If you had plans Saturday night that didn’t involve watching the Mets, well, I applaud your life choices.
Robert Stock [1] was unlucky at first and then had no one to point the finger at unless a mirror was involved, which led to him being left out on the Pittsburgh mound to take a beating. (The modern game being what it is, postgame talk was all about whether the lack of pity for Stock means Jonah Tong [2] will be summoned to apply whatever he’s learned in Triple-A.) Meanwhile, the Mets did basically nothing against Bubba Chandler [3]. The final score was 9-0 [4], the same tally applied in case of a forfeit, which would have saved Stock’s arm some wear and tear and the rest of us some time.
Luis Torrens [5] did pretty well, all things considered, in his two innings on the mound. Is that something? No. No, it is not. I did have to laugh when I saw Torrens get called off on one play: Does a position player pitching mean he too has to be treated like a mildly interesting visitor to the diamond, there more as a tourist than a full participant? It’s not like Torrens had to really bear down and concentrate on his craft.
Oh, and have a thought for poor Gabriel Arias [6]. We just saw the Cleveland utilityman when we were playing them; he botched a play against us, got booed by the crowd (which frankly seemed a little overdone) and wound up watching as catcher Austin Hedges [7] was pressed into service. Now he’s a Met, and in his first game he winds up watching as catcher Luis Torrens is pressed into service. Things have got to get better, right?
Oh, and Carson Benge [8] seems to be OK. That really is something. Not much, but something.
Five straight didn’t happen. Beards are safe [9]. Don’t say no to interesting Sunday afternoon plans. The season chugs along.