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ABOUT US
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.
Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here.
Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here.
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Drew Smith is Not an Option
by Greg Prince on 9 September 2023 6:16 pm All games have their highlights, even the Mets’ Saturday afternoon 8-4 loss to the Twins in Minneapolis — if you watched or listened to it, choose YOUR favorite highlight!
• David Peterson delivered the very definition of a quality start!
• Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and DJ Stewart each homered!
• The 2023 season is one game closer to over!
Got your favorite? Great! Enjoy thinking about it for the next 30 to 60 seconds and, if you like, check out the Mets and Twins again on Sunday!
Thanks for stopping by!
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How about Lindor with the airborne throw?
Other than that it was basically the same game as Friday’s.
I have some friends/relatives that do not follow Baseball but know I am Mets fan for 60 years.
Sometimes they ask me how Mets are doing this season, I say 2 words decribe the Mets season–
“The Titanic”.
You’re right, Greg. Drew Smith is not an option. Neither is Jeff Brigham, Sean Reid-Foley, Trevor Gott, Adam Ottavino, or anybody else in that horrible bullpen. Every Mets relief pitcher is unwatchable.
After a brief flash of optimism that lasted about 4 days, it now looks like we are mired in another string of losses punctuated by the occasional victory. I do predict a win tomorrow, seems like they have been specializing in sweep-avoidance this year.
Considering the ‘what if’ had the Mets stood pat at the trade deadline and every other facet of the team held up, including Robertson not burning out, the middle relief likely would have lost the wildcard race anyway because it would have been more or less the same pitchers, unless we believe Peterson and/or Megill in the bullpen would have transformed overnight into vintage Seth Lugo. Even if that happened, the middle relief likely would have blown enough games to lose the race. And it would have been agonizing.
In game, I still root for the Mets to win. I’m paying attention to the baby Mets, the starting pitchers mindful of next year, and DJ Stewart as a possible late bloomer who has a career renaissance with the Mets. But if the team loses, I root for the teams around the Mets in the MLB standings to win for a better chance at that top-6 protected pick. Finishing last place in the division would suck, so bottom 6 MLB while 4th in the division is the best I’m hoping for at this point.
Easily most fun and encouraging–following nightly the exploits of Jett Williams (sudden power sure and 100 walks at age 19), and Acuna (also showing more power and stealing a million bases), Clifford (massive power), Parada (also more power) and much more, including a young pitcher with 13 straight inning of no-hit ball…
On the other hand: Baty, Alvarez and Vientos all still under .220. Prediction: Parada will be starting over Alvarez in two years.
And I will not again: love the Stewart saga but he will be a free agent so the better he does the more likely he will sign with one of our competitors next year….
Baty has underwhelmed. It’s too early to write him off yet, but the mediocre defense and weak bat has him looking like a AAAA player.
Despite that his bat has cooled off, Alvarez has shown enough flashes this season to anticipate, if not expect, a leap next year. Makings of good defense and he has power.
I still don’t have a good idea of Vientos. Bad glove. Not much contact. Strikes out a lot. Decent power.
Of course, by the time the good-looking A and AA prospects are ready, we’ll have a better idea of who’s a major leaguer and who isn’t among the prospects on the Mets now.
David Peterson delivered the very definition of a quality start!
Both David Peterson and Tylor Megill continue to pitch well late this season. I am hopeful that they continue to improve and are in the rotation in 2024.
i am out on both Baty and Vientos. See if they can be packaged in a trade for a middle of the rotation pitcher.