Guillorme does it all.
Hope you had a Happy Memorial Day - honor where honor is due, in a country where honor is all the more often turned to dishonor.
Off the after-glow of another in the pantheon of amazing Mets' wins, this time aid by the Plummer union local's best hitter, the Mets get to swat some Nats for a few days.
Fedde vs. Peterson - this one won't go 15 rounds. It might go 15 runs, though.
Drew Smith tried to bare-hand a hard grounder on Sunday and dislocated his pinky which was popped back into place. Pitching hand, so we'll see how many days he misses. Please be few. Don't reach out and touch a baseball with naked digits.
Brandon Nimmo cortisone injection for the wrist - let's hope it is just the right elixir.
Jeff McNeil sat out Saturday - feeling a little achy - they won without Brandon and Jeff Saturday, no small feat.
METS: No Nimmo in the line up tonight, but Plummer snagged a well-deserved start in the outfield after he saved the Mets' bacon in highly dramatic fashion on Sunday.
David Peterson shaky right from the get-go, surrendering 3 in the first. But Guillorme Gwynn naturally led off the Mets' half with a single, followed by a single by the very valuable Marte and a single on the 7th pitch by Lindor. (39 ribbies) Well, inning ended up 3-2.
Next inning, a Canha single, then a run-scoring double from our unstoppable Plummer (since called up, a 113 MPH HR and 101 MPH double - but he's not done); then Guillorme Gwynn laces another hit (.372), and Marte cranks a moon shot (27 RBIs) and it is 6-3 after 2. Last year, of course, the Mets trail this one 3-0 after 1, 3-1 after 8 and scratch out a 9th inning run to lose 3-2. BIG change in 2022.
Next inning Canha singles, Nido singles, and the hottest man on the planet, Luis G. Gwynn, steps up with his .923 OPS. He gets the Soto treatment and walks on 4 pitches, raising his OPS. SMH. LOL. OMG.
Bags full, 2 outs for the dangerous Marte. 2 run single, his 3rd hit in 3 innings, pushing him over .290 and up to 29 RBIs. If you asked him why he was suddenly so hot, he'd say, "Man, I don't want to be outhit by that Gwynn guy." Lindor, 2 on, two out....instead of rope-a-dope he plays rope-a-rope and nails a single for RBI 40 and a 9-3 lead. Eleven hits through 3 innings. Dang.
Then - wait for it - PLUMMER 3 RUN SHOT! Good golly! A few batters later, Luis G. Gwynn lined out. Peterson got pulled after 4.2 innings with an 8 run lead! Very ouch! Holderman gets the last out of the 5th, and Plummer singles in the 6th. Good double golly! Plummer only hit .250 in Syracuse in 24 games, but he did drive in 21 runs. Maybe the great physical skills are finally clicking in strong.
In the 7th, Shreve got back from Shreveport and promptly fanned Juan Soto. Sylvester Stallone told me, "He ain't so bad!" 1-2-3, and left that inning with an ERA lower than Aaron Loup.
How would you feel if your team was down 7 runs in the 7th and had to face Luis G. Gwynn, Super-Starling Marte, and sizzling Francisco Lindor? I'd feel a little queasy - excuse me for a minute. Luis lined out - again - and it was 3 up, 3 down.
Pete caps it off with his 13th. Nice relief from Nogosek again. Holderman 2-0, 0.96. Bet he never expected that. 13-5 Mets.
Jake and Max are suddenly feeling better, figuring they can pitch at 50% and win if the team is gonna hit .500 every game. Who needs rehab, right? Somewhere, though, no doubt, an inquisitive Facebook fan is wondering why they are not starting Dom Smith and JD Davis tonight.
Oh, and....Braves lost and Phils lost. And the Mets are one day closer to getting their walking wounded back.
MINORS: thankfully, just one game. My fingers feel like Drew Smith's from typing so much.
SYRACUSE: glad we got to borrow their Plummer. We have lots of handyman jobs and want to keep him for a while.
BINGHAMTON: only minors game of the day. They scored enough for all 4 Mets minors teams. The bats that finally showed up with 9 runs and 17 hits on Sunday were back on Monday, with Binghamton racking up 13 runs on 17 knocks. Hayden Senger had 4 singles, Jeremy Vasquez netted 3 RBIs, Luke Ritter two (22 on the season), Brodey a single and double, and Francisco the Great scored 3 runs, including his 8th HR, (I watched one he hit a few days earlier - cleared the scoreboard. Today’s? A 108 MPH bomb.)
Multiple pitchers gave up no earned runs until big, bad Bryce Montes de Oca (BMDO) took over in the 9th after an Edwards-allowed HR and walk. A walk, out and double had it at 2nd and 3rd, one out, and BMDO threw 6 strikes to the next guy to induce a ground out. He then walked 9-HR Josh Breaux to load 'em up and he needed just one pitch for out number 3. Good to throw some pitches, only way you get better. 13-2 final.
Macks' guy Hejka threw 3 scoreless in relief, BTW. Mack doesn't hedge and Hejka - he likes the dude. That 0.75 ERA in AA so far is a good reason why.
BROOKLYN: the boys are off to today to enjoy the rides on the boardwalk.
ST LUCIE: no baseball today, but time to savor the exploits of Junior Tillen and Omar de los Santos (don't know what those two are? Well, we covered that in yesterday's recap.)
Mack - My thoughts
- Today's featured Met minor leaguer might be the next Syracuse reliever called up.
The Mets have already picked the Cuse relief tree pretty clean and there is only one reliever left with an ERA under 3.00.
31 year old R.J. Alvarez was picked up in the off season.
Alvarez was a 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft, by the Angels, out of Florida Atlantic University.
As they say, "he's been around" pitching for minor league teams in the chains of the Angels, Padres, A's, Cubs, Rangers, Marlins, and Brewers, but this year has been his best:
11-G, 16.1-IP, 16-K, 2.81.
Yes, he seems to be in love with the number 16, but he also has given up 16 walks.
Lots of speed here with a deceptive delivery, he may not be the best in control, but he, at least is starting to show the ability to get out of trouble on his own.
- Today's featured prospect
is Clemson sophomore eligible third baseman, Max Wagner.
You know me. I do a ton of research on the draft eligible players plus my home team is Clemson, so I'm sure you would think I know a ton about this kid.
I just don't because he literally came out of nowhere this season to become a top 50 projected pick.
The 20 year old Wagner came out of Preble High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In 2021, he hit .214 with only two homers so not much was expected from him this year.
Oh yeah?
This year:
58 games, 203 ABs. .370/.496/.852/1,348, 45-BB, 27-HR, 76-RBI
I see Wagner as a viable candidate when the Mets pick in the 2nd round.
- The regular season and conference playoffs for all college teams are over and some go on to the College World Series playoffs, while most don't.
Thought you would like to see the top players by statistical rank in some categories.
I will start today with the top 5 draft-eligible home run hitters:
1. 1B Ivan Melendez Texas 28
2. 1B Matt Courtney Old Dom. 26
3. 3B Max Wagner Clemson 27
4. UT Jason Hinchman Tenn Tech 26
5. C Kevin Parada GT 26
- We need to take a deeper look at St. Lucie SS Junior Tillen. I mean he did hit three homers on Sunday.
Tillen is a 6-2, 200-lb 19 year old that came to the Mets as a heralded international prospect in the 2019 International signing period. Dominican born.
He has an advanced approach and swing with raw power.
Can definitely play all three outfield positions as well as second, short, and third.
His strongest defensive asset is his ++ arm. Average speed.
2021 stats for the FCL Mets were quite underwhelming.
103 at bats, .165, 0-HR
So far this season for Lucy:
51-AB, .255, 5-HR
The world is an oyster for Junior and see where he goes after that incredible game on Sunday.
- IF Manny Rodriguez was transferred from AAA Syracuse to AA Binghamton.
18 comments:
Re: Plummer
I forget.
Who was the guy that said this guy could prevent Jankowski from working his way back to Queens?
Re: Peterson
I loved when we drafted him and thought he could be a great SP2 someday, but I was was wrong and he seems to comfortably settling in as our SP4/5.
Hated he couldn't get that last strike in, but he simply gave up too many pitches. Especially in the first inning.
Still, 3 runs in the first doesn't scare this team anymore.
Re: Guillorme
Do we ever sit the kid down?
Hope not.
You are witnessing a good player become great, something we are use to seeing after we have given up on someone and either traded or dropped them.
Well, now figure out where McNeil goes, how Davis plays, what about Smith… Luis Gwynn messed up all of Buck’s plans…
Luis Gwynn has suddenly become one of the toughest at bats in baseball. Excellent eye, hard contact machine.
His upper limit is...
Well, maybe some day, he'll be the next Nick Plummer.
Both hope to be the next Junior Tillman, of course.
Excellent mess up.
For me, I always start at the top.
Going forward, Jeff plays second and Luis plays third. Our recently signed third baseman goes UT.
Both Davis and Dom on the block.
Who hopes to the the next Hejka
Don't let the boss know ..peeking at Mack's Mets on company time... So many comments to make that I am not going to get them all in..
Luis G.:. I am trying to think of a historical comp -. Any players come to mind?
Another 10 game block completed - another 7-3 to add to their previous 7-3, 7-3, 6-4, and 6-4 blocks
Can Plummer play first base? His bat might make it easier to trade Smith for pitching.
My first call after Plummer's first couple games was "Travis who?", But they are different types of players. Plummer will actually more likely slide into Smith's role
Bill, Plummer is physically strong - hopefully they work hard on him to maintain good contact. Then, who knows? I think right now, too soon to count heavily on him, but what an exciting start. Never a first baseman - but a very low error outfielder.
My only comp for Luis is Wally Backman batting lefty. He seems like a smaller version of Pete Rose these days. Line drives.
My impression from last night: The Mets are having FUN!
Gone is the pressure of not performing and getting light boos from the crowd. Gone are the constant questions about substitutions and pitching woes. This is what it looks like when the team's confidence is strong. They don't fear a failure, so they stretch limits and find out how much greater they can be.
It won't always be just like this - there are ups and downs in a season. But these guys have learned to trust each other and that will go a long way.
Long live Nick Conforto.......I mean Plummer.
Most.slugging outfielders can make the transition to first.
Paul also gone are the days when we needed a replacement and we all knew the Wilponies would go bargain basement shopping. I still haven't gotten over cutting Cano and eating 39 mil. as we all know with the old management he would be playing everyday and poor Luis G. would have about 20 AB's at this point.
Gary, the current Luis is light years better than almost 40 Cano.
This team has so much depth. Hard for Dom and JD to make excuses about playing time affecting their performance when Guillorme has found a way to excel in his limited playing time. That being said Guillorme has to be forcing the Mets hand at this point for more playing time. Its going to be very interesting to see how they get playing time for Plummer/Guillorme/Dom/JD once Nimmo is healthy. Buck is good at rotating players though and this is a good problem to have. Guys like McNeil/Guillorme/Cahna/Nimmo must drive pitchers nuts. Its fun to watch at team that has long at bats and makes contact.
Right now I would just switch roles between Escobar and Guillorme. Escobar can play utility infielder successfully and would just sacrifice some ABs to Mr. Gwynn. He would probably be happy with that as long as he didn't have to trade his $10M for Luis' $875k.
I have long suggested that Davis and Smith are misfits in their current roles. Both are good players who will likely thrive elsewhere.
If there is not a current major league hole to fill then using JD or Dom to improve the farm system might not be a bad thing. When Jankowski heals back they might have to make a decision. Imagine if they were still trying to fit Cano into games.
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