On a team that traditionally kills the Mets, Christian Yelich is the ultimate Mets killer.
It started in the second inning when he robbed Jacob deGrom:
At the time, the Mets had Jose Urena on the ropes with two outs and the bases loaded. Between last night and tonight, the Mets have loaded the bases four times, and Kelly Johnson is the only one who has gotten a base hit.
In the following half inning, Yelich struck again hitting an RBI single off deGrom scoring Ichiro Suzuki giving the Marlins a 1-0 lead.
In this series, the Mets responded each time the Marlins took a lead, but not tonight. It would be the Marlins who struck next, and once again Yelich would be in the mix.
In the top of the fifth, Yelich got the rally started with a two out single. He would come around to score on a Jeff Francouer double. Francouer would score off a Xavier Scruggs double.
That would be it for deGrom. His final line was five innings, six hits, three runs, three earned, four walks, and six strikeouts. Considering he has struggled recently and the Mets skipping a start, it was hard to tell if he was rusty or if he’s just lost right now. Whatever it is, the Mets need him, and he hasn’t been able to help.
In the sixth, the Mets would narrow the gap with a Jay Bruce solo home to to make it 3-1.
Yelich would once again be a factor. So would Terry Collins.
Despite a well rested bullpen and newly acquired Fernando Salas available, Collins would push Josh Smoker to pitch a second inning. Smoker didn’t record an out in the seventh, and he gave up an opposite field home run to Yelich giving the Marlins a 6-1 lead. It was Yelich’s third opposite field home runs in as many days.
Credit should be given to Keith Hernandez here. During the Yelich at bat, he noted how well Yelich goes the other way, and he noted Smoker should pitch Yelich inside. Smoker didn’t.
Salas would then make his Mets debut pitching a scoreless inning.
The Mets would build a rally in the eighth. Curtis Granderson and Johnson would lead off the inning with opposite field singles off Nick Wittgren. Bruce followed suit hitting an opposite field RBI single.
Don Mattingly would bring in Kyle Barraclough. Wilmer Flores battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk loading the bases bringing up Michael Conforto. Barraclough threw him nothing but breaking pitches, and Conforto hit into the 1-2-3 double play. Despite going 2-4 with a double reaching on an error and making a nice play in the field, knowing Collins, Conforto won’t play in another game this year.
Yoenis Cespedes, who didn’t start the game due to the slick field conditions, would pinch hit for James Loney. He struck out to end the inning and the rally. Again, the Mets couldn’t score a run with the bases loaded.
To the Mets credit, they didn’t go down without a fight. Travis d’Arnaud led off the inning an infield single thanks in part to a lacksadasical Dee Gordon. Asdrubal Cabrera, who also sat due to field conditions, hit his first career pinch hit home run making it 6-4. The Mets would get no closer.
Fittingly, the last three batters would all fly out to left with Yelich getting all three put outs. On the night, Yelich was 3-4 with two runs, four RBI, one walk, a homer, and a sparkling defensive play in center. He was the lone Marlin who came to beat the Mets this series, and he finally accomplished his goal tonight.
With the loss, the Mets missed an opportunity to gain some ground on the idle Cardinals, and yes, for the delusional fan, the idle Nationals.
Game Notes: For some reason or other, Rene Rivera played first tonight even with Ty Kelly getting recalled with the expanded rosters.
Like last year, the Mets acquired Addison Reed right before the August 31st trade deadline. He quickly assumed the seventh inning role for a pennant winner last year. This year, he has taken over the eighth inning, and he has been as good a setup man as there is in baseball.
The problem is Reed and most of the Mets bullpen is fatigued. With that in mind, enter Fernando Salas.
Salas mostly relies on his fastball, change up, and a knuckle curveball. He has a slider he uses very infrequently, but when he does throw it, it has proven to be an effective pitch. Given the pitching philosophy of his new team and pitching coach, that may change.
Like Reed last year, Salas has struggled for the most part this year. For the season, Salas has a 4.47 ERA, 1.260 WHIP, and a 7.2 K/9. Each of these stats are among the worst in his career.
However, it should be noted Salas has pitched much better of late. After a nightmare June and a bad July, he’s a much better pitcher in August. Batters are only hitting .211/.286/.368 against him this month. He had a 3.48 ERA, 1.161 WHIP, and a 10.5 K/9. It’s part of the reason he had taken over as the Angels closer.
For what it’s worth, his postseason numbers are a mixed bag. In his postseason career, he is 0-1 with a 3.54 ERA and a 0.984 WHIP in 18 games. Those stats are actually elevated as he had one bad inning in the 2011 World Series. Speaking of the 2011 World Series, Salas does bring championship experience.
Overall, Salas is a pitcher who should help the Mets. He should give pitchers like Reed rest, and before the season is over, he may very well lock down the seventh inning.
In exchange for Salas, the Mets gave up Erik Manoah. The Mets 2014 13th round pick certainly has promise. He has the ability to get his fastball up to the mid-nineties with a developing curveball and change up. Perhaps as important, he has excellent control.
Still, Manoah has a 5.84 ERA for his minor league career. It’s possible the Angels unlock something, and the Mets will rue the day they traded Manoah.
However, Manoah is far from a guarantee. It might be more likely that Salas is the pitcher who makes the necessary adjustments and makes more improvements. Its why the Mets were right to make the deal.
Neil Walker came to the Mets because his hometown team, the team that drafted him, no longer wanted him. They felt they would be better off allocating his salary elsewhere. Worse yet, he was sent away a few weeks before Christmas.
Instead of wallowing in self pity, he came to New York almost immediately. He would serve as an elf at the Mets Holiday Party. He would work with Kevin Long to both maximize his power while becoming a much better right-handed hitter.
Walker jumped out of the gate in April hitting nine homers while becoming a key cog in the Mets offense.
After April, he would slump badly. He was near an automatic out at the plate. Throughout this time, he never complained. He didn’t blame his bad back that flared up on him in June. Instead, he kept grinding, and he actually played some of the best defense in his career.
Between the All Star Break and Terry Collins giving him some days off, Walker was rejuvenated. August was shaping to be his best month of the season, if not his career, with him hitting .389/.450/.667 with two doubles, six homers, and 10 RBI. Then disaster struck.
Walker is going to need season ending surgery because he has a herniated disc in his back. He kept insisting he could play, but eventually it became apparent he couldn’t. Hopefully, he has successful surgery, and he can get back to being the player he was.
With that, Walker’s season is over. He’s not going to be able to help his team go the postseason. There will be no October heroics for him.
Worse yet for him, the new dad is about to become a free agent. He should have been able to cash in on what could be considered the best year of his career. Instead, he enters the offseason not just with uncertainty about just how much money he’s lost on the free agent market, but also how this back injury will affect his career.
By all accounts, Walker was a good guy who played his tail off this year. He played through pain, and he did all he could do to help his team win. Instead of being rewarded for all of this, he’s going to have to sit and wonder what might’ve been.
It’s a shame, and Walker deserved a better fate than that.
For an organization known for its pitching, it should come as no surprise that the Mets have had their fair share of good closers. What may come as a surprise is that Jeurys Familia might just become better than them all.
The Mets first notable closer was Tug McGraw. His contributions extend well past his coining the phrase “Ya Gotta Believe!” Up until the 80’s, in a time when managers began to pitch to the save rule, McGraw was the Mets all-time leader with 86 saves. He is also the only Mets to be a closer to for a team that won a World Series and a Pennant. In 1969, he shared closing duties with Ron Taylor. In 1973, he was not only the man, but in many ways, the vocal leader of the team. The only record McGraw has remaining in the record books is most innings pitched by a Mets reliever with 792.2 innings over his nine year Mets career.
The next Mets closer to appear in multiple postseasons was Jesse Orosco. When discussing Orosco, there are always three things you need to mention: (1) he was part of the return the Mets received when they traded Jerry Koosman to the Twins; (2) Keith Hernandez warned him not to throw a fastball to Kevin Bass (he didn’t); and (3) his glove has still not landed. After his eight year career was over, Orosco was both the Mets all-time leader in saves (107) and the Mets single season saves leader (31 in 1984). To this day, he remains the only Mets closer to save a World series clinching game.
Orosco would eventually be surpassed by John Franco on both the saves list and the Mets all-time saves list. Somewhat ironically, Franco’s entrance song was Johnny B. Goode as his ninth inning appearances were always a high wire act. Still, throughout all of it, Franco has more saves by any left-handed closer in history with 424, and when he retired he was third on the all-time list trailing only Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman. Franco recorded 276 of those saves with the Mets. His 276 saves are the Mets record by a fairly wide margin.
In fact, Franco leads Armando Benitez by 116 saves on the Mets all-time list. Coincidentally, Benitez is the man who replaced Franco as the Mets closer in 1999. With the Mets having made consecutive postseason appearances in 1999 and 2000, Benitez remains the only Mets closer to pitch in consecutive postseasons. While Mets fans loved to hate him, Benitez did show flashes of complete and utter dominance. As of right now, his 43 saves in 2001 still remains the Mets single season record.
However, that record is in jeopardy. Last year, Jeurys Familia, in his first season as the Mets closer, tied Benitez’s single season record. This year, he has tied it again en route to him most likely breaking the tie with Benitez. With Familia having saved 43 games for consecutive seasons, he has already set the mark for most saves by a Mets closer in consecutive seasons. Even with Familia only having been the Mets closer for one plus seasons, he now ranks fifth all-time with 92 saves as a Met. With 16 more saves, he will jump both Orosco and Billy Wagner to put him third all-time.
If the Mets current charge continues, he could join Benitez as the only Mets closer to appear in back-to-back postseasons. If the Mets get into the postseason, anything is possible including seeing Familia join Orosco as the only Mets pitcher to earn a save to close out the World Series.
That’s just the thing with Familia. He’s already a great closer, and he’s already writing his name all over the Mets record books. As long as he is the Mets closer, anything is possible. It’s also possible that we could be watching the best closer in Mets history.
As we have seen with David Wright some injuries are more than just baseball injuries. Some injuries have long lasting effects, and they affect your quality of life away from the game. You want these players to recover not just because you want to see them back on the field, you want to see them recover because you don’t want to see someone suffer.
That may be where we are now with Neil Walker.
Walker has apparently been dealing with a back issue since his day with the Pirates. It flared up in June, and it has flared up again. Only this time, his back problem has apparently gotten worse – much worse.
Despite the Mets being in the thick of the Wild Card race, Walker has been unable to play since Saturday. Coming into last night’s game, the Mets have announced Walker can no longer play every day. Worse yet, he has tingling in his back which is affecting his legs. There are even more dire reports suggesting Walker is experiencing tingling on one side of his body. It’s at the point now where the Mets wonder aloud about whether Walker’s season is over. Terry Collins put it succinctly when he said, “There’s a lot of concern.” (mlb.com)
Right now, the plan is for Walker to get a second opinion to see if he really can play. Because they’re the Mets, and they have all their injured player’s play, the team still intends to have Walker play through the pain. Given the Mets recent history with back injuries, Wright and Lucas Duda, it’s hard to feel optimistic about Walker’s chances of not just being able to play, but also being able to contribute this season.
No matter what happens, Walker has to do what is right for him and his family. While the Mets need his bat in the lineup for the stretch run, no one wants to see him befall what has befallen Wright over the past couple of years.
Much like last night, the Marlins would not have a lead against the Mets for very long.
In the top of the first, Christian Yelich hit a two run homer off Seth Lugo giving the Marlins an early 2-0 lead. After that, Lugo would shut the Marlins down including robbing Ichiro Suzuki of a base hit to get out of the first. Lugo grabbed the ball dribbling down the line and threw a dart over Ichiro’s head.
His final line was six innings, five hits, two runs, two earned, one walk, and four strikeouts.
Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera would set out to make sure Lugo got the win. With Cabrera playing after missing a game with a knee issue, the two once again served as sparks at the top of the lineup. They started immediately.
After Reyes leadoff the bottom of the first with an infield single, Cabrera brought him home on a game tying two run homer.
Welcome back, Asdrúbal Cabrera! He ties the game with a 2-run blast!! pic.twitter.com/N7DrbRp52j
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 30, 2016
On the night, Reyes would go 4-5 with two runs and a double. Cabrera was 2-3 with a run, two RBI, a walk, and a homer. With them going like this, you can believe the Mets have what it takes to get back to the postseason.
The first inning rally would continue on a Jay Bruce double. Yes, that actually happened. He would then score on a Wilmer Flores RBI single. It was part of a big night for Flores who was 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
Just like that, a Marlins lead became a 3-2 deficit. The Mets wouldn’t look back.
After the first, the Mets kept threatening against Tom Koehler, but they couldn’t quite plate another run. Shocking, I know. The Mets not getting hits with runners in scoring position.
Things changed in the sixth with Curtis Granderson hitting a pinch hit leadoff home run. It sparked a rally with the Mets loading the bases. Alejandro De Aza singled scoring Reyes making it 5-2, but that’s all the Mets would get that inning.
On the De Aza single, Cabrera took a wide turn around third, but he did not appear as if he was really trying to score. Rather, it looked as if he was positioning himself in case there was a bobble or something. In any event, he tried to get back to third but he couldn’t because Bruce was standing there.
Granderson would stay in the game and go to right. He would come back up in the seventh, and he would hit another home run. This was a two run shot scoring Rene Rivera making it a 7-2 game.
With the Mets now having a big lead, Terry Collins decided to let Hansel Robles stay out there for a second inning because Collins is the only one who hasn’t figured out that Robles is overworked.Fortunately, Robles was able to pitch two scoreless helping to preserve the Mets win.
The Mets had to turn to Jeurys Familia for the save as Jim Henderson just couldn’t lock down the 7-2 win. Henderson allowed a starting a J.T. Realmuto solo home run, a Jeff Francouer triple, and a Dee Gordon RBI single. Just like that it was a 7-4 game. Familia came in and put an end to the nonsense striking out Marcell Ozuna to record his 43rd save of the year tying the club record he shares with Armando Benitez.
With the Mets second straight win against the Marlins, they are now a game ahead of them in the standings. Things are starting to get interesting.
Game Notes: Neil Walker missed the game with his lingering back injury. It’s now serious enough that Collins no longer believes Walker can play everyday. James Loney stayed consistent by going 0-3. Before the game, it was announced Steven Matz will not be ready to pitch when his disabled list stint is over because he is still having shoulder issues.
Pennant Race: The Pirates are losing to the Cubs 3-0 in the seventh. The Cardinals are tied with the Brewers 1-1 in the eighth. The Nationals beat the Phillies 3-2.
The Mets are in a bad situation right now with their infield depth during a pivotal series against the Miami Marlins. Asdrubal Cabrera has re aggravated the same knee injury that previously landed him on the disabled list after a collision with Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph. Neil Walker has been in and out of the lineup with a back issue. With the Mets having sent down T.J. Rivera to make room for Rafael Montero to make last night’s start, it means the Mets have no infield depth. They are literally one injury away from figuring out if Rene Rivera or Travis d’Arnaud is capable of playing third base.
With that, the Mets are desperate for someone middle infield help until the rosters can expand on Thursday, and on the 40 man roster, the Mets have enigmatic options.
First is everyone’s least favorite Met Eric Campbell. Campbell is once again dominating AAA hitting .297/.396/.428 with 13 doubles, four triples, five homers, and 40 RBI. Yes, four triples. This follows a stint where he didn’t hit in the majors going .159/.270/.222. The only thing Campbell has going for him is his ability to play multiple positions and his ability to pinch hit.
The next option is Ty Kelly. Like Campbell, Kelly is versatile and has been dominating in AAA. Unlike Campbell, he is a switch hitter who has had some recent success in the majors. Keep in mind before he had back-to-back two hit games before being demoted again, he was hitting .186/.280/.256. It’s something to keep in mind as he hasn’t been raking in AAA like he was when he was first called up. Since being sent back down to AAA, Kelly is hitting .259/.323/.296.
Finally, there is Matt Reynolds. Between him, Campbell, and Kelly, he is the only one that can play SS. However, he is in the same boat as Campbell and Kelly in that you cannot trust him to hit at the major league level. In his 37 games with the Mets, he hit .211/.231/.382. After the AAA All Star Break, Reynolds has been hitting .250/.321/.292 with only four doubles in 96 at bats.
With these three not hitting or having established they are not capable of hitting at the major league level, the Mets need to turn in another direction for help. With that in mind, the Mets best option is their 2012 first round draft pick Gavin Cecchini.
While playing shortstop this season, Cecchini has been hitting .329/.391/.454 with 27 doubles, two triples, seven homers, and 53 RBI. Over the past month, Cecchini is hitting .368/.390/.500 with nine doubles, two homers, and 12 RBI. While many have knocked his defense as he has a woeful .928 fielding percentage, it is notable that Cecchini has gone his last 12 games without an error. Overall, Cecchini is playing the best out of these four players making him the Mets best infield option.
There is just one problem. Cecchini isn’t on the 40 man roster. The Mets would have to make a move to put him on; a move the Mets are going to have to make in the offseason anyway to protect Cecchini from the Rule 5 Draft. Looking at the above options, there is no reason to keep Campbell or Kelly on the 40 man roster. If the Mets are really interested in putting the best team on the field, and giving themselves the best chance to win, they will go with Cecchini.
But no. Instead, the Mets are going to go with Logan Verrett because the Mets need another pitcher to address their infield situation. Hopefully, d’Arnaud can play third base.
There’s having a short bench due to injuries, and then there is what the Mets did last night.
With the Mets needing to skips Jacob deGrom start, the Mets needed to call up a starter to take his place in the rotation. The corollary to that is the Mets needed to send someone down to make room for Rafael Montero on the roster.
The obvious choice was Robert Gsellman. Gsellman had just started on Sunday meaning he was not slated to pitch until Friday. However, he wasn’t going to start on Friday. That start is going to go to Steven Matz, who by all accounts, will be ready to come off the disabled list. With Matz reclaiming his rotation spot, Gsellman was not needed.
Instead, the Mets sent down T.J. Rivera. They sent down T.J. Rivera even though Neil Walker has had to miss a few games with a lingering back injury. Rivera was sent down despite Asdrubal Cabrera having to leave Sunday’s game due to a re-aggravation of his knee injury. Rivera was sent down even though he was the only thing resembling healthy versatile infield depth on the Mets roster. Rivera being sent down meant the Mets had no margin of error on the infield. It was something that was almost a huge issue last night as A.J. Ramos fell on Jose Reyes‘ shoulder as Reyes scored on a wild pitch.
It also meant the Mets had a short bench last night. With Rafael Montero only being able to go five innings, Terry Collins had to use Jacob deGrom to pinch hit. In an effort to win the game with one swing, Collins burned Rene Rivera and then turned to Jay Bruce. When Bruce didn’t deliver, the Mets best pinch hitting option remaining was Noah Syndergaard. Fortunately, like he has done so many times in the past, Yoenis Cespedes bailed out the Mets with a tenth inning walk off home run.
Like it has most of the season, the Mets handling of the roster has been left a lot to be desired. It might not have cost them last night’s game, but it has cost them games this season. With only two more days before rosters expand, hopefully, the days of the Mets purposefully playing with a short roster are behind us.