Did Buck Showalter Just Tip His Hand?

It was Vince Lombardi who once famously said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Of course, Lombardi lifted the phrase from Red Sanders, the legendary UCLA Bruins football coach. It might very well be the most quoted phrase in all of sports, right up there with, "The best defense is a good offense," which traces its roots all the way back to, if you can believe it, George Washington.

The bottom line is this: we celebrate the winners in this country and quickly forget the losers. If you don't believe me, recite, in order, all the teams that have LOST the Super Bowl - without looking it up. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Buck Showalter is quite aware of what happened last season. The Mets entered the month of August five games up on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, only to fade like a cheap pair of jeans in the dog days of summer. Going into last night's game, the Amazins were up three and half games over the Braves - four in the loss column. Would this be a case of, to quote the late, great Yogi Berra, "deja vu all over again?" Buck was determined to do everything possible to ensure it wouldn't.

Which explains his decision to go with his closer Edwin Diaz to get the last six outs of the game when his set-up man Adam Ottavino could've pitched the 8th inning. He had allowed a run on two hits in the 7th, narrowing the Mets lead to 6-4. At one point, they were comfortably ahead 5-0. A Braves comeback in front of the hometown faithful was something that had to be avoided at all costs. Even if it meant Diaz would be unavailable for tonight's game. 

But Showalter's decision to have his closer pitch two innings might have inadvertently revealed something else about his thinking that should be far more worrisome to Mets fans. Apart from Diaz, there isn't a single relief pitcher he can trust to protect a lead.

Consider what happened in Washington. The Nationals scored a total of three earned runs in 18 and 2/3 innings against Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt. But against the bullpen, they scored nine earned runs in just 7 and 1/3 innings. And all of those runs, mind you, were scored after Juan Soto and Josh Bell were dealt to the San Diego Padres. That's right: against a lineup that had almost as many Triple A hitters as it did major league hitters, the vaunted Mets bullpen was lit up like a pinball machine. What do you suppose a team like the Braves would do to it?

Now you know why so many baseball analysts were scratching their heads when the Mets only added one reliever at the trade deadline. Seriously, if you think that the acquisition of Mychal Givens and the return of Trevor May from the IL is going to intimidate teams like the Braves, Dodger or Padres, you've taken one too many leaps off the Pepsi Porch. Yes, I know it's now called the Coca Cola corner, but Pepsi Porch just sounds better.

Here's the thing: Buck Showalter knows he has arguably the best starting rotation in baseball. He knows he has a pretty deep lineup capable of putting up a lot of runs. But even with all that, he also knows that this team will go only as far as Edwin Diaz takes it. And now, thanks to him tipping his hand last night, the entire National League knows it too.