Recounting the Adventurous Day at the Stadium

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But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino. Social casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumba casino.com. Let's chumba. Sponsored by chumba casino. No purchase necessary . It's the amazing Rico Bronya Podcast with your host, Evan Roberts. Rico Bron ya The opening day edition of Rico Brohnia. It was such an exciting opening day win that my youngest son, who wasn't an opening day, wanted to scream Rico Brunha and open the podcast with us. Anything you'd like to talk about today, Spen ce? Oh no, you're getting stage fright. All right, Spence, who's your favorite Met? We'll go that way . Let's go. W ith the pretty good choice. Do you know that we won on opening da y? We did. Yeah. What teams don't you like, Spen ce? You know that. Well, I know that, but the audience would love to know what team do you not like you already know. Oh they already know what team you don't like? Yeah. Well they they want you to say it. Who do you boo spence? You said uh audience know what what I what I don't what w w I who I who I don't like. They know you don't like uh a certain team that also plays in New York? Mitch . That was a good answer. All right, now eat your dinner while we reco., Okay okay buddy. There he is. Uh, my youngest son, who did not begin his opening day streak today. Yes, and we'll give you dollars. It was uh a it was a wonderful opening day experience. It is something that we are used to as Met fans. We're actually used to this. Winning on opening day is something that is common in our franchise's history. It was a beautiful day at City Field. I know it was a stressful day at Citi Field for many. Uh there was a lot of traffic. There were issues with trains. There were issues with parking. There were issues with traffic. And I too didn't make first pitch. I actually walked in as Paul Schemes was being cheered off of the mound, which led to a great question by not him, but my oldest son, which is: why are we cheering him? Are we thanking him? Are we recruiting him for the future, uh, maybe all of the above, but it was a wild day at City Field. But I I start by saying that if you went to this game and you were stressed by traffic or parking or whatever it was, when you were sitting there finally in the ballpark, even if you missed the first pitch, when you were sitting there in 70 degree weather on a Thursday afternoon. Wasn't it great? Isn't this what we wait for? Isn't this the thing as a Met fan and a baseball fan we think about all winter long? A game that matters. Seeing the players that we talked so much about over the last few months actually play baseball. So it was a great opening day. It was a fun opening day. There's certainly a lot to talk about from this game as the Mets defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final score of how many did they get in the ninth inning? Oh, okay. Eleven to seven. There was no LD offense today for the New York Mets. It was a weird game. And look, I consumed it in an odd way because I was on the air. I did leave my show early. I tried to contribute by doing part of the show on the subway and the train and then eventually City Field. So it was odd walking into that building. And I walked in as it was five to two. Brett Beatty at the three-run triple, Marcus Simeon had the RBI dump. And I think it was actually as, Alvarez was at the plate, eventually got hit by a pitch. And then yes, Paul Skeens was booed, cheered off the mound. But it was such an odd game when you go back to the very beginning. And I'm gonna rewatch every pitch just to see, especially the issues that O'Neill Cruz had defensively and how tricky the wind was on this day. But it was an odd day because and I was talking about this on Evan and Tiki and I I talked a little bit about it here, that this is such a new team. And as much time as we have spent doing uh hundreds of offseason Rico's, whatever that grand total was, talking about these players and all the guys they acquired, it was odd seeing them. Like when that lineup came out earlier on Thursday and I wrote it down in my scorebook and I'm thinking about Freddie Peralta making the start. It was just odd to see how all of these pieces are going to work together. And it was odd to know, wow, okay. I watched Bo Bachet play in spring training. We talked about Bo Bachet, but now we're actually watching him and we're caring about the results. And so as I was writing all the names down and including Freddie Peralta, there was a part of me that continued to say, I don't know what to expect . I don't know what to expect from this season. And even on opening day, I know we grow accustomed to winning. I don't know what to expect from this game. And when you think about the way it starts, O'Neal Cruz gets a base set. Yes. You dust this all the dog and you were eating it. Yes. I ate this muffin yesterday on yesterday's Rico Brownia. And now it's empty. I leave this place uh a pick style. I need to be better. That's a bad job out of me. Now, what you need to do, Spence, is go eat your pizza. Okay? Get it done. Thank you. You got it. All right. How we doing, everybody? It's opening day. Hey. Um, but think about the oddity of the way this game started. Like here's our ace, here's Freddie Peralta, gives up this leadoff hit to O'Neal Cruz. It kind of seems innocent. And then Brandon Lowe, who's a brand new acquisition for them, a guy that we talked about for the Mets, a guy who had been rumored as someone David Stearns would be interested in. We analyzed where would he fit? Where would he fit on this team? Good player, winning player. Hits a two-run home run that off the b at. You don't think is getting out. Now, I admit I am saying this from the perspective of my dad who was at the game and the perspective of watching the replay of the home run. I was still not at City Field at this moment. In fact, I was stunned when my game day app showed me Two Nothing Pirates. And I'm like, are you kidding me? And I had visions. I shouldn't, but I guess this is the damaged Met fan that I am. I had visions of Tommy Glavin. And I know that the weather was nothing like that. And it's funny. I heard Gio mention it on Boomer and Geo. He is a Met fan, and that's an opening day that stings with him. And it's an opening day that made my Mets Bible. I mean, I talked about that opening day where it's 35 degrees out and Tommy Glavin's getting bombed and eventually is booed off the mound. I look, I wasn't worried necessarily that Freddie Peralta was going to get booed off the mound, but it was a rough start. And then you combine that with what I still don't even understand as a screwed up national anthem, but I've been told that the national anthem was messed up. I still don't know if that's even true. You can comment if you'd like right now on this YouTube feed or wherever you download your podcast or tweet at me. Um, I still don't know if the national anthem was screwed up . Okay. Thank you, Spence. I appreciate that. Now eat your pizza. All right. So I don't even know if the national anthem was screwed up, but the game kind of starts in this odd way. Peralta gives up a two-run home run to Brandon Lowe. We're hearing about how the Anthem is screwed up. And yeah, you're intimidated by Paul Skeens. I mean, this is a guy who comes into this start with a career ERA of 1.96. And I know that's impossible to keep up. And certainly a game like this certainly reminded you of that. But down to nothing, going into the bottom of the first inning with a lineup that look, what do we know about them? We know they're gonna make more contact, sure. We know they're probably gonna hit fewer home runs, but it's so new. I go back to the newness thing. And yeah, I got this worry of all right, we gave up two in the first inning. That may be enough. We not mean we we may not be able to get two runs off of Paul Skeens. And you watch the at bats in the first inning, and there was so many things you have to look just about that first inning. Obviously scoring five runs is nice and having O'Neal Cruz not being able to judge a fly ball is nice, but think about these little things. You have a good at bat by Francisco Lindor to really set the tone for the game by drawing a walk. You've got Juan Soto behind in the count getting a base hit. You have Bo Bachet and, this is like what a great introduction to Bo Bichette that here he is with first and third, nobody out, two-nothing game, and he's behind in the count, and he does the thing that we're looking for. Contact. I hate hearing how strikeouts don't matter. In a spot like that, it does. In a spot like that, where you've got two on and nobody out, and I'm not knocking anybody else, but if you're a big strikeout guy, if you're an all-or-nothing guy and you strike out, that inning is short-circuited. Paul Skeens can kind of get back into a groove. And behind in the count, 0-2, Bobette, it's a fly ball to right field. Underrated huge moment. There's a lot of underrated huge moments in this game. Let me start with that. Because that's a part of the appeal of Bobachette. Am I right? Isn't that part of the appeal? That not only is he clutch, but he's gonna put the bat on the ball. And in a spot like that, bat on the ball matters. In a spot like that, because we don't know yet that they're gonna knock Paul Skeens out in the first inning. We're not exactly aware of that . So we need to get a run off of him. This first and third, nobody out. Get a run in . And that at bat, underrated, but really, really important. And even the Jorge Polanco infield hit. That's the beauty of contact. Good things can happen on contact. And then Luis Robert Jr., who how often did we talk about this guy before he was ever a met? We argued about it, right? For all you loyal Rico listeners, they should get him. No, they shouldn't. I'm high on Robert Jr., no, you're not. They bring him in. We know about the deal, and in his first at bat as a met, and I didn't even love the idea of Luis Robert Jr. batting fifth. I don't love it. He gives you this awesome 10-pitch at bat that turns into a walk. Who saw that com ing? Luis Robert Jr. is not exactly known for that. It's not like Bo Bachet did it. Luis Robert Jr. did it. And what does that do? And I think we saw this multiple times in the game. When you have a grinded out at bat, whether it ends in a walk or a few innings later, when Bo Bichette's epic 13 pitch at bat ends in a strikeout, watch what happens next. There should be a stat for that . Not what do you do in a 12 pitch at bat or a 10 pitch at bat, but how does that affect what the next batter does . So when Luis Robert Jr. gives you a 10-pitch walk, Brett Beatty is the one who on the second pitch of his at-bat hits the line drive out O'Neill Cruz that he just gets completely fooled on. And yes, there's luck involved. No question about it. A part of why Paul Skeens got knocked out in this game is because O'Neill Cruz can't judge a fly b all. No doubt about it. And I will take that luck. And you will take that luck. Because when it goes against us, no one's going to feel b ad. But obviously that moment, that play, turned into such a game-changing moment because not only does it give you three runs and clear the bases, but now all of a sudden, because of the at-bat that Robert Jr. had, because of the at-bat Lindor had to start the game, Paul Skeen's pitch count is adding up. And I watched what Paul Skeen said after the game in terms of coming out. He knew and understood that with a very high pitch count in start number one after you just pitched in the WBC, it was smart to take him out in the first inning. I I mean, I know we benefited from it, because all of a sudden here's old friend Johan Ramirez coming in. But it was smart. You're not gonna waste bullets in a March game, in a game in which things didn't go his way. A part of it's his fault. He owns that. The Lindor walks at the tone for the game. Walking Luis Robert Jr. to load the bases up for Beatty set the tone for the game. And you look, you're not helped out by your defen se. No dou bt. But when he hit Alvarez with two outs. And now Lindor was coming back up. And this is now when I'm entrenched in my seat, out of breath, excited, getting text message that I lost my wallet. More on that a little bit later on, because I had an adventurous opening day. But see ing Paul Skeens come out of this game in the first inning and seeing this new look met offense, not by hitting home runs, not even by ripping RBI singles at 110 miles an hour. Seeing Paul Schiens come out, no matter how the Mets scored those runs, was an awesome feeling because the crowd was electric. They were mocking him. They were enjoying it. Hopefully, Paul isn't too offended by it because God knows we'll be recruiting him in a couple of years. But what an ans wer to a Rocky first inning from Freddie Peralta. And let me get back to Freddie because it was a weird start by Peralta, really strange. Because after he gives up the two-run home run and puts his team in a hole, he struck out the side to end the first inning and looked dominant. Like he looked locked in, striking three guys out in a row. And it f elt it felt by the way, breaking news uh around baseball. Nico Horner agrees to a six-year contract extension with Chicago. Nico was going to be one of the more appealing free agents, not necessarily for the Mets, but he was going to be a free agent at the end of the year, and the Cubs get it done. So here we are in the middle of opening day. They're losing, and Nico Horner gets a contract extension. So I guess it's possible Freddie will get one. Back to Freddie, th ough. He did a great job locking down after he gives up the two-run home run. And he actually retired. It was seven in a row, eight in a row, actually. And he looked so good, including my first screw up when it comes to ABS because you know ABS during the Yankee game was seldomly used. So I was curious, like, all right, how aggressive will abs be used in the first Met game? And the first challenge in the history of regular season Met baseball was a big one. I mean, think about how significant this was. I'll walk you back to the situation. There's one out of nobody on. At this point, the Mets are up five to two. So very early in the game, but they do have a three run lead. And with one out of nobody on, O'Neal Cruz wal ks. He walks on a three-two pit ch. Freddie Peralta, really Francisco Alvarez, immediately says, I don't think that was ball four. And he challenges it. And it turns into a backwards K, as they say. Turns into a strikeout. That is a big turn of events. And I admit, and I guess this is something I have to get used to, and maybe some of you guys out there have to get used to if you're geeks like me scoring these games. I was too quick to write down the walk. And I find myself way too quick writing anything down. Like I I I have to pause. I gotta wait. Maybe on TV it'll be better, but at the game, it's just like, oh, it's a strike. Write it down. So I have to fix that. But think about how significant that moment was. Real skin results start with one daily ritual. Meet Daily Microfoliant from Dermalogica. 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Get IXL now, and listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXL Learning.com slash audio. Visit IXL Learning.com slash audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best pri ce. You can't assume everything plays out the same way, so I can't assume that Brandon Lowe or Brandon Lau. I I by the way, the Lowe and Lau's drive me nuts, you know, Nathaniel, Brandon, Josh. And then I get confused on which one's the Lau and which one's the low. So excuse me for that. But he comes up now with two outs and nobody on, hits another home run. Again, can't assume everything plays out the same way if that turn isn't overcalled. But it was big. It was significant and it was clutch. So good job by Francisco Alvarez. You got to pick the moment. And I think certainly that's a swing. I mean, you're talking about the difference between ball four and strike three. I think anytime you are talking about the difference between ball four and strike three, it's probably going to be worth it. But let me get back to Freddie because as big as the challenge was, he gives up the home run. Now it's a five-three game. They give him another run in the fourth inning. I'll get back to the offense in a little bit. And then with a pitch count of 58 through four, and it feels like he's locked this down. The fifth inning was really the inning that short circuited his outing. Because I thought he had a chance to go six. I I don't want to say he had a chance to go seven. I think this early in the season that was always unlikely. But with a pitch count of 58 through four, I certainly thought he could get through the fifth and sixt h. He gives up the blue pit to Nick Gonzalez, and then Henry Davis hits a line drive that Bobachette came so close to making a diving play on. And then you needed a sundial for Ju to get the ball in the left field corner. That is a blind spot I have in City Field, but I'll tell you it felt like Ju Soto, it took forever for him to find that baseball. So Gonzalez scored from first, and now all of a sudden you're like damn ,, this is getting close. It's a six-four game. And the Pirates have a runner on second and nobody out with the top of the order coming up. And I thought it was really important to salvage this start, because it was an average start by Freddie. It was a weird start. Didn't walk anybody, struck out seven, but ultimately you give up four runs and five innings. We're not celebrating it. Now it's not a great out ing. But I thought it was really important at that part of the game to get through that fifth inning without that run scor ing. I think Mendy was always going to push him to get through that fifth inning. But again, Mets are scoring a lot of runs, but all of a sudden it,'s a 6-4 game . You can't let it be 6'5. I thought it was very important for Peralta to fight through that fifth inning, and he did. Strikes out O'Neal Cruz, got Brandon Lowe to ground out, and then struck out Brian Reynolds in quite a battle. And sometimes you know a guy's coming out of the game, not by pitch count, his pitch count was eighty. You know a guy's coming out of the game based on the emotion they show coming off of the mound when they get a big out. And so Peralta showed a ton of emotion when he struck out Brian Reynolds. And you just knew. I I think you knew based on where we are in the season. It is very, very early. I think you know based on what we talked about a little bit during spring training in the offseason around Freddie. Like how much are they going to push him? I don' t know. Are they going to push him the way Milwaukee did, which is not a lot, and basically say you're five and six and done and we're not going to ask you to throw 110 pitches. We're going to see as the season goes on. We certainly can't tell on March 26th. I'm not saying we can, but you knew he was d one. If this is June, am I more likely to say, you know what? Come out and pitch the sixth inning. You just retired three in a row. You actually have done a really good job against Ozuna, O'Hearn, and Triolo. So go out there and give me three more outs. Absolutely. I think Mae Evan is pushing Peralta to come out for the sixth in ning. But March 26th, Evan understands where we are. I understand the emotion he showed coming off the mound. I understand that 80 doesn't feel like a bitch, big pitch count, but it is March twenty sixth. And I also understand that you have an incredibly fresh bullpen. It's day one with an off day on Frida y. So no issue taking Freddie Peralta out. I think it'll be different later on. But I want to go to the offense before we talk about the bullpen and how they shut this thing down. Because Bull Bachet had an at bat in this game that needs to be celebrated. Because there's a lot of guys offensively when you score 11 runs, that you can celebrate. You can celebrate Lindor. I know he's the only Met, I think, to not get a base hit in this game, but he walked three times and he scored all three times. He was a perfect table setter. Juan Soto got on base three times. Jorge Polanco got on base three times. Luis Robert Jr. had a couple of hits, including a walkie was on base three times. Brett Beatty had the three-run triple. Marcus Simeon had two hits, including an RBI double. And then of course Benjamin Alvarez with the back-to-back home runs later on in the game. So you can celebrate everyone offensively, but Bo Bachet, welcome to the Mets Bo, had two underrated moments. I talked about the first one, which is the sacrifice fly in the first inning. I thought it was very important to get that run home. Already went on a diatribe about that. How about the 13 pitch at bat in the fifth in ning. This was an at bat, and I've admitted this before. I've been mocked by everybody. I think every partner I've ever had has mocked me for loving the long at bat. Tiki's mocked me. Craig's mocked me. I love it. The Luis Giorma at bat from spring training. You guys know. The real ones know. How awesome was that? What was it, a 21-pitch at bat? Something of that nat ure? So give me a long at bat inject it into my ve ins. So let's set up the situation . It's the bottom of the fifth in ning. The Pittsburgh Pirates have just made this thing a little bit closer, right? They made it a six-to-four game. The Mets make it seven to four when Juan Soto hits an RBI single. Real quick about that, the RBI single was a ground ball a little bit to the right of Jared Triolo. And I joked to my dad, and I don't think it's a joke, I think it's real. I said, if this was last year, that ground ball's right at Triolo and it's a double play, and certain Met fans are booing Juan S oto. But every year is different. And so when Soto came up with the bases loaded and one out, he hit a ground ball that found a hole. And it was big. It gave them a three-run lead, but still, three-run lead, bottom of the fifth inning, bullpen's coming in. It doesn't feel comforta ble. So B Boobachet comes up and proceeds to give you this incredible at-bat. He fouled it was either seven or eight pitches in a row off, eight in a row. It was a 13-pitch at bat. And yes, he struck out. Sucks, but he struck out. But the reason why this needs to be celebrated, the reason why it was such an underrated moment, is like I said earlier about the Luis Robert Jr. at bat, the 10-pitch walk that led or was right before the Beatty triple and the Simeon RBI dou ble. I ask you, well, what happened next, sir? After that happened, what occurred ? Well, in that inning against who was pitching in this at this point, Isaac Matson was now in the game. So this poor Isaac Matson goes through this war, this batt le with Bobette, this this epic duel with Bo Bachet. And he strikes him out, he wins the duel, but he don't win the war because the next hitter is Jorge Polanco, who walked on four pitches? Can you honestly tell me that the at-bat that Bachet had didn't impact what just happened to the next batter, a four-pitch walk? I think it did. After that, Luis Roberts Jr. had the little check swing, the excuse me check swing, beat it out for an infield hit. So I I'm not gonna put as much stock in that. That was fortunate, but hey, take advantage of it. Give Robert Jr. credit. Right after that, excuse me, he busted it down the line, showed the speed, beat it out, gave the Mets an extra run. But the Polanco walk, a four pitch walk right after a 13-pitch at , I don't think it's a coincidence. And so that was important. The three runs that they scored in the bottom of the fifth inning, giving Tobias Myers a little bit of wiggle room. I'll finish up with the offense. We'll get back to the pitching. Obviously, Carson Bench had an awesome moment. I thought Garson Bench had actually, believe it or not, a few awesome moments because Carson Bench not only hits the first major league home run, which is obvious and it's great, and he had a curtain call, and that's awesome. I what can I add on that? We all saw it. It was great. Good for Carson Bench. How about the at-bat before that? So that same inning we were just talking about, the fifth inning where they scored the three insurance runs, where Bobachette had the long at-bat, that whole thing, that inning began with one out of nobody on, and Carson Bench drawing a walk against a left-handed pitcher in Mason Montgom ery. And that's what caused the pitching change and eventually Matson to come in. How about that at-bat? There's been a there were a lot of good at-bats in this game. We talked about a few of them. How about that one? How about a rookie in his third major league at bat facing a lefty? Face, I don't care which lefty it is. I understand he's not Sandy Colfax or Tarek Scuble. He's facing a lefty and draws a wal k. And of course, that led to Alvarez getting a hit, Lindora walk. We mentioned the Soto hit. So even before Carson Bench had the home run, which is of course something he will never forget about. It's a great moment for him. Awesome moment for him. Even before that happened, the quality at bat walk that really got that inning going. And I think what we saw on opening day, and it's one game. I don't need anyone telling me think they're gonna win the World Series. I haven't said any of that. I'm breaking down a baseball game, which is fun to do. It's fun to break down a game after meaningless spring training games for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. So I'm not drawing any big conclusions. I am reacting to a baseball game that I thought saw a lot of quality at bats. I thought the Mets did a really good job up and down this lineup of having long at-ats. I think it's what contributed to schemes coming out along with O'Neal Cruz's bad defense. They didn't strike out all that much. I'm looking at the grand total. I guess they tacked on a few late. Soto struck out two guys. That's Gregory Soto. Dennis Santana struck out a guy. So I guess the grand total was nine. So not that low. But I guess in the big moment they didn't strike out. There weren't a lot of significant strikeouts. But more than that, it was the quality at b at. One of the things that was mentioned by David Stearns, who is certainly not perfect, and I'm not putting over completely, but was hey, the quality of the at bat from this team needs to look different. In day one, it did. Defensively, there's not much to judge. No, Bobichette was fine. He had that one offline throw, but Polanco got off the bag, made the play, tagged the runner, no biggie sp ot. Overall, the defense was fine. I don't think it was tested very much. I don't think it was anything amazing. Luis Robert Jr. had that sliding catch in center. But overall it was fine. And we will learn as the games go on, how much better defensively they are, if they are at all. But the thing you saw on opening day was the at b at. The at-bats were different. And some of it was from the guys that are already here. And there aren't a lot. I mean, this is that's the crazy part. Like, there are five new players. Let me confirm that. Five new players: Bachette, Polanco, Robert Jr., Simeon, and Benj. Benj is a new player. I know he was he's a Matt, but he was a minor leaguer last year. Five new players in this lineup and seven of them, or seven new lineup members for opening day. We didn't have Brep 80 last year on an opening day lineup and Alvarez was hurt. So a lot of changes, which is what I talked about at the beginning. But some of the guys who've been here, like Lindor, like Soto, like Alvarez, they had great at-bats to o. Alvarez had a base hit on an 0-2 count. That was right after Bench drew that awesome walk we talked about. He hit the bomb of a home run right after Bench hit his first major league home run. It was really one of those days where everything was good offensively, but the quality of the at-bat was tremendous. That was really good to see. And as far as the bullpen's concern, the eight innings from Tobias Myers, I guess that's the value of having multiple guys who can pitch certainly more than multiple innings. I mean, Tobias Myers is a starter. And so if Carlos Mendoza wanted to, he could have finished the game. He chose to go to Luis Garcia, who not a good start for Luis. I mean, the good news is they had a big lead. That's the good news. It's 11-5. But I know the way we are with bullpen arms. I know the way we were with Ryan Stanic. I know the way we are with guys. He's gonna be the first one we turn on. Dickie Lovelady, I guess already is, but he's not gonna last here. I think that's pretty obvious. But not a great debut for Luis Garcia. Just not great. End of the world, no. We didn't even hear groans in the ninth inning, though. That was encouraging because it's 11 to 5. Garcia gives up back-to-back hits before he gets the first out, then gives up the two-run double to Nick Gonzalez. And you see warm-up action in the Met bullpen. You see that Mendy's saying to himself, geez, I I gotta get the pen warmed up. And I don't think it would have been the worst thing in the world for Devin Williams to make his debut in a nice soft leverage situ ation. But Garcia was at least able to get those last three outs, secure the victory, but no groans. The Met fan was almost like, we're gonna win this game. I ain't worried. I know we're winning on opening day, and I know that Luis Garcia is not gonna cause this to ruin my day if you had stuck around to the very end. But he was able to get the final outs, and the Mets were able to get a victory 11 to 7. Let me read some of your emails. I am curious how the Ricoers out there are feeling after opening day. Obviously very good. The Rico B at gmail. com. The first the first email I get is an update on Pete Alonzo. I'm not doing this . I am not doing this. Why have I asked my HVAC guy I found on Angie dot com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? I was so amazed at how we replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube. I think we should call a doctor. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at angie.com. Introducing Fidelity Trader Plus, the next generation of advanced trading from Fidelity. Customize your tools and charts and access them seamlessly across desktop, web and mobile. 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I'm talking grocery runs from places like Safeway or Albertson's, party decor from Michael's, or even a quick target order, all while you're getting ready for guests with shipped, you can order same-day delivery on groceries, gifts, and so much more. And shoppers are known for incredible attention to detail and care. Plus, with an annual shipped membership, you get unlimited orders, zero delivery fees on orders over thirty-five dollars, exclusive deals, and even the option to request your favorite shoppers again. Download the app or order at shipped.com. That's s-h I P T dot com Let me start with Eddie Sedano. Eddie writes pick tracking pitch tracking scorebug gone at the stadium. Hey guys, first time long time, did anyone else notice the pitch tracking stats were missing from the scoreboards for opening day. In years past, they always showed the pitch type and speed on the displays that run along the right and left field line. In years prior, they even had really progressive stats like IVB displayed. Yet today it was nowhere to be found. Thanks. Love the show. I didn't notice it because I walked in l ate and I'm just so behind. And I'm like, let me fill in my scorecard. Let me look around. Let me say hi to my dad. Hi to people in my section. There's a lot I missed. I plan on going a Saturday in Sunday's game. Saturday, I don't know. I mean the temperature looks rough, but definitely Sunday to see Nolan McL ean. I'll have a better idea of what's different in terms of that. The the one thing I did notice, and I sort of remember City Field having it, is when Bichette was having that marathon at bat, I was looking up to see what pitch this was. And I didn't see it, so I went right to the MLB app, which is always easy. Uh Ryan Busby writes, why did Polanco slide? Did you know why Polanco slid during Beatty's triple? Robert almost ran him over because of it. At least it was a feat first slide. Love the podcast. Keep up the good work. I'll have to rewatch that. I didn't notice that. Andrew writes, hey Evan, great way to start the season. Can't ask for much more. Fluky 47 degree Homer as ide. Some thoughts from the ballpark. Did you notice all the pitch tracking info is gone? There you go. Another person. They used to show every pitch from the current AB on the smaller board next to the main jumbotron and pitch break stats after every pitch on the baselines. I can't see the main jumbotron from my seat, so maybe it just moved, but I couldn't see it. If it's gone, I'm wondering if it's a rule change, maybe related to ABS. I wonder why. If it is related to ABS, I'd wonder why. As impressive as Robert and Beatty were, Cruz chased Skeens far more than any Mets hitter did. If he just makes those plays, Skeens probably goes at least four or five innings and gives up something like four runs, very similar to Freddie Peralta. Speaking of run prevention, Bo Bachet looks like the worst defender in the lineup. I think Polanco will figure out first base quickly. He almost looked like a real first baseman when he saved Bo on that bad throw from third base. Maybe he settles into the role, but so far Bachette seems to be the one who should move to DH. That's probably not something his agent would be excited about. I hope they don't have a promise to him to play the field or feel like they owe it to him to leave him there for an extended stretch if it doesn't improve. I did not jump to that conclusion after one game. I I get you watch spring training, it was uneven. It was also uneven for us because we're not able to watch every single inning. Uh, I'm not jumping to that conclusion about Bobachette. I think that could there be a discussion come July? Because Brett Beatty's a good defender. And there were a few things about the lineup that jumped out of me. Number one was that, like, should Beatty be the DH? Should Beatty ever be the DH? He's probably a better first baseman than Polanco. He's a better third baseman, like you said, than Bo Bachet. Now I know you're not doing that to Bo, but does it make sense for Beatty to DH? I'll be curious about day two and day three. Is Beatty the everyday DH, or is there gonna be a lot of fluctuation? We're gonna find out based on how Mendy manages this thing. The only other thing, and it's it's nitpicky, but it's the way I feel. I wouldn't construct the order the way he did. Now Robert Jr. had a great first day. I love Robert Jr. towards the bottom of the order. I wouldn't even mind Carson Bench batting ninth. Alvarez is a ninth place hitter I actually don't love because I want somebody who can get on base or who would get on base. He's not one to do it very of ten. Let's go through more of your uh emails. Nick Pauly writes, most fruitful first inning since Jake Arietta. This was the most fruitful big inning, big first inning off an unlikely ace candidate since teeing off Jake Arrietta in the 2015 NLCS. I don't know if I've ever told this story about that. So it's a cold night, right? Mets cobs, NLCS. And I'm in what I think is called the Piazza Club. I think they changed it again, but you know, the club behind the 300 section. And me and my dad are, you know, standing there. We're just staying warm right before first pitch. And we overheard Brian Kenny. I like Brian Kenny. Brian Kenny's had me on his show. This is not personal. I'm just gonna repeat what I heard Brian Kenny say. And I don't think it's out of turn. I don't think it's something he'd be totally embarrassed by. Feels like Brian's got a good sense of humor. But Brian Kenny was talking cockily, would be the way I would describe it. How the Mets had no chance to hit Jake Arrieta. How they he is so locked in. He's the best pitcher in baseball. They can't hit him. It's impossi ble. And my dad turned to me and said, you could write it down. We're going to pound this gu y. And it was all because Brian Kenny was so arrogant about how the Mets couldn't hit him. What's going on, Spence? I have to get off the Rico for a second. Yeah. Why is everything okay? Just don't worry about it. Well what does it involve? Is there an emergency? No, a twelve tin no. Did did mama tell you this ? No. Well what happened? Is it an emergency or not? Okay. W ell So I have to get off the Rico? Yeah. And you know and your fun for we can Hoffman. Oh, Hoff can take over? Hoff, do you have some on opening day? I have a lot actually, yes. Okay, why don't you take over? Let me find out what Spence is calling me out for, okay? All right, no problem. I'll take over. Okay, I won't tell anybody. Let's go. All right. Now l isten, I am very pleased. If anybody listens to the Carton show at all today with Chris McMonacle, as I'll put the lights on. You know, you may you may have heard me be a little bit negative at something because the one thing I I listen first of all opening day was fantastic I think Evan nailed everything it was a win is a win you gotta you have to be excited about a win on opening day. the But one thing that really always bothers me is I didn't like we knocked out Paul Schemens. That was great. But a lot of it is based off of the fact that O'Neill Cruz sucks. Like he is not a center fielder. We knocked out Paul Skeens because little chippy hits, little like baby hits, not like line drives, not like we were get we were beating him and it was amazing. It was like little dribblers and stuff like that i'm not terribly excited about how we killed Paul Ske ens but it's a win so that's I'm not gonna argue that and be like oh well we you know, whatever. What I will say, these are the moments for me that made me feel good about today. The Carson Bench home run was great. Doesn't make a difference what pitcher it was off of. It doesn't make a difference which point in the game it was off of that was huge because that's his first hit of the of his career. It's opening day. It's a good it's a big environment and he was able to to to rip one pull one that was great to see. For instance, Alvers' home was really good to see. I I need to see those. The other things, too. Two more things before hey, he's back. Two more good, all good. Keep going. Yeah. The other big things that I thought that were huge moments was um the Juan Soto. Last year we waited for Juan Soto to get a hit in a big spot. Bases were loaded. I think the game was we were still had a big lead at this point in time, but one soto was still able to get a nice go with the pitch, went left field, driving a run. I think that was big, and then Tobias Myers going through. I wasn't gave him a home run so quick, but listen, that happens. But three solid innings from Tobias Myers. Those were some huge that to me was the positive I took from this game. I know we won 11-7, but I I I don't really know if we're gonna start to like small ball the hell out of every single team. You know, Pittsburgh is awful defensively. Yes. Yeah, no doubt. No, I I think it's one of those, by the way, everything's okay. I think sometimes the emergency for the five-year old is maybe not the same emergency, yes. As it is. Yes. But hey, you can't blame me. I get that message. I'm like, all right, I'm going down. I got I gotcha. Yeah. I think everything everything was positive. What I'm noticing in the emails, and I'll read a few of these. Steven writes Bo equals DH. Put Beatty a third DH Bo. Let's go Mets. There's a lot of negativity around Bo Bachet's defense. And again, I missed the first inning. I'll rewatch a little bit of it. The only thing that happened that's really that bad was he had an offline throw to first base. And it turned out not to matter. I mean, Polanco made the play and it's still a new position for him and i think we have to at least be open to the fact that it is we can't assume it to be a finished product on day one so look i make this declaration with Met fans is, there going to be a day we where I come on the Rico where you come on the Rico and we say, look, the guy can't play third base? Possibly. Like, I'm not ruling that out. I cannot do that a day in. I haven't seen enough. I still haven't seen enough. Let's get to the grind of this season and we'll have a better idea on Bobachet's defense at third base. I I if anything, I'm I'm questioning Polanco's uh defense already because I'm sitting there going, I was always taught as a first baseman, you're you're if you're a right-handed or uh thrower and you got the glove on the left hand, your right foot is the one that you're kind of planting on on first base. I saw a lot of throws where his left foot was on first base, and I'm like , that doesn't feel like he's gonna be able to stretch very well. He's not putting himself in good positions, but that's just me. It's it's one game. We'll see if he can make really good plays. They're learning positions. Like that's why we all need to kind of come up with a date. I was doing this on the air with Trent Christian, you know, talking Yankees. Not not the talking Yankees pod, that's John Boy, but talking about the Yankees. And it was, hey, at what point would you say, all right, I don't want to watch Trent Christian anymore? I think when it comes to guys learning defense or learning a new position, there needs to be a date where we say, okay, then we'll evaluate them. I even think May 1st, which you could bring up is probably too soon. It's probably June 1st. It's probably let's re-evaluate in June. I think with Polanco, look, Bob Bachette's the third baseman. All right. You can send all the emails you want and bitch about it all you want. He's gonna be the third baseman and he's gonna be the third baseman for a while. The first base thing's a little different. That gets a little bit more complicated because Beatty is a real candidate. And I think it benefits Polanco and the Mets to actually have them DH to try to keep them healthy. There's a few other thoughts I have from this opening day, this successful opening day. My dad was telling me that the introductions were truncated. Now, I don't know this has anything to do with MBC and Peacock, but the pirates were actually never announced. And they didn't announce the full Met roster, which is what they normally do. Like they usually announce all the trainers and it becomes comical, like the dietitian and all that. They didn't do that this year. So I don't know if that had to do with MBC. I don't know if the Mets just figured there's too many names. Let's let's not do this. But yeah, the introductions were a little altered, according to my dad, who was in the building . Yeah, I didn't see them all, but I will tell you this much. The one thing that the Mets did that was really good because we were trying to figure out is it on SMY, is it gonna be on Peacock? I will say that I was able to watch it live on social media. Like they did it live on X for you. So like you were able to see it. If you didn't know what channel it was on, you could just go to X and legitimately watch the intro. So I thought that was a good job by them. Now, whether they were drunk head or not, I I literally caught when Benj got called out. So that was great. I missed a lot of it. Well, and look, you're you're working too, obviously, you're in the old spot I was in in terms of when there's an afternoon game, it's tough to really watch it. So as I'm leaving the stadium, which was not that bad, I guess people left early. Mets had a big lead, so getting out of the parking lot was not that bad. I heard getting into the parking lot was a disaster. I'll learn more over the next couple of days when I actually go to games at real times. But as I was leaving, I'm I'm listening to the postgame show. I wanted to hear what Carlos Mendoza had to say. Carson Bench sounded great. Like Carson Benge was obviously so fired up about what happened in his major league debut. What I was not aware of, and again, I don't know if TV showed this, but apparently, while Carson Benge was playing right fi eld. Two birds collided with each other. One of them, I guess, dropped dead on the grass in right field, and Bench didn't want to pick it up. The crowd started chanting, pick it up, pick it up. Benji didn't want to do it. And I guess eventually, I I don't mean to laugh because I feel bad. Like I don't want a bird to die, but this bird got picked up and Ben showed a lot of fortitude not giving in to the public pressure of the people in right field that wanted him to pick up the dead bird. I mean, not for nothing. We've all seen Randy Johnson murder a bird in real life. So, I mean, it's it this is nothing. He had nothing to do with it. It happened to die next to him. And yeah, it was the top of the fifth. Uh I the score was, I think, six-four at that point in time. And they came out with a bucket and like kind of shoveled it up. Dude, no offense to to anybody, but when there's a dead animal, I'm not the first thing is oh, just go pick it up my bare hands, like contamination, all that stuff. Like I'm not a much I'm not a germophobe for much, but for dead animals no way so but i thought that was a i thought that was a symbol i'm like oh come on this game dead bird like the the the mess up with the national anthem what else is gonna happen? Are we going to have like a weird season this ye ar? I mean, I I want a normal season. It feels like the last two years have been incredibly weird. And one thing I've learned about seasons, and certainly the last two are indicates of it or, indications of it. The first game of the season ain't gonna tell you anything. The first week of the season ain't gonna tell you anything. Now, that doesn't mean I don't want to sweep the Pirates and beat the crap out of them and sweep St. Louis. I mean, they have a chance when you look at the beginning of this season to get off to a good start. I know a lot of people love the Pittsburgh Pirates and they should be better, but the Mets are better. And the Mets should beat up on them. The St. Louis Cardinals are rebuilding right now. The Mets should beat up on them. We'll find out about the Giants. They obviously did not get off to a good start first day of the season against the Yankees, but the Mets certainly have an opportunity to bank some wins early and get off to a really good start. What I hate about opening day, there's one thing I hate besides, you know, it being a pain in the ass in terms of trying to get to. I hate the fact that there's no game on Friday. I hate the fact that we got the season back and now we have to wait. And that sucks. Like, I wish there was a Friday night game too of this series. We have to wait till Saturday afternoon, but we will. And we will get more baseball and a chance to go on a run. Now, I mentioned something about my wallet earlier. So personally, the way I handled this opening day back in the middays is that I drove to City Field at 7 a.m. with my Sunjet. I parked the car, I took the train to work, which was very adventurous because there were two women that almost got into a fist fight. That happened while we were there. So that was adventurous. I also almost lost Jet because he went through the turnstile in the subway. I then waited to go to my turn, and I was informed by Omni, it's too soon you have to wait. Meanwhile, my son's on the other freaking side. I freaked out. I don't know what to do. Luckily, the woman behind me paid for my train thing to let me get through. I was like, this woman is a savior. What I didn't realize is if I just took my credit card out, I could have done it that way, I would have been fine. So it was an adventurous situation getting to the radio station. We do the show. I duck out early. I go on Zoom trying to at least be a part of the show via the train. And then, and I had no idea when. As I'm finally getting to the stadium in the bottom of the first inning, I reach down into my pocket and I don't see my wallet. And I'm like, you know what, Evan? Don't freak out. It's probably in one of your bags. Maybe you threw it in the car because we passed our car going into the stadium and put a lot of my work bag and work stuff in there. So I was like, you know what? Don't overthink it. You don't really need your wallet. Everything's on your phone. No biggie. No biggie spot. And then all of a sudden, I'm getting phone calls that somebody, and this guy's my hero, the cousin of someone from Odyssey, found it on the floor. I guess it met's Willett's point. I guess when I was coming off the train, gave it to L I R, and luckily my wallet is safe. It's not with me, but it's safe. So damn what an experien ce. Well, I'm glad you brought it up because I wanted to, but I I felt like I didn't know if you want anybody to know about that. Because I'm not sure if you're canceling your car. Dude, you lose your wallet, you gotta cancel your credit cards, everything in the world. You just don't don't let that like slide anymore. So I'm glad it's in a safe place right now it's all protected um but yeah i got a phone call about that as well saying uh they know where it is and then they know what it's gonna be where you you can pick it up so dude i i mean you guys ran out of here so quick. I'm surprised you didn't lose your bag, to o. Yeah, but as I was running out, and I I don't know if Craig told you this story. Did you did he tell you what Jet said to him? No . What? It was one of my favorite parts of the day was I'm running out and Craig is right there, Craig Carton, for those that are not aware, and he sees Jet who we hadn't se inen like three years. I mean, we did a show together a long time ago. And he says, Jet, do you remember me? And Jet gives him this look of, eh, not really. Like Chet knows of Craig, but he probably just doesn't remember what he looks like. So he's giving him that look of he doesn't remember. And Craig's like, Come on, Craig, you don't remember. And I said, Come on, Jed, it's Uncle Craig. You don't remember him? And he looks into his eyes and says, Yeah, you just aged a