Time To Find Out If Wilmer Flores Is An Everyday Player

Heading into this season, it seems like Wilmer Flores had crafted a role for himself as a platoon player.  Flores has just absolutely killed left-handed pitching.  Since 2015 when Flores was handed the starting shortstop job, Flores has hit .335/.377/.661 against left-handed pitching.  Essentially, he’s Babe Ruth when there is a left-handed pitcher on the mound.

Unfortunately, as good as Flores has been against left-handed pitching, he has been that poor against right-handed pitching.  In the same time frame, Flores has hit .248/.286/.358 off right-handed pitching.  Whereas he’s Ruth with a left-handed pitcher on the mound, he’s Ruben Tejada at the plate when there is a right-handed pitcher on the mound.  Because Flores is a poor defender out there, you can really justify using him in a platoon type of role.  Now, there are many a careers made out of being that type of a player.  As we have already seen with Flores, you can still be a revered player with a fan base being that type of a player.

But, Flores is a 25 year old player.  He should want to be more than that, and at his age, he is capable of doing more than that.  Certainly, he is paired with a hitting coach in Kevin Long who has helped other players, namely Neil Walker, to figure out how to become more of a platoon neutral bat.  Looking at Flores this month, it appears as if he is starting to turn the corner against right-handed pitching.

Over the past month, Flores is hitting .380/.415/.520 with four doubles, a homer, and 11 RBI in 53 at-bats against right-handed pitching.  Now, given the numbers, it is hard to treat this more than a fluky small sample size result.  Flores’ .417 BABIP would seem to indicate that.  There’s also the matter of who Flores is facing.  Over the past month, he’s done his damage against pitchers like Jarred Cosart, Jesse Chavez, Tom Koehler, Matt Cain, and Matt Garza.  This isn’t exactly Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.

And yet, you can only face the pitchers the other team puts on the mound.  The fact that Flores is hitting well against them is a credit to him, especially when you consider he may not have hit them as well in prior seasons.  This also might be part of Flores’ maturation as a hitter.  This year, he is pulling the ball more and striking out less.  He appears to be more selective at the plate, especially against right-handed pitching.  While you can’t expect Flores to hit .380 against right-handed pitching, it’s possible he could hit them well enough to play everyday.

In fact, this isn’t Flores first good stretch against right-handed pitching.  With the injuries last year, Flores was unexpectedly thrust into an everyday role.  Before he went out with his own injury, Flores was improving against right-handed pitching.  During the month of June, he hit .267/.328/.433 off right-handed pitching.  After slumping against right-handed pitching in July, Flores picked it back up again in August hitting .273/.313/.386.  No, these are not outstanding numbers, but they are an improvement of his career .255/.289/.374 line against right-handed pitching.

Certainly, Flores has earned the right to show the Mets how much of the past month is a fluke.  David Wright isn’t walking through that door anytime soon.  Jose Reyes is hitting .202/.274/.326 for the season and .228/.287/.358 in the month of May.  Also, for those wanting to keep Flores on the bench against right-handed pitching, Reyes is hitting .205/.269/.315 against right-handed pitching.  Considering the option right now is between Reyes and Flores, the Mets have to go with Flores now.

If nothing else, Flores presents the Mets with something Reyes can’t – upside.  Flores is a young player who could be coming into his own right now.  However, we won’t know if that’s the case unless we see him play.  Considering the alternatives, it’s time to make Flores the everyday third baseman and finally find out what Flores is as a major league player.

Gsellman Stays In This Time

In his last start, Terry Collins controversially lifted Robert Gsellman after throwing 84 pitches over six innings in a 5-3 game. It came back to haunt the Mets as the bullpen blew the lead and the game. 

Today, Collins controversially left Gsellman in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Gsellman was due up with the bases loaded and two outs. To that point, Gsellman had thrown 89 pitches, and the Mets were clinging to a one run lead. 

Rather than go for the knockout punch, Collins stuck with his starter in what could be Gsellman’s last start. Before the game Sandy Alderson announced both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo will likely join the rotation some time next week. In all likelihood, this means Gsellman is bound for the bullpen or Vegas. 

Collins’ faith in Gsellman was rewarded in more ways than one. First, Gsellman earned a bases loaded walk off Brewers reliever Rob Scahill with some help from C.B. Bucknor:

It was actually Gsellman’s second RBI of the game. His previous RBI came in the fifth inning. 

The Mets had runners on second and third after a Rene Rivera RBI double. Gsellman hit a medium to shallow fly ball to right, and Glen Sherlock sent Wilmer Flores. Rivera would then score on a Michael Conforto RBI double. 

With that, it was 4-2 Mets heading into the seventh. Gsellman rewarded his manager’s faith in him by mowing down the Brewers with a 1-2-3 inning. That would close the books on a good start for him. 

Gsellman’s final line was seven innings, three hits, two runs, one earned, two walks, and five strike outs. It was the Mets fourth straight quality start, and it might’ve been his best start of the season. 

He kept a good hitting Brewers team at bay. The one run on him was a home run he allowed to Domingo Santana on a pitch that was on the batter’s shoe tops. The first run was on the Mets infield. 

Asdrubal Cabrera threw a ball away allowing Jonathan Villar to reach. Later that inning, Jose Reyes picked up a Matt Garza sacrifice fly bunt attempt rather than letting it go foul. This put Villar in scoring position and allowed him to score on a groundout.
The Brewers wouldn’t have a rally like that until the ninth. Travis Shaw and Domingo led off the ninth with back-to-back singles. Addison Reed then settled down by striking out the next two batters and then getting a game ending ground out. It was Reed’s seventh save of the season. 

Right now, it’s time to start getting optimistic about this team. The offense is still scoring runs, and the starting pitching has been pitching better and going deeper into games. If that continues, you’ll see more games of just Paul Sewald and Reed. That right there is a winning formula. 

Game Notes: Jerry Blevins did not warm up. Unlike Saturday, Curtis Granderson moved to right field for defense when Juan Lagares came on in the eighth for defense. On SaturdayJay Bruce stayed in and couldn’t get to the game winning hit. Flores was 3-4 with all at-bats coming against right-handed pitching. 

Honor The Dead By Buying A Cap

Yogurt famously said in Space Balls, “Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made.”  Like most jokes, there is a twinge of truth to it. 

Of course, Mel Brooks was making a joke, albeit a satirical one. There was nothing funny about what Major League Baseball and New Era did today even if it was equally as absurd as Mel Brooks holding Space Balls the Flamethrower:

Today is about honor and respect . . . SO BUY A CAP NOW!  

Look, New Era is permitted to profit from the sales of their caps. They’re allowed to market their products as they seem fit. Based upon the availability of cap sizes remaining, it even appears to be working. With all that said, this is just tone deaf. 

This is a day to honor the lives of brave warriors who sacrificed their lives in defense of this country. It’s a day for moments of silence and reflection even if we spend most of the day between bar-b-ques and going to baseball games. It’s really not a day to purchase camouflaged caps to tip to bring to a graveyard just so we can tip them. 

Another small note here. If Major League Baseball and New Era are going to profit off the lives of fallen soldiers, shouldn’t they give something back?  Look at the sale last website. Double check the Twitter feeds and other social media accounts. Is there even one mention that even the slightest portion of the proceeds will go to help soldiers and their families?  

No, there are none. So while we’re tipping our  $39.99 caps (plus shipping and handling), they can’t even donate what amounts to a tip to those from whom they profit. 

Memorial Day

Aside from some day baseball and some grilling, it is Memorial Day, a day to remember and honor those service men and women who have died while defending our country.  From a baseball perspective that is more than the camouflage jerseys the teams are wearing this long weekend.  It includes the 12 MLB brethren that have died in action including Bob Neighbors, Harry O’Neill, Elmer Gedeon, Bun Troy, Ralph Sharman, Newt Halliday, Eddie Grant, Harry Grant, Larry Chappell, Harry Chapman, Tom Burr, and Bill Stearns.  This list does not include MLB players who put their careers on hold and had both their lives and careers forever affected.  Namely, there was Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson who was exposed to mustard gas during World War I.

In every family, there is a Fog.  Remember them and honor them today.  Visit their grave sites (should they be in the US), which are adorned with American flags today.  It is the least we can do for these brave and fallen heroes on this day.

Harvey Was Something

Whenever he takes the mound, the biggest story in any Mets game is going to be Matt Harvey.  Part of the reason is Harvey is a lightning rod.  The main reason is the Mets need Harvey to be good if they have any hopes to get back to .500 and then back into the NL East race.  If we get the Harvey we saw tonight, there is a chance.

Now, this wasn’t the Harvey of 2013 or even 2015.  Heck, this wasn’t even the Harvey of April.  This was a Harvey still trying to find himself and succeeding more than he has been.  We saw some things from his struggles this year that gave you some pause as to how this game would progress.  First, there is his propensity to give up the long ball as evidenced by the Gregory Polanco second inning home run.  There is the command as shown by Harvey’s two walks.  Then, there is the inability to really put batters away.  Tonight, he had only four strikeouts.

And yet, there was a Harvey emerging that could be a good pitcher again.  The one thing that stood out was his ability to limit the damage.  The biggest example of this was the fourth inning.  The Mets had a narrow 2-1 lead, and the Pirates had a rally going.  David Freese hit a one out infield singles, and Andrew McCutchen followed with his own single.  As if this wasn’t enough, Harvey threw a wild pitch putting runners on second and third with one out.  Harvey responded by striking out Francisco Cervelli and Jordy Mercer to end the inning.

Overall, Harvey threw 102 pitches over six innings.  It was his longest outing in over a month, and it was his second straight win.  It might’ve been due to a weak Pirates lineup.  It could be Harvey is getting back to becoming a reliable pitcher.  Whatever it is, the Mets should take it right now.

The Mets will also take the seven runs they got tonight.  The biggest source of those runs came from the three players who would be most affected by the return of Yoenis CespedesJay Bruce, Lucas Duda, and Curtis GrandersonBruce showed signs of getting out of his May funk going 3-5 with a run, two doubles, and an RBI.  Granderson, hitting lead-off with Michael Conforto getting the night off, had hit first three hit game of the season going 3-5 with a run, double, and an RBI.  Duda homered in his second straight game, and third out of the last four games.

Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera also collected RBI hits in what was an easy 7-2 victory.  Overall, the only thing that put a damper on the night was Terry Collins‘ handling of the bullpen.  With a five run lead in the seventh, he turned to Paul Sewald for two innings making him unavailable again for a few days.  It wasn’t until the ninth that he used Neil Ramirez, and Ramirez struggled enough to lead to Jerry Blevins having to warm up in yet another game.

Still, the Mets took two out of three in the series.  It was a step in the right direction and another step towards .500.  Sooner of later, the Mets are going to have to stop giving games away, and they are going to have to turn some of these series victories into sweeps.  Still, it was a good win leaving the team on a good note as they head back to Citi Field.

Game Notes: This was the Mets first win on a Sunday since their first Sunday game of the season.  For the second straight game, a Mets pitcher failed to get down a sacrifice bunt.  Juan Lagares was the only Mets starter without a hit.

Las Vegas Doesn’t Have The Solution To the Mets Bullpen Problems

It’s no secret the major league club has had bullpen issues. Jerry Blevins pitches in far too many games. Jeurys Familia is possibly done for the year. Fernando Salas and Addison Reed aren’t the pitchers they were last year. Both Josh Smoker and Hansel Robles have been sent down to Triple-A due to ineffectiveness. Somehow Rafael Montero is still on the major league roster, and he does not appear to be in jeopardy of being sent back to Vegas.

Part of the reason for that is the 51s relievers have been struggling mightily of late. Worse yet, it is the arms who were possibly closest to making the major leagues that are struggling the most.

Kevin McGowan started the year using his big fastball to strike batters out at high clip. More than racking up strikeouts, McGowan was keeping runners of the bases. He had a 0.700 WHIP to go along with a sterling 0.90 ERA. With him harnessing his stuff, and the major league bullpen struggling, it appeared as it he might get his chance sooner or later. Well, it is going to be later. Since May 4th, he’s appeared in six games, and he has allowed two plus runs in four of those appearances. His last appearance was a disastrous 0.2 appearance where he allowed six earned.

Another pitcher who has struggled of late is Alberto Baldonado. The left-handed pitcher was getting both righties and lefties out in Double-A leading to his promotion to Triple-A. Since joining the 51s, Baldonado has been hit hard. In his six appearances, he has a 10.80 ERA and a 1.350 WHIP. He’s become less of a cross-over reliever and more of a LOOGY with right-handed batters hitting .261 off of him. It’s a large reason why Baldonado has allowed three earned runs in two of his last three appearances.

Both McGowan and Baldonado have presumably surpassed Erik Goeddel on the depth chart. In 2014 and 2015, Goeddel had been a good major league reliever pitching to a 2.48 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP. Last year he struggled, and he would need surgery to remove a bone spur in his pitching elbow. He hasn’t gotten back to the effective major league reliever. In fact, he hasn’t even gotten back to being an effective pitcher. In 16 games, Goeddel is 2-3 with an 8.68 ERA and a 2.036 WHIP. He’s probably closer to being designated for assignment than getting called up.

It is more of the same with the rest of the 51s bullpen. Ben Rowen went from a consideration for the Opening Day roster to a 5.91 ERA. David Roseboom went from revelation last year in Double-A to an 8.31 ERA. Chasen Bradford has a 4.22 ERA and a 1.622 WHIP. Beck Wheeler has a 5.95 ERA and a 1.932 WHIP. About the only reliever with good stats is Logan Taylor, and he is walking the ballpark with a 4.1 BB/9.

Right now, as bad as things are in the majors, it is worse in Triple-A. At both levels, the Mets have talented pitchers who are going to have to make the necessary adjustments to start getting batters out. If they don’t, the Mets will be forced to look outside the organization for bullpen help. That is something no reliever in the Mets organization wants right now.

Bullpen Blows (The Game)

When Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud came back from the Disabled List, neither one was hitting much. Recentky, Duda broke out, and he’s literally getting on base in half of his plate appearances. After last year, there was legitimate concern over whether d’Arnaud would hit as well. 

Those concerns were put to rest as d’Arnaud came within a triple of hitting the cycle. Overall, he was 3-5 with a run, double, homer, and two RBI. It should also be noted the Pirates didn’t attempt one stolen base against him. It was about as good a night as a catcher can have. 

Duda was just as good. He was 2-4 with a run, double, homer, and RBI. Seriously, no one can get him out right now including Pirates ace Gerrit Cole. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Duda’s manager was able to get him out. 

It was one of a series of bizarre moves from Terry Collins on the night. 

Going into the sixth, the Mets had a 4-2 lead due to the aforementioned contributions from Duda and d’Arnaud as well as a Jay Bruce first inning solo home run. 

In the sixth, after Neil Walker botched a potential inning ending double play, Collins left Zack Wheeler in to pitch to Andrew McCutchen. At that point in the game, McCutchen had homered and walked against Wheeler. With Wheeler under 90 pitches and pitching well, Collins stuck with his starter who gave up an RBI double. 

It was somewhat of a damper on what was a good night for Wheeler. His final line was six innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, two walks, and five strikeouts. 

For a brief moment, it seemed the Mets would hold onto that 4-3 lead. 

In the seventh, Collins went to his bullpen and somehow decided to go with Neil Ramirez. Collins used Fernando Salas to close out an 8-1 game, but he decided to go with Ramirez and his 27.00 ERA with the Mets to hold a one run lead. After Jordy Nelson doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a groundout, it became obvious the pitcher with a 27.00 ERA wasn’t going to get the job done. 

Collins then double switched Jerry Blevins into the game. This meant the Mets best hitter and defensive first baseman was lifted from a one run game. Fortunately, Blevins got the Mets out of the jam as he typically does. 

The Mets also went unscathed though the eighth with a combination of Blevins and Salas. Salas was helped out by Juan Lagares who raced back to get a McCutchen ball at the wall. 
The Mets were no so lucky in the ninth. Mercer hit a double to center off Addison Reed that not even Lagares could catch. The way Lagares played tonight in center, that’s saying something. John Jaso tied the game sending it into extras. 

The Mets had a chance to go ahead in the top of the 10th. Lagares hit a lead-off single and moved to second on a T.J. Rivera pinch hit single. However, while d’Arnaud was huge for the Mets all night, he struck out to end the rally. 

With Collins once again ripping through his bullpen, he had to go to Tyler Pill to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Things did not go well. 

It started with Lagares absolutely robbing Gregory Polanco of an extra base hit. Pill then quickly loaded the bases allowing a single to David Freese, plunking McCutchen, and walking Francisco Cervelli. With all that, the Mets were so close to getting out of that inning. 

Gift Ngoepe popped out to shallow right. Collins then went to Josh Edgin to try to get Jaso out. Edgin struggled with his command, but he fought back into the at-bat going 3-2 with Jaso. Jaso then hit a line drive to right almost every right fielder in baseball gets to. Not Bruce. As he flailed at the ball, the Pirates were scoring the game winning run to take the game 6-5. 
It should be noted Collins brought Lagares in for defense.  Instead if moving the far superior fielder, Curtis Granderson, to right, Collins stuck with Bruce, and it indirectly cost the Mets the game. It’s not exactly how Collins wanted to celebrate his 68th birthday. Instead of blowing out his candles, his overworked bullpen did the job. 

Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera was the only hitless Mets starter. He made up for it by dekeing McCutchen in the sixth. Cabrera got to a ball in the hole, and he had no play at first. He feigned going there, and he then nailed McCutchen at home as he tried to score from second. 

Tyler Pill Isn’t The Answer To The Pitching Problems

With Tommy Milone posting a 10.50 ERA in his three starts with the Mets, the team has begun discussing releasing him and having someone else take his spot in the rotation until Steven Matz is ready to return from the Disabled List. Considering at various points this season Milone, Adam Wilk, and Rafael Montero were given starts, it’s fair to say there is a dearth of major league ready prospects in the Mets minor league system.

Well, the name that has been publicly bandied about is Tyler Pill. The reason Pill’s name has been mentioned is he’s had a great start to the 2017 season.

Between Binghamton and Las Vegas, Pill is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP while averaging over six innings per start. That includes Pill no allowing any runs in his two starts for the 51s. If you’re purely scouting the stat lines, Pill should be called up immediately.

There is a reason Pill hasn’t been immediately called to the majors. After all, this is the same pitcher who was 9-10 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 22 starts for Binghamton last year. In five starts for Vegas, he was 1-1 with a 5.60 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP. After that season, he wasn’t even ranked on MMN‘s Top 100.

Nor should he have been. Pill is four pitch pitcher who touches the low 90s. As a result, he has to mostly rely on control to get batters out. With none of his pitches being outstanding, he does not generate a lot of swing and misses. Since his 2013 should surgery to repair a Bennett lesion in his pitching shoulder, Pill has not posted an ERA under 3.97. This naturally begs the question about what’s different about Pill this year.

In a word, luck.

Through his first seven starts, Pill is allowing just a .265 BABIP, including a .255 BABIP in Triple-A. Typically, pitchers don’t have BABIPs under .300, especially those that pitch to as much contact as Pill. In fact, in his minor league career, Pill has allowed a .317 BABIP.

And batters have been putting a lot more balls in play off Pill. So far this year, Pill has just a 4.2 K/9, which would stand as the lowest K/9 in his career. His 2.4 BB/9, while encouraging, only further serves to show there are more balls in play against Pill than there had been in prior years. This creates further concerns there will be a stark regression.

These numbers all factor into his 4.01 FIP for the 2017 season. That’s closer to the pitcher who wasn’t even considered one of the Mets Top 100 prospects than the one who has yet to allow a run for Vegas this year.

Overall, Pill has had terrific numbers to start the 2017 season. However, as you dig deeper, it does not appear Pill is any different than the pitcher who has struggled the past few seasons.  Still, the run he’s on has gotten him promoted to the majors.  Unfortunately, unless he makes some adjustments with Dan Warthen, he is not going to be successful at the major league level.

deGrom Walker All Over the Pirates

Well, Jacob deGrom went out there tonight and reminded everyone why he should be considered the Mets ace.With the bullpen on fumes and the team coming off two embarrassing losses to the Padres, deGrom went out there and played the part of the stopper. 

deGrom became not only the first Mets starter to record an out in the eighth, he became the first Mets starter to throw a pitch in the ninth. He was in that position because he completely dominated the Pirates. 

To put it in perspective, deGrom was 2-4 at the plate. He only had four fewer hits than he allowed. In his 8.1 innings, deGrom allowed just those six hits while walking one and striking out 10. If not for a mistake to Gregory Polanco in the fourth, it might’ve been a shutout. 

On a night like this, deGrom didn’t need much help from his team. Still, the Mets gave him a ton of run support led by native son Neil Walker

Walker was 3-5 with three runs, two homers, and four RBI. His RBI accounted for half the Mets offense on the night. 

The first run the Mets scored came in the second with Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson hitting a pair of doubles off Pirates starter Chad Kuhl

After Walker hit his first homer in the third, the Mets rallied again in the fourth. Jose Reyes tripled and scored on a Jay Bruce sacrifice fly. Walker followed this with his second homer of the game. He would be heard from again. 

In the sixth, there were runners on first and second and two out due to Michael Conforto and Bruce earning walks off Pirates reliever Johnny Barbarto. Walker blooped a ball just past the out stretched hands of Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer to make it 6-1. 

Duda followed with a bases clearing double to make it 8-1. With the double, Duda continued a hot stretch over the past few games where he’s hitting .500 with an OBP above that. 

Almost as hot is Granderson. Over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .291/.395/.581. He added to those totals going 1-4 with a double, walk, and an RBI. Both Duda and Granderson need these hot streaks with Yoenis Cespedes playing his first rehab game today. 

But tonight, that was about deGrom and Walker. Both players stepped up big when the Mets needed it the most. 

Game Notes: Jerry Blevins warmed up in the eighth but did not appear in the game. Fernando Salas recorded the last two outs. 

Trivia Friday – Mets Who Have Received Rookie Of The Year Votes

This year the Mets have received some unexpected contributions from T.J. Rivera and Paul Sewald to help keep their season afloat.  If both of them are able to keep up this level of production, they will certainly garner some votes the the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Believe it or not, if they were to receives those votes, they would only be the 32nd and 33rd players in the 55 year history of the Mets franchise to even receive a vote for Rookie of the Year.  Can you name the other 31?  Good luck!


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Steven Matz Noah Syndergaard Jacob deGrom Jeurys Familia Travis d’Arnaud Ike Davis Kazuo Matsui Jose Reyes Ty Wigginton Jay Payton Rey Ordonez Bobby Jones Gregg Jefferies Randy Myers Kevin Mitchell Roger McDowell Dwight Gooden Ron Darling Hubie Brooks Mookie Wilson Jeff Reardon Steve Henderson Jon Matlack John Milner Jerry Koosman Tom Seaver Cleon Jones Ron Hunt