When the lineup was announced, the main reaction everyone had was “HOW CAN YOU START MATT REYNOLDS IN LEFTFIELD!” Matt Reynolds never played in the outfield in his professional career, and the Mets were sitting Michael Conforto against Danny Duffy, the pitcher off whom he hit a home run against in the World Series. In the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds made Terry Collins look like a genius with his first career home run:
His homerun broke the 3-3 tie, and it put Noah Syndergaard in position for a win after what was an uneven outing.
The Mets other three runs were courtesy of the Mets other shortstop, Asdrubal Cabrera, who actually played shortstop today. In the fourth, he scored off a James Loney two out RBI single with a nifty slide:
In the top of the fifth that 1-0 lead would quickly evaporte when Syndergaard allowed Chelsor Cuthbert to hit a solo home run. The Royals continued the rally, and they would eventually went ahead 2-1 on a Whit Merrifield RBI single scoring Jarrod Dyson. This meant Cabrera would have to go back to work by hitting a go-ahead two run home run (scoring Curtis Granderson).
Syndergaard had a rough sixth inning. He got Rene Rivera crossed-up not once but twice. One of them went for a wild pitch moving Salvador Perez to third. He would score on a Paulo Orlando RBI single tying the game at three. The Mets would go ahead for good on the aforementioned Reynolds’ home run.
In the eighth, Cabrera would leave his impression on the game AGAIN with a great stab and behind the back throw to get the force out at second.
It would help Addison Reed pitch a scoreless eighth. Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the 4-3 win. With that save, Familia is now tied with Armando Benitez for most consecutive saves to start a season (24).
After the stretch the Mets went through, including getting swept by the dreadful Braves, you would feel terrific after sweeping a two game set against the team that beat you in the World Series. However, there remains some trepidation as Yoenis Cespedes had to leave the game with an apparent wrist injury after his walk in the fifth. He was replaced by Alejandro De Aza, who may be set to get more playing time in center if Cespedes needs to miss any period of time. Given the way De Aza has played this year, it is an not all too enticing proposition.
With that said, there’s nothing left to do but enjoy this win while waiting with baited breath for the Cespedes news. By the way, we still don’t know about Zack Wheeler and his elbow. Good times.
Game Notes: Jerry Blevins continues to put up zeroes:
Jerry Blevins has gone 21 consecutive games without allowing a run, the 2nd longest streak in franchise history (Mark Guthrie, 33 in 2002).
— New York Mets Stats (@NYMStats) June 22, 2016
All throughout the 2015 postseason, Alcides Escober swung at the first pitch of the game. In Game 1 of the World Series it led to an inside-the-park home run due largely in part to a Yoenis Cespedes misplay in center. In Game 2 of the World Series, he flew out to right field. In Game 3 of the World Series, Escobar didn’t swing at the first pitch:
Instead, Escobar took at step back at a pitch that was up and in from Noah Syndergaard.
After the game, when asked about the pitch, Syndergaard informed the Royals, and frankly all of baseball, that if anyone has a problem with the way he pitches, teams can meet him on the mound.
The next time Syndergaard pitched was in the second game of the regular season in Kansas City. There was no controversy at the time as he never moved any of the Royals off the plate. Also, since he never came up to bat, there was no fear of retribution from the Royals whatsoever. Today is a different story. Today, Syndergaard takes the mound against the Royals at Citi Field. At some point during the first three innings, he is going to dig in at the batter’s box, and the Royals are going to have an opportunity to exact revenge against Syndergaard the way he tried to exact revenge against Chase Utley this season.
Keep in mind, the Royals don’t shy away from throwing at batters. It was just this month that Yordano Ventura sparked a brawl by continuously throwing inside to Manny Machado until he finally hit him. Even with the Royals starting Danny Duffy, the chance for retribution remains. This is the same Royals team that was involved in five benches clearing incidents last year. They’re not afraid of another. They won’t be afraid of plunking Syndergaard.
If it does, it will be very interesting to see how Syndergaard, the umpires, and the Mets respond.
Four pitches into the game disaster struck. Whit Merrifield lined a ball off Bartolo Colon‘s hand knocking him out of the game. The Mets are beginning a stretch of 20 games without a day off, and they were left scrambling to fill in 8.2 innings tonight.
Hansel Robles stepped up big time. He would pitch a career high 3.2 innings, and he throw a career high 65 pitches. He was terrific. It started with him combining with Travis d’Arnaud for a strike em out, throw em out double play to end the first. The only run he surrendered was in the fifth, when he was stretched beyond his limits. He might’ve gotten out of the game if Wilmer Flores didn’t pull a Roger Dorn.
Erik Goeddel came in and got out the jam. He would pitch two scoreless innings. Jerry Blevins added a scoreless seventh stretching his scoreless inning streak to a career high 12 innings (over 20 appearances). Addison Reed set the Royals down 1-2-3 in the eighth, and Jeurys Familia would not blow the save against the Royals.
The Mets were able to eke out a victory using the long ball. In the first, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a homer, and it was up to Rene Rivera to take off his helmet:
Of course, the other homer came from Yoenis Cespedes who hit it out to straight center. Cespedes would also add in a move over the shoulder catch to end the sixth.
As the Mets hit two homers, they won the game. In true Mets fashion, they beat the reigning World Series Champions after getting swept by the worst baseball team assembled since maybe the 1962 Mets.
It was made possible largely because of a terrific Robles performance. He got a well earned win.
Game Notes: X-rays on Colon’s hand were negative. Former Met Dillon Gee relieved Royals’ starter Ian Kennedy in the fifth, and he shockingly entered to boos. He pitched a scoreless inning. In his first game back from the DL, d’Arnaud would go 0-3.
For the second straight season, we have been reminded how important Travis d’Arnaud is to the Mets. We are again reminded how much the Mets need him to stay on the field.
Last year, d’Arnaud was only able to play in 67 games with the Mets due to a a broken pinkie and a hyper-extended elbow. When d’Arnaud was able to play, he hit .268/.340/.485 with 12 homers and 41 RBI. Behind the plate, d’Arnaud continued to be a good pitch framer, and he threw runners out at a league average rate. In the games, the Mets were 41-26, which is a 99-63 pace.
When d’Arnaud was injured or sat, his replacements struggled mightily. The Mets had entered with Anthony Recker with as the primary backup. However, with his being a career .185/.260/.334 hitter, the Mets knew they would have to go to somewhere else for offense. At first, the Mets turned to their former first round pick Kevin Plawecki who hit .219/.280/.296. As Plawecki did not hit, the Mets turned to Johnny Monell, who hit .167/.231/.208. As he didn’t hit, the Mets went back to Plawecki. During this time the Mets had a 49-46 record, which is an 84-78 pace. In some ways, if d’Arnaud never returned to the Mets, the team never would have made the playoffs.
With the Mets 36-32 record, that’s where the Mets are. They are on the outside looking in.
They Mets are in this position in large part because of how poorly Plawecki and Rene Rivera have hit. Plawecki is even worse than he was last year hitting .194/.301/.258. Rivera has hit .190/.273/.310. No matter who the Mets pick to play, they can be rest assured that they are not going to get any offensive production from the catcher position. That should change tonight when d’Arnaud returns to the Mets.
It has to change. The Mets need d’Arnaud to have the same impact and offensive production he had last year. If he does, it’ll go a long way towards fixing the problems the Mets are currently experiencing. It could take this team from a team on the outside looking in to a team that is once again in position to win the National League East. With the Mets pitching and bats like d’Arnaud, this team can win the World Series.
On July 31, 2015, the Mets were three games behind the Washington Nationals. The Mets had the pitching to win, but they still needed the offense. Most of the Mets best hitters were either on the disabled list or had just returned from their own stint on the disabled list. Under these circumstances, the Mets made a trade for Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes played his first game with the Mets on August 1st. From that point until the end of the season, Cespedes would hit .287/.337/.604 with 17 homers and 44 RBI. The Mets would go from three games back in the division to winning the National League East by seven games. The Mets then set out on a magical postseason run that found them falling just short of winning a World Series.
Many have posited that but for the Cespedes’ acquisition, the Mets would not have even made the playoffs. Cespedes was credited only with raising his game, but also raising the play of his teammates. Cespedes’ production and the ensuing run the Mets went on were seen as proof positive of that fact. Unfortunately, that narrative hasn’t been proven true this year.
Last year, the Mets were 37-22 in the 59 games Cespedes was with the Mets. This year the Mets have played 68 games, and they are 36-32. Despite having played in nine additional games, the Mets still have less wins with Cespedes on the roster. The Mets are faltering despite the fact that Cespedes is producing near the same levels he produced last year. In fact, Cespedes is hitting .287/.352/.564 with 17 homers and 43 RBI this year. Last year, this production was seen as transformative. This year many are left to inquire what moves the Mets need to make to return to the postseason.
The reason for this is simple. The current Mets team is worse than the 2015 version. For example, here is the lineup from Cespedes’ first game with the Mets:
- Curtis Granderson CF
- Daniel Murphy 3B
- Yoenis Cespedes LF
- Lucas Duda 1B
- Wilmer Flores 2B
- Kelly Johnson RF
- Travis d’Arnaud C
- Ruben Tejada SS
Here is the Mets lineup from Sunday:
- Curtis Granderson RF
- Asdrubal Cabrera SS
- Yoenis Cespedes CF
- Neil Walker 2B
- James Loney 1B
- Wilmer Flores 3B
- Michael Conforto LF
- Kevin Plawecki C
No, the lineup Cespedes first appeared would undergo some tweaks as the season progressed. First, Granderson would move back to RF, and Cespedes would play CF most of the time. Additionally, Murphy played some third base, but his primary position with the team was second base. Furthermore, until David Wright returned, Juan Uribe received the bulk of the playing time at third base. Finally, in both 2015 and 2016, Conforto was the primary left fielder that played alongside Cespedes in center. With that in mind, your only conclusion can be that the 2016 Mets as currently constituted are worse than the 2015 Mets. Here are the stats:
| 2016 | 2015 | |||
| C | Plawecki | .194/.301/.258 | d’Arnaud | .268/.340/.485 |
| 1B | Loney | .279/.329/.412 | Duda | .244/.352/.486 |
| 2B | Walker | .266/.335/.477 | Murphy | .281/.322/.449 |
| 3B | Flores | .241/.308/.380 | Uribe | .219/.301/.430 |
| SS | Cabrera | .265/.325/.394 | Tejada | .261/.338/.350 |
| LF | Conforto | .270/.335/.506 | Conforto | .231/.297/.447 |
| RF | Granderson | .223/.310/.449 | Granderson | .259/.364/.457 |
Overall, other than Walker, the 2016 Mets have no real advantage over the 2015 Mets from an offensive standpoint.
Granderson and Conforto are worse versions of themselves. Cabrera has hit for more power than Tejada did last year, but Cabrera’s stats are buttressed by a strong April. Since May 1st, Cabrera has hit .249/.306/.391. As for the catching and first base situations, the Mets have been trying to keep afloat since the Duda and d’Arnaud injuries. There is no timetable on Duda’s return. The expectation is d’Arnaud returns today.
This all tells us two things. First, Cespedes really didn’t make the players around him better last year. Yes, his presence in the lineup made the Mets a better team. However, him being a Met didn’t make the other Mets better players.
That leads to the second point, which is Sandy Alderson didn’t do the job he was tasked to do. He built a Mets team that lacked sufficient depth to carry the Mets through the anticipated Wright injury (even if the injury was of a different nature), and the likely Duda injury (again the injury was of a different nature).
So yes, Cespedes was great last year, and the Mets won. Cespedes has been similarly great this year, but the results are different. The results are different because it takes a lot more than Cespedes being great to make the Mets great. We know that now. Hopefully, so do the Mets.
From time to time, if you listen to the Mets telecasts close enough, you will hear Keith Hernandez tell the story of his 1975 season. After getting called-up and playing well in 1974, he thought he was in the majors for good. That wasn’t the case. In 1975, he was hitting .250/.309/.362 in 64 games. He left the Cardinals with little other choice but to send him down to the minors, and they did.
Initially, Hernandez was humiliated by the moment. However, he took advantage of the opportunity. Down in the minors, he got his swing right. He came back to the majors in 1976, and he he hit .289/.376/.428. He was back in the majors, and he was back for good. Hernandez would go on to win the 1979 batting title and MVP Award (shared with Willie Stargell). He had a bat to match his unparalleled defense. From that adversity, Hernandez would become a champion as a member of the 1982 and 1986 World Series teams. In total, Hernandez put together a borderline Hall of Fame career. It is something he might not have done had he not ever gone to the minors. As he has said, it was the best thing that ever happened to his career.
If you listen to Mets telecasts closely enough, you will also notice that Hernandez is a huge fan of Michael Conforto. You will also notice Conforto is struggling mightily like Hernandez did in 1975.
It was not too long ago that Conforto seemed to be a budding superstar. Having never played above AA, Conforto was called-up to the majors last year to hit .270/.335/.506 in 56 games. He hit two home runs in Game 4 of the World Series. He started this season off hitting .365/.442/.676 with four homers in April. The question then wasn’t whether he was major league ready, the question was how high his ceiling could possibly be. It seemed that Conforto was a likely All Star, possibly more. Then the calendar turned to May.
Since May 1st, Conforto has hit .157/.212/.321. There could be a multitude of reasons why this has happened from major league pitchers figuring him out and Conforto failing to make the needed adjustments to the cortisone shot Conforto needed in his wrist. Bottom line is Conforto has gone from playing at an All Star level to being a player who belongs in the minor leagues. Considering the fact that Terry Collins wants to “shake things up” it may be a signal that the Mets are willing to demote Conforto. It may not be the worst thing for Conforto or the Mets.
Conforto can go to Las Vegas and get himself right. He can spend time down there not only working on his swing but also his approach at the plate. Furthermore, hitting in a hitter’s haven like the Pacific Coast League could do wonders for a player that has been struggling for well over a month in the majors. We all saw how well this worked for Travis d’Arnaud back in 2014. He came back a much better player after his time in the minors. We also saw the positive effects of such a demotion with Keith Hernandez.
In the interim, the Mets could choose to give Alejandro De Aza some additional playing time to see if he can start playing like the player they thought he was when the Mets signed him in the offseason. The Mets could decided to turn to Brandon Nimmo who has been raking in AAA. Maybe, just maybe, the Mets could allow Conforto to start taking grounders at first considering James Loney is not the long term answer and no one knows when Lucas Duda can return from the disabled list.
Ultimately, this could be the best thing that has happened to both Conforto and the Mets. If the Mets have designs on returning to the World Series, they are going to need Conforto, who, when right, is the most complete hitter on the team. While he’s finding his stroke in the minors, Nimmo could get his chance to see if he is indeed ready to play in the majors. If Conforto is able to pick up first base, then the Mets could keep Nimmo in left when Conforto is ready to return to the majors. It might be time to send Conforto to AAA for not only his own good, but also for the good of the Mets.
After all, it worked for Keith Hernandez.
It’s the bottom of the ninth, and James Loney takes his lead from second. He represents the tying run. With his speed, or lack thereof, the ball is most likely going to need to be hit deep in the outfield to score him. With that in mind, Terry Collins knows he can’t let Rene Rivera bat in this situation, and he turns to his bench. He then summons Ty Kelly because he seriously had no better choice to make.
With that said, Kelly was the wrong choice. It should’ve been Travis Taijeron there.
On a bench with a dearth of power, Taijeron would be a welcome addition. This year Taijeron is hitting .314/.394/.587 in AAA. As we saw in Spring Training, his slugging isn’t a Vegas desert mirage. It’s legitimate power. He’s hit for power at each and every level he’s played. On top of that, Taijeron is a good corner outfielder. With that’s said, with the amount of strikeouts heaccumulates, there is a legitimate issue as to how his skills will translate to the majors.
What we do know is that Kelly’s skills don’t translate well. Despite his one home run, he hasn’t hit the ball with much authority from either side of the plate. It’s why he’s hitting .160/.222/.280 in his 27 plate appearances. He’s shown why four organizations passed on him, and why he didn’t get a call to the majors until he was 27. And yet, the Mets won’t move on from him allowing Taijeron to get his chance.
We don’t know if Taijeron would’ve come through in the ninth inning last night. What we do know is that Kelly didn’t, and no one reasonably expected him to get that big hit. Last night was yet another reason why the Mets should send down Kelly and give Taijeron his shot.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsminors.net
Last night, we all were “witnesses” to LeBron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA title. As he lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, he was lifting the monkey off the back of all of Cleveland sports fans. The city and the fan base had an NBA title. They got an epic 3-1 series comeback, and a classic Game 7. When everyone looks back at this series and game, the moment that will forever be talked about was this play:
Thinking about that play actually makes me a bit melancholy as it reminded me a bit of the play where Patrick Ewing blocked Hakeem Olajuwon in Game 3 of the NBA Finals (Highlight Number 7):
It’s a reminder that for many fans, the New York team that is in blue and orange has never won a championship in their lifetime. The Knicks haven’t won since 1973, and the Mets haven’t won since 1986.
The Mets had their chance last year. There wasn’t a Mets fan alive who didn’t think the Mets were going to win the World Series when Matt Harvey was so utterly brilliant in Game 5:
That night was supposed to be the Mets stepping stone to their own rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a championship. The Mets had Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard lined up to pitch in Games 6 and 7. The Mets were in position to win the World Series. They were so close, and they let it slip away.
Last night was an absolutely incredible moment for LeBron James, the Cavaliers, and the entire city of Cleveland. It’s a moment all Knicks and Mets fans are dying to experience. During this Mets losing streak, it’s a moment that seems to get further and further away from these fans.
Still, as we saw with the Cavaliers, there is reason to hope. This was the same Cavaliers team that lost in the NBA Finals last year. This was the same Cavaliers team that had a rocky regular season until finally turning things around after the All Star Break. This was the same Cavaliers team that had their backs against the wall and still won a championship. It may be a phrase that has not been uttered anywhere before, and it may not be said anytime hereafter but:
Cleveland gives us all hope.
There was a Mets game played today with 54 outs. As it is Father’s Day, I’m going to focus on all the positive things that happened at the game:
Wilmer Flores‘ catch and that’s it.
The Mets have now fallen into third place in the NL East and are 6.5 games behind the Nationals. If the Dodgers win, the Mets will fall out of playoff position. Guess it’s time to look at the bright side:
This is my third Father’s Day, and it still feels odd.
On the one hand, for me, Father’s Day has always been about my Dad. The man who raised me. He’s the reason I am who I am today. And yes, he’s the reason why I’m a Mets fan. For the first 32 years of my life, the day was all about my Dad.
Now that I’m a Dad, or “Mets Daddy,” Father’s Day for me is about my son. I see it as yet another day to spend as much time as possible with him doing the things he loves to do.
Three years later, Father’s Day is still strange for me. Maybe I’ll feel differently in the future. For now, the day isn’t about me. It’s about all of the other people in my life. I want those people to enjoy their day. If they’re having fun together, all the better. That and a Mets win make that a good Father’s Day for me.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out here, but especially my Dad. Now, Lets Go Mets!