My friend Tom Brennan has taken the mantle of pessimism (at least temporarily) to point out to our readers everything that's gone wrong for the Mets thus far in Port St. Lucie. I think he's still reeling from the Tim Tebow demotion and it's jaded his Mets worldview.
That puts me in the odd position of pointing out just what has gone right for the guys in Orange and Blue. Let's have a look.
Catching
Raise your hand if you were among the many who advocated picking up Matt Weiters a year ago or Jonathon Lucroy each time he was available? Don't be shy. We all make mistakes. So far the unorthodox right handed platoon pair are doing just fine, thank you. Through Monday assumed starter Travis d'Arnaud is hitting a scorching .323 with ten hits (including two dingers) to go with 6 RBIs. Not to be outdone, Kevin Plawecki is hitting .300 as well with a homer and 7 RBIs. What a nice problem for the Mets to have (particularly when half of this tandem comes at near minimum wage).
Brandon Nimmo
While he's cooled off a bit to a more sustainable .286, he still has 3 HRs and 9 RBIs primarily out of the leadoff slot. His right handed platoon partner, Juan Lagares, is struggling at the Mendoza line, so the lefty swinging Nimmo appears to slated to the lion's share of starting assignments until Michael Conforto returns.
Jay Bruce
Known mostly as one of those all-or-nothing sluggers, Bruce typically hovers in the .254 range when it comes to batting average. This spring he's doing much better, thank you, at .324 with a homer and five ribbies.
Wilmer Flores
A little slow out of the gate, he's made up for it in spades with 2 HRs, 5 RBIs and a .318 batting average. If only there was a position of need where the incumbent was coming off a dreadful season followed by an equally dismal Spring and it would only cost a pro-rated $524K to cut him...
Starting Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom appear to be in mid-season form already with ERAs respectively of 1.35 and 2.35. I'll take that any day of the week. Steven Matz started off horrendously, but strung together three quality starts in a row. The overall numbers are still ugly but with the Jason Vargas injury he's probably letting Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland breathe a little easier.
Bullpen
Jerry Blevins and his 2.84 ERA is picking right up where he's left off during his Mets career, and a now-rested Paul Sewald is demonstrating the type of production that should earn him a trip north -- an ERA of just 1.93 (well, it was prior to yesterday's rough outing against the Cardinals).
Future Players
Luis Guillorme is doing his usual dazzling defense but surprising some with his bat. He'll never put long ball fear into anyone's heart, but he has put one over the wall and driven in 8 while hitting over .300. Ozzie Smith went to the Hall of Fame with a .262 career batting average.
Phil Evans is one of those bats in search of a position. He's played all around the infield as well as some left field. Monday he served as the DH. For the Spring he's hitting .300 with 2 HRs and 7 RBIs. The ever frugal Mets might want to consider whether or not he'd be more productive than the reasonably priced but struggling Jose Reyes.
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Of course, no article from my keyboard wouldn't be complete without a little bit of critical observation and towards that end I openly question Mickey Callaway's decisions not to play Jose Reyes and Phil Evans more often in the outfield. You already know what guys like Matt den Dekker can do but you're not so sure about the converted infielders. Even Wilmer Flores got a game in LF yet Jose Reyes remains strictly on the infield. What happens if you go north with him and a short bench of 4 outfielders then have the need arise? Isn't this time perfect for finding out what you need to know about these players rather than when your back is up against the wall? It's not as if Callaway is challenging for the best record in the Grapefruit League...
16 comments:
A positive Reese? Awesome!
I go back to positive today with a 1 PM article.
Tebow knows that Willie Mays started his major league career in 1951 going 1 for 26 (Mack was there) and Tebow sees himself as the next Willie Mays. In fact, right now, he is a better player than the 86 year old Mays. I think.
I am getting more optimistic by the day, with Jake, Thor, Matt, and Matz looking more and more like a Fearsome Foursome.
Reese,
Very very impressive, and you did so without a mention the absence of the manager from the last Met World Series appearance.
Spring stats and performances are very tricky...they can give false impressions and the can be a clear indication of future performance. With that in mind, I tend to focus on health, and from that perspective things are pretty good. No team is ever 100% healthy, but a minor surgery to the non-pitching hand of an innings eater and some aches for the big bat are relatively minor. All around Alderson has provided for his deepest pool of players, so now the focus will simply be on the performance level for the guys penciled in to play. That alone is refreshing to me.
So, Tom is negative and Reese is positive.
I have to go see my Doc and get my meds adjusted.
One more thing.. Tebow has not appeared in any minor league games since returning to that side of the complex and was seen yesterday still wearing his walking boot.
Lastly, Phil Evans' April future is dependent on how many relievers the Mets go north with. He may lose out here at so fault of his own.
Mack, Evans would be happy to pitch too. His favorite # is # 25.
My brother hammered me with negatives about Alderson and the Wilpons last night (why don't you write THIS?) so I pass along one of his questions at 1 PM today, another at 1 PM tomorrow.
One thing with brother Steve - he would not, if he were the owner, take being Avis to the Yankees' Hertz sitting down.
My mother had 8 kids - largely due to my early influence, seven are Mets fans. My smart brother Jim is a lifelong Yankee fan - they do chicken right.
@TP -- I was tempted to say Callaway was mirroring the curious decision made by his predecessor to declare Jose Reyes a spare outfielder and then barely let him play there, but actually Collins gave more innings to Reyes in the OF than Callaway has.
Tom, after Reese had us drinking the Kool-Aid, why you slap us with reality? LOL!
If you can handle more reality, go look where FanGraphs has placed the Mets in their positional rankings so far.
Well you ALMOST made it through this thread without mentioning him.
Keep working at it, Mr Monk. OCD can be cured. 😀
Bill -
Not if you're from Texas.
I gave Collins credit. Geez.
For leaving quietly?
No, for his curious decision. 😈
Flores actually now at .333 with 3HR and is starting to look fierce and very confident at he plate. I give some credit to Callaway, as Wilmer finally has a manager who has confidence in him “he can really hit. We need to get him as many at bats as possible”. I predict a huge and happy year for Wilmer. On Phil Evans, I commented on an earlier piece asking about the biggest surprises for the roster that Phil had a good chance of making he squad. If he doesn’t, it’s due to an 8 man pen (as Mack noted) but also because the club might see Reyes as the only legit backup SS I’m the roster. I like Evans, and I hope that he can become believable as an emergency catcher, which would also allow us to use one of the other big stick catchers to PH.
Mack, I completely agree.
I gave Collins credit for actually on rare occasions using Reyes in the OF, something Callaway has yet to do.
My only point today...
The Mets are coming off two dreadfully disappointing seasons. Some of the cause was injury, the lack of player depth at key positions, and player personnel strategy.
I just feel that at some point, a team has to discard some of the more sleepy non-contributing players offensively.
I can name five of such.
OK, Anon, I'm interested in your 5 names.
As for the last 2 seasons, how was reaching the WC game (and only losing it because Mad Bum was brilliant) despite many injuries "dreadfully disappointing"?
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