Saturday night at Turner Field, the Mets scored 2 runs in
the top of the 9th inning breaking a 4 all tie. The Mets win their 5th
straight with a 6-4 win over the Braves. Noah Syndergaard dominated the Braves for 7 innings,
even though Atlanta got to him early. The Braves took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom
of the first inning off Thor. Nick Markakis singled and wound up on 3rd
thanks to a ground out and a wild pitch. Freddie Freeman brought him home with
an RBI single. The Mets took the lead in
the 4th. Daniel Murphy doubled and David Wright followed with an RBI
single. Michael Conforto singled. With 1st and 3rd Wright
came home with the 2nd run on a wild pitch by Williams Perez. In the 6th Murphy doubled to deep
center. Conforto walked and Travis d’Arnaud followed with an RBI single to
right to make it 3-1. In the 8th, Yoenis Cespedes did it once again,
hitting a solo homer, his 16th as a Met and 34th on the
year, for Cespedes his 16th homer in 29 games. Clippard relieved Syndergaard in the 8th
and ran into trouble as he gave up a 3 run pinch hit homer to Adonis Garcia,
his 8th on the year to tie the game at 4. In the top of the 9th
d’Arnaud doubled his 3rd hit of the game. The next batter Kelly Johnson
singled to right scoring EY, who pinch ran for the Met catcher, and the Mets
had a 5-4 lead. Cespedes came up with the bases loaded and hit a squib to
short, but Andrelton Simmons throw home failed to beat Johnson and the Mets had
their 2nd run of the inning and it was 6-4. Syndergaard gets the
no-decision but was untouchable after the first inning going 7 allowing just 2
hits the 1 run (earned) walking 1 and striking out 8. Clippard gets the win improving to 3-1 as a
Met and 4-4 overall. Jeurys Familia pitched the 9th notching his 40th
save. Arodys Vizcaino takes the loss
falling to 2-1. d’Arnaud led the way going 3 for 4 with an RBI, Murph when 2
for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. With the win the Mets improve to a
season high 20 games over .500. They are 81-61 overall and climb to 1 game
under .500 on the road with a 36-37 mark. The Marlins beat the Nationals on
Saturday Night…the Met lead in the NL East is now 9 ½ games. Sunday afternoon
the Mets look for the sweep of this 4 game set. Jonathon Niese (8-10 4.36) goes
for the Mets, Ryan Weber (0-1 3.00) goes for Atlanta.
10 comments:
I know it's all over but the crying, but correct me if I'm wrong. If the Mets play just .500 over the last 20 games, they'll wind up 91-71. That means the Nats would have to go 20-1 over their last 21 just to tie us and we've already clinched the season series against them...meaning they'd have to go 21-0 at this point to steal the division if the Mets play .500 the rest of the way...?
BTW, great to see Thor back to the kid we know.
It took him an inning to shake off the rust, but the 11 days off certainly agreed with him. I do think he was tired. deGrom should get the next skip.
The Mets are going to have some tough decisions to make when coming up with a 25 man roster for the playoffs. If they go with 13 position players and 12 pitchers you would have.
Duda, Murphey, Flores, Wright, Conforto, Cespedes, Granderson, d'Arnaud, Plawecki,Tejeda,
Then 3 of Uribe,Johnson, Cuddyer, and Lagares.
Do the Mets want to carry Eric Young as a pinch runner? Who else would they need to cut to make room for him.
Pitcher
Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz, Colon,Familia, Clippard, Robles, Reed,Gilmartin, Niese, and Goeddel.
Parnell and O'Flaherty don't make it if I were making the roster. Niese moves to the pen and takes O'Flaherty's role. I would also have Colon in the Pen. I think he can make that transition better than Matz or Syndergaard.
I don't think the pitching will be to difficult to determine except for the roles they will have. But who do they cut from he position players. They need Lagares for his glove. I would want Uribe for his playoff experience. I can't see them cutting Cuddyer. I think it will come down to Lagares and Johnson. Tough call. I guess they can go with 11 pitchers since they will need at most 4 starters. If that is the case who do you cut? Niese, Goeddel or Gilmartin.
Richard Jones
If it's me, Harvey's the guy moving to the pen. I'd line 'em up as deGrom, Colon, Syndergaard, Niese, back to deGrom. That's got good balance. Youth-Experience. Smoke-Finesse. I'd like the lefty third, but that wouldn't work as well (Colon/Neise/Thor would be like climbing a ladder, while Colon/Thor/Neise should keep them very much off balance).
Offensively, if its me, Conforto would be the odd man out, rather than Johnson or Lagares (unless Lagares goes on the DL). No, I wouldn't even consider putting Eric Young on the post-season (barring injury). Then again, I don't see a need for more than ten pitchers.
Among the last three relievers (or 2 relievers and a starter) you mention, I'd have Goeddel as the odd man out; I need the lefties. Obviously O'Flaherty has to go. I agree on Parnell, as well.
Conforto is playing regularly because he is contributing to the winning. He has only been up for a couple of months. If you are trying to be loyal to a veteran leaving Conforto off the roster is the way to go. If your trying to advance in the playoffs it is the wrong thing to do.
Harvey is one of our aces. If your trying to send a message to Boras you put him in the pen. If your trying to advance he starts one of the first two games. Niese will be a loss. If advancing is the goal you start deGrom and Harvey. The other two have to come from Colon, Matz, and Syndergaard. They will give you a chance to win. I know Colon can get ready in a relief role I don't know if the others can.
I don't want Collins and Alderson to use the roster to send messages to agents or to reward veterans. The roster needs to be put together to win and winning alone needs to be the one consideration.
Richard Jones
I just flat out disagree with your assessments. My suggestions aren't about sending messages, they ARE about giving you your best chance to win. Winning and winning alone IS the criteria I went by. You pitch Harvey, the way he's been going, that's a guaranteed loss.
Harvey has been crap of late and Colon has been your most consistent guy down the stretch. Most of the year, many of the posters, here, have wanted to trade or just cut Colon, while I've long maintained that Colon's true value would show itself down the stretch of a pennant race and in the post-season. 'Cuz he's been there and done that. I think I've been shown to have been right about him. Colon is the one guy on that staff who will feel no pressure from the Big Game. You can pitch him 2nd or 3rd, but he has to be in that rotation. I prefer pitching him between the smoke throwers to keep the opposing hitters off balance.
You can throw four young hurlers of smoke and you know what you'll get? Your ass handed to you. After awhile, a hitter's gonna get the timing right if what they primarily see is smoke.
So you start with deGrom. I don't think anybody but Boras could dispute that. I like pitching Colon second because of the change. One day, you'll have them swinging late at 95mph pitches and the next you'll have them swinging early at 87mph pitches. If the kid, deGrom, falters for any reason in Game One, the unflappable Colon makes sure it doesn't become a trend. You come back with smoke in Game Three. I'm choosing Syndergaard because I agree that he wouldn't translate well to the pen. Matz will have no trouble doing so. If Syndergaard falters early, that's the spot I want Matz for. Thor gets hammered in the second, say, Matz can come in--clearly capable of picking up the innings yet switching over from right to left. I put Neise in the fourth spot because he's a veteran, he's a lefty, he doesn't throw 95 and he has a wider assortment of major league pitches. Neise's issues have never been about talent; he just has a tendency to lose focus. It's the World Series so I think he'll be focused. If not and he loses focus early on, you've got Harvey standing by.
I'm not "rewarding" anyone (and, if I am, its Harvey, because he's been terrible lately and I think his arm is tired), but don't undervalue your veterans. To me, it looks like you want to "reward" the kids. You need a mix.
On my team, Conforto likely makes it anyway because I'd use fewer pitchers. But, if you want the extra pitchers, he becomes a luxury. He lacks the versatility and experience of Uribe (who you need to back up Wright anyway) and Johnson, and Johnson's been to the post-season 3 times before. It's usually a guy like Johnson or Uribe who become surprising MVP's of the post-season (remember Al Weis), not someone like Conforto (at this stage of his career). I might even rather have Recker than Plawecki; there's no doubt he's your best defensive catcher.
At this point, it isn't about individual talent; its about the composition of a team. What roles can these guys play in a short series.
Let me flesh out my 25
SP: deGrom, Colon, Thor, Neise
RP: Famillia, Harvey, Matz, Gilmartin, Clippard, Reed
C: d'Arnaud, Plawecki
INF: Duda, Flores, Murphy, Wright, Uribe, Johnson, Tejada
OF: Cespedes, Granderson, Lagares (if healthy), Cuddyer, Conforto
Then choose one from among Recker, Capt. Kirk, Robles, Carlos Torres, Verrett, Young (if you must)
I'm tempted to take Verrett in that situation, though you could certainly make the case for Robles or Goeddel. Might also consider keeping Alvarez to add another lefty to the pen.
WHy would Niese Suddenly be focused in the World Series? Last time out against Washington was a pretty big game, and he screwed the pooch there. And I think you are the only guy on the planet who would take Colon over Harvey in a big game. I don't care what there numbers are over the last handful of games, you want Harvey up in the big game. One is a dominant pitcher. The other pitches to contact-good against the braves, scary against the Cardinals or Pirates.
He's been there done that? He pitched 6 innings in the post season in 2013 - 4.5 era. Before that was 10 years ago. I think you are overvaluing "veteran presence". How in the world out of 6 possible pitchers you don't start your best 4 is beyond me. Niese shouldn't even be on the roster. Colon=mop up man in the bullpen.
Furthermore, you are completely overlooking Conforto's value. After Cespedes and D'arnaud, he's been their best hitter. #3!
I think you are thinking too hard here, stubby.
Go ahead, Finch. Start four kids with no post-season experience who all throw smoke. You're setting yourself up for a loss.
Colon has given up 2 earned runs in his last 6 starts. Harvey gave up 7 in his last start alone. I want the guy who is on a roll coming into the playoffs. What they did in April and May is meaningless at this point. More to the point, Harvey has looked terrible his last few times out and I think his arm is tired. Takes a while to rebuild your endurance after a year off for TJS.
Would I take Colon over Harvey in "any" big game? No. But I firmly believe that, at this precise moment in time, Colon gives you a better shot of winning than does Harvey. Now, maybe the Mets offense makes it all moot. But I see starting Harvey, at this time in these playoffs, as a guaranteed loss. Right this second, Harvey is NOT one of your best four pitchers.
I roll the dice with Niese for all the reasons I stated. You want a lefty in the mix and his speed and repertoire is significantly different from the smoke throwers to keep opposing batters off balance. I've never seen Niese pitch in the World Series. Have you? So how do you know how he will do in that situation? I know Niese has the talent. And, yes, I believe he'll be focused as Hell in a World Series if only to prove all the nay-sayers wrong about him.
The post-season is a unique animal and you have to massage everything just right. Matz, Harvey, Thor and deGrom are kids reaching the post-season very early in their careers. What you get there--and ask the players who got there in similar circumstance--is a lot of awe and "just happy to be here" and, ultimately, "we'll get 'em next year". For a guy like Niese, this might be his only chance. He's going to be focused because he has no choice but to be focused. There are plenty of tomorrows for the kids. Niese has been around for 8 years and he has something to prove. If I have to pull him in the 4th or, heck, the first, I can do so, but I think he'll step up and get the job done.
I'm not "overlooking" Conforto's value. He's on my 25. But I'm saying that, IF its a choice between Johnson and Conforto for THIS post-season roster, I'm keeping Johnson. It's not, so I can keep them both easily enough.
I was right about Alderson's plan and I was right about Colon down the stretch. Pretty much everybody else was wrong on those things. I think my track record says there might be something to what I say beyond "thinking too hard".
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