Mack’s Morning Report – 4-26-15 – Kevin Plawecki, Curtis Granderson, SP5

There are many Mets that are stepping up during this incredible April and one is the ‘fill-in’ catcher that is replacing the injured Travis d’Arnaud.

Rotographs had this to say about Kevin Plawecki earlier this week:

Kevin Plawecki, NYM – d’Arnaud’s injury is particularly upsetting for Mets fans because he was off to such a great start, but Plawecki might actually surprise in his stead. Kiley McDaniel had him second among Mets prospects with 50 raw power and some hitting upside (future 55 hit, 45 game power). He had two nice seasons across four levels in 2013 and 2014 with quality plate discipline shown via an 11% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 940 PA. That approach yielded a .307 AVG and .833 OPS with 19 HRs and 144 RBIs in the two seasons. He wasted no time showing getting started in the majors with a 2-for-4 debut on Tuesday night. I think he could be one of the sneakier pickups for those ailing behind the dish.

Mack – The key here is keeping him healthy. His backup, Anthony Recker, is already suffering from a bone spur in his elbow, anf the talent level will drop off quickly if something happens to these guys.

I immediately liked what I saw in Plawecki when he got to Savannah and he looks like he has played behind the plate in Queens for years.

THIS is why you don’t trade your #2 prospects by position. Injuries happen in every sport and the Mets wouldn’t be where they currently are without these quality secondary players.

And here’s another article from Fangraphs, this one with some interesting facts about Curtis Granderson:

It’s hard to believe the current incarnation of Curtis Granderson could show up, by default, at the very top of any FanGraphs leaderboard for positive reasons. Yet there he is: the Grandy Man leads all National League outfielders in chase rate (O-Swing%), at 16.7 percent. Only Brett Gardner and the fabled Joey Votto have offered at fewer non-strikes than Granderson among qualified Major League hitters. Granderson has seen 128 pitches outside the strike zone. Of those pitches, he has swung at 21 of them. And of those swings, he has made contact with 17. For the mathematically disinclined, that’s a grand total of four swings and misses on pitches out of the zone. That’s the fewest of any hitter who has seen at least as many pitches as Granderson has.    

          Mack – Interesting…

I am sure that every Mets fan would be much happier if every Granderson walk was at least a single. We’d all be saying he’s having a great season.

The fact is he’s making pitchers pitch to him, he’s getting on base, and he’s making excellent defensive plays.

I’ll take it.



There's been a lot of speculation who should be the current SP5 in the Mets rotation. Dillon Gee (3-starts, 17.2-IP, 5.60) came up with his first quality start this week, which has taken the pressure off him a little. 

Rafael Montero did very little to help his cause in Las Vegas after giving up five earned runs in the 7.2 innings (5.87) he threw in his first two starts.

My guess is Montero will still be brought up for his spot start, but that might be the limit to his major league stint for awhile. Just a guess.

       Montero started Las Vegas' 8-7 win over Reno on Thursday and promptly gave up a leadoff home run in the first inning. Though the 24-year-old right-hander retired the next nine batters, he ran into trouble in the fourth, when he allowed three more runs. 

Montero ultimately threw 74 pitches through five innings and surrendered four earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts. In his first start with the 51s on April 19, Montero yielded one run on two hits and a walk while striking out three in 2 2/3 innings. 

http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2015/04/mets_minor_league_report_1.html