The Heat Is On for the New York Mets

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. The New York Mets precarious lead in the National League East is down to 1/2 game over the Philadelphia Phillies. And guess where the Mets travel to for a Friday match-up? Yup, you guessed it, Philadelphia.

The Mets just lost 3 out of 4 games to the Miami Marlins, who occupy last place. That series followed a series loss to the Cincinnati Reds and that disaster was preceded by losing 3 out of 4 to the third place Atlanta Braves, who are also chasing them.

New York Daily News reporter Deesha Thosar quoted Michael Conforto after the game. “This is definitely not the way we wanted it to go,” said Michael Conforto, who was agitated and unusually curt. “At this point, we’re moving forward. We’re going to Philly.”

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I guess what else is he going to say or he could say, "we stink. We had left 15 runners on and failed to make contact when we needed to. We stink." I guess he could have said that.

Deesha thinks that hitting in the clutch is the problem with the Mets, "As a team, Mets players are hitting .209 with the bases loaded this season. For perspective, the league average is .273 with the bases juiced. The Amazin’s sent six men to the plate and loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning on Thursday, and no runs scored. In the ninth inning, trailing by three runs, the Mets again loaded the bases with two outs and scratched one run across that fell short of a comeback."

Sorry Mets fans, this is a story that we have seen and lived before. Luis Rojas has done a masterful job keeping this ship afloat but without Jacob deGrom, along with the disappearance of Taijuan Walker, this first place residence is over. The Mets don't hit in the clutch. Javier Baez is an all or nothing hitter for the most part, as displayed by his 5 strikeouts yesterday. However, don't blame Baez. He has won 2 games for the Mets in his week in the orange and blue. That's one more than Michael Conforto has all year.

Big weekend for the New York Mets in Philadelphia. This is where you see a team's make-up.