So far, Chase Utley is 5-16 with two walks, three runs, two doubles, one homerun, and four RBI. It’s one thing not to exact revenge, it’s a whole other to let him be this comfortable at the plate. The last double was a bases clearing double off of Jeurys Familia, who was in in a non-save situation, turning a 5-1 easy win for Jacob deGrom and the Mets and turning it into a frustrating 5-5 game. It was annoying. It was aggravating. It was the perfect theater for Curtis Granderson:
The Grandy Man can … and did. https://t.co/T1F9f5V9Wk #Walkoffhttps://t.co/aqzN95mxph
— MLB (@MLB) May 28, 2016
Granderson took the second pitch of the ninth inning and hit a walk off homerun giving the Mets a 6-5 win.
Granderson needed it. He’s been having a rough May. He had been 0-3 with three strikeouts and one walk before the game winning at bat. In fact, Granderson started his night striking out against Dodgers 19 year old phenom Julio Urias.
Fortunately for the Mets, it was downhill from there for Urias. Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker doubled off of him. Juan Lagares had a two RBI single making it a 3-0 game before Urias could even blink. Urias threw 35 pitches against eight Mets batters in the first. His final line was 2.2 innings, five hits, three earned, four walks, and three strikeouts. He left due to a mixture of his pitch count and his effectiveness.
Urias was bested by deGrom. On the night deGrom pitched seven innings allowing only three hits, one earned, and three walks with seven strikeouts. His velocity was back in the early innings, but it faded in the later innings. The only two blips on the radar for him was his making his first career error in the third followed by Chase Utley not literally sacrificing himself. It was a sacrifice fly, not a sacrifice to appease Mets fans.
deGrom wasn’t the only Met who had a good night. Lagares went 3-4 with one run, three RBI, and one homerun. The homerun was an opposite field shot off righty to boot.
Speaking of homeruns, David Wright homered in his third consecutive game. His homerun was a vintage David Wright shot to right center. Speaking of vintage, the Mets delivered tonight while wearing the 86 racing stripe jerseys as the Mets celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the 1986 World Series Champions.
The Mets win tonight, absent failing to plunk Utley, was a nice homage to that team. An even better one was the Mets moving into first place in the NL East (tied with the Nationals).
Game Notes: It was the second walk-off homerun of Granderson’s career. Cabrera made a decent play in the field
This weekend the Mets are set to honor the 86 Mets as it is the 30th Anniversary of their incredible World Series championship. Can you name every player who appeared in at least one game for the 86 Mets? Good luck!
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Dark Knight emerged as not only the protector of Gotham, but also as a figure that gave people hope. After eliminating Gotham of the evils of villains like Ra’s al Ghul, the Falcone crime family, and the Joker, the Dark Knight found his body weary from the constant battles. He took a back seat as other emerged, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, to fight the good fight.
A new villain emerged that neither Gordon, Dent, or really anyone could handle. Bane. Initially, the Dark Knight sought to take on Bane in his own. He was a shell of himself. Bane quickly dispatched of him while breaking his back in the process. The Dark Knight is then left battered and beaten in the Pit prison. No one ever escapes this Pit. In reality, once you’re here, you’re gone forever. It seems like the Dark Knight we all knew and loved was gone forever.
Instead, he chose to fight on. He got stronger. He did the impossible and made his way out of the Pit and back to Gotham. Some of his old friends were gone, but he still had Gordon. He also had John Blake and Selina Kyle. They fought back, and against all odds, they were victorious. The Dark Knight had returned just when Gotham needed it most.
Looking at all of this, yes, Matt Harvey is the Dark Knight.
In 2013, Harvey arrived and gave us all hope that the Mets could win another World Series. In 2015, he pushed his body to the limits no one has ever pushed themselves post-Tommy John surgery. He, along with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Jeurys Familia, pitched the Mets into the World Series.
Whether it was the innings, the bladder problems, or his dietary issues, Harvey isn’t the same. This year he’s 3-7 with a 6.08 ERA and a 1.688 WHIP. He’s getting beat up by hitters, the media, and his Captain. Harvey seems broken. He appears to be at the bottom of a Pit that he has no means to escape.
Harvey can and will fight back as only the true Dark Knight can. In the interim, deGrom and Syndergaard will continue the good fight. They’re now joined by Steven Matz. In the end, we know the Mets will be victorious. We know Harvey will once again be Harvey. Just remember how this script goes. In the end . . .
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!
Last year during the Matt Harvey drama over his agent’s push for the Mets to adhere to the supposed agreed upon innings limits, Harvey was put in a tough spot, and he didn’t handle it well. He certainly wasn’t helped by his Captain, David Wright. Wright responded to the drama publicly snubbing Harvey.
Harvey made a massive and inexcusable mistake by missing the last practice before the beginning of the NLDS. Wright responded to the situation by saying he was only concerned with the Mets who were at practice.
During Spring Training, when Harvey was going through some serious medical issues. The end result was Harvey was alright, and he was the subject to unnecessary ridicule. Harvey responded with a media boycott. In response to the situation, Wright cracked jokes with the media about the boycott.
Harvey just had another misstep with the media and his teammates. After another bad start, Harvey bolted leaving his teammates to face to media. It’s one thing to boycott the media after unnecessary and unfair coverage. It’s a whole other thing to not to speak to the media leaving your teammates to answer for your problems. Kevin Plawecki was left to answer the same questions he’s been answering after every Harvey start he’s caught. Unfortunately, Plawecki was seemingly the only guy left to answer questions about Harvey’s start.
Wright has now spoken up about Harvey’s most recent behavior. As he told Mike Puma of the New York Post, “A lot of us don’t agree with what he did, but we all take this game personally, and when we don’t play at the level we’re accustomed to, sometimes we make decisions we regret.”
Wright noted Harvey wasn’t accountable saying, “All of us like coming in here and talking when we have a good games, and a few of us, myself included, enjoy coming in here and talking when we don’t play well. Accountability is big and I think [Harvey] just had a bit of a lapse in judgment.”
Wright further elaborated on these comments by saying, “Him, the stature he’s built, the last thing you want . . . you want to be known as an accountable player. You want to be a stand-up guy, and this is a little blip on the radar screen. Hopefully, we all learn from it and don’t make the same mistake again.”
Wright’s comments are understandable. It’s apparent Harvey’s teammates were irked by his actions. He broke a code, and he put his teammates in a very difficult spot. There’s no excusing what Harvey did. With that said, Wright broke the code as well. He went public with his criticism of a teammate. Yes, his comments were relatively mild. However, he did call Harvey out in the media instead of keeping it in the clubhouse. Perhaps, it was because Harvey wasn’t in the clubhouse.
Through the past year, Harvey has seemed like he’s been a difficult teammate. That must be really frustrating for an old school player like Wright. It must be doubly frustrating for a player like Wright who was showed how to comport himself as a professional on and off the field by great teammates and people like Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran. It’s no wonder Wright has allowed this frustrations with Harvey to come out in the media.
It’s reminiscent of how cold Derek Jeter acted towards Alex Rodriguez. Jeter never came to A-Rod’s aide the way he did other teammates. The classic example given was how Jeter implored Yankee fans to stop booing Jason Giambi, but he wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to A-Rod. When it came to A-Rod, he suggested that even he, Derek Jeter, couldn’t control the fans reaction. Jeter had a chance to make things easier for A-Rod publicly like he once did with Giambi. For reasons we are all still not fully aware, Jeter chose to leave A-Rod out to dry.
It’s how Wright has been with Harvey over the past year. Wright hasn’t been as public with criticism of his other teammates. Perhaps it’s because the other Mets players don’t create the same attention Harvey does. Perhaps it’s because the other Mets players do not act the way Harvey does on and off the field. Whatever the case, Wright has been harder on Harvey than anyone else (with the possible exception of Jenrry Mejia). Whatever the case may be Wright has reacted towards Harvey the way Jeter reacted towards A-Rod.
It’s pretty ironic. Harvey grew up wanting to be Jeter. Instead he’s A-Rod, and he’s receiving the Jeter treatment.
Dario Alvarez we hardly knew ye. Due to necessary roster machinations due a number of Mets injuries, including but not limited to Lucas Duda‘s stress fracture, Alvarez was put on waivers to make room for Ty Kelly. On Wednesday, Alvarez was claimed by the Braves.
Alvarez’s line highlight was in his first game last year. On September 7th, the Mets were four games up in the division with a three game set in Washington. The Mets and Nationals were tied 5-5 in the sixth inning, and soon to be named MVP Bryce Harper stepped to the plate. Terry Collins summoned Alvarez. Alvarez battled back from a 3-0 count to strike out Harper. When the Mets scored three in the top of the seventh, Alvarez would earn his first career win.
After the Mets had gone through Jerry Blevins (injury), Josh Edgin (injury), Jack Leathersich (Wally Backmaned), Alex Torres (terrible), and Eric O’Flaherty (words cannot describe how bad he was), it seemed like the Mets finally found their LOOGY. It turns out they didn’t. Alvarez hurt his groin soon thereafter. He tried to come back, but he wasn’t effective. The Mets went to Jon Niese for the postseason.
Coming into this season, Alvarez wasn’t given much of a chance to make the team. Blevins was brought back on a one year, and Antonio Bastardo was signed to a two year deal. With Edgin’s impending return from Tommy John surgery, Alvarez was once again buried on the depth chart. Unfortunately, exposing him to waivers made sense. That still doesn’t mean the Mets won’t miss him. He was further buried last year, and he still made an impact.
It’s impressive Alvarez even got that far. He was a failed Phillies prospect who was released in 2009. Four years later, the Mets signed him to a minor league deal, and he reported to Brooklyn. Alvarez quickly worked his way through the the Mets minor league system. He was mostly powered by a very good slider. However, he could never quite break through and make the Mets roster.
Now, he’s the Braves property, and he’s reported to AAA. Hopefully, he will get his chance soon. He’s earned it.
Yesterday into this morning, the sky was falling after another bad start by Matt Harvey and his refusal to speak with the media. The Mets lost a game to the Nationals and dropped a game in the standings. The world was coming to an end. With that in the backdrop, David Wright came up to bat in the first, and did this:
That was all the help Steven Matz needed. He utterly and completely dominated the Nationals in winning his seventh straight start. At one point, he retired 16 in a row. He only had two 2-0 accounts. He got a huge out by retiring Bryce Harper as the tying run in the eight. His final line was eight innings, four hits, no runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
Matz has lowered his ERA from a gawdy 37.80 in his first start to 2.36. Since that nightmare first start, he has gone 7-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. He’s clearly the early favorite in the Rookie of the Year voting. He’s also due consideration for the All Star Game and even the Cy Young Award.
Matz wasn’t the only young Met who had a big day. Matt Reynolds got his first big league hit in the fifth. He scored his first big league run in the seventh off of a Rene Rivera RBI single. The inning was set up by a Daniel Murphy error on what should have been an inning ending double play off the bat of Eric Campbell. The ball went right through Murphy’s wickets and the Mets lived to put up another run on the board. Reynolds would finish the day 1-3 with a run and a walk. Rivera would finish the game 1-3 with an RBI. He would also throw out Michael Taylor in the third.
The Nationals would rally in the ninth putting the first two on against Jeurys Familia. Famila bore down and got the next three outs to preserve the 2-0 win. Familia is now a perfect 16/16 in save attempts this year.
Overall, this was just a terrific win by the Mets. They came into Washington and took 2/3 from the Nationals. They evened the season series at 3-3. They’re now only a half game behind the Nationals for the division. The Mets are in for a dog fight for the division, and they have showed they’re up for the fight. This is going to be a fun run this year.
Game Notes: Reynolds was pressed into action as Asdrubal Cabrera left the game with a stiff back after the top of the first. Cabrera was technically in the game despite not having had an at bat or taking the field by his being in the starting lineup.
Its astounding how much 2016 is paralleling 2015. This year, like last year, 46 games into the season, they trail the Nationals in the division. Interestingly enough, this is not where the parallels end.
Catcher
Last year and this year, Travis d’Arnaud had a significant injury forcing him to miss a significant period of time. This pressed Kevin Plawecki into assuming the starting catcher’s job, and he struggled. However, Plawecki kept on catching because his backup was a good defensive poor hitting catcher. Last year was Anthony Recker. This year it’s Rene Rivera.
Back Issues
Last year, the Mets faced the prospect of not knowing when or if David Wright could return due to his back problems. As a result, Eric Campbell played many more games than the Mets ever anticipated he would. The same thing is happening now as a result of Lucas Duda‘s stress fracture in his lower back.
Minor Leaguers Not Ready for the Majors
With the rash injuries last year, the Mets trotted out the likes of Daniel Muno and Darrell Ceciliani to try to fill in the gaps. It didn’t work. This year the Mets have pressed Matt Reynolds and Ty Kelly into action. Reynolds and Kelly are having similar difficulties.
Rotation Issues
Last year, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee were having the worst years of their careers thereby putting the pressure on the other starters. The Mets were stuck in a holding pattern about making a change as the obvious replacement, Noah Syndergaard, still needed a little more time. This year it is Matt Harvey struggling while the obvious replacement in the rotation, Zack Wheeler, still needs more time to get ready to pitch in the majors.
Colon Dependability
At this point last year, Bartolo Colon was 7-3 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.20 This year Colon is 4-3 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. This year and last year the Mets have been able to count on Colon to take the ball every fifth day and give them a chance to win.
Mid 30’s Corner Outfielder
Through May 25th last year, Michael Cuddyer was hitting .250/.328/.372. This year Curtis Granderson is hitting .204/.304/.413. Like Cuddyer last year, the Mets are relying heavily on Granderson, and unfortunately, they are not getting the production they need from them.
Second Year Starter Stepping Up
Last year, Jacob deGrom went from Rookie of the Year to All Star. He emerged as the ace of the staff. This year that honor belongs to Syndergaard. Syndergaard has been dominating on the mound like deGrom did last year. He’s a likely All Star, and he’s quickly become the staff’s ace. Honorable mention should go to Steven Matz here as well.
Call for the AA Prospect to Get Called Up
Last year with a rash of injuries and offensive ineptitude, Mets fans shouted from the rooftops that Michael Conforto should be called up to the majors from AA. This year the fans have begun the same with Dominic Smith due to Duda’s injury and Campbell playing there everyday.
Jeurys Familia
Last year, Famila was as dominant as anyone at the end of the game. He started the year a perfect 13/13 in save chances. This year Familia is back to his dominant form. He’s a perfect 16/16 in save chances. As in 2015, Familia is going to slam the door shut.
The Two Team Race
Last year the Braves were the upstarts that faltered. This year will be the Phillies. However, when the dust clears, this is really a two team race between the Mets and the Nationals for the NL East.
Just remember that no matter how bad things got last year, the Mets still won the division by seven games. This year the Mets have a much better team across the board. We may sometimes forget this when the Mets slump or have a couple of injuries. However, this is a much better Mets team that can win the division. This is still a World Series contender. That’s the overriding lesson from 2015.
Last night, Matt Harvey had another tough game. In his prior nine starts, he faced the music and answered the media’s questions. Last night, he didn’t. Neither did Dan Warthen. Instead, the ENTIRE ORGANIZATION left Kevin Plawecki to answer questions about Harvey’s night.
Couple of things here. First, the questions Plawecki fielded were no different than what he’s received the other times he’s caught Harvey. Second, I have not seen one tough question to him about his own poor play. Third, where was the Captain, David Wright, through all of this?
No, Wright did not skip out on answering questions. Still, he’s the Captain. He’s the face of the franchise. It’s his responsibility to go help out a young player put in that seemingly difficult situation.
In my opinion, these are all fair and legitimate questions. Honestly, none of that really matters at the end of the day. I don’t even care that much about what has seemingly been an issue between Harvey and the media. These issues were resurfaced all last night into today. They were articulated well in Mike Vaccaro’s New York Post column. Agree or disagree with the column, there’s an underlying issue being brought to the surface here.
As a Mets fan, my issue isn’t Plawecki having to answer questions when Harvey isn’t around. It isn’t with Harvey or Warthen ducking the media. It isn’t with Wright shrinking from his responsibilities as Captain. It isn’t even with the apparent issues with Harvey’s and the media’s seemingly difficult relationship.
No, my issue is how this all affects the team. Does Harvey’s leaving early cause a rift in the clubhouse? Does it create a rift between him and his teammates? Will this finally be the seminal moment where Harvey turns it all around?
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the lasting impact last night had on both Harvey and the Mets. Depending on how the season goes, this will either be a moment we all specifically reference time and again, or it will be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen. Here’s hoping it’s the latter.
There’s no defending Matt Harvey for this one. He had yet another terrible start. Rather than face the media, he left the stadium to let his teammates try to answer questions about something neither the Mets or Harvey had answers for all season long.
Harvey is a professional who needs to know better. He shouldn’t leave his catcher, Kevin Plawecki standing there to try to answer questions better amswered by Matt Harvey or Dan Warthen.
According to Adam Rubin, Dan Warthen was unavailable to answer questions from the media. In Harvey’s absence, Warthen would’ve been the individual who was best suited to answer questions about Harvey’s struggles. Being the pitching coach, he should know the ins and outs of Harvey’s struggles. If it’s a mechanical issue, what’s the issue? Is it fatigue? Is it mental? What did Harvey say to you to convince you he should’ve made this start?
These are all valid questions left unanswered by both Harvey and Warthen. Instead, both left the Mets struggling young catcher to answer questions neither have had an answer to all year. Harvey deserves to be chastised for abandoning his teammates. Warthen deserves the same blame.
Any hopes of this being a Happy Harvey Day was shattered when Daniel Murphy launched a fifth inning two run homerun into the upper deck off of Matt Harvey making it a 5-1 game. Murphy really pimped that homerun too.
Murph has left the building, ladies and gentlemen. #Nats 5, Mets 1. pic.twitter.com/6qD4pNtccy
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 25, 2016
It was the third homerun hit against Harvey on the night. Given Harvey’s pattern this year, it should come as no surprise that the first two homeruns were back-to-back shots by Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon. Overall, Harvey had another career worst night in what had been a nightmare of a season:
Elias: Matt Harvey surrendered a career-high 20 bases tonight.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) May 25, 2016
Prior to 2016, Harvey had never allowed 2 or more runs in 5 straight games.
This year, he's allowed 2 or more runs in all 10 of his starts.— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) May 25, 2016
For the night, Harvey pitched five innings allowing eight hits, five earned, and two walks with a career worst one strikeout. He has an MLB worst 6.08 ERA.
Unfortunately, Harvey didn’t get much help. The Mets 6-8 batters were Eric Campbell–Kevin Plawecki–Ty Kelly. Kelly was making his debut with David Wright getting a scheduled day off. It’s hard to question Collins’ handling of Wright so far this year because it has been superb. With that said, if it was an either/or situation, it’s surprising he wouldn’t trot out his best possible lineup for a Harvey start; last night’s Wright homerun notwithstanding.
With this lineup, it’s not much of a surprise that Stephen Strasburg had a good night. He pitched 6.2 innings allowing four hits, two earned, and two walks with 11 strikeouts. It should be noted that Strasburg found himself in the same shoes last year that Harvey finds himself now. Strasburg finished last year going 6-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. This year he’s a sure fire All Star and an early Cy Young candidate with an 8-0 record with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.
The Mets offense was an Asdrubal Cabrera homerun fourth inning homerun and a short lived rally in the seventh. The Mets had a first and third with no outs with the aforementioned Campbell-Plawecki-Kelly triumvirate due up. Campbell got an RBI ground out making it 5-2. Plawecki walked, and Kelly struck out. In his big league debut, Kelly was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Juan Lagares then pinch hit for Hansel Robles (who was great again), and he struck out against Felipe Rivero ending the rally.
Any hopes that the Mets would come back were dashed by the bullpen. In consecutive innings Antonio Bastardo and Jim Henderson allowed solo homeruns. It snapped the Mets’ bullpens 16.2 inning scoreless inning streak.
Campbell hit a one-handed two run homerun in the ninth (yes you read that right) to make it 7-4. That would be the final score. It wasn’t really that close, but it was just one game, albeit a game that leaves the Mets once again looking for answers across the board. The Mets play another one tomorrow.