Mon AM BRB (5-10-21)
This Day in Music (5-10-1994)
L.A. rock band Weezer releases their self-titled debut album, standing out amongst the grunge era as one of the most enduring rock releases of the 90s.
Photo Credit: John Minchillo / Associated Press
After completing a weekend sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Mets now find themselves atop the NL East riding a five game winning streak and a tidal wave of emotions. The storm surge came to a head in the moments prior to the top of the 6th inning, when Mets ace Jacob deGrom was forced to remove himself from action due to back tightness. It was a bitter end to another phenomenal day for deGrom, who allowed just one run on one hit in his five innings prior to exiting. Concerns immediately turn to the results of the star’s upcoming MRI scheduled to take place Monday, though regardless of the outcome the team cannot help but feel alarmed over deGrom’s second brush with injury in as many weeks. The lineup was able to hit their way out of trouble yesterday, but the unit still has yet to truly turn the corner. This is in no way a unique problem to the Mets, as teams across baseball are inexplicably struggling to score runs. The seemingly insurmountable defending champion Dodgers have gone into an absolute tailspin to start May, losing eight of their last 10 in a manner that would give most Yankees fans April-PTSD. Perhaps we should take a historically low MLB-wide batting average, four no hitters and seven starters sporting an ERA under two as proof that nature has balanced itself back from the offensive onslaught of the past few seasons. Perhaps the nature of the game was artificially balanced by new baseballs introduced for the 2021 season. Whatever the cause for the Mets (and the league’s) offensive decline, the more days slide by the more this trend must be taken into account. There’s absolutely no need to overstate it, the Mets cannot afford to take any chances with Jacob deGrom, especially this year. Every party has a stake in his success, deGrom is the key to Steve Cohen’s ability to make a great first impression. He [deGrom] is the man who can make it possible for Luis Rojas to establish himself as the leader of this team now and in the future. Perhaps most importantly, deGrom is the most important catalyst to the Mets winning baseball games, and their fans having a reason to buy in to a (potentially) very exciting team. Despite some odd disagreement between Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil that was handled in a very clunky way, this weekend was the first truly impactful weekend of Lindor’s tenure with the Mets. Shortly after the incident with McNeil, Lindor played the role of hero, launching a go-ahead two-run home run tying the game at four. The Mets shortstop went 5 for 11 driving the Mets offense to the sweep. Perhaps as the weather begins to warm, so too will the Mets All-Star.
Though the Yankees continue to volley in and out of an offensive funk like the majority of the league, there’s no doubt this most recent homestand saw the club finally put their early season struggles to bed. Capped off with back-to-back walkoff wins, the Yankees took two out of three from the Washington Nationals thanks to good pitching, timely hitting, savvy base running and (mostly) good defense. What team are we talking about here? Only a Yankees team that continues to win by any means necessary. Yes, this team is still capable of looking bafflingly awful, see 14 workmanlike-strikeouts from Max Scherzer on Saturday as a prime example. Hard to get on a team for being cut down by one of the best pitchers in the game (yep, he still is folks), but the Yankees truly do have a way of making 14 Ks look even more lifeless than it sounds. In moments of doubt, this team can look painfully passive, but patience has become a virtue for the Yankees. Though the home runs have started to come in bunches, the team hasn’t relied on them as heavily as previous incarnations. Players like Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres who seemed mired in early season slumps have steadied themselves at the plate, producing more line drives the second they stopped trying to attack the baseball with every swing. Aaron Judge remains stuck in this particular rut himself, but “that’s baseball, Suzyn.” After taking a hefty amount of criticism for the way they started the year, the Yankees have responded by showing a real effort to correct the wrongs that had eroded the strengths of a great team. Perhaps the most refreshing alteration the team has made to its philosophy is their willingness to let their starting pitcher win or lose the ballgame. Aaron Boone tends to draw more criticism than praise from the fanbase, but his faith in both Corey Kluber and Domingo German this weekend should be commended. It’s possible the Yankees have finally realized the best way to protect a dominant bullpen is to preserve it for the long haul. Make no mistake, we haven’t see a return of 1970s baseball, Gerrit Cole won’t be throwing any 140 pitch outings any time soon. The Yankees have simply returned to a more reasonable, mid-2000s approach to their starting pitchers. As it turns out, there was never anything wrong with seven innings and 100 pitches. It certainly helps when your starting pitchers are earning their rope, and despite some early season struggles of their own, this Yankees rotation has begun to raise it’s quality of play to meet their most-dominant ace.