By WFAN.com
It's time for real concern about the Mets, WFAN's Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti said on their show Monday morning.
After being swept in Milwaukee over the weekend, the Mets have now lost eight of their last 11 games. They've scored just seven runs in their past games -- which included an 18-inning loss Saturday. Making matters worse, pitcher Steven Matz is dealing with a nerve issue in his throwing arm and fellow starter Jason Vargas was pulled early from Sunday's game with hamstring tightness.
"I hate to say this -- and I don't want to be the bearer of bad news -- but I feel like what's happening now happened last year right around this time," Esiason said of the Mets, who are 16-18. "This is where the tailspin started, at the beginning of May. I think they lost eight out of their first 10, I think, in the month of May, and it got worse, and it got worse, and it got worse, and it got worse. And now with Matz and Vargas and a team that basically cannot hit the baseball anymore, it is right -- the sky is falling."
Giannotti said the Mets have two "major, major problems."
"One is they don't have starting pitching depth," he said. "We heard Brodie Van Wagenen talk about all the 'ifs' going into the season. 'We don't need "ifs" all over the place." Well, one of the biggest 'ifs' that he left unaddressed was what if you have some injuries to the rotation. Are we going to be seeing Flexen and Oswalt ... and maybe take a big asset out of the bullpen in Lugo and put him in the rotation. He never addressed that.
"And the other issue is this offense that was so great that we kept saying 'I feel like it could be sustainable because it's the young guys that are hitting' has not been sustainable."
Esiason said he worries that the atmosphere in the Mets' clubhouse is too relaxed under manager Mickey Callaway.
"We made fun of Mickey when he took this job two years ago about how they're going to love their players (but) there has to be an edge," Esiason said. "I'm sorry, there has to be an edge. And I know in this day and age, having an edge is almost impossible. ... But this seems to be a really relaxing kind of situation for the Mets, and this is what happened last year. It's not OK to get lost in these losing streaks."
To listen to the open from Monday's show, click on the audio player above.
