Mack’s Morning Report – 10-7-15 – Matt Williams, Intro To Game 1

Good morning.

The firing of Washington National’s manager Matt Williams will always be defined by his deciding not to intervene in between the tussle in the dugout between Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper (as well as his clubhouse confrontation with Jayson Werth). Everybody knows that Papelbon is a dick and Harper and Werth aren’t much better, but that’s still no reason for a manager to sit back and watch the events that developed.

Was Williams a good manager?

I’ll put it this way… the ownership and General Manager gave this guy a dream team in a weak division and the best they could do was lose the division by seven games. For that reason alone, the manager usually takes the bullet.

 Mathew Kory/Fangraphs  spin on the Williams firing –

Was firing Williams a good thing for the Nationals? I surely wouldn’t be alone by arguing yes. It further seems that of the sins listed above, many came from the same book, one probably called something like Game Time Decisions for Managers for Dummies. Managing is easier if you can push buttons, and it takes someone more secure than Williams in his decision-making to go against established thinking.

The Nationals face an off-season of turnover as many of their starters are set to be free agents so it makes sense to bring in a new manager, clean break, timing, and all of that. Williams is interesting in that all the known aspects of his situation point to an obvious decision and yet when we dig deeper we discover that we really don’t know very much at all.

As of right now, the Mets have the 24^th pick in Round One of the 2016 draft.

The 2015 Mets were 4^th in the major leagues in ERA (3.43), 5^th in saves (50), 10^th in strikeouts (1,329), and 2^nd in WHIP (1.18).

Cesar Puello is playing for Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League

The Venezuelan Winter League released their initial list of roster players for the 2016 season. They are subject to change:

Aguilas De Zulia: - LHP Alex Torres

Bravos De Margarita: - SS Wilfredo Tovar

Caribes de Anzoategui - OF Travis Taijeron

Leones del Caracas - C Albert Cordero

Navegantes del Magallanes - RHP Ronald Guedez, RHP Richard Reina, RHP  Zach Thornton, C Ali Sanchez

 Tiburones de La Guaira - LHP Kevin Canelon, RHP Cody Satterwhite

Tigres de Aragua - OF Wuilmer Becerra

Mack – There is a lot of fodder here. Concentrate on two outfielders… Taijeron, who could make his way to Queens someday he could learn some swing patience… and Beccera, who looks to be a true future major league prospect with an ETA in 2008-2009.

Matt Harvey in Sept./Oct.: 5 games, 29.1 IP 31 hits, 14 runs (13 earned), 4 walks, 39 strikeouts, 1 HR, 3.99 ERA, .265/.293/.316 BAA

Bartolo Colon in Sept./Oct.: 6 games, 33.2 innings pitched, 36 hits, 11 runs, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts, 3 HR, 2.94 ERA, .281/.295/.391 BAA

Jacob deGrom in Sept./Oct.: 5 games, 28 innings pitched, 29 hits, 12 runs, 4 walks, 34 strikeouts, 1 HR, 3.86 ERA, .276/.295/.390 BAA

Noah Syndergaard in Sept./Oct.: 5 games, 27.2 innings pitched, 16 hits, 9 runs, 2 walks, 37 strikeouts, 4 HR, 2.93 ERA, .163/.188/.337 BAA

Jon Niese in Sept./Oct.: 8 games, 24 innings pitched, 31 hits, 15 runs (14 earned), 9 BB, 9 strikeouts, 2 HR, 5.25 ERA, .323/.377/.417 BAA

Steven Matz in Sept./Oct.: 4 games, 22 innings pitched, 27 hits, 7 runs, 5 walks, 20 strikeouts, 2 HR, 2.86 ERA, .297/.330/.374 BAA

Tonight is Game 1.

The Mets have played four games in October already and have scored only two runs. Now they get to face Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grienke in the first two playoff games… in Los Angeles.

Eric Young Jr., Logan Verrett, Eric Campbell, Anthony Recker and Bobby Parnell will not be included on the division series roster but will stay ready at the Mets' complex.

We will have extensive coverage this weekend on Mack’s Mets. We’ve already had new posts from Tom Brennan and Mike Friere and Chris Soto has some pre-game ‘stuff’ for us to mull on. I plan on writing my Saturday and Sunday post on the first two games, which I will watch, and blog-for-editing each and every inning. My thoughts on both games will post up on Saturday and Sunday at 8am.

Comment From Taylor - With deGrom’s slider disappearing and Kershaw and Greinke existing, is the safe bet for LA to head east up 2-0?

Dan Szymborski: I think the Dodgers are favored by a solid margin, simply because the playoff format tends to give a boost to teams with a Kershaw/Greinke top of the rotation. Simply because Greinke/Kershaw are simply going to get a much higher percentage of innings in any playoff series than in regular season

Mack – The Mets must win one of these first two games if they are going to have any chance of winning this series. You have to steal one in Los Angles and then turn it over to Harvey to win game three. Then, frankly, anything is possible in either of the next two games.