Mets Win Again While Everyone Loses, McNeil Hits the IL

the Mets won again everybody else in the race lost it is a great day to be a Mets fan as the streak has now reached nine games you are locked on Mets your daily New York Mets podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello to all you amazing Mets fans you're watching locked on Mets part of the locked on on podcast Network your team every day I'm your host Ryan finlin if you want to find any of my work follow me on X at finlin Ryan you can also find somebody writing at just baseball.com where I work as the managing editor well the winning streaks stayed alive on Saturday early on in the game things weren't going great for the Mets they were no hit through the first four innings was n until Jose glaas hit a double with two outs in the fifth that the Mets got their first hit but one big rally in some great pitching and guess what the Mets continue to climb the standings the Braves lost the Diamondbacks lost the padr lost even the Phillies lost the Mets the one team that won in that NL pennant race today and it feels really really good but getting back to the specifics of the game on Saturday again there was not a lot of offense for the Mets early in this game Jacob junus was no hitting them but Jose Katana was matching junis at every turn and particularly thanks to some unbelievable defense up the middle we got some bad news today Jeff mcneel is out for the season or at least the regular season I'll talk about that a little bit more in the final segment today but what that does mean for the Mets is Jose glaus is going to be playing pretty much every single inning at second base the only other backup infielder on the roster right now is Pablo Reyes and a the Mets are going to be trying to get him into too many games unless they need to so a glacius is going to be your starting second basem the OS you're starting third basem and that's the way they're going to roll it out from this point on and I'll tell you what if there's one silver lining it is a very small one because again I we'll talk about in the final segment losing Jeff mcneel is not a good thing for this team but the slight Silver Lining is you get to watch Jose glaus and Francisco Lindor up the middle and I got to tell you in my lifetime I'm about to turn 29 next week uh actually a week from uh yesterday as you're all listening to this week from today uh in my lifetime there's never been a better double play combination than I've watched than Francisco Lindor and Jose glacius I thought that at times with Francisco Lindor and Lou gor but Jose glacius is even a different level and we saw that in this game a ridiculous turn in the second inning where Jose canana walks the leadoff man you always say those lead off walks come to kill you it almost turned into a big inning because if Jose glaus doesn't make make the diving stop that's a hit there's two Runners on there's nobody out it might be first and third but instead eaus makes a diving stop quick spin turn throw to Lindor throws a little bit low Lindor easily digs it out and fires it to First in time and guess what double play of ball two outs instead of two on and Katana able to get through that inning third inning lead off single he gives up then Jonathan India hits a rope to the right of Francisco Lindor on a hop he makes a great play on a backhand quick throw to second to get I believe it was Jake fry or TJ fredel might have been fredle one of those guys that was flying down towards second he also beat out an infield single to get on first but Lindor makes that play the throw beats whoever the runner was I don't recall exactly I think it was fredel regardless the throw beats him to Second they get Jonathan India at first for another huge double play and that really helped canana who other than that really sort of cruised throughout this game all told uh he went six and two3 allowed five hits two walks six strikeouts uh fourth inning he did give up a lead off double and didn't have a double play ball that helped him navigate his way through it but he got a pop out there was then a wild pitch that put the runner on third base he got a comebacker looked the runner back to third got a ground out to pet Alonzo and again you know tight roped his way through it and got out of all of these jams and then the sixth inning there was only one inning where the Mets got a rally but that was enough for them to win this game and it was Harrison Bader who came through this is the marking of a great team when the guy that's marred in a long slump is the one that comes through and put your team on the board with an opposite field Homer his first opposite field Homer of the Season that starts a rally Francisco lur had a bad day at the plate still was able to draw a walk so his hitting streak ends I believe it was 16 but the on Bay streak continues to 3 breaking Pete Alonzo's franchise record for the longest on Bay streak in a single season and now he's got his sight set on John olude at 47 games uh from a on Bas streak that continued from a previous season into the new one andor's got a chance here with enough games to grab that record by the end of the season but obviously that is the least of his worries he's just trying to get his team in the playoffs and in this instance after the home run from Bader he gets on Brandon immo gets hit by a pitch so you have two Runners on nobody out Mark ventos pops out Pete Alonzo who all of a sudden looks like he's going through another slump he at least got a base hit in a big moment getting a ground ball up the middle to drive in one Jesse Winker flies out but then JD Martinez comes through with the two- out Knock an RBI double that drives in both nmo and Pete Alonzo who scored from first base which was really impressive P can run man he really can I don't know if we've talked about this on the show if I've met mentioned it but I honestly think maybe a straight line race he wouldn't win but from first to home there's no doubt in my mind that Pete Alonzo would trounce Mark vantos in a foot race when he starts moving the big man can fly um maybe not fly but I like to watch him run regardless that gave them met aora nothing lead that's all they needed again Katana got them through six and two thirs he gave up a base hit at that point and it was an infield hit one where Mark fanto made a great stop on a backhand going away trying to make the throw he just didn't give Pete Alonzo a easy enough hop it was too much of an in between hob and Pete just couldn't handle it so a throwing error from Vientos allows the runner to get the second Adam adino comes in doesn't even pay Sago espanol any mind so he Stills Third Base but adino gets the strike out gets out of that inning closes the book for Jose canana who ends up picking up the 100th win of his career the first Colombian born pitcher to ever yet to 100 wins he also lowered his ER in the season to 4.09 there is a world here down the stretch if canana can string together a couple more good starts where the New York Mets might get through this season with 160 plus Innings from Jose Katana sha manah and Luis srino were all of them pitched to a sub four if that happens those three guys I mean regardless if it happens or not the mats owe their season to those three guys and the consistent know stability they've brought to this rotation but man if that happens if you would have told me that on opening day that would blow my mind so incredible stuff from kintana who went through a rough stretch not that long ago and has really settled himself back in and the bullpen was great tonight after adino Danny Young comes on for the eighth strikes out two perfect frame Edwin Diaz pitches in the ninth I know fans probably were upset about this it's a 4 nothing game why pitch Edwin Diaz here's what I'll say Edwin Diaz has looked sharper over the past week week and a half here then he has all season all of a sudden he's lighting up the radar gun again and he has said he likes to pitch I am not going to quibble with Carlos Mendoza's decisions as long as Edwin Diaz looks sharp now granted in this outing he hit a batter and gave up a hit but he got his way through it put up another zero to me it made sense only in the fact that you want to to lock down this win make sure you win the series that's still the most important thing here and he had already warmed up so if the game goes a little bit more sideways in that ninth inning with someone else on the mound now you're going to Edwin Diaz in a more stressful situation let him close it out he's probably not gonna be available on Sunday but you know what you got Luis srino on the mound you should have Phil mton Reed Garrett Ryan stanik locar braban you'll have arms and hopefully the mats can still keep this winning streak going but a great game all together You've Won nine in a row you gain ground on everybody as we'll talking about in the next segment and again with sevie on the mound you got a chance to make this a 10-game winning streak one that very well could be the stretch that we look back on that propelled the New York Mets into the playoffs and this is a fun team that could even make a run when they get there so uh nothing but good vibes right now at City Field and I want to talk about what this run has meant to this team so we go through all of that in just a minute first though quick word from our sponsors today's episode is brought to you by game time there are only eight more games left at City Field this season unless the Mets make it to October and they need your help get out go to the ballpark it is a crazy environment at City Field right now you want to be there and gay time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports music comedy and Theater events near you and it's the place to go for last minute tickets if you're listening right now in the morning you can still get out to the game this afternoon and with game times game time picks you're going to get 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I have to share a story with you all today that I learned from one of our insiders his name is Brian and he sent me some text messages today to tell me what's been going on in his life Brian just had a son his boy's name is Ezra he was born on August 29th throughout the time where his wife was pregnant the two of them would listen to Locked on Mets together and now Ezra has joined in on that tradition and think for a second about what has happened since Ezra was born on August 29th the New York Mets have not lost a game the kids undefeated it's insane uh so Ezra is who he had to thank for this incredible winning streak by the New York Met uh so just a really cool story I learned today honestly did it made my day my week my month really heartwarming stuff so thank you Brian for sharing your story with me I'm humbled that I'm part of your family's life in this way and then I have a day one listener literally so shout out to you as ra I hope that uh you tune in for years to come now let's talk about this winning streak because I foreshadowed this a little bit and I want to play a clip from an old episode of Locked on Mets here so we can reflect on what this team has accomplished because I did a podcast on August 27th it's titled can the Mets win 90 plus games to make the playoffs and I was doing the math for you all about where everybody was you know how many games the Padres would have to win to get to 90 and the Diamondbacks and the Braves and and through that process I broke down why this team needed a winning streak let's listen back to this old episode of lock them Mets couple minute clip here from August 27th if the number the Mets had to get to is 90 wins that would mean they have to go 22 and N down the stretch that's going to be really tough to do let's just say the mats they have 10 series left let's say they win two games every series which would mean that they win every single series except for their four game set against the Phillies so if they were to do that that's 20 wins that only gets them to 88 and 74 I'm not saying this to discourage you and said the Mets can't make the playoffs they can but if they're going to do it winning every series as great as that is that might not be enough what this team needs more than anything else they need a winning streak that's what the New York Mets need to do at some point here if you look at their season so far they had a six-game winning streak in April which came to an end at the Francisco Alvarez went down with his injury they had a seven game winning streak in June that was their best winning streak of the season and they had two five game winning streaks in July but only four times this season when the Mets have won five games in a row they either have to do what they did in July so put together two separate five-game winning streaks which means you win a series you sweep series which could happen this week let's just say the Mets drop the first game win the second two or the final two uh against the Diamondbacks and sweep the white socks that'd be a five-game winning streak right you got to take advantage when you do get those bad teams in your schedule and at some point you got to go on a run being the Diamondbacks is the first step for the New York Mets handling your business against the white socks is the next one then you got the red socks then you got the Reds this is a part of the Mets schedule that I do think they can take advantage of they're not playing awful teams the whole way through there's only one in the White Sox but it's a pretty bad team and then you have teams that are going to be competitive the Red Sox and the Reds the reds are a sub 500 team but they can beat you in a series The Red Sox are above 500 those are tougher teams but teams the Mets can handle they have to string together wins at some point the time is now because again you might have to go 22 and N down the stretch now the math on that changes if you go through a winning streak though so the math on that changes if you go on a winning streak guess what since I recorded that show the New York Mets are 10 and one in their last 11 games so if they want to get to 90 wins at this point all they got to do is go 12 and eight that sounds a lot more manageable than 22- n and it's crazy how that all came together in that way uh I also think it's crazy I'm wearing the same shirt that I wore on that show and I'm also thankful that I finally got a haircut but regardless it's been a great run for this team if you think back at where they were going into that Series against the Diamondbacks this is after they lost that game on the Jackson marrow walkoff to the Padre's the New York Mets at the time were three games back of the Braves there were six games back of the Padre's seven games back of the Diamondbacks they only half a game back at the Diamondbacks now across this span of 11 games for the metch where they went 10 and one the Braves went six and5 the pades went six and five the Diamondbacks went four and eight so the Mets gained four games on the Braves and the Padre's they're now a game up on the Braves they're only two games back from the Padre's and they gained six and a half games on the Arizona Diamondbacks and again are only a half game back from the second wild card spot that's crazy stuff also by the way the Phillies lost today as well so the Mets gain some ground there Al the Phillies have gone eight and three during the same stretch so I know that some fans are already starting to set their sights up to the Phillies in the standings the Mets do have seven games left against Phillies so if they took them all with where they're at right now seven games back in the division that would put them you know squarely even but that's a tall task to said go ahead sweep the Phillies who are actually playing Better Baseball lately sweeped them twice in the final couple weeks it can happen but that would be one of the most remarkable septembers that the Mets have ever had probably the most and Lindor should be the unanimous MVP if that happens and amongst other things but what you have to think about right now is where the Mets were seven games back at the Diamondbacks at that point in time when I recorded that show it looked like the Braves were the only team Within Reach but as I said then and as it's proven out now a winning streak changes the math and the longer they extend this winning streak the more that math changes you finish off this sweep of the Reds you go to Toronto and you handle business there all of a sudden what we talked about was a 12 and eight stretch that the Mets had to go on to get to 500 or not to get to 500 to get to 90 wins now all you got to do is go eight and eight in the final 16 games when you play the Phillies seven times the Braves three times and the Brewers three times now the Mets at this point you don't think that far ahead you handle business day in day out like they've been doing and it just becomes whoever's in front of them that's the next team to topple off so they're ahead of the Braves by game now great great let's see them widen that Gap you're half a game back from the Diamondbacks the Diamondbacks play the Astros again on Sunday to close out that series they're going to try to avoid getting swept and I don't think I think they have a two game set against the Rangers but over their next couple weeks they're going to play the Brewers two times so they have seven games against a really good Brewers team the Diamondbacks can beat them but there's a chance some more losses are going to come in I think if there's one of these teams that might fall out of this race it could very well be the diamond bats because their schedule is a lot tougher than the Braves but you never know the match just got to keep doing what they've been doing here keep winning these games keep winning these series and at this point they don't have to have some crazy winning streak from here on out they did the hard work now win series after series after series but when you're playing these bad teams you can stock up some wins so if you do go into Philly next weekend and you lose a hard-fought series it's not the end all Beall because guess what you still have the upcoming series here after this one against the Blue Jays and after that Series in Philly you got a three game set at home against the Nationals so the Mets just have to keep on focusing day in day out on the task at hand and when they have a bad team in front of them they got to beat that bad team hopefully Luis srino can do that on Sunday and maybe the mats can stock po some more wins in Toronto but the Mets did get dealt a tough blow today because Jeff mcneel is out for the season so what does that mean for the New York Mets from this point on who's going to replace him how are they going to manage this roster I'll talk about all of that in just a minute first though another word from our sponsors today's episode is brought 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10,000 subscribers by the end of the season so I appreciate all of you who continue to subscribe so let's talk about Jeff mcneel we spent some time on this on yesterday's show but we ended up getting the official news today Jeff mcneel is out for the rest of the regular season he has a fractured wrist he'll be out for four to six weeks the earliest he can be back is the nlds and that is best case scenario think more likely you might be looking at more the NLCS he said it himself if he comes back and he's playing this year it's probably a really good thing for the New York Mets because that's that means they've made a Deep Run now at one point this season losing Jeff McNeil would not have been a big deal there was times this season where fans were campaigning for him to get DFA or to get traded but Jeff mcneel showed his value after the All-Star break he really turned the season around since the All-Star break he's hitting 289 376 on base 547 slug that is Jeff mcneel numbers if not better than Jeff mcneel numbers throughout his career seven home runs 12 doubles a 923 Ops he has the second best Ops on the Mets behind Lindor since the All-Star break it's been a crazy run here for Jeff mcneel and now unfortunately an up and down season most likely comes to an end or at least it's put put on pause and we'll see if he can get back in the race again if everything breaks right for him and for this club the question now is what happens and the answer is very simple as we already talked about earlier and as I spoke about on yesterday's show a glacius is just an everyday player now it's that simple he will play every single inning at second base from here on out that's what the Mets are going to do Pablo re is on the roster if the Mets wanted to go to infield defense late and they want to take Marc ventos out all right Pablo Reyes can play some third but Jose glacius and Francisco londor will be there up the middle every single game and because of that the Mets can get by here but their depth took a major hit because we've seen the value of being able to put Jeff mcneel in right field to start the game and a glacia said second and then late in the game if you want to put Tyrone Taylor in for defense you can slide a glacius to third bring McNeil into the dirt play some second base close out that game Jeff mcneel can start in left field if you want to and it just it changes so much for this team where you have a left-handed bat in an outfield that doesn't have a lot of those it's Brandon Nemo and Jesse Winker so Jeff mcneel gave you a third Outfield bat from the left side and a left-handed infielder that had a pseudo platoon with Jose glacius at second base obviously a glacius can hit against either side but he's definitely been better against lefties and the Mets have been able to sort of prevent him from getting Overexposed there's a reason why glacia has has a batting average over 300 and a lot of it's just due to the fact that he's having a great season but also shielding him from some bad matchups has been of great benefit for him and he's really thrived in that type of a role moving into next year I think having both of those guys on the roster again could make a lot of sense for the New York Mets bringing glacius back and Jeff mcneel is under contract and I think he showed you even in a Down Season he could always find it again and his defensive versatility makes him a valuable player to this roster regardless now you lose him and it's not to say the Matts can't get by without him they have a very deep team right now the Outfield can certainly get by without Jeff mcneel and a glacias can be your starting second baseman but you now don't have a backup infielder that you like so the question is how do the Mets replace them what do they do on this roster when it happened the first thing on every single Fan's mind was okay aunia is coming up right we're finally gonna get to see the top prospect Louis and auna Ronald kunga Jr's little brother he's gonna be parachuted in to a pennant race let's see what he can do in some respects sure the fan in me gets that if I find out on Sunday morning that Louis and hunia is the guy promoted I'll be excited to see what he does and whatever limited exposure he gets but you have to think about the playing time that aunia would get what role does he have he would serve a very similar role to Pablo Reyes the guy they just chose over him to make this roster they added Pablo Rees onto the roster when Akuna was already on the 40 that says a lot because they felt that auna needed to develop more in Syracuse he has not been swinging the bat well and Pablo Rees is a has got big league experience if you're talking about a very limited role sometimes it's better to have someone that isn't in awe of every Big League ballpark they walk into so bringing up aunia to still play a limited role I just don't see it and sure not if he was bat lead off in Syracuse after this news you know who was not in the lineup the guy I told you would come up on yesterday's show and that's DJ Stewart I said it on Saturday's Edition I said if Jeff mcneel goes on the iil my guess is either DJ Stewart or Jose aouar was going to come up and I said it would probably be Stewart a zokar would give you a speed option in the Outfield but particularly on the bases but if you think about the function of this roster we saw a pinch running opportunity what was it on the first game of the series I believe where Tyrone Taylor took that that on and stole a base so they have Tyrone Taylor that can do that they have Pablo Reyes that can do that do they really need another speed defense guy you would say well yeah at their infield who else is going to play in the infield well if somebody else goes down they'll go grab somebody but as president constructed you got three everyday players in acius Lindor and Vientos and four if you talk about Alonzo and beyond that you got Pablo Reyes to back everybody up when it comes to the Outfield you got Bader Taylor Marte nmo Winker so why does DJ Stewart fit into this roster because you need another player just to fill the roster out I don't know how much we see DJ Stewart but what I do know is the mats clearly value theats that he gives them because he's gotten these opportunities and he will put himself in a good hitter's count and he can still Ambush a fast ball if he gets one so yeah do I love DJ Stewart anymore no do I think this guy is going to have a huge role down the stretch no I think it would be crazy to give him any bats over Jesse Winker but if Jesse Winker was in the game early and they subed him out for defense and you end up in a situation where all of a sudden the game gets away from you and it's tied it's an extras and you're about to have whoever it is maybe it's Pablo Reyes is about to hit against a right-handed pitcher and you could put in DJ Stewart instead that might be a move you might want to go to so adding that left-handed bat makes sense to me I don't think he's going to play much ultimately the result of the Jeff mcneel injury it's not about Pablo Reyes it's not about DJ Stewart Jose zokar Mike braso Luke Ritter whoever you want to talk about on Syracuse right now or the back end of this bench losing Jeff mcneel it means Jose glacius will play every game every inning at second and Mark Vientos probably won't be subed out for defense as much that's what this means and then the outfielders there's just a little more playing time to go around for an outfield group that's already pretty cluttered so that's what I expect to happen it might be somebody else and if it is aunia I look forward to watching him try to steal some bases and I will say also I think there's a better chance that Louis and hunia makes the playoff roster than the roster for the series going into Toronto and that sounds crazy but here's my rationale on this let's just say the Mets make the playoffs which You' need to have a playoff roster um but let's say the Mets make the playoffs maybe you don't want to carry Pablo Reyes on that roster and in that instance after aunia has played the entire season at Syracuse gotten as much development as he can his season's over that might be a point where you say you know what let's bring him up and maybe he's a little more explosive for a playoff roster but do I really think that that is going to change the fortune of the Mets one where or the other I do not so it's all about Jose glacis at this point and why not with the way that he has played such a huge role in this team all season long I think this team can still roll but it does suck for Jeff mcneel and this team did get a little bit thinner I just think it's an injur that they can overcome and you know what maybe Jeff mcneel does end up getting a little more season left and maybe he gets a big hit in the NLCS or something we'll just have to wait and see but that's going to be all for today's edition of locked on Mets I appreciate all of you who tuned into the show uh if you're listening on the audio side follow rate and review wherever get your podcast if you're watching on YouTube hit that subscribe button goal again is to get to 10,000 subscribers by the end of the season so I appreciate all of you who subscribe follow me on XA felstein Ryan follow the show at lock on Mets thank you for making lock on Mets your first listen your first watch every day and after your second watch head over to YouTube and check out the first ever 247 streaming Channel covering everything World Sports talking about lock on sports today with our local host from each team League wide host from each league find lockon sports today streaming 247 on YouTube e