James Loney

About this Mets Offense . . .

The Mets walked 13 times . . . THIRTEEN . . . and only scored one run in a 13 inning game they lost 2-1. 

The Mets once again trotted out an ugly lineup reminiscent of July 2015. David Wright is still unavailable with the neck injection, so Terry Collins decided to go with Ty Kelly over Wilmer Flores. Yoenis Cespedes was out of the lineup as he informed Terry Collins he needed a day off. It was an ugly lineup reminiscent of a July 2015 lineup. It doesn’t help that Michael Conforto is still struggling. With today’s 0-6 with the golden sombrero, Conforto is now one for his last 21. With that said, the Mets had to win the 2015 way. They needed deGrom to be dominant. He was, but it wasn’t enough. 

Jacob deGrom‘s velocity continued to tick up a bit with him getting it back up to the 95  MPH range on occasion.  He had a season high 10 strikeouts.  He had allowed only three hits and no runs over six, and he was at 92 pitches, and due up to lead off in the seventh inning.  Terry Collins let him go back out there.

For the second day in a row, Todd Frazier hit a homerun.  He tied the score at 1-1.

That matched the Mets offensive output. James Loney got a second inning rally started by walking. He moved to second on a Juan Lagares sacrifice bunt (really looked more like a bunt for a base hit, but that’s official scoring for you).  Rene Rivera then came up and hit a one out RBI single to make the score 1-0.  It was the first time Loney reached base and scored a run as a Met.  

The Mets tore through their bullpen, including but not limited to, an injury to Hansel Robles. Logan Verrett came in, and he eventually gave up the winning run in the 13th in a rally started by a double hit by Matt Albers, an American League relief pitcher. 

It was a bad loss capping off a poor 2-4 home stand. The Mets bench is inexcusably bad even with the injuries. The Mets need to make some moves. 

Game Notes: Don Draper took his hatred of the Mets to the next level by sending Roger out there to interfere with Melky Cabrera resulting in interference being called costing Loney a chance at bat. It is the four year anniversary of Johan Santana’s no-hitter. 

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2016 May Report Card

The Mets entered May 15-7, in second place, and a half game behind the Nationals. The Mets finished May 14-15 and two games behind the Nationals.

The month saw some key injuries and their depth getting exposed. Below are the first month grades for each of the Mets players. Bear in mind, these grades are on a curve. If a bench player gets an A and a position player gets a B, it doesn’t mean the bench player is having a better year. Rather, it means the bench player is performing better in his role.

Position Players

Travis d’Arnaud (Inc). Due to a rotator cuff injury, d’Arnaud hasn’t played one game this month, and no one knows when he’s going to start a rehab assignment. Given the questions about his durability, this grade could’ve been an F.

Kevin Plawecki (F)  Plawecki hit .197/.284/.303 in May. He’s once again established he’s either not ready or incapable of being an everyday catcher in the majors.

Rene Rivera (C). Like Plawecki, Rivera hasn’t hit well. He hit .167/.286/.292 in the month. However, his grade is much higher as he’s been a good veteran presence behind the plate who has worked very well with Noah Syndergaard. Rivera has also neutralized the opponent’s running game.

Lucas Duda (D). Duda only hit .192/.300/.404 in May. We don’t know if these numbers are the result of his lower back stress fracture or not. With that said, you’re judged by your performance on the field, and he wasn’t good.

James Loney (Inc). He played in only one game. It’s too soon to judge.

Neil Walker (C). Walker came crashing back to Earth. In May, he hit .238/.326/.381 while hitting four homeruns. He also missed some games with a shin injury.

David Wright (C). Wright continued to strike out frequently in May. He still hit .215/.346/.462 with five homers.  His grade was downgraded because he’s been dishonest about his health. The only thing we care about now is whether the injection in his neck worked.

Asdrubal Cabrera (C-). Like his double play partner, Cabrera’s play was much worse in May. Cabrera hit .268/.308/.406 in May.

Wilmer Flores (D). Flores took a small step forward in May. He hit .250/.300/.357. He also missed some time on the DL exposing the bench.

Eric Campbell (F). Campbell had a decent West Coast Trip, but with that said, he’s been abysmal otherwise with him hitting .167/.281/.241. As a result of his poor play, the Mets designated him for assignment.

Matt Reynolds (D-) It’s a small sample size, but he hit .100 in his eight games. He was so bad, he couldn’t outlast Campbell or Ty Kelly. The only reason this isn’t an F is Reynolds stepped in for an ailing Cabrera one day, and he played decently.

Ty Kelly (F). He was called up due to injuries, and the only reason he stays on the roster is he’s a switch hitter.

Michael Conforto (F). Conforto is struggling for the first time in his career, and as his .167/.242/.349 line will attest, he’s having trouble figuring it out. He eventually will. However, the Mets need him to do it sooner rather than later.

Yoenis Cespedes (A). Cespedes has been everything the Mets could ask for and more. He’s showing that August was him turning a corner and not some hot streak.

Curtis Granderson (C-). Like seemingly every other Mets hitter not named Cespedes, Granderson struggled in May. His grade is higher due to the five homeruns, including the one walk off the other night. He’s also gotten hit lately. Hopefully, he’s turned a corner.
Juan Lagares (A).  His bat, even with a low OBP, seems to be getting better. Between that and his Gold Glove defense, he’s going to soon start forcing his way into the lineup more.
Alejandro De Aza (F). Hard to kill a guy who went from platoon to a 5th OF through no fault of his own.  With that said, when he does play, he doesn’t hit.

Pitchers

Matt Harvey (D). His nightmare of an April got worse in May. This isn’t an F as his last start was vintage Harvey. It looks like he may be back.

Jacob deGrom (B). Surprisingly, he was winless in May. Also, we may be seeing the effects of his decreased velocity with his ERA going up and his WHIP going down.

Noah Syndergaard (A). He followed a dominant April with a dominant May. He also hit two homeruns. It’s not an A+ because he didn’t actually hit Chase Utley.

Steven Matz (A).  Matz has been on a roll all month making him not only the odds on favorite for the Rookie of the Year Award but also making him a serious contender for the All Star team.  Even in last night’s blip, he still left the game in position to get a win.

Bartolo Colon (C+).  He’s been what he’s always been – good against bad teams and struggles against good teams.  There were more good teams on the schedule this month, so we saw him pitch to a higher ERA.  Bonus points for his first homerun.

Logan Verrett (F).  After a month of bailing the Mets out, it was Verrett who needed to be bailed out with a 6.46 ERA and a 1.761 WHIP.

Jeurys Familia (B).  He’s still perfect in save chances, but the last week he was shaky in non-save situations.  He blew a four run lead in one game, and he earned the loss after pitching poorly in a tied game.

Addison Reed (A+).  As good as he was in April, he was even better in May.  He has consistently been the best reliever in the Mets bullpen.

Jim Henderson (B-).  While his ERA has ballooned this month, his peripherals show that he’s still pitching pretty well.  He is starting to get exposed a bit by pitching too much to lefties and by getting a little more work than he was probably read to take on at this point.

Hansel Robles (B).  Robles was actually having a better May than April until the past week happened.  He’s gotten touched up the past two games by the long ball.  It’s something to keep an eye on going forward.

Jerry Blevins (B).  While his ERA has steadily gone done over the course of May, he has been hit a little harder.

Antonio Bastardo (C). Bastardo entered the season without the faith of his manager, Terry Collins, and it appears that he is in the same position.  Throughout his career, Bastardo has struggled with giving up walks, and he’s had that issue re-emerge this month.

Rafael Montero (Inc.).  Montero didn’t pitch in the majors this month.  One thing that is telling is even with Harvey’s struggles, the Mets never seriously considered him to pitch in the rotation or bullpen.

Sean Gilmartin (A).  Gilmartin had a brief return to the Mets due to some short outings from their starters.  Gilmartin did what he excelled at last year – pitching well no matter what the role the Mets gave him.

Terry Collins (B).  It was a tough month for the Mets all around.  However, this month the Mets seemed to finally get Harvey right, and Collins made sure to protect David Wright from himself.  As usual, Collins had his share of baffling lineup and bullpen decisions.  With that said, he still has the Mets in the thick of things.

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Hansel Wasn’t So Hot

For the first five innings Steven Matz was cruising. He had only allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three. His scoreless inning steak reached 19 innings. He was showing why he’s getting strong All Star consideration and is a leading Rookie of the Year candidate. 

That’s the thing. Seeing how composed and dominant he’s been, it’s easy to forget he’s a rookie who has never thrown more than 140.0 innings in a season. We were reminded he was a rookie in the sixth inning. He was touched up for three runs off five hits, one walk, and a Todd Frazier homerun. Matz was pulled with two outs. His final line was five innings, seven hits, three earned, two walks, and three strikeouts. 

Matz was bailed out by a double play and Jim Henderson. The 4-3 lead was preserved, and the Mets bullpen went to work starting with Noah Syndergaard:

The 94s were sliders, and the 92s were changeups. Syndergaard appeared in the game as Terry Collins wanted to get him some work after Sunday’s ejection. 

The Mets had scored the first two runs off not one but two – TWO! – sacrifice flies. The first was by Yoenis Cespedes in the first. The second was by Curtis Granderson in the third. Granderson has gotten hot of late. Over his last nine games, he’s 10-32 with six walks, a double, triple, and two homers. Speaking of homers, Neil Walker hit his 13th homer of the year for the third and fourth runs of the game. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The Mets bullpen struggled again. Hansel Robles lost the lead in the eighth after allowing a two run homerun to Melky Cabrera. He left two runners on when he gave way to Jerry Blevins. Blevins allowed a walk to Adam Eaton. Logan Verrett relieved him, and allowed an RBI single to Brett Lawrie. Robles took the loss pitching 0.2 innings allowing one hit, three earned, and two walks with one strikeout. 

The natural question is why Collins didn’t let Syndergaard pitch two innings. It’s a fair question, but the Mets bullpen has been great all year. You should expect them to get the job done, but they didn’t, and the Mets lost 6-4. 

Game Notes: It was James Loney‘s Mets debut. As a left-hand batting contact hitter forced into action at first base due to injuries, he was given the number 28. He was 0-4. 

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Loney Shows the Mets Learned Their Lesson from Last Year

Last year, the Mets watched their lead in the NL East dissipate while the front office failed to make a move to address some big holes. The biggest of those was third base due to the discovery David Wright suffered from spinal stenosis. No one could accurately pinpoint whether Wright could return or be an effective player. 

Despite this, the Mets allowed Eric Campbell play the majority of games at third base in Wright’s absence. Worse yet, due to a rash of injuries, he was hitting in the middle of the lineup. The Mets were fortunate the season didn’t come off the rails before they started making moves. The moves started with getting Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson. At a minimum, they were two bona fide major league players. Their acquisition helped turn the Mets season around. 

This year’s Mets team is not in the same dire straits as the 2015 team. However, with Lucas Duda‘s stress fracture, they once again have to deal with a player’s back putting them on the DL. They’ve also had to deal with a Campbell playing the majority of the games in the injured player’s stead. No more. 

https://twitter.com/theloney_s/status/736618457119096832

On Saturday, the Mets obtained James Loney from the Padres for cash considerations. The only thing that needs to happen for this trade to be a success is for Loney to hit better than the .169/.286/.255 Campbell is hitting. As a career .285/.338/.411 hitter, Loney should be able to accomplish that. Overall, the real question with Loney isn’t if he’s better; the real question is what can Mets fans expect. 

For starters, the Mets are getting a player in decline. In each of the past three three years his batting average, OBP, and slugging declined. Last year, he only hit .280/.332/.357 with four homers in 104 games. Regardless of his struggles last year, he’s a platoon bat that has hit .254/.302/.351 against lefties. It was even worse last year with him hitting .226/.258/.310 against lefties. 

Loney’s defense has also declined. He was once considered a good defender at first, but the numbers over recent years suggest he’s living on his reputation. For the better part of three years, his defense has declined. Last year, he posted a -2.4 UZR, -2 DRS, and a -0.7 dWAR. In essence, he went from a good to very good first baseman to slightly below par. 

From this, you can see why the Rays released their second highest paid player in Spring Training. You can see why he could only get a minor league deal. The Mets were very fortunate that was the case. Despite all of Loney’s faults, he’s still better than what the Mets had. 

Who knows?  Maybe Loney has a renaissance. Maybe his working with Kevin Long will help him hit better. Whatever the case, he’s bound to hit better than Campbell.  Whatever the case, he’s going to be the Mets best first base option until Duda returns. 

Last year, the Mets didn’t make this move. They did this year, and the team is a lot better off for it.  No matter what his faults are, Loney is a terrific addition. 

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