SPOTLIGHT ON: Never Say Die Harol Gonzalez

PC - Ed Delany

Man, seasons don't get much worse than the one the Harol Gonzalez had in 2018: 

1-16, ouch.  

Even though he had a not-terrible 4.80 ERA and 1.39 WHIP.

Some guys would find the nearest nail in the wall and hang up the glove.  For good.

Not Harol.  "Never Say Die."

First of all, as Jake knows, you need an offense and pen to support you.  

For instance, a major league guy with similar ERA/WHIP stats in 2018 was Zach Godley of Arizona, with a 4.74 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.

His win loss record?  Not 1-16, like Harol, but 15-11.

Anyway, it wasn't like 2019 started out as a rousing success for Gonzalez in terms of wins and losses.

Through his first 14 starts, despite a 3.33 ERA, he was just 3-3 ,with 7 no decisions (in the 8th, his first start of the season, he didn't go 5 innings and did not qualify for a win).

His last 8 starts, though, in AA and AAA?

The clouds finally parted and the sun shined in: 

6-1, with just 13 earned runs in 42 innings pitched, and of that, 3-0 so far in AAA.

So, in 22 games in 2019, he is 9-4, 3,13 ERA - sweet.

The 24 year old 6'0", 160 Gonzalez has gone from a 1-16 disaster to someone who ought to get a real look in spring training 2020 to make the Mets.

Similarly, lefty AA Blake Taylor was an awful 4-17 in 2017 and 2018 combined.  Another to not give up, he has hugely turned it around this year and ought to get a shot at the Mets' pen in 2020...he has been brilliant in relief since his promo to AA fifteen games ago.

Hey, while we are on the subject of hard luck, Jake deGrom, the brilliant pitcher for the Mets, won Saturday night too - shocker of shockers, for the Mets ace, who somehow has only won about 1 of every 3 starts in 2018 and 2019.

So...a huge and hearty congratulations to one of Mack's favorites, Harol "Never Say Die" Gonzalez.

You gotta stay IN IT to win it.

Keep moving FORWARD!

P.S.  

This message is also for Mickey Jannis:

Here are the stats for the last 2 starts for the knuckleballer: 

13 dominant innings, 11 hits, 2 walks, 1 earned run... 

AND TWENTY TWO K'S!!  

But of course, this is the Mets' system, so he somehow LOST BOTH.  But hurlers like Jannis who miss a lot of bats?  They often ultimately succeed.