Addison Reed
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia have combined to hold the lead in 33 of 34 chances in which they have been given a lead in the eighth inning or later. Jerry Blevins, the purported LOOGY, has actually held right-handed batters to a lower batting average while pitching to a 2.08 ERA. Hansel Robles has been a veritable Swiss Army knife in the bullpen. One day, he’s pitching 3.2 innings to help preserve the bullpen after a starter gets knocked out a game early. The next, he’s coming into the game to get the Mets out of a no out bases loaded situation unscathed. With these arms, the Mets have a dominating bullpen.
However, behind these arms is a question mark. Jim Henderson has started to pitch well in his rehab assignment. However, he has been a different pitcher since his ill advised April 13th appearance. Seth Lugo has pitched six scoreless innings over three appearances. However, each of these appearances were in low pressure situations, and Terry Collins does not appear to trust him enough to try him in a pressure situation. Erik Goeddel entered the season with a 2.48 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, and a 9.0 K/9, but he has struggled this year pitching to a 4.50 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, and an 8.4 K/9. There remains intriguing options in the minors like Josh Edgin, Josh Smoker, and Paul Sewald. Between this group, the Mets could piece together a fine bullpen. However, as the Mets are in heat for playoff spot, they do not want to take any chances.
The Mets are even more committed to finding that one bullpen piece considering how the team now has some question marks in the rotation with Matt Harvey‘s season ending surgery, Steven Matz‘s bone spurs, and Noah Syndergaard‘s dead arm. According to Marc Carig, the Mets lost out on Kevin Jepsen and believe the pricetag for Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress will be too high. Further hampering the Mets pursuit are the trades the team has made over the past year and a half. Still, they are looking to preferably add a reliever who can lock down the seventh inning thereby taking some stress off their starting pitchers. With that in mind, here are some options the Mets could pursue:
Jeremy Jeffress – As noted the pricetag should be high as Jeffress has the Brewers closer has recorded 23 saves with a 2.35 ERA and a 3.39 WHIP. He is also under team control until 2020.
John Axford – Axford has some ugly numbers this year with a 5.21 ERA and a 1.579 WHIP for the last place Oakland Athletics. However, it should be noted that his velocity is still there and he still has the same bite on his curveball. A new voice and a pennant race could rejuvenate him. It should also be noted in the postseason, Axford has a 1.42 ERA, 1.026 WHIP, and a 12.8 K/9.
Brad Hand – Like many relievers, Hand has seemingly figured things out in San Diego after having mostly struggled in his first five years with the Marlins. He has a 2.94 ERA and a 1.269 WHIP this year as opposed to the 4.71 ERA and 1.424 WHIP he had with the Marlins. Part of the reason for his success is his increased use of his slider which is a pitch that has generated a high percentage of swings and misses. Hand does profile as the type of pitcher Dan Warthen has had success with during his tenure with the Mets.
Ryan Buchter – The 29 year old career minor leaguer and Sewell, New Jersey native has taken full advantage of his first read shot in the majors with a 2.41 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP, and a 12.5 K/9 in 44 appearances. Like what Antonio Bastardo was supposed to be, he is a cross-over lefty. Like his teammate Hand, he relies upon his fastball and slider to get outs. However, unlike Hand, he throws it with greater velocity with a 94 MPH fastball and an 87 MPH slider. Again, he is the type of pitcher that typically fairs well under Dan Warthen’s tutelage.
Chris Withrow – In his first season post-Tommy John, Withrow has a 3.38 ERA and a 1.313 WHIP in 33 appearances for the woeful Atlanta Braves. He is a Mets kind of pitcher as he is a power pitcher out the bullpen that has a mid nineties fastball and a high eighties slider. He may not come cheap as he is under team control until 2020, and the Braves consider him their future closer.
Tyler Clippard – The main thing that will prevent Clippard from becoming a Met is his contract. He is in the first year of a two year $12.25 million contract that will pay him $6.15 million next year. Further diminishing the chances of a reunion is the fact that Clippard is having a career worst season with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.234 WHIP. Like with Axford, the much cheaper option, the Mets would be hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Like with Jose Reyes, the Mets would be hoping he is energized by putting on a Mets uniform again.
Adding one or more of these players should improve the Mets bullpen. Regardless of whether or not the team adds one of these pitchers, or somebody else all together, they need Familia, Reed, Blevins, and Robles to continue pitching well out of the pen. They also need Bastardo to figure things out sooner rather than later as it is his struggles that are precipitating this bullpen search.
As the trade deadline approaches, every team usually states that they need bullpen help, and those that are true contenders usually add an extra arm or two to the bullpen. For example, back in 1999, one of the biggest strengths for a Mets team fighting for the NL East and the Wild Card was their bullpen. Armando Benitez had taken over the closer role much earlier than anticipated. Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook were having excellent seasons. Pat Mahomes was a revelation as the long man in the bullpen. Ex-closer John Franco was expected to return form injury to help with the playoff push. Greg McMichael was having an off year, but he had previously been a valuable bullpen arm in a pennant race from his days with the Atlanta Braves. On top of that, the Mets had some young promising arms to go to down the stretch with Jason Isringhausen and Octavio Dotel (even if Bobby Valentine thought they were better suited and belonged in the rotation). Overall, the point being is the Mets did not need bullpen help.
Even with that being the case, a Mets team that was very active during the trade deadline made sure to acquire another arm for the bullpen by sending McMichael and Isringhausen for Billy Taylor. It turns out Billy Taylor was washed up, and he would not even be on the postseason roster thereby forcing the Mets to make do with the already good bullpen pieces they had. The Mets find themselves in a similar position than the 1999 Mets did.
The Mets bullpen is led to Jeurys Familia who is the best closer in the game. When needed, Familia can pitch two innings to get the big save that the Mets need. The primary eighth inning set-up man has been Addison Reed, who is only sporting a 2.26 ERA and a 0.912 WHIP. This duo has only lost one lead that has been given to them this year in 32 attempts. Behind them is Hansel Robles who has done everything the Mets have needed in the bullpen. He can come out and bail the Mets out of a bases loaded no out jam or pitch 3.2 terrific innings to save a Mets bullpen from a first inning injury to a starting pitcher. Jerry Blevins has been an extremely effective LOOGY allowing lefties to hit .210/.269/.310. By the way, he has been even better against righties limiting them to a .107/.188/.214 batting line.
Behind these pitchers are some very solid options. There is Jim Henderson, who was great before Terry Collins abused his arm. Henderson is currently in AAA on a rehab assignment. Seth Lugo has been absolutely terrific out of the bullpen in his two appearances. However, it is only two appearances, and there still remains a (remote) chance that he may wind up in the starting rotation with the Matt Harvey injury. There is Erik Goeddel, who even despite one poor performance this season, still has a career 2.75 ERA and a 1.054 WHIP. There is still Sean Gilmartin, who was an essential part of the Mets bullpen last year. He is a starter in AAA, but if the Mets are that desperate for major league relief help that they will swing a trade, they should pull up a known quantity to help the team where he is needed.
If the Mets will consider calling up players from the minors, there are some good options in AAA. Josh Edgin has a 2.45 ERA in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. Paul Sewald has taken over as the closer, and he has recorded nine saves. There is always the alluring Josh Smoker, who is having a down year but still sports a mid-nineties fastball.
Finally, in addition to all of these players, there is still Antonio Bastardo, who is going nowhere. It is doubtful a rebuilding team will want to add him into the mix with his high salary and poor production. The Mets are stuck with him, and they are going to be stuck with him for the full season, regardless of whether they make another move to add a reliever or not. In essence, Bastardo is the reason why people mistakenly believe the Mets need bullpen help. With that in mind, the best thing the Mets can do is to find a way to get Bastardo back on track. That will help the Mets bullpen more than them adding another reliever.
Overall, the Mets bullpen is in fine shape with four outstanding relievers and plenty of good options behind them. The Mets do not need a reliever. They need to fix Bastardo since he’s going to be here whether or not the Mets make a trade. With that in mind, the Mets should leave the bullpen as is and turn their attention to the teams other needs at the trade deadline.
When the Mets signed Jose Reyes to predominantly play third base in David Wright‘s prolonged absence, many believed this would mean Wilmer Flores would find himself back on the bench. Today, Flores would have something to say about that.
In the second inning, Flores hit a bomb to left centerfield off Justin Nicolino to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Flores hit another one to left center to give the Mets a 4-1 lead.
There was some excitement when he came up with the bases loaded in the fifth, and he worked a 3-1 count. Unfortunately, he hit a hot shot right at Don Kelly, who started the 5-5-3 double play. However, this double play wouldn’t mar what was a 2-4 day with the two solo homers.
Between Flores’ two homers and Curtis Granderson‘s two RBI single in the fourth, Jacob deGrom had all the run support he needed in his last start before the All Star Break.
For most of the afternoon, deGrom spent his time in and out of trouble. He was twice aided by timely double plays that prevented a run from scoring. Overall, it was a very good start that saw deGrom throw 117 pitches over seven innings allowing six hits, two earned, and two walks with seven strikeouts. The two runs were courtesy of Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton killed the Mets like he did this entire three game series. He tied a major league record by having homers in his last four at bats, which included his first two at bats today. In total, eight of his last ten hits at Citi Field have been homers. He’s got three of the four longest homers at Citi Field. By the way, Yoenis Cespedes has the other:
Via @ESPNStatsInfo: pic.twitter.com/P6yTUuwqEY
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) July 6, 2016
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia made sure of that Stanton wouldn’t cause any more damage. Reed struck out the last batter in the eighth to ensure Stanton couldn’t tie the game with another homer. Familia struck him out leading off the ninth en route to his 30th consecutive save to start the season.
The Mets 4-2 win moved them to 2.5 games up on the Marlins in the East and the Wild Card. The Mets will now look to make similar headway against the Nationals this weekend.
Game Notes: Reyes started at shortstop because Asdrubal Cabrera was up late last night due to a family illness. Reyes was 2-4 with two doubles and a run. Flores was shifted from first to third, and James Loney got the start. The Marlins challenged a call in the fifth, but the double play ruling on the field was upheld.
It looked like more of the same for the Mets. Steven Matz allowed a first inning two run home run to Kris Bryant and a solo shot to Javier Baez in the sixth. The Mets were down 3-0 and didn’t seem to have a chance. It was the same old dreary Mets offense. In the bottom of the sixth, Yoenis Cespedes woke everyone up:
The 441 foot shot was the longest in Citi Field history and first into the Promemade Level. It was shades of Tommie Agee.
The Mets looked like a different team after that. Travis d’Arnaud got it started with a one out single off Cubs starter John Lackey. Then a minor miracle happened when Alejandro De Aza worked out a walk against Cubs reliever Joel Peralta. Then Brandon Nimmo had the at bat of the night.
Nimmo was quickly down 1-2 in the count. He would foul off three straight pitches, and he would hit an RBI single on the ninth pitch of the at bat. It narrowed the score to 3-2. He alertly moved to second when center fielder Albert Amora tried to get De Aza at third.
Joe Maddon then went to Pedro Strop to pitch to Neil Walker. Strop quickly went ahead in the count 0-2, and the Cubs pulled the infield in. Walker then hit a hooper at second baseman Baez who had no shot at getting De Aza at home. He tried to get Nimmo at third, but he threw it wild.
Nimmo then scored to make it 4-3. It was a comeback the likes of which the Mets have not made in quite a while.
In the eighth, MLB history was made when Addison Reed pitched to Addison Russell. Russell won the first ever battle of the Addisons by walking. It set up runners at first and second with two outs. Maddon sent up Jason Heyward to pinch hit, and Terry Collins countered with Jerry Blevins. Blevins got Heyward to tap one back to Blevins to end the inning.
Jeurys Familia recorded his 27th straight save this year to secure the 4-3 win. This one wasn’t easy. Ben Zobrist hit a double to make it second a third with no outs. Familia struck out Bryant, and then intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo to face rookie catcher Willson Contreras. Familia struck out the overmatched Contreras. Baez popped it up to end what was a tremendous save by Familia and win for the Mets.
The Mets took the first game of a four game set against the Cubs. By the way, last year’s NLCS was also a four game set.
Game Notes: Matz showed his frustration out there a few times, most notably when Lackey buzzed him on a sac bunt attempt. He also threw his glove after the Baez homer. Erik Goeddel earned the win after pitching 1.2 scoreless innings.
Before Thursday night’s disaster, the Mets were 34-1 when they were leading after seven innings. After Addison Reed grooved one down the heart of the plate to Adonis Garcia, the Mets record is now 34-2 when leading after seven innings. It’s hard to get on Reed for the loss as he has been so good this year. In fact, the Mets have not blown a lead in which Reed pitched the eighth and Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth.
Reed is a huge reason why. So far this year, Reed has pitched the best he ever has in his entire career. Up until last night’s blown save, Reed was 1-1 with a 2.48 ERA and a 1.010 WHIP. During the month of May, he did not allow one earned run in 12 appearances. He limited batters to a .205/.225/.205 batting line. It seemed that as the season was progressing, he was getting stronger.
Unfortunately, Reed’s success has not carried forward into June. So far, he is 1-2 in the month of June with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.313 WHIP. Batters are hitting .262/.311/.476 against him. He has already made 11 appearances this month (he made 13 in April and 12 in May), and he is starting to show some signs of fatigue. It is showing both in the results and his velocity In April, he threw a 92.9 MPH fastball and an 86.8 MPH slider. In May, he was throwing a 93.8 MPH fastball with an 87.4 MPH slider. In June, his velocity is down. He’s throwing a 92.6 MPH fastball and a 85.3 MPH slider.
Ultimately, this is what Reed has been his entire career. He has typically been a pitcher that wears down over the course of the season. Here are his career monthly splits:
- March/April 2.79 ERA
- May 3.83 ERA
- June 5.54 ERA
- July 3.66 ERA
- August 2.08 ERA
- September/October 5.21 ERA
This is Reed’s typical June swoon. He tires as the season progresses, and he’s rejuvenated with the All Star Break. He’s following the same pattern this year but with far better results.
Overall, Terry Collins may need to watch how he uses Reed for the rest of the season as the Mets will need him at his best for the pennant race and beyond.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
This was supposed to be an easy game. The Mets were up 5-0 heading into the top of the fifth. James Loney hit a three run homer to make it 8-0. However, that’s not all that happened in the top of the fifth. Steven Matz was rubbing his pitching elbow in the dugout. Everyone saw him doing this but Terry Collins and Dan Warthen.
Matz came out in the fifth throwing a slower fastball (from 94 MPH to 92 MPH). The Braves opened the inning with three consecutive doubles. The second double was a can of corn off the bat of Nick Markakis, but Yoenis Cespedes lost it. It’s not really on Cespedes as the outfield lighting at Turner Field is a joke.
So it’s safe to say @ynscspds didn’t have a beat on this fly ball: https://t.co/v5HskiFO7x pic.twitter.com/iyd4JQtCrR
— Cut4 (@Cut4) June 25, 2016
That’s the type of inning it was as Matz allowed six earned on eight hits. The big blow was a Brandon Snyder opposite field pinch hit three run homer.
Matz would eventually get chased after a Freddie Freeman RBI single. Hansel Robles then came in to bail out the Mets and preserve the bullpen again. The latter was very important with Addison Reed and Jerry Blevins unavailable. Robles got out of the inning without allowing another run. He would go 2.2 innings for yet another well earned win. For the week, Robles has pitched 8.1 innings.
Everything seemed calm down until Cespedes was picked off base in the seventh. Cespedes rolled his ankle stepping on first and had to be helped off the field. Every Mets fan breathed a sigh of relief as Cespedes took the field in the bottom of the seventh.
Once Cespedes was alright, it was easy to admit that a lot of good things happened tonight:
- Neil Walker was 3-4 with three runs scored
- Loney was 2-3 with three runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer
- Travis d’Arnaud was 1-4 with three RBI
The last two RBI were interesting. For some reason, the Braves walked Michael Conforto to load the bases to face d’Arnaud. Considering the fact that Conforto has been terrible since May, it was an odd decidion, and d’Arnaud made the Braves pay with a two RBI single.
It was good to see the Mets offense clicking, and it was great to see Jeurys Familia break Armando Benitez‘s record for consecutive saves to begin the season.
Familia would have to go four outs for his 25th save. Antonio Bastardo allowed a two out double to Markakis in the eighth, and Terry Collins went to Familia. Familia got Adonis Garcia, last night’s villain, to get out of the inning. However, the ninth wouldn’t be easy.
Familia allowed the first two on base, and then Chase d’Arnaud, Travis’ brother, was sent up to bunt. Wilmer Flores dove for the bunt, but barely missed it. However, it confused the Braves. Flores ran back to third for the force, and he threw to second to complete the unconventional 5-5-4 double play. Familia struck out the last batter if the game.
Still, that pitch went to the backstop. It forced d’Arnaud to race to the backstop and make a quick throw to first. It was off-line, but Loney held the bag to end the game.
It was a fitting end to a strange 8-6 game that was never easy.
The Mets were scratching and clawing their way to beat the worst team in baseball after last weekend’s humiliation at the hands of the Braves.
They actually got production from Alejandro De Aza, who had to start in place of the injured Yoenis Cespedes. He would go 2-4 with an RBI double while playing a good center field.
Matt Harvey had a decent start allowing eight hits, two earned, and no walks with three strikeouts over six innings. His night would’ve gone a lot better had he not faced A.J. Pierzynski, who is proving to be the anti-Bryce Harper. Whereas Harper can’t buy a hit off Harvey, Pierzynski is 8-12 against Harvey including his 2-3 two RBI performance off Harvey tonight.
Neil Walker was 2-2 with a walk, sac fly and two RBI.
Michael Conforto had not one . . .
Reckless Abandon, @mconforto8.
He even left the wall a parting gift. pic.twitter.com/v4x7S6Orbx— New York Mets (@Mets) June 24, 2016
. . . but two great defensive plays:
Michael Conforto getting it done with the glove and the arm today #Mets pic.twitter.com/ivKlB1YMzJ
— Dan Lagnado (@dlag1995) June 24, 2016
Travis d’Arnaud made that amazing block of home plate and was able to throw out a base stealer.
None of it mattered as Addison Reed threw an 0-2 fastball over the heart of the plate to Adonis Garcia who hit an opposite field home run to give the Braves a 4-3 lead.
Not having Cespedes is not an excuse. The Braves are that bad even with them winning seven of their last eight. Like all three games last weekend, this was an inexcusable loss. The Mets have now lost four in a row to a Braves team they should not have lost four games in total to this year.
When the lineup was announced, the main reaction everyone had was “HOW CAN YOU START MATT REYNOLDS IN LEFTFIELD!” Matt Reynolds never played in the outfield in his professional career, and the Mets were sitting Michael Conforto against Danny Duffy, the pitcher off whom he hit a home run against in the World Series. In the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds made Terry Collins look like a genius with his first career home run:
His homerun broke the 3-3 tie, and it put Noah Syndergaard in position for a win after what was an uneven outing.
The Mets other three runs were courtesy of the Mets other shortstop, Asdrubal Cabrera, who actually played shortstop today. In the fourth, he scored off a James Loney two out RBI single with a nifty slide:
In the top of the fifth that 1-0 lead would quickly evaporte when Syndergaard allowed Chelsor Cuthbert to hit a solo home run. The Royals continued the rally, and they would eventually went ahead 2-1 on a Whit Merrifield RBI single scoring Jarrod Dyson. This meant Cabrera would have to go back to work by hitting a go-ahead two run home run (scoring Curtis Granderson).
Syndergaard had a rough sixth inning. He got Rene Rivera crossed-up not once but twice. One of them went for a wild pitch moving Salvador Perez to third. He would score on a Paulo Orlando RBI single tying the game at three. The Mets would go ahead for good on the aforementioned Reynolds’ home run.
In the eighth, Cabrera would leave his impression on the game AGAIN with a great stab and behind the back throw to get the force out at second.
It would help Addison Reed pitch a scoreless eighth. Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the 4-3 win. With that save, Familia is now tied with Armando Benitez for most consecutive saves to start a season (24).
After the stretch the Mets went through, including getting swept by the dreadful Braves, you would feel terrific after sweeping a two game set against the team that beat you in the World Series. However, there remains some trepidation as Yoenis Cespedes had to leave the game with an apparent wrist injury after his walk in the fifth. He was replaced by Alejandro De Aza, who may be set to get more playing time in center if Cespedes needs to miss any period of time. Given the way De Aza has played this year, it is an not all too enticing proposition.
With that said, there’s nothing left to do but enjoy this win while waiting with baited breath for the Cespedes news. By the way, we still don’t know about Zack Wheeler and his elbow. Good times.
Game Notes: Jerry Blevins continues to put up zeroes:
Jerry Blevins has gone 21 consecutive games without allowing a run, the 2nd longest streak in franchise history (Mark Guthrie, 33 in 2002).
— New York Mets Stats (@NYMStats) June 22, 2016