Musings
To a certain extent, the New York Mets and Houston Astros are tied together. Their respective stories began in 1962 when both teams broke through as expansion teams. Up until a point they had some parallels in their history.
In 1969, while Tom Seaver and the Mets we’re making a miracle run in Flushing, the Astros were surprisingly game. They got as close as 2.0 games back in late August before fizzling. Like the Mets, 1969 would be the first year the Astros didn’t have a losing record or a 90 loss season for that matter.
The Mets next World Series run would come in 1986, and they’d have to go through Houston to do it. Interestingly enough, that Astros team would have two former Mets maddening young hurlers, Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott, standing in their way.
When the Wild Card Era was ushered in, the story of the two teams diverged, and their tenuous link splintered. If that splintered it, the Astros move to the AL almost fractured it.
Still, there were some links through the years. Mike Hampton was the 2000 NLCS MVP. There was falling short of the pennant due to Albert Pujols led Cardinals teams ripping your heart out. There was also Carlos Beltran.
Beltran was a future Hall of Famer who played for both franchises. Initially, he fell short of going to the World Series with both teams losing in seven games to the Cardinals. Jeff Suppan was the Game 7 starter in both series.
Finally, Beltran broke through and won the World Series with the 2017 Astros. With that, his return proved fortuitous. The Mets were hoping they’d have a similar experience when they hired him to succeed Mickey Callaway as their manager. That isn’t going to happen.
With the release of MLB’s findings on the Astros sign stealing scandal, the Mets fired Beltran, and the Astros are dealing with the knowledge their World Series title is now tainted.
For Mets fans, we have to accept the role Beltran played. More than that, we know the ties between the Mets and Beltran are probably forever severed, and his Hall of Fame inevitability is now in question. To put it succinctly, we have to deal with the fall of an all-time Mets great.
It’s worse for Astros fans. MUCH worse.
Those fans had to wait 55 years for a World Series. They finally got one, and it was all the sweeter because of home-grown and back-then very well regarded players like Jose Altuve and George Springer.
This is a complete and utter nightmare for any fanbase, and the Astros fans are left to somehow process something which brought them so much joy. This is a sport and team they love, and this was a championship they waited a lifetime to see.
This is likely why we’ll see lashing out and rationalizing of what their team did. That doesn’t make them remotely unique.
Look at Yankees fans glossing over Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and other players. The Red Sox do the same with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. There are others, but this also shows whether you’ve won 27 times or had to wait 86 years, your fans are going to be protective of those titles and players.
The same is going to be the case with the Astros. Don’t blame them. This is the circumstance they were put in by their favorite team.
They’re left rationalizing and trying to hold onto their only title. That’s the absolute worst position to be in as a fan. As a fanbase, they deserve our sympathy. Of course, it’s difficult to give them that if they choose to be obnoxious about it.
Still, no one wants to be in their shoes, and the fans of the other 29 teams should be happy they’re not them. They should also hope to the extent the Astros weren’t the only ones doing it, their team isn’t found out thereby leaving them to have to do the same rationalizing.
On December 20, 1996, the New York Mets acquired John Olerud from the Toronto Blue Jays. In his time in New York, Olerud delivered a number of great moments and seasons delivering much joy to the hearts of Mets fans.
Sadly, Olerud’s heart is now broken because his 19 year old daughter, Jordan, passed away today.
Jordan was born with a rare chromosome disease. Due to their experiences raising their daughter, Olerud and his wife, Kelly, created the Jordan Fund.
The Jordan Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization which helps “families with respite, therapy, and equipment costs that are not covered by their insurance” and also funds “501(c)(3) organizations who assist children with substantial and permanent disabilities.” In addition, they provide grants.
If you can, to honor Olerud and his family, please consider donating. Perhaps, $5 since Olerud wore 5 with the Mets.
More than honoring Olerud, please consider donating money which will help children and families in need. Even if you can’t donate, say a prayer for Olerud and his family who are in pain tonight.
There was some rather important news to emerge early in Spring Training. As reported by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin noticed a change in the baseballs saying, “I think it’s awesome. To me, they feel a little softer and you can definitely notice the seams a little more. Last year, it was like throwing a cue ball.”
In addition to Eflin saying the ball is different, the Mets seemed to get the old Noah Syndergaard back on the mound in his first Spring Training start. That meant not just a more confident pitcher, but also one who was able to locate his fastball and throw that nearly impossible to hit slider.
Noah Syndergaard's first strikeout of 2020. #Mets pic.twitter.com/p1lrpGqpmB
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) February 26, 2020
As we saw in the World Series, Major League Baseball is comfortable changing the ball midstream. That said, at least during Spring Training so far, it appears the baseball is fixed, and we are back to a point where pitchers are better able to throw their pitches, and as a result, the balls may not be flying out of the park at a nearly historic rate.
In her article for The Athletic last year, Dr. Meredith Wills noted the changes to the baseball led to a “more aerodynamic ball.” Ben Lindberg of The Ringer noted it was a livelier ball. In essence, it was a ball easier to lift and drive even if a similar swift and quality of contact would not have led to nearly the same results. So far, it appears the baseball has reverted back, and we will be looking at different results.
When it comes to a pitcher like Syndergaard who noted the difficulty getting the grips and throwing his slider, that’s a very good thing. When it comes to players who broke out in 2019, that could prove very problematic. Pick a team, and you will find a player who broke out in 2019, and those players are now going to be counted upon to replicate that success.
Look at some of the 2020 World Series contenders. The Yankees had Gio Urshela. To a certain extent, it was the entire Twins roster with particular focus on Mitch Garver, Max Kepler, and Byron Buxton. The Astros are replete with issues including the jump in the stats of Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman, and the somewhat unexpected breakout of Yordan Alvarez.
On the National League side of the ledger, J.D. Davis was a completely different hitter than he was in Houston. Howie Kendrick had his best ever year at the plate at 35 years old. The Braves were led by a bounce-back year by Josh Donaldson (Twins problem now) and Ozzie Albies. This was the case outside of the National League East with players having power surges and rebound seasons across all of baseball.
If you follow a team close enough, you can pinpoint a player who either broke out in 2019 or rebounded in that season. For some, that might’ve been real adjustments made leading to significantly improved results, and they will continue producing at that level in 202o.
For others, a change in the ball is going to lead to their reverting to the player they were in previous season, no longer seeing a halt in their decline, and/or seeing their breakout seasons becoming outlier career years. When it comes to these players, there will be much tangential analysis as to why they are not repeating their 2019 season. While it is a worthwhile endeavor, the answer for the decline or reversion is going to be MLB fixed the baseball.
When we discuss player’s health and injuries, fans always want to know, and the media has a duty to report the things they know to the public. Of course, in the case of Matt Harvey, the media and fans can become aware of health information and act juvenile.
Seeing that reaction, and seeing the procedure didn’t prevent him from starting on Opening Day against the Royals, you go back to whether we should know about a player’s health issues, especially those which do not keep a player off the field.
This issue was brought back to the forefront with Brandon Nimmo‘s heart scare. Actually, we don’t know if it was or was not a heart scare. However, that is where some people’s minds went when they saw the reports Nimmo was undergoing a precautionary screening for reasons unknown or unspecified by the manager Luis Rojas.
No one really had an idea what was the reason for the tests, and many Mets fans were worried about the fan favorite. We didn’t know if this was a serious issue leading to a future J.R. Richard situation, or if this was a complete non-issue. It wouldn’t be until his wife said there was really no issue for fans to have any sort of relief.
https://twitter.com/chelseajnimmo/status/1233138341006258176?s=20
As we would later find out directly from Nimmo, himself, he has a larger heart and an irregular heartbeat. This led to him joking he has a larger heart because he has “a lot of love to give.” Gallow’s humor aside, we’re all fortunate Nimmo is alright, and he is healthy enough to play baseball in 2020.
Seeing that he is healthy enough to play, and his heart condition doesn’t interfere with his ability to play, you do have to question why the Mets made a player’s personal health issues available for public consumption. Do we really have the right to know about things personal to Nimmo when it has no impact on his play on the field or his ability to even play? Shouldn’t some things be left private.
Digging deeper, they kept the issues with Yoenis Cespedes‘ heels secret for years. Why did the Mets feel we needed to know about Nimmo’s heart issue which may or may not have kept him off the field, but we didn’t need to know about Cespedes’ heels which was impacting his ability to hustle and stay healthy, and more to the point would eventually require him to undergo major surgery?
In the end, all that matters is Nimmo is alright. His health is the number one priority. Looking past that, we really need to reassess whether information like this NEEDS to be made public and why the Mets choose to make information like this public while keeping other information a secret.
The 2019 season was the worst season of Edwin Diaz‘s career. He set career worsts in almost every category with the most alarming being in ERA, home run rate, and contact rate. This was a large reason why he set career worsts in categories like ERA+ and FIP. To sum up, Diaz was bad in 2019.
There were a number of reasons why including the change in the ball and Diaz’s admitted struggles dealing with New York. Of all the Mets players, Diaz is the one who probably needs to get off to a good start to avoid the boo birds from coming.
Well, in his first Spring outing, things did not go well. He needed 25 pitches to get through the inning, and he would take the loss after allowing two runs on three hits. Two of those hits went for extra bases with Aledmys Diaz and Dustin Garneau hitting RBI doubles off of him.
Seeing this happen, Mets fans should meet Diaz’s outing with a shrug and a yawn. That’s about as extreme an overreaction you should have.
After all, it happened on February 26. The 2020 season doesn’t begin for another month. That is a month for Diaz to continue to work with Jeremy Hefner to make the adjustments he needs to make in order to again become the dominant closer he was with the Seattle Mariners. It’s a month for Diaz to shake off the rust of the winter and proceed to striking out the side in regular season games which matter.
Look, this is Spring Training. Everything is a small sample size, and bad outings and struggles are going to be magnified. Really, it is incumbent upon you as a fan to determine how you react to these Spring Training outings and stories.
You could chose to be pessimistic about outings like Diaz’s. You could allow Ryan Cordell‘s big game or Daniel Zamora‘s dominating right-handed batters get you excited about the 2020 season. Or, you could just take everything with a grain of salt and await the beginning of the regular season.
You can choose to do what you like, but it is more fun to take some advice from Bing Crosby and “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative.” After all, nothing is on the line in Spring Training, so really choose to have fun by properly compartmentalizing Diaz’s poor outing while allowing yourself to get excited a bit by stories like Cordell or Zamora.
On February 21, 2019, Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters the MRI on Jed Lowrie‘s knee revealed “no significant damage.” The following day, Lowrie’s injury was described as nothing more than “soreness behind his left knee,” and ultimately, the team gave no estimates for when Lowrie could return to play.
As we know that no significant damage would eventually be classified as a capsule strain. That capsule strain became the Mets know really knowing what was wrong with Lowrie, and by all accounts, the Mets still do not know what is wrong with Lowrie.
All we know at this point is he was limited to just eight pinch hitting attempts in 2019, and he showed up to Spring Training this year wearing a very large brace on his left leg. Realistically speaking, no one knows what, if anything, Lowrie can contribute in 2019. Really, no one knows if Lowrie will ever be able to play again.
Almost a year later, J.D.Yoe Davis dives for a ball at third, is taken out of the game, and he undergoes an MRI. When announcing the results of the MRI, Brodie Van Wagenen announced there was inflammation, a pre-existing labrum tear, and that they need to reassess Davis in a week.
J.D. Davis' MRI didn't reveal any new structural damage and will begin rehabbing today, according to Brodie Van Wagenen pic.twitter.com/lbqkVEHEgq
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 26, 2020
While some circles will paint that as good news, it is hard to calculate it as such, especially with what we knew heading into Van Wagenen’s statements. First and foremost, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported Tigers team doctors examined Davis and determined “there wasn’t labrum or rotator cuff damage.”
Davis, himself, was unaware he had an existing torn labrum. The Tigers doctors, without the benefit of an MRI, were unaware of it. In very short order, this went from nothing to a pre-existing injury, inflammation, unable to do baseball activities in a week, beginning rehab, and re-evaluation of the injury in a week or so.
However, Van Wagenen wants us to now believe the Mets were well aware of the injury, and that now, it is not going to be an issue.
While it is very possible that is the case, there is a certain element of Yoenis Cespedes to this. Supposedly, the Mets were always aware he had double heel issues, and yet, they initially expressed disbelief he would need the surgery before finally acquiescing.
No one is going to say Davis needs surgery. By the same token, no one is going to say Davis will be a complete non-factor in 202o like Lowrie and Cespedes were in 2019. However, what we have seen with Lowrie, Cespedes, and even David Wright (spinal stenosis initially ruled mild right hamstring strain), the Mets have a very poor history initially diagnosing significant injuries and setting forth a plan to get the players on the field.
The initial news for Davis isn’t as dire as many feared when he first went down and needed an MRI. There is hope he can come back in a week and be ready to resume baseball activities. However, with this being the Mets, no one should take anything out of this other than we won’t know if Davis can play until we see him active and playing in Queens.
We haven’t completed the first week of Spring Training games, and suddenly, the Mets are moving towards being put in a position where they will need to find their Opening Day left fielder. Arguably, we are not yet at that day, but from the looks of it, that day of reckoning may soon come.
Yoenis Cespedes has been rehabbing from his double heel surgery, and according to indications, he is doing roughly 85% of what the other Mets players are doing. Cespedes has been pushing hard, but no one quite knows if he is going to be able to be ready for Opening Day, and if he is, no one knows if he can play everyday.
To some, Cespedes was seen as a luxury because the Mets had other options in the outfield. Depending on how things shake out, that may no longer be true.
J.D. Davis dove for a ball at third, and he is being at least temporarily shut down. He has a “pre-existing” labrum tear and inflammation. Davis says he will be ready for Opening Day, but we heard the same refrains from Jed Lowrie last year, and when we look at history, the Mets have a terrible history diagnosing and handling injuries.
Brandon Nimmo, who was supposed to be ready to go for Opening Day, is now dealing with a cardiac issues. He is undergoing cardiac screening, and at this point, we don’t know what the exact issue is, and really, we don’t know how this issue (to the extent there is one) will limit him.
Right there, the Mets are potentially down three outfield options. That leaves Jake Marisnick, who was a below average hitter even when he knew what pitch was coming, and Dominic Smith, who suffered a stress fracture playing the outfield last year. Keep in mind, where the Mets stand right now, they are in a position to play Marisnick and Smith everyday with their backup outfielder being Jeff McNeil, who is also their everyday third baseman.
The question is what then happens when or if either Marisnick or Smith go down? There just isn’t the depth in Triple-A to sustain an injury. When you look at it, the Mets are getting increasingly shallow in the outfield, and that is before the season even begins.
Fortunately for them, Yasiel Puig is still a free agent, a player the Mets arguably should have already signed this offseason.
With Puig, the Mets are getting a good fielder, who even at his worst, is a league average bat. No, Puig is not the superstar many thought he’d be when he debuted with the Dodgers. Rather, he is a solid, good, durable, and reliable everyday Major League outfielder. Put another way, he is exactly what the Mets don’t have.
Now, it is possible Cespedes will be ready by Opening Day. Davis’ shoulder and Nimmo’s heart may not keep them out of the Opening Day lineup. Marisnick could have a career year, and after a full offseason, Smith could be ready to play everyday in the outfield. Still, that is a lot of question marks, and it is unwise to hinge your season on all of that breaking in the Mets favor.
Seeing that is the case, the Mets should be acting quickly to sign Puig. If nothing else, they’ll put themselves in a position to have too many player for too few spots. That’s a much better problem to have than not having Major League caliber players to play the outfield because the Mets waited too long to act and some other team signed Puig at the precise moment they needed him most.
There are a number of reasons why it was overlooked, but MLB‘s announcement of a joint $1 million donation with the MLBPA to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and every team wearing a uniform patch honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues on June 27 was overlooked. Worse than being overlooked, it is not enough.
Major League Baseball owed the Negro Leagues a debt of gratitude for producing players like Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. They also owe players like Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell an apology for never being able to prove they were the greatest on the biggest stage in the world.
In baseball history, the Negro Leagues are both a source of pride and shame. The pride comes from their proving anyone, no matter their background, race, or heritage, can be great at baseball. The shame is that another league needed to be created to prove this because of the disturbingly named “Gentleman’s Agreement” to keep black players out of baseball.
Because of that decision, we missed out on seeing the great careers of many black players. We did not get to see Satchel Paige face batters in a Major League Game until he was 41 years old. Think about that. At a time when he should have been retiring, he was just a rookie. All because of the agreement to keep black players out of baseball.
With that decision, not only did the black players lose, but we, as fans, and historians of the game lost. Much like we ponder how Pedro Martinez would have fared against players like Lou Gehrig, we are left to wonder how Smokey Joe Williams would have fared against Babe Ruth.
The obvious difference between the two were Williams and Ruth were contemporaries. They should have faced each other in a game, or quite possibly, have been teammates. However, they couldn’t because of small minded people. That necessitated the creation of the Negro Leagues, and for that, we should eternally grateful for the Negro Leagues as they kept baseball alive in the black community.
For a number of reasons, that is something baseball is struggling to do. For years now, baseball has tried to regrow the game in the black community, and it bemoans how few black players there are. Last year, USA Today noted only 7.7% of players were black, there were 11 teams who did not have more than one black player, and three teams who dd not have one black player.
One of those three teams was Jackie Robinson’s Dodgers. Of course, that does overlook their manager, Dave Roberts, and that has changed with the Dodgers obtaining Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox.
Perhaps the next time MLB questions why there are so few fans, they should focus their attention to what they are doing to drive interest in the game. Better put, they should focus on what they are not doing.
This year, they are not doing all they can do to honor the Negro Leagues. The Negro Leagues are an extremely important part of baseball history. In the centennial celebration of the founding of the Negro Leagues, Major League Baseball needed to do more than Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, and Negro Leagues Day on June 27.
This needs to be a year-round celebration. If it wasn’t already planned, MLB should make a push to promote and celebrate players like Betts, Price, Marcus Stroman, and many more players. In addition to donating $1 million the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, they should be hiring former players like Curtis Granderson to find ways to reach out and grow the game.
After all, Granderson has done his part to help grow the game through his charitable endeavors. In fact, he helped build Illinois’ baseball stadium, which is used not just for the college’s baseball team but also for youth events.
The 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues should be celebrated and used as an opportunity to grow the game. It demanded much more than $1 million, which is a paltry sum from MLB and the MLBPA, and more than just a day. This should be a year long celebration with patches appearing on the jerseys of every Major League team throughout the season.
This isn’t just an opportunity to honor and frankly apologize to baseball legends. No, it is also an opportunity to educate and grow the game. By not investing more in the Negro Leagues memory, using this as a launching pad to invest more in the game at the youth level, and not honoring these players all year long, baseball is missing an opportunity here.
Baseball needs to be better and do better. In that sense, perhaps that is the best way to remember the Negro Leagues because it would never have existed in the first place if people were better and strived to do better.
With the New York Mets signing Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha this offseason and purportedly promising them rotation spots, the Mets are in a position where they need to figure out how to make it work with six starting pitchers. Right now, the Mets are trying to figure things out, and there was a report in the New York Post that the Mets may keep all six pitchers in the rotation with Steven Matz and Wacha alternating who gets that start based upon match-ups.
While this is an intriguing strategy, there is an inherent problem. Looking at things from this perspective ignores how Matz is really the Mets fourth best starting pitcher. Take a look at the last two years.
| ERA | ERA+ | FIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |
| Steven Matz | 4.09 | 95 | 4.61 | 314.1 | 8.7 | 3.1 |
| Rick Porcello | 4.87 | 94 | 4.37 | 365.2 | 8.2 | 2.3 |
| Michael Wacha | 4.14 | 100 | 5.05 | 211.0 | 7.5 | 3.9 |
Without going deeper, Matz has the best ERA and strikeout rate of the group. He also has the second best ERA+, FIP, and walk rate. Taking these and other stats into account, Matz has showed himself solidly as one of the five best starters on this team. When we delve a little deeper, his case is further solidified.
Last year, Matz (2.2 WAR) was at least doubly productive a pitcher than either Porcello (1.1 WAR) or Wacha (0.2 WAR) were. He was the only one with an ERA below 4.76, a WHIP lower than 1.394, a strikeout rate about 7.4, an ERA+ above 90, and he was the only pitcher with a complete game shutout.
Matz also was the only pitcher who did not allow over 10 hits per nine, and he yielded the best home run rate. Of the three pitchers, the only thing you could look at was Porcello pitching more innings. However, when you dig deeper, both Matz and Porcello averaged 5.1 innings per start.
There’s another important factor. While Porcello had the worst ERA in the American League last year, and Wacha was shut down with a shoulder injury, Matz figured something out last season which made him a much better pitcher.
After working with Phil Regan to move to the middle of the rubber, he was on a completely different level than either Porcello or Wacha.
In the 14 starts since that adjustment, Matz was 6-4 with a 3.52 ERA, 1.120 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, and a 2.6 BB/9. That July 16 start was his first start since coming back out of the bullpen, and he was limited to just four innings. Beginning with his July 21 start, Matz was 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA, 1.181 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, and a 2.6 BB/9 while averaging nearly six innings per start.
Right there is the reason you go with Matz, and that is before you consider he’s the only left-handed option in the rotation. He is the pitcher who has turned a corner in his career, and he is the pitcher who is really the best out of the three. Ultimately, when you break it all down, Matz is the Mets fourth best starter, and he is a good bet to improve off of his 2019 season.
During the 2019 season, there were rumblings the Mets pitching staff was not happy with Wilson Ramos‘ work behind the plate. While Noah Syndergaard was the only one who went public, we did hear rumblings about other pitchers.
For example, there were issues early on in the season between Ramos and Jacob deGrom. This led to deGrom briefly using Tomas Nido as his personal catcher to get his season back on track and to get him moving towards winning his second straight Cy Young.
Behind the scenes, deGrom and Ramos worked together to get on the same page. Beginning on June 7, Ramos again caught deGrom the majority of the time. From that point forward, deGrom was 8-3 with a 1.88 ERA. In essence, the two figured it out, and once again, deGrom was deGrom.
All we know is that the two worked out what needed to be worked out, but we never quite knew the issue. In a recent interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Zack Wheeler described what the issue between Ramos and really the rest of the pitching staff might’ve been.
Wheeler mostly tabbed unfamiliarity as the issue saying, “I wanted to go up there [with high fastballs] but he wasn’t calling it, so I didn’t throw it up there. Nothing on him. He was getting used to us also. But I knew I needed to go up there a good bit, even early in the count.”
Looking at Wheeler’s first half, he struggled. In 19 starts, he had a 4.69 ERA. The second half was a different story. As Wheeler noted, Ramos was calling the pitches up in the zone more, as he had wanted, and Wheeler rebounded to have another big second half.
Akin to deGrom and Wheeler, we saw clear first half and second half splits for the Mets. In the first half, the Mets were outside the top ten in most pitching categories including their having a 4.88 team ERA, which was 10th worst in the majors. In the second half, the Mets staff was significantly improved to be among the best staffs in the game with a 3.48 ERA, which was fourth best in the Majors.
Perhaps it is of no coincidence the Mets were a completely different team in the second half. After being 10 games under .500 in the first half, they were 20 games over .500 (.644) in the second half. With Ramos figuring things out behind the plate and getting on the same page with the Mets pitchers, they were a completely different team.
It seems the only pitcher Ramos couldn’t quite figure things out with was Syndergaard, but to his credit Ramos is working on it by changing his stance. This should allow him to better catch and frame for Syndergaard leading to better results.
Across the board, there should be better results. After all, the awkward feeling out period between Ramos and the staff isn’t really present. In fact, aside from Dellin Betances, Rick Porcello, and Michael Wacha, Ramos has worked with this staff. He knows what they need to do to succeed, and more importantly, what he needs to do to help them succeed.
Overall, Ramos was a a part of the problem in the first half – a big part. However, he was part of the solution in the second half, and now, he may be a big reason why the Mets win in 2020.