Ahead of a huge three game set against the St. Louis Cardinals, the 61-61 New York Mets are at .500 and are 4.5 games back of the Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot. Even with a good series here, nothing is guaranteed as the Mets are one of four teams currently withing five games of the last Wild Card spot. Here is where they all stand:
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are currently the second Wild Card with a 66-57 record. The team is hot having gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. The Cardinals hot streak is surprising given the fact that they are without Matt Adams, Aledmys Diaz, Matt Holliday, Michael Wacha, Seth Maness, and Trevor Rosenthal. The current Cardinals streak is a testament to their depth, resiliency, and the managing ability of Mike Matheny. Either that or it is a random hot streak, and the Mets are in prime position to take them down.
Miami Marlins
The Marlins are at 65-59 and are 1.5 games back of the Cardinals. Over their last 10 games, the Marlins are playing .500 ball. Worse yet for the team, they are starting to deal with some major injury problems. The team is most likely without Giancarlo Stanton and Wei-Yin Chen for the rest of the season. The team is currently without Adam Conley, and they have the prospect of having to shut down Jose Fernandez at some point in the season. Andrew Cashner was supposed to help alleviate some of these issues, but he has remained the same pitcher he was with the Padres. Offensively, first baseman Justin Bour has been on the disabled list for quite a while, but no one quite knows when he will return.
Over the course of the season, the Marlins have been a pleasant surprise (if you’re not a Mets fan). Ichiro Suzuki seems rejuvenated and got his 3,000 hit. Don Mattingly and Barry Bonds have changed the culture while helping young players like Christian Yelich reach their potential. However, now that they are no longer healthy, there is real doubt that they can stay in the race.
Pittsburgh Pirates
As we have seen with the Pirates the past few seasons, the Pirates a second half team. They are currently 62-59, three games back, and have a favorable schedule from here on out.
The Pirates are turning things around by turning over their rotation. They have traded away struggling and underperforming pieces in Francisco Liriano and Jon Niese and have replaced them with top prospect Jameson Taillon and former Yankee Ivan Nova. Nova seems to be the type of pitcher pitching coach Ray Searage thrives with, and it certainly hasn’t hurt him being reunited with his old catcher Francisco Cervelli.
Part of the reason the Pirates are in this position is not just their rotation, but it was also due to the struggles of Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen is having a big second half. Coupled with Starling Marte‘s terrific season, and the Pirates suddenly have a potent lineup.
In the end, the big question is if the young Pirates rotation and a bullpen without Mark Melancon can continue a second half charge to claim the second Wild Card spot.
New York Mets
The Mets have been a mess since April. Most of their players were hurt, stopped hitting, or both. However, now, the team is healthy, or as healthy as they can possibly be. Seeing Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup reminds you of the difference maker he is in the Mets lineup, and it is a reminder of the type of run the Mets are capable of making. For that to happen, the Mets are going to need more of the same from Jacob deGrom, and they are going to need Noah Syndergaard to keep pitching the way he did yesterday. The Mets will also need their other pitchers to step up especially if Steven Matz is going to be out for the season like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler are.
In the end, if the Mets are goign to run, they have to start with them taking the Cardinals down a few pegs in this three game set starting tomorrow. If the Mets are not able to at least win two out of three, it is going to be an even steeper hill to climb to make it back to the postseason.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on Mets Merized Online.
On August 22, 1973, the Mets won their second game in a row to raise the Mets record to 57-67 leaving them 6.0 games out in the National League East behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals.
From that point forward, the Mets would be the hottest team in baseball going 25-12 carrying them to an unlikely division championship. The Mets rode the hot streak to beat the Big Red Machine 3-2 in a best of five NLCS, and they came within a win of disrupting the Oakland A’s dynasty.
The popular story was the Mets were spurred by Tug McGraw screaming “Ya Gotta Believe!” after a M.Donald Grant “pep talk” in July. However, the truth is that team just got healthy at the right time, and when the team was at 100%, they were among the best teams in baseball.
During that year, the team was hampered by injuries. Jerry Grote, John Milner, Bud Harrelson, and Cleon Jones all missed significant time. Rusty Staub player through injuries all year. On top of that phenom Jon Matlack was having a down year a year removed from winning the Rookie of the Year Award. He was joined by Jerry Koosman in having a surprising down year. Willie Mays looked to be every bit of his 42 years of age. Young fill-ins like Don Hahn just were not producing. The Mets were forced to do anything they could do to improve the team like releasing dead weight like Jim Fregosi. About all that went right that season for the Mets was Tom Seaver; that and the fact that no one ran away with the division allowing the Mets to enter the postseason with an 82-79 record.
Isn’t that what this Mets season has been. With Matt Harvey, David Wright, Lucas Duda, Adrubal Cabrera, and Yoenis Cespedes, we have seen this Mets team be hampered time and again by injuries. We have seen countless Mets play through injuries like Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz with their bone spurs. We’ve seen replacements like Eric Campbell, Ty Kelly, and Matt Reynolds not play up to snuff. Players like Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Conforto had surprising down years. About the only thing that has gone right for the Mets this year is the fact that Jacob deGrom has continued to pitch like an ace, and the fact that no one has ran away with the second Wild Card spot.
Maybe, just maybe, this is 1973 all over again. That 1973 team was much further back in both the standings and more teams to leapfrog in the standings. All they needed to do was to get healthy and to get hot. Right now, with Cespedes back and hitting home runs for the Mets again, this team is healthy, and they are on the verge of getting hot. If that happens, the Mets can very well take that second Wild Card spot and get into the postseason.
As we saw in 1973 as well as last year, with great Mets pitching, the Mets can beat anyone in the postseason. They can shock the world. Anything is possible so long as they get hot and get into the postseason.
Both Noah Syndergaard and Jeff Samardzjia had no hit type stuff tonight. Syndergaard would lose the no-hitter first after an Eduardo Nunez infield single hit at Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth. However, it was Syndergaard who would keep the shut out.
Curtis Granderson finally broke through for the Mets with a leadoff double just past the outstretched arms of Gregor Blanco. The next batter was Yoenis Cespedes, who did this:
Neon sleeve? Loud.
This swing? LOUDER.
Yo is at it again: https://t.co/JGjM3iKgMnhttps://t.co/skaXA6XljY
— MLB (@MLB) August 22, 2016
Just like that it went from a no-hitter to 2-0 Mets. Yet again, Cespedes showed everyone why no one can count this Mets team out while he’s healthy and producing.
Those were really the only two mistakes by Samardzjia who was the hard luck loser with a final line of seven innings, three hits, two runs, two earned, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
Speaking of reasons to believe, Syndergaard pitched into the eighth inning since June 15th. Syndergaard’s final line was eight innings, two hits, no runs, two walks, and six strikeouts.
Even better, no one got past first. In the third Bruce Bochy ordered a hit-and-run with Samardzjia up due to how hard Jose Reyes and James Loney were charging in on the sacrifice bunt attempt. Samardzjia swung over the pitch, and Rene Rivera nailed Trevor Brown at second.
Again, Rivera threw out the speedy Nunez trying to swipe second in the fourth. Rivera was a perfect 2/2 in throwing out base stealers. It was the first time all year multiple base stealers were thrown out in a Syndergaard start.
Finally, in the seventh, Brandon Belt was erased as Brandon Crawford hit into an inning ending 4-6-3 double play. It was the second double play the Mets turned on the night.
Jeurys Familia recorded his 41st save after pitching a scoreless ninth.
The Mets earned a split in San Francisco bringing them back to .500 and leaving them 4.5 games back of the Cardinals as they travel to St. Louis for a huge three game set.
Game Notes: Neil Walker is expected to fly home to be with his wife who is expecting with their first child. It is unknown when he will return. Jay Bruce continued his struggles with the Mets going 0-3 with a HBP.
Pennant Race: The Dodgers beat the Reds 4-0. The Marlins beat the Pirates 3-2. The Cardinals beat the Phillies 9-0. The Nationals lost to the Braves 7-6 in 10 innings.
Overall, if you want to excuse the Mets performance due to injuries, there’s merit to the argument. However, don’t let that excuse away Terry Collins’ and Sandy Alderson’s performance. They chose to go with players have established they can’t do it instead of giving other players a legitimate opportunity.
On the Fourth of July, Matt Harvey made his last start of the season. Despite Harvey’s understandably poor performance, he left behind a gaping hole in the rotation the Mets didn’t fill.
First, the Mets went with Logan Verrett. In seven starts, Verrett went 0-3 with a 7.18 ERA and a 1.541 WHIP while only averaging five innings per start. He then lost his job to “fan favorite” Jon Niese who had been demoted to the bullpen by the Pirates before being traded to the Mets. In his lone start, Niese pitched 4.2 innings allowing four hits, four earned, and two walks with six strikeouts.
Combined, Verrett and Niese were 0-4 with a 7.30 ERA and a 1.524 WHIP. Last night, Seth Lugo walked off the mound after 6.2 terrific innings having only allowed seven hits, one run, one earned, and one walk with three strikeouts. He’d leave being two base runners that Jerry Blevins would allow to score.
When David Wright and Lucas Duda went down with season ending injuries, the Mets first turned to Eric Campbell who hit .159/.270/.222 with one double, one homer, and five RBI.
Next up was Matt Reynolds, who not only helped fill-in for Wright, but also provide some days off for Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera. Reynolds hit .211/.231/.382 with seven doubles, two homers, and 11 RBI.
Next up was Ty Kelly. As an infielder, Kelly is hitting .227/.292/.364 with one homer and three RBI.
Combined, Campbell, Reynolds, and Kelly have hit .191/.264/.315 with eight doubles, four homers, and 19 RBI. These are the options the Mets went with while making excuses why T.J. Rivera shouldn’t be called-up to the majors. When Rivera finally fot his shot, he hit .355/.344/.419 with two doubles and three RBI in nine games.
So yes, injuries have impacted the Mets. However, who they chose to replace those injured players had a similar negative impact. The Mets would’ve been much better with a healthy Harvey, Wright, and Duda. It’s possible they would’ve been over .500 and in the Wild Card race if they had given Lugo and Rivera a shot earlier.
Sometimes toddlers can be picky eaters, or they would rather go and play rather than sit down and eat. Personally, I know it is a trouble I have with my son from time to time. Instead of having the fights about coming to the table to eat, I have found that having my son help me with the cooking process is both fun, and it gets him more interested in eating the meal that is prepared for him.
Earlier, I walked through the process of how to make eggs with your toddler. Another breakfast I make with my son is pancakes. Like eggs, pancakes are great because they are simple to make, and they are hard to screw up.
Now, you can make them from scratch if you would like, and I guarantee that if you know what you are doing, they will come out better that way. However, the idea is to get your child involved in the process and to move the process along as quickly as possible. With that in mind, it is a good idea to get everything set up before you bring your toddler into the kitchen.
With everything set up, you don’t have to worry about having your toddler measuring everything out (they can’t), nor do you have to worry about your toddler wanting to do it himself. Now, one of the reasons why this Aunt Jemima mix is so great is that it is just mix and water. It doesn’t matter which one your or your child picks first. Hopefully, to keep the mess at a minimum, your child will select the mix first as my child did:
The next step is to pour the water in and hope it all makes it into the bowl. As for the bowl, you want a larger bowl than you really need. Toddlers tend not to pour things in slowly. Instead, they tend to just dump things in quickly. You also want the larger bowl because it will allow you to have your toddler mix the batter himself while greatly reducing the chance that there will be a spill:
For this next step, you really need to know your child, and you need to have some training. Having done this numerous times with my son, I can trust him not to touch the griddle. Early on, I did not. I would take his hands and hold them while we put batter on the griddle. When scooping the batter onto the griddle, I recommend using measuring cups so he has something to scoop and pour. As I like to make smaller pancakes for him, I typically use a 1/4 cup:
As you can see here, my son is pouring from high up as he does knows not to put his hands anywhere near the hot griddle:
You’re going to be lucky if you get similarly sized pancakes, but that’s not the idea. The idea is to have them participate in the process. For those that don’t know better, you want to flip the pancake when it starts bubbling on top and the sides start to brown:
Typically, I like to assemble all the pancakes on a plate to permit my son to pick out which ones he wants. Again, the idea is to let your child have some control and have some fun in the process so they want to eat:
Like I said, your child will be more interested to eat when they get to pick which pancake(s) they want:
Typically, I like to use frozen fruit to make a homemade syrup. It’s less sugar, and it is a way to get your child to eat more fruit. I have found Alton Brown’s blueberry syrup recipe easy to make and versatile. I have used it with other berries, like strawberry, and peaches as well. When you don’t have or have the energy for homemade syrup, I prefer the Trader Joe’s Agave Maple Syrup. Again, it has less sugar. For what it’s worth, my son prefers having the syrup and the bottle:
The only thing left to do is eat:
Again, once I started making breakfast (and other meals) with my son, I have found getting him to eat has been much easier. I have also enjoyed not only teaching him how to cook, but also spending time with him while doing it. I hope you have as much fun as my child and I have.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has recently announced that he is interested in introducing a pitch clock to Major League Baseball. The pitch clock was first introduced last year in the upper levels of the minors, and it appears the Commissioner is pleased with it’s progress.
The rule as stated is that a pitcher must starts his windup or motion within 20 seconds of having the ball while stepping on the pitching rubber. The rule has initiated in the minors to help speed the pace of play which has been the Commissioner’s focus since he took over for Bud Selig. The Commissioner has considered various routes including limiting the use of relievers. However, it appears the Commissioner is focusing upon the pitch clock as a means to improve the pace a play. It’s a bad idea that may lead to pitcher injuries.
According to a recent study from the Journal of Sports Science, there is a link between the amount of time a pitcher takes between pitches and arm injuries. The researchers, Michael Sonne and Peter Keir analyzed the amount of time between pitches and arm injuries, and from there, they were able to make the correlation. According to Sonne, “One of the risk factors that we typically look at with muscle fatigue and injury is the amount of time people have to recover from doing effort.” (Brendan Kennedy, The Star). When a pitcher experiences fatigue according to Sonne, “you essentially lose the ability to stabliize the (elbow) joint as they throw.” Overall, when looking at pitchers, Sonne states you need to look “at the duration of exposure to pitching, but also the duration of rest.”
To that end, the researchers have concluded that baseball’s proposed 20 second pitch clock is a bad idea. Sonne states, “If you put in this pitch clock it’s a very cut-and-dry way of reducing the amount of recovery time that a pitcher has.”Sonne and Keir concluded that the 20 second pitch clock would create muscle fatigue for pitchers who take longer than 20 seconds between pitches, and as a result, it would expose them to injury. It may not seem like a big deal, but as Sonne points out, “It seems like a small amount, but when a pitcher is throwing at maximum effort, every bit of muscle force matters.”
This proposed rule is a huge problem for the Mets young pitchers. As per Fangraphs, the young Mets starters have needed more than 20 seconds to throw a pitch
| Name | Team | Pace | Pitches |
| Noah Syndergaard | Mets | 23.9 | 2,238 |
| Steven Matz | Mets | 18.7 | 2,153 |
| Jacob deGrom | Mets | 21.1 | 2,065 |
| Matt Harvey | Mets | 21.5 | 1,514 |
It should be noted that according to FiveThirtyEight, a pitcher’s pace is the one statistic that remains consistent each and every year. A pitchers ERA, WHIP, K/9, etc. will rise and fall each and every year, but pace is the one thing that remains largely unchanged. This means that Syndergaard’s, deGrom’s, and Harvey’s health would be at risk in the event that the 20 second pitch clock were implemented.
Keep in mind that Harvey, Matz, and deGrom have already had Tommy John surgery. Additionally, Harvey recently had surgery to remove a rib to help alleviate the symptoms from his thoracic outlet syndrome. While Syndergaard has not had Tommy John surgery, he has been dealing with bone spurs in his elbow. Syndergaard also throws the ball at a high velocity, has begun throwing a slider with much more frequency, and he is experiencing a large jump in his innings pitched from 2014. Adding a pitch clock will only further serve to create another possible avenue by which Syndergaard, and really all young pitchers, could injure themselves.
The pitch clock sounds good in theory as a faster pace of play will certainly be more enjoyable for the fans to watch. However, the pitch clock will be counterproductive if it prevents the best and most exciting pitchers from taking the mound. The best fix might be to instill the good habits in the minor leagues and hope they carry those good habits forward.
Seth Lugo was the surprise starter tonight as Steven Matz couldn’t go due to a shoulder injury (shocking, I know). Lugo would be terrific and efficient.
Lugo’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, one walk, and three strikeouts. The line would’ve looked better had it not been for Collins’ managing. Overall, Lugo only needed 69 pitches. Not bad for a guy that Mets were hoping could provide five serviceable innings.
One area that Lugo wouldn’t help himself was on the basepaths. After failing to lay down a sac bunt, he found himself in the basepaths and hilarity would ensue on a Kelly Johnson two out single.
On the single, Tim Teufel first didn’t give a sign, and then threw up the stop sign after Lugo put his head down as Hunter Pence made a good throw home. Lugo saw this, and he headed back to third. Only issue was Jose Reyes broke for third when Lugo broke for home.
The Giants first got Reyes into a run down. As this was happening, Lugo had pretty much no choice but to break for home as there were two outs. As Brandon Crawford was seemingly the player paying attention in the fifth inning, he caught Lugo trying to sneak home. Lugo would be thrown out in the ensuing rundown.
The Giants returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth. Pence dropped a “double” between the rangeless Asdrubal Cabrera and centerfielder for the day Granderson. Eduardo Nunez then hit a line drive right at Granderson while Pence took off for home. Easy double play.
Just to make sure the fifth inning would set back baseball 50 years, James Loney booted a Joe Panik grounder. Lugo would the get the opposing pitcher, Johnny Cueto, out to put an end to the nonsense.
Still, Lugo would take the loss as the only run support he received was a Granderson second inning homer into McCovey Cove.
In the seventh, Lugo was lifted after the Giants announced Gregor Blanco as a pinch hitter. Terry Collins countered with LOOGY Jerry Blevins. Bruce Bochy, being a vastly superior manager, countered with the switch hitting Ehire Adrianza. Both he and Denard Span hit RBI singles making it a 3-1 game.
The Mets rallied in the eighth starting with a Reyes one out single. It was another terrific night at the plate for Reyes going 4-4 with a double. However, despite him getting to second as Brandon Belt threw one into his back on a Johnson pinch hit. Hr wouldn’t score as Jay Bruce hit into an inning ending double play.
Josh Smoker made his major league debut in the bottom of the inning. He’d get charged with two runs as Jeurys Familia, with some help from a Ryan Lochte neon yellow haired Cabrera made an error, couldn’t get out of the inning. Erik Goeddel relieved Familia and was greeted with a Conor Gillaspie two run homer making it 8-1.
With that, the Mets have lost three in a row and are now two games under .500.
Game Notes: Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes returned from the DL with the Mets sending down Ty Kelly and T.J. Rivera.
With Travis d’Arnaud missing time with a shoulder injury and struggling at the plate all season, the Mets were all but forced to inquire about Jonathan Lucroy.
The Mets interest in Lucroy was understandable as the team needed another bat in the lineup with Lucas Duda and David Wright being gone for the season, Yoenis Cespedes being hobbled with a quad injury, and Curtis Granderson, Michael Conforto, and yes, d’Arnaud having down seasons. The Mets needed another bat, and Lucroy seemed to be the answer with him hitting .299/.359/.482 with 17 doubles, three triples, 13 homers, and 50 RBI. That was the type of production the Mets were hoping to add at the trade deadline.
For whatever reason, the Mets were not able to swing a trade for Lucroy at the trade deadline. However, they were able to get Lucroy’s production.
Since the trade deadline passed, d’Arnaud is hitting .311/.354/.444 with two homers and three RBI. It is exactly what the Mets were hoping to get from him after a season in which d’Arnaud hit .268/.340/.485 with 14 doubles, one triple, 12 homers, and 41 RBI in 67 games last year. It seems that d’Arnaud has turned his season around.
It could be that his shoulder is feeling better. It could be a mechanical adjustment he has made at the plate. It could also be that he is able to just relax and go out there and hit now that the trade deadline has passed. Whatever the case may be, the important thing from the Mets perspective is they seem to have d’Arnaud back.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on Mets Merized Online
Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera are supposed to come off the disabled list, but that doesn’t mean that the Mets are getting healthy for the stretch run. Not in the least. Seth Lugo will make his first career start as Steven Matz is going to miss tonight’s start due to his bone spurs. Sorry, he is going to miss the start due to shoulder discomfort.
Matz started feeling shoulder discomfort the day after his last start. Matz felt this shoulder discomfort after having gone 7.1 innings in his prior start and throwing 120 pitches over six innings the start before that. In his last start, Matz had all but scrapped his slider, and he started relying more on his curveball as a weapon to get batters out.
It is important to note the Mets pitched Matz because they believed there was no structural damage. As Sandy Alderson said, “Continuing to pitch will not cause any structural damage. We will continue to monitor his situation, but at this point it’s a function of if he can tolerate the discomfort while continuing to pitch.” (New York Post). It should also be noted that, according to Jon Heyman, the Mets talked Matz out of getting surgery to remove the bone spur. Instead, the Mets decided it was best to have their young lefty try to pitch through the pain and help the Mets win another World Series.
One thing that stood out in Matz’s last start was how everyone seemed to believe he turned a corner. Not just this season, but possibly his career. Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez talked a few times about how important it was for young players to learn the ability to pitch while being hurt, while having pain. As Darling would say, pitchers always have pain, and therefore, they need to learn how to deal with it if they are going to take that next step.
That begs the question – was Matz pitching through pain or was he pitching through injury? Matz is going to miss this start, and according to Terry Collins, he may very well miss his next start as well. What if Matz pitching with the bone spurs led to his shoulder injury? There will be many theories bandied about, but at the end of the day, no one knows quite for sure. However, what we do know is that the Mets best chances to win both this year and the years going forward is keeping their starting pitchers healthy. They haven’t been healthy this year.
For what it’s worth, after his last start, Matz didn’t feel there was an issue saying, “My arm’s been feeling great. I have no complaints there.” (Newsday). Except, now he does, and we don’t know why. The only thing we do know is that the Mets pressured him into pitching with an injury in his elbow, and now, they are sitting him with a shoulder injury.