Looking Ahead to the Dodgers Series

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El Saja Boys Breakfast Meal y el Hunter X meal de la tele K-pop Demon Hunters han llegado a McDonald's. Lo están llamando la batalla por los fans. ¿Qué te parece, Rumi? No es una batalla. Nos alegramos de que nuestros Jubes, los Saya Boys, pudieron quedarse con el desayuno y nosotras con la comida del resto del día. Es un honor poder compartir con ustedes. Oh no, el honor es nuestro. El mayor honor es nuestro. Ay, mucho respeto en esta batalla. Elige O'Mill para elegir tu grupo. El McDonald's. En McDonald's participantes hasta agotar exist It's the amazing Rico Bronya Podcast with your host, Evan Roberts . Welcome to Panic City Edition of Baronia. How are y'all doing today? The New York Mets get swept by the athletics. Let's let that sink in for a second. The New York Mets were swept by the athletics. They were shut out in two of the three games. They lose as listlessly as you possibly can. One-nothing to wrap up this three game series . I think really the perfect kind of way to describe this weekend and the perfect way to describe the Met Bats was the bottom of the ninth inning against Joel Coonell. A four pitch, one, two, three. This thing's over. We don't give a crap. One, two, three inning in the bottom of the ninth inning. And let me make this clear. It's not that I don't think the Mets give a crap . I think when a baseball player takes the field, they are trying. I'm sure every single Met tried this weekend. But the problem is as fans, and you heard it with the loud booing as this series ended, and this pathetic homestead ended, it feels like you don't care. That's the way it feels. It feels when you're hacking immediately, and basically we saw Mark Vientos and Boob Bachette going after first pitches and pounding it into the ground and having that game and very quickly in the bottom of the ninth inning, it just makes you feel like, ah, let's just cut and get the hell out of here. Now that's not the case. I'm sure the players are pissed. I don't know if they're as pissed as all of us, but they're pissed. But it was it was lifeless. And so here's where I want to start with my fellow Met fans. I'm gonna start with the reality check of good and the reality check of bad before we dive very deeply into the last two games. We look at what the Mets are doing because they are calling up Tommy Fam, and we'll break down who I think will go down along with Tommy Fam coming up. We will actually find a way to name a Rico Bronya. I'm the man right now, star of the series, and picking a net negative won't be easy. But here is the broad view of this team. And I'm going to give you the good and I'm going to give you the bad. Okay ? The good is, yes, it's very early . The good is it's 16 games into the season. The good is they haven't buried themselves. The season isn't over. The sky may not necessarily have fallen on top of us. This may not be the Titanic. It is early. That's all true. And I don't think anybody could deny it. The Mets are a five-game winning streak away for making everybody feel better. And we have been around long enough, all of us, I don't care how old you are, I don't care if you're 15 years old, 35 years old, 55 years old, you're old enough to know that a baseball season can turn on a dime. The last two years are proof of that. Last year turned on a dime the wrong way after this team looked like one of the best teams in baseball until the middle of June. The year before that, we've gone through that story a million times. Not going to waste everybody's time retalking about the 24 OMG New York Mets. We know how quickly things can change. That's all true. And by the way, that's going to remain true for the next few weeks. It's April. It's early. Now, here's the bad news. The bad news is, at least for me, I've had a level of trust in the Mets over the last few years. Some of it not founded and shouldn't have had it, because we all know how last year ended. But there's been a lot of, and if you've listened to the Rico, you heard me say this even through 2024, when they were struggling, a belief in the core of the team, a belief in they're gonna score runs, a belief in they'll be okay. Maybe not okay in terms of winning a championship, but there was always a level of I know these guys. You know, I I know Brandon Nemo. I I know Pete Alonzo. And despite their flaws, I know they'll be fine. I know the team will be okay. And sometimes I haven't been rewarded with that, but I'm being honest that there have been times over the last few years where I've had that level of confidence. I look at this team and it is a collection of names. Some of the names are good . Some of the names we've watched from afar. But I don't have that same level of it's okay, everything's fine. Look at the back of the baseball card. We're good. I don't have that same level of confidence. And I don't think it's because I knew those players more because they were us. I think it's because a lot of those players would go out and play every game, and they had a consistent track record, even if the team results didn't always live up to the hype. So what I mean by that is we're going to go through the individuals. If you ask me right now, hey, don't worry about Marcus Simeon, he's going to be fine. Why would I say that? How could I say that to any of you? How can I say that right now? I don't worry about Marcus Simeon. He'll be good. Like, he's an aging ball player who's declined the last two years. So I'm not dunning Marcus Simeon. I'm not telling you he's cooked, but I'm also not gonna sit here and blindly tell you, oh, he's a veteran. It's like what Bob Murphy used to say about Bernard Gilkey. This one haunts me to this day, 1997. He'd say, Oh, don't worry about Bernard Gilkie, he'll be okay. Just look at the back of the baseball card. And then the months went on and you're like, I'm not looking at that back of the baseball card anymore. He sucks. He's cooked. And unfortunately, oddly enough, Bernard Gilke was. So when I look at Marcus Simeon, one of the key players brought in here, one of the key veterans in the remake of the 2026 New York Mets, no, I don't trust him. Sorry. You want to call that negative? Or how about just realistic? I do not trust that Marcus Simeon is going to be okay. Let's move on to Jorge Polanco. Jorge Polanco, and I know this is irrational, but sometimes it's okay to be irrational. He's the one who started the bottom of the ninth inning of game three by grounding out the second base. And I get it. He's got a bad Achilles. You talk about a guy that, was just jogging down a first base. I don't know. If it was the fourth inning, I'd probably be okay with it. If they were down by five runs, I probably would be okay with it. But it is the bottom of the ninth inning of a game in which you're losing by a run. Bust your ass. And quite frankly, if you're not healthy enough to bust your ass, don't be in the lineup . It's just the way I look at it. But let's get to Jorge Polanco . Do I trust that Jorge Polanco is going to be fine? Do I trust that despite his very slow start? He did have a home run this weekend, which was nice to see, but outside of that, did absolutely nothing. Do I trust that Jorge Polanco is going to be fine? No, I don't. Two years ago at Seattle, he was a 213 hitter who had a six fifty OPS while missing 50 games. The year before that, he missed half the season . The year before that, he missed 58 games . That's his track record. So again, I cannot blindly just say, oh, but he's a veteran, he'll be fine. There's so much talent in the room. When it comes to, and I'm just starting with those two guys, I ain't done yet. When it comes to Marcus Simeon, and it comes to Jorge Polanco, no, you're almost being delusional if you just say, Oh, don't worry, they'll be fine. I'm giving you the facts of the last three years of these guys . They haven't just been fine . So when I hear from Carlos Mendoza, or even some of my fellow Met fans, because look, I think Met fans are like politics in 2026, the extremes are way too extreme. The season isn't over , and they're also not perfectly fine, right? Those two things are not true. I love Tommy Lou Gower. I love Frank the Tank. I do. I adore both of those guys. They're like the conscience of Met fans because they're both wackly extreme. We're not okay, Tommy. And no, Frank, I love you. They don't love losing . But if we're being fair specifically about Simeon and about Polanco, I don't have faith in them. And the reason I brought up names like Pete Alonzo and Brandon Emo to start this podcast is not to compare the stats, not to talk about how they're doing right now, but it's about they were certainties . And this isn't even relitigating if they should have been back or not. I'm not doing that. I'm pointing out why last year or even the year before that, I would probably have a lot more calmness on April 12th or April 13th because I know what those guys are going to do. They would do the same thing every single year . Marcus Simi and Jorge Polanco. And I'm not done yet. Let's get to Bo Bachet. I think he's a little bit more complicated. I think overall he had a pretty good weekend. We'll get to that a little bit later on. But there's something that feels off about him. Pat Ragazzo's done a fine job covering the Mets, said that there are scouts kind of speculating that Bobachette isn't completely healthy off of the injury he had last year. That may be true. It may be the adjustment to New York, but here's the problem with Bo Bichette's adjustment to New York as he's making over $42 million a year. Unlike a lot of the other guys who have long-term deals, he's got a one-year contract or what could potentially be a one-year contract. Obviously, if he doesn't have a great year, it ain't gonna be a one-year deal. But is Bo Bachet gonna adjust, figure it out, and have a productive season this year. I think most of Bobachet's career has been the opposite of what I described earlier, the guy who's put up the pelts on the back of the baseball card, because most of his career has been that way. He has the one year where he was hurt and was very non-productive. But for the most part, Bob ette has been more of a reliable, consistent, I know what he's going to do major leaguer than the other names I mentioned, Polanco and Sime on. But I don't know. Like, am I confident that Bo Bach et is just gonna have a monstrous season? He's gonna back up the numbers he had last year where he was so clouched with the runners in scoring position. I'll say that I have more confidence in him than I do Simeon. I have more confidence in him than I do Polanco, but no, I'm not bristling with confidence . It is early . And he could very well have a great year. But a part of why, when I shut that TV off Sunday afternoon and let this thing marinate for the next few hours, including spending an hour at the Verizon store as I stood there looking to return my phone. I'm returning my phone. Why I have to wait for someone to come over to me? Can't I just dump it somewhere? I'm sorry. But that was part of my Sunday. And as I'm marinating on this team and this weekend and moving forward , I have trouble remaining just confident in guys who have never done dick for any of us . It's a struggle, but I'll tell you the bigger struggle, more so than even Polanko and Simeon and Bichette. And no, it's not Lindor, but I'll get to him in a few minutes. It's the young guys. If the Mets are going to have success this year, if this offense is going to be either as good as it was last year, which I didn't was good enough, but as good as it was last year, or it's going to make a jump, you know what they need? They need Mark Vient os and Brett Beatty and Carson Bench. We call them the young guys. We need the young guys to produce . Carson Benge is a rookie. I thought he had some positive moments in this series despite making two errors. A great diving catch that saved Freddie Peralta. He had a couple of hits. But how about Brett Beatty ? What did Brett Beatty exactly do in this series? He went O for eight. Mark Vientos. Mark Vientos, after that week in which it felt like he was taking back the first base job, he puts up an old for seven. Mark Vientos hasn't had a hit in what feels like a week . And I think I speak for a lot of Met fans, and I'm sorry, I've been a part of it, where we're hopeful and we believe in this guy, and he's gotta play. He sucks. He's great. He sucks. He's great. I am getting whiplash from the emotional changes around watching Brett Beatty and Mark Vientos . Now is go time . They need these two guys more than they've ever needed them. It felt like over the last few years they were important, but not as important as they are right now, where both guys are basically being asked to be every single day players . And when you look at the lack of offense this weekend against the A's, they are the faces of it . If you're gonna have success. L'ets use 202 4 as an example. When the Mets had success in 2024, ask yourself, how did it happen? And there's a lot of things that contributed to it. There's a lot of things that caused the success to happen , but one of the huge things was Mark Vient os becoming a rock star . Mark Vientos becoming a slugger. You need young players to contribute . These young players, specifically Vientos, Beatty, and I will include Carson Benj, you want to throw Ronnie Mauricio in there, fine, throw him in there too. They have done nothing . At least on this homestand, they have done nothing. And unfortunately, we're not in some luxurious time to say, okay, send Vientos down. Uh, he's not out of options, number one, and number two , they need them. Lifelock, how can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't. One in four taxpaying Americans has paid the price of identity fraud. What do I do? My refund though. I'm freaking out. Don't worry, I can fix this. Life lock fixes identity theft guaranteed and gets your money back with up to three million dollars in coverage. I'm so relieved. No problem. I'll be with you every step of the way. One in four was a fraud-paying American. Not anymore. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifel og.com slash podcast. Terms apply . Wishing you could be there live for the big game, soaking up the atmosphere of the crowd , but too often life gets busy or the price holds you back. Pricel ine is here to help you make it happen. With millions of deals on flights, hotels and rental cars, you can go see the game live. Don't just dream about the trip. Book it with Priceline. Download the Priceline app or visit Priceline.com. Actual prices may vary. Limited time offer . Right now when, you look at this roster, especially with Ju Soto out, but even more than that, just look at the roster . They need them and they have to step up . We've said for a while, it's crap or get off the pot time. I mean, right now, unfortunately, we're drowning with them. We're drowning with them . They're as big a culprits for the LD offense that we saw in this series, and we certainly saw on Sunday as anybody . Now let's get to Lindor . I am not concerned about Francisco Lindor slumping in April because he does it. He does it a lot. Not every year, but most years. Francisco Lindore is a slow starter. The numbers have always shown us that. We are almost used to it. And instead of over exaggerating that , the concern, the real concern, and I I can't figure it out, I guess I could throw theories out there like the rest of us, is why he's playing with his head up his ass. That I can't figure out. And look, offensively, Lindor showed a pulse in the final game of this series. He did have two hits. He did have a base hit to start the game. Unfortunately, he was dead to rights on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play in which Polanco K ade and Lindor was I I don't even think that was head up your ass. That was just he got no jump. He wasn't running to steal a base. It was almost uh Jorge better make contact because I ain't stealing this base. Meanwhile Lindor stole thirty bases every year. We know he's capable of it . So he's showing a little bit of a pulse offensively. We'd like to see some power. We'd like to see him drive an effing run in , but that will come. It always comes. And so I'm not gonna be irrational or foolish about Lindor's offensive struggles. But the head up your ass baseball is weird, man. It's just weird and it started uh two weeks ago I guess in St. Louis with him forgetting how many outs there were after the rain delay. I mean that was just it was mind-boggling . It was mind-boggling. And we talked about it and we all railed on it. It made no sense, especially when you're starting a game. Like to forget how many outs there are in the bottom of the first inning makes zero sense. But it happened. And it's happened again. We see that double play ball on Saturday, in which Kodai Sango was terrible, and we'll get to him a little bit later on. But you have a ground ball in the second inning off the battle, Lawrence Butler, that at least would have kept that game at one and one . Not the end of the world. And Lindor is racing behind Marcus Simeon, almost to back him up, almost as if he doesn't think Simeon is gonna feel that baseball. Simeon does, and there's nobody covering second base . And this is just the latest example of Lindor being stupid on the baseball field. And that's a weird thing to say because he's not a stupid ball player. He's a smart ball player. And so I I give you two theories. I don't believe in any of them, but I'm gonna tell it to you anyway, because I wish I had an answer. One theory comes from our guy, Dan, uh, who is a great Met fan, archivist of the Rico Bronya and Evident Tiki, who suggests that he is not handling the demo of not being the leader and this being Juan Soto's team very well. In fact, I'll read uh an email Dan sent, not even recently, excuse me, but at the beginning of the year, in which he talked about how different Juan Soto was sounding. And because of that, made him think, how will Francisco Lindor handle it? This is February 15th, 2026. From Dan. Anyone get the feeling Juan Soto looks and sounds a thousand times more comfortable up there at the podium? It's almost giving me the sense that this might really start becoming his team as it should be. Now that the core has been nuked, it's gonna be even more of an interesting dynamic with Lindor if Soto really becomes the guy and basically takes his team away from him. I always felt Lindor would be a better sidekick, but getting him to embrace that role, especially with a guy he reportedly doesn't get along with and not be butthurt about it, might be a different story. So that's what Dan wrote back in February. And so his theory is Lindor's quote unquote butthurt by the fact that Juan Soto's become the leader of the team? To great theory, I don't buy it for a second. I don't think a guy making $30 million a year who, sure maybe fancied himself as the captain of the team, but is a very good baseball player, all of a sudden is saying, I'm going to do dumb things on the field because I'm annoyed Ju oto has essentially become the leader of the team . So I don't buy it. The other theory, and I'll ask Tiki about this uh during Evan and Tiki, because this one maybe makes more sense, is that when Tim Leaper sent Lindor home at the end of the Pittsburgh Series. Was that the Pittsburgh? Yeah. The Pittsburgh Series. Game two of the Pittsburgh Series. So we're talking about the second game of the season when Soto hit that double and Lindor was thrown out at the plate . It was vicious contact between him and the catcher . And so the theory going around by some Met fans, I've read it certainly in my email box, is that he suffered an undiagnosed concussion. And believe it or not, I think I buy that one a hell of a lot more than the idea he's butthurt about Ju Soto being the leader of the team. But here's what's crazy, especially for anybody listening right now saying, hey, why does there have to be a theory? Like why are you trying to come up with a reason for why Lindor has done one, two, three, four dumb things on a baseball field over the first 15 g ames. The reason people do that , the reason I'm even entertaining that is because it's so not him . Like Carlos Mendoza was asked about this. And on Friday, he pissed me off. I guess it's one of the negatives of the drive home Rico. I did a drive home after Friday's loss. And I said point blank, Lindor made a horrible base running decision by getting picked off third base. And Mendy dec ided to defend it, saying it was the right baseball play. I thought I'd morphed into watching Aaron Boone . Why are we defending it ? It was not a smart baseball play, Mendy. But all right, you know what? Carlos wants to defend his player. He learned that in the school of Boone. Whatever.. Okay It doesn't even matter . But then after the non-double play on Saturday, Mendy even wondered aloud, yeah, it's unorthodox. I don't know what's going on with him. So we are noticing a pattern for whatever reason that Francisco Lindor, in conjunction with not hitting, has made a few just weird plays . And this is what happens when you're really good. When you're really good, we don't expect you to do these things. We don't expect you to get picked off third base. We don't expect you to forget how many outs there are. We don't expect you to be fiddling with your bat and gloves and get picked off first base. We don't expect you to make a play where you're backing up Marcus Simeon as opposed to covering second so that your team could potentially turn a double play that maybe changes to trajectory of that game . I do have a sort of joke about what maybe Lindor was thinking about when he didn't cover second base on Saturday. Maybe he's just not used to a good defender at second. Maybe he forgot and thought Jeff McNeil was still at second base. Meanwhile, how can I even make that joke? Jeff McNeil shoved it up our ass this weekend. All the way around. He made good plays defensively. Even when he bobbled one in game three, he still recovered and made the play. And he had more hits than anybody else. Had six hits over the three games against the Mets. Had a huge weekend . But it is very difficult to under stand why a usually smart baseball player, a usually buttoned-up baseball player is doing a lot of dumb things. And the crazy part is we do forget these guys are human. And so it could very well be something that none of us could imagine because it's something else that's going on that has nothing to do with Ju Soto being a leader or an undiagnosed concussion or anything of that nature . But here's the truth, and Lindor knows this because he says it to us over and over and over again. He says, I need to be better . You damn effing right you need to be better . You may not get the C on your chest, but until Juan Soto walks back on a baseball field, you're the best player on the team. Act like it . You're the best player on the team, play like it . See, I trust Lindor . Unlike all those other names I mentioned, Bo Bach et, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Simeon, Mark Vientos, Brett Bay, go up and down the list. There's different levels of non-trust with all of those guys. I trust Lindore . Because for the same reason I'm negative about Mark Simeon or negative about Jorge Polanco, it's because they have a track record. I'm just describing it and saying, hey, you can't just write down the numbers and expect them to be there. Look at their last three or four seasons. Lindor has a track record, and he goes out and he plays every game, and his numbers will eventually get there. It's frustrating if it's going to take him, you know, a a month and a half of crappy baseball excuse me before he heats up and it gets there . But he has shown us enough times he will get there . But the process of getting there is a pain in the ass . And they need them to wake up. I mean, you look up and down this lineup. I'm looking at it. It's everybody . It's literally everybody. Carson Benja's a rookie. He's still hitting 130. He needs to be better. Marcus Simeons under the Mendoza line, Mendoza line. And like I mentioned, his last two years have been crappy. Yeah, Jared Young batting third, which second time in this series we saw that. You know, Luis Terenz and Tyrone Taylor gave him some of the better at bats in game three of this series. So it is a top-to-bottom problem right now with this LD offense. And that is the problem more than anything else. It is the offense. So I got like 40% of my emails saying Mendy's gotta go , Mendy's gotta go, Mendy's a small town manager, Mendy sucks, Mendy this, Mendy that. By the way, Mendy's not done a good job and he's pissed me off half the time. But what is he supposed to do with this Lymptech offense ? I apologize. What is he supposed to do with this LD offense? All those guys we mentioned, they have to hit . And we can fiddle around with the lineup, and I have ideas. But top the bottom, these guys need to wake the F up . Because what they got shut down by , the A's pitching. Look, I like the A's. When we did our Rico predictions before the season started, I had them as a playoff team, but I certainly have a as them up have them as a playoff team because I thought Aaron Savali was going to shut them out. Or JT Ginn was going to shut them out . Or Mark Leiter was going to come into every game and shut him out. Or Joel Coonell was going to come into every game and shut him out . I mean they have gotten shut down. Let's be honest. They have gotten shut down by garbage pitching . That's the reality. That's just let's keep it 100 . Garbage pitching. They're gonna face Yamamoto in LA. He's actually good. They're gonna face Otani in LA. He's actually good. So when I hear, well, we got to tip our hat. Yeah, we got to tip our hat. We got it. No, no, there's no tipping your hat to the embarrassment that this offense gave over the weekend against the Ace . Now let's break down some of these games. Let me get to the let me start with game two. I'm actually gonna go in chronological order. If you want to hear more about game one, go back to episode 668. We did a Rico drive home. So I was about to tweet this. I'm so glad I didn't because I would have gotten so much crap from you animals. But after Kodai Sangha took a dump on the mound and imploded the way he did, giving up the two-run home run to Tyler Solderstrom, giving up the three-run home run to the former Met farmhand Carlos Cortez, and he led a game in which he was given an early lead, slip away completely, and it became seven-one . I was at this game with my youngest son Spence and we went inside, got him some ice cream, and I had this epiphany at 7-0-1 . I said, they're going to win this game . I honestly thought they were going to win this game. And I'll tell you why. I thought they were going to win this game because when Was gar Brazzaban came in and did the yeoman's work that he did of throwing two and two-thirds scoreless innings, that's formula number one for how you make a big comeback . Keep it right there . And I thought the Mets offensively, for as bad as they've been, will have that one game with a wake up. And why not this one? Well, they showed a pulse early against Jacob Lopez. They got a run against him in the first inning on that Bobachette RBI single. And it's just so baseball. I'm a I'm very big, that's baseball kind of guy, like when you least expect things, that's usually when it happens, good and bad. And so it's 7-01 on a cold day at City Field with the crowd all pissy. I just had this weird feeling they were going to come back . And unfortunately, in the bottom of the third inning, when they had a chance to immediately respond to the crooked number the A's put up, they came up small in a big spot. Specifically Mark Vientos after Bo Bachet walked, swings at the first pitch and flies out the left field. You know where I was at that point? I think I was I eating the ice cream at that point. Or he was eating the ice cream at that point. I'll tell you, when you take a five-year-old to a game, it's an odyssey. Like I there there's Kitty Field, there's eating the ice cream, there 's all sorts of crap going on. Tax Act knows filing taxes can be confusing. 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Short circuiting that sixth inning rally. Then Polanco hits a home run. Third home run of the game. Third home run in three straight innings. It's a seven -six game . And the two moments where they failed on this incredible opportunity to come back and get themselves a signature win was number one after the Polanco home run putting that rally together and having Carson Benge and Marcus Simeon fail with a big opportunity to tie the game. Place was electric. The let's go. Met's chance were allow.ed I was back in the seat at this point . Failed opportunity right there. And then you obviously have the Luke Weaver situation in the eighth inning. And this is another example where as much as Carlos Mendoza will drive me nuts with some of the moves he makes, he didn't do anything wrong here. I thought he managed, you know, after Senga crapped the bed, and he now had to go to his bullpen as early as he did . I thought he did a great job. Gets Brazebon in, gets those last two outs, gets two and two-thirds out of him, goes to Brooks Rayleigh. We see the debut of Craig Kimbrell, who does a fine job. Luke Weaver for the second straight game craps the bed . And it was frustrating, man, because there were two outs and a runner on first. And when he walked Nick Kurtz, that was where things went to hell. Falls behind Langale 's, gives up the base hit to him. And then why not? Let the let the whole game just be lit on fire with Sodestrum hitting his second home run of the game. But that was just a failure by one of the key guys that David Stearns brought in in Luke Weaver. Second straight game, in which he crapped the bed. Can't blame it on bad defense anymore, Kenyon. Some of you Met fans did. Oh, it's Beatty. He's a schmuck. He can't make that play in right field. How about Luke Weaver not give up a ball that's a home run in five ballparks out of 30? How about that? How about him not giving up a ball that bounces off the warning track. How about that idea ? And Luke heard it from the crowd, and I I'm sorry. I I know there's this debate sometimes between Met fans about booing and not booing and should you boo? Can you boo? Look , when you're in the building and it's cold and you're frustrated and you've dropped a lot of money, I get why people boo. I do not boo. I am not saying that because I'm better than you. I'm not. I'm defending those who boo, even though I don't boo. It's like uh I defend you to protest, even if I hate your protest. I don't know if that's a good comp, but whatever. But I get it. I get why people boo. And Luke Weaver heard it. And I think what some of these Met players have to understand , Luke Weaver wasn't just hearing the booze. Yes, it was for him in that he gave up four runs in one inning and let a close game slip away. But right now, when guys get booed, I want everyone to understand this: it's everybody getting booed. And it starts at the top. Starts at David Stearns. David Stearns is getting mooed . When Met fans are displeased with what they're watching, it's everybody who's going to hear it. So when the game three ended on a week round out, it wasn't Bo Bach et hearing it. It was everybody hearing it. But what a buzzkill. The Mets fight back from 7-1 down. They make it seven six. If you're in that ballpark, you probably think they're gonna come back and win. And Luke Weaver in the top of the eighth inning sets the entire game on fi re. Brutal . Brutal. But I want to give credit to the heroes that almost made that comeback possible. Was car Brazaban, Brooks Rayleigh, Craig Kimbrell did a very good job out of the bullpen cleaning up the mess made by Kodai Sangha. I have been a Kodai Sangha defender . Kodai Senga needs to step it up because he is on high alert too. It is not just David Peterson, it is everybody. The Mets have options. Sean Maniah, we'll get more into him in a little bit. Pchit great out of the bullpen on Sunday. He is a threat . Tobias Myers, if they so want, will be a threat. Christian Scott will be a threat. Weninger , a threat. Tong, a threat . Like the Mets should not be waiting around for anybody. I don't care how much money you make. I don't care how much potential you have. So I'm not pulling Kodai Senga out of the rotation, not doing that, but I'm letting it be known he's on high alert. In fact, right now, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, you're both on high alert . You're not guaranteed anything. Let Shaw Mani and the bullpen be proof. It does not matter how much money you make. It does not matter what's on your resume. You are not immune to being sent to the bullpen . So Kodai Senga's next start better be better . Because that was a non-competitive mess. The only thing I'll give Singer credit for is in the very first inning of this game, he gives up that base hit to Lawrence Butler to start the game. And Carson Bench, who did not have, he had a very up and down defensive weekend. He had some bad moments and he had some great moments when we get to game three, obviously. Boots the ball, first play of the game, boots it, and put Senga in this runner-on second, nobody out jam, and then eventually a runner on third one out jam. And he was able to get the big strikeout of Shea Lang Galiers before getting the final out. But after that, he was dis he was a disaster. And that was with an extra day of rest . His last start before that was on regular rest, and it was okay. Now, does one thing have to do with the other? I don't put a lot of stock in it . But his next start that he will make will be with an extra day of rest. I mentioned this before. The way the schedule falls, he's not going to have to make another start on four days' rest, also known as regular rest for a few more weeks. But he sucked. He was terri ble. Two and a third innings, eight hits, seven runs, which is abnormal for this team because if you look up and down at the kinds of starts they've gotten this season, they've actually mostly been good. Six innings, one run from Freddie, two and a third, seven from Kodai, five and a third, one from home, six and two thirds, two from Nolan McLean, all on this homestand. Five innings, five from Peterson was mediocre, four and two thirds innings, three runs from Peralta. He was better than that final line. Five and two thirds innings, two runs, seven innings, no runs, five and a third, two runs. Like you see, like they haven't had a lot of these horror starts. And that was a horror start by Kodai Sangha. And so you're on high alert. You're gonna go to Wrigley Field on a Friday afternoon. You better hope the wind isn't blowing out . But there were positive things out of Saturday's loss: the bullpen effort and the offense showing a pulse. But remember what your mom or dad taught you. Momentum is as good as the next day's start ing pitcher . And the New York Mets, I guess, I mean Aaron Savali. They ran into Aaron Savali. What can you do? Give me a freaking break. They couldn't hit Aaron Savali. So they take the good will of showing some fight, showing some gumption , showing like maybe the offense is going to break out. And they answer it by getting four hit by Savali, Harris, Barlow, Alvarado, and Cunel . I mean, an absolutely dreadful offensive performance on Sunday. They had an opportunity in the first inning. Bobichette came up with a runner on second and two outs after Soto ran in, or I should say Lindore ran into the strike em out, throw 'em out, double play. He strikes out, and after that, I mean Aaron Savali was just cruising . Do you know the next time the Mets had a runner and scoring position? Next time they had a runner and scoring position was in the sixth inning of this game after Lindor came through with a base hit and they were set up with first and second for Jorge Polanco in the bottom of the sixth inning. And that inning went nowhere. Now let's find out why that inning went nowhere. So Lindor gets the hit, second hit of the game. This followed Luis Torrenz having a great at-bat. And say what you want about Luis Torrenz. He'll never hit for a high average. He'll never have a great OPS, but he will put together quality at-bats. And he gave that to you to start the sixth inning. An eight pitch at bat, rips a base hit to right field, leadoff man on . Tyrone Taylor pops up. By the way, you're gonna think I'm nuts. I would have bunted with Tyrone Taylor for all the bunting that we've heard about with the Mets, they're working on it. We've seen a few guys try to lay him down. Why not? Like, why the hell not? You're down one-nothing. Your offense has been extra limpy. You got the top of the order coming up. Why the hell not? Taylor ends up popping up the second base. Lindor gets a hit. You got Polanco with first and second. He grounds out. Thank God it turned it didn't turn into a double play. And now we get the chess match . Because at this point, Mark Kotze says, I'm taking Aaron Savali out with 75 pitches, and I'm going to go to a lefty to face Jared Young. Which I thought was curious because it is clear that Mendoza's going to pinchhead for Jared Young. Clear as day . Jared Young is not going to face a left-handed pitcher. And credit to Jared Young, by the way. I know we've all mocked the fact that we've seen Carlos Mendoza bat him third. And while I don't love him batting third, I think a lot of that is an indictment on the lineup more than it is Jared Young, who's been productive. I've criticized the usage of Jared Young, but I also need to be fair. He's actually been a relatively productive Met. With that said, he's one for two, but there's a lefty coming in. And you have yourselves really three options on your bench. Let's go through the options, why don't we? You've got Luis Robert Jr., Francisco Alvarez, and Mark Vientos . Now here's what we know . We know that someone has to come in and play first base . So, Francisco Alvarez, not really that option. And the odds are you're not l etting him stay in the game behind the play to move Teren ce to first base. So Alvarez probably loses a little bit of appeal just based on the versatility. But keep this in mind about Fran cisco Alvarez, and this probably needs to be the number one thing on your mind when you're making this decision. He's hit four home runs this season . He actually has a good batting average. He's actually one of the guys. And remember earlier I mentioned the young guys who they need to step up. I didn't include him in that. You want to know why? Because he's actually been good . So if we're judging this based on, you know, guys who are capable. Alvarez is towards the top of the list. Okay, but we see the negativity. The negativity is you're going to have to use another player, another one in that list, to then come in and play first base. Option number two, again, if we're ranking it based on the way the guys are performing, is Luis Robert Jr. Luis Robert Jr., for all the crap moves that David Stearns has made thus far, if we're judging it through 16 games, Luis Robert Jr.'s been fantastic . Seems like a good choice . Mendoza revealed after the game that for whatever reason, I guess this is the doctor's view . Luis Robert Jr. was not available to play the field. They would only use him as a bullet. Okay . As much as you may disagree with that, here's a bullet opportunity. It's the sixth inning, and your LD offense has done nothing. And you've got two on and two out. So it kind of seems like if you're going to use the one bullet, this doesn't feel like the worst time to use said bullet am I wrong your third option is mark vientos mark vientos who yes, and don't say that we as Met fans are flip-flopping or we're moving in the wind. No, we're responding the way a guy plays, was playing great, deserved a chance to play, and lately he has done nothing to the point where the Mets are treating him like a platoon player, right? He doesn't even start against righties . So do you use Vientos ? Do you use Robert Jr.? Do you use Alvarez? I'm even not going to mention Mauricio because he's not an option from the right side. Wouldn't you agree that if you're just going based on I don't know, the last week, the way guys are swinging the bats , Vientos is probably your last option . He is. It's fine. He is. Just based on performance, based on what's happened recently. And yet that's the guy Carlos Mendoza uses. He goes to Mark Vientos, who after one pitch, flies out the right field. Do you go to Francisco Alvarez, who said four home runs the most on the team? Nah. Nah. Do you go to Luis Robert Jr. who is you can only use him for one bullet? You want to use him in this spot as the bullet? Nah, nah, we can't do that. Why? Because you need to save a player , those two guys never even got in the game anyway. So if you used Alvarez or Robert Jr. and then had to go to Vientos to play first base , fine . Okay, you could have done that. I thought that was a mistake . Why vient os over Alvarez and Robert Jr.? The only answer, the only answer would be that, well, I don't want to have to use two guys. That would be your only answer. And quite frankly, it's not a good answer. Because the decision needs to be made based on who gives you the best chance to come through in that moment. And the answer right now was not and is not Mark Vientos . With that said, did the Mets have to go down one, two, three in the seventh inning? They did not. Did they have to go down meekly in the eighth inning. Sands a two-out walk by Tyrone Taylor that featured a really good challenge. No. And did they have to have arguably one of the most embarrassing one, two, three bottom of the ninth innings you'll ever see? A five pitch. Well, I'm sorry, I apologize. A four pitch, one, two, three bottom of the ninth inning. No, that didn't have to happen either . But go back to the sixth inning. That decision by Carlos Mendoza was a very bad decision . And of course, it leads to this one nothing loss. Wasting. Wasting . A gutty effort by Freddie Peralta , wasting three perfect scoreless innings from Sean Minaia. And those two things I just mentioned are legitimate positives. And I will give it its time of day. Freddie Peralta came here to be an ace. What is an ace in 2026? I don't know. We could debate that amongst ourselves. But the bottom line was: while it wasn't easy and he had to throw a lot of pitches and he got bailed out by great defense from Carson Benge in the top of the fourth inning. Freddie Peralta went six innings and he allowed one run . In 2026, that's an ace-like performance. And he got rewarded with nothing for that. Sean Mania comes in in the seventh inning, and I think for the first time, looked dominant. You know, his other performances have been shaky . And it isn't even just about velocity because I think his velocity was kind of in that same area. He got swing and misses. He just looked good. He looked very, very good. And he gave it three scoreless . And he kept them in the game and allowed the offense every opportunity to wake up and do something, and it did nothing . Anyhow, you know, I'll tell you one thing. When the Mets start winning, that's right, I'm gonna say when. When the Mets start winning, you could celebrate your highlights with Mio Sparkling Sake, a true crowd pleaser, light, bubbly, easyy to enjo, whether you're at City Field or your favorite spot, ask for Mio sparkling sake by name, a new tradition served chilled, imported from Japan, the official sake of Rico Brunha. Enjoy responsibly. How you feeling, Hoff? I know you want a nice little drink of sake. Make yourself feel better after a brutal sports weekend. Oh, dude, no question about it. Um, whether it's the sake, whether it's the Chuhai, I could use something uh very strong right now because this is as and it's funny because I'm actually more optimistic I think than most other people because at this moment like I don't think they're this bad. Like, I don't think they're a great team, but they're not this bad. Like, this is bad. This is like 40 win bad team. They're not this bad. Even me, even for a pessimistic person like myself. So, like that idea is like it's gonna turn around, people are gonna start hitting. But you're right, there's a lot of bad moves going around on there's a lot of guys not hitting, and a lot of people don't deserve playing time. So who are you supposed to pick and choose not to play when they all suck? Yeah, that's that's the funny part about Jared Young batting third, because it it jumps out at you and it happened on Friday for the first time, and then it obviously it happened again on Sunday. There aren't a lot of great options. You know, right now you look at the lineup and say, okay, they got to shake it up. All right. Well, what would you do? Like, how exactly would you shake up a lineup that features more guys than not just not performing. There's no easy answer to that. No, there's not. And again, like, you know, not for nothing. I I'm still a little deterred that the fact that they called the Mauricio and he did get one game to play, but like he hasn't been in the lineup. Not saying he's gonna be so much different, but like what's the point of calling him up? I mean the one day he was in the lineup, he was dreadful. Yeah, but then one day he was called upon for a pinch hit, he delivered. Like, I mean, we need some sort of spark, no? Well, the Mets are trying a few things. They've made a couple of roster moves. In fact, they've made a roster move every day for the last three days. It started with Dickie Lovelaying being DFA'd on Saturday and Craig Kimbrell being called up. That's not a surprise. I think we've been expecting it for a while. I'm pissed about that. Can I tell you why? Okay . I put out a a tweet before the season started saying over under that Dickie Love Lady would be would be optioned in DFA'd before April 10th. I'm taking the under. They optioned him April 11th. It's like a s it's like a jab to me. Like it was a direct blow. I mean, come on. I was I'm surprised he lasted this long. I thought he was gonna be DFA. Yeah, I was surprised by that. And then I was a little surprised by the Luis Garcia DFA. Now, Mendy, um, Mendy, David Stearns has done this a few times where he's admitted a wrong on a minor free agent signing by DFing a guy early. We saw that with Joey Wendell back in 2024. But I was surprised how quick they went to getting rid of Luis Garcia and they called up Joey Gerber. But the latest move is that Tommy Pham is being called up. And as of this recordinging, we are do this Rico Brunia Sunday night. Will Salmon have the report that they were calling up Tommy Fan? There has not been word on a move in which of who they will send down. Uh there are two guesses in my mind. Number one is Ronnie Mauri cio , to your point. Like if he's not going to play and he barely has, and there isn't really a role for him on this team right now, he would be the logical position player to go down , but the other option is to actually send a pitcher down. And we haven't seen a lot of teams do this, but you are allowed to carry 12 pitchers instead of 13. You can't carry 14 pitchers, like there's a max rule in terms of pitchers that you can carry, but you actually can go 12 and 14. You can do that. Uh, and because the Mets feature multiple guys who eat a lot of innings in their bullpen, specifically Shaw Mania and Tobias Myers, they're probably equipped to do that if they so choose. And because they have an off day coming up on Thursday and they've done a their bullpen is relatively fresh. I mean, I'm thinking about it. On Sunday's game, it was just Mania . Devin Williams warmed up but never got into the game. Right. And so, yeah, you used a bunch of guys on Saturday, Brazobon, Rayleigh, Kimbrell, Weaver, but figure they'll all be already on Monday . So honestly, you're talking about a really fresh bullpen and you only play three more times before you take the off day on Thursday. So technically, uh, you could just say, hey, uh, we don't need that extra pitcher, the Joey Gerber of the world who got called up. You don't need him for those three games before the Mets go to Chicago. And then even on the way back, they have another off day. So considering the multiple off days that they have . They could send down Joey Gerber, but my my guess is it'll probably be Ronnie Mauricio and Tommy Fam's gonna come up here. And, you know, I know what the jokes are. Maybe he'll punch somebody in the face, and that'll spark the team . Yeah, that's great. Something. Because because something needs to change here. And the one thing about fam , and I'm not saying that he is by any means um a spark plug, but he does seem to hold people accountable and does open his mouth when need be. And he kind of called out people for not really, you know, putting themselves out there and working hard. And that's one thing. And hear me out here, okay? I think that's part of the problem with Lindore right now. Not that he's working hard or working less or whatever the case is. I don't think he's up to speed with Marcus Simeon. I think he's used to playing with somebody else on the side of him in the past few seasons, even when it was Jose Iglesias, but still when it was Jeff McNeil or Beatty or somebody else, that he was telling them what to do. I don't think he's comfortable yet with Marcus Semian. And that's what's showing. I think that's the confusion right there. It's this was an awful defense by the two of them. Yeah, for for everyone who believes in team chemistry and thinks it's a big deal, and I'm, you know, I've always been more on the side if it's overrated, but I'm not being sarcastic. I'm entertaining this thought. Then why wouldn't it take time for a team that features so many new players to develop said chemistry, including the double play combo of Francisco Lindor and Marcus Simeon. So it's certainly a fine theory. Um I like that I like that Stearns by the way, I hate starting a sentence that begins with I like that Stearns, because honestly, I'm as pissed off at David Stearns as everybody else is. I'm holding back mainly because it's just not fair to diagnose decisions on April 15th. Right. But I I made clear how I felt about some of the players they let go during the offseason, early in the offseason. But I also think it's stupid and unhealthy to bitch about it on April 12th. But can you can you can you sit there and bitch about Mendoza though? Because I don't think it's Mendoza's fault either. No, no, I I just did bitch about Mendoza. I bitched about the decision to use Mark Vientos for Jared Young. I mean, I didn't like that move at all. I thought it was stupid. I'm talking about in general , look, the team president, the general manager, whatever you want to call him, like he built this roster, and we will certainly be able to know at some point if it was good decisions or bad decisions. It is foolish of us on April 21th to decide if they were foolish or not. So that's why I'm holding back. I'm not holding back because I'm a nice guy. I'm holding back because it's April 12th, because it's stupid. Like I've seen enough baseball to know that diagnosing decisions, good or bad, good or bad, like the good of Luis Robert Jr., the bad of everything else, deciding that the second week of April is dumb. So I want people to understand that's why I'm not lambasting them right now. I I will at the appropriate time. I did early in the offseason for the moves I didn't like. I certainly made clear what I liked and I didn't like, but I think we also need to remember it is baseball. But let me get back to where I was going to compliment him sort of. I like the fact that he doesn't F around with these rosters early in seasons. I do. I like the fact that he says , okay, this team sucks right now. I gotta try something. Because the Tommy Fam thing kind of came out of nowhere, and I'll tell you why. When David Stearns met the media on Friday and he was brought up or it was brought up to him about calling Tommy Fam up . He acted like it was not a guarantee he was ever going to come up. So I think the way this team played over the weekend, I think was a hey, I got to do something. Ryan Clifford isn't ready. So I'm not calling him up. There's no one else from the minor leagues necessarily that's ready that's going to make a difference. So let me just bring this pain in the ass veteran who we've had before, even if David wasn't here for it. Let me put him in the mix. Let me see what happens. And also the Mets are facing a lefty on Monday in Los Angeles. That's the only lefty they're gonna face for a while. So it would not surprise me if Tommy Fam's thrown right in there. Like I, you know what, Tommy, you're up here. Go heat uh go hit uh Robles ky . So I like the fact that he he's at least doing things, even if they're minor of nature. Uh we're going to pick a Rico on the man right now, star of the series in a net negative, but let me get to a lot of your emails. I'm going to try to read a bunch of them because you can imagine there's a lot of opinions. The Rico B at gmail.com . Evan, I love the podcast. I was wondering about your take on Mendy's decision to play Terence in today's game, Sunday's game, instead of Alvarez. The offense is clearly in a slump and not playing the superior offensive player on a day that Luis Robert Jr. already isn't playing seems stupid to me, especially taking into consideration that he homered yesterday. Let's hope the Mets have better luck in LA. This is from Abe . Yeah, so here's what I thought . I never complain about Luis Terence being in a lineup because A, I think he's so good defensively, and B, I think he will at least give you quality at bats. What I thought Mendy could have done and should have done was DH'd him. That would have been my answer. Because he's already done that once now with Alvarez DH'ing. I get the um the risk that you bring by doing that because if something happens to Terenz, or even if you want to pinch it for Terence late in the game, you're going to lose the designated hitter. But I thought that was an option. And either Jorge Polanco plays first base or, Jorge Polanco doesn't play. Now, Polanco's coming off a game in which he hit a home run too, so I'd prefer him to play. But I think that would have been what I would have done . Uh, let's go to uh Eric writes. Full disclosure, I'm a Yankee fan, but I promise not one who listens in when the Mets are playing poorly, especially when my team's offense is just as bad, if not worse. I followed you from the fan and always appreciate your insights and breakdowns. I appreciate it. One thing that needs to be said, and by the way, I don't mind hearing from a Yankee fan, especially with the way he prefaced it. He's going to give us an IBO opinion, and sometimes that's good for us . Because right now, as raging ludic Met fans, maybe it's best to hear an IBO. One thing that needs to be said right off the bat is when Juan Soto is not in the lineup, it's like when Aaron Judge isn't the in lineup , it's having a completely different offense. Having a generational offense of talent is a blessing, but when they're hurt, it's glaring. So I think that's a significant reason for this current anemic offense. However, one term that's used often and has plagued both New York teams the past few seasons is clutch. When Stearns brought in all these players this offseason, the one player I could label clutch confidently was Bo Bachet. It just seems to me that we're seeing just how valuable 1 30 plus RBIs is to an offense. And when you're replacing power with contact editors, boy, do you need to make sure they're clutch. And early on, they simply aren't. Ronnie writes, hey Evan, I don't mean email a lot, but when I do, it's usually something witty, like when I mentioned your background being a blank dark wall after Pete Alonso went to the Orioles. That's true. It was a weird coinciden ce, but it was true. But now as each game goes on, it's becoming increasingly difficult to even find humor in any of this. I'm thirty five years old, so I first understood what baseball was around seven or eight when following since 1997. Obviously, I've seen some exciting moments, but we all know there aren't many. When I get most discouraged are the waves of success we have, which we all think will be followed by greater success. C2000 into 01, 06 into 7 and 8, arguably most notable would be 24 into 25. I continue to lose trust in this organization. I'm losing trust in the moves they make. I felt pretty good coming into this offseason once Stearns finally pieced things together, but I'm afraid that vision isn't panning out either. So how can one feel good about the future? I fear another playoff drought is underway. If in two thousand six when Beltron struck out, you told me we wouldn't get back into the postseason until twenty fifteen, I really don't know how much I would handle that news. I understand it's still early, but each day that goes by becomes more and more of a culp. I wonder if I'll ever see ald Wor Series championship. I suppose anything could happen, but it's baseball, and I really hope they can right the ship. Anyhow, appreciate the Rikos, thanks to you and Hoff . It is um way too ear ly, as annoyed as I am, depressed as I am, whatever term you want to use to describe the way they played this weekend and on this homestead, it is way too early to start analyzing how we'll never see a world series and this team's gonna suck and what's the future. It is way too early for that. But I will warn you about this . You can bury yourself with bad starts . And the Mets just engaged in a part of their schedule that I don't want to say was easy, but it was manageable . And they responded by going seven and nine. We know how good the Dodgers are. I think the Cubs will end up being very good. This is now a dangerous road trip. And if things get out of hand, and let's say they lose five out of six the way they just lost five out of six. And all of a sudden now you're sitting there seven games under 500. You're not burying yourself, but you're you're getting the shovel out. You're working on it. So it's important for this team to find a way to break the losing streak, start to play better baseball, and at least just keep the ship from sinking. And like uh an email or earlier mentioned, they miss Juan Soto. We all know that. I don't have to say it every five seconds. We know it. They miss him. He's a tremendous player. But a couple of weird things about Juan right now. A, we don't know when he's coming back . And B, when he comes back, is he hitting? I know his presence will be a big help. Him drawing walks will be a big help, but there's certainly no guarantee he's just gonna come back and start hitting. Uh let's pick our net negative and Rico, I'm the man right now, star of the series. Believe it or not, I don't about you, Hoff. I find it easy to pick the Rico, I'm the man right now, star of the series. I know this always causes angst that we're actually picking one in a series in which they don't win a game, but I believe we need to be consistent. I believe there are people that deserve that honor, even when losses are piling up. So let me just see if we're along the same page. I have an obvious winner for the Rico. I'm the man right now, star of the series. Do you have an obvious winner? Um , I think the most most obvious offensive player is Francisco Alvarez. I think as far as if you were going to going to go anyone else, I mean Peralta did pretty well. You know, you can't sit there and and and dog what he did today. I know it wasn't a win, but he pitched pretty freaking well. So I think those are the two guys that I would put up there. Yeah, I had three guys I would consider, but one is the obvious winner, Francisco Alvarez. I mean, at the end of the day, it's two for six with a home run. So it's not now it's nice, but I mean, no, that's not that's not enough. Obviously, he didn't get an opportunity in Sunday because he didn't play, even though he should have had that big opportunity in the sixth inning. I think the other guy, underratedly, is Waskar Brazaban to come in and get six outs and take a game that easily could have turned from 7-0-1 to 11-01, and God knows what the rest of that game looks like. Uh, I think Braz baum deserves a lot of credit, but it is Freddie Peralta. I tweeted on Sunday morning and I prefaced, knowing defense could screw it up, offense could screw it up, but we need to see an ace-like performance from Freddie Peralta. This is why he's here. And I think even though it wasn't pretty , and yes, if Carson Benge doesn't make an incredible diving play, uh, it's three runs instead of one run, I get that. That's a very different looking pitching line. But that's baseball season. Like he got bailed out by a great defensive play. And at the end of the day, he threw six innings and allowed one run. And he did it in an environment in which they needed him to do it. They had just used so much of their bullpen the day before. They had four straight games coming up, including this one, and then the three in Los Angeles. I think they needed that kind of performance. And the fact that he came out to pitch the sixth inning with a pitch count in the high 80s, low 90s, no guarantee he was going to get through that sixth inning, and he did very easily with a one, two, three inning. So uh I think Freddie Peralta is the man right now star of the series. We're in agreement. Yeah, and I think that if Tobias Myers didn't have to go back out for the ninth inning . I think he could have been up there too because he did pretty well up until having to go pitch in the ninth and kind of Yeah. I don't understand why he has to pitch like three or four innings at a time. Like he's a job. I'll tell you why. I disagree with you. And I wish I could know the future. If I knew the future, yes, I would have taken him out, not let him pitch the ninth inning. It's the same reason Sean Mania pitched the ninth inning on Sunday. In fact, I'll just ask you. So Devin Williams was warming up in the bottom of the eighth inning. And Gary Cohn, I think, even wondered aloud, I wonder if they're going to go to him whether they score or not. And clearly the answer was no, because they let Maniah pitch the ninth inning instead of going to Devin Williams in a one nothing game. Did you agree with the decision to keep Sean Badaya in or would you have gone to Devin Williams? We haven't used Devin Williams in how many games now? It's been a while. It's been like five days. I'll have to look it up. Right, exactly. So I would have gone to Devin Williams. Because at that point in time, you're not you're not gonna have a safe situation for him. So might as well keep it as close as possible. Yeah. So my thinking is when Tobias Myers and Sean Maniah are pitching and they're pitching well, okay, and both guys went into their ninth innings pitching well. Yes. I know I'm not having them the next day because they've already thrown a few innings. So Shawmanai is not available for Monday's game. So if he's not going to be available Monday, and he's probably not going to be available Tuesday, why not maximize what I get out of him? Plus, he's throwing the ball well. Let's say he gives me a third scoreless inning, which he did. And let's say I tie the game. Now I've got Devin Williams for the 10th inning with a runner on second, as opposed to having who pitched the 10th inning. So I think when I'm getting a good performance out of Manai and Tobias Myers, I am not in a rush to take them out. And that's part of the reason. I know, but here's the thing that I'm thinking: like, if Tobias Myers is a real bullet out of your bullpen, you you take him out every inning you pitch him, you lose him for that many more games going forward. So you're gonna lose him for three games, right? So I get that. I think you've already lost him though. Once he's pitched multiple innings. Like he's not pitching the next day and the day after. So definitely not pitching the next day, but like if you were to pitch him three days, you think that he's gonna pitch I know there's an off day Monday, right? So I think that works out. No, there's not an off day Monday. No. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, off day, Thursday. Right. So I so I'm I'm wrong there. So like if you pitch him the three innings, which was which he got, you're probably not pitching him until Tuesday. If you pitched him only two, maybe you'd be able to get him in on Monday. And by the way,, Devin you still need to get to the the the 10th inning and to keep it close, make it one. They did. They did. Shawman ia pitched a great ninth inning. Tobias Myers didn't inning. He got bullied three pitches. Boom, boom, boom. I I know, but there were no signs of that happening. Much like there were no signs of Minaya. Well, there's a reason why they're not starting pitches. There's a reason why they only go, you know, once you get get around the batting order once, you could just smell it with these guys. Well it worked with man it worked with Mania . It did not work with Tobias Myers. True. But I'm just consistent, man. Like when those guys are pitching well, I don't want to take them out because I don't want to have to use the other bullets in my bullpen. But now, but here's the one negative is I know Devin Williams probably is doing side throws and whatnot, but now he hasn't been in the game in five days, and we're gonna go to the Dodgers. Imagine he has a lead and then blows it, we're gonna be like, Oh my god, how's this possible? He hasn't pitched in five days. Yeah, but if you pitch him on Sunday and now you need him on Monday and he struggles, aren't you gonna say, Well, he pitched on a back to back. That was why he struggled. I don't win with that. But I don't understand why he pitches one day, he has to be off the next. Like I feel like if he if he pitched Sunday and then if he pitches Sunday, you want to use him instead of Mania , and then he loses or struggles on Monday, don't you think they would be oh well it's back to back. Of course, but I also feel like they're using him in a way so far. I don't know how many back to back games he's pitched in the season. I really a lot of guys haven't. I think the Mets have been careful with a lot of their arms early this season to not use them on back to backs. I don't think that's just exclusive to him. Brooks Rayleigh too hasn't pitched on back to backs. He's been their best reliever. Well that's great. When they're out of the playoffs uh you know it come September then we we can you know then maybe we can use them then for back to back games. I know but that that's not fair. It's it's April. And it's also not their problem right now. Their problem is they're not scoring any freaking rocks. Hit the ball. I I know. know. Let's pick a net negative. It's actually not easy because there's a lot of candidates. Um, a lot of people want to say Lindor. Lindor had four hits in this series, showed a little bit of pulse offensively. I know he makes the mental mistakes to get thrown off third base , uh, the weird play on the double play in game two. So I I include those. Two bad dumb plays by Lindor plus four for thirteen, and the hits were not impactful. And he hasn't driven in a run Jorge Polanco 1 for 9 with a home run. Brett Beatty 0 for 8. Mark Vientos 0 for 7. Marcus Simeon 1 for 11 . And then Kodai Sang at 2 and a third innings, seven runs. Those are the candidates. And Luke Weaver, just for sucking. Uh, who would you pick as the net negative from this embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the athletics? I mean, it's so tough to only choose one. I mean, my gosh . I mean, Sangha just completely sunk the game on Saturday, and they actually showed a light, they showed a pulse offensively, which was great. And then Weaver went in there and dumped more fire on it. So it's it's tough. I don't think you could do one without the other. So with that being said, I always go to my go-to, and that's Brett Beatty . Kind of sacrifice fly. Oh, brilliant. I love that. I wouldn't put Brett Beatty above Marcus Simeon. Like if I had to pick one offensive player, and it's not easy because Beatty is a candidate. Mark Vientos is a candidate. And Vientos, the big spot seemed to find Mark Vientos, especially when Mendy used him in game three of this series. Marcus Simeon was one for eleven . And he plays every day. Like, you know, Mendy doesn't mind sitting Luis Robert Jr., doesn't mind saying, you know what? I'm gonna sit Jorge Polanco. He doesn't mind sitting Francisco Alvarez. He'll sit everybody. But God forbid, Marcus Simeon, who looks like a relic out there right now. We can't sit him. And I know that's not Simeon's fault. That's it, the Mendoza decision. But it's to me, it's either Simeon or Sangha. And I have no problem giving it to Kodai Senga. I know the offense is kind of the definition of their struggles right now, but two and a third inning, seven runs is a non-competitive start in a game in which the Met offense actually showed up and did something. So for me, it's between Kodai Senga and Marcus Simeon. Well, remind me here because I'm just maybe I I''mm Jordan Blake, you might have said it earlier too. What was the uh initial after he he gave up a home run, right? But what happened just before that? Like I feel like there was a challenge that took place. Am I wrong with that? Was there. my Is that Kodai Senga? Yeah. I feel like there was an error or a challenge or something like that. And I've been I've been very it was a pass ball. Pass ball right before the home runny gave up to Soda Strom. Right. I've been curious with the with with his ghost fork to see how that works with the ABS if it's gonna be able could cause it's really a ball. It doesn't really cross the plate a lot and people go for it. So I'm curious to see if that's gonna affect him. I think I talked about that last podcast. Um, I think you got to go with Sangha though, because just when you actually show signs of life offensively and your pitcher goes out there and just gives up seven in two and two-thirds, you're never gonna win that way. It's like they're here's what I'll'll do. Here's what we do. I finally figured it out. All right. Oh, you know, I finally figured out a way to see the people's comments on the live YouTube page, including one guy who writes, Stop just blaming players. They do not want to play for this guy. Which guy? I think he meets Carlos Mendoza. Oh. I hate some of the moves Carlos Mendoza makes, and I hate some of his answers in the postgame. I can't jump to the conclusion that they don't want to play for him. Like they just hate him and they don't want to play for him. That feels like weird fan fiction. Yeah. But anyhow, real quick, I'll ask, I'll ask the people in the comments. Who is the net negative of this series? All right. Is it Marcus Simeon? Is it Kodai Senga? Or is it somebody else? It's funny, you can really still make the argument for Lindore, despite the fact that he was not the worst offensively. He wasn't impactful, and he made the miscues. I mean, those two big miscues in the like the pick off at third base was so freaking bad. I mean, it was so bad when you really think about it. That let me let me re-get to that situation. Now, do you look at that and say do you sit there and say that Kirk's just made a really great play or you blame that on Lindor? No, I blame it on Lindor. I mean two things can be true. Like Kurtz did make a really good play. He did . Great. Good for him. But Lindor and they hear Mendoza after the game saying , oh yeah, you know, it was a smart play. It wasn't a smart play. It was not a smart play. If you're so concerned about the double play, then run on contact. They just run because then they're gonna throw home. You're gonna be out, and there's first and second, and that's it. They didn't have to worry about either . Anyhow, I gotta be honest with the comments are terrible. The comments are all about David Stern. So that's not helping, guys. You guys sucked at that. Yeah. I'm ignoring you. I'm making my decision. Actually, most people are saying Lindor. I gotta be honest. Yes, I do see that. I'm gonna give it to uh boy, this is this is a tough one . I was about to give it to Kode Iseng, and now I'm like pausing. Just for those that are not aware, here is the history of the the net negative in 2026. Bo Bachet, one for 14 with eight strikeouts, first series of the year. Marcus Simeon, 0 for 9, 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position, the St. Louis series. David Peterson, four and a third inning, six runs, and Mark Vientos, 0 for 10, but 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. That's the history of the net negative. It is kind of amazing that I haven't given it to Francisco Lind or yet. All right. Just do Lindore. I'm being bullied. I'm being bullied . Francisco Lindore . You are the net magnet. And you know what? You know what? The people are right. I'll tell you why the people are right. I get caught sometimes into the numbers like, oh, but he was four for thirteen. He had a hit in each game. Like, ah, he's showing a ball. Twice in this series, twice, he made decisions that really altered the outcome of a game. Like getting picked off third with first and third, nobody out in the sixth inning of a one-nothing game, like completely altered the game. And then obviously the double play that he doesn't turn also altered that game, even if it was earlier, even if you assume things were going to go bad with Kodai Sangha, either way. So I get it. I think sometimes it's not just the numbers, it's the overall performance. And look, you are a guy that we're relying on. Without Ju ta, we need you. So when you come up, big spot in the eighth inning, runner on one out, go get the job done. And he hasn't done it. Actually, it was runner on two outs in the eighth inning when Lindor hit that ground ball that Jeff McNeil bobbled a little bit and still threw him out. Now about Jeff McNeil. Six for 13, two doubles and an RBI, completely shoving it up our ass. That cannot surprise anybody. That is like the biggest. Of course, that was gonna happen. Now, with that said, this has been about an 85% negative Rico Brunia. The Mets are about to play a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. My my counting was a little bit off. I thought we were going to get Nolan McLean against Shohei Otani instead. We're going to get Nolan McClane against Yoshinabu Yamamoto on Tuesday. And then Clay Holmes, assuming he can make the start because he's dealing with that hamstring issue, is going to face Shohei Otani on Wednesday. It'll be David Peterson against Roblesky, the left-hander on Monday. I'm gonna shock everybody. We're gonna beat the Dodgers. Like the Mets are about to have a good series. I know that sounds crazy and it's tough to believe because David Stearns is an idiot and Carlos Mendoza needs to be fired and Lindor forgot how to play baseball. I get it. And I am frustrated too. And the last thing I want to do is stay up till one o'clock in the morning watching our team get their ass kicked three days in a row. But baseball, baseball's weird. And wouldn't it be weird that after going one and five in a dreadful homestand against the Diamondbacks and the A's , that the Mets go to LA and they punch the Dodgers a little bit. And I fully expect that. That's my wild out-of-the-box. I guess I can end this podcast with some positivity prediction for you. The Mets are going to win two out of three against the Dodgers. Now, as far as the Ricos are concerned, I know we give you instant reactions sometimes, and so far we've given you multiple Ricos for every series. And I would tell you that there's a chance we do a 1 a.m. Rico Bronya after one of these games, if not all of these games against the Dodgers. But I'm going to be honest with the audience. I don't trust Pete Hoffman . I don't Hoff, I love you. I don't trust you. You're blaming me? You look you make it about me? Don't you dare. You're the one who wakes up early these days. Will you be up at the conclusion of all three West Coast games? All three? I don't know. Definitely one of them. No, I'm I listen, I will do my best. I'm gonna try to take a power nap uh during the Yankee game and be ready to go at 10 o'clock for the uh the Mets games. Well, okay, so I'm gonna I'm gonna stay up. I'm gonna do my best as well. And if the result or the game warrants an instant reaction, Rico will do it. But Wednesday, because usually, and this is a test for us, usually the final game of a series is a day game at West. And so we're getting a 10-10 ESPN game on Wednesday night, which means our series recap Rico will probably not start till one AM Wednesday into Thursday. And it is my intention that that's when we're doing it. So forget about Monday and Tuesday. Like, I hope you're up. I hope I'm up. We'll do our best. But Wednesday, a clock needs to be set because it is the one thing we guarantee the Rico audience is not the next morning, the night off we give you that series ending Rico Brunia. So one AM in all likelihood, Wednesday night, Thursday morning, be ready. Can can we at least have an agreement here that unless it's a really depressing loss or an amazing win with we may not Rico every night. Yes. Okay. I think that I think the intention. Here's what I would say: the intention is we are just gonna give you a series recap Rico Wednesday night, Thursday morning. Beautiful. That is the intention. If there's a crazy win or crazy loss and we're both up, then we're going to surprise you. That's why you should subscribe to the WFN YouTube page if you want it live or make sure you've subscribed to the Rico Brunia wherever you download your podcast. I think those are going to need to be special, but for Wednesday night, Thursday morning, we'll be raring and ready to go. Beautiful. Let's go. Beautiful. Get your coffee ready. Get your coffee ready. Get your naps ready. And Met fans, uh, I'd say everything's gonna be okay, but I can't actually tell you that. The only thing I'll tell you is it's early. All right, it's early. So take a deep breath, and we got more baseball to be depressed at early this week in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Thank you very much for listening to Rico Brunia.