Mack Ade – Morning Report – 4-30-13

-Sorry for the absence, but shit happens, right?

-I’m not up to spin on all the events these past few days, but it doesn’t look like anyone (except Noah Syndergaard) is setting the world on fire in Met-land. The Las Vegas pitchers continue to turn ERA into a lost equation, while Jake deGrom (3-starts, 4.91) is starting to realize that it’s going to take more than an emergency start (his first) to impress AA hitters. As I understand, both Darin Gorski and Hansel Robles are now on the DL, so this list of injured starters continue to grow. Don’t expect any surprise movements of payers here. The Mets pitching heads will not sacrifice the future by rushing the few healthy arms they have left. For now, target on the good news, SP wise:

                -Zack Wheeler is striking out 27% of the batters he has faced at AAA

                -After five AA outings, Rafael  Montero has a 1.95, 0.80, 27.2-IP, 35-K, 3-BB stat line

                -After five AA outings, Logan Verrett has a 4-0, 2.48,,0.98 stat line

                -After five A+ outings, Domingo Tapia has a 2.49, 1.07, 25.1-IP, 23-K stat line

                -After five A+ outings, Noah Syndergaard has a 1-0, 3.24, 25.0-IP, 26-K stat line

These are the names we keep writing about as being part of the future 2014-2016 Mets rotations. They remain the top prospects and they remain healthy.

SP Robert Gsellman was promoted directly from Extended Camp to St. Lucie to fill the slot left open when Robles went on the DL. He started last night. He pitched at Kingsport (1-3, 3.92, 11-G, 5-starts) last year and the GCL Mets (0-0, 4.15) in 2011. He did the job he was asked to do: 4.0-IP, 0-ER, 2-H, 2-K, 2-BB.


Savannah's Luis Cessa had his first shit outing last night (5.2-IP, 11-H, 6-R). Let's make a mental note five days from now to see how he comes out on the next outing. Everybody has one of these. Two is a problem...

Hey!  Josh Edgin pitched a scoreless inning! Plus, he struck out two while walking none. He’s back at Binghamton and maybe the rest of the year there and in Vegas is  good thing. I haven’t given up on him though he is currently not on my projected 2014 team.

-I’m going to continue to remind everyone that this was never going to be a great season for the Mets. We all agreed that a .500 percentage was a reachable goal to set and, as best I can tell, nothing has changed. There are highlights:

                David Wright is 16^th in the league in BA (.309), 4^th on OBP (.436) and 10^th in OBP (.942).

                Daniel Murphy is 21^st in the league in BA (.300).

                Lucas Duda is 5^th in the league in OBP (.429), 17^th in the league in slugging percentage (.531), and 7th in OBP (.960).

                John Buck is 8^th in the league in slugging percentage (.575)

This is far more production than we expected from this team, though both Duda and Buck have started to tail off some.

Pitching wise, we all know that the only two starters that have a future (past 2014) on this team is Mike Harvey and Jonathan Niese. Forget what the rest of them doing. We’re just playing through the schedule this season and we’re making the decision to sell off some pieces easier.

No one is going to man the phones yet, but players like John Buck, Shaun Marcum, Frank Francisco, Scott Rice, Jordany Valdepin, and Wilmer Flores will be put into play at the all-start break.

2014 will begin to line up:

                Starters:  Harvey, Niese, Wheeler, Montero, Gee

                Pen:  Parnell, Leathersich, Familia, Mejia

                Field – d’Arnaud, Davis, Murphy, Tejada, Wright, Duda

                                                                                10 to go…