Given the Mets offseason moves and roster construction, a lot was going to be asked of Wilmer Flores. He had to be the main backup at all four infield positions. He had to learn first base. He had to be the power bat off the bench. He had to be a platoon option at second base in the event Neil Walker continued his career struggles against lefties. He had to be the Mets insurance for David Wright‘s back.
So far this year, Flores is hitting .159/.229/.273 with an OPS+ of 36 and a wRC+ of 39. His main issue is he can’t hit the fastball. Even worse, he’s not hitting breaking balls. Overall, he’s just not hitting. Put if this way: he has as many homeruns as Bartolo Colon.
He’s also not fielding. According to UZR and DRS, he’s only played well at first and short. He’s struggling with his throws from second and third. He’s not good at the plate. He’s not good in the field. He’s a -0.4 WAR player thus far. He’s having a nightmare of a season. He’s failing miserably.
Worse yet, the Mets need him.
Wright’s stenosis isn’t going away. Walker hasn’t hit lefties his entire career. Neither has Lucas Duda. The Mets need Flores to play for one of them at least once a week. When he’s not starting, Flores is the Mets lone power bat on the bench. He’s an important player on the team. So far, he’s not up to the challenge.
The only thing saving him is he has no options left. This means players like Matt Reynolds and T.J. Rivera will stay in the minors despite having earned a call-up. Instead, Eric Campbell, who is coming off a good game, may need to play more. Until Flores figures it out, Campbell may be the Mets best infield option. No one planned on that happening.
No, the plan was for Flores to play an important role. For now, Flores still has that role. However, if he continues playing this poorly that role is going to have to someone else. That switch may need to happen sooner rather than later.
The Mets have an important decision to make. With them starting a series tonight against the Dodgers, they will have to decide if they want to retaliate against Chase Utley or not.
With Ruben Tejada playing for the Cardinals now, it’s not a clear cut decision. The Mets don’t have to stand up for their teammate. Tejada’s long gone. Still, they may want to send Utley and the rest of the National League a message that they will not tolerate dirty play. They will stand up for their guys no matter where they play. Either direction the Mets go, there’s no wrong answer.
The only thing the Mets can’t do is pull a Shawn Estes. If you’re going to hit him, you have to hit him.
The Mets don’t appear weak if they decide not to hit Utley. They appear weak if they go to hit Utley, and they miss him. If Utley plays tonight, Steven Matz either has to stick one in his rear end or move on. If Utley sits, the decision will fall on Jacob deGrom‘s shoulders. If Utley pinch hits tonight, the game situation will have to dictate matters. Utley already cost the Mets one game. He’s not worth another one.
No matter what happens, the Mets just need to be decisive about it. Hit Utley, don’t hit Utley. Just don’t miss him. This Mets team is intimidating. The Mets can little afford to take some of that intimidation factor away by missing Utley.
Yesterday, the Mets featured an odd lineup against a right-handed pitcher. David Wright was getting a scheduled day off. Wright will get these days off even if it means the Mets have eight players on the field. It’s that necessary and important. Neil Walker needed the day off because of a bruised shin. As such, with the Mets looking to earn a four game split with the Padres, Eric Campbell started the game at third.
It was a decision that would have a profound impact on the game.
In the second was a big part of the two out rally. He knocked in Kevin Plawecki, who doubled, and he would later score on an Asdrubal Cabrera RBI single. Ironically, for a player that we talk about being a leader in hard hit ball percentage, his RBI single was a slow rolling grounder up the middle. As they saw, that ball had eyes. Overall, Campbell would go 2-3 with a run, an RBI, and a walk. He also ended the game with this web gem:
Campbell had a great game. He went from a .182/.357/.182 hitter to a .286/.444/.286 hitter. It was first RBI and only his third run scored. For that matter, it was only his second start of the year.
Given Campbell’s past it’s too soon to say the Mets should give him more playing time even with Wilmer Flores‘ struggles. Still, Campbell has earned the playing time he has received, and he has shown the Mets he has a place on the roster. If Flores continues to struggle, we may see more and more of Campbell. If he plays like he did on Sunday, that won’t be a bad thing.
The late great Joe Buck screamed,”I don’t believe what I just saw!” when a severely hobbled Kirk Gibson homered off of Denns Eckersley.
It was believable.
In the final game of a three game tie-breaker for the 1951 pennant, Bobby Thompson hit the proverbial “Shot Heard Round the World” off of Ralph Branca. Russ Hodes alternated between screaming “THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT!” and “I DON’T BELIEVE IT!”
It was believable.
Saturday night, Gary Cohen exclaimed, “The impossible has happened!”
If you’re like me, you keep checking to make sure it actually happened. Don’t worry. It did. You can believe what you saw. You can believe it. The impossible happened.
Bartolo Colon hit a homerun.
Today, baseball teams are going to take the field wearing pink caps and jersey. In the past, teams used pink bats. The purpose is to promote breast cancer awareness.
If you go to MLB Shop, you can purchase a hat, a jersey, or some other pink MLB product. Nowhere on the site does it indicate that any of the proceeds from the sale of these items go to anything related to breast cancer awareness, treatment, or research.
Now, if you like the hat or know someone that will, by all means you should purchase it. Just know that if you’re buying the hat, all your doing is buying a hat. None of the proceeds from your purchase will be used to help the greater good.
If you intention is to help promote breast cancer awareness, treatment, or research, please look into an organization that does that and make a donation no matter how small. Think about it this way, you were about to drop $37.99 on a hat – you can afford to send some of that to a worthy organization.
With everything my wife went through during her pregnancy, I learned she was an even tougher and stronger person than I ever knew she was.
Then our son was born. That comes with many sleepless nights and days. There’s always something that needs to be done. The baby needs to be fed, burped, and changed. The changing usually requires a diaper and outfit change. With all the outfit changes, there’s a lot of laundry to be done. This is on top of housework and finding time to make and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
She did it all. She continues to do so. She was and is still an amazing mother. There is not one day that goes by that I don’t stop and marvel at all that she has done for our family.
Happy Mother’s Day.
This game wasn’t about the superb game David Wright had going 2-2 with three walks, two runs, a homerun and an RBI. This game isn’t about Michael Conforto snapping an 0-17 streak with a homer. It’s not about Yoenis Cespedes hitting another homer. It’s not about the 6-3 win snapping the Mets two game losing streak.
No, it’s about Bartolo Colon‘s homerun:
There’s nothing more than needs to be said about tonight’s game other than . . .
Bartolo Colon homered.
This is now Wright’s first full season since he learned about his spinal stenosis. So far, Wright has only played 52 games this far. As many people will tell you, 52 games is a short sample size. Choosing a subset of that information is a really small sample size. However, with that said, there does seem to be a pattern developing with David Wright.
He’s not handling airplane travel well.
Since Wright came off the DL, he’s had 13 trips that required airplane travel (regular season only). In those games, he’s had 63 plate appearances, and he’s hitting .185/.301/.389 with nine walks, five doubles, two homeruns, and 17 strikeouts. That’s a far cry from the .266/.382/.443 batting line he has had since his return. Extrapolating further, if you remove those travel dates, Wright is hitting .295/.410/.456.
One reason for the deviation could be the small sample size. Another could be his back.
Airplane travel has been known to exacerbate back injuries, especially lower back injuries. People can stiffen up and feel discomfort. While it is recommended that a person get up and move around on a flight to help lessen these issues, it’s difficult to do that after a nine inning game and your team is scheduled for an overnight flight. Aside from these issues, we don’t know what effects the travel has on Wright’s grueling training regiment.
It’s still a short sample size, but there is a correlation between flights and back discomfort. There’s also a correlation between the flights and Wright’s sluggish play. It’s something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
In a couple of days, Josh Edgin is about to learn that one of the oldest axioms in sports is false. Time and again, we’ve seen it. You can lose your job due to injury.
In 2014, Edgin made that leap from prospect to a bona fide Major Leaguer. In his 47 appearances, he had a 1.32 ERA, 0.915 WHIP, and a 9.2 K/9. That was good for an ERA+ of 266. He limited lefties to a batting line of .185/.217/.323. These are very good numbers for a lefty out of the pen. As such, he was expected to be a big part of the bullpen in 2015.
He wasn’t. He needed Tommy John surgery. While the Mets were winning the pennant, he was rehabbing. He’s currently in the minors on a rehabilitation stint. Under the rules, he has to be activated from the DL on Sunday.
When he’s activated, he will be optioned to Triple-A. There’s no room for him on the Major League roster. The Mets bullpen has been lights out. Jerry Blevins has done the job as a LOOGY. The bullpen’s other lefty, Antonio Bastardo, has been effective against righties and lefties. Aside from that, he has a two year $12 million contract. There’s no room for another lefty.
Edgin lost his job due to injury . . . just like Juan Lagares did with his elbow injury.
Coming into 2015, Lagares was coming off a Gold Glove season. Mostly due to his defense, he had a 5.5 WAR. The Mets saw a huge future for him, so they gave him a four year $23 million extension.
Lagares had an elbow injury that hindered him in 2015. There were debates as to whether he needed Tommy John surgery. It affected his throws, and it most likely affected him at the plate. His WAR dipped from 5.5 to 0.6. The Mets sought an upgrade, and they brought in Yoenis Cespedes, who went on an absolute tear at the plate.
In the offseason, the Mets wouldn’t trust a potentially healthier Lagares with centerfield again. First, they signed Alejandro De Aza to platoon with him. Then as the market knocked down Cespedes’ contract demands, they re-signed Cespedes. Lagares lost his job due last year due to an elbow injury.
Edgin is about to officially lose his as well for the same exact reason. The reason? Well, that is the Mets obligation to put the best team out on the field as possible. Before their injuries, that meant Lagares and Edgin. Now, it doesn’t.
You can lose your job due to injury.