Good morning.
(week ending 3-8)
Well, the obvious lead
story here is Steve Matz. It’s a good thing that
#MetsTwitter is being kind to him:
@Fuhgedabouhdit - Steven Matz is not part of this Mets
starting rotation. He should be relegated to batting practice pitcher. A once
promising lefty starter he's nothing more than trash now. Sad but true
Matz says he feels fine
but he just keeps throwing his pitches up and straight. That’s not good news if
you are pitching to major league batters.
Remember… great
pitchers have three things… velocity, health, and positioning. They can throw a
ball very fast (movement helps too), they feel great, and they can hit the
corners and keep the ball low. Matz is two out of three right now. All his
pitches are up and it takes only one batter from the other team to relay this
information in the dugout and everyone is looking for a high ball.
I expect no one will
panic until he gets four starts in. If it doesn’t get better by then, look any
plans to use him in the opening day rotation, to get a hard look.
Lead #2 would be the
lack of performance by 1B Adrian Gonzalez. He
simply is bringing nothing to the table. And, with Dominic
Smith still on the mend, and Peter Alonso really
a year away (please don’t rush and ruin him), one would make a case for moving Wilmer Flores to open up on first and carrying Gavin Cecchini as IF-UT2
Speaking of Cecchini, I
found his comment on his Twitter feed this week uncalled for:
“Back then
they didn’t want me, now I’m hot they all on me”
Was this necessary? The
vast majority of fans, pundits, and writers have mostly criticized the use of
an early round (1.12) pick in the 2012 draft. He has only hit .217 in the
majors, but, in his defense, he only had 83 at-bats over two Terry Collins
years. Yes, he has hit well in the minors (.325 in 2016: AAA-Las Vegas), but is
it our fault he only hit .267 last year for the same team?
Gavin, if you are
reading this, EVERY Mets fan, pundit, and writer wants you to succeed and prove
Tommy Jackson right when he signed you.
And we all love what
you have done so far this spring.
As someone said to the
President this past week, a little less Tweeting and a little more production
might me in order here (maybe these same sentiments were issued to him by Mets
managers after be basically disappeared from the lineups since this statement).
You all know what a big
fan I have been of LHP Matt Purke since his days
in high school. Well, it was great to see him get off to a great start Friday
at his latest last slice at a chance for baseball success. Sure, it was just
one inning of pre-season baseball, but it was scoreless, and I’ll take it (I’ll
take his second scoreless innings on Sunday even more)!
On Wednesday, we saw
the other side of Purke. He was brought in with out left to go in the 7th
and wound up loading base after facing three lefties in a row. That’s right…
lefties. The next batter hit a screaming line drive right at Matt Borenstein in left and he got out of the inning.
Started the week with a
0.00-ERA… ending it after a roller coaster ride with the same 0.00.
The development of the
2018 bullpen seems to be progressing.
My guess is Seth Lugo will
make the squad and will either start or be designated as the long man and
emergency SP6 come April. This would mean that five of the relief slots would
be filled (Familia, Blevens, Ramos, Swarzak).
It’s interesting to see that three guys targets for
AA-Binghamton this year, Corey Taylor, Tyler Bashlor,
Gerson Bautista, are pitching on the Big Boy side of the field this
spring training, while Tim Peterson, David Roseboom,
Bren Griset, Paul Sewald, Ricky Knapp, Logan Taylor, Kelly Secrest, and Kyle Regnault aren’t. All those guys are targets for
AAA-Las Vegas, a level ahead of Binghamton.
P.J. Conlon was stretched out for three innings
on Sunday, but don’t get excited. He’s heading to Vegas.
A tipoff the Mack hat
to OF Brandon Nimmo, who not only has sewed up a
roster spot on opening day but has also probably pushed Juan Lagares out as the starting center fielder as well as leadoff
batter. Way to go Brandon. You’ve made a lot of people, including me, change
their opinion regarding your future in Queens. He turns 25 this month. It’s his
time.
Three more scoreless
innings by Matt Harvey takes the sting away from
the Matz snafu. And three from Zack Wheeler is the cherry on top. Right now… early…
my out camp rotation would be Syndergaard, deGrom, Harvey, Vargas, and Wheeler.
Very surprised to see
that the new Mets medical staff had delayed so long in taking an MRI on Amed Rosario’s left knee. An MRI isn’t brain surgery
and you would think that the Mets past jickey-jack approach to using/not using
this procedure… or leaving the decision to the player… would be changed. Also,
his pain was in his knee… why the MRI on his groin/hamstring area only? I’m
just saying. You have the machine running. Finish the job.
I hate to hit a man
while he’s down, but, if it was my decision, I would cut the chord with P Rafael Montero. I’ve watched this guy be dominant in
the minors followed by a soft approach in Flushing a number of times and the
man-child is out of options and needs to move on, clear his head, and get a new
start in this game.
And lastly…
Remember when we always try to warn the Mets to stay away
from the trouble makers and druggies that are available in both free agency and
the draft?
Do people like Jordany Valdespin or
Jenrry Mejia ever work out for any team?
No one was more talented in college than the University of
Houston LHP Seth Romero. But, at the same time,
no one caused that college more headaches than this headcase.
Houston suspended him in 2016, suspended him again in April
2017, reinstated him, and then kicked him off the team permanently around a
week later (at the same time he was tossing a 2017 season with a 15.72 K/9
ratio.
Still, the team that drafts all walking wounded and head
cases, the Washington Nationals, drafted him last year in the first round and
gave him a $2.8mil signing bonus.
Well, let’s hope for the Nats sake that there was some form
of contingency/insurance plan attached to that bonus that insured that the team could get
their money back if this jerk does the unspeakable one more time, because the
Nats kicked him out of camp this week and sent him back to his home in Texas.
Can’t change the stripes.
11 comments:
Good morning Mack. Lots of good stuff here, but I want to be a little patient on Montero as his previous outings this year were good. Change takes time and that’s what spring training is for. Not that I particularly think he’s a keeper, but I’d like to see if there’s anything the new guys can get out of him now, as “low and away” was the only pitch he was allowed to throw. That can’t be very confidence building.
Texas -
Okay...
Then sit the guy down... tell him he can be part of this team if he moves to the pen.
There simply is too many SPs in camp right now that are pitching better than him.
I think they'll start the season with A-Gon. He's got until Conforto returns to show something.
With Conforto back I'm looking to see who is the bigger asset, Nimmo (with Bruce at 1B0 or A-Gon with Conforto & Bruce in the OF. I'm betting on Nimmo.
You might be right Hobie.
The man had a lot of talent for a long time and he might be wroth 100 at-bats to see if he still has it.
I think A Ton will come around and be Loney++
Nimmo playing like a big league starting player.
Why do people believe that rushing a kid hurts them? I baseball... same game... the best succeed.. Some don't and those who do not may just not have it... there is no tangible fact that someone failed because they got a shot at the higher levels too soon... It not a contact sport... they still face 95 mph fast ball at all levels... they still all use wooden bats... they still all chase down the same fly balls or ground ball...
and Alonzo is what 22 years old... how old was Dwright ? Reyes was like 20.
Eddie
One third of this game is mental.
Let Alonso work on his skills in Vegas in 2018
Personally, I think the first few outings showed Callaway what Montero can do. Like A-Gon, he'll be on a mighty short leash but I'd be shocked if they dumped him.
Mack, I concur that he belongs in the bullpen; he is about ninth or tenth on the depth chart anyway. Too, he doesn’t seem to have endurance to be more than a five inning starter. Put him in the bullpen and tell him Brandon Murrow just got 2/$21 as a failed starter turned reliever.
Matz much improved today. Robles is really slipping.
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