The New York Mets continue their schizophrenic season in which one day they appear totally embarrassing and then the next day resemble a post season contender. Obviously the major injuries and early season slumps have paid a massive price in their resulting won/loss record, but every now and then there are some signs suggesting perhaps they have started to adjust to the litany of changes forced upon them and perhaps there is some internal reserve that could end the season with a .500 or better record.
First of all, hats off to David Peterson who went from banished to the pen to Huascar Brazoban’s supporting cast and then just this week authoring a one-run performance over five starting innings. No one really expected it though the hope was always there that it could happen. Would happen? Well, that one was not filled with a stadium full of well wishers.
Then there are the ripples of productivity happening to stellar hitter Bo Bichette who has not resembled the .317 hitter he was this past season. Lately, however, he’s landed his bat on the ball for solid contact, long balls driven out of the park and suddenly he’s making David Stears appear for once to have made a solid player acquisition. There’s still a long way to go to get Bichette into All Star form but the signs are most definitely there.
The linked-at-the-hip duo of Brett Baty and Mark Vientos have continued to appear better than they have been but still performing well below league average as hitters. Whereas Baty has more defensive chops to put on a highlight reel than Vientos does, he has dropped out significantly where it comes to slugging percentage and OPS. Neither are necessarily starter quality on a good team but for now they are what the Mets are choosing to use to fill 22% of their at-bats. And Vientos even contributed a screen gem of a defensive play to help preserve that 2-1 victory against the Nationals. Go figure.
The Mets have announced that Tobias Myers is getting the Friday start while theoretically Jonah Tong is on tap for today’s game. Throw in the rest of the starting entourage — Freddy Peralta, David Peterson, Christian Scott and Nolan McLean. If you add in both Jonah Tong and Tobias Myers and then remember the existence of one-start hurler Zach Thornton the Mets have gone from needing five starting pitchers to all of the sudden having seven of them with Sean Manaea being grossly overpaid as a starting pitcher banished to the bullpen.
In the outfield Carson Benge has been on that same reassuring flourish at the plate to solidify his necessity as a worthy starter in right field. Juan Soto will never win a Gold Glove but if he indeed returns to full time duty in left field it leaves just the question of center field to be answered. A.J. Ewing has certainly responded to the challenge of major league pitching in his early introduction at the ripe old age of 21 while Nick Morabito’s appearance is either as a platoon partner or left fielder when Soto slots in at DH.
Complicating things are injury rehab tidbits that evolved this week. Long lost A.J. Minter is slated to resume full game level action this week prior to coming back fully from injury. Kodai Senga is also expected to toe the rubber as a starting pitcher as he works his way back to full time major league duty. Who will leave to make room for the two of them is still a bit of a debate which may be answered over the next few weeks as the Mets do whatever it takes to put 26 men onto the active roster until the regulars are fully ready.
4 comments:
Minter and Kodai will further complicate the pitching picture, for a period of time, but hopefully in a good way.
The offense was 2 hits by Soto plus one by Ewing. Gotta do better.
I think Senga's ship has sailed. He won't make it back. Manaea's ship is grounded in port. This is why you need seven starting pitchers. Also, remember that two equals one. Myers and Peterson are both needed in a single game to get to the 8th inning.
My guess is the Mets will dick around this season thinking they still have a shot rather than do like teams like Miami last year and the Pirates this year did/are doing... build a rotation emphasizing the future using top prospects
TBH, I think the Mets will play 'mix and match' and be a patchwork team for the majority of the season while trying to stay competitive until they aren't. There are some events that will force their hand and limit the extent to which they will be able play mix and match as much as they would like to: mostly returns from the IL and the limited number of players with remaining options. Robert, Senga, Polanco returning from IL will force changes. Of the three only Senga is a realistic trade option, and then, only if he can pitch for a month successfully and without injury. And the return will be modest.
The real benefit of dropping the likes of Robert, Senga, Manaea, Taylor -- either through trade or DFA is the opportunity it creates for others who are either making their way to the ML roster for the first time, or trying to establish that they belong on a team aspiring to compete for championships and not just playoff births. The fact is that almost all of those latter groups are on the roster now, and need to be given a chance to perform, as in the case of Vientos and Baty, e.g., or some exposure, e.g. Morabito and Ewing, or somewhere in between, e.g. Tong, Scott, maybe, Thornton. At this point, by my accounting, the only players who remain in the minors at this point, who could possibly qualify for the mix and match strategy for the year are ptichers: Santucci, Weinninger, Lambert and Ross.
So I am looking at this year a little differently than others might be and a lot differently than I did before it began. There are only so many players arguably potentially ready to lead a 'youth movement' going forward and most of them are on the existing roster. Of the four I mentioned, two are starters, two relievers. I break up the total entire big group into three different subgroups: those who definitely need to play as at least a penultimate decision on whether they will be part of the wave core, penumbra or not at all, needs to be made and cannot be kicked down the road: those are, Baty, Vientos, Alvarez and Scott in my book. Then there are those who might benefit from some MLB exposure at this point, but it isn't necessary, and there is no need to create space for them (though opportunities may arise for them due to injuries, etc), and again in my view, those would be the four pitchers I mentioned, and I would add Severino to that list, but he can be a Sept call up.
Then there are the rest of the youngsters who either are good enough to be counted on as part of the core going forward or are good bets to do so who need to be on the team now, e.g. McLean, Benge, Tong, Ewing. Too early to tell what category Morabito belongs in. My guess is that he is sui generis among the group in that they'd like him to play his way into that group, but whether he gets the opportunity to do so depends on what they are able to do with the likes of Taylor, Robert, Melendez and whether they are able to become competitive this year, or, whether the likes of some players they would want to trade are necessary to keep them competitive if they ever become competitive.
Personally, and it ain't my money, but I would not chase fools gold of being competitive this year.
Like RVH I have viewed Cohen's wealth as a strategic advantage, whose value may be reduced by next CBA. It should be used primarily when negotiating for top talent, but also to pay off for poor decisions, in effect paying for information about some of your assets that you believe is more valuable than the performance you are likely to receive from assets you have under contract for the remainder of their contracts.
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