Maybe they’re due? Phillies vs. Mets series preview

The Phillies streak of five series wins in a row came crashing to a halt against the Braves. While that is by no means good, it should also be considered that the Braves have been beating everyone. The Phillies’ next opponent has not been nearly as successful lately. In fact, it seems like the Mets struggle against everyone...except the Phillies.

New York Mets

Record: 34-40, Fourth place in National League East (14 games back)

The last time they Met

The Phillies traveled to Queens in late May, and it was brutal. In the first game, the Bryce Harper-less lineup was dominated by Kodai Senga. In the second game, Carlos Carrasco and Mark Canha led the Mets to victory. And in the finale, the Phillies scored two first inning runs and then went quiet as the Mets completed the sweep.

Since then?

The Mets apparently used up all their good play in that series. As soon as the Phillies left town, the Mets began a seven-game losing streak. Altogether, they’re 4-13 since they hosted the Phillies and enter this series on a two-game losing streak.

Canha happen again

Canha hit two home runs against the Phillies, which represents 40% of his homers on the season. He has average career numbers against them, so I could really do without him spontaneously developing into a Phillie-killer at age 34.

Turn it around again

For a minute there, it looked like Trea Turner had found his stride and had become the offensive dynamo we were promised. But Turner has returned to slumpville over the past two series, going 2-19 with no extra base hits against the A’s and Braves (and only two walks to go along with it).

The bad news is that the Phillies’ offense depends heavily on Turner’s bat. When he was hitting well against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, the Phillies were scoring a lot of runs. With Turner struggling over the past weeks, runs have been much harder to come by.

This newest slump may somehow be my fault, but I’m not exactly sure how. Late in the offseason, I purchased a powder blue Turner jersey (I assure you that I bought a properly licensed garment and definitely not a bootleg from China). This purchase corresponded to him going on a tear in the WBC.

As we know, Turner had a very slow start to the season. When the Phillies were at Nationals Park a few weeks ago, I decided to travel to the game and wore the jersey. The girl seated next to me offered to buy the jersey for $60. Seeing as I paid less than half that amount for the jersey, and the guy had royally sucked to that point (Plus, my mother said it was maybe a size too small on me), I took her up on the offer. The Phillies almost made a comeback that night, and both the team and player started doing much better the following day.

Do I need to buy another Turner jersey to get him to snap out of this slump? And then, should I sell that one too if he goes into yet another slump? Am I doomed to live a cycle of buying and selling Trea Turner jerseys for the next twelve years???

Smarty’s tournament of randomness

The 1994 blue hats squeaked out a victory over Spider-Ham to advance to the next round.

On to our next second round matchup:

#1 - The “oo-wah-ah-ah-ah” sound at the start of Disturbed’s Down with the Sickness

Many have tried to emulate the sound. Many have failed.

#8 - The Delaware Memorial Bridge

Some sections of I-95 aren’t doing well right now, but the Delaware Memorial Bridge remains ready to take travelers over the Delaware River!

Which of these should advance? Vote now!

Another AppleTV+ game

Unless you subscribe to AppleTV+ you won’t get to watch Friday’s game on television. I’ll ask this question again: Is anyone planning on subscribing to AppleTV+ just so they can watch these Friday night games? Even if you’re a Phillies or Mets fan, aren’t you more likely to just skip this particular contest rather than signing up for another streaming service?

Trivia

Last series’ answer: Mark Kotsay has five career home runs against the Phillies. Chappdaddy was correct.

This series’ question: As part of the Mets’ domination of the Phillies last year, which member of the 2022 Mets had the most hits against the Phillies for the season?

Non-Phillies thought

It sounds like The Flash movie isn’t doing well, despite the buzz around the return of Michael Keaton as Batman. I have not yet seen the movie, and many are speculating why it is failing. Some blame superhero movie fatigue, others blame the supposedly subpar CGI. Others think it’s due to Ezra Miller’s legal issues, while others blame DC for rebooting their movie universe, basically saying that this movie doesn’t matter.

My belief is that it’s a combination of those things, plus the fact that we just got multiple seasons of a better, more likeable version of the same character on television. And the TV show even did the same storyline! So aside from Keaton nostalgia, why would anyone feel an overwhelming need to see this movie?

Closing thought

At some point, you’d think the Phillies would have a series against the Mets where they get good pitching, good hitting, and good defense. It hasn’t happened since 2021, but maybe they’re due?