Tom Brennan - Brooklyn Punch Outs

Tuesday night, the Cyclones won 8-0, with Blade Tidwell going 3.2 innings and fanning 4.  Nice.

Tidwell has 46 Ks and 25 walks in 32 innings this year, for the record.

Then the two Strikeout Freaks came in.

6'9" Jace Beck recorded 7 outs, all by K.  

He now has fanned a stunning 32 batters in 14 innings.  He has also walked 15, just to be fair and balanced. Do the math…47 total Ks and strolls in 14 innings? Nuts.

Then 6'4" Brandon Hardy came in.  

A 2016 31st rounder, the 23 year old 6'4" Hardy righty, who similarly had huge control issues a few years back, which now seem largely resolved, as he had 98 walks in his career coming into 2023, but showed improvement in 2023. Hardy fanned 4 of his 5 outs.  He has fanned 13 in 6 innings while walking just 2 this year, with just one run allowed. Great for him.

So, the latter 2 combined have fanned 44 in 20 IP in 2023. And recorded 11 of their 12 outs last night by the punch-out.   Whew!

In 7.2 innings last night, the Tidwell/Beck/Hardy trio fanned 15. 

The final four outs were by 2 other Clones pitchers - no Ks, but no runs, either.

I love Ks, and all 3 hurlers (fanning the world while refining control) are well worth tracking, as they have fanned 84 in 52 innings this year.

THE FRIENDLY GHOST

Kodai Senga was brilliant last nite vs. the Phillies. Gooden 1985 brilliant. Much needed brilliance. And Nimmo went shagadelic, baby, to rob Nick Castellanos of a home run.

PIITB By JD- Weekly Recap

 PIITB by JD- Weekly Recap 

 

The Mets have been pretty mediocre over the last week once again. When the offense showed up, the pitching falters and when the pitching shows up the offense is nowhere to be seen. It is time for the Mets to start putting together the two and show us what they can really do. 

 

I do not believe we are far off from seeing that happening. The offense has seemingly turned the corner with Francisco Alvarez on FIRE. Pete and Alvy are providing much-needed power to the Mets lineup. Alvarez has 3 home runs in the last week with an 885 season OPS and Pete has gone yard twice as well. Pete now sits at 20 homers.

 

Cubs series (Record 1-2)

Stroman shut the Mets down for 8 innings in game 2, you can imagine how that went. 

The lone bright spot pitching-wise of this series was Carlos Carrasco. He went 6.2 innings of 1 run ball in the series' final game. He saved the Mets from the sweep and the offense put on a show. 

 

Rockies series (Record: 1-2)

This series was unacceptable on the pitching end. The Mets scored 17 runs in the final 2 games of the series and lost both. Verlander did not show up and even with Alvy helping the fight back with a 3 run homer, Brigham gave the lead right back and Smith gave up two as well. 

Drew Smith has me worried. I am a big fan of Drew, but he has been playing poorly in the few opportunities he has been given in the last few weeks, I have a feeling he may be pitching through some dead arm as the Mets desperately need quality middle innings. Megill and Nogosek did not fair any better in game 3 giving up 9 ER combined and the Mets fell 11-10.

 

Notes:

The pitching needs to be more consistent. The bullpen is a legitimate issue. The Mets are going to need to add another arm at the deadline. There are too many mop up guys in the pen. Dominic Leone, Stephen Nogosek, Tommy Hunter, and Josh Walker can not be pitching as many innings as they are. That is partially on the starters not going deep and partially on Billy for the lack of depth. The Mets are definitely missing Edwin Diaz right about now. 

 

Alvarez is legit, that is all. 

 

LFGM

Reese Kaplan -- Ernest Hemingway Called It A Farewell to Arms

A lot of ink has been written about the Mets' inability to score runs.  They are ranked merely 14th in home runs despite monster efforts from Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and newcomer Francisco Alvarez.  The batting averages other than Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil are below the league average.  Stolen bases are seemingly a figment of a Mets fan's imagination.  All of these issues have undoubtedly combined to make it difficult for their pitchers to win games.

Pitchers...did he just say pitchers?

Oops...yup, it's time we looked directly at the arms without the benefit of rose colored glasses and it's been one fugly year.  First let's look at the starting pitchers and get the worst of the worst out of the way.

The dual-headed Cy Young Award scathing leaders are certainly on fire but more when it comes to giving up runs.  Max Scherzer had been on a poor streak before his recent couple of good outings, but overall you're still looking at a man with a Mets rookie campaign of a 2.29 ERA is more than a full run worse and that's after those last 2 gems.  His sticky fingered approach to the game kept him unavailable for a couple of passes as has his neck.

Then there's Justin Verlander who got a very late start to his Mets career and after tossing one genuine OMG brilliant game has been off the mark in a few others.  Overall he's a .500 pitcher at 2-2 with an ERA well north of 5.00!  That is NOT the kind of pitcher the Mets figured would make up for the loss of currently injured Texas Ranger Jacob deGrom, but he is what the Mets have in replacement.

I've written already about the need for Kodai Senga to shake off the "coming to America" blues and turn himself into a formidable third starter, but thus far the work is uneven at best.  The strike zone continues to elude the man and his overall ledger of 9 games started is 4-3 with a 3.94 ERA.  Yes, it's possible that that latter number could dip down by another half run or so as the season progresses, but for now it's not what Billy Eppler and company envisioned.

Recovered starter Carlos Carrasco has never truly been embraced by the fanbase, but when he's on his game he's as good as anyone.  Unfortunately those circumstances have been few and far between.  Through 5 starts he is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA.  Ouch!  

Then there are "the others" who included David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and yet-to-pitch Jose Quintana.  It's difficult to find anything positive to say here other than none have provided the support corps the Mets needed during their injury and suspension addled starting pitching.

As bad as the starters have been, you could make an argument that the relievers have been even worse.  David Robertson has been asked to step in to provide his Edwin Diaz impression during his own faux pas celebrating during the ever-so-important World Baseball Classic.  Right now through 20 game appearances he's sparkling with a 1.61 ERA.  Fantastic!

Unfortunately it's been a steady downhill past Robertson's age 38 season.  Toss 'em and turn 'em any way you'd like but the rest of the pen smells as if pigs have been in charge of it.  Pick a name, any name...it's not pretty.  

Let's start off with one surprising positive in the form of Jeff Brigham.  The unheralded reliever is pitching a bit above his weight with an ERA still below 3.50.  Free agent acquisition Brooks Raley when healthy enough to take the mound has been even better at 3.18.  Maybe on a generous day you could included recently implosive Drew Smith as well whose 3.93 rapidly grew but who has overall been better than that for most of the 2023 season.  

Then comes the rest -- Adam Ottavino, John Curtiss, Dominic Leone, Tommy Hunter, Stephen Nogosek and a passel of others tossing gasoline on the fire.  

So 54 games into a 162 game season, what steps can be taken to improve here?  While I was loud and proud of defending Buck Showalter as manager of the NY Mess, er, Mets, I'm beginning to question if that level of patience and generosity should be provided to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.  

It is not a case of one or two starters or a small group of relievers inflating the bats of opposing teams.  It is very nearly everyone.  At what point does an ouster in this key role signify to rest of the team and league that the Mets are not going to be a bunch of batting practice hurlers and simply hope they score 6+ runs per game to compensate for the nearly 5 per game they're giving up?

Patience has already worn painfully thin...

The Weekly Mets Minor League Update - Week Of 5/22 - 5/28

 Morning.

 

Minor League roster moves this week - 

INF JT Schwartz - Placed on 7-Day IL

OF Joe Suozzi - Transferred to AA Binghamton

IF Warren Saunders – transferred to AA Binghamton

IF Dariel Gomez - Placed on the 7-day IL

RP Daniel Juarez - Transferred to AA Binghamton

 

Daily Highlights:

 

Tuesday -   

Player of the day was a tough one here, especially after the power display from Syracuse, but Binghamton LF Matt Rudick wins here after going 3-4, 3-R, double (10), 3-RBI, and hit the game winning three run homer (6) in the 8^th. Batting average now .322 and OPS is 1.022 for a very bad team. Watch for movement here soon. 

SYR 2B Ronny Mauricio - 2-5, R, double (22), 2-RBI, .354

SYR 1B DJ Stewart - 2-4, 2-R, double (2)

SYR 3B Jonathan Arauz - 2-5, 2-R, 2-HR (4), 5-RBI, .252

SYR LF Carlos Cortez - 3-5, 3-R, HR (2), 2-doubles (7)

BING LF Brandon McIlwain - 2-5, 3-RBI

BING RHRP Hunter Parsons- 2-IP, 0-R, K

CLONES SS William Lugo - 2-5, R

CLONES LF Jaylen Palmer - 2-4, 2-R, HR (2), 2-RBI

CLONES RF Omar De Los Santos - 2-4, R, 2-doubles (7)

CLONES RHRP Paul Gervase - 2-IP, 0-R, K, 0.52

CLONES RHRP Trey McLoughlin - 2-IP, 0-R, 3-K, 1.76

SLU CF Rhylan Thomas - 3-4, double (4), .300

SLU 1B Eduardo Salazar - 2-4, .264

 

Wednesday - 

BING RF Matt Rudick contined to rake: 2-4, R, HR (7), .328, 1.050. Very impressive year so far from Mr. Rudick. 

BING DH Tanner Murphy - 3-4, .247

BING RHRP Alex Valverde - 2-IP, 0-R, 3-K, 1.76

BING RHRP Sammy Tavarez - 2-IP, 0-ER, 2-K, 3.77 

CLONES LF Alex Ramirez - 2-3, R, HR (3), RBI, .270 (Alex seems to be consistently playing in the corner outfield positions, a smart move by the Mets after CF Brandon Nimmo signed a long term deal) 

CONES 2B Keven Kendall -  2-2, R, RBI

CLONES RHSP Cameron Foster - 5-IP, 0-R, 4-K

CLONES RHRP Robert Colina - 2-IP, 0-R, 2-K

CLONES RHRP Dylan Tebrake - 2-IP, 0-R, 20K, 1.00-WHIP

SLU DH Scott Ota - 2-3, R

 

Thursday - 

Player Of The Day this day was an easy peazy pick. BING RHSP 6-4 Jose Chacin TOSSED HIS BEST START of the year - 6-IP, 0-R, 7-K, 0-BB. Seasonal WHIP down to 1.03.Hmm… 

SYR RHRP Grant Hartwig - 2-IP, 0-R, 2-K

BING 3B Jose Peroza - 2-4. R, double (10), .292, .917

BING RHRP Marcel Renteria - 2-IP, 0-R, 3-K

CLONES RHRP Manny Rodriguez - 2-IP, 0-R, K, 2.66

 

Friday - 

SYR RF Danny Mendick continues to impress. Thos time goes 3-5, 2-R, and raising his BA to .251. POD. 

SYR 2B Luis Guillorme - 2-3, double (3), RBI, .320, .909-OPS

SYR CF Lorenzo Cedrola - 2-4, R, .283, .811-OPS

SYR 1B Nick Meyer - 2-5, R, RBI

SYR LHRP Josh Walker - 1.2-IP, 0-R, 2-K, 1.72

BING SS Jose Peroza - 2-3, R, triple (1), 2-RBI, .303, .950

BING LF Brandon McIlwain - 2-4, R, double (6), RBI

BING RHRP Hunter Parsons - 2-IP, 0-R, K

CLONES 2B Chase Estep - 2-4, 2-R, triple (2)

CLONES 1B Jose Mena - 2-3, R, double (2), 2-RBI, .313

CLONES SS Kevin Kendall -2-3

CLONES LHRP Harris Brodey - 2-IP, 0-R, 4-K, 2.65

 

Saturday - 

There’s another starter in Brooklyn that’s starting to show potential prospect material. 2021 5^th round draft pick, RHSP Christian Scott tossed 5-IP, 0-R, 8-K, lowering his ERA to 3.07 with a 0.96-WHIP. 

SYR LF Danny Mendick - 2-4, triple (1), .257

SYR DH Carlos Cortes - 2-5, R, double (9), HR (3), 3-RBI, .255

SYR C-1B Nick Meyer - 2-4, R

SYR LHRP Zach Muckenhim - 2-IP, 0-R, 2-K, 0.84

BING CF Brandon McIlwain - 2-3, R, .243

BING RF Agustin Ruiz - 2-3, 3-R, 2-HR (5), 3-RBI

BING RHRP Dylan Hall - 2-IP, 0-R, 4-K, 2.20

SLU 1B Yeral Martinez - GM1: 2-4, 2-R, double (4)

SLU SS Kevin Villavicencio - GM1: 2-4, R, RBI, .266

SLU RHRP Benito Garcia - 2.1-IP, 0-R, 2-K

SLU 3B - Junior Tillen - GM2: 2-3, R, 2-RBI

SLU DH Jacob Reimer - GM2: 2-3, R

SLU LF Scott Ota - GM2: 2-3, triple (1), 2-RBI, .271, .826-OPS

 

Sunday - 

The POD seems to be a daily award that is split between Ronny Mauricio and this guy. Once again, Brooklyn’s 6-9 RHSP Tyler Stuart dished up another gem: 7-IP, ER, 6-K, 1.15, 1.15. Right now, he’s the top starter in the chain. 

SYR 3B-1B Danny Medick - 2-5, 2-R, HR (4), 2-RBI, .260

SYR RF Jaylin Davis - 3-4, 2-RBI, .248

BING 1B Luke Ritter - 2-4, 3-R, 2-doubles (3)

BING DH Joe Suozzi - 2-4, R, triple (1), 2-RBI, .385, 1.015-OPS

CLONES C Kevin Parada - 2-3, double (13), RBI

CLONES RHRPB Dylan Tebrake - 2-IP, 0-R, 3-K, 3.00, 0.78

SLU RHRP Christopher Vasquez - 3-IP, 0-$, 4-K, 3.28

 

Prospect Seasonal Stat Totals:

 2B Ronny Mauricio/SYR::

205-AB, 7-HR, 33-RBI, .346/.389/ .576/.965

 

OF Lorenzo Cedrola/SYR:

121-AB, 3-HR, 12-RBI, .281/.387/ .413/ .801

 

1B/OF Joe Suozzi/BING:

13-AB, 0-HR, 2-RBI, .385/.400/.615/1.015 

CLONES: 99-AB, 0-HR, 11-RBI, .283/.339/.343/.683

 

2B Jose Peroza/BING:

117-AB, 5-HR, 23-RBI, .291/.389/ .521/ .910

 

3B Matt Rudick/BING:

132-AB, 7-HR, 25-RBI, .311/.455/.546/ 1.001

 

RHP Dom Hamel/BING:

8-ST, 2-2, 4.62, 39-IP, 48-K

 

RHP Mike Vasil/BING:

8-ST, 1-2, 3.39, 41-IP, 49-K

 

C Kevin Parada/CLONES:

143-AB, 3-HR, 14-RBI, .238/.345/ .406/.751

 

OF Alex Ramirez/CLONES:

148-AB. 3-HR, 23-RBI, .264/.347/ .378/.726

 

OF Stanley Consuegra/CLONES:

134-AB, 5-HR, 19-RBI, .246/.306/ .455/.761

 

RHP Blade Tidwell/CLONES:

7-ST, 2-3, 6.04-ERA, 28.1-IP, 42-K

 

RHP Tyler Stuart/CLONES:

8-ST, 1-0, 1.15-ERA, 1.15-WHIP, 39-IP, 48-K

 

RHRP Daniel Juarez/BING:

1-APP, 0-0, 4.50, 2-IP, 2-K 

CLONES:   12-APP 2-0, 0.00-ERA, 15.2-IP, 24-K 

RHRP Paul Gervase/CLONES:

11-APP, 0-2, 0.52-ERA, 17.1-IP, 26-K

SS/CF Jett Williams/StL:

147-AB, 1-HR, 14-RBI,  .215/.408/.308/.717

Tom Brennan - Minor League Options are Not Your Friend

Welcome back, and you should be thrilled that we’ve burned your last option.

In baseball today, having minor league options sucks for the player who’s got those remaining options. 

Nido has none, Alvarez has 3. If it was the other way around, Alvarez would undoubtedly be a major leaguer from now until he retires.

Pham has none, Vogelbach has none, Escobar has none, Canha has none. Trade em, release em, or they stay.

Guillorme got sent down instead of them because he had options.

Baty still has 3 options, Vientos 2, so they better produce or else.

Megill has 3 left, Brigham and Smith have 2. Pitch well, or enjoy central NYS in the summer.

A few guys have options, but no concerns. 

Alonso and McNeil each have 3 options left. Going nowhere.

In Injury Land, Ridings and Montes de Oca each have 3 options left, and Coonrod, Elieser, and Uceta have 1 each. No worries about options being used against them until they pitch again. 

Chubby Checker and I hope they pitch again, like they did last summer. 

So do they.

I’ve run out of options here. 

Having a great day is not optional, so have one.

BUT BEFORE I GO…

HOW ABOUT THAT ELI ANKENEY:

Eli was the 599th overall selection in the 2022 draft. 

Pitching, though, like a first rounder since.

He picked up his first win on Sunday, and since turning pro, he’s thrown 12.1 innings, fanned 20, allowed just 4 very lonely four runners and has an ERA below 0.01.

I have a simple suggestion for St Lucie lefty Eli…

PITCH MORE!

ALVAREZ AN ALL STAR? 

About 10 days ago, the Mets hierarchy was burning brain cells trying to figure out how to send options-rich Francisco Alvarez so they could keep underperforming catchers instead, who were out of options.

Now there should be a campaign to get him on the All Star team.

And why not? Despite drastically fewer at bats than the top 2 catchers in HRs, he already has 8 rockets to his credit, and has the second highest slugging % among catchers, trailing the leader by a mere 9 points.

And my guess as I write this is he will be chosen Player of the Week.  

Last 7 games, .423/.483/.962, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs.

I was right all along…he isn’t human.

AGE ISN'T RELATIVE IN BASEBALL

Oh, and one more point to keep in mind.

The Mets drafted catcher Kevin Parada in the first round in 2022.  You immediately think, "just drafted, young guy. NICE!”

Except Alvarez is currently 100 days younger than Parada.  Parada, you see, turns 22 in 2 months, Alvarez turns 22 in 5 months.

And, as Alvarez tears apart MLB pitching at that age, Parada is in High A (probably considered a "challenging assignment for a guy in his first full season"). He had just 55 pro plate appearances in lower levels in 2022.  

Parada has 3 HRs, 14 RBIs in 143 ABs and a slash line of .238/.345/.406, which actually is not bad at all (actually good) when you play in Brooklyn, land of the hitter-neutering wind.  Even Alvarez found hitting in Brooklyn tougher than the road in 2021, also, when he was 19.

Smartly, Parada has 13 doubles in 38 games, likely clearly understanding that trying to hit in Brooklyn with HR power is self-defeating.  After all, in 2022 and 2023, Brooklyn batters have hit 64 HRs on the road, but just 44 at home in the same number of games. How telling.

So, I cannot wait for Parada to get to AA to a more hitter-neutral park. 

But...his age, and Parada is still very young (and I think he will be MLB-ready by late 2024 or OD 2025, when he will be just 23), is older than the catcher who right now is tearing apart MLB pitching - Francisco Alvarez - which shows how incredible what Alvarez is doing is.

Another way to look at it is, Francisco, right now, is 3 full years younger than Pete Alonso was when Pete made his Mets debut.  In fact, Francisco is almost exactly the same age (year & months) as Pete was when he made his minor league debut in low A ball.  Right now, the “veteran starting catcher” Alvarez is 100 days younger than David Wright was when he made his MLB debut.

That really early (and so far successful) MLB career start is a reason I think Alvarez has better HOF chances than Pete.  Logic tells you it is harder for a hitter who debuts at 24.3 years to compile sufficient stats to make the Hall of Fame.  Alvarez has more than a 3 year head start on Pete.  

I am not projecting Alvarez for the Hall of Fame, of course.  For one, Doc Gooden was being virtually inducted into the Hall by many after his age 20 brilliant Cy Young season.  

I'm just saying that Alvarez's early MLB start gives him a greater Cooperstown shot if all goes right.  And after 62 seasons, it would be nice to have a home-grown Mets player make the Hall of Fame.

WHERE ARE WE?

5 games out of first, one game out of the Wild Card. LGM.

Mike's Mets - Masquerading as Wisdom

 By Mike Steffanos

Don't believe everything you read from the so-called experts. They can be every bit as uninformed as the guy on the next barstool over.

Just because something is stated unambiguously in a confident manner doesn't mean it is a fact. The rise of social media platforms allows folks to "do their own research" in an environment free from real expertise and rigid fact-checking. If you really want to believe something, there is no doubt that you can find plenty of corroboration to reinforce your beliefs. However, if you care about discovering what is true, you'll have to work much harder. You'll also have to be willing to, at least occasionally, deal with finding out that your preconceived notions were wrong.

Now folks in the mainstream media sources will tell you that their standards of journalism make them less prone to presenting a false statement as truth. In most cases, this is true. The standards to which these organizations hold themselves work against the spread of outright lies. It's far from a perfect system, but it does pretty well, particularly outside of political reporting. I promise we won't get into that here.

I came across something the other day that really threw me. It wasn't a piece about the Mets, although they were used as an example. Rather, it was Ken Rosenthal's piece on the A's prospective move to Las Vegas in The Athletic. Much of Rosenthal's writing was about how historically bad Oakland's team is this season. They're a legit contender to displace the 1962 Mets as the worst baseball team of the modern era. Rosenthal believes that Oakland's historic level of suckitude creates an unfair advantage for the NL West teams that don't win their division to take a Wild Card spot just by virtue of playing 13 games against Oakland.

That is true to a point. Still, as the Mets proved several times in their first 1/4 of a season in 2023, you still have to win those damn games. Speaking of the Mets, Rosenthal made this further point:

Again, the A's are not the first team to create competitive disparities by fielding an awful product. Just last season, under the more unbalanced schedule, the Phillies and Mets secured two of the three NL wild-card spots by going 16-3 and 14-5 against the 107-loss Nationals. The introduction of a third wild-card team, at least, left an opening for the Padres.

Mets fans have felt that Rosenthal has a bias against their team for a long time. I'm sure Ken would laugh at that, using the eternal boorish statement of every national writer, "every team's fans think I hate them." That could well be true, but for a seemingly pretty smart guy, Rosenthal does write stupid stuff about the Mets often enough.

To finish reading this article on Mike's Mets, please click here.

Tom Brennan - Pitching Dreams vs. Reality

I thought some of our 2023 pitchers might replicate Tom Terrific 

- but "Tom Szapucki" has been more like it

Man, as the calendar switched from January to February 1st, I dunno about you, but I was excited about our pitchers.

I thought Max and Justin would dazzle.

I expected Edwin Diaz to repeat as Reliever of the Year.

I expected Carrasco to win 12-14 games.

I thought the Ghost would rock the baseball world.

I thought Jose Quintana, backed by a solid offense and fine pen, would win 12-14 games also.

I thought Megill and Peterson would slug it out as two heavyweights.

I thought Bryce Montes de Oca would quiet the naysayers and be a bullpen animal.

Instead, thru the first 3rd of the season:

Edwin took 2023 off.  So has Montes de Oca.  So far, so has Quintana.

Max and Justin have just 71 combined innings and 6 combined wins.

Carrasco just won his first game.

The Ghost has floated into bases on balls far too often in an otherwise decent season start.

Megill may be 5-3, but his 1.59 WHIP smells a lot like late stage Mike Pelfrey.

Peterson has an 8.08 ERA in 8 starts (Crazy 8s) and a 1-6 record.  And some really nice digs in Syracuse, where he has been passable but wild.

I never expected the Mets starters to have a combined 5.13 ERA.  

I figured somewhere between 3 and 4 runs per 9.  

Meanwhile, Eric Orze was a guy who I thought would be in the Mets pen by now - not having a 7.71 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP in Syracuse.

And I thought two possible Mets pen guys from AAA by mid-season might be Tony Dibrell and Dedniel Nunez. Instead the duo in Syracuse have walked 39 in 42 innings chock-filled with 42 runs, mostly on the scorecard of Tony the Tiger, not from 15 walks in 13 innings Dedniel.  Tigers are an endangered species.

I also thought Jose Butto would do all right, not have 6 AAA starts and a bloated 7.30 ERA, getting his Butto kicked way too often.

Joey Lucchesi has done OK for the Mets and is 3-0, 1.95 in Syracuse, so at least I was right about him.

I was so wrong on so much.  Heck, I thought Matt Allan might pitch in the minors this year.  Boy, was I deluded.  Calvin Ziegler would be a rising stud. instead of zero 2023 innings. 

And my "wrong" was Bad Wrong, not Good Wrong, unfortunately.

I wish I could have said, "gee, I was expecting the starters to have a 5.13 ERA the first 3rd of the season, but got a 3.00 instead!"

Question: 

Can Francisco Alvarez pitch, too?  

He can be our Shohei.

Paul Articulates – Alvarez has only just begun

On this site, we spend a lot of time looking at various prospects from the pre-draft days all the way through the minor league journeys of those selected by the Mets.  We have seen some pretty talented athletes that have made their mark, some that got away in trades, and others that flashed brightly but soon faded out.

Sometimes there is something very special about a player that gains significant recognition.  Francisco Alvarez is one of those players.  He was signed in 2018 as an international free agent out of Venezuela.  As is often the case with international signings there is not as much information out there so you don’t quite know how they will pan out until they arrive.  

But soon after he did, many were talking about his skills and soon he was working his way up the list of MLB prospects.  Between 2019 and 2022 he spent time working his way up from the Gulf Coast League through AAA ball and was called up to the major league club at the end of the 2022 season.

I watched him play in AA ball during the 2022 season, and he showed tremendous bat speed and power, but much of his talent was unrefined.  Everyone that worked with him was impressed with how hard he worked on improving his game.  Sometimes there’s a cliché with that – everyone gets credit for “working hard” even when they’re not.  But with this kid, there was something different.  He was improving faster than expected.  

Fast forward to the 2023 season.  Between the TV crew of Gary, Keith, and Ron and the radio duo of Howie Rose and Keith Raad, there have been several comments about Alvarez being “such a good defensive catcher despite reports that he was not”.  The hosts were impressed with his framing and blocking as well as with his arm.  

Other than his arm, these were not strengths in 2022.  Francisco made them strengths over the period of a year through lots of study, hard work, and the tutelage of Yadier Molina in the off-season.  Some baseball players spend years trying to improve weaknesses with little to show for it.  This one turns it around in a year and was among the top catchers in DRS this year.

Now you see what I mean by “something special”.  It’s not just the tools to hit, throw, and run.  It is the will to make yourself better in every aspect of the game.  Look at what he did with chase rate this year.  

In his short stint in the majors in October 2022 and in the first few weeks after his April call-up, Alvarez was chasing balls out of the zone fairly often.  He studied the pitchers, watched his video, worked with coaches and the Mets pitchers, and then cut his chase rate very quickly to the point where he is now below the MLB average. 

So my take on Alvarez is that all the accolades for being a top prospect in the minors were just a preview to what he may become for the Mets.  He has that exceptional combination of physical tools and the determination to constantly improve.  

Like his teammates Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso, he will not rest on last season’s successes, so fans should expect a better Alvarez every year.  That’s a good sign for the team, because when you have a couple of players like that in the dugout it motivates the others to follow their lead.  Mets front office take notice: this one is a keeper!

Happy Memorial Day to all Mets fans!!!

Reese Kaplan -- Four Rookie Horsemen Staving Off the Apocalypse?

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...every Goodtime Charlie's gotta have the blues about something.  

For Mets fans they finally got the first of several wishes on their collective lists when the Invisible Man aka Mark Vientos was allowed to start the game as the team's designated hitter and collected two hits which is more than the collective aggregate of wannabes would get in a week's playing time.  

It suggests that the man who has obliterated AAA pitching for two years might actually be able to contribute to the offense if given the opportunity to do so.  Stories leaked out that Buck Showalter was planning on giving Vientos a three game strech of playing time assumed to be at the DH role, though theoretically it could also mean spelling either Brett Baty at 3B or Pete Alonso at 1B for some of those games.  Still, at-bats were as rare for Vientos as are stolen bases for Daniel Vogelbach.

The other big development for the Mets is the continued progress of young catcher Francisco Alvarez who is starting to show that the hype regarding his offensive prowess was not just exaggeration.  

In Saturday night's game when Alvarez delivered a home run to tie the game he sent it so far out and over the left field fence that it was the very definition of a no-doubter.  When you see Pete Alonso jumping up and down in he dugout in celebration the contrast in their body types is never more evident.  

Alonso is big and imposing while Alvarez is short and stocky.  The end result, however, is prodigious power from the more diminutive catcher and gives the club a nice problem to solve with the upcoming approach of three healthy catchers.

Brett Baty's hitting has had its ups and downs (as has his defense) but even the most jaded of media types and Mets fans can certainly see the raw talent the man possesses.  Although the more highly compensated Eduardo Escobar was forced to the bench to make room for the lefty swinging rookie, the fact is that Baty is showing as he matures into the big league hot corner role that he is here to stay.  

These three rookies have helped demonstrate the value of integrating new talent with existing quality players in order to upgrade the team that takes the field in contention for the NL East pennant.

Now everyone is waiting for the final Fourth Baseball Cap Wearing Horseman of Syracuse to join his trio of already promoted former teammates.  If indeed Vientos will receive some consideration as a DH, then it would appear Ronny Mauricio's role would be as either a second baseman with Jeff McNeil moving permanently to left field, or as a newly minted outfielder with McNeil playing between Alonso and Francisco Lindor.  

Whichever way they choose to go with Mauricio, it would appear as he packed on over 50 pounds of muscle to his previously very skinny frame and his extra base hitting has benefitted immensely. 

Some folks feel that his defensive struggles are the result of position changes forced with him being blocked at shortstop.  Others feel that his new physique is impeding his former flexibility to bend and move as he did in the past.  Regardless, the still-struggling Mets can use an offensive boost to upgrade them over what Mark Canha, Tommy Pham and others have been providing.  

Now if only there was a similar pipeline of pitching talent to fortify the collection of arms that take the mound...

  

Tom Brennan - Mack is Right

Ronny Mauricio - the Final Missing Piece (of the Offense)

Mack rolled out an erudite assessment today.

He is right.  Spot on.  As usual.

The pitching objectively has sucked. 

As Mack noted, the Mets have faced an easy schedule for two months.

They nonetheless sit 24th in ERA at 4.69 against a soft schedule. 

24th place pitching teams don’t make playoffs.

Bullpen with Edwin in 2023? 3.55 ERA. 

This year, without the Patella Fella, up to 4.15, and seemingly eroding.

Starters? 5.08. Yeah.  No misprint.  Over 5.00.

The 1962 Mets starters were 5.18.

Help elsewhere?

In AAA, David Peterson fanned 10 in 4.2 innings last night but allowed 6 hits, 5 walks, and 4 runs in that stretch. Ouch. Joey has been OK in AAA, but not lights out. Butto got his butto kicked in his last start. Bundy pitching is immediately promoted as Home Run Souvenir Day. Tony Dibrell got pounded his last outing.

- No immediate, game-changing pitching help in the minors, whatsoever.

I am happy after last night’s 10-7 loss, though. Why?

Alvarez 2 hits, Vientos 2 hits, Baty one hit. The trio were 5 for 13.

 Yes, the kids can hit, and Mauricio (single and walk in AAA last night) can too. Call him up.

If you can’t outpitch them, outhit them.

You can’t outhit them when Pham, Vogie, Escobar, Canha, and Nido play.

The team needs a full infusion of Y Positive blood. Youn.231/.250/.389 g blood rocks.

Alvarez is the team’s hottest (already its best?) hitter.  

In his last 15 games, .327/.407/.769, 6 HRs, 12 RBIs.  (The other Francisco, Lindor, is .231/.250/.389 over his last 15 games, just as a point of fact and comparison.)

Get Alvarez out of the 9 hole, unless you are an A-hole and want to keep him there.

Happy Sunday to one and all. Let’s play one. Let’s win one.

P.S. 

Narvaez is back soon. Nido never walks. Give him his walking papers.

My new nickname for Tomas is One RBI Guy.

C Nick Meyer has hit like Nido in AAA, but has 4 hits his last 2 games, so we have equivalent catching depth in the minors.

SHAMSKY AND PETE

Pete has had 20 HRs in 197 at bats. Ruthian.  

Art Shamsky one season was on a similar pace.

He had 21 HRs in 234 at bats in 1966, early in his career.

That proved to be an aberration for Art, who was an excellent hitter at Shea Stadium in his career.  A relatively rare feat. 

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