The date was June 23rd. After being activated off the disabled list, the Mets informed Asdrubal Cabrera he was no longer the Mets shortstop. Instead, he would be the Mets second baseman.
Cabrera responded by demanding a trade.
Given his play and the Mets trending towards being sellers, the Mets informed Cabrera they would be happy to oblige. The Mets seemed committed to trading Cabrera, who was due a $2 million buy out at the end of the year, but the team found no takers by the July 31st non-waiver deadline.
With the uncertainty surrounding Jason Kipnis‘ right hamstring, Addison Russell going on the disabled list, Carlos Correa dealing with a thumb injury, and whatever other issues teams may have with their infield, there was hope the Mets could move him by the August 31st waiver deadline. That went double when you consider Cabrera is a second half player. It didn’t work out that way.
Neil Walker and Brandon Phillips were the only two middle infielders traded. What happened?
Mostly, Cabrera happened. Since his trade demand, he’s only hitting .271/.340/.393 with 15 doubles, four homers, and 21 RBI.
In the field, he’s posted a -2 DRS at second, -1 DRS at third, and a -9 DRS at short. Fact is, he hasn’t even looked that good.
With the leg issues, he lacks mobility. As a result, he lacks range at all infield positions. He can’t run the bases.
The issues were obvious to everyone, and his manager did him no favors. Terry Collins pencilled his name in the lineup day-in and day-out. This didn’t allow Cabrera to rest his legs. This also allowed for all of his flaws to be consistently exposed to teams that MIGHT have been interested.
In the end, it was Cabrera’s play on the field that led to no one stepping up to obtain him. Considering the $2 million buy out, he wasn’t even a cheap option.
Overall, the guy who wanted the trade was the veteran who wasn’t traded, and he has no one to blame but himself with his poor play on the field.
It’s a good thing the Mets had both Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera start this game. If not for them, the Mets probably would have been shut out instead of the team losing 7-2.
Reyes got things started in the first with a double off Reds starter Robert Stephenson. Naturally, Reyes was hitting lead-off because they need to see if he, rather than today’s clean-up hitter Brandon Nimmo, could be the lead-off hitter of the future. Fellow prospect, and third place hitter in the line-up, Cabrera, would boost his chances of being on next year’s team with a sacrifice fly.
After the Mets fell behind 2-1, Reyes and Cabrera showed what this young team is capable of doing by hitting a pair of singles. Reyes then scored when run producer Nimmo came to the plate and singled a ball off of the pitcher to tie the game at two.
From there, the Mets failed because they simply just didn’t have enough players who played with as much fire and passion as Reyes and Cabrera. That was evident by the Mets going 1-11 with RISP and the team leaving eight men on base. That would never happen with a lineup full of Reyeses and Cabreras.
The Reds initially took the lead on a Scooter Gennett two run homer in the second inning. Gennett would later get to Jacob deGrom again in the fifth with an RBI double.
In the third, the Reds took the lead for good on an Amed Rosario miscue. Billy Hamilton found himself on second after a lead-off single and a stolen base. If we’re being honest, there’s just no way Travis d’Arnaud is ever going to throw out Hamilton. Joey Votto then hit a grounder to Rosario. Rather than take the sure out at first, which would have been the second out of the inning, Rosario rushed the play throwing off balance pegging Hamilton in the leg. Hamilton then scurried home.
Certainly, Terry Collins can no longer justify playing Rosario at shortstop when he has both Reyes and Cabrera available to play there. Nope, that error and a .240 batting average needs to be put on the bench so the Mets can win some games.
They weren’t going to win this one with the way deGrom struggled, or at least struggled for him. The Mets ace would allow four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks. While he would take the loss, deGrom would strike out five. With those five strikeouts, he now has 206 on the season, which is a new career high.
After deGrom’s relative struggles, we saw the bullpen struggle as well. Jeurys Familia allowed a homer to Votto. While you hate seeing the Mets give up a crucial homer, it was alright in this instance as Votto hit the home run for a six year old boy undergoing chemotherapy:
Joey Votto will just make your day. pic.twitter.com/dGj8wFzB63
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) August 31, 2017
It’s a reminder that even with the Mets doing incredibly stupid things, the strife we face across the country, and the flooding in Houston, there are still good things and good people in this world. To that end, Votto saved the day in what was an otherwise typically lousy and wasted Mets performance.
Game Notes: Erik Goeddel‘s struggles continue with him allowing a two run homer to Stuart Turner in the eighth.
If you recall, there was a time when the Mets considered Rafael Montero to be a better prospect than Jacob deGrom. Sure, it seems silly now with deGrom winning the Rookie of the Year, being an All Star, and how great he pitched in the 2015 postseason. It seems sillier when you consider Montero has mostly been terrible with the Mets shying away from the strike zone and walking too many batters.
Recently, we have seen glimpses from Montero. He is using that change-up, the pitch that made the Mets believe in him, more effectively. He is also throwing strikes. The stretch has been good, but not great. It certainly didn’t give us any indication why the Mets thought so highly of Montero. That was until last night’s game.
Through eight innings, Montero had allowed just one base hit to a stacked Cincinnati Reds lineup. Even allowing for the obvious issues with the OPS statistic, the Reds lineup featured seven batters with an OPS over .800. Two of the players, Zack Cozart and Joey Votto, were All Stars this year. However, when you were pitching like Montero, it simply doesn’t matter.
Given the fact that you have seen Montero pitch in a Mets uniform before, it is understandable that you have to see it before you believe it. Here is a short compliation:
In case you missed it…Montero put in work last night. https://t.co/E2vRvaXUqm pic.twitter.com/q5YK2CF76e
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 31, 2017
Considering how Montero was pitching, you can certainly understand why Terry Collins allowed Montero to go out there for the ninth inning despite Montero having already thrown 107 pitches. This was Montero’s night, and he earned the right to at least try to finish the game.
After retiring the pinch hitter Billy Hamilton, the Reds finally got to Montero. Phil Ervin singled, and Cozart doubled. With him going to the plate as the winning run, the Mets understandably intentionally walked Votto.
At that point, the Mets also put an end to 8.1 brilliant innings from Montero. During his 117 pitch night, he had allowed just three hits and four walks while striking out eight. The only question remaining was whether he was going to get the win.
It was a real question because the Mets had only given him a 2-0 lead with both runs coming in the first inning off of a pair of RBI doubles from Wilmer Flores and Kevin Plawecki. By the way, if you think Montero’s emergence has been a surprise, what about Plawecki? He has gone from a guy the Mets were probably going to seriously consider cutting from the 40 man roster this offseason to a guy who is hitting .364/.440/.591 with two doubles, a homer, and three RBI in eight games. By the way, he also threw a scoreless inning in relief the previous night.
Getting back to the bottom of the ninth, the Reds had the bases loaded with one out. Once again Collins eschewed Jeurys Familia in a save situation to go to AJ Ramos. Ramos responded by striking out Adam Duvall and Scotter Gennett to end the game.
With that, the Mets now have a victory where Montero and Plawecki were key figures in the game. In what has truly been a bizarre season, this one probably ranks up there. If that isn’t enough for you consider this – the two have combined to throw 9.1 consecutive scoreless innings.
Game Notes: Amed Rosario got the night off. This led the Mets to play Jose Reyes at shortstop and have him lead-off over Brandon Nimmo because that is exactly what you are supposed to do when you are trying to develop players late in the season.
Long before the two errors Wilmer Flores made last night, he had already established he is not a Major League third baseman. What is most troublesome is there is not just one thing you can pinpoint as the main reason why he struggles there. It is also why he’s probably not redeemable there.
First and foremost, people will point to his throwing. In his career, Flores has played 1,007.2 innings at third base. In those innings, he has made a total of 16 errors; 12 of which were throwing errors. This doesn’t even account for the numerous times he’s thrown offline preventing the team from turning a double play, or his inability to throw out speedy base runners on bunt plays and slow rollers.
However, it’s more than that. Looking at the advanced metrics, Flores’ play at third base is just unacceptable. He has a -17 DRS and a -3.5 UZR at the position. He converts just 93.6% of routine plays at the position.
No matter the statistic you choose, Flores just cannot handle the position. That’s not his fault. Different players are ill-suited to different positions. That was made clear when Jose Reyes, a player who seemingly had the range and arm strength to excel at third base, struggled there this season.
So no, Flores isn’t to blame. The people to blame are the Mets for continuously trotting him out there this year.
On the surface, it is fine to play Flores everyday to let him prove he is capable of being an everyday player at the Major League level. However, if you are really interested in seeing him succeed, you need to give him a fair shot at a position he can actually play.
Flores’ best defensive position is first base, but he is blocked there by Dominic Smith‘s presence. His next best position is second base. As Flores has shown in his career, he can actually handle that position.
In 667.0 innings at second, Flores has a -7 DRS and a 0.3 UZR. In his time there, he has only committed four errors (two fielding, two throwing). He has converted 99% of routine plays at the position.
Despite second being Flores best opportunity to be an everyday player, the Mets refuse to play him there. If the team was giving a shot to Gavin Cecchini, it would be understandable. However, Cecchini’s been stapled to the bench. Rather, the Mets continue to trot Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera out to second base.
Therefore, rather than letting Flores show himself to be what he’s worth, the Mets would rather play two players who played large roles in torpedoing this season at second. The Mets would rather Flores fail to see two players who should not be considered major contributors in 2018 get playing time. It makes no sense.
Yes, we know Flores will never be a Gold Glover. The hope always has been and continues to be he will hit enough to justify playing him everyday. However, that scenario only works if Flores is playing a position he can actually play. We already know he can’t play third. It’s time to stop playing him there and move him to second base.
Terry Collins and the Mets continue to push the envelope. With each and every game, they continue to make decisions which continue to de-emphasize player development.
In tonight’s example, Jose Reyes hit leadoff over Brandon Nimmo. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Collins double switched Amed Rosario out of the game in the sixth. As part of that move, Collins put Reyes at shortstop.
When you manage like this, you deserve to have Reyes thrown out trying to steal a base down four in the seventh inning.
Seriously, if Collins is going to make sure he plays Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera, he better make sure they play good fundamental baseball. If you’re having your young players learn by watching, have them learn by watching what to do.
Speaking of what to do and not to do, knowing Collins the way we do, he’ll take issue with Chris Flexen.
Sure, there were many issues with Flexen’s start. How could there not when you don’t make it out of the fifth. His final line was 4.2 innings, seven hits, seven runs, four walks, and four strikeouts.
Those four walks hurt him too. He issued two of them in the first inning to help load the bases. After a Eugenio Suarez single and a Scott Schebler grand slam, the Mets fell behind the Reds 5-1 in the first.
Flexen again walked two batters in the fifth. Not even Adam Duvall hitting into a double play would bail him out. Scooter Gennett would hit an RBI infield single off Flexen’s leg. After Flexen walked Suarez, Collins brought in Josh Smoker.
Smoker allowed a Schebler RBI single. Nimmo had a shot at Gennett at the plate, but Travis d’Arnaud could not corral the short hop. Once Smoker got out of the inning, it was 7-1 Reds with all runs charged to Flexen.
However, that won’t be what irritates Collins. It will be that Flexen showed up Reyes.
Reyes was out there playing his first career game in left field. With the injuries and the possibility Reyes could return next year in a utility role, Reyes playing left isn’t a ridiculous idea. It’s just ridiculous he would lead-off.
Reyes took a ridiculous route to a second inning Billy Hamilton fly ball. He broke in and the ball went well over his head. A clearly frustrated and dejected Flexen threw up his hand in disappointment.
Yes, Flexen shouldn’t show up his fielders. That goes double when you’re walking the ballpark and giving up a grand slam. Still, this is the same Reyes who never had an issue doing this himself. Again, if you’re holding out players as an example, this is the stuff that happens.
But this is Terry we’re talking about, and we know his veterans are Teflon. That goes double for Reyes.
The Mets would attempt to make a game of it with the help of the surprisingly not double switched out of the game Dominic Smith.
After a Cabrera walk and a d’Arnaud double, Smith hit a two out RBI single in the sixth to pull the Mets to within 7-3.
Smith came up again in the eighth, and he collected his first career hit off a left-handed pitcher. It set up runners on the corners with two outs. Unfortunately, Travis Taijeron would strike out to end the inning. So far in Taijeron’s career, he’s 0-9.
The Mets would get no closer than 7-3. In fact, things would get much worse.
While Chasen Bradford has been really good this year with a 2.38 ERA in 17 appearances, he had nothing tonight. He recorded no outs while allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits and one walk.
The unearned runs were due to two Wilmer Flores errors in the inning.
With Collins having done all he could do to burn out a larger than usual bullpen during Sunday’s double header, Collins finally did the right thing by going to a position player to pitch.
Once again, we got to see Kevin Plawecki take the mound. Like most Mets pitchers this year, Plawecki fared better with d’Arnaud behind the plate than Rene Rivera.
Plawecki came in with the bases loaded and no outs. Phil Ervin hit into a double play. After a Hamilton double, and a Flores error allowing Cozart to reach, two of the three inherited runners had scored. Credit should be given to Hamilton who could’ve scored on the error but chose not to run up the score.
In a shock to everyone, Plawecki got Joey Votto to ground out giving Plawecki a story to tell his grand kids. It’s certainly a better story than the contents of his locker.
In the end, the Mets lost 14- 4 with that all too brief ninth inning rally ending on a Flores GIDP. Right now, it’s not about wins and losses. It’s really about developing players by playing them and having them learn from their mistakes.
Collins favorite young player Jose Reyes certainly has a lot to think about tonight. Hopefully, he learns from this, and he gets better. Certainly, the team needs him over the next decade.
Game Notes: Plawecki became the second Mets position player to pitch twice in a season. The first was Matt Franco in 2000. Hat tip Greg Prince:
Matt Franco preceded him in this honor.
— Greg Prince (@greg_prince) August 30, 2017
The win snapped a Mets 14 game winning steak against the Reds.
During Spring Training, we saw that David Wright is still able to go out there and hit. Ultimately, it wasn’t his ability at the plate that caused the Mets to shut him down. It was his inability to throw a baseball.
There was a dark period where we thought it would never happen for him again. Recently, there was a glimmer of hope with him playing consecutive games at third base for St. Lucie. That hope faded away with Wright shutting down his rehab stint due to shoulder pain. Once again, there is doubt Wright can ever play in the field again.
What is difficult here is there still may be baseball left in Wright. If nothing else, Wright has two years and $27 million to motivate him to return. But it’s more than money. Seeing Wright over the past 12 years, we see a determined player with a lot of pride. We also see a player who just loves playing baseball.
Now, there is a reasonable belief Wright can still hit. Since 2015, Wright played in 75 games, he hit .260/.365/.436 with 15 doubles, 12 homers, and 31 RBI. During that stretch, he had a 119 OPS+ and a 125 wRC+. If the Mets were an American League team, Wright could be a viable option at DH. Looking at the current league leaders, if Wright could still replicate his 125 wRC+, he would rank third in that category among DHs. Whether or not his shoulder will permit him to do even that remains to be seen. What we do know is that he can’t do that with the Mets unless the team wants to give him the 1985 Rusty Staub treatment, which is something no team will do in the modern game.
Realistically speaking, if there is going to be more baseball in Wright’s career, it’s not going to be with the Mets. If Wright is going to have a second act in his career, it is going to happen as a DH.
We’ve seen with the Red Sox, they were more than happy to go with a hobbled David Ortiz as their DH. The Angels have done the same with Albert Pujols. While Wright doesn’t have their power, he still has the ability to hit. Unlike them, he still has the ability to run. Long story short, he still has ability.
Now, there aren’t going to be teams lining up to take Wright. No one wants an injured 34 year old owed $27 million. However, teams may be willing to take a flyer if the Mets eat some or all of his contract. As we know the issue here is that is something the Mets are loathe to do.
But they need to do it. Wright’s mere presence puts the team in a holding pattern. It’s led them to go with Eric Campbell as a backup in 2016, and it led to Jose Reyes being the Opening Day third baseman in 2017. The Mets simply cannot repeat this mistake. They need to fully address the position this offseason if they want any hopes of returning to the postseason. The team can’t do that as long as Wright is on the roster. As long as he is here, he is going to play in some capacity.
That is a hindrance to both him at the Mets. The team needs a real answer at third, and he needs a real opportunity to play.
For Wright, that is in the American League. There, anything is possible for him. He could play a full season. It’s possible he make the All Star team. There may be another postseason in his future. Maybe, he wins a World Series. If nothing else, Wright has his best chance to extend his career.
Overall, there is no doubt the Mets and Mets fans love Wright. In the 55 year history of the Mets, there is perhaps no player that loved being a Mets player more than Wright. If they truly loved each other, they need to do what is best for one another. They need to move on. Once that happens, they will both be better off for it.
In a four game series against the Washington Nationals, here was the allocation of games started among the Mets infielders:
- Gavin Cecchini two games
- Asdrubal Cabrera three games
- Wilmer Flores three games
- Jose Reyes two games
- Amed Rosario three games
- Dominic Smith two games
The focus isn’t where it needs to be. Once again, the Mets are failing to develop their young players. Previously, the excuse was you can’t develop young players when you’re trying to win a World Series. This team isn’t winning a World Series, and still, we are not seeing young players in the lineup getting the time they need to develop.
Terry Collins isn’t letting Smith play against left-handed batters. He’s bouncing Flores around the infield instead of giving him a place to focus on and improve. He puts Reyes atop the lineup whenever he gets an opportunity rather than let Brandon Nimmo establish himself as a Major Leauge lead-off hitter. The list goes on and on and on . . . .
Hopefully, the Mets find out what they need to know about this Cabrera and Reyes. Hopefully, they take full advantage of the development time, and they show they are ready to be the big pieces for the Mets over the next decade.
This was one of those days that makes you question why exactly the Mets are sticking with Terry Collins right now?
He’s eschewing developing young players like Dominic Smith, but he makes sure to get Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera in the lineup.
He also continues to make just poor decisions with his pitching. If you didn’t know any better, you’d expect Collins gets paid by the bullpen move, and he gets paid double for each double switch.
He really pressures his pitching staff. Today, Collins took that to an absurd level.
Even knowing Seth Lugo would be limited to 75 pitches in the second game of the double header, Collins ripped through his bullpen.
Part of that was Tommy Milone only lasting 4.1 innings. The bigger part of that was Collins managing the game like it was Game 7 of the World Series to try to protect a five run lead.
What was really irritating was Collins first ripped through the guys who could give him multiple innings – Hansel Robles, Rafael Montero, and Josh Smoker. The trio combined to pitch one inning with 35 pitches.
With all Collins histrionics, the Mets still blew the 5-0 lead. They got there because Cabrera and Flores hit a pair of homers.
With the Mets blowing the lead, they needed another homer. Amed Rosario came through with an eighth inning homer off Joe Blanton.
Rosario has 4 homers, 3 of them in the 8th inning or later, 2 to give the Mets a lead in a tie game.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) August 27, 2017
The Mets would hold onto the 6-5 lead with AJ Ramos getting the sixth out save to preserve the rare Mets Sunday win. Of course, to get the rare win, you needed a play you rarely if ever see.
With Adam Lind getting the two out single to extend the game, Edwin Jackson pinch ran for him with Daniel Murphy coming to the plate as the go-ahead run.
Murphy ripped a liner above a leaping Cabrera. Travis Taijeron, who had some on in one of the multitude of double switches, overran the ball, and Jackson broke towards home.
Juan Lagares adeptly backup up Taijeron on the play. He then made a strong throw to Cabrera, who in turn, made a strong throw to Travis d’Arnaud. With the tag, the Mets cut down Jackson, and the Mets won the game on your typical 9-8-4-2 put out.
After this game, the question was whether the Mets pitching staff had enough bullets left to pull out a win in the nightcap. The answer was a resounding no.
The Mets had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the second game.
Lagares knocked in the first run on an RBI double. He then came home to score on a Brandon Nimmo two run homer to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. It was short-lived.
After Lugo went 3.2 innings allowing two runs, Smoker came on, and he kept the Nationals at bay in his 1.1 innings of work.
Then came Robles in his second appearance on the day. After getting a Murphy line out, the Nationals had a runner on first with one out.
Robles continued by walking the first four batters allowing the Nationals to not only tie the game, but also take a lead. On the bright side, Collins double-switched Smith out of the game meaning he was willing to sacrifice development to win this one game.
Things could’ve been worse, but Chasen Bradford enduced Howie Kendrick to hit into the inning ending 4-4-3 double play.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Erik Goeddel pitched the eighth, and Lind took him deep to give the Nationals a 5-3 lead. The insurance run loomed large with the Mets rallying in the ninth off Sean Doolittle.
d’Arnaud led off with a pinch hit single, and Gavin Cecchini singled to move d’Arnaud to second. With a 0-2 count, Reyes dropped a single right in front of Taylor allowing d’Arnaud to score to pull the Mets within one.
The tomfoolery ended with a Lagares line out to Alejandro De Aza.
Collins did everything he could to win both ends of the double header even if it meant eschewing his main responsibility right now- developing players. He didn’t care what he did to the bullpen. For all that effort, he just had a split to show for it.
Game Notes: Kevin McGowan was activated for the second half double-header as the 26th man. He would not pitch.
When we found out my wife was expecting with our second child, we wanted to do something fun with our son, sorry older son, for him to find out if he was going to have a little brother or a little sister. We debated doing a cake or balloons, but ultimately with the recent fad of gender reveal golf balls and baseballs, we decided to go that route with him.
The issue is those things are unnecessarily expensive. On Amazon, they range from $15 – $30. On Etsy, the price range all over the place, and even for those options that seem cheap, they cease to be as such when you consider the hidden shipping costs. Reading review of these items, the balls are flimsy, and as we’ve seen on YouTube, you are setting yourself up for a wasted moment. The last thing we wanted was to buy an overpriced baseball, have our son swing and miss, and then miss our opportunity to do something fun with him. To that end, we decided to attempt to make our own gender reveal baseball.
The baseball part is quite easy. First, we went to Party City, and for $1.00, we purchased one of those globes they sell you to fill with their penny candy. I recommend the clear globe because it is easier to paint. For the pain, we went to Michaels and purchased acrylic paint for less than a buck. We also splurged for a small paint brush for under a buck. Just like that, we had our own baseball for less than $3.00.
After painting the baseball and setting it to dry overnight, my wife drew seams on the baseball using a red Sharpie. Really, any magic marker would do the trick. What was tricky was what to put in the ball.
If you Google it, you can find a number of ways to make your own holi powder. For us, we mixed food coloring with one cup of water. We then mixed that with three cups of flour. You need to use your hands for this to help prevent clumps from forming. It’s a tedious process. After you are done, put it on a couple of baking sheets in the oven at 200 degrees. Do not go above that because you risk burning it and turning it brown.
If you don’t want to do that, you can purchase it somewhere on the Internet or pick up the powder or confetti from somewhere.
Once you put it in there, you have a cheaper option and one that is not going to simply explode just by hitting the ground. Still, with the impact of a baseball bat, the ball will easily come apart, and the powder will spray all over the place revealing the baby’s gender.
IT’S A BOY!
Terry Collins benched Dominic Smith against Gio Gonzalez, and he batted Brandon Nimmo eighth.
Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes gone for the season.
Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera played over Gavin Cecchini.
Michael Taylor nailing a slower than molasses Cabrera at home by a healthy margin:
From Downtown! pic.twitter.com/nTifaslvLw
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 26, 2017
Robert Gsellman certainly didn’t look like a guy who cared whether his manager thought he needed to improve.
The first inning rally got started on an error from him, and he threw a wild pitch allowing a run to score. Before the inning ended it was 4-0 Nationals.
It was a gorgeous sunny day outside, and my son wanted to go play baseball outside with me.
To paraphrase Peter Gibbons, “I wouldn’t say I missed the last eighth innings, Bob.”
No, not even with Wilmer Flores going 4-4 with a run, double, home run, and three RBI.
Judging from the 9-4 final score, I made the raise decision.
Game Notes: Travis Taijeron made his Major League debut going 0-4. Jeurys Familia made his first appearance since returning from the disabled list. He pitched one inning allowing three runs on four hits and two walks.