Brodie Van Wagenen threw down the gauntlet during the offseason, but the New York Mets haven’t lived up to expectations.
That was Brodie Van Wagenen‘s message to the rest of the National League East in January. However, the New York Mets have not lived up to expectations this year.
On Friday in Miami, Van Wagenen was taken to account on his offseason comments.
Brodie Van Wagenen: "They came and got us" pic.twitter.com/ysCORTkEBg
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 12, 2019
“Well, I said it. I think what you’ll learn and what I hope to always be is that I wanna say what I believe,” Van Wagenen said. “And I wasn’t shy in the offseason, but they came and got us.
“I think that now we view ourselves as the underdogs. For the second half of this year, I think we have low expectations for what we can be. I think now we’ll take the underdog role and run with it.”
That’s a pretty sad statement, but that’s how the 2019 season has gone for the Mets. What’s even worse, Van Wagenen has no one to blame but himself.
His “big splash” move of the offseason, trading for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, has failed miserably thus far. Cano posted an ugly .646 first-half OPS and he’s due $24 million each year until 2023.
Although Cano’s performance has been disappointing, Diaz has been far more concerning. He was lights out for much of the season, but he has taken a major step back since his second blown save on May 29.
Entering that game, Diaz had a 1.64 ERA. As of July 11, Diaz’s ERA has ballooned to 5.50. Diaz is just part of a larger problem with a bullpen that is 28th in the MLB in ERA (5.57).
The Mets—and Van Wagenen—have an uphill climb in the second half of the year. They sit 13.5 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the division and only have a better record than the Miami Marlins in the NL.
They came and got the Mets, that’s for sure.
