Morning Report – July 16th – Mack’s Mid-Season Report Card

1911 - Crosley Field

                                                                                                                                            

Coming Later Today –    

            10 am - Reese Kaplan - Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso

            12 noon – Thomas Brennan – TOP PROSPECTS FROM DEEP DOWN UNDER – LAST IN A 4 PART SERIES

             2 00 pm - Stephen Guilbert - Future Major Leaguers- Rookie League Ball

            4 00 pm – 2015 Draft Prospect - OF - Daz Cameron - Eagle's Landing (GA) HS - UPDATED -  7-3-14

Savannah SP Robert Whalen passed his latest rehab test, throwing four scoreless innings yesterday for the GCL Mets.  He now has a combined GCL/Gnat record of 7-G, 5-ST, 4-1, 1.67, 27.0-IP, 31-K. Expect him back in the Gnats rotation before the end of the month.

Mike Puma ‏@NYPost_Mets  

Two things I was told today: Mets are still unsure if they will go after a bat, and teams haven't begun calling about Colon.



David Lennon ‏@DPLennon  

Talked to Murphy before today’s game about #Mets resurgence. Said key has been Duda. Much improved plate approach in his view.

C Ali Sanchez (.310), SP Adonis Uceta (2-1, 1.48), and DH Victor Moscote (.303) were named to the DSL All-Star team.



Everybody is giving the Mets players mid-season ratings this week, so I might as well jump in here and do the same. I’m not going to cover everyone on the team and there will be a few minor leaguers thrown in, but they all will have one thing in common… they are playing well above the game we anticipated at this point in the year. There’s no reason to rate who is an ‘A’ or who is a ‘B’. All the names I list here have earned their place on this team or the organization.

2B Daniel Murphy – he gets the top rating because he continues to play at a level none of us expected him to. We all expected Murph to hit like this, but very few expected him to pull off this second base thing as well as he’s been doing. Additionally, he’s one of the leaders in the clubhouse and dugout, something that is far more valuable than most people realize. My number one Met this year.

3B  David Wright – Wright could be hitting .200 this year and he still would make this list. I could write volumes on him but if the Mets were the planet of the apes, Wright would be Caesar.  

1B  Lucas Duda – We knew that Duda could hit a homer or two and most of us rooted for Ike Davis to win this battle, but, in the long run, every Mets fan has to be happy with the results of ‘who’s on first’. Sure, he’s not perfect, but how long has it been since this team had a legitimate 35-95 first baseman on their 25-man? As I have said a number of times lately, there are much bigger fish to fry that first base.

OF Curtis Granderson – I thought this was going to go down as the second coming of Jason Bay, but frankly, it hasn’t. Granderson has become reborn as a leadoff man which I guess takes off a lot of internal pressure to produce as that power guy everyone was expecting here. I’m thrilled at his .300-BA in June and, after a 12-83, .145 April, who would of thought he has a good chance of finishing the year at his lifetime BA of .259.

SP Bartolo Colon – Colon hasn’t had the best outings the last three times out, but he still managed to turn in a 3.65 ERA during July. The Mets wouldn’t be in this Wild Card race if it wasn’t for players like this. He also has been a calming influence in both the clubhouse and dugout, especially to the young Latin pitchers on the 25-man.

SP Jon Niese – we always seem to take Nise for granted and, signing him to a long term, cheap contract was a touch of genius. I don’t expect him to stay a Met past his arbitration years (2016), but it falls perfectly in line with the progress of Steven Matz, the top lefty in the organization. If every Met pitcher comes to camp in 2015 healthy… well, this contract alone will make teams reach out for his services.

SP Dillon Gee – Gee may have only pitched in nine games so far this season, but he’s done an effective job in his last six outings (6-ER in 40.0-IP). Consider him the original Jacob deGrom… no one expected him to ever be a part of the Mets rotation, no less effective as a member of it (3.74 ERA in 93 games over 5-yrs).

SP Jacob deGrom – what can I say about this guy? He’s been everything anyone can ask for and has singlehandedly changed the plans for the future rotation of this team. You know me… I really don’t care how fast your fastball is as long as you get people out and stay healthy. DeGrom is now a prominent member of my 2015 Mets rotation.

P Daisuke Matsuzaka – this at best was pure experimentation again this season and it has worked best as a reliever (17-appearances, 2.22), a role you may see him play for the remainder of the time he’s a Met.

RP Josh Edgin – I wasn’t sure we were going to see Edgin at the major league level again, but he’s put up excellent (25-appearances, 1.76) numbers this season as a Met. The biggest turnaround was his control problems, going from a 2013 BB/9 of 3.77 to an excellent 2014 stat of 1.76.

RP Vic Black – everyone knew that Black had to cut down on his BB/9 ratio to make it as a major league reliever. So far this season, after 23 appearances, it has actually risen to 5.06, a high as a major leaguer, but he’s made it up by raising his K/9 from 8.31 last season as a Met (6.75 as a Pirate) to 9.28. 

IF Wilmer Flores – Flores may be back in AAA, but he seems to be taken this in stride. He’s coming off a red hot July (.365), where he also hit seven home runs and posted a .846 slugging percentage. As strange as it might seem to some, I don’t expect to see him back in Queens until the rosters expand. Until then he’ll keep working on his stroke and his confidence.

IF Matt Reynolds – Reynolds is about the quietest second round draft pick in years. He put up some decent numbers as a junior in college (2012 – Arkansas: .323), but hit only .226 last year for St. Lucie. Nobody was expecting much here, but (2014 – Binghamton: .355, Las Vegas: .337) what do we know? Reynolds can play all three infield field positons so he does project out as a future Mets UT, but everything he has done so far this year has been a bonus.

IF Dilson Herrera – Boy, is this turning out to be a great addition to this organization. There looks like there is no stopping the 20-year old, who blew through A+ ball this season (.307) and is now taking on Binghamton (.326). That comes to a combined .312 in 378 at bats, a number even Daniel Murphy would be proud of. Scouts say he’s a better fielder than Murphy so it will interesting to se how the Mets handle the future at this position (me? Keep the all-star and sell the sizzle).

C Kevin Plawecki – The last minor leaguer featured here, Plawecki has already impressed us with what he did at the AA-level (.326) and will try and settle into the AAA level until the rosters expand. The ex-1^st round pick in 2012 has impressed at every level and we expect the same for the 51’s; however, I have no idea where to project him in 2015. This is the kind of player you guys talk about when you put together a ‘Tulo-package’. His future as a Met depends on the health of Travis d’Arnaud.