Speaker 1: The fact that the hitting seems to be coming around
Speaker 1: is highly encouraging because this is a lineup that should
Speaker 1: score a ton of runts.
Speaker 2: The New York Mets are playing ball right now. Let's
Speaker 2: talk about him with Tim Healey. You can follow him
Speaker 2: at Tim b Heey on Twitter, Mets beat writer for
Speaker 2: News Day. Tim good to see it. How is the weekend?
Speaker 2: In multiple ways? The performance from the Mets sweeping the
Speaker 2: Cardinals and also the turnout from fans seems to be
Speaker 2: getting a lot of attention as well.
Speaker 3: What's up man, it's hey man, how are you?
Speaker 1: Both of those were a resounding success. Four and zero
Speaker 1: against the Cardinals, nice little four game sweep, well rounded pitching, hitting, fielding,
Speaker 1: They did a little bit of everything, especially yesterday, and
Speaker 1: then the turnout was great. As Francisco Lindor put it
Speaker 1: yesterday after the game, quote, it wasn't like this last year.
Speaker 1: So funny what effect winning on fans? It's a tale
Speaker 1: as old as time. You can mix in all the
Speaker 1: mascot races and good concession stands and all that stuff,
Speaker 1: but if you win, people will come, and if you
Speaker 1: don't win, people aren't going to be as interested. So
Speaker 1: it's been a big success for the Mets so far.
Speaker 1: They had a sellout, I believe Saturday night, but really
Speaker 1: all four games, really strong crowds, lively, crowds, energetic. They
Speaker 1: gave Wan Soto a standing ovation before one of his
Speaker 1: at bats amid his you know, so called struggles, which
Speaker 1: is probably too strong of a word. But it was
Speaker 1: a big weekend and a good weekend for the Mets.
Speaker 1: They've been beating up on bad teams, which is what
Speaker 1: they're supposed to do.
Speaker 4: Tim what was the most specific? But by the way,
Speaker 4: mon Soto doesn't need a standing ovation?
Speaker 5: I mean, let's.
Speaker 3: I thought's more.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna ask you about that that quote you had
Speaker 4: later about nine and we are not going to go
Speaker 4: there yet. But what's one most encouraging thing for the
Speaker 4: Mets fans? Was it the pitching this weekend, because they
Speaker 4: pitched really well, especially Senga, Or was it the offense
Speaker 4: came to life?
Speaker 1: I think it was the offense because the pitching has
Speaker 1: been there through the first three three and a half weeks.
Speaker 1: They have the best staff in baseball rotation and bullpen,
Speaker 1: so the fact that the hitting seems to be coming
Speaker 1: around is highly encouraging. Because this is a lineup that
Speaker 1: should score a ton of runs, and so.
Speaker 3: Far they haven't.
Speaker 1: So the fact that yesterday, for example, each of the
Speaker 1: top four guys had an RBI at least one RBI Lindor, Soto, Alonzo, Nimo.
Speaker 1: If that top half of the lineup comes alive the
Speaker 1: way they did the last couple of days, then the
Speaker 1: Mets really are going to be in cruise control.
Speaker 5: All right. So you talk about this pitching staff, is
Speaker 5: this enough of a sample size? Now a year of
Speaker 5: creating value in the pitchers that they brought over last
Speaker 5: year with Manaya and Sevarino and now this year including me.
Speaker 5: I said, I don't know. This pitching staff's not there
Speaker 5: like they're twenty two games you two, I've had a
Speaker 5: couple year articles you'd said about it. Is this enough
Speaker 5: of a sample size to say Mets fans are like, Hey,
Speaker 5: don't worry about we won't go out. We won't be
Speaker 5: mad that we don't go after Corbyn Burns, we won't
Speaker 5: be mad that we didn't get Max Freed, we won't
Speaker 5: be mad about what they're building in this like how
Speaker 5: to pitch for the Mets.
Speaker 1: I think they've done plenty to earn the benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt at this point, given what they did last
Speaker 1: year with Severarino and Manaya, given what they've done so
Speaker 1: far this year with Canning and Clay Holmes, not to
Speaker 1: mention Tyler McGill, who's taking a big step forward, code
Speaker 1: is Sanga, who's been healthy and excellent. And then the bullpen,
Speaker 1: which is a classic David Stern's bullpen in that you
Speaker 1: might not know a lot of their names, but they're
Speaker 1: nasty and collectively they're going to shut you down. It's
Speaker 1: been super impressive, barely a weak link among the eight
Speaker 1: man pen.
Speaker 3: So is it a big enough sample size? I'd say yeah.
Speaker 1: They've deserved the benefit of the doubt at this point
Speaker 1: because they've shown they're able to take pictures who in
Speaker 1: the past we're not healthy and or good and make
Speaker 1: them both of those things, which is pretty incredible. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's going to stay at this level for
Speaker 1: a long stretch, but if they get good performances for
Speaker 1: a couple of months from a couple of these guys,
Speaker 1: and then Manaia comes back, and then Frankie Mantas comes
Speaker 1: back from their injuries, then the Mets are gonna be
Speaker 1: in good shape, not to mention the arms they have
Speaker 1: coming up on the farm, Brandon sprote Blade, Tidwell, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of there's a lot to like for the
Speaker 1: Mets on the pitching front.
Speaker 2: All right, I'm gonna get to this since it's taken
Speaker 2: over in New York, since a lot of the radio
Speaker 2: hosts don't actually watch ball or no ball and whatever.
Speaker 2: You don't have to. You can be a casual fan too.
Speaker 2: So how's Mon Soto doing?
Speaker 3: Juan Soto is doing fine? Do you want me to
Speaker 3: elaborate on that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, but he doesn't have Aaron Judgeting behind
Speaker 4: him anymore. He only has Pete a Lonzo has a
Speaker 4: eleven ops right now?
Speaker 5: Right?
Speaker 2: But do you know the context? Like in New York,
Speaker 2: some of the radio wieners are like, he's terrible, He's
Speaker 2: so bad. They only look at like two stats to
Speaker 2: sum up what they're doing, and really they think about
Speaker 2: this stuff. So they've already won. We're talking about them,
Speaker 2: although we're not throwing out names, but just for people
Speaker 2: to understand, right, if a Mets fan's catching this, where
Speaker 2: are we at on Sodo right now? And his three
Speaker 2: eighty five on base percentage?
Speaker 3: Three eighty five. That's pretty good.
Speaker 1: I think his OPS is in the low eight hundreds
Speaker 1: now too, So basically where what it is is, Juan
Speaker 1: Soto did not perform at an MVP caliber level for
Speaker 1: the first three weeks of the season. And I suppose
Speaker 1: given his unprecedented contract that comes with unprecedented hype and
Speaker 1: excitement and unprecedented scrutiny of course, so I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's just this silly New York sometimes echo chambers, social
Speaker 1: media radio, blah blah blah. My take is if Juan
Speaker 1: Soto struggling for three weeks features him getting on base
Speaker 1: at an elite rate and having an ops of seven
Speaker 1: point fifty eight hundred now above eight hundred, then he'll
Speaker 1: be okay and the Mets will be okay. So that
Speaker 1: whole dust up last week was much ado about nothing.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Wan Soto is a great baseball player,
Speaker 1: great hitter especially, so you know he'll be He'll get.
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Speaker 5: We have a fan chat question here from armand he's asking,
Speaker 5: can you give us any update on the Ventos injury.
Speaker 1: Well, he did not play yesterday. He hoped yesterday afternoon
Speaker 1: to be available today Monday. But it sounds like that
Speaker 1: growing discomfort, growing whatever that he left the game with
Speaker 1: on Saturday was no big deal. They figured it was hydration.
Speaker 1: He felt well on Sunday that he didn't even go
Speaker 1: for an MRI or anything, so it sounds like he
Speaker 1: should be totally fine.
Speaker 3: So good news there for the Mets.
Speaker 4: There you go, all right, Yeah, that's good. They got
Speaker 4: baby and Akunya playing well too, So it's gonna be
Speaker 4: interesting when old Jeffy McNeil comes back. What they tried
Speaker 4: to do with him. Maybe they just say, hey, jeff,
Speaker 4: maybe keep playing golf. These dudes are doing pretty good.
Speaker 5: I'm kidding.
Speaker 2: I'm good the center fielder now, Yeah, but they have
Speaker 2: I mean, what are they gonna do about?
Speaker 4: What are they gonna do when McNeil comes back? That
Speaker 4: is an interesting the problem the Mets A're gonna have.
Speaker 1: It's super interesting and I don't know the answer. We
Speaker 1: might learn more today with McNeil back in Queen's to
Speaker 1: check in amid his rehab assignment, which probably will continue
Speaker 1: for a couple of more days. So it isn't an
Speaker 1: imminent or urgent question for the Mets, but it but
Speaker 1: it is an interesting one because Lukunya has been playing
Speaker 1: well and the Mets really like him.
Speaker 3: Carlos Mendoza really likes him.
Speaker 1: They want to They hope that he continues to earn
Speaker 1: these every day or almost every day at bats that
Speaker 1: he's been getting over the last week, week and a half.
Speaker 1: If that happens, it gets a little awkward because do
Speaker 1: you put a Coony in center some days and McNeil
Speaker 1: a second, or do you let Acuonie stay at second
Speaker 1: with his excellent defense and chemistry with Francisco lindoor and
Speaker 1: try McNeil in center, which they've done a little bit
Speaker 1: in recent years. But let's be honest, he's not a
Speaker 1: center field or really, he's just a guy who can
Speaker 1: go out there and hold his own.
Speaker 3: Maybe that's good enough. I don't know. David Sterens really
Speaker 3: likes defense up the middle.
Speaker 1: So it'll begin with who's the odd man out roster wise,
Speaker 1: maybe Bret Baidy, maybe Jose Azocar.
Speaker 3: But there are at bats to be had.
Speaker 1: I would think between center field, second base DH where
Speaker 1: the Mets.
Speaker 3: Have not gotten a lot.
Speaker 1: So you know, that's a puzzle for Carlos Mendoza and
Speaker 1: the Mets to figure out, and it's it doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: fit neatly together very easily.
Speaker 5: That's funny.
Speaker 4: It's a good problem to have. It's a good listen
Speaker 4: when you have too much depth. It's a good problem
Speaker 4: to have. So Mets fans a couple years ago were complaining,
Speaker 4: we don't have anybody. I got too many people. And
Speaker 4: that's a good thing, all right. I got to ask him,
Speaker 4: what were your thoughts when Pete Alonzo had his triple?
Speaker 4: Did you tell him when he was going around second
Speaker 4: you can carry a piano on your back, you just
Speaker 4: don't have to stop and play it. And his legs
Speaker 4: they got a little bit squirrely right when he was
Speaker 4: I don't know what happened. I mean he did someone.
Speaker 4: I'm surprised no one on the Mets bench didn't bring
Speaker 4: him oxygen at third base.
Speaker 1: When Pee Alonzo gets it going on the bases, it
Speaker 1: is a delight to watch because it's not always the smoothest,
Speaker 1: it's certainly not the fastest, but he is hustling, he
Speaker 1: is trying out there, and you're never going to catch
Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo's sleeping. And they certainly didn't catch him sleeping
Speaker 1: on that triple the other day.
Speaker 3: Just love it.
Speaker 1: Peter Lonz has been off to a great start and
Speaker 1: he is busting it around second to third. So shout
Speaker 1: out to Peter Alonzo, who always runs hard.
Speaker 2: You always get the hey, kids, you can play baseball.
Speaker 2: You might not be the fastest, you might not be
Speaker 2: the most athletic, But man, Pete's having a year too.
Speaker 2: You're seeing anything differently last one. For me, you've seen
Speaker 2: anything differently from Pete that's leading to this success. I mean,
Speaker 2: what's he's saying?
Speaker 1: Not really, He's just a rare kind of locked in
Speaker 1: right now. I would say more locked in than I've
Speaker 1: ever seen him, even more so than his record breaking
Speaker 1: rookie season in twenty nineteen. I do wonder if, deep down,
Speaker 1: or maybe not so deep down, for Pete Alonzo, he
Speaker 1: took the off season during which baseball is an industry
Speaker 1: collectively shrugged at him in free agency and said, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll show you. I'll show the Mets who only gave
Speaker 1: him a two year deal. He'll show the rest of
Speaker 1: the twenty nine of other teams who didn't really want him,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna put up a great year so far,
Speaker 1: through twelve or thirteen percent of the season's absolutely doing that.
Speaker 1: It's a long year, as we all know, but he's
Speaker 1: been he's been amazing, you know, twelve hundred ohps or so,
Speaker 1: right up there on the leader boards on all the
Speaker 1: important stats. RBIs especially he should drive in a ton
Speaker 1: of runs this season with Lindor and so to ahead
Speaker 1: of him. So I suffice to say he'll probably be
Speaker 1: getting a bigger contract this offseason, if not earlier.
Speaker 4: Tim, by the way, tell them, I know you're in
Speaker 4: the media food room, but I mean you're doing an interview.
Speaker 5: I know.
Speaker 4: The press boxes are literally have known as if you've
Speaker 4: never been to a have you been to the city field.
Speaker 4: You have to walk through the food to get to
Speaker 4: the press. It's one of the weirdest setups. So you
Speaker 4: have to walk through the crowd and then you have
Speaker 4: to walk through the media food room and then so
Speaker 4: whatever they're making, I hope it's good because there's a
Speaker 4: lot of noise behind you, crashing and banks.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, I don't.
Speaker 4: Know if it's Howie. Is it Howie back there? He's
Speaker 4: looking for that soud he has on in that picture.
Speaker 1: How he's not here yet, But we got some popcorn
Speaker 1: getting going to the boxes.
Speaker 3: We got the cookies coming out, so it's kies good there.
Speaker 1: The balls starting to get rolling here, so we're in
Speaker 1: good shape.
Speaker 2: That's your food report.
Speaker 5: Oh those cookies are good in New York.
Speaker 4: And they always have a little ice cream on the
Speaker 4: side and usually some other goodies.
Speaker 5: Notice I don't talk about the other it's always the sweet.
Speaker 5: What should we look forward to for this series? I mean,
Speaker 5: this is one versus two right now. They've always the
Speaker 5: last few years, the Mets have dominated the Phillies. Pitching
Speaker 5: staff has changed, but the pitching staff has dominated this lineup.
Speaker 5: Do they continue that here or is it something that
Speaker 5: I'm seeing a little bit of a different outlook this year?
Speaker 1: This series is very interesting and I'm less interested in
Speaker 1: the standings right now. Mets are one, Phillies are two. Great,
Speaker 1: that's fun, But I'm more curious to see what the
Speaker 1: Phillies look like because I haven't seen them yet this year.
Speaker 1: You know, more than highlight real packages. So the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, the Phillies have gone a little less
Speaker 1: deep into October than they did the year prior. Last
Speaker 1: year they lost in the Division Series to the Mets
Speaker 1: in a series that frankly was not very close four games,
Speaker 1: but barely even needed to go that long. So I'm
Speaker 1: curious to see how the Phillies respond. I Brendan Nemo
Speaker 1: mentioned yesterday, and it's easy to believe him that the
Speaker 1: Phillies probably want to come out and make a statement early,
Speaker 1: and this is their chance to do that. They have
Speaker 1: Nola tonight and he's not been very good so far
Speaker 1: the season, but the next two days are Christopher Sanchez
Speaker 1: and Zach Wheeler, who's Oh, he's a good time when
Speaker 1: he's pitching against the Mets. So it's it's a big series.
Speaker 1: The Phillies look on paper like they should be a
Speaker 1: better team. So far, that hasn't really been true since
Speaker 1: the Mets have been doing basically a.
Speaker 3: Little bit of everything.
Speaker 1: But I think we'll find out more so about the
Speaker 1: Phillies this week than the Mets, at least from my perspective.
Speaker 3: Maybe that's because I watched the Mets all.
Speaker 2: The time exactly. Yeah, you definitely will learn more about
Speaker 2: the Phillies than the Mets. Yeah, Tim, great to have
Speaker 2: you on.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Go get a cookie per a j and we'll catch
Speaker 2: you soon enjoy the game later great.
Speaker 3: Thank you guys very much.