Is This A Lost Season For The Mets

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I have a very special guest andwe're gonna know him as Zach Kay,
who is also a Mets fan,but not an Eagles fan, so almost
the exact same, but Mets GiantsMets Eagles. So if you ever want
to change, it's k h'm hzach k. So let's start off with

(00:22):
some baseball talk, because obviously you'rewearing your Francisco Lindoor jersey. So I
got to ask with a very importantquestion. I was hoping the Mets would
go into a win streak going intothe All Star break. Obviously that's not
possible because they got one game leftand they just lost last night. But
winning six out of the last seven, is this a lost season? Can

(00:42):
he turn it around? The playerskeep thinking that when we are on a
hot streak, do not join thisteam again, because we are ready to
roll. It's just a matter when, and I'm not seeing it. What
do you think? So this kindof the big thing is right now,
you know, we hadn't won asingle series month of June. We didn't
win a single series in the monthof June. But yet coming into July

(01:03):
starting off with such a hot streak, you know, even with that game
that was a loss. You know, the bats they couldn't put it together.
But Alvarez, the guy who's beenheating up recently, was still able
to keep his back going, headinga solo home run in his seventeenth home
run in sixty games. So Imean it's the offense is there, and

(01:25):
if they're able to keep building onit, they have a chance to clench
a wildcard spot. I don't thinkyou're gonna catch the Atlanta brains. I
think that's that's a pipe dream.You're not gonna get that. But if
you can go and chase that wildcardslot, it's not out of the question.
But you really have to go ona really good run. It's gonna
have to be better than the twentynineteen run that they try to do to
kind of skim into the playoffs.Another question I would pose for you,

(01:48):
if there wasn't a kid named Elliede la Cruz, how much attention and
love would Francisco Alvarez begetting right now? Because part of that turnaround is like
that infectious energy that Alvarez has broughtinto the Mets whole entire team. It
feels like they're re energized. SoI would pair it partly with the energy

(02:12):
of the young gun and Alvarez andthen Pete Alonzo. We all thought he
was going to be out like two, three, four weeks with that risk
injury. But he's come back aftereleven days off, and I feel like
that leadership shrowing. Hey, youknow, I'm gonna take accountability. I
know I'm injured, but you guysneed a leader. We're struggling right now.

(02:34):
I gotta get back for my team. Those two mixed together, I
think has been part of the turnaroundthat you've seen in July, because if
you look at their July numbers,it's completely different than their tune numbers.
Absolutely, and you could tell.Once Alonso got hit and he went down,
he was out for a while.The team went into a deep slump.
There was no power in the lineup. They were getting guys on base,

(02:55):
but no one was getting driven home. And that's always been Alonso's thing.
Yes, it's always hitting the homeruns thing. He's always a big
power guy. But his number onestat always is RBIs. He tied Aaron
Judge and RBI's last year, andAaron Judge hit sixty two home runs.
So when he's not in the lineup, you already know your RBI numbers are
going down. Lindor's kind of takenon that role. He's now leading the

(03:15):
MLB shortstops in RBIs this year,and you know, maybe that should have
qualified him for an All Star spot. But we'll get into that. But
when it comes to Alonzo, wethought three to four weeks was the initial
projection. It was, you know, an injured wrist. We didn't exactly
know how bad the bone injury was. And then he comes back and you

(03:38):
know, his batting average obviously hasdropped down, but his leadership is still
there, the energy is back inthe team, he's still hitting home runs,
he's still putting up decent numbers,regardless of you know, whether he's
still injured or not. That remainsto be seen, and maybe that'll come
out later on if that is somethingthat's still there and he's trying to play

(03:58):
through something. We're not entirely sure. Now. One thing I saw the
other day on Facebook, and yeah, I get all my information directly from
Facebook. That's not true. Ialways stress the internet folks. Regarding Francisco
Alvarez, many thought he would struggledefensively behind the plate. That has not
been the case. So someone poseda question, has he made that much

(04:25):
of an improvement in such a shorttime period or are the Mets mismanaging understanding
the talent and evaluating the talent theyhave. Part of it, I think
is misunderstanding the work ethic. Youknow, he was someone who coming into
the spring training they were like,yeah, we care about how he does
batting average wise and home run wise, but really what we're looking at his

(04:47):
defensive skill. And he caught forMax Scherzer, he caught for Justin Verlander.
He was working with those cy youngwinners to try and build something strong.
Last year he worked with Jacob deGram trying to kind of understand more
about working with elite pitchers. Thisyear, when Nito and Navarrez we're both

(05:08):
coming back from the IL, therewas a lot of discussion. Should Alvarez
be dfade, Should he be youknow, sent down to the miners,
like, because we have to dosomething with him, because we have four
catchers on the roster, and allof the Mets pitchers anonymously came out and
said, he's a guy who he'sthe first one in the building, he's

(05:28):
the first one watching tape, He'sthe first one, you know, trying
to figure out both batters and pitchersfor the other team. He's trying to
figure out how batters are going tobe attacked. He's trying to figure out
how to attack batters on the otherteam. He's trying to work on his
pitchers their repertoires how to work thatinto his game calling. And so I
think he's made such a drastic improvement. I want to say that he has

(05:49):
been under value, but I wantto say it's been a drastic improvement just
from sheer working with major league talent, working with major league pitching staffs to
kind of improve his game, becausehe's always they've always mentioned that he's a
guy who will ask the pitchers,what can I do better for you?
How can I work with you tomake this work? And I think that

(06:10):
that's that is what truly makes someonea good defensive catcher. All right,
So last thing I'm gonna talk aboutis the other day he hit game tying
home run. He's jogging backwards aroundthe bases, flexing, and I forget
if it was the first baits orthe third base coach came out and said,
young Gun needs to calm it downa little bit, there's certain on

(06:30):
written rules to this game that heneeds to follow. He ends up getting
pegged. What is your take onthat infectious energy, borderlining being cocky compared
to all right, let's go,let me get my team amped up.
See, I'm I'm so against theunwritten rules of baseball, you know,

(06:53):
because I think it was Joey Cory. I think it was a third base
coach who came out and said,young guns gotta comment down. And I'm
very against that because we're in thenew game of baseball. It's a new
age now than it has ever been. You know, we're in an age
where bat flips are talked about online. You know, people are people are
talking about the celebrations that people aredoing, people are doing the gritty coming

(07:15):
to home play. You know,it's it's it's a new age of energy
and you know, building yourself up. And Alvarez has always been that guy.
And I'm a big proponent of ifyou're at that skill and you're at
that level of play and performing theway that he has been, talk your
game. You're gonna go up thereand you're gonna go and put on a
show. Make it a show.You want to celebrate, go for it.

(07:38):
You know, it hypes up thecrowd. People pay to go to
those games. You hype up thecrowd, you hype up your team,
makes the energy and the building explode. Do it. And if pitchers get
their feelings hurt and that's their response, that shows what kind of player they
are. How old are you twentytwo? Twenty two? So this is
what I'm going to talk about,the demographic for baseball. When I think

(08:00):
baseball, even just a couple ofyears ago, I'm thinking sixty year old
men, women, glass of whiskey, cigar, watching the game, you
know, the love of the structureof the game. Now I'm talking to
a twenty two year old who inour era, mine and yours, I'm
gonna pare me in. I'm onlythirty four. I'm still hip enough,

(08:24):
hip enough to follow TikTok and allthat other good stuff. We have the
Savannah bananas where for those of youthat don't know, it's basically I would
say the Harlem Globe trouterers of baseball, I guess is the best way to
put it. Yeah, So forme, baseball has taken a turn to
try to attract the younger generation,and for a lot of people. My

(08:50):
friend's son loves the Savannah bananas,and I feel if he started to watch
the game and watch the way that, you know, you gritty towards home
play, maybe the flexing running backwardsa tedy bit. It's a little bit
much distasteful, a little bit toomuch, but you got to understand the
spot that it was. It wasa game tying home run in the middle

(09:11):
of a wind streak, two outsin the nine, two outs in the
ninth, and it was a bigtime moment. And when it comes to
a big time moment, yeah,walk to walk, talk to talk,
whatever. It was a little distasteful, but I'm all for it, and
I think that's going to attract ayounger generation. The games are moving quicker,
there's been more runs scored with thebigger basses you've seen. One of

(09:35):
the reasons the Rays got off tosuch a hot start was they took advantage
analytics. You know, all right, you're gonna throw two pitches the first
to try to pick me off,all right, that third one, I'm
going Because you can't throw that thirdone unless you'll get me, I'm going.
You know. They that's what gotto the hot start. So I
think a lot of this has tobe all put together, geared towards the

(09:56):
younger generation. I'm here for it, oh absolutely. I will ask you
about one rule change, though,do you think it has helped or hurt
the game? So obviously we've beenall about speeding the games up, you
know, pitch clock, you knowmakes it everyone everyone moved faster. Less
downtime obviously keeps a game more energetic, and it keeps it moving a lot

(10:16):
more. Helps a lot for theTV audience as well. Specifically, instead
of the in stadium extra innings runneron second base you four against. I
hate it. I also hate it. I hate it the free run now,
I think, and this is gonnaget a little wacky, a little
kooky. If they could figure outa way to make it not seem so

(10:37):
wacky. What if we got toa certain point in extra innings where that
second, that guy on second doescome around. So let's say we get
the inning thirteen, all right,now we start to put the runner on
second because now we're like, allright, now we're starting to go on
game two. Basically, let's getthis over with. I think that would
be a better rule. It kindof sounds fluky though it sounds like,

(11:00):
you know, the Harlem Globe chartersof baseball. All right, we're just
gonna throw a man on second randomillionextra innings. So if they could find
a way to make it a littlemore fluent than me suggesting that. But
I hate the man on second.I also hate how tiki tacky they've been
with the play clock. Oh they'vebeen. It's it's everything, whether it's
you know, well, you haveto wait till you make eye contact with

(11:22):
the guy. But the guy willwait and look down at the plate to
the last possible second and then lookup at you, and they will call
it every time. Jeff McNeil.When it came to the new shift rules,
they called him with his foot overthe bag, when all the rule
was intended was so that the secondbaseman or shortstop couldn't cross second base.
No one cares if your toes overthe bag. But UM's gotta call I

(11:46):
guess. I mean, for me, I would have liked them to see
the shift rule change to how wehave the new pitchers, where you got
to come in throw a certain amountof pure pitches before we change. Same
thing with the shift, all right, we got a nine inning game you're
allowed, I don't know three shiftsper game. I like the shift because

(12:07):
it brings strategy to the game exactly. And this is my this has been
my big issue with about the rulechange of the shift. Baseball is already
a game that's ninety percent putting thehitters favor. You know, it's three
outfielders. You have all that groundto cover. You know, the pitchers
have every rule stacked against them tomake it more difficult for people to make
plays. Why why can't we havemore strategic defense? Why can't there be

(12:33):
I'm I'm actually four banning the thesake of putting in fielders in the outfield.
I don't think you should be ableto put your second baseman in right
field because you're just getting a fourthoutfielder, Like, yep, that's that.
Oh yeah. And I'm like someplayers worked with it. Brandon Nimo
was a player that, you know, when he got into those types of
spots where people are just shifting hardagainst him, he'd bunt to the third
base line and just try and geta free single out of it. Ye

(12:54):
um. And some players are ableto work off of that. Some players
are able to pull the ball tothe opposite field when that happens. But
it's I would have rather been justa limiting of players at the start of
the pitch have to have their feeton the dirt, and that's where I
would have left it. Absolutely Iagree with that one. I think at

(13:15):
the very least you have to betouching the outest part of the dirt.
You can shift three times per game, so in a big spot, you
got the lefty hitter, all right, you know we're gonna move Francisco Lindor
just behind second base. We're gonnahave McNeil back up towards the outfield grasp,
but still in the infield, youknow, something like that. That's

(13:39):
fine. Yeah, but that TikiTaky call that you talked about, where
you know he's trying to hold therunner and his understanding of the rule was
as long as I'm back to myside of the base before the pitch is
thrown, that is the legal play. And they I think the umps in
general are put in such a tightspot because these guys are more athletic,

(14:01):
they throw faster, they throw nastier. It's just a harder game to call.
And now you got all these newrules in playing, so I think
ultimately we're going to see it alittle bit better next year. This year
they got to throw it hard atyou, they got to throw the book
at you. Next year is whenyou're going to see the more leniency.

(14:22):
You got to get these players structuredinto the new game. Next year will
be lenient, absolutely, And Ithink that that's kind of the big thing
right now is people are just sounhappy with, you know, important game
moments being decided on a tiki tackycall, or you know, a runner
coming home off of a buck whichyou don't really know if it's a balk
or not, or someone that's like, oh, I didn't look up at

(14:45):
the last second, so yep,that's a free ball or a free strike
either way. And now either it'sa strikeout or a batter is now coming
home. Now obviously these chances areprobably minimal. But let's say you're down
one run, bottom of the ninth, two outs, three two counts,
bases loaded in the spring training game. You know, what are you gonna

(15:07):
do? What are you gonna do? All right, it's been twenty five
seconds, not twenty four. Igot ready, I'm in the box at
a big moment. I wasted mytime out earlier in my batting. This
is a big moment. I filedoff a couple of pitches. Are you
really gonna call a strike on thatand end the game? Right there?
So far this season they set thepresident that they are calling that strike.

(15:28):
They are saying that, yep,you have to pay attention to the pitch
clock, your fault strikeout, gameover, and it's they won't let those
big moments play out now. Itseems like at least for this year,
I think a year right in sayingthat next year they'll probably be a bit
more lenient with it. They're gonnashine of take notes from this year and
how some of those big game momentshad been decided by umpiring and umpire decisions
and probably step back from that alittle bit. But I do think that

(15:54):
that is something that is very muchgonna have to be in the discussion because
there's a lot of outcome that havebeen decided so far by simple tiki taki
calls. And speaking of tik takiecalls, what do you think about the
so far we've had two Mets pitchersthis year suspended on sticky stuff calls,
which the MLB has said is asubjective issue. They said that it's determined

(16:19):
by the umpiring crew what is toosticky and therefore, even though maxchers are
For instance, when he was suspended, washed his hands in front of the
umpire, who then went over felthis hand, said he was too sticky,
throw out of the game, noquestions asked, ten game suspension.
I think anytime you put a ruleup to opinion, it's a bad rule,

(16:41):
especially like NFL the catch rule.What is a catch? I've seen
catches that should have been catches,and I've seen catches that my eyes tell
me, hey, he caught itall the way to the ground. The
ground can't cause a fumble, butyet it can cause an incomplete pass.
That makes no to me. Butthe same thing with baseball, like I

(17:03):
forgot what it was. It wasa David Cone that did the live showing
of what rubbing alcohol, yes androsin does to a ball where you can
literally put the ball on your twofingers and hold your fingers and let go
of the ball and it will stillstick to your fingers. Yep, you
know, anytime you leave it upto opinion, I just think it's a

(17:26):
bad rule. I think you needto have certain guidelines, But how do
you gauge how sticky is too sticky? True? I know it's it's it's
such a subjective thing. And there'sbeen like Phil Cuzzy's umpiring crew has been
the one that's been ejecting more peoplethan anyone else, and they're the ones
who are just saying, oh,yeah, you know, it's it's you
know, if if we can feelit on your hands, then yeah,
we really just don't love it.And I'm like, that's the point though.

(17:48):
The point is to use sweat androsin to try and make at least
some sticky surface on your hand tobe able to get more rpm on the
ball in Major League Baseball has comeout and stated that they are looking into
working on a as to do thatwill be applied to baseballs before each game
that should give enough tack to theball to not need sticky stuff. And
then once that's the case, they'reworking with a chemist group right now to

(18:11):
try and create that, and oncethat happens, they want to outlaw also
all substances period, rosin and allof it. Yep, they want to
get rid of rosin. They wantto just say, yep, they'll be
the'll be basically a coding applied tothe ball. That'll be your your sticky
surface for the game. You know, I'm here for it. Anyway you
could change the game to make itbetter. Remember the one year they tightly

(18:34):
wound the baseball, you know,and all of a sudden, everybody's hitting
home run twenty nineteen. It wasthe juice ball era. There, everything
was a home run if you madecontact home run, contact home run,
trial and error. So I'm