4/16/15

The Morning Report 4.16.2015 | Depth Helps, Duda Smash!, Harvey's Swagger, The Harvey Effect Confirmed


  • Isn't it funny how depth chart issues resolve themselves? UT Eric Campbell was unfairly demoted to AAA when the front office made the decision to carry only 4 bench players. Instead of sulking he responds by just flat out raking against inferior talent. A week and half later, David Wright suffers a minor injury causing him to be placed on the 15 day DL and Campbell takes his place.  #NextManUp

John DeMarzo | New York Postthe Mets may have to adopt an all-hands-on-deck mantra to replace the offense provided by their injured captain. Just don’t tell Lucas Duda that. He has designs on carrying the Mets all by himself. “I’m seeing the ball pretty well, trying to get a pitch up I can handle,” said Duda, who raised his batting average to .353 and now has seven RBIs....with a new, confident, hit-to-all-fields approach.“I do believe Lucas’ makeup has changed in the last couple of years,” manager Terry Collins said. “He knows that he belongs here and he can hit [for] big numbers here. What we’ve got to get him to do is stay confident, stay upbeat and get some guys on ahead of him.”

(Chris Soto: Lucas has looked absolutely locked in at the plate. Even though he's in the middle of a righty heavy schedule, Duda has been equally formidable against the lefties too. [Small Sample Size Alert] In his 8 Plate Appearances so far, Duda has been able to poke around 3 hits and 1 walk with only 2 K's. Against RHP, He's only OPS'ing a cool .972 which is good for 30th so far this early in the season.)


Ted Berg | For The Win- 
Things got chippy in Tuesday night’s game between the Mets and the Phillies. After Philadelphia starter David Buchanan hit both Wilmer Flores and Michael Cuddyer with pitches in the second inning, Matt Harvey threw a fastball square in the back of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley with two outs and first base open in the fifth. Utley played it cool as home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez warned both benches. Harvey appeared to stare down Utley, who had homered and singled off him earlier in the game.

(Chris Soto: Lets make no butts about it. If you were watching the game....you could tell....that Harvey was sending a message to the Phillies. That moment afterwards as Utley is trotting down the line and Harvey is just staring him down....It was almost like he was DARING him to charge the mound. Even though he didn't have his "A" stuff, or even his "B" stuff for that matter, Harvey's swagger and bulldog demeanor still electrified the stadium, the crowd, and his own teammates. He was making it known that you don't want to F*** with the Mets this season so tell Buchanan to cut that HBP S*** out.
)


Associated Press | Newsday- Did the much discussed and speculated reasoning -- selling more tickets for the second game when a home-opening sellout already was expected -- pan out? The Mets drew 39,849 fans on Tuesday night for a 6-5 win against the Phillies. That's the biggest crowd for the second home game of the season since Citi Field opened in 2009. 

(Chris Soto: Even more impressive....The Mets-Phillies Game also delivered the highest rated SNY broadcast since 2012. That is the power of the Harvey Effect.)



LETS GO METS!

9 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Right now, the hand wringing so many Davis fans were doing when we kept Duda over Davis looks - wrong, let's just leave it at that. Lucas is working hard and being more aggressive - all he had to do to possibly be the Ryan Howard of several years ago.

Harvey has major guts - love it - just stay out of fights, Matt.

I am hoping that the oft-injured Captain is taking time to reflect on how to be injured less. Besides missing games, injured guys often take time to get sharp on return, so more is lost than just the games missed. We need you healthy, Cap.

Eric Campbell opened his soup kitchen again in Queens. Super-size them, Eric.

4 with Florida - how about winning 3 of 4? 9-4 sounds nice.

Anonymous said...

I don't buy the argument that David Wright needs to run and slide less. Or never steal bases.

More problematic, I think, is that he's very muscle bound and the bat seems slow. At the point of his injury, I hadn't seen him pull a single fastball all season -- and I've been watching for that exact thing. I don't think he's cultivated a body type that ages well in this sport.

But I don't know how a ballplayer stays away from injuries, except to stop playing ball. Of course, one hopes he's doing things like yoga, stretching, that kind of thing. As long as he's on the field, short of slamming into fences, I think he's got to play hard; if he can stretch a single into a double, that's what he's got to do.

James Preller

Tom Brennan said...

Hi James

Your muscle-bound theory might have merit. But let's compare David to 2 other durable sluggers who over very long careers almost never missed games: Cal Ripken, Miguel Cabrera. in 4,829 games, just 132 steal attempts. The more you do it, the more risk.

I am not saying David should never run. If you're down a run, 2 outs in 9th, a Kimbrel type on mound, you realize that 2 guys singling off him is unlikely. Davis steals, he's on 2nd. Only one hit needed.

But this is the guy who ruined his 2014 with a shoulder diving injury, and had an earlier stress fracture in his back that was dive-induced, and messed that season up. Huge consequences.

So I am not saying never. I am saying he needs to be far more selective and strategic. The missed games and lesser results when he does play are largely injury-related of the avoidable kind. Miggy and Cal did it, so can the Captain.

Mack Ade said...

James/Tom -

I'm somewhere in the middle of both of you on this issue.

Only Wright knows the limitations of his own body at this age and he needs to turn it down a little if it means that he can keep his bat in the game

Bob Sugar said...

Ted Berg>
Like your point about Harvey responded with a fastball in the back and then the stare down thereafter. You think that has an effect on the whole ball club? Damn right it does! That moment shot everyone one of the Mets with positive juice knowing this is a different ball club this year.

Bob Sugar said...

Could our hitting coach make the difference in us making the playoffs this year? He sure is getting a lot of ink and chatter about him. Typically you rarely hear about the hitting coach throughout a season.

Mack Ade said...

One of the great moves yesterday was to tuck Travis d'Arnaud ahead of the hottest bat, Lucas Duda...

that one-two punch won this game and could carry this team until Wright gets back

Christopher Soto said...

@Mack

With Wright out, I think it's only a matter of time before we see a line-up of:

Granderson
Flores
d'Arnaud
Duda

Mack Ade said...

Chris -

It's hard to complain about anything right now, but I just wish they would decide what the top 5 hitters in the lineup will be and leave it alone for 1-2 weeks.

Flores needs to come to the stadium every day and, first, know he's playing, and secondly, when he's batting.

I like your lineup but only if Flores hits