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9/12/24

Tom Brennan: Mets Back From the Brink; Kumar Rocks

Lindor is the Mets’ MVP, Maybe the NL’s, Too


METS ALMOST IMPLODE, THEN EXPLODE

The Mets hitters were slumping.  Badly.  After losing Tuesday, they were building towards a hitting woe crescendo when MVP Lindor led off the 9th, Mets down 1-0 WITH NO HITS, after another brilliant Manaea outing kept them close. In a game they needed desperately.

Lindor, naturally, promptly rocketed a bomb to right. 

First Mets hit, his 31st HR tied the game at one.  

Many walks and 2 sac flies later (Pete and Marte), it was up to 3-1. 

Then the other Francisco, and one of the two current Alvarez boys, unleashed a 3 run bomb to dead center (439 feet, 109 MPH) and just like that, the 1-0 no hit deficit had swung to a 6-1 lead.

Ryne Stanek walked the lead off hitter bottom 9, got 2 quick outs, then 2 singles brought it to 6-2, with 2 on, and Edwin Diaz was NOT getting a day off. A quick game ending fly out, however, ensued. Howie dutifully put it in the books.

The Mets avoided a crushing loss, and replaced it with a delirious win. 

6 runs on 4 hits and a handful of walks in the ninth after a no hitter through 8.  

Ya Gotta Believe.

KUMAR ROCKS
We all remember the sad saga of Kumar Rocker - 10th overall pick in 2021, Scott Boras being his agent, and the Mets deciding to not sign him after selecting him, due to medical concerns.  
The Rangers drafted him the next year, and sure enough, he soon needed TJS, so he missed over a year.  
Mets looked smart, but...
Back in the minors post-TJS and now at age 24, Rocker is starting to look like a future SP 1, potentially.
This year he started pitching fairly recently, and through Tuesday, he had gotten up to AAA for 10 innings so far, where he has allowed 4 hits, a walk, and had rung up 18 Ks.  
For the season, a 1.96 ERA, 36.2 IP, 55 Ks, 5 walks, 0.79 WHIP.
We of course drafted Kevin Parada instead at # 11 overall the next year as the alternative to sticking with Kumar.
In AA in 2024 through Monday, Parada  is hitting just .208 with 148 Ks in 109 games.  His 26 of 111 caught stealing is a decent rate these days.

I'd have kept Kumar.  
In hindsight, I get everything correctly. You too, huh?

MINORS
Two leagues remain active.
Syracuse loses 7-0. Just 12-32 in their last 44 games. The White Sox are envious.
Binghamton wins 8-4. The 2 first rounders of 2022, Parada and Jett, went 4 for 9 with 4 RBIs. Nice. Best joint output in the same game for them this year.
Jaylen Palmer went 2-4, up to .231 in Binghamton play. Batting a blistering .355/.412/.677 in 9 September games. He seems to have had his baseball skills catch up to his natural athleticism. Keep it up, JP.

17 comments:

  1. D Backs and Phillies won, Braves and SD lost. A good Mets day.

    Mets ahead of Braves by a game, trail ARIZ and SD by 2 games and 1.5 games, respectively. And trail the hot Phils by 8. Mets and Phils are only teams that are 8-2 in last 10, and they play each other this w/e.

    Oh, and big surprise, the CWS lost and are 81 games under .500.

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  2. If the Mets were in the AL West, they’d be leading the division by 2.5 games.

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  3. Jaylen Palmer actually hitting .255 since July 1, one of the better offensive producers for Binghamton in that timeframe. His first minors season was way back in 2018, and he still seems like a long shot after having recently turned 24, but he is starting to feel like Luke Ritter II. Better this year.

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  4. I was thrilled when Rocker was still on the board when the Mets picked but was equally thrilled as well when the Mets passed on signing him. Never liked his agent and, boy, there must be a great untold story here.

    TJS injuries are a coin toss. Some are like Rocker. Others, Matt Allan

    Part of the game

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  5. Matt Allan should be back in 2025? He’s still young, relatively, anyway. Bryce MDO was a two time TJS loser who got shut down for unpublished reasons after a brief, Rocky return, He may never be the Mets’ Ben Joyce. The recovered ex-Mets prospect JT Ginn is pitching OK with the Oakland As right now. 20 innings, 20 Ks, 4.58 ERA

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  6. A few random thoughts:
    -Matt Allen is completely healthy supposedly, and will be back next March.
    -The Mets are sloping upwards. They will pass the DBacks but the Padres schedule is too easy.
    -All three outs in the ninth inning were productive; two sacrifice flies and Inglesias hit it to the wall in dead center. I have a real good feeling about this weekend. Don’t know if the Mets have the time, but had they not pissed away games all year the Phillies would be in trouble.
    -Tyrone Taylor should be playing more, and I would say starting in CF. I don’t know what Mendoza is thinking sometimes.
    -An infield of Alonso, Mauricio, Lindor, Vientos is the best infield in the Mets system for next year. However, I don’t see Alonso as a long term piece and FanGraphs earlier this year valued him at 4/$56. I don’t know if Scott Boras knows this (LOL), but Cecil Fielder was a 40 HR that didn’t get much love either. Alonso is in good shape but his defense has slipped and his lack of any other production but the HR makes him a #5 or #6 hitter. What’s that worth?
    -Atlanta just lost their second best starting pitcher, Lopez. And I bet you they still won’t give up.

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    Replies
    1. Gus, Alonso Ks way up from 2 years ago. An early warning sign.

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    2. The Braves have winner DNA. NO Quit in them

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  7. The Mets have really made it exciting lately, but I am concerned about the lack of hitting against Toronto. The Phillies have a much better pitching staff and a lineup that can hit, especially in that little band box they play in. Tough challenge this weekend.

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  8. Replies
    1. John Rocker was a 13 game winner, just a CNN fact check here :)

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  9. Imagine if we'd traded prospects to get Soto, instead of the Yankees? .290, .420 OBP, 39 HRs, 115 runs, 100 RBIs. Division title.

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  10. Kicking back a bit, friends - my next article will be next Thursday, come what may. I hope the article will be about how sizzling hot the Mets are.

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  11. Bryan Woo, anyone? 8-2, 2.38 ERA for Seattle, and 12-7 career so far. He had a perfect game going into the 7th last night. "His ball was rising on a level I haven’t seen much,” Tatis said. “The guy has really good stuff. He was pounding the zone. His fastball was really alive, and he was making good pitches all the way from the beginning." He was the 174th pick in the 2021 draft. We picked underperforming Dom Hamel and JT Schwartz well before Woo came off the boards. Another drafting mistake by the highly mistake prone pre-David Stearns draft kings of Queens..

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    Replies
    1. The Mets picked Carson Seymour 2 slots ahead of Woo. Unlike MLB pitching force Woo, Seymour is having a mediocre year in the minors. Too bad the Mets thought to woo Seymour, rather than seymour Woo in Queens.

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