GOALS.
We all need 'em.
But do we meet them?
Meeting my goals is a goal I seldom achieve.
The first place Mets, however, have a 47-40 record,
And a 3.5 game lead going into the second "half."
Very amazing considering the slew of injuries.
So far, they've achieved their main goal.
What goals could the Mets set for the last 75 games?
Let me set some for the pitchers.
Hitters? See my article from yesterday.
Jake deGrom - quit slacking off, get the ERA back below 1.00, and win the Cy Young award. Figure 14 more starts - how about 10-2?
Taijuan Walker - just keep pitching like the amazing All Star that you are.
Marcus Stroman - go to Small Claims Court and file a claim for more wins in the second half for all your efforts.
Tylor Megill - 4 starts, 4 Mets wins? Figure 15 more starts, so 15 more Mets' wins? Nah, that's greedy. 10 Mets' wins in 15 starts would be nice though. And those 26 Ks in 18 innings are great, but hopefully, some more economical outings can get you into the 6th or even 7th inning in your starts at some point.
Carlos Carrasco - well, Cookie had his rehab outing yesterday and he looks ready to return…and start…in 9 days for the Mets.
Noah Syndergaard - this long-running saga will hopefully have a successful conclusion by late August, with a powerful return from the Norse God with the repaired wing.
Edwin Diaz - Edwin is like one of those elite sports cars that seems to need adjustments in the shop more than, say, a Honda Accord. May the Mets score a lot more in the second half, so Edwin does not need to be overused, like pitching a 9th inning Saturday night and then being expected to go an inning and two thirds on Sunday. Use the car properly and watch it fly.
Aaron Loup - gosh I wanted to write something about what he could do better. Thought of nothing - Loup has been brilliant and may that brilliance be sustained throughout the second half.
Seth Lugo - after missing beaucoup time early in 2021, he is back and doing well. May that continue throughout the second half.
Jeurys Familia - Jerry the Family Man has been spot at times and fine at times. But 4-1, 3.76??? I'll take that in the second half in a heartbeat.
Drew Smith - 3-1, 2.92 first half once he got healthy? I'll take that in the second half in a heartbeat.
Miguel Castro - 35 games, 2-2, 3.86. Pitch him less, he'll do better more.
Trevor May - 35 games, 2-2, 3.58. He had one bad stretch, but has righted the S.S. May. Like with Castro, pitch him less, he'll do better more.
Robert Gsellman - 0-1, 3.71, 15 outings. Oft-injured, injured again, let's wait and see.
Sean Reid-Foley - 2-1, 5.23. He was more good than bad. Currently on 10 day IL in Syracuse.
Jordan Yamamoto - 1-1, 4.05 in 6.2 shaky Mets innings. Of course, he got hurt, and may have a tough time getting back to the Mets due to lack of velocity.
Yennsy Diaz - he has been decent, with 9 Ks in 8 innings and 4 earned runs. He may get more back-of-pen time in 2nd half.
Jacob Barnes - was awful with the Mets, and went off to Toronto, where he has thrown 6.2 innings of 2 earned run, 10 K ball. That leave the Mets and do well stuff happens a lot - just ask Steve Matz or...
Paul Sewald - wow! 5-2, 1.40, 26 innings, 44 Ks, 0.935 WHIP. Oh, wait, the former 1-15 Met now pitches for Seattle. My mistake.
Jerad Eickhoff - 6 HRs in 12.2 IP, after 11 HRs in 46 minor league innings? Who said the long ball is dead - let's see if he can cut his HRs-allowed rate - somewhere else.
Corey Oswalt - 1-1, 3.48 in 10.1 IP, then the knee starts barking. Second half return is likely, as long as the knee responds.
Robert Stock - two good 2021 starts - one where the Mets beat him while with the Cubs, and the other that he lost for the Mets despite a good outing. His most recent AAA outing was strong, so he is a viable back-end option.
David Peterson - totally Jekyll and Hyde in his 2021 starts - either strong, or awful - nothing in between. Overall, more awful than good as his record shows: 2-6, 5.54 ERA. Now injured - a September call up??
Joey Lucchesi - had some very bad starts, but then turned excellent, lowering his ERA to 4.46, but he went 2-4 due to bad luck - and then it got worse with Tommy John Surgery, likely to keep him out until late 2022. Awful - Joey was a guy I was really pulling for. All the best, Joey.
All in all, the Mets have a 4th best in baseball team 3.43 ERA, utterly astounding considering all the injuries. I want at least that good an ERA in the second half, considering that some of the team ERA inflators have been weeded out or are injured, and Carrasco and Thor will return, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Tylor Megill will get better, and not regress.
As long as the offense, as I mentioned yesterday, can up its production from its 3.76 runs per game to a very achievable 4.50 runs per game, that and the expected strong continued pitching ought to get the Mets to around a 45-30 mark over their last 75 games.
What, however, do you, the true experts, think?
I am hoping that Herb and David weigh in here.
11 comments:
Finding the next Marcus Stroman -- a competent and usually healthy pitcher good not only for the remainder of this year but for next year as well. That approach is worthwhile. Trading the future for 2 months of rental is not.
My Take
PITCHING:
Two really great and somewhat unexpected things happened for the Mets first half here in the starting pitching department.
1. Taijuan Walker - I saw him on the free agent list off season, and did a quick study on him. I didn't think his injury history (elbow) indicated anything terminal in nature and closely watched some video on him and found him most interesting.
Durable five pitch starter just 28 years old with only upside before him. But a NYM All Star right out of the gate? People. Just fabuloso already, a dream come true to all us Mets fans! Bravo Tiajuan Walker and bravo NY Mets for signing him. Perfect match.
2. Tylor Megill - This was all Macks Mets doing. Mack had been mentioning Tylor here for sometime and liked him alot as he does catcher Patrick Mazeika. Having played, watched, and seen way too much baseball in my lifetime, I knew immediately his first Mets start, that what I was seeing in Tylor Megill was no illusion and no slide of hand magic show. Tylor was clearly the real deal.
Tylor (age 25) is a lot like Taijuan in that both are really gifted starting pitchers way, way above the MLB norm. Although Tylor is less tested in MLB than Taijuan, he has a long and smooth fluid motion (7' tall), a crossfire delivery, a 96 mph fastball combined with a stellar mid-80's slider that starts in the strikezone and sinks virtually into China. He's a top-end starter absolutely in the making with only sky as his limit. Welcome aboard. Reproduce soon for 2043 NY Mets rotation, please.
Jake deGrom is so amazingly good that as a fan I think we all sort of assume this every game out, that Jake will be great. It's unfair of us because I think Jake is only human too, but not entirely certain of that because he is so darn good. And he is great.
So the Mets wisely have added the two new starters mentioned above to Jake, Cookie (back soon they are saying, amazing man), Marcus and right there is one of the top rotations going on in MLB today.
If Christmas comes early to Citi Field, Noah gets back whole again by September 1st and all the "Mets fan elves" are screaming with joy and slapping each other on the back rejoicing.
And what about the Mets' draft pick Kumar Rocker addition too? Too good to be true. Well done Mr. Steven Cohen! Bravo sir!
News Flash!
Chevy Chase has just agreed to play Larry David in the new movie "Yes I Am Bald, Now Leave Me Alone" a new comedy also virtually about nothing.
My Take
HITTING:
Admittedly, the NY Mets had a "somewhat quiet" first half with their hitting prowess and game, mainly because four of the team's starting fielders were out hurt most of the first half. But the utility players here made things happen anyway. Yes, there could have been more hits in some of the games played, but the team as a whole offensively almost always did seem to come up with some really timely hits, extra base hits, and homeruns.
Peter Alonso was Peter The Great as always. He moaned and groaned a little bit about baseballs being filled with Kleenex, but then decided to hit them out of the park anyway. "What the heck" he said. Jeff McNeil had almost a sort of grumpy and injurious first half at second base. But he is back strong now and he's brought some swagger. Francisco Lindor was in adjustment, probably just getting used to and acclimating to what most people's first impressions of "The Apple" tends to be. But Francisco is alive and well now people. So lookout! Jonathan Villar held the fort aptly well at third base first half. But JD Davis is like a bull too long in a bull ring who wants only to get out and play. He's totally healthy now, and "on fire" up at Syracuse (hitting .390) and my advice to the NY Mets is simply this regarding JD, "For the love of God, do not trade JD Davis. Let the man play here because this guy is truly the type of "trench warfare player" that this team needs the most of all right now offensively."
Left Field was all Dominic Smith who has had a good first half, but there is so much more to this guy we cannot even imagine right now. And the fielding plays he made too in left...Woe! Brandon Nimmo is "Mr. Automatic" to me, number 9. He's 110% everything he does. Right Field is the only question mark on the team. Can Michael Conforto return to his 2020 status? Personally, I'd bet on him. He's that good.
At catcher we have two very good defensive catchers with live arms both combining for a really healthy .250 batting average and some extra base hitting as well. I'll take this anytime.
This is going to be a most fun second half.
Reese
On Marcus.
I don't get him. He's a mystery to me.
His stats are solid. Low ERA, low WHIP, has usually very good control. His strikeouts per inning may be just a tad low at worst, but nothing major suggestive. He does average pretty much a hit per inning but it's not unusual for any other MLB good starter really.
Maybe it's a hit per inning, but maybe at the wrong time scoring wise for an opponent team. I don't know.
He shows great desire. He shows real enthusiasm out there each outing. He's really into it, you can see this. Obviously loves to pitch too. Has good stuff. However, look at his won/lost record. It's barely above the 500% level wherever he goes.
Why, I ask you Reese?
I don't get it. Do you?
Is it the Mets' hitting support?
Jimmy, you need to stop smoking whatever you have in your pipe. Smith, Alonso, etal had terrible first halves. we can only pray they get better, no guarantees.
We at Mack Mets take all the credit for Megill, although we deserve none of it, and Megill deserves AA of it.
AA =all
Don't Hefner and the PCs at Bingo and 'Cuse get any credit for Megill' s success?
Team Stats are one of my pet peeves, because they include players no longer here. Those who underperformed (like Eickhoff and Almonte and Lee) should not have their #s affecting the present team.
I would like to see the ERAs and BAs of only CURRENT players averaged into "team" #s. At the end of the season, everyone counts, but posting current stats is far more relevant.
Bill, good point. Of course, the stats of those who remain on the roster are not very good either.
In 2015, I remember how gosh-awful the back up hitters were into July. Once Uribe, Johnso, and Cespedes arrived, and the failing guys were jettisoned, the Mets were the best hitting team in baseball. Before that "switch on", the mets were the worst hitting team. Largely due to subs failing auditions miserably.
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