Franciso Lindor has his Mets Moment.

Just a reminder that I was a sportswriter in New York during Dwight Gooden's heyday in 1984.

I don't think it's completely crazy to put deGrom in the Hall of Fame, but Mike Lupica doesn't make the case:

"What Yankees fans saw with deGrom back in the big city on Wednesday night is what Mets fans saw across town at Citi Field when his starts were known as deGrom Day and you didn’t want to miss one of them; when they were as much a pitching event as Dwight Gooden’s starts once were at Shea Stadium when he was young, and he was the Mets ace who looked like the best pitcher in the world."

DeGrom wasn't that good vs. the Yankees last week, by the way. It wasn't must-see TV.

As for aces that energized Mets fans, let's put Matt Harvey and R.A. Dickey in the Hall of Fame.

"Jacob deGrom pitched seven innings against the Yankees and looked as if he were on his way to a win before Cody Bellinger took him out of the park in the seventh and made the game 2-2. But while he was out there, he looked like everything he ever was as a Met: Nine strikeouts, one walk, three hits. He was the same dazzling presence on the mound that he has always been when blessed with good health, something that hasn’t happened nearly often enough."

He looked like he was on his way to a win until he gave up a home run.

In that case, he really does remind me of Dwight Gooden.

"But look at what deGrom has been able to do when he has been injury-free, the laundry list of achievements that nearly give off a beam of light: Two Cy Young Awards, a season when he finished with an ERA of 1.70, the all-time leader in K/BB at 5.40. He’s twice led the world in strikeouts, led once in bWAR. He has 1,728 strikeouts (in 1,425 innings) for his career against just 320 walks. With everything that has happened to him already, his lifetime ERA stands, and proudly, at 2.51."

There's a HOF case for deGrom. His career WAR is quite high. His K:BB ratio is the best of all-time. Lupica listed deGrom's achievements and didn't even mention Rookie of the Year.

The problem is, the voters don't care too much about those particular stats.

K:BB ratio is a funny one. The Top Twenty is commingled with HOFers and mediocre pitchers.

It's a ratio. Which is the point, isn't it? The HOF is for accumulators.

 

The bigger problem is the whole "when he has been injury-free" argument. Because then you're just speculating. 

Don Gullet, Tony Conigliaro, and Mark Fidrych might have made the Hall of Fame.

 

My other gripe goes something like this.

1. Lupica is just infatuated with the Mets. He'd never write such an article about two-time CYA winner Corey Kluber (116-77, 3.44) or Hyun Jin Ryu (78-48, 3.27 ERA).

This article is for MLB, not SNY.

I'll gladly concede that deGrom had a better career than Kluber or Ryu. But did he have a better career than Tommy John? Curt Schilling?

2. While deGrom was good the other night, he allowed two runs in seven innings. Carlos Rodon pitched better the next day. So did Nathan Eovaldi. Nathan Eovaldi's return to the Bronx!

DeGrom's start was, like, the 10th-best start in the majors that day, yet Lupica was going to praise it to high heaven no matter what actually happened in the game.

"Looked like he was headed for a win until he blew it in the seventh inning."

Using that logic, Gerrit Cole won Game Five of the World Series last year.

My favorite MLB 2025 statistic.

Anthony Volpe has more strikeouts than Aaron Judge.

Volpe is batting .204 with RISP and .167 with two outs and RISP. His strikeout percentages in these situations are preposterous.

With RISP, he has struck out 20 times in 54 at-bats (37% of the time) and with two outs and RISP, he has struck out 12 times in 30 at-bats (40% of the time).

These horrible numbers more or less hold true for his career. When observed over 2 1/3 seasons and 1,400 major league at-bats, it no longer can be dismissed as small-sample-size noise.

Also, why hasn't he learned how to bunt?

Do you know how many sac bunts Volpe has in his career?

Three.

THREE!

Which brings me to my overall observation about his status on the team. His role on the team. The overall strategy. The acknowledgement and utilization of his skill set.

I suppose his defense is good enough, though I think it's overrated.

He has decent power and speed for a middle infielder, though not quite the 30/30 projections and, if I'm extending the general theme, most of his stolen bases/home runs/RBIs hits seem to be in "low leverage" situations.

But why is Volpe batting fifth? Ever?

It's like the Yankees refuse to acknowledge who he is.

"If we bat him leadoff, he'll be a good leadoff hitter."

"If we bat him fifth, he'll be a reliable RBI hitter."

I think he should bat ninth. Maybe eighth in games where Peraza, Escarra, or Vivas are playing. But even then, I'm not sure.

Volpe can steal a base, and batting ninth could conceivably allow the Yankees to steal a run on occasion with the top of the lineup coming up.

Also, I just see no reason whatsoever to maximize the occasions of Volpe batting with RISP.

Noooooo ....

"Was the tiebreaking double his True Met Moment (trademark pending)? Who knows. Maybe he doesn’t even need one. Soto may not be off to the kind of start that prompts odes in his first year as a Met, but perhaps he’s getting there."

Oh.

So you agree.

Fans don't like it when their team loses.

This did happen, but the comments section on a fan discussion board is low hanging fruit.

"He doesn't want to play here" and "bench him" are not reasonable reactions.

As for the Subway Series, I feel the same way I always feel. The Yankees have nothing to gain from these games.

The 2025 Mets are (probably) better than the 2025 Yankees.

Some analyses suggest otherwise, but in my opinion, the Mets have a better record in a better division/league.

Not much better, but the point is, if the Kings of New York was an actual thing, then the Mets already wear the crown.

It isn't an actual thing.

Mets fans root for the Mets, Yankee fans root for the Yankees, Knicks fans root for the Knicks, Nets fans root for the Nets.

If young fans or stubborn fans really buy into the Yankee Entitlement and Mets Redheaded Stepchild narratives, then they're just being played.

Baseball should be enough, but for most so-called fans, it isn't enough.

Only one team in the AL East is over .500.

The Orioles are 15-29 and 10.5 games out of first place.

What's going on with the Orioles?

I'm sure his first at-bat will raise a ruckus.

There will also be plenty of Mets fans in attendance ... it's the Subway Series!

They won't boo Soto; quite the contrary. They will be wearing #22 jerseys trying to bait Yankee fans.

I don't detect any major animus towards Soto, or sense of betrayal. It's just the typical, "You are a prominent player who plays for the other team and I know who you are. Boo!"

"Soto knows how to hit at Yankee Stadium, delivering a career-high 41 home runs last year with New York. Now facing them as the enemy, he’ll have the chance to put those skills to good use with his new team."

He sure will have the chance to do that.

Put his baseball-playing skills to good use with his new team while playing baseball against his former team.

Wait ... was I duped by a chatbot article?

 

 

If you're not plugged into the Yankee fanbase, you probably think Juan Soto is a big story.

Juan Soto's Bronx story began over a year ago. Opening Day 2024. So even the headline is wrong.

"It’s always a good show, and big fun, when the Mets and Yankees play for the city championship in another Subway Series -- the first of which is at Yankee Stadium this weekend."

Is it, though?

"It will be even a better show than usual this time because both teams are in first place."

"Usually," the Yankees and Mets are both good teams. The 2025 Subway Series is more less the exact same thing as it always is.

A long time ago, it was interesting. "Dave Mlicki" and all that. 

I remember Mariano Rivera walked with the bases loaded one time. Here you go. How ridiculous was that?

A Korean pitcher who insisted being called Mr. Koo got a couple of hits off Randy Johnson. 

Shawn Estes saying he was going to plunk Clemens, but he didn't, but he won the game ... and he hit a home run off Clemens. Crazy! It was "the one where Estes hit a home run off Clemens." The Mets took over the city that day in 2002, they surely did, but now they'll have to try again to take it over this weekend.

I totally remember a garbage umpire call setting up Matt Franco for a garbage game-winning hit off Mariano Rivera. They don't show the whole at-bat, so you can't see the umpire blow the two-strike call which would have ended the game. The Mets won! They won! Put it in the books!

There is no need to hype the 2025 Subway Series. You're forcing it. It is as tired as the fifth ining YMCA dance.

"When 'Friends' was one of the biggest hits on network television, the episode titles always began this way: 'The one where ...' For the Mets and Yankees this weekend, the episode title could be this: 'The One Where Juan Soto Comes back to the Stadium as a Met.' "

I mean ... it's self-parody. It's a "Friends" reference.

I was right about the Soto signing the whole time. It made waves when it happened and now no one cares. Soto played one season for the Yankees and had a great season and an unforgettable moment in the playoffs. He then signed with another team. He's more Chris Chambliss than Reggie Jackson in Yankee lore.

"It just isn’t likely to be a lot of laughs for Soto when he starts hearing it from his old friends in the Bronx".

The anger directed towards Soto will be insincere and muted.

It's going to be from people wearing Jeter jerseys who couldn't name one player in the Yankees' starting rotation other than Cole.

I hope they enjoy the game. Boo Soto all you want if you really want to. Leave after Judge's third at-bat to beat traffic. I'm not judging. You're living your best life. In fact, I admire fans who can't name one player in the Yankees' starting rotation. It is I who needs to get a life.

"The games this weekend are going to be saltier than usual -- and that is saying plenty -- because of the flashpoint that Soto has become for Yankees fans since he went with the other guys."

This is made up.

I'm always put in the position of diminishing the Subway Series because it's not that big of a deal. It's two good teams playing each other. Anyone paying attention to the recent series vs. the first-place Mariners saw an intense three-game series between two teams who have dreams of making it to the World Series.

If the Mets fans crave bragging rights, they already have bragging rights. They keep beating the Yankees head to head in the regular season and no one cares.

 

 

 

 

 

Clutch fielding is a thing.

I am just repeating myself.

It seems as if I'm the only one who is noticing this.

For one thing, I don't see how Volpe won a gold glove and I don't really buy the defensive WAR stats which had him as the highest defensive WAR in MLB the last time I checked.

More importantly, he makes defensive misplays at the worst times.

For this particular sequence, I don't really think it made a difference. The leadoff single was a single. The run-scoring fielder's choice was probably not going to be a GIDP anyway.

Paired with his atrocious offensive clutch stats and I have to conclude this guy is a legit choker.