From The Desk… 7/8

Good morning.   

     1.    You know, we spend so much time talking about the lack of run production given to Jacob deGrom, that the fact that the same dilemma falls on Steven Matz. He has the 22^nd lowest ERA in baseball yet he is the only pitcher in those top 22 guys that have a losing record (a couple come close, but that would bring us back to deGrom).

     2.    Michael Baron - @michaelgbaron - If anything, Amed Rosario needs to demonstrate progress and growth in the 2nd half. On both sides of the ball. Start to grow and mature from the mistakes and hardships. Nothing is a given, especially right now with the Mets. Over his last 11 games, Rosario is 2-for-21 with 8 K. As most of you know, I have always been a big fan of Rosario and I said he was going to be the Mets shortstop well into the next decade. I also said the same thing about Dilson Herrera on second. I never expected Rosario to win the batting title but it was a lock that he would be an exceptional glove in the field. Herrera needs to take a peek at what’s behind him. Luis Guillorme, Andres Gimenez, Oliver Pasqual, Sherven Newton, Ronny Mauricio. Then, he needs to take a deep breath and get back to earning his paycheck.

      3.    Since we are talking about players I sand were ‘sure fire’, I need to say a word about pitcher Chris Flexen. I was thrilled when the Mets went over-slot for Flexen in the 14^th round of the 2012 draft. No one expected him to go pro but he did. I was convinced I was correct when he went 1.76 in the 10 starts he made last season for St. Lucie and Binghamton. But, it looks like rushing him to Queens just has ruined this kid as a starter. He’s not even able to produce a decent stat line in Las Vegas this year (1.73-WHIP). For now, I would put him on the 7-day DL for some phantom injury, send him down to Florida to take a dip, and bring him back as a member of the pen. We have the time this season to try this experiment.

      4.    Jason - @jasonlynch76 - Mets are 35-0 this season when we score more runs than the other team.

      5.    Doug - @FTLO_Baseball - Nice to see Kelenic is destroying rookie ball. Unfortunately, his indefensible assignment to that league is not moving his needle in the least. Now, were he killing it in the Appy, we might be getting a better read on how good he already is. I disagree here. The kid is like 8 years old. Let him have a ball in Florida while, at the same time, visit with the St; Lucie guys and watch their night games. Port St. Lucie is an entire New York Mets city. You can move him to Kingsport for the last month of this season and, hopefully, start him in Columbia next season.

      6.    It’s becoming more obvious every day that the Mets will be awarded one of the top 10 draft picks in 2019. Our current rotation, rotational depth in the high pipeline levels, and the early success of bats line Gimenez, Alonso, McNeil, Kelenic, and Mauricio makes me want to keep the bats coming next year in the first round. This draft may be easier to make that decision. Four of the current projected first round picks play a position we have plenty of chips… shortstop (Logan Davidson, Bobby Witt Jr., C.J. Adams, Nick Quintana), while four more project to be Friday starters (Mathew Thompson, Tyler Dyson, Hunter Barco, Brennan Malone). 3B Drew Mendosa should go in the first five picks. And Riley Greene will be the first outfielder picked, probably late in the first round. First catcher projects as Baylor’s Shea Langeliers.

      7.    Roster moves:  24/yr. old RHP Trey Cobb was transferred from Columbia to St. Lucie. Filling the opening slot will be RHP Trent Johnson, who was in Brooklyn. I have Cobb listed as a ‘blue’ prospect. Cobb was an 8^th round 2017 pick that’s off to a good professional start: 2017 – 20-app, 2.63, 1.13… so far this year: 27-app, 2.22, 1.34. Lastly, 1B Jeremy Vasquez earned a promotion from Columbia to St. Lucie, which is a hop, skip, and a jump down the block from where he played high school ball. Ain't that the kick? I consider the 28th round 2017 pick a real dark horse. He's hitting .289 for the Fireflies before the phone rang.

8.      Clay Ramsey - @ClayRMetsFan - Yoel Romero also left the game tonight for the Kingsport_Mets . He was plunked twice in tonight's contest. If he is indeed hurt, Kingsport would be down another INF after losing Mark Vientos to the same fate a night ago.

          The 2018 drafted pitchers down in Kingsport are rocking out of the pen (Christian Tripp, Andrew Mitchell, Allan Winans, and Mitch Hickey) - 12.0 IP 2 R 2 ER 11 Ks 5 BBs 1.13 ERA