Jose Reyes
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.
When the Mets signed Jose Reyes to predominantly play third base in David Wright‘s prolonged absence, many believed this would mean Wilmer Flores would find himself back on the bench. Today, Flores would have something to say about that.
In the second inning, Flores hit a bomb to left centerfield off Justin Nicolino to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Flores hit another one to left center to give the Mets a 4-1 lead.
There was some excitement when he came up with the bases loaded in the fifth, and he worked a 3-1 count. Unfortunately, he hit a hot shot right at Don Kelly, who started the 5-5-3 double play. However, this double play wouldn’t mar what was a 2-4 day with the two solo homers.
Between Flores’ two homers and Curtis Granderson‘s two RBI single in the fourth, Jacob deGrom had all the run support he needed in his last start before the All Star Break.
For most of the afternoon, deGrom spent his time in and out of trouble. He was twice aided by timely double plays that prevented a run from scoring. Overall, it was a very good start that saw deGrom throw 117 pitches over seven innings allowing six hits, two earned, and two walks with seven strikeouts. The two runs were courtesy of Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton killed the Mets like he did this entire three game series. He tied a major league record by having homers in his last four at bats, which included his first two at bats today. In total, eight of his last ten hits at Citi Field have been homers. He’s got three of the four longest homers at Citi Field. By the way, Yoenis Cespedes has the other:
Via @ESPNStatsInfo: pic.twitter.com/P6yTUuwqEY
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) July 6, 2016
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia made sure of that Stanton wouldn’t cause any more damage. Reed struck out the last batter in the eighth to ensure Stanton couldn’t tie the game with another homer. Familia struck him out leading off the ninth en route to his 30th consecutive save to start the season.
The Mets 4-2 win moved them to 2.5 games up on the Marlins in the East and the Wild Card. The Mets will now look to make similar headway against the Nationals this weekend.
Game Notes: Reyes started at shortstop because Asdrubal Cabrera was up late last night due to a family illness. Reyes was 2-4 with two doubles and a run. Flores was shifted from first to third, and James Loney got the start. The Marlins challenged a call in the fifth, but the double play ruling on the field was upheld.
In 2004, the Mets called up David Wright to play alongside Jose Reyes. At that moment, everyone imagined the pair winning World Series titles, having their numbers retired, and joining one another again in Cooperstown. As it would turn it, they couldn’t spend their careers playing alongside one another. With the Mets financial troubles, the Mets had to choose between the two.
Reyes had been in the Mets organization since he signed as a 16 year old out of the Dominican Republic. During his tenure with the Mets, he was the team’s sparkplug. He energized the players on the field, and he energized the fans in the stands. He was the team’s single season and all-time leader in stolen bases. He was the all-time leader in triples. His speed on the basepaths was only matched by the speed in which he threw the ball. He was the greatest shortstop in Mets history.
He also played alongside the greatest third baseman in Mets history. Wright was the lifelong Mets fan who was the MVP type talent. He was a Gold Glove third baseman and a 30/30 man. He was the player the Mets seemed to be grooming to become the face of the franchise. In many ways, Wright was the chosen one. It should come as no surprise that with Reyes’ free agency in 2011, the Mets picked Wright over Reyes.
From that point forward, it was a difficult road for both.
Reyes initially signed with the Marlins only to be traded away one season later to the Blue Jays. During his time on the unforgiving turf of the Rogers Centre, Reyes would not only suffer injuries, but he would also lose a step or two. For the first two years, the Blue Jays underachieved. They were unable to make a real push for the postseason. When they were finally able to do so in 2015, the Blue Jays traded him away for Troy Tulowitzki. Reyes was with the Rockies for a last place club. In that offseason, he would be charged with domestic violence. Heading into this season, he would be suspended for 51 games and released by the Rockies.
Wright had his own problems when he was apart from Reyes. He had troubles with Citi Field like most of the Mets hitters did under the original constructs of the outfield walls. Since the Mets moved to Citi Field, Wright seemingly alternated between healthy and injury prone seasons. He alternated between an All Star caliber player and an average third baseman. All the while, the Mets were a sub-.500 team that were going nowhere fast. It was discovered in 2015 that Wright suffered spinal stenosis. He would return to be able to play in the World Series and be the Mets 2016 Opening Day third baseman, but he was no longer the same player. This year, Wright’s body would break down yet again with him requiring a discectomy and cervical fusion. He was all but gone for the season. The Mets were left in a lurch as they needed a third baseman.
With the Mets in need of a third baseman and Reyes in need of a job, the two came together to give Reyes a chance at redemption. In order to make room for Reyes on the 40 man roster, the Mets moved Wright to the 60 day disabled list. Wright and Reyes still aren’t united as both will not take the field aside one another like we all assumed they would do in 2004. Amazingly, Reyes has become Wright’s replacement not just at third base, but also on the roster as Wright was placed on the 60 day disabled list to make room for Reyes.
This was the second time the Mets had to sacrifice one to make room for the other. It was never supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be on the same team for their entire careers. They were supposed to be side-by-side from 2004 until their induction in Cooperstown. It hasn’t worked out that way. In fact, they may never play alongside each other ever again.
Steven Matz had a terrific start pitching seven innings allowing only two earned on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts. The outing was all the more impressive considering he’s dealing with bone spurs in his elbow that Matz once believed required in-season surgery. Unfortunately, despite this terrific start, he’d be a hard luck loser because he made one bad pitch to Giancarlo Stanton:
.@Giancarlo818 is very strong … but you knew that. https://t.co/T2sfNGtEAx pic.twitter.com/2TLXZtHUz6
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 6, 2016
Just like that Stanton turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. From there Stanton would go on and make sure the Marlins would win the game.
Yoenis Cespedes led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk off Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen. After the next two batters recorded outs, James Loney became the first Mets batter not named Cespedes to get a hit off of Chen. Juan Lagares then hit a sinking line drive to right that looked like it was going to tie the game:
Big G is doing it all tonight!
?: https://t.co/OkV4n7NGL1 pic.twitter.com/s2r7l1aXy4
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 6, 2016
In the top of the eighth, Stanton added all the insurance the Marlins needed after he hit a three run home run off Erik Goeddel to make it 5-1 and unofficially put the game out of reach.
The main issue tonight was Chen was really good for the Marlins. He allowed only three base hits, and two of them were off of the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. The only run he allowed was Cespedes’ solo home run in the fourth. The only other Mets to reach base off of Chen was Loney with the aforementioned base hit and Curtis Granderson with a walk.
It’s easy to get hung up on Chen’s 5.11 ERA heading into tonight’s game. However, that overlooks the fact that the Mets have been hitting of late. It also ignores Chen’s lifetime 3.88 ERA and his 3.34 ERA in 2015. In essence, Chen was capable of this performance, and he just so happened to do it tonight in a Marlins’ 5-2 win.
Game Notes: Jose Reyes played his first game with the Mets since re-signing with them after his domestic violence incident. He wore his familiar number 7, and Travis d’Arnaud switched to 18. He leadoff and played third. Reyes was 0-4 with a strike out. There was not one ball hit his way.
With Reyes’ return, Matt Reynolds was demoted to AAA meaning the Mets kept Alejandro De Aza. For once, he rewarded the Mets faith by hitting a pinch hit home run in the eighth off Fernando Rodney.
There’s a box laying in an empty Mets clubhouse. An unsuspecting Travis d’Arnaud is standing over the box accompanied by Curtis Granderson and Jose Reyes. There was an ominous tone to the meeting as Reyes had already committed most of the seven deadly sins prior to this tension filled moment:
Gluttony – in 2010, it was discovered that Reyes suffered from thyroid problems which many attributed to either diet or drug use.
Greed – He bolted the Mets after signing a six year $106 million contract with the Marlins as soon as free agency began.
Sloth – In his last game with the Mets, Reyes bunted for a single and exited the game ensuring he would win the batting title.
Lust – After being traded last year, Reyes openly talked about how desperately he wanted to once again be a member of the New York Mets despite his being a member of the Colorado Rockies.
Pride – In 2007, Reyes set out to get the Mets all time stolen base record even though his sliding headfirst each and every time was taken a toll on his hands and was noted as a factor in his second half decline.
Wrath – Reyes was charge with beating his wife in their hotel room in Hawaii.
The last sin is what brings us here today. If not for that last sin, Reyes isn’t released from the Rockies. He wouldn’t have found himself back with the Mets organization. He certainly wouldn’t have found himself standing in the Mets clubhouse. Now, there is just one thing he wants, but he can’t have it because it because it belongs to another. This is the point we’re at when d’Arnaud is standing over that box in the clubhouse. He bends down, and he opens it up horrified.
It’s an entire box of Mets jerseys with the number 7. All of these jerseys with the number 7 – home, away, blue alternates, and even the 1986 racing stripe jerseys. They all have the number 7. However, now, these jerseys no longer bear d’Arnaud’s name on the back. No. These jerseys now have Reyes’ name on the back. Reyes took his number back; the number he Envied.
Before yesterday’s game about the only thing Edgardo Alfonzo and Wilmer Flores had in common was the fact that they were Venezuelan born Mets infielders. Other tha that, they could not be more different.
Fonzie was about as clutch a hitter the Mets have ever had. The reputation began in his first ever postseason at bat where he homered off Randy Johnson. In his second at bat, he hit a grand slam off Bobby Chouinard. It was part of an NLDS that saw him hit three homers. The Mets needed each one of them as Mike Piazza was injured in that series.
Fonzie’s clutchness was part of what has made him the best second baseman in Mets history. In fact, as per WAR, he’s the seventh best Met ever over players like Piazz, Jose Reyes, and Keith Hernandez. Overall, Fonzie hit .282/.367/.445 with a 113 OPS+ as a Met. He was a Gold Glove caliber second baseman (even if he never won one) that was part of the Best Infield of All Time. Overall, he was a great Met that accomplished many great things.
One of them was going a perfect six for six with three homers, a double, six runs, and five RBI. No one expected Fonzie to match Fonzie’s August 30, 1999 performance. Of all the Mets you could imagine, you’d probably go through a lot of names before you come up with Wilmer Flores.
Wilmer Flores etches his name in @Mets history with 6-hit performance.https://t.co/vRXSCzkIhP #MLBmemorybankhttps://t.co/1rirM2rdMV
— MLB (@MLB) July 4, 2016
In his short career, Flores has been known as the guy who was miscast as a shortstop. The Mets have told fans about his offensive potential, but he’s still only a career .249/.288/.379 hitter with an 85 OPS+. He’s only playing everyday now because of David Wright‘s discectomy and fusion. In fact, most of Flores’ career has been forgettable except for the time he cried on the field:
The only real highlight had been his home run after the deal sending him and Zack Wheeler for Carlos Gomez fell through:
Flores has another highlight now with his 6-6, three run, four RBI, two home run performance. It was a moment that all could appreciate, even Fonzie:
Really cool: Edgardo Alfonzo just called to congratulate Wilmer Flores on joining him in the 6-for-6 club. #Mets
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 3, 2016
It might’ve been unlikely for Fonzie to do it, which makes it next to impossible for Flores to do it. And yet, Flores did do it. Flores had found his way into Mets fans’ hearts when he didn’t want to leave. He is now forever in the record books.
This was a bizarre day even for the Mets. The Mets sent down Michael Conforto and calling-up Brandon Nimmo. Jose Reyes was brought back despite the domestic violence incident. With all of that going on, the Mets still had a game to play.
Jacob deGrom was shaky early on needing a few double plays to get out of a couple of innings unscathed. Overall, he pitched well against a bad Braves team. His final like was eight innings, seven hits, no runs, one walk, and six strikeouts. However, he did not get the win as the Mets offense failed him.
There was a threat in the third when Yoenis Cespedes tried to stretch a single into a double. He was easily out at second when he refused to slide. Instead of second and third with one it, Curtis Granderson stood alone on the basepaths with two outs. A Neil Walker pop out would put an end to the Mets only real threat against Braves’ starter Julio Teheran.
Teheran matched deGrom zero for zero. He too lasted eight innings. He only allowed five hits, no runs, and no walks with seven strikeouts. You could call it a pitcher’s duel between two talented pitchers. You could also call it an contest in ineptitude between two dreadful offenses.
The Braves chance for a walk-off win was stymied in the ninth when Granderson made a sliding catch in foul territory to end the inning and send the game into extras.
The Mets finally broke through in the eleventh when ex-Brave Kelly Johnson hit a homer off ex-Met Dario Alvarez to put the Mets up 1-0. All that was needed was for Jeurys Familia to shut the door and recorded his 26th straight save to open the season. Given the Mets luck and Familia pitching more than one inning thd night before, it didn’t promise to be easy. It wasn’t.
The Braves had a runner on second with one out and Freddie Freeman coming to the plate. At that point, Terry Collins made something readily apparent. He watches Mets games as closely as Mets fans do. He knows Freeman kills the Mets like other Braves’ Mets killers in the past like Chipper Jones (sorry Larry), Brian Jordan, etc. With that in mind, Collins ordered Famila to intentionally walk Freeman.
It was a smart play as it prevented Freemam from killing the Mets again. It was a smart play as it set up the double play. When Nick Markakis hit the comebacker, the Mets got end the game by turning the double play. The 1-6-3 double play was the Mets third of the night.
With all the emotion from today and drama that followed the Mets around most of this year, it is easy to forget the Mets are only two games back in the division and one in the loss column. The Mets will try to get closer tomorrow.
Game Notes: In honor of the Negro Leagues, the Mets wore Brooklyn Royal Giants gear. As Nimmo didn’t get to Atlanta in time, the Mets started Alejandro De Aza, who was 0-4 with a strikeout. Travis d’Arnaud threw out another would be base stealer.