5/5/15

The Morning Report 5.5.2015 | Monell Called Up, Welcome Home Verrett, Time for Flores to Reset, Wright's Return Uncertain.



Transactions | Chris Soto

  • The Mets announced that they will be calling up C Johnny Monell to the MLB club today. With only 2 games in between 2 off days, the club intends on carrying an extra bat that can provide some left handed power to help jump start the offense. Monell has had a really good start in his first month with the Las Vegas 51s, hitting .397/.455/.638 with 4 HRs. 
  • The Texas Rangers announced that Rule 5 draft pick RHRP Logan Verrett has cleared waivers and will be returned to the Mets organization. The front office will reassign Verrett to Las Vegas. It is not immediately know if Verrett will return to the rotation, to replace the recently injured Matt Bowman, or remain in the bullpen.


Patrick Albanesius | Mets 360- In games the Mets have won so far in 2015, they have walked 60 times and struck out an even 100. In those games the team line has been .260/.340/.395 with 13 home runs. In games lost by the Mets, the team has walked just 18 times, and struck out 80. That team batting line is .198/.248/.281 with just four home runs. It’s a complete role reversal from the winning baseball the team was playing, and it’s not even hard to see! If Kevin Long is going to earn his paycheck, he needs to calm the fire before it engulfs the team. Strikeouts are to be expected, as they are a sign of aggressiveness. But if that aggressiveness is causing pitchers to adjust to your team strategy, and you don’t adjust back, you’re dead.

(Chris Soto: Patrick is absolutely right. The past few games I have seen more guys swinging and missing at the first pitch or chasing balls out of the zone. This puts hitters into unfavorable counts and forces them to abandon the team philosophy of "hunting for your pitch." I am hoping that this day off was used to calm everyone down so that we can go into this short Baltimore series and take both games. If there is ever a time to get the offense hot again, it's these next two games against the MLB's 3rd most inefficient starting rotation.)


Kristie Ackert | NY Daily News- There is no hiding that the 23-year old has gotten off to a bad start this season. In 25 games, Flores has more errors (7) than he did in the 51 games he played at shortstop last season (4). As the Mets have struggled recently, the pressure on Flores has grown more intense, especially after his bobbled ball on Thursday cost the Mets a game. “He’s handling it well. He’s a pretty relaxed kid, so it doesn’t look like he needs to talk yet. He just needs a pat on the back,” Cuddyer said. “Eventually, I will tell him I had to get through the same thing. It was 2005 and they had me playing third. It was awful, It just keeps coming at you and you feel like you can’t do anything right...all you can do is go through it. I was not swinging the bat like he can though, so he is going to be fine.”

(Chris Soto: For anyone who still has doubts about why the front office signed Cuddyer, here is an example of why he was signed to be more than just a bat. It was only a week ago when Flores was riding a 8 game hitting streak and was in the Top 5 among MLB SS in batting average and OPS. A 3 day head clearing day is probably exactly he needed as the errors he was committing were just silly under throws and lack of focus plays.)


Zach Braziller | New York Post- David Wright’s return remains uncertain. The Captain, out since April 15 with a hamstring injury, is at the team’s minor-league complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., working to get back, but he’s still not at 100 percent, general manager Sandy Alderson told The Post.
“It’s just hard to say,” Alderson said, when asked about a possible return. “He could be a week away, could be 10 days away. Until he gets into a game situation and feels confident with the leg, we’re not going to know. Once Wright is 100 percent confident in the leg and is running at 100 percent, he would be five days or less away from getting back to Queens.“We haven’t gotten to that threshold yet,” the general manager said.

(Chris Soto: The Mets front office is continuing to be cautious with Wright leg hamstring. Also based on Sandy's comments about getting him into a game situation, it sounds like once Wright feels 100%, he could get send out for a small minor league rehab assignment to get his legs back under him. Don't expect the captain back for at least another 10 days in my opinion.)

18 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Hopefully,Johnny Monell's lefty slugging bat will offer a better offensive alternative to the anemic Anthony Recker, at a time where the team has slumped absent core hitters 0Wright and d'Arnaud.

Verrett seems a AAA guy, if 2 teams gave up on him so quickly.

Reese Kaplan said...

From most reports the Mets are going to keep their .100 hitting catcher because he is familiar with the pitching staff and go with three catchers. That makes Eric Campbell the likely one to go as he has options whereas the .100 hitting Kirk Nieuwenhuis does not.

Mack Ade said...

I'm afraid that May is going to be choppy without the return of d'Arnaud and Wright. They simply are too important in this thin offense and guys like Monnell are not going to solve things.

Christopher Soto said...

@Reese

I think we are actually going to see a RP get sent down since the Mets only have 2 games then another off day. Won't have to worry about overworking.

Then come May 11th if they need the 7th arm they can recall Leathersich. If we need another arm before that you can call up Dario Alvarez.

Mack Ade said...

Chris -

I agree.

Terry has a number of options he can wear out (Reese is going to love what I just said...)

Mack Ade said...

By the way... if any of you are having problems printing out your comments...

Type them in here...

Click on the 'preview' box next to 'Publish Your Comments'

And then publish it from there.

Steve from Norfolk said...

As far as Verrett is concerned, I don't think he got much of a chance to make the transition to the bullpen. He's been a starter his whole career. Some guys can't make that change.

Reese Kaplan said...

When the team was going well, everyone was ready to beatify Terry Collins. Hmmn...it's awfully quiet about the man lately. Where are all of his supporters now? Oh, occasionally I hear the, "Enjoy it, we're in first place" weak accolade, but the fact remains they've lost three series in a row. While it's true Terry doesn't swing the bat, he is responsible for motivation and player usage. The buck stops...oh, nevermind :)

Mack Ade said...

S.F.N. -

My guess with Verrett is he will be slotted into the vacant rotation slot left open when Matt Bowman went on the disabled list.

Mack Ade said...

Reese -

You're always quick to blame TC for everything... let me ask you. You see the lack of offense and lack of offensive depth on this team right now.

What would be your lineup?

Mack Ade said...

Las Vegas just changed the status of Verrett on their roster to 'reassigned', whatever that means

Steve from Norfolk said...

I thought I saw that last night. I assumed it was Verrett's status since he got back. No way they'd send him to AA, would they?

Mack Ade said...

Steve -

I can't see that happening, especially with the loss of Bowman and no one else on their staff is a starter.

Tom Brennan said...

What did Bowman go on DL for? Missed it if it has been published.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

Re: Bowman

I don't know

Christopher Soto said...

No reason was given.

Bowman was placed on the 7 day DL with a "undisclosed injury"

Tom Brennan said...

Any chance the Bowman "undisclosed injury" is not really one at all, but rather is a way to juggle the roster as guys move on and off of it this week?

Anonymous said...

29 G.Ms. kicking themselves in the butt for passing on Colin.
The Mets just wanted to dump his salary.