The Mets got off to a strong start on the homestand with a 7-1 to win last night. The offense started strong dropping 4 runs on AJ. Burnett before tagging him for more before he was pulled out. Meanwhile the Mets pitching was on point. Tonight they look to replicate that with Dillon Gee on the mound has he squares off against Cole Hamels.

Dillon Gee is 4-3 over 11 games and 69.2 innings with a 3.49 ERA. His last two starts have been rough as he has allowed 10 ER in 10 innings of owrk. Before that he had a 2.56 ERA for the season. In his only start against Philly this year, he allowed 3 ER over 6.0 innings of work. The Phillies have the following numbers against Gee:

• Rollins 11-22, 2 2B, HR
• Utley 5-20, 2 2B
• Howard 9-18, 2B, 6 HR
• Brown 4-15, 2B
• Ruiz 1-13, 2B
• Revere 3-8

The Mets will get a look at a familiar foe tonight in Cole Hamels who is 5-5 on the season over 18 starts and 122.1 innings with a 2.72 ERA. In his last 2 starts he has tossed 15.0 innings while allowing 10 hits, only 2 ER and striking out 19 batters. He has faced the Mets three times this season with mixed results. The first time he allowed 6 ER run over 4.2 innings. The next two times he allowed a combined 2 ER, 3 total over 14.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Cole Hamels:

• Wright 24-73, 4 2B, 3B, 5 HR
• Murphy 17-44, 4 2B, HR
• Rejada 9-31, 3 2B
• E Young 1-28, 2 2B
• C Young 6-23, 2B, 3B
• Lagares 8-20, 3 2B
• Duda 1-13
• Campbell 3-6, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

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The Mets are coming home to and they are bring Philly with them. Fresh off a 10 game road trip that saw the Mets go 5-5, including 4-3 against playoff contenders, the Mets look to keep roll going in Queens. Tonight should also be a heavily scouted game as AJ Burnett and Bartolo Colon, both starters, have been in trade rumors for the last week or so.

Bartolo Colon is 9-8 on the season over 1340 innings with a 4.03 ERA over 20 games. His last start was way better than the stat line of 7.1 innings of 2 ER suggests. He retired 20 batters straight to start the game and it was the bullpen that allowed the runners to score. He has made one start against the Phillies this year where he allowed 2 ER on 6 hits over 7.0 innings while striking out 5. The Phillies have the following numbers against Colon:

• Rollins 5-15, 2B, HR
• Brignac 5-12
• Sizemore 1-8
• Byrd 0-4
• Howard 2-4, 2 HR
• Ruiz 0-5

A.J. Burnett is on the bump for the Phils. On the season he is 6-9 over 144.2 innings and 22 starts with a 3.86 ERA. He is coming off one of his strongest starts of the season where he shut the Giants out for 8 innings while allowing 4 hits, 4 walks and striking out 6. He made one start against the Mets this year where he allowed 5 ER and 11 K’s over 7 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Burnett:

• Abreu 25-78, 10 2B, 2 HR
• Wright 3-24, 3B
• Granderson 3-16, 2 2B, HR
• Murphy 2-12
• Tejada 1-6
• Lagares 1-4
• E Young 2-3
• Duda 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

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With MLB.com updating its prospect list today, I thought it would be fun to look at what the prospect list looked like in 2013 and 2012 and where those players are now:

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If the player has never made the majors, it says Minors by their name. The rest of the code:

• ML-1: Established Regular
• ML-2: Reserve / Bench
• ML -3: Cup of Coffee, Option Rider for right now
• Out – Out of Baseball

First, its amazing that from 2012, there is only one player of of baseball.

It is also equally amazing the amount of players from 2012 that not only made the majors, but are a critical part of this team.

There are also a number of players who have seen their stock drastically change. Kevin Plawecki and Jacob deGrom are both examples of the positive side of this. Fulmer, and Puello are downer side of this.

Not too much need for commentary on this. The list on its own is impressive and interesting.

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MLB.com updated their top prospects list, via the Mets twitter account. While the Mets saw a “drop” in value for Syndergaard, the organization as a whole has 5 players in the top 100, which is more than any time in recent memory:

13. Noah Syndergaard
67. Kevin Plawecki
68. Brandon Nimmo
86. Michael Conforto
88. Dominic Smith

As much as the Mets need position players, 4 of their 5 top prospects at this point are position players that according to MLB.com should debut between 2015 and 2017. If we just focus on the Mets, these are their top prospects:

1. Noah Syndergaard
2. Kevin Plawecki
3. Brandon Nimmo
4. Michael Conforto
5. Dominic Smith
6. Rafael Montero
7. Ahmed Rosario
8. Dilson Herrera
9. Steven Matz
10. Gavin Cecchini
11. Milton Ramos
12. Gabriel Ynoa
13. Cesar Puello
14. Cory Mazzoni
15. Jack Leathersich
16. Marcos Molina
17. Blake Taylor
18. Michael Fulmer
19. Matt den Dekker
20. Logan Verrett

Impressive List of Players!

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This is pure speculation and opinion.

The Mariners are mainly in the market for offense, but they could use one more starter as well, especially a starter on the cheap so they can acquire more bats. Not only is Colon a mid-tier pitcher, he has an excellent record in Seattle. Especially as of late he’s been crushing it in Seattle.

The Mariners also have a bat that is intriguing for the Mets, Nick Franklin. Even with the recent struggles with Miller in the lineup, their reluctance to recall Franklin to the majors suggests they are sticking with Miller. The Mets have been linked on the blogosphere with Franklin before, and I still think he would make an excellent addition to the lineup.

The question is if the trade is fair. From the Mets fan side, I believe yes this is fair. I would do this trade in a heart beat. From the Mariners side, I’m not sure. They are getting stuck with another large contract.

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The Mets wrap up their 10 game road trip today. If the Mets pick up the win today, they will split the series with the Brewers and go .500 on the first trip after the All-Star break. Yesterday the Mets took the early lead but weren’t able to hold on. Today Jacob deGrom will take the mound with a 4-5 record over 13 games and 80.2 innings with a 3.01 ERA. In his last three starts he is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA while striking out 26 batters and walking only 3 while pitching 21.0 innings. He faced the Brewers earlery this season and allowed 3 ER over 5.2 innings and 9 hits while striking out 4. The Brewers have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Braun 0-2
• Davis 1-3
• Gennett 2-3, 2B
• Gomez 2-3
• Lucroy 2-3, 2B
• Peralta 0-3

Jimmy Nelson gets the start for the Brewers. He is 1-1 in his first three starts of the season with a 1-1 record over 16.0 innings. In that time he walked 6 and struck out 16. He had one start in May and really has been called up since mid July. In those two starts he has allowed 9 ER over 10.1 innings, inflating his ERA. His only start last year was against the Mets where he allowed 1 ER over 5.0 innings while walking three and striking out 4. The Mets have the following numbers against Nelson:

• E Young 0-3
• Duda 0-1
• Lagares 0-1
• Murphy 1-1
• Recker 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

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The Giants got Jake Peavy earlier today for Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree. Peavy is a rental player that ended up costing the Giants their #2 and #11 prospects according to MLB.com. For the Giants, trading away pitching prospects is nothing, they pump them out routinely like some sort of best factory every (Hey Zack Wheeler) so while this was a pricy trade, for the amount of arms they have (most of their top prospects are arms), they can afford this.

This also leaves only two top tier pitchers left on the trade market in David Price and Jon Lester. But maybe only one. Not only is the Lester situation complicated regarding Boston maybe wanting to sign him long term, would they trade him right now after trading Peavy? A full rebuilding mode would say yes. Both of these pitchers will demand a lot, especially in light of what Peavy just received.

This is also good for the next tier of pitchers which include AJ Burnett,  and Bartolo Colon. I don’t think Colon can bring in a hall like Peavy due to age and the amount of money on his contract, but it shows he will bring in something. (Also somewhere in between top tier and this next tier are Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee, which in a trade would demand a return closer to Price, and Lester, and definitely more than Peavy)

It also further shows that if the Mets take in more of Colon’s contract, they might get something even better in a trade. There were reports they might take up two million, I’m sure for the right prospects in a trade, they’ll take more than that.

This leaves the Indians, Orioles, Cardinals, Pirates, and Yankees with a lot of options (there are other pitchers out there that can be moved as well) but the precedent has been set with Peavy that getting a starter rental will be costly.

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The Mets bats still haven’t truly come back yet from the All-Star break but they were able to squeak out a win last night. The Mets were down 2-0 heading into the 9th against K-Rod when Murphy, Wright and Duda were able to get it done and score three runs (thanks to Duda’s 2 Run Blast) that put the Mets ahead. This puts the Mets in position now to have an opportunity to win the series or at least split, and also continued them playing .500 ball for the road trip.

Niese gets the start tonight for the Mets, on the season he is 5-5 over 18 starts and 109.1 innings with a 3.13 ERA. His first start since the All-Star break was not a pleasant one as he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings against the Mariners. He faced the Brewers earlier this year holding them to one run over 7.2 innings and 6 hits while walking only one and striking out 8. The Brewers have the following numbers against Niese:

• Ramirez 6-16, 2B, 2 HR
• Weeks 4-13, 2B, HR
• Lucroy 5-15
• Braun 2-11
• Gomez 3-11
• Reynolds 2-7, HR

The Mets bats will try to wake up consistently against Wily Peralta who is 11-6 this year with a 3.58 ERA over 20 games and 125.2 innings. After thee bad starts in a row where he allowed 4 ER over 6, 4 ER over 6 and 9 ER over 4.1, he’s gotten back on track allowing 1 ER in his last two starts (14.0 innings). Earlier this year when he faced the Mets, he allowed 1 ER over 6.1 while striking out 3. The Mets have the following numbers against Peralta:

• Murphy 1-6
• Tejada 0-6
• Wright 0-6
• Duda 0-4
• Abreu 1-3
• Granderson 2-2, 2B
• E Young 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

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The Mets look to just forget about last night’s game as Zack Wheeler takes the mound today. Wheeler is 5-8 over 20 games and 114.1 innings with a 3.78 ERA. He has pitched 25.1 innings in his last four starts striking out 21 batters, walking 10 and posting a beautiful 1.42 ERA. Last year he made one start against the Brewers where he allowed 1 ER over 5.0 innings with 3 runs overall while walking 3 and striking out 3. The Brewers have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Gomez 3-3, 2B
• Lucroy 0-3
• Ramirez 0-0, 2 BB
• Schaefer 0-2
• Weeks 0-2

The Mets bats look to pick themselves up against Gallardo tonight who has pitched 20 games this season over 121.o innings with a 5-5 record and a 3.79 ERA. His last four starts have been rougher than his season average allowing 19 runs, 16 earned over 23.1 innings, a 6.17 ERA. Last year he was 2-0 in as many starts against the Mets allowing 13 hits and 6 ER over 12.0 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Gallardo:

• C Young 3-22
• Wright 3-19, HR
• Murphy 6-15, 3 2B
• Duda 5-10, 2B, 2 HR
• Tejada 2-6
• E Young 0-6
• Granderson 0-2
• Lagares 0-2
• d’Arnaud 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

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The Mets started the road trip with dropping a series to the Padres, but responded yesterday by taking a series from the Mariners thanks to a fantastic start by Colon who retired 20 batters straight to start the game. Tonight the Mets play in their first series in a hitters friendly stadium on the trip as the Mets look to start off strong in a four game set against the Brewers. Right now they are 3-3 on the road trip.

Dillon Gee returns to the rotation tonight. On the season he is 4-2 over 10 games and 64.2 innings with a 2.92 ERA before he went down with an injury. Last year in one start against the Brewers he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings with 7 hits while walking two and striking out two. The Brewers have the following numbers against Gee:

• Lucroy 3-9, 2 2B
• Overbay 1-9
• Weeks 1-7
• Braun 1-5
• Ramirez 1-5

The Mets draw Matt Garza tonight who is 6-7 over 20 games and 124.2 innings with a 4.04 ERA. He started July off strong allowing 16.2 innings and 2 ER. In his first start from the All-Star game he allowed 5 ER while only retiring one batter. He shut out the Mets over 7 innings last year with 3 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Garza:

• Granderson 7-24, 4 2B, HR
• Abreu 5-18, 2 2B
• Duda 1-5, 2B
• Wright 1-6, 2B
• C Young 1-6
• Tejada 1-4
• Murphy 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

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