The reality sinks in when one considers that Oakland and Seattle opened the real season ALREADY, overseas, on March 20.
So the 2019 season, she's a-comin'.
Happily, when it comes to pitchers, we have a good degree of certainty as to who is coming north.
Starters:
Jake, Thor, Zach, Matz, and Varg. Some would have hoped I would have typed Gio G in there, but the boys with the BIG CHECKBOOK, the Yankees, got him instead.
Matz has been shaky, but there really is no Plan B for now...the Mets are expecting him to pitch like a legit SP 4, and soon. Vargas has pitched well, except when he tried to pitch into the 5th inning in his last start. Most people have little love for Vargas, but I think he may be a .500 pitcher, which I will take easily from an SP 5.
Pen:
Diaz, Jay Reese, Lugo, Gsellman, Avilan, Wilson.
Avilan has been great, and I assume is a lock...Wilson not so much, but he is making BUCKS, so he should be there. Gsellman has not been superb, but he has had success, so seems a virtual lock to come north.
That's 5 starters and 6 relievers. That's 11.
I assume we need 12 for the start of the season.
Who will # 12 be?
I am guessing it could be Kyle Dowdy - he is our Rule 5 guy, and the Mets likely will try to give him a chance to be the last arm out of the pen.
Others? Most have not pitched well, although some have:
Ryan O'Rourke and Corey Oswalt have pitched well, and either could supplant Dowdy still, but I think both will be heading to the minors - just a gut.
Hector Santiago was looking "dyn-o-mite" until getting obliterated on Sunday by the Nats. Nonetheless, he has 12 Ks in 6.2 IP, so a dominant outing before final cuts are made could have him coming north, too.
Paul Sewald could, too, since he has been in the pen most of the past 2 seasons, but results do count - he has been 0-10 in his big league career and has had just 4 official innings in 4 outings through Monday this spring. My guess is that loss-wise, that is as close as he'll get to Anthony Young for a while.
Other guys who would have been perceived as legit candidates coming into the spring and who pitched for the Mets last year: Tim Peterson started out pitching well this spring, but was bad lately. Tyler Bashlor the fireballer(?) has allowed 15 hits and 4 walks in 9.2 IP, with just 2 Ks. HUH?
Daniel Zamora has been pretty awful this spring (12 hits and 6 walks in 6.1 IP) Jacob Rhame? 6 innings, 10 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks. And, sadly, Drew Smith succumbed to Tommy John Surgery and will miss 2019.
The demise of the 2018 Mets was significantly due to a very poor back end of the bullpen - I truly think that Sewald, Peterson, Bashlor, Zamora, and Rhame have done little to make anyone think that the same wouldn't happen in 2019, until they prove otherwise by dominating in the minors.
Walter Lockett? He's pitched decently, and should be slated for Syracuse. He will be striving to show he is a legit Mets SP 4 or 5 in the future.
There are others further at the edges of the Mets radar, but are essentially irrelevant in terms of being on the opening day roster, much less being called up any time soon.
So, who do you think will be the Mets' starters and relievers coming north?
6 comments:
Good Morning, Tom.
I would be lying if I said I was comfortable with our rotation as we head into the season.
Thor and Jake are good, obviously. Zack has rebounded this Spring after a poor start, so he
should be solid, but my fingers are crossed.
Matz has been abysmal! Again, hopefully it is just "Spring" and he is working on some specific
issues (like actually getting folks out).
Vargas has been very good, despite a rough 2018 season, so who knows what he will give us?
I am hopeful (desperate?) that Dallas Keuchel somehow ends up in our laps (not like that)
Mike, I'll be very surprised if the Mets pursue Keuchel - but maybe his price will drop like Nelson Cruz did a few years ago, when he accepted a cheap one year deal.
Interestingly, lots of teams have given up tons of runs this spring - lowest team ERA is 3.74 (Houston). Boston? 5.54. Highest? White Sox 6.52. Eleven teams with ERA of 5.00 or higher.
Seems like Keuchel will get paid - a lot of teams probably could use a guy like him.
The starting 5 are set, and should be as good 1-5 as any in MLB. Barring injury, no surprises by OD.
As for the #7 RP, I was ready to ship him out until yesterday, but as you said, they want to give him a look before deciding. I'd like to see if they can trade for him, then send him upstate, but barring that he should be here until he shows he's a liability.
Of the rest, O'Rourke has looked best. We should have a very good staff at 'Cuse, and the shuttle will likely be very active this Summer.
Sorry, I left out Dowdy's name in the "ship out" comment above.
Bill, I agree. And yes, Syracuse should have a solid staff. 2 runs less per game allowed than last year in the PCL should easily be achievable. I am interested to see what a physically fit Flexen can achieve.
If BVW does not speak with forked tongue, then Dowdy is toast. He said the best players come north.
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