Interleague play is now over and the Mets had a plan. Not sure if the plan really worked though we did have a 7-5 record. The plan was actually a necessity more than anything else. The durability of the offense is pretty low in most instances and I was running 14 pitchers. That meant I had to get a little more offensive/defensive support so I could rest players. Since I was running tandem pitching and nothing seemed to bother that setup I decided it was time to make the move and drop a sour pitcher and bring up a couple rookies into the lineup. This I think helped the offense but the pitching suffered a bit.
Just as soon as interleague play started the pitching staff became doomed even though they were well rested. Playing a 14 inning game followed by an 11 inning game tends to do that. Recovered from that rather well until lo and behold it happened again. Funny that it was in the same sequence, a 14 inning game followed by an 11 inning game. That caused me to have to pull out of the tandem pitching sequence as the pen took gas. An off day got everybody back and I figured that things would get back to normal. There I go thinking again as we had a 15 inning game followed by a 10 inning game. That is right, 6 extra inning games out of the 12, we won 4 and made me rather ecstatic.
My question is, did I throw simmy into a tizzy not knowing what to do all of a sudden with the change in the consistency of the team? Was the extra inning games a backlash or to force me into another change or both? Well, at least we were 4-2 in those extra inning affairs.
All jokes and wondering aside, 20 games till the All-Star break. It is gonna be a tough 20 game schedule for us with the D'Backs, Astros, Reds, Sequoias and Giants.
Don't take the Giants for granted, they have real good pitching the offense is just shaky.
There is 90 games plus 1 left already. Playoff teams will win 60 percent of their games at a minimum, that is 54 wins or 6-4 out of 10. That means the Mets could have 88+ wins yet. Will that be enough? To be on the safe side compared to previous years, it is close. If we can stay close or gain a little ground on the Phillies then we have a shot at the division title if things go well right after All-Star break. I don't think it will be enough to gain a wild card though. That is why the next 20 games are very important to us.
Basically in the NL the picture looks like this already. Three teams are already out as it would take a miracle for them to get back in at this point.
The NL North is still in a three way fight, though I think the Reds are a bit iffy. The Brewers and Pirates would both need to collapse. The Pirates started out cold but have come on lately, could they go cold again?
The NL East is a bit of a surprise as the Mets are staying close and the Injuns are an up and down team. Do the Phillies have enough to hold on?
The NL South is between the Astros and Marlins again. Chances are both will be playoff bound, so that takes away a wild card spot. The Knights and Diablos are hanging tough and hopeful.
The NL West has Salem walking away the title and the #1 seed already. The rate they are playing they could wrap up a playoff spot before All-Star break. Meanwhile, the Dodgers and D'Backs remain hopeful candidates for a wildcard spot.
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