Looking Ahead to Colorado Series

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Stock the fridge for tip-off with a variety of non-alcoholic craft styles available at your local grocery store or online at athleticbrewing.com. Near beer, fit for all times . Hold on, screw that one up. Welcome to a happ y relieved edition of Eric ob oromia . Well, I don't want to be angry. I want to be in a good mood because the Mets have a winning streak. I know it's only two games, but a winning streak is a winning streak, and they won what was a crazy game at City Field, overcoming the fact that Christian Scott couldn't throw a strike, and overcoming the fact that they blew a seven to two lead and a seven to three lead in the eighth inning. But I come to you, I'd say about a half hour after the game ended, and we had our big draft party at WFN . And all I can get out of my mind is my anger and my angst towards the current closer of this team, Devin Williams. Now, there's a lot of elements of this, including the miscommunication that got Devin Williams into the game with one out and nobody on in the ninth inning. But Carlos Mendoza needs to understand somet hing. He needs to understand the thing that all Yankee fans know, and that I, as a Met fan, know now too. Devin Williams can't be the closer of this team. He can't be. And I get that ultimately he made the big pitch when he needed to with the tying runs and scoring position and two outs in the ninth inning. He made the pitch he needed to to strike out Trevor Larnik and win the game. And kudos to him for that. But he makes me so uneasy when he comes into these games, and I think the reason I don't trust him is because I look into his eyes, and I think we all do, and we don't see a guy with conviction. We don't see a guy with belief. We see a guy where this moment, this city, this pressure is too much for him. And on the previous night, when the Mets finally broke their losing streak. And I'm not telling you Luke Weaver is perfect. He is not perfect. And he will blow games. Trust me. He already has. But you know that the moment is never too big for him. And that little wrestling promo he caught after the game in which he said, I'm afraid of nobody. You know, that little guy Napoleon syndrome that Luke Weaver has. There's a belief with him. And Devin Williams, quite frankly , is lucky he didn't blow this game. I mean, think about it. The mistake that was made, and I do want to get into it because it is a mistake, and Mendy's been managing for three years now. So this isn't like I'm new to the game, mistakes happen. Uh, I think there's a lot of times you see that with rookie managers. We saw with Mickey Calloway with the lineup fiasco in Cincinnati. If memory serves correct, that was his rookie season. Gabe Kappler screwing up which reliever he was calling for. That happened in his rookie season. Mistakes like this cannot happen in your third year. And if you're not aware, I'm sure you are. I wasn't aware at the time, because we're doing our big draft party and we have all these games on mute. So the Knick game, the draft, the Met game, the Yankee game. It's all on mute. And so sometimes you see stuff and you don't actually know what's happening. Like I'm gonna rewatch the Knicks game when I go home. I got to find out why Mikhail Bridges was benched in the fourth quarter. I got to find out what happened on that final possession. But luckily, I've got all night to do it because I'm staying in the city. But anyhow, Devin Williams, because of the mistake that was made by Mendy , came in with one out and nobody on and a three run lead. That is like the easiest save situation that you could actually come up with. The bottom of the order, it's seven , eight, and nine. There's one out of nobody on, and you have a three-run lead. And he proceeded to give up three consecutive hits to put himself in a position where he needed to escape by the hair of his ass. But in terms of the mistake, because it is fair to wonder, did the miscommunication, did Devin coming into the game, but not really coming into the game and having to go back to the bullpen, does that affect him? And it probably did. Look, you go back to the Dodgers series and you go back to Devin Williams implosion in LA, and I remember talking about it on that late night Rico , it felt like the Lindor mistake on that ground ball where he didn't charge and he played it back and it turned into an infield hit. It felt like that little mistake by Lindor did in Devin Williams completely. And he was unable to overcome it, and it led to what was the first awful performance by Devin Williams this season. So it does feel like little things like that can absolutely affect him. And so when Devin Williams comes in, thinking he's coming into a three-run game in the ninth inning. And then he's told, oh no, wait, while Scar Braziman technically needs to face one more batter, I'm sure that affected him, but it's not an excuse . And right now, it's not as if I'm suggesting something irrational like DFA the guy or caught him or what have you. I'm just saying you can't be the closer . Right now he cannot pitch in these high pressured situations. And nothing about him striking out Trevor Larnik is going to change that. Mendoza was asked uh the other day, so not Thursday, but on Wednesday after the game, is Devin Williams still your closer? And he said yes, or Wednesday before the game, as I think when he was asked it. And he said, Yeah, he's still the closer. And so we saw it based on his actions on Thursday, he is. And even after the game, he wasn't asked point blank as he stole the closer, but was asked about Devin's performance, Mendy continu es to have a level of confidence that this is Devin Williams' job. Well, Mendy, I got news for you. You got a guy in your bullpen. I know he's not perfect, but you got a guy in your bullpen. You actually have multiple guys in your bullpen with closing experience. And I'm not even thinking of Craig Kimbrell, who was not great in this game, as he put three guys on base and created the situation for Was car Brazzaban to give up the game time grand slam. But you got Luke Weaver. And let's not forget, Luke Weaver was the closer of a team that got to the World Series. So if you ask me, right now, I would make Luke Weaver the closer and Devin Williams. Not that I'm burying him because it's not like the Mets have unlimited options in their bullpen , but I would take away that ninth inning roll. Now I want to get into the mistake that Mendy made. And Carlos owned it after the game. So what ended up happening was he told Braz oban if the game is tied, because remember the twins had just tied the game, the Mets had first and third, one out, then Mauricio at that little pop up the center field, and after the walk to Tommy Fam, they had the bases loaded two out. It could go either way. And I think most of us thought it was going to go the way of the game remaining tied, or the Mets could take the lead. Mendy tried to tell Brazeban, and I guess on the phone to the bullpen, here's the situation. If we take the lead, we're gonna go to Devin. If we don't take the lead, I'll send Brazabon out to pitch the ninth inning against the bottom of the order and maybe save Devin Williams for the 10th inning. At least that's my assumption. And that's what Mendy explained after the game in terms of what the plan was . Somewhere along the lines, the signals got crossed, and despite the Mets taking the lead, Huascar Brazzaban went out. And once Brazaban crosses the white line, and this is my interpretation of this, remember Brazzaban only faced two hitters to end the eighth inning. He gave up the grand slam to Ryan Jeffers, and he got Cody Clemens to ground out. There is a three-batter minimum unless you end the inning. If you end the inning, you can come out. Once he goes out there, he has no longer fulfilled either of those rules to come out of the game. And so at that point, once Brazeban goes back out there, he is now forced to face Austin Martin, who is leading off the ninth inning. And so I don't know how the communication lines were messed up. I'm not sure if ultimately if Mendy made it clear to both guys and Razabon just didn't listen because he was too busy on YouTube checking out the WFA and draft party show. I have no idea, but the buck stops at the to p. And mistakes like that can't happen. And I've already expressed my opinion on this manager and what this team should have done. Obviously, he is still the manager. I am hoping that this winning streak extends past two. Not exact ly confident, but hey, I take these two wins and I'm happy. But mistakes like that cannot happen. They can't happen. This is a mistake-filled baseball team. And I'm glad they've won two games in a row, but they got to clean this c rap up. And that starts at the top. So a mistake like that, where no one knows who's supposed to come into the game, and you got a guy coming into the game, and then another guy staying in the game, and it creates a spot where the person you didn't want in the game is in the game, that's a problem. And that's on the manager . Now, let me go backwards with this manager and this bullpen and what happened in this game. When you have yourselves a six-to-one lead, and then it becomes six to two, and then you make it seven to two. I was feeling pretty good. I actually was. And I I said this to a few of the guys there. I feel good about this game. Not that the game is over, not that I'm taking anything for granted, but I felt good, especially with the way Tobias Myers threw the baseball, with even the way David Peterson threw the baseball. And I did think briefly how, far can David Peterson go? Mendy took him out after he got through the seventh inning when he got Luke Kieshel to fly out to right field. He did reveal after the game that he didn't feel Peterson could have gone much longer than that, which I find odd. Like David Peterson was a starting pitcher to begin this season. And yes, in his last performance, he was a bulk guy out of the bullpen . But why should his pitch count be limited to something like fifty . That doesn't really make a lot of sense. So as I was watching this game, I did think there was a chance that David Peterson could have gone longer. He ended up throwing 45 pitches. And according to Carlos Mendoza, that was around his limit. Why would that be around his limit? It's not as if he wasn't a starter a week and a half ago. So once he makes the decision to pull David Peterson, he goes to Craig Kimbrell, and we saw a very rocky performance by Kimbrell. And really the problem was two outs of the runner on first, the base hit and the walk to Josh Bell. The walk to Josh Bell can't happen. And after he issues that walk, I thought Mendy was right for going to Brazban with the bases loaded. Granted, Brazabon has not been great stranding inherited runners, but I think you like the matchup, and you also just can't trust Craig Kimbrell at this point after he walked Josh Bell. So I thought it was the right move to make. I think the problem was Was car Brazimont threw a sinker right down the middle, and Ryan Jeffers didn't miss it. And he flat out didn't execute. And for all of us, uh for those that are not aware, we did a WFN draft party on our rooftop here at work, and everybody was there and we were watching the draft and we were watching the nickname, and the sequence was unbelievable because the Jets make their pick at 16 . The Knicks go behind in the game against Atlanta. It didn't end the game, but they went behind on the CJ McCullum shot. And then as that is happening, I'm looking to the left and I see the ball flying off Ryan Jefferson's bat. No one's paying attention to it. And I say, they freaking blew the game. The Mets blew the game. And now all the heads turn to the TV and it's like a collective You think you find that funny hoff? You got a big chuckle out of that today? I I wouldn't say I found that like uh uh a ha ha chuckle, but yeah, I left. I left because sometimes laugh laughing beats crying. It does. And we've said that a lot during the losing streaks that laughing beats crying. I I I have to hand it though to this team. I gotta hand it to this team. A team that I've called gutless, that we've all called gutless, a team that we call, you know, all the bad words we've used over the 12-game losing streak. I don't want to repeat it. After Jeffers hits the grand slam, the game isn't over. It's not. Now the Nick game had just ended, and I made a comment that I know Gio heard and Sean heard, and they're like, oh, Evan is just a he's a maniac. I said, you know what? And I'll admit it here on the RICO, it's sa afe sp ace. I said, I'll take blowing the seven to three lead for the Knicks losing game three to Atlanta. And they're like, are you kidding me? And I said, here's why. The game isn't over. LinkedIn is pretty amazing at helping you grow your small business. We cannot make your email response time faster. We can help you sell, market, and hire in one place. We cannot help you find space for your three desk drinks. Why do you have three? And while we can't help you find the perfect volume for your presentation video, LinkedIn can help you find the perfect audience for your business. Grow your small business on LinkedIn. Learn more at LinkedIn.com slash small business . El Saya Boys Breakfast Meal y el Hunter's 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. Just because the Mets blew a lead doesn't mean they're gonna lose the game. I I get that they may lose the game. And the way the Met offense has played recently, maybe most people thought they were gonna lose the game. But think about it, the Mets did score seven runs in the first four innings of this game. The twins were also kind of shorthanded when it came to their bullpen. So while I wasn't confident the Mets were going to respond, I at least thought, hey, we got a puncher's chance to come back and win this game. So major props to two people. Number one, Was kar Braziman getting the last out. I I know it's weird to give him any kind of credit after he gave up the grand slam to Ryan Jeffers, but it could have turned into something worse. He could have given up more hits. He could have given up the lead and he kept it right there. And then major credit to Brett Beatty. Because in the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game, it felt like if the Mets are going to respond. I theyf are gonna win this game anyway, they got to score runs immediately. They have to respond to the four-run implosion that just occurred. And it's not easy when you're talking about five, six, seven, eight of the batting order. And Brett Beatty had a very good at-bat against Andrew Morris and pounded a base at the right field . The butt with Tyrone Taylor. And remember, Tyrone Taylor had just come into the game because Mendy wanted to improve the defense, so he went to Tyrone Taylor to play right field. Brett Beatty moved from right field to first base, and Mark Vientos, who had been old for three and falls down all the time on throws to first base, he comes out . I didn't hate the bunt because it's a tie game in the eighth inning. I gotta, I gotta score a run. I am so desperate to respond to what just happened. And so even though I've got the bottom of the order coming up, and it's not the greatest, it's Marcus Simeon who I have some level of hope in, but I don't have any in Ronnie Mauricio and then Carson Benge. It turned out to be Tommy Fam because of the lefty righty situation. But I still didn't mind the bunt. I'm not a big bunt guy, but in a spot like this, I didn't mind it. And Tyrone Taylor got it down. I thought for a second that Cody Clemens had a chance to throw out the lead runner at second base. He didn't make the throw. Marcus Simeon comes through with the base hit. I was screaming, send him, send him, send him. That probably wouldn't have been a good send. And Brett Beatty stops at third. So you have first and third and one out, and you have to score a run. This is a big moment and a big sequence for Ronnie Mauricio . They called him up with the Lindor injury, and don't worry, we will get to the Lindor injury. Uh we got a lot to talk about on this, Rico, so don't worry. I got a lot to say about that . But I agree with the fact that Ronnie Mauricio is going to get this opportunity and he's going to get this chance to play. But he did not look good in this game. He is swinging out of his shoes. He's swinging at pitches near his eyes. He came into that at bat first and third one out, 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. And I'm just hoping for contact. And unfortunately, while he made contact, he had a dinky fly ball to center field . Which sets up a very interesting chess match between Derek Shelton and Carlos Mendo za. You have Carson Bench who has hit a double in a home run, and the double just missed getting out of the ballpark . So you have Shelton go to the lefty in banda, and then if you'm Mendy, what do you do? Now I'll tell you what I would have done. Would I have pinched it for Carson Bench? Yes, I would have. Despite the two hits, despite what he did earlier in this game, I am still trying to win this game. And I don't trust him against a lefty. I not yet. Not when I'm in the midst of this rut that the Mets have been in. I got to put the best bat up there. I know the one thing I disagree though is I wouldn't have sent up Tommy Fan , who I DFA at any moment. I would have sent up Luis Terence. I know you ideally don't want to use your backup catcher, and Hayden Sanger went down when they called up . Yeah, who did he go down for now? I'm trying to remember. Oh, for Juan Soto. That's right. He went down for Juan Soto. So they don't have the third catcher. But in that situation, I'm desperate. And I would have trusted Terence more than Tommy Femme. He goes to Tommy Femme, credit to Fam, works the walk, which sets up the Bo Bouchette moment. And Bo Bouchette needed that. He needed that incredibly badly. He has said, going all the way back to the opening homestand, I really want that moment. I'm pressing for that moment. When you come up with bases loaded two out in a game that you just blew , that was his biggest at bat as a New York Met . Now, as far as where it lands in our thinking of Bo Bach et, I think a lot of that is going to have to do with what happens to this team next and what he does next. Is this the moment that base is clearing double? Is that the moment that wakes him up where now Bo Bashek gets red hot? Well, if that's the case, then that'll be like Jason Giombi in the rain . If he continues to slump and the Mets go back to losing, then it could be forgotten. It could go into that little dustpan of med history. But it was a huge moment for Bo. He just missed getting it out for a grand slam home run . But that was so important after blowing a four run lead to have the offense respond. Brett Beatty, Marcus Simeon, a great at bat by Tommy Femme , and then finally Bo Bach et . In terms of the rest of this game, Brett Beatty's three run home run in the first inning was this beautiful moonshot. Lu is Robert Jr., who has really struggled recently, not just offensively, but certainly with that noodle arm he has in center coming through behind in the count with a two out RBI double . You saw a really productive day from Carson Benge, the two hits I mentioned, including the double , where for some reason Marcus Simeon is holding up and can't score from second on a double off the right field fence. Luckily, it turned out not to matter between the passball, the sack fly, and the RBI double by Luis Robert Jr. So we actually for the first time in a while saw a lot of positives from this team offensively . The Christian Scott start, I mean , look, I I think the Mets rushed him up here. And that's not a second guess. That's a first guess. Upon the decision to call him up, I made the comment here on the Rico. I mean, the guys made three starts in tripleAA A. One was awful.. Two was good Do we really think that's enough to call him up ? And it felt like it was a panic move. It felt like it was a reaction to the struggles of David Peterson and Kodai Sengo, where they've pushed Kodai back. He isn't out of the rotation quite yet, but obviously David Peterson is. Mendy would not commit to Christian Scott getting another start. I I'm not against him getting another start fully, but this was bad. I mean, he could not throw a strike. And where I'll give him a little bit of credit is that that first inning could have gotten away from him when he issues the three consecutive walks with the two outs and a runner on first, including the walk to Mart that forced in a run. And he got the last out. He got Luke Kiesel to fly out. I mean, it could have been an unmitigated disaster, but then he comes out in the second inning and he walks the leadoff hitter on four pitches. He commits a balk. He hits a batter. I don't think Mindy had any other choice but to take him out. And Tobias Myers did a really good job. The Met bullpen overall, outside of the mistakes late, the bullpen when they needed to get so many innings. I mean, think about it. They needed seven, two, seven and two-thirds innings from their bullpen. That is not normal. That is not easy. And they were able to get that. So good job by Myers and good job by Peterson. Right now, what do I lean towards with Christian Scott? I mean, I kind of lean towards not giving him another start. And what may hurt him from getting another start is something Mendy said at his press conference, which is so true, which is that their bullpen is completely overworked. They need to get a fresh arm up here . Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Huascar Brazaban has worked a lot recent Peterson and Myers probably will be down for a few days. I guess Weaver and Rayleigh in theory should be available out of the bullpen on Friday. Sean Mania certainly will . But they are they're short arms right now . And so I think that where Christian Scott may end up back in the minor leagues is because they need another arm to get another arm, they may have to send them down. And look, who gets starts? I mean, they could work around it because they have an off day on Monday, so they don't necessarily need to have a fifth guy. They could also give Sean Minai a start. I mean it,'s kind of crazy to think that it is now late April, the final week of April almost, and Sean Mania still hasn't a start. The Mets made it seem when Minaya went to the bullpen that ah, don't worry, he'll make plenty of starts. He hasn't made any . And meanwhile, Christian Scott off of three starts in the minor leagues is coming up and making a start . So they've got some options, and I think also think the way Kodai Senga pitches over the weekend will be a big indicator on this. You could stretch out Tobias Myers. He looks good. He looks worthy enough of doing it. I don't think Jonathan is ready. I know he's looked better in the minor leagues if they want to go with another young arm from the minors . But Christian Scott was not good. You know, and it's there there's different levels to not being good. Not being able to throw a strike, that's rough. And he really, really struggled to throw strikes in this game. But ultimately, look, the bats did a good job against Joe Ryan. They were able to eat a bunch of innings in the middle of this game. They got a combined five and two-thirds innings, two runs allowed from Tobias Myers and David Peterson, and the Mets were able to win a series. And that's where I should smile and I should be happy. Hoff, you should smile and you should be happy because this team so badly needed to win a series. So badly needed to show us as fans something, just a little bit of guts. And I think this win showed a little bit of guts. And now they got a two-game winning streak. And I know that there's no team that right now you feel they're significantly better than, but you got three games coming up against the Colorado Rockies. And so maybe just maybe this could turn into a winning streak. Any confidence of that? Or no, Pete? No. And you want to know why? It's the same thing that we talked about going into this uh this you know spring training even was what type of rotation do they have? I was always concerned about that. still showing. This is a Bose moment. You've been there before. Somebody's apartment, small talk that's going nowhere, plastic cup that's almost empty. It's not great then someone hits play on a bose speaker heads nod feet tap one person dances then everyone does awkward becomes electric when bose sound fills the room you don't just hear the music. You feel it . Your life deserves music. Your music deserves Bose. Find your perfect product at Bose.com . Now's the time to save on new carpet at the home depot. Receive 10% off your total carpet project and 12 months special financing. Plus, we'll measure your space for free. Choose from a variety of stylish, on-trend options fit for everyday life with lifeproof, lifeproof with pet-proof technology, home decorators collection, and traffic master carpets. Save ten percent and get twelve month special financing now at the Home Depot. Offer valid April sixteenth through May 3rd, 2026. Exclusions apply for licenses Home Depot.com slash license numbers. So you're saying with Hilton honors, I can use points for a free night stay anywhere? Anywhere. What about fancy places like the canopy in Paris? Yeah. Hilton honors baby. Or relaxing sanctuaries like the Conrad and Talum. Hilton honors baby. What about the five-star Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives? Are you gonna do this for all 9,000 properties? When you want points that can take you anywhere, anytime, it matters where you stay. Hilton for the stay. Book your spring break now. Like I know they had bodies, but the bodies weren't good. Well, they got three guys at the top. You do have to feel good about. I mean, Nolan McLean, uh, obviously, Freddie Peralta hasn't been great, but you still have to have a level of confidence in him. And it's about time we acknowledge that Clay Holmes just may be really good. So they do have three guys, and that's the difference, I guess, between last year and this year. It's a big difference. Is that yeah, there are questions at the back of the rotation. I am not denying that. We just went through a few of them, but you gotta love the front three in this rotation right now. No, that's fine. And and I'll give Clay Holmes the props he deserves. I I you know, he's not a fifth starter anymore. Congratulations. No, look at that. You come around. No, but but but the problem I have is we were supposed to have this deep ru uh, you know, starting rotation where it's like, oh, we're gonna have six guys in the rotation. What are we gonna do? How are we going to get all these guys to start? And really, we're going back to the same problems. And when you have uh the there was a reason for this 12-game losing streak, and partly because when the three top guys weren't getting offensive help, and then you get to the back end of the rotation that you just basically giving up runs left and right, you can't win games at all. So we needed some we need some help. And I gotta be honest with you, there's a name out there that just got signed by the Padres, Lucas Giolito. I would have taken a risk on him rather than bring bring up Christian Scott. I understand he still need time to warm up and whatnot, but still, like desperation, man. That's where we're at. I getcha. You could celebrate your highlights with Mio Sparkling Sake, a true crowd pleaser. Light, bubbly, and easy to enjoy, whether you're at City Field or your favorite spot. As for Mio Sparkling Sake by name, a new tradition served chilled, imported from Japan. It's the official sake of Rico Brunha. Enjoy responsibly. We'll get to some of your emails. We'll pick the Rico. I'm the man right now, star of the series and the net neg ative. But let's get to Francisco Lindore. If you didn't hear before the game, without announcing specifically the severity of the calf issue or even putting a timetable upon his return, the Mets have made very clear that this Francisco Lindor injury is serious. It is significant, and he's going to miss a lot of time. So I don't even know if it matters whatever they call this calf inj ury, whether it's a tear or it's a grade one, two, or three. But I think what we need to do right now is basically forget Lindor's on the team. That's what you have to do because this timetable is going to be rough. Like off the top of my head, I would not expect to see him in the first half of the season. It is catastrophic. It sucks. Uh, one thing I've learned though in baseball is we can't harp on it. Like we'll talk about it today and you know, bemoan it and talk about how cursed the Mets are and all that. But he's not walking through that door . And here's the the pep talk I would give, and this is not me trying to convince you that the Mets are going to win the World Series, because obviously I don't believe that. But what I do know is that injuries to players, as good as they are, and Lindor is a wonderful player, despite some of the critiques he has faced from Met fans over the beginning part of this season. We saw the Atlanta Braves win a World Series when Ronald Decuna Jr. got hurt. Like this happens in sports. You're allowed to step up. This is not the NBA. We an' inrejury to your star player, or an injury to Jalen Brunson, or an injury to I sh I was gonna say SGA, but the thunder is so deep it it may not matter. Where, you know what I mean, a significant injury to an NBA player just ends your season. It should not. It creates an opportunity. And the opportunity at first is gonna fall into the lap of Ronnie Mauricio. And I believe he should get that first opportunity. He did not get off to a good start, defensively or offensively in his opportunity to play shortstop. But I think he he needs that one. Like I give him, and you want a timetable, I give him two weeks. I give him two weeks to go out there and play every single day. If it's a disaster , there are other options, which we'll get into. But the first option, and I'm glad the Mets are doing it, is to call this kid up, which they have, and let him play shortstop every day. Where I think the decision will be interesting is what do they do against a left hander. So for example, if you look at this Colorado series that's coming up, they're going to face Michael Lorenzen in game one. And then they're going to face old friend, old buddy, Jose Quintana in game number two. Do you start Ronnie Mauricio against a left-hand er? And the lead is probably not to, but currently with the way the team is constructed, you would then play Bo Bich ette at shortstop and probably play Brett Beatty at third base . Which I'm not opposed to. I remember at the very beginning of this season, or even in spring training, when Lindor had the handmaid injury, we talked about, do you move Bachet over there? And I was against it. And I was against it because I didn't want him going there on a short-term temporary basis. If there's a long-term question, that's different. Well, obviously, this is a whole different scenario. We are looking at Lindor missing months to this season. Months. The fact that they sending all these different doctors to look at the MRI, it ain't good. And we all know it ain't good. So I am more open now to Bobachette playing shortstop, and I'm okay with him doing it against a left-hand pitcher or late in the game. You pinch it for Ronnie Mauricio, which is on the table, and then you move Bobachette to shortstop. You don't really have a lot of options. Like I don't think calling up Vidal Brujan is necessarily the answer. I mean, you can, because Tommy Fam doesn't make as much sense on this roster. You could cut down yourself one less outfielder and bring up another infielder and add Brujan to the 40 man roster, you could do that. I don't love doing that. I'm not against Bachet just being that backup. It is a different scenario than when we talked about this in the month of March. If Mauricio falls flat on his face, then yeah, then I think you are looking at shifting Beatty back to third base and Bachette shortstop. But it's not something I want to do right now. My first option is to give Ronnie Mauricio that fair opportunity, that chance to not only hit at the major league level, show he can hit the major league level, but he's going to actually get a chance to play his natural position. And I think that's good for him. Now, was it a good debut for him today? No, it was not. I mean, there's obviously this was not a great beginning for Ronnie Mauricio . But I think for now he deserves that chance to play every single day. As far as Lindor is concerned, I I want everybody to do me a favor. It's a tiny favor. We don't get into the crazy rumors, or the he ruined the team, or he demanded everyone get traded, or Lindor's this, or Lindor is that. But I think sometimes winning and losing will get you to be crazier. If the New York Mets get h hot, and Iope they do, they've won two in a row. Maybe they turn this into a winning streak. And they start to excel, and Bo Bachet gets hot. And the pitching starts to stabilize, and good things happen. There's a lot of things that would need to change, but all that stuff happens. Let us not turn this into an indictment on Francisco Lindor because it's not. It's not. Has nothing to do with it. If the Mets play great baseball over the next few weeks, and God willing they do. It has nothing to do with they're better without Lindors. So save me from that. Don't do that. That's not a real thing. Just like when they started to win games at first when Soto got hurt, it wasn't because they didn't miss Juan Soto. Lindor and Soto are great players. They're their two best players. They are worse without them. It doesn't mean they can't play well without them because there's a lot of other guys on this team that could very well step up . But it sucks. I mean, I what are you gonna tell you? Like it sucks as a Met fan. It sucks that this team has started to play better. I mean in a brief, brief period. They get Ju back. Thank God. He looks like Juan Soto, even if he's just one for six, but he's walked a bunch of times. He's hit the ball hard . He got robbed on a great play by Brooks Lee in this game. Like Ju Soto is Ju Soto. I have the full faith in him. And you get him back, and immediately Lindor gets hurt. And they're going to miss a lot without Francisco. It's not just the clutch hitting as he was starting to heat up. It's the defense. You know, even when Lindor is imperfect, he is so reliable out there. And it just also sucks that one of Lindor's greatest traits, same with Soto, was playing every day and being available all the time and never having to worry about them getting hurt. And they both got hurt. And you also keep your fingers crossed that Juan Soto can stay healthy. There's certainly not a guarantee that he'll stay healthy coming off a calf injury. So it sucks. Do you agree, Hoff about Mauricio getting the first crack, or would you do something different at shortstop? No, I think he has to get the first crack. I mean, what else is he doing here? Why bring him up? I mean, no offense, but like they did this last time and he was here for like four or five days. Then he I think he got like a total of four at bats. I understand maybe he didn't hit the ball very well, but right now he's actually coming off of a real hot streak in the minors. I think he's got like five home runs in four days or something like that. It's he's been really good. So and that's his natural position, a shortstop. So why move Bouchette over there? Why put anybody else there but Ronnie Mauricio? And it also feels kind of now or never like for Ronnie Mauricio. There's that fine line between you're a prospect and now you just got to do it. And the fact he is playing his natural position, you have to say this is his best opportunity to just prove he can be a consistent major leaguer. No question. And uh I and listen, I I disagree with you where you're like, oh well, you know, if he's going up against the lefty, maybe you don't put him in there. I just play him, play him every day, give him the shot. I mean, they're basically doing that with Brett Beatty, they're basically doing that with Mark Vientos now. They're basically doing that with Carson Bench. Not really though. They sit bench against lefties and they take them out in situations like they did in game three of this series with Anthony Bonda on the mound. Like you're still trying to win games. And when you're still trying to win games, you gotta put your team in the best position to succeed. So you're still giving him a real opportunity. Remember, you mostly face righties . You know, it's not as if sometimes you get those weird stretches where you face a bunch of lefties, but for the most part, you are facing righties all the time. Let's get to some of your emails. We'll pick the Rico. I'm the man right now, star of the series and the net negative. Look ahead to the Colorado series. Let's start off with uh Dan, the archivist. Dan writes, the Brazobon Williams fiasco was equivalent to the Mickey Calloway batting out of ord Also, this happens just twenty-four hours after he had someone blatantly run through a stop sign, say he has zero regrets for doing it, and still get put right back in the lineup. Combine this with all the other mental dumbassery this team has already displayed this year, and it's like he's trying to scream that he shouldn't be in this dugout anymore. P. S. inherited runners is giving the LD offense a run for its money in the biggest problem department. Yeah. The bullpen, and this is why ERAs for relievers are so misleading. The inherited runner stranded has been a problem, specifically Was kar Brazaban. I want to get to what he said about Vientos because when we did the instant reaction Rico episode 677, we didn't get Vientos' comments. We talked about him running through the stop sign, getting the game-winning hit . But Vientos' comments were defiant, which was, Hey, I'm an aggressive player. Essentially, I'll do it again. So Mendy in his pregame was asked about that, and Drew laughs from the media because Mendy was pissed and he said we spoke about it. It won't happen again. And so I I like the fact that Mendy vocally said, No, that player is wrong, which you have to. I mean, Vientos doubling down on running through a stop sign is dumbassery. But Dan brings up a great point, and I made this point to somebody at the draft party, I don't remember. You can't then just put him back in the lineup. This was a perfect moment to bench him. And I know that you prefer him at first base right now, but go play Brett Beatty at first base and go play Tyrone Taylor and Wright. I mean, what do you want me to? That's what you gotta do. Because then any kind of public criticism of Vientos is toothless. What did you really do? You spoke to him. Ooh. You told him . Don't do that. Don't say that. And then you put him in the lineup . So I I think it's almost inconsistent. If you're Carlos Mendoza and you're trying to hold your players accountable and you're visibly pissed off that Vientos defiantly said, Yes, I'm aggressive. I'm going to run through stop signs. Do something about it. Austin and New Jersey writes: How the Brain Trust even entertained the idea of letting Enwitt and Diaz get away when this was your backup plan is malpractice. That has actually happened. That it actually happened is utter insanity. This can't be your plan going forward because the team has put itself in position where you cannot blow games when you actually have a lead in the ninth. Figure it out, David. Glad to see Bo had a moment. Good on him. More please. Well, I think what they need to do right now , because there's nothing you can do about the decision, the decision is done, and obviously Edwin Diaz has his own issues in LA missing a significant amount of time. What you've got to do right now is move Devin into a different role. And I think Carlos Mendoza is being defiant about it. And it's probably going to take a few more blown saves for Mendoza to realize he should not be the closer of this team. Sean writes, Evan and Hoff , Francisco Lindora sacrificed his calf for this team. Oh captain, my captain . You like that one? Uh yeah, that's what he did. He he sacrificed his care for this team. Yeah, okay. Sure. He took the easy way out, actually . Uh uh Frank writes, Evan, please tell me why Devin Williams doesn't get the save. MLB has listed him as the winning pitcher. Yeah. Brazzaban should have the win and Williams the save, even though he tried everything he could to blow it. So I haven't seen that yet. Um I would before you tell me anything, because I have no information about this. There is a rule that an official scorer can deem a pitcher is ineffective. And what is the phrase my dad always used to tell me? Like brief and ineffective is the rule that one can use to not give somebody a win. But I don't think that would be the case here because Brazzaban faced three batters and got two of them out. Granted, one of them was a grand slam, so yeah, I I think Brazabon should get the win. What am I missing here? Why did Brazzabon not get the win, Pete? Uh I don't know why, but I I I I do believe that that's how it comes up on Yahoo and ESPN and all that stuff. I I guess what happened was I mean Brasbahn came in, he didn't hold the game. He probably should have got the win, but I mean technically he was ineffective because he gave up the grand slam, which cost him the game. Yeah, but usually when they do that, so there is a rule which the official scorer can decide who gets the win because a reliever was brief and ineffective. I think that's the term. But he faced three batters and he got two of them out. That doesn't really qualify as brief and ineffective . Uh, I gotta do some research on that. Great question. I I wish I had an answer for you. Good thing I didn't write down Braz obon win because he wouldn't have gotten it. So yeah, I'll take a look at that. That's interesting. Uh Joe writes, Hi Evan. If there was a need to know that this manager has to go, then this is the game. He was doing everything he could to lose this game, not on purpose, but he lacks what the team needs from a manager . Well, they're not going to fire him. I mean, it's just not . They're not going to do it off of a win. Though that they did do that with Willie Randolph. They did fire him off of victory. That did happen. Let's pick uh Rico. I'm the man right now, star of the series. It is definitely nice that we can pick one off of a series in which they actually won a game. Cause the last three series we had to pick these winners off of sweeps And that's not fun. That's not enjoyable. It was Freddie Peralta in the A series. It was Nolan McLean in the Dodgers series. And it was MJ Melendez in the Cubs series. Before I give you the numbers, does anyone jump out at you, Hoff, as the person that you would give the Rico I'm the man right now, star of the series to? I mean, because he had a huge hit in game three, you gotta look at Bob Bouchette. You know, they kind of came up to Schneid there. But I mean, uh is there anyone else? Juan Soto was effective, but I mean he didn't really do anything to help win a game. I I think I'd lean towards Bachet. You're such a hater. You can't even just say Clay Holmes's name. Just say his name. But he didn't win the game. He pitched seven innings and allowed two runs. That was great. Bo Bouchette got a huge hit after the team was down. I'm not arguing Bo Bouchette versus uh uh Clay Holmes. I'm merely saying, can you say his name? Just you can mention him as hey, that's a candidate. You should give him some love. Did you ever watch the movie Um uh what is it called? Fight Club? Yes. His name is Bob. That's me loaf character, and after he died, they said his name is Bob. So I'll say it. His name is Clay Holmes. Okay. First rule of five club is you don't talk about fight club. That is true. Yeah. Yeah. I think the other guy who deserves some credit is Luke Weaver. Uh Luke Weaver came into a very tricky spot in game two of the series, got the big add against Kieshel, and then a one-two, not a one-two-three inning, but struck out three guys in the ninth inning. So I think he's a worthy candidate. Francisco Lindor was on his way . I mean, Lindor hit the three run home run in game one, went two for two in game two, and then he got hurt. He was three for five with a home run and four RBIs. He was on his way to being the man right now. I think Brett Beatty is another really good candidate. He had two walks off the bench in game two. And then I thought he was really, really important in this game three victory. We mentioned the the home running hit in the first inning, the three-run shot, and then he also got the base hit that started the rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. So Beatty overall went three for six in this series with a home run and three RBIs. I think those are all the candidates. I don't think I'm missing anybody, but I I kind of have to agree with you that it's Bo Bachet. And the reason I say Bo Bachet is he was quiet in the first two games. He wasn't bad. He was one for four in each game. Nothing atrocious, but nothing great. But I think that this performance in the leadoff spot, I think this was really, really important. I mean, he started the game off with a base hit after they went down one nothing. There's a value to that because he helped them score runs in responding to the first inning deficit. He also reached first base on a pass ball and then had his first stolen base as a met, which also contributed to runs being scored. So kudos to that. And then I think that at bat in the eighth inning, in a lot of ways, was one of the most important at-bats of the season. I do. I think if we're measuring important at-bats, it's up there. So I'm with you. I think that Bo Bach et, who has already won the net negative twice this season, the uh one of the few guys to do that, I think he deserves his first. I'm the man right now star of the series. He gets his moment. He gets the biggest hit of the year. Overall, he goes um five for thirteen with three RBIs . Let's make it unanimous. Bo Bach et, you are the men right now. There you go. By the way, can I just clarify something too? Because I'm not sitting here telling you that Bo Bouchette is back and Bobuchette is where he needs to be. And the same thing with Brett Beatty too. Like I I understand that he played well the past two games, but I'd be getting a lot of people being like, dude, I told you Brett Beatty he,'s why you always giving him crap. He's so good. I mean, he's proven really nothing all season long, just like everybody else. So I'm not sitting here and saying this team is back till they're they're winning ways and they're they're gonna be studs again. You know what I mean? I think Brett Beatty had a good series. And Brett Brett Beatty is like one of the many guys we're going to say this about. He needs to step up. He just does. I I think he he in a lot of ways is going to be impacted by this Lindor injury. Not at first, but eventually he will be, because we talk about Bachet potentially moving to shortstop and Beatty moving back to his natural position of third base. I mean, Brett Beatty may end up really being a big factor in this Lindor injury. Either way, he's going to play. And they need him. And in this particular game and in this particular series, he's played well. What I've learned, here's the lessons of this season . I'm gonna give them credit like I just did, but I am no longer gonna buy in fully to the vientos and babies of the world until they do it for a significant period of time. I feel like these two guys, Beatty and Vientos, they put us on a roller coaster where we get very high on them, we get very down on them, then we get high on them. Look, both guys are going to play. Both guys need to play. And they need both guys to step up. So my opinion on Brett Beatty is he had a really good series. I'm going to give him credit for that. Do I expect him to do that against the Rockies? No, I don't have high expectations, but they need them. I think the net negative is very straightforward. I look, there are guys you can bring up. You want to bring up Christian Scott, that's fine. You want to bring up Was gar Brazzabon for giving up the grand sl am. That's fine. That's okay. You can mention them. Luis Robert Jr. is like a sneaky net negative. He did get that RBI double in the game, but he ended up going one for twelve and he has that noodle arm in center field so uh honorable mention of luis robert junior but it is can I guess guess it can I guess it go ahead to Tommy Fam. It is not Tommy Fam. You want to guess again no I I know who it is. I don't want to say it though. He's my favorite guy in the yeah, it's the best closer New York. It's the guy you put over last year constantly. It's Devin Williams. And I we've already beat him up already on this Rico. I don't know how much deeper you guys want to go. Should we beat him up some more? Devin Williams is the net negative. Ultimately, he got the job done in the finale of this series. I get it. He ended up getting the out he needed to. But he faced five batters and three of them got base hits. And we all know what he did in game one of this series when he cropped the bet. It was a chance early on, and actually I want to go back real quick. Another honorable mention for the on the man right now star of the series is a guy who is not currently on the active roster, and that's Austin Warren. Because he did electrify City Field with MVP chance and Austin Warren chance, and he's not even here anymore. He'll be back, don't worry. We have to wait ten days unless there's an injury. But Austin Warren , please come back. We need you. And he will be back. I'm not concerned. That's why when they sent him down, I I don't know how many people were pissed about it, but it's one of those things where he's on the Syracuse shuttle. He'll be back in 10 days. And then maybe when he comes back, he stays permanently. You know, he's got a chance to earn a role. Craig Kimbrell's on a hot seat. You know, he's at his shaky moments. And so there's no guarantee Craig Kimbrell's going to be here forever. But kudos to Austin Warren. But the net negative is Devin Williams. I don't think there's any doubt. It's his first victory. So real quick, here are our award winners from beginning to now. In the I'm the man right now, star of the series, Luis Robert Jr. in the Pirates series, Tobias Myers in the Cardinal series, Mark Vientos in the Giants series, Ronnie Mauricio in the Arizona series, Freddie Peralta in the A's series, Nolan McLean in the Dodgers series, MJ Melendez in the Cub Series, and Bo Bachet here in the Twin Series, the net negatives, Bo Bichette in the Pirates series, Marcus Simeon in the Cardinal series, David Peterson in the Giants series, Mark Vientos in the Arizona series, Lindor back-to-back series, the A's and Dodgers series, Bo Bachet in the Cub Series, and now Devin Williams. All right. I gotta ask a question about the Devin Williams stuff. Because I know you said, oh, you know, eventually it's gonna go to Luke Weaver. But here's the thing, right? Carlos Mendoza, how much of a say does he s does he have in Devin Williams? Because we know that David Stearns is high on him. He said how much last year was based around bad luck. Um so it's got to go through David Stearns first before it even goes to Carlos Mendoza. David Stones has to recognize that it's not bad luck anymore that he's just not a good closer anymore. It's a good question. It's a good question. And I think we battle with this all the time. Um, what decisions are being made by the managers, what decisions are being made by the team president. David Stearns will tell you it's Mendy's decision because it's the the day-to-day kind of decision of the manager. But I I don't know. I don't know. I I kind of want to lean towards the manager, still make those calls. I I just know right now he's not the guy. And I think we need to learn from the Yankees last year. The Yankees eventually made him a seventh and eighth inning guy and he had good moments. He wasn't all bad. Like it's not as if it was an unmitigated disaster. And it doesn't mean he can't be the closer again. Doesn't mean it's permanent. Remember Edwin Diaz briefly lost his c coloser's role in twenty twenty four. We almost forget about that. Like that's crazy. I just think for now, and maybe it's taking the pressure off a little bit. I just don't think he should be the closer, but it's a fair question on who's making that decision. I I just think that the words of Carlos Mendoza lead you to believe that they're not doing it anytime soon. Now they've got three games coming up against Colorado, they've got three games coming up against Washington. So far, they are two and one on this hom estand. I think we all agreed that six and three at minimum was what this team needed to do. And they are currently on track. All right. It hasn't been easy the last two days, but they are on track. Prepare yourself, Met fans, for bad news about Lindor. The way we should handle this here on the RICO, and just really as a Met fan, is forget he exists. You just have to put him out of your mind. And then if he comes back, when he comes back, hopefully the team is in a pennant race. Hopefully the team will be relevant when he comes back. And yes, I know I hate this, but I'll say it anyway. It'll be like making a trade. It'll be like a trade acquisition. So it's baseball, man. And adversity only makes you stronger. And let's hope that's happening to the twenty twenty-six New York Mets. Again, you could always email the Rico, the Rico B at Gmail.com, TheRico B at Gmail.com. We appreciate you listening and hanging out on this happy edition of the Rico Brunia. I am going to the game on Friday with my dad, so maybe a drive home on Friday. I'm not sure. I don't know if you're freehoff. Uh, but as always, we give you Rico Brownas. We guarantee them when series end. We always have these series recaps, and occasionally we'll give you these