There have been many reasons why the Mets has struggled this season. One of the biggest reasons have been their poor team defense. That is something that we can all hope will be better with the team calling up Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith. Certainly, with Rosario we have seen just how enjoyable great defense can be. It is reminiscent of some of the top defenders we have seen in year’s past. Can you name the Mets top defenders per DRS? Good luck!
Juan Lagares Curtis Granderson David Wright Nick Evans Angel Pagan Carlos Beltran Jose Valentin Cliff Floyd Richard Hidalgo Tsuyoshi Shinjo
With the Mets being also ran, it is time to look towards the future. That includes looking at the prospects who can soon help the Mets. Can you name the Mets top 40 propects? Good luck!
Amed Rosario Dominic Smith Andres Gimenez Chris Flexen David Peterson Thomas Szapucki Justin Dunn Gavin Cecchini Peter Alonso Mark Vientos Desmond Lindsay Tomas Nido Luis Guillorme Corey Oswalt Nabil Crismatt Stephen Nogosek Marcos Molina Drew Smith Luis Carpio Jordan Humphreys Gregory Guerrero P.J. Conlon Jamie Callahan Michael Paez Patrick Mazeika Wuilmer Becerra Gerson Bautista David Thompson Jhoan Urena Harol Gonzalez Jose Medina Quinn Brodey Adrian Hernandez Ali Sanchez Blake Taylor Wagner Lagrange Tyler Bashlor Austin McGeorge Adonis Uceta
Well, this game just shows how far the Mets have fallen. Last year, Seth Lugo caught Mets fans attention and the attention of Stat Cast people by striking out Anthony Rizzo on a nasty curveball.
Tonight, Lugo wasn’t fooling Rizzo who was 2-2 off Lugo with a homer.
For that matter, Lugo wasn’t fooling anyone. In three plus innings, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and one walk.
Lugo’s outing wasn’t even the worst thing that happened that night. The worst thing that happened was Amed Rosario leaving the game with a hip pointer.
It’s the second time this month he’s dealt with an injury. To put it as succinctly as possible, he’s now a Met just like Travis d’Arnaud, who to the surprise of no one left this game early with a twisted knee.
As if it wasn’t depressing enough, the Mets continued some horrendous pitching out of the bullpen.
In this series the Mets have made 17 pitching changes. It wasn’t until Chris Flexen‘s appearance today that a Mets reliever didn’t allow a run or an inherited run to score.
It’s hilarious to think at one point in this game, the Mets were playing well and winning. After the top of the second, they lead 3-0. Even after the Cubs tied it at 3-3, the Mets responded immediately to go up 5-3. From there, the Cubs scored 11 unanswered runs in a 14-6 win. That sealed the Mets fate giving up 39 runs in this series, which is the most runs allowed in franchise history in a three game series.
If you’re looking for a bright side, it’s Dominic Smith. He continued his good month of September going 2-3 with a run, homer, RBI, and a hit by pitch.
Special mention should also go to Brandon Nimmo who was finally allowed to play. After sitting in the first two games, apparently because Terry Collins finally figured out he’s a left-handed hitter, Nimmo was 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
Tomas Nido got his first major league base hit in the top of the month. It was an RBI single scoring Juan Lagares. He then made the last out of the game trying to score from second on a Phillip Evans dribbler down the third base line.
The catcher, who fell down, made an easy flip to the catcher, who easily applied the tag. It was a perfect way to end this series.
Other than Smith, Nimmo, and Nido, the only highlight is this series is over. Soon, this season will be over. Once that happens, the Mets will then be obligated to build a team that will no longer play like this. Well, at least that’s the hope.
Game Notes: Jay Bruce had a walk off hit in the bottom of the 10th to propel the Indians to their 22nd straight win. This only proves Bruce right. He’s gone from a bad to a good situation.
You know it’s a good day when it’s an unexpectedly nice day and someone offers you free baseball tickets. It’s even better when they are great seats a few rows away from the field. With that, my son and I headed out to Citi Field for a fun day. Well, it turned out to be a fun but odd day.
From the Home Run Apple to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda to rooting against the Yankees to seeing Lucas Duda‘s name in the lineup, there were many things that were familiar. However, it was Duda that became a symbol for what made this an odd day. After seeing Duda play eight years in a Mets uniform, it was bizarre seeing him wearing a Rays uniform. It was even stranger to see a DH in a National League park.
This was the end result of Hurricane Irma forcing the Yankees and Rays to move their series from Tropicana Field to Citi Field. That meant the Rays would be the fifth team in history to play a home game in New York. It also meant American League baseball would be played in a National League park.
There was also the fact just the lower tier of the ballpark was open. Really, it was a bare bones operation. The children’s section was closed down. While Shake Shack was open, Boxed Frites was closed. Other than that, most of the other places on the Field Level were open leading to a number of Yankee fans making a number of trips to take in the full Citi Field experience.
For a Mets fan, that wasn’t the case. The children’s section with the tee ball and the dunk tank was closed. There was no suite access. No, Howie Rose play-by-play playing in the bathrooms. The televisions at he concessions and near the obstructed views were on YES an not SNY. Mostly, there were no Mets. With the DH, no Mets, and the like, it was more Brooklyn Cyclones than a Mets game. Except it wasn’t the Cyclones, it was a MLB game with a vast majority of the fans in the park were Root-Root-Rooting for the away team.
Personally, I’m happy I went to the game. It was great seeing Duda playing one last home game at Citi Field. It was great seeing a well played baseball game between two teams fighting for a postseason spot. It was fun even if there was no Aaron Judge or for that matter, the New York Mets. It was a different and strange experience, and those don’t come around very often.
Hopefully, we will never see a repeat in the circumstances leading the Rays playing at Citi Field. However, if it were to happen again, I would recommend people go to that game. If for no other reason, it’s an opportunity to see a baseball game. No real baseball fan should ever pass up on that opportunity.
Well, if you watched last night’s game, you got the jist of what was going to happen tonight. The Cubs dominated the Mets, and you were left looking for bright spots.
Certainly, one was and continues to be Juan Lagares and his defense in center:
Contreras coasts home as Happ becomes the 3rd out at third base. Run would have counted if he'd just run. #thatscub pic.twitter.com/p46sMkATZZ
— VHS (@VanHicklestein) September 14, 2017
Not seen there was Lagares making the throw. His throw lead to a run not scoring on a double base running gaffe by Ian Happ and Willson Contreras. Happ’ was trying to go to third with two outs, and Contreras’ was not hustling home while watching the horror unfold.
At the time, the play kept the game tied at 2-2.
The Mets runs had come off a Jose Reyes keynote address off Jon Lester, and a Matt Harvey safety squeeze plating Amed Rosario. No, it didn’t make up for what happened yesterday.
Speaking of Harvey, the best thing you can say about his start is he left under his own power.
The velocity was there, but his location wasn’t. When he wasn’t leaving pitches in the hitting zone, he wasn’t throwing strikes. When he was pulled with one out in the fourth, he allowed seven hits, two runs (both earned), and four walks with just two strikeouts. He also left the bases loaded.
He left them loaded for Hansel Robles, who is having a nightmare of a season. That became evident when he issued a bases loaded walk to Anthony Rizzo and then a two RBI single to Contreras. Just like that, it was 5-2 Cubs on the way to becoming a 10-2 lead.
But hey, Robles had a sparking stat line. His was 1.2 innings, one hit, no runs, one walk, and two strikeouts.
He was the only pitcher with a good stat line. Chasen Bradford allowed four runs in an inning of work. He certainly wasn’t helped out when Asdrubal Cabrera let one go through the wickets. Javier Baez homered off Kevin McGowan in McGowan’s lone inning of work. Jacob Rhame surrendered
One of the runs Rhame allowed was off a Rivera double. The former Met had quite an evening himself. Despite coming off the bench, he was 2-2 with a run, double, and two RBI.
Jamie Callahan then had a sinilsr outing to Robles. He relieved Rhame with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth. Just like Robles, he issued a bases loaded walk to Rizzo. Albert Almora then hit a bases leading triple. Unlike Robles, he’d get hit with a charged run.
With all the frustrations, the Mets showed some fight in the eighth. Rosario scored on a Rene Rivera passed ball. Later in the inning, Dominic Smith hit a two run homer to pull the Mets within 10-5.
All said and done, it was a hard to watch 13-5 loss featuring Mets pitchers issuing 11 walks. It’s quite the metaphor for a team that everyone not named the Reds or Phillies have walked all over.
Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo dat for a second straight game against a left-handed pitcher while Nori Aoki got the start in both games.
Well, if you watched last night’s game, you got the jist of what was going to happen tonight. The Cubs dominated the Mets, and you were left looking for bright spots.
Certainly, one was and continues to be Juan Lagares and his defense in center:
Contreras coasts home as Happ becomes the 3rd out at third base. Run would have counted if he'd just run. #thatscub pic.twitter.com/p46sMkATZZ
— VHS (@VanHicklestein) September 14, 2017
Not seen there was Lagares making the throw. His throw lead to a run not scoring on a double base running gaffe by Ian Happ and Willson Contreras. Happ’ was trying to go to third with two outs, and Contreras’ was not hustling home while watching the horror unfold.
At the time, the play kept the game tied at 2-2.
The Mets runs had come off a Jose Reyes keynote address off Jon Lester, and a Matt Harvey safety squeeze plating Amed Rosario. No, it didn’t make up for what happened yesterday.
Speaking of Harvey, the best thing you can say about his start is he left under his own power.
The velocity was there, but his location wasn’t. When he wasn’t leaving pitches in the hitting zone, he wasn’t throwing strikes. When he was pulled with one out in the fourth, he allowed seven hits, two runs (both earned), and four walks with just two strikeouts. He also left the bases loaded.
He left them loaded for Hansel Robles, who is having a nightmare of a season. That became evident when he issued a bases loaded walk to Anthony Rizzo and then a two RBI single to Contreras. Just like that, it was 5-2 Cubs on the way to becoming a 10-2 lead.
But hey, Robles had a sparking stat line. His was 1.2 innings, one hit, no runs, one walk, and two strikeouts.
He was the only pitcher with a good stat line. Chasen Bradford allowed four runs in an inning of work. He certainly wasn’t helped out when Asdrubal Cabrera let one go through the wickets. Javier Baez homered off Kevin McGowan in McGowan’s lone inning of work. Jacob Rhame surrendered
One of the runs Rhame allowed was off a Rivera double. The former Met had quite an evening himself. Despite coming off the bench, he was 2-2 with a run, double, and two RBI.
Jamie Callahan then had a sinilsr outing to Robles. He relieved Rhame with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth. Just like Robles, he issued a bases loaded walk to Rizzo. Albert Almora then hit a bases leading triple. Unlike Robles, he’d get hit with a charged run.
With all the frustrations, the Mets showed some fight in the eighth. Rosario scored on a Rene Rivera passed ball. Later in the inning, Dominic Smith hit a two run homer to pull the Mets within 10-5.
All said and done, it was a hard to watch 13-5 loss featuring Mets pitchers issuing 11 walks. It’s quite the metaphor for a team that everyone not named the Reds or Phillies have walked all over.
Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo dat for a second straight game against a left-handed pitcher while Nori Aoki got the start in both games.
With the Binghamton Rumble Ponies season over, the New York Mets have called up top catching prospect Tomas Nido to serve as the team’s third catcher for the final few weeks of the season. Once he arrived in the clubhouse, he was issued the number 77.
Now, it’s possible Nido selected the number himself as “his” number 7 was unavailable because it’s already being worn by Jose Reyes. However, the assignment of the number follows an odd pattern where the Mets typically have used number assignments to distinguish between top prospects and others.
The most recent example was Phillip Evans being assigned 72. His number in the minors was 13, which is currently occupied by Asdrubal Cabrera. There’s a large chasm between those two numbers.
That’s not the case for Amed Rosario (#1) or Dominic Smith (#22). They had the benefit of their Las Vegas numbers being available, and as such, they were given their numbers.
This is unlike former Mets first round pick Brandon Nimmo. Like Nido, he wore 7 in the minors. When Nimmo was called up last year, Travis d’Arnaud wore the number. Unlike, Nido or Evans, he didn’t get a number in the 70s. Instead, he was assigned 9.
Later that season, Seth Lugo couldn’t wear 27 because of Jeurys Familia. He was given 67. The fact Lugo was removed from the Las Vegas rotation earlier that year was certainly of consequence.
Robert Gsellman wore 24, a number mostly out of circulation to honor Willie Mays. The pitcher rushed to the majors was given 65. Chris Flexen had a similar rise this year. His 33 in St. Lucie wasn’t available due to Matt Harvey and his Binghamton 46 was worn by Chasen Bradford. Flexen was given 65.
By the way Flexen was given that number because his 29 was already worn by Tommy Milone.
Bradford’s Las Vegas teammate Paul Sewald is wearing 51 because the Mets have taken Keith Hernandez‘s 17 out of circulation.
Now, this isn’t to say Sewald should wear 17, or that he didn’t select 51. Same goes for players like Bradford whose preferred number is being worn by a Major Leaguer.
However, again, there is a real difference between saying no to 13 and assigning the number 72. It isn’t something the team did to Nimmo, but then again, he’s a well regarded prospect.
The really own exception to this is Travis Taijeron and his switch from 18 to 28.
And Taijeron really is an anomaly unless you believe T.J. Rivera (#3) and Ty Kelly (#11) really wanted to wear 54 and 56 because Curtis Granderson and third base coach Tim Teufel already had their uniform numbers. Really, it’s not likely.
No, the truth of the matter is the Mets are really only inclined to allow a prospect to pick their own number upon a call up to the majors unless they’ve already been deemed a top prospect.
Look, we know Rosario is a better prospect than Rivera ever was. Likely, Rosario will be a much better player. Still, that does not mean Rosario gets to pick a number, but Rivera shouldn’t. They’re both New York Mets. They should be treated as such.
Overall, this is far from the biggest issue with this team, but it is an issue nevertheless. It shows why certain players get chance after chance after chance while those that produce have to continue to reprove themselves. The reason is because the Mets seek confirmation bias rather than results.
Want to know which players are which? Just look at the uniform numbers.
For three and a half innings, the Mets had fight, and they were actually leading the Cubs 1-0. They were in that position for unlikely reasons.
The first is Travis Taijeron, who has struggled mightily since he was called up, delivered his first non-HR RBI as a major leaguer. That rally got started due to a Juan Lagares hustle double to start that inning.
At the time the run was scored, you figured it wasn’t going to be enough for Robert Gsellman who was flirting with disaster only to be bailed out by some good defense and good luck.
In the first, the Cubs had bases loaded and one out. With Willson Contreras having been ruled to have gone out of the baseline to avoid a Jose Reyes tag, Ian Happ grounded into an inning ending double play.
The Mets turned their second double play in the third with Travis d’Arnaud throwing out Ben Zobrist after a Kris Bryant strikeout for the strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play. Before you get too excited by d’Arnaud, Zobrist was running at maybe half speed.
Through three Gsellman was well over 60 pitches, and despite him throwing three straight scoreless innings, he was laboring. For those three innings, he bent. In the fourth, he broke.
The Cubs tied the game on a Jose Quintana perfectly placed sacrifice bunt down the first base line. It not only allowed himself to reach safely, but he moved Jason Heyward to second. More than that, Kyle Schwarber scored on the play.
He scored because Dominic Smith somehow got a late break and still tried to get Schwarber at the plate. Many will disagree, but trying to get Schwarber wasn’t a bad play because a better throw gets him.
From there, the Cubs played Home Run Derby blowing the doors off the Mets. The first was a three run homer by Bryant off Gsellman.
By the time the fourth inning was over, the Mets were down 4-1, and Gsellman had thrown 93 pitches. His final line in the loss was 4.0 innings, five hits, four runs, four earned, five walks, and four strikeouts.
Schwarber would hit a solo homer off Tommy Milone in the fifth. Ian Happ homered off Josh Smoker in the seventh.
In sum, the Mets would use four relievers to pitch the final four innings. All of them, Milone, Smoker, Jacob Rhame, and Chris Flexen, would pitch an inning and allow a run. They all contributed to the 8-3 loss.
If you’re looking at a positive from this loss, Asdrubal Cabrera was 3-4 with a double. However, the contributions of Reyes and Cabrera don’t mean much in what should be a 90 loss season.
Other than Cabrera, you’re looking at Lagares and Amed Rosario each making terrific plays in the field. Short of that, there’s not much to be enthusiastic about in this loss. That is unless you think d’Arnaud throwing out a base runner and his fifth inning sacrifice fly was a big deal.
It wasn’t.
Game Notes: Erik Goeddel was unavailable as he was in New York seeing a doctor for dizziness and blurred vision. Nori Aoki grounded out with the bases loaded in the ninth to make it 8-3.
Last year, Robert Gsellman started the year in Binghamton, and he would find himself starting important games in September as the Mets pushed towards a Wild Card. In eight games (seven starts), Gsellman was 4-2 with a 2.42 ERA, 1.276 WHIP, and an 8.5 K/9. During that run, Gsellman had seemingly emerged as the Mets newest potential ace in what was already a star studded rotation. Due to his emergence and injuries to the Mets pitchers, Gsellman joined the Opening Day rotation to give him a chance to take the next step.
Gsellman didn’t take that step forward he was expected to take. In fact, he took a giant step backwards.
In his 21 games (18 starts), Gsellman has been 6-6 with a 5.44 ERA, 1.567 WHIP, and a 6.2 K/9. But it’s more than just the numbers. Gsellman has regressed in every aspect of his game.
According to Brooks Baseball, Gsellman was predominantly a sinker/slider pitcher throwing about a 95 MPH fastball and an 89 MPH slider. He’s still the same sinker/slider pitcher, but now his fastball velocity has dipped to just under 94 MPH. It may not seem like much, but there has been a tangible effect with batters hitting him harder and more frequently.
Now, you could blame some of this on the Mets defense, which has been terrible this year. However, it should be pointed out Gsellman had gone from a .336 BABIP against last year to a .319 BABIP this year. So while the Mets defense has been terrible, it’s not the whole reason for Gsellman’s struggles.
There’s also the matter of his frustrations. Things have not gone well for him since the beginning of the year. His first start was a five inning outing where he allowed three runs on six hits. He followed that with a 4.2 inning effort where he allowed eight runs (four earned) off eight hits. Things got worse from there before they got better, if things every truly got better.
Gsellman would strain his hamstring covering first base during his June 28th start. He left the Mets unimpressed during his rehab appearances causing General Manager Sandy Alderson to say Gsellman would stay in Double-A until he pitched better. When the information was relayed to Gsellman, he infamously responded, “I don’t really care.”
It’s hard to believe Gsellman didn’t care. Likely, this was more a result of his frustrations from a disappointing and difficult season boiling over. Certainly, he has pitched better of late. Better, but not where he was last season.
Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. We’ve seen him be great, and we’ve seen him pitch terribly. Maybe he’s not the pitcher he was last year. Maybe he’s not the pitcher he is this year. He could be better. He could be even worse.
Fact is, this is a 23 year old pitcher who has a long career ahead of him. What his career will be is anyone’s guess. That could be top of the rotation starter to bullpen arm. No one can confidently say what that will be. In the end, it will all matter how he responds to this difficult season.
With the attacks of the 9/11, all Major League Baseball games were cancelled. They would be cancelled until September 17th. Back then, we all knew and agreed no one should be playing then. It was too soon. If the country wasn’t ready, we knew New York wasn’t ready.
There was work to be done with a city left to mourn. Players went about and did all they could do. They visited different fire stations. Shea Stadium was used as a staging ground for supplies for the rescue efforts that were occurring around the clock. Even when baseball wasn’t being played, baseball was present and part of the healing process.
It was again part of the healing process when baseball games resumed. There were questions whether it was time to return on September 17th. For most, it was time to get back to something that seemed normal. It was time for the healing to begin. Healing did not mean we forget. That was the refrain, “Never Forget.”
Perhaps, there was no more beautiful reminder of that when the Mets took the field in Pittsburgh wearing First Responder caps. It was a beautiful and poignant moment when Brooklyn native, John Franco, who just like the rest of us lost loved one on 9/11, earned a win the Mets first game back while wearing a FDNY cap. With that the healing began.
The healing would continue with the Mets being the first New York team to play a game back in New York. There was a strange aura around that game, one that could never be repeated at a baseball game. There was a mixture of nervousness, pain, hope, and, yes, some curiosity. It all came out as euphoric release as Mike Piazza hit a home run that still resonates to this day:
That moment was important for not just Mets fans, but all of New York. It was safe to go to a baseball game. It was alright to take joy in something as seemingly unimportant as baseball.
Between the relief efforts and that home run, the Mets played a small but important part in the grieving and healing process after 9/11.
Gone might be the 9/11 inscriptions on the sleeves of the jersey. The First Responder caps are certainly gone. Shea Stadium is an ever distant memory. Still, the images of 9/11 and everything that happened in the aftermath life forever.
Sixteen years ago, we knew the Mets shouldn’t be playing on 9/11. However, it feels different now. It seems like the Mets should be playing. At least from a baseball perspective, the Mets were important. Using Shea Stadium as a staging ground was necessary. The players helping at Shea and visiting fire houses mattered. The First Responder caps meant something to people and still do today. That Piazza home run still resonates.
The pain of 9/11 still resonates for many. There are many more important concerns in the world. To that end, it’s not the worst thing in the world the Mets have the day off. It’s far from a travesty. Still, for all of baseball and all of New York, the Mets should be on the field today wearing those First Responder caps.