Jose Reyes
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.
One thing that has become apparent with this Mets offense is they forgot there is an “S” in RISP because time and again runners find their way to second and third only to die. It was more of the same tonight.
The Mets were 0-7 with RISP. The team left seven runners on base in a game they lost 5-1. This includes, but is not limited to, the two runners left on base when Travis d’Arnaud hit into a 4-4-3 game ending double play. Coming into the night, he was hitting .190 with runners in scoring position.
This includes Neil Walker striking out in in a critical eighth inning spot where he came to the plate as the tying run. Coming into the game, he was hitting .258 with runners in scoring position. The fact that it is higher than his batting average tells you how his season has gone since April.
It includes Asdrubal Cabrera grounding into a double play killing a two on no out rally in the second with the score tied at zero. He’s now 0 for his last 28 with runners in scoring position.
The other Mets who failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position tonight were Juan Lagares (.167), Curtis Granderson (.150), Yoenis Cespedes (.259), and Jose Reyes. As usual, the Mets couldn’t score a run unless someone hit a homer. In fact, the only run the Mets scored on the night was a Wilmer Flores solo shot off Jon Lester in the seventh. Unfortunately, with the Mets not hitting with runners in scoring position, it was too little too late.
With the Mets struggles with runners in scoring position, the game was effectively over when Anthony Rizzo hit a three run third inning home run off Steven Matz. Matz’s final line would be five innings, eight hits, four earned, one walk, and five strikeouts. Again, he is not the same pitcher with the bone spurs as it is preventing him from incorporating his slider. Matz is now 0-7 in his last seven decisions.
Making things worse was a ball going through Cespedes’ wickets in the bottom of the eighth. Albert Amora hit a single to left that most likely would’ve scored Matt Szczur, who had previously hit a two out double off Erik Goeddel. Szczur could walk home easy after the ball went between Cespedes’ legs and continued all the way to the ivy. It should be noted, he had a good throw earlier in the game:
Yo.
Didn’t you see the cannon out there? https://t.co/CX7o1LF03W pic.twitter.com/3eQtONcAu3
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 19, 2016
Still, there were some positives to the game other than the Flores’ home run. Seth Lugo remains unscored upon in his young career after pitching another two scoreless innings. Michael Conforto made a pinch hitting appearance, and he had a well struck opposite field single.
Other than that, it was a lost night that leaves you scratching your head about the problems with runners in scoring position. You need to be concerned about Matz’s pitching. And while it is too early to be concerned, it should be noted the Mets fell to third place in the NL East to the Miami Marlins, who also have sole possession of the second Wild Card as of tonight.
When David Wright went down with what is seemingly season ending neck surgery, the Mets were left scrambling to find their long term solution at third base. Once Wilmer Flores came off of his own stint on the disabled list, he seemed to stake a claim to the position by playing the best baseball he has played in his young career. In his first 33 games since coming off the disabled list, he hit .294/.345/.461 with five doubles, four homers, and 17 RBI. He seemed to be fulfilling his promise as a versatile infielder with pop in his bat.
Ultimately, the Mets weren’t convinced. The team decided to Jose Reyes to play third base for a myriad of reasons including but not limited to the speed dimension to a team who had trouble hitting home runs unless they hit a home run. With that, Flores was back to being a bench option.
Yes, Flores would start the next three games upon Reyes’ arrival. He would start at second base in place of Neil Walker against the lefty Wei-Yin Chen, and he was in the starting lineup the following day to give James Loney the day off against the lefty Justin Nicolino. Flores would be double-switched into a few games, but he wouldn’t make another start until about a week later when the Mets faced the Nationals and Gio Gonzalez. Essentially, Flores has turned into a platoon player who seemingly will start in place of Loney at first base when there is a lefty on the mound. Terry Collins’ treatment of Flores is a far cry from the man who proclaimed about a year ago, “If you want to stay in the lineup, you’ve got to start hitting.” (ESPN).
Since he came off the disabled list, Flores has hit. He’s hit while the players around him haven’t. Neil Walker has been mired in a two plus month slump hitting .234/.310/.346 since May 1st. Reyes is hitting .222/.275/.556 in the nine games he has played since supplanting Flores in the lineup. Over their careers, Walker and Reyes have been better players than Flores. Furthermore, with Walker’s April and Reyes’ speed, you can argue they are much more important to the success of the Mets.
Still, they’re not hitting, and it’s one of many factors that’s hampering the team. From May 29th through July 4th, when Flores was the regular third baseman, the Mets averaged 4.3 runs per game. In the nine games since, the Mets are scoring 3.7 runs per game. In that stretch, the Mets went 4-5 including the team losing three of four to the Nationals. It’s a small sample size, but it’s an important one to keep in mind when Collins removed a productive hitter like Flores from the lineup.
The Mets are in the middle of a dogfight for one of two Wild Card slots, and they trail the Nationals by six games in the division with less than half a season to play. In order to make the postseason, the Mets need to put their best lineup out there each and every day. Right now, that should include Flores whether he’s playing in place of Reyes who’s still working his way back to form or Walker who’s struggling mightily.
Until such time as Reyes gets up to speed or Walker figured things out, Flores needs to play everyday.
Little known fact after Jacob deGrom is he is also apparently also a master of karate:
Coming into Sunday’s game against the Phillies, deGrom was 14-3 with a 1.72 ERA and a 0.960 WHIP in day games. He limits batters to a .192/.261/.272 batting line. Certainly, deGrom has been the champion of the sun.
Sunday, it was more of the same as he pitched the first complete game shutout of his career in a Mets 5-0 win. Fittingly, the Dayman did it in Flipadelphia. The only Phillie to get a hit was the opposing pitcher Zach Eflin. He finished the game strong striking out the last batter of the game Odubel Herrera.
The final pitch of @JdeGrom19's complete-game one-hit shutout.#deGOAT ?????????https://t.co/bGQXKmpash
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 17, 2016
Overall, deGrom went the distance allowing just that third inning hit while walking one and striking out nine. He only needed 105 pitches meaning he was ever so close to accomplishing a Maddux, which is complete game shutout on less than 100 pitches (dubbed for Hall of Famer Greg Maddux).
Now, deGrom is 15-3 with a 1.63 ERA and a 0.923 WHIP in day games. He has defeated the Nightman, and he is a master of karate.
Friendship for everyone.
Game Notes: deGrom’s would also go 1-3 at the plate scoring on a Jose Reyes double. Asdrubal Cabrera continued his July tear hitting a two run homer. The other runs came off a Juan Lagares RBI triple, and a Curtis Granderson solo home run.
Tonight, the Mets seemed more intent on manufacturing runs than putting together big innings. It’s a time when the Mets needed Benjamin Martin as their manager instead of Terry Collins:
The first Mets run of the game was the result of Juan Lagares hitting a double, starter Logan Verrett bunting him over, and Jose Reyes scoring him on a sacrifice fly. In the following inning, Curtis Granderson hit a double, moved to third on a Neil Walker ground out, and scored on a Travis d’Arnaud sacrifice fly. The Mets tried to repeat the task in the seventh, but it proved to be one time too many.
With runners on first and second with no outs, Collins ordered Juan Lagares to lay down a sac bunt with runners on first and second with no outs. Lagares’ successful bunt moved d’Arnaud to third. Kelly Johnson hit a shallow fly ball to left which wouldn’t have scored Usain Bolt. Still it’s very curious that Collins would go all-in on pushing in the one run and not use Alejandro De Aza to pinch run for d’Arnaud in that spot. It was inconsistent in what Collins was trying to accomplish. In the blink of an eye, the Mets went from two on with no outs to two on with two outs.
Cabrera would be robbed of a hit by a sliding Cody Asche. As a result, the Phillies kept the score at 2-2, and Cabrera moved to 0 for his last 25 with RISP.
Conversely, Phillies manager, Pete Mackanin didn’t seek to play small ball in the bottom of the seventh. The game winning rally started with a Cabrera throwing error allowing the speedy Peter Bourjos to get on base. He moved into scoring position after Jerry Blevins walked Asche. Hansel Robles came in and got one right into Maikel Franco‘s kitchen. Franco was able to fight it off for an RBI single.
The Phillies would score another run in the eighth when Erik Goeddel threw a wild pitch allowing Ruiz to score from third. It would increase the Phillies lead to 4-2 ruining a decent start by Verrett and knocking the Mets to seven back of the Nationals.
One other annoying aspect of the game was seeing yet another team try to re-enact Game Five of the World Series. No matter how slow they are, everyone thinks they can re-create the Eric Hosmer play no matter how slow. Tonight, it was Carlos Ruiz‘s turn:
The throw by Loney, the tag by d'Arnaud. What a play. 2-2 #Mets, Phillies heading into 7th. pic.twitter.com/WUkSL7jv0a
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) July 17, 2016
Ruiz was running as Jerad Eickhoff worked a full count against Logan Verrett. Ruiz kept going as Eickhoff beat out Asdrubal Cabrera‘s throw. couldn’t get the ball to first in time to record the out. However, he wouldn’t score as James Loney alertly threw the ball home and d’Arnaud laid down an absolutely terrific tag. That play kept the game tied at 2-2. As we know, it proved to be all for naught.
Game Notes: Ryan Howard opened the scoring with a solo home run. Yoenis Cespedes sat out the game with his injured quad. Fittingly, De Aza made the last out of the game.
Except for the Jerry Manuel experiment in 2010, Jose Reyes has spent the vast majority of his career as a leadoff hitter. Throughout his career, he’s been the prototypical leadoff hitter. He was the guy that got on base and would wreck havoc on the basepaths. He’d score from first on a double. He’d steal second and score from second on a single. He’d steal third and he would either score on a sacrifice fly or get a pitcher to balk him home. This is why Reyes has lead off his entire career, and this is why Terry Collins made him the leadoff hitter when Reyes played his first game with the Mets on July 5th.
However, Reyes isn’t the same player anymore. He’s gone from a .341 OBP and averaging 37 stolen bases a year with the Mets to a player with a .334 OBP who averages 27 stolen bases a year. Last year, he had a .310 OBP and 24 stolen bases while playing in two of the best hitter’s parks in all of baseball. Simply put, Reyes is no longer the same player, which means he shouldn’t be treated as such. It might be time for him to be moved out of the leadoff spot.
The leadoff spot should return to Curtis Granderson. The same Curtis Granderson who was the leadoff hitter that went to the World Series last year. The same leadoff hitter that needed just a little over one season to match Reyes’ team record for home runs leading off a game. This is the same Granderson who has a higher career OBP than Reyes and who had a .364 OBP for the Mets last year. After a tough May, Granderson has returned to that form with him hitting .276/.386/.496 with six homers and 11 RBI.
Overall, Granderson is a better hitter than Reyes is right now. He’s a better hitter than what Reyes has been the past few seasons. The Mets were at their most successful with Granderson leading off. It’s time to restore him to to leadoff spot.
In baseball lingo, a quality start is defined as a start in which a pitcher allows three earned or less in at least six innings pitched. With that said, Steven Matz did indeed have a quality start today allowing six hits, three earned, and four walks with five strike outs over seven innings. Unfortunately, with a Mets offense without Yoenis Cespedes, a quality start isn’t enough.
No, the Mets needed the Matz that existed prior to the one we saw prior to everyone knowing about him being bothered by bone spurs in his elbow. From April 17th to June 7th, Matz was 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA and a 1.006 WHIP. He was throwing a 94 MPH fastball 62% of the time, an 84 MPH change 11% of the time, an 88 MPH slider, 13% of the time, and a 78 MPH curve 14% of the time.
Since that game we saw him rubbing his elbow, Matz has maintained his velocity. However, he’s almost completely stopped using his slider. He now only throws it 3% of the time. Since he’s stopped throwing the slider, Matz has gone 0-3 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.430 WHIP. Those numbers include today’s loss.
While Matz was pitching better than he has in over a month, the Cespedesless Mets offense continued to sputter. The only offensive support came in the form of two Jose Reyes solo homers, including his Mets all-time leading 17th home run to leadoff a game. That broke the tie he had with current teammate Curtis Granderson. Reyes was the only Met with a multi-hig game one a day where the Mets only managed four hits. Juan Lagares and Asdrubal Cabrera got the other two hits.
While the Mets were starved for offense, Daniel Murphy continued to try to make the Mets rue the day they decided not to re-sign him. Murphy hit a two run homer in the first inning. The other run was scored off a Wilson Ramos RBI single in the third. Two of the Nationals’ Mets killers did it again.
Somewhat fittingly, it was De Aza who made the last out of the game for the Mets. The Mets lost 3-2 and fell six behind the Nationals after losing three out of four and six out of seven. At the very least, the Mets are still in playoff position as the second Wild Card heading into the All Star Break.
Game Notes: Alejandro De Aza started over Brandon Nimmo with the Nationals starting the lefty Gio Gonzalez.
On a field in Binghamton, New York the shortstop of the Mets’ past played alongside the Mets’ shortstop of the future. As it turns out, it was the the old shortstop, Jose Reyes, who came away impressed by the minor leaguer Amed Rosario saying, “Wow! He’s 20 years old and he looks like a veteran.” (New York Post). This is but one of the many accolades that have been bestowed upon Rosario in his young career.
The latest accolade to be bestowed upon Rosario was him being named the MLB Future’s Game. Earlier in the month it was being named to Baseball America’s All-Prospect Team for June. Somewhat surprisingly, Rosario was named to the team for his bat as he hit .381/.423/.536 with nine doubles and three triples in his time between St. Lucie and Binghamton. Rosario put up these impressive stats while continuing to play the terrific defense that was a major factor in the reason why the Mets signed the 16 year old Rosario out of the Dominican Republic in 2012.
Overall, Rosario has shown a terrific work ethic that has led to his continuous improvement. He’s gone from a .278/.328/.378 hitter for four different A league teams to a .344/.394/.459 hitter in AA. This marked improvement is why he has named the 79th best prospect by MLB.com this year. It’s why Keith Law named him baseball’s 42nd best prospect and has called him a superstar. It’s also why Baseball America named him the 98th best prospect in 2015, the 58th best prospect in 2016, and a member of the All-Prospect Team for June. Overall, it’s why Rosario keeps receiving accolades and drawing “Wows” from the people that come in contact with him. All of this and more is why the Mets aren’t going to trade Rosario.
In many ways, the Mets naming Rosario an untouchable prospect in a year they may need to make a big trade could be the biggest honor of them all. He’s earned that honor as well as all the others he has received. As long as Rosario keeps working hard and keeps improving, he’s going to receive even more.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsminors.net
The only thing that matters about tonight’s game is the fact that Yoenis Cespedes left the game with a strained quad in the third and Noah Syndergaard left the game in the fifth with an apparent injury. It’s worth noting that Syndergaard’s last two fastballs were 93 and 91 MPH. He throws offspeed pitches faster than that.
These injuries came on the heels of Matt Harvey announcing he was electing to have season ending surgery to address his thoracic outlet syndrome. With Cespedes and Syndergaard leaving the game, Harvey’s season being over, and tonight’s 3-1 loss to the Nationals, the Mets would suffer four losses tonight.
In the game tonight, Stephen Strasburg was awesome. He had a no-hitter going until Asdrubal Cabrera homered off of him in the fifth. Strasburg’s final line was seven innings, two hits, one earned, three walks, and nine strikeouts.
Strasburg was able to win because the Nationals’ Mets killers showed up again. Clint Robinson hit a two run homer in the second, and Daniel Murphy, of course, hit an RBI double in the third.
The Mets tried to muster a rally in the eighth beginning with a Wilmer Flores double off Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley. Jose Reyes followed with an infield single that Murphy stopped from going into the outfield while rolling over 2-3 times. It was first and third with no outs, and Reyes would just stay there. He stayed there while Oliver Perez got Curtis Granderson to pop out to short. He stayed there when Juan Lagares, who came in for the injured Cespedes, hit into the inning ending 4-6-3 double play. That double play ended the Mets best shot to tie the game.
If you want to take something positive from the day allowing you to smile like you’re Brandon Nimmo, Seth Lugo had another impressive performance. Lugo pitched two scoreless and hitless innings. Given Harvey’s injury and Syndergaard leaving tonight’s game, Lugo is making a case for himself to join the rotation.
Game Notes: The Mets announced Syndergaard left the game due to arm fatigue and not due to issues related to his bone spurs. That’s not all that comforting either.