This Week in Mets Quotes: Cuddyer knows his role, Jose Reyes wants to retire a Met

Meanwhile in Washington: Bryce Harper lifts Matt Williams by the throat and shouts at the crowd "I fight to win! For me! For me!"

"We all want to win for the city. We all want to win for each other. It's a great atmosphere." —Travis d'Arnaud [Newsday]

Good to see Cuddy is ready to pinch-hit, play first, or play a life-size game of Pac-Man depending on how the night goes.

"I’m up for whatever." —Michael Cuddyer [New York Times]

Terry continued, "Not like I care, I’m so over him…oh he got dumped by the Marlins and he’s available…well… no, we just didn’t work, you know…*sigh*."

"It's too bad Jordany Valdespin can't watch [Juan Uribe] play." —Terry Collins [Newsday]

Typical, puny pitchers are no match for Cespedes.

"I don’t know the intention of the pitch, but I don’t think it was a bad intention. But typical pitchers, when they come inside like that the next pitch is going to be low and away, breaking ball, fastball, so I was prepared and I was ready." —Yoenis Cespedes on his first home run as a Met [New York Post]

Unlike Eric Campbell, who’s only sometimes ready to play.

"That's grace under pressure right there. It just shows that [Juan Uribe’s] always ready to play. It fires us all up.'' —Travis d’Arnaud [Newsday]

So you’re saying having Eric Campbell behind you didn’t help?

"Well, I think the biggest thing is having Yoenis Cespedes behind me and Curtis Granderson in front of me swinging the bats so well. The lineup is swinging the bats really well. … I just think right now we’re having quality at bats up and down the lineup and it puts pressure on the opposing pitcher." —Daniel Murphy [MLB]

How do you convince a competitor like Matt Harvey get pulled after eight scoreless innings?

"But that’s one less inning we have in September." —Terry Collins [New York Times]

This guy gets it.

"The big picture is going through September into October. We get down to the stretch, there are probably going to be some more issues like that where I don’t want to come out at all. No pitcher at that point wants to. It is what it is in order to get me into October." —Matt Harvey [New York Daily News]

You know you’re pretty good when opposing players say this…

"DeGrom is the best pitcher in the game, hands down." —Carlos Gonzalez [New York Post]

…and a start that consists of seven innings of shutout ball can be somewhat disappointing.

"He was pretty good. To be honest four walks I was shocked at because he doesn’t walk guys." —Terry Collins [New York Post]

Is that what this weird feeling is while I’m watching the Mets? Fun?

"The situation that I'm in right now is very similar to Lagares': I'm maybe not gonna play every day, I don't know. But to have that attitude of whenever Terry calls upon you, whatever you need to do to help win the game, that's what you want to do. And I think guys in here are seeing how fun it is to win." —Michael Cuddyer [ESPN]

And as fan, one mistake doesn’t mean I should switch over to a Chopped re-run.

"It's good to know with our offense right now, at any given point, they can blow up and score three or four runs in an inning. It's a good feeling to know that one mistake isn't going to cost you the game." —Jon Niese [Newsday]

Usually a Keith quote like this during an August Mets/Rockies game means the Mets season is over.

"To heck with the field. Put the camera on the parakeet." —Keith Hernandez [Newsday]

Can’t argue with the results.

"I knew there was a bird on the field. I wanted to look like the bird." —Yoenis Cespedes on wearing a bright yellow arm band during the game [Newsday]

Maybe it's better that Jose left before we had to watch this transition on a day-to-day basis.

"My game is a little bit different, for sure, but I still feel like I do my job. When you get older, you have to find a way. You know your game is going to change one way or another. That’s the way it is." —Jose Reyes [New York Times]

I played professional baseball, and all I got were these millions of dollars.

"At this point, I just want to win. No matter what people say, or whatever people think. I’m at the point in my career where I want to win. If it’s here or someplace else, I don’t know. Next year, I mean, should be better. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my career playing on a last-place team. When I retire, I’m going to go home and say, ‘I played for what?’ You know, if I don’t win anything." —Jose Reyes [New York Times]

Sad to say, I think that dream may have passed.

"It’s not that easy [regarding fans telling him to come back to the Mets.] I’d love to — not now, because I have two more years on my deal. But I’d love to finish my career here in New York. I have some great memories here." —Jose Reyes [New York Times]

Can you imagine ‘FanPost’ing about your own kid?

"[Noah’s dad, Brad, will go upstairs] to watch the bigger TV where he tracks the pitches and does the book on Noah." —Heidi Syndergaard [New York Post]

Kismet.

"We had Thor before Noah became Thor. His name was Thor when we found him at the ASPCA. He’s mostly an Aussie, but he’s a mutt. They told us his name was Thor and we took one look at him and said, ‘That’s our dog.’ The dog knows something is going on when Noah pitches. Every now and then he will go up and jump at the TV if there is a picture of a pitcher. He doesn’t care about batters. It’s very strange." —Heidi Syndergaard [New York Post]

Behind every Super Hero is a Super Mother.

"[My mother’s] a little trouper. She came to visit me in Lansing in 2012 and started to get sick. She later found out she has this disease called Sjögren’s and she’s been coping with that now for about three years. She’s fighting every day and is in high spirits, which is good. My mom is very hard-working, very selfless. She is always trying to help other people. We talk every day. We have a really good relationship." —Noah Syndergaard [New York Post]

AA Quote of the Week

"Enjoy Reyes as much as we did. He is a fun player. Probably my mom’s favorite of the last 30 years, just because he looks so happy all the time." —MookieTheCat

SiteBot FacePalm of the Week

"Never liked him. Very good player but too much 'tude." —dronkiller