The Mack Report - Thursday, August 4th
Vin
I can’t remember not being a fan of baseball.
We didn’t have much when I was a kid, but what I did have was my trusty transistor radio.
I don’t remember who bought this for me. It was rectangle, the color of blue and about three times the size of my hand. It went everywhere with me, including to sleep.
Back then, baseball was a radio sport. Sure, the first Brooklyn Dodger game was televised eight years before I was born, but I rarely was allowed to use our Muntz TV.
Instead, I would crawl into bed, curl up with the radio being used as a pillow, resting my ear right against the speaker, and turn up the volume slowly to WOR radio. It was there that I found the ONLY baseball announcer in the world.
Oh sure, there were others, Guys with names like Red and Jerry and Mel, but, to me, there was only one. Vin Scully.
Scully had this soothing voice that made you feel like it was even okay to lose games. My favorite Dodgers will always be Gil Hodges, but this guy came a close second.
And he just continued to broadcast. Man, I’m 75 now and he still could be heard in Los Angeles.
I will miss him, just like I do for all my Boys Of Summer.
Rest east Vin. You can unplug now.
I think I told you this week that Mychal Givens hadn’t given up a run in his last 800 innings pitched. Well, he changed that narrative last night.
There were a lot of you upset when the Mets both traded for a right handed relieve, as well as the haul they had to give up to get Givens, but calm down. Let’s write this one off to a hiccup until we see more the next couple of outings.
We scored nine runs this game. Trust me, no one will remember this poor outing in a week because of this.
Grading each Mets deadline get here -
Trade #1:
Mets acquire 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach from the Pirates in exchange for RP Colin Holderman.
By doing this, the Mets filled out one half of their DH platoon. Vogelbach is a righty-killer, sporting a 153 wRC+ against them, compared to a 32 when facing southpaws. The Mets only plan on having him face righties, which has worked out very well so far. Colin Holderman looked very promising for the Mets in his limited time, with a 2.04 ERA in 17.2 innings while touching 99 on the radar gun, but the Mets had to give up controllable players to get controllable players, and it was a necessary move to improve the team.
The grade: A
2023 MLB DRAFT - TOP 100 COLLEGE PROSPECTS here -
#9 Paul Skenes RHP Transfer Portal
Paul Skenes was a phenomenon for Air Force as a freshman and sophomore before transferring. While he has some two-way potential, Skenes is a more upside on the mound working from a three-quarter arm slot with smooth mechanics, a short-arm action, hiding the ball on his back hip and creating a lot of deception. Skenes’ velocity sits in the low 90s as a starter, up to 95, but can get up to 98 in relief. He generates plenty of carry on the heater, with spin rates in the 2400 RPM range. Primary secondary offerings include a fall-off-the-table split-change and a short breaking slider, both in the low-to-mid 80s. At the plate, Skenes has some contact issues but really excels at finding the barrel and has legitimate slugging potential. Evaluators certainly prefer the arm, but the two-way upside is en vogue.
2023 MLB DRAFT - TOP 100 HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS HERE -
#18 SS Braden Holcomb Foundation Academy (FL)
Holcomb is a big, athletic shortstop with massive power, reminiscent of Brady House from the 2021 class. Holcomb boasts big time bat speed and raw power that finds its way into games already. His solid defensive actions and near top of the scale arm strength will keep him on the left side infield for the long term. Scouts want to see a consistent approach at the plate and less swing-and-miss as he continues to develop, showcasing his talents as a hitter first and foremost,
Yesterday’s Tweets -
Baseball @HittingDude
2023 mlb top pitching FA
Mike Clevinger (32)
Clayton Kershaw (35)
Sean Manaea (31)
Carlos Rodon (30)
Noah Syndergaard (30)
Jameson Taillon (31)
Taijuan Walker (30)
Anthony DiComo @AnthonyDiComo
Jacob deGrom says he came out of his season debut feeling good. Played catch this afternoon without issue. He's all set to make his second start of the season Sunday against the Braves. The general guideline will be up to six innings/75 pitches in that one
Ernest Dove @ernestdove
22 year old Mets IF prospect Jose Peroza has turned his season around in High A Brooklyn.
July: .286/.356/.494/.850
First 2 games into August hes combined 2 for 5 with 2 BBs.
14 comments:
I haven’t read a single complaint about the Givens trade, but rather that they didn’t get a lefty. It was the Ruf trade that was an overpay and stupid. Seems like most digital ink revolves around not getting a lefty.
You are right Gus.
Mixed up my trades.
Doctor appointment this morning has me rushed.
Watched Givens on replay this AM. Credit to hitter on first HR - belt high 93 MPH, slightly inside off plate, he was looking there and got it. 2nd HR was a hanging slider. Inning got prolonged when he deflected a grounder that was headed straight to the fielder and would have been out # 3. Two run single off Lugo was the seeing eye variety.
All in all, not a great outing, but let's put it in the "it happens" column and see what his next outing brings. Hard to believe his whole season to that point was a fluke.
Big night tonight
Ernest, I think Peroza picking it up in July has a lot to do with Ramirez and Consuegra coming in and giving Brooklyn some badly needed offense. Probably put too much pressure on himself trying to compensate for Palmer, Newton and some other non-hitters. Lindor is experiencing the same phenomenon: in 2022, his surrounding cast of hitters is a big upgrade, allowing him to relax and thrive.
Hope you are doing better. Sorry you could not make it to Cooperstown to witness Gil being induced.
We have to give Givens a pass as the guy probably just arrived before game time as we never think about what a player goes through during these transactions. Crazy HR from " the Beast" last night and can't wait till he gets here. Mack as always I hope things go well with your appointments but I too remember my first transistor radio and having it on my pillow especially those dam west coast games and looking forward to the morning Daily news for the wrap up even though they were almost always after losses but thats what true fans do. I could never get enough Met info and also remember the Baseball Digest and my favorite issue was the March edition because it had the prospects in it....those were the days.
Sporting News for me
By the way GAME ON as this is what it's all about. Mack the game I remember most on my radio was the one Carlton struck out 19 and Swoboda won it with two 2 run HR's. As far as y/days game the first thing that came to mind was way back in the day Lauren had Bogy but we have Vogy and hope he has as good a career were counting on u big fella.
One of my fondest memories was listening to Ali win that fixed fight over Sunny Liston
I'm sure there will be much thrashing about on the Mets' trades this year.
Vogelberg has been a HIT, but he has only had 34 plate appearances so far.
Givens has been a BUST, but he only has had one mop-up appearance where he just had to throw in the zone.
Ruf seems to have cost too much, but he hasn't even played a game yet.
Even the new guys this year like Escobar, Canha, and Marte have not had a full season and things tend to level out. Of the three I would not have predicted that Escobar would have struggled so much or that Canha would be so valuable.
We'll see how things play out in the stretch run. At least it has been exciting thus far. CitiField will be rocking tonight!!
We’ll see, will Vogelbach/Ruf platoon bring a charge to the lineup? Will the Guillorme/Escobar and Canha/Naquin platoons work? And most important will Alvarez,Baty,Vientos,and!auricio be playing in next years second half.
Gary: loved the March issue of Baseball Digest for its rookie thumbnails, I'd read them and reread them. Mack, subscribed to The Sporting News for 30+ years, until the strike in '94, when I got tired of reading about that. eventually started with Baseball America, until the internet became big, and I started following you. still remember when TSN was the 'bible of baseball' and it carried nothing but. hope I'm remembering this right, but remember 2 cover articles in particular, one on Keith Hernandez when he was still a Cardinal, and it was mostly about his interest in the Civil War. the other about Frank Howard, living in Green Bay in the winter, shoveling the snow away wearing a short sleeve shirt. guess when you're that big and strong, the cold just doesn't get to you.
Baseball America stepped into the void when the Sporting News started covering all sports. Looked forward to their top ten lists every spring.
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