Blame Alderson for the Panic City Nonsense

I have a bone to pick with Sandy Alderson. No, it’s not the offense that isn’t hitting. They should hit eventually. Well, we at least hope they will. No, it’s when Alderson dubbed Mets fans “Panic City.”

Let’s remember the context of that gem. The Mets were one game over .500, lost six of their last 10, and were 3.5 games behind the Nationals. They had allowed 14 more runs than they had scored. The Mets had scored the third fewest runs in baseball. The Mets had gone from seven games over .500 with a 4.5 game lead in the division (5.0 games over the Nationals) to falling in the standings. The Nationals were hot, and they were getting better. The Mets were seemingly falling apart while their General Manager was mocking the fans. 

Funny thing is the Mets got worse offensively after that. It got to the point where fans were EXPECTING Clayton Kershaw to pitch a perfect game. Not too long after that, the Mets got healthy, made some trades, ran into a cushy August schedule, and they took off. Panic City was forgotten. 

Until now. 

The Mets are grossly underperforming now. In five of the Mets six games, they’ve scored three runs or less. Terry Collins is batting low OBP guys in front of high OBP guys, and he’s stacking lefties (yes, with Neil Walker‘s L/R splits, he’s effectively a lefty). Mets fans are annoyed as well they should be. But no, that’s not how it’s characterized.  Because of Alserson’s comments, we’re “panicking”:

Everybody’s a comedian.

Look, no matter what happens from here on out whenever the Mets have a tough stretch this fan base is going to be mocked for panicking. Honestly, I do not know one Mets fan panicking. Not one. I know if people raising legitimate concerns about a lineup that strikes out a lot and doesn’t have high OBP. But that’s not panic, that’s reality. 

I haven’t heard one person declare the season over, demand a trade, or call for Collins to be fired. There’s no panic. There’s just really justifiable frustration over a team that’s not hitting, losing to bad teams, and wasting some good pitching performances. No, Mets fans are colored as being unreasonable and overly reactionary. 

We will never see the article about how right the Mets fans were in 2015. We will not see how that the fans were 100% right in their complaints. We will not see how the fans were right about demanding that Michael Conforto be called up.  However, we will see articles and tweets demeaning the fanbase once again calling them “Panic City” as if Mets fans should enjoy really bad offensive baseball. 

It’s all because Alderson thought he was hilarious in demeaning Mets fans one day when they were irritated watching an inept offensive club ruining start after start. Apparently, realizing a team that finds runs hard to come by is panicking. A fan base that wants their General Manager is panicking. Apparently, not being happy with a team playing poorly against a weak early schedule is panicking. 

Thanks for that Sandy. 

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Blame Alderson for the Panic City Nonsense

I have a bone to pick with Sandy Alderson. No, it’s not the offense that isn’t hitting. They should hit eventually. Well, we at least hope they will. No, it’s when Alderson dubbed Mets fans “Panic City.”

Let’s remember the context of that gem. The Mets were one game over .500, lost six of their last 10, and were 3.5 games behind the Nationals. They had allowed 14 more runs than they had scored. The Mets had scored the third fewest runs in baseball. The Mets had gone from seven games over .500 with a 4.5 game lead in the division (5.0 games over the Nationals) to falling in the standings. The Nationals were hot, and they were getting better. The Mets were seemingly falling apart while their General Manager was mocking the fans. 

Funny thing is the Mets got worse offensively after that. It got to the point where fans were EXPECTING Clayton Kershaw to pitch a perfect game. Not too long after that, the Mets got healthy, made some trades, ran into a cushy August schedule, and they took off. Panic City was forgotten. 

Until now. 

The Mets are grossly underperforming now. In five of the Mets six games, they’ve scored three runs or less. Terry Collins is batting low OBP guys in front of high OBP guys, and he’s stacking lefties (yes, with Neil Walker‘s L/R splits, he’s effectively a lefty). Mets fans are annoyed as well they should be. But no, that’s not how it’s characterized.  Because of Alserson’s comments, we’re “panicking”:

Everybody’s a comedian.

Look, no matter what happens from here on out whenever the Mets have a tough stretch this fan base is going to be mocked for panicking. Honestly, I do not know one Mets fan panicking. Not one. I know if people raising legitimate concerns about a lineup that strikes out a lot and doesn’t have high OBP. But that’s not panic, that’s reality. 

I haven’t heard one person declare the season over, demand a trade, or call for Collins to be fired. There’s no panic. There’s just really justifiable frustration over a team that’s not hitting, losing to bad teams, and wasting some good pitching performances. No, Mets fans are colored as being unreasonable and overly reactionary. 

We will never see the article about how right the Mets fans were in 2015. We will not see how that the fans were 100% right in their complaints. We will not see how the fans were right about demanding that Michael Conforto be called up.  However, we will see articles and tweets demeaning the fanbase once again calling them “Panic City” as if Mets fans should enjoy really bad offensive baseball. 

It’s all because Alderson thought he was hilarious in demeaning Mets fans one day when they were irritated watching an inept offensive club ruining start after start. Apparently, realizing a team that finds runs hard to come by is panicking. A fan base that wants their General Manager is panicking. Apparently, not being happy with a team playing poorly against a weak early schedule is panicking. 

Thanks for that Sandy. 

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Mets Roster Mismanagement

After the Mets bullpen had to pitch 7.1 innings on Monday with Steven Matz‘s terrible start, and Logan Verrett having to come out of the bullpen to start in place of Jacob deGrom, the Mets were forced to make a move to add a pitcher to the roster. 

There were plenty of good options available to them. 

The Mets could’ve utilized deGrom’s paternity leave and called up Rafael Montero. However, the Mets didn’t want to do that because they then couldn’t backdate a potential deGrom DL stint to last Saturday. The Mets could’ve just placed deGrom on the DL, but for some reason they do not appear ready to do that. Apparently, that April 19th game against the Phillies is a must win, and you need deGrom to pitch in that game if at all possible. 

No, the Mets decided to demote a player. Looking over the roster, the only pitcher who realistically could be demoted is Hansel Robles. He seems like a natural choice as he pitched 2.2 innings on Monday, and he could use an extra day or two. If Montero falters, the Mets could recall Erik Goeddel or Sean Gilmartin to take his place on the roster. 

In this scenario, Robles would have to stay in the minors for 10 days unless the Mets put deGrom (or someone else) on the DL. Given Robles’ current role, losing him for 10 days would be palatable. Montero, Goeddel, or Gilmartin could easily be the long man and/or last man in the bullpen. 

Instead of the Mets following the reasonable course of action, they determined it was in their best interests to demote Eric Campbell. In essence, the Mets decided to go with the worst possible choice. 

Now,there is nothing wrong per se with demoting Campbell. He’s a career .230/.315/.325 hitter. He has good attributes as a player, but nothing that Campbell has done in his career would ever prevent him from being demoted. However, if he’s being demoted, it should be because the Mets are calling up another position player like Matt Reynolds, not because they are adding a pitcher to the roster. 

The Mets demoting Campbell for Montero shortens the Mets bench. In a world where you have David Wright on your team, you should never shorten your bench.  On any given day, Wright can wake up sore and not be ready to play. If that happens, not only are you down another player, but you also have no infielders on your bench. 

By the way, the Mets are playing a day game after a night game. Terry Collins has said there’s no hard-and-fast rule stating Wright must sit a day game after a night game. However, it’s also true that the Mets have so far refrained from playing Wright in a day game after a night game. No one knows how his back will respond to it. No one knows if he will be able to get loose in time to play a full nine innings. 

Instead of taking this into account, the Mets thought it would be best to potentially have no infielders on the bench. The Mets thought it would be best to realistically only have two options on the bench for Wednesday’s game (Collins is loathe to pinch hit with his catcher). Also, apparently, the Mets do not foresee the need to have more than two pinch hitters available in a game where the starting pitcher hasn’t pitched in almost a month and wasn’t stretched out in Spring Training. No, the Mets are setting forth a gameplan where they will have Verrett go deep in the game, and they will be alright with just two bench players. What could go wrong?

The Mets are in the midst of a four game losing streak and would rather potentially sacrifice the the last game of the homestand to give themselves the best possible shot of winning a game against a terrible Phillies team in Philadelphia. The Mets apparently didn’t learn their lesson on Monday about the perils of having a shortened roster. 

Overall, the Mets put themselves in a tough position all because they’ve deemed an April game in Philadelphia a must win. Why else wouldn’t you put an injured pitcher who is already missing a start and bullpen sessions on the DL?  

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For Four’s Sake

Tonight’s start by Noah Syndergaard was good. Why do I describe it as good?  Because no matter what adjective you would pick to describe his start would be grossly underselling it, so you might as well just go with good. Too bad the Mets offense can’t even be described as putrid. Otherwise, Syndergaard and the Mets might’ve gotten the win tonight. 

Syndergaard just dominated the Marlins like he did the Royals – like he’s going to do to the rest of baseball this year. Syndergaard went seven innings allowing seven hits, one earned, one walk, and 12 strikeouts. His ERA actually increased to 0.69. 

However, as good as Syndergaard was, he still needed some help. Derek Dietrich would start the inning with a leadoff double, and he would wind up running the Marlins out of the inning. After a ground out and line out, Ichiro Suzuki singled to short, and Dietrich did a poor Eric Hosmer impersonation. Lucas Duda nailed him easily at the plate. Even if Ichiro would’ve been ruled out on replay, it was good to see Duda get some measure of redemption. 

However, despite Syndergaard’s domination, the Mets still lost. They lost because the Mets still are not hitting or scoring runs. 

The only run was scored on a Duda first inning RBI single. After that, it was pretty much nothing. At least tonight, they had the excuse of a dominant Jose Fernandez for five innings. Yoenis Cespedes gave one a ride in the third, but it was knocked down by the 29+ MPH winds blowing in from left field. 

The turning point was Dee Gordon‘s eighth inning sixteen pitch at bat against Jim Henderson.  Gordon would single to left. Henderson would walk two of the next three to leave the bases loaded. Henderson just lost his control, and he almost hit Giancarlo Stanton in the head. Jerry Blevins came into the game, and Don Mattingly used Martin Prado to pinch hit. Prado would get the game winning sac fly, and the Marlins would win 2-1. 

The Mets have now lost four in a row and are 1-4 at home. 

Game Notes: Terry Collins allowed Michael Conforto to hit against a lefty with runners on first and second with one out in the sixth. He grounded into an inning ending double play. Cespedes had another good night at the plate going 1-3 with a walk. Collins ignored the fact that Henderson is playing his first full season since shoulder surgery:

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The Mets Pitching Needs to Make Adjustments

React to last night’s loss the way you want. No matter what your reaction may be, we can all agree that the Mets have some work to do.  This includes the pitching staff. 

Before last night’s loss, the Mets lead the National League in ERA. After Steven Matz‘s dud last night, the Mets are now ranked sixth. They went from a 2.08 ERA to a 3.40 ERA. It’s a warning of overlying on small sample sizes. It’s also a reminder that it’s really about the process. While it’s a results oriented business, the pitching coach needs to focus on things like the pitcher’s mechanics and not his ERA. 

In that respect, Dan Warthen has some work to do as three of his starters have some mechanical issues.

Steven Matz

Last night, Matz was terrible. There are a number of things you can point to as the reason like the long layoff. However, as Kevin Kernan reported in the NY Post, Matz’s mechanics may have been to blame:

He looks like a young guy who needs a month in Triple-A to clean up some things,” one veteran scout at the game told the Post. 

Looking at last night’s game, there was no doubt Matz needs some work. He wasn’t fooling anyone last night, and the Marlins were on top of his pitches. Preferably, Matz can do that work with Dan Warthen instead of Triple-A. Regardless of where he does it, Matz needs to need to get himself right. 

Jacob deGrom

The talk throughout Spring Training was Jacob deGrom‘s fastball ranging between 91 – 93 MPH.  That is down from the 96 MPH fastball he averaged last year. There were a number of reasons posited why that was the case from him starting getting ready for the season later to him saving bullets for the regular season to him getting nicked up a couple of times during Spring Training. 

In his first start of the season, deGrom was still averaging 92 MPH. Some said there was no need for caution because he looked dominant at times even without the extra MPH on the fastball. Some later speculated it might’ve been the result of his lat injury. However, on the April 11th edition of MLB Tonight, Pedro Martinez stated that deGrom was dropping his arm angle. It was his belief that if deGrom fixed his arm angle the extra MPH could return to deGrom’s fastball. 

Matt Harvey

This season is supposed to be the season for Matt Harvey. He’s another year removed from Tommy John surgery. He’s got his slider back. The only thing he had to worry about was going out there and dominating like he did in 2013. 

It hasn’t started out that way. Harvey was 8-0 in April coming into this year. This year he’s 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.463 WHIP. At times, he seems to have difficulty locating pitches. Harvey isn’t blaming his bladder problems. As Neil Best of Newsday reports on Opening Day, it’s a mechanical issue:

“I felt alright,” Harvey said. “There were times I felt fine and other times when it was hard finding a rhythm and getting my release point.”

After Sunday’s loss to the Phillies, Harvey’s day changed on one pitch he left out over the plate. Again, as Kevin Kernan of the NY Post reported, it was a mechanical issue as, “Harvey said he didn’t get the arm extension on the killer 1-2 slider.” As Kernan further reported the coaching staff is concerned enough for Dan Warthen to start “studying film to see what the issue is with Harvey.” 

Dan Warthen is going to study film for at least three of his starters.  Fortunately, it is still early in the season. The Mets have plenty of time to figure things out. The pitching is going to be there, and yes, the offense will as well.  However, while the offense is figuring things out, the Mets need their pitching. As we saw last year, this Mets staff can keep even the most abysmal of offenses afloat. As we saw last year, the Mets pitching can carry them to the World Series. 

It’s the Mets pitching that is going to win them the World Series this year. 

Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com

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Mets Have Momentum

The late, great, Hall of Fame Manager Earl Weaver used to say, “Momentum?  Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.”  With that said, the Mets should have momentum all throughout 2016. 

With a 2-4 start, it hasn’t always worked out that way, but tonight Mets fans get to see Noah Syndergaard take the mound. Last time we saw him, he was doing things like this:

He’s become unhittable. He makes you want to jump out of your chair and scream:

Fact is, whenever you have Thor on the mound, your team has momentum. They can go out there and beat the ’27 Yankees. They can go out there and beat the Big Red Machine just like Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Jon Matlack did. When any member of a power triumvirate of Mets pitchers takes the mound, you have to like your chances of winning. You’ve got momentum. 

Tonight, momentum, thy name is Thor. 

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Bastardo’s Role

At a time when Mets fans were still clamoring for Yoenis Cespedes, the Mets made a move designed to sure up their bullpen when they signed Antonio Bastardo to a two year $12 million contract. 

Generally speaking, the move was well received. While Bastardo was a left hander, he was not a LOOGY. For his career, he actually holds righties to a very respectable .211/.307/.331. Bastardo was a guy that the Mets could slot into the seventh or eighth inning. He was supposed to be a very important part of the Mets bullpen. So far, in 2016, it hasn’t happened that way. 

After a terrific stint with the Mets last year, Terry Collins handed the eighth to Addison Reed. After a terrific Spring Training and an even better start to the season, Jim Henderson has locked down the seventh. To date, Bastardo’s role has been much less glamorous. 

Bastardo’s first appearance came in a Mets 7-2 trouncing of the Phillies. It was Bastardo’s job to mop up the ninth inning. Last night, Bastardo was called upon to eat up a many innings as he could after Steven Matz only lasted 1.2 innings. Bastardo was the second guy in after Hansel Robles pitched the first 2.2 innings. Essentially, Robles is the seventh or last guy in the bullpen, and Bastardo is the sixth. 

Somewhat surprisingly, Bastardo has become the forgotten man in the bullpen. Collins feels more comfortable going elsewhere when he’s looking for a guy to get some important outs. It’s too early to say or suggest that’s he’s in the doghouse, especially since the season’s only six games deep. The fact is Collins feels more comfortable looking to Reed and Henderson. It’s not what anyone had in mind when the Mets signed Bastardo this offseason. 

With all that said, there’s still a lot of games left to be played. As the season progresses, Bastardo is going to get some important innings. After he shows this Mets coaching staff what he can do in those situations, he will be put into more and more high leverage situations. 

However, until that time, Collins is going to continue looking elsewhere when the game is on the line.

Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com

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Matz Was Glavinesque

The Mets sent out Steven Matz, who is the proverbial fourth member of what had been touted as the Big Four. Mets fans all hope each of these pitchers will be future Hall of Famers. Tonight, Matz did a pretty good impersonation of Tom Glavine. 

Like Glavine, Matz allowed seven runs to the Marlins. At least Matz lasted a little longer. Matz’s final line was 1.2 innings, six hits, seven earned, two walks, and one strikeout. Before the game, Matz was 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA. This year, he’s 0-1 with a 37.80 ERA. 

In the fateful second inning, seemingly every Marlin got a hit including Barry Bonds and Don Mattingly got hits. Of course, Giancarlo Stanton provided the exclamation point:

It needs to be constantly reiterated, but Bonds seems to be having a very real impact on this Marlins team. Six of their eight regulars are hitting over .300. They had no problem hitting Matz. This is a young Marlins club with a lot of offensive talent. If they realize that potential, it’s a definitive blow to the Mets chances to return to the postseason . . . especially with how this club plays the Marlins. 

As for the Mets, their bullpen did a yeoman’s job. Hansel Robles pitched 2.1 innings allowing four hits, one earned, one walk, and three strikeouts. Antonio Bastardo pitched 1.1 innings allowing four hits, two runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. Addison Reed pitched 1.2 innings with no hits, no runs, and four strikeouts. Jeurys Familia was pressed into action even though he has the flu. Jerry Blevins pitched the ninth. The night was such a disaster that Blevins finally allowed a hit in his Mets career. It was an infield single to Dee Gordon with two outs in the ninth. 

The Mets might’ve avoided burning through their entire bullpen like that if they would’ve just put Jacob deGrom on the DL. Sean Gilmartin, who was very effective as the long man last year, could’ve soaked up some of those innings. It would’ve been all the more imperative with Logan Verrett going on Wednesday. 

Offensively?  Well the Mets had seven hits and three runs. All of the runs came after the game was over. Two of those hits were from David Wright, who despite his career being declared over, has been the Mets best offensive player so far this year. He’s hitting .333 with a .478 OBP. Perhaps that’s the reason why the man with the bad back played all nine innings in a 10-3 blowout. 

All kidding aside, the Mets decision making in this young season has been perplexing. Terry Collins bats three lefties bunched up together every day (with his splits, Neil Walker is effectively a left handed hitter). Jim Henderson leads the Mets in appearances despite not having pitched in two years and coming off a second shoulder surgery. Remember that next time Collins gets emotional over Johan Santana. At least Collins isn’t to blame for the team’s mismanagement of the deGrom/bullpen situation. 

With all that said, this is a game the Mets should just forget about. It’s another game to forget in what has been a mostly forgettable start to the season. Fortunately, momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher, and Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to pitch tomorrow. So, in that sense, the Mets have some momentum going. 

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deGrom Should Be on the DL

There’s no blaming the Mets for Jacob deGrom‘s right lat injury. Injuries happen. However, we yet again have to question how the Mets handle injuries and their roster. 

At the outset, the Mets are skipping deGrom’s start on Wednesday. He also isn’t going to throw in the bullpen for the time being. This is a very reasonable course of action. There’s no need rushing deGrom back in April possibly causing him further injury. With that said, there’s no reason why deGrom hasn’t been sent for an MRI. 

It was just last year the Mets dealt with Steven Matz and his lat. The Mets thought he was fine. They didn’t send him for an MRI, and they let him make his next start. As we discovered, he shouldn’t have made that start. He wouldn’t throw another pitch for the Mets for another two months. The Mets treatment of  Matz follows a pattern. It’s at this point, we’re obligated to review Jared Diamond’s breakdown in the Wall Street Journal of how the Mets downplay injuries:

  
For a second, let’s be optimistic about deGrom’s injury. Let’s assume it really is tightness and not worse. Let’s assume an MRI really isn’t needed. Why not put him on the DL anyway?  

With deGrom missing a start, Logan Verrett will take his spot in the rotation. This is the same Verrett who pitched yesterday. This means he will be starting on two days rest on Wednesday. He also isn’t fully stretched out. He only threw 15.2 innings in eight Spring Training games. Long story short, the Mets bullpen is going to be taxed. 

The bullpen is also going to be one man short as Verrett rests from his start. 

Instead of having a short bullpen, the Mets should just put deGrom on the DL. He’s already missing one start. If deGrom were to go on the DL, he would be eligible to make his next start on Sunday, April 24th instead of Tuesday, April 19th against the Phillies. Despite the Mets losing two out of three to the Phillies this past weekend, the Mets should still be able to win with Verrett on the mound. 

In turn, deGrom can use that time to rest, not rush back, and not exacerbate his lat injury. He can be home when his wife gives birth. He can spend some quality time home with his newborn son before going back on the road. deGrom can get his mind and his body in the right place before pitching again. 

The Mets need to put deGrom on the DL right now. 

Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com

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What Type of Mets Fan Are You?

The season has gotten off to a rocky start and increasingly, it is becoming apparent that there are two types of Mets fans – Optimistic and Pessimistic. Here’s the breakdown:

Optimistic: the Mets won in 1969 and 1986. They win in years which have a 6 in them. It’s 2016!

Pessimistic: Tell that to the 1962 – 1968 Mets and the 1976 Mets. Also, someone probably should’ve told that to Carlos Beltran when he didn’t swing the bat. 
Optimistic: The ’86 Mets began the year 2-3, and they lost two games to the Phillies. 

Pessimistic: The 1992 Mets were also a high profile team people thought were World Series contenders that opened the year 2-3. By the way, the 1986 Phillies were a decent team. The 2016 Phillies are horrendous. 

Optimistic: Yoenis Cespedes seemed to get off the snide. He went 2-4 with a homerun and two RBI. 

Pessimistic: He’s still batting only .200, and did you see him drop that ball in Kansas City?

Optimistic: The Mets have the best ERA in baseball. 

Pessimistic:  Matt Harvey has been terrible. It’s only a matter of time before we discover Jacob deGrom needs surgery or he will be out half the year. By the way, the Mets have the best ERA, faced an awful Phillies team, and they’re still under .500. 

Optimistic: The bullpen has been off to a terrific start. 

Pessimistic: You must’ve missed yesterday’s game when Addison Reed melted down like it was Game 5 of the World Series. 

Optimistic: David Wright has looked good to start the year. 

Pessimistic: His throws have been terrible, and he’s already had to miss a game. 

Optimistic: Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera have looked great up the middle. 

Pessimistic: Anything would’ve been an upgrade. By the way, they’re not hitting, and it hasn’t translated to wins. Speaking of wins, the Nationals are 3-1. Coincidentally, they have Daniel Murphy, the guy who carried the Mets in the postseason, is a National. He’s hitting .462/.611/.923. 

Optimistic: This team is built to win the World Series, and I’m going to enjoy every single part of the ride. 

Pessimistic:  I don’t know what team you’re watching. 

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