Mack’s Mets – the premier site for information on the New York Mets talent pipeline and dialogue on Mets prospects, Mets news, and Mets opinions.
9/30/15
September 30th 2015 -- Phillies 7, Mets 5
Reese Kaplan -- Octoberfest or October Rest?
In Spring Training we all play the “Who makes the team?”
game to project rosters for the upcoming season. For 9 years we have not been players in the analogous,
“Who makes the post-season roster?” game as the team has not had anything to do
in October but start their vacations.
This year, of course, such decisions have to be made and it’s time to
think about how you might use various bench pieces in a few short series rather
than for the long haul of a season. So
let’s take a look at who should and should not be on the October 25-man roster.
6 Infielders
- Lucas Duda – obviously he would have been here either way, but he’s chosen to regain his power stroke at just the right time
- Daniel Murphy – it may be his Mets’ swan song, but he’s a part of what got you here in the first place
- Wilmer Flores – he delivers good punch from the middle infield and doesn’t strike out very much
- David Wright – as long as he can walk, he’s going to be there
- Kelly Johnson – His versatility is his key, as is his left handed bat. With Juan Uribe apparently hurting, the other Atlanta Braves import should be a lock
- Ruben Tejada – He’s had a solid September with the bat, but more importantly he’s a steady glove.
6 Outfielders
- Michael Conforto – it’s too bad the Skipper didn’t give him a chance against lefties throughout the season because starting the playoffs against the likes of Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke likely means the polished rookie is watching from the bench
- Yoenis Cespedes – he may have cooled a bit from his surface-of-the-sun level of play when he arrived, but he’s the biggest power threat in the lineup
- Curtis Granderson – one of the few players with genuine post-season experience, he’ll be expected to let the others know what to expect in October
- Michael Cuddyer – he’s come around a bit lately, though mostly with singles. Paycheck dictates playing time, so he’ll be there for his so-called veteran leadership despite having made minimal contributions all year
- Eric Young, Jr. – granted, he can’t hit a lick and as a fielder he’s not going to win any Gold Gloves, but when a stolen base is needed there are very few in the game who are better at using their legs to commit thievery
- Juan Lagares – while he may be a shell of his former Gold Glove self due to injury, conditioning or whatever, he’s still the best outfielder on the team and a right handed bat
2 Catchers
- Travis d’Arnaud – he’s quietly turning himself into the kind of middle-of-the-order threat envisioned when he was purloined from Toronto as part of the R.A. Dickey trade
- Anthony Recker – I have a feeling they will opt for experience over productivity, familiarity over talent. Recker is good working with the pitching staff and you could foresee a Todd Pratt power moment for him that’s less likely to happen with the greater long term potential of Kevin Plawecki
4 Starting Pitchers
- Matt Harvey – innings limits be damned, he’s a large part of why they are where they are and he has the bulldog mentality to get the ball for game 1 (even if it means potentially pitching a game 5)
- Jacob deGrom – Tom Glavine to Matt Harvey’s Greg Maddux, you could easily make a case that he deserves the nod, but despite his last degrominant performance, he’s been rather shaky lately
- Noah Syndergaard – the big man showed the world against the Cincinnati Reds just what he’s capable of doing when he’s on his game
- Steven Matz – the rookie southpaw with the dominating stuff deserves to pitch here despite a rather limited major league resume
7 Relievers
- Bartolo Colon – the big man has playoff experience, exudes the unflappable attitude needed against adversity and despite his age can pitch long stints when needed
- Jonathon Niese – it was encouraging to hear him volunteer for bullpen duty rather than have a starting pitcher controversy rear its ugly head just before the post-season begins
- Addison Reed – Collins’ go-to guy for the 7th inning, he’s actually got a 0.00 ERA in a Mets uniform
- Tyler Clippard – a veteran with playoff experience, he’s a no-brainer
- Jeurys Familia – the emergency closer is threatening to break Armando Benitez’ all-time single season saves record
Now it gets tougher.
Only two of the following three can make it:
- Sean Gilmartin – he’s been nothing short of spectacular as one of the only successful Rule V acquisitions in team history. He would give the manager another lefty option.
- Hansel Robles – while he likely will get chastised rather quickly for his quick pitches, he’s gotten the team out of many jams with his strikeout stuff
- Erik Goeddel – the starter-turned-reliever has been very solid in parts of two years for the Mets and current sports an impressive 2.56 ERA.
If it’s my call, the nod goes to Gilmartin and Robles
because of the lefty/strikeout-specialist roles they fulfill. Goeddel, while he’s been very good, has also
had injury issues and I don’t think you can take a chance on a recurrence.
That’s my take on the 25 players making the team. I personally would lose one of Lagares/Young/Cuddyer
and keep the extra reliever, but I don’t think they’ll do that. Notable omissions include Kevin Plawecki,
Eric Campbell, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Dilson Herrera, Carlos Torres, Dario Alvarez,
Logan Verrett, Eric O’Flaherty and Tim Stauffer.
Who would you take?
The Morning Report 9.30.2015 | Niese's Bullpen Tryout for the Playoffs, Harvey to be Unleashed, Dodgers Lock Up NL West
Brian Greenzang | Metsmerized Online- Jon Niese, one of the odd men out in the Mets playoff rotation, looked to get acclimated to his new role on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Niese entered in the sixth inning in relief of Bartolo Colon and provided mixed results in his first relief appearance since July 10, 2011. The southpaw pitched 1.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits. Niese did pitch a scoreless sixth and got two quick outs in the seventh before running into trouble.
(Chris Soto: Niese is fighting for his playoff roster life right now. It is already clear that the Mets are not going to carry him in the rotation and it also seems that they will be using Bartolo Colon in the long relief man role. So the only chance Niese has to make the playoff roster is to prove that he can regularly get lefties out when called upon to do so. Statistically, he does not have significant enough splits to be considered a "LOOGY", but lefties are hitting .264 with a .713 OPS against in his career vs .275 AVG and .746 OPS against rightes. His K rate against lefties is also slightly higher at 19.9% vs 17.4% against rightes.)
Nick Ziegler | Empire Writes Back- Despite being limited in his upcoming start, there will be no limitations for Harvey when the playoffs being in October according to his manager. “When he goes out and pitch, however, many times that is, yeah the reigns will be off,” manager Terry Collins said. “We haven’t picked the necessary game yet when he should start, we don’t know when it’s going to be, what it’s going to be, but I certainly think we’ve got to take into consideration, we can’t pitch him six times.” The one thing that the Mets aren’t sure about yet is when they will utilize Harvey in the first round. If the Mets get home-field, we very well may see Noah Syndergaard starting in Game 2 at Citi Field with his struggles on the road being well-documented this season.
(Chris Soto: It's good to finally get confirmation that Harvey is going to be let loose on the world. If the Mets are going to get far in the playoffs, they need to utilize their primary strength which is the ability to throw an MLB caliber ace or #2 in every single game. There will be no rest for any team's lineup as they will have to face 96-99mph fastballs, hammer curveballs, and sharp high velocity sliders every single day they face the Mets in October.)
Michael Baron | Just Mets- The only matter that’s left to settle is who will have home field advantage in the National League Division Series. But one other matter was settled on Tuesday night when Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers defeated Madison Bumgarner and the Giants at AT&T Park by the score of 8-0. Kershaw threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout to clinch the Dodgers sixth playoff appearance in the last ten years and it’s 14th division title in franchise history. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was in 2006 when the Mets swept the Dodgers in three games in that year’s National League Division Series.
(Chris Soto: This was but a mere formality as the San Francisco Giants would have needed to sweep the Dodgers, sweep the Rockies AND hope the Padres could sweep the Dodgers in order to have snuck into the playoffs. Mets fans wish the Giants could have made the Dodgers worry a little more but instead they will have the opportunity to give Kershaw and Grienke some rest. Night's like last night are what worry me about facing the Dodgers in a 5 game series. Kershaw was absolutely FILTHY striking out 13 batters on his way to his 18th victory. Though his next start will likely be abbreviated, Kershaw now only need 6 K's to be the first SP since Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in 2002 to amass 300 K's in a season.)
9/29/15
September 29th 2015 -- Phillies 4, Mets 3
Tuesday night in Philadelphia Darin Ruf hit a 3 run first inning homer off Bartolo Colon, the Phillies go on to beat the Mets 4-3. Ruf was just the third batter of the game for the Phils. With one out Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr singled. That brought up Ruf who hit his 11th homer to center field to make it 3-0. In the top of the 4th Lucas Duda continued his torrid streak hitting his own bomb to center field, his 26th on the year and it was 3-1. The Phillies made it 4-1 in the 7th on an RBI single by Altherr. Duda struck again in the top of the 9th hitting a 2 run homer, his 2nd of the game and 27th on the year to make it 4-3. For Duda, his 7th multiple homer game of 2015. Those 7 games tie a club record set by Dave Kingman. Colon pitched 5 innings allowing 8 hits; the 3 runs (earned) walking none and striking out 3. He takes the loss falling to 14-13. Jonathon Niese made his first relief appearance of the year and allowed a run on 3 hits in an 1 2/3 innings. David Buchanan was the starter for Philadelphia, he exited after 4 2/3 allowing the 1 run on 6 hits. Adam Loewen got the win for Philly, he's 1-0. Duda went 3 for 5 on the day with the 2 dingers and 3 RBI to lead the Mets. Herrera went 4 for 4 for the Phillies. Going into the action on Tuesday the Met s had a 2 game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers for home field advantage., that lead is now 1 ½ games pending the outcome of the Dodger, Giants game. With the loss the Mets 11 game winning streak on the road comes to an end. Overall the Mets are 89-68. On the road their mark is 41-38. Wednesday night is the 2nd game of this 3 game set. Logan Verrett (1-1 2.70) goes for the Mets, Alec Asher (0-5 7.52) goes for Philadelphia.DYNASTY? by Tom Brennan
DYNASTY? by Tom Brennan
Never judge a how good a player is when he is ice
hot or how bad he is when ice cold. I've been married over 30 years now, and I keep telling my wife a hot streak is coming. She still won't let me out of the doghouse.
Hot and cold. The same can be said about teams as a
whole. The Mets started the season a sensationally hot 13-3, then floundered
for 3 months, playing more than 10 games below .500, which certainly qualifies
as cold. They have played roughly two dozen games over .500 in the ensuing 2
months, and you can't get much hotter than that outside of the late season
supernova surge of the 1969 Mets.
So how good are these 2015 Mets? Terrific acquisitions,
terrific pitching, both starting and relieving, and terrific hitting for
average and power. In a word, terrific.
But the 1969 Mets lagged in 1970, and finally got
back to the World Series in 1973 despite being 10 under heading into September.
They could not sustain it.
The 2015 team, by contrast, smells like a
perennially playoff bound team to me if the right moves are made. After all, deGrom is
awesome, Harvey is great, Matz is masterful, and frankly, as good as those 3
are, Thor blows my mind when I watch him pitch and may become the best of the
4.
And if the post surgery Wheeler is better than the pre-Tommy John Zach who
pitched probably impaired with a sore arm, this just could turn out to be the
best starting 5 - ever. I know, I am just too Met-centric.
Anyway, relief-wise, Familia is the best we've ever had,
or at least on a par with the great Billy Wagner. Other solid pieces too,
and the bullpen appears to be above average for 2016 and hopefully longer.
Hitting-wise is where it will get interesting. Over
the past 2 months, this team has probably hit better than any Mets team I can
ever remember for a 2 month stretch. I love the power, as the Mets have taken a
page out of the Yankee power playbook and the fans are loving every minute.
Just getting a guy like Conforto in the draft, too, is an incredible,
sustainable boost for the future offense. The same can be said of
d'Arnaud via trade. The Yanks had Jeter, Rivera, Williams and Posada, and that internal core was the fuel to 2 strong decades for them. We've got that now.
The question will be, will Sandy see all the
offensive ingredients here as potential dynasty pieces and pay for Cespedes,
for starters. And make the right call as to whether to keep guys like Murphy, who has been
terrific. Guys who strike out under 50 times don't grow on trees.
Don't go cheap, a huge fan
base in attendance will follow a boldly assembled great team, and we could have
anywhere from a perennially playoff bound team to a dynasty.
I am excited. Even before
this year's playoffs start. Just looking ahead. Excited. Just. Plain. Excited.
And in the here and now, I
may just get to my pre-season predictions of 94 wins and 700+ runs scored.
Though I must admit that how they're getting there I never could have
envisioned back in the spring.
Sit back and enjoy. I sure will.
The Morning Report 9.29.2015 | Granderson's Worth Every Penny, Mets Playoff Rotation is Scary Good, Fans Want Papelbon Gone, Montero and Alvarez Rehabbing.
Mike Puma | New York Post- Curtis Granderson may have cemented his place as a true New Yorker. The veteran outfielder over the weekend joined the short list of players who have helped two New York teams reach the postseason, as the Mets clinched their first division title since 2006 and await the NLDS. “Both of them are equally exciting,” Granderson said. “Getting a chance to win [with the Mets] over the course of the season and see the fan base come on the road and support you is very similar. You play in a game in San Francisco, obviously it’s an attractive place to go, but if I’m a fan I’ll just watch it on TV. If I’m a real fan, I’m going to come and see you, and I’ve noticed that on both sides.”
(Chris Soto: Granderson has been wonderful this season. After all the negativity that fans had about him last season when he only OPS'd .714, despite hitting 20 HRs, it was nice to see a very strong sophomore season from him. If your a subscriber to the believe that in terms of WAR, each +1.0 = $4M of salary....Granderson is making $16M this season, which is supposed to be worth +4.0 WAR, and his production this season has been worth +4.9 WAR. He's been exactly what the Mets where looking for when they signed him last season.)
David Cameron | Fangraphs- For the first time all season, the team threw Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom in consecutive games, previewing their playoff rotation. As a group, their fastballs averaged 96 mph this weekend, which is probably part of the reason why the Reds made contact on just 78% of their swings despite the fact that their starters lived in the strike zone all weekend. 53.6% of the pitches that the Mets fearsome four threw were within the bounds of the PITCHF/x strike zone, the kind of strike-throwing number you generally see from command pitchers who lack the stuff to get a lot of chases out of the zone. But that doesn’t describe any of the Mets four starters, all of whom were throwing hard and with movement. And when you constantly pound the zone with an elite pitch repertoire, well, you apparently end up running a 1.03 FIP.
(Chris Soto: Multiple players and media members have been coming out lately all the saying the same thing. "If there's something I wouldn't want to face....it's the Mets rotation." While most teams have a legitimate front 2 that they can lean on in a 5 game series, the Mets have a full 4 man rotation that can dominate every single night of a full 7 game series. No hitter wants to face that, especially a Dodgers team that has been one of the bottom 4 offenses post the All Star Break.)
Nick Schwartz | For The Win- Closer Jonathan Papelbon might be the least popular man in Washington D.C. after choking Bryce Harper in the dugout during Sunday’s game against the Phillies, and many fans want him off the team. Papelbon’s outburst put the organization in an incredibly difficult situation. If they release him, the Nationals will have to eat a sizable contract — but that might be a better option than keeping a player who appears to have poisoned the clubhouse. Nationals fans started a Twitter campaign to have Papelbon cut on Monday. @NLBeastNats tweeted the team saying he would donate $100 if Papelbon was released, and within an hour fans had pledged thousands of dollars.
(Chris Soto: Hahaha...it is so wonderful to see the script flip. We have seen many different opinions on this subject come out yesterday but the only important opinion is the FANS! To be expected, the fans are sided with the MVP of their team and not the guy who has been a symbol for why the Nationals fell apart in the second half of the season. For so long the LOLMets were the team that analysts chuckled about for all the oddities and crazy things that would happen to the team. Now the LOLMets has turned into the LOLNats.)
Michael Baron | Just Mets- A couple of injured relievers have made progress on their road back to action. Dario Alvarez pitched in an Instructional League game at the team’s minor league complex in Port St. Lucie on Monday, throwing an inning with two strikeouts. Alvarez strained his groin on September 15, and has not pitched since. Last week, Terry Collins said it was unlikely Alvarez would return in the regular season. In addition, Rafael Montero seems to be progressing once again from a rotator cuff strain which has kept him out of action since he made a spot start for the Mets in late April against the Marlins. Montero also appeared in an Instructional League game and struck out four batters
(Chris Soto: A nice general update on a pair of guys that could become MLB contributors next season. If both can prove to be healthy, we could certainly see them in the Caribbean Winter Leagues to make up for the time they have lost to injury. Once again, we will be covering all of the Mets organizational players participating in those Winter Leagues. Whether its the Dominican, Venezuelan, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Arizona League.....if a Met is playing....we'll find him! )
9/28/15
The Morning Report 9.28.2015 | Your 2015 NL East Champs, Postseason Rotation 1-3 Announced, Who's the #4 SP?, Papelbon Attacks Bryce Harper
Brad Kallet | CBS New York- The New York Mets are your 2015 National League East champions. Yeah, read that again. And again. And again. I can’t believe it actually happened. Can you? I’m the first to admit that, at the beginning of the season, I never dreamed that New York would make the playoffs, let alone win the division. After Sandy Alderson’s trade-deadline domination — which will go down as a turning point in this franchise’s history — I started to believe, but I was far from convinced. Even with this huge lead in September, I felt trepidation. Well the Mets are back in business, and they certainly have the foundation to be a force for the next decade. Appreciate this. Enjoy this. Revel in this. Acknowledge how sweet it is.
(Chris Soto: Over the past 9 years we have suffered through the #BlameBeltran strikeout, the 2 separate epic September collapses, the Jerry Manuel management saga, the painful salary constraint era of Jason Bay and a oft-injured Johan Santana, and of course a franchise debilitating Ponzi Scheme. So yes Mets fans, ENJOY THIS WHILE WE CAN. Do not worry about next year yet, or 2018 when the young guns start getting expensive.....enjoy 2015! We're heading to the playoffs and we have a REAL chance to progress far.)
Aaron Yorke | Amazin Avenue- After Sunday's game, Terry Collins got the easy part out of the way first and announced that his best three starters during the 2015 campaign would be the first three guys to start games in the 2015 postseason. Matt Harvey will be the first pitcher out of the gate, followed by Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Harvey was playing some of his best baseball during August before he started a bizarre controversy by saying that he might not not pitch beyond 180 innings in 2015. Fortunately that situation was put to rest quickly and Harvey is now lined up to pitch Game 1 of the NLDS on plenty of rest.
(Chris Soto: I think it was pretty obvious that Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard would be the 1st three pitchers out of the gate. The real question in my opinion was, What would the rotation order be? From Collins press conference it seems pretty adament that no matter what, Harvey is going to be the 1st one out there and is going to the be the guy who would be in line to make 2 starts should the series go a full 5 games. Certainly a huge change in direction from a few weeks ago when we didn't even know if Harvey would pitch during the rest of September. Even though deGrom has been better this season, I agree with the choice. deGrom may have more consistency right now, but, Harvey's best is better than deGrom best and his best is exactly what the Mets are going to need to defeat Kershaw and Grienke.)
Mike Puma | New York Post- The Mets’ playoff rotation is all but set, but manager Terry Collins won’t officially complete the equation until later this week. In some order, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey will belong to the NLDS rotation, according to Collins. Steven Matz will likely claim the fourth spot over Bartolo Colon, according to a club source. “I haven’t gone down that path yet,” Collins said. Collins also indicated he’s reluctant to use Matz in the bullpen, given the rookie has never performed in that role and spent six weeks rehabbing from a torn lat muscle. That points to Matz’s inclusion in the rotation.
(Chris Soto: I'm still torn over the choice myself. On one hand, the Dodgers best line-up, is EXTREMELY weighted towards left handed bats. However, on the other, Bartolo Colon is the only one in the rotation currently with playoff experience, and, Terry Collins already plans on using 3 playoff rookies in his rotation. Colon has made 10 playoff starts and only 1 of them has ever been poor; That was way back in 1999.)
Jon Lewin | Subway Squakers- Five years ago, Mets' star closer Francisco Rodriguez allegedly assaulted his girlfriend's father at the ballpark. Sunday, Nationals' star closer Jonathan Papelbon tried to attack teammate Bryce Harper in the Nationals' dugout. Harper is only the front-runner for NL MVP. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the Nationals' collapse began when they acquired Papelbon, but considering that the move also sent demoted closer Drew Storen into a tailspin culminating with Storen breaking his thumb in frustration. At least Storen did so while slamming a locker door, not trying to slam a teammate.
(Chris Soto: Boy...with football going on yesterday, I'm not sure if you readers heard or saw what happened yesterday...but it was BAD! I will just leave the video below here and let you guys watch how pitiful the Nationals situation has become.)
Jonathan Papelbon attacking Bryce Harper? Jonathan Papelbon attacking Bryce Harper. pic.twitter.com/T2qof97Ymh
— Jake Russell (@_JakeRussell) September 27, 2015
9/27/15
September 27th 2015 -- Mets 8, Reds 1
Sunday afternoon at the Great American Ballpark, the Mets
one day after clinching the NL East started their second string, but it didn’t
slow down the offense as the Mets behind a masterful Jacob deGrom beat up the
Reds 8-1. The Mets got right to work
again in the top of the 1st inning. Kelly Johnson batting 2nd
and starting at short stop singled. Michael Conforto then hit a long double one
hopped off the wall in left center to make it 1-0 Mets. In the 2nd inning Dilson Herrera
making his first start in 3 months stroked a 2 run homer to center, his 3rd
on the year and the Mets led 3-0. In the
3rd deGrom added a 2 run single to make it 5-0. In the 5th,
deGrom reached on an error by Ivan DeJesus in left which brought home Eric
Campbell. Juan Lagares then reached on
an infield single off Brandon Phillips glove to score Herrera and it was 7-0
Mets. In the 6th, Kevin Plawecki
who batted clean-up, clubbed a solo homer to left, his 3rd on the
year to make it 8-0 Mets. On the mound, deGrom was brilliant. He allowed his
only run in the bottom of the 6th on a RBI single by Joey
Votto. deGrom left after 6 allowing just
5 hits the 1 run (earned) and struck out 9; he now has 198 strikeouts on the
year. He earns the win he's now 14-8. Herrera had a huge game off the
bench with 3 hits, the double, homer and 2 RBI. Eric Campbell had 2 hits as did
deGrom and Lagares. Skip Schumaker had 3
hits for the Reds. Erik Goeddel pitched the 7th, Sean Gilmartin the
8th and Bobby Parnell pitched
the 9th. With the win the Mets improve to 89-67 on the year. The Mets sweep the 4 game set from the Reds. They
have now won 11 straight on the road and since they were 16-32 on the road
mid-season they now have won 24 of 29 away from Citi and they clinch a .500 record with a 41-37 record. Monday is a well-earned off-day for the
Amazins. Tuesday night the Mets are off for 3 games in Philly. Bartolo Colon (14-12 4.15) goes for the Mets,
David Buchanan (2-9 7.96) goes for Philadelphia.
Mack’s Morning Report – 9-27-15 – Mets Win Division, Matt Williams, Yoenes Cespedes, Ruben Tejada, Minor League Team Ranking
Good
morning.
The Mets
clinched a playoff spot last night.
I’ve never
typed that sentence before on Mack’s Mets. As you can see on the right column,
my first posts went up on this version of this site in 2008. I did start
writing an earlier version, called Mack’s Mets Notes, but lost the material
when I attempted to convert it to a Go Daddy Site. I then wrote for the Flushing
University site, which has since closed, and eventually returned here to my own
site.
I don’t
frankly remember how much I wrote about past playoff games because I concentrated
100% on the Mets minor league players. Guys like David
Wright were still making the conversion.
Toby
Hyde and I
compared notes one day and agreed that we both started our version of our minor
league Mets blog in 2005, one year prior to the infamous 2006 playoff games
I have no
paper trail on 2006, but I sure remember the season and the players… Carlos Beltran’s 41 home runs… Carlos Delgado’s 38… the beginning of the decline of Cliff Floyd as age took over… the dreams of someday
having both Lastings Milledge and F-Mart in the
future outfield… and what we felt was going to be the future of Mets pitching,
25-year old John Maine, 24-year old Oliver Perez, and 22-year old Mike
Pelfrey.
Mack’s Mets
has had 18,108 posts, 32,559 comments, and 3,811,908 unique page views since
the site began, not one involving a Mets playoff game.
This is a
joyous time here at MM’s. It’s sort of like if the Pope came to New York and…
err… done that.
Just ‘stuff ‘
being written late last night:
Mike Vorkunov
on Matt Harvey -
Joe D
with pictures from the victory party
Zack Braziller
on David Wright
Mike Puma
on Juan Uribe
Mike Vorkunov on Matt Williams -
The future does not look good for
Nationals manager Matt Williams.
He can't even get the dreaded
stamp of support from his general manager anymore. Mike Rizzo, the Nationals
GM, had been unwaveringly positive about Williams' job prospects this season.
Even as Washington has floundered as the biggest disappointment in baseball and
looks like it will be the runner-up to the Mets in the division.
Well, not anymore. Speaking
during a weekly radio appearance on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, Rizzo offered
this doozy about Williams' future.
Mack – Regardless
of how lethargic the Mets have played lately, the Nats are a mess, even to the
point that their starting ace, Max Scherzer,
refused to give the ball to Williams when he came to the mound and ordered him
back to the dugout.
It’s hard to
imagine Williams surviving this.
Comment From
Jack - Put your GM hat on…best guess where Cespedes, Greinke, and Price all end
up?
Eno Sarris: Toronto
gets a pitcher, Dodgers get a pitcher… Mets overpay.
Mack
– I have no problem with this. As I’ve said a number of times. It’s not my
money and Cespedes has been the glue that has created the playoff team called
the New York Mets.
Let’s
get this done early so the 2016 team can be built around the big guy.
Bill asked –
Among all NL SSs with over 400
PA, Ruben Tejada now leads the league in OBP, is
5th in BA and 5th in OPS. More remarkably, his 22 2Bs ranks 5th, and all those
with more have AT LEAST 140 MORE AB. He trails Desmond by 4 2Bs for 2nd place,
though Desmond has OVER 200 MORE AB. In the field, he's made 5 Es all year. So
when will he get respect?
Mack – Gee, what
makes me think this one is directed to Kaplan, not me.
I love what Flores
has done with his bat this season, but I think his numbers are maxed out. He
also plays infield like a duck.
As I’ve always
said, I’ll take a Golden Glove shortstop- everything that hits .230. Defense is
so important down the middle of the field
Fangraphs ranked the minor league systems statically...
Fangraphs ranked the minor league systems statically...
| HIT | PIT | ALL #1 | ALL #2 | ALL #3 | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | Tampa Bay | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 11 | Houston | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 | Texas | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 13 | Cleveland | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | 9 | Boston | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 | 8 | New York Yankees | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | 10 | Colorado | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 15 | 4 | LA Dodgers | 13 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| 4 | 18 | Philadelphia | 6 | 13 | 11 | 9 |
| 14 | 6 | Atlanta | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| 19 | 3 | Milwaukee | 15 | 7 | 10 | 11 |
| 5 | 24 | Chicago Cubs | 8 | 14 | 15 | 12 |
| 16 | 7 | Kansas City | 16 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 11 | 17 | Minnesota | 11 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| 21 | 5 | Cincinnati | 17 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 8 | 27 | Pittsburgh | 10 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 12 | 26 | New York Mets | 14 | 17 | 18 | 17 |
| 13 | 22 | Oakland | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
| 24 | 14 | St. Louis | 23 | 19 | 20 | 19 |
| 18 | 20 | Toronto | 19 | 21 | 22 | 20 |
| 26 | 12 | Washington | 24 | 20 | 19 | 21 |
| 17 | 21 | Arizona | 20 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
| 22 | 19 | Seattle | 21 | 23 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | 16 | Detroit | 25 | 24 | 23 | 24 |
| 20 | 29 | San Diego | 22 | 26 | 26 | 25 |
| 27 | 15 | Chicago White Sox | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 |
| 28 | 23 | LA Angels | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| 23 | 30 | Baltimore | 27 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| 30 | 25 | San Francisco | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| 29 | 28 | Miami | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
9/26/15
September 26th 2015 -- Mets 10, Reds 2
Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati, Matt Harvey kept the Reds
at bay; while Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson swung big bats again as the Mets
clinch the National League East title with a 10-2 win. The Mets made their statement
in the top of the first inning. David Wright walked, Daniel Murphy singled and
Travis d’Arnaud walked to load the bases with 2 out for Duda, who clubbed a
liner over the right field wall for a grand slam, his first career grand slam
and 25th homer on the year for a 4-0 Met lead. In the 2nd Curtis Granderson hit a
solo homer, his 25th as well and it was 5-0 Mets. In the bottom of
the 2nd the Reds got to Harvey when Ivan DeJesus doubled in Jay
Bruce and Todd Frazier to make it 5-2.
The Amazins made it a 5 run lead again in the top of the 3rd
when the resurgent Michael Cuddyer stroked a 2 run double and it was 7-2. In
the top of the 9th Wright put an exclamation mark on the game with a
3 run homer, his 5th on the year to make it 10-2. Harvey had no early exit in this one
going 6 2/3 innings allowing 9 hits 2
runs (both earned) and striking out 8. He left in the 7th in favor
of Addison Reed who retired the side in the 7th. Tyler Clippard
pitched a scoreless 8th; Jeurys Familia retired the side in the 9th
in the non-save situation. Harvey notches the win in the clincher; he’s now
13-7. John Lamb took the loss falling to 1-4. With the win the Mets win their
10th straight road game. That’s a new club record. They’ve also won
23 of their last 28 away from Citi Field. Overall the Mets are 88-67 and now
40-37 on the road. Sunday afternoon is
the finale of this series as the Mets go for the sweep. Jacob deGrom (13-8 2.64) goes for the Mets,
Keyvius Sampson (2-5 6.45) goes for the Reds.
Reese Kaplan -- A September Swoon Song?
Also at Mack's Mets:
Images of Septembers in years past have burned themselves
indelibly in Mets fans' consciousness, and those less hardy souls among us are
wondering if it’s going to be, as the late Yogi Berra would say, a case of déjà
vu all over again. There’s no way to
sugarcoat how badly the team has performed of late after being virtually
flawless through the month of August.
The September record is a winning 12-9 but the team has chosen to slump
at precisely the wrong time. Both the offense and the pitching have gone south. Fortunately the Washington Nationals have been just as bad, so it's not as dire as it might have been. The team did manage to reel off what, eight wins in a row, yet them stumbled against decidedly inferior rosters. Still, have a look
at some of the September numbers. Any
team that’s counting on Ruben Tejada to deliver its offense may be in serious trouble:
Ruben Tejada 1/6/.405
Yoenis Cespedes 3/9/.306, however, last 10 days – 1/1/.182
David Wright 2/8/.304
Wilmer Flores 2/5/.283
Michael Cuddyer 0/1/.273
Daniel Murphy – 3/12/.262
Michael Conforto 4/9/.258
Curtis Granderson 0/6/.200
Lucas Duda – 1/2/.171
The starting pitching has been equally abysmal. After youngster Steven Matz and big Bart, the
numbers are not pretty:
Steve Matz, 2-0, 2.20
Bartolo Colon 2-1, 2.60
Noah Syndergaard, 0-1, 4.15
Jacob deGrom 1-1, 5.50
Jon Niese, 1-1, 5.75
Matt Harvey – 1-0, 5.94
Newcomer Addison Reed has what appear to be stellar numbers
but everyone watched him serve up the balls that resulted in 3 runs being
charged to Bartolo Colon on Wednesday night:
Addison Reed, 11.2 IP, 0.00
Jeurys Familia, 9 IP, 3.00
Tyler Clippard, 11.2 IP, 6.94
There are two philosophical approaches you can take when a
team is not going well. There’s the “dance
with who brung ya” approach which says the players are merely slumping now, but
without their contributions you wouldn’t be in first place. Stick with what’s worked in the past and
eventually it will all even out.
Then there’s the one which supports the oft-cited definition
of insanity in which doing the same thing but expecting different results. These people would advocate trying something
new since what’s being done right now isn’t working.
Personally, I’m of the belief that innings limits and rest
for weary bats and legs go by the wayside until the pennant is locked up. How many times have we seen pitchers lifted
prematurely or more productive batters given a day off in order to keep them
fresh? Had you locked up the pennant
already like the Pirates did, you’d have a ten day period in which you could
play every bench player for the remainder of the regular season. Instead, the Mets find themselves sweating
the two deadlines – to try to lock up the pennant before the final three games
atainst the Nationals, or, failing in that, winning it during that October set
when the Eric Campbells and Eric Youngs of this world should be getting the
starts instead of burning out all of your regulars just before the post-season who
were inexplicably babied during September.