Might the Mets be on the verge of running away with this?
ENSCONSED:
Well, June 1 started with the Mets firmly ensconced in first place, despite 1) no Jake and 2) partial Max, May, and Megill.
How did they get there?
By the same thing that malfunctioned last year being decidedly functional this year:
HITTING
First in hitting - .268 (.278 in May)
First in OBP - .339 (.338 in May)
Second in runs - 266 in 51 games (5.3) - 168 in May alone - this time last year, more like 3.5 RPG - what a joyous difference. The two non-hitters - Cano and Smith - gone.
Anyway...
METS: Cookie Carrasco (6-1) needed 95 pitches to get through 5 innings of shutout ball, walking 5 and fanning 5 in a 5-0 win and back-to-back series sweeps. Lugo, Ottavino, and Diaz combined for 4 scoreless, fanning 5. Oft-maligned by me, Tomas Nido attended Career Day and went 4 for 4 (.253) with 3 RBIs,
JD Davis also shut up grumpy fans with 2 for 3 (.247) and a walk - nothing like going 8 for 16 in the last 4 games to raise an average 59 points. He hit a lot of long shots earlier in the season, with just 1 HR to show for it and lots of long outs, so now he is smacking line drives for hits.
And 0 for 1 and 3 walks for Guillorme Gwynn (.360/.455/.453). His OPS is 16 points higher than the supposed team leader in that category, Pete Alonso.
Unstoppable…but next stop is in Los Angeles for these Super Mets.
MINORS: the hitting for the following 4 teams was sputtering at best, but convulsed to life over the last several days of May.
How did they start June?
SYRACUSE:
A loss. Tom Szapucki (0-4) had a far better outing, going 4 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 2 runs, and fanning 6. Just 66 pitches. Didn't qualify to win by again not going 5 innings, and he in fact took the loss in a 6-5 gaame where Adleman allowed 4 runs in relief.
Michel Otanez and Bryce Montes de Oca both debuted in AAA with a scoreless inning apiece. Khalil Lee heating up a bit with 10 for his last 28. Mangum was not in the line up.
BINGHAMTON:
Jose Butto takes the mound. Except....T Storms, so the game was postponed.
BROOKLYN:
Garrison Bryant started tonight. Great thru 4, fanning 7, then got cuffed up for 4 in the 5th, and a hurler named Courtney coughed up 4 more in the 6th, turning a 4-0 lead into an 8-4 deficit. Final was an 8-5 loss.
The Schwartz had a based filled triple (.243, 19 RBIs, including 7 in his last two games), and lead off man Rowdy Jordan parked his 2nd of the season. He also walked twice, and has a .360 OBP.
Brandon McIlwain remains ON FIRE with 2 hits and two walks (9 hits and 3 walks in his last 5 games), and Matt O'Neill had a hit and his usual 2 walks (only guy in the entire Mets system right now, I believe, with a .400+ OBP as a pro. At .411 this year, .407 for his full pro career).
The K Kontingent (Newton and Palmer) went 2 for 9 with 6 Ks. Now 113 in 78 combined games for the two. Your goal, if you choose to accept it, is to instead fan just 78 times in the next 113 combined games.
ST LUCIE:
Doug Hamel Night tonight. And he was GOOOOD. 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 8 Ks. Of greater near-term interest for the Mets, Dedniel Nunez threw 2 hitless innings, walked none, and fanned 4. Dedniel has now pitched 3.2 innings, 1 baserunner, and fanned 6. Could he hurtle quickly towards Queens, now that he is healthy again? Clubbing Carlos Dominguez had 3 hits and 3 RBIs (28) in a 7-1 drubbing. 20 year old SS William Lugo walked 3 times and has a .345 OBP in 40 games.
Mack - My thoughts
- First off, I have some matters to attend to and I will not be able to add to Tom's report until Monday morning.
I will catch ya later.
- What if I told you that we have a starting pitcher in St. Lucie that is not one of those 2021 draft dudes, is currently 4-0, and in the month of May went 0.67, giving up two earned runs in 27 innings pitched.
23 year old RHP Luis Moreno is an IDFA signed in the 2019 off season out of the Dominican Republic.
He really came out of the pen this year and was promoted to the rotation after a couple of starters were shipped to Brooklyn.
2022 so far:
9-G 3-ST 2.68 40.1-IP 37-K
FLASH
At noon Monday, Moreno was promoted to Brooklyn.
I imagine the way the pitching carousel goes, Yamamoto may get another chance in Queens at some point. He lacks velocity, his key obstacle.
ReplyDeleteMoreno? Let's see how he rolls in Cyclone Land. I love seeing guys getting promoted.
End of Mets series? Mighty Juan Soto hitting just .227. He might be hitting .327 if he was on the Mets. Hitting, simply, is contagious, as is the lack thereof having the opposite effect. Just ask Lindor.
I'd take a Brooks Lee in round 2.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Brooks Lee in Round 2? He won’t be there at #11!
ReplyDeleteTom, did you notice this guy Cano was going to be optioned by the Padres but he elected free agency? Maybe we can sign him?
Finally, from Tim Healey’s tweet of the Dodgers’ announcers at the end of the Pirates sweep in LA: “It’s not going to get easier for the Dodgers. The Mets are on their way.”
Gus, nice sweep comment. Dodgers should be worried.
ReplyDeleteI think what it is is that Cano wants to join Smith in Syracuse. What better place to be to pick up ABs.
5 teams are hitting just .212 to .226 - maybe there is room for one of them to take a flyer on Cano. What do they have to lose?
Mets 52 games, 271 runs.
ReplyDeleteDetroit 50 games, 143 runs.
Ouch.
Yeah, so the Mets will either get a Dodgers team that is in the middle of a slump, or one that will be really angry about being swept by the Pirates and ready to take it out on somebody
ReplyDeleteI am not setting high expectations for the series against LAD. Yes, they just got swept by a mediocre team, but they still have a very formidable lineup. Mets need stellar pitching to keep LAD in the box, and they still don't have Jake, Max, and Tylor. If the team continues to play good defense and hit, they will compete. Dodgers have some very good pitching this year - how will the Mets hot bats look against that? How will the aggressive base running do against stronger defenders? It will be interesting to see if you can stay up that late at night.
ReplyDeleteWest coast = 6o Minutes Fast Forward.
ReplyDeleteJust remember this - LAD has never faced the likes of Guillorme Gwynn - at last since the 1990s :)