Official 2014 New York Mets Thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

d'Arnaud is now tearing up AAA in a big way.  Not really surprised by that at all.  Unforunately, I don't think AAA holds much challenge for him anymore...the only positive that can come out of that is him temporarily finding confidence that he hopefully brings with him to the majors (especially with PCL-bloated "Wow, look that those numbers!").  Whatever the minors could do for his development has been done (unless he's working on his defense, which clearly needs it), and Travis is no 21-year-old kid who may have been brought up too early...he's 25 years old, and he'll be 26 by the start of next season.  The time is really now to see what he can do at the major-league level.  I'm fine with him staying with Vegas for another 2-3 weeks, but not much beyond that, especially since Recker and Teagarden are both complete dead-ends...I don't need to see a couple of 30-year-old scrubs struggle to hit .200, especially when there's no chance either one of them will ever improve much beyond that. 

 

 

brilliant job terry batting the pitcher 8th again. 1st and 2nd, 2 out in the top of the 1st and Niese is up. That's just who you want up there in the 8 hole...a pitcher

 

Sadly, this seems like the kind of desperate move a not-very-good manager makes when he's simply out of answers.  TC is an amateur.  Everyone knows it.  He couldn't get another managerial job before the Mets, and he won't get another one after he's fired.  It's not all his fault...only an idiot like Sandy could look at this team and think 90 wins...but TC hasn't helped much either.  Unfortunately this season is quickly taking on a "the hell with this season, we're not doing anything until the offseason, no matter how ugly it gets" feel, which means Terry probably gets the rest of year no matter what. 

 

Anyway, at this point, here's what I'm hoping to see from here on out:

 

Wright showing some signs of being the player he was from 2005-08 (he'll never be that player again, but I'd settle for a semblance of that)

 

d'Arnaud coming back up.  He's not going to learn anything by raking AAA PCL pitching.  Maybe he won't be much of a major-leaguer, but better to find out as much this year than to put it off for 2015.  (Be careful about going too crazy about Plawecki.  He's doing a terrific job hitting in AA, but from the bits I've read while searching around, his defense behind the plate is enough of a concern that some feel his future in the majors may not be as a catcher.  There seems to be differing opinions as to what he projects as.  Some think he won't be anything more than an average major-leaguer at best.) 

 

If someone is willing to overpay for Gee or Niese at the deadline, Mets have to take such a team up on it (I'm definitely not giving away either arm though).  Even if the Mets don't get much in return for Colon, getting as much of his $10 million due to him next year off the books as possible would be a major coup.  Mets need to spend money next season, and they don't really need Colon. 

 

I would explore moving Murph too.  As much as I like his overall attitude and want to believe he can be more than a bad-team ballplayer, he just has too many baffling moments in the field and on the basepaths.  If he was a beast at the plate (think .320 BA/.380+ OB%), you could live with the gaffes. 

 

It's not hard to see why the Mets are where they are.  Their best player is a complementary player, the SS is a bad-team ballplayer at best (he's barely a major-leaguer, though his OB% is respectable), the right side of the infield are bad-team ballplayers, the current catchers only play on teams where there's no one else available to play the position, Granderson is what he is (his overall numbers this season are about what seemed reasonable to expect), CY is awful, and EY is the answer when you don't even know what the question is. 

Edited June 18, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Colon is definitely a goner. Thank goodness he's pitching well. Drive that trade value up. I'd then also attempt to trade either Niese or Gee (preferably Gee) though Colon/Gee don't have to be in the same package

 

This team is so bereft of hitting that we MUST get some young quality close to MLB ready bats (and by close I mean either September callup or ready by 2015 to be fulltimers in the bigs close. No A ball prospects) For Gee and Colon, I think we can get at least 2 bats who project to be decent outfielders. I'm not talking Mike Stanton phenoms, but clear upgrades over the human waste known as Chris Young or AAAA also ran Andrew Brown. Guys who can play every day and hit well above Mendoza

 

Dumping Gee and Colon would also relieve payroll a bit, so we will be able to sign a decent back of the rotation guy in the offseason. 

 

2015 Rotation can look like

 

Harvey

Syndergaard

Niese

Wheeler

UFA (Jason Hammel? Ervin Santana? something like that)

 

Montero developing and waiting in the wings as insurance

deGrom developing waiting in the wings as insurance

 

Trading Duda needs to be explored too. See if we can procure a decent SS prospect who's close to being ready. Duda is not the long term answer and Allan Dykstra is pretty much his clone anyway...and he's a year younger. Though trading Duda isn't a must. I'm ready to clear the decks at 1st and I'm still salty we didn't add Jose Abreu. The UFA pool isn't very good for 1B over the offseason. I'd try to bring in Michael Cuddyer as a stop gap.

Edited June 18, 2014 by '7'

['7']

d'Arnaud is now tearing up AAA in a big way.  Not really surprised by that at all.  Unforunately, I don't think AAA holds much challenge for him anymore...the only positive that can come out of that is him temporarily finding confidence that he hopefully brings with him to the majors (especially with PCL-bloated "Wow, look that those numbers!").  Whatever the minors could do for his development has been done (unless he's working on his defense, which clearly needs it), and Travis is no 21-year-old kid who may have been brought up too early...he's 25 years old, and he'll be 26 by the start of next season.  The time is really now to see what he can do at the major-league level.  I'm fine with him staying with Vegas for another 2-3 weeks, but not much beyond that, especially since Recker and Teagarden are both complete dead-ends...I don't need to see a couple of 30-year-old scrubs struggle to hit .200, especially when there's no chance either one of them will ever improve much beyond that. 

 

 

 

Sadly, this seems like the kind of desperate move a not-very-good manager makes when he's simply out of answers.  TC is an amateur.  Everyone knows it.  He couldn't get another managerial job before the Mets, and he won't get another one after he's fired.  It's not all his fault...only an idiot like Sandy could look at this team and think 90 wins...but TC hasn't helped much either.  Unfortunately this season is quickly taking on a "the hell with this season, we're not doing anything until the offseason, no matter how ugly it gets" feel, which means Terry probably gets the rest of year no matter what. 

 

Anyway, at this point, here's what I'm hoping to see from here on out:

 

Wright showing some signs of being the player he was from 2005-08 (he'll never be that player again, but I'd settle for a semblance of that)

 

d'Arnaud coming back up.  He's not going to learn anything by raking AAA PCL pitching.  Maybe he won't be much of a major-leaguer, but better to find out as much this year than to put it off for 2015.  (Be careful about going too crazy about Plawecki.  He's doing a terrific job hitting in AA, but from the bits I've read while searching around, his defense behind the plate is enough of a concern that some feel his future in the majors may not be as a catcher.  There seems to be differing opinions as to what he projects as.  Some think he won't be anything more than an average major-leaguer at best.) 

 

If someone is willing to overpay for Gee or Niese at the deadline, Mets have to take such a team up on it (I'm definitely not giving away either arm though).  Even if the Mets don't get much in return for Colon, getting as much of his $10 million due to him next year off the books as possible would be a major coup.  Mets need to spend money next season, and they don't really need Colon. 

 

I would explore moving Murph too.  As much as I like his overall attitude and want to believe he can be more than a bad-team ballplayer, he just has too many baffling moments in the field and on the basepaths.  If he was a beast at the plate (think .320 BA/.380+ OB%), you could live with the gaffes. 

 

It's not hard to see why the Mets are where they are.  Their best player is a complementary player, the SS is a bad-team ballplayer at best (he's barely a major-leaguer, though his OB% is respectable), the right side of the infield are bad-team ballplayers, the current catchers only play on teams where there's no one else available to play the position, Granderson is what he is (his overall numbers this season are about what seemed reasonable to expect), CY is awful, and EY is the answer when you don't even know what the question is. 

 

I've heard rumors all winter and into the season, metsblog, francesa...that the Mets were fielding offers for Murphy but asking for the moon. So they're open to it but only if somebody bowls them over. I'm ok with that.

 

d'Arnaud better hit when he's back. I'm just sick of waiting around for him.

['7']

Nice that they salvaged something in St. Louis. Mejia got a key DP, but was unsteady and I'm glad terry yanked him when he did

 

Still, at like 86 pitches Colon could've at least started the 9th.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

'7', no doubt, if Colon can keep this up through the deadline, how does he not draw some interest?  His last 6 starts:  43.1 IP, 32 H, 8 ER, 8 BB, 31 K, 1.66 ERA.  The guy's physique is scary in a not-so-good way, but somehow it seems to work for him most of the time.  He'd be such a perfect rental for a contender, if not for that second year.  Hopefully someone's desperate enough to roll the dice and say "Aw fvck it, second year or not, let's go for it now!" 

 

I don't think the Mets can get away with not getting enough back for Murph, but at this point, no one should be untouchable, and the Mets shouldn't get silly either with their demands.  Murph is a player with clear limitations, all of which will get magnified again if his OB% ever starts to slip back down into the .320 range.  I still think he could be a killer 9th-place hitter on a contending AL team, especially this year's version that's getting on base at a solid 35.4% rate (as opposed to last year's 31.9%).  Having a 9th-place guy who can do damage is a great luxury for an AL team to have, as the '98 Yankees with Scott Brosius proved.

[NJDevs4978]

Terry claimed it was because the weather was hot and '90 pitches today was like 120 on a normal day'.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Nice that they salvaged something in St. Louis. Mejia got a key DP, but was unsteady and I'm glad terry yanked him when he did

 

Still, at like 86 pitches Colon could've at least started the 9th.

 

Funny how Terry is really starting to go the other way with this now. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Vegas starting pitcher Logan Verrett turns 24 years old today.  He's not someone you hear a whole lot about, compared to deGrom, Montero, and Syndergaard, but some of his numbers are interesting...he doesn't walk guys (only 14 in 82.1) and for whatever it's worth, he's 23-10 in 56 minor league starts. 

 

Unfortunately, despite somehow managing a PLC-decent 4.59 ERA, he's been giving up an insane amount of hits.  116 hits allowed in 82.1 IP (.334 BAA).  Prior to this season, in A and AA, he'd pitched a total of 249.1 IP and allowed 223 hits...not awesome for a major-league hopeful, but this season is Schwinden-type stuff.  I get the feeling Verrett might be one of those September 40-man callups...why not?  At any rate, it seems like the only shot he has to get himself in the mix for the Mets' 2015 rotation (he has not made a single relief appearance in his professional career) will be to either surprise the sh!t out of everyone if he gets a call-up, or if some of the names ahead of him on the list (deGrom, Syndergaard, and Montero) get hurt or falter. 

 

I'm guessing Verrett will get dealt as part of a package for something else.  It'll help greatly if he can improve on that ugly hits-to-innings ratio.  FWIW, he's been giving up less earned runs lately...he has a 3.48 ERA in his last four starts.     

 

If you're a sabes guy, there's reason to hope for improvement.  His BABIP (before last night's start) this season is .374, which is high (average is around .300).  And his FIP (also before last night's start) is 3.89.  If your FIP is lower than your ERA, that's supposed to indicate you're a victim of below-average defense, as the feeling among the sabes crowd is that pitchers are only really "in control" when it comes to BB, HBP, HR, and K:

 

Here's the formula (posted this last season):

 

FIP = ((13*HR)+(3*(BB+HBP))-(2*K))/IP + constant

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/fip/

 

Admittedly, I've never been a huge fan of this number...not saying pure ERA is much better, but I am saying that guys who don't walk guys and don't give up a lot of long balls are the ones who are going to be propped up by this formula.  Some guys are simply very good at not giving up a lot of base hits, even if they're prone to allowing more home runs or aren't complete control specialists, but those types will be made to look "lucky".  Some guys are also prone to that "one bad inning" as well.  I have a feeling there's a fair number of guys who give up a ton of baserunners mostly off base hits, but always have sabes guys saying "But look at his FIP, he should be better."

 

It's almost like team won-lost records in sports...quite often, your record says what you are, even with the good-luck/bad-luck outliers..  But in Verrett's case, at least the BABIP and FIP gives some reason for hope that his numbers will get a little better. 

Edited June 19, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Absolutely sensational by Wheeler. 3 hit shutout, hitting 95 in the 9th with a 76 mph curve. He had unbelievable movement on his ball today and all inside the strikezone.

 

Admittedly I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole night, the typical Marlins rally against us, but Wheeler hung on

 

bullpen got themselves a nice break

Edited June 20, 2014 by '7'

['7']

Vegas starting pitcher Logan Verrett turns 24 years old today.  He's not someone you hear a whole lot about, compared to deGrom, Montero, and Syndergaard, but some of his numbers are interesting...he doesn't walk guys (only 14 in 82.1) and for whatever it's worth, he's 23-10 in 56 minor league starts. 

 

Unfortunately, despite somehow managing a PLC-decent 4.59 ERA, he's been giving up an insane amount of hits.  116 hits allowed in 82.1 IP (.334 BAA).  Prior to this season, in A and AA, he'd pitched a total of 249.1 IP and allowed 223 hits...not awesome for a major-league hopeful, but this season is Schwinden-type stuff.  I get the feeling Verrett might be one of those September 40-man callups...why not?  At any rate, it seems like the only shot he has to get himself in the mix for the Mets' 2015 rotation (he has not made a single relief appearance in his professional career) will be to either surprise the sh!t out of everyone if he gets a call-up, or if some of the names ahead of him on the list (deGrom, Syndergaard, and Montero) get hurt or falter. 

 

I'm guessing Verrett will get dealt as part of a package for something else.  It'll help greatly if he can improve on that ugly hits-to-innings ratio.  FWIW, he's been giving up less earned runs lately...he has a 3.48 ERA in his last four starts.     

 

If you're a sabes guy, there's reason to hope for improvement.  His BABIP (before last night's start) this season is .374, which is high (average is around .300).  And his FIP (also before last night's start) is 3.89.  If your FIP is lower than your ERA, that's supposed to indicate you're a victim of below-average defense, as the feeling among the sabes crowd is that pitchers are only really "in control" when it comes to BB, HBP, HR, and K:

 

Here's the formula (posted this last season):

 

FIP = ((13*HR)+(3*(BB+HBP))-(2*K))/IP + constant

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/fip/

 

Admittedly, I've never been a huge fan of this number...not saying pure ERA is much better, but I am saying that guys who don't walk guys and don't give up a lot of long balls are the ones who are going to be propped up by this formula.  Some guys are simply very good at not giving up a lot of base hits, even if they're prone to allowing more home runs or aren't complete control specialists, but those types will be made to look "lucky".  Some guys are also prone to that "one bad inning" as well.  I have a feeling there's a fair number of guys who give up a ton of baserunners mostly off base hits, but always have sabes guys saying "But look at his FIP, he should be better."

 

It's almost like team won-lost records in sports...quite often, your record says what you are, even with the good-luck/bad-luck outliers..  But in Verrett's case, at least the BABIP and FIP gives some reason for hope that his numbers will get a little better. 

 

Wasn't Parnell a guy who also gave up a ton of hits, but his stuff I imagine was probably more dynamic than Verretts. I've never heard of the organization being particularly high on him, but he's probably worth a callup in September. I think he'll get one at 24.

 

He also doesn't seem to be able to go deep in games as he's probably chucking a lot of 25-30 pitch innings. If he happens to throw hard...maybe he'll have a future in relief somewhere. I'd like to see how he does first time through the order compared to 2nd and 3rd time through.

Edited June 20, 2014 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Absolutely sensational by Wheeler. 3 hit shutout, hitting 95 in the 9th with a 76 mph curve. He had unbelievable movement on his ball today and all inside the strikezone.

 

Admittedly I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole night, the typical Marlins rally against us, but Wheeler hung on

 

bullpen got themselves a nice break

 

Zack's last 10 starts sum up his early career perfectly.  Four games allowing 1 ER or less, a fifth where he allowed 2 ER, and 4 or more allowed in the other five.  Games like last night's are awesome, and I'm always hopeful after he has a game like that, but you just KNOW in his next start or two, he'll go five innings or so, throw 100 pitches, and make it all look so difficult. 

 

As great as last night was, his pitching well against the Marlins is nothing new.  Zack has really owned the Marlins so far...his four starts against them to date:

 

7/30/13  7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 87 pitches

4/25/14  6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 110 pitches

5/07/14  6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 104 pitches

6/19/14  9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 111 pitches

 

Totals:  28 IP, 12 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 12 BB, 30 K, 0.96 ERA

 

Last night could be something as simple as Zack just happening to match up well particularly well against the Marlins, and of course, it's not uncommon for a player to do well against one particular team. 

 

One stat worth pointing out is, although Zack remains prone to high pitch counts, he's gotten his walks down, which makes his overall numbers over his last six games look pretty good (even though two of the starts were not good at all):

 

37.1 IP, 27 H, 11 ER, 9 BB, 41 K, 2.65 ERA 

 

Let's face it, if Zack could come close to the above per 6-start period on average, we'd happily sign up for that. 

 

 

Wasn't Parnell a guy who also gave up a ton of hits, but his stuff I imagine was probably more dynamic than Verretts. I've never heard of the organization being particularly high on him, but he's probably worth a callup in September. I think he'll get one at 24.

 

He also doesn't seem to be able to go deep in games as he's probably chucking a lot of 25-30 pitch innings. If he happens to throw hard...maybe he'll have a future in relief somewhere. I'd like to see how he does first time through the order compared to 2nd and 3rd time through.

 

Yeah, Parnell was a guy who gave up hits for a long time, starting with A+ ball:

 

A+  68 IP, 72 H

AA  216.1 IP, 224 H

AAA 69.2 IP, 68 H

 

Keep in mind that the A+ and AA sample came exclusively as a starting pitcher.  He only made four starts in AAA.  I'm guessing he didn't have enough to go through lineups two, three and four times. 

 

He was still giving up his fair share of hits in the majors too (I got into it with nmig about this, because sabes guys tend to chalk up a high number of hits allowed to everything but the guy throwing the pitches, minimizing the pitcher's "blame" level), but seemingly out of nowhere, on 9/21/12, Parnell suddenly started giving up a lot less hits, and that continued through 7/13 of last season...check out the split:

 

9/21/12-7/13/13:  51 IP, 28 H

prior:  247.1 IP, 269 H (some of this sample came as a starter)

 

He gave up 11 H in his final 8 IP in 2013 before going on the DL, but to his credit, only one of the 5 runs he allowed in those games was earned, meaning he had to deal with extra outs.  He also converted six out of seven save opportunities in those 8 games (one IP each), so it's not like allowing those extra hits was hurting him at that point. 

 

It just sucks that he's broken down physically just when it seemed like he was harnessing his stuff...his overall sample from 9/21/12 on is very good:

 

60 IP, 41 H, 14 BB, 50 K

 

Not going to lie though...I think he has a lot of Armando Benitez in him, and I always would've been worried about him in big spots.  He always had the potential to infuriate...in that way, he was a perfect Met. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Brandon Nimmo and Dilson Herrera made their AA debuts yesterday.  Always nice to see guys moving up the ranks, especially since Nimmo just turned 21 in March (Herrera turned 20 in the same month).  It'd be great to see them both start off next season in Vegas (though that might be pushing things a bit, especially since both players are still very young). 

 

Lefty starter Steven Matz was also promoted to Binghamton.   

 

Darin Gorski struck out 11 yesterday for Vegas.  He's not someone to get terribly excited about...he's done some nice things at AA , but also did most of them as an overage player.  So far so good in five Vegas appearances this season (four starts)...he's another guy I wouldn't mind seeing get a September call-up, especially since he'll be 27 this October.       

Edited June 20, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Typical loss to the Marlins. Horrible umpiring stabs the Mets in the back, and Florida gets their usual divine inervention

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Meh, Teufel sending Wright was pretty boneheaded...I thought he was a dead duck when I saw him rounding third base.  And Wright also had that fielding gaffe that was later ruled a double (?!).  Wright and big spots just seemed destined to be a bad mix.

['7']

Meh, Teufel sending Wright was pretty boneheaded...I thought he was a dead duck when I saw him rounding third base.  And Wright also had that fielding gaffe that was later ruled a double (?!).  Wright and big spots just seemed destined to be a bad mix.

 

That's the Mets MO nowadays. When in doubt...send 'em. They're so bereft of anything offensively so just send the guy and hope for the best (wild throw bounce, cutoff) any opportunity to scratch out a run they take it. That's literally the organizational philosophy with such a bad lineup.

['7']

Nice win today to wipe away the stink of yesterday. deGrom with 7 solid to earn that elusive first victory, and two insurance runs on a HR by Duda! Even Chris Young has an RBI single today...as did Wright who is coming around at the plate finally.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Nice win today to wipe away the stink of yesterday. deGrom with 7 solid to earn that elusive first victory, and two insurance runs on a HR by Duda! Even Chris Young has an RBI single today...as did Wright who is coming around at the plate finally.

 

Very happy for deGrom.  He should be at least .500 from a won-lost standpoint.  He's definitely better than 1-4.  Gee is still a ways away (he threw 50 pitches in a bullpen session), so as long as deGrom doesn't go on a bad run, his spot should be safe.  

 

Syndergaard had a pretty good game yesterday for Vegas, despite giving up 5 ER...he went 6.2 IP, didn't walk anyone, and struck out seven.  He had an odd outing...gave up three runs in the first inning and two in the seventh.  From the second to the sixth he was locked in.  

 

Wright is now 9 for his last 19 in his last five games, with no strikeouts.  He also has three 2B hits and two home runs.  It's nice to see, but David has been the dual poster boy for success and failure around here for a while now.  Just hope this run lasts for a while.  

 

d'Arnaud is putting up video-game numbers in AAA...he has a 1.435 OB+SLG in 16 games.  Terrific numbers in Vegas are nothing new for Travis though...in 99 career games with that team (both with the Blue Jays and Mets), he has a .345 BA and a 1.050 OB+SLG.  I wish I could get excited, but all this run is proving is that d'Arnaud can terrorize PLC pitching.  We already knew that.  There's nothing more for him to prove there.  It has to start happening HERE.   

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Niese with one of his maddening "Can't close out an inning" moments, but the guy's been good overall this season.  Not much to criticize.  His numbers over his last 24 starts:

 

157 IP, 148 H, 48 ER, 11 HR, 39 BB, 120 K, 2.75 ERA

 

With offensive production in MLB continuing to drop (Wright is amazingly 22nd in the NL in RBI), these numbers aren't really mind-blowing, but they're still very good. 

 

Granderson is a .294 hitter since April 29.  He was hitting under .200 as late as May 31.  Thank God...with his contract, the Mets can't move him.  It's not a good contract, especially for a team that doesn't seem to have much to spend, but at least Grandy is producing now.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Niese was betrayed by his D that inning. Granderson misjudged a ball and then Murphy had one go through him...otherwise he gets out of it with no or very minimum damage.

 

This was mostly a rocking chair game...about time. I love beating the stinking Marlins. Really should've swept them.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

That's fair '7', but even the Met announcers took note of the fact that Niese has been vulnerable to letting innings get away from him.  Like I said though, not really much to pick on him for...since the start of the 2012 season, he's put up a 3.37 ERA (he's at 3.84 for his career).  If you're a sabes guy, then you believe that Niese's 2.78 ERA this season is due more to good luck than anything else, and that his ERA should be closer to his FIP (3.50); basically, that number suggests that Niese is due for some regression.  (By comparison, according to FIP Niese's 4.40 ERA in 2011 should've been closer to 3.36).   

 

Mets have quietly stabilized for the moment...they're now 7-6 in their last 13. 

 

Wright now has an RBI in six straight games and is hitting again.  He's no longer capable of carrying a team (he probably never really was), but the Mets are clearly a different-looking team when he's in a groove.  Truly a barometer player in every sense...when he's in one of his completely-invisible funks, it just kills this team. 

 

Kazmir, in a word...damn.  Guy has a 0.95 WHIP this season.  He's no longer nearly as prone to laboring and high pitch counts either...since coming back to start 2013, he's only walked 67 hitters in 253 IP (striking out 242).  Suffice it to say that he would've made for a better signing than Colon (though in fairness, take out Colon's three awful starts and he's been just as good as Kazmir in the other 11...Colon has a 2.09 ERA in those games), and there was solid evidence to suggest Kazmir would have a good year this season...from 6/21 on last season, he put up a 3.06 ERA in 18 starts and 103 IP (only 24 BB too, against 107 K).  And he signed for 2 years and $22 million.  Always goes back to the same thing with Sandy and his band of merry men...it just seems like they did little to no homework on who was out there this past offseason.     

['7']

d'Arnaud will be back soon, but the Mets also promoted Plawecki to AAA. If d'Arnaud falls on his face again (and I hope he doesn't) then they may actually hot shot Plawecki to the majors a lot quicker than previously imagined. So d'Arnaud may be hearing footsteps.

 

Also some rumors Chris Young may be just flat out released once Lagares comes back.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Logan Verrett turned in one of his best starts of the season last night for Vegas:  8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.  I've brought up his unsightly hit total before (it's now 121 in 90.1 IP), but he's given up 13 unearned runs on the season, which means he's had to deal with his share of crappy defense (and extra outs) behind him. 

 

Basically, Verrett has been about as unlucky as a pitcher can be, and he STILL has managed to put up a PCL-respectable ERA of 4.38. 

 

Here's some numbers that help Verrett's cause as to why he's been better than his numbers:

 

.375 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play...I think this number tends to be about .300 on average.  As the 13 unearned runs attest, Verrett is probably getting hurt by some lousy defense.)

He's only walked 14 hitters and given up 6 home runs.  Couple these with the poor defense he's been getting, and his FIP was 3.77 before last night's game...much lower than his 4.59 ERA going into last night's start. 

 

So basically, though the hits-against total looks bad, there's a lot of reasons for it.

 

'7', just remember that while Plawecki may be hitting, he's not considered to be a terribly good defensive catcher, and some wonder if he can handle the position at the major-league level.  But this is a good problem to have...the fact that he's moving through the system quickly is nice.  d'Arnaud being pushed can't possibly be a bad thing. 

 

The Mets dumping CY would show me a lot...it really would.  Finally, some friggin' accountability!

Edited June 25, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Damn...Mets put a serious hurtin' on Kazmir.  Guy had only given up 3 or more earned runs four times, and only as many as four once.  He was probably due for a rough one, but great to see the Mets doing it. 

 

I think Travis really needed not to go 0-for-4 tonight...good for him. 

['7']

Damn...Mets put a serious hurtin' on Kazmir.  Guy had only given up 3 or more earned runs four times, and only as many as four once.  He was probably due for a rough one, but great to see the Mets doing it. 

 

I think Travis really needed not to go 0-for-4 tonight...good for him. 

 

Chris Young, who had 1 foot our the door, responds by nearly becoming the first Met ever to hit 3 out in a home game

 

Colon continues his brilliance. You know I'm thinking if they're anywhere within 6 out of the WC or division at the deadline...edict may come from Jeffy Wilpon to not move him since he will think they are good enough to be in some sort of pennant race. And they will in turn have to deal him in the offseason. Never underestimate him throwing a monkey wrench into things.

 

yea great for Travis. Ball was really carrying today as well, which you almost never see at Citi field.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

'7', the "good" news is that it looks like Washington is FINALLY getting its act together, which should kill any delusions an idiot like Jeffy might have about the Mets having any shot.  If the Mets get to five games over .500, then I could maybe understand hanging onto Colon.  Dealing Colon in the offseason probably won't fetch that much of a return...with a guy of his age and physical build, interested teams will probably want to see him pitch for a couple of months first before being sold. 

 

Man, if he keeps this up for another month, will there be another potentially available starter in the majors pitching as well?  What's amazing is Colon, who usually gives up his fair share of hits (negated somewhat by the fact that he walks almost no one...despite allowing 456 in his last 443.1 IP dating back to the 2012 season, his WHIPs have been terrific for each season:  1.21, 1.17, and this year's 1.15.  He doesn't beat himself), is suddenly not allowing them:

 

Last seven starts:  51.1 IP, 36 H, 9 ER, 9 BB, 39 K, 1.58 ERA, 0.88 WHIP

 

The great news is, if he can be roughly as terrific in his next 4-5 starts, I think interested teams will be VERY inclined to say "yeah, the second year on the contract sucks, but we think we can win this year, we'll suck it up!"  It would be one thing if Colon was going 5-7 innings and allowing 2-4 runs per start, but he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball now for the last five weeks or so.  If he does it for another month, how can a contending team who needs a starting pitcher not think about adding him?  It really is a testament to how well he's pitched that the second year, originally a pretty significant negative, is getting pretty close to being a non-factor. 

 

CY having a big game isn't a good thing.  We know how it works around here...one big game has a way of buying some guys a month's worth of extra chances.  CY isn't any good.  He stunk last season and he's pretty much stunk this season.  Now that he had this game, he'll probably get too many ABs to prove that yes, he really does stink. 

 

And with the Mets leading 8-1, EY gets a single, and I have to hear from announcers who should know better about how EY brings a spark/energy/whatever.  That myth really has to die.  EY doesn't hit enough and will never hit enough to justify the "brings a spark" label, and you can't have a leadoff hitter who doesn't get on base.  As a pinch-runner and occasional starting player, maybe EY has a role (though even that doesn't thrill me), but the Mets always wind up playing him more than they should.

 

Unfortunately, it's not like CY and EY are really blocking anyone markedly better...Lagares will soon be back and will be starting and Granderson is locked in into his starts.  It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.    

Edited June 25, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976