Reese Kaplan -- More Roster Moves A'Coming

Lefty strikeout specialist Josh Smoker got the call and this time he might actually get into a game.  Given the sad state of bullpen exhaustion the Skipper may have no choice but to use a (gasp!) rookie at some point during the next few games.  Smoker is a former first round pick of the Washington Nationals and was derailed by some arm trouble in the past (so he should fit right in here).  Still, Sports Illustrated thought rather highly of him:

Smoker now touches 98 mph with his fastball and sits comfortably in the 95-96 mph range. He backs it up with both a slider and a splitter with some sink to it. Both are keys to Smoker's development and both have the chance to be average offerings. He blew hitters away with his fastball in 2015, but he will need more consistent secondary stuff to have success at the highest level.

Smoker has worked his way from being just about done to on the brink of impacting a big league bullpen. Continued health and some refinement could make him more than a lefty specialist.

PHIL EVANS IS EMERGING by Tom Brennan

PHIL EVANS IS EMERGING by Tom Brennan

Phil Evans was drafted out of high school as a 15th rounder in 2011.  Just 34 at bats in 2011, hitting .294. 


First real season was 2012: .252/.328/.337 in Brooklyn in 73 games.  Not terrible.


2013 in the Sally League WAS terrible - .203 without power in 106 games.


2014 in the Florida Coast League, Phil went back to so-so: .250/.317/.321 in 112 games.


2015, with the huge logjam of infielders in the Mets minors, he regresses, playing just 77 games, and hitting .234/.300/.313.


In other words, 4 years of utter mediocrity - sorry, Phil, it's true.


The logjam persists in early 2016, and Phil starts out again in St Lucie, and he goes 4 for 28.  I'm thinking this guy is both stinking and sinking.


THEN....YES, THEN:


Scrappy Jeff McNeil goes out with a season-ending abdominal hernia in AA, and Phil gets promoted.  I'm thinking, "this is gonna be ugly.  No way this guy hits in AA."


 WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.


Phil has clocked 79 games in AA, and he has exploded - he is still a hair short of having enough at bats to qualify for the AA batting race, but hitting nearly ,450 in August, he has climbed to .329, 2nd in the Eastern League, with some power showing up to boot, evidenced by a robust .491 slug %, far above prior years.  That's higher than Rosario's .324, folks.


Listed at a now-stocky 5'9", 220 pounds, Evans started out as a shortstop, and logged 283 games there in his career, making 64 errors.  Not terrible, when age is factored in, making him a passable back up at short in the majors as one evidence of his future utility.  Seven SS errors in 38 games this season is not bad compared to Gavin Cecchini.  Only 4 errors in 43 games at 2nd and 3rd this year, too. 


I have to totally revise my thinking about Phil. 


Maybe he is a future Joe McEwing...or MAYBE he is a future Mets' 3B starter.  If you said that to me in April, I'd have asked you what you were smoking.  But Phil's been smoking with the bat, and playing solid D.   


But, you say, 3B is a power spot, so what can he say to us to indicate he is not a complete dud in that department?  How about 6 homers and 17 doubles in his past 37 games?    Too short a stretch to conclude this is the new Power Evans, but clearly of interest.  And I saw a clip of him hitting a long opposite field homer, so the power seems to be there.


Besides McNeil, 2 other guys (Herrera and Muno) departed, freeing up at bats for Evans.  Anyone who does not now have Evans squarely on the radar is not paying attention.


Before I go, a more familiar guy is nova-hot.  Michael Conforto has FIFTEEN HITS AND A WALK IN HIS LAST 5 GAMES.  Get him back in NY ASAP.


After last night's Mets debacle, with the great Jake not able to hold a 4 run lead, Matz scratched tonight, and Wheeler nowhere in sight, it would take an absolute miracle for the Mets to make the playoffs.  I would deal Grandy for whatever we could get, eat the rest of his contract, and recall Nimmo and Conforto and let them play.  It is working out so far with TJ Rivera...who is 11 for 31, I believe...so start the youth movement again NOW. 

Mack - I Love A Great Baseball Story

In 2009, I was writing a full page a week for one of our local Morris Publishing newspapers on the Savannah Sand Gnats.

I also was responsible for putting out an additional sports page per week on local sports in both Jasper and Beaufort County, South Carolina. It included covering the Hardeeville High School baseball team.

Stay with me here.

Hardeeville made the playoffs in 2009 and an away game opening game against State powerhouse, Bamberg Ehrhardt, in Bamberg, South Carolina. This was the school that both ex-Mets Mookie Wilson and his son, Preston Wilson attended and played under long term legendary coach David Horton (who eventually retired at age 74, leaving behind 14 state championships, 889 wins, two national coach of the year honors and a legacy that might never again be matched in this state.

So, I had this great idea. Drive update, do an interview with Horton with emphasis on his days with the Wilson family. Then, I’ll cover that playoff game between the two team, I'm then told that the pitcher for Bamberg would actually be their ace and ironically was drafted by the Mets.

Wow! The story’s getting even better.

So I call the school, talk to the coach, drive up for the game, and I spend the afternoon with Coach Horton on the field prior to the game.

At game time, someone points out to me that the Bamberg pitcher’s mother is standing over in the corner, smoking a cigarette. I go over, introduce myself and ask her what it was like having her son be drafted by the Mets.

She looked at me fuming and began a diatribe on how the Mets drafted her son in the 50^th round (!), called him on the phone and told him that, not only would there be no bonus, but that they wouldn’t even be offering a contract. They did say that the kid was welcome to hop a train, at his own expense, go down to the Florida complex and tryout for the organization.

She ended by telling me that the Mets could go do something to themselves that is physically impossible.

Well, I put this end of the story to bed, went back to watching my home team Hardeeville have their head handed to them and returned home.

The pitcher?

Oh. He went on to pitch the 2010 season for Spartanburg (SC) Methodist College, He then sign on with the University of Tennessee for three years, was drafted in the 10^th round (2013) by the Cubs, bounced around both the Cubs and Arizona’s system for four years… and ended up last night getting his fourth victory of the year, throwing 7.1 innings against… 

the New York Mets.

His name is Zack Godley.

I love baseball. 

TOP 20 METS 2016 PROSPECTS PERFORMANCE by Tom Brennan

TOP 20 METS 2016 PROSPECTS PERFORMANCE by Tom Brennan

 

Aside from the fact that many Mets fans don't care much how the 2016 draftees are doing (just tell me about the really good ones, will ya?), I like following how they are doing. 

 

I'm just like that, weird...I know.  But how are the top 20 picks doing?  I'll fill you in.  I have nothing against guys below round 20, just that few (like 34th round pick Seth Lugo or undrafted TJ Rivera) actually make it to the Mets.  (Note; 23rd rounder Nick Sergakis is actually doing pretty well).


We're far enough along to give meaningful report cards.  So here goes:

GREAT SO FAR:


Justin Dunn, 1st Rd, Brooklyn: 7 G, 0.50, 18 IP, 19 K.  So far, so great.


Peter Alonzo, 2nd Rd., Brooklyn: 30 G, .321/.382/.587 - Wow! The only guy hitting with power, amazingly, in a typical Mets draft. Then Alonzo breaks his finger, causing Alonso Mourning!!


Austin McGeorge, 7th Rd., Bklyn: 11 G, 12 IP, 2.92, 1.14 WHIP, 11 K


Placido Torres, 8th Rd., Kingsport: 10 G, 13 IP, 21 K, 3.38.  Like those Ks.


Chris James, 14th Rd., GCL: 11 G, 0.73, 0.90 WHIP, 8K.  Nice start.


Gary Cornish, 19th Rd., Brooklyn: 10 G, 14 IP, 1.93, 1.14 WHIP, 21 K.




NOTABLE:


Colby Woodmansee, 5th Rd., Bklyn, SS: 46 G, .271/.308/.354, a scary 59 K.  3 errors.


Chris Viall, 6th Rd., Kingsport: 8 G, 5.29, 15 BB, 24 K in 17 IP.  Wild Thing, love the K's!


Jacob Zanon, 15th Rd, Bklyn, OF: 44 G, an excellent 20 of 22 steals, despite hitting just .197/.284/.287 so far.  25 K.




OK SO FAR:


Blake Tiberi, 3rd Rd., Bklyn: 39 G, .237/.320/.290, 22 K, no errors at 3B.  Hopefully, a 3rd round pick can do more offensively than Blake has done so far.


Gene Cone, 10th Rd., Bklyn: 40 G, .243/.337/.309, 26 K, just 1 OF error.  Unexciting.




NOT GOOD SO FAR:


Michael Paez, 4th Rd., Bklyn, SS: 28 G, .168/.262/.252, 3 errors.  Only 5'8", this seems like another in a history of Mets' poor offensive picks.  Draft power bats, man, not small guys in early rounds.  Maybe Paez will prove me wrong.


Colin Holderman, 9th Rd., Kingsport: 10 G, 14 IP, 7 K, 5.27.


Trent Johnson, 16th Rd., Kingsport: 12 G, 12 IP, 7.30, 1.62 WHIP, 10 K


Adam Atkins, 18th Rd, Bklyn: 13 G, 5.25, 1.75, 12 IP, 14K.




NOT WELL AT ALL:


Dan Rizzie, 13th Rd., C, Bklyn: 26G, .157/.287/.217 is downright non-offensive.


Jay Jabs, 17th Rd., Bklyn: 41 G, .190/.300/.248, 36 K.  Not promising for a 3rd baseman.




ALMOST ON VACATION:


Matt Cleveland, 12th Rd., GCL: 4 G, 4 IP, 4.15, 1K.  Hopefully he gets 10 innings in this yr




ON VACATION:


Anthony Kay, 1st Rd: has not pitched yet.  Resting golden arm.  See you in 2017, AK.




UNSIGNED:


Cameron Planck (11th round), Carlos Cortes (20th round) - your mistake, boys.




Overall take:
So far, very happy with Dunn and Alonso, otherwise, to me, results show a poor draft.
I will say that while the guys in Brooklyn collectively may not be hitting, they are fielding remarkably well, all far better than my favorite defenseless piñata Gavin Cecchini.


 

 

 

 

HIT RESET by Tom Brennan

HIT "RESET" by Tom Brennan

A short blurb for your humble thoughts.

Despite Grandy's meaningless 9th inning homer in a 13-5 blow out loss last night, he has been as close to useless as useless can be for a long time.

Like a drowning swimmer, de Aza briefly got his head above water but sank back below .200 here in late August.

Cabrera and Cespedes did fine last night and should be back this weekend.

WHAT ELSE TO DO TO HIT THE RESET BUTTON ON THIS FLAILING TEAM?

Recall Conforto and cut de Aza as soon as possible.  Why? How about Conforto having THIRTEEN HITS HIS LAST 4 GAMES!

Pen pitchers and Nurse have been pounded, including the unimpressive Ynoa.  Send 2 of them down and call up Smoker and Seward, both of whom have done really well of late.

Why?

No Wheeler (Zach or Beck) to rescue them, time running short.

This team needs an immediate RESET.  HIT that BUTTON, Sandy.

HIT HIM, THEN SIT HIM by Tom Brennan

HIT HIM, THEN SIT HIM by Tom Brennan

Imagine you are a team contending for the Wild Card, and your main flaw going into the final 35% of your schedule is an extreme inability to score.


Imagine you had a guy who, his first time up in a game, he hits .283, on base 36%, slugs .600.  You'd be ecstatic.


Imagine a guy who after the first inning is hitting .206, who hits .127 with RISP, who hits .163 in "late and close" situations, who hits .172 with men on base, and who is at best an average fielder.  You'd find the first open door and boot him out.  You'd be pining for Eric Campbell.


What if those 2 guys (the first time up guy and the after-first-time-up guy) are actually the same guy? 


You'd think Jekyll and Hyde in the extreme.  You'd think "Met".


You'd have Curtis Granderson, who has hit 11 lead off homers, only 7 others, and only 2 of his 18 homers with men on base, which (coupled with that .127 RISP) is why he has just 32 RBIs in well over 100 games.


So, what to do?  I'm glad you asked me. I'd "pinch hit" him in the first inning (in other words, let him start the game and get up once), then sit him, that's what I'd do. 


Ever done before in major league history?  Don't think so.  Should it be done with Grandy? I sure would.  We have a pennant to win... and a .127 RISP won't get us there.  He is a main reason we trail the Nats by 11.5 games.  Besides Daniel Murphy hitting 3 times as high as Grandy with RISP at .373, of course.  A guy we let walk to keep the likes of Grandy.


I'd also do ANYTHING I COULD to make sure Grandy is not on this team on opening day 2017.  Unless he only hits, then sits.


What do you think, folks?

Reese Kaplan -- Is It 2017 Yet?

As disappointing as this year has been, it may get worse before it gets better.  Going into 2017 the Met have very few players written in ink on the lineup card and based upon the last off-season’s inertia Sandy Alderson doesn’t seem to have it in his DNA to make the kind of wholesales changes necessary to reshape the roster. 

1^st Base

Lucas Duda will be available to the Mets next year in his final year of arbitration.  The team may have to consider whether or not they want to allocate potentially $7 million plus on a guy with a balky back despite the power he can provide when he’s available.  Given his paltry contributions in 2016 you’d think he would not be deserving of a raise, but the MLBPA will see that he does indeed get one.  Could a wink-wink, nod-nod deal be done through which the Mets don’t tender him a contract but he still signs back with the team for the same or less?  It’s possible and he never struck me as the go-for-the-gold type of player, but even then is it a wise move? 

The alternatives are the two-headed monster of James Loney and Wilmer Flores.  Loney’s had a credible season bouncing back from obscurity here in El Paso but that relative success may indeed lead him to seek greener (in more ways than one) pastures elsewhere, perhaps a club with a starting vacancy at 1B because Loney would be buried on the bench if Duda is indeed healthy and re-signed.  Flores is showing once again he can mash lefties at will, so he’ll have a role unless they decide his best value is as trade bait.

2^nd Base

Here’s where it gets very interesting.  There’s no guarantee they would pony up what it would take to re-sign Neil Walker.  They do have an option on Jose Reyes who could play 2B.  The aforementioned Wilmer Flores is another possibility.  The trade of Dilson Herrera suggests that defensively challenged Gavin Cecchini may be asked to shift to the other side of the diamond as well.  Again, nothing can be written in ink.

SS

Here’s the only iron clad guarantee on the infield for next year.  Asdrubal Cabrera is signed for 2017 and played at a good level both offensively and defensively.  Assuming he stays healthy, he’ll be in the lineup at SS on Opening Day.

3^rd Base

Ah, the $20 million (plus) question…what does David Wright have left in the tank?  More importantly, if he’s unable to play, who is the alternative?  It’s hard to foresee a scenario with the likes of Kelly Johnson or Ty Kelly or Ty Wigginton coming out of retirement to man the hot corner, yet the club’s hands are somewhat tied until they have a resolution to the Wright question. 

C

Despite his name being floated in trade rumors this season, Travis d’Arnaud is one of the few players who they can pencil into the lineup to deliver above average offense and mediocre defense compared to other catchers around the league.  Considering he’s still on the lower end of the pay scale, it’s hard to imagine they would shift gears at this juncture unless it was for some kind of blockbuster to net them a guy like Buster Posey from San Francisco or Salvador Perez from KC.  Unfortunately, to my knowledge the defending World Champions’ GM nor the Giants’ GM have not taken any severe blows to the head lately, so that’s not going to happen. 

LF

Three guys jockeying for position out there is untenable.  Incumbent Yoenis Cespedes is probably the first choice but he has an opt-out clause.  Newcomer Jay Bruce has been pretty brutal upon arriving, but his Granderson-like salary with way more than double the RBIs makes picking up his option a no-brainer.  That leaves Michael Conforto as the odd man out.  Yes, he’s had a “challenging” sophomore season, but his manager inexplicably finds starts for the sub-Mendoza Alejandro De Aza while Conforto improves his game by sitting on the bench.

CF

Juan Lagares and his repaired thumb may come front and center again as the team is rather lefty-heavy and defensively challenged.  After that CF options are Michael Conforto (who doesn’t get a chance to play there), Curtis Granderson who shouldn’t play there and Brandon Nimmo who hasn’t yet shown he belongs in the big leagues (though Alejandro De Aza does, for reasons that escape the majority of Mets fans). 

RF

How can you have only 31 RBIs in over 400 ABs while having amassed 18 HRs?   That’s almost impossible to do.  His .226 batting average suggests that the 4^th year on his deal was probably not one of Sandy Alderson’s better ideas.  You’re stuck with him for 2017 so expect to see him manning RF once again. 

To Recap

1B           (unknown)

2B           (unknown)

SS           Asdrubal Cabrera

3B           (unknown)

C             Travis d’Arnaud

LF            (One of Jay Bruce, Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto)

CF           (Juan Lagares)

RF           (Curtis Granderson)

That’s 3 out of 8 positions unknown at this point.  You can’t leave it to the Skipper to resolve the outfield situation because he will choose the veterans regardless of how poorly they perform (witness the number of starts for De Aza and Granderson).  Someone has to be the smartest guy in the room.  

KIDDIE K KREW by Tom Brennan

KIDDIE K KREW by Tom Brennan

One of my favorite things about following Mets' Minors pitchers is seeing which dudes are blowing away the opposition.  Sending them back to the dugout with head hanging low, muttering and sputtering, while K cards are being hung up by Met fans in the stands.  

So, who are guys with 50 or more K's who are averaging more than a K per inning?  Thought you'd NEVER ask.

AAA:

Josh Smoker: high 90s heat, and improving control.  Smoker has fanned 78 in 55 IP this year, with a 3-2 mark for the season to go with a plunging ERA.

Paul Sewald: 5-3, 13 saves, 3.34 in hideous Vegas, with 71 K's in 56 IP.  Career, 16-8, 2.17, 298 K in 249 IP, 60 saves.  Darned nice resume.

AA:

Logan Taylor: not to be confused with homer-prone Logan Verrett, big righty Logan Taylor has rung up 90 swishes in 68 innings in relief, posting a 4-1 record.  Stee-rike THREE!

Tim Peterson: started out in A ball this year, then forged upwards to AA.  Tim, a righty built like Josh Edgin, has gone 4-0, 2.36, with 75 Ks in 53 IP.  That ERA would be so much better, too, except for a rough outing right after his promo.

Kevin McGowan: another (yawn) big righty reliever, McG has gone 5-0, 1.87 with 74 Ks in 72 IP.

Al Baldonado: yay! Another lefty. 58 punch outs in 50 IP, but seems luckless - 0-2 this year, and 0-7 last year despite a stellar ERA, about 2.50 spanning the 2 years.

High A:

Ben Griset: A nice 4-2, 1.81, season with 51 Ks in 49 IP.

A:

Craig Missigman: a surprising (to me) name on the list, with 62 Ks in 59 IP.

Tyler Bashlor: nice return from injuries: 3-1, 2.47 record and 62 Ks in 47 IP.  Hard thrower.

Nabil Crismat: recently promoted to join the Fireflies, he tossed a dominant 10 strikeout start the other day. 44 IP, 52 Ks, fine ERA - but he is a Met, so he is 0-2.  He is a member of the Baldonado Fan Club….winners who don't win.

Joe Shaw:  123 Ks in 126 IP is not more than 1 an inning, but it is darned close and the highest K total of any Mets minor leaguer this year, so I gladly mention Mr. Shaw here.

Brooklyn A Ball:

Tom Szapucki: a lefty sensation that I mention often, and when you've struck out 86 in 52 innings, why be dumb and not mention him is how I figure it.  Future ace.

Harol Gonzalez: Little Pedro is 5-1, 1.57, with 74 Ks in 63 innings.  Totally lights out lately.  Lethal, actually.

Joe Zanghi - 34 Ks in 22 IP for Brooklyn, and a nice sub 2-00 ERA also in 16 relief outings.

A few Kingsport guys doing OK in the K department too.

Traded strikeout machines include Dario Alvarez, Akeel Morris, the now-healed Jack Leathersich, and fireballing Brad Wieck.  Look them up at your leisure.

MINOR LEAGUE TIDBITS

MINOR LEAGUE TIDBITS by Tom Brennan

A few minutes before church, so what is happening in the minors?  Who's cookin"?

Tom Szapucki is always happening.  Cooking with gas, as they say.  He had his worst start of 2016, with 3 hits, 4 walks, 2 HBP in 5 innings, but he struck out 10 more.  We should all have such bad starts.  86 Ks in 52 innings.  That's 15 K's per 9 innings, folks.  Phew!  His fellow teammate and phenomenal starter Harol Gonzalez approves.

Nabil Crismatt is a promising dude, too.  The 21 year old hard thrower tossed 7 shutout, 2 hit innings last night while striking out 10.  Ad him to the list of strong young lower minors Mets starting pitchers.

Desmond Lindsay has been on base 36 of 76 times this year, and had a 7 RBI night the other day.  Sweet.  His teammate Peter Alonso was tearing it up before he broke his finger, leaving all Mets fans in Alonso Mourning.

IF Phil Evans has played the opposite corner from Dom Smith in AA this year.  Dom is back up to .295, but the under-the-radar Evans has hit .313/.349/.460 this year, and the radar is starting to pick him up.

Tomas Nido has almost identical numbers as a catcher in St Lucie as Evans has in AA.  When you watch "Runners Gone Wild" against Mets catchers in Queens, it is good to know that not only can Nido hit, but he has thrown out slightly over 40% of would-be base stealers in 2015 and 2016.

Josh Smoker has tightened up his control, with just 3 walks in July and August.  My guess is he is definitely a September call up, along with his righty AAA pen counterpart Paul Sewald.

On a very sad note, Jeff McNeil bulked up this off season and I was expecting great things of him after a really fine 2015, but after 3 games in April, he needed abdominal hernia surgery, and it has now wiped out his whole season.  The one blessing is it gave Phil Evans more playing time to shine, and he has.  Come back 100% in 2017, Mr. McNeil.

Off I go - have a great day, everyone.