Craig Mitchell -- The Good, The Bad........The Bottom Line of the Mets

When I think of the Mets, I mean, my first thoughts, what’s actually imprinted on my brain are a black and white image of Tom Seaver tossing off the mound with his right knee gently scrapping the mound dirt. The old Shea scoreboard with the Rheingold sign on it and the Mets logo on the big speaker on the top and John Milner in the batter’s box at Shea on a windy day in September, hot dog rappers blowing behind him as he’s about to uncoil a long homer.  That is with all honestly where my Mets memories start.

Oddly, these are among my earliest memories, but it’s where my mind goes automatically when I think “Mets”. Maybe that explains why I’m not panicking.  I have said before that I have seen a lot worse. The old Mets never hit. By old, I mean the Mets of the early 70’s.   Seaver, Matlack, Koosman and Gentry always pitched with very few runs to work with. Heck the first game I remember going to was in April 1971 and Jerry Koosman won the game 1-0 and he drove in the run with an RBI single.

I don’t have a huge ego, but I really do know baseball. I know talent and I’m not afraid to point out deficiencies.  Better put, as a Mets fan I believe I can be non-partial and I can admit them.  I can also recognize strengths.  Seeing strength is the toughest call of all, especially with young talent. It can be difficult to call because it can seemingly change from one day to the next. Even when the Mets were busy losing 7 of 8 to the Pirates and Braves last week, I wasn’t worried. I was frustrated, I was discouraged, but I wasn’t worried because I see those good things. And in my opinion the good things out number the bad things with the Mets right now. 

DANIEL MURPHY

The Good -- Murphy has been great all year. He’s not only been the most consistent Met, he’s been among the league leaders in hits all year. Murphy has hit his stride, he’s in his prime.

The Bad – No matter how you slice it, Murphy is at best an adequate second basemen with limited range and not the softest of hands. While he has the ability to dazzle on a difficult chance, he can also botch a simple double play ball. 

Bottom Line: His hitting makes up for his fielding deficiencies.

DAVID WRIGHT

The Good – Team leader, best hitter and heart and soul of this team.  Wright is the seasoned vet that leads by example. While having a down year, The Mets totally fell apart when he was out of the lineup. Now that he’s back in, the Mets are playing like a different team. Signing Wright to a long term deal was one of the best things Sandy Alderson has ever done.

The Bad – The Captain is having a down year in regards to his average, power and his throwing.

Bottom Line: Wright is still the best player the Mets field on a daily basis. He has plenty left in the tank and hopefully will lead them to the playoffs very soon.

CURTIS GRANDERSON

The Good – has been scorching hot since his horrible start. Great attitude on and off the field and is a great presence in the clubhouse.  Has been a run producer and has hit with the power the Mets expected.

The Bad – Leads the team in strikeouts and is on pace to strikeout 151 times. Not an average hitter. If he bats .250 that a good season.

Bottom Line: Despite early fears of this being another “Jason Bay” signing, Granderson has been not only worth the money, but so far is a bargain.

LUCAS DUDA

The Good – Duda has stepped up tremendously.  The past 6 weeks Duda has shown the promise the Mets where counting on. He currently leads the team in RBI and has been one of the team’s best hitters in the clutch and his glove and arm are better and more consistent than once thought.

The Bad – He still has to prove himself in the long hall. He’s had spans before where he looked like he was on the verge of becoming a star.

Bottom Line: Now that the job is his to lose at first Duda has rewarded the Mets with steady play and shown the ability to adjust and has shown signs of using all fields more often.

TRAVIS d’ARNAUD

The Good – Has been masterful behind the plate. His presence was missed by the pitching staff when he was in Las Vegas. He has been a different player at the plate since his return to the majors. He is showing signs of his star potential.

The Bad – He’s still a bit fragile for a backstop. His penchant for concussions is worrisome.

Bottom Line: d’Arnaud is looking better and better and could be the whole package behind the plate. He is showing more power than the Mets expected.

JUAN LAGARES

The Good – Lagares is one of the best center-fielders in all of baseball. At the plate he has been batting .280 or higher the entire season. He’s an excellent bunter and the whole league already knows not to run on him.

The Bad – He has shown a tendency to get hurt. He also needs to develop more power. Terry Collins tends to sit him too much.

Bottom Line: Lagares is the Mets center-fielder of the future. Terry Collins and the Mets front office need to install him at position “8” all year and just let him play. He’s not a platoon player and should be a fixture in center for 154 + games a year.

RUBEN TEJADA

The Good – Has been terrific in the field giving the Mets great range and steady glove and accurate throws. At the plate he’s returning to his 2012 form.

The Bad – Still has little or no speed or power and his work ethic is still suspect.

Bottom Line: He’s not making anyone believe he’s the Mets answer at short, but he has been much better than expected this year.

BARTOLO COLON

The Good – Has been just as advertised.  Leads the Mets in wins and innings pitched.  A solid performer and has been a great example to the young pitchers on the staff.

The Bad – When Colon’s been good he’s been amazing. When he’s been bad he’s been REALLY bad. He’s carrying a heavy load in the Mets rotation. His endurance is a question-mark.

Bottom line:  Another wise signing. Has been very steady in the Mets make shift rotation as a space-holder for Matt Harvey. He may prove to be a valuable trade chip in the coming weeks.

ZACH WHEELER

The Good – Has shown genuine flashes of brilliance so far in 2014. His ease of motion unleashes an exploding rising fastball. Has #1 stuff and is gaining more and more control and confidence.

The Bad – Is fighting with consistency and his control. Tends to suddenly lose his rhythm in the middle of an outing and lose control of a game.  He needs to get his pitch count down so he can go deeper in games.

Bottom line: His development into a dominate pitcher is proceeding slower than Matt Harvey’s but it’s happening and is exciting to watch.

DILLON GEE

The Good – Ever since returning from his blood clot he has been a dominate pitcher. Gee’s control and changeup have opposing batters perplexed.

The Bad – Gee tends to become hittable after 80 pitches or so. He needs to increase his endurance so he can work deeper into ball games.

Bottom line: Gee is invaluable to the pitching staff. He offers a great  change of pace in a rotation fill with hard throwers. Could be a valuable trade chip, but I personally hope he stays in Queens.

JONATHON NIESE

The Good – Niese has matured into one of the best lefties in the league. His talent mixed with his competitiveness is a formula for success.

The Bad – Niese can be prone to lapses in concentration and can get into trouble suddenly after sailing along for 5 or 6 innings.  His shoulder is a concern having been an issue 3 times since last summer.

Bottom line:  As the Mets only southpaw, Niese has job security in Flushing. He offers a steady veteran presence while being an incredibly solid #4 pitcher in a deep future Met rotation.

JACOB deGROM

The Good – deGrom has passed the likes of Rafael Montero and Noah Syndergaard as the Mets jewel in the crown prospect of 2014. deGrom has shown poise, control and athleticism so far in 2014.

The Bad – The only downside to deGrom is that he has never really pitched more than 125 innings in a season.  That means that he more than likely will get shut down in September.

Bottom line: deGrom has practically installed himself in the 2015 pitching rotation. He is one of the stand out rookie pitchers of 2014.

JENRRY MEJIA

The Good – After a terrific showing as a starter in 2013 his switch to the bullpen and as the closer has been a terrific move. Mejia has grown into the role of closer and has helped solidify the bullpen.

The Bad – Arm worries follow Mejia. Bone chips sidelined him for the balance of 2013 and recently his frequent use has led him to claim his arm feels tired.

Bottom line: Mejia has proven to have the mindset of a closer. His four quality pitches make him a very formidable closer to deal with.  Once his arm is acclimated to the rigors of frequent use, Mejia may be the closer the Mets have been looking for for years.

JOSH EDGIN

The Good – After a horrific spring, Edgin has been lights out since his recall. Edgin set a Met record retiring the first batter he faced out of the bullpen a record 20 straight times.

The Bad – Edgin needs to prove that he finally has control of his slider. That is the key to his success.

Bottom line: Edgin is finally fulfilling the promise he showed in the minors and in the latter parts of 2012 and 13.

JEURYS FAMILIA

The Good – Has settled into the role of setup man and spot closer. Has the most electric stuff in the Met bullpen.

The Bad – Jeurys can still be prone to wildness. His slider moves so much it’s unhittable and can be uncatchable as well.

Bottom line:  Along with Edgin and Mejia, Familia gives the Mets an end of the bullpen that will be mighty stingy and give other teams a reason to worry trailing after 7 innings.

VIC BLACK

The Good – Black didn’t make the main club after a rocky spring, but since joining the main club has been dominate.

The Bad – Black can still have bouts of wildness and they can come out of nowhere.

Bottom line: Black has adds to the versatility of the current Met bullpen. Black had stuff effective enough to pitch the 7^th, 8^th or 9^th innings.

CARLOS TORRES & DAISUKE MATSUZAKA

The Good – These are the utility men of the bullpen. Whether in long relief, starting, setup work or closing they have done it all.

The Bad – They tend to get over worked. But as the starters mature and go longer into games this will be less and less of a problem.

Bottom line: The flexibility that Torres and Dice-K provide has been the saving grace of the bullpen and has helped allow the Met bullpen develop into a true force.

TERRY COLLINS

The Good – Has kept his cool weathering a storm of criticism in his tenure with the Mets. Love him or hate him Terry sticks to his guns, you have to admire that. 

The Bad – Has been a poor tactician in this stint with Mets.. He tends to sit players who are hot. Collins does not handle younger players well. He has shown a penchant to stick with struggling veterans while younger players who have shown more consistency ride the bench. Fails to take blame for any of the team’s failures and refuses to take any heat.  Has admitted he is out of ideas during losing streaks.

Bottom line: As the Mets  have stabilized, Collins appears to be getting more consistent.  Collins manages off the seat of his pants. At times he seems to be wildly guessing at solutions and line up combinations with no plan in site. The past month the roles in the bullpen have become defined, Now it seems his lineups are becoming more consistent. Collins himself needs to be more consistent. When the Mets are winning he seems to know when to get out of the way. When they are struggling he's all over the place frustrating players and fans alike.