Paul Articulates – Hot and Not

In a season lacking success for the New York Mets, fans look for positive signs that could signal better days to come.  I found myself in the same situation, looking for some positive signs.  Of course, at the major league level, there are few to be seen  The team just doesn’t seem to be able to find itself, and even when they sting a few good innings together, the end games are excruciating to watch as no lead has been safe.

So what has been positive that we can grasp onto for hope?

Francisco Lindor appears to have found his hitting stroke – or maybe he always had it but couldn’t see the ball well enough to hit it.  With his new sports glasses, he is hitting more like we expected this year, with a strong showing in the last several games.  Maybe this was all he needed to become an offensive threat to complement the stellar defense he has been playing all year.

Also hot are Starling Marte (1.038 OPS in June), Mark Vientos (.998 OPS in June), and Pete Alonso (1.019 OPS in June).  If this trio continues to hit and Francisco Alvarez returns to the lineup with his power stroke, the Mets may be able to score enough runs to survive the late inning calls to the bullepen.

Speaking of the bullpen, they have been not so hot.  It doesn’t seem to matter which arm is summoned, the failure to keep people off base is stunning.  In the last 30 days, the previously competent relief corps has turned ice cold.  I like to use WHIP to measure relief pitcher effectiveness, because keeping runners off base is the difference between holding the lead and losing the lead.  In these last 30 days, the WHIP has been ugly for the Mets’ pen.  Jake Diekman has a 1.34 WHIP, Drew Smith is at 1.50, Sean Reid-Foley is at 1.74, Josh Walker is at 1.82, Reed Garrett is 1.83, and Adam Ottavino is sporting a 1.89 WHIP.  Did I forget someone?  Oh yeah, there is that very forgettable 2.44 WHIP by none other than Edwin Diaz.

Still not hot at the plate are Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo.  These are two guys that you never thought would be begging for a hit, but neither has exited their prolonged slumps for very long.  For the season, McNeil (.232) and Nimmo (.221) are batting significantly worse than their career averages.  It is exasperating to see these two reliable bats struggling to find the center of a baseball.  Both take great pride in their performance and must be even more frustrated than the fans.

In the minor leagues, the Syracuse Mets (AAA) and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies have had winning seasons thus far.  Syracuse leads the International League standings by a half game as of Sunday night and Binghamton is only two games off the lead in the Eastern League.

What I find interesting about the Syracuse Mets is the fact that they have won 38 games so far without the stellar pitching we had expected.  Both Dom Hamel and Mike Vasil have ERAs north of 7 so far in a combined 22 starts.  Christian Scott was superb and he got promoted recently (though he was sent down during the overseas trip to stay on regular rest).  Tyler Jay has been the best of the bunch with a 2.17 ERA in 29 innings of relief, and Eric Orze (3.82) has also been solid out of their bullpen.

Down in Binghamton, Blade Tidwell pitched very well and was promoted to Syracuse recently.  Arms that we thought would dominate were Joander Suarez and Tyler Stuart, but they have pitched to 4+ ERAs to date.  The starters that have really caught fire are Cam Foster (2.92 ERA in 37 innings) and recently promoted Brandon Sproat (1.38 ERA in 26 innings).  These two seem to have mastered the art of keeping runners off the base paths which have been central to their success.

The position players that everyone was watching early in the season (Acuna, Gilbert, Williams) have not outperformed to date, with the latter two spending significant time on the IL.  The bright spots have come from some unexpected sources and you need to look no further than first base to find them.  Mike Brosseau is slashing .352/.447/.610 (1.057 OPS) in 30 games for the Syracuse Mets.  Ryan Clifford, who has been promoted to AA in May is on a hot streak, reaching base in 12 of 13 games and blasting four home runs in his last six games.

This has been a very unpredictable season thus far, with many things not going the way most fans had predicted.  Over the next month or so, the “hots” and the “nots” are going to determine the way things play out at the upcoming trade deadline.  Stay tuned to Mack’s Mets for all the developments.