My Son Knew This Would Happen

When my son woke up Saturday morning, all he wanted to do was talk baseball. He was excited for the game that night. I still feel bad I couldn’t take him (it was too cold). 

Anyway, I asked him what he thought was going to happen during the game. He told me “Murphy homerun”

I asked him about Wright. His response was “No!”  Duda?  “No!”  Murphy? “Homerun, yay!”  I asked him what else was going to happen. His response was “Harvey pitch.”  Pitch he did:

My son took his ever growing baseball knowledge and let me know what was going to happen. On Sunday, he wanted to make signs for the next Mets game. 

  The thing is I don’t have tickets for another game until Game Three of the World Series. Once again, he just might know something that I don’t know.   

This kid is a baseball genius. 

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Curtis Has Been Grand

The most underrated person on the Mets roster all year has been Curtis Granderson. When fans and media discussed who was the Mets MVP most wrongly pointed to Yoenis Cespedes. Good arguments were made for Jeurys Familia. The real MVP was Granderson. 

Granderson is getting overshadowed again this postseason by Daniel Murphy. It’s understandable. Murphy has been amazing. However, so has Granderson. He’s been terrific. He’s done everything he can do to help the Mets win. He may be just as important to the Mets as Murphy has been. 

In the NLDS, he set the pace in Game One by going 2-3 with a walk against Clayton Kershaw. Not bad for a guy who can’t hit lefties. In Game Three, Granderson got the big double to turned a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead:

It was a huge hit on the way to a 13-7 win and a 2-1 series lead. In the pivotal Game Five, he busted it out of the box and got an infield single, and he scored the first run of the game on the Murphy double. For the NLDS, he hit .389/.476/.500 with one run, two doubles, five RBIs, one stolen base, and three walks.

He’s continued play into the NLCS. In Game One, he had the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth. In the top half, Matt Harvey lost the no-hitter and the lead. Granderson gave the Mets with a two out RBI single to reclaim the lead. He then added to the lead with a sac fly in the seventh. 

Last night, he contributed more as a table setter. He lead off the game in the first and scored on David Wright‘s RBI double. He then manufactured a run in the third. After a leadoff walk, he stole two bases giving him an opportunity to score on the Cespedes infield single. Oh yeah, he also did this: 

In the NLCS, he’s gone 2-6 with two runs, two RBIs, one walk, and a robbed homerun. Once again another Met player is grabbing the headlines while Granderson is the driving force behind this team. 

He’s been Grand. 

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Halfway There

The Mets are up 2-0 in this series because they repeated the same formula from last night: (1) great starting pitching; (2) Daniel Murphy hitting homers; and (3) Curtis Granderson being a table setter. 

Noah Syndergaard used his fastball to overpower the Cubs lineup. On only two days rest from his relief appearance, he would pitch 5.2 innings allowing three hits, one earned, one walk, and nine strikeouts. The nine strikeouts but him in elite company:
https://twitter.com/bbtn/status/655932871832653824

Thor allowed his first and only run when Kris Bryant hit an RBI double. He walked off to a standing ovation and gave way to Jon Niese. Niese pitched today despite recently losing a family member. He summoned everything he had and struck out Anthony Rizzo. As he left the mound to cheers, he pointed to the sky as if to say thank you to the new angel who was at his side tonight. 

The Mets then went to the regular season bullpen formula of Addison Reed–Tyler Clippard–Jeurys Familia. The kept the Cubs at bay and preserved the 4-1 win. 

The Mets got three of those four runs in the first. It started with a Granderson single. He scored on a . . . wait my notes can’t be correct . . . let’s me check the box score online. Wow, Granderson scored on an RBI double from David Wright. That is why you let your best players play. Speaking of your best player, Murphy hit yet another homerun. 

He’s unconscious: 

https://twitter.com/bbtn/status/655912985618161664

In the third, Granderson reminded everyone he should be in the way too soon MVP discussion.  He walked and stole second. This gave the Cubs the opportunity to walk Murphy rather than let him hurt you again. Granderson then stole third and scored on the Yoenis Cespedes infield single. To further his MVP case, Granderson robbed Chris Coghlan of a homerun:

When you have great pitching and two players in a dogfight for NLCS MVP, you’re going to be up 2-0 in the series. After taking care of home field, the Mets travel to Wrigley with a significant advantage in the starting pitching matchup. Let’s let Bon Jovi take us out since the Mets are halfway there while living on a prayer:

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Thor Needs to Bring the Heat

At the game yesterday, it was cold and windy. It’s not surprising after all. It is Flushing in October. Tonight, it’s supposed to be colder. While I was running errands, it was even snowing today. 

This has some effects on the game:

  1. Batters strike out more frequently;
  2. Pitchers have less control; and 
  3. The balls carry less. 

With less control, a pitcher may want to rely on his fastball more because that is the easiest pitch to locate. That’s where the Mets starting Noah Syndergaard tonight is an advantage. 

Thor set a record this year for highest fastball velocity at 97.1 MPH. With this fastball (and secondary pitches), he struck out 10 batters per nine innings. During the postseason so far, his velocity has increased to 98.7 MPH. He’s striking out 13.5 batters per nine innings in the postseason. 

As for the Cubs, they can’t hit the fastball . . . at least not one thrown as fast as Thor’s.   The Cubs ranked 27th in the majors in batting average against pitches thrown 95 MPH and above. In addition, the Cubs struck out more than any other team in baseball; 127 times more actually. They struck out 10 times last night. If Thor brings his record setting heat tonight, the Cubs will be in line for another double digit strikeout night. 

On this cold, cold night, the only heat will come from the right arm of Noah Syndergaard. If he brings the heat, we will see more of Pedro Martinez cheering:

We will be too. 

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#Murphtober

Once the Mets clinched the NL East, I actively wondered what type of October this would be. In Game 1 of the NLDS, it looked like it would be Jaketober. Game 3 lead me to believe it would be Yotober. However, it’s official after last night, it’s Murphtober. 

This should surprise no one. In the limited chances he’s had, Daniel Murphy has shown himself to be clutch. He’s taken advantage of every little opportunity given to him. He’s made himself an All Star. He’s turning into an October legend. He already has his own highlight reel:

    

He’s been a terrific Met since 2008. He’s making the most of this postseason chance. No one should be surprised because he’s always been clutch. I know Mets fans aren’t. Everytime he does something, we cheer him like this:

We will continue to be like that all Murphtober long. 

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Why Three Aces Are Better Than Two

While Terry Collins has made some strange tactical decisions, he made one very good one. He has started Noah Syndergaard in Game Two of the NLDS and the NLCS. This means he has gone up against Zack Greinke, and he will go up against Jake Arrieta. Depending on your point of view, he will have gone up against the two best pitchers in the NL this year. 

It also means the Mets have set themselves up nicely in a pivotal Game Three of a series. In the first round, Thor had actually outdueled Greinke, but for an egregious call. As a result of that call, the NLDS was tied 1-1 instead of 2-0. The Mets got a 2-1 lead in large part because of the big advantage the Mets had in the Matt Harvey–Brett Anderson matchup. 

Regardless of what happens tonight, the Mets have a huge advantage in Game Three. The Mets will be throwing Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54 ERA) against Kyle Kendricks (8-7, 3.95 ERA). Now, anything can happen, but you have to like the Mets chances to go up 2-1 or 3-0. 

The Mets are fortunate they have three great pitchers. Yes, Thor is their third best pitcher, but he’s almost as good. As he showed in the NLDS, he can matchup with the best pitchers in the game. Anytime he toes the rubber, you have to believe the Mets have a chance to win. The Mets will tonight. They will in Game Three too. 

They have a chance to win the World Series. 

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Lagares Has Quietly Had a Good Postseason

There has been understandable handwringing over the Mets refusal to play Michael Conforto against lefties. THE handwringing turned into a public outcry after Michael Cuddyer‘s awful game in LF in Game One of the NLDS.

Instead of switching to Conforto against lefties, the Mets went to Juan Lagares. Lagares was the 2014 Gold Glove winner. He was once thought to be the leadoff hitter this year. However, he was injured and underperformed. At the trade deadline, the Mets sought out a CF and landed on Yoenis Cespedes. It made Lagares a platoon player only batting against LHP.
After Game One of the NLDS, he returned to that role starting in Games Three and Five. In the NLDS, he hit .429/.500/.714. He had three runs, two doubles, and a walk. Last night against Jon Lester, he went 2-3 with two runs and a stolen base. In some ways, he’s been the Mets best offensive player not named Daniel Murphy. 

In particular last night, he showed us why Collins once thought of him as a leadoff hitter. He started off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt. He then watched Lester and was timing his jump. You could see from the seats he was itching to run. He took off and stole third. He then scored on Curtis Granderson‘s sac fly. Lagares manufactured that run with his legs. 

He’s finally showing us why everyone thought he had all of this offensive potential. He’s doing it in the most important time of the year. Even with last night’s misplay, he’s still been a great defensive player. He’s finally putting it all together. You wouldn’t know it because he’s been overshadowed by great pitching and Daniel Murphy. 

He’s quietly having a great postseason. 

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So is Wright Sitting Today?

In Game One of the NLCS, the Mets benched Lucas Duda in favor of Michael Cuddyer. They did this even though Duda has gone 3-8 with a homer off of Jon Lester. They did this even though Cuddyer is 5-19 off Lester with no extra base hits. It gets better:

https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/655472440089427968

Seriously? Kelly Johnson has been good since coming here. However, he’s not Duda. Furthermore, this doesn’t address the real drain on the lineup – David Wright. 

Wright is hitting .053 in the playoffs. Let that sink in .053!  Yes, he’s played well defensively, and he’s drawn some walks. But .053 is .053. He’s currently 0 for his last 16. Are the Mets talking about moving him down in the lineup? He is batting second. Are they talking about sitting him in favor of Johnson?  No. 

Nor should they. The idea of sitting your best players in October is absurd unless they are injured or if a particular pitcher just had their number. None of that was present last night. 

Duda needs to stay in the lineup the rest of the playoffs. Same goes for Wright. You don’t overreact to a cold streak like the Mets did yesterday. 

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Harvey Turned the Cubs into Jokers

I really thought Matt Harvey was going to pitch a no-hitter. He had the Cubs batters off balance. It seemed he already got his tremendous defensive play with Wilmer Flores leaping to snare a sure to be line drive base hit. He had all the run support he needed from a Daniel Murphy first inning homerun (of course) off of Jon Lester. 

Then the fifth inning happened. By the way, the fifth inning is the reason why I think the Mets are going to win the World Series this year. 

Harvey started the inning by plunking Anthony Rizzo. He then let up a line drive to Starlin Castro. Immediately off the bat I thought right to Juan Lagares, easy out. Lagares misplayed it into an RBI double. The score was tied 1-1. Then the Javier Baez got the Cubs first true hit off of Harvey:

It was Yoenis Cespedes with the “Throwing Out of Baserunners.”  The Cubs rally was over. 

The Mets responded in the fifth. Flores and Lagares got basehits. Harvey botched a sac bunt attempt leaving runners on first and second. The Mets were lucky Kris Bryant dropped the ball on what could’ve been an inning ending double play. Curtis Granderson then hit an RBI single to reclaim the lead. 

The Mets responded to the Cubs run. They would score in three consecutive innings. In the sixth, Travis d’Arnaud hit a homerun into the homerun apple. In the seventh, Lagares would single, and this time, Harvey would bunt him over. Lagares  was gradually expanding his lead, and then  he took off and stole third. This allowed him to score on a shallow fly ball to left. 

It was a tremendous slide by Lagares to just beat the tag. Tim Teufel was smart to send Lagares because he was taking advantage of Kyle Schwarber‘s inexperience in LF (he was a catcher in the minors). It was a good throw, but it took him a while to throw it. Schwarber would be heard from again in the eighth when he hit a homerun to CF, London, or Vancouver.  I can’t tell because he hit it so far I think it crashed through a window on a flight out of Laguardia. 

The Schwarber homerun knocked Harvey out of the game. It took that long homerun to do it. The Cubs couldn’t even knock him out of the game when a comeback line drive hit Harvey in his pitching arm. His final line was 7.2 innings, four hits, two earned, two walks (one intentional), and non strikeouts. He walked off the mound to a well earned standing ovation. Terry Collins brought in Jeurys Familia, who recorded the four out save. 

The save was punctuated by a Murphy sliding stop and throw to first. He looks like he can do everything right now. So do the Mets. They beat the Cubs 4-2, and they’re up 1-0 in the series. They looked like a pennant winner. They looked like a champion. 

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Thank You Harvey

Tonight, Matt Harvey takes the rubber in Game One of the NLCS. It’s fitting since, he promised Terry Collins that this would happen. 

He delivered on his promise. He was 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.019 WHIP this year. His first after Tommy John. He pitched 189.1 innings in the regular season. He pitched the clincher in the regular season. He won Game Three of the NLDS without his best stuff. Tonight, he should go over the 200 inning threshold. He certainly will do in this series as he will pitch more than once this series. 

People may not like him off the field, but when he goes that rubber he gives the Mets a chance to win. He’s a special pitcher pitching in a special time of the year. He’s been the Mets best pitcher against the Cubs. He will have to be again this series. 

None of this is possible without Harvey. Whether anyone will admit it or not, he pushed himself to help the Mets win it all this year. He gives the Mets the best chance to win. 

Thank you. 

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