Mack – Mets Weekly Recap – Week ending 2-25

Good morning.

I’m going to start a new weekly feature that will post up every Sunday at 10am, in between my draft update (8:00am) and the weekly college and high school highlight post (12 noon).

It will just encompass my thoughts on what happened in Mets baseball during the prior week.

This week, we only had two days of games, so the report will be much shorter than I expect future ones will.

With that…

-         Starting pitcher Seth Lugo was very impressive on Friday. Lugo faced only seven batters, striking out three, and giving up no hits. He continued to use his record setting hammer effectively. He set a major league record on August 30, 2016 when Starcast measured his curve at 3,498 rpm, which is the highest-spin curve we've ever tracked. I don’t see much of a chance of Lugo making the opening day rotation, but I do see him as a valuable pitcher in a future Mets rotation, or a chip ala Michael Fulmer became to secure a major bat for the team.

-         The Mets only gave up two hits in that first game, but sadly both were by LHRP Josh Edgin, who is fighting back to regain a spot in the Mets pen this year. I really like, and know, this guy and I really hope he gets another inning soon that he can put up goose eggs (2-IP, 9.00-ERA), than another and another.

-         There was an excellent defensive play…  Matt Reynolds to Gavin Cecchini to Wilmer Flores

-         Team RISP for Game 1:  0-7

-         Saturday morning brought the news that 1B Lucas Duda was still experiencing back pain and was pulled from the game two lineup. My guess is Dominic Smith took extra batting practice before the day was done. It also came out that P Zack Wheeler’s bullpen sessions have been pushed back. It’s funny. I’m writing both these guys off in my 2017 forecast that posts up next week and now I won’t look like some psychic or something.

-         Pitching wise in game two:  SP Sean Gilmartin threw only five pitches in the first inning… two for ground outs and three called strikes to Daniel Murphy, the last being an excellent hook. The Mets fans ate it up. In the second, he dealt up a homer to Bryce Harper that still hasn’t come down. In the long run, Gilmartin faced seven batters, threw nine pitchers, and gave up one hit to a super human. Logan Taylor threw two scoreless, one-hit (Harper again) innings, with one strikeout…Jerry Blevens game up a two-run homer, but that was the least of the Mets pitching problems this game…  Kevin McGowan had a horrible inning in the sixth… a single, followed by an outfield error, then a walk, then a wild pitch, then the Kevin Plawecki injury, followed by a home run… 6-0 Nats. Then, another home run (7-0). ERA now 108.00. So, the Mets take the hit out, right? Nope, a double to one more batter before Adam Wilk is called in. You would have thought the least McCowan could have done is hit someone before he left.

-         1B Wilmer Flores made an excellent defensive play in the top of the third inning.

-         First big test for runners on base and runners in scoring position took place in the Mets fifth when Flores and Jay Bruce singled, setting up first and third with no out. Ty Kelly walked on four pitches and you had the bases loaded. So, C Rene Rivera hits into a pitcher to catcher to first baseman double play and then the other Rivera grounds out and inning over, no runs.

-         Mets now 0-12 RISP

-         Today’s (Sunday) pitchers will be Chris Flexen, Paul Sewald, David Roseboom, Ben Rowen, and Fernando Salas. Monday’s starter will be P.J. Conlon.

-    In summary... two games is a small sample and two fake games are even smaller. Nobody takes pre-season stats serious, right? Yeah, go tell that to McGowan.  I will say this. You might be seeing the beginning of the 'New Kids On The El'... Conforto, Smith, Rosario, Cecchini... add these four to Cespedes and the field does seem like it's beginning to tilt a little.