Yoenis Cespedes

Trivia Friday

This past week three Mets were named as National League All Stars – Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, and Jeurys Familia.  Familia is the seventh Mets closer to ever be named as an All Star.  Can you name the other six?  Good luck!


Mets Win the Home Run Derby

On the eve of the All Star Game, the Mets and Nationals engaged in their own Home Run Derby with each team hitting four apiece. Of all the home runs, none was bigger than Wilmer Flores‘ near Promenade shot in the fifth giving the Mets a 7-6 lead. 

It was Flores’ third home run in the past two games and his fifth on the home stand. It was made all the more gratifying as it came off of everyone’s favorite ex-Met Oliver Perez

Flores had entered the game in the top of the fifth as Bartolo Colon was ineffective and couldn’t make his way out of the fifth. In fact neither he nor Nationals rookie starter Lucas Giolito were good. Colon looked too old giving up six earned over 4.2 innings, and Gioloto looked too young allowing four earned in 3.2 innings. Neither pitcher would factor in the decision. 

Hansel Robles would be the pitcher who got the win for the Mets. He came on in the fifth, and he bailed the Mets out of a bases loaded situation by getting Anthony Rendon to fly out to center. Robles kept the Mets in the game allowing for Flores’ heroics. Overall, he would pitch 1.1 innings allowing only one hit while striking out two. 
It was a good hard fought win that saw the Mets rally from 1-0, 4-1, and 6-4 deficits. You accomplish that by getting key hits from everyone in the lineup:

  • James Loney hit a two out RBI single in the third to tie the game 1-1. 
  • Travis d’Arnaud and Jose Reyes homered in the fourth to narrow the gap from 4-1 to 4-3. 
  • Yoenis Cespedes tied the game in the fourth with an RBI double scoring Curtis Granderson
  • Brandon Nimmo battled from back in the count to get a single in the fifth. He would later score on Flores’ three run homer. 
  • Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo home run in the sixth to give the Mets an 8-6 lead. 
  • Neil Walker added an insurance run in the seventh with his seventh inning RBI single making it 9-7. 

Quietly, Granderson, the new second place hitter, had a brilliant night. He was 3-5 with two runs, two walks, and a double.  The Mets needed this entire offensive output because the Natuonals weren’t going away and because the Mets had to use Antonio Bastardo. In the seventh, Bastardo allowed Daniel Murphy to hit a bomb to right center. Murphy joined Bryce HarperClint Robinson, and Rendon in Nationals who homered on the night. 

After Bastardo was out of the game, the Mets turned to Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia to secure the 9-7 win. Reed pitched 1.1 scoreless, and Familia recorded his 31st straight save to start the season. 

Familia was aided by a terrific play by Cabrera after he issued a leadoff walk to Jayson Werth. Murphy hit a ball that Cabrera made a terrific play just to get to the ball with a dive to his right. He flipped to Walker to get the force out. It become a double play as Werth was ruled to have interfered with Walker by sliding past the base. For what it’s worth, Murphy was safe at first by a mile, but that’s the new rule. Familia then struck out Harper to end the game. 

The Mets have now closed the gap to three games and two in the loss column. 

Game Notes: The eight home runs were the most in any single game at Citi Field. Reyes had started, stumbled, stopped, and was picked off of first by Wilson Ramos. It went down as a caught stealing. 

The Matt Harvey Replacement Isn’t Here Anymore

Steven Matz has bone spurs in his pitching elbow, and the Mets talked him out if having inseason surgery to remove them. Noah Syndergaard also has bone spurs in his pitching elbow, but it appears like it’s nowhere near as serious as Matz’s. Zack Wheeler has had a number of setbacks in his Tommy John rehab, and the best case scenario has him returning to the Mets mid to late August. Now, worst of all, Matt Harvey may have thoracic outlet syndrome.

Anyone one of these pitchers may miss an extended period of time, and the Mets replacements are less than inspiring. 

First up as always is spot starter Logan Verrett who has a 5.32 ERA in his five starts this year. Sean Gilmartin has a 7.00 ERA in his limited appearances with the Mets this year. Seth Lugo had an electrifying one inning appearance before bring sent back down to AAA where he has a 6.55 ERA. Rafael Montero hasn’t been much better with his 6.31 AAA ERA and his 11.57 major league ERA. Finally, there’s 23 year old Gabriel Ynoa who may not be ready for the majors. 

For a team that is built on pitching, these are not viable options. These pitchers are not carrying these Mets back to the World Series like the pitching did in 2015. 

No, the Mets need a pitcher like Michael Fulmer.  Fulmer has made 13 starts this year going 9-2 with a 2.11 ERA and a 1.096 WHIP. He’s throwing a 96 MPH fastball and an 89 MPH Warthen slider. If he was in the Mets rotation right now, he would arguably be the best pitcher in their rotation. At the very least, he’s top three. There’s one problem. 

Fulmer’s a Tiger. Fulmer was one of 12 pitchers the Mets have traded away since the 2015 offseason. Make no mistake. Fulmer was the best of the lot.

Many have justified his departure as he was traded away to acquire Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes would go off in August and September with an offensive display Mets fans haven’t seen since Mike Piazza was leading the Mets to back-to-back postseason appearances. The Mets would fall just short of the ultimate goal as they lost the World Series in five games. 

Arguably, the Mets needed Cespedes to reach that point. However, in acquiring him, the Mets gave up Fulmer’s entire career. They gave up the very player they may need this year just to get back to the World Series. The Mets may have sacrificed their chances in 2016 and beyond for the run they made last year. 

The reason is because pitching is fragile. No matter how good you think you have it there’s a bone spur, a torn collateral ligament, or a shoulder condition that can take an ace pitcher away.  It’s why an organization needs as much high end pitching depth as it can get their hands on. Yesterday’s surplus becomes today’s necessity. 

Fulmer was seen as surplus last year, and he was moved for Cespedes.  With Harvey’s, Wheeler’s, and Matz’s medical issues, he’s now a necessity that is pitching for the Detroit Tigers. 

Stanton Beat the Mets

Steven Matz had a terrific start pitching seven innings allowing only two earned on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts. The outing was all the more impressive considering he’s dealing with bone spurs in his elbow that Matz once believed required in-season surgery.  Unfortunately, despite this terrific start, he’d be a hard luck loser because he made one bad pitch to Giancarlo Stanton:

Just like that Stanton turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. From there Stanton would go on and make sure the Marlins would win the game. 

Yoenis Cespedes led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk off Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen. After the next two batters recorded outs, James Loney became the first Mets batter not named Cespedes to get a hit off of Chen. Juan Lagares then hit a sinking line drive to right that looked like it was going to tie the game:

In the top of the eighth, Stanton added all the insurance the Marlins needed after he hit a three run home run off Erik Goeddel to make it 5-1 and unofficially put the game out of reach. 

The main issue tonight was Chen was really good for the Marlins. He allowed only three base hits, and two of them were off of the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. The only run he allowed was Cespedes’ solo home run in the fourth. The only other Mets to reach base off of Chen was Loney with the aforementioned base hit and Curtis Granderson with a walk. 

It’s easy to get hung up on Chen’s 5.11 ERA heading into tonight’s game. However, that overlooks the fact that the Mets have been hitting of late. It also ignores Chen’s lifetime 3.88 ERA and his 3.34 ERA in 2015. In essence, Chen was capable of this performance, and he just so happened to do it tonight in a Marlins’ 5-2 win. 

Game Notes: Jose Reyes played his first game with the Mets since re-signing with them after his domestic violence incident. He wore his familiar number 7, and Travis d’Arnaud switched to 18. He leadoff and played third. Reyes was 0-4 with a strike out. There was not one ball hit his way. 

With Reyes’ return, Matt Reynolds was demoted to AAA meaning the Mets kept Alejandro De Aza. For once, he rewarded the Mets faith by hitting a pinch hit home run in the eighth off Fernando Rodney

Cespedes Revived the Mets

The Mets were just swept by the Nationals.  A week before they were swept by the lowly Braves.  They had lost 11 of their last 17 games.  The Mets were in a stretch where they had scored only nine runs over their past five games, and John Lackey had pitched 5.1 shutout innings against a lifeless Mets offense that was only able to muster up two hits.  Then Yoenis Cespedes stepped up to the plate and did this:

 

From that point forward, the Mets have been a different team.  The Mets made an improbable comeback in that game scoring three more runs in the seventh inning to win the game 4-3.

From there, the Mets would sweep a four game set from the Cubs much like they did in last year’s NLCS.  They pummeled Jason Hammel like it was Game 4 of the NLCS.  They beat reigning Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta.  They scored 14 runs in a game started by the $155 million dollar man Jon Lester.  Overall, the Mets averaged eight runs per game against a Cubs team that leads the National League in team ERA at batting average against.  It was an unexpected and impressive performance.  The Mets offense transformed from a feckless one to one that could seemingly overcome any obstacle.

We saw that again on Sunday.  Matt Harvey had a poor start lasting only 3.1 innings and putting the Mets in an early 6-0 hole against a Marlins team that just terrorizes the Mets.  Normally, this would have been reason for the Mets fans to groan and start wondering if this Marlins teams is really better than the Mets.  It would normally be cause to question whether the Mets offensive barrage of the Cubs was a fluke.  It turns out it wasn’t a fluke.

The new Mets offense started chipping away.  Travis d’Arnaud hit his first home run in the fourth.  Curtis Granderson, back in his familiar leadoff spot for perhaps the last time, followed with a home run of his own in the fifth.  Then a miracle truly happened.  The Mets offense began scoring runs without hitting any more home runs.  In the sixth, d’Arnaud had a bases loaded RBI infield single.  Another run scored when Kelly Johnson hit into a double play.  There was another rally in the seventh that saw a run score on a James Loney RBI ground out and a Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly.  The Mets had gone from a six run deficit to a a tie game heading into the eighth inning.  Naturally, Cespedes would be the one to put the Mets ahead for good by hitting a two run double off new Marlins reliever Fernando Rodney.  It was the fourth largest comeback in Mets history.

Two weeks ago, that rally wouldn’t have been possible.  The Mets offense wouldn’t have mustered up much of a fight.  However, this Mets team has been different since that Cespedes’ home run into the Promenade Level – a home run that reached heights no other home run had reached at Citi Field.  It was a home run that has helped the Mets offense reach heights it has not reached this season.  It was a home run that may propel the entire Mets team to heights they have not seen in 30 years.

Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com 

Mets Bats Bring the Thunder

Mother Nature provided the rain, but it was the Mets bats that provided the thunder. The Mets hit five home runs within the first five innings going ahead 10-1. 

It started in the second inning with James Loney and Asdrubal Cabrera going back-to-back off Cubs starter Jason Hammel. Cabrera would hit another homer off Hamel in the fifth. That would be the second homer in the inning. The first was a Yoenis Cespedes laser shot. Cespedes needed to hit that homer as Brandon Nimmo hit a home run in the fourth inning that was one foot farther than Cespedes’ shot yesterday:

It was Nimmo’s first career home run and curtain call. He followed it up by making a nice defensive play in the fifth:

  
It was a terrific night for Nimmo and the Mets. 

The beneficiary of all these runs was Jacob deGrom. It was about time the Mets scored some runs for him too. The Mets had not given him more than two runs of support since May 27th. He’s had the fourth worst run support in the majors this year with the Mets scoring 2.89 runs per game for him (Matt Harvey has the second least with 2.79). 

deGrom would finally get his first win since April 30th. His ability to get this win was in doubt as there was a rain delay for over an hour before the third inning. Terry Collins sent him out there anyway, and deGrom lasted five innings allowing three hits, one earned, and one walk with seven strikeouts. The lone run he allowed was a solo home run off the bat of Kris Bryant. It’s possible deGrom could’ve gone more than five as he was only up to 85 pitches. However, once there was another rain delay in the sixth, the third one of the game, deGrom was done for the night. 

Needless to say, deGrom pitched much better out of the delay than Hammel did. The Mets pummeled Hammel in this 10-2 win like they did in Game 4 of the NLCS.

Game Notes: Loney was 3-4 with two runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer. He was a triple short of a cycle. He actually hit one this year. It was a June 18th game against the Braves. Seth Lugo made his major league debut in the eighth inning wearing number 67. He became the first Met to ever wear that number. Lugo got it up to 97 MPH showing real promise out of the pen. He pitched two scoreless innings allowing two singles, a HBP, and striking out a batter. He also had his first balk falling off the mound before delivering a pitch. 

David Wright attended his second straight game. For safety reasons, he watched the game from the bullpen. 

Trivia Friday

All Star voting came to a close yesterday, and based upon the voting results over the course of the season, it looks like Yoenis Cespedes is about to become the sixth Mets outfielder to ever start an All Star Game.  Can you name the other five?  Good luck!

 


Cespedes Awakens the Mets Offense

It looked like more of the same for the Mets. Steven Matz allowed a first inning two run home run to Kris Bryant and a solo shot to Javier Baez in the sixth. The Mets were down 3-0 and didn’t seem to have a chance. It was the same old dreary Mets offense. In the bottom of the sixth, Yoenis Cespedes woke everyone up:

The 441 foot shot was the longest in Citi Field history and first into the Promemade Level. It was shades of Tommie Agee

The Mets looked like a different team after that. Travis d’Arnaud got it started with a one out single off Cubs starter John Lackey. Then a minor miracle happened when Alejandro De Aza worked out a walk against Cubs reliever Joel Peralta. Then Brandon Nimmo had the at bat of the night. 

Nimmo was quickly down 1-2 in the count. He would foul off three straight pitches, and he would hit an RBI single on the ninth pitch of the at bat. It narrowed the score to 3-2. He alertly moved to second when center fielder Albert Amora tried to get De Aza at third. 

Joe Maddon then went to Pedro Strop to pitch to Neil Walker. Strop quickly went ahead in the count 0-2, and the Cubs pulled the infield in. Walker then hit a hooper at second baseman Baez who had no shot at getting De Aza at home. He tried to get Nimmo at third, but he threw it wild. 

  
Nimmo then scored to make it 4-3. It was a comeback the likes of which the Mets have not made in quite a while. 

In the eighth, MLB history was made when Addison Reed pitched to Addison Russell. Russell won the first ever battle of the Addisons by walking. It set up runners at first and second with two outs. Maddon sent up Jason Heyward to pinch hit, and Terry Collins countered with Jerry Blevins. Blevins got Heyward to tap one back to Blevins to end the inning. 

Jeurys Familia recorded his 27th straight save this year to secure the 4-3 win. This one wasn’t easy. Ben Zobrist hit a double to make it second a third with no outs. Familia struck out Bryant, and then intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo to face rookie catcher Willson Contreras. Familia struck out the overmatched Contreras. Baez popped it up to end what was a tremendous save by Familia and win for the Mets. 

The Mets took the first game of a four game set against the Cubs. By the way, last year’s NLCS was also a four game set. 
Game Notes: Matz showed his frustration out there a few times, most notably when Lackey buzzed him on a sac bunt attempt. He also threw his glove after the Baez homer. Erik Goeddel earned the win after pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. 

My All Star Game Ballot

Since MLB has not adopted my All Star Game changes, here is my National League ballot:

C – Buster Posey

It’s the narrowest of margins between between Posey and Jonathan Lucroy. Posey gets the vote as he has a 0.1 WAR advantage over Lucroy, and he’s the best pitch framer in the game this year.

1B – Paul Goldschmidt

Yet again, Goldschmidt is the best first baseman in the NL if not all of baseball.  Consideration should be given to Anthony Rizzo, but in reality, Goldschmidt is a better player.

2B – Daniel Murphy

Second base is very deep in the NL with Murphy, Ben ZobristNeil Walker, etc. Ultimately, the tie breaker is Murphy because he leads second basemen in batting average and slugging. He’s also been a difference maker for a Nationals team in first place.

3B – Nolan Arenado

Easiest choice on the ballot. He’s the best fielding and hitting third basemen in the NL.

SS – Corey Seager

The NL Rookie of the Year favorite leads all shortstops in WAR and is second in homers to fellow rookie Trevor Story. It’s Seager over Story as Seager has been the much better all around and consistent player.

OF – Yoenis Cespedes

Last year when Cespedes joined the Mets, he went on an absolute tear that helped the Mets turn things around. He’s been just as good this year with less help.

OF – Christian Yelich

The Marlins were supposed to have the best and most exciting young outfielder in the National League in Giancarlo Stanton. They do, but it’s Yelich.

OF – Starling Marte

Like the Marlins, the Pirates could reasonably expect one of their outfielders to start the All Star Game. Like the Marlins, it’s a different player.  You would’ve expected the former MVP Andrew McCutchen to be the guy.  However, Marte is their best outfielder. In fact, as per WAR, he’s the best outfielder in the NL.

Here is my American League Ballot:

C – Salvador Perez

He leads American League catchers in most offensive categories, and he is one of the best catchers that would actually qualify as a batting title.

1B – Chris Davis

For the most part, this has been a down year for most of the American League’s first basemen.  Miguel Cabrera has been playing well of late while Joe Mauer has tapered off after a good start.  The most consistent has been Davis, who leads first baseman in homers, RBI, and WAR.  He’s a large reason why the Baltimore Orioles are surprisingly in first place . . . again.

2B – Jose Altuve

He has been the best player in the American League in the first half.  He’s in the MVP discussion.  He’s the easy selection in either league despite Robinson Cano’s resurgence.

3B – Josh Donaldson

The reigning American League MVP has followed-up with a similarly great season for the Blue Jays.  He is yet again the best third baseman in the American League.

SS – Francisco Lindor

He has been a driving force for the first place Cleveland Indians with his glove and his bat.  Due consideration should be given to Manny Machado.  However, Machado has split time between short and third, and he began the year as a shortstop.

OF – Mike Trout

Trout is still the best outfielder in the American League as he has been for the past 5+ seasons.  By the way, he is only 24 years old.

OF – Jackie Bradley, Jr.

Bradley’s defense has always been a given.  Now, with a .294/.384/.558 batting line, it appears his bat has caught up with his glove making him one of the best all around outfielders in baseball.

OF – Ian Desmond

The guy no one wanted as a shortstop in the offseason has become a versatile outfielder playing well in both left and right.  More importantly, his potent bat has returned.  He’s been the best player for what has been the best team in the American League so far.

Sandy Alderson Had a Poor Offseason

This past offseason Sandy Alderson and the Mets were heralded for building a deep roster that was better built to sustain a slate of injuries like the Mets fared last year.  Here are how all the players Sandy Alderson acquired during the offseason have fared with the Mets this year:

Neil Walker

So far, Walker has had a terrific 2015.  In fact, he is on pace to have the best year of his eight year career.  However, as the Mets offense has tailed off, so has Walker.  Here are his monthly splits:

  • April .307/.337/.625 with 9 homers and 19 RBI
  • May .250/.333/.420 with 4 homers and 6 RBI
  • June .224/.307/.289 with 1 homer and 6 RBI

Each and every month Walker has gone from one a career best year to stats worse than he has had over the course of his career.

Asdrubal Cabrera

Like his double play partner, Cabrera’s stats are masked by a hot April.  In April, Cabrera hit .300/.364/.400.  Since that time, Cabrera is only hitting .247/.307/.409.  Worse yet, despite many raving about his defense, the advanced metrics disagree.  So far, he has a -5 DRS and a -2.1 UZR.

Alejandro De Aza

He was supposed to be a platoon partner with Juan Lagares in center.  Given his .165/.216/.242 batting line, it is a blessing that never came to be.

Yoenis Cespedes

For the second straight year, Cespedes has been terrific for the Mets.  His OBP and slugging are on pace to be the highest in his career.  He’s also on pace for a career high 38 homers.  Even with his poor defense in center field, he has been day in and day out the best player on the Mets.

Rene Rivera

Like every other backup catcher during the Sandy Alderson regime, Rivera has not hit.  Initially, he was supposed to be a minor league depth, but after another Travis d’Arnaud injury, he was called-up to the majors.  He has worked well with Mets pitchers this year, specificially Noah Syndergaard  Mostly due to his defense, and also because of how poorly Kevin Plawecki has played, he has stayed in the majors when d’Arnaud came off the disabled list.

Ty Kelly

He was a minor league free agent that was never supposed to play in the majors.  When he hit .148/.207/.259 in 14 games we found out why.  Of course, he was pressed into action in part because the Mets found it wise to start with Eric Campbell on the 25 man roster instead of Ruben Tejada.

Bartolo Colon

Somewhat surprisingly, at the age of 43, Colon is having his best season with the Mets.  He’s 6-4 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.170 WHIP.  He also did this:

Jerry Blevins

After he went down last year, the Mets searched high and low for a lefty out of the pen.  They never did quite find one.  Blevins has been healthy this year, and he has been terrific going 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA.  Only recently did he have a 21 appearance and 13 inning scoreless streak snapped.

Antonio Bastardo

He has been the worst reliever in the Mets bullpen with a 5.28 ERA and a 1.565 WHIP.  Terry Collins has shoved him to the back of the bullpen and tries to avoid using him in high leverage situations at all costs.

Jim Henderson

The minor league free agent had a great Spring Training and made the Opening Day roster.  He was having a terrific season until Collins pushed him too far for what he perceived to be a must-win game in April.  His production tailed off, and now he is on the disabled list with an injured shoulder.  This is the same shoulder that caused Henderson to miss all of the 2015 season after having had two surgeries on the joint.

Overall, looking over how these moves have panned out thus far, it does not appear that Sandy Alderson has had as good an offseason as many proclaimed him to have had.  In fact, as the season progresses, it makes Alderson’s season look worse and worse.  In order for the perception of Alderson’s offseason to change again, the underperforming players are going to have to improve.  Time is growing shorter and shorter for that to happen.