DFA met reliever Jorge Lopez after the ejection and the glove was thrown into the crowd

Even by New York Mets standards, this year’s team has had some notable lows. On Wednesday, those slumps were seen most by Mets reliever Jorge Lopez.

Or should I say former Mets reliever Jorge Lopez after the team? Appointed him for the task Thursday afternoon.

Granted, it didn’t go well for the Mets when Lopez entered the game. Adam Ottavino allowed an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-3 lead. Lopez took the ball and allowed a double to rookie Miguel Vargas, striking out Mookie Betts, then allowed a two-run homer to the opposite-field, Shohei Ohtani, to push Los Angeles’ lead to 9-3.

Then things got weird.

Lopez threw a 2-1 slider to Freddie Freeman that was low and in, but drew a checkered swing from the former MVP. Lopez believed Freeman had made the play, and argued his case forcefully, until he was ejected by third base umpire Ramon De Jesus.

The right-hander had a few more words for De Jesus and then walked off the mound, throwing his glove into the stands in apparent frustration and walking out to the clubhouse, leaving his team to bring on Josh Walker as a mid-at-bat replacement. .

Freeman continued to walk, and the Dodgers won 10-3 at the Mets, completing the road sweep after winning both games of Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Many believed it was a bad look for Lopez. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza agreed, He told reporters after the game Lopez’s glove toss was “not acceptable” and promised to address the matter internally.

Reporters proceeded to interview Lopez, who said some nasty things about the state of the Mets and his place on the team.

Lopez’s response to regretting the glove toss:

It should be noted that Some people “Probably the worst team in the whole F***ing MLB,” Lopez was not heard saying. “Worst teammate in all of MLB,” they asked. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com Asked for clarification on that point, Lopez was told he was the worst teammate on the worst team in MLB.

Lopez said “team” and not “team” in his comments on Instagram Thursday morning.

Either way, those aren’t the words of a man who expects to be in the clubhouse the next day. It was soon fulfilled.

As Lopez’s words spread across the Internet, several members of the Mets media team, Including Joel Sherman of the New York PostHis tenure with the team is up and the team is reportedly planning to hire the pitcher for the job.

But what a result it was.

Is it down to the Mets?

It’s clear the Mets don’t need it right now.

Few expected the team to compete for the NL East after going 75-87 last year and improving only marginally. Still, New York has failed to meet those expectations, holding a 22-33 record after Wednesday and sitting in fourth place in the division.

With a 7-18 record in May, they’ve lost eight of their last nine games. A day earlier, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns admitted to reporters that they weren’t playing like a playoff team, but stopped short of saying they would be sold at the trade deadline.

For perspective, here are the five biggest 40-man salaries in MLB, Through God’s agreementsAnd their current records:

1. New York Mets ($344.6 million): 22-33
2. Los Angeles Dodgers ($329 million): 36-22
3. New York Yankees ($312.6 million): 37-19
4. Atlanta Braves ($265.2 million): 31-21
5. Philadelphia Phillies ($258.6 million): 39-18

Meds are bad and expensive. Billionaire owner Steve Cohen’s fourth season saw them show little beyond a 101-win season in 2022, a division title loss and a wild-card round loss. They have some good prospects thanks to last year’s fire sale, but still rank 13th among MLB farm systems. to the MLB pipeline.

Again, few expected big things from the Mets this season, but it’s not unusual for a financially loaded team to be completely exhausted. There are teams doing worse than them on the field right now, but when you’re up against where you should be, it’s hard to deny Lopez has a point.