New York Mets 2016 Season Thread

[nmigliore]

10 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Too bad we're gonna face the same ???'s about Cespedes opting out and coming back after this season too...but with how badly he wanted to stay here last offseason maybe he doesn't opt out after all.  Of course if he does I think someone's gonna give him too much money to turn down and it won't be us.

Barring a catastrophic injury, Yo! is totally going to be opting out. And he'll get paid this time around.

[nmigliore]

I'm not in the LEAST bit surprised Plawecki has stunk. There was absolutely nothing there to suggest he would hit. His career AAA slash line is below average and his best offensive tool (making contact) hasn't translated over to the Majors. He's a good pitch-framer but if he doesn't start making more contact, he's destined for the journeyman catcher path. The Mets would be better with Rivera getting more time behind the plate, unfortunately.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Plaw was a pretty good hitter through AA, but yeah, not good numbers in a hitter's league at AAA and not good numbers up here.  It has to turn around soon. 

[NJDevs4978]

6 hours ago, nmigliore said:

I'm not in the LEAST bit surprised Plawecki has stunk. There was absolutely nothing there to suggest he would hit. His career AAA slash line is below average and his best offensive tool (making contact) hasn't translated over to the Majors. He's a good pitch-framer but if he doesn't start making more contact, he's destined for the journeyman catcher path. The Mets would be better with Rivera getting more time behind the plate, unfortunately.

People wanted to attribute his bad season in AAA to some illness from what I remember...but yeah.

8 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

A lot of people are tired of TDA's injuries and poor behind-the-plate defense...of course they were hoping for an in-house option to step up.  Plaw was the classic back-up QB scenario...he's interesting mostly by virtue of being not-TDA.  Well, we've gotten another extended look at him, and unfortunately it's not looking good.  He was starting to hit there for a little bit, and he's still young, but it's hard to get terribly excited about his 100 GP, 318 AB sample so far. 

Still, TDA's early work was about as rough...doesn't mean that I think Plaw will be much better than he is now, but sometimes guys who look overmatched initially (TDA definitely did) figure it out enough to at least be decent at the plate.

And I do get being tired of TDA...but I never saw anything to believe that Plawecki would add anything offensively, and probably isn't quite as good defensively as the guys like Rivera who make a career out of being good enough to do the little things right at catcher.

['7']

Yes it was vertigo with Plawecki. And Harvey had his issue this year, and Ike with Valley Fever a few years ago. Strange maladies are a thing for the Mets during Spring Training. Kind of like food poisoning was for the Devils in the playoffs back in the early 2000's.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Same ol' mediocre Harvey. 

['7']

Well that's that.

 

DL him. Maybe let his dead arm rest until the All Star break. He cant really go more than 4 at this point.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Go get him Terry.  And for once act like a manager and tell him no, you don't get your next turn.  No more Harvey dictating terms.  fvck him.

['7']

Of course it had to be Babe Murphy. Of course

[NJDevs4978]

Bora$ or no Bora$ it's time for this organization to stop deferring to Harvey's wants

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

5 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Bora$ or no Bora$ it's time for this organization to stop deferring to Harvey's wants

Neither one of them have any leverage anymore.  Harvey had his chance against the Mets' top division rival and did squat both times. 

['7']

Ty Kelly, Eric Campbell...injuries taking their toll when these guys are given big at bats. The results speak for themselves.

[NJDevs4978]

11 minutes ago, '7' said:

Ty Kelly, Eric Campbell...injuries taking their toll when these guys are given big at bats. The results speak for themselves.

When three infielders all go down at once (well two and Wright being in and out of the lineup) that's a problem.  You can't really prepare for Duda AND Flores being out along with Wright having a maintenance day.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Well said Mike Vaccaro, well said:

http://nypost.com/2016/05/24/silent-matt-harvey-confirms-hes-the-phony-mets-have-enabled/

I usually give these guys the benefit of the doubt, as I know the media can be a bunch of annoying know-it-alls when things aren't going well...and it's easy to forget that players are human and won't always do the right thing and can make mistakes, same as the rest of us (Brodeur blew off the press after the 2001 SCF Game 7 loss, and in his book admitted that he regretted that big-time and wished he hadn't have done it).  I'm sure there are days where it's easy to say "I don't need to deal with a bunch of wannabe nerds who wouldn't know the first thing about what it is to actually PLAY sports...screw 'em, I'm not talking today." 

But Harvey makes it easy to call him out, because he's always tried to portray himself as this big tough badass who wants the ball in all of the big spots...but doesn't get it done.  And there was always some excuse as to why he didn't...it was never that he wasn't very good that day or just didn't have it or that he got beat...it's that he was fighting some illness, or some other crap.  He's always been a lot better at portraying who he thinks he is than he is at truly being that.  And everyone is getting tired of it and his act.

He's really hard to take right now; that being said, I hope to God he somehow turns it around and makes us all look back on this as some crazy anomaly that we can't believe actually happened.  Because this is nuts.

As to what they should do with him...either rest or DL him if it's a physical issue, or send him to the minors and bring up Gilmartin for a few turns (Gilmartin took one hell of a PCL-style beating last night, seeing his ERA rise from 2.48 to 4.38).  I don't think sending him to the pen is the answer.  He needs to keep getting starter's innings, and it probably wouldn't hurt to get him out of NY and away from the Mets.  Not sure if the PCL is the best place for him...I'd actually consider AA first.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Nimmo has been red-hot at the plate since 4/25:  25 GP, 37-for-102 (.363 BA), 10 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR, 12 BB (.422 OB%), 21 K.  He was hitting .196 on 4/24 and is now up to .304.  At least he's hitting in a hitter's league.

Herrera goes 2-for-4 last night after a 1-for-22 slump over his last six games knocked his BA down from .313 to .273.  His current slash line is well below last year's (.279/.313/.513, compared to .327/.382/.511), but he's hitting more home runs.  Will be interesting to see how his 2016 AAA numbers stack up against his 2015 numbers when he reaches the same number of GP this season (81, currently at 39). 

 

[nmigliore]

Harvey isn't going to the minors. If anything, it'll be one of those dead arm DL stints, the kind where an established but struggling player saves some face instead of being thrown under the bus by his organization.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

14 minutes ago, nmigliore said:

Harvey isn't going to the minors. If anything, it'll be one of those dead arm DL stints, the kind where an established but struggling player saves some face instead of being thrown under the bus by his organization.

The way around the "but he'll be humiliated/emasculated if he goes to the minors" thing is if he's DLed, then makes a couple of minor-league "rehab" starts when he's eligible.  Obviously not the same as an outright demotion.

Wheeler has apparently started his "spring training".  So curious to see what kind of a pitcher he'll be when he returns.   

Edited May 25, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[capo]

Binghamton would not be a good place for him right now.  He would get absolutely killed here. I'd send him back to PCL for a while.

[NJDevs4978]

No DL stint, no demotion, no skipped turn...once again Harvey makes his next start

Edited May 25, 2016 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, NJDevs4978 said:

No DL stint, no demotion, no skipped turn...once again Harvey makes his next start

Complete joke. 

1 minute ago, capo said:

Binghamton would not be a good place for him right now.  He would get absolutely killed here. I'd send him back to PCL for a while.

Based on what?  The PCL is brutal on pitchers.  Why would Binghamton be harder on him?  (Not that either of these scenarios has a chance of happening outside of rehab starts).

[capo]

35 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Complete joke. 

Based on what?  The PCL is brutal on pitchers.  Why would Binghamton be harder on him?  (Not that either of these scenarios has a chance of happening outside of rehab starts).

Because the fans here are brutal and Harvey's issues appear to be psychological. There would be nowhere for him to hide here. The night life here consists of 1 street where a bunch of young punks go to cause trouble. Let him do an extended spring training. Just keep him the hell out of here.

[capo]

Doesn't matter he's not missing a turn... just reported.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

45 minutes ago, capo said:

Because the fans here are brutal and Harvey's issues appear to be psychological. There would be nowhere for him to hide here. The night life here consists of 1 street where a bunch of young punks go to cause trouble. Let him do an extended spring training. Just keep him the hell out of here.

I think if he ever does wind up in the minors (be it due to actual demotion or for rehab work), the crowds there will treat him very differently than the Citi faithful.  He's still a big name who's had some serious success in the majors.  Guys with his body of work don't often pitch in the minors.  He may be despised for the moment in Flushing, but I think the minor-league fans will think it's kind of cool that a still-big name like Harvey will be pitching for them...and will cheer him on...as long as he doesn't act like a complete d*ck of course.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Wright hits another HR.  5 out of his 6 dingers have been solo shots. 

Cabrera leaves the game with back spasms.  Not good. 

Matz not only dialed in, but has only thrown 21 pitches in the last couple of innings...pitch count at a very manageable 67 after 5 IP.  Could go 7+ at this rate. 

Curtis in danger of falling under .200 again...can't but help wonder how much longer the Mets can afford to pencil him in as the automatic leadoff guy.  Outside of some leadoff dingers, he simply hasn't done much...it's getting harder and harder to ignore that 2016 Granderson is back to the 2013-14 version that at times had you wondering what he had left.  Not like there's tons of options though. 

Now only 80 pitches through six for Matz. 

An actual honest-to-goodness base hit with runners on!  2-0!  Rivera now batting .136 but might have bought himself some more ABs with that hit.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

I just can't make heads or tails of the season Wright is having. His average is in the toilet but his OBP is good. He's striking out like Mark Reynolds circa 2009. His RBI's are paltry, but he does have a fairly respectable 6 home runs in May (which isn't terrible for a guy with Spinal Stenosis who can't play every day.