Daniel Murphy
Last year, Ben Zobrist was one of the driving forces for a Royals team that beat the Mets in the World Series. This year, he was more of the same for a Cubs team that is on the verge of winning their first World Series since 1908. As luck would have it, Zobrist was one of the many “what if” decisions from the 2015 offseason that leads us to where the Mets are today.
Zobrist choosing the Cubs over the Mets led to a series of dominos falling. It led to the Mets choosing to trade Jon Niese for Neil Walker instead of looking to re-sign Daniel Murphy. That, coupled with Brandon Phillips rejected a trade, led Murphy to the Washington Nationals. Murphy would go on to have an MVP caliber season. Murphy’s season was more than enough to compensate for Bryce Harper having a down year, by his standards, and for Stephen Strasburg having yet another injury plagued year.
There were strange decisions along the way like the Mets initially passing on Yoenis Cespedes and signing Alejandro De Aza to platoon in center field with Juan Lagares. There was the multi-year deal with Antonio Bastardo despite him being an every other year reliever and Sandy Alderson’s poor history signing relievers to a multi-year deal with the Mets. Despite all of that, Cespedes re-signed, and the Mets once again looked like they were primed to return to the World Series in 2017.
Even with Cespedes’ return, the real hope was with the pitching. Now one could compete with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard. If Steven Matz could join his teammates as an ace all the better. Even with this embarrassment of riches, the Mets still had Zack Wheeler returning from Tommy John surgery. By the way, waiting to close out those games was Jeurys Familia, who had already established himself as a great closer. As they said pitching wins championships, and the Mets had pitching in spades.
Early in the season, it worked out. Even with Harvey struggling, deGrom’s velocity not returning, and Wheeler’s return getting pushed back, the Mets were winning. Part of the reason why was Syndergaard taking the next step, Matz proving he belonged in the ace discussion, and deGrom adapting well to a lower velocity.
In April, the Mets took two out of three from the Indians in Cleveland. In a re-match of the NLCS, with a hot Cubs team looking for revenge, the Mets swept them out of Citi Field. Against this year’s World Series teams, the Mets were 7-3. This showed the Mets, with their pitching staff in tact, could beat the best of the best.
As we know, the pitching staff never did stay in tact. Furthermore, despite Walker having a good year, the Mets really missed Zobrist or Murphy as the offense was just one bat short to help carry a dinged up rotation to the finish line. Still, with Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman performing better than anyone could’ve anticipated, the Mets made the Wild Card Game. In reality, the Mets lost that game because Madison Bumgarner was able to go deeper into that game than Syndergaard was.
As we saw in the NLDS, the Giants put a scare into the Cubs by almost sending it back to Wrigley Field for a Game 5. With the Mets having Addison Reed and Familia, who knows if a Mets-Cubs series would have gone much differently.
Really, that is one of many “what if” situations from the 2016 season that was just disappointing to Mets fans who were dreaming of a World Series this year. As we saw last year, this Mets pitching staff can beat anybody. In fact, this Mets pitching staff can demoralize even the best offensive clubs. When the Mets staff was healthy and in tact this year, which was only a brief snapshot in time (if it really ever was the case), the Mets once again proved that this year. And with that, there is hope for 2017. As of the moment, the Mets can expect, Syndergaard, deGrom, Harvey, and Matz in the Opening Day rotation. There’s no team in baseball that can match that.
So while Mets fans are sitting there melancholy and wondering “what if” during what should prove to be a great World Series, just remember the Mets have the pitching to win in 2017. Hopefully, that thought will keep you warm throughout the winter.
With Yasiel Puig grounding into the game and series ending double play, the National League Pennant was once again won on the grounds of Wrigley Field.
Understandably, there was pure euphoria. How could you not when you are one step closer to the World Series? That’s the thing – it’s only a step closer. It’s a big and important step, but it’s only a step.
Everything is different in the World Series. What once worked is not a guarantee.
Anthony Rizzo and Francisco Lindor are swinging hot bats? Neither was as hot as Daniel Murphy who was 3-20 in the World Series.
Andrew Miller and Cody Allen are unhittable? Jeurys Familia was just as good as them, and he blew three World Series saves thanks to Alex Gordon and the right side of the Mets infield.
Javier Baez can do no wrong? Yoenis Cespedes misplayed fly ball out into an inside the park home run on the first pitch Matt Harvey threw. To boot, Cespedes was 3-20 in the World Series.
Believe your team is the feel good story that is the team of destiny?
What could be better than David Wright not only coming back from spinal stenosis, but also fighting back the ghosts of 2006, 2007, and 2008 to homer in his first home World Seriesat-bat? Apparently, it was a Royals team that just missed out the year prior who showed a ton a heart, hustle, and determination in a very closely contested five game series.
The World Series is a reminder that no one has won anything yet. The euphoria of the pennant will soon fade away. What is left is either the true euphoria associated with winning the World Series or the bitter taste of losing the World Series. The loser is left wondering, “What if?”
Getting there is great, but no one has won anything yet.
One refrain coming out of Game 5 of the NLDS was how the seventh inning was an hour and six minutes. One of the major factors for it being that long was the number of pitching changes made.
In the top of the seventh inning along, Dusty Baker made seven pitching changes. Now, it should be noted that among those changes was Oliver Perez coming in for Shawn Kelley because Kelley suffered an injury and had to come out of the game. In the bottom of the seventh, not including Grant Dayton coming into the game because Dave Roberts pinch hit for Julio Urias in the top of the seventh inning, there was one more pitching change when Kenley Jansen entered the game.
Now, in the postseason, there is a 2:45 minute commercial break between innings and for pitching changes. With the six pitching changes last night, that means there was an additional 15 minutes of dead air time. That was 15 minutes away from the game. Was all that time away necessary? Arguably, it wasn’t.
With the exception of Perez, each of the pitchers who entered the game had time to go into the bullpen and get warmed up to go into the game. Therefore, unlike the pitcher that was sitting in the dugout between innings, the pitcher is ready to go. Naturally, you may want to give the pitcher a few warm-up pitches to get acclimated to the mound. However, there is no reason why a pitcher needs almost three minutes to get warmed up when they are already warm. At that point, the pitcher should be ready to go.
Ideally, you don’t want the broadcast to break away to a commercial break. The broadcast sticking with Clayton Kershaw throwing off the mound while Daniel Murphy was looming on deck on heightened the drama that was already present. Not only that, it kept you in the moment. Your focus was on what was the biggest moment of this postseason thus far.
Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. While it is best for the viewers, and probably the sport of baseball, that the broadcast does not cut away from the moment, Fox still needs to pay its bills. Keep in mind, Fox pays MLB approximately $500 million per year to televise regular season and postseason games. Fox needs advertising revenues to justify that expense. To get the advertising revenues, Fox needs commercial breaks. With that in mind, here are some practical solutions:
Reduce the Commercial Break Time for Pitching Changes
This solution is splitting the baby a bit. This would permit Fox to still have an opportunity to sell some commercial for pitching changes while at the same time improving the flow of the game. The hope here is that by reducing the commercial break time, you are heightening the drama and intensity of the moment. Furthermore, you have more people glued to their screens. At least conceptually, this would put a premium for that specific commercial break time (even if it probably doesn’t work out that way in a practical sense).
Allow Advertising Throughout the Game
This one tends to be a little touchy for sports fans and especially for baseball fans. Baseball fans already complain of the crowded screen with the score, the broadcaster’s logo, the sometimes present K-Zone, and the crawler that appears during some points of the game. However, let’s be honest, the advertising is already present.
If you listen the games on the radio, you hear a GEICO ad for the 15th batter of the game. If you watch Mets games, you are familiar with the Cholulua Hot Sauce radar gun readings. Additionally, you see the advertising signs behind home plate during the games or on the outfield walls. They are ever present. Adding a Mastercard logo to the screen wouldn’t be any more of an intrusion. Furthermore, it would increase revenues and permit baseball to take measures to really increase the flow of games, including but not limited to reducing commercial time for pitching changes.
Split Screen
This is the solution that probably works best for everyone. Fox gets to keep the commercial time to sell to advertisers. Presumably, advertisers would permit the split screen because there would be less people walking away from the TV or switching the channel in that moment because they are watching the pitcher warm up. Additionally, fans can stay within the moment if they so choose.
Overall, it isn’t really about the pace of the game per se. It is really about being taken out of the moment. You go from the high intensity of the of the rally with the manager walking out to the mound to make the pitching change. After the change is made, there’s a commercial break taking out of the moment. Unless that is one of your teams on the field, you lose a bit of that intensity. You take quick mental break from the game. That isn’t good for anyone.
Rather, baseball needs to find a way to keep you engaged while also keeping you emotionally invested in the moment. A baseball game is about the ebbs and flows of the game. When there is a moment of high stakes and increasing drama, it is absolutely captivating. The worst thing with any captive audience is to send them away. That’s why commerical breaks for pitching changes need to change immediately.
Despite slugging .533 over the last two months of the season, and homering in seven consecutive postseason games, including home runs off Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, and Kyle Hendricks, the Mets only made the perfunctory qualifying offer to NLCS MVP Daniel Murphy. At the time, the qualifying offer was made no player had ever accepted the qualifying offer.
The Mets thought process was grounded in several factors. First, they believed they could get Ben Zobrist, who they viewed as a superior player. Second, the Mets could recoup the first round draft pick they lost by signing Michael Cuddyer in the previous offseason. Third, and most importantly, the Mets didn’t foresee Murphy carrying that level of production for a full season in 2016 and beyond.
That last point became all the more apparent when, after the Mets lost out in Zobrist, they traded Jon Niese (who was later re-acquired in exchange for Antonio Bastardo) for Neil Walker. The Mets made this move despite never inquiring what it would take to re-sign Murphy.
The logic of the Walker trade was the Mets were getting an All Star second baseman in his walk year. Should he perform, the Mets could either re-sign him, or they could make the qualifying offer and recoup another draft pick. Should he falter or leave in free agency, the Mets could turn the position over to second baseman of the future Dilson Herrera.
Walker would have a career year for the Mets both at the plate and in the field. Overall, he would hit .282/.347/.476 with 23 homers and 55 RBI. Those numbers are even better when you consider that the switch hitting Walker was no longer a liability from the right side of the plate. Rather, he was a dominant force.
Unfortunately, Walker would go through part of the summer unable to feel his feet due to a herniated disc. Despite his being in the best stretch of the season and the Mets fighting for the Wild Card, he would have to undergo season ending lumbar microdiscetomy surgery.
While the Mets remain hopeful Walker will recover fully, and that the two sides can agree to a deal, nothing is guaranteed. The Mets need Walker to recover with no issues because Herrera was moved in the trade to acquire Jay Bruce.
Now, many will say this has all been a debacle as Murphy had an MVP caliber season for the rival Washington Nationals. This year, Murphy hit .347/.390/.595 with 47 doubles, five triples, 25 homers, and 104 RBI. He led the league in doubles, slugging, and OPS. Worse yet, he killed the Mets getting a hit in all 19 games against them while hitting .413/.444/.773 with six doubles, seven homers, and 25 RBI.
In response to that, many will say judging the Mets decision on Murphy is unfair as: (1) no one saw this coming; and (2) you are using hindsight to criticize the Mets.
That argument is unfounded. First and foremost, the General Manager is supposed to have foresight. He is paid to make sure what happened with Murphy never happens. Second, and most importantly, the argument is patently false.
As Mets hitting coach Kevin Long told MLB Network Radio, “Daniel Murphy became a monster overnight, once he got it, you knew he wasn’t going to lose it.”
Murphy certainly hasn’t lost it. In fact, he was even better leading the Nationals to an NL East title over the Mets. Tonight, he looks to recreate his incredible Game Five performance against the Dodgers so he can once again torture the Cubs in the NLCS.
Meanwhile, the Mets are looking at their second base options, which assuredly are no better than Murphy, in what is an extremely weak free agent class, after being shutout in the Wild Card Game. It didn’t have to be this way as the Mets coaching staff saw Murphy putting together a season like this.
By the way, Anthony Kay, the pick the Mets received for Murphy becoming a National, had to have Tommy John surgery before he ever threw a pitch as a professional.
Apparently, the Mets and Nationals being rivals for a whole two seasons has lead a bunch of Mets fans to root for Chase Utley in the NLCS. Yes, rooting for the Dodgers, or against the Nationals, is rooting for Utley. As a Mets fan, I don’t get it. To me the Nationals are the lessor of two evils. Without even getting into the early years of the Mets history where the Dodgers, notably Sandy Koufax, routinely embarassed the Mets, here’s why:
Mike Scioscia grand slam off Dwight Gooden:
Jay Howell is a dirty cheat:
Orel Hershiser effectively ends the best run in Mets history:
Dodgers sign Darryl Strawberry in free agency making him an ex-Met:
And, oh yeah, Bobby Ojeda.
Guillermo Mota hitting Mike Piazza on multiple occasions and always running away when confronted.
Utley breaking Ruben Tejada‘s leg turning a potential sweep into a series:
Also, Utley’s subsequent cowardice ducking in and out of Citi Field and not taking one at-bat at Citi Field.
Speaking of which, everything Utley ever did to the Mets:
Seriously, did you know that other fans refer to the right field corner in Citi Field as the Utley Corner? It is one of the biggest humiliations the Mets have suffered at the hands of Utley and his Phillies teams including the 2007 and 2008 collapses. By the way, also part of those teams was current Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz.
So no, there is no circumstance, unless they are playing the Cardinals, that I could ever root for the Dodgers or an Utley led team. It’s why, despite this new massive rivalry the Mets have apparently had stretching all the way back to last year, I’m rooting for the Nationals. Personally, I’d rather have a little bit more perspective on Mets history past and present. Speaking of which, just remember that while Utley was always a thorn in the Mets side, Daniel Murphy was doing this for the Mets last year:
So overall, I’m siding with the team that has been a Mets rival for exactly two years and hasn’t done much harm to the Mets as a franchise over a team that put an end to the best run in Mets history, had players who consistently threw at Piazza, and have one of the dirtiest players in baseball.
After Jeurys Familia allowed a three run home run to Conor Gillaspie, he was booed off the mound at the end of the top of the ninth in the Wild Card Game. From what I heard at Citi Field, and what I read in the comments section to my Mets Merized Online article, there is a significant portion of Mets fans that believe Familia is a choke artist. There’s another group of fans that want the Mets to move Familia to the eighth inning and sign someone like Aroldis Chapman in free agency.
About that . . .
After two Cubs relievers allowed Brandon Belt and Buster Posey to get on to start the bottom of the eighth inning, Joe Maddon stopped messing around, and he brought in Chapman to get the six out save to propel the Cubs to the NLCS. It would be the second time in Chapman’s career and first time in his postseason career that a manager would ask him to get a six out save. After striking out Hunter Pence, Gillaspie came to the plate with the chance to tie the game.
Chapman threw a fastball over the heart of the plate, and Gillaspie, yes, the very same Gillaspie, swung from his shoetops again. Gillaspie hit this ball even harder than the one he hit off Familia. The reason it wasn’t a home run was because it is 421 to right center at AT&T Park. In Citi Field, that’s a home run. Really, in any other park, that’s a home run. Instead, in AT&T Park, it is a bases clearing triple that gave the Giants a 4-3 lead. After that Brandon Crawford hit an RBI single scoring Gillaspie to make it 5-3.
That was a crucial at-bat against a Giants team that does not know how to quit. They weren’t daunted by facing Chapman. They weren’t daunted when Sergio Romo blew a save by allowing Kris Bryant to hit a game tying two run home run in the ninth. No, this Giants team fought off elimination by winning on a Joe Panik walk-off RBI double.
Now, if Chapman did his job and got Gillaspie out like he should’ve, the Cubs would’ve won the series. However, that’s the life of a closer. They all blow the big ones.
Look no further than the greatest closer, postseason or otherwise. In Mariano Rivera‘s first postseason as the Yankees closer, he was asked to make a five out save to close out the 1997 ALDS and send the Yankees to the ALCS to continue to defend their World Series title. Rivera would allow Sandy Alomar, Jr. to hit a game tying home run in a game the Yankees would lose in the ninth. The Yankees would go on to lose the series.
In the 2001 World Series, Rivera took the mound to save Game 7 of the World Series. Not only did Rivera allow a Mark Grace lead-off single, he then threw Damian Miller‘s sacrifice bunt attempt into center field. After Rivera calmed things down by field Jay Bell‘s sacrifice bunt attempt and nailing Grace at third, he allowed a game tying double to Tony Womack. Eventually, the Yankees would lose the World Series on a Luis Gonzalez walk-off single.
Fast-forward a couple of years to the 2004 ALCS. On back-to-back nights, Rivera blew saves that allowed the Red Sox to complete the improbable and unprecedented comeback from being down 0-3 in the series. It was Rivera’s blown saves that gave the Red Sox life and that ultimately propelled them to their first World Series title since 1918.
However, when talking about the totality of Rivera’s career, we don’t focus on those four devastating blown saves. No, we call him the greatest closer in the history of the game because we use perspective and realize there was a greater body of work available to derive a conclusion. In his postseason career, Rivera made 96 appearances going 8-1 with 18 saves, a 0.32 ERA, and a 0.571 WHIP.
Now, no one is calling or comparing Familia to Rivera. However, Rivera is illustrative of the fact that we should again take the totality of his postseason appearances into account. The Mets certainly don’t get out of the NLDS without Familia, and the NLCS would’ve been more difficult if Familia wasn’t shutting the door. In Familia’s postseason career, he has made 13 appearances going 0-1 with five saves, a 2.30 ERA, and a 0.638 WHIP. And remember, two of his three blown saves were the result of a Daniel Murphy and a Lucas Duda error. Flat out, Familia has been great in the postseason.
By the way, Chapman is 2/4 in save chances in his postseason career. Overall, he has made eight appearances going 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.571 WHIP. Familia is better.
The first real playoff team Terry Collins managed with the Mets was in his first season with the team. It is hard to believe now, but that team was full of players that are now members, if not significant contributors, to teams that reached the postseason this year:
- Josh Thole – Toronto Blue Jays (not on the ALDS roster)
- Daniel Murphy – Washington Nationals
- Justin Turner – Los Angeles Dodgers
- David Wright – New York Mets (injured; not on the Wild Card Game roster)
- Jose Reyes – New York Mets
- Angel Pagan – San Francisco Giants
- Carlos Beltran – Texas Rangers
- Lucas Duda – New York Mets (injured; not on the Wild Card Game roster)
- R.A. Dickey – Toronto Blue Jays (not on the ALDS roster)
- Jon Niese – New York Mets (injured; not on the Wild Card Game roster)
Reading the names on that list, the two that immediately jump off the page are Murphy and Turner. They jump off the page for a myriad of reasons. The first reason is the two players are currently facing off against one another in the NLDS between the Dodgers and the Nationals. The series is tied at 1-1 in large part because Turner and Murphy have continued to be terrific postseason player.
Last year, Turner hit .526/.550/.842 with six doubles and four RBI against the Mets in the NLDS last year. Overall, in Turner’s postseason career, he is a .500/.538/.875 hitter with six doubles, one homer, and six RBI.
Murphy was the bat that helped carried the Mets to the World Series last year. In consecutive games, he hit homers off of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, and Kyle Hendricks. He would also homer off Fernando Rodney in what was a stretch of six straight games with a home run. In addtion to the homers, Murphy’s going from first to third on a walk in Game Five of the NLDS helped changed the complexion of that game. Additionally, up until the World Series, he had played exceptional defense (which admittedly is a rarity for him). So far in the NLDS, Murphy is 4-6 with a walk and two RBI. The first of the two RBI was the go-ahead RBI in Game 2 of the NLDS.
Between Turner and Murphy, the Mets had at one time two second baseman who have established themselves to be extraordinarily clutch and terrific postseason players. They were also two players the Mets were eager to replace.
Turner was surprisingly non-tendered a contract after a 2013 season where he seemed to solidify himself as a utility or platoon player (at a minimum). Instead, the Mets let him go with rumors circulating that he was a me-first player that didn’t hustle. He was also characterized as a player that wasn’t progressing because he liked the night scene a little too much. He would go to Los Angeles and blossom as a player. The Mets internal replacement? Eric Campbell.
When Murphy became a free agent, the Mets first aggressively pursued Ben Zobrist. After failing to land him, the Mets quickly moved to trade for Neil Walker. At no time did the Mets even make Murphy an offer. Unlike Turner, Walker was an actual replacement with Walker having a great year for the Mets before needing season ending back surgery. However, despite how good Walker’s year was, he still wasn’t anywhere near was good as Murphy was for the Nationals.
It should never have come as a surprise that both of these players were gone because the Mets, under Sandy Alderson’s reign as General Manager, never really wanted either player. If you go back to that 2011 season, the Opening Day second baseman was Rule 5 Draft pick, Brad Emaus. After a couple of weeks of him struggling, the Mets moved on and finally went to Murphy and Turner at second base. Murphy would get the bulk of the playing time there until Ike Davis‘ ankle injury that allowed them to play side-by-side. With Davis’ healing up and being ready for the 2012 season, the Mets proceeded with Murphy as the second baseman and Turner as the utility player. As we know, that lasted just two year.
Ultimately, the Mets made the postseason this year without either player. And yes, both players got their first chance with the Mets. Quite possibly, neither player would be in the position they are in now without the Mets giving them a chance to prove they are major league players. However, the Mets also made clear they didn’t want either player starting all the way back in 2011 when they anointed Emaus the everyday second baseman. Eventually, the Mets would get their chance to move on, and they took advantage of that opportunity.
With that, Murphy and Turner are in the NLDS after the Mets lost the Wild Card Game with T.J. Rivera starting at second base. One of those two will be in the NLCS with a chance to go to the World Series, a position the Mets thought they were going to be in as the season started. With all that in mind, it begs the question: how much differently would the Mets season have gone if they had kept either Turner or Murphy?
One thing that is strange about narratives is that they don’t stay static. Rather, narratives are dynamic and are often change wildly with a strong recency bias.
Last year, the narrative was the Mets blew Game 4 of the World Series because Terry Collins didn’t go to his closer to start the eighth inning. Instead, Collins brought in Tyler Clippard, who proceed to walk consecutive batters after retiring the first batter he faced. With runners on first and second with one out, Collins finally went to Jeurys Familia. Familia induced a ground ball that went under Daniel Murphy‘s glove loading the bases. Two singles later, the Mets 3-2 lead turned into a 5-3 deficit.
In Game 5, again Collins was blamed for the loss because he did not go to Familia. After eight absolutely brilliant innings, Collins allowed Matt Harvey to talk himself into pitching the ninth inning. After a leadoff walk and an RBI double, Collins brought in Familia to now protect a 2-1 with a runner in scoring position and no outs. Familia induced the groundout he needed for the second out. On the play, Eric Hosmer famously tried to score from second while Lucas Duda infamously threw the ball away.
With that, Familia technically blew saves in Games 4 and 5 of the World Series. The main reason why Familia blew these saves is his manager brought him into difficult situations and his defense abandoned him. Now, all of a sudden, the narrative has shifted to he’s a choke artist.
In the Wild Card Game, Familia took the loss. It started with a Brandon Crawford opposite field double to left-center. On the play, Yoenis Cespedes, perhaps due to his lingering quad injury, made no effort whatsoever to cut the ball off before it went all the way to the wall. Familia then struck out Angel Pagan, who had been attempting to bunt Crawford to third. Familia then had Joe Panik 2-2, but he couldn’t put him away. With Panik walking, there were runners on first and second with one out. Familia got a sinker up in the zone, and Conor Gillaspie hit a three run go-ahead homer. From there, Familia got out of the inning, but it was too late. After the third out, he was booed off the Citi Field mound.
That’s right. Mets fans booed one of the best closers in the game off the mound. Worse yet, the narrative became Familia can’t pitch the big one anymore.
That’s nonsense. In the World Series, if Murphy fields a ground ball, or Duda makes an even average throw home, Familia saves both of those games. For what it’s worth, Familia had only allowed one earned run in the 2015 postseason, and neither were in that game.
Furthermore, focusing on those games ignores the work he did to get the Mets to the World Series. In Game 1 of the NLDS, Familia came on in the eighth inning to bail out Clippard. Familia would have to go 1.1 innings to get the save. In the Game 5 clincher, Familia pitched the final two innings not allowing a baserunner to send the Mets to the NLCS. In Game 1 of the NLCS, he came on for Harvey, and he pitched the final 1.1 innings to earn the save. Between the NLDS and NLCS, Familia was a perfect 5/5 in save opportunities with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.414 WHIP. This run is conveniently ignore in discussing how clutch Familia is.
What is also ignored is the phenomenal work Familia has done since taking over and becoming the Mets closer. Yes, his work has been phenomenal.
Over the past three seasons, Familia has thrown more innings than any other reliever in baseball. Over the past two seasons, he leads all major league closers in appearances, innings pitched, games finished, saves, and multi-inning saves. Between the 2015 and 2016 seasons, he has made 154 appearances pitching 155.2 innings recording 94 saves with a 2.20 ERA and a 1.105 WHIP. The advanced stats also indicate he’s been great as he has had a 2.56 FIP and an 180 ERA+. In the 2016 regular season, he only allowed one home run.
During the 2015 season, when the Mets were not getting any offense due to a mixture of injuries and poor performances, the Mets bullpen had no margin for error. From the time David Wright got injured until the Mets acquired Cespedes at the trade deadline, Familia made 42 appearances pitching 45.2 innings. In that time frame, he recorded 24 saves with a 1.97 ERA and a 0.985 WHIP. Each and every one of those 24 games he saved was important as for much of the summer, the Mets season was on the brink of disaster. If not for Familia, who had been unexpectedly thrust into the role due to the injuries and suspension of Jenrry Mejia, the Mets may not have lasted in the NL East race.
All Familia would do for an encore this season was record the most saves by a Mets closer in a single season. His 51 saves would also stand as the single season record for a Dominican born pitcher. For a Mets team that tied with the Giants in the standings for the Wild Card. By the Mets winning the season series against the Giants, they had the right to host the Wild Card Game. In the three games he pitched against the Giants, Familia recorded two saves without allowing an earned run. Without Familia, the Mets play the Wild Card Game at AT&T Park.
The Mets also finished one game up on the St. Louis Cardinals, each and every single one of these saves were important. If Familia falters just one or two times more, the Mets miss the postseason.
Overall, if Familia is not the best closer in baseball, he’s in the conversation. He’s also more durable than the other closers, and as we have seen with his work throughout the 2015 and 2016 seasons, he is clutch. His defense failing him, and his making one bad pitch to Gillaspie doesn’t change that. It’s a given that he will be the Mets closer next season. And he should be, because if the Mets have any designs on getting back to the postseason, they are going to need Familia to repeat his successes from the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Then in the 2017 season he can go out there and remind everyone just how clutch he is.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on Mets Merized Online
This was a strange year in the National League Manager of the Year race. All the teams that were supposed to be contenders were actually contenders despite most of those teams suffering brutal injuries.
That Nationals lost Stephen Strasburg for a good part of the year and will likely not have him in the postseason. The Mets lost Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, David Wright, and Lucas Duda for a good portion of the season. At one point, the Dodgers entire starting projected rotation was on the disabled list with the most crushing blow being a Clayton Kershaw trip to the disabled list. The Cardinals have had their shortstops, Jhonny Peralta and Aledmys Diaz, on the disabled list with injuries, and they lost their closer Trevor Rosenthal. Even the Cubs suffered a huge injury with Kyle Schwarber going down with a torn ACL. With these teams overcoming those injuries, it could be quite difficult to determine who was actually the best manager in the National League this season. Taking all that into consideration, here is my ballot:
1st Place – Dave Roberts
A large part of his award goes to Roberts because of what he did despite his team being the most injured team in all of baseball. By the first week of the season, he lost two members of his starting rotation with Brett Anderson and Hyun-Jin Ryu. He would also lose important bullpen arms in Carlos Frias, Yimi Garcia, and Chris Hatcher for the year. He’d also deal with the most dramatic injury of all when Kershaw went down with a back injury.
When Kershaw made his last start before heading to the disabled list, the Dodgers were 41-36, eight games behind the Giants in the West and a game behind the Marlins for the second Wild Card. From that point forward, the Dodgers have the second best record in baseball. They have won the NL West for the second year in a row, and they seem poised to make a deep run in the postseason.
That’s not the only reason why Roberts is the Manager of the Year. He’s also capably handled a number of tricky situations that would have the potential to flummox other managers and potentially poison some clubhouses. He had to get Howie Kendrick to accept being a utility player and eventually an outfielder. He had to get one last great season out of Chase Utley. He would pull rookie Ross Stripling while he had a no-hitter going because it was the best thing for the young player’s career and the Dodgers’ future.
Clearly, Roberts has been unafraid to make the tough decisions. He had control of the clubhouse. He avoided near disaster, and he led his team from eight games back to win the NL West. That’s Manager of the Year material.
2nd – Joe Maddon
In reality, any other year this award would go to Maddon. Maddon has established himself as the best manager in the game.
Maddon was handed a roster that was easily a World Series favorite, and he delivered during the regular season. Not only did he get another great season from Jake Arrieta, but he also got better years from Jon Lester and John Lackey. By the way, somehow he got a Cy Young caliber season out of Kyle Hendricks.
We also saw Maddon play mad scientist like he loves to do. When Schwarber went down, Maddon took his budding superstar Kris Bryant and turned him into a Ben Zobrist type of player. It probably helped Bryant that he had the actual Zobrist on the team to give him some pointers. Additionally, never one to stay at the status quo, Maddon experimented using multiple relievers on the field.
On June 28th, Maddon would actually play Spencer Patton and Travis Wood in the outfield in a 15 inning game against the Reds. It actually worked out well for the Cubs. Patton started the 14th inning on the mound and Wood in left field. When Jay Bruce came up to bat, Maddon would switch them around to get Bruce out. After the Bruce at bat, Maddon switched them back so Patton could get Adam Duvall out. This was reminiscent of the 1986 game where Davey Johnson was forced to shift Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell between left field and the pitcher’s mound due to a Ray Knight ejection leaving the Mets without another position player. However, Maddon wasn’t forced into the decision. There wasn’t an injury or an ejection. Rather, Maddon did it because he simply believed it gave the Cubs the best chance to win the game.
That is the type of progressive thinking that has made Maddon the best manager in the game, and it has helped the Cubs to a 100 win season with the best record in baseball. If not for the terrific season Roberts had, Maddon would have won this quite easily.
3rd – Dusty Baker
Last year, the Nationals were done in by a toxic clubhouse and a terrible manager in Matt Williams. In the offseason, the Nationals did what they had to do in firing Williams, and then they had to settle on Baker as their manager.
Baker has always been a curious case. He has never been a favorite of the Sabermetrically inclined. He makes curious in-game decisions (hello Russ Ortiz), and he has a tendency to over rely on veterans over young players that are probably better and can do more to help the team win. Despite all of that, Baker has won wherever he has gone. He has brought the Giants, Cubs, Reds, and now the Nationals to the postseason. The reason is Baker is a manager that gets the most out of his players.
It wasn’t easy for him this year. Bryce Harper had a down year, Jonathan Papelbon wouldn’t last the season as either the closer or as a National, and Ben Revere would show he was not capable of being the center fielder for a good team. Worse yet, Strasburg went down with injury despite Baker actually being someone careful with his young pitcher. So how’d he do it. Well, he got career years from Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos. In a sign of growth, Baker trusted a young player in Trea Turner to not only play everyday, but also to play out of position. Mostly, Baker was Baker.
Overall, it is clear that Baker has some innate ability to get his teams to play well. He did that again this year in turning around a Nationals team that fell apart last year to a team that comfortably won the NL East.
Honorable Mention – Terry Collins
By no means did Collins have a strong year this year. You can point to the injuries, but he did do a lot to exacerbate them by playing players who he knew was injured. He had a year where he messed around with Michael Conforto‘s development and threatened the career of Jim Henderson by abusing his surgically repaired shoulder for a “must-win” game in April. Furthermore, he flat out abused the arms of Hansel Robles, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia. So no, Collins is not deserving of the award.
However, he is deserving of an honorable mention with the class and dignity he comported himself in the aftermath of Jose Fernandez‘s death. He made sure his team was there to console the Marlins, and he prepared his team to win games when some of his own players were devastated by Fernandez’s death. This was one of the many acts of kindness Collins has shown as the Mets manager, and it should be highlighted.
Guess who has been the best hitter in all of baseball over the past month? Mike Trout? No it’s a National League player. Kris Bryant? No, the player resides in the National League East. Daniel Murphy? Actually, no, it is a Mets player. Yoenis Cespedes? It isn’t. The best hitter in all of baseball over the past month is Asdrubal Cabrera.
In his career, Cabrera has been a second half player, but his level of play recently has been off the charts.
In the second half, Cabrera has been hitting .309/.359/.564 with 13 doubles, one triple, nine homers, and 23 RBI. In the month of August, he hit .405/.435/.786 with four doubles, four homers, and 11 RBI. So far in September, he has been hitting .328/.408/.627 with six doubles, one triple, four homers and eight RBI. These numbers are all the more incredible when you consider Cabrera is doing this on just one knee. A knee injury that required him to go on the disabled list at the beginning of August.
When Cabrera returned to the lineup on August 19th, the Mets were one game under .500, and they were quickly falling out of the Wild Card race. In fact, they sat five games behind the Cardinals for the second Wild Card and seven games behind the Giants for the first Wild Card. Since Cabrera’s return , the Mets have gone 20-11 which is the best record in all of baseball. The run has catapulted themselves into a three way tie with the Cardinals and Giants in the Wild Card race.
This run coincides with Cabrera’s hot hitting. Since his return from the disabled list, he has been the Mets best player. Even on one leg, he is carrying the Mets back to the postseason.