Amed Rosario

Mets Offense Not Biggest Embarrassment In Marlins Doubleheader Sweep

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Mets were 0-for-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position. Things weren’t as bad in the second half as the Mets offense went just 0-for-5.

The no hits with runners in scoring position, the Mets offense was shut out over 14 innings. Even if the Mets played the other four innings, you’d be hard pressed to find an argument why they’d score a run.

In this game, the Mets offense had just two hits, and those hits were originally Red errors. That at least spared the Mets the indignity of joining the Pittsburgh Pirates in being no-hit today.

At least the Pirates faced Lucas Giolito. This Mets team really has no excuses.

The Mets inability to hit ruined a good return to the rotation by Seth Lugo. Lugo lasted three innings, and he didn’t allow a base runner while striking out five.

While Luis Rojas said Lugo was good for 60 pitches, he lifted Lugo after 39 pitches. Seeing how the fourth inning unfolded, he may want to revisit this decision (or text message).

For the first time this year, Jared Hughes didn’t have it. He walked Jon Berti to start the inning. After a one out single by Corey Dickerson, Brian Anderson hit a two run double.

Chasen Shreve would relieve Hughes and get out of the inning, but it was too little too late as the Mets couldn’t drive in a run.

It’s gotten to the point where the Mets are snake-bit. Case-in-point is the sixth. The Mets had runners on first and second with one out, and Luis Guillorme tattooed a line drive.

That ball was hit right at Marlins first baseman Lewin Diaz. Diaz caught the liner before easily beating the runner to the base to end the inning.

That sixth was a very curious inning for Rojas.

Despite Andres Gimenez on the IL, and with the Mets bench somewhat suspect now, at least in terms of bats, Rojas went to Robinson Cano to pinch hit for Amed Rosario.

After Cano beat the shift by slapping the ball the other way, Rojas tabbed Juan Lagares to pinch run for Cano. He did that even with Billy Hamilton being on the bench. Hamilton is a better runner and weaker hitter. The move made little sense.

As embarrassing as that was, there was Berti flat out embarrassing the Mets in the bottom of the sixth.

Berti drew a leadoff walk against Jeurys Familia. He would steal second. Later in the inning, Berti had a delayed steal of grief where J.D. Davis didn’t pay attention and then didn’t cover third.

That wasn’t the worst of it.

With two outs, Ali Sanchez had looked Berti back to third. Berti moved towards third as Sanchez lollypopped a throw back to Familia.

On the throw, Berti spun and broke for home. Even with Berti slipping, he was able to steal home as Sanchez couldn’t field the throw Familia had spiked in front of him.

It’s one thing to lose. It’s a whole other thing to be flat out embarrassed like this. The Mets lost 3-0. It might as well have been 100-0.

Game Notes: With this being a makeup game, the Marlins batted second. Even with the Marlins batting second, the Mets were still the home team. Jacob deGrom is slated to start tomorrow because the Mets wanted to keep him on his regular schedule. Sanchez had his first career MLB start.

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Mets Return And Still Can’t Hit With RISP

After a Mets player and coach tested positive for COVID19, they haven’t played since Thursday. They came back to play today, and they didn’t figure out how to hit with RISP during their time off.

In the second, Jeff McNeil and Amed Rosario flew out with runners on first and second.

In third, Michael Conforto flew out and Pete Alonso grounded out with J.D. Davis on second. At least this time, Davis didn’t get picked off of second like he did in the first.

In the fourth, Rosario grounded out with runners on first and second.

In the fifth, Robinson Cano grounded out with runners on first and second.

In the seventh, Brandon Nimmo led off the inning with a double. Davis grounded out. Conforto reached on an error. Cano lined out.

0-for-10.

That was it. No, not because the Mets didn’t do anything afterwards. It’s because doubleheaders are only seven innings now. Mostly, it’s because Rob Manfred apparently hates baseball.

The Mets ultimately lost 4-0 because of their complete inability to hit with RISP. It also doesn’t help Rick Porcello struggled.

The Marlins got to him for three runs in the second. All three runs were scored with two outs. The key difference in the game was the Mets went 0-for-10 with RISP while Lewis Brinson and Miguel Rojas had two out RBI singles.

Porcello allowed another run in the third. It would be his last inning as he’d be pulled after a rain delay of over an hour. He was replaced by Corey Oswalt, who was the Mets bright spot of the game.

Oswalt allowed just one hit over the final four innings while striking out three. He’d also get some help from Dominic Smith.

Overall, this was a flat out bad loss by the Mets. They need to be better than this. Hopefully, they will in the second part of the doubleheader.

Game Notes: Andres Gimenez and Tomas Nido were put on the 10 day IL for “undisclosed reasons.” Juan Lagares and Patrick Mazeika were called up. Ali Sanchez was the 29th man for the doubleheader. McNeil batted eighth.

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What Happened To Luis Guillorme’s Playing Time?

Due to injuries, Luis Guillorme went from completely forgotten man to what appeared to be an extremely important part of this Mets team. He was playing that well.

Starting on August 11, he played in six straight games. Over that stretch, he hit .588/.636/.706 with a run, two doubles, four walks, and four RBI. He walked (4) more times than he struck out (3).

With that stretch, he had a seven game hitting streak, and he improved to a 199 OPS+ on the season. At .458, he was at least flirting with being the first Major Leaguer to hit .400 in a season since Ted Williams.

Even if no one reasonably expected him to do it, it would’ve been fun to watch. What also would’ve been fun to watch was his Gold Glove caliber defense.

Guillorme was and is absolutely brilliant at second. It’s a very small sample size for sure, but he was already at a 1 DRS and 14.2 UZR/150. Those numbers were very likely going to improve because he’s always been an exceptional defender.

We saw him working with Andres Gimenez to turn double plays the Mets wouldn’t have even dreamt of turning since Edgardo Alfonzo and Rey Ordonez were the double play combination for the best defensive infield in baseball history.

By every measure, Guillorme earned his playing time. He was great in the field. That has always been expected of him. He was also better at the plate than expected. Although, the low expectations of him at the plate were not entirely fair.

Again, we’re playing with some small sample sizes here, but Guillorme proved himself last year. In the second half of 2019, he hit .300/.391/.475 with four doubles, a homer, and three RBI in 48 PA. You could certainly argue what we’re seeing this year was an extension of that.

You can also fairly argue none of last year or this is a reliable indicator of anything. The only thing we do know is at the moment Guillorme was playing like some sort of hybrid of Jeff McNeil and Luis Castillo (Marlins, not Mets version).

When you’re playing at that level, you should be in the everyday lineup. Unfortunately for Guillorme, the Mets were not interested in seeing how long Guillorme could keep up that high level of play and help the Mets win.

Admittedly, it is a dicey situation. Dominic Smith has been playing great all year. Pete Alonso started hitting again. Robinson Cano has turned back the clock and is arguably the Mets best hitter this year. All told, it’s difficult to make a move to take these players out of the lineup.

It’s also difficult to remove McNeil from the lineup. With his versatility and track record, he’s one of the best and most important players on the team.

As usual, the obvious answer would be to sit J.D. Davis, but the Mets remain unwilling to do that. It doesn’t matter to them Davis is at a 0.1 WAR to Guillorme’s 0.5. It doesn’t matter Davis is at a -3 DRS at third this year and a -14 for his career. He’s also a -2 OAA there for his career.

It should also be noted Guillorme is at a 194 wRC+ to Davis’ 145 wRC+. Really, in every aspect of the game, Guillorme has completely and utterly outplayed Davis this year.

However, Guillorme with his game changing defense and hot hitting will sit in favor of Davis.

He’ll also sit in favor of Amed Rosario and Gimenez, two other players he has outplayed this year. The simple answer as to why this has happened is the Mets organization is more invested in Davis, Gimenez, and Rosario.

That’s a real shame because Guillorme has absolutely earned the starting job at second base, and at the moment, by WAR, he’s the Mets fourth best position player. Seeing everything taken into account, the Mets benching Guillorme is unjustified, and they better be right about this decision.

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Roadsario Re-Emerges In Win Over Marlins

Around many corners, many were wondering if this was it for Amed Rosario. The one time uber prospect was struggling while Luis Guillorme and Andres Gimenez seemed to be forming an all-time great Mets middle infield.

That’s what small sample sizes will do to you. That’s also what the urgency of the 60 game season will do.

To their credit, the Mets haven’t given up on Rosario’s talent. Last night, they were rewarded.

It started as an ominous day. That was because in typical Mets fashion David Peterson‘s shoulder injury being worse than originally advertised. That led to Peterson being placed on the IL, and Corey Oswalt being recalled to make the emergency start.

Oswalt acquitted himself well. He threw three scoreless before getting into trouble in the fourth. In that inning, Jesus Aguilar hit an RBI double and come in to score on a Brian Anderson RBI single. That Marlins rally narrowed the score to 3-2.

The first two Mets runs came via solo homers off Marlins starter Humberto Mejia. The first of which was a Brandon Nimmo third inning shot which has continued his impressive stretch of extra base hits.

The Mets rallied in the fourth with another solo homer. After that Michael Conforto walked, and Pete Alonso hit a one out single. Dominic Smith would drive in the Mets third run with a ground rule double.

That put Oswalt in position for the win, but he would fall just short. Overall, his final line was 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. He’d also have a pick-off.

Magneuris Sierra led off the fifth with a single, and he would steal second. With the Mets holding a one run lead and the tying run in scoring position, Luis Rojas brought in Justin Wilson to relieve Oswalt with one out in the fifth.

Wilson got out of the jam, and he’d pitch 1.1 scoreless. He’d pick up the win as he’d combine with Jared Hughes, Dellin Betances, and Edwin Diaz to shut out the Marlins over the final 4.2 innings.

They’d maintain the lead and see it grow as Rosario began to put on a show. In addition to making diving stops in the infield, we’d see his bat come back to life. We first saw that with a no doubter in the seventh.

He wasn’t done. In the eighth, the Mets loaded the bases, and Smith drew a wall forcing home a run. Then, Rosario came up and delivered an opposite field two RBI single effectively ending the game.

Nimmo delivered the final RBI with a single to increase the Mets lead to 8-2. In addition to Rosario, Nimmo had a huge game as well going 3-for-5 with a run, triple, homer, and three RBI.

Going back to Rosario, he was 2-for-5 with a run, homer, and three RBI. Perhaps more than any Met, he needed this one. Maybe, he just needed to get away from Citi Field as he’s been a MUCH better hitter on the road.

Whatever the case, he put together a big game with Guillorme and Gimenez seriously vying for playing time. He helped a Mets team desperately trying to right the ship. They’re now 11-14 and three games behind the Braves.

Game Notes: Wilson picked up the win on his birthday. Jacob deGrom appears set to start the series finale against the Marlins.

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Alonso And Cano At Homer In Miami

The Mets fell down 1-0 when Robert Gsellman struggled in the top of the first. When Dominic Smith hit a bases loaded double off Jordan Yamamoto in the second, the Mets took a 2-1 lead. After that, the Mets offense exploded with nearly everyone destroying the baseball:

  1. Brandon Nimmo 1-4, R, 3B, 2 BB
  2. Jeff McNeil 1-4, R, BB, K
  3. J.D. Davis 0-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K, HBP
  4. Michael Conforto 1-3, R, 2B, BB, K, HBP
  5. Robinson Cano 3-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, K, 2 HR
  6. Pete Alonso 3-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 HR
  7. Dominic Smith 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, HBP
  8. Wilson Ramos 1-5, K, 2B
  9. Amed Rosario 2-5, R, RBI, 2 K, 2B

The story of the night was Cano and Alonso. For Cano, he continues his great hitting in 2020. For Alonso, that’s eluded him this year, and he’s struggled to the point he was dropped in the lineup to the sixth for the first time in his career. He responded with a two home run game.

If you are looking for a negative from this game, it was Gsellman who struggled. Even staked to a 3-1 lead, he couldn’t get through the second. He was a bit wild leading Luis Rojas to lift him earlier than he would’ve wanted.

While there was some disappointment in Gsellman not taking a step forward after being reinserted into the rotation, there should be genuine excitement in Chasen Shreve, who was again excellent.

Shreve struck out five while pitching 2.1 scoreless and hitless innings. He led the charge of a bullpen which allowed one run over the final 7.1 innings.

Of note, Franklyn Kilome came in to pitch the final three innings picking up his first career save. He was wild walking five allowing two runs, but he was also lighting up the gun at 96 MPH. He struck out four.

Ultimately, Kilome didn’t do much to make a case for him to replace Gsellman. Still, he helped the bullpen while showing he’s still not ready to pitch at this level.

Things got so bad for the Marlins in their 11-4 loss, Logan Forsythe was the sacrificial lamb. He was the position player who pitched the ninth.

Overall, the Mets outclassed the Marlins. This is what we expect from this Mets team. Hopefully, this will prove to be a turning point of the season.

Game Notes: Jacob deGrom threw a bullpen and showed no ill effects. He’s in line to make his next start.

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Mets 2020 Roster Without Brodie Van Wagenen

For all his bravado, Brodie Van Wagenen has not only stripped the farm system down, but he did it while impinging the Major League roster’s ability to compete for a World Series. To put it in perspective, let’s just look at what the Mets roster would look like right now if Van Wagenen only kept the Mets players in the organization had he not taken the job, or, if he did nothing.

Some caveats here. This assumes free agents were re-signed. Without the Robinson Cano deal, that would’ve been possible. Also, it assumes the same players who are injured for the season would remain injured. Finally, this will eliminate those players not on active 28 man rosters. With that in mind, here’s what the 2020 Mets would’ve looked like.

Lineup

C Travis d’Arnaud

1B Dominic Smith

2B Jeff McNeil

3B Todd Frazier

SS Amed Rosario

LF Brandon Nimmo

CF Juan Lagares

RF Michael Conforto

DH Pete Alonso

Bench

C Kevin Plawecki

INF Wilmer Flores

1B/OF Jay Bruce

INF Luis Guillorme

Starting Rotation

RHP Jacob deGrom

RHP Zack Wheeler

LHP Steven Matz

LHP Anthony Kay

LHP David Peterson

Bullpen

RHP Seth Lugo

RHP Rafael Montero

RHP Justin Dunn

RHP Robert Gsellman

RHP Drew Smith

LHP Blake Taylor

RHP Bobby Wahl

LHP Daniel Zamora

RHP Paul Sewald

RHP Franklyn Kilome

This isn’t set in stone. The Mets could’ve opted for one fewer reliever for Andres Gimenez. On the subject of top 100 prospects, the Mets also would’ve still had Jarred Kelenic.

Looking at the team overall, the starting pitching is vastly superior as is the team defense. The bullpen may not be as deep, but they certainly have the arms.

Overall, this non-Van Wagenen impacted roster would’ve certainly been better than the 9-14 team his Mets roster is. This just goes to show you how bad of a GM Van Wagenen is.

He’s made the Mets worse in 2020, and he’s made the Mets future less promising. You could not have done a worse job than Van Wagenen has done.

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Mets Lose Same Way They Have All Season

Steven Matz was pitching very well until he imploded in the fifth, and it all started because Amed Rosario couldn’t get Didi Gregorius on his swinging bunt against the shift.

If you blinked, you missed a 1-0 deficit turning into an insurmountable 6-0 hole. Things would’ve been worse had Jeurys Familia got two big outs to get the Mets out of the inning.

It was insurmountable partially because Aaron Nola was really good. It was mostly insurmountable because the Mets can’t hit with runners on. Today, they were 0-for-3 with RISP.

One important note here is the Phillies bullpen is a train wreck. That’s the nice way of putting it. Citizen’s Bank Park is a launching pad. Yet, for the season straight night, the Mets did next nothing against them.

If not for Dominic Smith‘s two run homer in the ninth, the Mets would’ve been shut out. It was the fourth straight game Smith homered.

While talking about Mets prospects the team cheated of a real chance, Luis Guillorme was good again going 1-for-3.

But the Mets don’t realize who are and who are not their best players. Case-in-point, Andres Gimenez sat to force feed Rosario and J.D Davis into the lineup.

But we’ve known for a while now, it’s not about what gives the Mets the best chance to win. It’s about Brodie Van Wagenen. It was last night, and it was tonight with the Mets losing 6-2. We’ll probably see it again tomorrow.

Game Notes: Top prospects Matthew Allan and Francisco Alvarez were added to the 60 player pool now making them eligible to be traded.

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Wilson Ramos Cannot Be Allowed To Cost The Mets Another Game

There’s many reasons to pinpoint why the Mets lost this game in excruciating fashion to the Phillies. That’s the way excruciatingly losses go.

There’s having to start Walker Lockett because Jacob deGrom was scratched from today’s start with a neck issue. Lockett then made one of his better MLB starts, which was still bad.

There was the Mets going 2-for-16 with RISP leaving 10 runners on base.

There was Billy Hamilton‘s TOOBLAN off all TOOBLANs when he cleanly stole second, took off for third, and was easily thrown out.

Despite all that, it was tied 5-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Seth Lugo, who hadn’t pitched in five days, wasn’t sharp allowing the first two to reach.

Bryce Harper singled, and Michael Conforto made a perfect throw home. It was well in advance of Roman Quinn.

What ensued was the absolute worst attempt at a tag. Seriously, Wilson Ramos should be embarrassed, and frankly, he owes his teammates an apology for costing the game. It was that bad.

You don’t want to accuse someone of not trying. However, you really should question what Ramos was doing there. You should also ask why the apparent lack of a sense of urgency.

While we’re asking questions about the catcher who went 1-for-5 with a GIDP, we also need to ask what should the Mets do with him? Clearly, it seems it’s time for a switch to Tomas Nido. We know the Mets won’t do that, so we’re stuck with the awful play of Ramos.

It’s at that point where it’s overshadowing some truly terrific performances from his teammates.

Dominic Smith was 2-for-4 with a run, walk, homer, and two RBI. He also made a nice play in the field.

Robson Cano returned from the IL to go 2-for-5 with a run, homer, and two RBI. That includes a two RBI.

The biggest story right now remains Luis Guillorme. In addition to playing Gold Glove caliber second base, he’s hitting .474. With this being a shortened season, we may be having a Ted Williams discussion at some point.

However, none of this matters as Ramos continues to be terrible. It’s now at the point it’s costing the Mets games. Sooner or later, the Mets are going to be forced into making a decision on him.

Game Notes: With Cano activated, Drew Smith was sent to the alternate site. Amed Rosario returned to the lineup after battling a stomach bug. Andres Gimenez another base and is 6-for-6 on the season.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Might’ve Found Path To Contention

The Mets lost two out of three to the Washington Nationals dropping them deeper into last place. While that was not good, they really found something. Hopefully, they’ll follow it through.

1. Luis Guillorme and Andres Gimenez without hyperbole promises to be the Mets best ever defensive middle infield.

2. Guillorme and Gimenez gave the Mets a chance to win with their defense and their offense. Right now, the Mets cannot justify taking either out of the lineup. Not when they’re changing the complexion of games with their defense.

3. On that point, the Mets should be cognizant with Rick Porcello, David Peterson, and now Robert Gsellman in the rotation, they need that middle infield defense more than ever.

4. The Mets build a staff of ground ball pitchers. That includes Jared Hughes and Jeurys Familia in the bullpen. The Mets need to lean into it and stop fighting it.

5. Amed Rosario is still an everyday caliber player at the Major League level, and he very well may still reach the full potential he has. With the Mets, that may need to be in CF where his tools translate extremely well.

6. Brodie Van Wagenen not looking to move one of Gimenez or Rosario to CF in an organization with tremendous middle infield depth and ZERO outfield depth is another indictment on him.

7. It’s another reason why the Robinson Cano trade was short sighted and very poorly executed. Cano needed to be moved to first or third.

8. It should be no surprise this is how Van Wagenen has operated as this is all one big grift. It’s clear the Wilpons were selling, and they were willing to trade off all of the future to win now.

9. With the sale bidding process, we see the Wilpons will do what they can to win one last World Series. We also see Van Wagenen has a complete disregard for his farm and acts like an excited puppy when teams asks for real prospects for defensive replacements. That means right now no prospect is safe . . . no matter how ridiculous the trade.

10. To set narratives straight, Michael Conforto continues to be the Mets best hitter, and he came through with a clutch hit yesterday.

11. Also, Dominic Smith should be playing everyday. Between his bat and heads up play getting the tag at second, this is a smart and very good baseball player.

12. Brandon Nimmo is an on-base machine. As we saw again on Monday, he’s not a center fielder. He needs to be in left with Jeff McNeil back at third.

13. Something just seems off all year with McNeil. He’s nowhere near the hitter or defender he was last year. He’s still a productive player, but we’ve learned to expect more. He’ll figure it out soon.

14. The Marcus Stroman trade was a bad trade at its inception, not because he opted out. The only thing the Mets can do to salvage the trade is to extend Stroman, but there’s no way the Mets do that before the sale.

15. It’s good to see Pete Alonso hitting again. The team needed it. If he’s hitting again, the Mets can roll with their defense, and they’re going to win a lot of games.

16. While everyone is taking about what the Mets need to do this offseason at catcher, they really need to have discussions on what they should do right now with Wilson Ramos playing like the worst catcher in baseball.

17. The Mets getting completely blown out by the Nationals at least once a year is a tradition we can all do without.

18. Juan Soto hitting monster homers, including two of longest in Citi Field history, and killing the Mets is another thing we never need to see again.

19. Gsellman was the right choice to move to the rotation. The Mets have the bullpen depth now to bullpen it as he gets up to speed, and his stuff plays better as a starter than reliever.

20. The NL East is a mess right now. It’s still winnable. The Mets don’t need bold moves at the trade deadline. They just need to play the right players, and they’ll win a lot of games.

Game Recaps

Nationals Annual Beat-Down Of Mets Continues

Mets Defense Was Phenomenal In Loss To Nationals

Mets Offense Wakes Up And Beats Nationals

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Mets Defense Was Phenomenal In Loss To Nationals

Look, when Max Scherzer is pitching, you can expect to get shut down offensively. It doesn’t matter if you start you Top offensive lineup, or your best defensive lineup like the Mets did tonight.

The positive takeaway from the defensive lineup was they were dazzling in the field. In their own ways, Dominic Smith, Luis Guillorme, and Andres Gimenez were absolutely brilliant in the field giving the Mets every chance to win this game. They were magicians with their gloves.

The Mets had fallen behind 2-0 early with this game, and it seemed like the Nationals had Rick Porcello on the ropes.

Trea Turner led off the game with a homer. In the second, Victor Robles hit an RBI single scoring Howie Kendrick. Robles had taken off for what appeared to be the vacated second, but he was beaten there by Smith who took the throw from Brandon Nimmo, and he got the tag down to end the inning.

From there, Gimenez and Guillorme stole the show robbing base hits and turning double plays. They did it in a fashion we have not seen from the Mets since the days of Edgardo Alfonzo and Rey Ordonez.

With that magic, they may want to rewrite Gimenez, Guillorme, and Smith in the place of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. They were and are that good defensively.

Their defensive prowess helped Porcello out together another strong outing for the Mets. This time, he allowed two earned on eight hits while walking none and striking out five over six innings.

If he wasn’t facing Scherzer, and the Mets bats who were supposed to deliver did, he would’ve gotten the W instead of the loss.

The Mets only run came in the fourth, and it should come as no surprise it came courtesy of their middle infield. After Gimenez tripled off Scherzer, Gimenez brought him home with a sacrifice fly.

The Mets would have other chances, but as noted, their bats didn’t deliver.

In the first, Wilson Ramos struck out with runners on first and second. In the second, Jeff McNeil struck out in an identical situation.

In the seventh, the Mets blew a huge opportunity. Guillorme hit one just out of the reach of Juan Soto for a lead-off double. Pete Alonso would pinch hit for Billy Hamilton, and he would fly out.

After Nimmo walked, McNeil again failed to deliver. This time, Nationals reliever Tanner Rainey got him to hit into an inning ending 4-6-3 double play.

Overall, Guillorme was the Mets best player. In addition to his dazzling defense, he was 2-for-3 with a double and RBI. Gimenez was great as well with the triple and run scored.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Mets team did not play anywhere near the level those two did. If they had, the Mets would’ve won this easy instead of facing that brutal loss.

Game Notes: Amed Rosario was scratched from the lineup with a stomach ailment. Nimmo leads the NL in walks drawn.

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