Mack Ade – PM Report – 6-29-13 – Mike Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard, Jon Niese

Washington 6, New York 4

Look, I know how hard this has to be on all you Mets fans. You have the second coming of either Tom Seaver or Dwight Gooden, depending upon your age and the era you came out of. And, what happens? The guy is getting minimal support.

Now, the initial reaction is why in the hell doesn’t TC leave the guy in for at least one more inning? Let’s remember, that he is on some kind of pitch count that is going to rear its ugly head sometime late in the season. Secondly, whether you want to hear it or not, this isn’t our season and his team is destined to play just outside both a payoff spot and a great 2014 draft pick.

You don’t want to do anything to hinder the growth of the two most important pitchers to come along in years, Harvey and Zack Wheeler. They will serve up the future playoff victories but only when it’s time.

Sit back and enjoy this now competitive season. Young is running all over the place. Byrd is timely hitting. And Satin is finally getting his shot. And guess what, here comes Wheeler this weekend. I love it.

Maturation

                I mentioned a few weeks ago how to watch these games. I turn on when Matt Harvey pitches and I turn off the game when they take him out of the game. Frankly, by that time of the night I’m working on material on all the minor league games so the last thing I need is the distraction of some Mets reliever pissing the game away.

                Naturally, I have added the same process when Zack Wheeler now pitches and I will do the same once Rafael Montero and Noah Syndergaard join this rotation. Then, and only then, will I have the rotation I will be happy with.

                One of our most loyal readers, ‘Charles’, may have it right. He says to keep all the young pitches and trade none of them until enough of them mature to give you the rotation of your dreams. Mine comes on opening day 2015. I have the three speed kings Harvey, Wheeler, and Syndergaard, the lefty Niese, and Rafael Montero, who I’m not sure how to classify right now. He’s pitching in the non-pitcher friendly PCL. Everything was peachy in AA (11-starts, 2.43), but, after four starts in Las Vegas, he’s sitting at a 4.50 ERA. The good news is the strikeouts are still there (20K/20IP), but the BBs are up, six in 20.0 innings. This could be nothing more than different interpretations of strike zones by AAA umpires, but, whatever it is, there is nothing good about having a AAA franchise in a league like this. Your hitters look too good and pitchers looks like shit.

                Trust me… stop watching the last two innings of Mets games and add more internet time following guys like Montero and Syndergaard. You’ll feel better about this team.

7^th Inning Specialist

                Where is Pedro Feliciano, how that we really need him?

                Yeah, I know, he’s down on our farm, and he has a combined A+/AA stat line of: 9-G, 9.0-IP, 7-K, 2-BB, 1-ER, 1.00.

                Remember when he pitched in, like, 162 games in one season for the Mets (and then we sold him and his dead arm to the Yankees)? This team needs two things… a manager that will allow the starters to pitch at least six innings regardless as to what the scoreboard says, and a  Feliciano-type sitting in the bullpen waiting to pitch the seventh and then hand it over to the rest of the pen. If the starter goes seven, let him rest for another day.

                There is some rehabbing going on which includes both Feliciano and Tim Byrdak. Hopefully, there is help on the way here.

Chad Zurcher, Mike Harvey, Nick Evans, Cost of Reyes, Justin Verlander

Chad Zurcher:


6-29-11: - http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/zurcher_chad00.html  - With the 2011 NCAA Baseball season complete, University of Memphis infielder Chad Zurcher has officially claimed the NCAA batting title with his .443 batting average. "We are extremely proud of Chad and this is another honor in a long line of awards for him," head coach Daron Schoenrock said. "He is going to go down as what we feel is one of the most decorated and celebrated players in Tiger baseball history. This is an award that nobody votes on or can play favorites on since it is based strictly on production. He definitely deserves this honor." The Knoxville, Tenn., native also led the nation with a .547 on-base percentage. Drafted by the New York Mets in the MLB Draft in early June, Zurcher has since begun his pro career with the Kingsport Mets.


Mike Harvey:


6-29-11: - http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=law_keith&id=6711904&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fblog%3fname%3dlaw_keith%26id%3d6711904  - Harvey was the seventh pick in last year’s draft and came into pro ball boasting a plus fastball with good downhill plane and a solid average-or-better changeup but struggled with both breaking balls. Reports this year have the breaking balls improving but the changeup regressing — which would still leave him a three-pitch guy, plenty to be a front-line starter given the strength of his fastball.


Nick Evans:


Nick Evans only needed one hit to continue his recent hot streak Wednesday. He didn't settle for that. Evans went 5-for-5 with a double and a run scored to extend his hitting streak to 19 games in Triple-A Buffalo's 7-5 win over Lehigh Valley. Evans, who appeared in two games with New York this year after hitting .306 in 20 games last year, is batting .513 (38-for-74) with three homers and 15 RBIs during his run. It's the longest streak this season in the International League, matching the mark of Columbus' Luis Valbuena, whose streak came to an end June 9. Louisville's Juan Francisco also had a 19-game streak, although it began in 2010.- http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110629&content_id=21181928&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&tcid=tw_share  


Cost of Reyes:


For the Mets, we’ll start here: Six years, $126 million. Slightly higher average value than (Carl) Crawford, one less year, a nod to a legs-driven player. For the Mets, it means a $10 million raise over Reyes’ current deal, offset nicely by the disappearance of $36.5 million worth of Luis Castillo/Oliver Perez/Carlos Beltran -- and nearly matching the $11.5 million the Mets are paying Frankie Rodriguez this year (we’ll put K-Rod’s $17 million vesting issue in that vacuum, for now). That’s a cool $21 million a year, which still only would place him fourth (behind A-Rod, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Johan Santana) on the yearly salary scale of New York baseball players. If that’s not enough? Well, that’s more motivation for the Mets to find viable ownership again so they can play varsity ball again - http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/27949/mets-morning-briefing-6-30-11  




Justin Verlander:


Verlander said he didn't recall meeting anyone from the Mets in 2004. But he knew New York was a potential landing spot for him. "I remember my agent calling me right before the draft and saying, 'The Mets want you bad,'" he said. So did the Tigers, though. Detroit considered taking two other pitchers, Jeff Niemann and Jered Weaver, along with shortstop Stephen Drew. But Greg Smith, the Tigers' scouting director at the time, was convinced Verlander was the best prospect, even though the San Diego Padres showed little interest in taking him with the first pick. - http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/27949/mets-morning-briefing-6-30-11