Remember Keon Broxton
If you ever get overly invested in a few days worth of baseball, think back to the 2019 Mets home opener.
Remember Keon Broxton.
That’s the line that’s kept me calm, sane, and collected, and it’s the line that you should recite to yourself nonstop whenever you find yourself overreacting to a three or five or seven-game stretch.
Remember Keon Broxton.
Do you remember Keon Broxton? He was a career .221/.313/.421 hitter when the Mets traded for him before the 2019 season, and as tended to happen during the Wilpon era, people got excited about him, because everyone has a certain amount of excitement they need to let out, and if he’s the only option available, then darn it, people are going to get excited about Keon Broxton. He was fast...he had some power...he’d had a 20/20 season...surely, Mets fans groaned wearily, this was a guy worth getting excited about?
Then came the Mets home opener. Down 5-3 in the eighth, Robinson Cano and Pete Alonso went back-to-back to tie it. With two outs and a man on second, up came Keon Broxton. He lined a 2-2 pitch into center, and the Mets took a lead that, a few minutes later, Edwin Díaz protected.
Keon Broxton was going to be a star. He’d figured it all out. The front office was full of geniuses. How stupid Milwaukee had been to unload this gold mine of talent for a mere Bobby Wahl! How primed we were for success with Keon Broxton driving in runs in the heart of our lineup!
Do you remember what Keon Broxton did as a Met? In the month and change after the home opener, he went three for 40 with 20 strikeouts. He stole two bases and didn’t hit a home run. Then he was traded to the Orioles.
So when I say “remember Keon Broxton,” that’s what I mean. There’s a reason baseball players who play well get big contracts, and those who don’t get smaller contracts, and it’s a pretty simple reason at that: most of the time, players who play well continue playing well, and those who don’t, don’t. Usually, what players have done in the past is a lot like what they’ll do in the future. There’s aging and injury, of course, but from year to year, players tend to play a lot like they did the season before. There’s also the issue of a 60-game part-season in 2020, but that too can be accounted for.
So, look at the 2021 Mets. The bullpen is improved; the starting rotation is improved; the lineup is improved. Obviously, the lineup hasn’t caught fire yet, but does anyone expect James McCann to bat .190 this season, Pete Alonso to bat .231, Jeff McNeil to bat .150, Francisco Lindor to bat .174, or Michael Conforto to bat .130? Anyone who expects these guys to improve has no need to worry: better offensive days are on the horizon.
Will Jonathan Villar keep getting big hits? Will Michael Conforto keep getting hit by pitches in big spots? The answers are A) probably not, and B) depends on how far he’s willing to stick out his elbow. But the Mets also won’t continue striking out in every big spot that can possibly come up, and turning into a little league team with runners in scoring position, and somehow allowing softly-hit balls to fall for base hits at the worst possible times.
Yesterday was a perfect illustration of just quickly worries and problems can fade away. In a few hours, the Mets went from trailing in extra innings, on the precipice of falling to 2-4, to sweeping a doubleheader from the Phillies, 4-3 on the season and in first place in the N.L. East. Forget about “remember Keon Broxton” — remember the day before yesterday? Remember when there was doom and gloom as far as the eye could see? That wasn’t last season, or back when the Wilpons were in charge...that was the day before yesterday. Which is another reminder: stay calm. Don’t overreact to a bad-luck 2-3 stretch that nobody would notice if it happened in July.
If David Peterson pitches well tonight, and the Mets can score some runs for Jacob deGrom tomorrow, they have every change to be 6-3 by the end of the homestand, leading the N.L. East pack out of the gate. There’s lots of baseball left to be played, thank goodness, and lots of obstacles left to be surmounted, but a 2-3 stretch that no one will remember at this time next week isn’t one of them. This year, in fact, there’s finally reason for hope: hope that come July or August, we’ll see a reverse Keon Broxton moment. Michael Conforto, with an .853 OPS, will single home Jeff McNeil, batting .322, and the Mets will add to their lead.
“Remember when Conforto was batting .130?” someone will ask.
“No,” you can respond. “And who cares?”