Our thoughts are with all that lost a family member or friends on this day in 2001.
NEW YORK, NY – If this surprisingly fun season for Mets fans – one this pundit never thought possible in the dark days of May – should end sans a playoff birth, the blame needs to be doled out correctly. Thus, today’s discussion/headline: For Pete’s Sake: Blame Nimmo, JD and Starling, Not Pete Alonso.
BRANDON NIMMO
The Finding Nimmo joke/line is about as tired as watching Brand Nimmo kill the Mets at the top of the order. Carlos Mendoza got it right in moving Francisco Lindor to the top of the order. (Something Yours Humbly was screaming for since he arrived from Cleveland). What he didn’t get right was leaving Nimmo in the 2nd or 3rd spot after Jeff McNeil found himself following the All-Star break. For all that Mendoza has done right, this one WRONG makes it all for naught. His steadfastness re Nimmo, his fateful non-move, had a devastating consequence – McNeil’s wrist was broken while batting in the bottom of the order. Had he been in the 2nd or 3rd slot, it wouldn’t have happened. If only The Umbrella Academy could go back and change the timeline!
It ain’t too late, though, for C-Mendz (TM) to Nimmo to 8th. If he does move him, I bet your last dollar that he’ll relax and hit. Let’s see him hit without the expectations for a #2 or #3 hitter. In the meantime, however, he’s the most guilty in the Who’s Fault Was It? trials.
JD MARTINEZ
Let’s call a spade a spade here. After an electrifying may/June, Martinez has failed mightily as Pete Alonso’s protection. Throw JD a 1st-pitch slider off the plate and he’ll unsuccessfully wave at it for strike one. He has gone from The Hulk to the Invisible Man. Right now, J.D. Vance is more productive – in an arguably shakier lineup. Martinez the “professional hitter” has been minor league Martinez for much of the season and MUST produce immediately. In the meantime, feel free to wag a finger J.D.’s way.
STARLING MARTE
While it has nothing to do with his hitting, there is something more annoying than Marte’s lack of production… his lack of respect for American sports fans. After THIRTEEN SEASONS of taking $102,842,076 in salary, he still uses an interpreter. That is UNACCEPTABLE. What’s also unacceptable re his bloated career earnings, is the season he’s had to date: .268 with 7 Homers and 15 Stolen Bases. And how does one say “brittle” in Spanish? Starling hasn’t been sterling in the Games Played category, playing only 81 this year, 86 last year and 118 in 2022. No wonder he hides behind an interpreter. Oh, and by the way, do you think he’s speaking Spanish to Bader and Nimmo in the outfield? Hell no. He speaks English, folks. Go ahead, point at him.
As for the Polar Bear….
He has an enormous amount of pressure re the contract thingy. Granted, it’s on his shoulders, as he turned down a significant contract from management and hired Scott Boras. When you do that and you are playing for the biggest of bucks, you better be as good as Aaron Judge or Juan Soto. Pete Alonzo is not in that stratosphere. Only Ohtani is. However, the guy is a bonafide run-producing power threat in the middle of a lineup. Moreover, he has proven he can be successful in New York City.
Pundits and fans bash the season he’s having, but it’s actually pretty good (by today’s standards that ignore Batting Average). Further, he plays a pretty good first base. He runs the bases well for a big man, hustles, and says the right things in press conferences. Statistically, if you take out the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, he’s averaged 41.4 homers per season. That includes this year’s 31, so that number will be higher. In 2024, he’s scored 83 Runs and has 62 Walks to go with the 31 taters, all while playing in a line-up that has had the aforementioned contributors absolutely vanish. So…
For Pete’s sake, stop blaming Peter Morgan Alonso.
NOTE: Angry Ward is tending to family today. Our best wishes are with him.
