Coming
Later Today –
9 30 am – Herb G
– Minor League Report
I hope
the Mets noticed that one of my favorites early for the 10th pick in
the draft, Vanderbilt RHP Tyler Beede, got back
on the horse and sat 93-97, hitting 99 on Friday night. He Also struck out 14
Xavier batters in eight innings.
(keithlaw
@keithlaw
- Heard from a scout at the regional that Tyler Beede looked the best he
has all season in his outing last night.)
I heard
from an old buddy of mine today, Jonathan Elfenbein (@ReliableJon)
who is close friends with one of Mack’s Mets original writer’s David Rubin (@djrubin). Jon reports that David’s wife, Shari, had a
successful kidney transplant and everything is back to being kosher in the
Rubin household. Any of you that have been around here for a while will
remember David’s great posts and, frankly, he was more of a partner here with
me than simply a writer. Feel free to contact him on Twitter and try to get him
back as a writer here.
I want to continue our discussions about relief pitching.
Let’s face it, there are two different kinds of relief pitches
and the only ones that seem to get any press are the closers. Jenrry Mejia couldn’t wrap himself around
the concept of relieving until he was told he was going to close. All of a
sudden, he had self-importance.
You might have noticed that Rafael Montero gave up no runs in the first two innings he pitched on Friday
night which would help support his role might be better served in the pen. I no
longer try and understand why starters can’t seem to get past six or seven
innings anymore. What I do know is you need six or seven effective relievers on
your staff to turn a gamer you were leading in the sixth into a victory at the
end of nine.
You also can’t fault the pen here for the loss. There was a
stretch where they produced eight straight scoreless innings, a feat that
should have produced a victory. This was a bad night for Montero, but, in
addition, defense is coming into play again. You can’t win at this game without
power hitting if you’re going to throw and kick the ball around.
I don’t expect Montero to be back for a while. First, the Mets
get an opportunity to showcase Dice-K before the trade deadline comes up and,
secondly, this would give Montero a chance to hook back up with Frank Viola and work on what’s bothering
him. He only had two bad outings but right now, the Mets need to start playing
.700 ball if they want to keep in the race for a wild card slot.
Saturday’s game proved we even have longer to go. I think the
right pitchers are there but just need the right set of circumstances. It sure
would be nice to give these guys a 7-0 lead once in a while.
We talk all the time about firming up our ‘dream rotation’ for
2015. We throw a lot of names out there like Montero, Syndargaard, and Wheeler,
but two less, exciting guys may just be added here to make it a lot easy to get
this job done. Let’s face it… Dillon Gee has been the Mets best starter over the 2013-2014 season… and
the guy that is turning heads right now is Jacob deGrom. Add Matt Harvey to the mix and 60% of your future rotation may already be
formed. This leaves you the 2015 contract of Bartolo Colon and what decisions you want/need to make regarding Zack Wheeler, Jon Niese, Noah Syndergaard, and Rafael Montero. This is a really good
problem that’s developing.
Gary Seagren asked –
Hi Mack, after your last post on the draft
wouldn't Zimmer also be in the mix if available along with Newcomb and Turner
and if so what's your pick?
Hey Gary. Good to hear from you.
Oh yeah, Zimmer is definitely
in the mix and should be available at #10. Only one outfielder will be drafted
in the first nine picks and he’s behind the plate right now (Alex Jackson). If… and this is a big if…
the Mets go outfield, they will have to pick between ‘tools, defense, and a
cannon for an arm’ (Zimmer) or above average power with limited speed (Michael Conforto). Think of Zimmer as Brandon Nimmo v2.0, while Conforto ‘attacks’
the game similar to Lucas Duda or Alan Dykstra.
So, put the three on the board
and where do I go?
I love Newcomb but the Mets
have to start drafting outfielders. I’d go with Zimmer and ship him straight to
St. Lucie.
