This has not been the season Mets’ fans were hoping for, with six of their most important pieces spending significant time on the DL, plus a host of others joining them for various periods. But injuries are part of the game.
What has been so disturbing has been the lack of baseball IQ exhibited by this team. I can accept physical errors, but the mix of mental mistakes and terrible managerial moves makes this team look like the Washington Nationals or the Pittsburgh Pirates, rather than a legitimate contender for a division title.
Outfielders turn the wrong way on fly balls, turning easy plays into adventures. Luis Castillo drops an easy pop-up against the Yankees costing a game. There have been more missed cut-offs, throws to wrong bases, baserunning blunders and lost at-bats this year than any team that calls itself a contender should be allowed to make.
This paragraph from today’s Mets Notes, in The New York Post, is a good example of what has helped drive this season off the rails. It focuses on veteran catcher Brian Schneider:
Manuel said he chided catcher Brian Schneider for not helping Sheffield on Wednesday when Sheffield barely scored while standing up in the third inning.
Schneider was in the on-deck circle, and it’s customary for that player to stand near the plate and direct his incoming teammate. Schneider was nowhere to be found, prompting a postgame talk from Manuel.
And there you have it. A 10-year, 32-year-old veteran who allegedly is on the roster for his glove and baseball IQ (it’s certainly not his bat) breaks one of those rules you learn in Little League. It may seem small, but it is typical of the way this team has sleepwalked through this season.
Hank Kalet 