Honestly, I lost track of which win was going to be ‘The Win’ that’s a momentum-shifter.
“I don’t know if that’s a season-defining game tonight but it’s definitely a momentum-shifter.” -Pete Alonso [MLB]
Villar on his aggressive baserunning.
“I don’t care. I’m not scared to play baseball.” -Jonathan Villar [MLB]
Sincerely love Pete Alonso immediately translating after he spoke rudimentary Spanish; I can’t help but read all of his quotes in Chris Farley’s talk show sketch cadence.
“I call [Jonathan Villar] him the caballo loco. That means ‘crazy horse.’ He’s reckless in a good way.” -Pete Alonso [MLB]
Rojas really nailing the team’s view on the ‘rally going.’
“The dugout got excited, as it gets when there’s a rally going. They were celebrating the rally going.” -Luis Rojas
Pillar on the non-HR that almost tied the game against the Phillies.
“We were hoping that ball stayed in the yard.” -Kevin Pillar [MLB]
OMG...what is this feeling...I think I’m beginning to trust them, too.
“We trust our bullpen. We had the right guys step up and make some good pitches, and we got out of there with a win.” -Kevin Pillar [MLB]
Need to prove this by throwing at Tom Wilson.
“We’re a tough team. We’re a really tough team. Win or lose, we’re not going to make it easy. We’re relentless. And we finish games.” -Pete Alonso [MLB]
Zack Scott on the firing of hitting coaches Chili Davis and Tom Slater.
“The reason we felt like it was the right decision, it’s based more on a vision for what we want our major league hitting program to be...it’s not about 23 games of results” -Zack Scott [Twitter]
The move makes sense if Chili Davis and Tom Slater truly weren’t providing modern, individualized hitting approaches and seem content not to learn new innovations in technology that could prove helpful...
“The assessment was, [the hitting staff] needed to be better, we need to be providing these guys more support, a higher level of support. It’s not that [Lindor] wasn’t getting any support. They obviously work. But it’s just an effort to improve how we go about things to take it to the next level.” -Zack Scott [MLB]
“We were more focused on process, preparation, more than results...we have an obligation to support our players, manager, and get the most out of our team” -Sandy Alderson [Twitter}
...that said, they’re still humans and seemed like good guys so the team is obviously bummed their failures at the plate caused them to lose their jobs.
“It really caught us all off guard. Someone got a notification on their phone and that’s how I found out.” -Pete Alonso [NJ]
“I respect everyone who made that decision, but to me, it just doesn’t make sense right now. The guys coming in are great minds and they’re great people. I know that the people in charge in the office, they want to win. Everyone wants to win. I guess from a results standpoint, let’s say two and a half years, the results have been there.” -Pete Alonso [NJ]
“It broke my heart. It hurt me. At the end of the day, we’ve got a game to play today and a season to play. I’m looking forward to working with the new coaches and I can’t wait to build relationships with them.” -Francisco Lindor [NJ]
“I am going through a slump. I’m not performing to the best of my abilities. But Chili can ‘t hit for me. If I would have been hitting, does he still have a job? I don’t know. I had nothing to do with this decision, but I do take a little bit of accountability in the sense that maybe if I was hitting, he would still have a job.” -Francisco Lindor [NJ]
Honestly, this is a fair assessment of continuing to bat Lindor at the top of the order.
“The last few days, with runners in scoring position, [Lindor] hasn’t delivered. But think of it this way, where moving him to leadoff or to third, I mean, there’s not a lot of spots where you can drop in, because of what he can bring to a lineup. Being early May still, I think we trust that this kid is gonna turn around. He’s done it in the past.” -Luis Rojas [MLB]
[Citation Needed]
“I think [Lindor] presence, what he brings to the ballpark every day, all the guys energize from it, guys have gotten better because of him. You know, this guy’s not starting only because of his bat, he’s just starting because of all the other things that he does.” -Luis Rojas [MLB]
Lindor on his relationship with new hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum...
“I worked for him, not on a daily basis, but I did see him around. I don’t have this big relationship with him. I do know he’s a good person and hopefully he can bring some good things to the table and can be a part of this team.” -Francisco Lindor [NJ]
...which Quattlebaum sounds confident will improve.
“I haven’t talked to [Lindor] [at length] yet. He’s probably still trying to figure out how to spell ‘Quattlebaum’ for God’s sake. We’ll get there in time. We’ll build off of what he’s done really well in the past and get what he used to look like and compare it to now and see if he can pair up some of the thoughts that used to work for him in the past, see how that links up with what he’s doing now.” -Hugh Quattlebaum [New York Post]
If you see something, say something.
“It’s definitely been sore before, but ... when it’s not trending in the right direction leading up to the start, that’s when I thought I should say something. Normally my lat gets sore when I pitch. That means I’m getting good extension, but from what this was and looking at my mechanics and stuff, I could tell that it was from flying open and being underneath the baseball 90-something times, and then not trending in the right right direction leading up to the start, decided to say something.” -Jacob deGrom [NJ]
Unlike previous years, the Mets are.../puts on sunglasses/...Mobb Deep.
“We call ourselves ‘The Bench Mob’. We’re always ready to go. No matter what, whenever our names are in the lineup, we’re always ready to go. No excuses.” -Tomas Nido [MLB]
“I think those guys have stayed highly motivated [for] when they get the chance.” -Luis Rojas [MLB]
Unfortunately for Yamamoto, the fun was not long lived.
“My wife helped me pack my bags and drive to the airport right away. It was definitely a fun experience. I’ve never done it before, but it was definitely fun.” -Jordan Yamamoto [MLB]
With two boys under three, going to be honest: completely missed ‘the Donnie Stevenson’ bit and have no idea what’s going on.
“Also, we just made a nice new hire, Donnie. He’s nice. He’s a great hitting/approach coach. Donnie’s been great helping the team. I think Luis forgot to mention Donnie. Donnie really helped us today.” -Pete Alonso [SNY]
“Maybe I gotta give credit to Donnie. He got my approach right.” -Michael Conforto [SNY]
Michael Conforto on "Donnie Stevenson":
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2021
"He's all about the approach. He's a hitting approach guy, he's a guy that just gets the boys fired up and ready to go" pic.twitter.com/KrCpgeCm2S
Mets Tweet of the Week
Taijuan Walker rocking the Donnie Stevenson shirt pic.twitter.com/xGgeUTgLe7
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) May 6, 2021
AA Quote of the Week
“I’d party harder for this win, but, y’know
SiteBot FacePalm of the Week
“None of the issues surrounding this team have anything to do with roster construction In fact, their offseason decisions have worked out pretty well except for the one big one as we got Robbie Alomar instead of Francisco Lindor, but I have my own crackpot theory that Lindor’s troubles stem primarily from the COVID environment and the precautions that he takes, which appear greater than most players.” -oleosmirf ‘crackpot’ or not, touch ‘em all