Well, OK, it’s Thursday now, but who’s counting?
Before my article, let’s talk about Wednesday night. JD Davis was not playing the stocks, but he lost his shirt anyway...after a terrific at bat ended in a walk off double. A Santana blast put the Mets behind 3-2 in the 10th...but when Mets Magic is flowing, like it is now, we got ‘em right where we want them. Not just Just Delightful Davis, but a key infield single by the Buffalo, too? JEEPERS!
A team this hot will likely be adding Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Jed Lowrie, and Robby Cano within the next few days to weeks...WOW.
All of baseball is aware of its hottest team right now...the NEW YORK METS!
NOW...ON TO MY PLANNED ARTICLE:
Corey Oswalt and to a lesser extent Steve Nogosek have found their Mets' cups of coffee to not exactly be their cup of tea.
Oswalt in the majors?
3-4, 6.43 ERA in over 70 career MLB innings. 9 earned runs in 6.2 innings this year.
Nogosek in the majors?
6.2 IP, 0-1, 10.80 ERA.
That is a lot of well-below-par MLB pitching.
Of course, as I was just reminded by a sage colleague, the scuttlebutt is that there is a big difference in strike zones between major league umpires and their minor counterparts.
Major league umps cut rookie pitchers very little slack - really dumb, IMO, pretty "minor league bush" actually, but what can one say?
They're the umps, they make the calls. We can just kvetch.
Youngsters have to survive this kind of heat and earn their stripes.
Of course, as I was just reminded by a sage colleague, the scuttlebutt is that there is a big difference in strike zones between major league umpires and their minor counterparts.
Major league umps cut rookie pitchers very little slack - really dumb, IMO, pretty "minor league bush" actually, but what can one say?
They're the umps, they make the calls. We can just kvetch.
Youngsters have to survive this kind of heat and earn their stripes.
This is often talked about in MLB clubhouses - every pitching coach tells their new pitchers that they are not going to get the same call in the majors that they got in the minors - for their sliders, for example.
Motto? Throw strikes, hope for outs, I guess.
And survive long enough to not be seem by umps as a rook.
Both Oz & Nog are flat out kicking butt now in AAA:
Oswalt:
9-3, 2.76 in 16 starts.
In his last 6 stellar starts, 34 innings, 3 earned runs, just 25 hits and 2 walks, and 28 Ks.
Nogosek:
11 AA outings, 0.95 ERA.
After his promotion to AAA, incredible - 19 outings, 27 innings, 27 Ks, ERA of 0.00, just 11 hits and 9 walks.
Can't get much better than that, for either of them.
Simply stellar. Better than AAAA, IMO.
So - when will it translate into major league success?
When will they get over the hump?
What's your take?
6 comments:
Part of the problem is that when the team was bad, they were not given much of a leash to learn. Now that the team is going better, the likelihood is even slimmer as people will not want to risk innings on great unknowns. I hate to say it, but it will take more injuries for their opportunities to arrive.
I heard the while the PCL is using this year's ML ball, the IntL is not.
True? Might explain something. Maybe Diaz too?
Probably be brought up in Sept. but will they have the same fate if their pitching only in mop up situations? I guess so so they'll have to wait till spring. Do any of you guys have the same problem as me which is waking up in the morning to: THE NEW YORK METS ARE THE HOTTEST TEAM IN BASEBALL! and its not a dream it's really happening and J.D. is doing his darndest to try and balance the scales of the Cano deal and thank you Mr. Davis. It's always very interesting to see when a very long baseball season is winding down what a strange and in our case wonderful series of events unfold like where would J.D. and Jeff be right now if Nimmo and Lowrie where healthy? Anyway lets really enjoy everyday of this historic run and of course LGM!
And the Syracuse Mets have won 8 straight thanks in part to Nogosek and Oswalt. They are now a game out of first and a playoff spot.
Hang on everybody... the Mets are playing great ball but they are not the hottest team in baseball.
The Mets have gone 6-4 in their past 10 games, but, in their own division, the Braves have gone 7-3 while the Nats have gone 8-2.
Add to this the 7-3 records of St. Louis, the Dodgers, and Oakland.
Back to the topic of the post...
Reese's comments are spot on. It was a whole different humidity in the dugout when they pitched for the Mets, but I believe Oswalt has been given ample time to prove he is worthy of a starter roll for the Mets.
Nogosek does deserve more time in the pen and Sept would be a good target for him.
If Wheeler leaves I think Oswalt will be one of the favorites to try to fill the void next year since he has had ample time as a starter.
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