Steven Matz was dealing with elbow pain towards the end of Spring Training, and it landed him in the disabled list. He has subsequently been diagnosed with a strained flexor tendon leaving Matz to say, “I try to do all I can to stay healthy and stay on the field. Thankfully, it’s not anything more serious. So, I hope that I can come back and help the team when I’m ready but there’s nothing I can do I feel like.” (Marc Carig, Newsday).
Seth Lugo struggled in the World Baseball Classic Championship Game and when he returned to the Mets in Spring Training. The struggles were blamed on a dead arm that, like Matz, landed him in the disabled list. He was sent for an MRI yesterday. After the Mets Opening Day win Mets manager Terry Collins would say, “We lost Seth Lugo today for a period of time, so we know how important it is to keep our pitchers healthy.” (Laura Albanese, Newsday).
And just like that the vaunted Mets pitching depth of seven starters is now down to five . . . a fragile five.
The injuries have forced Zack Wheeler into the rotation ahead of schedule. With his missing two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery, the Mets wanted to limit him to around 125 innings. That’s going to be extremely difficult when he’s in the Opening Day rotation, and the Mets currently go only five starters deep.
In front of Wheeler in the rotation is Matt Harvey. In 2015, he was terrific after returning from his own Tommy John surgery. He wasn’t able to take the next step as expected in 2016 as he was dealing with the effects of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).
Harvey had the season ending surgery to alleviate the effects of his TOS, but so far he hasn’t rebounded as well as he did from Tommy John. Harvey has been inconsistent with his velocity and location during Spring Training. For his part, Harvey believes he turned a corner saying, “It definitely took a little while, but moving in the right direction.” (James Wagner, New York Times).
While Jacob deGrom appears back to his 2015 Cy Young caliber form, he is coming off an injury plagued season. First, it was the oblique. Then it was a nerve issue in his pitching elbow which required season ending surgery.
This leaves Noah Syndergaard and Robert Gsellman as potentially the Mets only truly healthy starters entering the season.
The issue with Gsellman is he’s a rookie with only 44.2 major league innings under his belt. For that matter, he only has 93.1 innings above Double A. It’s possible he hits a rookie wall, or he needs to have his innings limited this year.
So, to that end, the only pitcher left you feel 100% confident about this year is Syndergaard . . . and he was forced to leave his Opening Day start due to a blister. His next start has already been pushed back a day. Considering the Mets health history, it’s hard to be confident that’s all it will be.
With that, the Mets vaunted pitching rotation depth has already been tested. With one more injury or one prolonged slump, the Mets may be forced to turn to Rafael Montero which hasn’t turned too well in the past.
In the event Montero or someone else takes the mound, we all may soon realize the Mets deep seven man pitching staff just might’ve been one or two starters short.
For a Mets team that brought in no new players this offseason, it is quite fitting this team picked right up where they left off last season. For those that forgot, and how could you, Noah Syndergaard was dominant, and the Mets couldn’t get that big hit off the other team’s ace.
Today, Syndergaard was dominant. His final line was six innings, five hits, no runs, none earned, no walks, and seven strikeouts. Basically, he was just as dominant as he was in his last game only he pitched one less inning. He pitched one less inning as he had to depart with a blister on his pitching thumb. Again, the Mets are picking up where they left off last year.
Overall, Syndergaard was up to his old tricks. Fastballs at 99 MPH. Change-ups and sliders between 90 – 94 MPH. Hitters frustrated and overmatched. The real surprise is that he had to get out of two separate jams. In the fourth, he worked around a one out triple off the bat of Freddie Freeman (ball was played terribly by Jay Bruce in right) by striking out Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis.
In the sixth, Syndergaard had runners at the corners with one out. Again, he struck out Kemp by keeping the ball low in the zone. He then induced a harmless fly ball off the bat of Markakis to end the inning.
Offensively, the Mets struggled against Julio Teheran. While Teheran was 7-10 last year, he is a terrific pitcher whose record really was hindered by a lack of run support. In addition to the 7-10 record, Teheran had a 3.21 ERA, 1.053 WHIP, 129 ERA+, and an 8.0 K/9. Against the Mets last year, he was 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA, 0.600 WHIP, and a 5.4 K/9 in four starts. Struggling against him is certainly no red flag.
And yet, if you are a pessimistic Mets fan, you saw some troubling signs. The team did rack up six strikeouts in six innings. There were seven left on base, and the team was 0-3 with RISP. The main culprit there was Lucas Duda who twice came up with a chance to knock in a run and both times he came up short.
With Syndergaard leaving with a blister and Teheran leaving due to his pitch count, the game became a battle of the bullpens. Fortunately, the Mets, even without the suspended Jeurys Familia have a terrific bullpen. Hansel Robles added a slight hesitation in his delivery to go with the quick pitch, and he mowed down the Braves in the seventh.
The deja vu would end in the seventh. With Ian Krol allowing a lead-off hit to Rene Rivera, Wilmer Flores hit into a fielder’s choice, and he stole second off Tyler Flowers. After Jose Reyes walked, Asdrubal Cabrera lined a single up the middle, and Flores was sent home. Center fielder Ender Inciarte nailed Flores at the plate.
Or did he?
https://twitter.com/MLBReplays/status/848986918343725056
Upon replay, it shows Flores just got his foot in front of the tag from the way too far behind home plate Flowers. With that, the Mets got the lead and momentum. After Yoenis Cespedes walked to load the bases, Curtis Granderson hit a sacrifice fly off former Met Eric O’Flaherty to make it a 2-0 lead. He then walked Neil Walker and Jay Bruce back-to-back to force in a run to make it 3-0.
While Bruce had a misplay in right field, it was a very encouraging day for him. On the day, he had four good at-bats going 0-1 with three walks and an RBI. He looked more patient at the plate and more willing to take a walk. If he continues this for the full season, its going to be a huge year for him.
After the Bruce walk, Duda finally got a hit with runners in scoring position with a bases clearing double off of O’Flaherty.
The Dude delivers! Duda drives in 3 to extend our lead! https://t.co/AljU6eO0rH pic.twitter.com/vY4CTB9sBz
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 3, 2017
O’Flaherty’s work in the seventh inning was the most he has done to help the Mets than all he had done for them in 2015. His final line was 0.1 innings, one hit, two runs, two earned, three walks, and no strikeouts. For Mets fans, it was nice being on the other side of an O’Flaherty outing.
In the fateful seventh, the Mets sent 11 batters to the plate, and the team scored six runs on three hits, five walks, and a sacrifice fly. Basically, this Mets team featuring a number of smart veteran hitters feasted on a poor bullpen. With the six run seventh, Robles would be the winning pitcher.
Cabrera was easily the best Mets player on the day . . . well, Mets player not named Noah Syndergaard. He went 3-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. It was a refreshing change of pace from the Cabrera who seemingly went the first half of the 2016 season without a hit with RISP.
Cabreras wasn’t the only one in midseason form. Gary, Keith, and Ron were great today including them honoring the late Bill Webb. Keith Hernandez told a terrific story about how Webb used to get Keith fined $100 by filming him smoking in the first base tunnel. Keith deadpanned about how all Mets fans knew he used to smoke.
Overall, this was about as good a start to the 2017 season as you reasonably could have asked for. While you were obviously concerned about Syndergaard leaving the game with a blister, you had to be encouraged by Robert Gsellman entering the game in the ninth because Gsellman would be the guy to start in Syndergaard’s place should there be an issue serious enough to cause him to need to miss a start.
After Gsellman’s scoreless ninth, the Mets are 1-0 and in first place where we expect them to be after Game 162. The win also improves the team’s MLB best Opening Day record, which is now 35-21.
Game Notes: Mets fans complain about d’Arnaud, but Flowers is much worse. Both Cabrera and Flores were able to steal bases off of him. In his first Opening Day with the Mets since 2011, Jose Reyes was 0-3 with a run, walk, and two strikeouts. Reyes also became the first Met since Ty Wigginton to be the Mets Opening Day third baseman other than David Wright. Travis d’Arnaud entered the game in the sixth inning as a pinch runner for Rivera. This marks the first season without Bill Webb as director of the Mets games.
When the Mets take the field later today, they do so with probably the worst possible lineup that could’ve been assembled. For those that haven’t seen it yet, it’s:
- Jose Reyes 3B
- Asdrubal Cabrera SS
- Yoenis Cespedes LF
- Curtis Granderson CF
- Neil Walker 2B
- Jay Bruce RF
- Lucas Duda 1B
- Rene Rivera C
- Noah Syndergaard P
There are many things to focus on here, but it would probably be belaboring the point. Reyes has a .321 OBP over the last three years. Michael Conforto should be the everyday right fielder. Basically, you can pick a part of this lineup and have room to really disagree with it.
Instead of focusing on those issues, it is probably more important to focus on the decision to bat Bruce over Duda because it is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with this lineup.
Due to a myriad of factors in the lineup, Terry Collins had little choice but to bat his two left-handed sluggers back-t0-back in the lineup. Normally, you would like to split them up for many reasons, but the one most often cited is you don’t want to give the opposition the opportunity to bring their LOOGY into the game to pitch to consecutive lefties. Effectively speaking, putting consecutive lefties in the lineup makes the opposing managers decision making that much easier.
At first glance at this lineup, it was one of the things I thought about, but then after careful consideration, I realized batting Bruce and Duda back-to-back in the lineup could be a stroke of genius. If handled properly, you are baiting the opposing manager into bringing in a LOOGY, which in turn, would permit the Mets to unleash their weapon – Wilmer Flores.
Last season, Flores wasn’t friendly to left-handed pitching hitting .340/.383/.710 against them. Basically speaking, Flores transforms to Babe Ruth when a left-handed pitcher on the mound. More than anyone not named Cespedes, this is the player on the team you want at-bat with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. By putting the lefties back-to-back in the lineup, you create a situation where you get to pick your spot to put Flores up at the optimal time. When that manager goes to the LOOGY, the Mets can then go to Flores. It’s actually quite brilliant.
Except it isn’t.
This would really only work if Duda hit in front of Bruce. Remember this is a National League team, and as such, the Mets have some constraint using bench pieces. You need to hold back a bat or two to pinch hit when the pitcher’s spot comes up. If you hit Flores for Bruce, this means you are then going to have to bring another player into the game to play right field. This means in one at-bat you have burned two players.
When you extrapolate further, it makes less sense. Between the two lefties, Bruce is the better hitter against left-handed pitching. For his career, Bruce is a .226/.292/.419 hitter against left-handed pitching to Duda’s .224/.295/.364 batting line. Assuming you’re not going to have back-to-back pinch hitters, you want to keep Bruce in against the LOOGY over Duda. Keep in mind, this is really the only situation in which you should prefer Bruce over Duda as a hitter.
In 2014 and 2015, Duda was the Mets everyday first baseman, and over that time frame, he hit .249/.350/.483 while averaging 28 homers and 82 RBI with a 133 OPS+. Now, to be fair, Duda did struggle last season with the back injury hitting just .229/.302/.412 with 7 homers and 23 RBI in 47 games. However, Duda did look better this Spring, and in reality, if you think Duda is going to be that type of hitter again, he should be on the bench. With the Mets tendering Duda a contract and not trying to move Conforto to first, it appears they believe he will return to form.
From 2014 – 2016, Bruce has hit .231/.295/.440 while averaging 26 homers and 84 RBI with a 98 OPS+. Keep in mind, Bruce did this while hitting at the band box that is the Great American Ballpark instead of Citi Field. Looking at that, wouldn’t it be fair to say Duda is the better hitter than Bruce, and therefore, should bat higher in the lineup?
And that is where we come to the problem with the lineup. At the core, the lineup shows Collins believes Bruce is a better hitter than Duda, which is just wrong. It is this lack of critical thinking that is reflected in each and every part of this Mets lineup from the lead off hitter straight down to the seventh spot in the lineup. It’s a problem.
Hopefully, Bruce goes out there and has an incredible season besting what Duda’s averages has been. Hopefully, Bruce makes Collins look like a genius. Hopefully, the only changes needed for this lineup is Travis d’Arnaud catching the rest of the staff, and David Wright triumphantly returning to the lineup.
There’s a lot to hope for there, but it is Opening Day where we all get to hope that everything will break right, and the Mets will win the World Series. With the Mets pitching, there is a legitimate reason to hope.
Year in and year out, the one thing you notice with Spring Training games is the stars rarely travel. That goes double for when there are split squad games. The bus travel during Spring Training is not ideal, and you really want to keep your best players both happy and healthy going into the season.
That is why I took a step back the other day when I saw Yoenis Cespedes traveled about an hour by bus with the Mets to Jupiter to play the Marlins in a split squad game.
Now, this wasn’t some interesting strategy that allowed Cespedes to get a look at some of the Marlins pitchers for the 2017 season. It wasn’t even an opportunity for him to help find a spot for Tim Tebow in the Mets lineup at First Data Field. No, it was for personal reasons for Cespedes that he made this rare trip:
Cespedes asked to play the road game in Jupiter because his son has a game in West Palm Beach at 4 that he wants to make.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) March 27, 2017
In many ways, Cespedes has become almost a cartoon character with the Mets. He’s a guy that is unstoppable at video game levels when he’s hot. He’s the guy that had a car show at Spring Training last year. He gave the keys to one of those expensive cars so someone could purchase the right waffle iron for him because as we know the biggest star on the Mets also makes breakfast for everyone. He bought a farm, and he bought a pig at a State Fair. He even rode horses one day at Spring Training with Noah Syndergaard. To top it all off, he randomly decided to become the Lion King last year because why not?
Through it all, Cespedes has shown himself to be one unique individual, and that is why the fans love him.
Under all of that though, Cespedes is just a dad doing all he can do to make sure he can go watch his son’s baseball game. Certainly, that is something all dads can appreciate. It is certainly a trait we can all admire. It is another reason that we can all root for Cespedes.
With the Mets returning almost of the entire 2016 team that lost the Wild Card Game, the team is going to have to count on the players they have now improving in order for the team to advance further than the Wild Card Game. Fortunately for the Mets there are some players who appear poised to have a much better 2017 season:
After the 2015 season, d’Arnaud seemed poised to take the next step. After all, his 130 wRC+ trailed only Buster Posey among major league catchers with at last 200 AB. His pitch framing was simply outstanding. While he was never known for his arm, he was able to throw out 33% of base stealers, which was actually higher than league average. Entering his age 27 season, he seemed primed for an All Star selection or more.
Injuries once again got in the way for d’Arnaud as did his problems throwing out base stealers. He also regressed offensively hitting a paltry .247/.307/.323 in 75 games. After a season like that, the only place d’Arnaud could realistically go is up.
And that’s where he is trending this Spring Training. With his work with Kevin Long, he has abandoned the wrap in his batting stance, and we have seen him hit much better in the Spring. While his throwing is not exactly where you want it yet, but with Glenn Sherlock as his catching coach, we should see d’Arnaud improve again behind the plate.
And with d’Arnaud improving offensively and defensively, and with a little luck on the health side, we may finally see d’Arnaud play at an All Star level.
RF – Jay Bruce
In his 50 games with the Mets, Bruce hit .219/.294/.391 with eight homers and 19 RBI. While the trade for Bruce may not have been popular, and the Mets being unable to trade him this offseason being even less unpopular, let’s keep in mind Bruce has been a far better player than this in his career.
In his nine year career, Bruce is a .248/.318/.467 hitter who has averaged 27 homers and 82 RBI. In each season he has played 150 games, he has hit 30 homers and 97+ RBI. He has shown the ability to be patient at the plate having posted .353 and .341 OBP in his career. The overriding point here is that Bruce is capable of so much more, and fortunately, Bruce is with a team that can get it out of him.
Since Kevin Long became the Mets hitting coach, he has taken players like Daniel Murphy, Curtis Granderson, Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker, and Asdrubal Cabrera, and he has gotten them to hit for more power and get on base more frequently. As James Wagner of the New York Times reports, the Mets have begun that process by sharing advanced data with him and by helping him change his approach at the plate. So far, Bruce has been a willing student.
Considering Bruce is willing to listen and improve, and the Mets have the people in place who help hitters improve, there is every expectation that we should see a much better version of Jay Bruce than we saw last year.
SP Jacob deGrom
The 2016 season was a tough one for deGrom. He started the year with an injured oblique and a sick infant. He didn’t have his velocity even when he was presumably healthy, and then he had to have season ending to repair the ulnar nerve in his pitching elbow.
Whereas deGrom was throwing around 94 MPH in 2016, this Spring, he is back to the 96+ MPH he was in 2015. That was a pitcher who was 14-8 with a 2.54 ERA, 0.979 WHIP, and a 9.7 K/9. That was a pitcher who finished seventh in Cy Young voting. That was a pitcher who out-dueled Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Kyle Hendricks in the postseason. That pitcher was an ace. By all accounts, that pitcher is back.
SP Steven Matz
There were glimpses of the ace Matz could be during last season. In an eight start stretch from April 17th to May 31st, Matz was 7-0 with a 1.17 ERA, 0.913 WHIP, and an 8.7 K/9. From that point forward, Matz had difficulty pitching through what was described as a massive bone spur in his pitching elbow. Matz lost a tick on his fastball, and he had to reduce the amount of sliders he threw. He struggled, and he eventually had to have season ending surgery.
Looking at him this Spring, Matz is back to the form he was when he was at his best last year. Maybe, just maybe, he might be even better. After working with former Met Scott Rice this offseason, Matz has a slightly new leg kick which functions to keep both base runners and batters off balance. With the new delivery, Matz could possibly be better than what we saw from him over the past two seasons. With the bone spurs gone, and with him presumably no longer sleeping on couches, his injury problems are hopefully in the rear view mirror. Then again, with this latest bout with the elbow, who knows with him?
Overall, with him reportedly feeling good after throwing off flat ground, and I’m choosing to believe the MRI is precautionary. I’m going to choose to believe Matz will be good to go in 2017, and he will have a breakout 2017 season.
LF Yoenis Cespedes
Last season, Cespedes hit .280/.354/.530 with 31 homers and 86 RBI. Using OPS+ as a barometer, it was the third best season of his career. It is all the more amazing he had that type of a season when you consider Cespedes played out of position most of the year, and he dealt with a right quad injury most of the year.
In 2017, Cespedes should be playing in his natural left field position where he won the 2015 American League Gold Glove despite playing only 102 games there. He should also be more comfortable with a large guaranteed contract with a Mets team in which he loves. We have seen the effects of that with Cespedes showing up to camp in terrific shape, and he has been all about business this Spring. No car show. No waffles. Just baseball.
And by the way, he is absolutely killing this Spring. He’s sending moon shots all over the place including one over the batter’s eye at First Data Field. By the look he has in his eye this Spring, Cespedes looks like he may put together a better run than he did when he first joined the Mets in 2015. Seeing how he’s playing now, it is tough to rule that out.
Certainly, with improved seasons from the aforementioned five players, the Mets should have enough to overtake the Nationals once again and win the National League East. When you take into account bigger contributions from players like Lucas Duda and Juan Lagares or with young players like Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, or Gavin Cecchini being ready to contribute the minute the Mets call them up to the majors, this team should do better than the 87-75 record from last year. They should do better than the Wild Card. Maybe, just maybe, they can do better than the 2015 team.
Hector Gomez of Deportivo 101 reports Rafael Montero has made the Mets Opening Day roster.
Yes, that Montero.
The very same Montero who has a career 1-5 record with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.636 WHIP. The same Montero who the Mets gave up on four times last year including a demotion to AA. The same Montero who was 0-1 with an 8.50 ERA and a 2.053 WHIP last year.
Apparently, Montero has more lives than a cat. He gets more chances from the Mets than Bobby Bonilla gets paychecks from the Mets.
One thing that is easy to forget is Montero has real talent. He has a fastball with some movement that he throws in the low 90s but can get up to the mid 90s. He combines that with a terrific change, and he has developed a nice slider. And believe it or not, Montero had terrific control.
Mostly, that control made him a big time prospect for the Mets. He was ranked higher than fellow 2014 call-up Jacob deGrom who would win the Rookie of the Year award that year and do so much more after that. He was ranked higher than Michael Fulmer who won the Rookie of the Year Award last year. Simply put, depending on who you asked, Montero was ranked higher than any Mets pitcher not named Matt Harvey.
But then the control left him. It started during his 2014 call-up. He shied away from contact posting a 4.7 BB/9. In his brief major league career, he has a 5.4 BB/9 including a 7.6 number last year.
That’s been the issue. It’s not that he doesn’t have the talent; its that he doesn’t trust his talent. It’s certainly understandable when you allow two homers in his first ever start. In fact, Montero allowed homers in his first five starts including his allowing three homers to the Washington Nationals.
Whether it was the homers, better umpiring, a shoulder issue [the Mets disputed], or something else all together, Montero never truly trusted his stuff at the major league level, and as a result, he never had the success people thought he would.
This Spring he once again looks like a pitcher who trusts his stuff. In 18.1 Spring innings, he has a 1.96 ERA and a 21:8 K/BB ratio. He’s looking like the guy who was considered a big prospect. He’s looking like a major league pitcher.
And that’s what he is again – a major league pitcher.
There have been glimpses here and there with Montero only for him to shrink from the moment when he makes the majors again. After his AA demotion last year, Montero had a 2.20 ERA, 1.102 WHIP, and an improved 3.5 BB/9 in nine starts. He looked like he put it all together then only to fall apart in the majors.
Maybe, just maybe, Montero sticks this time. Maybe he trusts his stuff so he doesn’t have the same regression. Maybe at 26, he’s finally ready. Maybe he appreciates this could be his last chance.
Hopefully, he succeeds. If he does, the 2017 Mets are that much better. If he succeeds, it gives the Mets more excuses to not give up on talented prospects that struggle. Mostly, it would be great to see a truly talented pitcher pick himself off the mat and fulfill his promise.
Good luck to Montero. He’s going to need it.
For the second time in three seasons, Matt Harvey is returning to the major leagues after having major surgery. The first time it was Tommy John surgery. Now, it is surgery to remove a rib to alleviate the effects of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).
Harvey was great in 2015, but he wasn’t 2013 Harvey great. In fact, we really did not see any glimmers of the 2013 Harvey until the postseason. In Game One of the NLCS, Harvey struck out nine while limiting a vaunted Cubs offense to two runs over 7.2 innings in capturing the win. In Game 5 of the World Series, with the Mets backs to the wall, Harvey was as great as we have ever seen him. He dazzled over eight innings striking out nine Royals. After seeing his postseason performance, many believed Harvey would finally be Harvey in 2016. We now know that wasn’t to be.
By and large, Harvey has recovered well from the TOS surgery. However, he’s not Harvey. He’s not the 2013 or the 2015 version. Right now, he seems to be a different pitcher all together. We’ve seen it during Spring Training. Harvey and Dan Warthen admit it as well.
As Harvey said, “I’m not looking to throw 100 mph again or 97 even. My job is to get people out no matter what I’m throwing, and I’m looking forward to it. [The velocity] is going to be there or it’s not, and I have to go out there and pitch.” (Mike Puma, New York Post).
Warthen doubled down on Harvey’s comments saying, “History says with that surgery that it’s 10 months out. That’s when you really start to feel strong. Generally when you open a season you gain two miles per hour. If he’s playing at 94, 95, it’s a completely different story.”
Now, Harvey has seen increased, if not somewhat inconsistent, velocity in his last few starts. In his last start, he hit 97, but unlike years past he couldn’t stay up there. Theoretically, he still needs time to get there.
Ten months out for Harvey is May 18th, which is about a month into the season. This means if Harvey is on the Opening Day roster, he will be pitching for a little over a month without being at his full capacity, whatever that now is. This begs the question whether he should start the season in extended Spring Training like the Mets are rumored to be doing with Zack Wheeler.
Overall, the end game for Harvey is how he pitches down the stretch and into the postseason. It makes little sense to throw him out there before he is truly ready to pitch. In fact, it makes even less sense when you consider the Mets have sufficient pitching depth to handle giving Harvey some extra time to get ready for the season.
Robert Gsellman was a revelation last season, and he is having a strong Spring Training. Seth Lugo is preparing as if he is going to be a starter this year. Given Lugo’s starts against an absolutely stacked Venezuelan and American lineup, it appears Lugo is ready to go out and build on his success from last year.
We know Gsellman and Lugo can handle being starting pitchers at the major league level. We saw them go out and pitch the Mets into the postseason. If you can trust them with that, you can certainly trust them to start in April and May to buy some extra time for Harvey and Wheeler. While this is happening, you are also saving some innings for Harvey and Wheeler, which would presumably allow them to pitch deeper into the season.
More importantly, the time in extended Spring Training would either permit Harvey to regain some of the lost velocity, or it will permit him to better learn how to adapt to pitching with reduced velocity. Until such time, Harvey remains optimistic and says, “It’s still early. I’m not worried about the result today, I’m happy with the way I felt mechanically. I threw a lot of good pitches and I threw some bad ones. That is excitement for my next outing. I think velocity, all of that will come in time, and just keep pushing forward.”
Whatever the result, hopefully the Mets give Harvey sufficient time for him to get on the mound not just with his best stuff but with the right mind-frame. Arguably, extended Spring Training will do that. We’ll see what the Mets and Harvey ultimately elect to do.
While the Mets had been blessed with good health for most of Spring Training, the injuries are now starting to mount. The latest is Juan Lagares‘ oblique strain.
Back in 2014, Lagares had a similar injury costing him 22 games. If this latest oblique strain is similar in nature, Lagares will assuredly begin the season on the disabled list. With the relative unpredictability of oblique injuries, no one can really guarantee when Lagares will be able to play again. That’s a huge problem as he’s the only true center fielder available.
Curtis Granderson is the team’s everyday center fielder, but that’s a product of his offense. Given his age, 36, and his having to be moved away from center earlier in his career, the Mets need a backup to help share some of the load.
This could be able place for Brandon Nimmo, but he’s dealing with a hamstring injury from the World Baseball Classic.
The Lagares and Nimmo injuries could create an opportunity for Michael Conforto. However, Conforto is not a center fielder, and the Mets want him getting regular at-bats.
The Mets other potential options like T.J. Rivera and Ty Kelly aren’t center fielders. The Mets have toyed with the idea of Jose Reyes in center, but he hasn’t played much there. Moreover, this also means the Mets would have to go with Wilmer Flores at third. Ideally, that only works if a left-handed pitcher is on the mound.
Essentially, the Mets are faced with a number of bad options in center until Lagares returns . . . whenever that happens.
Fortunately for the Mets, the perfect solution for their current center field problem has emerged with Drew Stubbs opting out of his contract with the Minnesota Twins.
Stubbs is a career .244/.314/.397 hitter. From 2010 – 2014, Stubbs was an everyday player who averaged 19 doubles, three triples, 15 homers, 50 RBI, and 27 stolen bases a year.
Clearly, Stubbs isn’t a great hitter, but he is two things the Mets need: (1) right-handed and (2) speedy. Notably, Stubbs is a career .272/.348/.444 hitter against left-handed pitchers. This is much better than the .276/.322/.412 hitter Lagares is.
To that extent, Stubbs presents an upgrade over Lagares. However, as we all know Stubbs isn’t in the same class as Lagares defensively as no one is.
In center field, Stubbs has averaged a -1 DRS and -1.3 UZR in center field. These are hardly outstanding numbers, but the numbers do establish Stubbs can handle center competently. When you consider the alternatives, the Mets could do a lot worse.
Overall, Stubbs is a good fit for a Mets team that needs a center fielder, a right-handed bench bat, and some speed. Having a player like him available at this point in Spring Training is a godsend.
Doesn’t matter.
According to Anthony DiComo of mlb.com, the Mets aren’t interested.
This is a mistake. The Mets need a center fielder. The Mets need a right-handed bench bat. The team could use some more speed. The Mets need to break the habit of relying on injured players.
They can break that bad habit by signing Stubbs.