The Morning Report 5.5.2015 | Monell Called Up, Welcome Home Verrett, Time for Flores to Reset, Wright's Return Uncertain.

Transactions | Chris Soto

• The Mets announced that they will be calling up C Johnny Monell to the MLB club today. With only 2 games in between 2 off days, the club intends on carrying an extra bat that can provide some left handed power to help jump start the offense. Monell has had a really good start in his first month with the Las Vegas 51s, hitting .397/.455/.638 with 4 HRs. 
• The Texas Rangers announced that Rule 5 draft pick RHRP Logan Verrett has cleared waivers and will be returned to the Mets organization. The front office will reassign Verrett to Las Vegas. It is not immediately know if Verrett will return to the rotation, to replace the recently injured Matt Bowman, or remain in the bullpen.

Patrick Albanesius | Mets 360- In games the Mets have won so far in 2015, they have walked 60 times and struck out an even 100. In those games the team line has been .260/.340/.395 with 13 home runs. In games lost by the Mets, the team has walked just 18 times, and struck out 80. That team batting line is .198/.248/.281 with just four home runs. It’s a complete role reversal from the winning baseball the team was playing, and it’s not even hard to see! If Kevin Long is going to earn his paycheck, he needs to calm the fire before it engulfs the team. Strikeouts are to be expected, as they are a sign of aggressiveness. But if that aggressiveness is causing pitchers to adjust to your team strategy, and you don’t adjust back, you’re dead.

(Chris Soto: Patrick is absolutely right. The past few games I have seen more guys swinging and missing at the first pitch or chasing balls out of the zone. This puts hitters into unfavorable counts and forces them to abandon the team philosophy of "hunting for your pitch." I am hoping that this day off was used to calm everyone down so that we can go into this short Baltimore series and take both games. If there is ever a time to get the offense hot again, it's these next two games against the MLB's 3rd most inefficient starting rotation.)


Kristie Ackert | NY Daily News- There is no hiding that the 23-year old has gotten off to a bad start this season. In 25 games, Flores has more errors (7) than he did in the 51 games he played at shortstop last season (4). As the Mets have struggled recently, the pressure on Flores has grown more intense, especially after his bobbled ball on Thursday cost the Mets a game. “He’s handling it well. He’s a pretty relaxed kid, so it doesn’t look like he needs to talk yet. He just needs a pat on the back,” Cuddyer said. “Eventually, I will tell him I had to get through the same thing. It was 2005 and they had me playing third. It was awful, It just keeps coming at you and you feel like you can’t do anything right...all you can do is go through it. I was not swinging the bat like he can though, so he is going to be fine.”

(Chris Soto: For anyone who still has doubts about why the front office signed Cuddyer, here is an example of why he was signed to be more than just a bat. It was only a week ago when Flores was riding a 8 game hitting streak and was in the Top 5 among MLB SS in batting average and OPS. A 3 day head clearing day is probably exactly he needed as the errors he was committing were just silly under throws and lack of focus plays.)


Zach Braziller | New York Post- David Wright’s return remains uncertain. The Captain, out since April 15 with a hamstring injury, is at the team’s minor-league complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., working to get back, but he’s still not at 100 percent, general manager Sandy Alderson told The Post.
“It’s just hard to say,” Alderson said, when asked about a possible return. “He could be a week away, could be 10 days away. Until he gets into a game situation and feels confident with the leg, we’re not going to know. Once Wright is 100 percent confident in the leg and is running at 100 percent, he would be five days or less away from getting back to Queens.“We haven’t gotten to that threshold yet,” the general manager said.

(Chris Soto: The Mets front office is continuing to be cautious with Wright leg hamstring. Also based on Sandy's comments about getting him into a game situation, it sounds like once Wright feels 100%, he could get send out for a small minor league rehab assignment to get his legs back under him. Don't expect the captain back for at least another 10 days in my opinion.)