This season, and especially the past four-and-a-half months, has been about fun, character, and the never-ending feel-good atmosphere that invaded the Mets' clubhouse around June 1 and never let go. There were a lot of upsets in the standings and in a lot of games that allowed us to move up in the standings.
Fun is a big part of baseball. Fun has fun.
But this is no longer about positive vibes and cheerful mood. There's only so much a purple fast food mascot can do, especially when OMG turns to SMH this quickly. The Mets are now halfway through the abyss, and after an 8-0 victory in Game 3, they head into a must-win adventure in Game 4 of the NLCS on Thursday night at Citi Field.
Carlos Mendoza will no doubt want to pass on the famous words of former Texas Longhorns coach Darrell Royal. He famously said, “Dance with the person who raised you.'' In fact, less than 20 minutes after this massacre ended, he literally rephrased it.
“Our guys there got us this far,” he said.
And look, one of the reasons Mendoza had such a great rookie year as a manager is that he's always been loyal. The players know he's on their side. He doesn't panic and change his lineup. But this is not a panic. The Mets can no longer afford to follow the beliefs of Royal and Mendoza. Too much is at stake.
He said with absolute certainty that the lineup for Game 4 would be different from the lineup used for Game 3, but that won't happen. Francisco Alvarez is an obvious candidate for rest. His two errors led to the first two unearned runs and cast a pall over the crowd of 43,883 who desperately wanted to be the Mets' wingman on Wednesday.
Even in the bottom of the inning, with one out and the bases loaded, all he had to do was get a strikeout and a sacrifice fly to get the stadium excited again. He has left 10 runners on in the last two games. He's young and he fights. His backup, Luis Torrence, is no Padge Rodriguez and has only had six hits since August 1st. But sometimes you need a break.
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“He's a good hitter, a really good player,” Mendoza said of Alvarez. “He will come back.”
So, are you thinking of using Torrens?
“Albee will play tomorrow,'' he said. That's it.
And the DH/second base pairing of J.D. Martinez/Jose Iglesias is also likely to return in Game 4, although it certainly appears to be reaching a point of diminishing returns. Like Alvarez, the Mets don't exactly have Luis Arraez and Yordan Alvarez ready. Please replace them. However, Jeff McNeil (assuming he's well enough to play defense) and Jesse Winker should be viable replacements.
Except Mendoza has already shut it down.
“What we are facing is [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto,” Mendoza said. “Look at his reverse splits against right-handed pitchers.” Indeed, that's a valid point. There's no obvious benefit to weighing him against left-handed lineups.
This may sound like a slave to analysis, but we've seen Mendoza's work all year long. Not at all, not at all. If he shows any weakness here, it's that trust prevails. Martinez and Iglesias were the foundation of the Mets' turnaround.
Martinez's professionalism and leadership helped pull them back from a devastating spring loss. Iglesias' energy was such that within minutes of arriving in June he opened the windows and let in some fresh air. And he managed to keep it up for the rest of the year.
However, Martinez has hit .109 since September 1st and has zero extra-base hits in the postseason. Iglesias has started to regress to average in this series, getting swung around on the bases, defensively could have played Alvarez's wide throw in the second inning but didn't, and his mistakes opened the door for the Dodgers. was about to open. Rally in the second race.
No one is saying Alvarez, Martinez, and Iglesias should be tossed aside and locked up in a mothballs. However, the Mets were outscored 17-0 with two losses in the series, neither of which were essential to winning Game 2. I feel like a shake-up could be beneficial, even if it's just for one game.
Mr. Mendoza disagrees. And his vote is what matters.
“Someone will come forward and give us a big hit,” Mendoza insisted, but it depends entirely on the brand. He may not use the rosy, Pollyanish language that Aaron Boone likes to use, but his year with Mendy has shown the manager to be just as committed to his men as Boone or anyone else. He made it clear that he was going to fight.
That's part of the reason the Mets are here. This is an excellent quality for a captain. But so is this. It's about knowing when to change the chessboard. Joe Torre famously benched Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neal and Wade Boggs during the 1996 World Series. We remember it because it worked.
And if Mendoza's dedication to his men bears fruit, we will remember that too.
But it has to work.
