Mack - IMO…

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 7^th 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.