Hansel Robles
It’s only been 20 games, but there’s a lot to talk about with the Mets. There’s Neil Walker turning into Postseason Daniel Murphy. There’s Noah Syndergaard becoming the ace of the staff. Michael Conforto is already batting third, and he’s already become the Mets best hitter.
Also, the bullpen has been dominant. Really dominant.
The Mets bullpen has recorded with nine saves with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 69 appearances. They’ve recorded 78 strikeouts in 63.2 innings pitched. That’s good for a 11.03 K/9. All these numbers are all the more impressive when you consider it includes Rafael Montero‘s 11.57 ERA and 2.571 WHIP. When you back out Montero’s stats, the Mets bullpen would have a 2.20 ERA and an 1.17 WHIP.
Of particular note, Jim Henderson, Hansel Robles, and Addison Reed have been outstanding. They have combined to pitch 29.2 innings with a 1.82 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and a 12.74 K/9. The group of them have created the perfect bridge to Familia.
All the more impressive is that the Mets bullpen has performed this well without Jeurys Familia getting going. He has a 2.45 ERA and a 1.545 WHIP. However, even with his relative struggles, the he’s still a perfect 7/7 in save opportunities. Even better, he seems to have settled down, and he’s starting to pitch better. Over his last two appearances, he hasn’t allowed a baserunner. Once Familia returns to form, and there is no doubt he will, the Mets bullpen will become even more dominant.
That’s bad news for teams that are trying to get into the Mets bullpen after 6-7 innings against one of the Mets aces. Overall, the Mets not only have the best starting pitching staff in the majors, they really have the best pitching in the majors period.
Editor’s Note: this article was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
With the Mets recent winning streak and just overall better play, the only issue was Matt Harvey‘s slow start and his mechanics. Four pitches into the game, Zack Cozart hit a homerun. Ivan DeJesus followed with a single. It looked like Harvey was going to struggle again.
Then the Harvey of old emerged. He struck out the next five batters and retired six straight. His fastball was topping 97 MPH. The Reds would cease making hard contact against him. As impressive as that was, the third inning was all the more impressive.
The bases were loaded with one out after two soft singles and a Neil Walker error. Harvey then struck out Eugenio Suarez, and he got Devin Mesoraco out on a soft liner up the middle. Walker made a nice diving play up the middle there to redeem himself after his earlier error. Walker would then redeem himself in the bottom of the third:
9 for Neil! @NeilWalker18 hit his 9th HR of the season. That ties a #Mets record for the most HRs in April. pic.twitter.com/zCIf1andLQ
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 28, 2016
Walker’s homerun would put the Mets up 3-1. The other two runs were scored in the first. Alejandro De Aza, starting in place of Curtis Granderson, scored an unearned run when Lucas Duda reached on a two base error. Duda scored on a Walker RBI single.
Harvey ran into trouble again in the fifth. The Reds hit two infield singles leading to a run scored making it a 3-2 game. Harvey then induced Mesoraco to hit into an inning ending double play. At this point, Terry Collins would’ve been justified pulling Harvey there. He was in line for the win. The defense behind him was sloppy all night. Harvey hasn’t been good so far this year in the sixth. Instead, Collins sent him back out there. He might have had to with a somewhat taxed back end of the bullpen.
Harvey rewarded Collins’ faith by getting a 1-2-3 inning. Harvey’s final line was six innings, seven hits, two earned, one walk, and seven strikeouts. He threw 102 pitches. Most importantly, he got the win. Now, Harvey may not be all the way back yet, but he took an important step. It’s definitely a game to build on.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets blew it open against the Reds dreadful bullpen. Eric Campbell, pinch hitting for Harvey, drew a walk. De Aza followed with a walk of his own. Michael Conforto then stepped up to the plate. What was strange was in a 3-2 game with two outs in the inning, the Reds didn’t turn to a lefty. They paid for it when Conforto hit opposite field double to left-center. It was Conforto’s ninth double in 18 games played.
Jim Henderson came on for Harvey in the seventh because it was the seventh inning. He had a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. After Collins’ earlier overuse of him, it appears Henderson is settling back in. Hansel Robles pitched the eighth inning (as he should). He too pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. That’s 15 strikeouts in ten innings pitched for Robles this year. Addison Reed, pitching for the fifth time in six games, pitched the ninth and recorded his first save of the year. He also recorded a 1-2-3 inning except he only had one strikeout. Mets pitching had 12 strikeouts in total.
The Mets have now won six in a row and 11 of their last 13. Shockingly, this was the Mets first series win at home this season. Now after the easy stretch is over, the Mets have tomorrow off (because it’s a Thursday in April), and they welcome the Giants for a weekend series.
Game Notes: In 12 of the Mets 20 games, they have struck out 10+ batters. Yoenis Cespedes was given another night off with his leg contusion despite hitting a homerun last night. Granderson was just given the day to rest. De Aza started in right with Juan Lagares in center.
With the Mets bullpen on fumes from a very short Steven Matz start and Logan Verrett making a spot start in place of an injured Jacob deGrom (our prayers are with him and his family), the Mets recalled Rafael Montero to add a fresh arm to the bullpen mix. The Mets needed an extra arm after the bullpen pitched 7.1 innings on Monday without any contributions from their long man. It was a waste of a move. At this point, it’s clear Montero is in Terry Collins’ doghouse, and Collins won’t use him until he’s burned out all of the other arms on the bullpen.
On Wednesday, Collins controversially pitched Jim Henderson despite him having problems locating his pitches and throwing more pitches he ever had in one game the previous night. Collins then proceeded to use Hansel Robles, who pitched 2.2 innings on Monday. Collins went to four relievers that day to preserve a 2-1 win.
On Friday, the Mets had a four run lead. Collins first turned to Antonio Bastardo to get out of a sixth inning jam. He then have way to Robles for 0.1 of an inning. At that point, the Mets had a four run lead in the eighth inning. Collins turned to Addison Reed to get the last six outs. Reed got five and allowed two runs in the process. Collins decided to let Jeurys Familia pitch for the fourth time in four games. Despite allowing a run, he recorded the save.
At no point in either of these games did Montero so much as warm up.
An argument can be made for not using Montero Wednesday because of how close the game was. The Mets were in the midst of a frustrating losing streak, and Collins wanted his best arms out there to get the win. With that said, there’s no reason why Montero didn’t pitch on Friday. After Bastardo got out of the jam, the Mets had a four run lead. That was the perfect spot for Montero.
Instead, Collins asked both Bastardo and Reed to pitch over an inning. He asked two middle relievers to pitch more than an inning rather than asking the long man in his bullpen to pitch more than an inning. Collins was ready, willing, and able to once again tire out his bullpen rather than putting Montero in a game to preserve a four run lead. At this point, it’s fair to say either Collins doesn’t trust Montero, has him in his doghouse, or both.
It’s strange to think it’s reached this point when Collins has tried to get the most out of Montero.
Last August when things were starting to take off for the Mets, Collins drove to Port St. Lucie to have a conversation with Montero in order to tell him the Mets still needed him. At that time, Montero was dealing with shoulder issues. The Mets insisted there was nothing wrong while Montero felt like it prevented him from pitching. Montero tried to make that comeback, but he would have a setback in a rehab start. His season was over.
In Spring Training, Collins again took time to deliver a special message for Montero. As Tim Rohan of the New York Times reported, Collins told Montero, “Get your act together. We haven’t forgotten about you. We still want you.” Collins gave him the start in the Mets first Spring Training game. Montero allowed the first five guys to reach base. In total, he allowed four runs, four hits, and two walks in one inning of work. Montero would not pitch in another game, and he would be in the first group of Spring Training cuts.
At this point, the Mets need Montero. He’s gotten his act together with some mechanical adjustments in Triple-A. However, it’s too little too late. Collins has either forgotten him or doesn’t want him anymore.
After the Mets bullpen had to pitch 7.1 innings on Monday with Steven Matz‘s terrible start, and Logan Verrett having to come out of the bullpen to start in place of Jacob deGrom, the Mets were forced to make a move to add a pitcher to the roster.
There were plenty of good options available to them.
The Mets could’ve utilized deGrom’s paternity leave and called up Rafael Montero. However, the Mets didn’t want to do that because they then couldn’t backdate a potential deGrom DL stint to last Saturday. The Mets could’ve just placed deGrom on the DL, but for some reason they do not appear ready to do that. Apparently, that April 19th game against the Phillies is a must win, and you need deGrom to pitch in that game if at all possible.
No, the Mets decided to demote a player. Looking over the roster, the only pitcher who realistically could be demoted is Hansel Robles. He seems like a natural choice as he pitched 2.2 innings on Monday, and he could use an extra day or two. If Montero falters, the Mets could recall Erik Goeddel or Sean Gilmartin to take his place on the roster.
In this scenario, Robles would have to stay in the minors for 10 days unless the Mets put deGrom (or someone else) on the DL. Given Robles’ current role, losing him for 10 days would be palatable. Montero, Goeddel, or Gilmartin could easily be the long man and/or last man in the bullpen.
Instead of the Mets following the reasonable course of action, they determined it was in their best interests to demote Eric Campbell. In essence, the Mets decided to go with the worst possible choice.
Now,there is nothing wrong per se with demoting Campbell. He’s a career .230/.315/.325 hitter. He has good attributes as a player, but nothing that Campbell has done in his career would ever prevent him from being demoted. However, if he’s being demoted, it should be because the Mets are calling up another position player like Matt Reynolds, not because they are adding a pitcher to the roster.
The Mets demoting Campbell for Montero shortens the Mets bench. In a world where you have David Wright on your team, you should never shorten your bench. On any given day, Wright can wake up sore and not be ready to play. If that happens, not only are you down another player, but you also have no infielders on your bench.
By the way, the Mets are playing a day game after a night game. Terry Collins has said there’s no hard-and-fast rule stating Wright must sit a day game after a night game. However, it’s also true that the Mets have so far refrained from playing Wright in a day game after a night game. No one knows how his back will respond to it. No one knows if he will be able to get loose in time to play a full nine innings.
Instead of taking this into account, the Mets thought it would be best to potentially have no infielders on the bench. The Mets thought it would be best to realistically only have two options on the bench for Wednesday’s game (Collins is loathe to pinch hit with his catcher). Also, apparently, the Mets do not foresee the need to have more than two pinch hitters available in a game where the starting pitcher hasn’t pitched in almost a month and wasn’t stretched out in Spring Training. No, the Mets are setting forth a gameplan where they will have Verrett go deep in the game, and they will be alright with just two bench players. What could go wrong?
The Mets are in the midst of a four game losing streak and would rather potentially sacrifice the the last game of the homestand to give themselves the best possible shot of winning a game against a terrible Phillies team in Philadelphia. The Mets apparently didn’t learn their lesson on Monday about the perils of having a shortened roster.
Overall, the Mets put themselves in a tough position all because they’ve deemed an April game in Philadelphia a must win. Why else wouldn’t you put an injured pitcher who is already missing a start and bullpen sessions on the DL?
At a time when Mets fans were still clamoring for Yoenis Cespedes, the Mets made a move designed to sure up their bullpen when they signed Antonio Bastardo to a two year $12 million contract.
Generally speaking, the move was well received. While Bastardo was a left hander, he was not a LOOGY. For his career, he actually holds righties to a very respectable .211/.307/.331. Bastardo was a guy that the Mets could slot into the seventh or eighth inning. He was supposed to be a very important part of the Mets bullpen. So far, in 2016, it hasn’t happened that way.
After a terrific stint with the Mets last year, Terry Collins handed the eighth to Addison Reed. After a terrific Spring Training and an even better start to the season, Jim Henderson has locked down the seventh. To date, Bastardo’s role has been much less glamorous.
Bastardo’s first appearance came in a Mets 7-2 trouncing of the Phillies. It was Bastardo’s job to mop up the ninth inning. Last night, Bastardo was called upon to eat up a many innings as he could after Steven Matz only lasted 1.2 innings. Bastardo was the second guy in after Hansel Robles pitched the first 2.2 innings. Essentially, Robles is the seventh or last guy in the bullpen, and Bastardo is the sixth.
Somewhat surprisingly, Bastardo has become the forgotten man in the bullpen. Collins feels more comfortable going elsewhere when he’s looking for a guy to get some important outs. It’s too early to say or suggest that’s he’s in the doghouse, especially since the season’s only six games deep. The fact is Collins feels more comfortable looking to Reed and Henderson. It’s not what anyone had in mind when the Mets signed Bastardo this offseason.
With all that said, there’s still a lot of games left to be played. As the season progresses, Bastardo is going to get some important innings. After he shows this Mets coaching staff what he can do in those situations, he will be put into more and more high leverage situations.
However, until that time, Collins is going to continue looking elsewhere when the game is on the line.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
The Mets sent out Steven Matz, who is the proverbial fourth member of what had been touted as the Big Four. Mets fans all hope each of these pitchers will be future Hall of Famers. Tonight, Matz did a pretty good impersonation of Tom Glavine.
Like Glavine, Matz allowed seven runs to the Marlins. At least Matz lasted a little longer. Matz’s final line was 1.2 innings, six hits, seven earned, two walks, and one strikeout. Before the game, Matz was 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA. This year, he’s 0-1 with a 37.80 ERA.
In the fateful second inning, seemingly every Marlin got a hit including Barry Bonds and Don Mattingly got hits. Of course, Giancarlo Stanton provided the exclamation point:
.@Giancarlo818 puts an exclamation point on the 2nd inning!#StantonSmash | #LetsGoFish pic.twitter.com/rTwMWtl5HI
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) April 12, 2016
It needs to be constantly reiterated, but Bonds seems to be having a very real impact on this Marlins team. Six of their eight regulars are hitting over .300. They had no problem hitting Matz. This is a young Marlins club with a lot of offensive talent. If they realize that potential, it’s a definitive blow to the Mets chances to return to the postseason . . . especially with how this club plays the Marlins.
As for the Mets, their bullpen did a yeoman’s job. Hansel Robles pitched 2.1 innings allowing four hits, one earned, one walk, and three strikeouts. Antonio Bastardo pitched 1.1 innings allowing four hits, two runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. Addison Reed pitched 1.2 innings with no hits, no runs, and four strikeouts. Jeurys Familia was pressed into action even though he has the flu. Jerry Blevins pitched the ninth. The night was such a disaster that Blevins finally allowed a hit in his Mets career. It was an infield single to Dee Gordon with two outs in the ninth.
The Mets might’ve avoided burning through their entire bullpen like that if they would’ve just put Jacob deGrom on the DL. Sean Gilmartin, who was very effective as the long man last year, could’ve soaked up some of those innings. It would’ve been all the more imperative with Logan Verrett going on Wednesday.
Offensively? Well the Mets had seven hits and three runs. All of the runs came after the game was over. Two of those hits were from David Wright, who despite his career being declared over, has been the Mets best offensive player so far this year. He’s hitting .333 with a .478 OBP. Perhaps that’s the reason why the man with the bad back played all nine innings in a 10-3 blowout.
All kidding aside, the Mets decision making in this young season has been perplexing. Terry Collins bats three lefties bunched up together every day (with his splits, Neil Walker is effectively a left handed hitter). Jim Henderson leads the Mets in appearances despite not having pitched in two years and coming off a second shoulder surgery. Remember that next time Collins gets emotional over Johan Santana. At least Collins isn’t to blame for the team’s mismanagement of the deGrom/bullpen situation.
With all that said, this is a game the Mets should just forget about. It’s another game to forget in what has been a mostly forgettable start to the season. Fortunately, momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher, and Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to pitch tomorrow. So, in that sense, the Mets have some momentum going.