Does primetime equal juice time?
Roger Cormier examines balls... no, wait... Roger Cormier compares dongs... uh, that's worse... Roger Cormier does some home run and TV math, and Colleen Sullivan looks ahead to Mets-Phillies
Trivia question: After his nightmare start on Wednesday in San Francisco, Thomas Szapucki owns a 27.00 career ERA in his two appearances, the highest in Mets history for any pitcher with multiple trips to the mound.
Whose “record,” a 24.00 ERA over three games in 2018, did Szapucki “break” with the pounding he took from the Giants?
Oh, Balls!
By Roger Cormier
Like any good conspiracy theory, it was hidden in plain sight, namely somewhere in the middle of one of Tim Healey’s Newsday notes columns. Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez said that "several hitters" told him the baseballs in the Sunday Night Baseball game against the Phillies would travel farther than usual, and that is exactly what happened. "The ball was just traveling better," said Chavez.
On that May 1 evening, four home runs were hit. None by the Mets.
We know that the 2022 baseballs have been pronounced dead compared to last season's batch. Home runs are notably down. Specifically, according to my calculations, there were 2.45 dingers per game in 2021. This season through Wednesday, 1.98 bombs per. A lot of players so far in 2022 have thought they demolished a pitch, only for it to go down as a long fly out, leaving them looking as baffled and pissed as Jeff McNeil does after any out. The pitchers don't like the new balls either, with Chris Bassitt famously declaring them "bad," and insisting "everyone knows it."
So the concept of MLB messing with the balls, swapping out the fuddy duddy deceased spheres with the old juicy ones to make for a more fun national broadcast isn't totally outlandish.
Now here's the sad transition to reality, where I do my best impersonation of a Trinidad Health Minister.
There have been seven Sunday Night Baseball games so far this season. Tim Anderson's silencing shot against the Yankees was a cool dinger, but it was one of only 13 hit on ESPN’s flagship broadcast. That's 1.86 home runs per game, which is 0.12 fewer than the overall average.
Apple TV+ has aired 14 games so far, and notably believes variety is the spice of life, already featuring 24 different teams. There have been 29 home runs in those 14 games, which puts them at a 2.07 homer per game clip.
There have been six home runs hit in the three Sunday morning Peacock contests, but to be fair, four were hit off position players. Viewers of the TBS Tuesday night broadcasts have witnessed 16 dongs in seven games. So in 31 nationally televised games in 2022, there have been 64 home runs, a 2.06 homer per game average.
That's higher than 1.98! It's also pretty damn close to 1.98. If you believed the "several hitters" before, you still do. If you didn't going in, you're either tapping the "small sample size" sign or pointing out the difference is a miniscule .08 homers per game..
Last season, for comparison’s sake, there were 59 home runs in 24 editions of Sunday Night Baseball, 2.46 per game. The season average? 2.45. And the average number of dingers in the 16 TBS broadcasts last season was… 2.44.
The Mets hit six home runs in five ESPN SNB games last year, which is below average. HOWEVAH: Francisco Lindor hit three of those in the same game, a memorable one in the Subway Series when he got pissed off at the Yankees for stealing Taijuan Walker's signs.
Not counting the dud of an All-Star Game, Fox aired two nationally televised games in 2021 (their other broadcasts were regional). One was the "Field of Dreams" game in Dyersville, Iowa. The Yankees and the White Sox combined for eight home runs. The other was on the 20th anniversary of September 11th. The Yankees and Mets combined for six dingers. That's a lot of four-baggers, and those games got a lot of attention.
So where did this conspiracy theory come from? Pete Alonso would figure to be one source. Remember when he said in all seriousness that MLB manipulates the baseballs each year in concert with the upcoming free-agent class? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
The "several hitters" likely had those two Fox games and Lindor's performance on their mind when talking to Chavez. And maybe it’s easier for players to believe MLB has the power to simply turn the power on at their will. I think. I don't know. Maybe Nicki Minaj is the only one who knows the terrifying truth.
Behind Enemy (Base)Lines: Philadelphia Phillies
By Colleen Sullivan
The Mets have come home after a very bizarre series in San Francisco in which they lost their second series of the season, giving up 25 runs in three games after they’d allowed only 12 runs in their series in Colorado. For those playing at home: Swept Series = 0, Lost Series = 2.
Things aren’t all bad, though. Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso are jockeying for offensive domination. McNeil now leads the Mets in average (.321) and hits (50) while Alonso has a leg up on RBIs (41) and home runs (11). Brandon Nimmo leads in OBP (.385) and we like Nimmo because
What happened last time?
A scheduled four-game series had the middle two contests washed out, then a doubleheader on May 8 that the Mets split because that’s what they do – they took the series, 2-1, because that’s also what they do (usually). The first game of that series we can all collectively remember for a wild 7-run 9th inning. I cannot sufficiently describe it, but I can say LOOK AT THIS FROM THE BOXSCORE
The Mets’ loss in that series was Max Scherzer’s first defeat since May 30, 2021, and a nice day to be Bryce Harper’s mom (after his solo homer in the first, he yelled “I love you, Mom!” into a TV camera). The Mets released Robinson Canó between games, then rode a pair of Alonso homers to a 6-1 win. Chris Bassitt was on point, allowing one run in 5⅔ innings which came on a home run by Jean Segura.
What’s happening lately
The Mets lost two of three to the Giants, but their first Western voyage of the year was not all that bad. They took two of three from the Rockies and rolled into San Francisco high on legal Denver kush, wins, and altitude changes. The first game by the Bay was a win for the returning David Peterson behind a 13-run attack. Back-to-back home runs from McNeil and Mark Canha in the eighth silenced a heckler (who was not very good at heckling) capped a great win on Buck Showalter’s birthday. J.D. Davis put an end to a slump with four hits and Eduardo Escobar added a two-run double to the mix in the ninth, as the Mets finished with 18 hits.
The middle game was a great comeback, sparked by Francisco Lindor, as usual, but wound up being the Joc Pederson Game and a 13-12 win for the Giants. Thomas Szapucki made his first career start the next day and it was every bit as rough as his first career relief appearance last saeson. Evan Longoria (He’s still playing!) and Pederson teed off with home runs. For what it’s worth, it’s only the second time this season the Mets have lost consecutive games.
Pitchers!
Zach Eflin will be seeing Carlos Carrasco for the series opener. Eflin has a 1-3 record and 3.65 ERA. Jeff McNeil is 8-for-25 in his career against Eflin, including going 2-for-3 when the Mets pounded their way to a 10-6 win against him on May 1.
The Mets are finally going to see Zack Wheeler when he opposes Taijuan Walker on Saturday. Wheeler’s got a 3-3 record and 3.38 ERA this season, with 45⅓ innings that have yet to include facing the Mets.
The close is going to be Kyle Gibson vs. gee, the Mets could use some health in their rotation. Gibson has a 3-2 record and 3.94 ERA. The Mets have faced off against Gibson in 136 at-bats and a .258/.362/.359 slash.
Enjoy the holiday weekend, catch some baseball, hopefully we all have some great weather!
Trivia answer: When the Mets acquired Buddy Baumann on waivers from the Padres in 2018, the lefty had a 3.58 career ERA. As a Met, Baumann gave up three runs in two innings to the Blue Jays, one run (on three walks) in two-thirds of an inning against the Cubs, and another four runs in one-third of an inning against the Cubs. That jacked his career ERA up to 5.58, and Baumann hasn’t pitched in the majors since, and is currently twirling for the Lincoln Saltdogs in the independent American Association.
Baumann’s manager with the Saltdogs is Brett Jodie, who pitched one game with the Yankees in 2001 before being sent to San Diego in the Sterling Hitchcock trade. Jodie gave up six runs in two-plus innings in his major league debut, including a pair of homers by Jose Cruz Jr. and another blast by Raúl Mondesi in the Bronx. Jodie, for what it’s worth, is only tied for the eighth-highest career ERA with the Yankees, whose anti-record has been held by Art Goodwin at 81.00 – three earned runs (four total) in one-third of an inning – since October 7, 1905 and the second game of a doubleheader at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Grounds on the last day of the season. The Americans’ lineup that day sure ran wild in a 12-9 affair that was called after five innings, completely animalistic behind the feral bats of Moose Grimshaw, Buck Freeman, and Chick Stahl. For the Yankees, then of course the Highlanders, the day’s participants included Wee Willie Keeler, Ambrose Puttman, Bill Hogg, and Jim Cockman. Long before Josh Donaldson, the Yankees were employing all kinds of dicks.