Musings

Happy 40th Birthday Curtis Granderson

Curtis Granderson, one of the best human beings to ever don a Major League uniform turns 40 today. Through his charitable work and play on the field, he left an everlasting impact on the game.

If not for Granderson, the 2015 New York Mets aren’t alive to make that miracle push in August and September. He was every bit the MVP of that team, and if things shook out differently, he would’ve been the World Series MVP.

He was a true leader who left an impact on the young team. He was also very fun starting the We Follow Lucas Duda Instagram account. Everything about him was great, and it truly was a pleasure seeing him play for the New York Mets.

He’s certainly one of the best players in Mets history, and he should have a spot in their Hall of Fame. In fact, there should be a spot for him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It’s a little known fact he’s the only man to win the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award four times. That’s two more than anyone else. Of course, he has also won the Roberto Clemente Award.

That’s why, today, we celebrate the life of a great baseball player and even better human being. Happy 40th Grandy.

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May Still Be Hope Yet For Matt Harvey

After a disaster of a first start of Spring Training for Matt Harvey, he rebounded in a big way. It wasn’t just the results, it was how he pitched.

Through 4.0 innings, he allowed two earned on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. While not dominating, it was a clear positive step for Harvey.

That’s what Harvey has been making all offseason after not pitching a full season in the majors since 2018, the year the Mets designated him for assignment. It’s been a hard and difficult road since that season.

One thing Harvey did was go to the Baseball Performance Center this offseason. There, he worked to not only regain velocity but more importantly spin.

Seemingly, against all odds, it seemed to work, and as a result, Harvey landed a minor league deal with the Orioles. If for no other reason, that seemed a good fit as that is a rebuilding team who can give him a chance.

That’s all we should want for Harvey – a chance. Sooner or later, you just pray it’s going to click again. Maybe, this start was the beginning of that happening. If so, good for him.

Harvey gave his career to help the Mets try to win a World Series. Hopefully, there is a second act in the works.

And who knows, with the Mets potentially needing bullpen help, there could be a second one in Flushing. Maybe, this time he comes in for the ninth and seals the deal for the Mets third World Series title.

We can dream, can’t we?

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Gary DiSarcina Can’t Be Serious

Imagine for a second criticizing Luis Guillorme‘s defense while at the same time praising J.D. Davis. Now, imagine that coming from a Mets coach.

Absurd, right? Well beyond absurd. No one in their right mind would ever do that. Right?

Sadly, it’s true. That’s what Gary Disarcina did. Sorry, Mets INFIELD COACH Gary Disarcina.

Disarcina spoke about how Guillorme has limited range and how he should learn first base to become a more versatile utility player. Yes, it was couched as a positive, but saying your second best defensive infielder has limited range is an unnecessary criticism.

Guillorme wasn’t the only player Disarcina critiqued. He also spoke about Davis’ defense. Now, given how he was critical of Guillorme, you could only imagine what he had to say about Davis.

As reported by Mike Puma of the New York Post, Disarcina said, “he’s been ‘pleased’ with Davis’ work [at third] this spring.” He also spoke about analytics helping Davis and that Davis has “definitely improved.”

The article also spoke about wanting to make Davis work at third because they want to keep his bat in the lineup and Guillorme on the bench.

That’s right. The Mets are actively ignoring Guillorme continuing to prove himself as an everyday player to make something work that hasn’t. Remember, Davis has been among the worst defenders in Mets history.

Now, they have Disarcina saying Guillorme has poor range and needs to learn first to become more versatile while saying he’s pleased with Davis’ progress. Maybe we should consider the source.

Disarcina was the bench coach who couldn’t properly run QC leading to Jay Bruce batting out of order. He’s also been completely unable to help Mets infielders defensively.

Remember, Disarcina has been coaching Davis for two years now, and Davis has only regressed. Jeff McNeil was a good third baseman, and he struggled under Disarcina’s tutelage last year.

There’s also Amed Rosario. Rosario was an exceptionally gifted prospect who many thought could win a Gold Glove one day. Instead, while working with Disarcina, Rosario was actually the worst defensive shortstop in baseball and fourth worst defender overall.

This same coach is now going to say Guillorme has limited range while working on his versatility to be a better bench player? He’s going to say he’s finally getting through to Davis?

It’s an embarrassing series of statements devoid of any credibility. It really only highlights how poor of a coach Disarcina has been and just which direction the Mets want to go.

At this point, they’d rather try to go with someone who is among the worst fielders in Mets history over the better player who has earned the job. For some reason, the Mets and Disarcina thought they should prop up one player while taking subtle shots at the better player.

It’s ridiculous and hopefully dishonest.

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Don’t Forget About Corey Oswalt

While Luis Guillorme understandably grabbed all the headlines, he was not the only Mets player who impressed. Corey Oswalt also had a strong performance.

Oswalt pitched two scoreless innings striking out five of the six batters he faced. It was a reminder Oswalt may still have an impact at the MLB level.

At this point in his career, it is difficult to say he’s been good. There have been glimpses here and there, but overall, as his career 63 ERA+ would indicate, he’s struggled.

One of the biggest reasons why is how he’s been used, or better put, abused, by the Mets. He’s sat unused for far too long stretches, had him pitch on three or fewer days rest, and they’ve bounced him between roles with zero preparation.

Put another way, the Mets did not put Oswalt in a position to succeed, and he hasn’t. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t.

Oswalt is a true four pitch pitcher who is willing to throw any of his pitches at any count. One of the reasons he can do this is his control. While not exceptional, it’s still quite good, and he can locate his pitches where he wants.

Oswalt does not have great velocity averaging around 92 MPH on his fastball. He also has not shown much spin on any of his pitches. As noted, he does combat this by locating.

That said, his change has nice drop to it. That helps allow the swings-and-misses, and it helps induce weak contact. The issue is he hasn’t really had that chances. That’s something the Mets really haven’t had.

The question fo Oswalt is whether he’ll get that chance now. That’s certainly up for debate partially because of the Mets.

Overall, this was a strong 2,0 innings for Oswalt. He showed why the Mets can’t give up on him. That goes double with the Mets starting staff beginning the year without Noah Syndergaard and Seth Lugo.

That right there is the key. The Mets need to pick a role to permit Oswalt to thrive and work within that role with Jeremy Hefner. That could be as a reliever, and it could be as a fifth starter. That’s up to the Mets.

With Oswalt off the 40, he has to reprove himself to get that call up again. He then has to stick. He has the talent, and he’s got the ability to work on things. Where he goes from here depends on his development).

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22 Reasons Luis Guillorme Should Play Everyday

Every time Luis Guillorme takes the field, he again proves himself and further shows why he needs to play everyday. His latest exploit was a 22 pitch at-bat against Jordan Hicks.

Hicks is a closer who can ramp it up to 100 MPH with regularity. He can blow that fastball past nearly everyone. Well, everyone except Guillorme.

Guillorme fell behind 0-2, and he fouled off 15 pitches before drawing a walk. That is special, and it’s yet another indication he can play and star at the Major League level.

In that at-bat against Hicks, we got 22 more reasons why Guillorme needs to play everyday. In his next game, we are bound to find more reasons because he’s that good and deserving.

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Luis Guillorme Has Earned A Starting Job

Truth be told, the notion of Spring Training competitions have become antiquated. Teams pretty much know their rosters, and it really takes a miracle to get them to change their minds.

Proof of that is Luis Guillorme.

Entering Spring Training, there was presumably one starting job on the infield available. With Jeff McNeil‘s versatility, that job could’ve been at second or third.

For his part, Guillorme continues to make the case he should get that job. He’s had a terrific Spring where he’s made a number of phenomenal defensive plays. Yesterday, it was at third.

It should not be lost on anyone that was with Marcus Stroman on the mound. Like most of the Mets staff, Stroman generates a high number of ground balls necessitating defense like that in the lineup on an everyday basis.

It’s not just his glove, which has always been phenomenal. Guillorme has also been hitting. So far this Spring, Guillorme is hitting .357 over six games.

That’s building off a great 2020 where he had a 144 wRC+. This marked the third straight season Guillorme saw an increase in wRC+. Each one of those seasons was a small sample size, but 2021 should not.

Guillorme has done everything asked of him. He’s been great in the field, and he’s continued to improve at the plate. This is what you want to see from your players, and that should be rewarded.

More than rewarded, Guillorme continues to prove he’s the best option. There really is no real viable counter-argument why a ground ball pitching staff shouldn’t have their second best defender in the infield.

Guillorme has been great this Spring, and he’s continuously improving as a player. He continues to prove he deserves a starting job. More to the point, he’s establishing he’s better than all the other options.

Come Opening Day, Guillorme needs to be in the lineup.

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Mets Second Starter Should Be Taijuan Walker, Joey Lucchesi, Or Jordan Yamamoto

When teams assemble their pitching rotations, they typically assemble them in order of the talent of their top starters. Taking the New York Mets as an example, Jacob deGrom will be the Opening Day starter. After him, with Carlos Carrasco possibly delayed to start the season and Noah Syndergaard on the 60 day IL, it is fairly clear right now Marcus Stroman would be the second starter.

If you are taking the long term view of the season, Stroman should not be the second starter. Yes, he is the second best starter available, and if this was Game 2 of a postseason series, you would definitively be handing him the ball. However, in the regular season, that does not make any sense.

Looking at deGrom, since he has been the best pitcher in baseball, he has averaged 6.1 innings per start. If you look at the two seasons prior to 2020, he averaged 6.2 innings. That means whenever he takes the ball, the bullpen is getting a break. That is important when you consider the bullpen gets increasingly taxed and taxed with each start. To that, here is the average innings per start over the last four seasons for the Mets projected 2021 rotation options:

Now, the Mets seemed to be blessed with pitchers who tend to go deeper into games than most teams. Still, when fully healthy, this will be a rotation with two 5+ inning starters at the back end of their rotation. That means a bullpen who gets increasingly used after deGrom starts will be asked to provide a lot more without much of a break.

That was something which truly presented an issue for the Mets during deGrom’s first Cy Young campaign. Yes, he received little to no run support far too often that season. However, he also would see the bullpen blow a number of late leads for him. Part of the result is that the bullpen had been taxed heading into his starts. Rather than having the bullpen in the best possible shape to secure a win from their ace, they were on fumes hoping for deGrom to give them a break.

That is partially how you take a season for the ages and turn it into a 11-10 record for deGrom. That is both a reflection of how wins and losses for a pitcher are overrated. However, it is also an indication that something is going wrong that a pitcher who is setting records can’t buy a win.

If we were to look at the current Mets rotation, the bullpen is going to be well rested when deGrom takes the mound. Typically speaking, they will need to get about 6-8 outs in a game. That will leave them well rested. That is exactly the right time to line up the bullpen for a Walker start.

Typically speaking, Walker provides 5+ innings in a start. After deGrom, the bullpen will be well poised to provide that. Of course, after that, the Mets will have run through some of their bullpen. That is when you combat that by going to Syndergaard or Carrasco (if healthy) or Stroman. The Mets can then go to their 5+ inning fifth starter whether that is Luccesi, Peterson, or Yamamoto. Finally, the Mets could then go to Stroman who can eat some more innings before handing the ball back to deGrom.

By restructuring the rotation in that fashion, the Mets are positioning their bullpen to get breaks here and there. You are getting them regular work, and you are avoiding some fallow periods where they are not getting work because the top pitchers are eating up innings. Overall, the general concept is to stagger the pitchers by the innings they will reasonably provide instead of just lining them up without any concept on the impact it will have on the bullpen and staff as a whole.

Hopefully, that means a better rested Edwin Diaz. It could mean less of a need to rely on Seth Lugo for multiple innings when he returns. It could mean not needing to have the Triple-A to MLB shuttle for pitchers like Drew Smith. Instead, pitchers are put in a position where they get regular rest and work. That should help them succeed, and it should help prevent them from blowing games for deGrom.

 

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Not Televising deGrom And Greinke Plain Stupid

It doesn’t matter that it’s Spring Training. When you have a match-up like Jacob deGrom and Zack Greinke, you televise it. Period.

By not televising it, Baseball missed the opportunity to show two future Hall of Famers going head-to-head. Really, not televising this showed a basic misunderstanding of the sport.

One eternal truth in baseball is fans love high profile pitching match-ups. This was one. Mets fans would’ve loved to see deGrom dominate because they love deGrom.

Of course, we all missed a phenomenal match-up. In 3.0 scoreless innings, Greinke struck out four. And deGrom, well, he was deGrom:

Not only did deGrom strike out seven of the nine he faced, but he hit 102. 102!!! That’s insane even by his lofty standards. And yet, we all had to miss it.

That’s not all we missed. We also missed a phenomenal defensive play from Albert Almora.

Finally, there was also a big homer from Pete Alonso, who is having a monster Spring so far.

But hey, no one thought anyone would want to watch this game, so it’s just these clips here and there. But don’t worry, MLB is tackling the real issues to increase the popularity of the game like base sizes.

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Mickey Callaway Still Angels Pitching Coach

On February 1, 2021, Britany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic wrote an article exposing how Mickey Callaway has sexually harassed women while a member of the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Angels. In response to the revelations, each organization obviously condemned the actions, and they all promised an internal review of their organization.

When it came to the Angels, there was a question of what they should do with Callaway. It was obvious the Angels needed to cooperate with Major League Baseball in the investigation which was certainly forthcoming, but they would also have to make a decision on what to do with Callaway, who personally denied any wrongdoing.

Given the depth of the reporting, it is somewhat difficult to believe Callaway wasn’t fired on the spot. However, unlike Jared Porter, Callaway denied the allegations. As such, it was at least theoretically prudent to conduct an investigation before firing a man who would likely never get another job in baseball again.

Beyond that, there were some intimations the Callaway denial meant there needed to be an investigation prior to a final determination on his employment status. To wit, Bill Shakin and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times surmised the investigation could be a way for the Angels to find a way to fire Callaway for “just cause” meaning they would not have to pay Callaway the remainder of the money owed on his contract.

There were other rumors and reports California employment law meant Callaway’s denial required an investigation before he could be terminated. There are conflicting reports about the veracity of that claim. At this point, that is besides the point.

The point is this investigation has been occurring for over a month now. Even with COVID19, there has been more than sufficient time to undertake an investigation. Really, at this point, MLB and the Angels are just dragging their feet at least as it pertains to Callaway. Simply put, it has been well past time for him to be fired.

 

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Way Too Soon To Worry About Carlos Carrasco

This is normally the time of the year we see the New York Mets experience some sort of injury which significantly impacts their ability to win the division. That is part of the reason why everyone was bracing themselves over the Carlos Carrasco news.

It appears Carrasco had a bit of a setback in his preparation for the season. He has been shut down for a few days due to a sore pitching elbow.

In days past, this was a call for despair. Jeff Wilpon would be playing doctor, and Mets fandom would be using gallows humor suggesting Ray Ramirez was fitting him for a walking boot. This year, at least with respect to Carrasco, we’re not at that point.

This is part of Carrasco’s preparation for the season. In fact, during Spring Training roughly a year ago, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona said, “Every spring after his first outing, he gets mild elbow inflammation. I would call it more maintenance than anything.” (Mandy Bell, MLB.com).

If this is just what Carrasco deals with at this point in the Spring, then nothing is out of the normal. He deals with the soreness and gets back to pitching.

Last year, that led to excellent results. In 12 starts, he was 3-4 with a 2.91 ERA, 1.206 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9, and a 10.9 K/9. If that’s where this sore elbow is heading, the Mets are in phenomenal shape.

If not, and Carrasco is truly injured, well, the Mets are actually prepared for that. One of the losers of the fifth starter competition can slot in to take his space for a short period.

Certainly, the Mets would be in good shape having to start at least two of Joey Lucchesi, David Peterson, or Jordan Yamamoto. Keep in mind these pitchers are only stemming the tide for when Noah Syndergaard can return.

In any event, the Mets are well positioned to withstand a severe Carrasco injury. That’s even if this is a severe injury. Early indications are he’s not really hurt.

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