Palladino: Collins Must Hope Roster Roulette Pays Off Big Down Stretch
By Ernie Palladino
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Even as the Mets hang off the Cardinals' shoulders for the second wild-card spot, it's obvious the rest of the schedule will fall out like a spinning roulette wheel.
The little ball rolls maddeningly around the rim as you sit there, never knowing what you're going to get.
Or in the Mets' case, from whom.
It's all a surprise.
Black? Red? Your number for the big payoff?
A total bust?
This is the world Terry Collins' team has fashioned for itself, and they will be more than happy to take their chances over these final 25 games. For all the insecurity Collins' injury-riddled roster presents, they have earned this playoff race by capitalizing on the exact quality that has turned each day into a game of Roster Roulette in the manager's office.
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Be it by luck of the roll or just the plain dumb blindness of youth, the Mets could well take this final stretch and breeze their way into that one-game play-in. A favorable schedule -- all but three games come against their generally underwhelming NL East neighbors -- will help. But it's the unlikely heroes of the recent past who could propel this team back into October baseball.
Robert Gsellman, who until Aug. 23 had worked his two-seamer to an unimpressive 4-9 record and 3.99 ERA between Triple-A and Double-A, has become something of a revelation since Collins called for pitching reinforcements. He has gone 2-1, 2.87 in three appearances since, his most recent a six-inning, one-run win Saturday that allowed his team to creep within a game of St. Louis for the second wild car.
On a staff where the real load falls on folks like Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Bartolo Colon, Gsellman has been one of those jackpot guys. Who knows what Collins will get out of him down the road, since it's hard to count on any 23-year-old long term. But with deGrom due to miss his next start after suffering inflammation in his forearm during Friday's 4-1 loss to the Nationals, and with Steven Matz on the DL, a lot of the Mets' fate could fall on the quality of Gsellman's fill-in work.
Not that he'll be the lynchpin to all this. September call-up Michael Conforto is also being called upon to contribute, and he did exactly that Saturday. But in this roulette game, the ball fell on his fielding, not his hitting.
Conforto's diving catch in center -- a position he's only started to learn this year -- shut down a Nationals rally in the seventh. With one out and a man on first, Conforto got a quick read on Daniel Murphy's sinking liner, dove and made the grab off the Citi Field grass tops for the second out.
Josh Smoker -- there's another of those roulette guys -- struck out Bryce Harper to get out of the inning. Smoker, 27, has bounced around the minors since 2007, his last four seasons in strictly a relief role.
He hasn't exactly set the place on fire since his first major league appearance Aug. 19. He's 1-0, 7.04.
Two days before, he gave up three runs in an inning. Saturday, when the Mets needed a key strikeout, he got it.
But that's how it is with roulette. One never knows what one is going to get.
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Meanwhile, it will all drive Mets fans mad over this final stretch. As the injury situation dictates, the Seth Lugos, Gabriel Ynoas and Ty Kellys of Collins' world will have to step forward along with Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera and whatever remnants of the walking wounded who remain upright to get the Mets through this final push.
St. Louis is struggling despite a win over Cincinnati on Sunday that safeguarded their wild-card spot for now. The playoff spot remains available for just a small hot streak.
Collins, meanwhile, can only place his bets and hope the ball lands right more often than not in his game of roster roulette.
The injury situation leaves him no other choice.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
