New York Mets 2018 season thread

['7']

David Wright was actually back playing baseball today. Struck out and walked for Port Saint Lucie. We'll see where this goes (if anywhere) if he can claw his way back to the majors

Good to see the Mets at least break up the deGrom can't win/get any run support narrative. He's up to 7-7 now and we really should be able to get him to double digit wins. But at least we've started to put this embarrassing story to bed.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Mets have actually been less pathetic lately...now 18-18 over their last 36 GP.  I'm kind of hoping that they don't go on some kind of surge that gives them a record of 77-85 or thereabouts for the season...knowing the Wilpons, the mentality will definitely be "See, if this team can just stay healthy..."

The Mets can have quite a bit to say about Philly's stretch run...they have a five-game set coming up, and play them a total of 11 more times from now through the end of the season.  They're 5-3 against them so far. 

I'm guessing that if the Mets win 6 out of the next 7, they'll go on a worthless rampage that will lead the organization to think that the team is much better than it really is...though there's a rough Chicago/West Coast trip looming at the end of the month.  Also a three-game set up in Boston in mid-September, though the Sox probably won't be playing for much by then. 

Yanks are a very pedestrian 24-22 in their last 66.  CC just went to the DL, and Severino is suddenly getting lit up (7.50 ERA and 11 HRs allowed in his last 7 starts).  They have time to get straightened out, but the Yankee collective will lose their sh!t if they're toast after the WC game. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 10:33 PM, NJDevs4978 said:

I was a bit underwhelmed too, especially after seeing the three-person package the Twins got for Eduardo Escobar, but most of the prospect geeks over at NYFS think we did okay though.  Kilome has 'stuff', hasn't translated into K's yet and he does walk a lot of guys as you noted.  Supposedly he pitches in a hitter-friendly league though so that's probably a reason for the high ERA and nibbling.

FWIW Kilome went to #5 on our organization prospect rankings (MLB Pipeline) so that tells you something about the rest of the system  

Kilome has been pretty good over his last 7 AA stats (3 with Bingo):  43.1 IP, 35 H, 12 ER, 18 BB, 36 K, 2.49 ERA.  The BBs have been coming down lately too (5 BB in 18.1 IP with Bingo). 

Good article on him...who knows what his future is, but I kind of like the fact that he actually could be bothered to learn the language of the country that allows him to make millions playing a kid's game (cough Cespedes cough).

https://nypost.com/2018/08/05/mets-ready-to-take-chance-on-potential-starter-of-the-future/

[NJDevs4978]

15 hours ago, '7' said:

David Wright was actually back playing baseball today. Struck out and walked for Port Saint Lucie. We'll see where this goes (if anywhere) if he can claw his way back to the majors

Sadly I'm a bit mixed on the news of him coming back considering DW's my favorite adulthood Met.  Not because of the whole insurance/payroll nonsense, but just because I don't think he can actually play ML baseball - or hold up over a full season anymore.  Yet I still kind of want to see him return in September just because I want him to get a deserved ovation, hell I might even trek up to Citi for a David comeback or if he's for sure retiring at the end of the season.

I almost think part of the reason they've repeatedly held off on releasing/benching Reyes is this fantasy of having Reyes and Wright on the left side of the infield again for some September nostalgia.  I hope neither's playing ML baseball in 2019 but vaya con dios if the Mets want to run a fantasy camp in September and I do hope David at least gets a final sendoff.

And like CR I do worry about an illusory not-so-sucky finish.  It pretty much would guarantee that Callaway's back in 2019, among other things that were mentioned previously.  Plus the Wheeler thing is becoming a stickier wicket with each great start.  You just can't risk giving him big money after 2019 if you're the Mets with his injury history on more or less a small-market payroll considering you've already tied up $40 million or so in DW and Ces.  But losing him for nothing isn't all that appealing either.  

Edited August 14, 2018 by NJDevs4978

['7']

6 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Mets have actually been less pathetic lately...now 18-18 over their last 36 GP.  I'm kind of hoping that they don't go on some kind of surge that gives them a record of 77-85 or thereabouts for the season...knowing the Wilpons, the mentality will definitely be "See, if this team can just stay healthy..."

The Mets can have quite a bit to say about Philly's stretch run...they have a five-game set coming up, and play them a total of 11 more times from now through the end of the season.  They're 5-3 against them so far. 

I'm guessing that if the Mets win 6 out of the next 7, they'll go on a worthless rampage that will lead the organization to think that the team is much better than it really is...though there's a rough Chicago/West Coast trip looming at the end of the month.  Also a three-game set up in Boston in mid-September, though the Sox probably won't be playing for much by then. 

Yanks are a very pedestrian 24-22 in their last 66.  CC just went to the DL, and Severino is suddenly getting lit up (7.50 ERA and 11 HRs allowed in his last 7 starts).  They have time to get straightened out, but the Yankee collective will lose their sh!t if they're toast after the WC game. 

Yea. But if the shoe was on the other foot. If the Mets won 103 games and dropped a 1 game Wild Card I'd be furious as well. I always felt if a 2nd wild car existed it has to come with a caveat. If the first wild card team is more than 4 games ahead of the 2nd...then the Wild Card should automatically be awarded with no playoff. I just hate the idea of a 100 win team having a 1 game playoff with some 87 game team. When you win 100...you should get your seed.

And if somebody wants to counter "Hey you don't want the playoff...win your division!" I can't really argue with that either.

['7']

9 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Sadly I'm a bit mixed on the news of him coming back considering DW's my favorite adulthood Met.  Not because of the whole insurance/payroll nonsense, but just because I don't think he can actually play ML baseball - or hold up over a full season anymore.  Yet I still kind of want to see him return in September just because I want him to get a deserved ovation, hell I might even trek up to Citi for a David comeback or if he's for sure retiring at the end of the season.

I almost think part of the reason they've repeatedly held off on releasing/benching Reyes is this fantasy of having Reyes and Wright on the left side of the infield again for some September nostalgia.  I hope neither's playing ML baseball in 2019 but vaya con dios if the Mets want to run a fantasy camp in September and I do hope David at least gets a final sendoff.

And like CR I do worry about an illusory not-so-sucky finish.  It pretty much would guarantee that Callaway's back in 2019, among other things that were mentioned previously.  Plus the Wheeler thing is becoming a stickier wicket with each great start.  You just can't risk giving him big money after 2019 if you're the Mets with his injury history on more or less a small-market payroll considering you've already tied up $40 million or so in DW and Ces.  But losing him for nothing isn't all that appealing either.  

Supposedly Callaway is already guaranteed to come back according to leaks from within the organization. And it's not so much the record it's just his in game incompetence. Tony La Russa can got 62-100 with bad players. But at least you'd be able to tell he understands baseball. Callaway just doesn't. I still kind of feel though that if they crap out the rest of the year much like they did May and June then they will have to revisit his status for 2019. But as of now it's probably a 90% chance he returns

fwiw SNY had a highlight of Wright fielding and throwing to 1st yesterday in Port St. Lucie. There was no velocity at all. 

[NJDevs4978]

45 minutes ago, '7' said:

Yea. But if the shoe was on the other foot. If the Mets won 103 games and dropped a 1 game Wild Card I'd be furious as well. I always felt if a 2nd wild car existed it has to come with a caveat. If the first wild card team is more than 4 games ahead of the 2nd...then the Wild Card should automatically be awarded with no playoff. I just hate the idea of a 100 win team having a 1 game playoff with some 87 game team. When you win 100...you should get your seed.

And if somebody wants to counter "Hey you don't want the playoff...win your division!" I can't really argue with that either.

Honestly I love the one and done format of the WC and that it puts a premium on winning a division.  Sure Cleveland's going to win a bad division and the Yankees could get bounced after a 105-win season but even with a division-only format you had some bad division winners (the '73 Mets, the '06 Cardinals that won the WS, one of the '00's years where the Padres won 81 games or so) and teams like the '85 Mets and '93 Giants miss the playoffs which begat the WC. 

Sadly the Yankees - or Red Sox - losing to a team they're double-digit games better than is going to be red meat for changing the system, but there's little you can change the system to realistically.  The three-game playoff would give the other teams too much time off and waters down the drama of the one-gamer.  One idea I heard that might be workable is playing a same-day doubleheader in the top seed's park...but if the top seed wins the first game they're through.  The bottom WC seed has to win both games, which would give the top seed a deserved edge without stretching the postseason out...the flaw with that plan is you'd have midweek day times for the first game, which would be a no-no with TV execs.

Edited August 14, 2018 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Nimmo showing some serious signs of life lately, after a brutal slump...in 36 GP from 6/24 - 8/6, he had a slash of .172/.324/.267 (as bad as that is, at least the guy can get on base some, even when he's doing almost nothing with his bat).

Since 8/7, his slash is .483/.559/.966...sure, last night's 5-for-5 clearly blows this sample up, and anyone can get crazy hot for minuscule samples like this one, but at least for now, he's found a way to keep his season from falling into the abyss.  He's obviously not likely to become a star, but the Mets have been SCREAMING for a legit on-base guy, and even though it'd be nice to see Nimmo get some more hits, he does get on base...he has a .384 OB% from 2017-18, and an .858 OPS (136 OPS+).  We can DEFINITELY live with that from the Mets' leadoff hitter in the years to come. 

Rosario hitting .320 over his last six...who knows if that means anything at all, but man I'd like to think that Rosario's bat won't be as dreadful as he continues to develop.  He's just a terrible offensive player...he has a .636 OPS (he's not that far ahead of Reyes, who's at .593).

Note to Mets:  Enjoy Austin Jackson somehow hitting a ton in pure garbage time while it lasts.  Don't bring him back next season thinking you'll somehow get more of that...sure, he surprised with a nice season in Cleveland in 2017, but he was pretty bad from 2014-16 (.672 OPS), and was flat-out dreadful for the Giants this season.  Just get what you can from him for now, and then move on in 2019. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

And I know it's Vegas, PCL, blah blah, but man has Peter Alonso found his bat there.  In his last 24 games, he's slashing .340/.418/.732, with 9 HR and 32 RBI.  It's not all roses (lots of Ks...26 of them in 110 PA), bit I wouldn't seeing him get a look in September, just to see how he fares against major-league arms, in normal-air conditions.

Dom Smith...yikes.  He's actually been kinda-sorta OK lately, as far as the PCL goes (.853 OPS in his last 17 games...he's only at .732 for the season in Vegas), but it really looks like he's playing his way out of having a future here...knowing the Mets, ordinarily he'd get at least four or five seasons to not impress, but Alonso's pretty much made him obsolete...supposedly he's not great defensively, but he seems to have a lot of power...and can draw some walks...just a "louder" hitter than Smith.

Edited August 16, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I remember hearing Keith say this yesterday...though I think he can be heavy-handed and holier-than-thou at times, I do usually agree with much of what he says.  But he was just WAY off-base on this one.  Hit a guy because he's beating you?  So if a guy's killing it, it's just OK to injure him?  Wanna throw inside to him, try to make him a little nervous at the plate, I get that...but what Urena did was just cheap, and there was clear intent there.  No different than what Benitez did to Tino so many years ago. 

And I'm sorry, I'm sure I'll sound like Joe J Racist here, but this is why it's not always easy to embrace Hispanic ballplayers.  Plenty of batflippin' and pimpin' and sky-pointin' histrionics when they do something big, but also your share of sore-loser cheapshotting when things aren't going their way.  I've never been a huge fan of the "If you can't beat em, then beat em up" mentality. 

Anyway, the Braves should be beyond furious right now.  Can't blame them even a little. 

['7']

Nimmo playing phenomenally well so of course his punishment from the baseball gods is probably a busted hand in Philly.

It never stops

['7']

I don't know how or why but the Mets just had a 10 running inning and lead 15-4 in the 5th. Nimmo's xrays negative

['7']

And because baseball makes so much sense this Mets team which was putting up historically impossibly low run support figures for its incredible ace pitcher, just turns around and scores 40 runs in two games. Something I've never seen before

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

3 hours ago, Kinkyisth3b3st said:

Watching the Yankees since the All-Star Break feels like slowly trying to push a bobby pin through your pee-hole. 

Jesus dude...that really made me cringe...all it takes is one visit to the doctor and an invasion of your pee-hole to know how fvcking PAINFUL that really is...

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

And two more runs to start Game 2...who the fvck are these guys, and what did they do with the Mets?

['7']

Just now, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

And two more runs to start Game 2...who the fvck are these guys, and what did they do with the Mets?

All I know is that when we evaluate the offense at the end of the year I'm automatically subtracting 40 runs from wherever we end up. This is a crazy anomalous performance

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

3 minutes ago, '7' said:

All I know is that when we evaluate the offense at the end of the year I'm automatically subtracting 40 runs from wherever we end up. This is a crazy anomalous performance

Agree fully...what's funny is the Mets have suddenly scored just 15 less runs than the Phils, with a game in hand.  Just flat-out kooky.

Steven Niese right back into p*ssy mode.  Guy just has no stones. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

5 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I remember hearing Keith say this yesterday...though I think he can be heavy-handed and holier-than-thou at times, I do usually agree with much of what he says.  But he was just WAY off-base on this one.  Hit a guy because he's beating you?  So if a guy's killing it, it's just OK to injure him?  Wanna throw inside to him, try to make him a little nervous at the plate, I get that...but what Urena did was just cheap, and there was clear intent there.  No different than what Benitez did to Tino so many years ago. 

And I'm sorry, I'm sure I'll sound like Joe J Racist here, but this is why it's not always easy to embrace Hispanic ballplayers.  Plenty of batflippin' and pimpin' and sky-pointin' histrionics when they do something big, but also your share of sore-loser cheapshotting when things aren't going their way.  I've never been a huge fan of the "If you can't beat em, then beat em up" mentality. 

Anyway, the Braves should be beyond furious right now.  Can't blame them even a little. 

Keith definitely had another old man get off my lawn moment with that.  It's part of his charm even when he's wrong in cases like this but it's also a total misnomer that old-time pitchers would hit guys all the time.  Brushback yes but not outright hit in most cases.  Plus with few exceptions old-time pitchers weren't throwing 100 on every pitch...now every Tom and Harry (really, d*ck is filtered here?!) reliever can throw 100 and most starters can crank up high 90's too.

Of all people Chipper Jones had a good retort on Twitter, saying something to the effect of 'should Jacob deGrom get hit then since he's dominating everyone'?  What Urena did, smacked of the whole Clemens-Piazza nonsense that started when Piazza was destroying Clemens on a routine basis.

Edited August 17, 2018 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

12 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Keith definitely had another old man get off my lawn moment with that.  It's part of his charm even when he's wrong in cases like this but it's also a total misnomer that old-time pitchers would hit guys all the time.  Brushback yes but not outright hit in most cases.  Plus with few exceptions old-time pitchers weren't throwing 100 on every pitch...now every Tom and Harry (really, d*ck is filtered here?!) reliever can throw 100 and most starters can crank up high 90's too.

Of all people Chipper Jones had a good retort on Twitter, saying something to the effect of 'should Jacob deGrom get hit then since he's dominating everyone'?  What Urena did, smacked of the whole Clemens-Piazza nonsense that started when Piazza was destroying Clemens on a routine basis.

Clemens was always a bully, and protected because he spent most of his career in the AL, not having to come up to the plate.  I was never a fan of his, especially with the Piazza crap, and later when he clearly pulled the "How dare nobody believe me, I'm Roger fvcking Clemens, if I say that I didn't do 'roids, then I didn't do them!  End of story!"  nonsense.  Everybody knows he did.  Just always came off like an entitled d*ck.

I do like Keith, even when he's off-base or a bit out of touch.  What I always found ironic about him is that despite clearly being a terrific student of the game and incredible defensively, he wasn't always a hustler on the field, but seems to forget that fact when he's getting on everyone else for not hustling.  And that feeds into his whole "memories according to Keith" vibe...I don't think he always remembers "Old Time Baseball" for what it really was. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

22 minutes ago, Kinkyisth3b3st said:

My buddy lives in Philly (Yankees fan) and said that massacre yesterday was one of the most fun sporting events of his life. 

There's nothing, and I mean nothing quite as incredible as sour Phailure fans. 

It's really too bad that they didn't pull off the doubleheader sweep...fvcking gutless Matz. 

Those 40 runs scored over two games is really crazy, if you think about it...7.85% of the Mets' scoring on the season came in those two games...those two games accounted for just 1.6% of their season total of games (2 out of 120 GP).  That's just nuts.

[thecoffeecake]

On 8/17/2018 at 11:24 AM, Kinkyisth3b3st said:

My buddy lives in Philly (Yankees fan) and said that massacre yesterday was one of the most fun sporting events of his life. 

There's nothing, and I mean nothing quite as incredible as sour Phailure fans. 

That's pretty sad. That ranks among how many World Series rings? I suppose I don't expect much less from you New Yorkers. 

I'm really glad I didn't come here and talk sh!t after that Nats game a few weeks ago. Not that I was planning to, but I'm really glad I didn't. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

KITB isn't a New Yorker, and rooting for a NY baseball team doesn't make a one a "New Yorker" by default.   

Anyway, Mets now 21-21 in their last 42 GP.  Glad that they haven't played well enough to bamboozle the Wilpons (though it doesn't take much to bamboozle them).  This largely sh!t team will still finish well under .500 and that's a good thing...still feel horribly for deGrom of course, who by 2018 standards continues to be brilliant.  Guy has given up 4 ER exactly ONCE this season...and in 15 of his starts has allowed one ER or less (though in one of those 15 starts, he lasted only one inning in that wacky 45-pitch outing back in May).

Syndergaard has now given up 105 hits in 101.1 IP.  That's just inexcusable.  Guy really has to grow up, learn how to use his stuff, and stop acting like a cartoon wannabe superhero thrower on the mound.  Basically, follow deGrom's example.  He's starting to remind me of Gooden from 1987-on, when he was suddenly and bafflingly very hittable (from 1987-1993, Gooden allowed 8.4 hits per 9 IP as a Met).  And though we now know about Gooden's drug issues, they actually weren't a problem at the time, as far as usage goes...though he admitted he was clean for the wrong reasons, and was a relapse case waiting to happen, he was clean for seven years after his first suspension in 1987.  He didn't go heavily off the rails until 1994, after relapsing badly.

[EdgeControl]

So ESPN put on a huge party at williamsport to celebrate the toms river little leaguers..  lmao.. I guess everyone forgot that espn documentary called "The Season" where they absolutely destroyed the TR LL program , calling them cruel and biased.. typical hypocrites...  the ceremony was great for the kids and players no doubt just wished it didn't have to be espn/abc..

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, EdgeControl said:

So ESPN put on a huge party at williamsport to celebrate the toms river little leaguers..  lmao.. I guess everyone forgot that espn documentary called "The Season" where they absolutely destroyed the TR LL program , calling them cruel and biased.. typical hypocrites...  the ceremony was great for the kids and players no doubt just wished it didn't have to be espn/abc..

ESPN is a joke now...I only watch it for the occasional documentary (their series on OJ was excellent, and some of their 30 for 30s are well-done), or when they have a game on that I'm interested in.  In ways they've been obsoleted, in that I can get better baseball coverage on the MLB network, better hockey coverage on the NHL network, and better football coverage on the NFL network (I don't follow the NBA, but of course they have their own channel too)...and when it comes to my teams, I can check out the Boston channels for dedicated Patriots coverage, and SNY for the Mets.  ESPN just feels old and dated. 

[EdgeControl]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

ESPN is a joke now...I only watch it for the occasional documentary (their series on OJ was excellent, and some of their 30 for 30s are well-done), or when they have a game on that I'm interested in.  In ways they've been obsoleted, in that I can get better baseball coverage on the MLB network, better hockey coverage on the NHL network, and better football coverage on the NFL network (I don't follow the NBA, but of course they have their own channel too)...and when it comes to my teams, I can check out the Boston channels for dedicated Patriots coverage, and SNY for the Mets.  ESPN just feels old and dated. 

The 30 for 30s are excellent.. the one with greg lemond was fantastic