Tom Brennan - METS DOG DAYS OF AUGUST
We Mets fans have descended into all too familiar territory.
The dog days of August.
Occasionally, August is a pleasant experience for Mets fans. Take for instance 2015. The Mets had just acquired Yoenis Cespedes and a few other fellows and went on one heck of a run pulling away from the Nationals and right into the October Classic before faltering.
But those years where August is a positive for Mets fans truly seem few and far between.
After that 11 and 1 start this year the Mets are 34 and 63. and considering that Jeurys Familia and Asdrubel Cabrera are no longer with the team, the Mets ice that they're skating on has gotten a whole lot thinner.
For instance, in Sunday's game, having Familia to bring into a game late would have been certainly helpful. Instead, the newer and less skilled Tyler Bashlor allowed the winning run on a 10th inning home run, not particularly surprising.
Jeff McNeil - (.364/.462/.606 in his impressive big league debut to date) - his arrival for me makes August something to look forward to - so far, so fine - but can he keep up the pace and avoid the "Brandon Nimmo dip"?
It's nice to see Michael Conforto starting to hit better, and Amed Rosario hopefully will continue to progress to where, in 2019, he will be a bona fide, reliable, above average Major Leaguer at shortstop.
It's wonderful to see Zack Wheeler pitching extremely well too. Folks once thought he'd be a # 1 - perhaps he will be.
But there is an awful lot of season still left to go and, given that over the last nearly 100 games the Mets have played .350 baseball, I think that the prognosis for the next two months is pretty bleak.
Folks, there's no getting around it - we are in the dog days of August in the Mets Kennel in Queens, and I'm surprised that the Mets don't serve dog food at Citi Field given that that's the situation.
September should be interesting, what with some players getting called up like, hopefully, Pounding Peter Alonso.
But we have three and a half L...O...N...G weeks of August to go, with a team that my friend and Mets fan Mike Parenti, when watching the Yankees and the Red Sox play recently, observed that in his opinion none of the Mets would have been on the field.
That to me seems a little extreme but probably not that far from the mark.
I hope, though, as we enter further into August and September that Jake deGrom will eventually see win number 6. Miracles do happen occasionally.
Let's go Mets.
And Who Let The Dogs Out. Again.
16 comments:
If you missed it, check out the gargantuan home run hit by McNeil on video last night. Towards the very top of the upper deck down the line. Former slap hitter LOL.
I think the answer to whether McNeil can avoid the Brandon Nimmo dip is YES...because Jeff strikes out a lot less than Brandon.
Nimmo in minors fanned once every 4.71 times up; McNeil once every 8.94.
Nimmo in majors fans once every 3.53 times up; McNeil once every 6.83.
Those differences are quite substantial and favorable in terms of McNeil.
I am really hoping McNeil is our future Daniel Murphy, circa 2015-2018 version.
If you see the video, he laid a golf swing on that low-in-the-zone pitch.
Michey Jannis said on Twitter that, if you thought that was hit a long way, you should see where one of his golf balls land
Yep, hear McNeil is a great golfer too. That can help on certain pitches
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but Alonso should not be recalled this season. I am pretty sure Dominic Smith is a bust, but he's already on the 40-man roster and I'd rather give him one last chance to prove us wrong. The Mets will likely go for a cheap veteran in the offseason and let that guy compete with Smith and Alonso for the first base job in 2019. If Alonso wins the job in Spring Training, that's fine with me.
Jack -
I agree with you.
I for no reason, let Smith bolster any chance that he can be used in a trade.
I could definitely see a change of scenery trade involving Smith.
Jack, I reserve judgment on calling up Alonso until the PCL season ends. The batting average does not bother me in AAA, but the strikeouts do. If he cannot cut them down, perhaps do not call him up - but I think that, even if he mostly sat on the bench in September in Citi, that it would help him in 2019 be a successful starting 1B then. Time to acclimate.
Considering what a mess the major league team is, maybe Alonzo should be kept away until the new leadership is in place.
Maybe the major league team's bench and coaches do not provide experiences and lessons that are best for Alonzo to learn.
Bob, I think part of it for Alonso also depends on how Jeff McNeil is playing. If Jeff is playing well, reuniting with McNeil in September may be a real boost for Alonso.
Also, getting a month's worth of major league pay would be a nice bonus for a 2018 job well done for Alonso.
In a lost season the penny pinching owners won't want Alonso's service time clock to start ticking a moment sooner than absolutely necessary. In fact, if he is the MVP of Spring Training then fully expect them to sit on him in the minors for another several weeks in order to manipulate the service time to gain potentially another year of arbitration (Super Two) or stave off free agency.
Headline: Mets Bomb Baltimore 16-5
Here's the recap if you missed it.
"Plaw Man" with a 6th inning "Piazza Pizza Blast" to last. Reports say that it just came down a few minutes ago.
Wilmer de Flores goes 2 for 5. Hits eleventh homerun on a check swing. The boy has some crazy power! Winds up like a corkscrew, then boom it's gone.
"Crash Davis" goes 3 for 6. A homerun to Toms River (his twelfth) and a double to boot. He's baaaaaack!
"Ajax" goes two for four with an impressive triple cone ice cream.
The all new Jose Reyes just two for five. Racks up a double and a triple with energy to spare.
Brandon Nimble goes 6 for 5 on "Divine Inspiration" alone, the kind only he could conjure up. Smiled the entire game again. Excellent. Do you blame him? I would too if I had his talent!
Wheels pitches a smart game, settled in early enough and goes to 8-6 on the season. Could the "Cy Young" be too far away? And I have seen him do this before too.
Lefty relief specialist Jerry Blevins comes in late for one inning and gets two gorgeous strikeouts.
And infielder Jumping Jack Reinheimer collects his first NY Mets basehit.
Great and fun game! excellent "team effort." Catch them nasty Nats!
At Bing, one bright spot was lefty reliever Daniel Zamora who had
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And the Yanks lose 6-1 to 500% Rays.
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On the Peter Alonso and Jeff McNeil Discussions Here
One statement says it all I think..."It's too early to tell or know anything yet on them. Time will tell."
It's a huge adjustment to go from AAA to MLB because the pitching is so much more honed and perfected at the MLB level. It's a rethinking sort of experience for a batter, and they are facing the world's finest pitchers with loaded arms.
So it is a continuous adjustment for the better part of two seasons (I think) before being up to the majors fully makes some sense for a hitter and they gain their "green light" confidence. Once attained, sky is their limit.
But a team has to try to bring up their best and most talented guys to see how they do up here. These are two.
I too concur on only bringing up Peter Alonso after the Vegas season ends and the MLB rosters expand out. I think both Peter and Jeff have bright futures ahead of them here.
Topic: The Bullpen
I realize (and also agree with) the current approach of everyone in the bullpen getting into games. This is the perfect time to see just what you have in the Mets bullpen. I don't think that the finite closer guy has been realized yet, and if you are deserving Mets reliever, a shot like this is a wonderful opportunity.
To me, the Mets are deep in possibilities for relief pitching. They have four or five relievers up here now that I like a lot, and then down at AAA and AA about six more.
Binghamton's lefty reliever Daniel Zamora is one of these pitchers who sort of flies unnoticed and under the radar. I find him very interesting because he's a big lefty arm, and is 1-1 on the season with a wholesome 3.48 ERA, 69 strikeouts in just 51 innings of work, just 11 walks, 37 hits, and a WHIP of 1.03. The NY Mets will need at least two solid left handed relievers in their pen for 2019. Another one I am watching is Dave Roseboom who has done a lot better in 2018.
Then the Mets have a sleuth of other righty and lefty relievers at their minor league level too. So yes, the cupboard looks rather full to me for 2019 Spring Training and that is exactly what a good team wants to see.
Now Building That Bullpen:
There are two types of relievers obviously, early inning and then later on in the game. It is very important to keep straight these two different roles.
Early on relievers (5th-7th inning) are the ones who have at least two outstanding pitches they can use to get outs and pinpoint location. The two pitches could be like a 90-95 fastball and either a deadly curve, slider, or change-up as the second. If they have three pitches to them, more the better really.
The later on relievers (inning 7-extra innings) need to have two deadly good pitches in their respective arsenals, and then "a third pitch to bewitch."
The late inning reliever's fastball needs to be 95-100 mph (usually) and breaking downward as it crosses the plate. Then another deadly good pitch as well to compliment their fastball. Here maybe a slider, four-seamer, or a curve.
Their third pitch is the pitch that they use to fool a batter who does not expect it to be thrown in any given situation, or to set-up their most deadly pitch coming next. It can be a change-up or something outside the norm. This third pitch is all about the element of surprise.
I think this is a good framework for any one team to go by based upon many years of observation, going back to when the baseball was made of dinosaur blubber.
One bullpen solution for 2019 could be Jenrry Mejia, who threw 4 scoreless, 1 hit innings in the DSL today. Does he deserve redemption? Maybe not...but this team could use the successful version of Mejia in 2019.
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