4/24/17

Mack’s Morning Report – 4-24 – Mets Meh, Early Lucy Look, Lucas Duda, Desmond Lindsay



Good morning.


Mets Meh - 

I have to say that I, and the other writers here at Mack's Mets, are suffering from what I call 'Mets Meh'. This sure hasn't started out to be the kind of season we had all expected this year. For whatever reason, which I can't figure out, the more Mets that get injured, the less articles are written by the crew around here.

Yeah, I know... they have real lives and I pay them a little less than Bill O'Reilly's severance pay... but it's hard to keep feeding the frenzy of Einstein's definition of insanity.

I can't control either volume. Articles and hamstrings will come and go. All I can do is plug along and hope things improve on both end.

As for the Mets, I do see one silver lining. The starting rotation is doing their job. You and I are narrowcasting on the injury issue, but the real problem with this team is bad bullpen decisions coming out of the dugout, shoddy defense, and lack of bats. Go into the 8th inning ahead 8-2 and all this goes away real quick.

As for the writing issue, you can do your part by joining the team here at Mack's Mets. We'll never limit the amount of times you want to post, or the content of what you post.

Email me at: macksmets@gmail.com. I'll send you an email that invites you into the site and we'll go over this via email before you write your first article.


Oh… and if you think only the Mets suffer from injured players, look what happened this past week on other teams… Clay Buchholz (flexor tendon surgery), Logan Forsythe (fractured toe), Rich Hill (blister), Aaron Sanchez (blister), J.A. Happ (elbow inflammation), Zach Britton (forearm strain), Marcus Semien (fractured wrist), Brandon Finnegan (trapezius strain), Jarrett Parker (broken clavicle), Melvin Upton Jr. (surgery on a torn thumb ligament), and Josh Hamilton ( knee surgery).


Early Lucy Look –

            There are three legitimate prospects on this team, SP Justin Dunn (6.43), C/1B Patrick Mazeika (.314), and OF Wuillmer Beccera (.303). Beccera continues to play exclusively as a designated hitter while Mazeika has moved to first base due to the broken hand issue of Peter Alonso. Injuries have a way of bringing out the best in others and it’s good to see we have someone else in the system that can play first.

            Seven others are exceeding expectations early on… relievers  Craig Missigman (0.87), and Justin Brantley (0.00), catcher Anthony Dimino (.375), infielder JC Rodriguez (.281), third baseman Jhoan Urena (.333), and outfielder Jeff Diehl (.333). Dimino continues his red hot pace that started with a .700 batting average in Columbia. I don’t know the timetable on Alonso’s broken hand, but it could easily cost him the season. It seems like the ex-prospect 22-year old Urena may finally be putting his game together. It’s a long time coming since his .300-BA for the Cyclones in 2014. As for Diehl, the 23-year old might consider a new career as a power reliever. He’s been used twice so far this season, has a 0.00-ERA, and has hit 96 with his fastball.

            My guess for the next promotion here would be Diehl. Most of the others are currently blocked and the Binghamton outfield could use a new starter.


Lucas Duda

Ryland Edwards write an interesting piece for Fangraphs http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/two-widely-available-statues-duda-and-mancini/ entitled “Two Widely Available Statues: Duda and Mancini”.

It includes the following:

Has anyone noticed what Lucas Duda has been up to? Apparently not anyone who plays in Yahoo or ESPN formats where he’s still available in nearly 85% of leagues. This is despite his 4 homers, .393 wOBA, and perhaps most importantly, 49 plate appearances over which he’s paraded his newly healthy back. Duda has played in 12 of the Mets’ first 14 games, starting in 11 of them, and thus far sat only against lefties, Jaime Garcia, Wei-Yin Chen, and Adam Conley.

It’s far too early in the season to draw any conclusions about his batted balls or production so let’s just acknowledge that he’s stroking the ball well, pairing a ton of fly balls with convincing exit velocities. The takeaway shouldn’t be that Duda appears back and as good as ever but rather that three weeks into the season, Duda’s back appears as good as ever.

It was fun reading about a healthy Lucas Duda, wasn’t it?



Desmond Lindsay

            The New York Post had an interesting story on the ‘future Mets centerfielder’… Desmond Lindsay  Desmond Lindsay

There’s an experiment going on deep in the Mets’ minor league system, where they’re hopeful about turning a quick and strong athlete into a major league outfielder. The Mets saw the natural abilities of a one-time Florida high school baseball star and are trying to transform those skills into a future center fielder at Citi Field. Desmond Lindsay, drafted by the Mets in the second round in 2015, was a high-school infielder committed to play for North Carolina. When the Mets made him the 53rd-overall pick, those plans changed, and so did his position.


            Mack – Lindsay does have a history of hamstring issues so he fits in perfectly with this organization. The 20-year old is off to a slow start this season, but he could move quickly if he stayed healthy. Remember... the only true outfield prospect ahead of him is Wuillmer Becerra who currently has a shoulder problems and is limited to being a designated hitter.



The Phillies have acquired former IF Ty Kelly.


Milwaukee designates OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis for assignment

And lastly...

The Mets picked 1B Dominic Smith with the 11th overall pick in the 2013 Draft...  21 picks later the Yanks picked Aaron Judge.

14 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

The Mets went with Little Smitty instead of Gargantuan Judge. History will show how good or bad that works out. Smitty does not turn 22 until mid-June.

I would strongly consider promoting Merandy Conzalez and Jordan Humphreys to St Lucie if their currently completely dominating starting artistry in Columbia continues for another start or two.

I wonder how Lou Gehrig would have played the throw that Duda hyper-extended his elbow on - it seems hard to believe Gehrig never encountered a similar throw in his 2130 consecutive games. Would he have let it sail by?

Hopefully Duda comes back without 2 weeks of rust within a few days. d'Arnaud too.

Everybody was barking at Cespedes for not sliding several days ago - did he have a tight hammy he did not want to let on about?

Tom Brennan said...

Mack you and I briefly touched on Kevin Taylor the other day as a prospect - he turns 26 in mid year, which clearly does not help, but after a few years of Indy Ball, he did play in Lucie last year and is in Binghamton so far this year.

He has hit .295 with a .390 on base % over about 500 plate appearances in that span and can play infield and outfield. And he has only struck out in half of his games. maybe a future utility guy. He seems like a TJ Rivera who hits a little less, walks more. Or, dare I say it, a Muno!

Mack Ade said...

It is my opinion that Cespedes has worked hard this off season to get into tip top shape. I am sure his lack of sliding on that play was to prevent aggravating something he was hiding from Lurch, the Mets trainer.

I am not sure if all the core players trust the Mets med staff and their diagnosis anymore. Just ask Steven Matz.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

Re Taylor...

the Mets currently do not have a bat threat playing in the Vegas outfield.

Send Taylor immedialy there and cut Jayce Boyd.

Keep the ball rolling... send either Jeff Diehl of Wuillmer Beccera to Binghamton, send Jose Media to St. lucie, and promote Ricardo Cespedes from extended to Columbia

I do not call for the parent team to panic but I do call for the affiliates to start to move up their talent

Unknown said...

Mack,
I think the important note about Duda is just what they say - his back seems to be OK. He was injured in a collision. Remember that after the 2015 season he was one of the 10 best first-basemen in the majors. He seems to be the Mets' Rodney Dangerfield.
Desmond Lindsay sounds like another infielder they turned into an outfielder: Juan Lagares.

Mack Ade said...

Richard -

I would handle this problem much different than it is being handled right now.

I would put all my walking wounded on the 10-day DL and bring up the entire Vegas team, minus Dom Smith and Becerra.

Send them all to St. lucie for major rehab (take away their golf clubs though)

I don't care if they lost the next 10 games (they would probably win 2-3 of them). The important thing is to get this team healthy by mid-May

Hobie said...

Curious. I thought Dimino was the C/1B/DH type and they wanted Mazelka to go toe-to-toe with Nido as the next FT backstop. Has that changed?

Mack Ade said...

Hobie -
No... everything changed when Peter Alonso broke his hand. Maz was moved to first base and Dimino was called up to fill the catching opening

Tom Brennan said...

Great opportunity for Dimino. Let's see how he runs with it. In his minors career, he has 1) really hit well and 2) really gotten on base well. Who knows?

Mack, I'd rather see Kevin Kaczmarski go to Vegas and play outfield than Kevin Taylor, as I think Kevin K has more big league potential in the outfield, but I am open to him or Taylor moving up. And playing. if they can't play a guy almost every day, leave him in AA.

Jeff McNeil may finally be back soon to play in AA, so it may be time to jettison Jayce Boyd and free up some room for one of the Kevins in Vegas.

We are grasping at straws. The obvious two things to do are to cut Reyes and replace him with Amed (unless Cabrera needs the DL) and bench Granderson. with those 2 guys hitting a combined .126, they need to simply NOT PLAY. They are destroying the season.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

I would rather see Kacz also, but he has more work to do at the AA level. Sort of struggling so far this season in the 'Prospect League'.

All reports I am getting (two... lol) is that the Mets have no plans on getting rid of Reyes

(now that I said that, watch them put Rosario on a plane tonight)

BTW - did you get my email? Please answer it.

Tom Brennan said...

Jose is improving, Mack. He was 2 for his first 33, but 5 for his next 34. Can 7 for the next 35 be next?

Reese Kaplan said...

Actually the pattern would be 8 for the next 35, then 11 for the next 36, 14 for the next 37, 17 for the next 38. By then he would have amassed 57 hits in 277 ABs. That's a half season's worth of ABs and still just cracked the Mendoza line at .205. Sorry, that improvement is nowhere near good enough nor fast enough. Too bad the powers that be would rather see Amed Rosario hit .403 in Las Vegas while Reyes continues to lose them games in Queens.

Tom Brennan said...

But Reese, if Reyes somehow stays for another 146 at bats and gets 50 hits like you outline, he can stay, but only under one condition...at least one RBI:)

Mack Ade said...

I'm telling ya guys...

I can't tell you who told me this but Reyes and Rosario aren't going anywhere soon