Good morning.
Here’s my Mets thoughts for the past
week:
General observations.
The Mets sent some of the kiddies back to the minor league camp now that split schedule games are over. 1B Dominic Smith, pitchers P.J Conlon, David Roseboom, Kevin McGowen, Corey Taylor, and Logan Taylor, infielders Phillip Evans and Luis Guillorme, and outfielder Champ Stuart were shipped out.
It's around halfway through spring camp and this is when some of the early creme on the top starts looking like skim milk. Without being specific, pitchers tend to always look the best when they face someone (or a team) they have never pitched against before. We know the true test is the third time around for a pitcher, but that just happens at this point in the pre-season.
We all know there is very little wiggle room in the 25-man squad that will break camp at the end of the month. One outfield position and probably the LOOGY still hasn't been determined. Past that, you should probably just take the advice of an old New York City weatherman, Uncle Weatherby (NOW I'm dating myself), when he said live on television... "if you're going to be raped, you might as well lay back and enjoy it." Yes, he actually said that and he was fired during the next commercial break.
Enjoy spring baseball. Observe things you've never seen. Notice how small some of these guy seem when others are larger than life.
Jacob deGrom - I guess the winner of spring so far is deGrom, who has pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only two hits while striking out seven and walking none. (0.33-WHIP). I look for this to continue next week.
General observations.
The Mets sent some of the kiddies back to the minor league camp now that split schedule games are over. 1B Dominic Smith, pitchers P.J Conlon, David Roseboom, Kevin McGowen, Corey Taylor, and Logan Taylor, infielders Phillip Evans and Luis Guillorme, and outfielder Champ Stuart were shipped out.
It's around halfway through spring camp and this is when some of the early creme on the top starts looking like skim milk. Without being specific, pitchers tend to always look the best when they face someone (or a team) they have never pitched against before. We know the true test is the third time around for a pitcher, but that just happens at this point in the pre-season.
We all know there is very little wiggle room in the 25-man squad that will break camp at the end of the month. One outfield position and probably the LOOGY still hasn't been determined. Past that, you should probably just take the advice of an old New York City weatherman, Uncle Weatherby (NOW I'm dating myself), when he said live on television... "if you're going to be raped, you might as well lay back and enjoy it." Yes, he actually said that and he was fired during the next commercial break.
Enjoy spring baseball. Observe things you've never seen. Notice how small some of these guy seem when others are larger than life.
Jacob deGrom - I guess the winner of spring so far is deGrom, who has pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only two hits while striking out seven and walking none. (0.33-WHIP). I look for this to continue next week.
Matt Harvey - Well, everything looked good after Harvey through his first spring inning and it looked like he was going to throw up two goose eggs like all the other Mets starters through up in their first outing, but that all went to hell in the second when he basically unraveled. It wasn't just the 3-run homer he gave up. He just missed the zone throughout the second inning. Sadly, he couldn't even finish the second and Addison Reed added insult to injury by allowing an additional run to be charged to Harvey. Problem seemed to be velocity. Fastball only hit 92-93 throughout the two innings.
His second outing brought the same 92-93 velocity and home run in three innings. His spring ERA is now 9.64. What, me worry?
Noah Syndergaard - Wasn't very sharp in the first inning. Had a real hard time getting his slider over. Improved a little from there, but his second spring outing was nothing to write home about. Still, on sheer talent alone, he maintained his spring 0.00-ERA.
Travis d'Arnaud - As of the end of Saturday's game, d'Arnaud is batting .385 this spring. I'll take it.
Zack Wheeler - Wheeler started off the week (Sunday) tossing killer curves in live BP... I'm sure you can't find a single person in the Mets organization that wasn't thrilled with Wheeler's first outing since the ice age. His fast ball hit 94 and he went home with no pain. What more can we ask for? I'm starting to think that there is an outside chance that both Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo will not be necessary for the opening day rotation. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Addison Reed - Speaking of pitchers that are starting to concern me, add Reed to that list. Reed has looked soft so far this spring which really worries me what with Familia probably attending anger management classes in April. Let's hope he gets it together beginning next week.
Phillip Evans - Excellent defensive play on Sunday saved Seth Lugo from a bad inning. Evans has been a pleasant surprise this spring and (in my book) has become the emergency third baseman in case Jose Reyes goes down before David Wright comes back.
Going into Saturday's game, Evans was one RBI behind the team lead. Whodathunkit?
Amed Rosario - look... the kid has held his own this spring, batting .296. Let him be one of the last cuts in the beginning of the last week in March. The fans love this kid and he represents the future of the Mets shortstop in the future.
Jay Bruce - Jeez, he looks like Duda playing outfield. Still, the bat continues to impress this spring and wouldn't it be just wonderful if he got out of the gate on opening day? Remember, the more he hits this spring, the better chance the Mets could move him.
Steven Matz - I'm sure Matz was very happy with his first spring outing. Two scoreless innings, a few soft hits, and the only scare was caused by a rare Luis Guillorme error. Got 40 pitches in and sat at 93 during both innings. I'll take it.
He followed this up with three more innings without giving up an unearned run. Matz looks fully healed.
Marcos Molina - I liked the fact that the Mets tried to stretch Molina on Friday into a three inning outing. It wasn't successful, though it might h
ave been an attempt to see if he could become a dark horse candidate for any SP8 need this season.
Paul Sewald - It looks like Sewald (1.29-ERA) is locking up a slot in the Mets pen taken north at the end of the month.
Eric Goeddel - Goeddel might have pitched himself out of a 25-man gig in yesterday's game.
Tom Gorzelanny - Hey Erik... take Tom with you.
Rafael Montero - Take Giancarlo Stanton out of the equation and Montero is having a wonderful spring. He also (easily) leads the pitching staff in strikeouts. Still, I have to see a lot more before he re-earns my confidence in his pitching ability.
Wuillmer Beccera - The Mets have really disappointed me so far regarding Becerra. Spring is the time to play your prospects on the field so we can see if they can handle themselves with a glove. Beccera has played DH so far this spring, just like he did all of last year. When are we going to find out if he is
a legitimate outfielder?
Tim Tebow - Ya know, I understand the need for circus clowns in bull rings. Someone has to distract the bull when the handlers are trying to assist the rider that landed on his ass when he was thrown by the bull. Tebow is our circus clown and it really bothers me that he's taking valuable time away from a budding prospect that could use this time to work on his game that might someday benefit the Mets. I hear Tebow is a nice guy. Fine, add him to the SNY team, but please, take his bat away and stop this silliness.
A woman was arrested this week at the Mets complex who was stalking Tebow and claimed to have 'a relationship' with him (cough... oxy... cough). She was arrested and charged with trespassing. Frankly, in my opinion, it's Tebow that should have the trespassing charges thrown at him. My guess he would swing and miss them also.
His second outing brought the same 92-93 velocity and home run in three innings. His spring ERA is now 9.64. What, me worry?
Noah Syndergaard - Wasn't very sharp in the first inning. Had a real hard time getting his slider over. Improved a little from there, but his second spring outing was nothing to write home about. Still, on sheer talent alone, he maintained his spring 0.00-ERA.
Travis d'Arnaud - As of the end of Saturday's game, d'Arnaud is batting .385 this spring. I'll take it.
Zack Wheeler - Wheeler started off the week (Sunday) tossing killer curves in live BP... I'm sure you can't find a single person in the Mets organization that wasn't thrilled with Wheeler's first outing since the ice age. His fast ball hit 94 and he went home with no pain. What more can we ask for? I'm starting to think that there is an outside chance that both Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo will not be necessary for the opening day rotation. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Addison Reed - Speaking of pitchers that are starting to concern me, add Reed to that list. Reed has looked soft so far this spring which really worries me what with Familia probably attending anger management classes in April. Let's hope he gets it together beginning next week.
Phillip Evans - Excellent defensive play on Sunday saved Seth Lugo from a bad inning. Evans has been a pleasant surprise this spring and (in my book) has become the emergency third baseman in case Jose Reyes goes down before David Wright comes back.
Going into Saturday's game, Evans was one RBI behind the team lead. Whodathunkit?
Amed Rosario - look... the kid has held his own this spring, batting .296. Let him be one of the last cuts in the beginning of the last week in March. The fans love this kid and he represents the future of the Mets shortstop in the future.
Jay Bruce - Jeez, he looks like Duda playing outfield. Still, the bat continues to impress this spring and wouldn't it be just wonderful if he got out of the gate on opening day? Remember, the more he hits this spring, the better chance the Mets could move him.
Steven Matz - I'm sure Matz was very happy with his first spring outing. Two scoreless innings, a few soft hits, and the only scare was caused by a rare Luis Guillorme error. Got 40 pitches in and sat at 93 during both innings. I'll take it.
He followed this up with three more innings without giving up an unearned run. Matz looks fully healed.
Marcos Molina - I liked the fact that the Mets tried to stretch Molina on Friday into a three inning outing. It wasn't successful, though it might h
ave been an attempt to see if he could become a dark horse candidate for any SP8 need this season.
Paul Sewald - It looks like Sewald (1.29-ERA) is locking up a slot in the Mets pen taken north at the end of the month.
Eric Goeddel - Goeddel might have pitched himself out of a 25-man gig in yesterday's game.
Tom Gorzelanny - Hey Erik... take Tom with you.
Rafael Montero - Take Giancarlo Stanton out of the equation and Montero is having a wonderful spring. He also (easily) leads the pitching staff in strikeouts. Still, I have to see a lot more before he re-earns my confidence in his pitching ability.
Wuillmer Beccera - The Mets have really disappointed me so far regarding Becerra. Spring is the time to play your prospects on the field so we can see if they can handle themselves with a glove. Beccera has played DH so far this spring, just like he did all of last year. When are we going to find out if he is
a legitimate outfielder?
Tim Tebow - Ya know, I understand the need for circus clowns in bull rings. Someone has to distract the bull when the handlers are trying to assist the rider that landed on his ass when he was thrown by the bull. Tebow is our circus clown and it really bothers me that he's taking valuable time away from a budding prospect that could use this time to work on his game that might someday benefit the Mets. I hear Tebow is a nice guy. Fine, add him to the SNY team, but please, take his bat away and stop this silliness.
A woman was arrested this week at the Mets complex who was stalking Tebow and claimed to have 'a relationship' with him (cough... oxy... cough). She was arrested and charged with trespassing. Frankly, in my opinion, it's Tebow that should have the trespassing charges thrown at him. My guess he would swing and miss them also.
4 comments:
Sewald going north with the other 24 would be a great story. Next thing you know, they'll make him the closer.
Mack, I agree that Tebow's at bats should go to others. But when he is sent down, the one area this organization is shallow in is OF. I think he surprises to the upside this year. Just don't call him up in September and not Kevin Kaczmarski, who I think will have a very big year.
Harvey will be up to 95 by spring's end. I think he'll be OK.
Tom -
Morning. Did all my clocks falls back an hour?
You are probably right about Harvey, if he stays healthy. I just think we have seen the end of The Dark Knight version of this guy. Maybe an SP3
We look like were OK if Harvey is slow to return to form and with this rotation depth he could be 3rd or 4th which would be fine but what's much more concerning is the bullpen. Reed who is going to be the closer has looked terrible this spring and I don't feel at all confident with our BP depth. Hopefully this will straighten out soon but that in my opinion is our biggest weakness. Bruce for BP help anyone.
Gary -
If the Dream Rotation stays healthy...
I'm sure the Mets will place either Lugo or Gsellman into the bullpen to firm up the "first many in" portion of the pen.
The other will probably go to Vegas as the SP1, emergency call-up guy
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