Nothing surprises me about the Mets anymore.
They could come out and say Mr. Met was secretly running a high stakes poker game out of Citi Field and I wouldn’t flinch.
Or Terry Collins was the real-life Walter White and a meth lab was run out of his basement. Again nothing.
Because when things are breaking bad in Queens, they are really going downhill.
Ask yourself this: When you heard both Neil Walker and Matt Harvey were scheduled for the MRI tube today, did you think you would see either of them anytime soon?
Didn’t think so.
Both Walker and Harvey are due to miss “several weeks” and we all know that means at least a month and probably two in Mets speak.
And that’s not all. Like a bad gameshow, the Mets lost Juan Lagares to a fractured IP Joint in his left thumb and Noah Syndergaard isn’t expected back to at least August now.
So, for those scoring at home. The Mets started this week bringing back Yoenis Cespedes, Steven Matz, and Seth Lugo and then proceeded to lose Asdrubal Cabrera, Josh Smoker, Walker, Harvey and now Lagares.
“How many do we have to play through?” Collins said. “You know what the answer is? As many as pop up. I go back to where you say to someone, ‘This is the last time I’m going to tell you.’ You know what? You are going to tell them again. It’s the same thing. We just got to play through it not sit there with our bottom lip out and mope about it.”
Well, at least the mascot hasn’t given anyone the finger in the last few weeks. We should be thankful for the little things.
In all seriousness, all of this comes at the worst possible time. The Nationals are in town and the Mets big chance to get back into this race automatically gets derailed because of our old friend, Mr. DL. Tonight, Gio Gonzalez was too much for the Amazin’s. An 8-3 Nationals win, put New York on its heels for this series and they played this game like they were in a trance.
“You can’t sit there and mope,” Collins said. “You got to have fun playing the game. You got to get ready tomorrow and we have to get up for it.”
Oh, and it continues to get worse. Although Matz, Lugo and Jacob deGrom are going the next three games, there’s talk about inserting Rafael Montero into the No. 6 slot after his performance tonight.
That just induces joy. Doesn’t it?
Sometimes you may have to accept the fact this just isn’t the Mets year. All signs are pointing towards it. Now, Collins isn’t going to give up and there’s still a decent chance the Mets win at least two if not all three of the next games against the Nationals with their best three on the mound.
Even if they are going to get back this race, they still will have injuries and they still will be shorthanded. It’s the cost if having their Triple-A team in Las Vegas with a team held together with tape.
It was an uphill battle last year, when Collins became the second Mets manager to reach the playoffs two years in a row.
It gets even harder now when he tries to make history.
With a little less than 100 games left in the season, the Mets still have their chance. Win or lose though. They are going to be interesting.
And nothing they do will surprise me.
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