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.)
7 comments:
Here's pulling for FOUR MORE WINS - guarantees home field regardless of what the Dodgers do.
I want to jump out to a 2-0 lead!!!!
Kershaw is scary and he has something to prove. I was at Citi for the "Mayberrry Bats Cleanup" fiasco when the Mets managed 3 hits off Clayton. The good news is that lineup didn't have Wright, Cespedes, d'Arnaud, Murphy, or Cuddyer.
On Niese: The Mets have been on a fool's errand all season seeking a LOOGY that they simply don't have. And frankly, it's a need that doesn't particularly exist, at least not in any meaningful way. Reed & Clippard & Familia can all deal with a LH bat. So that leaves a scenario where, say, Adrian Gonzales comes up in the 6th inning in a big situation where the Mets starter has already struggled to the point where you'd actually pull a Jake deGrom or Matt Harvey or Noah Syndergaard in order to bring in a LOOGY.
That's a thin possibility. And the truth is, Jon Niese is not that guy. The Mets simply don't have that guy. They have tremendous options, all RHP, who can get anybody out. I'd go to Reed early if that was the case.
I strongly believe Jon Niese deserves to be on the postseason roster over Sean Gilmartin, and I see both guys as extra long men who are not really that important. If a Mets starter fails early, I could see Niese coming into a game in the 4th inning to give the Mets 3 innings, while turning the Dodgers around. He's not a LOOGY and it would be a serious mistake -- potentially a critical miscalculation -- to try to stick him into that box. Gilmartin isn't a LOOGY either. Forget the Left-handed One Out GuY. Give me a better RHP and let's get an out.
James Preller
Kershaw is scary. So is Grienke. We will need our lads to be on the top of their pitching games.
Unfortunately for the Mets, the lineup does better against right handed pitching. When you trot out the likes of Cuddyer, Lagares, etc. you're kind of conceding offense.
Cuddyer hasn't hit LHP for much this season, but he's been better of late. He's a weakness defensively. Lagares has been good against LHP. Only one of them will play.
The problem is that Granderson really stuggles and so does Cespedes. Murphy and Duda have to play and they will fight through each AB.
For years, David has carried this load. He's one of the top batters against LHP in the MLB. Incredible numbers. Let's hope he can do some damage. d'Arnaud, too.
I would go with Tejada at SS. The only edge Flores has is power, and I don't see him taking Kershaw deep. Would prefer Ruben's much superior defense and OBP.
James - you missed something on Wilmer:
2015 - vs. LHP - .310/.355/.600 - 15 XBH in 107 PA's
Wilmer will start again every LA lefty - as well he should
Morning/afternoon all -
Off to a late start again - sorry.
Guys, I don't expect the Mets to surprise us with any new lineup combinations once the playoffs start. The Lefty/righty plans should play out the same way they have that brought them to this dance.
As for your playoff pitchers, you need 4 starters, thus, this gives you one more slot where you can add either an additional relief pitcher or bat. The team has had little success with producing a LOOGY or, frankly, any kind of lefty reliever and I would definitely include Jon Niese on the 25-man.
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