Tom Brennan - 13-1? Towering Brooklyn Hurlers; Speedsters Who Fan Too Much; Vientos and Lindor: Stat-Based Objectivity

Short Nets Dude: 

He Was Only 6’7” - But He Was A Licensed Doctor

First, last night’s game. 13-1 WIN??? In Houston? Vs. the Astros??

Grant Hartwig made his MLB debut, and they won, so he is the Star of the Game, right? After just 94 minor league innings, Hartwig made the Big Show.

Actually, he was entrusted to a 12 run 9th inning lead following a Mets’ offensive outburst and 8 innings of the return of Mighty Mad Max to being Mighty Dominating Max.

Lindor had 5 rib eyes against a downward-spiraling Astros team, and the Mets had 14 hits, none of them remarkably from 0-5 Nimmo.

Maybe the offense if finally ready to roar…

It better be. The Mets need to go 56-34 just to win 90 games.

BACK TO TODAY’S STORY:

Brooklyn is the home of the Brooklyn Nets. 

It is also the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a team that plays baseball and not basketball, but has several basketball-size dudes who've pitched for them in 2023. 

Let me explain (and stats are thru Thursday):

Paul Gervase - 6’10” righty 12th rounder. Wild. 1.35 ERA, 25 walks and 41 Ks in 27 IP.

Jace Beck - 6’9” righty. 22nd rounder, 2019. Super duper wild.  16 innings, 21 walks, 35 Ks, 4.50 ERA.

Tyler Stuart - 6’9” righty. 6th rounder.  Pitching terrifically. 49 IP, 17 walks vs. 61 Ks, 1.43 ERA. (And then, another Saturday Night Gem…6 innings, 1 run, 6 Ks).

Wilkin Ramos - 6’5” righty. International. Pitching terrifically. 3-1, 1.67, 38 Ks in 32 IP.

Cameron Foster - 6,5” righty, 14th rounder. 2-4, 5.28 ERA. 42 Ks and 25 walks in 46 IP.

Brendan Hardy - 6’4” righty, 31st round, 2018. Formerly very wild. Now, very promising. 10 IP, 19 Ks, 3 walks, 0.90 ERA.

Christian Scott - 6’4” righty, 5th round, 2-1, 2.56 ERA, 32 IP, 39 Ks, 0.79 WHIP. On a real roll, just promoted.

Blade Tidwell - 6’4” righty, 2nd round, 2-3, 4.89, 60 Ks and 33 walks in 39 IP. (And a Sunday gem for Tidwell).

And the Clones have a bunch of other hurlers in the 6’1” to 6’3” range.

Dang. They ARE as tall as the Brooklyn Nets. 

But…I really do have to ask…where’s the Clones’ 7’2” guy, huh? 

Dikembe Mutumbo didn’t want to try his hand at baseball?  No Shaq?  

Very disappointing. Baseball success for them would be a slam dunk.

Me?

I have always been a proponent on this site of (regardless of height) drafting power arms and power bats, because soft throwing pitchers usually start getting hammered at the higher levels, and I can live with power-with-shaky-control arms that can hopefully be harnessed vs. soft tossers who can’t ramp up velocity enough out of their usually small frames to ever really compete vs. dangerous hitters.

Taller guys tend to throw harder, former Clones Power Forward Bryce Montes de Oca told me.

So, I find this hard-throwing cohort of Brooklyn redwoods a fascinating bunch to track.

After considering all that, it is no surprise that Brooklyn is second worst in the SAL in pitcher walks surrendered, at 279 in 59 games, but 4th best in Ks with 626. 

(The 3 teams above them have averaged 50 more Ks for the season, so their hurlers must be packing serious heat.)

Cyclones hitters, though? 

They have the lowest walks as a team in the SAL…202 in 59 games, with the hitters fanning 622 in those 59 games, putting them neck-and-neck with the league leading “most Hitter Ks” teams in that regard. 

The chief fanning Cyclones culprits arebase-stealing machine Omar De Los Santos and Jaylen Palmer, who have fanned a combined 163 times in 107 combined games, while hitting a combined .200, which is a shame because the two speedsters have also combined for 42 steals. Imagine if they got on base a lot more? 

Guys, please…

Study Matty Alou tapes…please…

The speedy littlest Alou brother fanned just 18 times in 718 plate appearances in 1970. He also hit over .330 an amazing 4 times.

He was a career .307 despite a very early season and his final season where he was just 27 for 157. 

Hitting can be done.  If there was ever a guy who maximized his natural skills, it was little Matty. 

So - study the tapes. “What have you got to lose?”

Former Mets farmhand Sherveyn Newton and former Cyclones strikeout extremist is hitting .103 with 51 Ks in 107 at bats in his new organization this season. 

 - He apparently didn’t study the tapes. 

VIENTOS, OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING:

Nick Maton of the Tigers has the lowest batting average of all "qualifying" major league hitters.

His slash line is .156/.285/.294.

We root for Mark Vientos to play more, but...

His slash line is .178/.224/.244 (thru Friday).

He is not playing more, I surmise, because of that.

LINDOR "HATERS" - ARE THEY RIGHT?

For the record, Lindor is better than Maton, but Francisco (thru Friday) was 12th worst among all qualifying hitters in MLB at .211, and 14th worst in OBP at .289.  

So, when many fans criticize him, and other touchy pro-Lindor fans call those critics haters, then those pro-Lindor lovers are folks who cannot effectively evaluate objective results.  

Simply, Lindor SHOULD be doing far better, concomitant with his $34 million salary.  

Lindor Lovers?

They cite his RBIs, which are good, but when you play every single game in the 2nd and 3rd slot, you will accumulate a good number of RBIs.  

Senor Lindor, how about, instead, hitting a $34 million-like .275 with a .350 OBP? 

 - You know: McNeil's numbers; he earns 30% of Lindor's annual salary.  

 - You know, the guy you said you'd buy a car for if he won a batting title, but you still haven't, yet, anyway.  I'm sure you will.

The Mets presumably would win a lot more if Lindor would get on base a lot more?  

I'd say yes.  And maybe even win a Wild Card.

HRs are swell; RBIs are great.  

But for a guy who purports to be the heart and soul of the team? 

.211/.289 just ain't good.