213 Miles From Shea

Last night was another frustrating night for the Mets as they got another great start from Jacob deGrom but the offense fell flat and one error in the outfield led to what became the deciding run. For positives, since the season has basically became Spring Training: Amed Rosario looked good. He dropped a perfect bunt, got a stolen base which changed the defensive alignment of the Padres. Flores hit the ball right up the midfield and brought him in. Next frame, Rosario made an amazing defensive play. Lets see if he can build off that tonight.

Wheeler will get the start tonight in what is starting to look like audition for other teams. He is 3-6 over 18 games and 107.1 innings with a 4.44 ERA, 3.74 FIP, 1.342 WHIP and 86 ERA+. In his last start against the Nationals he allowed 4 runs but he also pitched 7.2 innings. In his last four starts he has allowed 9 runs over 25.2 innings where he has posted a 3.16 ERA. Earlier this season he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings against the Padres. The Padres have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Galvis 2-8
• Hosmer 2-5, BB
• Ellis 1-4
• Margot 1-3
• Villanueva 0-2, BB

The Mets bats will get a look at rookie Eric Lauer who is 5-6 over 16 games and 77.2 innings with a 4.87 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.674 WHIP and 82 ERA+. Lauer was supposed to start last night but got pushed back a day. He is coming off a rough start against the Cubs where he allowed 5 runs over 2.0 innings. Before that he had an impressive streak where he went 2-1 over 30.2 innings in 5 games with a 1.76 ERA with only one terrible start (before that streak his ERA was 6.20). This will be his first game against the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!

Hopefully the Mets stayed dry last night as last night’s rubber game against the Yankees was washed out. Being cold and damp is a great way to spread colds to each other. Speaking of viruses, in another edition of “How More Mets Can This Mets Team Get?” Noah Syndergaard landed on the DL yesterday with Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, and incredibly painful ailment. We wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.

Jacob deGrom will take the mound tonight to help us all forget about Syndergaard’s Syndrome, Reyes’ increase in playing time, the Familia Trade, Cespedes’ heels and general roster woes. Jacob is 5-4 over 19 games and 123.1 innings with a 1.68 ERA (league leading), 2.33 FIP (league leading), 230 ERA+ (league leading) and 0.973 WHIP. In the month of July he has allowed 1 run over 16.0 innings from 9 hits, 2 walks and 15 K’s. In San Diego in April, he allowed no runs off 5 hits and 3 walks in 7.1 innings of work. The Padres have the following numbers against him:

• Galvis 10-28, 7 K
• Myers 2-13, HR, BB, 6 K
• Ellis 1-6, 2 BB, 3 K
• Pirela 2-6, 2B, BB
• Hosmer 2-5, BB
• Renfroe 1-3, HR

The Mets bats will get a look at rookie Eric Lauer who is 5-6 over 16 games and 77.2 innings with a 4.87 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.674 WHIP and 82 ERA+. He is coming off a rough start against the Cubs where he allowed 5 runs over 2.0 innings. Before that he had an impressive streak where he went 2-1 over 30.2 innings in 5 games with a 1.76 ERA with only one terrible start (before that streak his ERA was 6.20). This will be his first game against the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!
In case you were wondering how 8 pitchers the Mets acquired during the 2017 Trade Deadline are doing (Smith, Ramos, Nogosek, Bautista, Callahan, Ryan, Hanhold, & Rhame) click here.

The Mets traded for 8 pitchers over 6 trades last year before and after the 2017 Trade Deadline. Five trades were to move pieces for prospects, one trade was to bring AJ Ramos this season (womp womp). So how are the new pitchers doing?

Trade 1: Drew Smith (For Lucas Duda)
Drew Smith is back in the majors right now. So far this season he allowed 1 run over 3.0 innings from 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. His three games were between 6/23-6/29 and was recalled this past week. Across Binghamton and Vegas this season he has recorded a 2.68 ERA over 25 games and 37.0 innings with a 1.108 WHIP (right around his minors average), 8.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. He’s major league ready for 2019, which is good because the bullpen just doesn’t exist next year.

Trade 2: AJ Ramos (For Ricardo Cespedes / Merandy Gonzalez)
If the Mets were going to make a run in 2018, it was going to be with the bullpen of Blevins, Familia and Ramos. Oops. Ramos is out for the season recovering from shoulder surgery and he didn’t deliver while he was here. Before being traded in 2017 he had a 3.63 ERA over 39.2 innings. In 19.0 innings with the Mets he posted a 4.74 ERA. Then this year he posted a 6.41 ERA over 19.2 innings. Not good. Not good at all.

Trade 3: Stephen Nogosek, Gerson Bautista, & Jamie Callahan (Addison Reed)
Addison read was the big trade chip the Mets has last season and they received three players in return.
Stephen Nogosek  with the St. Lucie Mets posting a 3.06 ERA, 3.34 RAvg over 23 games in 32.1 innings. This was a radical improvement from his time with the St Lucie last year where he posted a 5.06 ERA over 16.0 innings. Since being called up to Binghamton, where he is 1.4 years below the average age, he has posted a 14.14 ERA in 7.0 innings. He will probably return to Binghamton next year. Barring a crazy jump in performance, probably a 2020, 2021 arrival in Queens.
Gerson Bautista is a flame thrower. Unfortunately in his short call up to Queens this year he was all over the place allowing 6 runs from 8 hits and 5 walks in 4.1 innings leading to a 12.46 ERA.  He hasn’t performed much better between Vegas and Binghamton this year posting a 5.18 ERA over 24.1 innings in Vegas and a 4.82 ERA over 9.1 innings with the Rumble Ponies. His career numbers, for comparison, are a 2.98 ERA over 241.2 innings. It’s hard to say no an arm like Bautista and hopefully over the course of the next year he can find the strike zone again.
Jamie Callahan was the most major ready player at the time of the trade. He’s currently injured. Last year he posted a 4.05 ERA over 6.2 innings during his late season call up with the Mets. Before getting hurt, he allowed 10 runs, 9 earned over 8.1 innings in hitter friendly Las Vegas. Last year he was dominant in Vegas with a 1.80 ERA in 10.0 innings. Once he’s healthy he won’t be too far away from Queens, once again with the amount of players who won’t be Mets in the bullpen at the end of the season.

Trade 4: Ryder Ryan (Jay Bruce)
23 year old Ryder Ryan is one of the pitchers to watch in this group of 8. He has pitched across two leagues this year with St. Lucie and then Binghamton. With St. Lucie he posted a 1.77 ERA over 20.1 innings. Then with the Rumble Ponies, he has posted a 2.25 ERA over 20.0 innings. Combined this season he has a 1.017 WHIP and 9.8 K/9. Before coming to the Mets he had a 3.86 ERA and 4.79 ERA in two seasons with the Indians so he has come into his own in the Mets organization. If he keeps this up he is looking at a 2019 arrival in Queens.

Trade 5: Eric Hanhold (Neil Walker)
Similar to Ryder Ryan making major steps forwards in the Mets organization, so did Eric Hanhold. His career ERA is a 4.93 over 235.2 innings. In Binghamton he posted a 2.84 ERA over 25.1 innings with a 1.184 WHIP. This earned him a call up to Vegas where although he allowed 9 runs over 9.0 innings, he did post a 11.0 K/9 (11.4 K/9 in Binghamton, 7.3 K/9). He is also injured now thus derailing his journey to Queens.

Trade 6: Jacob Rhame (Curtis Granderson)
Rhame may be the most well known name on this list since he has played with the Mets in 2017 and this season. Overall he has a 6.93 ERA in 24.2 innings, doing a bit a better this year with a 5.74 ERA over 15.2 innings. He was one of the better pitchers for the Mets in Vegas this year posting a 3.76 ERA over 26.1 innings. The question for Rhame: can he make the next step with Mets in the long term?

The Mets will try to distract the world from the embarrassing weekend they have had so far by playing the rubber game against the Yankees last night. Things for the Mets started to go downhill after they won Friday’s game. Cespedes revealed to reporters that he needs a surgery with 8-10 months recovery time. The next day, the Mets front office and management were all on different pages with regards to the Cespedes injury. No one wanted to talk about the Syndergaard early exit outside of him having a dead arm. His early exit caused Lugo and Gsellman to both be unavailable which combined with the not yet final Familia trade left the Mets short handed. (We won’t even get into the details of the trade).

The game went all right until the 4th inning that put den Dekker all over the field booting balls on difficult catches and leading to a massive Yankee lead. It looked like the Yankees were going to steamroll the Mets with a score of 7-3 but the Mets were able to make 7-6 in the ninth leaving the tying run on third base.

With all of this craziness, it is nice to get back to sense and sensibility with Jacob deGrom. Jacob is 5-4 over 19 games and 123.1 innings with a 1.68 ERA (league leading), 2.33 FIP (league leading), 230 ERA+ (league leading) and 0.973 WHIP. In the month of July he has allowed 1 run over 16.0 innings from 9 hits, 2 walks and 15 K’s. In June he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 8.0 innings from 4 hits and 2 walks against the Yankees who have the following numbers against him:

• Stanton 9-25, 2B, 4 HR, 3 BB
• Gardner 4-14, HR, 2 BB
• Gregorius 2-12
• Hicks 2-8
• Judge 1-5, 2B, 2 BB
• Sanchez 2-6
• Walker 2-6
• Tanaka 0-4
• Andujar 0-3
• Bird 0-3

Masahiro Tanaka is 7-2 over 15 games and 83.1 innings with a 4.54 ERA, 4.91 FIP, 1.128 WHIP and 95 ERA+. Since coming off the DL in July he has allowed 5 runs in 10.2 innings from 12 hits and 3 walks. He pitched well against the Mets in June allowed 1 run over 5.0 innings from a homer but left the game due to an injury from running the bases. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bautista 10-39, 3 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 11 K
• Cabrera 0-10, 5 K
• Reyes 3-7, HR, BB
• Conforto 1-7, 2B
• Flroes 1-5
• deGrom 2-4
• Mesoraco 1-3
• Nimmo 1-2, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday was an odd day for the orange and blue. Cespedes returned from the DL and hit a big homer and Conforto had 3 RBIs as the Mets avoided giving up a once 6-1 lead and beat the Yankees 7-5. We knew something else was up though when during the 9th inning, Familia wasn’t warming up. During the game the Mets moved close to a deal to trade their long time closer. Also after the game Cespedes revealed that he may need a surgery with an 8-10 month recovery time. Layered with Syndergaard’s velocity drop and early exit, it was a whirlwind, not exactly happy feeling, Mets win in the Bronx.

Steven Matz gets the start for the Mets today. He is 4-7 over 18 games and 96.0 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 4.81 FIP, 1.250 WHIP and 114 ERA+. In three starts in July he has tossed 18.0 innings with a 2.00 ERA from 16 hits, 4 walks while striking out 15. When he faced the Yankees in June he allowed 3 runs over 6.0 innings from 5 hits and 4 walks. The Yankees have the following numbers against him:

• Stanton 4-12, 2 HR, 2 BB
• Gregorius 5-10, 2B, BB
• Hicks 1-6, 2B, 2 BB
• Sanchez 1-6, 2B
• Garnder 2-5, 2B, BB
• Judge 0-5
• Austin 2-5
• Andujar 1-3, HR
• Bird 1-3
• Drury 2-3, HR

The Mets bats will get a look at Sonny Gray who is 6-7 over 18 games and 90.2 innings with a 5.46 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.511 WHIP and 79 ERA+. He is coming off a good start where he shut out the Orioles over 6.0 innings allowing 3 hits and walk while striking out 8. Prior to that in three starts he totaled 11.0 innings posting a 12.27 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Gray:

• Bautista 6-20, 2B, HR, BB
• Cabrera 2-11, HR, 2 BB
• Reyes 1-10, 2 K
• Cespedes 3-6
• Conforto 1-2, BB
• Flores 0-2, BB
• Rosario 0-2, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets return from a long All-Star break to a trip to the Bronx tonight as they start away portion of the Subway Series. The Mets are now in a full pivot towards trading away pieces as over the course of the next two weeks Familia, Cabrera and others are expected to be traded. The question hanging over the Mets in this series particularly is, “Will they trade deGrom? Will he go to the Yankees?”.

With all the noise around the team, there’s a baseball game tonight two featuring start #2 for Syndergaard since returning from the DL. He is 5-1 over 12 games and 69.2 innings on the season with a 2.97 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 1.220 WHIP and 129 ERA+. In his first start back he allowed only 1 run over 5.0 innings to the Nationals from 7 hits and 2 walks. Noah hasn’t faced the Yankees since September 2015 where he allowed 5 runs over 6.0 innings. The Yankees have the following numbers against him:

• Stanton 0-11, BB, 6 K
• Bird 1-3, 2B
• Cole 0-3
• Frury 0-2, BB
• Gardner 1-3
• Walker 0-3
• Gregorius 0-2

The Mets bats draw Domingo German who is 2-5 over 18 games and 12 starts in 78.2 innings with a 5.49 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 1.297 WHIP and 78 ERA+. His last start right before the break was a bad one where he allowed 6 runs over 4.0 innings. Since May 12th he has posted a 6.48 ERA, he has moments of dominance and bouts of terrible performance, the latter winning out in frequency. He had an average start against the Mets on June 9th where he allowed 3 runs over 6.0 innings from 5 hits and no walks while striking out 9. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 0-3
• Cabrera 1-3, HR
• Conforto 0-3
• Frazier 1-3, HR
• Nimmo 1-2, 3B
• Rosario 1-2
• Plawecki 1-2, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to close out the first half the season this afternoon with something that has become a rarity: a three game winning streak. A win today will give them that plus a series win against the Nationals, which would be a nice cherry on top of a garbage two months or so. Yesterday Wheeler went deep into the game and the offense rewarded him thanks to a 3 run bomb from Conforto and two hit performances from Flores, Plawecki and even Reyes (which unfortunately probably guarantees him more playing time).

Corey Oswalt will take the mound for the Mets. He is 0-2 over 4 games and 3 starts with 17.1 innings of work leading to a 6.75 ERA, 5.73 FIP, 1.154 WHIP and 58 ERA+. In his last outing he allowed 3 runs off 1 hit in 6.0 innings. What that line buries is he was perfect through 5.0 innings, walked a couple of batters, including an intentional walk to get to the pitcher and that pitcher just got a good swing of the bat hitting a double that cleared all three base runners. He really did much better than the line suggests he did his last time out. This afternoon will be his first game against the Nationals.

Jeremy Hellickson starts for the Nationals. He is 3-1 over 12 games and 57.0 innings with a 3.47 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.088 WHIP and 121 ERA+. His worst start by far this season happened at the beginning of July where he allowed 9 runs, 8 earned to the Marlins over 4.0 innings bumping his ERA from 2.62 to 3.81. In his last start he allowed no runs over 5.0 innings. His 2018 season debut was against the Mets where he allowed 2 runs off 7 hits in 4.2 innings in Queens. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bautista 12-35, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 6 BB (1.125 OPS)
• Reyes 12-33, 3 2B, HR , BB (.928 OPS)
• Cabrera 11-26, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB (1.080 OPS)
• Conforto 2-7, 2 2B, 3 BB
• Nimmo 2-7, 2 B
• Flores 1-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Last night was how 2018 was supposed to go for the Mets. Syndergaard allowed only 1 run in his return the mound, Lugo and Gsellman closed the door behind him allowing on a a solo homer. Nimmo had 3 hits at the plate, Cabrera reached based three times. Rosario got back in the line up and went 2-4 with a double and triple. Somehow Jose Reyes lowered his batting average.

It was a good night for the Mets, let’s see if they can do it again this afternoon.

Zack Wheeler is 2-6 over 17 starts and 99.2 innings with a 4.42 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.344 WHIP and 87 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 5 runs off 10 hits and 6 walks in 11.0 innings. In his only start against the Nationals this season, he allowed 3 runs from 7 hits and 3 walks in 6.0 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Rendon 7-20, 3 BB
• Harper 4-20, HR, 2 BB, 9 K
• Turner 3-8, 2B
• Eaton 0-4
• Taylor 3-5, 2B
• Murphy 1-4, HR
• Difo 1-3

The Mets will get to see Austin Voth make his major league debut for the Nationals. The 26 year old right now has a 3.55 ERA and 4.03 RAvg in 15 games, 76.0 innings in Syracuse. Last year over three levels and 24 starts he had a 5.94 ERA and 6.38 ERA. Overall in the minors he has a 3.48 ERA with a 3.92 ERA in 686.0 innings. Depending on how you count, this is the 3rd or 4th time Voth has been ready to go to make his major league debut. He was called up on the 29th to helped a taxed bullpen but wasn’t used. He was then the 26th man on the roster three weeks later but the games got rained out.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Nationals continue their series tonight as the Mets kept it close last night but couldn’t beat back the Nationals. Matz had a good night allowing only 3 runs but the bullpen behind him couldn’t keep a clean sheet and despite homers from Bautista, Plawecki and Cabrera (the former and latter trying to raise trade stock), it wasn’t enough.

But tonight is a different night for the Mets! Tonight is the night that the God of Thunder, Thor, Syndergaard finally returns from the DL from his strained finger from forever ago. Or at least what feels like forever ago. On the season he is 4-1 over 11 games and 64.2 innings with a 3.06 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 1.175 WHIP and 125 ERA+. His last start was at the end of May where he allowed 3 runs against the Brewers. The last time he faced the Nationals was last year. One was his game in April which essentially ended his season where he allowed 5 runs over 1.1 innings, the other was a 1.0 inning rehab start where he allowed 1 hit. The Nationals have the following numbers against Noah:

• Harper 5-18, 2B, 4 BB
• Rendon 7-20, 2B, HR, BB
• Murphy 3-14, 2 2B
• Turner 1-9
• Taylor 2-7
• Reynolds 1-6

Tanner Roark for the Nationals is 3-11 this season over 19 games and 18 starts pitching 109.2 innings leading to a 4/76 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 1.368 WHIP and 88 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 13 runs over 11.0 innings so he’s looking to get back on the right track (he is also leading the league in losses). In his first start against the Mets this season he allowed 5 runs over 5.0 innings and in his second start he allowed 2 runs over 7.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Conforto 4-15, 2 2B, HR
• Cabrera 4-13, 2 2B, HR
• Reyes 3-12, 2 BB
• Flroes 2-13, 2B
• Mesoraco 0-5
• Rosario 0-5
• den Dekker 1-4, 2B
• Nimmo 2-3, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets will look to build off last night’s walk-off as they welcome the Nationals to town to finish off the first half of the season. Jacob deGrom was amazing last night, as per usual, and the Mets didn’t score for him at all, as per usual. In the 10th inning, with two men on and two outs Brandon Nimmo smacked a homer to send everyone into the night happy (just like him normally). Jacob deGrom built on what should be a case to start the All-Star game, if the Mets couldn’t help him with runs last night, they could be scoring off his main competition Max Scherzer tonight.

For the Mets, it falls to Steven Matz. Matz is 4-6 over 17 games and 89.2 innings with a 3.31 ERA, 4.65 FIP, 1.227 WHIP and 116 ERA+. In July he has allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 11.1 innings from 8 hits and 5 walks while striking out 11, which equates to an ERA of 0.77. In his first start against the Nationals this year, he held them to 1 unearned run over 5.0 innings. In his second start, he allowed 3 runs off 3 hits in 4.0 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against Matz:

• Taylor 3-14, HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Harper 2-12, 2 BB
• Rendon 3-14, HR
• Turner 2-12, 2B
• Murphy 3-9, 2B, HR
• Mark Reynolds 4-8, 3 2B
• Wieters 1-6, HR
• Difo 1-3
• Matt Reynolds 0-1, K

Max Scherzer is having an excellent year and is rivaling deGrom in being the best pitcher this season. He is 11-5 with 127.2 innings of work (league leading), 2.33 ERA, 2.60 FIP, 0.893 WHIP (league leading) and 180 ERA+. He also leads the league in strikeouts with 177, if that holds, he will lead the league in strikeouts for 3 years in a row. He has been more human in July allowing 7 runs over 13.0 innings from 11 hits, 5 walks and 12 K’s including 3 homers leading to an ERA of 4.85 (this is also why deGrom is leading in ERA and FIP right now). Amazingly, Max has put up these numbers without facing the pitiful Mets offense yet. Last year in 4 games against the Mets he was 3-1 over 28.0 innings allowe 10 runs (3.21 ERA) from 21 hits and 5 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Cabrera 14-61, 4 2B, HR, 3 BB, 18 K
• Reyes 10-29, 2B, HR, BB
• Bautista 9-20, 4 2B, HR, 3 BB
• Conforto 6-18, 3 HR, 2 BB, 7 K
• Flores 0-14, BB, 8 K
• Plawecki 2-12
• Nimmo 2-8, HR

Let’s Go Mets!