Nikhil Potpally | Empire Writes Back- 2015 has been even more impressive for deGrom. Currently sitting at a 12-6 record, he carries the second-lowest ERA in the majors at 1.98. In 154.1 innings, he has 158 strikeouts and a 0.89 WHIP. Batters are hitting a mere .196 against him and have only compiled 108 total hits. Zack Greinke is widely speculated to be the current leader of the Cy Young vote in the National League, with his MLB-low 1.58 ERA and his earlier 45.2 straight scoreless innings streak. The Dodgers, with their high payroll, were widely considered to win their division, and don’t have the same surprise as the Mets do. In a Cy Young race, I believe team expectations along with overall performance should be considered.
(Chris Soto: I agree with Nikhail...If it wasn't for Grienke's ridiculous numbers, deGrom would be the run away favorite for the National League Cy Young award. However, in today's age of baseball, writers are more and more tyingt sabermetrical data to their voting decisions. From a sabermetrics standpoint, deGrom is only 5th in Wins Above Replacement due to the fact that he is 4th in Fielding Independent Pitching [FIP] and 5th in xFIP, which adjusts the FIP number to account for a normalized HR rate. Personally, I don't care....just keep going out there every 5th and keep winning games. We'll see where he ends up at the end of the day.)
Bill Price | NY Daily News- The Mets were officially the road team in Baltimore Tuesday night, but thanks to a huge throng of fans - including Goat Boy himself Jim Breuer - it felt like another night at Citi Field. The famous - at least in Queens - 7 Line Army made the trek to Camden Yarks for Tuesday’s game and certainly made their presence felt. “That was awesome that the 7 Line was here,” said winning pitcher Jacob deGrom. “It almost felt like we were playing at home, the support the fans are giving us at other ballparks, it feels real good. Even Terry Collins gave the fans a shout out after the 5-3 win. “The 7 Line was here tonight, they’re unbelievable when they come, when they show up. If you’re a player, my gosh almighty, how can you feel tired or fatigued when you’ve got that atmosphere to go on?
(Chris Soto: Major....MAJOR hat tip to Dareen Meehan, Founder of The 7 Line Army. These guys set up multiple road trips each year and each time they show up....they literally take over the place. It felt like Mets fan outnumbered Orioles fans in Camden Yards last night. Not many teams, if any, have a fan following like the Mets do with T7L and the benefits showed up big time last night. Talk about exciting. If anyone is interested in sitting with T7L, sorry, but their next 4 group events are already SOLD OUT! However, they do have 1 more event available....the final Home Game of the season against the Nationals on October 4th. The 860 Tickets go on sale at 12pm on September 3rd and are expected to only last....maybe.....30 minutes.)
David Schoenfield | ESPN Sweet Spot- Back on April 4, we ran this file of predictions for the 2015 season. All 15 of us participants picked the Washington Nationals to win the NL East. Hey, we weren't the only ones. All 45 Baseball Prospectus writers also picked the Nationals. Over at FanGraphs, all 38 writers went with the Nationals. At CBSSports.com, the Nationals went 5-for-5. At FoxSports.com, 11 of its 12 analysts picked the Nationals. There's a very good chance that everyone will be wrong. Certainly, everybody forgot to tell the New York Mets they were playing for second place.
(Chris Soto: I was surprised myself to see this...last night while tracking my fantasy team I caught a glimpse of the MLB standings...The Nationals were UNDER .500?? How could that be? Their unbelievable fall from sure fire division winner to what they are now is something out of a movie. Injuries are obviously killing them with Werth, Rendon, Zimmerman, Span, and Strasburg all missing time this season. However, even when those guys are healthy, they aren't doing anything. Those 5 guys combined have been worth only +1.2 Wins Above Replacement this season compared to a +21.3 WAR last season! An unbelievable 20 win drop! They may have won last night, but Nationals manager Matt Williams better figure out something real quick cause that Magic Number Clock is already starting to tick....)
(Chris Soto: I agree with Nikhail...If it wasn't for Grienke's ridiculous numbers, deGrom would be the run away favorite for the National League Cy Young award. However, in today's age of baseball, writers are more and more tyingt sabermetrical data to their voting decisions. From a sabermetrics standpoint, deGrom is only 5th in Wins Above Replacement due to the fact that he is 4th in Fielding Independent Pitching [FIP] and 5th in xFIP, which adjusts the FIP number to account for a normalized HR rate. Personally, I don't care....just keep going out there every 5th and keep winning games. We'll see where he ends up at the end of the day.)
Bill Price | NY Daily News- The Mets were officially the road team in Baltimore Tuesday night, but thanks to a huge throng of fans - including Goat Boy himself Jim Breuer - it felt like another night at Citi Field. The famous - at least in Queens - 7 Line Army made the trek to Camden Yarks for Tuesday’s game and certainly made their presence felt. “That was awesome that the 7 Line was here,” said winning pitcher Jacob deGrom. “It almost felt like we were playing at home, the support the fans are giving us at other ballparks, it feels real good. Even Terry Collins gave the fans a shout out after the 5-3 win. “The 7 Line was here tonight, they’re unbelievable when they come, when they show up. If you’re a player, my gosh almighty, how can you feel tired or fatigued when you’ve got that atmosphere to go on?
(Chris Soto: Major....MAJOR hat tip to Dareen Meehan, Founder of The 7 Line Army. These guys set up multiple road trips each year and each time they show up....they literally take over the place. It felt like Mets fan outnumbered Orioles fans in Camden Yards last night. Not many teams, if any, have a fan following like the Mets do with T7L and the benefits showed up big time last night. Talk about exciting. If anyone is interested in sitting with T7L, sorry, but their next 4 group events are already SOLD OUT! However, they do have 1 more event available....the final Home Game of the season against the Nationals on October 4th. The 860 Tickets go on sale at 12pm on September 3rd and are expected to only last....maybe.....30 minutes.)
David Schoenfield | ESPN Sweet Spot- Back on April 4, we ran this file of predictions for the 2015 season. All 15 of us participants picked the Washington Nationals to win the NL East. Hey, we weren't the only ones. All 45 Baseball Prospectus writers also picked the Nationals. Over at FanGraphs, all 38 writers went with the Nationals. At CBSSports.com, the Nationals went 5-for-5. At FoxSports.com, 11 of its 12 analysts picked the Nationals. There's a very good chance that everyone will be wrong. Certainly, everybody forgot to tell the New York Mets they were playing for second place.
(Chris Soto: I was surprised myself to see this...last night while tracking my fantasy team I caught a glimpse of the MLB standings...The Nationals were UNDER .500?? How could that be? Their unbelievable fall from sure fire division winner to what they are now is something out of a movie. Injuries are obviously killing them with Werth, Rendon, Zimmerman, Span, and Strasburg all missing time this season. However, even when those guys are healthy, they aren't doing anything. Those 5 guys combined have been worth only +1.2 Wins Above Replacement this season compared to a +21.3 WAR last season! An unbelievable 20 win drop! They may have won last night, but Nationals manager Matt Williams better figure out something real quick cause that Magic Number Clock is already starting to tick....)
We need to fix our pen. If we do, we win. Recall the meltdown in the pen several years ago that let Phil's overtake Mets? Don't want to see that again in 2015.
ReplyDeleteJake will win Cy Young, as each guy has several starts left. Grienke will slip.
Two things:
ReplyDelete* The Nats remind me of the '87 Mets, a year when everything went wrong and the team never found its footing.
* I don't agree at all with Potpally's point that "team expectations" should play a role in Cy Young voting. That makes no sense to me, and is totally a perception issue, extremely vague, and has zero to do with actual performance.
* Jake has been great; Grienke has been greater.
James Preller
Chris
ReplyDeleteWelcome back.
Good to see you feeling well enough to return to active morning duty.
If and when Krod get put on waivers the Mets should make a play on him if he makes it to their pick, what do you guys think. Krod in the 7th inning???
ReplyDeleteBonehead play by Duda in the ninth.
ReplyDeleteDon't give a new contract to Lucas Duda
The way Dom Smith has been playing....I think there is a renewed willingness to let Duda go through arbitration one more year to see how Smith progresses in 2016 with Binghamton.
ReplyDeleteChris,
DeleteThat is exactly how it should play out. 100%
Off-topic and a little presumptuous but …
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating/a little weird that even though the playoffs aren't a foregone conclusion yet our playoff opponent (were we to make them) is.
It's likely to be the Dodgers with them having the home field, although I'd never completely rule out the Giants. How does everyone think we match up with either? If Dodgers, it does kind of neutralize our great big pitching advantage, no?
Now because playoff baseball is such a distant memory … the NLDS is 5 games, right? Does that require 3 starters or 4? I heard them talking about this on WFAN and it was suggested Niese would start a game in the series. If four starters are needed, wouldn't Matz get the call? Thoughts? Ty.
Darren Meenan is name of 7 line army founder........
ReplyDeleteI got to be part of the army last year at Marlins park and EVERY Mets fan needs to do it at least once in their lifetime.
@Ernest
ReplyDeleteSorry I had a brain fart.....fixed the name.
@Chris Bryant
You are correct, the Dodgers staff does neutralize the Mets staff. NLDS only requires 3 SPs... I would take the Mets 3rd starter over the Dodgers so your looking at Game 1 and 2 pushes and a Game 3 advantage to Mets.
It would certainly be an interesting series.
Everyone -
ReplyDeleteMy guess is Verrett will quickly become a factor in the pen, probably followed by Goeddel as soon as his rehabbing is over
Or perhaps verrett will first show up on the mound in Colorado as a spot starter so Harvey can skip a turn...............
ReplyDeleteMajor props to Granderson for 2 home runs and a great catch late in the game. Guy is a winner. I was wrong about him earlier in the year
ReplyDeleteWhile the dodgers staff neutralizes the Mets staff, the Mets staff kind of neutralizes the Dodgers. Which is there big advantage. If its DeGrom v Kershaw and Harvey v Grienke there is really no advantage for either team as there would be against any other team in baseball. you are talking in WAR for pitchers (BR numbers) the 2 vs 3 and the 7 v 1, pitchers in the NL.
ReplyDeleteim not sure any team in baseball wants to go against either of these teams in a short series.
just looking at the minors for a second. whats Wally doing with playing time. and considering the glut of 4A outfielders, not really sure why the Mets promoted Nimmo, especially if they have to consider demoting Conforto. Also beccerra, seems like he deserved a promotion?
I love deGrom, but Greinke is the Cy Young winner unless he completely tanks, and don't count out Kershaw yet - he has A LOT more innings and IP factors heavy into WAR - and Kershaw has been back to normal lately.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Dodgers - I never thought I would say this - but I think our offense is better than theirs - so if pitching is a push, that give us the edge.
@Bob - nice to come on the Grandy bandwagon - too many people were selling him way too short this year - we aren't in first place without him, no doubt
ReplyDeleteOn a completely different topic,
ReplyDeletePatrick Mazeika & Kevin Kaczmarski (kingsport), any good non-Mets sources on these guys? Should we be excited?
Dallas -
ReplyDeleteBoth are off to a great start. I especially like Kaczmarski.
I'm sorry that the long winning streak in Savannah has plugged up any chance of these guys getting there this season.
I expect both to start the season next year with Savannah
Columbia Fireflies my friend
DeleteAnd I expect to be in port st lucie next year watching a pretty dynamic offense ;)
ReplyDeleteSugar -
ReplyDeleteyeah... my bad
Mack,
ReplyDeleteAny news on Marcos Molina? Looks like bad news from what I've read elsewhere.
"The big news off the field was not positive as the St. Lucie Mets placed starting pitcher Marcos Molina back on the disabled list after two appearances with the same elbow soreness that put him on the shelf originally. Molina had a rough outing on Monday giving up five runs in 4 innings in what unfortunately could be his last start in awhile. Hope for the best, but there were whispers of TJS the first time and it sounds like he was unable to pitch through whatever the Mets saw in the initial prognosis."
Sounds like TJS is in his future and not only that, we've wasted 4 months of him trying to rehab, high means 2017 is his return date if we're lucky. Look how Luis Mateo's rehab has gone. Thankfully he's still very young but not a good sign.
Closer -
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard anything new... I hope they didn't rush him back.
I'm sure we won't see him anymore this season.