11/26/14

Reese Kaplan -- What Are We Thankful For As Mets Fans?

Watching Juan Lagares track down balls in centerfield and use his rifle arms to nail runners who foolishly try to take the extra base on him

Seeing unheralded Jacob de Grom step in and pretty much fill Matt Harvey’s shoes when his season was lost to Tommy John surgery

Speaking of which, Matt Harvey is back and ready to step into the 2015 rotation to give the Mets something of an embarrassment of pitching riches

Watching Lucas Duda blossom into the 30 HR hitter the club had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing

Seeing Jenrry Mejia make the transition from inconsistent starter to shutdown closer while displaying animation not seen on the mount since Pedro Martinez and Tug McGraw

Seeing Wilmer Flores finally get a shot to play on a regular basis and having him deliver numbers that would put him in the upper echelon of major league shortstops if extrapolated over a full season

Appreciating Travis d’Arnaud delivering on the great promise of a middle-of-the-order slugging threat after his return from Las Vegas

Seeing Bartolo Colon demonstrate you don’t necessarily need a 98 mph fastball or a trick pitch to fool major league hitters

Witnessing the major step forward made by Jeurys Familia as he became a force to be reckoned with in the 8th inning role

Despite not making the team out of spring training, seeing Vic Black make batters look foolish with the movement of his pitches

Daniel Murphy made his first All Star appearance as a steady force in the 2 hole, delivering doubles seemingly at will

Seeing the Mets uncharacteristically reaching into their pockets to pay for a professional hitter in Michael Cuddyer to help fill the void in the outfield

Seeing the team admit its mistakes by severing ties with the likes of Chris Young, Jose Valverde, Kyle Farnsworth and others when they simply weren’t getting it done

As the team moves into the Winter Meetings there are no gaping holes left to fill, just some tinkering with an extra lefty in the bullpen, some bench pieces, and some clearing of payroll 

And most of all, that Terry Collins’ multiyear contract is mercifully over and he’s on a very short one-year leash to demonstrate whether or not he’s capable of pushing the team into contention

16 comments:

Hobie said...

And thanks Mack and all the MM folk.

Happy Thanksgiving

greg b said...

Agree with Hobie, grateful to have a site that us Mets fans can go to and get great Mets news written by well informed writters. Thanks Mack and all the writters.

Bill Metsiac said...

Yes, many thanks for Mack and this site.

Reese, you had me very worried for a while. Until I read your last point, I thought you had been kidnapped Down Under and replaced by a stunt double who shares my optimism about our team.

I actually agree with you about everything in the article, except that last line. After we win the WS this year and Terry becomes MOTY, he'll get the 5-year deal he deserves. And that'll give you many more opps to show how much more you know about running a ML team than he does.

There's something you can be really thankful for.

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

Bill Metsiac said...

Forgot to mention:

I'm surprised that no one commented on my suggestion the other day about the LHRP question, so I'll try again.

Why not do what the Cardinals do so successfully with their young excess SPs, and bring up Matz to fill the role? I still cringe when I remember what Adam Wainright did to Carlos B in '06. Didn't hurt his path to becoming a top SP, did it?

jd said...

Agree with all especially the MM site and family. Want to add one: Gary, Keith and Ron. Best in the biz. Make even a bad game worth watching. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tom Brennan said...

Matz would be great in pen. Maybe some trepidation over former tommy john alumnus being used in many games.

Reese, i just heard collins has a clause in his contract he has to fulfill before he moves on,,,10,000 more pitching changes. So he'll be here until at least Memorial Day.

I want to thank Mack for taking a flyer on me as a writer - it's been a blast. Wishing all readers and Mack, the Perry White of this website, a hearty and blessed Thanksgiving.

Tom Brennan said...

Matz would be great in pen. Maybe some trepidation over former tommy john alumnus being used in many games.

Reese, i just heard collins has a clause in his contract he has to fulfill before he moves on,,,10,000 more pitching changes. So he'll be here until at least Memorial Day.

I want to thank Mack for taking a flyer on me as a writer - it's been a blast. Wishing all readers and Mack, the Perry White of this website, a hearty and blessed Thanksgiving.

Mack Ade said...

My apologies about the lack of the Morning Report this morning.

It was removed my error

Mack Ade said...

Thank you all for your kind comments.

We will be taking Thanksgiving off tomorrow and the site, as usual, will be shut down.

I'm very proud of what this site has become to a precious small community that comes here every day.

My Morning Report will be back of Friday morning as the place where all can gather and leave opinions about anything.

Have a wonderful holiday with you and your loved ones.

Mack

Mack Ade said...

Metsiac -

The word from the Mets camp is Matz needs additioanl seasoning

Reese Kaplan said...

What about an unheralded lefty like Gorski? Might he ever evolve into a bullpen piece?

Anonymous said...

Thankful to Mack and other writers in this site, along with the regular commenters who make this site. Well done to all and a Happy Thanksgiving.
Anon Joe F

Not enough mustard on Gorski pitches for pen duty. Imo

Mack Ade said...

Gorski, like many of the Mets secondary starters (Verrett, Peavey, etc) simply don't have that one great pitch they can build another pitch around to become a productive reliever

I honestly don't see a lefty in the system right now for at least two more seasons that would fit this bill

Ernest Dove said...

Im thankful to have chance to go to Marlins park every year, and watch a Mets game with predominately Mets crowd...........
Regarding Matz, I also say keep away from bullpen. Not just because of past TJS, but also pure numbers and projection. ...if he goes out in 2015 and throws 50-75 innings out of the pen, how could anyone possibly expect him to maybe break camp in the 2016 in the rotation and all of sudden pitch 175-200 innings....

Anonymous said...

I think the biggest disappointment for me this year in the minors was Adam Kolerek. I got a chance to watch him in person both in 2013 and 2014, but boy what a difference. He is a big left handed reliever who sat 93-95 and has a nasty slider, so he was setting himself up to follow Edgin, but his FB was just right down the middle last year and got tagged. He is going to be 26 this year, so nearing his last chance to turn it around, but he has a big league slider and enough heat to be a LOODGY if he can harness the tools. He has had good success in the past, but just lost it last year and got pounded. The nature of relief pitchers says it is not impossible to figure out, but he is short on time.

Anon Joe F

Mack Ade said...

Kolarek definitely took a step back last season (especially in WHIP)

Sadder more was it was still at the AA level