Sports Rain Man: Mets Win 5 Straight, Baby Mets and NBA Finals

The Baby Mets are Brent Baty, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos. Baty was earmarked as one for the future last year. He was brought up after tearing it up and AAA Syracuse, so he was brought up to add a jolt a few weeks back as the Mets bats were really weak. Alvarez won the starting catch a spot from Thomas Nido and has been starting the majority of games all season. A catcher with a big bat is a plus but the main thing they’re there for is their defense and throwing runners out and helping call a good game. As the Mets have been struggling, you think he wasn’t calling a good game, but it was more the pitchers weren’t  getting the pitch where they needed to be. He has contributed with his bat too with timely hits and home runs. It looks like the Mets have found here for the next 5 years, at least. Vientos was called up just last week to replace Pablo Eduardo Escobar. Escobar was a light hitting utility fielder who the Mets kept for his versatility but with everybody else on the team underperforming at the plate, they didn’t have the luxury of keeping a strong glove, weak bat guy. Vientos is essentially a third baseman and dh. He doesn’t even play the field that much third base but what he does bring his contact and power  and that’s the Mets have been struggling for from their other DH options. The Mets couldn’t send any of the other DH options back to the minors because it wasn’t in their contract but they could do that with Escobar and that was why he was sent down and Vientos was brought up. The kids aren’t going to save the team but what they have done is added the right amount of energy good hidden and fielding. The key thing is really been their energy and their belief and sometimes when you have a veteran team they forget how awesome it is to just be playing professional baseball and get wrapped up in the headlines and occasionally bringing in a couple of kids reminds them to just go out and have fun. It might be sports psychologist stuff but it seems to have sparked something in the Mets finally so let’s hope it keeps going.

For as much as people say they want to see the little guy win it. According to the World Series numbers when none of the big name teams are in the World Series then the ratings drop. I say that because it looks like the NBA Finals may be the lowest rated NBA Finals ever. In the West, number one seed, Denver, of all places, has steamrolled all competitors and is in the business of doing that to the vaunted Lakers. In the East, the number eight seed, Miami Heat, are about to sweep the Celtics. They keep might be the first team to win the play-in game and make it all the way to the final since the play-in game was created from the East. Not to mention before the play-in game, I’m not sure the eighth seed ever made the final. Each team has a star player in Nikola Jokic for Denver and Jimmy Butler from Miami, however the play of the supporting cast is what has made all the difference. Guys who aren’t household names in their own household have come off the bench to make a difference and starters that may average 10 during the season are at 16 or more. So no Lakers vs Celtics, it will be Nuggets vs Heat.