The Mets saving grace last year was having a healthy and productive Curtis Granderson. While Mets players seemingly ranged from injured to incompetent in the first half of 2015, he kept hitting. He was seemingly the only player who could hit and keep the Mets afloat offensively. On top of that, he was a finalist for the Gold a Glove Award for rightfielders. As he went, the team went.
Even with the arrival of Yoenis Cespedes and his incredible hot streak, it was Granderson who drove the Mets offense. From August 1st until the end of the season, he hit .267/.390/.495 with 45 runs, 14 doubles, one triple, 10 homeruns, and 34 RBI. In the stretch run to claim the NL East, Granderson played even better than he had all season. Like with most team MVP’s, as Granderson went, so did the Mets.
In 2016, the Mets are seemingly falling into the same pattern they did last year.
Through the first six games of the season, Granderson was 1-24 with a single and six strikeouts. He was hitting an abysmal .042/.179/.042. The Mets were 2-4 and were averaging 2.8 runs per game. After those six games, Granderson has taken off and so have the Mets.
Over the past 13 games, Granderson had hit .333/.387/.678 with 13 runs, four doubles, two triples, four homeruns, and eight RBI. In that stretch, the Mets have gone 10-3 and are averaging 5.2 runs per game.
Overall, we can point to many factors for the Mets turnaround. Stellar starting pitching. Terry Collins batting Michael Conforto third in the lineup. Cespedes and Neil Walker hitting homeruns. All of these are very important factors as to why the Mets are now winning. Once again, the success of his teammates is overshadowing Granderson’s contributions.
That’s fine. Granderson is once again on his way to having another big season with the Mets. At the end of the day, he could very well be the team’s MVP for the second straight year. If the Mets perform the way they’re expected, Granderson may very well be in line to recreate his World Series homerun barrage.
If the Mets do return to the World Series, it’ll be because one again Granderson has led them there.
Sometimes it’s just looks like it’s not going to be your night. Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d’Arnaud were out with injuries. Reds starter Brandon Finnegan showed why he’s a highly rated prospect. Bartolo Colon didn’t have the mojo working:
Just two elite athletes out there giving it their all. pic.twitter.com/fvlOy2Y1Cr
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 27, 2016
No, after the Ivan DeJesus two run homer in the third to make the score 3-0, it looked like it wasn’t going to be the Mets night. Even when the Mets could get rallies going, this would happen:
Billy. Goes. Ham. #LetsGoRedshttps://t.co/BJUhBREj1D
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 27, 2016
No, the Reds were in control and about to snap their nine game losing streak against the Mets. Then the Reds got greedy. They tried to push Finnegan through the seventh inning.
Juan Lagares had a one out single followed by a Kevin Plawecki walk. The Reds could’ve pulled Finnegan there. He just got out of a jam unscathed in the sixth. Instead, the Reds let him face Cespedes, who was pinch hitting for Logan Verrett. First pitch Cespedes saw:
YOOOOOO! One pitch, 3 RBI. @ynscspds ties the game. #Mets pic.twitter.com/L8DZoaOEtJ
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 27, 2016
Tie game.
Finnegan was gone after six brilliant innings (and one tough inning). We then got a glimpse of why the Reds were loathe to go to their bullpen.
Tony Cingrani entered the game. He was greeted by Curtis Granderson with a triple. Granderson would later score on a David Wright RBI single. It was a nightmare night for Wright at that point having gone 0-3 with two strikeouts at that point. It was emblematic of his recent struggles. In a brief moment, it was forgotten with that single making it 4-3. It was remembered again when he was picked off of first base (technically a caught stealing).
This gave Verrett the win. He was terrific. He came on in the sixth inning, and he threw two shutout innings. He showed both his versatility and his value. He deserved this win.
For the second straight night, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia locked down the eighth and ninth. They preserved the Mets first come from behind win. It’ll be one of many.
Game Notes: With the Cespedes injury, Michael Conforto hit cleanup against the lefty Finnegan. He went 2-4. Before the game, d’Arnaud was placed on the 15 day DL. Lucas Duda sat against the lefty but came on in the ninth for defense.
Looking at the Mets this year, it’s amazing to see Michael Conforto emerging as the Mets best everyday player if he isn’t already. The same goes for Noah Syndergaard who is emerging not just as the Mets ace, but also as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Each of these players are playing their first full seasons in the majors at 23 years old.
Mets fans are left to think about how much better these two 23 year olds can get. They’re already dominating the majors at an age when most players are in AA or AAA. It’s not too long before they cement their status as two of the best players in the game.
You know what’s funny?
The current debate in baseball is over who the best player in the game is – Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. Harper is 23 years old, and he’s playing in his fifth season. Trout is slightly older at 24, and he is playing in his sixth season.
Between the two of them, they have made seven All Star teams. Each year, they were the youngest All Star on their respective teams. Both of them have won the Rookie of the Year Award and an MVP. They’ve accomplished all of this before Syndergaard and Conforto have played one full season in the majors.
With that said, neither Harper nor Trout have played in an LCS, let alone a World Series. Syndergaard won a game in the World Series. Conforto hit two homeruns in a World Series game. Syndergaard and Conforto are primed to lead the Mets back to the World Series this year and perform even better.
Overall, these are four young players dominating the baseball landscape. They’ve already accomplished much, and they’re going to accomplish much, much more. It’s a good time to not only be a Mets fan, but also a baseball fan.
Last year, the Mets saw lengthy absences from David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud. Daniel Murphy and Michael Cuddyer were nicked up most of the year. Other Mets players got bumps and bruises along the way. The Mets depth got tested early and often in 2015, and it was ugly.
Dilson Herrera and Kevin Plawecki showed they weren’t ready to hit major league pitching. For his part, Plawecki had to stay in the lineup because Anthony Recker and Johnny Monell weren’t either. Eric Campbell and John Mayberry, Jr. showed why they weren’t everyday players, let alone middle of the order bats. There were other forgettable debuts from players like Darrell Ceciliani and Danny Muno. In 2015, the Mets bet against their farm system, and it nearly cost them the season.
In the offseason, the Mets made sure to build a deeper roster. They moved Wilmer Flores to a utility role. Alejandro De Aza is here as a fifth outfielder. Juan Lagares is a part time player who will start against lefties and come on as a late defensive replacement. Herrera is back in AAA where he belongs for now. Campbell and Plawecki are on the 25 man roster, but they are asked to do much less. Hypothetically, it’s a much deeper team.
Well, that hypothesis is now being put to the test.
Yoenis Cespedes has been dealing with a thigh issue due to his jumping in the stands and an awkward slide. As for now, he’s not DL bound. Yesterday, d’Arnaud left the game early with pain in his throwing shoulder. While he may not have been the best at throwing out would be base stealers, his throws were uncharacteristically poor. He will be examined today before a DL decision is made. Whether it will be one day, one week, one month, or more, the Mets will miss Cespedes and d’Arnaud.
No matter how much time if will be, this Mets team is better built to sustain these losses. Having a De Aza/Lagares platoon is a much better option than Ceciliani. Plawecki has another year of development under his belt. Hopefully, this translates to him having a better year at the plate.
The Mets better hope so. The Nationals look like a different team than they were a year ago. The Mets aren’t going to be able to coast for two – three months with subpar players. This is a new year. Fortunately, this is a new Mets team that’s built for just these types of situations.
There are a number of ways to analyze Travis d’Arnaud‘s shoulder problems. It can be used as another example of the narrative that he’s injury prone. It could be used to explain his poor start at the plate. It could be used to explain why the Reds were 5/5 in stolen base attempts on Monday.
It can also be seen as another opportunity for Kevin Plawecki.
Plawecki had that chance last year, and he couldn’t take advantage. He hit .219/.280/.296 with three homers and 21 RBI. His OPS+ was 63, and his wRC+ was 60. It was about as ugly an offensive year as you could’ve had. To put it in perspective, Eric Campbell had a higher OPS+ and wRC+. You know it’s been a tough year at the plate when Campbell was the better hitter.
Now, there were valid reasons for his struggles. First, he had no protection in that lineup. The aforementioned Campbell was at one time a middle of the order bat. Second, he might not have been ready. He had played less than one season’s worth of games in AAA. Finally, he had some health issues. He had offseason sinus surgery to help alleviate the dry spells he experienced during games last year.
Whatever the reason, he struggled mightily. He was once seen as someone who could push d’Arnaud for playing time last year. Instead, his 2015 showed that d’Arnaud was clearly the better player. The Mets could’ve opted to start him in AAA this year to help his development, but ultimately, the team decided it was better to have him as a backup catcher.
Now, depending on the severity of d’Arnaud’s shoulder, Plawecki is going to get a second chance to show the Mets he can be the team’s primary catcher. He can show them he can be the .290/.364/.432 hitter he was in the minors. He has an opportunity to show his poor 2015 offensive numbers were driven by a low .277 BABIP. He can show the team he’s every bit the pitch framer d’Arnaud is. He can show the Mets he’s more durable. Possibly, Plawecki can show he’s a better player and Wally Pipp d’Arnaud in the process.
Plawecki is getting that all too valuable second chance to show the Mets he can be every bit the player they thought he was and more. He’s getting a chance to show the world what how good a ballplayer he really is. In essence, he’s getting a chance to show everyone he is better than d’Arnaud.
This time he’s in a much better lineup. He has major league playing experience. He’s had surgery to alleviate the dizzy spells. He’s out of excuses. This is his chance, and he needs to take full advantage of it.
Editor’s Note: this article was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
There was a time the Mets relying on the young meant hoping Chris Young‘s shoulder wouldn’t fall apart, or the other Chris Young hitting above the Mendoza Line. The 2016 version is much better.
Tonight, the Mets were carried by two 23 year old superstars – Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto.
Syndergaard was throwing so hard he broke the radar guns in Citi Field. With that said, he wasn’t dominating. Of the seven innings he pitched, he had only two 1-2-3 innings.
However, just because he wasn’t dominating doesn’t mean he wasn’t intimidating. In Billy Hamilton laid down a bunt single in the third inning. He then stole two bases leading to the Reds’ only run of the game. Hamilton’s next at bat? Syndergaard buzzed him inside reminding Hamilton he’s 60’6″ away.
Still Syndergaard had some problems. In the sixth, the Reds had runners on second and third with one out. Syndergaard would then strike out Devin Mesoraco and Adam Duvall to get out of the jam. He got them both with sliders.
Speaking of the slider, Syndergaard went to that well too often. After he passed 100 pitches, and the Reds were going to the fourth time through the lineup, they were able to get a two out rally started.
Zack Cozart would chase Syndergaard in the seventh with an RBI single before Antonio Bastardo came in and showed signs of over use. He walked the first batter he faced before allowing a game-tying single to Joey Votto. Logan Verrett came on in relief and got the Mets out of the jam leaving the score tied 3-3.
Syndergaard’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, three earned, no walks, and nine strikeouts.
The Mets would retake the lead on yet another Neil Walker homerun:
.@NeilWalker18 has tied a career best with seven home runs a calendar month. #MetsFacts pic.twitter.com/vim606h1fA
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 25, 2016
#MetsWIN! 5-3 #Mets @NeilWalker18 crushes a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 7th to seal this one. #LoveTheMetshttps://t.co/F9od6tTnSG
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 26, 2016
For his part, Conforto couldn’t make an out. In the first inning, he hit a homer. He followed that with a single in the third. He got a shift double in the fifth. He hit a bloop by the left field line. Suarez got under it, but he still couldn’t make the play. It bounced into the stands for a ground rule double. He walked in the seventh. The cycle was not to be. He’s been amazing since he was called-up, and he’s been better since he started hitting third:
Since moving to the three spot, Conforto is 12-for-35, with eight runs, four doubles, three homers and eight RBIs in 10 games. OK, I guess.
— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) April 25, 2016
By the way, Lucas Duda hit another homerun:
#DudaSmash! Watch Lucas Duda's monster 2-run home run >> https://t.co/tFM2CptR4G pic.twitter.com/gyv7lZZTQE
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 26, 2016
In what was a good night overall, there was some cause for concern. Travis d’Arnaud continues to struggle behind the plate. While Syndergaard doesn’t hold runners on well, d’Arnaud’s throws were terrible. He was palming the ball. He was winding up too much. He seemed to be thinking more than reacting. Overall, the Reds were 5-5 in stolen base attempts.
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia closed out the win.
The game was tougher than it should have been, but it’s still a win. It extended the Mets winning streak to four games. The streak should continue as the Mets are pulling it all together and are beating bad teams like they should.
Earlier today, I published a proposal to change the way the fans vote for the All Star Game. To show how this may work, here is my best guess on how the fans may vote based upon if fans were voting today:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AL East
Baltimore Orioles – Manny Machado 3B
Boston Red Sox – David Ortiz DH
Toronto Blue Jays – Josh Donaldson 3B
Tampa Bay Rays – Kevin Kiermaier CF
New York Yankees – Dellin Betances RP
AL Central
Chicago White Sox – Chris Sale SP
Kansas City Royals – Alex Gordon LF
Cleveland Indians – Francisco Lindor SS
Detroit Tigers – J.D. Martinez RF
Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer 1B
AL West
Oakland Athletics – Sonny Gray SP
Texas Rangers – Adrian Beltre 3B
Seattle Mariners – Felix Hernandez SP
Los Angels Angels of Anaheim – Mike Trout CF
Houston Astros – Jose Altuve 2B
Now, as the season progresses and players improve, we could see changes here and there like Miguel Cabrera in place of J.D. Martinez. Overall, this looks to be a fair projection. Of the 15 players selected, there were three starting pitchers, one reliever, no catchers, one first baseman, one second baseman, three third baseman, one shortstop, one left fielder, two centerfielders, one rightfielder, and a DH. With nineteen spots left, there is plenty of room left to assemble a complete All Star Game roster.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL East
Washington Nationals – Bryce Harper RF
New York Mets – Noah Syndergaard SP
Philadelphia Phillies – Vincent Velasquez SP
Miami Marlins – Giancarlo Stanton RF
Atlanta Braves – Freddie Freeman (?) 1B
NL Central
Chicago Cubs – Anthony Rizzo 1B
St. Louis Cardinals – Yadier Molina C
Pittsburgh Pirates – Starling Marte LF
Cincinnati Reds – Zack Cozart SS
Milwaukee Brewers – Ryan Braun LF
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers – Clayton Kershaw SP
Arizona Diamondbacks – Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Colorado Rockies – Nolan Arenado 3B
San Francisco Giants – Buster Posey C
San Diego Padres – Melvin Upton, Jr. LF
In total, the National League would have three starters, no relievers, two catchers, three first basemen, no second basemen, one third baseman, one shortstop, three left fielders, no centerfielders, and two rightfielders. Again, there’s plenty of room to fill in the rest of the roster.
OVERALL
By no means should my choices here be interpreted as the final say or who I would vote for if these rules were adapted. It’s only a guess.
With that said, there are some young and exciting players here like Syndergaard and Lindor. There are bona five superstars like Harper and Trout (who also qualify as young and exciting). Also, there are players here like Freeman and Velasquez, who may not be chosen to an All Star Game, but nevertheless, they would be there because every team must be represented. Look, if you’re going to name someone to the All Star Game who wouldn’t be there but for one rule, you might as well let those fans pick the players.
At the end of the day, these are mostly deserving All Stars, and their inclusion would not hamper Ned Yost’s or Terry Collins’ ability to field a team. It’s time to let fans pick their own players.
On Sunday April 24th, Major League Baseball opened the voting to select the All Star Game starters. It’s another sign that the system is broken.
The concept of voting for your All Star Game starters is becoming antiquated, if it’s not antiquated already. The concept is that the fans get to vote for the players they want to see play in the game, but that’s not what it is, or what’s is become. Rather, the All Star Game voting has become an opportunity for a fanbase to stuff the ballot box to vote for their favorites. For example, in 2012, the San Francisco Giants fans stuffed the ballot box to make Pablo Sandoval the starting third baseman over the much more deserving David Wright.
Giants fans enthusiasm was much higher than Mets fans at the time with the Giants having recently won a World Series and the Mets being nowhere near contention. It also helped that the Giants’ organization led a huge push to get Sandoval elected. If we’re being honest, it’s not supposed to work this way. We’re not supposed to see fan bases making huge pushes to get their players elected. Rather, the fans as a whole are supposed to select the players that are the most deserving and who they want to see.
And yet, the Giants fans voting enmass for Sandoval fits into the spirit of the All Star Game.
The reason it fits into the spirit is even in the “This One Counts” Era of the All Star Game, each team no matter how bad gets a representative. The classic example is Dmitri Young representing a horrendous Tigers team that went 43-119. If 2003 didn’t force a change, nothing will.
The reason why it hasn’t changed is because the theory is your team having an All Star would generate your interest in watching the All Star Game. The belief is that you’ll tune-in to watch your guy play. Baseball wants to generate interest in the All Star Game, and whether it’s true or not, they believe this will generate fan interest in every city. In essence, Major Leagur Baseball loves when there is a concerted effort in a city to get the fans to vote for someone. It shows that fans care about their team and the All Star Game. The hope is that this translates to more viewers.
Now, if you want to generate as much fan interest as possible, you would want to try to ensure the fans actually get to see the players from their team they would actually want to see play.
For example, in two of his first four seasons with the Mets, Bobby Bonilla was the lone Mets All Star. This is the same player who was wearing earplugs so he couldn’t hear the fans booing him. There were no Mets fans in 1993 or 1995 watching just so they could see Bonilla enter the game. It wasn’t happening. As a result, in these circumstances, you defeat the purpose of the every team represented premise.
No, if your goal is to get the fans from a particular team to watch, you should pick out an All Star that they would actually want to watch play in the game. Better yet, why not let each team’s fans pick their All Star?
Instead of voting for the starters, let everyone vote for the one player from each team they would like to see play in the All Star Game. For the Dodgers, is there any question that player should be Clayton Kershaw? It’s possible Red Sox fans would like the opportunity to have David Ortiz go out as an All Star. If you’re a fan of a team like the Phillies, wouldn’t you want to see how your young hurler Vincent Velasquez pitches against the big boys?
This is also an opportunity the players themselves to market the biggest and brightest stars. Players can ask for people to vote for them and create their own hashtags. Jose Bautista could promise to do another epic bat flip if he’s selected as the Blue Jay’s representative. Maybe a slugger or two can make a reciprocal promise that if chosen they will participle in the Homerun Derby. This could be a chance for players to interact with the fans, let their personalities shine, and make themselves more marketable. Isn’t this exactly what baseball wants?
Also, you can eliminate something inane that has taken place in baseball. You could vote for a starter at every position, but you can’t vote for a pitcher. Doesn’t make sense. Kershaw could be the best pitcher in the game. He’s the pitcher most fans would pay to see pitch, but no, you as a fan cannot voice how much you want to see him pitch. Selecting one player from every roster ends that.
Another bonus is fans get to select more players to the game. Instead of electing 17, they get to pick 30. That’s 30 instead of 17 races to keep an eye on. Fans can get more involved. Throughout social media different factions of fanbase a can argue for their player and try to organize voting for that player.
Now, there are some inherent dangers in allowing fans to pick more players. The selection of say Freddie Freeman for the Braves could block a more deserving first baseman from getting selected. However, that is also a risk inherent in having each team have a representative.
The next hazard is there being too many players at each position. In some strange years, you may get three DH for the American League, which would create some potential roster issues. However, would that be any worse than Joe Torre going with five shortstops and one second baseman to the 2002 All Star Game? Furthermore, having a surplus at one position may force the best players to stay in the game longer, which would also be beneficial for the fans.
Overall, if you want to avoid the issue of having too many players at one position hampering the ability to field a team, expand the All Star Game rosters. It also wouldn’t hurt having an extra player or two to avoid another Milwaukee situation.
Now, there may be some people that would want to select the game’s starting lineups. There is no reason why that has to go away. You can replace voting for the last player to make the team with voting for which All Star gets to be in the starting lineup.
This would give an opportunity for fans to make a push to have their player start the game. Teams can launch their social media campaigns to have their players start the All Star Game. Then in an effort to increase ratings, baseball shouldn’t release the results of the fan vote until the players are introduced at the All Star Game. While we can debate the merits of whether or not more people would watch to see if Daniel Murphy or Neil Walker is the starting second baseman, we should be able to agree more would tune in to watch that than seeing the last All Star on each roster take the field.
One logistical note. This is a time when voting for a pitcher to start the game doesn’t make sense. Pitchers who pitched recently are unavailable to pitch in the game. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to permit fans to vote for Kershaw only to have him miss the game. Hopefully, this issue is alleviated by the fact that baseball and Dodger fans had the opportunity to vote for him to play in the game during the initial vote.
Overall, implementing these two ideas would create more fan involvement and interest. It would actually let the fans of each team get to see the player they would want to see play in the game. Hopefully, at the end of the day, this will lead to bigger ratings.
Six years ago to the day, I woke up with a bundle of nerves. The Mets were under .500, and they were sending Jon Niese to the mound against the Braves. Niese has never instilled any Mets fan with confidence.
Initially, I had high hopes for this team. After 2009, they were more comfortable in Citi Field and knew how to play there. Jose Reyes and David Wright were in their prime. Carlos Beltran had a full offseason to rest up, get healthy, and return to his dominant form. I thought Ike Davis would get a call-up and be a legitimate middle of the order power threat. I thought Jason Bay would succeed with the Mets after playing so well for the Red Sox. The team had an ace in Johan Santana and an emerging pitcher in Mike Pelfrey. K-Rod was the closer, and promising young rookie Jenrry Mejia was going to be his set-up man. There was a lot to like.
Those feelings of optimism faded away early in the season. They lost seven of their first 10 games. Jerry Manuel was the manager, and he was managing like it. The team was barely able to score runs against the Cardinals’ position players in a 20 inning game. The Mets were under .500. Worse yet, they had to face Larry Jones – err, Chipper – and the Braves. The Mets countered with the enigmatic Niese against a player and team that killed the Mets. It’s enough to make any Mets’ fans stomach turn.
By the way, it was also my wedding day.
Yes, my wedding day. That one I knew I got right. I was marrying the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met (still is), and she had no clue she was way too good for me (still is). Honestly, I was not nervous at all about marrying her. I was only nervous about the logistics of the day. I was nervous about missing the Mets game. Priorities.
I made sure I was ready well in advance so I could watch the game from first pitch. I caught the first couple of innings at home before getting in the limousine and heading to the Church. As we got to the Church, it was still 0-0. Now, as a superstitious sort, I knew I couldn’t hang around in the limo listening to the game because I couldn’t risk seeing my then fiancée in her dress before she entered the Church. Accordingly, I tipped the driver a couple of bucks to funnel me score updates until the game was over.
Last thing I knew as a single man, the Mets were losing 1-0 to the Braves. Sounds about right. After seeing my wife head up the aisle, I forgot all about the Mets. I was excited to marry the best person I’ve ever known.
Once the mass was over, we had the proceeding line. All my wife could do was laugh when the limo driver came over to give me the score. The Mets won 3-1. She knew what she was getting into marrying me. I put the Mets out of mind, did our wedding photos, and then had the greatest wedding reception ever.
By the way, my wife nixed the idea of having Mr. Met serve as the maitre d’. It wasn’t my idea (although I fully supported it). Some of the ushers started a collection, but it quickly died down when my wife caught wind of it. Speaking of the ushers, I did win the pool because I didn’t cry during the mass. First round of drinks in Hawaii were on them.
After my wife and I got married, the Mets went on a winning streak and took over first place. I had no idea because I was on my honeymoon (although we did fly Jet Blue so I could watch the Mets and Braves play the Sunday Night Game).
During my honeymoon, I paid no attention to the Mets. Spending time with her then (as it is now) will always be more important. I just enjoyed each and every moment of being married to my beautiful wife. I still do. Marrying my wife was the best decision I ever made.
Happy Anniversary honey.
During the Alton Brown “Eat Your Science” show, he took questions from the audience. One involved when to cook with your kids and the benefits thereof. He advocating starting with your kids when they’re three or four. He explained the benefits of cooking with your kids, which includes making them healthier and more self reliant.
I agree completely. Personally, I started cooking with my son right before he turned two. One reason I did this was because your son always wants to do what his daddy does. He was curious and wanted to help. Furthermore, I found when he helps, he was more eager to eat what was made rather than just asking for cookies, chips, or other kinds of junk food. I also encourage cooking with your children because it teaches them patience and how to follow instructions. Lastly, I encourage cooking with your child because it’s bonding time. Every Saturday and Sunday, we go to the kitchen once we wake up to make breakfast. I love that time together.
Like Alton Brown, I started with eggs because it’s nutritious, delicious, and pretty hard to mess up. The first time I cooked eggs with my son, he basically watched. Now, he participates. Here’s how we do it.
First, I assemble everything we need:
I assembled enough eggs to cook breakfast for the family. There’s a pat of butter to grease the pan. There’s a Spurtle for me and a spoon for him. I like using the silicon because it doesn’t conduct heat thereby greatly reducing the chances of him burning himself. As for the bowl, you want something shallow enough your child can scramble the eggs but deep enough so you can prevent as much spillage as possible.
After that, it’s time to break some eggs:
It was only recent that I allow my son to crack the eggs himself. The reason is egg shells could contain salmonella. It’s very important that not only your child, but also you wash your hands after cracking the eggs. At first, I would hold my son’s hands as he did this, but now he’s able to do it himself, and he knows if he gets anything on him he needs to wash his hands immediately.
When you let your child crack the eggs, expect a lot of shells. At first, I tried a sieve, but the eggs are too dense to easily pass through plus you have another dish to clean. By the way, cleaning a sieve is a massive pain. No, you’re really just going to need to pick them out. The best time to do it is when your child is washing their hands.
Once everyone’s hands are clean, it’s time to scramble the eggs:
Yes, he did this himself. Yes, this was conveniently the first time he’s done it without spilling the eggs outside the bowl. At this time, you can add whatever you typically want whether it’s milk, cheese, broccoli, etc. I’ve found scrambled eggs are a good way to sneak in vegetables for your child to eat. With broccoli, chop it up in the food processor to get it fine this way it gets into every bite. Otherwise, you child can eat around it if he/she wants.
In any event, it’s also a good time to wash yours and your child’s hands again.
Whatever you do, once the eggs are scrambled, it’s time to actually start cooking the eggs:
Two notes here. First, I removed the nobs so he can’t start turning on burners. Second, the pan is not on at this point. I let my son put the butter in, and then I move the pan to a back burner. I don’t want him accidentally touching the pan or getting too close to the flame. In any event, I move it to the back burner and tilt it so he can see the butter melt. It’s an opportunity to explain to him why the butter melts while also exhibiting why we don’t touch things that are hot. At this point, it’s time to cook the eggs:
As you can see from the photo, he can only reach the pan with the spoon, but he can’t actually touch the pan. I usually get my son involved once the eggs are cooking. Note, we worked up to this stage. For a very long time, I held him with one arm while I cooked with the other. Then I let him hold the spoon while I manipulated his hand to cook the eggs.
Overall, just be careful. There is no need to let your child be involved in this or any other stage until they show they are ready.
Another note, I like the spoon because it allows your child to serve themself. Once the eggs are cooked, I take out my son’s plate, and I hold his arm and body to make sure all he can do is scoop the eggs out of the pan and into his bowl. I use a bowl instead of a plate because it’s easier for him to carry it to the table without spilling anything. Once at the table, it’s time to taste:
If all goes right, your child will be left shouting “Hooray!”