Tom Brennan: NY Beats Philadelphia in NFL Season Opener, 10-6

HEY! NOTHING BUT BLUE SKIES AHEAD 

Well, OK, it was a football score, only it was in a Mets baseball game. 

Remarkably, it was the first time in franchise history that the Mets scored 10 or more runs in three straight games. Very hard to believe. 

Home runs launched into the upper stratosphere by Alvarez, Nimmo, Alonso (34), and Vientos (25th in 103 games).  

LA Acuna had a triple and RBI and his slash is .421/.421/.895.

 - How do you spell Miracle?  L...U...I...S

Ex-Met Taijuan Walker pitched like Adrian Houser.  On a Bad Adrian Day. 

That's unfair to Houser. He had a 5.84 ERA, while Taijuan has a 6.91.

Luis Severino picked up his 11th win. 11-6, 3.79, 178 IP. Good signing.

Danny Young gave up 3 runs - lots of runs allowed lately.  Actually, 7 runs in 1.1 innings spanning his last 4 outings.  Hurry up, Senga.  This Young man has lost his way.

Edwin was throwing gas in the ninth thing. At least one that hit 100, a number of 99s. No Diaz save, though, due to a 4 run lead, but it was effectively a save, as it preserved the win against a potent offense.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves scored 15 runs, with four 3 run HRs and 2 solo shots, and Arizona also won. Braves trail Mets by 2, Arizona is tied with the Mets, and the Mets are 2 behind SD. Tight.

Simply, the Mets need to keep winning to be doing some playoff grinning.

Senga hopes to pitch in a weekend Syracuse game and rejoin the Mets next week. Lindor?  Tomorrow?

Christian Scott 2026 return date? Who knows, we could see Matt Allan before Scott returns.

Shohei Ohtani iced the NL MVP award for 2024 with a six for 6, three home run, 10 RBI game. 51 HRs.  Ruthian.  But leave out his 10 runs and LAD still beats the Marlins 10-4,  Final score 20-4.

The Mets trail the Phillies by six games, and have three games left against them this weekend. Sweep all three from the Brotherly Lover Boys and the Phillies may start to sweat.  

On the other hand, while the Mets battle the mighty Phillies for 3 more games this weekend, the Braves face lowly Miami, who lost to the Dodgers by 16 runs last night.

SYRACUSE:

Sproat and Jarvis were lousy again in a 7-3 loss. Sproat was the G.O.A.T., but now is ERA is experiencing ERA bloat. 

Jett Williams had a hit and 2 walks - the pesky version of Jett we knew in 2023 seems to be back.

Gilbert 0-5 (.202).  While recent speedy 28 year old pick up Azocar had 2 more hits (.395 as a Mets farm person in 42 ABs).  A career .243 MLB hitter with 29 steals in 62 AAA games (.302) this year.  If they need a September or October call up for the outfield, it is much more likely to be Azocar than Gilbert (or even DJ Stewart, I would think).

Reese Kaplan -- The Hazy 2025 Starting Rotation Picture

During the Mets powerful 10-0 drubbing of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night brought with it a piece of horrific medical news when it was revealed that long disabled and previously dominant starter Christian Scott is now aiming to have Tommy John Surgery.  All of a sudden that news kind of throws the 2025 pitching picture into a haze.

Stepping back for a moment, know that going into next season the Mets have Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Tylor Megill available to start games.  Converted starter turned excellent reliever Jose Butto is another possibility for the rotation. 

Then there’s Brandon Sproat whose late introduction to AAA has seen him face more adversity than he faced as he soared through the farm system.  During his rookie minor league year he started off in Brooklyn after college days, then onto Binghamton and finally Syracuse. 

In Brooklyn he started 5 out of 6 games in which he appeared.  He was fanning 11.7 per 9 IP but alarmingly walking 5.7.  Still, a 2-1 record with a 1.07 ERA suggested there was a lot more good than bad here.

The bulk of his season was spent in Binghamton where the Rumble Ponies enjoyed his 4-1 record over 11 starts.  He was still whiffing over 11 batters per 9 IP but got the walks down to a terrific 2.2 over the same span.  His 2.45 ERA was more than double what he’d done in Brooklyn but still was among the finest in the AA league. 

Syracuse, unfortunately, did not go so well.  In his thus far 6 starts he is facing a huge drop in his strikeouts to just over 6 per 9 IP and the walks rose but this time to 3.7 which is borderline acceptable.  However, in 26.2 IP he gave up 31 hits and his WHIP was an ugly 1.575.  His record upstate is 1-1 but it’s accompanied by a very ugly 7.43 ERA. 

Going forward everyone certainly hopes that Sproat returns to the dominance he exhibited in A and AA, but it’s highly unlikely he will come north with the big club until he shows he has fixed what’s gone wrong and pitches competitively in AAA.

Consequently, the Mets are a bit thin in the pitching department right now for next season.  If they chose to move Butto into the rotation along with latecomer Megill, that still leaves them with just 4 starters.  That suggests trades and free agency will most definitely need to be explored.  The three in-house options are Sean Manaea (with an opt-out), Jose Quintana and Luis Severino.  The latter two are slated for free agency when the World Series ends. 

On the free agent side of the agenda, Corbin Burnes is the big name and David Stearns has close familiarity with him having been GM in Milwaukee.  There are others, including the likely opt-out of Blake Snell, starter Jack Flaherty and starter Max Fried.  Aside from the joy of giving the Braves a bit of a jolt if they nabbed Fried, the others are certainly credible arms that will come at a hefty price. 

The question facing the Mets in terms of spending big is whether they go after retaining Pete Alonso, hitting the stratosphere with Juan Soto or securing an annual long term pay rate of $25-35 million.  If they don’t retain Alonso, the suddenly at least average defense from Mark Vientos could cross the diamond to man 1B and creating budget priced vacancies at 2B and 3B for Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuna.  It would still leave the outfield rather empty but could free up money to spend.

Sometimes it’s not easy being a Mets fan.

Paul Articulates - Heading into the gauntlet

The New York Mets took care of business this week, sweeping the Washington Nationals in a series they needed to sweep.  They now stand at 84-68, tied for the second wild card slot with Arizona and 2 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves. 

Now they enter the gauntlet, with their remaining ten games against some very tough competition.  It starts with four home games against the league leading Philadelphia Phillies.  The Mets recently lost their three game series in Philadelphia, but the two they lost could have gone either way.  

The Mets will send Severino, Peterson, and Manaea to the mound in the first three games, and the fourth starter has not yet been named.  The pitching staff for the Mets has been on a remarkable roll, and they will have to bring their best against a Phillies team that has the third-best OPS in the National League (.751) helped by a .425 team slugging percentage.  At least the games are at Citi Field and not in Citizens Bank Park where the fences are among the friendliest in the league.

After that four game series against the Phils, the Mets go on the road for three against the Atlanta Braves and three more against the Milwaukee Brewers.  The Phillies and Brewers have already clinched playoff berths and as we well know, the Braves are hot on our heels for one of the remaining spots.  I guess you could say that the Mets will have to earn their playoff berth.

The Mets are 3-6 against the Phillies so far this year, 5-5 against the Braves, and 0-3 against the Brewers.  It does not look like an easy task, but in baseball momentum means a lot.  The Mets arguably have the strongest momentum of the bunch, but in just the last ten games, all four teams are pretty close.  The Phillies still have a lot to play for, the Braves are desperate to catch up for a wild card slot, and the Brewers may rest some players having already clinched.

Here is what I like about the Mets’ chances:

• The starting pitching.  As mentioned before, they are on a serious roll with not only exceptional stats, but also deep outings lasting seven innings or more.  This is what they needed all year and it showed up in the stretch.

• The relief pitching has also been very good.  Suddenly the relievers are well rested thanks to the starting pitching and when they do come in, they are holding the opposition to very few runs.

• The contributions from many.  Despite the dominant season by Francisco Lindor, this team wins when everyone contributes.  Guys like Harrison Bader, Tyrone Taylor, Iglesias, and Mark Vientos are all coming up with plays when we need one.  And how about LuisAngel Acuna?!  Two home runs and a .500 batting average to go with plus fielding while filling the biggest shoes on the team!  Not missing Max Scherzer anymore.

• Nimmo has been invisible since the all-star break, but in the last few games he is getting a lot of barrels.  It was only a matter of time before those hard hits would find grass (or the seats).  JD Martinez is also having some high velocity outs.  If those two start hitting like they are capable it will help propel the team to many more runs.

• Starling Marte is healthy and fresh and he is playing like it.  Six for his last ten, stealing bases, finally patrolling the outfield again like the player he used to be.  This is what we needed in September of 2022, but I’ll take it now.

Here is what I don’t like about the Mets’ chances:

• Francisco Alvarez and Pete Alonso are still chasing too many bad pitches.  They just can’t seem to recognize the breaking pitches and their desire to hit the ball overcomes their swing judgement.  If either or both got hot, it would change the probability of success.  Unfortunately, chasing pitches is not easy to solve with a few adjustments.

• Edwin Diaz is still a great relief pitcher, but he is not what he was before his knee injury.  He gets into ruts where only one of his two pitches seems to work and he overthrows that pitch.  It is still hard to hit, but easy to predict.  That is not desirable late in close games.

• Francisco Lindor needs to lead this team through the ten game stretch.  Unfortunately he tweaked his back, which is one of the most difficult injuries to heal on the fly.  It may have an effect on his swing, his base running, and his defense.

• Truist Park is like a haunted mansion after that horrible season ending series in 2022.  That team headed to Atlanta with a one game lead and the three top pitchers lined up and came home devastated.  This Mets team is very different than the 2022 version and so is Atlanta, but it is hard to ignore the impact that stadium will have on the team’s state of mind.

The interesting part of this ten game gauntlet is that the outcome will not only be determined by the Mets’ play, but also the play of the other three teams vying for those last three spots.  As of last night, the Mets were tied with Arizona and only 2.5 games behind the Padres.  

The Mets hold the tiebreaker against both clubs based upon their head-to-head season records.  Arizona has been stumbling against the Rockies and they also have a gauntlet to run with series against the Brewers and Padres.  The Padres have to play the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.  

I think we are all hoping the Mets will prevail, so I won’t ask you “if”, but rather “how”.  Who do you think will be the player that has the highest impact on the Mets success in this 10 game gauntlet to end the season?

Rembember Remembers: My all time favorite!

 Bob Murphy    Born September 19, 1924

Happy 100th Birthday!    

Keep watching down on this team - maybe it will win the damn thing! 

Tom Brennan: Binghamton Rumbling Pitchers’ Season Stats

(PLEASE ALSO SEE MY 6 AM ARTICLE ON BINGHAMTON HITTERS)

BINGHAMTON CATCHERS CAN WEIGH IN ON THEIR FAVORITE METS AA PITCHERS - JUST GIVE ME A CALL

First of all, I hate trying to work with data tables in this website, so this hopefully will only look a little flukey.  I did not want to push my luck with both hitter and pitcher flukey tables in one article, remembering what happened when Crowdstrike posted some online security code updates, causing Delta Airline’s system to temporarily become unworkable; hence, one article posting at 6 AM for hitters, the other (this one) at 7:30 AM for pitchers had less chance of causing the apocalypse.

The fringe hitters and pitchers (those with few at bats and innings) were excluded, so if the lazy guy you liked pitched just 3 AA innings, you won't find him below.

That said, here are the pitching stats for your viewing pleasure.  

The team as a whole pitched to a 69-67 record, with a 3.83 ERA.   League's team lowest was 3.18, and league's team highest was 4.44.  Clearly, this is more of a pitcher's than hitter's league.

Pitcher Strikeouts? 1,233 in 1,177 innings (6th). 

Sounds like a lot, until you realize Binghamton hitters easily led the Eastern League with a dreadful and far higher 1,325 Ks. There are no good optometrists in Binghamton - maybe the hitters had double vision. Just speculating here. The key for hitters to experience a whiff of success…is not to whiff. 

Just as a point of comparison, in the last 9 seasons of his MLB career, HOF Joe Sewell had roughly the same number of at bat as our Rumble hitters. He fanned a total of 48 times vs. their 1,325. 

My biggest takeaway, getting back to Bingo pitching, is that AA success has not remotely been an indicator of AAA pitching success. Consider those Mets farmhands that were promoted from AA to AAA this year, or who were in AA last year and spent the 2024 season in AAA. 

Most did much worse in AAA (Suarez, Tidwell, Hamel, Sproat, and Jarvis, to name 5).

Jonah Tong, not as far along, had a few rough games in A and briefly in AA this year, but mostly flat-out dominated in 2024.  3.03, 160 Ks in 113 IP.

Very nice.  Tong Terrific.

Same could be said for Brandon Sproat - until he got to AAA’s meat grinder.  

 It all, of course, occurred in Sproat's first pro season. He is only human.

Only one is inhuman: 

Paul Skenes (10-3, 2.07 in MLB in his first pro campaign). Seaver II.

Sadly, Stuart was traded away for Jesse James Winker, as was Paul Gervase for Tyler Zuber.  I'd like a do-over on that last one, for sure. And they lost 6’9” and 6’10” dudes in those two. There goes the hoops squad.

Lastly, in his limited foray into AA, Jordany Ventura did very nicely, portending well for him in 2025.

If I had to pick the 5 most likely to pitch meaningfully for the NY Mets in the future, they would be Sproat, Tidwell, McLean, Tong, and Ventura.  

I’ll add a 6th: reliever Trey McLoughlin.

The list would have been longer had not Stuart and Gervase been dealt.

So, please, all you readers:

Look over these Bingo pitcher stats, and "pitch in" and share your observations. Please note that finishing strong was Nolan McLean, the Eastern League pitcher of the week. 

		W		L		ERA		G		ST		SV		IP		H		ER		HR		BB		Ks &  WHIP
J SUAREZ	9		5		3.92		23		21		1		119.1		107		52		12		29		118		1.14
	3		7		4.27		25		19		1		103.1		103		49		12		41		107		1.39
L MORENO
	3		7		3.96		17		17		0		84		85		37		8		20		90		1.25
T STUART
	2		8		4.19		18		18		0		81.2		76		38		10		32		80		1.32
N MCLEAN
	4		1		2.45		11		11		0		62.1		39		17		6		15		77		0.87
B SPROAT
	4		2		3.64		27		9		1		71.2		74		29		7		33		68		1.49
C FOSTER
	5		1		5.37		33		0		1		53.2		65		32		6		15		60		1.49
N CLENNEY
	3		2		3.25		22		0		5		27.2		16		10		3		17		46		1.19
P GERVASE
	5		2		2.9		10		5		1		40.1		29		13		4		7		45		0.89
J JARVIS
	4		1		4.99		31		1		1		52.1		49		29		6		26		45		1.43
J SANTOS
	2		4		2.41		7		5		0		37.1		29		10		1		11		44		1.07
B TIDWELL
	4		6		4.15		17		8		0		60.2		65		28		6		20		42		1.4
J GEBER
	2		1		3.72		28		0		3		38.2		28		16		6		14		42		1.09
C GUZMAN
	3		1		3.2		28		0		1		39.1		35		14		5		23		40		1.47
C ROBINSON
	1		0		1.89		28		0		5		33.1		20		7		2		17		39		1.11
TMoCloughlin
	3		3		3.18		7		7		0		34		26		12		2		10		34		1.06
J PINTARO
	2		3		5.09		34		0		0		35.1		34		20		3		21		33		1.56
D JUAREZ
	2		1		1.65		23		0		9		32.2		25		6		0		13		31		1.16
W RAMOS
	3		4		3.92		13		0		4		20.2		17		9		2		4		30		1.02
TJ SHOOK
	0		0		1.13		10		0		0		16		9		2		1		4		21		0.81
J CORNIELLY
	0		1		6.30		14		0		0		20		27		14		3		5		17		1.60
J HEJKA
	0		0		5.75		7		5		0		20.1		22		13		3		9		17		1.52
T MILLER
	0		0		2.89		2		2		0		9.1		4		3		1		4		14		0.86
J TONG
	0		0		0.00		5		0		0		9.1		3		0		0		4		11		0.75
J VENTURA
J Colon	1		0		2.45		6		1		0		14.2		14		4		2		7		10		1.43

Before I go, Syracuse used 6 pitchers in a 9-8 loss last night.  

Williams and Gilbert each had two hits, as did Cortes, who is on a "hot homer" streak and smacked his 16th in well under 300 at bats.  Azocar had 3 hits and 3 RBIs.  Shocker - Brett Baty returned, and while he was o-4 with 3 Ks, he is available to the Mets, it seems, if needed.  He was the DH, so I do not know his fielding status.

None of the 6 pitchers pitched well, and Zuber took the loss with another bad outing. All pitched in a mediocre fashion and Hartwig and Zuber coughed up 4 late runs. Ugh, the phlegm.