Reese Kaplan -- Some Truffles on the Cow Patties

Trends are a tricky thing because you don’t know if they’re sustainable or not.  However, in this superfund site in Queens, there are actually a few encouraging signs to consider when you start thinking about next year.

To begin, Wilmer Flores getting regular ABs has been a good thing for quite some time now even if the guys holding the lineup pencil are too stubborn to acknowledge it.  Over the past 30 days Wilmer has hit .298 with 3 HRs, 6 doubles and 11 RBIs.  He’s also only struck out 6 times.  Imagine that – someone who makes contact!  Unfortunately, he’s proving once again he’s a man without a position as his glove has never caught up to his bat.  Perhaps being an AL designated hitter is indeed the best way to achieve value for his talent.  He’s been tried and more-or-less failed with every defensive option short of catcher.  The skill is there but if he’s strictly a role player on the Mets then he might be worth more in trade.

Newcomer Jeff McNeil is performing like, well, Jeff McNeil.  He was a .300 hitter with power in the minors and he’s a .333 hitter thus far in his 13 game sample in the big leagues.  An OBP of .429 and an OPS of .911 SHOULD mean that the Wilpons and Ricco (or whatever Stooge is put in charge of the 2019 season) can close their checkbooks and enjoy the minimum wage exploits of the new 2^nd baseman.

Michael Conforto has been on something of a run production tear during this interval as well, with 4 HRs and 13 RBIs.  That’s while playing with a minor injury as well.  His batting average is still not where you’d like it to be – just .256 for the past 30 days – but it’s a vast improvement over what he’d done earlier in the year. 

Other hot hitters for the Mets lately include pitcher Jacob deGrom, Austin Aoki and Luis Guillorme who is 3-6 in his very limited opportunities. 

Amed Rosario seemingly has hit a wall and his .218 batting average for the past month suggests there’s something endemically wrong here.  Another site’s writer volunteered a very intelligent idea of sending him down to AA to work on his game out of the spotlight and regain some confidence.  Doing it at the AAA level  wouldn’t necessarily mean anything as the hitting numbers are inflated.  You could let Guillorme play SS every day in his absence to see how he does with a prolonged look.  That way you'd know whether or not he could have a bench role going forward.

For what it’s worth Jose Reyes has gotten hot by his anemic standards -- .214 over this period – and Joey Bats needs a new nickname with his .165 average.  After many were anointing Brandon Nimmo an All-Star he’s hit a major tailspin and over the last 30 days has only hit .207 with an alarming 33 Ks. 

On the pitching side of the ledger, you already know what deGrom is doing.  He’s proving to be human after all as his 30-day ERA is UP to 2.01.  Then there’s Zack Wheeler’s emergence as he’s gone with a 2.51 number over the same period.  Noah Syndergaard between injury and illness is at 2.65.  Corey Oswalt is at a respectable 3.68, too.  Perhaps Jason Vargas' latest 1/3 of an inning stinker will open up management's eyes to cut him loose or at least banish him to the pen when Steven Matz returns.

The bullpen has got Jerry Blevins finally pitching like Jerry Blevins – a 2.57 ERA over the past month.  Robert Gsellman is resembling the earlier season version with a 2.92 ERA.  Seth Lugo is neck and neck with a 3.00.  Bobby Wahl gave up his first two runs last night, but Drew Smith is down to a 2.57 ERA.  With Anthony Swarzak out yet again, the Mets may be leaning on Wahl, Gsellman and Drew Smith to see who might be capable of closing games. 

Many call this portion the schedule “Garbage Time” in reference to the meaningless nature of the games as it relates the pennant race.  However, to folks looking to open some eyes and not merely being handed starting assignments due to past success (cough, Jose Bautista, cough-cough, Todd Frazier, cough-cough-cough, Jose Reyes), this time is critical.  Last year the Mets had the opportunity to test drive some of their younger and role players down the stretch but in many cases failed to do so.  Jose Reyes still lead the team in ABs despite his paltry performance and impending free agency.  Gavin Cecchini, Brandon Nimmo and others rotted on the bench.  Let’s not repeat that same mistake in this even more lost season.