Listener Emails and Series Outlook

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Only at Sephora. Hi, I uh let's get you a basket . It's the amazing Rico Bronya Podcast with your host, Evan Roberts. Half a sleeper. Rico Bronya. Welcome everybody to episode 6 71 of the Rico . It's another edition of the morning after Rico Brunia. For those consuming live on YouTube, good morning to you. For those listening throughout your day, thank you very much for downloading the Rico Br onya last night because I do believe in full accountability. Let's throw Hoff under the bus. I was ready to do that Rico at midnight last night, but Hoff fell asleep. And who can blame him? Because the Met bats are lifeless. The Met Bats can put you to sleep. The one positive to the Met Bats, and I tweeted about this last night. Uh, the great Dan, the archivist of Evident Tiki and the Rico, sent me this email. One of the positives of the limp you know what offense is that it goes so quickly that the West Coast games end at a reasonable time. So when the Mets lost game two of this series to the LA Dodgers, it ended at twelve fifteen. And for a game that started at 1010, that's insanity. So if you're looking for positives, and I do want to start this very dark edition of the Rico Brunia with maybe a positive, the positive is you can go to sleep early and consume the entire Met game. But what we are doing on today's Rico is this is the morning after we are recording this Rico Bronya a little after 8 a.m. So about what, eight hours after this game ended between the New York Mets and the LA Dodgers. So let's talk about it. There's a lot to get to. Steve Cohen decided to tweet and chime in with his opinion. And I think most of us agree. He should probably never tweet ever again. Nolan McClain was utterly brilliant, and the Met offense gave you a tease. I'm going to start at the back end of this game because this is probably my lasting image of the Mets two-to-one loss to the LA Dodgers game two of this three-game series. And yes, their seventh consecutive loss dropp,ing them to an unsightly seven and eleven in the early going . What bothered me , what bothered me probably more than anything else, it's at the end of this game was how meek , how pathetic, how sad , and how horrific the at-bats were in the top of the ninth inning aga inst Alex Vesia. Like, Alex Vessi is a good reliever. I am not putting him down. He also has a very inspirational story. No ill will towards Alex Vessi . In the top of the ninth inning, with the Mets down by a run, the game should not be over down by a run. And all of us waiting for the Mets to end that stupid stat, that misleading, but yet sort of accurate stat about how they don't come back when trailing going into the ninth inning. And I say misleading only because there have been games, one this year and certainly a few last year, where they trailed going into the bottom of the tenth. But that doesn't count. Nevertheless, losing going into the ninth, the Mets lose every single time. They have not won a game since the magical season of 2024. They haven't won a game since the Pete Alonso Devin Williams moment in Milwaukee. And that's a postseason game . You have yourself the heart of the batting order against the non-closer of the Dodgers. Edwin Diaz's velocity is down. We talked about this at the beginning of the RICO a few episodes ago that, we were uncertain if we would see him because of these velocity issues. So you are given the gift from the baseball gods that you're not going to see Edwin Diaz. You're not going to get that final indignation of Edwin D iaz shoving it up our you know what's. And instead we get Alex Vessio. And it's bad enough that they didn't come back. That's bad enough. Seemed like a perfect opportunity to have that great comeback. It's bad enough that they didn't threaten. It's bad enough that they went down one, two, three with their quote unquote heart of the batting order, three, four, five. But they saw 10 pitches in the ninth inning. Remember a few days ago, they saw four pitches in the ninth inning of a close game. They saw 10. Okay, so that's progress. You know how many pitches were in the strike zone of the 10 that they saw in the top of the ninth inning. One. And it was the very first pitch of the inning to Jorge Polanco. More on him later. He needs to go on the I.L. immediately. I said that a few days ago. They saw one strike in the ninth inning . Jorge Polanco's chasing two out of the zone. Bo Bachette is chasing pitches all over, and Francisco Alvarez, who I don't want to kill because he's been one of the few Mets that shows a pulse . But Francisco Alvarez reverted back to the guy that makes you nervous, to the guy that still needs to show a lot of growth, because look what he was doinging. He was swing at pitches that weren't even close to the strike zone . So any goodwill you want to try to find from the at-bats they had against Yamamoto to Lindor's leadoff home run, it is just reprehensible. That'd be the word I'd use. Reprehensible to have a ninth inning where you're down by a run, where you're not even facing the Dodgers closer. And you don't even swing at a strike . You see one strike in ten pitches . And this is a pattern. The pattern is not only are the Mets going down lifeless in the ninth inning, which is bad enough, they've had some of the more pathetic sequences in the ninth inning you'll ever see. Even last year, in which, yes, that stat would jump out at you, that the Mets don't come back when trailing going into the ninth inning. It felt as if there were rallies. It felt as if, even if they were fake rallies, right? Which we would always cry about, complain about , you felt as if they would show you a pulse. They give you quality at bats. They give you a reason to think they're coming back. And in these two sequences, going back to the four-pitch meltdown, the four-pitch embarrassment from Sunday against the A's. And again, think about who's doing it to you: Joel Kun ell and Alex Vessia. They're not even closers. They're fine relievers. They're major leaguers. I'm not trying to put them down, but it is not exactly Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera in their prime . And the Mets are having some of their worst at bats in the ninth inning. So I wanted to start there when dissecting the game two loss to the LA Dodgers because I just thought it was sad. It was pathetic. And I think a big part of why the Met fan, myself included, is losing confidence, even though the calendar tells you there's a lot of time. Things like that. You know what I mean? Like I don't not tell you I'd be sitting here at 7 and 11 trying to find positives, but if there were positives to hold on to, if there were reasons to believe, then I don't know. I guess I would get to it at some point . But that is sad. That is the heart of your batting order. And it goes down meekly in the ninth inning against Alex V essio. And then look at the rest of this game. Yoshinabu Yamamoto is one of the better pitchers in baseball, so it's one of those games where I'd be more willing to tip my hat. I'd be more willing to say, hey, you got shut down by a great pitcher. But they didn't just get shut down by Yamamoto after Lindor hit the home run in the first inning, which was great to see. And yeah, if you're trying to find a positive, Francisco Lindor finally hitting one over the fence and finally driving in a run. That's great. Now you hope it leads to more. Where there's one, there's another, and there's another and there's another. And actually, Lindor looked okay at the play. Because remember in the sixth inning, I think he hit the ball reasonably hard in the sixth, if memory serves correct. But in the eighth inning, he put together the little ground ball that got through Freddie Freeman for a base hit and even stole second to set up the second and third two out spot before Luis Robert Jr. struck out. So Lindor offensively is showing a pulse. And that is a tiny positive that you can take. But after he hits that home run, it is one thing for Yamamoto to settle in and be the ace that we know he is . But it was the cha-cha-cha . It was one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three. Twenty Mets in a row were retired. Twenty . And so again , if you told me the Mets got a couple of hits, they drew a couple of walks, they had some chances, but man, Yamamoto found a way through it. And maybe you made them throw a few more pitches. 72 through six to the point where he starts the eighth inning, leaves at 104. Like if you put some rallies together, if you get a couple of base runners against him, if you work his pitch count, maybe get him out in the sixth inning. Maybe you get him out in the seventh inning, as opposed to Yamamoto surviving until there were two outs in the eighth inning. And that's why as much as I could tip my hat and say he's a great pitcher, it happens, it was lifeless. It was pathetic. They got mowed down . And what makes it worse is yes, Yamamoto's a great pitcher. Yes, there are moments where you want to tip your hat, but they get mowed down by everybody Tax Act can think of a million things more fun than filing taxes. Tax Act is going to name some now. Sitting in traffic, folding a fitted bed sheet, listening to your c oworker talk about his fantasy team. Digging a hole. Digging an even larger hole next to that original hole. Unfortunately, TaxAx filing software can't make taxes fun. But Tax Act can help you get them done. Tax Act, let's get them over with. Good things come in force, like ukulele strings, boy band members, and PayPal Payin 4. No fees, no interest, no impact on your credit score. Just the flexibility to pay the way that works for you. Strum it, hum it, pay it in for. Download the PayPal app to get started. Subject to approval. Learn more at PayPal.com slash Payinfor. PayPal Inc. NMLS nine one zero four five seven. It doesn't matter who's on the mound they're getting mowed down. And it was such a tease because when Lindor hits that home run in the first inning, we're all feeling like, all right, this could be it. Sometimes a leadoff home run can spark you. We've had it in our franchise's history in the postseason, whether it's Lenny Dijkstra in the World Series against the Red Sox, a Jose Reyes in game six against the Cardinals in 06. Like the leadoff home run can sometimes change things. It's and can sometimes spark a team. And it's so difficult to hit these home runs at Dodger Stadium. And here's Lindor pounding one against a great pitcher to start the game with your best pitcher on the mound. Thinking, wow, maybe one will be enough. Sometimes Nolan McLean is that good . And to have the offense go to sleep immediately and go back to everything we've seen over the last few weeks, the word I would use was sad . Now I'll give you a positive because it would be impossible to ignore the utter brilliance of Nolan McLean. Nolan McClain is proving to us every time he takes the mound that the belief we have in him, the hype we have in him, it's all true, man. We are looking at maybe, and I say this with hands together, praying to the baseball gods, we may have our next great pitcher in the history of the New York Mets. And that sounds over the top, and that sounds crazy. But what have I told you after last night's performance? Seven innings, two hits, one run, eight strikeouts, and two walks, just an utterly brilliant performance for Nolan McLean against a Dodger team that's averaging six runs per game. What have I told you that through twelve starts? He's the greatest pitcher the Mets have ever had. And pause, think about that for a second. That doesn't mean anything. That doesn't mean he's going to be better than Tom Seaver, who's a first bout Hall of Famer. It doesn't mean he's going to be better than Jacob deGrom, who I also think will end up in the Hall of Fame. Doesn't even mean he'll be as good as Dockwood . But let me give you the numbers because I found myself looking this up during McClain's brilliance last night. And as far as him giving up a run immediately back, it sucked, obviously. You have a one-nothing lead. You hate to give it back. But look, he gave up a double to Will Smith. It was going to be a very difficult play for Carson Bench, but who knows? Maybe on a different night, Bench makes a diving catch, and the Dodgers never score a run. And who knows what this game looks like. So it's tough to kill Nolan McLean, especially after that double, there's second and third and one out. And he essentially got out of it. He got a ground, a weak ground ball to first base . And then he struck out Ti Oscar Hernandez. So it it sucks when you give back a run. You want that shutdown inning, especially when the offense is so limp. But even when you look at that first inning, I mean McLean was brilliant. And you could even question if the Mets need to be more aggressive on the challenges. Will Smith came up with a runner on first and one out after Tucker walked. And the first pitch to Will Smith was a strike. But it was called a ball. And maybe it's because it's early in the game, maybe it's because it was a little bit borderline, but Francisco Alvarez decided not to challenge the call, and it turned into a three and one count to Will Smith, got the three and two, and that's when he got the double. It could have changed the entire sequence. This may sound like I'm making excuses for Nolan McClain, but honestly, if I'm going to make excuses for anybody, why not let it be Nolan McLean, who continues to look like the absolute truth for this franchise ? But let me give you the numbers through 12 starts. And like I always say sometimes, I give you the numbers. You can do what you want with it. You can say it doesn't mean anything. You could say he's not Tom Seaver. I know he's not Tom Seaver. He's got a long way to go to be Tom Seaver. But I did find myself looking it up to see, all right, where does Nolan McClain compare to other great met pitchers through 12 starts? And keep in mind, the guys I'm gonna mention, the all-time greats in the history of our franchise, they won rookie of the year, so it's not as if they didn't have good rookie seasons, it's not as if Jacob de Grom had a bad rookie year and then he put it all together, or Tom Seavers struggled and then put it all together. No, we are talking about guys that were awesome from the beginning. So little perspective, and I want to give you the innings pitch too, because I know that matters because we live in a world in which guys don't go deep into games . Let's start with de Grom, who won rookie of the year. Remember, he got called up in the middle of the season. Through his first 12 starts, he had a three-and-five record with a three-point one eighty ERA, 66-2 thirds innings, 64 strikeouts, 26 walks. Let's compare that to McLean. I'll give each guy and comp it to Nolan McLean so you can hear it. Nolan McClain threw 12 starts, 6-2 with a 2.13 ERA. DeGrom was 318 . McClain is two one three. DeGrom was at sixty-six and two-thirds. McLean is at seventy-one and two-thirds. So five more innings in the 12 starts. DeGrom had 64 strikeouts. McLean 85 . DeGrom had 26 walks, McLean, 24 walks . Nolan McClain significantly better through 12 starts than Jacob DeGrom. Let's get to Doc Gooden. I mean, Doc 84 is legendary. Not quite Doc 85, but Doc 84 was awesome, and he was a teenager. I understand. Doc Gooden was 5-3 with a 2-8-80-ra. Again, McLean was 2-1-3. Doc through 75 innings. McLean, 71 and 2 thirds innings. So a slight edge for Doc Goodman. Strikeouts, 93 for Doc, 85 for McClain. So same stratosphere, but edge for Doc. 35 walks for Doc, 24 for McLean. Little bit closer, but still advantage Nolan McLean. Let's get to the legend themselves, the franchise, George Thomas Seaver. Through 12 starts. 5-3 , 2.39 ERA. It's getting tight. 2.39. McLean, 2.13. Innings pitched. Tom Seaver, 86 and 2 thirds. McLean 71 and two-thirds. So a 15-inning edge for Tom Seaver. You know what's crazy about Tom Seaver? I think it was his second or third major league start. He threw 10 innings in a start, which I don't think Nolan McLean will ever get the chance to do strikeouts. There were a lot less strikeouts back then, so this is going to be a huge edge for McLean. 54 for Siever, 85 for McLean, 23 walks for Siever, 24 strikeouts for McLean. Here's what those numbers tell you in a very small sample size. Nolan McLean is offering an unbelievable start to his major league career. Is he ever gonna turn in to Tom Seaver or Jacob deGrom, it's obviously asking a lot. And if I had to sit here right now and guess, of course my answer would be likely no. But understand , and it's tough to understand this because, we're living in a world in which the Mets suck right now, their offense is bad, the owner is tone-deaf, the manager may be fired, highest payroll, all these losses. I get it, I express the same pain and frustrations that everyone else has . But time out for one second . This guy's brilliant . And it is like an honor now to watch this guy every five days. When Jacob deGrom was kicked out, and he basically was kicked out, maybe didn't want to come back, but the Mets didn't want him back. There were a lot of things I was annoyed about, disappointed One small thing that I thought about the following year was when I go to Met Games and I have to pick my spots at this age, two kids and a wife, I gotta pick my spots. I used to pick my spots around Jacob de Grand. And when Jake was gone, I picked my spots being on day day day of the week, start time , other things. That has changed. Because Nolan McClain is must-watch TV. And I can't tell Met fans how to act. I can't tell you that Tuesday night at City Field when McClane returns to this ballpark. And God knows the Mets may be on a what would it be? An 11-game losing streak? I mean, that is absolutely on the table. And I get being in a bad mood. But shouldn't that ballpark be packed for Nolan McClain? I'll tell you one thing about myself. I told my wife already, I said, if I'm only going to one game in that series that the Mets have next week against Minnesota, the one game I'm going to is to see that guy pitch . Because that guy is special on so many levels. And I apologize if you were looking for a Rico where it was going to be 100% whining, 100% bitching, 100% hand wringing about the offense and the owner. I gave you a good amount, and I'll get back to it in a few minutes, but let us all understand that this kid is a start . This kid through 12 games has defeated Jacob de Grom and Doc Gooden and come very close, if not better, than Tom Seaver. And while that doesn't mean he's gonna pass them, let us at least appreciate that when de Grom walked through that door, there was a damn good chance this wouldn't happen again. And by God, it feels like it's happening again. So kudos to Nolan McClain. And in a time of despair, at least we have the truth. And the truth is Nolan McClain. As far as if he should have pitched the eighth inning, I'm going to agree with Carlos Mendoza. I am. We have to remember that it is only his 12th major league start. We have to remember that with a pitch count of 95, the odds of him getting through that next inning keeping that pitch count under 110 is not really that high. You're also going to have to face Shohe Otani for a fourth time in the order because you would be facing eight, nine, and one in that eighth inning. And I think that when you look at certain pieces in this bullpen, specifically Brooks Rayleigh, who they went to, I trust him. And so I am not angry at the decision to pull Nolan McLean, but I do think later in the season I'll have a different view. I am trying to keep the big picture in mind as bad as things are right now. And as much as I wanted to win last night's game. In life or usually price gets in the way. That's why Priceline is here to help you turn your dream trip into reality. 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When you want points that can take you anywhere anytime, it matters where you stay. Hilton for the stay. Book your spring break now . And so at 95 pitches and a big strike out of Andy Paes . I was good with Mendy's decision to say goodnight to Nolan McClain. As far as Brooks Rayleigh's concern, the one thing he can't do is you can't walk the leadoff at her. You cannot do it. Can't happen. And that set up everything else that occurred in that bottom of the eighth inning. And before I even continue on the bottom of the eighth inning, keep in mind, the New York Mets scored one run . And inherently, that's the biggest issue this team faces: that there's zero margin for error. It is rare that you're going to hold a team to one run, especially the LA Dodgers, who score six per game ? So not making excuses for Rayleigh because that leadoff walk to Miguel Rojas cannot happen. And none of those balls were close where you could say, oh, challenge it. It was a borderline call. And after that, think about what it sets up. It sets up a bunch situation in which Santiago Espinal gets it down. Now it's a pick your poison spot with Otani and Tucker and Will Smith and Freddie Freeman. It is. It's just a pick your poison spot. And I think the Mets were a thousand percent right to walk Shohei Otani. I think Otani and Aaron Judge are the two players in this sport who, in a big moment with a base open, you're an idiot if you face them . And that is not a knock on copyle Tucker, and it's not a knock on whoever the Yankees are choosing to hit behind Aaron Judge on that particular night. Sometimes Ahmed Rosario. But you can't let the best player beat you. And so again , I know half the audience wants Mendy fired, more on that in a few minutes, but he made the right choice. And against Kyle Tucker, Brooks Rayleigh got ahead of him. And Brooks Rayleigh jammed the crap out of him. But that's baseball. And Kyle Tucker, to his credit, was able to bloop it in the left field. There's nothing you could do, not a high exit VLO, not a horrible pitch by Rayleigh. And you just knew. This is the sad part about being a Met fan right now in 2026. You knew the game was over. And credit to Rayleigh for this. The game could have gotten out of hand right there, two on one out. He strikes out Will Smith and he gets a little bit lucky on a hard contact lineup by Freddie Freeman. Brooks Rayleigh was going to give up a run this season. He picked a terrible time to do it. He picked a terrible time to issue a leadoff walk to Miguel Rojas, as Bob Murphy used to say. Oh, those bason balls . But even that bottom of the eighth inning, even the Met bullpen allowing a run, it's all about the offense stupid. You cannot rely on perfection from your pitching staff. And unfortunately, that's what the LD offense is forcing this Met staff to do. It's forcing them to be perfect. They were not perfect last night, but they were damn good. When you are facing Otani, who they hold to 0 for 3, and Tucker and Will Smith and Freddie Freeman and Tioscar Hernandez and Andy Pajas who's becoming a star . Boy, I tell you, ain't easy. By the way, I I wanna circle back to something. Do you guys remember a very long time ago and, most probably don't, I proposed a fake Francisco Lindor trade. It was right as the Mets were blowing it up uh early in the offseason. And I said, hey, nothing should be off the table. So let's create a fake Lindor trade. And I created a fake Lindor trade that Met fans didn't want to do. And I reached out to a few Dodger fans who had a level of interest in it, but they didn't love it completely. So it was kind of in the middle. And I do want to remind you what that trade was because it would alter everything about this team. There were three players coming back for Lindor. It was the corpse of Freddie Freeman, who, by the way, look at his production this season, and the leadership and a first baseman, like a real one. Freddie Freeman, Tyler Glass now, and Andy Pajas. Could you uh now Met fans probably look at that trade and say, Boy, Ev, that wasn't bad. And the Dodgers would be idiots to make a trade like that . That's neither here nor there . This offense is their biggest issue. It continues to be their biggest issue , and nothing's going to change until they just not break out of it, but they consistently break out of it. Now, when you dive deep, and this is why I'm very, very concerned, when you dive deep into this lineup, okay, I'm confident in Lindor. I don't know about Robert Jr. He's cooled off since this hot start, but all right, maybe Luis Robert Jr. has a breakout year. Jorge Polanco is injured and looks cooked. Bo Bouchette is putting too much pressure on himself. Alvarez reverts back to bad Alvarez, like we saw in his last at bat. And then the kids, which is so important, Brett Beatty and Mark Vientos, let's all be honest. Haven't we all basically lost faith? They're in the lineup every day because they have no choice. They're in the lineup every day because who else are they going to play? What are you going to do? Who are you calling up from the minor leagues as a savior? Ryan Clifford hasn't hit down there. You want to give Ronnie Mauricio consistent at bats? The only guy, honestly, in the minor leagues that I would consider calling up to spark this team is Morbito. He's hit a little bit in AAA . He gives you that speed dynamic . He's a right-handed bat. Maybe. He maybe would be the only guy. But when you look up and down this lineup, it's not a lot of guys to have faith in. And that gets us to the owner. Steve Cohen , I think we all appreciate because he spends a lot of money. And I do appreciate that . But what Steve Cohen tweeted last night at, let's see, what time was it? 1 24 in the morning. So it was about an hour or so after the game ended. I thought this was pathetic. And I thought it was tone deaf. And I think Steve Cohen has two choices. He's not going to listen to me. May not care about what I think, but he's got two choices. Choice number one is to be not an over-the-top Steinbrenner, almost a commer Steinbrenner. Basically, what he was in 21 when he tweeted out about how he can't believe how such good major leaguers can't hit. Remember that one? The summer of 2021 frustration tweet from Steve. One of his I mean, that was his first season. But you can do that in a classy way. You can do it now. Hey, I still have faith in the guys, but we need to pick it up. I've spent a lot of money. I'm not saying that's the only thing you could do, but you'll get Met fans to say, all right, owner feels me. I appreciate it. That's option number one . Option number two is to shut up. That's an option. And remain radio silent. Even though you picked a week ago to rightfully so complain about the free tickets being grabbed and not used , which I agreed with him on . It kind of looks bad when you tweet about that. They haven't won a game since, and you don't say anything else, but shutting up is an option. I'm gonna read you the words that he uttered at 124 in the morning. Dude, it's come on. I don't want to hear it . Nobody likes to lose, but I saw some quote green shoots tonight, which I gotta be honest, I've no idea what that means. On offense, Lindor had two hits, including a home run. Bachet got a double hitting it to left field as opposed to recently being right field prone. Bench got a solid hit. Soto started his running progression today. Simeon hit a shot that might have been a home run on a warmer night. Finally, Nolan McLean pitched an outstanding game going seven innings. Hang in there, fans. We will turn this around . The last two sentences are totally fine . Waxing poetic about Nolan McLean, which I've done today on the Rico . I get I think that we as Met fans, if we want to keep ourselves mentally healthy, we can do that today. That's not even looking for a positive spin. That's being excited about a legitimate stud that's on this roster. Like that is fine. During the dark days of 2013, what did we cling to? Matt Harvey. During the dark days of 2012, what did we cling to? R.A. Dickey. During the dark days of 18 and 19, what did we cling to? Jacob de Grand . We appreciated their brilliance even while the rest of the team absolutely sucked . You can do two things at once. So when he tweets about Nolan McLean, that's great. And when he says, even hang in there, fans, we'll turn this around, that's fine. You can give me that. Hey, I still believe in this team, but you want to do that fine. Don't give me this BS that Marcus Simeon, that would have been a home run. Dude, Marcus Simeon looks washed . And I don't want to do this, but I'll do it just because I'm now triggered by Marcus Simeon hit one that could have been a home run. Stevie ? David , that trade could be an all-time bad one. Not because Brandon Nimmo is turning into anything more than he already is, because at the end of the day, Brandon Nemo will probably be Brandon Nimmo. Good ball player, very streaky, mediocre defens ively, maybe frustrate you by not getting a big hit. But you know what Brandon Nemo's gonna do? He's probably gonna play every day, and he's gonna put up respectable numbers . Marcus Simeon could be shot . And you made this trade because well, look at look at Nimmo's contract. Well, look at Simeon's contract. At least Nimmo plays and plays reasonably well. Marcus Simeon, and it is on the table. You cannot tell me this isn't on the table. It is possible he's completely washed up . His last two years have declined. And so far this year, I don't want to hear about one ball at Dodgers Stadium that may have gotten out. Dude, that's pathetic. Save that crap for Tommy Lugauer. That's his shtick . That was about the curse. I got I got very very aggressive. Uh the Lindor part, fine. He is showing signs of breaking out of it. Bouchette got a double hitting it to left field. Let's have a goddamn party. The guy you pa id $42 million to pull the ball for a base hit . Oh my God, the world is changing . Carson Bench, who's hitting 150, got a base head. What are we doing? Like this is sad. Don't tweet that. Don't say anything. And look, I I think I've proven over the last two weeks, I'll defend him when I think it's worth defending. The whole ticket stuff, I was on his side. And even Tiki said, Oh, you're a Cohen Shill. Well, what am I now? Because that was stupid to go out there and tweet that kind of stuff. It does no good. The fans don't want to hear it. We're sick of it . And I know I want to be rational for a second. I know that this isn't his fault. Like Steve Cohen has done the things I want an owner to do. Hire someone you believe in, give them power, and give them cart plane financially. Some may disagree that he should have interfered with some of the things this offseason. I don't like interference. I don't want Woody Johnson. I don't want James Dolan from a decade ago. So I'm not even blaming him . But coming out with a delusional tone-deaf tweet, you're losing the fan base with stuff like that. Either shut up or call some people out . Now let me get to Jorge Polanco. Because with Marcus Simeon, he may be washed. And I am D I have said this for a week now. That is my number one concern when you go up and down this lineup, that he may be washed. That and the reason that scares me even more than a Mark Vientos just not being good is that they gave away a valuable baseball player. I know he wasn't perfect, but they gave away a valuable player for someone who's in net negative right now and whose contract, while a year less, it's more money financially year over year . And this owner has proven he's willing to eat money. So if your concern was the back end of the contract you gave up, how about you keep the good player and then just eat the rest of the contract if it gets bad. Because I got bad news for you, David. You may have to walk into that office, not now, but next year, and ask Steve to eat the rest of the Simeon contract. Because again, it is on the table that he's washed up . And it's early. I get it. Oh, Evan, you got to calm down. You're being crazy. I'm basing it not just on the 18 games this year. I'm basing it on what we inherited from what he did last year and the year before that. But let me get to Polanco because I got distracted. He's not healthy. And the other day after they lost on Sunday, I made the comment where if he can't run that ball out with the game on the line, if he's that injured that he can't run down a first base, then he just should not be active . He should be on the injured list. And there is no excuse to say, well, we're going to rate, wait for the return of Ju . Again, net negative. I'm going to use that term a lot. Uh, it was a Gary Cohen term created to talk about Daniel Murphy years ago. We obviously hand out our awards at the end of each series called the net negative. Right now. He's in that negative. Because at least with Simeon, watch this. I'm going to compliment Marcus Simeon. At least with Simeon, he's got a really good glove at second base, despite the miscue two days ago on not turning a double play with Lind or . He's good defensively. I I gotta hand it to him. So I I I guess you could argue with me, well, Evan, then he's worth it. Then the Nimbo Drake was worth it because he's a good defender. I I disagree, but he is a good defender. I gotta call it like it is. Jorge Polanco is not allowed to play defense . Jorge Polanco has not played first base since the second day of the season. So he's exclusively a designated hitter. That is a problem . So what they need to do in the best interest of the New York Mets and him is get him on the I L. Not only does he play every day, or not every day, but most days, they're hitting him in the middle of the lineup. So this guy who can barely walk, he has not hit outside of the one home run he hit on Saturday. That's how that what the hell's he done? You are not only running him out there most days, you're hitting him in the middle of the lineup . And I don't want to complain about the lineup because no one's hitting. So you could move guys wherever you want. The results are going to be the same. But unlike a lot of the other guys in this lineup who are slumping or struggling or however you want to define it, this player is injured. I'm going to read some of your emails. Let's do that. Let's hear from the people. I will promise you this after the finale of this series goes final, Clay Holmes making the start again, Show hey Otani . We will do a Rico right after the game. So if you plan on staying up and you want a Rico Bronya immediately, you will get that as soon as this game is final. Uh Pete Hoffman's going to set five alarms to make sure he does not fall asleep and we'll do all the bells and whistles of a series recap. We'll look ahead to the Chicago series. We will somehow name a Rico, I'm the man right now star of the series and a net negative. But let's hear from the people. We we've received uh quite a few emails over the last few days. So I'm just going to rip through them and offer you some quick comments. The Rico B at gmail.com. Brett writes, Evan, help me understand how they took Carlos Mendoza's coaching staff away when his entire coaching staff was hired before he arrived. He never got the opportunity to pick a single coach. So don't tell me this is his coaching staff. You're right, Brett. The reason I continue to say that they took his coaching staff away is that I would assume through two seasons that Carlos Mendoza grew to like his coaching staff and they became his guys. And at the end of the failed season, the Mets decided to rid themselves of basically ever ybody on the staff and keep him. So I get your point. Maybe the words are not 100% accurate. When I say in talking about Mendoza's future, that they took his coaches away. Okay, they took everyone he's working with away except him . Scott G writes, Evan, Steve Cohen basically put out a quote, everything is fine tweet with the Mets last night. This should be a very scary thing for Met fans. It basically says that Cohen and Met's management is in denial over the situation just like last year. Forget about any managerial changes or anything else anytime soon. They will keep denying and saying everything is fine. You can only go so far with that. Like right now, they're seven and eleven. And as depressing as that is, and as much of a hole as that is, they haven't obviously committed themselves into a hole they can't get out of. It is still early enough in the season. But if you're sitting here, and I'll use the nationals from 2019 as an example because they turned it around and won the World Series, I think the Nats were 19 and 30 . Is Carlos Mendoza surviving 19 and 30? Is Steve Cohen still actually being positive at 19 and 30? Tyler writes, Evan, it's time. I'm actually very sad. I really don't see a world where we're celebrating a World Series. It seems this franchise is legitimately cursed and we're gonna waste McLean like we did with DeGrom. Is that really what we're gonna do? Absolutely zero fight in this team. I was so excited to go to games this year, and I can tell you right now, I will not bother attending this fiasco to watch one of the most boring and uninspired offenses play baseball. The only bright spot is watching Nolan de Grom pitch. David Stearns did an awful job constructing this lineup. Look at the merry-go-round, uh, merry-go round at first base. Mark Vientos hasn't done jack bleep in like two weeks. Oh, and I totally understand Yamamoto is phenomenal. Personally, I think he's the best pitcher in the league. But fire Mendoza, hire Beltron . Yeah, that tweet from Steve Cohen certainly doesn't make you think that that's going to happen. Uh, here's what's called a rage email from Eric. This is a rage email. What are the Mets doing? What is Stearns doing? Get rid of Mendoza. Put Polanco on the I. L. Sit Vientos and call up Ryan Clifford. He might not be an all-star, but it can't be worse than this. So why not give him a shot at this point? How are we benefiting from Polanco limping around the field? And thank you to McLean for making the team remotely enjoyable to watch . So Ryan Clifford is not hitting. And I think if you are going to promote a top prospect or a young player that you believe in, you have to do it when the player is ready, not when you're desperate at the major league level for something different than what you're watching. And that's why earlier in the Rico, I mentioned more abido, because he has hit . And even though he doesn't have a lot of experience at AAA , I I think that would make more sense. You got to look down there at guys that are raging, guys that are pushing their way up here. Andrew writes, since Lindor's home run came in the first half out of the game. This makes it the third game in a row where the Mets have gone 27 outs without scoring a run and the fourth in the last five . Listen , bro, there's a lot of stats you can use to describe how pathetic the offense is . Dan writes, if this was the Jets, Mendy would be gone after tomorrow night. National TV with your owner in the building facing an eight-game losing streak and going against Shohei Otani, they get embarrassed in that game, and Woody Johnson wouldn't even let him on the plane. I do not want the Mets to become the Jets. As bad as we feel as Met fans, they are not the Jets. Alexander writes, fire them all. Evan, you said the Mets were winning two out of three. You're out of your freaking mind. I hate it freaking. Time for you to make it official. It's time for everybody to panic. This team sucks , sucks, and sucks. Why is Viento still in the lineup? Simeon should be playing in coed softball drinking beers. This team sucks. Fire Stearns and Mendoza and bring back no, I can't. The last part I can't read. He said, bring back Mickey. Did he mean Mickey Calloway? Shut up. Now I don't believe your email was real . I have to, I have to strike that from the record. It's not real. Steve writes, Evan, you called the Mets hitters out for one of the worst ninth innings you ever saw on Sunday's game. Well, they may have just outdone themselves two days later. Vessier throws a first pitch strike to Polanco, who needs to go on the I.O., followed by nine in a row out of the zone. Polanco, Bachet, and Alvarez swung at eight of them. I believe that's a 100% chase rate, right? Yes . Uh they lose the lead thanks to Mendy doing Mendy things by taking McLean out. And they're like deer in the headlights. We may not win another game until Soto gets back. This is embarrassing. Yeah. We went over this at the top of the Rico . The ninth inning featured one strike. The very first pitch of the inning. And after that, all Alex Vesia did was make the Mets chase. And I agree with you. Uh if we're comparing which ninth inning was more pathetic, the four pitch soft contact inning against Kun al on Sunday or the 10 pitch let's swing at everything against Vesia on Tuesday? I don't know, man. That's a tough one. I'll let the people vote on that. Which ninth inning was more pathetic? Well, here's what we know: the Mets get a chance against Shohei Otani. Shohei Otani is on the mound. He will be facing Clay Holmes. I don't know what to expect from Klay. He's thrown the ball well this season, but remember, he left his last start early due to what appeared to be a hamstring issue. Clay said he'll be fine. Mendy thought he'll be fine. He's fine enough to make the start. So Clay will be on the mound. The Mets have an incredibly fresh bullpen . Devin Williams is not even on the Mets anymore. I'll guarantee you this. Devin Williams is pitching in this game. Mets have an off day on Thursday. They haven't used him. He's warmed up a couple of times. So I think we'll guaranteed to get Devin in this game, but more than Clay Holmes and more than the fresh bullpen , does the offense break out? Like is Shohei Otani the tonic, national TV, Jackie Robinson Day. Is that the day the offense breaks out? Or are we facing an eight-game losing streak going into an off day and going into three games in Chicago? It is very difficult to actually be conf ident . I did the whole that's baseball Susan field towards this series. You think they're done. You think they suck. Wow, they'll go win two out of three against the Dodgers. Obviously, the Mets slapped me across the face. Obviously, the Mets told me I'm an idiot and told all of us we're idiots. But I continue to hold out the slight bit of hope that as all seasons can turn on a dime, that this one too will turn when we least expect it. But right now , it is a tough time to be a Met fan. And it's a tough time to root for certain teams in this town. Like I know it's me and about nine other people, but I don't like the Knicks. So all you Knicks fans, at least have that to be excited about. Giant fans, you at least have that to be excited about. I'm a Jetnet fan. So the Mets over the last few years have been all I have in terms of hope. And look what they're doing to us. Again, if