Since Mike Piazza left the Mets in free agency, no Met had worn 31. The number was taken out of circulation until he made the Hall of Fame. Once that happened, the Mets announced his #31 was going to be retired this summer. The Mets were following their long unwritten policy of only retiring the numbers of Mets Hall of Famers.
It makes you question why the Mets have continuously issued Carlos Beltran‘s number 15 since he was traded away from the Mets.
They reissued the number to Val Pascucci the same year Beltran was traded away. The number was then worn the following year by Fred Lewis. Travis d’Arnaud tried it out for the following two years before switching to the number seven. At that point, former bench coach, Bob Geren wore 15 for the 2015 season. Now, Matt Reynolds has become the latest Met to wear Beltran’s number.
Make no mistake. It is Beltran’s number.
With Beltran hitting his 400th homerun this year, he had further cemented his Hall of Fame case. He’s only the fourth switch hitter with 400 homeruns. He’s only one of three players with 500 doubles, 400 homeruns, and 300 stolen bases. He’s been a true five tool player that has the WAR, WAR7, and JAWS score to deserve induction. All of this is before taking into account his postseason heroics. Make no mistake, he is a Hall of Famer.
For his part, Beltran has said he could see himself going into the Hall of Fame as a Met.
However, at this point, it doesn’t seem the Mets are interested in encouraging Beltran to enter the Hall of Fame as a Met. They say it loud and clear every time they reissue his number to other players. It was clear going into this year that Beltran was going to be a Hall of Famer. The number was vacated with Bob Geren’s departure. The Mets should’ve set the number aside until that day the Mets retired his number.
They’re not. Instead, the Mets are going to let their differences and acrimony get in the way of honoring a great Met.
Beltran gave his all with the Mets. He was the best baseball player on the planet in 2006 leading the team to the NLCS. He’s in the Top Six in WAR as a Met (seven spots ahead of Piazza). He’s in the Top Ten in runs (eighth), doubles (seventh), homeruns (sixth), RBI (sixth), OBP (sixth), and SLG (fifth). He made six All Star teams and won three Gold Gloves. He hit the final Mets homerun in Shea Stadium.
Beltran was a great Met. He will be a Hall of Famer. He should be in the Hall of Fame as a Met, and his number 15 should forever be on the LF wall. It’s why his number shouldn’t have been issued to Matt Reynolds.
Today, my family gathered together to celebrate my younger brother’s birthday. With my son, family gatherings usually involve every fawning over him while he’s mostly interested in playing with Cosmo:
It also means that I get to watch a Mets game with my Dad, brother, and son. My Yankee fan uncle was also there. We get to have all those little conversations about each and every player and what the Mets should or shouldn’t do in each situation. Some major points of discussion:
- Why was Jacob deGrom getting pulled after only 100 pitches?
- How good is Yoenis Cespedes?
- Do you think David Wright‘s career is effectively over?
- Why is Eric Campbell on the team?
- Should Kevin Plawecki or Matt Reynolds bunt?
It was fun having these and other little discussions during the game. It was also fun being in a room of people that universally agreed Daniel Murphy is a better baseball player than Neil Walker. Admittedly, some of these discussions were a bit disjointed with a two year old chasing a puppy and asking questions about the game.
It was great to watch a Mets game with my family the way I grew up watching a games. Sure, we have these discussions over texts during games, but it’s much better having these conversations in person. It’s even better when a game ends with Wright setting a club record with his eighth walk-off hit and ninth walk-off RBI:
The look of a #WalkOff. pic.twitter.com/Q1kE6Gq9A5
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 22, 2016
After the game was over, it was time for some cake and ice cream to celebrate a birthday . . . and a Mets win.
Happy Birthday Uncle Pat!
Due to Wilmer Flores’ injury and David Wright’s spinal stenosis, Eric Campbell has played in 21 games so far this year. Believe it or not, that’s the least amount of games by anyone on the team who is not on the DL.
It may not feel that way because Campbell had played much more frequently. While he appeared in 10 games in April, he did not start one game. In May, he’s already played 11 games, and he has started in nine of them. Here’s the strangest thing of all with Campbell – he’s actually playing fairly well.
In May, where Campbell has received the bulk of his playing time, he’s hitting .231/.375/.269. Yes, his batting average and slugging percentage is quite low, but as evidenced by his OBP, Campbell is getting on base. Also, he’s playing good defense at first and third base. We have already seen him make diving stops to stop extra base hits. Overall, Campbell is playing very well for the guy at the end of your bench.
That’s the issue. Campbell isn’t at the end of the bench anymore.
No, with Flores on the DL, Campbell has overtaken Flores’ super utility role. Campbell has also outperformed Flores. Before Flores went on the DL, he was hitting a paltry .180/.255/.280. Flores has also struggled with his throws from second and third. Accordingly, Campbell has been a better bench option than Flores.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, it should be noted Campbell is out performing some of the regulars. In May, Campbell’s .375 OBP is tops amongst infielders and second on the team to Yoenis Cespedes. He’s out slugging Neil Walker . In sum, right now, Campbell is not the Mets worst option either in the field or at the plate.
This goes a long way to explaining the Mets troubles scoring runs. The Mets have averaged 2.74 runs per game in May. Opponents have out scored them by 18 runs. The Mets are 8-11 so far this month. Therefore, while there are problems like with Matt Harvey’s struggles on the mound and Jacob deGrom’s velocity, the biggest problem right now is the struggling Mets offense that isn’t getting on base enough and isn’t scoring runs.
The Mets starters need to get better . . . at least better than Eric Campbell as there should never be no point in the season where you can say Campbell has been one of the Mets better offensive players.
After another tough start, Matt Harvey finds himself standing in Stephen Strasburg’s shoes, or cleats if you prefer. Scott Boras agreed as much in his interview with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports saying, “We’re dealing with unknowns about why [Harvey] isn’t locating. All I can tell you is that with Tommy John guys there are times they don’t locate. Take a look at Strasburg last year.”
In 2014, Stephen Strasburg threw 200+ innings in the first time in his career and for the first time since his Tommy John surgery. When the 2015 season started, he struggled mightily.
In his first 13 starts, he was 5-5 with a 5.16 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Batters were hitting .289/.342/.439 against him. The Nationals pulled Strasburg from a July 3rd start after he threw 55 pitches over 3.2 innings. He was put on the DL due to discomfort in his side. It was his second DL trip in what was quickly becoming a lost year for the former number one overall pick and presumed Nationals ace.
Many questioned whether Strasburg could still fulfill his pre-Tommy John potential. His agent, Boras, put it best saying, “If I gave you those numbers, you would have to say the pitcher is in the dumps. His career path is altered. He’s changed. He’s someone who is in deep trouble and he’s not the same.” Boras then added this caveat, “The numbers I just gave you are of a pitcher who just signed a $175 million contract.” How did that happen?
It’s because after Strasburg’s stint on the DL, he came back a much different pitcher. He finished the year going 6-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Batters were only hitting .179/.206/.306 against him. He’s come out this year and been the same dominating pitcher. So far, he’s 7-0 with a 2.80 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Batters are hitting .233/.278/.317 against him. He’s back in the discussion with Max Scherzer as the Nationals ace.
Keeping this in mind, it was fitting that Strasburg faced Harvey on Thursday. It shone a light on how a pitcher’s return from Tommy John is not linear.
Harvey had a good year last year going 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.019 WHIP. He had a memorable Game Five of the World Series where he seemingly re-established himself as not only the Mets ace, but also the best pitcher in the division. As Boras pointed out, “You go back a year and who’s who. I’m sitting on the phone (then) and no one is saying anything to me about Matt Harvey’s velocity and dominance. Now the roles are reversed, and the reality of it is there are unknowns in going through the Tommy John scenario.”
Like Strasburg in 2015, Harvey has faced a cold reality this year. Harvey has struggled mightily in 2016. He’s 3-6 with a 5.77 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. According to Brooks Baseball, he’s gone from throwing 96+ MPH last year to under 95 MPH this year. Boras, however, doesn’t believe Harvey’s velocity is an issue saying, “His velo is there. It is definitely there. When his velo is there, how is the league doing? The league is hitting .208 off him when he throws a 94-mphfastball and above.”
As for last night, Boras said, “Last night he was throwing 94. But the reality of it is when he mislocates . . . last night what did (Daniel) Murphy hit out of the ballpark? A curveball. He hung a curveball.”
The question the lingers is why is this happening. Boras, who represents both Harvey and Strasburg, doesn’t seem to know. He said, “This Tommy John carries with it unknowns.” He went on to elaborate, “Why are there unknowns? Because we had a pitcher go from zero to (216) innings after a 17-month rehab.”
If Harvey truly has his velocity, the question remains as to what the issue is with him. Everyone has a theory. One is Harvey’s conditioning or lack thereof. Boras didn’t lend any credence to that saying, “This guy was at our fitness institute for six weeks. And you know what? His lower half is one of the strongest in baseball of any pitcher. This is not conditioning, believe me.”
If it’s not conditioning, and it’s not velocity, then what is it? At this point, no one can honestly pinpoint the reason for Harvey’s struggles. Right now, the Mets don’t have any answers. While the Mets are still looking for answers, the Mets are going to send him back out there.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com
After all the Mets fans hysteria after Matt Harvey struggled against the Nationals, it was easy to forget there was a game to be played tonight.
Like most of May, the Mets offense seemed to forget as well. For the first five innings, the Mets offense could only muster one run with three hits and a walk against Wily Peralta. This is the same Peralta who came into tonight’s game with a 2-4 record, 7.30 ERA, and a 1.992 WHIP. It didn’t matter as the Mets offense lately has been worse than Peralta . . . at least until the sixth inning.
Asdrubal Cabrera lead off the inning with a single, and he scored when Michael Conforto hit one into what used to be the Party City Deck.
Watch @mconforto8 crush his 7th home run of the season. #Mets #LGM https://t.co/HkyhuTNCjThttps://t.co/VX3VszasbF
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 21, 2016
Mets led 3-2.
There was a chance for more, but well, no one is quite sure what happened. Yoenis Cespedes singled, and he took off on a 3-2 pitch to Neil Walker. Walker took the pitch right down the middle for strike three, and Cespedes didn’t even bother sliding into second. Former Met Carlos Torres came on, and he got the Brewers out of the inning.
The three runs were enough for Steven Matz, who was terrific. He pitched seven innings allowing three hits, two earned, and no walks with eight strikeouts. He only made one mistake, which was hit for a two run homer in the first by Chris Carter, who is tied with Cespedes for the league lead in homers. Matz’s start was all the more incredible when you consider he had been shut down with elbow inflammation.
However, it looks like he’s back on track, and the Mets are back on track as well.
Game Notes: Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Torres got their NL Championship rings before the game. Eric Campbell started at third as David Wright had a scheduled day off. Rene Rivera had a nice game with an RBI ground out in the second, and he threw out another basestealer:
René Rivera is so good.
His CS% is 34.4% … 2nd-best among active catchers (250 games). Only Yadier Molina is better
— Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) May 21, 2016
After starting his career career going 0-22 with seven strikeouts against Matt Harvey, the last thing you’d expect is for Bryce Harper to feel sorry for his presumed arch nemesis. However, after getting booed off the mound after 2.2 excruciating innings, as Kevin Ducey of Sports Illustrated Tweeted, he does:
Not only did Harper see diminished velocity from Harvey, he also saw his first hit against him.
However, that’s not all he’s seen from Harvey. He’s seen Harvey at his best. He’s seen Harvey work hard in the offseason to return to form. He saw Harvey get booed by his hometown fans.
Like most, Harper has a theory on why Harvey is struggling. Like most, he attributes it to Harvey’s workload from last year.
Truth is no one really knows at this point. If there was a simple answer, the Mets and Harvey would’ve resolved the issue by now. Instead, everyone is back to the drawing board like they’ve been after all of Harvey’s starts. There are many unknowns as to what the issue could be.
However, as Harper said, we do know that Harvey’s “working his tail off.” That should give us all hope that Harvey will eventually figure it out.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com
In the offseason, the Mets unceremoniously let two left-handed batters walk out the door: Daniel Murphy and Kirk Nieuwenhuis.
The Mets just got their first taste of Murphy as an opponent, and it was a bitter. In the three game series, Murphy went 4-11 with an intentional walk, two runs, four RBI, and a homerun. His replacement, Neil Walker, was 2-10 with no runs, no RBI, one walk, and four strikeouts. Walker was outplayed by Murphy. The only thing you can say the Mets got over on Murphy was knocking his batting average down from .400 to .397.
It should come as no surprise that Murphy outplayed Walker this series as Murphy has outplayed Walker this whole year. Murphy is better in almost every statistical catergory than Walker. The main exception is homeruns where Walker’s nine is more than Murphy’s six. So far, the Mets are not benefitting from their change from Murphy to Walker.
So far, they are also not benefitting from their change from Nieuwenhuis to Alejandro De Aza.
De Aza has struggled so far as a Met. In 25 games, he’s hitting .167/.222/.484 with three runs, one double, one homer, and two RBI. Most of that damage came on April 15th against the Indians. In that game, he went 3-4 with a run, a double, a homerun, and an RBI. If you omit this game, De Aza is hitting .105/.171/.105 with no extra base hits, two runs, and one RBI.
Conversely, Nieuwenhuis is having a good year in Milwaukee. In 35 games, he’s hitting .267/.389/.413 with eight doubles, one homer, and 12 RBI. Believe it or not, he had similar good numbers with the Mets last year hitting .279/.364/.559 with seven doubles, four homeruns, and 11 RBI in 37 games. Three of those homeruns came on one glorious July day when the season was in the balance.
Despite that, the Mets felt like they could get an upgrade over Nieuwenhuis. He was designated for assignment in December, and he was picked up off waivers by the Brewers. Ironically, he was on waivers so the Mets could make room for De Aza on the 40 man roster. The Mets are also paying De Aza roughly $5.2 million more than Nieuwenhuis is making.
Overall, the Mets switch from Murphy and Nieuwenhuis to Walker and De Aza hasn’t panned out as well as they thought it would. It is still early, and a lot can change over the next 100+ games. For right now, all we can hope for is that Nieuwenhuis doesn’t outplay De Aza the way Murphy just outplayed Walker.
Mets fans certainly aren’t happy recently, and they’ve come to voice their displeasure. Can you name the players booed this year by the fans? Good luck!
The Nationals won a 9-1 laugher against the Mets. With that said, let’s do a Spaceballs review:
Matt Harvey only lasted 2.2 innings allowing eight hits, nine runs, six earned, and two walks with two strikeouts. He finally allowed Bryce Harper to get a hit off of him in 22 at bats. Just about everyone got a hit off of him including Daniel Murphy, who went 2-4 with a two runs, two RBI, a walk, and a homer. He’s just under .400. Overall, Murphy just rubbed it in this series:
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/status/733450660843134977/photo/1
Mets are still in third, but they are now 2.5 games back. The Mets face the Brewers tomorrow.
Right now, the Mets are in a prolonged offensive slump. It seems like every Met not named Yoenis Cespedes is having problems at the plate. Here’s how bad things are. Here are the triple slash lines for every Mets infielder (except Matt Reynolds) since the West Coast trip began:
- .176/.300/.235
- .227/.320/.273
- .152/.243/.273
- .129/.325/.258
- .200/.250/.267
- .235/.278/.294
Look at this list. Now, go and pick out which player is Eric Campbell. No, it’s not all Campbell. Yes, those are the real stats. Yes, each of the Mets infielders has been presented in that grouping. Take a look again and pick out which one is Eric Campbell.
The answer is number 2.
The other players were Lucas Duda (#1), Neil Walker (#3), David Wright (#4), Wilmer Flores (#5), and Asdrubal Cabrera (#6).
Campbell’s numbers are not too far off his career slash line of .230/.319/.321. What’s interesting about that is every Mets infielder is hitting like Eric Campbell right now. Not surprisingly, Eric Campbell is the best version of himself. Since the West Coast trip, Campbell is second among Mets infielders in batting average, OBP, and slugging.
He’s even added a few nice defensive plays. He had the diving stop at third for the final out of the game on Mother’s Day. He made two nice defensive plays at first last night including robbing Daniel Murphy of an extra base hit in what was then a tied game. So no, Eric Campbell isn’t the problem. He’s performing about as well as you can reasonably expect the last man on your bench to perform.
No, the problem is everyone on the Mets infield is performing like they’re Eric Campbell.
We can all talk about the Mets striking out too much. We can talk about their supposed over reliance on the homerun. We can talk about their problems hitting with RISP. We can talk about all of that at length. However, we first need to find out how the Mets entire infield hits like Eric Campbell now.