2020 Mets Spring Training - The Mets Way

[Claymation]

[Halfmiler2]

Sounds like the Mets may use the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium for training in addition to Citi Field.

[Claymation]

[Halfmiler2]

Rusty was one of my favorites. Some of you may have only seen him as a deluxe pinch hitter in his 2nd Mets stint in the 1980s. But he was a great all-star level hitter with gap power in the 1970s. Sort of like Keith but despite a weaker Mets lineup not offering much backup.

He was one of a handful of Mets that when I had a game on as background, I‘d stop whatever I was doing to watch him hit. He was that good a hitter.

After his playing days, he also owned two restaurants in Manhattan that he actually managed himself. One was on 47th Street around the corner from my office which was great for a business lunch and we would sometimes see him there. On the one wall, was a chart showing details of each of his almost 300 MLB homers.

[Sick Of It All]

https://twitter.com/michaelgbaron/st...314924042?s=21

[Sick Of It All]

Mets signed Hunter Strickland and added him to their player pool, they have 46 players now, not the 60 they can max out at.

[Sick Of It All]

https://twitter.com/anthonydicomo/st...195779585?s=21

[The Futurist]

In any other year I'd be very excited about the makeup of this team. I love the positional depth and the offensive potential of the batting order. I love the personalities and chemistry. I'm also bullish on the pen, especially Betances, Familia and Diaz. If we had a healthy Syndergaard we'd be close to a favorite in a short season and even more in the post season. His and Wheeler's absence, and the fact that it's tough to count on our 3-5 (age/injury and consistency issues), will be the biggest obstacle for us to overcome.

[mookiewilson]

In any other year I'd be very excited about the makeup of this team. I love the positional depth and the offensive potential of the batting order. I love the personalities and chemistry. I'm also bullish on the pen, especially Betances, Familia and Diaz. If we had a healthy Syndergaard we'd be close to a favorite in a short season and even more in the post season. His and Wheeler's absence, and the fact that it's tough to count on our 3-5 (age/injury and consistency issues), will be the biggest obstacle for us to overcome.

Even if the Mets still had Wheeler and Syndergaard never got hurt, any team that starts out hot is going to make it tough to beat in just 60 games. Over 162 game period, you can overcome that hot team. And the NL East is strong enough already.

[The Futurist]

Even if the Mets still had Wheeler and Syndergaard never got hurt, any team that starts out hot is going to make it tough to beat in just 60 games. Over 162 game period, you can overcome that hot team. And the NL East is strong enough already.

Yes. This is true for all teams. A hot start will be important. And a bad one can be devastating.

What's interesting is that historically late starters have blamed the spring weather, especially in the northeast, or needing to catch up to the pitchers, etc. We have no data for this sort of late start. It's already hot. People have already trained. Then stopped. Then trained again. Some have covertly gotten in reps and sessions while others have been more hunkered down. It will be interesting...

[mookiewilson]

Rusty was one of my favorites. Some of you may have only seen him as a deluxe pinch hitter in his 2nd Mets stint in the 1980s. But he was a great all-star level hitter with gap power in the 1970s. Sort of like Keith but despite a weaker Mets lineup not offering much backup.

He was one of a handful of Mets that when I had a game on as background, I‘d stop whatever I was doing to watch him hit. He was that good a hitter.

After his playing days, he also owned two restaurants in Manhattan that he actually managed himself. One was on 47th Street around the corner from my office which was great for a business lunch and we would sometimes see him there. On the one wall, was a chart showing details of each of his almost 300 MLB homers.

Do you recall him ever complaining about being moved to a pinch hitter? I don't and I think he took it in stride, and probably enjoyed it too since he was so good at it. With some teams, you want their pinch hittert to come off the bench because he's an easy out. But Rusty wasn't.

[Larry M]

Yes. This is true for all teams. A hot start will be important. And a bad one can be devastating.

What's interesting is that historically late starters have blamed the spring weather, especially in the northeast, or needing to catch up to the pitchers, etc. We have no data for this sort of late start. It's already hot. People have already trained. Then stopped. Then trained again. Some have covertly gotten in reps and sessions while others have been more hunkered down. It will be interesting...

Nothing would surprise me this year
Between players opting out, potentially getting sick and missing significant time, normal injuries, hot starts, cold starts, figuring out new players (imagine a rookie getting hot where the league doesn’t have time to figure him out), etc, this could be a crazy season and anything can happen

[The Futurist]

Nothing would surprise me this year
Between players opting out, potentially getting sick and missing significant time, normal injuries, hot starts, cold starts, figuring out new players (imagine a rookie getting hot where the league doesn’t have time to figure him out), etc, this could be a crazy season and anything can happen

It was worse in WWII but they played the games and they counted. We may be looking at numbers for Trout and deGrom, in a HOF context, the way we look at Williams' (two wars) Mays' and many others who have big gaps on the back of their baseball cards because of service.

[Halfmiler2]

Or the players who lost out on games in 1981 and 1994-95.

[Sick Of It All]

https://twitter.com/anthonydicomo/st...547205121?s=21