Jeurys Familia
After a horrid offensive homestand, Mets fans were left with the hope coming to hitter’s parks like The Great American Ballpark and Citizen’s Bank Park would help wake up this Mets offense. Well, on the second pitch of the game from Homer Bailey to Michael Conforto, it seems like our hope was well placed:
An oppo-? is popular at any time of the year. #LGM pic.twitter.com/PKVjFw45w1
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 7, 2018
The combination of the Reds pitching and Citizen’s Bank Park really did wake up this Mets offense. Things were going so well offensively that not only did the Mets score in each of the first five innings, but Adrian Gonzalez would hit two home runs.
Jay Bruce would also homer to ensure that all the pure left-handed hitters would have a homer run on the day.
But it was more than Conforto and Gonzalez who woke up. Amed Rosario was 2-3 with an RBI and a sac fly. With the exception of Asdrubal Cabrera and Todd Frazier, the two who happened to be their most consistent hitters all year, each Met in the starting lineup had at least one hit.
Take out Jose Lobaton and all the starters had multi-hit games.
In the beginning, this seemed as if it was going to be more than enough run support for P.J. Conlon and the entire Mets pitching staff. The Irish born lefty making his MLB debut got off to a great start keeping the Reds scoreless through two and to just one run through three.
With two outs in the fourth, and the Reds gaining some momentum, with three doubles in the inning coming from Eugenio Suarez, Scooter Gennett, and Tucker Barnhart, Mickey Callaway went to Paul Sewald to nip the rally in the bud.
Sewald did just that, but he would run into trouble in the sixth yielding a home run to Suarez, and then leaving runners at the corners with one out. Robert Gsellman came on, and he allowed just a sacrifice fly to make it 7-5.
Like Sewald, Gsellman was in to pitch multiple innings, and he would even hit for himself striking out. When Gennett homered to make it 7-6, you were left questioning the decision.
You were also left questioning some of the Mets base running.
In the sixth, the first inning the Mets did not score, the Reds caught Rosario in a run down off third base on a Yoenis Cespedes ground ball. He was eventually tagged out, and the run did not score.
In the eighth, Jose Reyes pinch ran for Cespedes, and he misread a ball, and did not bust it to third causing Glenn Sherlock to hold him at third.
Fortuantely for the Mets, it did not matter as Jeurys Familia came on and recorded the save giving the Mets their first win in over a week.
Game Notes: Conlon joined teammates Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz in getting a hit in his MLB debut.
In September 2015, Scott Boras tried to intervene and limit Matt Harvey‘s innings in what could be perceived as an attempt to save the pitcher not just from the Mets, but also from himself. There would be a modified schedule and some skipped starts, but Harvey eventually took the shackles off because he wanted the ball.
Harvey always wanted the ball.
He wanted the ball in the NL East clincher against the Reds. Instead of the five innings he was supposed to pitch, he pitched into the seventh because, well, he wanted to get ready for the postseason, and the Mets were lucky he did.
Harvey won a pivotal Game 3 of the NLDS. With that series going five games, it was Harvey who got the ball in Game 1 of the NLCS. In front of a raucous Citi Field crowd, Harvey set the tone for that series. As he stepped off the mound with two outs in the eighth, he wasn’t tipping his cap. No, he was pumped up like all of Citi Field was because he knew what we all knew . . . this team was going to the World Series.
When telling the story of Matt Harvey, we will forever go back to Game 5. With the Mets team trying to rally back from a 3-1 series deficit, Harvey wanted the ball for the ninth. Terry Collins initially wanted Jeurys Familia, but he relented, and he gave Harvey the ball.
You’d be hard pressed to find a time in Citi Field history louder than when Harvey took the mound in that ninth. A blown lead and Game 5 loss later, you’d never find Citi Field more despondent.
Now, looking back, that Game 5 was the microcosm of Harvey’s Mets career.
He came in, and he gave us all hope the impossible could happen. He brought us all along for the ride. There was no one we wanted out there more than Harvey. And yet at the very end, despite all the hope and brilliance he brought, we were all left in disbelief, and yes, some in tears, over the how and why Harvey was still out there.
Mainly, Harvey was there because despite no matter what anyone said, Harvey wanted to be there, and he was not going to let anyone stop him.
And you know what? Back in 2013, no one could stop him.
In 26 starts, Harvey was 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA, 0.931 WHIP, and a 9.6 K/9. His 2.01 FIP that year would not only lead the Majors, but it would be one of the 10 best over the past 100 years. His WHIP still remains a single season Mets record. It may have seemed premature to put him in the conversation with Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden, but really, it made sense. Harvey was just that good.
He was the reason to watch a terrible Mets team, and on May 7th, he may have pitched the game of his life. If not for an Alex Rios infield single Ruben Tejada could not turn into an out, Harvey likely pitches a perfect game. Instead, he had to settle for a no decision despite allowing just one hit and 12 strikeouts in nine innings. Just file that away next time someone points out his win-loss record.
That game was the signature Harvey moment. He took the mound with a bloody nose. He was reaching near triple digits with this fastball. He was becoming a superstar. He was making Citi Field his playground.
When we look through the history of Citi Field one day, it will be Harvey who emerged as it’s first superstar. He was the one who brought the crowds. He started the first All Star Game at Citi Field. Arguably, he pitched the two best games ever pitched by a Met at that ballpark.
It would be that 2013 season Harvey broke. He tore his UCL, and he needed Tommy John surgery. Mets fans everywhere who were once so hopeful were crushed. There were many low moments in Mets history since the team moved to Citi Field, but that one is among the lowest.
But when he came back in 2015, hope returned. He may not have been 2013 great, but he was great. For all the criticism over his innings limits, he would throw more innings than any pitcher in baseball history in their first season back from Tommy John.
Looking back at that 2015 season, Harvey gave the Mets and their fans everything he had. He pitched great in the regular season, and he was even better in the postseason. Just like in 2013, he was trying to will the Mets back to prominence. He was taking an organization on his back and trying to win a World Series.
It broke him in 2013, and apparently, it broke him again in 2015.
Really, when he stepped off that mound in Game 5 of the World Series, Harvey was done as we knew him. In 2016, he’d be diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome requiring season ending surgery. Last year, Harvey was rushed back to the rotation before he was physically ready, and he suffered a stress reaction. This year, he was healthy, but lost.
Looking back, no one will ever know if Harvey listened to Boras if he’d still be The Dark Knight instead of a guy now looking for a job.
The real shame is how Harvey went out. The same guy who heard the loudest ovations from the fans, the same one who heard Mets fans serenade Stephen Strasburg with “Harvey’s Better!” chants, was booed off the mound the last time he ever pitched on what had once been his mound.
There are some who will find behavioral excuses why Harvey faulted, and maybe they do exist. However, you’d be hard pressed to find a pitcher who was at the top of his game in November only to completely lose it by the next April. Most pitchers get a transition period to figure things out. Harvey’s cruel fate was he had more injuries followed by his getting about a month and a half before being given an ultimatum.
In what once seemed impossible, Harvey was designated for assignment. Sure, Mets fans always expected him to leave one day, but we all thought it would be Harvey who spurned the cheap Wilpon family, not the Wilpons kicking him out the door despite the team still owing him around $4 million.
Much has been made of the Mets crop of starting pitchers, the group who brought them to the 2015 World Series. Make no mistake, Harvey was the best out of the group. Better than Jacob deGrom. Better than Noah Syndergaard.
Really, he was better than anyone not named Seaver or Gooden, and if things had broken right, Harvey could have been a Hall of Famer. He was that good when he was healthy, but he wasn’t healthy making him this generation’s version of Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen, or Jon Matlack.
Harvey being designated for assignment wasn’t a shock. With every struggle on the mound, and yes, some personal issues that emerged, he was getting closer and closer to this point. It doesn’t mean this doesn’t hurt the Mets fan, the ones who got to experience in the joy of seeing the real Harvey pitch, any less.
There will come a day down the line where all will be forgiven, and we can all just look back and appreciate all Harvey did for the Mets. We can take a step back and marvel how he potentially sacrificed his entire career to win that one World Series. Really, he has never been thanked or appreciated enough for that.
Now, he is looking for a new team and a new fan base. Hopefully, Harvey rediscovers some of that magic he once had, and hopefully, he gets those cheers again. He’s certainly earned them.
And when he does return to Citi Field, whether it be this year or the next, let’s hope he gets that true standing ovation he deserved, the one he might’ve received on Thursday had we all known it was going to be his last game in a Mets uniform.
No matter what happens, Mets fans everywhere should wish him the best of luck. There was a time we showered him with all the love we had, and he returned the favor by giving us everything he had. Everything. Here’s hoping he gets everything he is looking for in his next stop.
I know no matter what he does, I’m rooting of him. More than that I appreciate Harvey for all he did as a Met. Really, best of luck to you, Matt Harvey.
With the Mets having lost three straight series, the last thing they needed was a West Coast trip. They needed to play in Petco Park even less. It’s not just that it’s a suddenly woeful Mets offense was going to one of, if not the, most extreme pitcher’s park in the league. No, it was the Mets all-time record at Petco Park entering this game was 18-32.
Fortunately for the Mets, they had their best weapon out there tonight – Jacob deGrom.
Once again, deGrom was brilliant. His final line on the night was 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, and 8 K.
This is the third straight game he would strike out at least eight, and he now has the longest stretch in the National League of pitching at least 5.1 innings. Basically, deGrom is pitching about as well as anyone, and really, he’s been better than almost everyone.
Given how he’s pitched of late, the offense, and his luck, the questions were whether he was going to get run support and whether the bullpen could hold things down.
In Jacob deGrom's last two starts he's left the game in line for the win only to have the bullpen surrender the lead .According to Elias, since 2014, deGrom has 20 such "blown wins", the most in the majors.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) April 27, 2018
Well, deGrom would get his run support before he even stepped foot on the mound. After Doug Eddings, who had a wildly inconsistent strike zone all game long, ruled a 3-1 pitch was a strike and not a ball, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a lead-off double off Clayton Richard. After moving to third on a Yoenis Cespedes fly out to deep right, Cabrera scored on a two out Todd Frazier RBI single.
The score stayed that way until the seventh because the Mets could not get anything going against Richard, Michael Conforto made a couple of nice plays in the field, and the Padres were afraid to challenge Yoenis Cespedes‘ arm.
At that point, it was time for Cabrera to once again leave his mark not just on the game but on the early part of the season.
Juan Lagares led off the inning with an infield single just beating Carlos Asuaje throw. Jose Lobaton, who easily had his best game as a Met, singled to set up runners at the corners with no outs. With Richard faltering, it seemed like this is where the Mets would blow the game open. It almost . . . ALMOST didn’t happen.
First, there was the Lagares base running mistake. Instead of following Christian Villanueva down the line on the deGrom sacrifice bunt/safety squeeze, he immediately dashed back to third. If he followed Villanueva down the line, it’s quite possible he scores. Instead he stayed, and when Amed Rosario hit a sharp grounder to Asuaje, the Mets had runners at second and third with no runs and two outs.
With the Padres going into a strong bullpen, it seemed as if they were going to get out of the jam. That perception was absolutely wrong as Cabrera hit a Craig Stammen mistake for a three run homer to effectively end the game.
In the eighth, the Mets would expand their lead with a two out rally. After recording two quick outs, Kazuhisa Makita hit Lagares with a 1-2 pitch, and Lagares would score on the ensuing Lobaton RBI double.
Again, Lobaton easily had his best game as a Met. He caught deGrom, who had a great game. He threw out Franchy Cordero, who was the only Padre to attempt a stolen base. On the play, it was a perfect throw and a perfect tag by Cabrera. Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, Lobaton was 2-4 with a run, a double, and an RBI.
With the 5-0 lead, the only remaining question was whether the bullpen could hold onto the lead or whether there would be another meltdown.
When deGrom parted with one out in the eighth, there was a runner on, and Jerry Blevins came on to face Eric Hosmer. Conforto needed every bit of that deep right field to corral the long fly Hosmer would send. Mickey Callaway then went to AJ Ramos who got Villanueva to fly out.
Then, Callaway went with Matt Harvey in the ninth to close the door. As bad as things have been for Harvey since 2015, no one could have imagined this outing.
No, he didn’t blow the lead, although he did make everyone nervous with Cordero greeting him with a homer, and Harvey walking Jose Pirela. Given Harvey’s recent history and the recent bullpen meltdowns, this was an ominous sign, and Jeurys Familia was rapidly trying to get loose in the bullpen.
Fortunately for the Mets, Harvey, whose velocity dipped all the way down to 90, yes 90 MPH, got a fly out and a game ending double play.
Yes, there was plenty of reason to be excited for this 5-1 win, but seeing Harvey pitch this way certainly did put a bit of a damper on things. Hopefully, both Harvey and the Mets can figure something out at this point because this has become sad and painful to watch.
GAME NOTES: Before the game the Mets recalled Jacob Rhame and sent Corey Oswalt back down. The Mets moved David Wright to the 60 day disabled list to make room for LHP Buddy Baumann, who the team claimed off waivers from the Padres. Bauman was sent down to Triple-A Vegas. Despite his good numbers against Richard, Callaway sat Adrian Gonzalez in favor of Wilmer Flores
The story of this game should have been Noah Syndergaard returning to form. Like on Opening Day, he was mowing down the Cardinals, but this time, he was much more efficient in doing so. Through six, he kept the Cardinals scoreless striking out six and allowing just two hits, and it looked like the Mets were going to cruise to a 2-0 victory at that point.
Both RBI came from Yoenis Cespedes, who snapped out of his funk going 2-5 with a double and two RBI. The first RBI was a first inning off Carlos Martinez scoring Brandon Nimmo from first. In the seventh, in what looked like window dressing at the plate, he plated Amed Rosario with a sacrifice fly.
However, as we have learned with Cespedes, sometimes he will giveth and sometimes he will taketh.
That was evident with Tommy Pham “doubled” on a ball that hit off of Cespedes’ glove. Pham would then come home to score on a Marcell Ozuna single to cut the lead to 2-1. With the way Paul DeJong kills the Mets, really it was a miracle he didn’t tie the score on his double.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter as the Mets gave up the lead in the eighth with some more poor defense.
What was interesting was Mickey Callaway let Syndergaard start the eighth while holding back Robert Gsellman. Really, you wonder why not just go to the fresh arm after an inning in which Syndergaard faced some trouble. Really, this is a bit nitpicky because this is Syndergaard we are talking about here.
In any event, Rosario threw a ball away on a Greg Garcia grounder starting off the inning with a runner on first instead of one out and the pitcher’s spot coming up. Syndergaard struck out Yadier Molina before allowing a single to Matt Carpenter leading to his getting pulled from the game.
Gsellman was in a tough spot, and he didn’t deliver immediately. The first batter he faced, Pham, singled to tie the score. To his credit, with the go-ahead run in scoring position and just one out, Gsellman got Jose Martinez to ground into the inning ending 6-4-3 double play.
After a rusty Seth Lugo battled through a hit batter and walk to get through a scoreless ninth, the Mets would get an absolute gift run in the 10th.
After two quick outs, Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier hit back-to-back singles putting the game into Adrian Gonzalez‘s hands. Somehow, not only would Luke Gregerson walk Gonzalez, but he would also walk Jose Lobaton to force in a run. With Jeurys Familia coming into the game, it seemed like the Mets would win a series after losing two straight.
Didn’t happen.
After two quick outs, Pham hit a ball up the middle most second baseman make fairly routinely. The problem is Asdrubal Cabrera, even at full strength, doesn’t have much range. With his current leg injury, he has almost no range. Cabrera did all he could do, but he really had no shot at Pham.
Oddly enough, Juan Lagares wouldn’t have a shot at the subsequent Martinez double. Oddly enough, Callaway went against his recent trends, and he put in Lagares for defense. Martinez’s ball to deep center was a play almost no center fielder makes, but we have all become so spoiled by Lagares, he almost makes the impossible seem routine. He ran back to dead center, leaped, and missed. Instead of another highlight reel defensive play, it was a game tying double.
AJ Ramos pitched a perfect 11th, and Paul Sewald pitched a perfect 12th. Unfortunately, the hottest pitcher in the Mets bullpen couldn’t keep the Cardinals off the board. A Martinez walk followed by consecutive singles to Ozuna and Dexter Fowler was the ballgame.
With that, the Mets have lost three straight series, and the vibes from their amazing start have faded. They have faded because the bottom of the lineup is black hole, but mostly, it is because this defense is bad and plays bad.
Game Notes: With the Mets out of position players, Sewald hit for himself in the top of the 13th. Jose Reyes grounded out in the 10th to end that rally.
Through seven innings, the batters in this game might as well have gone up to the plate blindfolded and holding onto a broken tennis racket. That was how good their chances were scoring a run against either Jacob deGrom or Julio Teheran, both of whom dominate the other team and allowed just four hits apiece tonight. Really, their final lines were practically identical:
deGrom (ND) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Teheran (ND) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 6 K
It wasn’t until the bullpens got involved that these offenses would wake up, and with the Mets being the away team, they were the ones who went off first.
Wilmer Flores drew a leadoff walk against Braves reliever Sam Freeman, and he moved to second on a Jose Reyes single. For Reyes, despite him entering this game 0-20, he had a resurgent game reaching in his first three plate attempts going 3-4 with a run and a stolen base.
The pivotal moment of the inning, and at that time, the game was when Ozzie Albies just botched catching the throw in his haste to turn a double play on a Michael Conforto grounder. While Reyes was initially ruled out, Mickey Callaway challenged the call, and Reyes was ruled safe.
As an aside, it was the second successful challenge for the Mets on the day. The other was just as important on what was initially ruled an Ender Inciarte stolen base of third with no outs in the sixth:
.@Mets challenge call that Ender Inciarte is safe at 3B in the 6th; call overturned, runner is out.
Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/hqOZqxQq1v
— MLB Replay (@MLBReplays) April 22, 2018
Todd Frazier‘s holding on the tag kept the game scoreless, and it helped allow this game remain scoreless into the eighth.
With the bases loaded and no outs, this was the spot where you assumed Yoenis Cespedes would come through. Even with his recent struggles, and his batting .195 on the season, he’s still gotten the clutch hits, and he is still hitting with the bases loaded. Except for tonight. He hit a shallow fly to Nick Markakis, and with Flores on third, there was no way he was going to tag up and score on that. With Cespedes’ failure to deliver, it put the rally in jeopardy.
That was until Asdrubal Cabrera came up and hit a clutch two run RBI single to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Jay Bruce followed with an RBI single, and he hustled to second on an Inciarte fielding error.
Eventually, Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked, and Jose Lobaton hit a sinking line drive which Preston Tucker almost misplayed. Instead he made a sliding catch getting the Braves out of the inning down 3-0.
With his performance yesterday, you thought this would be enough for AJ Ramos to lock down. Unfortunately, we didn’t see that Ramos tonight.
No, we saw the Ramos who has troubles maintaining the strike zone. He’d bookend an Inciarte strikeout with walks to Ryan Flaherty and Albies. With Mets killer Freddie Freeman coming up, Callaway understandably went to his lone lefty Jerry Blevins.
Much like how he performed on the season, Blevins failed to get the exact guy he was brought into the game to get. Freeman hit a two RBI double to pull the Braves within one.
Blevins would strike out Markakis, but the damage was done. It was done not just because the Braves plated two runs, but because Blevins failure to get both left-handed batters, but also Ramos’ ineffectiveness, Jeurys Familia needed to come into the game to get the last out of the eighth.
Going multiple innings like this was something that was once old hat for Familia, and with him doing it already two times this season, the hope was he could do it tonight. He didn’t.
It started with a leadoff walk to Dansby Swanson, who scored the game tying run on a Johan Camargo (yes, the very same one) triple.
The Mets got a bit of a break with Kurt Suzuki lining a ball off of Frazier’s glove. Suzuki reached first safely, but Camargo wouldn’t score on the play. It seemed things were turning back towards the Mets direction as Charlie Culberson struck out, which at least created the possibility the Mets could get out of the inning with double play. That didn’t happen because, as Gary Cohen predicted may happen, Inciarte dropped down the drag bunt:
Live from Atlanta, it’s a Saturday night walk-off win! #ChopOn pic.twitter.com/okMgxtJ9u1
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 22, 2018
With that bunt, the Mets lost the game 4-3. More than that, the Mets blew a great start from deGrom. More than anything, this is the second time this week, the Mets bullpen has lost a game against a division rival. It is still too early to begin worrying about these sorts of things, but it is never to be soon to be aware of what issues it could raise for the Mets down the road.
Game Notes: Before the game, it was announced Matt Harvey was moving to the bullpen. Joining him there was Corey Oswalt. Gerson Bautista was sent down to make room for Oswalt.
With the Mets blowout loss on a really bad Matt Harvey start, it looked like a team who lost three of their past four games needed to gain some momentum. Fortunately for the Mets, in baseball, momentum in the next day’s starting pitcher, and the Mets were sending Noah Syndergaard to the mound.
Unfortunately for the Mets, the rest of the team was not quite up to the task when he was on the mound.
Yes, Syndergaard was beat by Ozzie Albies on a fastball, but that was Albies hitting a good pitch. The other runs against Syndergaard was really on the Mets.
In the third, Jay Bruce, who has struggled in every aspect of his game lately, misplayed a John Flaherty ball leading to an RBI double that allowed Dansby Swanson to score from first.
In the sixth, Nick Markakis made the mistake of challenging Yoenis Cespedes‘ arm trying to stretch and single into a double. As poor as the decision was to challenge Cespedes’ arm, it was a smart decision to test Asdrubal Cabrera‘s glove. With Cabrera unable to field the one hop throw, Markakis was safe at second.
Markakis moved to third on a Syndergaard wild pitch, which was partially the result of Tomas Nido not getting down, and he would score the third and tying run on a Kurt Suzuki sacrifice fly.
The shame of it was Syndergaard was very good on the night. His final line was 6.0 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, no walks, and six strikeouts. He would get the no decision, partially because Wilmer Flores couldn’t quite score in the top half of the inning:
#Mets challenge call that Wilmer Flores is out at HP in the 6th; call confirmed, runner is out.
Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/2cHCNhc9OA
— MLB Replay (@MLBReplays) April 21, 2018
Still, the Mets did score three runs against Braves starter Sean Newcomb.
The Mets scored their first run in the third inning on an Amed Rosario double to deep center allowing Nido to score from first. With Ender Inciarte making a throwing error on the play, Rosario was able to scoot over to third. This allowed him to score on a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly, which, at the time, gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.
The Mets lead grew to 3-1 the following inning. Todd Frazier drew a walk to lead off the inning, and he stole second putting him in scoring position to score on a Flores RBI single.
After the sixth, the Mets would begin to play much better in the field, including Nido, who threw out both Flaherty on a strike ’em out-throw ’em out double play in the seventh. He would then nail Albies in the eighth. These would be the first two players thrown out on the basepaths by Mets catchers.
As impressive as that was, the Mets bullpen was even better allowing just one hit after Syndergaard departed the game. Seth Lugo pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth. AJ Ramos threw a scoreless ninth. Robert Gsellman contributed a scoreless 10th and 11th.
With the tired arms in the Mets bullpen, Mickey Callaway sent Gsellman up to bat against Josh Ravin, who was in his second inning of work.
Gsellman would reach with Ravin hitting him with a pitch, and Gsellman quickly found himself on second on a successful Rosario sacrifice bunt. For a moment, it appeared the Mets were going to squander an opportunity with Conforto popping out, and the .197 hitting Cespedes, who had already had the golden sombrero on the night, coming to the plate.
However, like Cespedes has done many times this season, despite his struggles, he came through hitting an opposite field single against the shift scoring Gsellman from second and giving the Mets a 4-3 lead. That lead expanded to 5-3 when Cabrera hit a double off the right field wall.
Then for the second time in a week, Cabrera made a really bad base running mistake. On the way to third on what should have been a stand up triple, he did one of his slides to stop himself, and he went back to second. He was beaten back to the base by Swanson leading to the third out of the inning.
The good news is that play needed a replay review giving Jeurys Familia more time to warm up and get into the game. Between that and the two run lead, the Mets had all they needed to lock up this 5-3 win.
Once again, the Mets are back to their winning ways, are still in first place, and are sending another ace to the mound in tomorrow’s game. Once again, things are looking up for the Mets.
Game Notes: With a bloop opposite field double in the sixth, Bruce snapped an 0-19 skid. He then went hitless in his next two at-bats.
After an epic eighth inning bullpen meltdown against the Washington Nationals, the fans and media began the process of second guessing Mets manager Mickey Callaway. With that the central question was why Callaway went to Seth Lugo instead of allowing Jacob deGrom to face Howie Kendrick, who deGrom has completely dominated both that night and over the course of his career.
As we know, Lugo did the inexcuable and walked Kendrick on four pitches. This led to Jerry Blevins, AJ Ramos, and Jeurys Familia not getting the job done. With the exception of Blevins, there were ensuing questions about how each reliever was used in that inning.
These questions are interesting for debate, but they are missing the larger issue here. In his brief managerial career, Callaway has ridden the bullpen too hard for this team to have sustained success over the course of a 162 game schedule.
There are a number of caveats many people will cite. There have been a number of off days. The Mets pitchers aren’t going deep enough into games thereby forcing Callaway’s hand. The bullpen can’t possibly be overworked because they have pitched just the 17th more innings in the majors.
Here are some other key stats to consider. There are 15 pitchers in baseball who have made double digit appearances this season. The Mets have three of those pitchers with Familia, Ramos, and Blevins. By the way, they were also the three pitchers who failed to get the job done that fateful eighth inning.
By the way, the Mets are the only team to have three relievers make double digit appearances, and that number will grow to four when Robert Gsellman, who has scuffled a bit of late, makes his next appearance.
We tend to over-focus just on the number of appearances, innings, and pitches relievers throw. Them getting up to warm up also counts. It is part of the fatigue which can set in for a reliever.
At this point, we can not be definitively sure any of the Mets relievers are gassed even with the recent drop-off. Really, that can be explained by regression to the mean or just a fluke small sample size.
Here’s what we do know. For most of this season, Callaway has had a bullpen with an extra arm in it. Despite that, the Mets have had to make roster moves on two separate occasions to get a fresh arm into the bullpen. First, it was Corey Oswalt for a day. Now, it’s Gerson Bautista for who knows how long?
The answer to that one may just be up until he gets gassed and the Mets need to go back to the minors to pull up Hansel Robles or Jacob Rhame again. Maybe this time, it’s Tyler Bashlor who comes up to the majors straight from Double-A.
Point is, the way Callaway is using this bullpen is having an effect, and it is causing the Mets to need to dip into their minor league depth to get fresh arms into this bullpen. Maybe this was the plan all along, and that plan is buttressed by Sandy Alderson’s moves at the trade deadline last year. Probably not.
Whatever the case, the Mets are going to have to figure something out because this cannot continue for 162 games.
Look, it was bound to happen. The revamped and praised bullpen was finally going to have a meltdown. Mickey Callaway was going to have a game leaving fans scratching their heads a bit leading up to him getting criticized. The fact it came against the Nationals was tough. The fact it was a blown 6-1 lead was tougher. The combination of the two left a really sour taste in your mouth despite the Mets 12-3 start.
In that eighth inning, the Mets would use five pitchers who allowed six runs on five hits, three walks, and a hit batter. Two of those walks were bases loaded walks. With the exception of Jacob deGrom, each and every pitcher who appeared that inning has some explaining to do.
Naturally, when you have a complete bullpen meltdown like that, much like we saw cause the 2008 Mets collapse, there are going to be some questions about how Callaway handled the inning. Let’s take a look.
Questionable Decision No. 1 – Lifting deGrom
At the time Callaway lifted deGrom, the Mets had a 6-1 lead in the top of the eighth. A Michael Taylor strikeout was book-ended by a pair of singles by Moises Sierra and Trea Turner. At that point, deGrom had thrown 103 pitches, and he was about to go to the Nationals lineup a fourth time.
Before moving on, some key stats should be considered. In his career, batters hit .277/.300/.447 when facing deGrom for a fourth time. However, that stat should be mitigated by the batter Howie Kendrick.
For his career, Kendrick is hitting .087 with no walks or extra base hits against deGrom. Last night, Kendrick was 0-3 with three strikeouts against deGrom.
Considering Bryce Harper is hitting behind him, and you have Jerry Blevins warming in the pen to face him, there’s no way you second guess Callaway for leaving deGrom in the game.
By removing deGrom, Callaway opened himself up to second guessing. That second guessing grew louder when Seth Lugo, who had been excellent this year, walked Kendrick on four straight pitches.
Question Decision No. 2 – Using Lugo for One Batter
As noted above, with Harper on deck and Blevins warming, whoever you brought into the game to face Kendrick was only going to be in for one batter, so why Lugo?
There is a time to experiment with your bullpen guys to give them a different taste of different moments, but a game against the Nationals just isn’t that moment. Not when there was something brewing that caused you to go out there and bring in a reliever to nip a potential rally in the bud.
Since you are bringing Blevins into the game to face Harper anyway, you could have used him to pitch to Kendrick. After all, Kendrick is just 1-8 off Blevins. Even if Kendrick hits an unlikely homer, you are still up 6-4 at that point, and you have Blevins to face Harper.
Instead, Lugo was put in an unfamiliar situation, and he struggled. That doesn’t excuse Lugo’s performance in the least. He should have gone out there and recorded the out, or at least forced Kendrick to put the ball in play. Really, this at-bat was a seminal moment as this is where the rally really began to build momentum and begin to spiral out of control.
Questionable Decision No. 3 – Using Ramos
Iseemed odd Callaway would go to AJ Ramos over getting Jeurys Familia into the game at that spot. Heading into this season, Callaway spoke about getting his best relievers into the biggest spots of the game regardless of whether there was a save situation or not. That’s not what happened.
Instead of using Familia to nip the rally in the bud and let Ramos start a clean ninth, Callaway took a page out of Terry Collins book and saved his closer. He also used Ramos, who has allowed 24.5% of inherited runners to score in his career. Now, to be fair, Callaway may have wanted to shy away from Familia who has had a fairly high workload this season. Still, you have to wonder why Ramos there.
Out of anyone in the Mets bullpen, Ramos has the highest walk rate with a scary 4.9 BB/9 for his career. That included his walking six batters in the 6.1 innings he had pitched entering last night’s game. Bringing Ramos into this game into a powder keg of a situation could potentially light a fuse and blow the game.
It started out well with Ramos over powering Ryan Zimmerman to get the second out, and the Nationals sent up Matt Reynolds to the plate. Right here was why the Mets should have never lost this game. It’s also why using a walk prone Ramos is dangerous.
Reynolds, who is a career .224/.294/.393 hitter with an 8.1% walk rate, walked on four straight pitches to make it 6-4.
Questionable Decision No. 4 – Double Switching Flores into the Game
When Callaway brought Familia into the game, he obviously had the intention of using him for the four out save. With the pitcher’s spot due up second in the bottom of the inning, Callaway understandably double switched him into the game.
What is interesting is Juan Lagares had made the last out of the bottom of the seventh. By the book, you swap him out. Being smarter than that, Callaway didn’t do that instead opting to keep his best fielder in the game in a crucial spot. Instead, he went back and pulled Adrian Gonzalez.
Now, Gonzalez isn’t the four Gold Glove Gonzalez anymore. In 92.1 innings this season, he has a -1 DRS and 0.1 UZR. It’s a small sample size, but it is in line with what he’s been the past few seasons. His dimished skill and range were prevalent when Harper had hit an RBI single earlier that inning between him and Asdrubal Cabrera. That was more on Cabrera’s range, but it did speak to the limited range on the right side of the Mets infield.
Now, Flores arguably has more range than Gonzalez with a 0.2 UZR at first this year and a 2.3 UZR over the past three seasons. However, he’s not yet good enough to consider using him for defense late in games at any position. In fact, he also has a -1 DRS at first this year but in just 45.2 innings. Flores’ poor defense and relative inexperience MIGHT have been at play when Wilmer Difo hit a single by him. Whether Gonzalez gets to that or not, we’ll never know.
Another important point here is with Flores being double switched into the game, you do not get to deploy him against a left-handed pitcher. Instead, you have to use him against a right-handed one. Flores has improved against right-handed pitching, but not to the point where he’s your first option over Yoenis Cespedes or Jay Bruce.
As an aside, what would have been so wrong if Familia batted? If he immediately gets out of the inning, you have a two run lead. Let him go up there and take his strikeout, and you have your optimal defense for the eighth and ninth innings. Instead, you weakened your infield defense with a power sinker pitcher, and you didn’t try to get a platoon advantage with Flores coming off the bench.
Questionable Decision No. 5 – No Gsellman At All
Arguably, Robert Gsellman has either been the Mets best or second best reliever this season. In a pressure filled spot, you would think you would’ve found a spot for him, especially at a time when you were looking to get a ground ball double play to get out of the inning. Instead, Callaway decided to go with Ramos and an obviously fatigued Familia.
Synopsis
When you have a complete meltdown like the Mets had, there is little a manager can do but pray. Really, Callaway is getting second guessed because the Mets lost a game where they had a five run lead with one out in the eighth inning. You should never lose those games.
Lugo can’t walk Kendrick on four pitches. Blevins has to get Harper out in that situation. Ramos can’t walk and hit batters. Familia needs to dig just a little deeper and not hit a batter or walk in the go-ahead run.
Also, someone needed to make a play. Two balls where hit between the first and second baseman. Cabrera couldn’t make a play on either. Certainly, you could argue an infielder with even average range gets to the Harper single. Cabrera would then exacerbate his inability to make a play in the field by getting bizarrely aggressive on the base paths getting thrown out at third with one out in the ninth inning. That was inexcusable.
Really, this game was your typical Callaway game. When it comes to his bullpen, he’s going to be a little more aggressive than most in what is typically his attempt to put his players in the best position to succeed. In his first 15 games, it seems he’d rather put players in a position to succeed than leave them out there and let them make a play.
Until last night, that made Callaway look like a genius. Last night? Well, it made him look like a meddling over-manager. Ultimately, that’s the way it goes with not just managing, but managing in New York.
Whatever the case, after that brutal loss, we are really going to find out something about both Callaway and this Mets team. Do they get off the mat and show the Nationals they’re the better team? Do they come out shell-shocked and lose this game?
Right now, we don’t know, but we are soon going to find out just how special both this team and this manager is and can be.
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Bryce Harper would hit one of the most incredible home runs you will ever see off of Jacob deGrom:
Benny “The Jet” busted the guts out of a baseball…
Roy Hobbs had light-tower power…
Bryce Harper hit a 406-ft BROKEN BAT home run. pic.twitter.com/v1ReLAklGM
Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 16, 2018
Harper was sawed off, and he still hit a no doubt home run. Because of who the Mets are this season, they would immediately respond.
In the bottom of the first, Michael Conforto hit an opposite field double off of Jeremy Hellickson that Matt Adams just could not corral. After that, Todd Frazier, who is suddenly the hottest bat in the Mets lineup followed with a two out RBI single tying the game at one.
In the third, it was Frazier again. After an Asdrubal Cabrera single and Conforto walk, Frazier ripped a go-ahead RBI double giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. It could have been more but the Nationals nailed Conforto at home.
Juan Lagares would create the first rally after drawing a walk off of Matt Grace. During Jose Lobaton‘s at-bat, he would steal both second and third base. That led to Mickey Callaway surprising everyone by calling a squeeze:
Benny “The Jet” busted the guts out of a baseball…
Roy Hobbs had light-tower power…
Bryce Harper hit a 406-ft BROKEN BAT home run. pic.twitter.com/v1ReLAklGM
Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 16, 2018
With the ball scooting away, this allowed Lobaton, who had reached earlier by walk, to get to third. This put him in perfect position to score on an Amed Rosario fielder’s choice giving the Mets a 4-1 lead.
The Mets would quickly make that a 6-1 lead in the seventh. Brandon Nimmo began the inning with a triple off the outstretched glove of Michael Taylor, and he’d score when Cabrera hit a two run homer off A.J. Cole.
At 6-1, the Mets looked to be in great shape. deGrom was pitching like the ace he is being the first Mets starter to pitch into the eighth inning. His final line would be 7.1 innings, six hits, three runs, three earned, one walk, and 12 strikeouts.
At the time the Mets added four tack on runs, it didn’t look like deGrom needed them. While he might not have a suddenly imploding Mets bullpen would actually need more than a five run cushion.
After allowing a pair of singles, deGrom was done with one out in the eighth. Seth Lugo relieved him and walked Howie Kendrick to load the bases. This led Callaway to call on Jerry Blevins, who allowed Harper to hit a two RBI single to bring the Nationals to within 6-3.
All three runs were charged to deGrom, but the last two were allowed to score by the Mets bullpen.
With Lugo and Blevins not getting the job done, Callaway summoned AJ Ramos with two on and one out in what was now a ballgame.
Ramos would strike out Ryan Zimmerman before allowing a single to Pedro Severino to load the bases. That put the game in the hands of former Mets infielder Matt Reynolds, who pinch hit for Cole. After a four pitch walk. the Nationals were within 6-4 and still with the bases loaded with two outs. At this point, Callaway had little choice but to go to Jeurys Familia.
Familia would choose a bad time to blow his first save of the year as he allowed Wilmer Difo to tie the score with a two RBI single. It got worse with him hitting Moises Sierra, a player who has not played in the majors since 2014, before issuing a bases loaded walk, the Mets second of the inning, to Taylor to give the Nationals a 7-6 lead.
In the ugliest inning of the year, the Mets bullpen would allow six runs (two inherited) off three hits, three walks, and a hit by pitch. That really is embarrassingly bad and reminiscent of last year’s terrible Mets team.
Kendrick would homer off Hansel Robles in the ninth to ensure the entire Mets bullpen would pitch poorly on the evening.
Just to make sure this loss would sting all the more, Cabreara would hit a one out double off Ryan Madson, he would try to get to third on a pitch that got away from the catcher. The play would be reviewed, Cabrera would appear safe, but the out call was upheld. In the end, it doesn’t matter, Cabrera made a real bone headed decision.
The Mets came into this series with a chance to maybe bury the 2018 Nationals in April. Instead, they may have breathed new life into a team which desperately needed a shot in the arm with this 8-6 loss. This is really the Mets first taste of adversity this year. Let’s see how they respond.
Game Notes: Yoenis Cespedes did not start the game for the first time this year. He pinch hit in the eighth and flew out. Jay Bruce didn’t start again today with his plantar fascittis flaring up again.
Right now, the New York Mets are 12-2, which is the best record in the National League, and they are a half-game behind the 13-2 Boston Red Sox for the best record in baseball.
In getting to that record, the Mets have swept an early World Series favorite Washington Nationals on the road, and they have taken four of six from the Cardinals and Brewers, two teams who are expected to be in the mix for a postseason spot this year.
The Mets pitching staff has three starting pitchers in Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard who have previously had Top 10 Cy Young finishes. Two of those three are pitching well.
The team also has Jeurys Familia who is a former All Star and MLB saves leader, who, right now, is the best reliever in all of baseball.
The group, surrounded by a surprisingly well performing bullpen, has an MLB best 2.58 ERA, eight saves, and 15 holds. They are best in the National League in batting average against, (.204) and WHIP (1.11). They are also top five in the majors in strikeouts (152).
In MLB’s late and close category, the Mets offense has scored the second most doubles in the majors and the second most runs and RBI in the National League,
With the Mets pitching and clutch hitting, the Mets are fifth in the majors in run differential.
This is a Mets team with a good to great track record. The team built on pitching is pitching better than anyone. They are beating good teams. They are winning games. The result?
ESPN ranks them as the fourth best team in baseball after ranking them ninth.
CBS Sports moved the Mets up two spots from sixth to fourth in their power rankings.
USA Today moved the Mets up one spot to fifth in their rankings.
MLB.com and Bleacher Report have not yet updated their rankings, but they did have the Mets ranked 11th and 10th respectively last week.
At the core of the problem is not matter how well the Mets play and not matter who they beat, no one is buying this team. Look no further than ESPN’s analysis of the Red Sox and Mets, two teams that got off to identical 12-2 starts:
It took a week, but J.D. Martinez hit his first home run in a Red Sox uniform. He has continued to hit the ball hard, and he and Hanley Ramirez have powered the Red Sox to a 13-2 start. Less happily, a Xander Bogaerts ankle injury interrupted his hot start at the plate; he had delivered nine extra-base hits in nine games.
* * * * *
The Mets continued their hot start, becoming the 22nd team in the World Series era (since 1903) to start 11-1 or better. Will that start yield postseason success? Of the 21 teams to start 11-1 or better through 12 games before this season, only eight made the postseason, and only three of those won the World Series: the 1955 Dodgers, 1966 Orioles and 1984 Tigers. Of the teams to start that hot in the past 30 seasons, none has even won a playoff series.
Really, it’s fascinating to see how the Red Sox are hitting the ball hard while the Mets are a team in a group that has failed to make the postseason 13 out of 21 times and has not won a postseason series in the past 30 years.
We see the bias, and that’s fine. Let all of Major League Baseball continue to underestimate this Mets team. Hopefully, they will continue to do so all the way to the 2018 World Series.