I wasn't surprised when the Mets reassigned infielder Ronny Mauricio to AAA-Syracuse. And neither should you. First of all, he only can hit from one side of the plate. This sort of eliminates any chance of him playing full time as a starter, regardless of position. Add to this the fact that the Mets already have multi-dimensional starters on their positions Mauricio plays (Marcus Semien/second, Francisco Lindor/short, Bo Bichette/third). But what would happen if any of these three hit the IL list?
Well, Jorge Polanco would replace Semien on second while Brett Baty would take over first base. If Lindor went down, Bichette would move back to his natural position and Mr. Baty would step up at his natural position. Lastly, if it was Bichette to land on the IL, here comes Brett again. As you can see, there just isn't a place for Ronny to thrive regarding the Mets. Mauricio fans may not like this but it's stone cold true.
.032. In what world do you hit this for the entire year so far and your manager calls you in and tells you that you made the opening day roster... well, that's what happened to Mark Vientos on Friday prior to game time. Just what is Carlos Mendoza trying to accomplish here? Get V to go 5-30 in May so he can say during a press conference "see? I told you we'd see improvement." IMO, this wiffleball batter should by playing Indy ball at this point in his non-career. This team needs to go out and get a real RHDH.
I can't agree more with Carlos Mendoza's choices for the opening day rotation. First, I've never been a fan of a six-man roster (barely like five). Second, Sean Manaea is not opening day ready for a rotation slot. Tell the press he will piggy somewhere, though you and I know that is a fancy coverup word for "long reliever". And, speaking of long reliever, you can slot Tobias Myers in that role too. The addition of these two in the pen leave one opening there. Whoever they name will just be on loan until May when A.J. Minter is activated. My dreams of seeing Ryan Lambert or Dylan Ross going north have been long ago shattered.
Ya know, I'm starting to have serious concerns about Jonah Tong. Sure, he strikes out a lot of batters, but the rest seem to be getting on base and crossing the plate. The Mets haven't had much success with pitchers that aced AA ball and then were promoted directly to the majors. Sure, Tong threw a few outings in Syracuse, but he’s starting to make me think we might have another Jenrry Mejia or Phillip Humber here. What he needs is a full season in Syracuse with the hope that he can master his new repertoire and help the Mets this year in the playoffs.
I'd like to think that Carson Benge didn't make the 26 because one of his undetermined teammates got injured. I want to believe he earned this on his own, but frankly, we'll never know. Either way, he did and kudos to the young man. Probably will bat eighth, followed by Francisco Alvarez, which makes for possibly the best 8-9 batters in Mets history. Don't look for many home runs here. His job will be to get on base, advance, and let the big guns get him home. We now have two legitimate ROY candidates. ❤️ it.
Still, I need 30 days to see this pitching staff play un-fake games before I really can predict their outcome. It's not going to be easy to win this division. Philly may be old, but there still is tons of talent here.
Atlanta will not suffer the same amount of injuries this season (though the seasonal suspension of Jurickson Profar doesn't help here). And watch out for the sneaky talented Marlins. Mets fans should be happy that their favorite team doesn't have to play divisional rivals 856 times per season anymore. So, I ask for a 30-day push here and will report back to you regarding this around May 1st.
Damn. Dicky Lovelady did it again. He has been named to the opening day roster, which is like the 567th time he has been on this roster. When they release him, they remove what was in his locker but store it in a box in the back room, waiting for his eventual return. I'm not sure he even stops paying rent, wherever the hell he hung his hat. And trust me... they will kick his ass to the curb again once A.J. Minter returns around May 1st. Do you think he cares? Hell, no. He's getting minimum major league money which is far more than anyone paid you or I in a month. And for what? The minimum number of appearances already with either long leads or far behind. Such a deal.
Interesting open day. Mets continue their dominance of opening day W-L % (leaded league). Remember I said last week that I had concerns with the team ERA but, even if this team averaged only 4.90, their new offense will average more runs than that. Well, check the score... two hits from Soto, homers from Alvarez and Benge but nothing was more of a headline maker than Skenes being pulled after giving up 5-ER in 0.2IP... Peralta made the wrong headlines too, but one start doesn't make a season. Yeah, tell that to the 2X Cy Young winner (question: how many consecutive scoreless innings does he now have to throw to get his ERA below 2.00?
Great opening game. First inning everything went wrong for Skenes. If his name was Tong, though, he would have been deemed impaired and banished. Benge, Alvarez, Baty…the youths.
ReplyDeleteIf Lindor doesn’t check his swing on a close ball 4 to start the game, who knows? That’s why you love baseball.
I saw one site have Pittsburgh at 86 wins. With 3 homers from newly acquired hitters, and Konnor Griffin arriving fairly soon, their talent level has really improved.
You can't keep drafting in the first five slots and not eventually build a great team
DeleteBTW
it's yutes
I’m glad Luis Garcia stopped pitching BP and got serious. He reminded me of Stinky Stanek.
ReplyDeleteI want to see better here
DeleteJust saw the Cardinals Rays 9-7 game had 16 runs, 14 coming in the 6th inning. Wow.
ReplyDeleteDodgers clinch the pennant with a lopsided win.
And no homers for your buddy in Baltimore
DeleteIm not conerned with Ting at the moment. Guy’s focused on making the cuter a viable 3rd pitch. He’s such a processed focused guy that i expect his raw stat-line to be bleh for a while… maybe even a few months before he figures out his new pitch and how to mix it all together.
ReplyDeleteBecause of this though i don’t believe he’ll be the next guy up until sometime around the break or i to the second half. Scott and weiniger in that order.
Benge looked great. Luis robert jt look rejuvenated. Baty and Alvarez look primed and all the vets were giving great at bats. Not giving a single pitch away, drawing walks forcing errors, driving in runs. LGM!
I turn 40 in July. Looking for a repeat of the 86 team season i was born into!
Scott was left unassigned and will remain at Clover for awhile building up
DeleteScott had 47 and then 56 pitches in his last two official spring outings. The second being in mid March. My guess is he got to 65 pitches in a back field game after that. I don’t think they want to build him up. I think they want to keep him out of Syracuse Siberia. Very wise health move. He could replace a guy like Garcia, or be a sixth starter once the schedule compresses.
DeleteHis next career win will be his first - hopefully, of many.
You may be correct about the weather
DeleteHappy advanced bday Dan! I want Tong to become as good as he can be so he can be the centerpiece of a trade for Skubal. The team can win a WS with him as the addition to the rotation. When the Mets acquired Peralta and then again when I posted on piggy backing, I pointed out that Peralta is durable, very good, but a 6 inning pitcher at best and thus could never be a true ace. But a top four of Skubal, Mclean, Peralta and Senga (if healthy) in the post season would be extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteMore on the pitchers in yesterday's game: if you saw my video on ways of delivering over the top, you had a good chance to pick up that Myers pitches directly over the top whereas Tong is a side bender. Both moves risk injury but of different sorts. Myers risks shoulder injury of the sort Yesavage has, and Tong risks lower back injury. I don't love either move, but prefer Myers delivery. He also has more of an aresenal but his best stuff is not as good as Tong's best.
Garcia is a great example of a pitcher who moves his body in the correct sequence but creates almost no stretch and so it is an inefficient move thus he ends up generating all his speed through arms. His effectiveness is entirely based on how sharp the break is on his breaking and his location of his fastball. Also, if you saw him on pressure plates, my guess is that you would see low pressure peaks and more weight than pressure transfers. I'd be surprised if were called upon in high leverage situations. He's there because he is experienced. If Ross is ready later in the season or Lambert, I'd expect to see Garcia traded or let go. His body is older than he is on a continuum from Gumby to stuck in the mud. He's moving in the direction of the latter.
Good for Benge yesterday and even better for Alvarez, the person I want desperately to be completely wrong about .
Myers also has the confidence
DeleteI expect him to become first SP in if someone goes down
Only one game, but SIX METS finished the day with a .600 on base %. Wow
ReplyDeleteAnd check those OPS's
DeleteBad start for the Mets, but a fortunate one, as they got to play a mediocre little league team. If the Pirates' inadequate defense doesn't give up so many unearned bases, Skenes stays in and rights the ship. Score could have been 1-4 after six innings and been a much different ballgame with Pittsburgh using the expected relievers to close the game. Peralta needed to be at the top of his game to beat Skenes, but he gives up two dingers and exits with a 7.50 ERA.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow would be a good day to play Vientos. He hits a lot of fly balls to center, so maybe he can get on base.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if it's a sunny day.
ReplyDelete