3/19/18

Reese Kaplan -- The More Things Change...



Well, if you had Jason Vargas with a broken hand, come on down!  You won the New York Mets injury fantasy sweepstakes.  Like health insurers, we are, of course, discounting pre-existing conditions like Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steve Matz, Zack Wheeler, Yoenis Cespedes, David Wright and Michael Conforto.


So how does losing Jason Vargas impact the roster for the next 4-6 weeks?  A number of questions arise.  Would they rather go into the season with a single lefty in the pen or no lefties in the rotation?  Has Rafael Montero’s voodoo doll yielded him yet another life?  What do Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman have to do to get a break?  Let’s take a look. 

Through happenstance and not by planning the vaunted “Big Five” may indeed become the rotation for April and May.  After all, inserting both Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler at the back end of the rotation to follow deGrom, Syndergaard and Harvey would enable this hope for the future actually get a chance to perform as a unit.  By some measures it is the most sensible approach since neither Wheeler nor Matz have logged any significant amount of time in a bullpen role.  They have each shown some flashes of solid pitching this Spring, so it is the path of least resistance.

What then does it do to the bullpen picture?  Well, after Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos, Jerry Blevins and Anthony Swarzak you have probably 4 open slots to fill.  The question about whether to carry 7 or 8 relievers has probably now been answered if you have short-starters like Wheeler and Matz now in the rotation.  The extra bullpen arm is a necessity rather than a luxury.

Based on Spring performance from traditional relievers, you would think that Paul Sewald and Jacob Rhame have a leg up on the competition.  After that it becomes murkier. 

The story of Rafael Montero is not new to anyone following the team.  He rocketed his way through the minors on strong control and stingy with hits, but never saw it consistently translate at the big league level.  He’s gone through a period one year of a mysterious ailment that even had his then manager questioning his mental toughness.  You see occasional flashes but he’s never been able to string together a solid month.  However, he is out of options and granting him a final chance would enable the Mets to showcase him for a possible trade if he does reasonably well during this time period.

Seth Lugo still has doubts about his arm but he’s delivering with solid results.  The spin rate on his hook has scouts drooling and he’s performed both out of the pen and in the rotation.  He is by all counts the classic swingman. 

Robert Gsellman is a ground ball pitcher whose location is the key to his success.  When he keeps the ball down then he’s successful.  If he doesn’t then he becomes a batting practice pitcher.  He has options and questions, so I would think he’s the one ticketed for AAA. 

Hansel Robles has done everything in his power to pitch his way out of the picture.  Hopefully decisions are made based upon results and not long-ago past history as was done by the previous manager.  He should be in AAA at best, or dealt away to another club. 

So what do you all think?

12 comments:

Viper said...

Good Morning Reese,

It would be nice indeed to see the rotation we all dreamed about. Too bad that Batman became Badman and Wheeler hasn't shown much. But hey, maybe the stars align this time and they stay healthy. Maybe the Dark Night will show up again which as Bernie Sanders would say would be HUGGGEEE.

If it was up to me, I would trade / release Montero and keep both Lugo and Gsellman. Robles to AAA sounds about right since he has been exposed to the Montero Virus.

Tom Brennan said...

Viper, it is the DREADED Montero virus. Baseballs flat line - over outfield fences.

I guess Vargas will be back as soon as he can feel comfortable enough to field - hitting is not as important right away - so maybe as early as April 10? We'll see. He won't have a bone to re-knit, since they are surgically removing the hamate.

Wheeler gets his big chance - he's had more than enough time off - now is the time to start pitching FOR REAL. If he flops, maybe we see Flexen (hopefully much better and wiser) back soon.

Mack Ade said...

Syndergaard, being relieved by Lugo and Gsellman, sure made a lot of sense to me yesterday.

Tom Brennan said...

Mack, it was nice to see Gsellman give up an inning-opening double in the 9th and manage to preserve the one run lead.

Lugo was disappointing, but a very good spring up to that point.

Syndergaard - we need him to be another Roger Clemens, effectiveness-wise. So far, so good.

Mack Ade said...

Good news on Vargas - will have surgery but will return to throwing 5 days later

Eddie from Corona said...

Thomas your so right ... Clemens would be a great comparison to be

Viper said...

Mack,
Any pitcher that comes in after Syndergaard will be a downgrade and a relief to the other team. Lugo has had a good spring until yesterday.

Funny how the Yankees keep their games on the air to keep their fans excited while the Mets find way to not have games televised with Syndergaard pitching. On a Sunday no less.

bill metsiac said...

The Mets televise ST home games. It must be Terry's fault that Thor's spot comes on the road. 😨 But his next start wwil be on SNY next Thursday if Terry allows it.

And I must congratulate Reese for coming ohsoclose to completing the article without the obligatory kick of the dead horse. 🙌

Reese Kaplan said...

Bill must be reading another article since I didn't criticize the Skipper at all. I simply said he questioned Montero's mental toughness. That's something a manager SHOULD be doing.

bill metsiac said...

He wasn't the "previous manager" you referred to in the Robles paragraph?

Was it Willie or Jerry?

Reese Kaplan said...

Good catch...hopefully the idiocracy has been toppled.

bill metsiac said...

There is therapy available for OCD now, so hopefully you'll be able to overcome the urge to kick the horse. 😀