New York Mets 2016 Season Thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Considering Rosario's nothing-special A+ numbers last season, I'm not surprised he's starting there again this season...but another month of this kind of performance and he might jump up to AA.  Doesn't look like anyone is blocking his path there...31-year-old Niuman Romero has played 8 out of the B-Mets' first 15 games at SS.  26-year-old Derrik Gibson has started seven games there and is batting .315, but hasn't done much in two previous AAA stints, and was drafted back in 2008...his lifetime minor-league OB+SLG is .666.  Suffice it to say room will be made for Rosario very quickly if necessary.

13 minutes ago, nmigliore said:

Yep, there was clearly something wrong there for the Mets to back off on that deal. Gomez has been nothing short of horrible since then.

He's actually been worse than the 2007-2011 version of Gomez, which is pretty scary. 

Edited April 25, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

2 hours ago, nmigliore said:

Yep, there was clearly something wrong there for the Mets to back off on that deal. Gomez has been nothing short of horrible since then.

 

If that deal was consummated, the Mets almost certainly don't make the playoffs last season nor would have good odds this season. Speaking of which, Cespedes is out of the lineup again tonight - De Aza in CF. 

What puzzles me is why the Astros doctors were the ones to clear him...they're the same guys that walked away from a #1 overall pick cause of bad medicals.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Is it because he's not healthy or is it because the two very-good-overall seasons he had in 2013 and 2014 were the exceptions?

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

David fvcking Wright.  Pure fvcking Torture.  Bat this zilch eighth already. 

And the Reds have clearly read the scouting reports on Travis.  Run like hell on him.  Why wouldn't you? 

Edited April 26, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

The more I look at Travis the more I see potential that...will just never be reached. Quick bat yes but, strikeout prone, injury prone, already 27, terrible arm, double play machine...good power, off to an awful start this year.

He may never put it all together and have that solid consistent 125 starts, 20hr 80rbi .270 .330 year.

Going forward we may move him from out behind the plate and Plawecki will be the guy

and just now d'Arnaud lets one through the wickets.

This is an A+ staff that deserves an A+ catcher behind the plate. d'Arnaud is not that guy right now.

 

 

 

['7']

The perfect acquisition for this team at the deadline would be Jonathan Lucroy. He won't be cheap but he can hit and is good behind the plate. He would definitely be a final piece of the puzzle.

['7']

Get d'Arnaud out of there. He can't throw the damn ball

[NJDevs4978]

Apparently Travis has shoulder discomfort...guess it was too much of a strain trying to throw runners out as they were stealing blind

[NJDevs4978]

At least Walker bailed their ass out after TC left Thor in an inning too long and Bastardo gave it up.

['7']

2 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Apparently Travis has shoulder discomfort...guess it was too much of a strain trying to throw runners out as they were stealing blind

Of course he does. Bottom line is he'll never be healthy. He can be an 81 game platoon catcher or needs to come out from behind the plate permanently. Too brittle for such a rough position.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

9 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

At least Walker bailed their ass out after TC left Thor in an inning too long and Bastardo gave it up.

As much as TC will never be good at handling a pitching staff, it's fair to look at the games leading up to last night, with regards to trying to squeeze a little more out of Syndergaard:  deGrom went just 5.2 IP the game before, Matz just 6.1 IP the game before that, Harvey only 5 IP the game before that, and Colon went 6 IP in the loss to the Phillies that saw the bullpen account for 4.2 IP.  The bullpen has been throwing a lot of innings (and TC doesn't help matters, like warming up Familia in games where he's really not needed)...at some point, these starters are going to have to find a way to pitch 7+ here and there. 

Here's a scary number:  Henderson, Robles, Familia, Reed, Blevins and Bastardo have already combined for 57 appearances this season (63 team relief appearances so far through 18 GP).  For comparison's sake, the Nationals are at 52 relief appearances through 18 GP, the Cubs are at 51 through 19 GP, the Pirates are at 64 through 20 GP, and the Dodgers are at 69 through 20 GP.  So though it's not like the Mets are the only team getting a lot of bullpen appearances, it's still not ideal to have their bullpen arms having to pitch so often...especially given TC's penchant for warming guys up "just in case", only to not bring them into a game. 

And speaking of pitching staffs, it's hard to imagine that the Nationals (2.24 team ERA, almost two full runs under the NL average) and the Cubs (2.59 team ERA) won't see some regression sooner than later.  What's a little concerning at quick glance about the Mets' staff is, despite being third in the NL in team ERA at 2.95 (NL average is 4.22, and only five team have team ERAs lower than the 6th-place Phillies' 4.21), they're giving up their fair share of hits...they're only middle-of-the-pack in Batting Average Against (8th at .261, and below the current NL average of .254)...of course, some of that is offset by the excellent team control (their OB% Against is only .304, good for 5th in the NL...average is .323), and the fact that they don't give up a lot of extra base hits (.332 SLG Against ranks third).  And it seems like the Mets have had a lot of unlucky softie hits against them this season...not even due to bad defense, just slow-hit balls that seem to be finding ways to elude fielders.  I get the feeling the BAA number will come down in the weeks to come.

 

6 hours ago, '7' said:

Of course he does. Bottom line is he'll never be healthy. He can be an 81 game platoon catcher or needs to come out from behind the plate permanently. Too brittle for such a rough position.

My feelings haven't really changed on him...I still think his bat should be solid.  But yeah, not only can he not be counted on to stay healthy, he's just not a very good catcher, and at this point I just don't see him being much better than he is right now...I think he's just about fully developed as a player.  I'm amazed more teams haven't run on him...Piazza obviously couldn't throw guys out either, but that guy brought SO much more to the table than Travis...Piazza was actually pretty good defensively in every other aspect, and was good at handling a staff.  I can't think of any one thing that d'Arnaud does terribly well behind the plate...earlier on, it was framing pitches...I haven't been watching close enough to really say for sure if he's still doing that well.  Hard to say if Plawecki will ever be able to hit major-league pitching consistently...but the sample size is too small. 

re:  Lucroy...keep in mind that after three terrific years from 2012-2014 (though he missed a significant chunk of games in 2012), he hasn't been as good...after putting up OB+SLG of .881, .795, and .838 in those three years, he saw that number drop to .717 last year (and only played in 103 games), and it's only .707 this season.  His power numbers have been going down too. 

Not saying that the Mets shouldn't ever go after him, but I need to see him break some disturbing trends before I could feel too enthusiastic about him.  The Mets are running out of pieces to deal away for "right now" guys that may not be here for long (Lucroy has a team option for 2017).  I'm guessing Lucroy would probably cost the Mets Verrett and one or two other prospects (possibly Plaw and someone else...I can't see them wanting d'Arnaud).  Verrett is turning into a nice trade chip, especially since he's under team control for two more years (I'd hate to see him go, I think he's versatile and useful, but he deserves to get a legitimate chance to start 30+ games in someone's rotation, and it's probably not going to happen here)...Sandy should be able to package him with others to get a terrific "makes the Mets better immediately"-type player if he thinks the team needs one.  But Sandy has to be careful with the pieces that he has left.   

Edited April 26, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[nmigliore]

I'm not so concerned about d'Arnaud's bat than his health. If he plays, I think he'll hit (he's played a whopping 13 games this season so I don't care what his numbers are right now). But the problem is if he has to miss extended time, the Mets are going to be ugly behind the plate. Plawecki is lucky to even be up here as a backup - forget it as a starter. Lucroy worries me a little bit, but I'd cautiously say they'd have to pursue him if d'Arnaud had to have something severe done, like shoulder surgery. But as it stands now, with little dings and some DL stints here and there, I'm afraid they'll have to hodge-podge their way with Plawecki and some no name like Rene Rivera.... which is why it would've been a good idea to add a better backup catcher in the offseason instead of forgetting about it until spring training.

Edited April 26, 2016 by nmigliore

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yeah, I think d'Arnaud could struggle through the middle of May with his bat and I wouldn't be that worried about him.  It's the way he plays his position and his fragility that's a lot more worrisome. 

[capo]

TdA is a lousy catcher so if he isn't hitting he provides nothing useful to the team. I would give Plawecki some more starts perhaps that will motivate TdA. I believe we need the catcher to help navigate our young pitcher's through games where they don't have their best stuff. These guys are filthy enough where they should be able to still dominate when they are off.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I don't think d'Arnaud suffers from lack of motivation...I just think his bat is cold at the moment and he just didn't turn out to be that good of a defensive catcher.  Guys don't always hit the ceiling forecast for them. 

C'mon, even the best pitchers are going to struggle some nights, without their best stuff, regardless of who's catching them.  And besides, how much better should this staff be?  They're third in staff ERA in the NL, and that's with Harvey off to a bad start, and deGrom missing two turns in the rotation.  It's not like the staff has been wildly underachieving with d'Arnaud behind plate...his inability to throw runners out does hurt though. 

Edited April 26, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[capo]

I'm thinking about Harvey in particular. He's had games where they've continued going with a pitch over and over again. When Harvey clearly didn't have it. These are things that separate very good teams from great teams. The catcher is most important player on the diamond. Yes, I absolutely believe TdA has cost these pitchers runs and games. These guys are never going to sell him out but it's clear to see. Bottomline, he's not getting it done. We kill certain players on this team regularly, Travis is not serviceable behind the plate. He's lousy. Piazza has even said more nicely than I have on numerous occasions. Mike has worked with him a bit but I would bet some of this likely comes from him talking with the pitchers also.

As far as lack of motivation is concerned TdA has been demoted in the past because of the same thing. He came back and was better.  Now, here we are again.

Edited April 26, 2016 by capo

[capo]

TdA officially on the dl. It's time for Plawecki to step up and take it away from him.

[NJDevs4978]

FWIW...

Edited April 26, 2016 by NJDevs4978

[capo]

21 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

FWIW...

Thanks, Rubin!

[NJDevs4978]

1 hour ago, capo said:

TdA officially on the dl. It's time for Plawecki to step up and take it away from him.

Thing is Plawecki had a chance to impress everyone last year and really didn't.  Sure he's better defensively than Travis, but you can always get good defensive catchers who can't hit.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The Plawecki sample size isn't large enough to draw any conclusions, as far as catcher ERA goes.  

But here's his big chance.  The good news is he doesn't have to do much to approximate 2016 d'Arnaud.  But if he really wants to take the job away from d'Arnaud, he's going to have to hit a lot more than he has to date.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Keep whiffing David.  Awesome.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Doesn't look like Colon will be able to give the pen a much-needed rest tonight.  Probably going six innings, tops.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Well there's a shock.  2 more Ks for Loser.

Man, Conforto's ABs do have a way of grabbing your attention.

 

Edited April 27, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Wright swinging through 92 mph fastballs down the middle, and then stares at another one on the corner

I mean is Wright going to have a Mark Reynolds K year without the home runs?