Mack’s Morning Report – 5-24-16 – Lucas Duda, Dom Smith, Ty Kelly, Matt Harvey, Mets Bullpen, Yoenes Cespedes

Good morning.


No one was expecting the projected two month loss of 1B Lucas Duda, but, at the same time, you don't screw around with a fracture in your back.

It still amazes me how fragile baseball players are, but, that being said, we have to move on and figure out what to do.

Number one, you can't rush Dominic Smith. He may be the future at first base for the Mets and you have to let him go through 2016 as, first, a member of the Binghamton team, and lastly, Las Vegas.

We're down three players now... Duda, Wilmer Flores, and Travis d'Arnaud, but word I got today is Flores will be back come the beginning of June.

He and Eric Campbell may be our first basemen for awhile. Another option could be moving Neil Walker to first and calling up Dilson Herrera. 

The one thing that's obvious is we will probably have a reduced power output from this position.

What's your thoughts?

Do you hit the waiver wires or try and put together a trade for another team's fodder? 

Chris Carter? Mark Reynolds? Kelly Johnson?

Let's discuss...

- David Thompson transferred from Columbia Fireflies to the Disabled List.

- Luis Ortega transferred from Short-Season A Brooklyn Cyclones to Columbia's active roster.

Albert: Are you a Dom Smith fan? What kind of player will he be in the bigs?

Eric A Longenhagen: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/eric-longenhagen-prospects-chat-5-20-16/  - I am, think he’s an above average everyday 1B.

Mack – I am particularly influenced by the writers on Fangraphs about Mets prospects and it’s good to see another positive blurb on Smith.

I know it’s too early, but, with the Duda back issue, one can wish this was all happening one year from now.

Let’s talk Ty Kelly.

          Kelly is a 27-year old switch hitter out of UC Davis and was a 13^th round draft pick in 2009 by the Baltimore Orioles.

          Kelly played parts of five seasons in the Orioles system and went on to play in the systems of Seattle, St. Louis, and Toronto. He was granted free agency on November 18, 2015 and the Mets signed him eight days later.

          Kelly has played numerous positions, but never first base (he pitched one game). He’s primarily a third baseman, with second base and left field being additional positions he has spent a lot of time playing.

          His 8-season minor league stat line is .280/.383/.382/.765 (.274/.385/.387 in AAA), but 2016 in particular has been a rewarding season in AAA at Las Vegas (.391/.481/.548/1.029).

Two scouts http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2016/05/mlb_scouts_offer_jarring_criticism_of_mets_matt_ha.html   had two different thoughts on Matt Harvey’s problems this season –

          Scout to Kernan: "There's no deception in his delivery. He is throwing across his body and the hitters are getting a good look at everything. There is no fear factor, no intimidation.

          Scout to Cafardo: "He's got a confidence problem. When your fastball doesn't have the normal velocity it affects some guys, and clearly it affects Harvey. He's got to learn to pitch when he's not throwing 96-97, which is easier said than done. If you're not getting swings and misses like you once did, that can play havoc on you mentally."

Mack – Let’s face it… the media is going to write about Harvey until he throws a gem. As I’ve written since early on when Harvey was pitching great and then was visibly upset on a fly ball that Juan Lagares played badly, his head just doesn’t seem to be on correctly this year.

Is he still upset about the last pitch he made in 2015? Is he pissed about all the attention that Noah Syndergaard is getting?

I don’t know, but there is something wrong here that is more than ability and mechanics.

Second baseman Dale Burdick was promoted to Binghamton

Brain Mangan https://thereadzone.com/2016/05/19/the-mets-bullpen-has-been-the-leagues-best/ wrote a great story on the league leading Mets bullpen –

                  So far this season, the Mets bullpen is 2nd in ERA, 1st in FIP and 3rd in xFIP. Their collective strikeout rate of 10.32 K/9 is 2nd in the majors, and their gap between strikeouts and walks (K-BB%) is 3rd. They’ve been good across the board, inducing swinging strikes (6th in MLB) and preventing home runs (1st in MLB).

And lastly, Fangraphs http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/yoenis-cespedes-is-still-playing-like-a-superstar/ proves once more that, if you have nothing to write about, try Yoenes Cespedes again –

                  Last winter, coming off the best season of his career, Yoenis Cespedes hit the free agent market, and promptly heard crickets. He watched David Price and Zack Greinke break $200 million in early December, and then saw Jason Heyward set the market for outfielders with a $184 million deal a week later. And then he sat and watched a bunch more pitchers get paid, while he, Chris Davis, and Justin Upton sat around waiting for offers that never came. Finally, in January, all three eventually found homes, but Cespedes was unable to land the big deal he was looking for, instead taking a three year deal from the Mets that gave him the chance to hit the market again this winter, if he so chose.

A quarter of the way through the 2016 season, Cespedes opting out of the last two years of the deal is now a foregone conclusion; the only way he wouldn’t hit the market this winter is if the Mets re-do his deal before he gets there, or if he blows out his knee between now and October. Cespedes has not only carried over last year’s second half surge, but he’s even somehow building on it.

          Mack – So, do you agree?

          Is this the last year Yo is a Met?