FLASH - P Steven Matz

Anthony DiComo‏Verified account @AnthonyDiComo  2 minutes ago

Steven Matz won't be on the Mets' Opening Day roster. He went for an MRI on his elbow today. Regardless of the result, he won't be ready.

FLASH: Jeurys Familia Suspended for 15 Games

     The MLB Commissioner's office has announced that Mets CL Jeurys Familia has been suspended for 15 games pursuant to his violation of the league's Domestic Violence policies. Familia will also forfeit 18 days of pay or approximately $730,000.

     Familia was initially arrested on November 1st in Fort Lee, NJ for allegedly scratching his wife's chest and a bruising her right cheek. The charges against him were dropped in December, after prosecutors met and spoke with his wife who indicated that the injuries were not caused by Familia. 

     While Familia is suspended, RHP Addison Reed will handle the closing responsibilities for the club. Reed has plenty of 9th inning experience from his time as the White Sox and Diamondbacks closer from 2012-2014. During this time, Reed saved 101 games with a success rate of 85% although his 4.22 ERA was rather high for the role.

Richard Herr - So Whaddya Think? - 18

Playing Experience

“So whaddya think?”

“Whaddya mean? What do I think?”

“Whaddya think will be the Mets’ starting five this year?”

“Lemme see. You got Syndergaard and deGrom.”

“Yeah.”

“Then the guy who’s pitching very well so far is Gsellman.”

“Okay, that’s three.”

“Harvey got movement back on his fastball. He’ll start out a bit off for the first two or three starts, but he’ll settle in to be screaming.”

“You’re up to four. You think Lugo’ll be number five?”

“No, I think he’s going to the bullpen.”

“So who’s your number five?”

“You can’t put Wheeler there all the way through. He’s got an inning limit.”

“But it looks like Matz has a little injury.”

“That’s where I got my idea. Matz is in and out with a bunch of dingers. So number five is combination of Matz when he’s healthy and Wheeler when he’s not.”

“How do you handle that? Two guys on the same roster spot?”

“I work out the broad strokes. You’re my detail guy. You figure that out.”

“Oh, good!”

“While you’re at it, figure out where my next drink is coming from.”

Whenever Richard Herr isn’t solving all the Mets’ problems, he spends his time writing humorous science fiction novels.

You can see his books at https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Herr/e/B00J5XBKX4.

Casey Wentworth - Moot Points for No Particular Purpose

Just reading through Macks Mets today and had a few quick thoughts along the moot super highway.

We need to remember this 2017 season, that what a player accomplishes in Spring Training means almost nothing at all beyond making the final cut and being on the 25-man roster. What I am simply saying here, is that Spring Training is really just an opportunity, a testing ground to experiment with one's overall ability, and to try new things outs. It's a place to hopefully grow. So, just because a pitcher (or field player) who prior has demonstrated talent and professional consistency then has a stretch during Spring Training where that all seems to have somehow disappeared, does not mean that he has lost his skill set and no longer can be depended upon going forward into the real season. The reason for this obvious talent slippage of sorts tends to be simply due to his "experimentation", and that really is what Spring Training is best used for. Plus, each player may have been given a few things that management wants most to see them working on during the course of Spring Training. Cutting to the chase here, we need not be too critical of everything that goes on during Spring Training. Wait until the bell rings and the season begins, may be sound advice here.

On the incessant Tim Tebow criticism...

Baseball's bottom-line is business. Professional baseball is about winning games, and playing the best players at each position regardless of the time spent coming up through a team's system. Choosing which players to start, or play the most, is about who actually is better and most deserves that opportunity. It is not about, well, this player has been here since forever and deserves to start ahead of all the other players who have less time in here, just because he has this "seniority thing." Look at Wilmer Flores (as an example) on this current NY Mets team. I think that these NY Mets drafted him when he was like fifteen years old, or something. By this supposed rule of seniority, Wilmer Flores should then be starting with this NY Mets team at any position he would basically like to start at since only Mr. Met has been here longer on this team. In short, it's about talent, talent potential, and also what the team needs most to win ball games with their current roster.

Tim Tebow does have name recognition, but he also has what could turn out to be dramatic homerun ability once he gets used to professional pitching. This is what (I think) most of us see here with Tim. And this NY Mets minor league system does not seem to have so many of these power hitters anywhere within their minor league ranks, that I can find.

The 2017 NY Mets season will (for me) all come down to just how healthy their 25-man roster can stay all season long. If the team can somehow stay healthy, then they will be in the playoff hunt for certain. If not, maybe we will see some Mets AAA minor league players up here come September 1st. Either way, this should be a fun and interesting season for everyone!

Get ready Mets fans.

Reese Kaplan -- No One Saw This Roster Coming

Sometimes when you flip a coin it lands heads-up.  Sometimes it lands tails.  Occasionally (and rarely) it lands on its edge.  That seems to summarize how things have gone for the Mets this spring and what it’s going to do to the roster plans for the upcoming season. Between stellar and poor performances as well as ill health, things necessarily change. As poet Robert Burns once said, "The best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew."

Infield

That David Wright is unavailable should come as a surprise to no one except perhaps Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins.  Anyone who’s been paying the slightest bit of attention for the past several years has known that you have to go into the season assuming you get nothing from Wright.  Anything he does provide is a bonus on top of what you’ve already planned for the third base position.  However, once again they seem surprised and are anointing Jose Reyes the answer despite not having been around to establish his swing, his fielding nor his baserunning ability. 

On the plus side of the ledger, both Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera seem to be completely healthy and in mid-season form.  That’s good news for the Mets but bad news for the Met wannabes like Gavin Cecchini, T.J. Rivera, Wilmer Flores and others who are relegated to Las Vegas and/or the bench. 

Lucas Duda remains a work in progress.  He had started off slowly, then played, then had hip issues, then started playing again.  Much like David Wright, planning is not in the Mets’ collective DNA and their sole gesture towards coverage due to injury was a two game stint by Jay Bruce at the position.  Granted, Bruce will be playing regularly in RF, but would you rather have a James Loney should Duda hit the DL or would you rather have Michael Conforto with Bruce shifting to 1B?  Duda knows how to play 1B.  You’d think it would have been more prudent to play him at DH as much as possible and give the defensive reps to a potential replacement, but hey, that’s just how people who plan things for a living go about it.

Travis d’Arnaud has benefited greatly from his change in batting stance and the results are most definitely showing.  However, if the new bench coach was brought it specifically to help him with the defensive side of the game, early returns are not there as he’s actually been worse throwing than ever before.  The challenge will be if his bat is big enough to overcome his glove.  If not, could HE be the 1^st baseman of the future if Dominic Smith doesn’t progress on the fast track schedule everyone projects for him?

Outfield

This one came with few surprises in terms of starting assignments.  Left to right it will be Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce.  That much was set in stone before spring training even started when trade partners for the expensive lefty duo were not found.  Juan Lagares was penciled in for the 4^th outfielder role and the only question was who would be number 5. 

Well, the old injury bug has bitten hard already with Lagares now probably starting on the DL with an oblique injury which could be anything from 15 days to a couple of months depending on severity.  Then there’s the hamstring issue that hit Brandon Nimmo while playing in the ever-so-critical WBC.  You’d think it would be more important for him to make an impression on his employer, but to each his own. 

Many have stated that these injuries open the door to Michael Conforto starting with the big club this year, but another 55 days in the minors slows the service clock down long enough to postpone an entire year of arbitration eligibility.  I doubt the Mets will trade that financial gain for a guy to sit on the bench.  They’re surely not benching their $15 million and $13 million outfielders to let Conforto start.  As I’ve said before, salary dictates playing time.

Starting Pitching

To hear pundits tell it, the Mets were the envy of all other teams with the solid depth of their pitching rotation, such depth that it made it possible to let their IP leader, Bartolo Colon, walk away.  The big four of Noah Syndergaard, Jacob de Grom, Matt Harvey and Steve Matz were as good as any team in baseball.  The fifth starter slot was up for grabs with three viable contenders.  Seth Lugo was brilliant throughout most of the WBC and Robert Gsellman is looking like a Rookie of the Year contender.  They, of course, were behind Zack Wheeler, a guy who’s already done it on the big stage. 

Fast forward to the end of March and things have changed dramatically.  Syndergaard and de Grom are on track as expected, but Matt Harvey put together just one solid start thus far while working back from his thoracic outlet syndrome and now Steve Matz is slated to begin the season on the DL.   Zack Wheeler is still a work in progress, too, though his stellar stint on Monday has whispers of them bringing him north instead of remaining in extended spring training.  

The other surprising development is the spring performance of the all but forgotten Rafael Montero.  His numbers speak for themselves – through Monday morning he was sitting tied for the team lead in IP, with a 1.96 ERA, a .209 BAA and a respectable WHIP of 1.20 (which is especially notable as control bedeviled him over the past few years).  He’s also leading the club by a wide margin with 21 Ks in 18 IP.

Relievers

There are a few no brainers based upon past performances – Jerry Blevins, Addison Reed, Hansel Robles and recent arrival Fernando Salas.  Assuming Jeurys Familia is on at least a 30 day hiatus, that leaves perhaps 3 open slots in the bullpen.

At this point you’d think Josh Smoker is a leading contender to be the 2^nd lefty out of the pen.  That leaves some questions about who might attain the other roles.  Since Seth Lugo has been starting all spring I’m guessing they will go with him filling in for Steve Matz in the rotation.  That leaves Rafael Montero with the long man role in the pen based upon his 40-man roster spot, his strong spring and his high strikeout numbers. 

I had originally thought that the final spot would be a 30 game trial for Paul Sewald using the suspension 40-man roster spot from Jeurys Familia to audition at the major league level. However, Tuesday morning he got sent to the minor league side, so it's some combination of Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Rafael Montero coming north to accompany the Terrific Trio plus Gsellman.  

Bench

Rene Rivera and Wilmer Flores are there for sure.  After that it’s a bit murky.  Is Nimmo healed sufficiently to bring him north?  Is a sometime outfielder like Ty Kelly worth considering (and whose 40-man roster spot would he take?)  Is T.J. Rivera going to be the second spare infielder?  With Cecchini already gone, it would certainly look that way.  If they had (and I hate to keep beating this drum) planned better, then Jose Reyes playing the outfield would enable them to use him as the spare part in that capacity given that they could cover 3B in a pinch with Flores or T.J. Rivera.  Travis Taijeron has had a whale of a spring and is right handed to boot, but he’s a corner outfielder, not on the 40-man roster and the question remains who would play CF in the absence of Juan Lagares if Granderson needs a breather?  I’m betting Brandon Nimmo gets the nod but plays sparingly to allow his hamstring more time to heal.  

FLASH: Kevin Plawecki Optioned to AAA- Las Vegas, Rene Rivera wins Back-Up Catcher Job

     The New York Mets announced that C Kevin Plawecki has been optioned to AAA- Las Vegas. Although it was going to be a long shot, Plawecki did have an outside shot to win the back-up catcher's job if he was able to display better hitting and receiving abilities this Spring. Unfortunately for him, Plawecki suffered a hyperextended knee injury early in camp that limited him to only 26 ABs this spring. In 13 games, Plawecki hit .269 AVG with 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 double, and 8 K's vs only 1 BB. 

     As a result, Rene Rivera will be the club's back-up catcher once again for the 2017 season. Although he only received 16 ABs himself this spring, Rivera posted a .375 AVG with more BBs (3) than Ks (2). The fact that he has such a good rapport with ace Noah Syndergaard, and is the club's best asset against opposing team's running game, gave Rivera a huge edge in this position battle.

(Nothing to see here folks....Plawecki would've needed to hit .400 with 5 HR or some crazy stat line in order to unseat Rivera. Although, at that point....he could've just as likely unseated d'Arnaud too.)

Christopher Soto - Scouting the Enemy | Miami Marlins

2016 Recap

     The Miami Marlins finished 2016 3rd in the National League East with a 78-83 record. The Marlins were one of the best teams in the MLB making contact as they finished 4th in batting average. However, due to injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and a lack of power from the infield, they struggled to drive those guys in ranking 27th in the MLB in terms of runs scored and 25th in OPS.

    Miami's pitching was a tale of 2 parts. Part A) Jose Fernandez, one of the best young arms in the entire MLB capable of shutting down an offense every time he was out there....and Part B) Everyone else NOT named Jose Fernandez, a collection of arms that combined for a 26-34 record with a 4.61 ERA and a 7.2 K/9. Stats that would have placed them among the bottom 10 of the MLB in those categories. Sadly for Miami, and quite frankly all of baseball, the tragedy that occurred with Jose is reality and leaves Miami in a very vulnerable state in the rotation.

Off-season Review

     Despite a clear need to improve the rotation, the Marlins were not in a position to make any significant free agent signings due to the fact that the owner of the team, Jeffrey Loria, is actively looking to sell the team in order to move into the world of politics. The club does deserve credit though for filling every hole that was opened by the departure of Andrew Cashner, Mike Dunn, Jeff Francoeur, Chris Johnson, Jeff Mathis, and Fernando Rodney.

     To fill the void left by Fernandez, the Marlins traded 3 prospects to Cincinnati for RHP Dan Straily. After dealing with injuries for the prior 2 years, Straily finally was healthy and performed very well with a 14-8 record with a 3.76 ERA although that did come with a 4.88 FIP due to a league high 31! HRs allowed. Moving from Great American to Marlins Park will mitigate that problem though.

     The team also signed RHP Edinson Volquez to a 2 year/$22M contract free agent contract to be their innings eating mid rotation arm. The 33 year old has been quite durable as he has made 30+ starts each of the last 5 seasons. His 2016 season with the Kansas City Royals was not his best performance though as he led the MLB in ERs allowed leading to a 10-11 record with a 5.37 ERA.

2017 Offense

     The Marlins will trot out the same exact line-up in 2017 as they did in 2016. hoping for some better results from the group. Getting a full season of work from Dee Gordon will provide a substantial boost over last year as he missed 80 games due to a PED suspension. A full healthy season of Giancarlo Stanton should also go a long way in improving the team's ranking. Stanton was on pace for his 4th career 35+ HR season before he suffered a groin muscle tear that cause him to miss the last 6 weeks of the season.

     The club also has high hopes in a pair of young players taking the next step in their development. First, Marcell Ozuna coming off his first All-Star caliber season will be looking to solidify his status as a strong HR hitting middle of the line-up bat to protect Stanton from getting pitched around. Second, budding catching star J.T. Realmuto will look to build on his break-out 2016 season that saw him post a +3.5 WAR which was 2nd best on the team behind Christian Yelich. In fact, Realmuto's 2016 performance was only bested by All-Star catchers Buster Posey and Jonathan Lucroy.

     I fully expect the Marlins to have one of the better offenses in the MLB this season capable of finishing in the top half of the league. Personally I think Realmuto has more value in the 2 hole than Martin Prado does....but that speaks to the strong balance throughout the entire of their line-up.

2017 Rotation

     Well....it's not pretty....but this is rotation that the Marlins will rely on in order to get through the 2017 season. For what it's worth though...the club does have significant depth behind this front 5. The Marlins will pretty much have a 2nd MLB rotation ready in AAA with Jeff Locke, Justin Nicolino, Odrisamer Despaigne, Jose Urena, and Jake Esch.

     Even with the depth though....this is a group that is forecasted to finish near the bottom of the league in ERA. After Wei-Yin Chen's forecast of 3.83....the remaining 4 arms are all forecasted to finish with ERAs above 4.10 according to a combination of STEAMER and ZiPs projections.

2017 Bullpen

     As poorly as the rotation projects...the Marlins bullpen still looks as strong as it was in 2016. The "for some odd reason" always under pressure A.J. Ramos returns as the closer for his 3rd season; a role he has excelled in with a 2.55 ERA and 72 saves over the past 2 seasons. The pressure probably comes from the fact that his set-up guy, and both 7th inning guys, have all been strong in their own rights. Barraclough and Ziegler both posted strong 2016 numbers with sub 2.90 ERAs and Junichi Tazawa, even though his ERA was 4.17, has closer type stuff as well.

     The one weakness the club's bullpen does have though is a lack of a premium Lefty One Out GuY (LOOGY). With so many strong lefties in the division, they LOOGY role is of heavy importance if the Marlins wish to close games out without any drama in the late inning. They will turn to the MLB sophomore Hunter Cervenka to try and fill this void. In 2016, Cervenka faced 99 left handed batters allowing only a .200 batting average against him and K'ing 20% of those batters. Those K's also came with BBs to 12% of the batters. Cervenka's performance in 2017 will be just as important as the late innings guys

     Quite frankly, the Marlins may very well have the best bullpen in the NL East based on it's prior performance and it's projected output. As long as the rotation can provide enough quality innings to not "overwork" the bullpen guys. We should see this group finish within the top 10 of the MLB.

2017 Team Forecast

     All together, I am projecting the Marlins to finish 4th in the NL East with a 77-85 record. The team will only go as far as the offense will take them but, as the old saying goes, "good pitching beats good hitting".....and unfortunately for them....they have to face 2 of the Top 5 rotations in baseball 38 times this season. Even if they do manage to be one of the top offenses in baseball....the poor quality of the rotation is just going to be far too much for the bullpen to cover up. The lack of quality SP innings will also overwork the bullpen which will bring down their performance as well. If Loria can find a buyer for the team....a fire sale is not outside of the realm of possibility.

FLASH: Paul Sewald Re-assigned, Rafael Montero Wins Bullpen Spot

(Photo Courtesy of MLB.com)

     The New York Mets announced this morning that RHP Paul Sewald has been re-assigned to minor league camp. Sewald pitched extremely well this spring in an effort to win a spot in the MLB bullpen. In 14.1 IP, Sewald posted a 2.51 ERA with a paltry .143 AVG against and a 7.5 K/ rate. Despite the strong performance, his inclusion would have required a spot to be opened on the 40 man roster. With David Wright already swinging again in camp, and everyone else seemingly in good health, there were no options to be placed on the 60 day DL to free up that spot.

     As a result of this move, RHP Rafael Montero seemingly will win the middle reliever job. Montero has also been pitching well this spring with a 1.96 ERA across 18.1 IP. His high strikeout totals (10.3 K/9) and ability to pitch multiple innings provides the Mets significant flexibility for the early part of the season when they are trying to keep SP inning totals down.

(This is just me reading the tea leaves......but I wonder if Montero winning this job is a pre-cursor to the Mets also bringing Zack Wheeler up north with them. The club already had a guy with the ability to provide length out of the bullpen in Seth Lugo...for them to carry another guy of that nature makes me wonder if they plan on going with a "piggyback" system between Wheeler and Lugo? Having the 2 of them combine for 7 IP and letting Montero be the official long man in the pen would effectively keep Wheeler's inning count down enough to get him to at least September without crossing that 120-125 IP limit that the team has initially set.)

Tom Brennan - STRANGE SPRING THINGS

Through Friday's game on March 24, spanning 29 games, there has been a lot of good things happening with the Mets squad.  

Some strange things, too.  

It often takes a strange person to point out strange things, and I qualify, strangely enough.  

So what are some of those things?

John Mora showing David Wright how it's done: Mr. Mora, a low-visibility, scrappy outfielder, who everyone is asking questions about (like "Who's he?") is 5 for 9 with a double and triple, a walk, and just a single K.  The Captain? 1 single in 4 at bats before another injury impinged on his ability to show us all if he is done or not.  Maybe we need more o' Mora and less of Wrighta.

Infielders who played and infielders who didn't: Super duper young Andres Giminez gets 6 at bats in 5 games.  After a mostly injured 2016, almost as young 19 year old SS Luis Carpio goes 3 for 7 this spring.  Blake Tiberi, who hit just .235 with the Cyclones in his debut last year, goes 1 for 3.  Luis Guillorme snagged a flying bat and got in NINETEEN games for El Metsos, making Lou Gehrig nervous and hitting .281.  David Thompson made his limited appearances count, going 3-4.  BUT...where for art thou, Eudor Garcia?  You were nowhere to be found this spring.  Nor did we see Jeff McNeil.  

Flunking the spring exam:  two IF guys vying for visibility, Matt Reynolds (3-32) and LJ Mazzilli (4-22), made us wish Bartolo Colon was still here to take their at bats.

Power Transfusion?  Travis Taijeron has had a nice hitting spring, at .297, but the Mets' most prolific minor extra base hitter managed not a single homer through March 24.  Luis Guillorme, up until now their LEAST prolific minor league extra base knock guy, manages to produce a triple and a homer, when he'd only produced 2 triples and a homer in over 1,400 minor league plate appearances.  They both, however, co-lead the team with 19 games played, along with slugging Michael Conforto.

C'mon, Jay, this hitting stuff is SO EASY: Kyle Johnson, Kevin Kaczmarski, the aforementioned John Mora, Jayce Boyd, and Desmond Lindsay are struggling collectively, hitting just .560  (14 for 25).  Jay Bruce, who hit .219 after he became a Met last year, was a robust 7-35 this spring (.200).  He makes more dough for one game than the other 5 make for a full year.  Just sayin'.  And Kaczmarski leads the team in cars entombed by Saran Wrap this spring - some of you' have been paying attention and know what I'm babbling about.

Throwing out the garbage: Some fans will scream out at the game, "strike this guy out - he's GARBAGE".  Well, so far this spring, the 3 Mets' prime catchers (d'Arnaud, Rivera, and Plawecki) have thrown a would-be baserunner out - problem is, the other 20 who tied made it safely.  So I threw out their first names.  The other masked guys, Tomas Nido and Jorge Carillo?  Gunned down 3 of 5, thank you for asking.  Maybe it's because both of their names end in the letter O?  

The Errors of His Ways: Phil Evans, who had error problems last year, leads the Mets in errors this spring.  Bad?  Nah - he leads with just 3 errors, so don't panic, people, especially when he is hitting .333.

Eight is Enough: Nice TV show, but for the Mets, 6 steals in 29 games?  NOT enough.

That's enough Strange Spring Things for now.  

Strangely, I bet you, dear reader, would agree.