The National League Race is Getting Tighter

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When Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a home run to put the San Diego Padres ahead in their game with the Atlanta Braves it created hope in Philadelphia. The Braves are in trouble. They’ve been in trouble for a while now.

On July 21st, the Braves had an 8.0% chance to make the playoffs. Then the Mets collapsed, and the Phillies started to pick it up. The Braves are still in the driver’s seat. The Phillies have an impending three-game series in Atlanta, and they can’t be two games down when they get there. They won’t sweep it. Max Fried has been the stopper for the Braves and keeping them afloat. Austin Riley has done the same on the offensive side.

The Phillies are winning games with clutch hits and great baserunning. They are winning a lot of games from behind, and they’re now at 80 wins. They haven’t had a .500 season since 2013. It would be a gut punch if they get there but don’t win the division at this point since they’re one game out.

The Phillies have wowed their fans, and the Braves have sputtered winning just enough games to make it difficult for the Phillies to grab the division lead once again. The Phillies have Ranger Suarez going in their next game against the Pirates, and that’s a plus for them. They can’t afford to have any bullpen games down the stretch.

In a weird twist of fate, the Braves have Huascar Ynoa will face off against former Phillies starter Vince Velasquez. Phillies fans will have to hope against hope that their former failed starter can win a big game down the stretch. This is the yin and the yang of this season. In his last three starts, Velasquez has given up 15 earned runs in just over eight innings. Let’s see what happens next. Baseball can be unpredictable.

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The Mets Season Ended In a Blaze

When the New York Mets got destroyed by the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cardinals got hot, and the Mets fight started to fizzle. The Mets are 2-8 in their last ten. The worst in the NL East. They are a zombie team playing out the string, and changes have to be made. Steven Cohen enjoyed it when the Mets were on top for a decent stretch this season and now has to deal with the aftermath of a very disappointing season.

Sandy Alderson has run this team into the ground. From cost-cutting signings to a complete failure at the trade deadline when the team said they would go over the luxury tax if necessary but declined to do so.

Mets fans know the pain of a season that slipped away. You can blame it on Jacob deGrom’s injury, but it’s a lot more complicated than that. They need a new GM, preferably Theo Epstein, to come in and evaluate the team, the front office, the training staff, and the farm system and then make the appropriate changes.

Cohen should be working on this now. The Mets will likely relieve Luis Rojas from his duties shortly after the season ends, and my guess is he will remain in the organization.

The Mets need to remove Sandy Alderson. His time should be up. They need a new direction. Pete Alonso tried to stay positive as long as he could and when that was over, so was the season. The Mets are currently 29-47 on the road. They need to analyze things and see why. That’s atrocious.

Mets teams have failed before. This one collapsed differently. The players were oblivious to it and never seemed to publicly address it as it was happening. That was part of the problem as well.