John From Albany: 10 Years Ago - Uribe Walks it Off, 7/26/2015

 

NY Post Back Page, 7/27/2015

2015, the last year the Mets made the World Series.  This daily post will detail the game by game journey to the Fall Classic.  Click here for More Mets History and Calendar Classics.

Year: 2015; Game #99; Sunday;  Jul 26, NYM 3  Vs. LAD; 2; boxscore;  WP: Mejia; LP: Nicasio; Time: 03:27; DAY; Attendance: 36,093; Record: 51-48; Standings: 2; Games up/behind: 2; W-wo;  

Curtis Granderson RF: 2 for 5; 2B,SB; 1 run; Rubén Tejada SS: 0 for 4; SH; Daniel Murphy 3B-2B: 1 for 3; 2·IW; 1 run; 2 walks; Kelly Johnson 2B: 0 for 3; GDP; Juan Uribe PH-3B: 1 for 2; 1 RBI; 1 K; Lucas Duda 1B: 0 for 3; 1 walk; 2 Ks; Michael Conforto LF: 0 for 2; HBP; 1 RBI; 1 walk; 1 K; Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF: 1 for 3; HBP; 1 run; Kevin Plawecki C: 1 for 4; 2 Ks; Jacob deGrom P: 0 for 2; 1 RBI; 1 walk; Wilmer Flores PH: 0 for 1; 1 K; Jacob deGrom: 7.2 innings; no runs; 2 hits; 2 walks; 8 Ks; Jeurys Familia, BS (4): 1.1 innings; 2 runs; 2 ERs; 3 hits; 1 K; Jenrry Mejía, W (1-0): 1 inning; no runs; 1 walk; 1 K; 

NY Post: Uribe the walk-off hero after Mets nearly waste deGrom gem. “[Juan] Uribe helped by smashing an 0-2 cutter from Dodger closer Kenley Jansen off the wall in left to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning as the Mets, after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth, toppled the Dodgers, 3-2, Sunday at Citi Field.”  

NY Post: How fluky Mets denied Zack Greinke his bid for history. ” After 45 ²/₃ innings pitched without being scored upon, the Dodgers ace finally gave up a run…In the third inning, Greinke hit Kirk Nieuwenhuis leading off, allowed a single to Kevin Plawecki and then opposing pitcher Jacob deGrom hit a chopper toward first base. Adrian Gonzalez came home with the ball, but Nieuwenhuis slid around catcher Yasmani Grandal’s tag…The second Mets run came in the sixth, when Greinke plunked rookie Michael Conforto with the bases loaded.” 

NY Post: The Mets’ MVP is suddenly a concern. “Familia blew his second straight save since the All-Star break, wasting Jacob deGrom’s brilliant performance Sunday by allowing two ninth-inning runs.”

Jenrry Mejia with a scoreless 10th gets the win.  His last ever win in his Major league career.

Mets gained a game on Washington as the Pirates beat the Nationals 3-1.

NL East Standings 7/26/2015

Tm	W	L	W-L%	GB	RS	RA	pythW-L%
WSN	52	45	.536	--	410	380	.535
NYM	51	48	.515	2.0	349	355	.492
ATL	46	52	.469	6.5	369	413	.449
MIA	41	58	.414	12.0	358	386	.466
PHI	37	63	.370	16.5	356	495	.354

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/26/2015.

The Morning Report 10.26.2015 | Position by Position Breakdown, World Series Rotation Order, How Much Will Murphy Get Paid?, Uribe and Cespedes Ready for World Series.

Associated Press | New York Times- A position-by-position look at the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals going into the World Series, starting Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium: 1B: Even, 2B: Mets, SS: Royals, 3B: Mets, C: Royals, LF: Mets, CF: Royals, RF: Mets, DH: Royals, SP: Mets, RP: Royals, Bench: Mets, Manager: Mets......Outcome: Mets in 6. Again, if Cespedes is healthy.

(Chris Soto: This is a very even World Series matchup....one that could end up going the distance. Unlike the Cubs, who the Mets just obliterated due to the Cubs propensity to strike out, the Royals are a scrappy bunch who can put the ball in play and make things happen on the basepaths. In order for the Mets to be successful, they will need their SP to go right after these Royals hitters. DO NOT try for the K, they will just run up your pitch count, instead....try and induce weak contact and let your defense do the work....Hopefully Flores is up to the task.)

Josh Peelman | Empire Writes Back- The wait is over. The New York Mets have revealed who they intend to start for their first four games of the World Series versus the Kansas City Royals. Up first, the Mets have decided to go with Matt Harvey as their starter for Game 1 and Jacob deGrom in Game 2. Next up in Game 3 will be Noah Syndergaard, followed by Steven Matz in Game 4. Collins was cautious of using deGrom as his starter in Game 1, mostly because he felt the young pitcher was experiencing fatigue, and the task of playing beyond the regular season was catching up to him. He has struggled to find location with his fastball in recent games leading to quite a few tight spots for the young pitcher.

(Chris Soto: Collins is making the right choice here in terms of his rotation for the World Series. deGrom has in fact looked tired and has seriously labored through his last 2 starts. This configuration will give him a full week of rest in between starts that will hopefully re-energize him to go out and pitch brilliantly once more. Also....should the Mets fail into early trouble in the series, This allows them the capability of pitching both Harvey and deGrom on 3 days rest should they need to for Games 4 + 5, thus pushing Matz to Game 6 since Syndergaard would only be on 2 days rest by then.)

Jacob Shafer | Bleacher Report- Each one of Daniel Murphy's home runs this October wasn't accompanied by a cartoon cash-register sound effect, though they all probably should have been. Murphy slugged the New York Mets to the World Series, sure. But he's also bashing himself toward a hefty free-agent payday this winter. How hefty will it be? And how hefty should it be? "Obviously, he's not going to be as hot as he’s been in the postseason, but he plays positions where his power plays well," an unnamed American League general manager said of Murphy "[but] He’s going to be sought-after and get a five-year deal at around $75 million. Maybe more."

(Chris Soto: My oh my....I love Murphy! But....if $15M per season for 5 years is going to be the running rate for his services....then I'm sorry but I'm passing. I'd rather re-allocate those funds into locking up Cespedes. $15M per season is roughly equavilent to a 3.0 to 4.0 WAR player....I have much more in Cespedes reaching that 4.0 WAR mark on an annual basis then I do Murphy, who's WAR production suffers greatly from his poor defense.)



David Hong | Metsmerized Online- Mets veteran infielder Juan Uribe, who missed the NLDS and NLCS with a chest injury, could possibly be ready to join the Mets World Series roster. But even if he is not, he will still be present with them during the Fall Classic. “Because he’s been to this dance before,” manager Terry Collins said. “I think his presence in the clubhouse and on the bench would be huge.” Yoenis Cespedes looks to be improving. He took batting practice Sunday for the first time since his injury and expects to be ready for Game 1 of the World Series. “Compared to the first day, I feel a lot better,” Cespedes said. “I thought I could probably do a little bit more today, but I didn’t want to push myself. I wanted to give myself another day before I started doing stuff again.”



(Chris Soto: Good to see that Uribe and Cespedes will both be ready to go. This is the World Series guys.....it's all hands on deck time!)

The Morning Report 10.6.2015 | Game 1 and 2 Start Times Announced, Kevin Long Confident in Mets Lefties vs Dodgers Lefties, Juan Uribe Unlikely for NLDS

Not much to talk about folks...I'm probably going to skip tomorrow's morning report to work on my "Tale of the Tape" report for Friday.

Mike Puma | New York Post- So much for the Dodger Stadium shadows becoming a factor for the first two games of the NLDS. MLB released the start times of the games Monday, and the shadows between the mound and home plate are expected to have passed by the time first pitch is thrown at 6:45 pm PDT  for Game 1 on Friday. The same goes for Game 2, which is slated for 6:07 p.m PDT Saturday.

(Chris Soto: It may not seem like much...but any sort of additional advantage that we can take away from Kershaw and Grienke helps immensely. The start times are a bit of an inconvience to Mets fans since it will be almost 10pm when the game starts but hey.....West Coast baseball.)

Brian Devine | Metsmerized Online- Even with the Mets scheduled to face three southpaws in the NLDS, hitting coach Kevin Long isn’t concerned about how his top left handed bats will perform. “It’s the playoffs, that’s the bottom line,” Long said. “We could have been facing [Gerrit] Cole and [A.J.] Burnett. You can face a team with great righties and it can be the same challenge. It doesn’t present a more difficult challenge, if that’s what you’re asking. We need our lefties to put together good at-bats,” Long said. “Not necessarily get hits, but grind on them and put together good at-bats.”

(Chris Soto: Coach Long makes a fair point...it's not just lefties who pose a problem in the playoffs, every team is throwing the best they got on the field every single game. It's up to the players to get it done whether its a lefty or a righty on the mound. Platoons work against middle SP but against the top tier, they can get anybody out.)

Matt Cerrone | Metsblog- GM Sandy Alderson said he would be “very surprised” if veteran Juan Uribe travels with the team for the NLDS. Uribe, who has missed the last eight games due to a chest contusion, is “iffy” for the NLDS, manager Terry Collins said. He initially hurt his chest diving for a groundball in the Mets-Yankees game on Sept. 20. He aggravated it in the middle of a pinch-hit at-bat on Sept. 25.

(Chris Soto: Kelly Johnson has been getting some work in at 3B over the past week to prepare for a situation where Uribe would not be available for the playoffs, so the Mets aren't completely off-guard here. That said, David Wright is going to be playing every single inning during the post-season so Uribe's role would have been more pinch hitting duties than anything. In that regard though, not having Uribe still hurts. While both have limited pinch hitting sample sizes, in his career Uribe has posted a .281 AVG, .823 OPS as a pinch hitter whereas Kelly Johnson only has a meager .209 AVG, .650 OPS himself.)

The Morning Report 7.27.2015 | TRADES, TRADES, TRADES!!!!

Evaluating The Trade | Chris Soto- After getting a ton of flack about not making any moves during the Mets horrendous offensive stretch, Sandy Alderson proofed, once again, that patience wins out at the end of the day. The Mets traded RHP Robert Whalen and RHP Jon Gant to the Atlanta Braves for UT Kelly Johnson, 3B Juan Uribe, and $500k of salary coverage. From the prospects standpoint, neither Whalen, nor Gant, had a future with the Mets with the way the team is currently constructed. No SP spots are going to open up on this team until at least after the 2018 season. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how either of them can fit into the Braves future rotation plans. In exchange for them, the Mets pick up a strong bat off the bench in Johnson who has the ability to play multiple positions. Basically they acquired Ben Zobrist without the Ben Zobrist price tag. They also picked up a starting caliber 3B in Juan Uribe. Folks, this is the same Juan Uribe who at age 35 hit .311 AVG with a .777 OPS last season for the LA Dodgers. He may not bring much in terms of power, but the old guy can still hit. This is another solid SOLID trade for the Alderson regime and from the sounds of it....they aren't done yet.


Ernie Palladino | CBS New York- Terry Collins was never a buffoon of a manager. He just lacked options. Sandy Alderson gave him some with the trade for Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson.
Now, for really the first time this year, the front office can get a clear picture of whether Collins is the guy to lead the Mets beyond 2015. That’s a future issue, of course. The immediate business involves staying on the NL East-leading Nationals’ tail, a position that seems nothing short of miraculous considering the horrendous way the Mets started the second half of the schedule. Regardless of their offensive explosion Saturday and an extra-innings win Sunday, it remains quite amazing that they have hung off Washington’s shoulder during a 4-6 stagger out of the All-Star break.

(Chris Soto: Well, I wouldn't say he's a buffoon....but TC is still not that great of a manager. Irregardless though, the Mets struggles over the past month certainly weren't his fault. Palladino is right, he had nothing to work with. While Uribe and Johnson certainly aren't guys who can push this team into a playoff race, it's a step in the right direction and it's a step that is already paying dividends.) 

Bob Klapisch | Newsday- Clearly, the Mets are in a run-scoring crisis. It’s a certainty Michael Cuddyer will be placed on the disabled list as early as today. Michael Conforto, the franchise’s best hitting prospect, will be summoned from Class AA. It’s the logical move and it’ll placate the ticket buyers who are teetering toward open rebellion. But the timing of Conforto’s promotion speaks to upper management’s clumsiness and lack of vision. Conforto is being sent to war against Kershaw? Against Greinke? In his major league debut? Collins can’t possibly sacrifice a rookie like that. No kid, regardless of his genetic blessings, is ready for such a buzz saw. The smarter move would’ve been to put Cuddyer on the DL on Monday and let Conforto debut against the Nationals’ Joe Ross, himself a rookie, and Jordan

(Chris Soto: Wow...I did not think about this at all. When you look at the timing of Conforto's currently unreported promotion, this is a suicide job by them. Sandy Alderson is quickly losing the support of the "sensible" fan base due to his lack of inactivity amidst the team's overall poor play. With such a dominate pitching staff, there is clearly a window of opportunity for the Mets to break through and become successful. Even a league average offense, could result in almost 7 additional wins than what the Mets have gotten so far this season.) 

Kevin Alonzo | Bleacher Report- Far too often this season, dazzling performances from New York Mets starting pitchers have gone to waste due to the team's incompetence with a bat in their hands. Aware of the team's deficiencies offensively, general manager Sandy Alderson has initiated his attempt to overhaul the lineup. On Friday, he called up 2014 first-round pick Michael Conforto from Double-A. Later that day, Alderson acquired Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves for two lower-level minor league pitchers, John Gant and Rob Whalen. This is a low-cost move that immediately makes the Mets better. Nobody is suggesting these three players alone will carry New York's offense—the Mets scored just three runs again on Sunday—but there's no doubt the team is improved from last Thursday.

(Chris Soto: Exactly...don't look at these moves as the one that will get the Mets to the playoffs ....cause that's just not the case. This trade was foundation supporter, something that Alderson can build on but still improve the team incrementally by upgrading the Bench. This kind of move bumps the offense from 29th overall to maybe 24th overall, now Alderson needs to find the piece that pushes it up to 15th or better within the next 5 days.)

Joe D.  | Metsmerized Online- Beat reporter Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, continues to hear that the Mets continue to look at Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce and that they are scouting him heavily. Having already shipped off Johnny Cueto to the Kansas City Royals, the Reds have made it known that they are looking to unload their big salaried players as they look to save as much money as they can. In addition to Jay Bruce, the Mets have been linked to Troy Tulowitzki, Yoenis Cespedes, Gerardo Parra, Ben Zobrist, Tyler Clippard, and Justin Upton.

(Chris Soto: Now that Johnson and Uribe have been acquired, you can probably cross Zobrist and Parra off the list. The club is probably now interested in acquiring "the big one," someone who can seriously improve the team's offense to the point where once Wright and d'Arnaud come back...it suddenly becomes a much more feared group. Reports indicated that Justin Upton talks were quite heavy over the weekend but the two teams couldn't agree on a deal, I would think that the clubs will revisit soon. In addition it was reported that the Mets have been seeking out Tulowitzki, but the Rockies don't seem too inclined to move him. Again we may see the two clubs revisit this during the week.)