New York Mets 2016 Season Thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Bleech.  Not much more to say.

['7']

Fans could get really nasty today if Harvey lays another egg. Also looking like Wright will hit the DL to the surprise of nobody. Also haven't heard much new news on d'Arnaud either...

Edited May 30, 2016 by '7'

['7']

The old Harvey through 5. Even touched 98 a time or two today.

Also the old dumpster fire offense is back too.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

11 minutes ago, '7' said:

The old Harvey through 5. Even touched 98 a time or two today.

Also the old dumpster fire offense is back too.

A lot of chum in the lineup today.  The guys hitting in the 5-8 spots are a joke.  Injuries clearly aren't helping the situation, but it's not like Sandy's been particularly good at finding solid offensive players.  For some reason the Mets can't ever say goodbye to the AAAA trash that continues to populate the 51s (and never does ANYTHING here when called up).

[Devils Pride 26]

Minus Cespedes this lineup is worse than last year pre Uribe/Johnson. 

['7']

Well a very encouraging outing by Harvey even though the Mets will now lose the game in the top of the 7th. No offense to speak of so you cant really put it on him. But hopefully they finally figured out the issue.

Still you cant win without scoring runs. And the Mets are not capable of that right now. 

Gotta root for Philly today so they dont fall 2 behind. 

Edited May 30, 2016 by '7'

['7']

Wow. Nice Harvey. Nice job. Yank him here and have him go out on a high note! 87 pitches. Dont wait for the next top of the inning crisis.

I'm sorry but Conforto has to play vs lefties. We need runs in the worst way and you cannot pull a potential hr threat even if hasnt figured out lefties completely. He can still get a hold of one.

 

 De Aza is totally worthless and probably needs to be Mayberryed

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Neil with a big knock.  As long as you don't compare him to 2016 Murph to date, he's been good:  .275/.333/.509 slash.  We would've taken that pretty happily. 

And can we be done with Eric Campbell once and for all?  Can certain guys stop getting limitless chances to do nothing?

[NJDevs4978]

37 minutes ago, '7' said:

Wow. Nice Harvey. Nice job. Yank him here and have him go out on a high note! 87 pitches. Dont wait for the next top of the inning crisis.

I'm sorry but Conforto has to play vs lefties. We need runs in the worst way and you cannot pull a potential hr threat even if hasnt figured out lefties completely. He can still get a hold of one.

 

 De Aza is totally worthless and probably needs to be Mayberryed

Conforto's like 3-32 against lefties this year or something like that.  It's become a self-fulfilling prophecy that he can't play against lefties.

Familia better not blow THIS one or he's getting booed off the mound.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

At the same time TC doesn't have to forever be in robot mode.  Maybe he could've realized that it's been tough sledding for Familia lately and not gone to him today (kind of hard to say who he should've gone with instead though...maybe Reed for a second inning?)...give him a day to collect himself a little.

At least Familia's gotten the first two hitters though. 

Edited May 30, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

Well about fvcking time for both Harvey and Familia.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Wow, seemed like a borderline 3rd-strike call, but we'll take it. 

Big win for Harvey, hopefully it's not just an isolated good game.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Well about fvcking time for both Harvey and Familia.

For Harvey, yeah.  Familia had been pretty solid until his past two games.  Not like he's been awful all season.  Not even close (he HAS been giving up more hits, but for the most past that hadn't been hurting him...and last night it seemed to be control issues more than anything else).

['7']

4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

For Harvey, yeah.  Familia had been pretty solid until his past two games.  Not like he's been awful all season.  Not even close (he HAS been giving up more hits, but for the most past that hadn't been hurting him...and last night it seemed to be control issues more than anything else).

I have all the faith in the world regarding Familia. Those three "blown saves" in the series. I mean only 1 was a true blown save but it wasnt like they walked off on him the first one(that's the only one he is resonsible for). The other two games were fielding stupidity. Imho you shouldnt hang a blown save on a closer if the tying run is on base or is scored on an error. He got his out...Duda throws the ball into Flushing Meadows Park.

Benitez was a deer in headlights and everybody knew what was coming when he started to wipe his brow and take deep breaths. Brian Jordan would be in the batters box trying to suppress a smile as Armando would bounce two horrible curves in front of the plate and serve up a 94mph no movement fastball right down the middle.

Familia has better stuff and is completely confident and fearless. He doesnt get rattled.

(Fwiw Wagner was also a guy who didnt seem to get rattled but his control could be very bad)

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Wagner was iffy in the big spot at times too.  There's a reason we used to call him Billy Benitez back in the day. 

Yeah, I'm not worried about Familia...Has has always kind of had a short leash with him on here (not knocking Has for it, just saying).  Closers (well, almost every closer not named Mariano Rivera or Dennis Eckersley (in Eckersley's case, from 88-92)) will sometimes have 2-3 bad outings in a row, or a stretch where they're fighting it.  They're prone to slumps too.

Of course, it's still goofy that you can come into the game, blow a four-run lead, and not get a blown save, but blowing a three-run lead gets you the BS.  Or come into a game with a 10-run lead, pitch 3 innings and allow nine runs (in a 3 IP save, all you have to do is not blow a lead, no matter how big), and "earn" a save in that situation as well.     

Familia's numbers so far are a little more Mejia-like than I'd like...his WHIP last season was 1.00; this season it's 1.34.  His last three games before yesterday's save definitely blew his season sample up (8 hits and 3 BB in 3 IP), and from 4/25 to 5/20, in 11 appearances, he was stifling baserunners in a big way (10.1 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 K).  But so far he's been a bit less consistent and a little more prone to laboring.  If you want to bring sabes into it, they all point to him being unlucky:  .351 BABIP, 2.12 FIP, 2.94 xFIP.  His BB% is about the same as last season's (6.5 to 6.2), and his K% has dropped a bit (27.9 to 21.5).  So just about everything points to him going on another run of solid performance.

As much as I can't stand Phil Mushnick (fossils who bitch about everything present day and ignore all of the issues of the apparently unblemished "good ol' days" of their younger years are annoying), he had a point re:  Terry Collins, who isn't a good manager and never will be (forget the W-L results...any idiot is going to win when you've got a number of potential aces and a strong closer...just ask Art Howe), especially when it comes to how he handles a pitching staff.  How many times last season did he blindly go to the Reed-Clippard-Familia well, even in times when those guys could've used a little rest? 

Mushnick of course gets Reed's history with the Mets wrong...he was the 7th-inning guy in much of his work with the Mets in 2015...for a cranky curmudgeon who criticizes everyone and everything, he could at least look up Reed's 2015 gaming logs (since he apparently can't remember) and confirm his article's accuracy:   

Having sold its soul for TV money, MLB is now losing its mind. Some considerations submitted for your consideration:

Since Addison Reed joined the Mets, last Aug. 30, he has entered to pitch the eighth, often blown away batters, then been replaced by the closer. That happened, again, Friday, when Reed was relieved with a 5-1 lead. Closer — remove the C and what’s left? — Jeurys Familia became the wildly illogical game-winner after allowing the Dodgers to tie the game, yet remained statistically perfect in save opportunities as blowing four-run leads doesn’t qualify!

Not long ago, Terry Collins, baseball lifer, would not have pulled an effective reliever after only a few pitches. Why? Because that would have made no sense.

So why does he now regularly do what once made no sense? Because everyone else does! Pitchers are now plug-in robots and managers are bound by “The Book,” the latest edition filled with science fiction read as repetitive formulas for success.

No need to be special to be designated a specialist. Every team now carries a Mariano Rivera! Friday’s blown save belonged to Collins and all other “by the book” managers.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

I think I've only really been short with Familia twice, the three straight blown saves last year and this weekend. In the case of last year he didn't have much of a track record then and the third one was the Justin Upton game which looked like a soul crushing loss.  I didn't hold the World Series nonsense against him.

This weekend was just a combination of alarming/annoying crap...giving up a 4-run lead, who he gave it up to, pulling a Harvey after the Friday game and then walking guys all over the place in both games. To me a walk's almost worse than a HR for a closer, especially throwing one fifty feet outside on a three ball count.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yeah not Familia's finest work by a longshot.  You can make the argument that he was on the cusp of another rough one if he walks the leadoff hitter (he almost did).  Still not worried about him. 

Binghamton's Robert Gsellman turns in his third straight mixed bag outing...over the three starts, he's pitched 16.1 IP and allowed 22 hits and 9 ER (3 ER in each start, going 5, 5, and 6.1 innings).  But he's walked just one and struck out 14.  He's had rotten run support...he's put up 2.75 ERA on his season (it was 1.77 before these last three starts, all losses), but he's only 1-4. 

SS Amed Rosario (A+ St Lucie) has cooled off considerably...slash line down to .297/.352/.436.  Still much better than last year's A+ numbers though.

OF Wuilmer Buccera (A+) also slowing up lately.  Hitting .340, but doesn't have a good K-to-BB ration (26-to-6) and doesn't hit with any power (.408 SLG%).  No HR this season after hitting 9 last season in A ball. 

Montero's up-and-down meh Vegas season continues.  5 ER in 5 IP in his last start.  The 46 K in 45.2 IP look kind of good until you factor in that he's given up a fair number of hits and of course is still walking too many guys (1.56 WHIP).  It'd just be nice to see him string a bunch of solid outings in a row. 

Edited May 31, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[nmigliore]

Yeah, I'm fine with where Familia is right now. As CR noted, everyone slumps, even the best of 'em. I'd like to see the strikeouts tick up a bit, but it helps a lot when 60% of the balls put in play against you are on the ground. As long as he keeps up the above average strikeout and walk rates with the elite groundball/homer prevention, he'll be really good.

[nmigliore]

I know I've already given out kudos to the bullpen a few days ago, but Addison Reed's numbers since being traded to the Mets are phenomenal: 38 IP, 27 H, 10 BB, 47 K, 0.97 WHIP, 1.66 ERA, 2.12 FIP. Reed still has another year of control following 2016, too.

In order to acquire him, the Mets gave up Miller Diaz, who looks like a nobody at this point, and Matt Koch, who is pitching well in AA but is 25 years old and continues to be immensely hittable. This turned out to be an incredibly shrewd move by Sandy last August. 

Edited May 31, 2016 by nmigliore

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

It's funny with Reed...I like him too and think he's done a very good job, but I think some fans keep waiting for it all to fall apart with him, and still have trouble trusting him.  Maybe because his body of work here (though smaller) is a lot better from a traditional stat standpoint than what he did with the White Sox and the D'Backs?  So they think it can't possibly last?

Of course, it's fair to note that his ERAs have mostly been a good bit higher than his FIPs and xFIPs...so now it's finally going more his way...and pitching in Citi definitely doesn't hurt. 

nmig, while we're giving Sandy some credit...it's also fair to point out that he was right to pass on Tyler Clippard...I did like him, but it was becoming obvious that he was losing his greatest skill...his hit-suppressing ability.  He was a beast at that.  But he clearly wasn't doing that in the playoffs, and though some of his numbers look pretty good this year, he's allowed 19 hits in 19 IP...not Clippard-like.  Reed has taken the 8th-inning job and done very well with it, and Clippard was a bit expensive for a guy who appears to be on the decline. 

Edited May 31, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

39 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

It's funny with Reed...I like him too and think he's done a very good job, but I think some fans keep waiting for it all to fall apart with him, and still have trouble trusting him.  Maybe because his body of work here (though smaller) is a lot better from a traditional stat standpoint than what he did with the White Sox and the D'Backs?  So they think it can't possibly last?

I'm probably guilty of that and that's exactly why...because he simply hasn't been anywhere near THIS reliable at any other point in his career.  Or this dominant with his K rate for that matter.  He had a 9.3 K/9 rating both in Chicago and Arizona, it's gone to 11.1 here, which also helps his K/BB rate spike up to 4.7 here compared to <3.5 before coming here.

If anything he was just an average/slightly above average reliever, probably a 5.5-6 on a scale of 1-10, although some of that was also no doubt the two ballparks he pitched in before coming here...Arizona and Chicago aren't exactly pitcher's havens.  But whatever mechanical/mental switch he's made since becoming a Met it's worked.  He's been more like a 9 on the 1-10 scale since coming here, maybe even a 9.5.

Edited May 31, 2016 by NJDevs4978

['7']

God damn does Todd Frazier generate a lot of power. In front of that pitch, leaning forward and crushes it to left center.

Great job by Matz otherwise

['7']

Some or this inning is on Loney. Booted a ball, then when he got to it it slips out of his hand. Total folly.

['7']

Looky here. Thor is warming up in the bullpen.

And here he is. Trying for a three inning save.

Edited June 1, 2016 by '7'

['7']

Robles just isnt good enough to be this cocky. I would have just rode Thor until Familia. Robles gives up a lot of big home runs. He should be relegated to 7th inning or before.

Edited June 1, 2016 by '7'