213 Miles From Shea

The Mets are on a three game win streak! They look to sweep the two game set from the Twins this afternoon. Yesterday the bullpen was called on for 5 innings of work to protect a 1-run lead and it worked! The bullpen did their job! Can they do it again today?

Jason Vargas is the most likely pitcher not named Zack Wheeler to be traded before the deadline, and Wheeler’s recent trip to the IL makes this afternoon’s start by Vargas even more important. Can the Mets drive up his trade value? On the season he is 3-5 over 16 games and 15 starts logging 76.2 innings posting a 4.23 ERA, 4.66 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and 96 ERA+. His first start from the All-Star break was a rough one – he allowed 6 runs over 5.0 innings against the Marlins. Before that he allowed 17 runs, 14 earned over 47.1 innings in 8 games, a 2.66 ERA where opponents got on base against him at a .289 clip. His one relief outing this year was against the Twins and it was terrible – 4 runs in one inning, in a game the Mets lost 14-8. The Twins have the following stats against him:

• Nelson Cruz 12-34, 2 2B, 5 HR, 8 BB, 8 K
• C.J. Cron 2-10, 2 HR, 3 BB, 2 K
• Byron Buxton 2-7, 3B, BB, 3 K
• Eddie Rosario 3-7, 2B
• Jonathan Schoop 2-7, HR, BB, 3 K

The Mets bats will look to provide the Mets pitching staff with a little more breathing room against Martin Perez today. Perez is 8-3 over 18 games and 15 starts logging 95.0 innings with a 4.26 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.368 WHIP and 107 ERA+. Perez has struggled in his last 7 starts allowing 32 runs, 26 earned, from 39 hits and 14 walks in 37.0 innings (but only 2 homers!). He’s posted a 6.32 ERA in this stretch and opponents have an on base percentage of .331 (but only a .683 OPS). He pitched against the Mets in relief earlier this season, allowing 3 runs in 2.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano 7-37, 3 BB, 4 K
• Todd Frazier 2-7, BB
• J.D. Davis 1-5
• Amed Rosario 1-5, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 1-4, 2 K
• Wilson Ramos 2-4, K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-3
• Pete Alonso 0-0, BB
• Jeff McNeil 1-1

Let’s Go Mets!

Sunday was an improbable day for the Mets. A pleasantly unusual day. The type of day that makes you wonder: too many good things happened today, I’m sure something bad is going to happen. Why was it such a good day?

• The Mets won a rubber game
• Meaning the Mets actually won a series
• And it was a Sunday, the Mets never win those
• We haven’t even mentioned yet that it was on the ROAD. It’s been forever since the Mets won one of those
• Jacob deGrom started and the Mets scored more than 3 runs
• Robinson Cano homered in back to back days

That feels great, right? Well something bad did happen, Wheeler was placed on the IL for arm fatigue. The “armchair” GM in me (really not trying to make a pun here y’all) in feels that this related to the Mets rushing Wheeler out twice before the All-Star break. The Mets are pulling Matz out of the bullpen and into the rotation again as a stopgap measure (although Matz should have been returning to the rotation anyway). He is 5-6 over 81.0 innings and 18 games, 16 starts, this year with a 4.89 ERA, 5.40 FIP, 1.481 WHIP and 83 ERA+. After a terrible series of starts, he was mostly alright in the bullpen (meaning he didn’t allow any runs) but still managed to allow 3 hits over 1.0 innings split over two games. C.J. Cron is the only batter on the Twins roster who has seen Matz in a game and has gone 1-2 with a double and a walk.

The Mets get to see an old Yankee today – Michael Pineda! Pineda is 6-4 over 17 starts and 92.2 innings with a 4.56 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.176 WHIP and 99 ERA+. Before the All-Star break Pineda put together back to back starts of allowing 1 run over 6.0 innings which dropped his ERA from 5.02. Outside of bad start on June 23rd (5 runs over 5.0 innings) Pineda has been a different pitcher in his last 5 games allowing only 9 runs in 28.2 innings, a 2.83 ERA (and remember 5 of those runs are from one game). The last time he faced the Mets was in 2015, and he was quite good allowing only 2 run over 13.0 innings, but that was a very different Mets roster. The Mets have the following numbers against Pineda:

• Robinson Cano 6-12, 2 HE, 2 K
• Todd Frazier 1-3, K
• Juan Lagares 0-3, K
• Michael Conforto 0-2
• Adeiny Hechavarria 0-2, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets face a challenge they have surmounted few times in the last couple of seasons. It’s their Everest. Their albatross. The most difficult type of game for them ever – a Sunday, day game, rubber game. Last night the Mets beat the Marlins 4-2 thanks to a strong start from Noah Syndergaard and Robinson Cano‘s first homer with a runner on all season (did we win the Cano trade yet?).

Today the Mets will try to score runs for Jacob deGrom. Not only is today a Sunday, day game, rubber game, it’s a deGrom start! Jacob has tossed 7 quality starts in a row yet the Mets as a team are 1-6 in those starts. Amazin’. Jacob is 4-7 over 18 stars and 110.0 innings with a 3.27 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 1.091 WHIP and 124 ERA+. In his last 9 starts he has tossed 58.0 innings with a 2.64 ERA while holding batters to getting on base at a .263 clip. He faced the Marlins in back to back starts in May with very different results. In the first start he allowed 1 run over 7.0 innings (close to his April outing against the fish – 7.0 innings of shutout ball). He then allowed 7 runs, 6 earned on 9 hits over 5.0 innings. The Marlins have the followings stats against deGrom:

• Starlin Castro 10-32, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Miguel Rojas 5-26, 3 BB, 3 K
• Brian Anderson 6-19, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Neil Walker 3-18, BB, 4 K
• Martin Prado 3-13, 2B, BB, 5 K
• Garrett Cooper 2-6, BB, 3 K
• JT Riddle 1-6, 5 K

The Marlins send out their 2019 All-Star, Sandy Alcantara for the rubber game. He is 4-8 over 17 starts and 101.1 innings with a 3.82 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 1.401 WHIP and 107 ERA+. He faced the Mets in back to back starts in May and like deGrom, they were very different starts. In the first start he allowed 4 runs from 8 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 innings in a game the Mets would win 4-1. He then pitched a complete game shutout against the Mets, holding the Mets bats to just 2 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following stats against Sandy:

• Michael Conforto 2-11, HR, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-10
• Todd Frazier 2-7, 2B, BB, K
• Tomas Nido 1-7, BB, 4 K
• Amed Rosario 0-6, 2 BB, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 1-4, HR, BB, K
• Robinson Cano 1-6
• Dominic Smith 0-5, K
• Wilson Ramos 0-2, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The 2nd half of the 2019 MLB season started and we’re pretty sure no one told the Mets, who looked dreadful last night. Vargas struggled as a started, Gsellman struggled behind him and outside of a too-late-to-do-anything 2-run homer from Frazier in the 9th, the Mets bats just couldn’t keep up. So the Mets lost again to the Marlins and now only 5 games separate the two clubs.

Noah Syndergaard looks to move the Mets back to the right track today. Is this a tryout for other teams? His name has come up in trade talks this past week, similar to Wheeler a year ago. On the season he is 6-4 over 105.2 innings in 17 starts with a 4.68 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.278 WHIP and 86 ERA+. His last three starts have been rough – 12 runs, 11 earned in 16.2 innings with opponents getting on base at a .377 clip and posting a .884 OPS. His only start against the Marlins came back on May 19th where he held the fish to 2 runs over 7.0 innings in a game the Mets would eventually lose 3-0. The Marlins have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

• Starlin Castro 3-15, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Miguel Rojas 4-12, BB, 2 K
• Brian Anderson 2-10, 2B
• Martin Prado 2-8, BB, 3 K
• Neil Walker 2-8, 2B, 2 K
• Curtis Granderson 1-6

The Mets draw the rookie Zac Gallan making his 4th career major league start today. Over his first three starts he has tossed 12.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 1.417 WHIP and 94 ERA+. Zac tossed 10.0 innings during his first two starts, one where he allowed only 1 run over 5.0 and the other where he allowed 3 runs in the same amount of innings. His last outing was cut short by rain. Before getting called up this year he started 14 games and tossed 91.1 innings in New Orleans posting a sparkling 1.77 ERA and 0.712 WHIP.

Let’s Go Mets!

Mets baseball is back tonight! For the first time in a few years the Mets had an exciting All-Star break. On Monday night Pete Alonso brought home the Home Run Derby championship (also securing 80% off tickets for Mets fans) and the three Mets in the All-Star game represented the team well on Tuesday night. Then the trade rumors started to swirl. We already knew that teams would be in on Zack Wheeler as a rental, but Noah Syndergaard is also drawing interest. It could be a wild ride for the rest of the month. Or we could trade away prospects for relievers ourselves and then play .500 ball for the rest of the summer.

Anyway, Jason Vargas takes the mound tonight and he could also be looked at by other teams as a trade target (although his threatening to fight a reporter did not help his value at all). Vargas is 3-4 over 15 games and 14 starts with 71.2 innings of work posting a 3.77 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.312 WHIP and 108 ERA+. After his complete game shutout in June he has tossed 26.1 innings over 5 games with a 4.10 ERA with opponents getting on base at a .295 clip. He hasn’t faced the Marlins since his first start of the season where he allowed 2 runs off 8 hits and a walk in 5.0 innings. The Marlins have the following stats against him:

• Curtis Granderson 8-17, 3 2B, BB
• Starlin Castro 5-13, 3 2B, 2 BB, K
• Brian Anderson 1-8, 2B, 4 K
• Miguel Rojas 2-8, HR, 2 K
• Lewis Brinson 3-6, 2B, BB, K
• Martin Prado 3-4, 2B, BB
• Cesar Puello 0-3
• JT Riddle 0-3

The Mets bats will start the second half against Caleb Smith who is 4-4 over 13 games and 72.0 innings with a 3.50 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 1.041 WHIP and 117 ERA+. After missing a month of baseball, he returned last week and allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 6.0 innings. He hasn’t faced the Mets since his first start of the season where he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings from 4 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 3-8, 4 K
• Amed Rosario 1-7, 2B, 3 K
• Robinson Cano 1-4, K
• Juan Lagares 0-4, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 0-3
• J.D. Davis 1-2, 2B
• Todd Frazier 0-1, BB
• Jeff McNeil 1-1, 2B, BB

Let’s Go Mets! Also, earlier this week we took a look at the Mets 2019 Non-Roster Invites to Spring Training that made it to Queens this year. It’s a surprising long list.

Non-Roster Invites in spring generally break down into two broad categories – prospects that the team wants to give an extended look at, sometimes against major league caliber talent, and plan C players. These are players (sometimes MLB Veterans, sometimes MiLB journey men) that should only be playing on the major league squad if the starter and the major league roster back up player (plans A and B) both find themselves off the field.

The Mets last year invited 26 players to camp on Non-Roster Invitations. Seven of them have already seen major league playing time this season and one should have seen playing time, but the Mets just completely trashed his situation.

Devin Mesoraco: We’re going to start with the player the Mets really messed up. Mesoraco was put into a ridiculous situation where the Mets essentially forced him to retirement. Pretty much immediately after the Mets put him into this boat, the Mets announced that they moved d’Arnaud to the IL and had to use Tomas Nido (who now the Mets pitching staff prefers catching them over Wilson Ramos). Anyway, Devin should have been a 2019 Met and unlike other players on the list, he would have been completely a positive choice.

Luis Avilan: It was pretty clear from when he was signed that Avilan was going to make the team. The team lacked lefties in general and Luis fit the bill. Still his time with the Mets has been pretty awful, allowing 11 runs over a small sample size of 11.0 innings in 12 games with a 5.20 FIP and 2.000 WHIP (46 ERA+). He was injured near the start of May and recently came back.

Hector Santiago: I irrationally like Hector because he came up through the Ironbound little league (let’s go Brick City! Newark!) but if he landed on the Major League roster at any point this season, a lot of things had to go wrong. Well a lot of things went wrong. Before being DFA’d he played in 8 games totaling 8.0 innings allowing 6 runs. He leaves the Mets boasting a 5.20 FIP, 1.875 WHIP and 63 ERA+ in his ridiculously small sample size.

Pete Alonso: The MVP of the first half of the season was an NRI to camp. All of that was normal though and not unexpected. The only surprising thing looking back to Spring was that there was even a debate about whether the Mets should put him on the roster at the start of the season, starting his clock. He’s had a historic start to the season despite everything happening around him.

Adeiny Hechavarria: On a team with so many infielders there was no reason that Hechavarria should have been called up. But he’s here and playing quite a bit. Personally, I see his playing time as a direct reflection on Lowrie situation, the Frazier injury, the mishandling of Jeff McNeil, the mishandling of Luis Guillorme and all the injuries in the outfield (leading to a further deficit in the infield). He’s already had 100 PA’s hitting .229/.260/.427. He’s getting on base nearly 30 points lower than his career OBP of .289, but he is hitting a good amount of pop (career slugging is .427). This is one of those cases where his OPS right now is better than his career (.687 vs .637) but honestly the Mets need people to just get on base. Or be healthy.

Rajai Davis: Davis (and Gomez in the next entry) weren’t supposed to see Queens. Plans C and D. The Mets had too many outfielders! They needed to squeeze in Jeff McNeil, split the time of Juan Lagares and Keon Broxton and at some point Yoenis Cespedes was coming back. In reality: Brandon Nimmo got injured (and moreover, the Mets mishandled his injury), Keon Broxton didn’t work out, Cespedes broke his ankle and landed himself on the IL for the rest of the season. So Rajai Davis got a short cup of coffee. He played in 4 games getting 7 PA’s collecting 2 hits including a big homer. Then once Conforto came back from his concussion (left out of the list of outfield problems earlier), Davis was sent back down.

Carlos Gomez: Carlos Gomez had a homecoming of sorts, coming back to his original team. Carlos Gomez is also a free agent now, so things weren’t great. He got substantial playing time over 34 games, getting 99 PA’s hitting .198/.278/.337. He hit three bombs. He was fun for story lines and remembering a time when the Mets weren’t completely inept.

Well the Mets end the first half of the season today. It’s been a rough first half, with both stars in the marquee trade (Cano & Diaz) not playing at the level originally thought, the bullpen overall has struggled and it feels like the Mets are wasting another strong season from All-Star Jacob deGrom, and an amazing rookie start from Pete Alonso, plus a second strong hitting season from Jeff McNeil. The Mets will now have four days off from today to figure out how they will handle the trade deadline, regroup and see what happens next.

Part of the trade deadline: Zack Wheeler. The Mets put Matz into the bullpen to probably give Wheeler another chance to show-off his stuff. Wheeler is 6-5 over 18 starts and 114.0 innings this year with a 4.42 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 1.246 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. In his last three starts he has pitched 19.1 innings with a 1.86 ERA and an opponents batting average of .182 including a start against the Phillies where he allowed 1 run off 2 hits in 6.0 innings of work. The Phillies have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Bryce Harper 6-34, 2 HR, 4 BB, 14 K
• Cesar Henandez 9-21, HR, BB, 4 K
• Maikel Franco 3-14, 2B, HR, 2 BB
• Rhys Hoskins 1-14, 2 BB, 7 K
• J.T. Realmuto 7-14, 2B, 3 K
• Jean Segura 1-9
• Jay Bruce 0-6, K

Aaron Nola is 7-2 over 104.0 innings with a 3.98 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 1.327 WHIP, 115 ERA+. Nola has been tremendous the last two games he has tossed 15.0 innings allowing no runs off 5 hits and 18 strikeouts including a game where he shut out the Mets over 7.0 innings and struck out 10. The Mets have the following numbers against Nola:

• Michael Conforto 4-26, HR, 3 BB, 10 K
• Amed Rosario 4-20, 2B, 6 K
• Todd Frazier 0-13, BB, 4 K
• Wilson Ramos 4-13, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Dominic Smith 3-15, 2B, HR, 6 K
• Jeff McNeil 5-13, 2B, 4 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 2-5, 2 BB
• Pete Alonso 1-5
• Robinson Cano 2-5, 2B, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had a rare week where they had two off days, before a week where they are going to have a four. It’s a great opportunity to get some rest but if they don’t rack up wins, it makes falling behind an even steeper hill tonight. Last night the Mets bullpen, specifically Edwin Diaz collapsed again, ala last week’s 7 game losing streak, completely blowing the game up in the ninth inning. Now Noah Syndergaard will look to get the Mets on the right track.

Noah Syndergaard is 5-4 over 16 games and 100.2 innings with a 4.56 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.242 WHIP with a 89 ERA+. He’s been mostly average in the month of June leading to 11 runs, 10 earned over 25.1 innings in four starts with a 3.55 ERA. This is being skewed better by one start where he allowed no runs over 7 innings. The last time he faced Philly this year was in April and he allowed 5 runs over 5.0 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Bryce Harper 8-27, 2B, 3 BB, 8 K
• Cesar Hernandez 10-25, 4 BB, 6 K
• Maikel Franco 6-21, 2B, 5 K
• Rhys Hoskins 4-11, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 4 K
• J.T. Realmuto 2-10, 2 BB, K
• Jean Segura 5-10, 2B, 3 K

Jake Arrieta is 8-6 over 17 games and 103.2 innings with a 4.43 ERA, 5.14 FIP, 1.418 WHIP and 102 ERA+. His last two starts have been quite rough, allowing 9 runs in 12.0 innings from 17 hits and 3 walks. One of those starts was against the Mets where he allowed 5 runs from 9 hits in 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Jake:

• Robinson Cano 6-28, 2 2B, 4 BB, 6 K
• Todd Frazier 8-29, 2B, 2 HR, 10 K
• Michael Conforto 4-19, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• Jeff McNeil 10-17, 2B, 3B
• Wilson Ramos 5-13, 2 BB
• Amed Rosario 2-13, HR, K
• Pete Alonso 3-11, 2B, 2 K
• Domonic Smith 2-4, HR, 2 BB, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had an off-day yesterday, which is weird considering it’s a National Holiday and that they had an off-day on Monday but whatever. Glad the bullpen could get extra rest and hope the players had time to relax with friends and family. The Mets are back at it tonight after splitting the series with the Yankees (thus also splitting the season series with the Yankees).

Jacob deGrom brings us back for the final weekend of baseball before the All-Star break. He is 4-7 over 17 games and 103.0 innings with a 3.32 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 1.107 WHIP and 123 ERA+. He is coming off a fairly average start against the Braves where he allowed 3 runs over 6.0 innings and in his last 8 starts has posted a 2.65 ERA over 51.0 innings. Jacob hasn’t faced the Phillies at all this year and last year allowed only 1 run, unearned, over 18.0 innings in three starts against them. The Phillies have the following stats against deGrom:

• Bryce Harper 10-31, 2 2B,2 HR, 7 BB, 9 K
• Cesar Hernandez 5-24, 4 BB, 6 K
• J.T. Realmuto 3-22, 7 K
• Maikel Franco 6-22, 3 K
• Nick Williams 4-15, 5 K
• Rhys Hoskins 3-11, 2B, 3 BB, 4 K
• Jean Segura 3-12, 3 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Vince Velasquez who is 2-5 over 19 games and 9 starts with 51.1 innings of work posting a 4.73 ERA, 5.37 FIP, 1.422 WHIP, and 96 ERA+. He has had one good start (1 run, 5.0 innings) and two poor starts (combined 6.2 innings, 8 runs) since returning to the rotation on June 16th. He was a starter the last time he faced the Mets in April, holding the Mets scoreless over 5.0 innings in probably his best start of the season. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 6-14, 3 HR, 4 BB, 3 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 2-8, 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
• Robinson Cano 2-4, 3 BB, K
• Amed Rosario 2-6, 3B
• Jeff McNeil 3-6
• Wilson Ramos 0-5, 2 K
• Dominic Smith 1-4, 2B

Let’s Go Mets

The Mets won two games in a row! The Mets yesterday had a come from behind victory against the Yankees, and several cosmic events aligned to make it happen. Outside of one inning where Wheeler allowed 2 runs, he was quite good in a long outing (probably to showcase his stuff). After blowing through a lot of pitches early he settled down and had a nice rhythm. Michael Conforto came through a critical time, knocking in the go-ahead runs to put the Mets in the lead. Edwin Diaz was able to overcome an infield hit that should have been an error (my opinion) and an interesting safe call on a stolen base to lock down the end of the game. And the Mets snapped the Yankee’s homer streak!

Jason Vargas will look to keep the good times rolling today (as long as he doesn’t see the press? Is it too soon to joke about how the Mets completely ignored this / downplayed this yet?). He is 3-3 over 14 games and 13 starts with 66.1 innings posting a 3.66 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.281 WHIP and 111 ERA+. He’s been steady in his last three starts allowing 2 earned runs in each (but 9 runs total) leading to a 3.60 ERA over 15.0 innings. Opponents are hitting only .148 against him and getting on at a .246 clip. He did start against the Yankees earlier this year allowing 3 runs over 6.0 innings from 7 hits and 2 walks (also setting up an uncommon situation where he and Wheeler started both games of both two game series vs the Yankees in 2019). The Yankees have the following numbers against him:

• Edwin Encarnacion 8-32, 2 HR, 11 BB, 2 K
• Brett Gardner 5-16, 3B, HR, 4 K
• Aaron Hicks 4-14, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Cameron Maybin 4-10, BB
• Gary Sanchez 1-8, BB, 3 K
• Didi Gregorius 3-7, HR
• DJ LeMahieu 2-6, K
• Aaron Judge 0-3, 2 BB, K
• Gleyber Torres 2-3

The Mets bats draw Domingo German who is returning from the Injured lIst today. On the season he has pitched in 13 games and made 12 starts totaling 70.0 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 1.114 WHIP and 117 ERA+. Before landing on the injured list after his start on the 7th, he had a bad stretch of three starts allowing 14 runs over 14.2 innings from 21 hits and 3 walks. During that time he allowed 7 homers. He started against the Mets twice last year allowing 7 runs over 9.2 innings from 10 hits and 2 walks. Three of those 10 hits were homers. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 1-5, 2B, K
• Amed Rosario 1-5, 2 K
• Todd Frazier 1-3, HR, 2 K
• Wilson Ramos 1-3, 2 K
• J.D. Davis 1-2, HR, K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-2, HR, K

Let’s Go Mets!