The Big Audition

By Stefi Kaplan
Posted Monday, August 27, 2007

It’s starting to feel a bit like September. The temperatures dropped considerably last week as a potential playoff matchup commenced at Shea. Shea was buzzing like it mattered and the Mets and Padres seemed to have an extra skip in their steps all series long. Crazy things started to happen, like four blown saves in a three game series with two of the elite closers in the game on the mound. Ace pitchers were getting knocked around. This is it, guys. The playoff push is here.

This Padres series was of a kind that can only exist late in the season. The intensity, electricity and increased level of competition of the playoff push are aspects of the game that no manager or player can create in April (this article says it all). And when energy levels grow that high, there is just no telling what may happen (if you watched the Padres series, you know what I mean). Sure, the Mets can and should play hard all season long, but there’s a certain element that is outside a player’s control – the adrenaline that comes from playing on the big stage. It comes from the fans, the sense of urgency among just about everyone on the team, the opponent and of course, the date on the calendar. It comes from finally clicking as a team and getting some of the missing pieces back on the field. It comes, in large part, from audition time.

From here on out, expect a lot of that craziness. Expect a lot of laughter, remorse, elation and devastation. We’re starting to reach the time when every out feels like the end of the season and every hit creeps one step closer to the big prize. The desperation and urgency in the air change the entire feel of the game. The Mets did not experience this period of intensity to the same extent last year, thanks to pretty much wrapping up the series in July. But this year, there is a bit of a playoff race. The Mets have built on their lead this month quite a bit, by beating up on the bad teams while the Braves and Phillies have failed to do the same. But the reality is that with 13 games remaining against those two teams, the race is far from over. Because it’s that crazy time in baseball and anything can happen.

A large part of the unpredictability of this period stems from the sense among the players that they are auditioning for the big stage. Come playoff time, don’t feed me stats about the first halves of Johnny Maine and Oliver Perez, for they will mean nothing if those two don’t finish up strong. I mean, of course we will forever be grateful to them for keeping us (somehow) in first for several months while the offense took a collective mental vacation, but without a solid final month, one or both of those two won’t earn a spot in the playoff rotation. Depending on Pedro’s health and performance, it seems that we will have room for one or both of them, but after an abysmal start to August, both pitchers have quite a lot to prove. I fully expect both Johnny and Oliver to rise to this occasion (like Oliver did against the Dodgers) and hand Willie a very difficult decision, but their next several starts will be very telling about the maturity, endurance and confidence of these two and it may all come down to the ability to keep their emotions in check.

But it’s not just them. Other players are auditioning as well. Lastings Milledge probably has had the sense since the all star break that he was auditioning, but his strong comeback has put pressure on the guy he had been understudying, Shawn Green. The next month will prove very important in determining who gets the nod in key spots in the postseason and you better believe those two will be playing their hearts out trying to earn that spot.

The relievers are so in flux right now that no spot is secure (with the exception of Billy of course, though after the last few weeks I hesitate to use Billy and secure in the same sentence). Schoeneweis has been improving, while Heilman has been regressing and the playoff bullpen will all depend on how the guys finish out this season. September callups will add some fresh arms, which will spell the bullpen from some of the overuse caused by the failure of starters to pitch deep into games. Mighty Joe Smith will be auditioning for the team once again. Of course, if things go according to plan, we should have room to put a starter or two in the bullpen for the postseason, strengthening the pitching considerably. But in reality, we are not getting complete games throughout the playoffs from our pitching staff, so eventually someone other than Billy, Feliciano or Sosa will need to pitch. That’s a scary thought right now, but these guys know that this is the time to prove themselves and I think we’ll learn quite a bit this month about the guts the rest of our bullpen has.

And the bench is perhaps the most exciting aspect of audition time. Our bench has improved dramatically with the addition of Marlon Anderson and Jeff Conine and the return of sparkplug Endy Chavez. Now, as we head into September, the rosters will expand and our bench will strengthen even further. For bench players, the audition is all the more intense because these guys have fewer opportunities but in bigger spots. The competition will be great, whether for a place on the postseason roster or for the position of “first guy off the bench” in a playoff game. The bench will be fun to watch over the remainder of the season as they audition for October spots.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like these guys don’t play hard all season long. Theoretically, the whole season is one long audition. But there’s something to be said for the “what have you done for me lately” mentality, which plays a key role in the playoff roster. Because you have to play the hot hand in times like these and you can’t afford to let someone work out his slump, like you can in the early months of the regular season. The experiment time is over (expect Mota to fade away into the sunset unless he can mount a spectacular steroid-ridden comeback) and it’s time to put your best guys out there. So let the auditions commence and gear up for a gritty month of baseball ahead. The big audition time is here at last.

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