Mack's Morning Report - 6-11 - Jerry Blevens, Rene Rivera, Guppy Pen, The Draft

Good morning.

The construction of my 2018 Mets continue…

Let’s review.

So far, I have:

            SP: (5) – Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, Lucas Giolito

            RP (3) – Jeurys Familia, Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman

            IF (3) – Manny Machado, Amed Rosario, Wilmer Flores

            OF (2) – Michael Conforto, Yoenes Cespedes

Before I move on to the free agency market, I want to reward two players for a job well done by either picking up their 2018 option or offering them a new contract for next season –

  RP Jerry Blevens – This is an easy decision. Blevens is being paid $5.5mil                   this season and picking up his 2018 option is a no brain decision.  

            C Rene Rivera – Is there a better backup catcher available for 2018? I think                not. And, he was paid only $1.75mil this season. Sign him up in the $3mil range.

I now have 15 players… 5 starters, 4 relievers, 3 infielders, and 2 outfielders and 1 catcher.

We'll continue with this tomorrow morning.


Guppy Pen - 

The Mets never seem to have enough good minor league relief pitchers, but there are a handful that we need to keep an eye on as the season continues.

They, and their stats through 6-9, are:

    Kyle Regnault - LHP - 28/yrs - having a great season for someone that has always been considered an AAAA pitcher: 17-G (6x Vegas, 11x B-Mets), 3-0, 0.83, 1.15, 23-K, 21.2-IP. His age will work against him. I expect him to settle into Vegas for the season.

    Tim Peterson - RHP - 26/yrs. - has a combined 2017 stat line for Las Vegas (1 game)/Binghamton of 1.80/1.00. Peterson is not overpowering (18-Ks in 20-IP), but his specialty is his control (only 5 walks). Definitely ready for Vegas, maybe Queens,

    Austin McGeorge - RHP - 22/yrs. old - McGeorge has 15 appearances between Columbia (6, 1.42) and St. Lucie (9, 1.72). He also has a combined 38-Ks in 28.1-IP, while only giving up nine walks. I expect McGeorge to remain in Florida for the remainder of the season.

    Tyler Palshor - RHP - 24/yrs. - St. Lucie: 19-G, 2.57 - Palshor got off to a choppy start this season, but he's red hot now. He's only given up one earned run in his last 10 outings (10.2-IP, 20-K) At 24, Balshor needs to be sent to Binghamton.

    Matt Kuhns - RHP - 22/yrs. - Kuhns gave up three earned runs to Hagerstown on June 2nd, but tit was the only earned runs he has given up to anyone in his last 10 outings. A certain amount of helium here after posting 6.28/1.40 last season for Kingsport. 35 strikeouts so far this season in 24.2 innings pitched.

    Matt Blackham - RHP - 24/yrs. - Having a great rebound year after sitting out the entire 2016 season. So far this year for Columbia: 15-G, 1.48, 1.19, 33-K, 24.1-IP. He needs to make up for the lost year and finish strongly in Florida.


And lastly...

Starting tomorrow, and throughout the week, we will be all over the draft and who the Mets pick. We do this each year and it is the week with the most 'hits' on the site all year.

Make sure you keep coming back multiple times a day throughout the week. I will be putting up information on every single Mets draft pick.