Tyrone sliding in on 2024 Mets teammate Joey Wendle in 2023
Lots of folks were unimpressed when the Mets got Tyrone Taylor.
If you were one of them, you perhaps didn’t do your analysis homework.
What do I mean?
Well, Taylor did not hit well in 2023 overall. Agreed.
But, he was dealing with injuries much of the season.
When he got back from his injuries, he played 45 games in August September in October.
His slugging percentage in the 45 games he played was .560.
Help me out now: what, exactly, is wrong with .560? I’d say not much.
So, this season, he’s hitting 341 and 41 ABs with 10 RBIs through Wednesday. Help me, what, exactly, is wrong with that? I’d say not much.
And he is fast (no, boys and girls, that doesn’t make him Taylor Swift) and a superior fielder (yes, boys and girls, better than Cecil and Prince). Help me, what, exactly, is wrong with that? I’d say not much.
So boys and girls it’s important to do your homework and that’s the end, boys and girls, of my short instruction for today. Now, boys and girls, go out in the schoolyard and play some baseball and have fun. Keep score.
JONAH FRIGGIN’ TONG
I sometimes call guys “friggin’” when they are beyond amazing.
Jonah friggin’ Tong pitched for St Lucie on Friday:
4.1 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 6 Ks.
Wow.
So, now he has thrown 12.2 innings, with 27 Ks, 0 earned runs, and 5 hits allowed.
Friggin’ Tong Wow.
AUSTIN TROESSER
First pro start, after a few fine relief outings, and the 4th rounder from 2023 fans the first 6 hitters he faces(come on, brother), and 8 in total in 4.1 innings, allowing just 2 hits, one run. Sweet. John Sterling would have said "never a stresser...with Troesser, Yes SIR."
HITTING WAS SCARCE….
...in the 4 minor league games, with the one win being a 3-1 St Lucie win where they managed just two hits. Wait, I thought the minors were so deep...and Drew Gilbert has been on the 7-day IL for 12 days now with a pulled muscle. Do you fans love the Mets top two farm teams playing up near the Arctic Circle, where injuries like pulled muscles are not unexpected until it warms up in June or July?
METS IN L.A. VS. THE MIGHTY YAMAMOTO?
Late game. Tough assignment. The Mighty Yamamoto, who pitched more like former Met Jordan Yamamoto. He did fan 9 but allowed 4 runs in 6 innings.
Mets jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. DJ Stewart homered early on.
He is 1) rocking and 2) rolling. .241/.400/.621. AFTER an 0 for 12 start.
Then the lead grows 4-0. Then 4-4 on bad defense and bad, wild Reed Garrett pitching. He allows two runs in his one 33 pitch inning.
Then…time for bed.
But, pre-snooze, Garrett set himself up by loading the bases in good part because of 2 Wendle errors, but then gave up a 3-2, 2 run single to a guy hitting 0 for 31 in April. It’s midnight. ZZZZ.
I woke up, Mets won 9-4. WHAT!!!
Garrett actually gets the win after his 33 pitch inning, and the run was unearned. Manaea, who was gritty and deserved the W, got a ND. That happens a lot to Mets starters over recent years. Just ask Jake.
Wow.
Bader 4 for 5, .333, and the most enthused guy you can find.
Lindor woke up, HR, 2 RBIs, up 140 points to .172. McNeil added 2 hits, as he wakes up some more (and he lost a hit on a great sliding catch by Hernandez in RF).
Marte showing more and more that he's BACK with 2 hits, 2 RBIs, and Nimmo fans 3 times...but walks twice, as the man least likely to be kept off base.
Betts, Ohtani, Freeman a combined 1 for 13? Raley did a great job striking out Ohtani, pitching him away, then busting him up and in on 3-2.
But...and, oh my goodness, isn't there always a "but" with the Mets:
Francisco Alvarez slips rounding first, reaches down with his left hand to keep from falling...doesn't fall...BUT arrives at 2nd base in severe pain...my guess is a torn ligament or some sort of break. Tough kid that he is, he tried to stay in but couldn't. Will he miss days? Weeks? Months? We'll find out today.
Nido most likely is catching a plane this AM to LA. He is 10 for 29 with 3 XBH and no walks in 29 at bats in AAA, so at least he is not hitting poorly.
20 comments:
Can JD Martinez or Mark Vientos catch? Asking for a friend.
Nine runs against LA? SWEET!
Ray, the hitting is ripping. I thought the offense would be good this year, but somehow, Bader, Taylor and Stewart are doing amazingly well. And that makes them dangerous. Of course, if Alvarez is out for a long time, I would not be surprised to see anemic .210 hitting at the catcher's spot.
If Alvarez misses major time, this could have been an opportunity for Parada, if he were more ready.
Ray, the Mets so often have had subs who can't hit. Bader is not really a sub, but the thought coming into the season was that he might be a 4th outfielder. He, Stewart and Taylor are 40 for 126 with 26 RBIs and 12 walks. THAT is a game changer. In another season, that might have been 25 fewer times on base, and that would have been devastating in the early going.
These Mets started the year looking like the 2023 Mets. Now they are coming together and finding ways to win. Very nice to see. Very nice.
Viper, true. If Alvarez had stayed healthy, and with JDM supposedly due to arrive pretty soon, this offense could have been dangerous and may still be. Pitching? Surprisingly strong, and Megill, Peterson, Senga due back in the next 6 weeks? Loaded.
How do we take Stewart out? JDM gets more minor league AB's. Amazing game last night because of course as a Met fan I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop but this time it dropped on them sweet! I hate pompous and L.A. you suck and LETS GO METS! O.K. is it to early to be thankful we didn't sign Yamamoto and by the way Baez and Correa?
I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I'm hoping for a repeat (kind of) of the killer west coast trip we did back in 69' because why not?
I stayed up for the full 9. It was worth it. Fun to watch. NY "Friggin" Mets.
Watch SNY at 1pm today. Rumble "Friggin" Ponies versus the Reading "Fightin" Phils.
If Nido is activated, it creates 2 problems:
1) He's not on the 40, so someone will have to be cut.
2) Nido is out of options, so once Alvy is activated (if he actually is put on the IL) he can't be sent upstate without being DFA'd and clearing waivers.
We can't keep 3 Catchers, so that may mean he or Omar will be traded. IMO, that would be time to move Narvaez, unless Nido falls on his face once activated.
The decision must be made in the next 4 hours. Stand by.
The problem if Nido is activated is no Mets minors catcher is nearly as good NOW as Nido. I go back to my Pete Gray article the other day. How could a one armed player hit .218, but almost any back up catcher in the system after Nido, right now, would have trouble hitting .118?
Gary, Stewart must stay. Short must go.
Friggin’ right, Paul.
Mets 11-8, Dodgers 12-10. Who says the Daggers are better?
one guy I always forget when considering Mets pitching depth is Max Kranick who is in a rehab game with Binghamton on Sunday. Kranick was excellent the last time out.
Is Kranick on the 26, or can he be optioned? If he's out of options, who gets DFA'd?
The minors are for player development, not W/L. If a guy can play solid D and help the pitchers, any hitting is a bonus, not a necessity.
I wonder if it's Parada (not particularly successful at AA) who will be promoted to replace Nido.
Absolutely!
Kranick has one option left, so don’t panick.
I NEVER panick. YGB!!
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