my age have known mostly futility and embarrassment.  Any time the team looked like a long term contender it falls apart within two years (only two consecutive playoff appearances in 60 years of history).  This group will probably always be waiting for the other shoe to drop until the moment the team wins a title.

But you end up with a bunch of rah rah optimists arguing with people who are conditioned to always expect the worst.

There’s a Mets blog I post in during games and it’s an interesting mix.  You have younger fans melting down at an expected collapse and if they hang on to win the older fans are like “fuck you! You have no right to celebrate if you didn’t believe in them!” 

[GhostMachine]

The Mets are the new Cubs, in some ways. The big difference is that most Cubs fans were always optimistic. 

 

 

[The Buscher]

Believe it or not I was a super optimistic Mets fan up until I was around 20/21.  Even the godawful teams they had in 2003/04 I could still dream of brighter days and when they brought Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph in to do the whole "new Mets" thing with Pedro and Beltran I was all in.  The 2005 team didn't live up to the hype but they were still decent and finished with a winning record.  2006 was the best day to day Mets team I'd ever seen and as gutting as that Game 7 loss in the NLCS was I didn't dwell on it because they had built a core that should've won two or three more division titles.

2007-09 was just a roller coaster of emotions.  2007 they don't feel as dominant as 2006 but they still amassed a 7 game lead with 17 to play, what could go wrong? (Lol).  But by the next season they had Johan and everyone was back to feeling it, only for the team to stumble and fire Willie midseason, and go from that low point to being 3 games up in a playoff race in the final week and another collapse.  Then 2009 they open a beautiful new ballpark, had a roster hotly tipped to contend for a title, only to see basically every key player hit the DL at one point or another and finish 70-92.

After all that I can say pretty safely I've defaulted to negativity and I think most fans my age are the same way.  Yes we are obviously thrilled when the team plays well but we can never be anything more than cautiously optimistic that it'll sustain.  The beat writers openly laugh at the fanbase for this, coining the phrase "Panic City".  I remember during September 2015 when the Mets were getting smacked by the Marlins or something, one of the writers said something like "Judging by the reaction of Mets Twitter, the Nats are pulling away with the division despite being six games back."

[gunnar hendershow]

Think the Matt Harvey comeback tour is just about at its end. They might have him eat some more starts just because the guys in the minors aren't totally ready yet and Means got hurt but, yeah, this is it.

[The Buscher]

Yeah, I’d say that trying to be a reliever is his only shot at prolonging his big league career but he can’t even maintain velocity for a full inning.  The stat splits between 2012-15 and 2016-21 aren’t even in the same ballpark.  The thoracic outlet syndrome he got hit with in 2016 just completely wrecked him and he’s never been able to recover.

[The Buscher]

Rockies RHP prospect Riley Pint retires at only 23 years old.  Was the #4 pick in the 2016 draft.

MLB Draft picks are nearly always a crapshoot even in the early rounds, so it's kinda hard to call prospects busts especially ones drafted out of high school, but that stands out as a really bad recent one.

[GhostMachine]

He reportedly retired due to injuries that piled up.

At 23 and him being a pitcher, the smartass in me wants to ask `Geez, how many people did he injure?!' 

[gunnar hendershow]

That 2016 Draft is an all-time clunker. Moniak sucks. Nick Senzel is just a guy. Corey Ray just made it to the big leagues at 26. Ian Anderson at least looks promising.

[gunnar hendershow]

Is this good?

[The Buscher]

Jake 6 dominant innings, no runs, no walks, 1 hit, 10 strikeouts.  Drove in 2 runs at the plate.  Through 10 starts he has a 0.56 ERA and is hitting .400 at the plate.  It’s the lowest ERA for 10 starts in league history.

But of course three batters after he exits its already 3-2 Padres because as said, every pitcher might as well be AAA next to this guy.

[The Buscher]

Yay the Mets bullpen managed to hang on!

Unfortunately it also came out that Jake left today’s game with right flexor tendinitis.  He didn’t sound too concerned that he’s miss any time postgame but you never know.

Not that individual accolades are of concern right now but between missing a couple of starts earlier this year and being on an innings cap since he returned, another IL stint might kill the MVP hopes.  Hard enough to convince voters that pitchers should be MVP eligible let alone not having a full workload.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Craig Kimbrel has a 0.69 ERA. 

[Lowerdeck]

The Red Sox been slumping a good amount.  Outside of that sweet of the Yankees in NY, they lost 5 of 7 to Houston and then gave up a million HR to Toronto this weekend.

 

I went to the game yesterday, which was nice except for the losing.  Better then than today, since they lost 18-4.

[MalaCloudy Black]

MLB says they're gonna crack down on foreign substances used by pitchers and LAD and the Red Sox get blown out shortly afterward.

🤔

[Lowerdeck]

I hope that the Sox pitchers are not using the foreign substances beyond acceptable limits.

Boston's pitching was wretched last year, so it doesn't surprise me they're giving up tons of runs to power lineups like Toronto and Houston.  Now if they give up 10 runs a game to the Royals, that's cause for concern.

[The Buscher]

Diamondbacks started 15-13 and have gone 5-34 since.

[gunnar hendershow]

6 minutes ago, Buschie Kay said:

Diamondbacks started 15-13 and have gone 5-34 since.

They're gonna steal Elijah Green away from the Orioles.

[The Buscher]

Tyler Glasnow has a partially torn UCL.  For now they will rehab the injury in an attempt to have him avoid TJS and return later this year.  It's doable - Seth Lugo has pitched with a partially torn UCL for the last four years.  But there's always going to be anxiety there on if it'll fully tear.

At this point most guys take 16 months to recover from TJS, meaning he'd be out for 2022 as well.  And he's only under control through 2023, and given the Rays never re-sign anybody they obviously don't want to do that.