Brandon Nimmo
Normally, you don’t fire someone until you have a viable replacement in place. It’s not the prudent course of action, and ultimately, you can make matters worse by acting off raw emotion to quickly fire someone. However, it’s time. The Mets need to move on from Terry Collins despite the lack of an obvious suitable replacement.
This isn’t said lightly. It was his ability to manage the clubhouse that kept the team together last summer until the Mets could make the trades to add Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, and Yoenis Cespedes. Despite your impressions of his in-game management, Collins was the manager of a team that went to the World Series last year.
More than that, Collins appears to be a good man. He has written notes to Mets fans who are mourning the loss of a loved one. He stopped Spring Training practice so a young heart transplant survivor could meet his idols. Make no mistake, when you lose a human being of the caliber Collins is, your entire organization is worse off for it.
And yet, there comes a time when being a good person and past results need to be pushed aside. You need to focus on the job he’s doing and how he’s hurting the team.
This isn’t just about the Mets disappointing season thus far. You cannot pin a player underperforming on the manager alone even if Michael Conforto has regressed as the season progressed. Players certainly have to share in their responsibility as well. Furthermore, injuries have certainly played a part in this, and injuries cannot always be blamed on the manager.
It’s also not about Collins in-game management, which can be head-scratching at times. There are many factors at play to which we are not always privy. A player may feel under the weather or not ready to play in a game. Also, even if it may seem strange to people, a manager should be allowed to draw from 48 years of baseball experience to play a hunch every so often.
No, the reason why Collins needs to go is his decision making process and how it has hurt the team.
In April, there was his ill-advised decision to pitch Jim Henderson the day after he threw a career high 34 pitches. It was even worse when you consider Henderson is pitching in his first full season after having had his second shoulder surgery. Eventually, Henderson landed on the disabled list due to a shoulder impingement. Collins’ excuse for pitching Henderson was Henderson telling him before the game that “he felt great.”
That signals that what was Collins’ greatest strength is also his biggest weakness. He puts too much trust in his players leading Collins to sometimes play players when they shouldn’t be playing.
It was the big issue with Game 5 of the World Series. He let Matt Harvey talk his way back into the ninth inning despite Collins belief that the Mets should go to Jeurys Familia in that spot. That moment wasn’t about whether anyone thought it was the right move to let Harvey stay in the game. It was about Collins thinking it wasn’t he right move and his letting the player control the situtation.
Speaking of Familia, Collins recently overworked him as well. Over a six day stretch from July 22nd to July 27th, Familia had worked in four games throwing 76 pitches. He was tiring, and in his last appearance, Familia finally blew his first save. The following game the Mets got seven innings from Jacob deGrom, and the rest of the bullpen was fairly rested and ready to go. Instead, Collins went back to Familia who would blow his second save in a row. Collins’ excuse? He was going to sit Familia until Familia approached him pre-game and told him he was ready, willing, and able to pitch.
With Henderson, Harvey, and Familia, it appears that Collins is losing control to the players. That seemed all the more apparent during the Cespedes golfing drama. The Mets star player and key to their entire lineup had been hobbled for over a month due to a quad injury, and yet he continued to golf everyday. That was news to Collins who said, “I didn’t know he played golf until you guys brought it up. Had it been bothering him then, he would’ve said something about it, but not a word.” (Ryan Hatch, NJ.com).
It is not fair to blame Collins for Cespedes’ injury. It also isn’t fair to blame Collins for Cespedes playing golf. However, your star player is injured, and his injury is severely hampering your team. Doesn’t a manager have an obligation to speak with Cespedes knowing he is an avid golfer that played golf throughout the postseason last year despite having a shoulder injury?
On it’s own the Cespedes golf situation would be overblown as well as the aforementioned pitching decisions. If that was the only issue, you could argue Collins should be permitted to stay on as manager. However, his decision making this past week was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
On August 5th, the Mets lost a game 4-3. The fourth and decisive run was set-up by a J.D. Martinez double. Upon replay, it appeared that Matt Reynolds had held the tag on Martinez appeared to came off the bag. Reynolds looked into the dugout, but there would be no challenge. Now, that’s not necessarily Collins’ fault as he is relying upon the advise of the replay adviser. However, it was important to denote this when setting the stage for what happened the following night.
The Mets trailed the Tigers 7-6 in the top of the ninth. Jay Bruce started a two out rally in the top of of the ninth, and he would try to score from second off a Travis d’Arnaud single. Martinez would throw him out at the plate, and the Mets just walked off the field without challenging the play to see if there was a missed tag or if Jarrod Saltalamacchia was illegally blocking the plate. Why? As Collins said himself, “Because I didn’t think about it — that’s why. Plain and simple.” (Ken Davidoff, New York Post).
The Mets literally lose the game without that challenge. They lost the night before, in part, because they failed to challenge a play where it appeared Martinez was out at second. Even with all of that, Collins still didn’t at least try to challenge the play to try to get the tying run home.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was the matter of why Brandon Nimmo wasn’t pinch running for Bruce in that spot. Collins didn’t choose Nimmo as a pinch runner because he simply doesn’t know which one of his players is faster:
Collins said he didn't consider Nimmo for Bruce pinch running last night because for all he knows Bruce is faster.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 7, 2016
When you cede decision making to the players, when you fail to do everything possible to win games, and when you don’t fully know the capabilities of every player on your roster, it is time to go.
Normally, you don’t fire someone until you have a viable replacement in place. It’s not the prudent course of action, and ultimately, you can make matters worse by acting off raw emotion to quickly fire someone. However, it’s time. The Mets need to move on from Terry Collins despite the lack of an obvious suitable replacement.
This isn’t said lightly. It was his ability to manage the clubhouse that kept the team together last summer until the Mets could make the trades to add Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, and Yoenis Cespedes. Despite your impressions of his in-game management, Collins was the manager of a team that went to the World Series last year.
More than that, Collins appears to be a good man. He has written notes to Mets fans who are mourning the loss of a loved one. He stopped Spring Training practice so a young heart transplant survivor could meet his idols. Make no mistake, when you lose a human being of the caliber Collins is, your entire organization is worse off for it.
And yet, there comes a time when being a good person and past results need to be pushed aside. You need to focus on the job he’s doing and how he’s hurting the team.
This isn’t just about the Mets disappointing season thus far. You cannot pin a player underperforming on the manager alone even if Michael Conforto has regressed as the season progressed. Players certainly have to share in their responsibility as well. Furthermore, injuries have certainly played a part in this, and injuries cannot always be blamed on the manager.
It’s also not about Collins in-game management, which can be head-scratching at times. There are many factors at play to which we are not always privy. A player may feel under the weather or not ready to play in a game. Also, even if it may seem strange to people, a manager should be allowed to draw from 48 years of baseball experience to play a hunch every so often.
No, the reason why Collins needs to go is his decision making process and how it has hurt the team.
In April, there was his ill-advised decision to pitch Jim Henderson the day after he threw a career high 34 pitches. It was even worse when you consider Henderson is pitching in his first full season after having had his second shoulder surgery. Eventually, Henderson landed on the disabled list due to a shoulder impingement. Collins’ excuse for pitching Henderson was Henderson telling him before the game that “he felt great.”
That signals that what was Collins’ greatest strength is also his biggest weakness. He puts too much trust in his players leading Collins to sometimes play players when they shouldn’t be playing.
It was the big issue with Game 5 of the World Series. He let Matt Harvey talk his way back into the ninth inning despite Collins belief that the Mets should go to Jeurys Familia in that spot. That moment wasn’t about whether anyone thought it was the right move to let Harvey stay in the game. It was about Collins thinking it wasn’t he right move and his letting the player control the situtation.
Speaking of Familia, Collins recently overworked him as well. Over a six day stretch from July 22nd to July 27th, Familia had worked in four games throwing 76 pitches. He was tiring, and in his last appearance, Familia finally blew his first save. The following game the Mets got seven innings from Jacob deGrom, and the rest of the bullpen was fairly rested and ready to go. Instead, Collins went back to Familia who would blow his second save in a row. Collins’ excuse? He was going to sit Familia until Familia approached him pre-game and told him he was ready, willing, and able to pitch.
With Henderson, Harvey, and Familia, it appears that Collins is losing control to the players. That seemed all the more apparent during the Cespedes golfing drama. The Mets star player and key to their entire lineup had been hobbled for over a month due to a quad injury, and yet he continued to golf everyday. That was news to Collins who said, “I didn’t know he played golf until you guys brought it up. Had it been bothering him then, he would’ve said something about it, but not a word.” (Ryan Hatch, NJ.com).
It is not fair to blame Collins for Cespedes’ injury. It also isn’t fair to blame Collins for Cespedes playing golf. However, your star player is injured, and his injury is severely hampering your team. Doesn’t a manager have an obligation to speak with Cespedes knowing he is an avid golfer that played golf throughout the postseason last year despite having a shoulder injury?
On it’s own the Cespedes golf situation would be overblown as well as the aforementioned pitching decisions. If that was the only issue, you could argue Collins should be permitted to stay on as manager. However, his decision making this past week was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
On August 5th, the Mets lost a game 4-3. The fourth and decisive run was set-up by a J.D. Martinez double. Upon replay, it appeared that Matt Reynolds had held the tag on Martinez appeared to came off the bag. Reynolds looked into the dugout, but there would be no challenge. Now, that’s not necessarily Collins’ fault as he is relying upon the advise of the replay adviser. However, it was important to denote this when setting the stage for what happened the following night.
The Mets trailed the Tigers 7-6 in the top of the ninth. Jay Bruce started a two out rally in the top of of the ninth, and he would try to score from second off a Travis d’Arnaud single. Martinez would throw him out at the plate, and the Mets just walked off the field without challenging the play to see if there was a missed tag or if Jarrod Saltalamacchia was illegally blocking the plate. Why? As Collins said himself, “Because I didn’t think about it — that’s why. Plain and simple.” (Ken Davidoff, New York Post).
The Mets literally lose the game without that challenge. They lost the night before, in part, because they failed to challenge a play where it appeared Martinez was out at second. Even with all of that, Collins still didn’t at least try to challenge the play to try to get the tying run home.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was the matter of why Brandon Nimmo wasn’t pinch running for Bruce in that spot. Collins didn’t choose Nimmo as a pinch runner because he simply doesn’t know which one of his players is faster:
Collins said he didn't consider Nimmo for Bruce pinch running last night because for all he knows Bruce is faster.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 7, 2016
When you cede decision making to the players, when you fail to do everything possible to win games, and when you don’t fully know the capabilities of every player on your roster, it is time to go.
The Mets batted Ty Kelly second and put him in left field leaving Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, and the Mets hottest hitting outfielder, Alejandro De Aza, on the bench.
Terry Collins decided to make Rene Rivera his DH. I can’t tell you how many times I checked the lineup and this sentence to see if it was correct.
You had to do it because there is no way the left-handed hitters on the Mets could hit Tigers starter Matt Boyd who entered the game with a 4.71 ERA.
The Mets started Logan Verrett.
Seriously, how do you think things went?
Verrett only lasted 3.2 innings allowing seven hits, six runs, six earned, and two walks with two strikeouts. He spotted the Tigers a 6-1 lead with his only run supporting coming off a Jay Bruce solo fourth inning home run.
The Tigers then proceeded to try to give the game away to a Mets team not fully equipped to take full advantage.
Curtis Granderson started the charge with a fifth inning solo home run. Birthday boy Wilmer Flores would hit an RBI single to pull the Mets to with three runs.
It was a terrific game for Flores at the plate going 2-4 with two RBI. With the lefty on the mound, he got the start at first base in place of James Loney.
Flores’ RBI single actually scored Kelly, who actually played well going 2-4 with two runs and a walk. He’d score his second run in the seventh off a Miguel Cabrera throwing error.
On the very next play Mike Aviles would misplay a ball off the bat of Flores allowing Neil Walker to score. Walker continued his hot play of late going 2-4 with a run and a walk.
It set up runners on first and second with no out, and the Mets down a run. Naturally, the Mets wouldn’t score on a night they went 2-12 with runners in scoring position leaving 10 men on base. Travis d’Arnaud would hit into the second of three Mets double plays on the night, and Kelly Johnson popped out to end the threat.
The Mets would have one rally left in them starting with a Bruce two out single off Francisco Rodriguez. De Aza would pinch hit for Flores, and move Bruce to second setting the stage for the final play of the game:
A 9-2 putout.*
(*???)https://t.co/dEicgC3rMZ
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 7, 2016
It took a great throw from J.D. Martinez, and a terrific job by Jarrod Saltalamacchia to legally block the plate under the new rules while getting the tag down.
While Tim Teufel has made some curious decisions as the third base coach, this wasn’t one of them. He should’ve sent Bruce there. Like most of the night (season?), the real issue was with Collins.
First, he could’ve pinch ran an arguably faster Brandon Nimmo which might’ve been the difference between scoring and making the final out at the plate. Second, Collins could’ve at least tried to challenge the play especially after what happened last night.
Sure, it turns out Bruce didn’t touch home, but who cares? There are enough quirks in these replay rules that it might not have mattered. Furthermore, what do you have to lose by challenging? If you don’t, you lose the game. There should be nothing holding you back from challenging that play.
Then again, there is no reason to believe the Mets were best off with Kelly and Rivera in the starting lineup. Collins found a way to do both.
At least the Marlins and Cardinals lost tonight as well.
Game Notes: Bruce had his best day as a Met going 2-5 with a run, an RBI, and the homer. Rivera only lasted two at bats going 0-1 with a walk at DH before getting lifted for Conforto.
This matchup was supposed to be Justin Verlander versus his heir apparent Noah Syndergaard. Instead, we got to see more of the struggling Syndergaard.
In the first, Ian Kinsler would steal second and third off the battery of Syndergaard and Rene Rivera. He would then score on a Miguel Cabrera RBI ground out.
Kelly Johnson gave Syndergaard and the Mets a 2-1 lead with a two run home run off Verlander in the fourth. That 2-1 lead would have been good enough for Syndergaard a couple of months ago. However, this diminished bone-chipped version of Syndergaard would give the lead right back in the bottom of the fourth.
First, he allowed a long two run home run to Victor Martinez. The Tigers would continue the rally scoring another run on a James McCann RBI single. It should be noted that it was J.D. Martinez who scored on the play after doubling to right field.
Jay Bruce made a strong throw to second, but Matt Reynolds laid down an awkward tag. Still, Reynolds held the tag on Martinez. Replays would show Martinez came off the bad, but Terry Collins would not challenge. Martinez would score later making it 4-2. It would prove to be the deciding run in the game.
Syndergaard would make it through six innings throwing 112 pitches. His pitch count rose in part because he has issued a 10 pitch walk to Nick Castellanos and a nine pitch walk to Victor Martinez. It is indicative of Syndergaard’s location being off. Syndergaard’s final line was six innings, seven hits, four runs, four earned, two walks, and seven strikeouts.
In contrast to Syndergaard, Verlander wouldn’t struggle. He dominanted the Mets over six innings allowing four hits, two runs, two earned, and one walk with nine strikeouts. Those nine gives him an American League leading 164 on the season.
The Mets offense only mustered four hits until the ninth. The team had gone 0-3 with runners in scoring position. Even if you were to claim Verlander was that dominant, it does not explain why the Mets couldn’t do anything against a Tigers bullpen that entered the game with a 4.18 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP, and a .266 batting average against.
Former Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez would come on and survive a Mets rally in the ninth. Neil Walker had a leadoff single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and to third on a Bruce ground out. He scored on a James Loney ground out ending the rally. The final score was 4-3 with the deciding run being scored Martinez, who would have been out if Collins challenged the play.
Yet again, the Mets have failed to win back-to-back games. They haven’t done so since July 6th – July 7th. The Nationals won moving the Mets back to nine games out in the division. The Cardinals and Marlins are leading in their games. And, oh yeah, Gary Apple is terrible.
Game Notes: Today’s game of center field musical chairs had Brandon Nimmo in center, Alejandro De Aza in left, and Curtis Granderson at DH. Michael Conforto sat even though it was a right-handed pitcher on the mound.
With Brandon Nimmo being the guy almost traded away in the Jay Bruce trade, he was supposed to be the guy who hit the big homer tonight. In the second inning, Wilmer Flores reminded us all that it was his schtick:
The homer gave the Mets a 1-0 lead they would relinquish in the fourth inning on a Logan Verrett wild pitch allowing Didi Gregorious to score from third. The Mets would fall behind 3-1 in the fifth. Brett Gardner doubled to right hitting the side wall permitting Rob Refsnyder to score from first. Gardner would come around to score on a Jacoby Ellsbury RBI single.
The Yankees should have been up by more, but Gardner killed a first inning rally with his legs:
The final line for Verrett would be five innings, four hits, three runs, three earned, three walks, and two strikeouts.
The Mets got one back in the bottom of the fifth featuring their two young left-handed outfielders. Nimmo pinch hit for Verrett. He didn’t get his homer, but he hit a single to start a rally. He came around to score on a Michael Conforto one out RBI double off CC Sabathia. It was Conforto’s first ever regular season extra base hit off a left-handed pitcher. Conforto only got the chance because Justin Ruggiano was forced to leave the game with an injury.
That set the stage for Matt Reynolds in the sixth.
Flores led off with an excuse me infield single off Yankees reliever Richard Bleier. Travis d’Arnaud, who was not traded for Jonathan Lucroy, hit an opposite field single. d’Arnaud quietly had a good night going 2-5 with a run scored. That run scored would be on an absolute bomb off Reynolds’ bat giving the Mets a 5-3 lead.
The Mets would lose the lead with Terry Collins getting a little too cute in the eighth inning.
With two lefties leading off the eighth, Collins turned to Jerry Blevins to start the inning. Blevins allowed a leadoff walk to Gardner before striking out Ellsbury. Collins then turned to Addison Reed, who is traditionally poor with inherited runners. He was again tonight.
Brian McCann greeted Reed with a single sending Gardner to third. Ronald Torreyes would take second on a wild pitch. Gregorious would have a terrific at bat flaring a single into left field scoring both Gardner and Torreyes tying the game at 5-5. It was the first run Reed has allowed since June 23rd.
Jeurys Familia struggled himself in the ninth. He couldn’t get a feel for the strikezone, and he was giving d’Arnaud a workout spiking his sinker. He was completely bailed out by Curtis Granderson who chased down a ball by the right field line flat of robbing Aaron Hicks of an extra base hit and possibly an RBI.
Familia navigated his way out of the inning despite allowing the one out walk to Austin Romine. Romine stole second with Familia not paying him any attention. Romine could’ve taken third as d’Arnaud skipped it past Reynolds and into center field, but Romine didn’t notice it in time. Despite all that, Familia bore down and get out if the inning.
Seth Lugo, the last man in the bullpen, wouldn’t be as lucky. He issued a four pitch walk to Ellsbury, and Mark Teixeira beat the shift with an opposite field single. Ben Gamel laid down a sac bunt Lugo fielded. However, he would reach safely as Rene Rivera, who was double switched into the game, somehow directed Lugo to go to third. Lugo couldn’t get the speedy Ellsbury at third. He would later score on a Starlin Castro sac fly to make it 6-5.
That set the stage for new Yankee closer Dellin Betances. He was greeted with a Loney double, and he would move to third on a Reynolds sac bunt. It would take a home run to score Loney from third on s fly ball to the outfield. You’re also giving an out to Betances, who is a great reliever.
Alejandro De Aza was then hit by a pitch. He took off for second on a Rivera ground out to Betances. Betances froze Loney and got Rivera at first. Granderson would then strikeout to end the game. The sac bunt was a strange move at best.
It was an ugly 6-5 loss helped again with some odd late game Collins decisions.
Game Notes: Steven Matz pinch hit for Erik Goeddel in the sixth, and he drew a pinch hit walk. He was needed to pinch hit as the Mets were playing short due to trades, Yoenis Cespedes being unable to play with his quad injury, and the Mets refusal to DL Asdrubal Cabrera for one reason or another.
Last year, the Mets seemingly had a trade in place for Carlos Gomez sending Citi Field abuzz, or in this day and age, I should say a-twitter. Apparently, the only person who was unaware that a trade happened was the Mets manager Terry Collins who kept a crying Wilmer Flores in the field.
As we would subsequently discover, the trade would fall apart due to Gomez’s hip. As a result, Flores and Zack Wheeler would remain New York Mets. In the next game Flores would play, he would do this:
Today, Brandon Nimmo finds himself in a similar situation. He was supposed to be part of the trade that sent Jay Bruce to the Mets. As one of the Mets minor leaguers in the trade failed a physical, the deal had to be reworked. The resulting deal was the Mets sending Dilson Herrera to the Reds instead of Nimmo.
As we saw with Wilmer Flores, the only possible result to this fiasco is Nimmo hitting a game winning home run tonight to beat the New York Yankees.
Time and time again, we have all seen the Mets fail to get a base hit with a runner in scoring position. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Mets woeful .207 team batting average with runners in scoring position is the worst in all of Major League Baseball. It is 53 points lower than the .260 league average and 89 points lower than the St. Louis Cardinals .296 team batting average with runners in scoring position. It gets worse. The Mets have a .288 team OPB with runners in scoring position, which is again the worst in the Major Leagues. This is 49 points lower than the league average .337 OBP with runners in scoring position, and it is 90 points lower than the St. Louis Cardinals league leading .378 team OBP with runners in scoring position.
At this point, what usually follows is a debate between traditional fans and fans that follow more of a stats based approach. Traditional fans believe hitting with runners in scoring position is a real skill set, and if a team is unable to hit with runners in scoring position, a team will be unable to score runs. Stat based fans will tell you hitting with runners in scoring position isn’t an actual skill, and like anything else, everything tends to regress to the mean. Regardless of your point-of-view, all fans tend to subscribe to the back of the baseball card concept wherein players tend to play to their seasonal averages on a year-in and year-out basis. With that common ground in mind, here are how the current Mets players have fared with runners in scoring position along with the amount of times they have come up this year with a runner in scoring position:
| Player | PA | 2016 | Career |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 70 | .180 | .256 |
| Eric Campbell | 19 | .125 | .168 |
| Yoenis Cespedes | 70 | .254 | .301 |
| Michael Conforto | 56 | .250 | .256 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | 24 | .182 | .224 |
| Alejandro De Aza | 23 | .050 | .294 |
| Lucas Duda | 34 | .185 | .235 |
| Wilmer Flores | 41 | .297 | .270 |
| Curtis Granderson | 73 | .274 | .242 |
| Kelly Johnson | 50 | .214 | .261 |
| Ty Kelly | 10 | .111 | .111 |
| Juan Lagares | 21 | .158 | .271 |
| James Loney | 37 | .281 | .302 |
| Brandon Nimmo | 11 | .200 | .200 |
| Kevin Plawecki | 30 | .240 | .274 |
| Jose Reyes | 8 | .167 | .285 |
| Matt Reynolds | 12 | .250 | .250 |
| Rene Rivera | 31 | .259 | .235 |
| Neil Walker | 75 | .254 | .276 |
| David Wright | 38 | .226 | .293 |
* Kelly Johnson’s stats includes his 2016 stats from his 49 games with the Braves this year
While much of the ills of the season has been pinned on Campbell, Kelly, and Reynolds, the three of them have combine for only 41 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. To that end, another scapegoat, De Aza, has not hit whatsoever with runners in scoring position. These four batters have combined for 63 plate appearances which is still less than the plate appearances the either Cabrera, Cespedes, Granderson, or Walker have had individually this year.
Of that group, Granderson is the only batter who is hitting well with runners in scoring position. In fact, he is the only one who is hitting higher than his career average with runners in scoring position. Considering the fact that Cabrera has not gotten a hit with a runner in scoring position since April, it should be no surprise that he is the biggest culprit of the group.
The one encouraging sign is that most of these Mets players are underachieving with runners in scoring position. If these players finish the rest of the year producing at the rate they have done throughout their careers, this Mets team will start to score many more runs.
All Alejandro De Aza and Eric Campbell jokes aside, how many times has this Mets team played a game with a full 25 man roster at its disposal? Given the fact that Hansel Robles had to serve a two game suspension to start the season, it didn’t even happen on Opening Day.
There have been several occasions where Mets players have gotten nicked up forcing the Mets to make the decision of whether they should play with a short-handed roster for a few games or whether they should put that player on the disabled list. Time and again, the Mets have understandably gone with a short roster as it is better to be without an important player for a game or two rather than being without an important piece for a 13-15 game stretch. With the Mets in a tight race for one of the two Wild Cards and them trying to claw their way back into the race for the National League East race, they do not want to lose a player like Yoenis Cespedes for two weeks even as he is now clearly hobbled out there with his right quad injury.
Instead, the Mets will put Cespedes in left field hoping that he can manage his injury while Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto, who had struggled in part to due a wrist injury that required a cortisone shot, try to hold down center field in the interim. Keep in mind this isn’t the first time that Cespedes has been nicked up this year. Earlier in the year, he was dealing with a hip issue that sapped him of some of his power. The Mets tried to give him a day here and there, but ultimately, they had to run him out there as he is the most important hitter in that lineup. Cespedes isn’t the only Mets player who dealt with injuries the Mets tried to navigate without a disabled list stint.
With Conforto and De Aza struggling in June, the Mets tried to avoid putting Juan Lagares on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his left thumb as the team needed his defense and his bat in the lineup. Asdrubal Cabrera has played much of the season with a knee injury that has troubled him since Spring Training. There was a stretch where Robles pitched through a sprained ankle. Steven Matz has the bone spurs in his elbow, and he could clearly benefit from a little breather to give his arm a bit of a break.
Putting teams in a position where they have to play with short-handed rosters is not good for the team. It’s not good for baseball or its fans. Regardless of your favorite team, when you sit down to watch a game, you want to see two teams at their best face-off. But that doesn’t always happen. Part of the reason is the current disabled list rules are antiquated.
The current disabled list system has been in place for 26 years. In 1990, MLB had added a 60 day disabled list to go in conjuction with the already existing 15 day disabled list. It replaced a system that had been in place for 24 years to reflect how baseball had changed.
And baseball has changed since 1990 especially with the banning of amphetamines and other PED substances. Whether true or not, it seems players get nicked up a little more frequently than they did a decade or so ago.
With that in mind, baseball should shorten the disabled list from 15 games to seven games. It should be noted baseball already has a seven day disabled list for concussions. It should be further noted there is a seven day disabled list in the minor leagues.
Speaking of minor leaguers, those players aren’t getting as much of a chance with the current 15 day disabled list. Right now, the Mets are trying to navigate through Cespedes’ quad injury while a player like Brandon Nimmo is playing in AAA. If there was a seven day disabled list, the Mets might be more inclined to utilize it so their best player could get healthy. It would give the Mets a full 25 man roster at their disposal. It would make them a better team, which in turn, would make for a better product for the fans to watch.
All that would need to happen for fans to see a better product is for baseball to implement the seven day disabled list. It already exists for concussions and the minors. It should be in place for all of baseball regardless of injury.
Now that the All Star Game has come and gone and the non-waiver trade deadline two weeks away, Major League Baseball is in full pennant drive mode. Teams are assessing their needs and targeting the players who could fulfill those needs. Given the state of the Mets offense, the team needs a bat more than anything. Fortunately for them, they don’t need to go outside the organization to acquire that player as the team is recalling Michael Conforto.
If Conforto is the player he is supposed to be, the player we’ve seen glimpses of, it’s doubtful any team could add a player who will have the impact he could have on the Mets.
When Conforto was called-up last year, he hit a respectable .270/.335/.506 with nine homers and 26 RBI in 56 games. Extrapolating that over a full 162 game season, Conforto would’ve had 26 homers and 75 RBI. Seeing Conforto over the course of the second half last year coupled with his play in the postseason, that seemed like it was his floor.
Conforto’s April seemed to justify everyone’s high expectations. Conforto jumped out of the gate hitting .365/.442/.676 with four homers and 18 RBI. He was on pace to hit 29 homers and 133 RBI. Those numbers may seem unrealistic in a player’s first full season, especially for a player who never played in AAA, but they didn’t for Conforto. He was that good of a hitter.
Conforto forced Terry Collins to move him up to the third spot in the order. He was clearly the team’s second best hitter behind only Yoenis Cespedes. Conforto was well on his way until disaster struck.
From May 1st on, Conforto would hit .148/.217/.303. He would only get eight hits in his last 75 at bats. Everyone had a theory as to what happened. Some blamed the platoon system getting him out of a rhythmn. Others thought the game Madison Bumgarner dominated him and the rest of the Mets lineup got into his head. There was also the cortisone shot he needed in his wrist and his falling into bad habits at the plate. Whatever the case, he all but forced the Mets hands, and he was demoted to the minor leagues.
To his credit, Conforto put the work in he needed to down in AAA, and he has seemingly returned to the player he was; the player we all thought he could be. During his first ever stint in AAA, Conforto hit .344/.420/.623 with three homers and 15 RBI in 16 games. While his manager Wally Backman did sit him against two lefties, Conforto did get at bats against lefties going 6-16 with three walks and four RBI. More importantly, Conforto got back to being more patient at the plate and using the whole field more.
Additionally, Conforto played some games in right field thereby giving Collins’ more outfield alignment options, which should hopefully ensure Juan Lagares never again steps foot in any position other than center field. It should also help Collins figure things out with Cespedes stating he needs to play more left field with his injured quad.
Overall, Conforto has done what he needed to do in the minors. He’s ready to come back. He’s coming back at the right time too with Cespedes’ balky right leg and Brandon Nimmo struggling.
Conforto should be an even bigger boost to the Mets than he was last year. In fact, given what we’ve seen, given what he’s capable of doing, he will help the Mets more than any player any team adds to their major league roster prior to the trade deadline.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com