Bartolo Colon

Seen This Type of Loss Too Many Times

With the Mets seemingly in a roll having finally won two games in a row, most thought Bartolo Colon was set to make big league history by not only being the latest pitcher to beat all 30 teams (first done by Al Leiter) and by winning a game in his 39th ballpark. Well, Colon made history, but it had nothing to do with his pitching:

That walk issued by Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray set up a run, but it wouldn’t matter as Colon would give the run right back. 

Colon was hit very hard by the Diamondbacks all night. Colon pitched four innings, nine hits, five runs, two earned, and two walks with one strikeout. 

The three unearned runs came in the first on a T.J. Rivera fielding error off the bat of the leadoff hitter Jean Segura. Technically, the runs were unearned, but it was Colon who was hit very hard that inning. 

Rivera’s error was part of a tough night for him. Not only did he make that error, but he would also help kill a two on, no out, second inning rally by hitting into a double play. On the night, Rivera was 0-4 with a sacrifice fly and a strikeout. 

Rivera wasn’t the only one that abandoned Colon defensively. On a Paul Goldschmidt gapper to right center between Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce in the fourth that Bruce stopped chasing leading to Granderson fielding it which just invited Goldschmidt to go to third. He would score on a Jake Lamb sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. 

It was all part of what was a horrible night for the Mets all around. 

Erik Goeddel pitched in the fifth for his fifth appearance in seven days. He came in despite his arm problems and despite Collins continuously warming up Seth Lugo. Goeddel would be predictably hit hard allowing two runs in the fifth to make it 7-2. Naturally, Collins would then bring on Lugo in the sixth. 
The Mets would have their chance in the seventh loading the bases against the Diamondbacks bullpen with no outs. Randall Delgado quickly got ahead 0-2 against Wilmer Flores, but somehow Flores worked out a walk to make it 8-3. Rivera and Ty Kelly hit a pair of sacrifice flies to make it 8-5. Travis d’Arnaud struck out to end the rally. 

It was the only time d’Arnaud made an out all game. On the night, d’Arnaud was 3-4 with two runs. Each time, he was driven in by Jose Reyes, who also had a terrific night at the plate going 2-4 with two RBI. 

Other than Reyes, the Mets were 1-8 with runners in scoring position with no RBI. It wasn’t enough in a 10-6 Mets loss. 

The failure to hit with runners in scoring position and the Mets failing to beat teams they should beat is a microcosm of the Mets season. 

Game Notes: Neil Walker continued his hot hitting going 3-5 with two runs, an RBI, and a homer.  Flores hit well too against the lefty going 2-3 with a walk and an RBI. He was an adventure at first flat out dropping a ball thrown to him by Walker and almost dropping a throw from d’Arnaud after Hansel Robles struck out a batter. Robles was touched up for two runs on a long Yasmany Tomas two run eighth inning homer. 

Pennant Race: The Marlins beat the Reds 6-3. The Nationals beat the Rockies 5-4. The Cardinals had the night off. 

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Extra Innings = Extra Frustration 

There was no hope until the ninth. Robbie Ray entered tonight’s game 5-11 with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.504 WHIP, so naturally he shut down the Mets allowing just three hits over seven innings.  The Mets lineup couldn’t hit a bad pitcher, but what else is new. It seems like the Mets were going to lose the first two games to an absolutely terrible Diamondbacks team. 

Then Diamondbacks closer Jake Barrett walked a pinch hitting Alejandro De Aza to start the inning. After a Curtis Granderson strikeout, Kelly Johnson was tabbed as the pinch hitter for Ty Kelly:

Tie game, and the Mets went to extras. 

It was notable that Johndon pinch hit for Kelly as he got the start in left over Michael Conforto and Alejandro De Aza. 

In the the tenth, Mets fans were having flashbacks to earlier in the game. 

In the third, Paul Goldschmidt, who has just been killing the Mets in this series, hit an RBI single with first and second open. Jean Segura scored on the play. He was on third as he stole second, and he advanced to third on a Travis d’Arnaud throwing error. 

In the eighth, Segura led off with a double against Addison Reed, and he moved to third off a Michael Bourn sacrifice bunt. Goldschmidt was the batter. The Mets did not walk him to set up the double play. Instead, he hit a sacrifice fly to Jay Bruce who fielded the fly ball awkwardly catching in near the line and not putting himself in position to use his strong arm to even make a play on Segura. 

In the tenth, Segura had a two out single off Jeurys Familia, and he would steal second. The Mets would also pitch to Goldschmidt with first base open. This time Familia would strike him out. 

Collins would help kill a rally in the 10th. After T.J. Rivera led off the inning with his first career hit, Collins ordered d’Arnaud to bunt. For all Collins knew, d’Arnaud could bunt. He couldn’t. He popped it up, and he didn’t advance the runner. The Mets wouldn’t bring Rivera home. 

It was another in a long line of bad decisions in this game and all season from Collins. 

There was the aforementioned decision to not only start Kelly, but also bat him second. In the sixth, he let Bartolo Colon lead off the inning with the Mets trailing 1-0. The there was Collins pitching Familia for a second inning after throwing 25 innings in his first inning of work. In Collins defense, he burned his long man, Jon Niese, to get two outs in the ninth in place of Erik Goeddel. Apparently, Collins never thought to double switch him into the game instead of having to lift Niese for a pinch hitter to lead off the ninth.  

That would leave Jerry Blevins, the LOOGY to start the season, as the last man in the bullpen due to Hansel Robles 32 pitch outing yesterday and Collins not yet trusting Josh Edgin. Blevins gave up a home run to Oscar Hernandez to lead off the 12th. 

The Mets had no rally in them in the bottom of the 12th leading them to lose the first two games in a three game set to a terrible Diamondbacks team. This was supposed to be the time for the Mets to make their move with them facing the soft spot in their schedule. 

Correction, the Mets are making a move. They’re moving their way out of Wild Card contention. 

Maybe tomorrow they can win a game with Noah Syndergaard starting. Then maybe, just maybe, the Mets can win on Friday, August 12th to finally win two in a row. I wouldn’t count on it. 

Pennant Race: The Marlins lost 1-0 to the Giants. The Dodgers lost to the Phillies 6-2. The Nationals beat the Indians 7-4. The Cardinals beat the Reds 3-2. 

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Cousin Brucey Delivers His First Hit

After starting off his Mets career going 0-10, it was time for Cousin Brucey to start bringing the hits:

In the top of the fifth, Jay Bruce hit a three run home run scoring Curtis Granderson and Alejandro De Aza, who else, to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. 

Between that and Kelly Johnson‘s solo shot off Yankee starter Nathan Eovaldi earlier in the inning, Bartolo Colon had all the run support he needed. 

Colon stymied the Yankees for 6.2 innings allowing six hits, one run, one earned, and no walks with one strikeout. The run he allowed was an inherited runner Jerry Blevins let score off an Aaron Hicks RBI single scoring Gary Sanchez. It seemed like Brett Gardner was going to knock in another two out run, but Matt Reynolds was able to snag it and flip it to Neil Walker just in time to get the force out and get out of the inning. 

Blevins wasn’t the only pitcher to benefit from some good defense. Colon would be helped by an absolutely perfect defensive play by De Aza in the fourth:

Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia closed it out for the 4-1 win. 
The win got the Mets a split in the Subway Series, and it pulled them within a game of the second Wild Card spot. 

Game Notes: In what will prove to be a constantly changing outfield alignment, tonight it was Granderson in left, De Aza in center, and Bruce in right. It was Granderson’s first game there since 2014. Michael Conforto was the DH going 0-3. 

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Mets July 2016 Report Card

The Mets entered June six back of the Nationals and a half a game ahead of the Marlins for the second Wild Card.  After a 13-13 month, which was their first month at or above .500 since April, the Mets find themselves 6.5 games back in the NL East race behind both the Nationals and the Marlins.  They not only trail the Marlins in the NL East race, but they are 2.5 games behind them for the last Wild Card spot.  The Mets have also fallen behind the Cardinals in the Wild Card race as well.

Bear in mind, these grades are on a curve. If a bench player gets an A and a position player gets a B, it doesn’t mean the bench player is having a better year. Rather, it means the bench player is performing better in his role.

Position Players

Travis d’Arnaud (D). It has been more of the same for d’Arnaud in July, and as such, the Mets were forced to inquire on Jonathan Lucroy at the trade deadline.  On the bright side, he began to hit for some power hitting two home runs.

Kevin Plawecki (F). Plawecki was sent down to AAA, and he began hitting like everyone else in the Pacific Coast League.  The jury is still out on him.

Rene Rivera (B+).  While his defense has dipped a bit, Rivera has been absolutely raking.  He has clearly benefitted from facing left-hand pitching.  Still, he’s here to be the defensive backup, and he hasn’t been as great as he has been in year’s past.

Lucas Duda (Inc). He missed the entire month with his back injuries, and no one knows when or if he will be able to return in 2016.

James Loney (B). Loney has continued to hit, but his power numbers have regressed to the mean.  He still can’t hit lefties a lick.  Furthermore, his defense hasn’t been great.  His error in the Rockies game helped lead to a loss.

Neil Walker (C).  He was actually hitting worse in June than he had been in May and June, which is saying something.  He was even briefly benched by Terry Collins.  Then he woke up in the Rockies series, and yesterday he hit a home run that just might turn his and the Mets season around.

David Wright (Inc.).  Wright is not going to play again in 2016 due to the neck surgery.

Asdrubal Cabrera (C). Cabrera started out hot to start the month, but he cooled off.  As a result, he put up similar numbers that he did in May and June.  On the bright side, he did break his 0-32 streak with runners in scoring position.  He had a nasty injury yesterday that threatens to end his season early.

Wilmer Flores (B+).  Flores has continued to rake putting up numbers at an unprecedented.  This month he hit seven homers.  He has benefited greatly by mostly facing left-handed pitchers.  The Mets will need his versatility all the more as injuries mounted during the month.

Eric Campbell (Inc.) Campbell did not play in a game during the month, and the Mets are not likely to call him up again until rosters expand in September.

Matt Reynolds (Inc).  Reynolds only played in one game during the month before getting sent down to AAA.

Ty Kelly (Inc).  Kelly did not play in the majors during the month of July, and his 40 man roster spot appears tenuous.  If the Mets make a move for a position player, he will likely be the first to be removed from the roster.

Michael Conforto (C+)  After an initial hot streak when he came back up, he has cooled off, possibly in part to Terry Collins giving him inconsistent playing time again, and possibly in part to him having to learn center field and right field on the fly given Cespedes’ and Lagares’ injuries.  For what it’s worth, he has handled both defensive positions well.

Yoenis Cespedes (B+). While his power numbers have decreased with his injured quad, he has become more patient at the plate putting up a season high .392 OBP in July.  His power is still there with a .530 SLG; it’s just that those balls are doubles now instead of homers.  His injury has hurt the team as he can no longer play center.

Curtis Granderson (C-). Granderson had his second worst month of the season hitting .235/.337/.410, and he is not playing right field at the Gold Glove level he played it last year.

Juan Lagares (D). It turns out Lagares just couldn’t play through the torn ligament in his left thumb hitting .160/.263/.300.  He has shut it down, and he is going to get surgery to repair the problem.

Alejandro De Aza (A+). De Aza had an amazing month of July .300/.500/.531. As you can plainly see, he’s hitting everything including lefties.  It speaks a lot about both him and the Mets that he was their best offensive player during the month.

Brandon Nimmo (B-).  In 13 games, Nimmo was showed signs he could be a major league player in the near future in his two stints with the Mets.  Overall, he hit .229/.325/.314 with one huge home run.  For some reason, even with the gap in center field, Collins still refuses to let him play there.

Jose Reyes (C)  Reyes quickly acclimated to third defensively as he appeared to have been a very good defender at the position for years.  At the plate, he had some uncharacteristically good power numbers while struggling to get on base with a .239/.278/.493 batting line.  He has been unable to hit righties doing most of his damage against lefties.  He is currently on the disabled list with an intercostal strain, and it is unknown when he can return.

Justin Ruggiano (Inc). The Texas Rangers AAA castoff has played in only two games for the Mets going 1-4.

Pitchers

Matt Harvey (Inc).  Harvey only made one start in July before the Mets finally discovered he has thoracic outlet syndrome which may explain the struggles he has had all year.  Harvey had season ending surgery, and he will hopefully return in 2017.

Jacob deGrom (B+).  In a month where the Mets needed someone to step up, degrom heeded the call posting a 3-1 record with a 2.27 ERA including his first shutout.  However, he did have a clunker against the Marlins who are now ahead of the Mets in the Wild Card standings.

Noah Syndergaard (B). Syndergaard has lost some velocity and movement on his pitches since it was discovered he is dealing with a bone spur in his pitching elbow.  For the month, he was a respectable 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA.  The main cause for concern is his walks have gone up.

Steven Matz (C-). Matz has been clearly bothered by the bone spurs, but he is starting to learn how to pitch effectively with him.  He rebounded from a terrible June to post a 1-4 record with a 3.19 ERA.

Bartolo Colon (D-). Aside from one good start in the second end of the double header against the Cardinals, Colon has had a miserable month with a 5.51 ERA and a 1.347 WHIP.

Logan Verrett (B-). Verrett was thrust into the starting rotation with the Harvey season ending injury.  He has performed well enough as a starter going 0-1 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.240 WHIP that the Mets did not feel compelled to go out and get a starter during the trade deadline or call up a pitcher like Gabriel Ynoa to take his place in the rotation.

Jeurys Familia (C-) Familia was walking a tightrope for a while with his struggling command, and he finally blew two saves in back-to-back appearances that were just devastating.

Addison Reed (A+).  In 13 innings, only five people reached base against him, and none of them scored.

Jim Henderson (Inc).  Henderson is still on the disabled list, and he suffered a leg injury during his rehab stint.  There is no telling when or if he will be able to return.

Hansel Robles (A+). When the Mets were looking for a veteran seventh inning reliever, Robles just went out there and took the job.  In 10 appearances he was 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

Jerry Blevins (A).  Aside from his last game when he had a minor hiccup, Blevins had a terrific July allowing just two hits and one earned run in 13 appearances.

Antonio Bastardo (F). Bastardo seemed to be slowly turning things around in non-pressure situtations.  However, as we saw Carlos Gonzalez launch one near the Shea Bridge, Bastardo cannot be relied upon in any game that is remotely close.

Rafael Montero (Inc.) Didn’t pitch in the majors in June as he’s been demoted to AA.

Sean Gilmartin (Inc.)  Gilmartin is on the seven day disabled list with a shoulder injury.  There is no timetable for his return.

Erik Goeddel (F).  Goeddel really struggled in the month of July posting a 6.10 ERA in 11 appearances.

Seth Lugo (B) He was electric in this first three appearances even making Anthony Rizzo look silly by striking him out with a curveball that hit Rizzo’s foot.  He has been solid since then, but he has come back to earth a bit.  For the month, he has a 2.60 ERA and a 0.968 WHIP.  He would be helped by getting regular work.

Terry Collins (F). While it could be argued he has been dealing with an injury plagued roster (he has), Collins still does not make sound decisions on a day-in and day-out basis.  For the man who said, the Mets couldn’t be in a position to both win-now and develop players like Conforto, he has managed to do neither.  He also seemingly alienated his players at the All Start Game.

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Mike Piazza’s Number 31 Officially Retired

It was a muggy and rainy day that might’ve lead to the game being called on any other night. 

  
But they weren’t going to call this game as it was the night the Mets were retiring Mike Piazza‘s number 31. With the 31 inside a home plate mowed into centerfield, the Mets were ready, and nothing was going to stop the night. 

  
The ceremony was just about perfect with a video featuring Piazza standing at the spot home plate once stood at Shea Stadium 

  
We had to visit it after the game. 

Then Piazza would come through the Mets dugout that seemed to have most of the players there, and the crowd erupted. 

  
Every little touch was perfect from the aforementioned 31 in centerfield to his 31 prominently featured on the Home Run Apple. 

  

The video introducing him was spot on making sure to put an emphasis on his post 9/11 home run 

The only thing missing from the tribute was Mets fans giving him a curtain call after he homered off former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. 

Speaking of former teammates, there was some surprise that there weren’t more of his old Mets teammates there. Frankly, I was shocked there was no John Franco, but you don’t know the scheduling issues that would prevent people from coming. For example, you know White Sox manager Robin Ventura would never be able to make it. 

You still didn’t notice it too much with who was there. There was old fan favorite Cliff Floyd. The best Mets second baseman of all time Edgardo Alfonzo.  The last player there was the first Mets pitcher Piazza ever caught, Al Leiter. Since leaving the Mets, Leiter was never treated properly by Mets fans for how great a Met he was, but on this day, he would be with a loud standing ovation. Then we finally saw the number unveiled:

  
 Piazza then had to speak. Many times, he seemed speechless at the outpouring of affection he received. Other times, Mets fans would not even let him speak during his speech:

Piazza honored everyone including the fans. He took in the moment as Mets fans did as well. His induction to Cooperstown was a coronation, but this was a celebration with 42,207 of his closest friends. There would be no roomfor booing as Piazza would remind the fans when he brought up the Wilpons. That’s the power of Piazza – he can get the fans to stop booing the Wilpons. 

He gave a poignant speech letting the fans know that for as long as his 31 hangs in Citi Field, he will be with all of us. As he parted, he tried to inspire everyone saying that whenever the team needs inspiration, they need only look up to left field and remember that old Mikey is with them. 

After he threw out the first pitch from home plate to Leiter, it was game time 

  
Yes, there were some jokes about Piazza not doing it to Alfonzo at second. The real joke was what followed. The team either didn’t listen or was too undermanned to draw from these inspirational words. 

The game itself. It was never going to match the beauty of that ceremony, but it didn’t need to be that ugly. The team never heeded his parting advice. 

Given how the Mets have been playing, and the lineup that was put out there, the loss was no surprise. The Mets starter AAA cast-off Justin Ruggiano in center, a reall defensively challenged Kelly Johnson at first, a 43 year old Bartolo Colon on three days rest, and of course Neil Walker.  Not even facing the worst starter in baseball Jorge De La Rosa could revive this offense. 

It was just a brutal game that saw Terry Collins get tossed in the fourth, and frankly, most Mets fans didn’t stay for much longer than that it a 7-2 loss. 

Overall, the only thing worse than the loss was knowing that Tom Seaver was physically unable to attend the ceremony. It was still a great night, and years from now, I will always remember seeing this for the first time. 

  
 Game Notes: Jose Reyes was put on the DL before the game. 

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A Bizarre Split Doubleheader 

You knew it was going to be a strange day when Keith Hernandez showed up during the first end of the doubleheader wearing an Underdog shirt:

  

We would then see Noah Syndergaard give up an unearned run in the second when Syndergaard made an errant throw allowing Yadier Molina to score. The Cardinals scored a run that inning without a ball leaving the infield. Perhaps stranger than that was seeking Jedd Gyorko hit a two run bomb to left the following inning to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. For the day, Syndergaard would pitch six innings allowing three runs, two earned, and three walks with eight strikeouts. 

Of course, all of the Mets offense would come off a Rene Rivera two run homer in the fourth. After that hilarity would ensue. 

There was Curtis Granderson of all people throwing out a runner at the plate (with the really throw from Kelly Johnson). It’s bizarre that the Cardinals sent Matt Adams, who just might be slower than James Loney. It’s even stranger when you consider that earlier in the game the human windmill Tim Teufel held Jose Reyes at third when he could’ve scored off a Yoenis Cespedes two out double. 

Speaking of Cespedes, he had quite the juggling act in the outfield in the sixth: 

Then there were the curious decisions like Terry Collins keeping Wilmer Flores on the bench while sending James Loney and Johnson up to bat in the eighth against Cardinals lefty Kevin Siegrist. They weren’t able to muster a rally. 

The Mets would start a rally in the ninth with a Granderson leadoff single off new Cardinals closer Seung-hwan Oh. That rally would end when Granderson tagged up on Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham after a deep Cespedes fly out:

After a Loney fly out, the Mets lost 3-2. The second game of the doubleheader would be much calmer, but it would still nevertheless be strange. 

For starters, the spark plug of the Mets offense in the game was Alejandro De Aza. De Aza would go 1-1 with a double, a walk with two runs. Even more bizarre is that he would be driven in both times by Asdrubal Cabrera. 

In the third, Cabrera followed a De Aza double with a double of his own striking an 0 for his last 697,597,475,491 streak (actually, it was 0-32). In the fifth, Cabrera would hit a sac fly to score De Aza from third. 

The other run would score when Loney hit into a fourth inning double play scoring Flores. Flores was on third because he hit a leadoff double, and he moved to third when Randal Grichuk flat out dropped a ball in right field off the bat of Neil Walker. Considering how he’s been playing lately, it’s just about the only way Walker can reach base. He would go 0-2 with a walk on the night. 

These three runs were enough for Bartolo Colon who was terrific tonight after pitching to a 7.36 ERA and allowing batters to hit .338/.386/.662 against him over his last three starts. Naturally, on this night, Colon only allowed one earned on three hits with no walks and eighth strikeouts. Of course, he would out pitch Syndergaard tonight in the Mets 3-1 win. 

Finally, in the sixth inning, things began to calm down. Collins made a curious decision to allow Colon to bat in the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs. Collins eschewed the chance to blow the game open. 

Then in the eighth and ninth, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia shut down the Cardinals to preserve the win. 

After all that craziness, the Mets and Cardinals split the doubleheader. The end result was nothing changed between them in the Wild Card standings. The Mets stayed a half game up on the Cardinals with the runner game tomorrow. 

Game Notes: Josh Smoker was called up to be the 26th man in the second game of the doubleheader. He would not make an appearance. 

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Mets Lost a Game They Had No Business Winning

One of the Mets hottest hitters, Asdrubal Cabrera, and the Mets best hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, got a day off with the Mets playing a day game after a night game. Kelly Johnson was getting his first start since July 1st. Wilmer Flores and James Loney were the number three and four hitters in the lineup going up against Kyle Hendricks, who has only allowed three earned runs over his last 31 innings pitched. The Mets sent Bartolo Colon to the mound on a hot and humid day at Wrigley. Long story, short, the Mets had no business winning this game. 

They didn’t. 

It started in the first with Colon issuing consecutive two out walks. Both runners would then score on an Addison Russell bases clearing double. Anthony Rizzo would then hit a homer in the third (solo) and the fifth (two run) shot. Following that home run, the Cubs put two on with one out chasing Colon from the game. 

Antonio Bastardo came on and allowed an inherited runner to score on a Javier Baez RBI single. That closed the books on Colon who allowed eight hits, six earned, and two walks with one strikeout in what was an ugly outing. Bastardo only allowed that one hit in 1.2 innings meaning this could very well be the best game he’s pitched as a Met. 
The Mets did have their chances. In the second, the Mets threatened in the second. Travis d’Arnaud hit a double that would have scored anyone but the slower than Sid Bream Loney. After a Johnson walk, Juan Lagares hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play, which was nowhere near as impressive as the one the Mets turned last night.

Loney’s speed prevented the Mets from scoring another run in the fourth. With two outs and Loney on second, Johnson singled to center. Human windmill Tim Teufel sent Loney who was gunned down at home by Jayson Heyward. Ironically, the one time the Mets get a hit with a runner in scoring position, it’s Loney at second, and the runner still doesn’t score. 

As usual, the Mets didn’t score until a home run was hit. In the eighth, Flores hit a two run homer off Cubs reliever Travis Wood. It made the score 6-2, but it was too little too late. The Mets lost two of three to the Cubs, but they still won the season series against them 5-2. 

Game Notes: Johnson was a perfect 4-4. Michael Conforto got his first extra base hit in his return with a fifth inning double. He was 1-4 on the day with a strikeout. With Lagares playing today, he was back in left, and Curtis Granderson was back in right. 

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Hansel Robles Can Do Anything

In many ways, Hansel Robles has become the most important piece of the Mets bullpen as he has literally done everything this year except close out a game.  Seeing how he has pitched this year, if he was ever given that opportunity, it would be fair to assume he would close the game out.

Due to pitcher injuries and the need for Logan Verrett to be more of a spot starter than the Mets ever thought he would be, Robles has become the de facto long man in the bullpen.  Including last night’s game, Robles has made 13 multiple inning performances.  This includes the April 11th game when Robles had to pitch 2.1 innings after Steven Matz couldn’t make it out of the second inning in his first start of the year.  It also includes the July 21st game when Robles had to pitch 3.2 innings after Bartolo Colon had to be removed from the game after getting hit on his pitching hand with a comebacker off the bat of Whit Merrifield.  Three days later, Robles would pitch another 2.2 innings in that infamous game where Matz was spotted rubbing his elbow in the dugout and would eventually be knocked out of the game in the fifth inning.  Through all of these multiple inning appearances, Robles is 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA, 1.222 WHIP, and a 3:1 walk to strikeout ratio.

In addition to his long man duties, Robles has been brought in to get the one big out to get the Mets out of an inning on seven separate occasions.  Robles is effective in this role as the first batter he faces in any given appearance he makes are only batting .2oo/.256/.257 off of him.  Naturally, in every single one of these one out appearances, Robles was able to navigate his way out of the inning without allowing an earned run.

Strange as it may sound, Robles was used as a normal late inning reliever in his other 20 appearances.  The reason why Robles affords the Mets this flexibility is that he is able to get both lefties and righties out.  Over the course of the season, Robles has limited batters to a .241/.314/.400 batting line.  He’s even better against lefties limiting them to a .181/.259/.319 batting line.  Another reason why Robles gives the Mets this type of flexibility is because he’s unflappable.  In late and close games, batters are only hitting .216/.276/.313 off of him.  Overall, Robles has been good to great in 38 of his 40 appearances this season.  There is little reason to believe this won’t continue.

Overall, he is 4-3 with six holds, a 2.76 ERA and a 1.336 WHIP.  If you were to remove his two bad back-to-back appearances at the end of May, he would be 4-2 with a 1.48 ERA and a 1.223 WHIP.  Either way, Robles has had an absolutely terrific year that has seen him become a versatile and extremely important part of this Mets bullpen.

 

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Mets Most Popular Pitcher

Back in the 1980s, there was no doubt that Dwight Gooden was the most popular starting pitcher on the team.  There was just a different buzz when he was on the mound as opposed to when Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda, or Sid Fernandez took the mound.  The reason was that Gooden had unparalleled and electric stuff.  As a result, it seemed Gooden was always pitching before a sellout crowd at Shea.  It didn’t matter if it was a 10:00 A.M. game on a Monday against the Flushing Little League team, Shea Stadium would be sold out to see him pitch.  Without a doubt, Gooden was a fan favorite.

As we saw with Gooden, attendance is a good measure to determine who the Mets fans favorite pitcher is.  It is a measure which shows who the fans will pay to go see pitch.  So far this season, the Mets have played 46 home games drawing 1,582,503 fans, which averages out to 34,402 fans per game.  On average, Mets fans have paid to see Jacob deGrom over any other Mets pitcher this season:

Average Differential
deGrom 38,107 3,704
Syndergaard 35,582 1,180
Harvey 34,925 523
Colon 33,685 -717
Matz 30,240 -4,162

To be fair, there are a number of factors that drives attendance other than the night’s starting pitcher.  For example, fans are more apt to attend games over the weekend and on holidays (Memorial Day and the Fourth of July).  For the purposes of this analysis, weekend games are classified as Friday through Sunday games.  Over the course of the first 46 home games, the Mets have played 23 weekday games and 23 weekend and holiday games. In the Mets 23 home weekend and holiday games, the Mets have averaged 38,060 fans per game as opposed to 30,745 fans during the Mets 23 weekday games.  Looking at weekend games, deGrom is still the pitcher that Mets fans are more likely to pay to see pitch:

Average Differential
deGrom 41,248 3,188
Syndergaard 38,529 469
Harvey 36,536 -1,524
Colon 36,297 -1,763
Matz 35,979 -2,081

With weekday games, the ones that take a little more effort to attend, we begin to see a shift away from deGrom.  In fact, fans have come out to see Matt Harvey more than any other pitcher on weekday games:

Average Differential
Harvey 32,777 2,032
Syndergaard 32,635 1,890
Colon 31,944 1,199
deGrom 31,825 1,080
Matz 26,414 -4,332

There are other factors to keep into consideration as well.  For example, one driving force behind attendance has been the Mets games against some of the better teams in baseball.  In the Mets 30 home games against teams with a record over .500, the Mets average attendance is 35,415 per game.  As we have already seen in some of the above analyses, more fans come out to see deGrom pitch against the better teams in baseball than any other Mets starter:

Average Differential
deGrom 36,266 852
Harvey 36,086 671
Syndergaard 35,675 260
Colon 35,564 149
Matz 33,707 -1,708

If teams that are over .500 are going to be of interest, it should come as no surprise that the Mets home games agains their 2015 postseason opponents have also driven attendance.  In the Mets nine home games against their postseason rivals, the Mets average attendance has been 39,432.  It should be noted that Harvey has not pitched against any of those opponents, nor will he with his season ending surgery.  Furthermore, Steven Matz only made one start against such an opponent.  With those factors in place, the starting pitcher the Mets fans paid most to see in the rematch games was Bartolo Colon:

Average Differential
Colon 41,187 1,755
Matz 40,122 690
deGrom 38,828 -604
Syndergaard 37,850 -1,582

Astoundingly, the Mets attendance against their NL East opponents has been poor.  While the Mets have averaged 34,042 fans per game through the first 46 games of the season, they are only drawing an average of 33,044 fans for NL East opponents.  Much of that is attributable to how bad the Braves and Phillies are.  The Marlins aren’t exactly driving fans to the park either despite the Mets being in a Wild Card race with them.  With that in mind, the fans want to see deGrom pitch against NL East opponents more than any other pitcher:

Average Differential
deGrom 37,289 4,244
Harvey 34,931 1,887
Syndergaard 33,551 507
Matz 30,698 -2,346
Colon 30,653 -2,391

Looking at the attendance figures, the Mets have had 16 such games, and they are only drawing 32,504 fans per game.  With respect to the other subset of games, this is the group the fans want to see the least.  Generally speaking, there needs to be an incentive for the fans to go to the ballpark.  Looking at the attendance figures more in depth, deGrom taking the mound seems to be an incentive for the fans to go out and see the Mets play a bad baseball team:

Average Differential
deGrom 41,788 9,284
Syndergaard 35,212 2,708
Harvey 34,055 1,551
Colon 29,301 -3,203
Matz 25,039 -7,465

Weighing each of these factors, the attendance figures suggest that Jacob deGrom is the Mets fans favorite starting pitcher with Noah Syndergaard not too far behind. These numbers shouldn’t be that surprising as deGrom and Syndergaard have been the Mets two best pitchers all year, and will likely be the starters for Game One and Game Two of this year’s NLDS.

 

 

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Juanderful Start to the Second Half

In the top of the sixth, Neil Walker hit a three run home run to make it 4-0 Mets. With the way Bartolo Colon was cruising, it seemed like the game was effectively over. 

Colon was perfect for the first 4.1 innings. His pitch count was low, and he was moving quickly through the Phillies lineup. He lost the perfect game in the fifth when Cameron Rupp hit a one out single.  Ultimately, it wasn’t the fifth that would be the issue, it was the sixth. 

After Colon was handed the 4-0 lead, the Phillies rallied. It started with a James Loney throwing error making him the only person able to miss the rather large Colon. The run scored on a Peter Bourjos hit RBI triple. After Maikel Franco and Cody Asche RBI singles, it was 4-3, and Colon was chased from the game with two outs in the fifth. 

Hansel Robles was double switched into the game along with Alejandro De Aza because whenever you have an excuse to bring De Aza into the game, you have to do it. Robles came into the game throwing 99 MPH, and he got Freddy Galvis to pop out to get the Mets out of the inning. 
What was once a magical night saw Colon pitch 5.2 innings allowing four hits, three unearned, and two walks with four strikeouts. Colon would still get the win as Robles, Jerry Blevins, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia combined to pitch 3.1 scoreless innings to preserve the 5-3 win. 

The insurance run was scored in the seventh courtesy of Juan Lagares, who had a terrific night starting with his third inning leadoff homer off Jeremy Hellickson. Lagares led off the seventh with a walk, and he would steal second base.  He moved to third off a long fly all out off the bat of De Aza. He then scored off a Jose Reyes fielder’s choice. Lagares got a good break on the ball, and made a terrific slide direct to home plate to just beat the drawn-in shortstop Galvis’ throw. 

On the night Lagares was 1-2 with two runs, one walk, one RBI, and the aforementioned homer. Asdrubal Cabrera would also have a great start to the second half going 3-4 with a run scored. Overall, it was a good night for the Mets who got off to a nice start in their first game after the All Star Break. 

Game Notes: Reyes charged in nicely on a ball and made a bare-handed play in the eighth that was reminiscent of David Wright. Yoenis Cespedes missed the game with his strained quad.

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