The Morning Report 4.29.2015 | Where's Montero's Change-up?, 6-Man Rotation, Dilson Herrera's Defense, Rare Failure by Torres.

Matt Ehalt | North Jersey Advance Media- The Mets received encouraging signs from spot starter Rafael Montero, who was optioned to the minors after the game for lefty reliever Jack Leathersich. The Mets hoped to see Montero incorporate more of his off-speed pitches and command the strike zone like he has in the minors, and he accomplished both. In his April 10 outing against Atlanta, Montero threw 35 straight fastballs in a relief appearance. Montero threw 54 of his 85 pitches for strikes, and showed a willingness to use his off-speed pitches. He tossed 58 fastballs, 21 sliders and six change-ups, per MLB.com.

(Chris Soto: Montero's slider was better last night but it still concerns me that his bread and butter pitch that got him through the minors, the change-up, is hardly being used. Why wouldn't you use the only "plus" pitch in your arsenal? It is something that he is going to have to rectify because we have seen how inconsistent his slider can be. When it's off....it gets tattooed...which then leads him to using exclusively fastballs.)


John Delcos | Mets Report- The Mets were treated to a solid performance from Rafael Montero to where the idea could be floated of considering a six-man rotation. Doing so would give everybody an additional day of rest. Specifically, the real goal would be to give Matt Harvey an additional day and ultimately preserve his workload. However, could a six-man rotation work for the long term? For something that unconventional to work, it can’t be imposed a month into the season. I suggested something similar in the offseason that would have enabled the rest of the rotation to get into a routine.

(Chris Soto: The six man rotation has its pluses, however, the main case against it is that, in theory, that 6th starter is going to be your weakest guy. So instead of Harvey being thrown out there every 5th day and providing an almost 80% chance of winning, his now only going out every 6th day. It reduces the overall quality of the pitching staff. These "spot starts" by Montero during long stretches of no off-days are actually smart and I give credit to the Mets front office for coming up with the idea.)


Quinn Berry | MetsMerized Online- Herrera, 21, has been a Top 100 prospect in baseball, ranking as high as No. 46 on MLB.com to as low as No. 82 on Baseball Prospectus. But just how good is the Mets’ young second baseman? Can he become an All-Star, as Keith Law predicted, or is he more destined to be a solid starter? Offensively, Dilson Herrera has the bat-speed to make scouts drool. His lightning quick hands should allow him to hit for a good batting average accompanied by solid-average power at the major league level.  His defense [though] leaves a lot to be desired out of a middle infielder. Baseball Prospectus reports that South Atlantic managers felt the youngster’s actions were “stiff” in the field, and Minor League Ball’s John Sickels concurred with those concerns last August.

(Chris Soto: Defensively, I have seen the same things out of Herrera when he was in Binghamton last year. While his hands are soft and his range/first step are good, he just doesn't look smooth at 2B. That said, neither does Daniel Murphy...but rather than rushing Herrera the Mets are taking their time with him and working to improve that fluidity so that he can eventually replace Murphy in 2016.)


Adam Rubin | ESPN New York- Despite heavy usage, Torres largely has been reliable. Tuesday, however, proved an exception. Entering with the score tied for the bottom of the eighth, Torres issued walks to two of the first three batters he faced. "Those two walks cost us big," Torres said. "It's the difference between throwing and trying to 'feel. I was just trying to stick the ball in the zone and make sure to throw strikes instead of just throwing it and it would be a strike. When you try to 'feel,' that's what happens. The balls get sprayed a little bit, which really sucks, because once I got my rhythm ... I was pounding the zone. But that's the name of the game. I didn't look on film, but I don't throw too many two-seam fastballs. I thought it was down. I thought it was good. But he's a professional, too, and he's a good hitter."

(Chris Soto: Torres just didn't have it last night. As he indicates, he was aiming the ball rather than just throwing which tells me he just didn't feel great when he was warming up in the pen. It's too bad cause now fans are going to call for his head even though he's been absolutely solid for us over the past 2+ years. His heavy usage so far this season is concerning though. I would love to see Terry Collins give Robles an opportunity to pitch in a higher leverage situation to see if he can take a bit of the pressure off of Torres.)