00:00And the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in their last 10 games coinciding with a six-game losing streak for the New York Mets.
00:06I've said it time and time again, Tom, where I thought this every other week would start to shift back and forth, back and forth.
00:12The Phillies starting to pull away from the Mets with a four-and-a-half game lead, 10-and-a-half over the Marlins, 17-and-a-half over the Braves, and 21 games over the Washington Nationals.
00:20I don't want to focus just yet on the Philadelphia Phillies, but what is wrong, Tom, with the New York Metropolitans?
00:26You know, I guess when it rains, it pours, when the worst thing that they're going through also, as you said, coincides with the Phillies, you know, cruising right now, essentially.
00:36And, you know, the Mets, they made some additions to the bullpen in the deadline, which is great, no doubt about it.
00:41Having high-leverage, trusted arms to come out of the bullpen is fantastic.
00:45But those arms are only going to be useful if you have a lead late in games.
00:51And if you don't have a lead late in games, it's either because, A, your starting pitching is bad, or, B, because your hitting is not coming through.
00:57So, improving the bullpen is good, but that can only be useful if the other two things are doing their job.
01:03Because if it's a close game, they can be in there.
01:05If you have the lead, they're in safe situations.
01:07When those things don't happen, don't make improvements to starting pitching, and don't improve the lineup, well, that bullpen is irrelevant at a certain point.
01:14So, the Mets are not hitting right now.
01:16Their starting pitching is absolutely terrible.
01:18They were fantastic, really, through shooting one of the best ERAs and overall metrics in baseball, and that has all come crashing down.
01:26So, not looking good for the Mets right now.
01:28And dare I say, like, there's a chance right now they are on the outside looking in when it comes to the wild card, which we wouldn't have said even two weeks ago.
01:38No, you're taking a look at the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, let's just say the San Diego Padres, and maybe even now the Giants.
01:44Even 5-5 in the last 10, they got 59 wins.
01:47The Mets only have 63 wins.
01:48So, it looks like it was a foregone conclusion of who we thought would make the playoffs.
01:51And then you take a look at some of those, you know, swoons that you have, which we saw that in the month of June and some parts of July.
01:57Then the Mets sort of hit that winning streak, and now they're back to a losing streak of six games.
02:00But the Phillies playing good baseball, we'll focus on them now in Texas right now handling their business.
02:05But the one thing that always goes, the hitting is sometimes with the Phillies going to be hit or miss.
02:09And it looks like it's stepping up more than not.
02:10They fortified their bullpen, got one of the best closes in the game.
02:13I think he's been absolutely lights out since coming over from the Minnesota Twins.
02:16But also, that Phillies starting pitching staff, it's an embarrassment of riches.
02:20Like when Tywin Walker is giving you good innings now, Aaron Nola back on the mend, a couple of really good rehab starts.
02:25Jesus Lazardo just went toe-to-toe with Jacob DeGrom yesterday in Texas.
02:28It really is crazy.
02:29Where now you're saying to yourself, okay, let's just see what we get out of who we thought would be their best pitcher today in Zach Wheeler.
02:34He got pushed back from a Friday start to a Sunday start to sort of give that little bit of more rest time on the shoulder.
02:39But the Phillies playing good baseball, Mets playing bad baseball.
02:42That's a great combination if you want to win the division, Tom.
02:45It really is.
02:46And, you know, a part of me just kind of thinking out loud here is like a part of me is actually interested in taking some unders on Wheeler.
02:53And I know, like it may sound a little bit crazy, but like under on outs, under on strikeouts.
02:56It's like, why is that?
02:57It's like, well, we have Suarez, we have Lazardo, we have Nola back.
03:01It's like, we actually have a lead now in the division, and we could theoretically ease off a Wheeler just to give him, like you said, a little bit of extra rest.
03:08He doesn't need to be out there for eight innings.
03:09Give me 5.1, 5.2, even if he has a perfect game after five.
03:14You know, we want to, we will have greater things at hand.
03:16That's the postseason and the World Series.
03:18So we actually can ease off a Wheeler because of the four and a half game lead, because the bullpen is so good,
03:23and because the other starting pitchers are so strong.
03:25The Phillies actually, like, they can be on cruise control, like six weeks left in the season.
03:30I know it's a little bit crazy to say, but like ease off a Wheeler, everyone else do their part, and we will be primed for October 1st.
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