Jeurys Familia
Today had the feeling of a death knell to the season. Noah Syndergaard couldn’t put batters away, had an early escalating pitch count, and he blew a 3-1 lead.
Furthermore, Asdrubal Cabrera had to leave with a knee injury in the first inning adding his name to the ever growing list of the year’s injured players.
The Mets then fell behind 4-3 as Jerry Blevins had a rare tough outing. Of course, part of that was the genius of Terry Collins walking Josh Thole-esque .239 hitting Tony Wolters to face Carlos Gonzalez, who hit the go-ahead sac fly. Right then and there, it looked like the Mets were going to get swept by the Rockies and fall 3.5 games behind the Marlins in the Wild Card race.
Then, there was finally a sense of life from a player who has seemed washed up for three months now:
Neil Walker, who has been hitting .235/.316/.343 since May 1st, hit a three run home run off Boone Logan to turn a sure fire 4-3 loss into a 6-3 win. The home run was reminiscent of Wilmer Flores‘ walk off home run that breathed life back into the Mets season.
It seems like Walker is breaking out of this slump at a time when the Mets desperately need it. During the four game set against the Rockies, Walker was 9-16 with a double, triple, homer, and four RBI. That includes today game with him going 3-4 with four RBI falling a double short of the cycle.
From there, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia do what they do and preserved the 6-4 victory. For at least one day, the Mets season seems intact, and we can all dream the Mets can add a difference maker at the trade deadline.
Game Notes: Kelly Johnson came in for Cabrera. He played third, and Flores took over at short. Johnson and James Loney would score on the Walker home run.
According to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo, the Mets have inquired about Jon Niese, and the team may be interested in Mark Melancon.
Niese makes a lot of sense for the Mets. With the Mets not knowing when and if Zack Wheeler can come back this year and Steven Matz dealing with bone spurs in his elbow, it would not hurt for them to have some insurance in their starting rotation even if it is Niese, who was dreadful as a starting pitcher this year. The hope is that Niese could get back to what he was with the Mets when he is once again working with Dan Warthen. It is also possible that Niese could pitch out of the bullpen for the Mets as he did so well for them last year.
Niese was demoted to the bullpen by the Pirates, and he has made four appearance so far pitching well. He is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.080 WHIP.
On the other hand, it is hard to believe the Mets could also acquire the pending free agent Melancon from the Pirates even if it was a package deal to take on both Niese and Melancon. Melancon is having another outstanding year as the Pirates closer going 1-1 with 30 saves, a 1.51 ERA, and a 0.960 WHIP in 45 appearance. Either this is a ploy to drive up the price of Melancon as the Nationals are interested in him, or it’s the Mets trying to get him on the cheap by having the Pirates try to package him with Niese. It is doubtful the Mets would give up the prospects necessary to land him to have him set up for Jeurys Familia.
The Mets are apparently more interested in a bat now due to Juan Lagares‘ injury. In other news, the Mets were interested in Steve Pearce, but they have found the Rays asking price to be too high. The Mets have also inquired on Jay Bruce as insurance for Yoenis Cespedes for both this year and the next. It should be noted that the Reds turned down a Bruce for Wheeler deal last year that resulted in the Mets acquiring Cespedes for Michael Fulmer last year at the trading deadline.
The Reds are also dangling Ross Ohlendorf, Blake Wood, and Tony Cingrani in the hopes of making a deal to alleviate some payroll for next year. There are no reports that the Reds have discussed any of these relievers with the Mets in a deal that could or could not involve Jay Bruce. However, we do know that the Reds have been scouting Kevin Plawecki for some reason or another.
If the Mets were able to move Plawecki for a Cingrani or a Wood, they have to consider it as they are both having good years out of the pen. Wood has made 44 appearances going 5-1 with one save, a 3.42 ERA, a 1.500 WHIP, and an 8.6 K/9. Cingrani has made 46 appearances going 4-2 with 12 saves, a 3.20 ERA, a 1.267 WHIP, and a 6.4 K/9. Both relievers are controllable past this year, and it appears as if Plawecki may never fulfill his offensive potential with the Mets. It is worth a shot.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets are confident they will add a reliever before the trading deadline, and they have are in active discussions on three relievers:
Daniel Hudson – Hudson has twice had Tommy John surgery in his career. The last one costing him cost him the 2013 season. In this his second full season after his lastest Tommy John surgery, he has made 42 appearances. He has gone 1-2 with a 6.08 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP, which is much worse than he was last year when he was 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.315 WHIP in 64 appearances. One reason for the regression is Hudson’s changeup isn’t as good as it was last year. Last year, Hudson generated the most swings and misses and the weakest contact when he threw his changeup. This year, no one is fooled by Hudson’s changeup with batters hitting the pitch frequently and with authority. The hope in acquiring him is the team could make a mechanical adjustment to help make his changeup a more useful pitch. It also doesn’t hurt that he throws a 97 MPH fastball with an 88 MPH slider. Hudson will be a free agent after this season.
Jim Johnson – It has been three years since Johnson has been a dominant closer for the Orioles. Since leaving the Orioles, Johnson has made 163 appearances going 9-13 with a 5.30 ERA and a 1.599 WHIP. This season he is pitching better than that going 2-5 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.349 WHIP. His main issue is his once dominant sinker is no longer dominant. Batters have a .303 batting average with a .472 slugging on the pitch. The 33 year old will be a free agent after the season.
Joe Smith – The former Mets third round pick will be a free agent after the season. This year, Smith is 1-4 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.349 WHIP. His ERA stands to be the worst of his career, and his WHIP stands to be the worst since his rookie year with the Mets. One reason could be his having a slight downtick in his velocity. As a result, batters are hitting .265/.348/.368 against him. While it would be anticipated that lefties would be doing most of the damage against the sidewinding righty, it has not been the case. Righties and lefties are hitting him fairly equally. However, over his last seven starts, Smith seems to be pitching much better having not allowed a run and limiting opposing batters to a .227/.227/.227 batting line. In those games, it appears he has regained some of his lost velocity.
On the whole, these appear to decent choices for the back end of the Mets bullpen, and in the event they pitch well for the Mets, each should ease some of the burden off of Hansel Robles, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on Mets Merized Online
There were two reasons to believe that the Mets were going to win today’s game against the Rockies. The first was that since July 10th, the Mets have alternated wins and losses, and the Mets lost last night. The second reason was that Jacob deGrom was taking the hill during a day game, and deGrom is the Dayman having gone 15-3 with a 1.63 ERA and a 0.923 WHIP in day games. In his last start, deGrom threw a complete game shut out.
With that in mind, you knew a Rockies team who played a night game was not going to do any damage against deGrom. They didn’t as deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings allowing just five hits and walk one while striking out six. Trevor Story was the only Rockies baserunner to reach second base, and no Rockies even reached third against him. Seemingly, the only reason deGrom was lifted from the game having thrown 97 pitches was to get some more offense.
The Mets were in need of it as well. The team didn’t have Jose Reyes and Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup due to injury. Michael Conforto was sitting because the Rockies were starting the left-hander Tyler Anderson. That meant Alejandro De Aza, and his extremely poor splits against lefties, was in the starting lineup. Furthermore, Rene Rivera was starting over Travis d’Arnaud. It was a weak lineup that featured the still struggling Neil Walker was batting cleanup. It should then come as no surprise that heading towards deGrom’s spot in the lineup in the seventh inning, the Mets were only up 1-0.
That run would be scored on a Rene Rivera two out RBI double scoring James Loney from first. Perhaps inspired how the Sid Bream-esque Loney was able to score from first, Rivera was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. He made the ill-advised last out of an inning at third base. Even with that, he had a terrific day going 3-3 with two doubles and an RBI. It was Rivera who would leadoff the seventh inning with a single off Rockies reliever and former Rays teammate Jake McGee starting a curious chain of events.
De Aza followed Rivera’s single with a double to deep left-center field. That double would have scored anyone other than Rivera. Still, the Mets had runners at second and third with no outs. Terry Collins then made the bold choice of using Cespedes as a decoy. The Rockies took the bait walking Cespedes to load the bases. As Cespedes had a flare-up of his quad before the game preventing him from playing the field, he would be lifted for the pinch runner Steven Matz. It was a defendable position considering with his bone spurs there was no way Matz would ever pitch in this game, and he has decent speed. Furthermore, the Mets did not want to waste their bench any further. After Collins made two very good and defendable decisions, he began to make some baffling decisions.
The Rockies would bring in the right-handed reliever Scott Oberg into the game to pitch to Juan Lagares. Rather than keeping Lagares, his best defensive center fielder, in a tight 1-0 game, Collins went to his bench. Instead of going with Michael Conforto, the best hitter he had on the bench, Collins went to Kelly Johnson for some reason or other. At this point, the Mets struggles with runners in scoring position would really become magnified. Johnson would hit into a fielder’s choice with Story choosing to take the force out at home. Bases were still loaded, but now with one out. Granderson would chase a ball in the dirt to strike out putting it all on Wilmer Flores to come through. He didn’t. He hit a shallow popout to the center fielder Charlie Blackmon to end the inning. The Mets had bases loaded with no outs, and they still could not score.
The Mets were very fortunate they have an incredible bullpen that would hold onto this lead. Despite pregame overtures that Jeurys Familia would be unavailable for today’s game, Collins went to Addison Reed in the eighth. Reed would record two outs and would allow a single to DJ LeMahieu. Collins then lifted Reed for Jerry Blevins, who struck out Carlos Gonzalez to get out of the inning.
Familia would come on in the ninth on a day he was supposedly unavailable, and a day after he blew his first save in approximately one year. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy as it never is with the Mets. Story would hit a leadoff single, and he would steal second. Rivera was late on the throw, and it got through the infield. Familia would then walk David Dahl on a 3-2 count. Daniel Descalso was sent up there to lay down a sacrifice. With two strikes, he laid down a bunt spinning towards the line. Rivera let it go as it seemed as if it was going to go foul giving Familia the strikeout. Instead, the ball stopped dead on the line loading the bases with no outs.
It seemed like Familia would get out of it for a split second. He struck out Tony Wolters to get the first out. Then Cristhian Adames hit a ball that Loney just booted. The Mets weren’t going to turn two, but the Mets could’ve recorded at least one out. With that, Story would score the game tying run. With Blackmon at the plate, Familia spiked a ball at the edge of the grass that just ate up Rivera behind the plate. The wild pitch allowed Dahl to score the tying run. At that point, Familia intentionally walked Blackmon, and Collins lifted him from a game he shouldn’t have been used in the first place. Hansel Robles then came on and get the Mets out of the inning without any further damage. Maybe, just maybe, he should’ve pitched in the eighth or ninth rather than a tired Familia who Collins had declared was not available for this game.
When you peruse the official statistics for this game, you will see Familia blew the save and took the loss. That is true. However, it was a series of curious late inning decisions by Collins that really set the stage for this loss. It is quite fitting the very Kelly Johnson Collins had to bring into the game would make the final out in the ninth.
Game Notes: A night after going 3-3 with a walk, Walker was 3-4 on the day. It appears like his deep two and a half month slump might be coming to an end.
Over the past month, Alejandro De Aza has completely turned his season around. He has been unrecognizable in July hitting .333/.484/.500 with a double, a home run, and an RBI. With De Aza being and useful and productive player, it seems like anything is possible including but not limited to Antonio Bastardo becoming a competent part of the Mets bullpen. Yes, even that. And it has happened.
In Bastardo’s has 10 appearances, he has pitched 12 effective innings. Over this stretch, he has a 2.25 ERA and a 0.833 WHIP. Batters are only hitting .205/.222/.341 against him. This is a completely different pitcher than the one who pitched to a 5.46 ERA and a 1.618 WHIP over his first 29 appearances that saw batters hit a whopping .261/.372/.443 off of him. He has gone from a guy Terry Collins justifiably buried in the bullpen necessitating the Mets to seek out a reliever on the trade market to a potentially valuable piece in the bullpen. What has happened?
As strange as this may sound for a pitcher on the Mets, Bastardo has benefitted from throwing his slider more frequently. Coming into this season, Bastardo had used his slider 31% of the time, and it proved to be a plus pitch for him. Batters didn’t make much contact off the pitch swinging and missing 44.46% of the time. When a batter was able to put the bat on Bastardo’s slider, it usually resulted in weak contact with the batters having a .168 batting average and isolated power of .091. For whatever reason, Bastardo has shied away from this pitch in the beginning of 2016.
To start the season, Bastardo’s slider usage rate dropped from 31% to 24%. Instead, Bastardo began to throw more changeups, which is a very bad idea. Over his career, batters tee off on Bastardo’s changeup hitting .375 off the pitche with a .609 slugging percentage. Essentially, every batter turns into Babe Ruth when they get a chance to hit Bastardo’s changeup. In reality, there is no reason for Bastardo to ever throw his changeup especially when you consider that batters see it coming. Over his career, batters swing and miss only 26% of the time. Overall, batters aren’t fooled by the pitch, and they do some real damage when they make contact. Over Bastardo’s last 10 appearances, he is still throwing way too many changeups, and the pitch is still being hit hard and frequently. However, he is able to compensate for that by throwing more sliders.
In what has been Bastardo’s best stretch of the season his slider usage rate is back up to 33%. He is still generating similar swing and miss numbers (39.13%), and batters are still unable to do anything with the pitch hitting .125 off the pitch with an isolated power of .000.
Perhaps more important than the pitch selection is the fact that Bastardo is throwing strikes. The main issue with Bastardo has always been control, and those issues were really prominent to begin the year. In his first 29 appearances, Bastardo was averaging 5.5 walks per nine innings. He was only throwing strikes 60% of the time. Now, he’s getting the ball over the plate throwing strikes 70% of the time. He has only walked one batter over the last 12 innings. With him throwing his slider more frequently, and getting the pitch over the plate, he has become a more effective pitcher. He has become the pitcher the Mets thought they were getting when they signed him to a two year $12 million contract in the offseason. So is he back?
It might be too early to say. We have seen some flashes here and there only to be disappointed once again. The Mets have only used him ONCE over this stretch to get some batters out in a close game. That resulted in Bastardo allowing Daniel Murphy to hit a home run off of him to make it an 8-7 game. Other than that, Bastardo has been used mostly in blowouts and to preserve the bullpen arms when the Mets have been behind. While Bastardo is pitching much more effectively, it is difficult to determine if he’s ready to once again pitch in a pressure filled situation with the game on the line.
With that in mind, the Mets should keep their current 7-8-9 combination as Hansel Robles–Addison Reed–Jeurys Familia. If Bastardo keeps pitching well, he could crack that group for a night or two to give one of those guys a breather. He could also be called on to get big outs in the sixth inning. That could be his role, and he can do it extremely well so long as he keeps throwing his slider, and he keeps throwing strikes.
You knew it was going to be a strange day when Keith Hernandez showed up during the first end of the doubleheader wearing an Underdog shirt:
We would then see Noah Syndergaard give up an unearned run in the second when Syndergaard made an errant throw allowing Yadier Molina to score. The Cardinals scored a run that inning without a ball leaving the infield. Perhaps stranger than that was seeking Jedd Gyorko hit a two run bomb to left the following inning to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. For the day, Syndergaard would pitch six innings allowing three runs, two earned, and three walks with eight strikeouts.
Of course, all of the Mets offense would come off a Rene Rivera two run homer in the fourth. After that hilarity would ensue.
There was Curtis Granderson of all people throwing out a runner at the plate (with the really throw from Kelly Johnson). It’s bizarre that the Cardinals sent Matt Adams, who just might be slower than James Loney. It’s even stranger when you consider that earlier in the game the human windmill Tim Teufel held Jose Reyes at third when he could’ve scored off a Yoenis Cespedes two out double.
Speaking of Cespedes, he had quite the juggling act in the outfield in the sixth:
Then there were the curious decisions like Terry Collins keeping Wilmer Flores on the bench while sending James Loney and Johnson up to bat in the eighth against Cardinals lefty Kevin Siegrist. They weren’t able to muster a rally.
The Mets would start a rally in the ninth with a Granderson leadoff single off new Cardinals closer Seung-hwan Oh. That rally would end when Granderson tagged up on Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham after a deep Cespedes fly out:
Stop it, Pham. https://t.co/QUYrvtDqs6 pic.twitter.com/3sl2LVk3MG
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 26, 2016
After a Loney fly out, the Mets lost 3-2. The second game of the doubleheader would be much calmer, but it would still nevertheless be strange.
For starters, the spark plug of the Mets offense in the game was Alejandro De Aza. De Aza would go 1-1 with a double, a walk with two runs. Even more bizarre is that he would be driven in both times by Asdrubal Cabrera.
In the third, Cabrera followed a De Aza double with a double of his own striking an 0 for his last 697,597,475,491 streak (actually, it was 0-32). In the fifth, Cabrera would hit a sac fly to score De Aza from third.
The other run would score when Loney hit into a fourth inning double play scoring Flores. Flores was on third because he hit a leadoff double, and he moved to third when Randal Grichuk flat out dropped a ball in right field off the bat of Neil Walker. Considering how he’s been playing lately, it’s just about the only way Walker can reach base. He would go 0-2 with a walk on the night.
These three runs were enough for Bartolo Colon who was terrific tonight after pitching to a 7.36 ERA and allowing batters to hit .338/.386/.662 against him over his last three starts. Naturally, on this night, Colon only allowed one earned on three hits with no walks and eighth strikeouts. Of course, he would out pitch Syndergaard tonight in the Mets 3-1 win.
Finally, in the sixth inning, things began to calm down. Collins made a curious decision to allow Colon to bat in the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs. Collins eschewed the chance to blow the game open.
Then in the eighth and ninth, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia shut down the Cardinals to preserve the win.
After all that craziness, the Mets and Cardinals split the doubleheader. The end result was nothing changed between them in the Wild Card standings. The Mets stayed a half game up on the Cardinals with the runner game tomorrow.
Game Notes: Josh Smoker was called up to be the 26th man in the second game of the doubleheader. He would not make an appearance.
On a typical Sunday, I’ll catch the first few innings on the car radio. Not today. We got out of the house earlier than usual to ensure we’d be home in time for my son and I to watch not only the Mets game, but also Mike Piazza‘s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Everywhere we went, Mets were talking about how excited they were for both an important game against the Marlins, but also to see Piazza join Tom Seaver as the only Mets players in the Hall of Fame. My son got caught up in the excitement as well singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Meet the Mets.” However, he was most excited when he got his lemonade. Check that, he took my peach jalapeño sticking me with the Strawberry one.
It’s a big Mets day, I’ll call it my Darryl Strawberry one.
Naturally, we started with the Mets game as Piazza wasn’t at the podium. By the way, God bless whoever created picture-in-picture. The Mets game got off to a great start with Michael Conforto showing that he just might be able to play well in center field:
Then, in the third, Jose Reyes would hit a two out RBI triple scoring Conforto, who was actually in scoring position. The Mets had a 1-0 lead, and soon it would be time to tune in to watch Piazza officially become a Hall of Famer:
His speech was perfect.
He touched on everything you would want him to touch upon. He spoke glowingly about his boyhood idol Mike Schmidt and how Johnny Bench was the standard bearer at the position. He thanked everyone on the Dodgers including Tommy LaSorda, Eric Karros, and Tom Candiotti. He talks about how great it was growing up as a Dodger before talking poignantly about what it meant to him to be a Met.
He talked about how John Franco welcomed him into his home and gave him his #31. He talked about his on and off the field relationship with Al Leiter. He spoke about how clutch Edgardo Alfonzo was making it easier for him to do what he did, which was hit big homers including the post 9/11 home run.
But like the most of the speech, Piazza deflected the attention away from himself. Instead, he talked about the real heroes were those that gave their lives on 9/11. Much like the moment he hit that home run, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – Cooperstown, yours, and mine.
His acknowledgment of Mets fans was also touching. It’s something that’s not always seen in Hall of Fame speeches. It was touching to hear he loved us as we loved him.
All while this was happening, Steven Matz was back in form, and he was mowing down the Marlins. I barely noticed him pitching six innings allowing four runs, none earned, and two walks with six strikeouts. By the time, I was fully re-engaged in the game I mostly ignored in the picture-in-picture, Hansel Robles was on the mound.
Robles did what he has done for most of the year and shut down the opposition. He seems to have been given the seventh inning job, and he has it locked down.
In the top of the eighth, the Mets finally got some insurance. Yoenis Cespedes singled home Alejandro De Aza, who had reached base on a wild pitch by Kyle Barraclough after striking out. Seriously, how else would De Aza reach base? James Loney singled home Curtis Granderson. The Mets seemed poised for more after a Kelly Johnson walk. However, Asdrubal Cabrera hit into a force out with Cespedes out at home (initially ruled safe, but it was overturned on replay) making him 0-32 in his last 32 at bats with runners in scoring position. Juan Lagares then lined out to end the rally.
Lagares had come on for defense in place of Conforto in the seventh. Conforto has played well before the seventh showing he could be a viable option going forward. He also had a nice day at the plate going 2-2 with a run scored.
After eight, it was 3-0 Mets which was a lot more support than Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia needed. Reed and Familia shut the door giving the Mets a 3-0 win putting them a half-game behind the Marlins. It was Familia’s 34th straight save this year and 51 straight dating back to last year.
It put the end to what was a great day to be a Mets fan.
When the Mets brought back Jose Reyes, they were hoping his being back I his old haunts would bring out the best in him. It turns out the Mets theory was right, but the location was wrong. He just needed to go back to Marlins Park instead of Citi Field.
Right from the first at bat of the game, it was vintage Reyes. He led off with a double off Marlins starter Adam Conley. After stealing third, he would score on a Yoenis Cespedes sacrifice fly. Before Logan Verrett would throw a pitch, it was 1-0 Mets.
In the fourth, the Mets would rally with Travis d’Arnaud and Juan Lagares each getting a base hit. With two outs, it seemed like Conley was going to wriggle his way out of it until Reyes hit a chopper over the head of the third baseman Miguel Rojas scoring d’Arnaud to make it 2-0. With how well Verrett was pitching, it seemed like that would be enough.
Coming into tonight’s game, Verrett had only allowed one earned run against the Marlins in 13 innings. Heading into the sixth inning, that streak went to 18 innings. The streak ended there when Christian Yelich hit a game tying two run home run. He would be lifted for Hansel Robles, who would of course get out of the inning further unscathed. Verrett’s final line would be 5.1 innings, four hits, two earned, one walk, and three strikeouts.
Reyes would get back to work in the seventh with a leadoff single. He then went from first to third on a Curtis Granderson single. Reyes scored again on another Cespedes sacrifice fly. It gave the Mets a 3-2 lead, and it would give Robles his fifth win of the year after he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings.
James Loney provided some insurance runs with a two run ninth inning home run off Fernando Rodney to give the Mets a 5-2 lead. Loney had come on for defense for Wilmer Flores in the eighth. It turned out to be avoid move. With the Mets bullpen, that would be the final score.
Naturally, Addison Reed pitched a scoreless eighth, and Jeurys Familia would earn the save. It was his 34th straight save this season, and his 50th straight save dating back to last year. It was interesting as Cespedes lost one in the lights, and Familia walked Giancarlo Stanton to make it two on and no out. Familia struck out the next two before Martin Prado‘s RBI single making it 5-3. Adeiny Hechavarria would then ground out to end the game.
Overall, the story of the night was Reyes. On the night, he was 3-5 with two runs, a double, an RBI, and a stolen base. He was terrific in the field even atoning for a fourth inning throwing error by starting the 5-4-3 double play.
Game Notes: Even when Alejandro De Aza does something right, he falters. After drawing a walk, he was then thrown out trying to steal second. It should be noted at that time, Terry Collins had pretty much every left-handed batter at his disposal, and he still went with De Aza in a one run game.
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia have combined to hold the lead in 33 of 34 chances in which they have been given a lead in the eighth inning or later. Jerry Blevins, the purported LOOGY, has actually held right-handed batters to a lower batting average while pitching to a 2.08 ERA. Hansel Robles has been a veritable Swiss Army knife in the bullpen. One day, he’s pitching 3.2 innings to help preserve the bullpen after a starter gets knocked out a game early. The next, he’s coming into the game to get the Mets out of a no out bases loaded situation unscathed. With these arms, the Mets have a dominating bullpen.
However, behind these arms is a question mark. Jim Henderson has started to pitch well in his rehab assignment. However, he has been a different pitcher since his ill advised April 13th appearance. Seth Lugo has pitched six scoreless innings over three appearances. However, each of these appearances were in low pressure situations, and Terry Collins does not appear to trust him enough to try him in a pressure situation. Erik Goeddel entered the season with a 2.48 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, and a 9.0 K/9, but he has struggled this year pitching to a 4.50 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, and an 8.4 K/9. There remains intriguing options in the minors like Josh Edgin, Josh Smoker, and Paul Sewald. Between this group, the Mets could piece together a fine bullpen. However, as the Mets are in heat for playoff spot, they do not want to take any chances.
The Mets are even more committed to finding that one bullpen piece considering how the team now has some question marks in the rotation with Matt Harvey‘s season ending surgery, Steven Matz‘s bone spurs, and Noah Syndergaard‘s dead arm. According to Marc Carig, the Mets lost out on Kevin Jepsen and believe the pricetag for Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress will be too high. Further hampering the Mets pursuit are the trades the team has made over the past year and a half. Still, they are looking to preferably add a reliever who can lock down the seventh inning thereby taking some stress off their starting pitchers. With that in mind, here are some options the Mets could pursue:
Jeremy Jeffress – As noted the pricetag should be high as Jeffress has the Brewers closer has recorded 23 saves with a 2.35 ERA and a 3.39 WHIP. He is also under team control until 2020.
John Axford – Axford has some ugly numbers this year with a 5.21 ERA and a 1.579 WHIP for the last place Oakland Athletics. However, it should be noted that his velocity is still there and he still has the same bite on his curveball. A new voice and a pennant race could rejuvenate him. It should also be noted in the postseason, Axford has a 1.42 ERA, 1.026 WHIP, and a 12.8 K/9.
Brad Hand – Like many relievers, Hand has seemingly figured things out in San Diego after having mostly struggled in his first five years with the Marlins. He has a 2.94 ERA and a 1.269 WHIP this year as opposed to the 4.71 ERA and 1.424 WHIP he had with the Marlins. Part of the reason for his success is his increased use of his slider which is a pitch that has generated a high percentage of swings and misses. Hand does profile as the type of pitcher Dan Warthen has had success with during his tenure with the Mets.
Ryan Buchter – The 29 year old career minor leaguer and Sewell, New Jersey native has taken full advantage of his first read shot in the majors with a 2.41 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP, and a 12.5 K/9 in 44 appearances. Like what Antonio Bastardo was supposed to be, he is a cross-over lefty. Like his teammate Hand, he relies upon his fastball and slider to get outs. However, unlike Hand, he throws it with greater velocity with a 94 MPH fastball and an 87 MPH slider. Again, he is the type of pitcher that typically fairs well under Dan Warthen’s tutelage.
Chris Withrow – In his first season post-Tommy John, Withrow has a 3.38 ERA and a 1.313 WHIP in 33 appearances for the woeful Atlanta Braves. He is a Mets kind of pitcher as he is a power pitcher out the bullpen that has a mid nineties fastball and a high eighties slider. He may not come cheap as he is under team control until 2020, and the Braves consider him their future closer.
Tyler Clippard – The main thing that will prevent Clippard from becoming a Met is his contract. He is in the first year of a two year $12.25 million contract that will pay him $6.15 million next year. Further diminishing the chances of a reunion is the fact that Clippard is having a career worst season with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.234 WHIP. Like with Axford, the much cheaper option, the Mets would be hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Like with Jose Reyes, the Mets would be hoping he is energized by putting on a Mets uniform again.
Adding one or more of these players should improve the Mets bullpen. Regardless of whether or not the team adds one of these pitchers, or somebody else all together, they need Familia, Reed, Blevins, and Robles to continue pitching well out of the pen. They also need Bastardo to figure things out sooner rather than later as it is his struggles that are precipitating this bullpen search.
That was just a good baseball game. It featured a pitcher’s duel between the Cubs ace Jake Arrieta and one of the Mets aces Noah Syndergaard.
The Cubs struck first in the third when Syndergaard threw a wild pitch, which probably should have been smothered by Rene Rivera who made a backhand stab at the ball, allowing Willson Contreras to score. The Cubs were primed to score again in the following inning. Arrieta led off with a double, and he tried to score on a Tommy La Stella single. However, he would be mowed down by the new right fielder Michael Conforto:
This missile by @mconforto8 in the 4th looms larger now! #ScooterStrength#Mets 1 CHC 1 | Mid 6 pic.twitter.com/pKDePLmpKE
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 20, 2016
As the replay would show, Rivera made a great tag.
Syndergaard gutted his way through 5.2 innings throwing 105 pitches. He allowed seven hits, one unearned run, and two walks. He would strike out eight batters including his 300th career strike out. Jerry Blevins took over and would combine with Hansel Robles (two innings), and Jeurys Familia (33rd save) to win a 2-1 game.
The loss was no fault of Arrieta, who was terrific. He pitched seven innings, one run, and one walk with eight strikeouts. For a while, it appeared like the Mets wouldn’t score that run, and that the Mets would lose 1-0. Then Jose Reyes did what he used to do best, what he was brought back to do. He hit his 100th triple as a Met and gave the Mets a chance to build a run off his speed.
He would score off a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly. The Mets tried to build another rally in the seventh. There were runners on first and second and Blevins was due up. For some reason, Terry Collins went to Alejandro De Aza instead of Kelly Johnson. Apparently, Collins was the only person who thought De Aza would come through in that spot. He didn’t.
In the ninth, there would be no De Aza or Arrieta standing in the Mets way. Neil Walker hit into a fielder’s choice after a James Loney leadoff single. Initially, it was ruled a double play, but replay would overturn the call. Walker was safe, and it wasn’t particularly close. Walker moved to second on an Asdrubal Cabrera single. After a Conforto strikeout, it appeared the Mets would fail to score a runner in scoring position again.
Instead, Rivera would hit a bloop single off Pedro Strop scoring Walker making it a 2-1 game. If that was the end of the game, it would have been a terrific game. However, it was what happened in the bottom of the ninth that made this a great game.
Familia walked Addison Russell and Miguel Montero to start the inning. Javier Baez then laid down a terrific bunt that he beat out. It was bases loaded with no outs. That’s a problem for mere mortal closers. It wasn’t an issue for Familia and his bowling ball sinker.
With the infield drawn-in, Matt Szczur to hit a ground ball to Loney, who threw out Russell at home. That brought up Kris Bryant to the plate, who could be the most dangerous hitter in the Cubs. Familia got him to ground into a game ending 5-4-3 double play.
It was a great instinctive move for new third baseman Reyes to go did the double play instead of the force out, and it was an incredible turn by Walker, who took a slightly offline throw with the runner bearing down on him to get the last out of the game at first.
This was easily the most exciting game of the year, and it was a great win.
We got you, Fam. https://t.co/szMZlgx62b pic.twitter.com/CvC0dLVsmg
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 20, 2016
Game Notes: Granderson started in center, and he was shaky out there. It is supposed to be temporary until Conforto is ready to take over. In his first full game back from AAA, Conforto was 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Yoenis Cespedes really looked hobbled out there.