New York Mets Inch Closer To Wild Card As Pete Alonso Hits Number 30 - Rico Brogna Live Episode 328

[Music] [Music] it's the amazing Rico bronia podcast with your host Evan Roberts Rico bronia time how we doing if you're listening and watching live it's a Saturday night the New York Mets have won three in a row and so far the key phrase is so far they have not effed up because this series against the Chicago White Socks is the don't f up three game series you are playing a team that is the worst team in the history of baseball I think we could say it I mean they're going to break the 1962 match record they're that bad and so when you play them in the middle of a penet race on Labor Day weekend you can't f up by losing a game and that may not seem fair but that's the reality and I think that these two games so far have both kind of played out the same way if we're being honest with ourselves were we ever really nervous about either of these games probably not I don't think there was ever a moment in which you thought oh my God they're going to lose to the Chicago White Socks it wasn't the prettiest thing in the world it wasn't aesthetically pleasing it wasn't complete utter blowouts but the Mets were able to win back-to-back games against the Chicago White Socks and here's what's amazing before we dive deep into these two games and look ahead to Sunday's game what's so incredible and maybe it's symbolic of the way this met season has gone the twists and the turns the roller coaster ride nature of this we are only three and a half days removed from a lot of us feeling oh wow we've seen the death of a season that loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks not that long ago well that long ago it was a couple of days ago when Edwin Diaz imploded on the mound and we saw Corbin Carol hit that Grand Slam in game two that was all the way back on Wednesday it is now Saturday but when that ball landed in the right field seats and the Mets officially lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks eight minutes later or whatever it was I think deep down in our soul we all thought we were screwed it certainly felt that way and to this team's credit and the help of some things actually breaking the Mets way the Atlanta Braves actually losing a freaking game isn't that nice to see a couple of games isn't that nice to see all of a sudden you look up the Mets win three in a row responding to that brutal loss the San Diego Padres have really looked human since the Mets split that four game series another series they should have won and you look at the standings and you feel a little bit better I'm not saying I'm cocky or even confident but it is incredible how different the feeling is three days later the win against Arizona in game three a game I never thought for a second they were going to win and then following it up so far by taking care of business against the Chicago White Sox as far as the game we just witnessed again if you're listening or watching live against Chicago Jose canano was very very mediocre and probably because it is the Chicago White Soxs a team that scores a shade over three runs per game he was able to make that big pitch or the white socks were able to get the big hit every time they had a shot I give kintana like a little bit of a a little bit of credit that he was able to get through five innings because his pitch count was so high early in this game and you already know Edwin Diaz is not available other than that pretty much everyone else is available maybe with the exception of Reed Garrett but despite having 90 pitches through four Innings and I think like 75 pitches through three or whatever it was he was able to fight his way through five innings it was never easy there were guys on base every single inning he was helped out a little bit uh by probably some overzealous Chicago white sock bats actually was probably the opposite they were looking at pitches right down the middle and canana had a couple of big looking strikeouts one that ended the first inning one that ended the third inning one that ended the fourth inning it was not an inspiring outing by canana but he was good enough and we saw the Met offense jump on Davis Martin early Pete Alonzo hit a first inning home run which yes is clutch I know Hof was wondering yes it is clutch it fits the clutch category when you hit a two-run home run early in the game but how about Jesse Winker my God Jesse Winker no longer killing us which he did for so many years now he's on a rampage is he like eight for his last 11 something obscene like that follows up Pete's home run with a home run of his own gets an RBI single in the third inning which was pretty important because it looked like the Mets were destined to have that great opportunity not score so you have a red hot Jesse Winker you have Pete Alonzo hitting a bomb of a home run and you see the Mets at least early in this game because after that they did nothing you know after really if you think about it the first inning in which they hit the back-to-back home runs by Pete Alonzo and Jesse Winker which was great you jump out to a three nothing Lead You Give kintana a Little Bit of a cushion if you look at their offense after the first inning it was actually borderline pathetic that's why I say they won these games they have not been aesthetically pleasing they have not been dominant by any stretch and they don't have to be I'm I'm certainly not complaining it's just more of an observation I don't care how you win these games just beat the Chicago White sock three times but you go to the third inning they have a three to one lead at this point they get the first two guys on base Francisco Lindor bloops ah hit on an 02 pitch Great Piece of hitting Brandon Nimo draws a walk you have two want to nobody out Vientos hits a ball right at the left fielder Ben and tendi Alonzo flies out the center and it looks like they're going to waste a two on nobody out heartof thee order opportunity against Davis Martin whose pitch count to was very high similar to canana and Jesse Winker who has been so good over the last few weeks one of the most underrated important at bats of this game you're about to spoil a two-on nobody out opportunity it's a three to one game with canana pretty shaky in the early goings and Winker dunks an 02 pitch in a right center field for an RBI single important run they get a golden opportunity in the fifth inning when Martin dropped the spring training play on the ground ball to first base nmo bounces into a double play they have a great opportunity in the sixth inning they settle for one run when Starling Marte gets the RBI hit then in the seventh inning against the Yankee reject Delo Santos you get Lindor picked off then you get two guys on base with one out and Alonzo strikes out and Tyrone Taylor strikes out they missed a lot of opportunities in this game and they also struck out a lot which we've talked about negative Dan brought that up in one of the emails we read on one of these recent Ricos and that Trend continued the Mets struck out let me count this up hold on a second 8 10 11 12 times it's a lot 12 times two for 11 with the runners in scoring position so it was not perfect by any stretch but the thing that's been so impressive and it was impressive in this game despite the clunky ending it was impressive in game one of this series on Friday and honestly has been very impressive going back to the entirety of the Arizona series with the exception of Edwin Diaz this met Bullpen has been very very very good very very good they had the implosion on Sunday against the San Diego Padres where buo gives up the lead and then Edwin Diaz gives up the game the walk-off to Jackson Merill but if you look at the three games against Arizona and now these two games against Chicago the underbelly of the Met Bullpen the part of the bullpen that we don't trust has actually pitched really well before you say come on EV you can't count it it's against the Chicago White Sox I don't want to hear it I don't think any Met fan should ever even utter that kind of thing because the truth is the Mets stink against Bad teams I know the numbers don't bear that out this season I think their winning percentage against teams under 500 is like 60% so they actually technically haven't been bad against Bad teams but when you watch this team especially towards the end of 2022 at times this season really recently they have not beaten up on the bad teams as much as they should so I don't care how many runs per game the White Soxs score which is like 3.05 I don't care how crappy their Bullpen is everything counts the same so I'm gonna give the Met Bullpen credit for shutting down the white sock offense because the truth is they did it against the diamond back offense too you look at game two of this series against Chicago you get five innings out of Jose canana which we talked about it was a very Rocky outing his pitch count was way high very fortunate to get through those five innings and you don't exactly have the hugest lead in the world like when canana hands the ball to the Met Bullpen you have a five to2 lead it's a three-run lead but it's not astronomical certainly with this Bullpen a bullpen that over the months we haven't trusted go one by one he goes to wascar brazoban in the sixth inning and brazoban not dominant got a great defensive play by Brandon immo making that diving catch a little scary because it looked like he hurt his wrist for a second hits a batter throws a wild pitch sloppy play by Alvarez needs to get down on it but gets through the inning a hitless scoreless inning by wascar braban then he goes to Ryan sanck who I have to tell you had his best performance as a New York Met and I almost forgot Ryan stanik was on the team when he came into this game and I saw his beautiful luscious blonde hair I was thinking to myself I score every freaking Met game when's the last time I wrote the name Ryan s down it feels like I hadn't done it a while I go to baseball reference it' been a week so as overworked as the Met Bullpen has been recently uh Carlos Mendoza has not pitched Ryan stanik a lot why would you but Ryan stanik comes in against the top of the order and pitches a one two3 inning he goes to Phil maton who's pitched a ton recently and has been very good I know I've had a few people say come on EV you got to put him in the circle of trust I think I'm ready to do it not confidently not boldly but like tentatively yeah I think Phil maton now moves into the circle of trust but what does he do he comes in barely breaks a sweat throws eight or nine pitches pitches a one two three inning so you've got brazoban scoreless hitless inning you have stanic one two3 inning you've got mton one two three inning and really the only guy who sort of struggled was Jose budo but to Bud's credit and I would always say this about a closer when you come in with a lead a lead to protect a save situation even if it's a three-run lead if you don't give up the lead you did your freaking job so even though yes the white socks got the tying runs on and yes Andrew benintendi who has looked very good offensively in this series including two hits against a lefty kintana in this game despite the fact that Ben and tendi came up with a chance to absolutely kill our souls to to make this Rico sound very differently right now if Ben and tendi got a hold of one Buddha got the job done and got it to chop one back to the mound so the Met bullpen in this game effective you go back to Friday's game the game that took place last night if you're listening live we'll get deeper into what Tyler McGill did but the Mets need to get 11 outs out of their Bullpen and they're doing it at the time again with a three-run lead not an eight-run lead a three-run lead Adam ovino as much as we crush him back-to-back strikeouts to get through the sixth inning Reed Garrett as much as he's come back to earth one two three inning Phil maton the affir mention Phil mton we saw Tyrone Taylor make that Spider-Man play in the eighth inning he pitches a one two3 inning and then Edwin Diaz came into the game he pitched a one two three inning I know it's the Chicago white socks but you go back a day earlier to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Edwin Diaz W two three inning Jose budo scoreless inning you start to add this up met Bullpen has pitched very very well and in that game that Diaz blew and we touched on it a little bit when we were all pissed off doing that instant reaction Rico but the Met Bullpen actually did a pretty freaking good job to where it allowed them to come back and that game and allowed Diaz to have the lead wascar brazoban scoreless inning Danny Young got a couple of big outs Reed Garrett got a couple of big outs and Phil mton wasn't really given the opportunity to get through his mini Jam he put in which was just a runner on First and two out so yeah Diaz sucked and he imploded I'm not trying to negate all of that but the underbelly of the Met Bullpen going back to game two of the Arizona series really game one of the Arizon a series if you want to go back further but they got a good performance out of Mani he went into the seventh inning has pitched very well on this road trip really since the San Diego game uh who's given up runs Edwin Diaz when he gives up the Grand Slam Jose mudo but still got the job done protecting that three-run lead outside of that wascar braban re Garrett Phil maton they've all done a nice job and the hope is I heard Gary Cohen say this on the broadcast I've said this on the RICO many times what your numbers have said through the first five months of this season they don't mean anything if you can perform in September if Ryan stanik can turn into a reliable relief pitcher in the month of September then who gives a crap how bad he was in August if Phil mton can continue to pitch this way then maybe we look back at the acquisition of maton as hey that was a hell of a move by David Sterns we'll see if brabon can continue to turn his season around those are obviously the three big Bullpen additions but the bullpen pitched well it's a part of why we're in this situation I mean the Mets are in a spot going into the finale of the series against the Chicago White Soxs where they have a chance and this is kind of amazing to think about to go seven and three on this West Coast trip seven to three now this sucks to say because yes going into this trip six and four would have been great but if they lose to Chicago and finish six and4 I don't think we're all gonna be in great boots because the white socks are a team you cannot lose to and I know that's a crazy thing to say because they're a professional baseball team but so far this West Coast trip has been a success and I think a big part of how they've been able to do it despite things not being perfect is the underbelly of this bullpen yes they blew two games yes Edwin Diaz blew two games Jose budo contributed to that as well but everyone else the other guys that we don't trust have actually done a great job over the last five games that they have come into and it hasn't exactly been easy as far as Friday's game is concerned you know Tyler Mill was was interesting it was typical of Tyler Migel and again I know people may want to minimize what he did because it is the Chicago White but Tyler Miguel got off to such a horrible start in this game and maybe this was the only moment of the weekend so far where I had real nerves Tyler Miguel comes in first start in how many weeks really since the trade deadline when they acquired Paul Blackburn to replace him Tyler Miguel makes his first start in a while and he walks the first hitter fell behind Nikki Lopez three and0 works it full and then walks him when he walks the oso crappy Nikki Lopez to start this series and to start that game on a Friday night that was the moment I had my biggest oh crap oh God and then he gives up that smoked RBI double to Andrew Ben and tendi that was so far and maybe Sunday he'll change that with gett crochet against sha manah but that sequence in the first inning was when I was at my most nervous so far of these two games and what's funny is I was was watching that game uh I be I be I'll be honest with you me and my wife were celebrating our anniversary that night and I didn't start this game till 2 am so it was it was one of those odd ones I started it at 2 am no spoilers uh I may not have had all my cognitive abilities when I started this game but I'll tell you my scorecard doesn't look too bad for someone who didn't have all of their cognitive abilities and passed out a few hours earlier and then woke up in the middle of the night and said time to watch met baseball uh my scorecard doesn't look too bad but what's funny is when you DVR a game like that and you really have no idea what's going on because I don't check my phone I got nothing so I literally I'm watching a game at 2 am with no idea what happened you do experience the real kind of thoughts that one has when watching a game live why wouldn't you so when Miguel gives up the first inning run I'm a little worried not that I was worried that Jonathan Canon was going to shut them out but I was really worried and Ron Darling has brought this up a lot over these two games and he's so right I was worried that Tyler McGill was going to be so bad and there were all indications that that was going to be the case gives up the run in the first inning to his credit got through the first inning puts the first two guys on base in the second inning I was worried he was going to be so bad that even the met all offense wasn't going to be enough and I was worried that if the Mets had to go to their bullpen in let's say the second or third inning he would be almost impossible to get those that amount of outs because they don't have a long man and darling mentioned that a lot over the last two days he mentioned it in relation to canana when canana was in trouble and he wasn't throwing strikes hey if Carlos Mendoza had different Personnel if Carlos Mendoza had a true long man would this be handled differently and the answer is it could be but you can't do that even with eight relievers and they're about to have nine once September 1st rolls around which is now I guess it's already happened Alex Young is being called up they still don't have a long reliever and so it's very difficult to go to your bullpen in the second or third inning which sometimes is the case and then have a guy just eat up a bunch of innings because they don't have anybody like that they've got guys who could give you two innings you know Reed gar sh you he could do that they've got guys that maybe if they're pitching well can get you those six outs but they don't have that kind of failed starter if you will in the bullpen that can be the long man and before you say Jose budo unless the Mets are completely changing his role which despite how shaky he's been his last handful of appearances I'm not ready to do that I'm not ready to say Jose budo is a long man and if the Mets how to go to the bullpen in the second inning that's the guy I'm going to maybe in a playoff game maybe there would be circumstances that would lead to making him the guy you go to but it certainly wasn't going to be the case Friday night and so Tyler McGill despite that awful start after he put the first two guys on base in the second inning of this game two on nobody out at this point it's 1-1 because it was huge how the Mets were at least able to respond in the top of the second inning and they were very lucky to do it because Harris and Bader grounded into what should have been in in inning double play despite the Mets having the bases loaded and nobody out they had a chance to have a disastrous second inning but luckily Bader beat it out they got the run across and yeah it was disappointing Bases Loaded nobody out they only score a run but it would have been far worse if they didn't score any runs but after Migel put those first two guys on base he got the strike out of Vargas he got the little soft line drive to Alonzo and then he got Luis Robert junor with the bases loaded after he gave up an infield hit and he was great after that he really was he had some good defense behind him Francisco Lindor made that leaping catch pet Lonzo had a great scoop on a b throw by Lindor and all of a sudden Tyler Mill's into the sixth inning it doesn't change I don't think any of us in having confidence in him and hopefully he doesn't have to be in the rotation too long and hopefully Paul Blackburn can come back Blackburn was mostly good since they made that trade with Oakland but but Tyler mcel was able to settle in give him Innings throw almost 100 pitches five in a third Innings it's not the worst and it was certainly far better than I thought where it was going after he got off to that bad start but they get the home run by JD Martinez they scor just a few runs you know five runs I know that's a lot technically you score five runs a game you're doing your job but it did feel and the Mets did this on Friday and Saturday which was why I say it hasn't been aesthetically pleasing they left a lot of opportunities out there they've had a lot of opportunities against this awful Chicago team to score more runs than they already have but nevertheless they win good job by Tyler McGill great job by Adam ovino coming in getting the back-to-back strikeouts in the sixth inning nursing that 4 to one lead as far as Mendy's decision to go to Edwin Diaz is concerned and I think it was one of those scenarios where we all kind of knew the answer before we heard the answer Edwin was warming up in the ninth inning the Mets at a 4 to1 lead and Mendy was okay with using him for a third straight game I think we have entered the part of the Season where doing that makes sense now you got to win every game is a a penet race game every game is a playoff game so I think you do have to manage aggressively and so I'm glad Diaz was available we talked about it on the RICO previous to that he should be available he was it's a 4 to one game it's the top of the ninth inning he's obviously warming up for a save opportunity and the Mets tackle on a run on a mark theano sacrifice flight and he still goes to Edwin Diaz two things number one and this is kind of the main reason why I would have done it anyway and it isn't even the warming up scenario because the one thing I don't know and I think every player is different is how many warm-up tosses did he throw and is that really going to affect him from being available the following day Mendy claimed it was so obviously if him warming up was going to eliminate him from pitching on Saturday anyway you may as well pitch him Friday but here's the real reason with a 4run lead I've moved into the category of being partial to just going to my closer especially when I just tacked on a run all it's GNA take is a base runner basically for all of us to say all right stop screwing around go to Edwin Diaz I mean we're being honest I know Diaz has been shaky though he's responded to that shakiness by the save against Arizona in game three and what he subsequently did on Friday night but when you have a four-run lead you don't have that big of a cushion you put a guy on base and you got to deal with the three batter minimum too so you can't exactly do it immediately why not just stop screwing around just go to him if that's your better reliever why put someone else in there when they have to face three batters and with a four-run lead they could put they could put the three guys on base it could be Bases Loaded nobody out all right fine now I'm going to Edwin Diaz that's literally the worst case scenario and that's a legitimate possibility so just go to him and that's why I was okay with it more so than even the idea of he was warming up and now he's not going to be available to pitch the next day I think every pitcher is different God bless you I think every pitcher is different but if that's the case with Diaz fine obviously may as well use him but I'm also thinking strategy-wise why screw around get the victory I know the White Soxs are bad but I don't think the Mets are in any position to manage arrogantly if this was May sure if this was June sure but I think when you are staring down the barrel of knowing there are so few games left the have now played how many games have they played now let me do the math 136 games so what do they got left 26 games I think that's correct math right Hoff I don't know did you get any sleep Hoff was doing the overnight Friday and Saturday Hoff was on the radio talking about all this while I was sitting there in a stoer watching the Met game at 3 o'clock in the morning it was like it was like a bond we had going on I was I was was very ecstatic and I've made many points of why I think the Mets are going listen there's four teams fighting for three spots you could throw fifth team with the Cubs they won again today too but real realistically it's four teams and I said this last podcast and I believe it they one of these teams not all these teams are gonna stay hot I mean I'm just going through it right now that the the Braves were 14- seven um the last 21 games the AR Diamondbacks are on some kind of crazy ass tear they're like 20 and and like eight the last 30 games and and and the Padres are pretty good too the Mets have been basically 500 for the past month they are going to break out that I'm telling you right now this is this is prime for the Mets to break out so I'm excited I'm ecstatic they have the white socks right now they gotta win tomorrow I don't like the crochet manah uh matchup because you're you're going up against a really good pitcher but I still think at the end of the day we're going to be put in position we're going to be one game out of the playoff out of the Wild Card by tomorrow well they need a hot streak and right now maybe this is the beginning of the hot streak the win against Arizona winning two out of three against Arizona and obviously so far the two against Chicago so it's four out of five now they need more than that the Padres have come back to earth thank you to the Tampa Bay Rays for taking care of business on Saturday and the Atlanta Braves finally lost the game to the Phillies thank you Zack Wheeler I mean honestly thank you Zack he's had a tremendous season I'm still bitter he's not a New York Met not at him I'm bitter at the uh former owner and the former general manager who made those douchy comments when they let Zack Wheeler go uh but yes they finally getting a little bit of help you you may be right you were the first to say this on the RICO uh a week ago whenever it was about San Diego and how that's a team you got to keep an eye on coming back down to earth because a their lineup doesn't have that much depth um they're they they have some we like I know they're expecting UD Darvish back but I don't even know what you could expect from UD darish when he comes back but besides that they were RedHot for a while and now they're cooling off and so you can see and they have a lot of games with the Giants who have played reasonably well they have a series with Detroit I was actually analyzing the Padre schedule the other day looking at them because remember the Mets have the tiebreaker on them so all you've got to do is catch them and right now they're three games back I don't look at it that at I don't look at it as their four games back I look at it as their three games back because of the Lost column and if you can make up three games on San Diego you've essentially passed them because of the tiebreaker Arizona will see they obviously are in the midst of a series with the LA Dodgers which is an opportunity but really this comes down a Sunday now the Mets have to finish the job they really do I don't want to hear if they lose against Chicago I was six and four was great I think it would be very typical of the Mets where and this road trip has been an example of this where they're so close to doing something special and then they blow it they were this close to winning three out of four against the red hot at the time San Diego Padres and in game four they blew it they're this close to winning the first two games against the even hottest team in baseball the Arizona Diamondbacks and they lose that game they're this close and now as they go into this manah crochet matchup on Sunday afternoon they're this close to a shocking seven and3 West Coast Central Zone road trip I it doesn't even matter how you lose that game if you don't seal the deal in a game like that it'll be very typical of what we've seen throughout this trip which is good but not good enough and I know it's baseball and it's tough to sweep series they pointed that out on SN with that stat that 8% a team sweep three game serieses yeah but they're facing the white socks the white socks who were 31 and 106 let me say that again they're 31 and 106 they are without a shadow of a doubt and I watched a lot of 2003 Tigers don't ask me why I watched a lot of 2003 Tigers this the worst freaking baseball team I've ever seen gotta beat him on Sunday dude the lineup consists of guys that they picked up off of waivers or got in trades where they were basically retreads I mean Miguel Vargas is one of the bigger names they G you know he came from the Dodgers I mean this is a guy that's a retread I mean no that they handed him away in LA because he just hasn't been hitting I mean it's it's a joke of a team dude well they're they're giving opportunities to like former prospects who are still relatively young Jacob Amaya and Miguel Vargas kind of fit that where you're hoping ah may maybe maybe it'll work out Luis Robert Jr I don't know what the hell happened to him he was a guy we talked about during the off season signed me up for a big trade for Luis Robert Jr he has absolutely killed his trade value by having this awful season but you know what this ain't our problem okay honestly this is not our problem is does good shaan show up on a Sunday afternoon he's mostly been good here in the second half of the year since watching Chris hail outside of that one mediocre start where we only went three Innings and can this offense hit enough against gck crochet and can they just win this game and get back to City Field with a seven and3 road trip where they're at the bare minimum they're two games behind Atlanta but who knows maybe they're a game behind Atlanta which was my stated goal going into this series against Chicago all right I have a couple thoughts for you okay um first of all Tyler McGill did he earn himself another start and did Jose canana earn himself a DFA after that performance I know went five innings but it's the white socks he didn't earn himself a who you replacing him with I mean at this point in time I mean Tyler Miguel that would be the answer yeah so they've got the Mets have an off day this week the Mets have they play Monday Tuesday and Wednesday against Boston so if my math is correct and I'm G to try to do some math on this on Monday they've got Luis srino ready to go okay hold on let me see if I'm confirming this I gotta go back on my scard that's what I have in front of me it helps me out you got Louis forget maniah tomorrow we know maniah tomorrow you got srino on Monday you've got David Peterson on Tuesday and you have to come back with Tyler McGill on Wednesday you don't have the ability to skip I was thinking in my head with this off day would you have a chance to skip him and no you can't you have to come back with McGill on Wednesday then you have the off day Thursday and then yes you can come back with canana Friday against Cincinnati and then Saturday with sha mani and then hopefully Paul Blackburn is ready to come back off of the injured list so yeah I don't even think it's about Tyler Mill earning another spot they kind of have to start him on Tuesday night against the Red Sox I feel like everybody in the world's getting uh you know DF they' getting cut like Tyler Rogers was Taylor or Tyler which one got cut I forget which one but one of them yeah got placed on waivers yeah yeah I mean all these guys getting hitting waivers you telling me that there isn't a a solid pitcher out there hitting waivers who might just cost a little bit more money that you can't pick up yeah for the rotation or for the bullpen I for the rotation even I don't think I don't the answer is no it's not like solid middle of the rotation arms that are just available left and right I think it's one more start from migil and then Paul Blackburn should be ready to go and I'll tell you where Tyler Mill is going to have some value and they'll have to decide who eventually get sent down we mentioned that Alex Young is going to be the extra arm we've got new rules with the expanded rosters it's been like this for a half a decade now but like the old days where you could just call a hundred guys up it was so easy just I'm call nine guys up it was ridiculous it got completely out of hand and now you can only call up two guys one guy a position player one guy a pitcher so they're definitely calling up Alex Young who deserves to come up here but Tyler Mill needs to be that long man we described earlier they don't have one you know if you need to go to the bullpen early for whatever reason whether it's an injury like we saw with Paul Blackburn whether it's ineffectiveness like you want to have the ability to go to a guy who could come in and Pitch three or four Innings like the White Sox had with Tuki Tucson so I think Migel may actually stay on this roster after his turn in the rotation is over but he'll get that start against Boston later this week all right and the final one I have for you I know I'm not sure if you have anything else you want to hit but uh Pete Alonzo 30th home run congratulations first met to ever have five seasons of 30 plus home runs ever crazy right unbelievable Pete Alonzo needs to be back for at least one one year how can we get he's good we need am I wrong he needs to at least break the alltime home run record record for the Mets Am I Wrong well I I I want him on the Mets long term for a myriad of reasons uh not just for one more year to break the record I'd want him to be here for the rest of his career so he could shatter that record and own it forever but it is kind of remarkable to think he his 30th home run and I think we would all agree it was a relatively clutch home run because it gave the Mets a two nothing lead it's so funny I talked about this I talked about this on the fan recently in relation to Aaron judge Aaron judge if you guys aren't aware has set the record for the most first inning home runs ever in a season right single season home run record he has the single season home run record for home runs in the first inning and I was making the point on the air how clutch is that it's incredibly clutch because in the first inning you have to be giving your team either the lead maybe tying the game but it's definitely not a tack on blowout home run there's no scenario other than batting around where you're hitting a first inning home run and it's like a tack on ah that doesn't matter it's a clutch home run right who who did he beat by the way was it Brady Anderson because that's my guess I remember that year he had 50 home runs felt like every in every game he leted off with the Home Run yeah I don't know who he broke the record of I mean it could be Babe Ruth I mean it could be anybody like Babe Ruth was batting third so when he hit the 60 home runs it very well could have been him Barry Bonds was batting third when he hit the 73 so I'm not too sure but either way when you hit a first inning home run it's clutch I'd love for Pete to just shatter that record and move on but what I was trying to say is like he's having the off year that we've talked about he's at 30 home runs he's at 76 RB now it would take a big big September to go 40 and 100 but it's on the table the 40 will probably be more difficult than getting to a 100 you're talking about 24 RB and 26 games which is a lot but it would take you know a reasonable hot streak either way you're looking at over 30 and probably over 90 so those don't grow on trees and that's what Pete was able to put up let me get to some of your emails here on the RICO B Ralph writes too close for comfort I was absolutely terrified in the ninth inning was envisioning enough another walk-off loss cannot take another one of those but we made it not over yet but it's a must-win tomorrow God bless Zach wheeler yes thank you Zach wheeler and yes I didn't have a lot of nerves over these two games it was McGill's issues early on Friday night and it was holy crap Andrew Ben atend is coming up as the winning run but yeah things has got a little bit dicey in the nin thing but ultimately they got the job done negative Dan writes The Impossible Force versus the immovable object the Mets the Mets haven't swept the series since July 9th against Washington but I'm sure they'll be able to finish the job against the team that has 106 losses before September right I wonder if JD will give his rah rah who cares we lost nobody expected us here anyway speech that he talked about yesterday if they lose tomorrow I'm sure would love to hear that he is right that I was going through this how have the Mets done this season not just recently this season when they've won the first two games of a three-game series like how often have they swept the team what do the numbers look like so I I did I look it up took about 30 seconds didn't take that much time this will be the 10th time that they go into game three of a three- game series looking for a sweep okay so nine times previously they've looked for a sweep if you had to gof what is their record in that game three looking for a sweep five and four close four and five the exact opposite uh the last time they were in that scenario was at City Field against the Marlins they won the first two games and they blew that game on Sunday the time previous to that was the min toota Series right after they lost those two to Atlanta they won the first two games against the Twins and then in the afternoon they got absolutely blown out and they missed an opportunity there previous time before that was against the Colorado Rockies final series before the All-Star break where they won the first two games and lost on a Sunday afternoon so they're they're on a littleit oh and it continues before that was the Washington series that Dan talked about where they swept them and the time before that was in Texas when they won the first two and lost the third so it hasn't been a recent stretch of success in terms of sweeping a three-game series but here's what's different between all of those things and what they face on Sunday afternoon they're the Chicago White Socks they are maybe the worst team ever assembled and that is why no pressure they better freaking sweep them that's why this series is the don't F It Up series and so far they haven't effed it up I give them a lot of credit so far so good they've gained ground they've won two games I don't give a damn how it looked they've won those two games but now going into crochet manah Sunday afternoon at guaranteed ra field what a crappy name for his Stadium they better win they better win when was the last time and I don't know if you looked at the stats if you did so then you know it when's the last time that crochet went to the inning Garett crochet I haven't done a deep dive on G crochet why has he been has he been ineffective since he wasn't traded at the trade deadline and he basically said I need a contract or I'm not going anywhere so I I don't understand the 27th oh that was the one that was four pitches so that they they suspended they suspend the game of P yeah the suspended game was recently where and that was actually his last start which was yes you know they they gave him the full rest too which is kind of funny to me he comes out he makes a start to get suspended after four pitches and because I was curious knowing the Mets are going to play Chicago hey when are they G to SW slot him back into the rotation 28 29 30 31 yeah they're giving him the full four days rest before he makes the start against the Mets which is hilarious so g go on reverse order so we had that where he went four pitches then the F the start before that August 21st he went four Innings August 16th four Innings August 9th two in the third August 3rd four Innings July 28th three Innings July 23rd four Innings July 12th two innings July 6th four Innings June 30th was the last time he went to the seventh inning well the I think the reason behind that is they're really restricting his pitch counts cuz if you look at his pitch counts and all of those starts you mentioned foring start against the Giants he through 57 pitches start before that four Innings one run against the Astros 55 pitches start before that he got bombed against the Cubs Two in third Innings seven runs 67 pitches start before that four Innings one run 77 pitches start before that three Innings five runs 64 pitches start before that July 23rd fouring two runs 74 pitches so he's been kept basic I mean his last two starts were in the 50s uh but they are really restricting his pitch count and I think that's all connected to what he said before the trade deadline which was I want a contract extension which obviously the White Soxs haven't given him so they are handling him with care it's another reason why this game is a must-win and and I hate using that term must-win because yes they can lose the game and still make the playoffs you know we just witnessed that loss against Arizona and how they've been able to respond to it but when you're talking about a good young pitcher who's clearly being restricted he's not going deep in the game and the white sock have a bad Bullpen even though the Mets haven't fully taken advantage of it in the first two games of this series that's going to be the key Sunday afternoon clearly crochet is not going deep into this game the Mets are then going to have to take advantage of it let me read a couple more of your emails Lucas writes Evan I've established A New Perspective on this crazy Met fan life before this perspective started right after the DSF go I freaked out over the big losses and maybe declared seasons over a few times but alas I see things differently with 28 games left if translated to the NBA that is the equivalent of mid-February which is the All-Star break would you declare the net season over if they were three games back at the All-Star break maybe you would because it's the Nets but that's not the point I know you don't do this but we have so much time left and so much happens in September Met fans need to chill with this new perspective and enjoy the penet chase um I I get what you're trying to do like look at the calendar there's a lot of time left it's not that when they lose a game the season is over I've tried not to say that because I don't actually think the season is over it's more the emotions of losing a brutal game and you know how difficult it is in the moment and what a missed opportunity it was and that that's the key a missed opportunity when they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks and yeah it could have turned into eight straight losses and then we would have said that was the game that lost the Mets the season it was the missed opportunity and if the Mets miss the playoffs by one game granted we may not go back to each individual game that they blew and say that's why they lost the season we'll probably think of some game in September that'll be the reason but it contributes because it's the missed opportunity so I think sometimes we get way too emotional in declaring a season over but not too emotional in being pissed off after a loss so I don't regret anything from four days ago I was pissed off it was one o'clock in the morning it was 12:30 the Mets blew a game I mean what what are you supposed to say ah don't worry there's 27 left patience but credit to this team they've responded they have responded but what they need to do now is not continue the trend the trend has been they respond that's great but the trend has been just when they're about to take that next step they fail like I mentioned fourth game against San Diego middle game against Arizona final game against the Marlins if you want to go back then this is one of those moments small moment but significant moment don't let go of the Rope don't let this trip finish on a negative note seal the deal and then you come home and we start a new with the Red Sox and the Reds so I have two positive notes I just want to give you right now um in our Fantasy Baseball League which I knocked you out of I apologize thank you for that yes you're welcome uh I just had a stolen base a key stolen base that's going to put me 13 to three I'm in that final spot uh for playoff so so this is I'm happy for you it's amazing on top of that beneficial to the Mets Tommy Edmond got a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth the the Dodgers are two outs away from knocking off another game from Arizona Diamondbacks so again Diamondbacks Padres Braves all lose Mets win we're getting closer you just want as many different levers to pull to make the postseason as many opportunities as possible if one of those teams trips up in some kind of big way and the Mets continue to win it doesn't matter who pass you just want that possibility to be in the postseason Paul Blackburn is going to throw a rehab game on Tuesday so I assume he'll either start the finale against Cincinnati or the the the following day after that when they start their road trip so Blackburn's on his way back so what what I mean by all that is I think we're looking at one more start for Tyler Mcgill and then a shift to the bullpen in all likelihood we'll give you another Rico wrapping up this series it'll be a late Rico because it'll be another DVR day for me I mean it's a Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend I think I may watch that game at about nine o'clock at night so if you're interested the series recapping Rico bronia will be late Sunday night but we do appreciate the emails to Ricco gmail.com we'll listen to some of your voicemails tomorrow night as well 725 222 8699 if you want to check in my final message to our beloved New York Mets don't screw this up beat the white socks sweep them and let's move on thank you for listening subscribing and downloading another edition of Rico bronia we hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ric brono podcast it's amazing isn't it make sure you download it now to keep it on you at all times [Music] la