Matt Harvey
Look, if we are being honest, we just saw a really ugly side of Noah Syndergaard this past week, and it all surrounded how he is handling his current physical issues. As we have seen in the past, this isn’t the first time it has happened with Syndergaard.
Last year, there was a lot of drama surrounding Syndergaard’s elbow, and that drama was mostly created by Syndergaard himself. After the Mets had confirmed a report that Syndergaard did indeed have bone spurs in his elbow, he denied their existence saying, “I do not, no. My arm feels great. No, there is nothing structurally wrong with (the elbow), wear and tear will do it to you. My arm feels really good. I just have to get ready to go in five days.” (Kristie Ackert, New York Daily News). His denial of a team confirmed report created an unnecessary news cycle that ended in Syndergaard finally admitting two days later there was a bone spur.
The lesson here is there is no point in lying to the media, especially when they already know the truth. There’s also the lesson that you’re not going to win with the media, especially in a town like New York. Despite that, Syndergaard is repeating past mistakes.
After the Mets shielded him and started Robert Gsellman on Wednesday chalking it up to a “miscommunication,” the Mets and Syndergaard finally had to come clean on Thursday when Matt Harvey had to make an emergency start in his place. It was finally time to come clean. The Mets admitted Syndergaard had an issue with his bicep which precluded him from making the start. When it was time for Syndergaard to address the media, Syndergaard was completely unprofessional. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, instead of answering reporters questions, Syndergaard chose to rip into Jay Horowitz for allowing the media to do its job. Syndergaard wasn’t just disprespectful to Horowitz, he was also disrespectful to a media doing it’s job. As Jerry Beach tweeted, Syndergaard called the media Horowitz’s minions.
As if this was not bad enough, Syndergaard did something really dumb after that. He refused to get an MRI. The Mets made the dumber decision to let him pitch despite his not getting that MRI. Syndergaard took the mound without anyone knowing the full breadth of his injury. He would only last 1.1 innings before needing to come out the game with an injury. As of this moment, it is reported to be a lat injury, and no one knows if it is related to the aforementioned bicep issue.
With Syndergaard leaving the game with the injury, he left behind an exasperated Sandy Alderson, angry Terry Collins, and a dejected fan base. Also, he’s getting that MRI he initially refused to get making this whole exercise completely pointless.
Maybe Syndergaard needs to believe he is indestructible in order to take that mound and pitch as great as he does. Maybe his emotions get in the way, and he responds in ways he later regrets. No one really knows because no one has the stuff he has, and those that have had something close have not been able to harness it the way Syndergaard has. He’s special on the mound, and there’s no doubt his mental makeup is a large part of that.
Still, Syndergaard needs to be a professional out there. While the New York media can certainly be unbearing, and at times cruel, a player has to learn to deal with them. Moreover, he has to learn to treat the people he works with with respect. That involves treating Horowitz like something more than a punching bag. It involves him doing the aspects of his job he doesn’t want to do like talking to the media when there’s a problem. It involves him not leaving his teammates to pick up the bag for him in the clubhouse or in the locker room.
These are the same criticisms everyone had of Harvey last year when he was going through his struggles, and they were all fair. However, it should be noted Harvey was not on record insulting anyone. He knew enough not to do that.
This isn’t to say Syndergaard is a bad guy, or that he needs to change that thing about him that makes him great. We all love his swagger. The 60’6″ talk. The pseudo-war with Mr. Met. Rather, Syndergaard just needs to learn when to answer a question and listen to medical advice. If anything, it will make his time in New York easier, and it might lengthen his career.
The last time the Mets lying to everyone about an injury worked out was when they hid the fact that Duaner Sanchez was done for the season after his ill-fated cab ride. Keeping the injury under wraps allowed the Mets to move Xavier Nady for pitching help at the deadline. Certainly, if teams knew the Mets were desperate, the price for a reliever or an additional starter likely would have gone up.
However, when it is still April, the Mets gain nothing from lying to the fans. In fact, it only serves to further sow distrust with the fan base and to make them angry.
Last year, the line was Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, and Steven Matz were all dealing with “mechanical issues.” That turned into deGrom having a series of physical problems including his needing season ending surgery to help repair a nerve in his pitching elbow. Harvey’s mechanical issues turned out to be Thoracic Outlet Syndrome which also required season ending surgery. Finally, Matz’s mechanical issues was a massive bone spur in his elbow the Mets had him pitch through until he could no longer. Like deGrom and Harvey, he also needed season ending surgery.
Based upon this and the many many lies this team tells, you can’t trust them at all.
For example, what really is the issue with Noah Syndergaard. First, it was reported he had a blister. Then that became it wasn’t a blister, but a nail that ripped off while he was pitching. Despite these minor issues, he was slated to pitch on Wednesday until he didn’t. According to the Mets, there was a miscommunication, and Robert Gsellman was not supposed to be skipped in the rotation.
Then, it was a tired arm which became a shore bicep. That sore bicep became tendinitis. Syndergaard’s explanation was much more daunting when he said he felt pain in his shoulder when he threw the ball.
Speaking of Gsellman, we saw his velocity drop from 94 MPH to 90 MPH as the game progressed. Now, we’re hearing that he has mechanical issues. I think we know where this ends up.
Now, no one is truly forthright when discussing injuries. It is part of the territory with professional sports. If you follow the NHL, you’ll notice how “upper body injuries” are terms that mean needs 10 offseason surgeries. In MLB, a tired arm means an eventual visit to Dr. Andrews. We know that. The issue is the Mets seemingly lie more than anyone, and frankly, they’re not even that good at it.
With respect to Syndergaard, just tell the fans he is being skipped with a tired arm, and he will see the doctor. Don’t announce he’s starting Wednesday to presumably try to drive up attendance. Don’t conjure explanations when you can simply say he’s going to see a doctor. This sows distrust, and yes, a bit of panic with fans. Panic, which Sandy Alderson has mocked Mets fans for having in the past while he was doing nothing to improve the team.
You are already seeing an angry fan base. Despite the Mets having World Series aspirations, Citi Field has looked largely empty. It’s looked as empty as it did anytime from when it opened until 2015. The fans aren’t happy. The least you can do is level with us.
On any given day, any of the following would have been the worst thing to happen to the Mets. First, there was the announcement Noah Syndergaard needed to have his start skipped with bicep issues that radiate up to his pitching shoulder. Then Matt Harvey goes out in his place, doesn’t have his typical velocity, and he can’t get out of the fifth inning. Just when you thought things couldn’t go any worse, Yoenis Cespedes had to be helped off the field in the fourth inning after hitting a lead-off double.
Anything else that happened today didn’t matter because the Mets just might’ve seen their season flash before their eyes.
It doesn’t matter that a poor decision not to throw home in the second inning seemed to finally wake up Jose Reyes who would subsequently nail two runners at home and hit a home run. It doesn’t matter Neil Walker seemed to wake up offensively. It doesn’t even matter that Jay Bruce continues to hit well.
What matters is the Mets are faced with the very real prospect of losing Syndergaard and Cespedes for a long time. It also matters that Harvey took a big step back from the pitcher who was gradually getting stronger to start the year. Hopefully, there’s nothing wrong with him. The way things are going with the Mets right now, you shouldn’t have much hope.
Overall, the offense isn’t hitting, and the pitching is getting further compromised.
With all the talk about how the Mets fleeced the Blue Jays, R.A. Dickey must’ve smiled with this win. Not only was he able to pitch on a game Syndergaard wasn’t, but Travis d’Arnaud was also 0-2 with a strikeout against him. By the way, Wuilmer Becerra is coming off offseason shoulder surgery and has yet to play the field this year.
Yes, you do that trade 279,684,800,441,574,796 times out of 100, but at least in this game Dickey felt vindicated. He must have felt further vindicated with the Braves leaping the Mets in the standings leaving the Mets in last place. Unless things start to change, it’s hard to argue the Mets won’t stay there for a while.
Game Notes: Eric O’Flaherty pitched a scoreless inning and has not allowed a hit to the Mets since his first disastrous outing. The Mets have not had a lead in over 56 innings. They have no lost 10 of their last 11.
One of the ongoing jokes during yesterday’s rain out was that despite the rain out, Terry Collins had Jerry Blevins and Fernando Salas warming up in the bullpen in case the game started on time. As with most jokes, this one did have a twinge of truth to it.
So far this season, the Mets bullpen has been going on an unsustainable rate. Mike Marshall holds the single season record for appearances by a reliever with his making 106 appearances for the 1974 Dodgers. The Mets record for appearances is Pedro Feliciano with 92 appearances in 2010. This was the reason why Gary Cohen dubbed him Perpetual Pedro. Interesting enough, Felicano’s record is tied for fourth all-time with Marshall, who had 92 appearances for the 1973 Expos. Right now, the Mets bullpen is set to challenge these records at an alarming rate.
Blevins is on a pace to make 102 appearances this season. Hansel Robles is on pace to make 94 appearances this season. Addison Reed and Salas are on pace to make 85 appearances this season. Josh Smoker is on pace to make 77 appearances this season. Obviously, this would be career highs for each of these pitchers.
If they are to keep up this pace, Blevins would be second all-time for single season appearances by a reliever, and Robles’ 94 appearances would tie the now standing second place position. Looking over the record list, no one has made more than 74 appearances in a season over the last five years. The bullpen’s usage is unprecedented in terms of how many appearances these relievers are making. It is utterly amazing that the current pace of these relievers would put them at the top five appearances made by a reliever in single season over the past five seasons.
When you combine the appearances with the amount of times these pitchers warm up, they are going to be on fumes. Certainly, we have seen some diminishing returns already from Salas. The rest of the bullpen may not be too far behind him. This bullpen needs a rest and the subsequent rain out helped. However, they need more help.
They may receive some help now that Jeurys Familia has returned from his suspension. Certainly, he is the reliever Collins’ trusts most, and he will likely be the one Collins over uses next. More than Familia, the bullpen can use some length from their starting pitching.
Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom are the only relievers averaging at least six innings per start. Zack Wheeler and Robert Gsellman are averaging just over five innings per start. This means every night the bullpen needs to pick up at least 3-4 innings. With the Mets having already played four extra inning games to start the season, it has been much more than that.
The relative lack of length from the bullpen is understood. Harvey and deGrom are coming back from season ending surgeries last season. Wheeler has not pitched since 2014. Gsellman has not thrown more than 159.2 innings in a season. Really, you’re only workhorse right now is Syndergaard.
However, sooner or later something is going to have to give. The starters are going to have to give more length, or Collins is going to have to trust some of the other guys in the bullpen more. It’s understandable he hasn’t when Josh Edgin is a LOOGY with a 3.68 ERA, and his former long man, Rafael Montero, managed to get worse. The long story short here is someone has to step up. Otherwise, the bullpen may not last very long.
As if the Mets weren’t injured enough, the team had a new rash of injuries heading into tonight’s game.
Wilmer Flores and Lucas Duda went on the disabled list. Travis d’Arnaud and Yoenis Cespedes didn’t, but they couldn’t start. At least d’Arnaud was available to pinch hit. To make matters worse, Asdrubal Cabrera is now dealing with a hamstring injury keeping him out of the lineup, and Jacob deGrom woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
With deGrom waking up with a stiff neck, he missed tonight’s start, and he probably needs someone to start for him tomorrow.
With so many people out of the lineup, the Mets needed someone to step up. The Mets had people stepping up all over the place tonight.
First was Matt Harvey who was the surprise starter. Harvey gave his team a chance to win pitching seven innings. His final line was seven innings, four hits, three runs, three earned, two walks, and two strikeouts.
Harvey pitched well, but he was tripped up by the long ball. In the first inning, he grooved one to Bryce Harper who launched it for a two run homer. It was a strange site to see when you consider Harper couldn’t get a hit off pre-TOS Harvey. The third run off Harvey came off a Jose Lobaton solo shot in the fifth.
Despite the two homers and the makeshift lineup, Harvey had a no decision.
He was first helped by a Michael Conforto first inning blast off Tanner Roark‘s first pitch of the game:
.@mconforto8 stays ?!
2-1 Washington | End-1 pic.twitter.com/RK74WLFI9C
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 21, 2017
The second and third runs came courtesy of Curtis Granderson. In the fourth, Granderson had a two out RBI single scoring Jay Bruce. He then tied the score in the sixth:
Reservation for one in the Coca-Cola Corner. https://t.co/DrAgLPqptU #Mets pic.twitter.com/hStQG062AT
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 22, 2017
It was a terrific night for Granderson. Coming into the night, he was hitting .143/.197/.214. Just like he’s done in his entire Mets career, Granderson stepped up when the Mets needed him most going 2-4 with a run, two RBI, one walk, and the home run.
The Mets nearly took the lead in the seventh. Zack Wheeler hit for Harvey and hit a pinch hit double. The Mets would load the bases, and the Nationals would go to Oliver Perez, who got Bruce to line out to end the inning.
In the ninth, there was some craziness. Rene Rivera earned a lead-off walk off Joe Blanton, and Terry Collins opted to pinch run Robert Gsellman. T.J. Rivera then bunted Gsellman to second.
Cabrera then pinch hit for Addison Reed and drew a walk. Given his hamstring issues, Collins sent out Kevin Plawecki to pinch run for him. No, it didn’t make sense to do this and force the pitcher’s spot to come up earlier in the lineup, but nothing in this inning made much sense.
In the long run, Blanton worked his way out of the inning. Another side effect of the inning, Collins’ mechanations led to the pitcher’s spot coming up three spots earlier in the lineup. He did that in a game where the Mets had a short bench. Just an inexcusable move.
The Mets certainly could’ve benefitted from better managing as the pitcher’s spot did come up in the bottom of the 11th with the Mets down 4-3.
The Mets were down 4-3 because Jeurys Familia is still rusty. Keep in mind, he only made two relief appearances in the minors before his suspension was over.
After Josh Smoker allowed a lead-off double to Harper, Murphy was intentionally walked, and Familia entered the game. He threw a wild pitch allowing Harper to go to third. It didn’t matter much as he issued back-to-back walks to Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner to force in a run. Familia settled down after that, but it was too late. The Nationals took the lead.
Shawn Kelley came on in the 11th and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to earn the save. With that, the Mets fought valiantly, but still lost. They’re now under .500, and who knows who will be healthy enough to play tomorrow.
Game Notes: Daniel Murphy‘s 19 game hitting streak came to an end. He was 0-4, and he was intentionally walked in the 11th. Apparently, Reed wore the wrong hat during his appearance.
One of the best things to come out of the past offseason was Major League Baseball shortening the stint on the disabled list from 15 days to 10 day. Presumably, that change made it easier for teams to place their players on the disabled list to allow them to recover. Someone should tell that to the Mets.
Last night, with the Lucas Duda injury and Wilmer Flores infection, Jay Bruce was forced to play first base for the first time since he played three games there in 2014. That also put Juan Lagares in the position of being the team’s lone back-up outfielder and middle infielder. Lagares was initially signed by the Mets as a shortstop, but he has not played the middle infield since he played six innings for the Single-A Savannah Sand Gnats as a 20 yeard old in 2009. To put it in perspective how long ago that was, back in 2009, Citi Field just opened, and Daniel Murphy was considered a left fielder.
When Cespedes had to leave the game with a hamstring injury after running the bases in the fifth inning, the Mets were in trouble. If the game were to go deep into extra innings, the Mets were likely going to have to consider which infield position other than first could Kevin Plawecki handle. They might have followed through with the plan to put Zack Wheeler at first base like it was contemplated during the 16 inning game. If things got bad enough, the team might have had to lean on Jacob deGrom‘s experience as a collegiate shortstop.
Simply put, this is unacceptable. Year-in and year-out the Mets find themselves in this position, and they are more than willing to play with short benches with players not even available to pinch hit. Worse yet, they ask players to do too much.
Last year, the Mets saw Asdrubal Cabrera deal with a knee injury all season. From the middle of May until the end of July, he was hobbled and struggling. Over that stretch, he hit .232/.285/.436. The Mets finally put him on the disabled list so he could rest his knee. He responded by becoming the 2015 Yoenis Cespedes and willing the Mets to the postseason hitting .345/.406/.635 over the final 41 games of the season.
Speaking of Cespedes, the Mets were also stubborn about putting him on the disabled list. On July 8th, he suffered an injured quad. He would not go on the disabled list, and he would not play in another game until July 17th. When he did play, he was noticeably hobbled. From July 17th to August 3rd, Cespedes hit just .205/.302/.318 in 14 games before the Mets finally put him on the disabled list. When he came back, he hit .259/.335/.490 over the final 38 games of the season.
Then there was Michael Conforto. We are not quite sure when he was injured, but we do know that he received a cortisone shot in June of last year. Clearly something was bothering him as Conforto went from the best hitter on the team in April to a guy who hit just .174/.267/.330 for the rest of the year. Instead of a disabled list stint, the Mets treated him to multiple demotions to Triple-A, where he absolutely raked, and being stuck to the bench for far too long stretches. Perhaps if the Mets put him on the disabled list, his second season would have gone much differently, and the Bruce trade might not have been necessary.
You would think the Mets would have learned from that, but they clearly haven’t as they are already repeating the same mistakes.
While it is not ideal with six of the next nine games coming against the Nationals, the Mets can definitively get away with Bruce at first with an outfield of Conforto-Lagares-Curtis Granderson from left to right. While it does not have the offensive punch you would like, that is a really good defensive outfield. On the infield, the Mets could recall T.J. Rivera, who showed the Mets last year he has a place in the major leagues. The Mets could even get bold by calling up Gavin Cecchini to play second and moving Neil Walker to third. At a minimum, it would get a struggling Jose Reyes out of the lineup. It could also allow the Mets to pick and choose their spots with Reyes to allow him to be an effective pinch hitter or pinch runner in late game situations.
The overriding point is the Mets have talent on the 40 man roster even if Duda and Cespedes went on the disabled list. With the Mets throwing Noah Syndergaard, deGrom, and Matt Harvey, the Mets can still win a fair share of those games to keep the team afloat until Duda and Cespedes are ready to return to the lineup. In fact, the team might be better off because you’d rather have two healthy sluggers mashing all season than two injured players trying to find a way to produce to their normal levels.
That is something that didn’t work last year, and we can’t expect it to work this year. It’s about time the Mets learned how to properly utilize the disabled list and field a team of healthy players.
It was a Matt Harvey start, so you knew the Mets offense was not going to produce any runs. In Sunday’s game, the Mets took it to the next level getting no-hit by Dan Straily and a bunch of exhausted Marlins releivers for 7.2 innings before Neil Walker finally broke up the no-hitter.
With that the Mets once again spoiled a terrific Harvey start. Over six innings, Harvey allowed seven hits, two runs, one earned, and two walks with five strikeouts. Better than that, Harvey’s fastball velocity improved yet again. He was averaging 95 MPH on his fastball, and he was hitting 97 on the gun. He used his slider more, and it is becoming a weapon for him yet again.
The Marlins would get to Harvey immediately with Dee Gordon bunting his way one and then going to third when Harvey threw away a pickoff throw. Gordon then scored on a Christian Yelich groundout. In the sixth, the Marlins would strike again on a Marcell Ozuna RBI double scoring Yelich. Justin Bour tried to score on the double as well, but Yoenis Cespedes relayed to Jose Reyes to nail him at the plate. Between Cespedes’ arm and Travis d’Arnaud‘s ability to get down a tag, it’s amazing that anyone scores on a ball hit to left field.
At that point, the 2-0 lead could have been 10-0 for all that mattered with the Mets bats looking lifeless. Then in the ninth, the Mets bats came to life courtesy of David Phelps. The rally started with a d’Arnaud one out single and continued with a Wilmer Flores‘ two out single. With Giancarlo Stanton making an error trying to field the ground ball, d’Arnaud and Flores were able to move into scoring position.
Asdrubal Cabrera then pinch hit for Hansel Robles, and he tied the game with an RBI single. It was an amazing comeback considering where the Mets were offensively for the first eight innings. It is a pattern we have seen with the Mets not just in this series, but over the course of the season. This has been one of the more positive signs from the early season.
Unfortunately, a seemingly innocuous move to begin the top of the ninth set the stage for another disappointing Mets loss at Marlins Park. The Marlins double-switched J.T. Riddle into the game for Brad Ziegler and had him batting ninth.
Addison Reed came on to pitch in the ninth, and he didn’t have it. He allowed a lead-off single to Ozuna, who was then cut down at the plate when trying to score on a Miguel Rojas RBI double. This time it was the relay of Cespedes to Cabrera to d’Arnaud that got him out. Again, it is amazing that anyone would run on Cespedes in left.
Like the prior two games, the Mets heroics just set them up for heartbreak. Riddle, who was just substituted into the game to start the ninth, hit a walk-off home run to end the game. And with that, the Mets have once again suffered a brutal loss to the Marlins. It’s another walk-off loss at Marlins Park:
Since Marlins Park opened in 2012, the Mets have lost 26 games there. Incredibly, today was the Mets' 11th walk-off loss at Marlins Park.
— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) April 16, 2017
Nice to know, the Marlins are once again prepared to be a thorn in the Mets side. The remaining 12 games promise to be not much fun.
Game Notes: Another hitless game for Reyes who is now hitting .087. Over his last five games, Jay Bruce is 6-25 with no extra base hits. Flores got the start with Cabrera getting a day off. Josh Smoker and Robles each pitched a scoreless inning in their first appearances since going to the whip on Thursday’s 16 inning game.
Looking at this Mets team since 2015, one thing has been perfectly clear: this team is built on pitching, and it will only go as far as the pitching carries them. In 2015, when their starters were healthy and able to last the season, the Mets were able to win the National League Pennant. In 2016, with three of the arms going down, the Mets were still good enough to enter the postseason as the top Wild Card.
The Mets have been fortunate because the pitching has been cheap. It was not until recently that Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom entered their arbitration years. Noah Syndergaard won’t be arbitration eligible until after this season. It is interesting because it is after this season that things begin to become murky. Harvey and Wheeler are scheduled to become free agents after the 2018 season with deGrom becoming a free agent the season after that.
With the Mets success rising and falling on their pitching, it begs the question why haven’t the Mets selected at least one or two pitchers and come to terms on a contract extension. The common refrain among Mets fans is the team should keep Syndergaard and deGrom and join them in a rotation that one day may also feature Robert Gsellman, Justin Dunn, and Thomas Szapucki. For now, even with the clock ticking, the Mets aren’t making a move.
While it may not make sense to most Mets fans, in a report by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the New York Mets have advised why they have not entered into contract extension discussions with any of their young pitching:
1. Injuries
As GM John Ricco explained, “[GM] Sandy [Alderson] has not said let’s be aggressive in that area, and that [injuries] is the biggest reason.”
Fact of the matter is each one of these pitchers have an issue. Harvey, deGrom, Matz, and Wheeler have all had Tommy John surgery. Harvey, deGrom, and Matz all had season ending surgery last year. Even someone healthy like Syndergaard dealt with bone spurs last year. Point is, the Mets pitchers have not been exactly healthy, nor do they inspire confidence they will be healthy going forward. To that end, the Mets relative inactivity has been understandable.
2. Lack of Urgency
As noted in Sherman’s piece, the Mets do not have a pending free agent until the after the 2018 season, and Syndergaard isn’t a free agent until after the 2021 season. Honestly, this reason is a bit disingenuous. With Harvey’s pending free agency many expect this is Harvey’s last season in a Mets uniform as the team does not want to risk him walking in free agency and the team getting nothing in return for him.
3. Pitchers Aren’t Interested In Extensions
According to Ricco, who would know this better than fans, extension discussions are typically begun by the player and his agent. Again, with fans not being in the business, it is hard to challenge him on this. With that said, it is hard to believe the Mets would be willing to let all their pitchers go to free agency without so much as initiating contract disucssions with them. Frankly, it is harder to believe when you consider back in 2012, the Mets pounced on an opportunity to give Jon Niese a five year contract extension.
4. Personalities
As noted in Sherman’s piece, when you give a contract extension to one player, it is going to have ripple effects. As Ricco said, “You would have to manage personalities because if you do [an extension] with one, how does it impact the others?”
Now, this is a bit of an overstatement on Ricco’s part. Entering into contract extensions with the pitchers should be part of an overall plan. For example, when Omar Minaya was the General Manager, he was faced with Jose Reyes‘ pending arbitration in 2006, he agreed with a four year pact with his shortstop. Minaya then quickly moved and locked up David Wright to a six year deal. While Alderson is dealing with more than just two players, Minaya’s actions certainly show if the team has a plan an executes it, there should be no issues.
5. Budget
It is something Mets fans don’t want to hear, but it is a reality. After this season, the Mets will have Reyes, Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, Neil Walker, Addison Reed, and Fernando Salas as free agents. The team will have to decide on options for Jerry Blevins and Asdrubal Cabrera. In addition, all of the Mets marquee starting pitchers will be in arbitration thereby escalating their salaries. Furthermore, Jeurys Familia will also be owed a lot of money in arbitration if he has another stellar year. Long story short, the Mets will have to spend some money this offseason.
In order to do that, the Mets need to have the money. As Ricco explains, “Once you’ve locked in [on an extension], you do limit flexibility in some ways.”
Now, it is easy to say the Mets can plug in Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith next year, but at this point, it is not known if they will be ready to be 2018 Opening Day starters. Putting forth such a plan would be folly, especially for a team that can still compete for a World Series.
Overall, the Mets concerns over not extending their pitchers have some merit, especially when you consider the injury issues. Still, the longer the Mets wait, the more expensive each of these starting pitchers will become. As they become more expensive, the chances of locking up more than one of them significantly decreases. Sooner or later, the Mets are going to have to take a chance on a couple of these pitchers if they have designs of competing for World Series over the next decade. With Harvey being a free agent after next season, the sooner the Mets begin executing a plan, the better.
With the Mets offense struggling of late, and with the Phillies throwing at Asdrubal Cabrera last night, the Mets wanted to get out to a fast start. Yoenis Cespedes took care of that:
It was part of a night the Mets offense that just exploded all over Clay Buccholz and the Phillies. Things got so bad that even Jose Reyes got in on the action hitting a double. Not too long thereafter Buchholz left with an apparent elbow injury.
Now, it should be noted Reyes’ double came from the seventh spot in the lineup. With him scuffling, Terry Collins dropped him down and put Curtis Granderson in his old lead-off spot.
Whether it was Citizens Bank Park, Buchholz, Cabrera getting thrown at, the randomness of baseball, or this new lineup putting the top OBP guys atop the lineup, the offense clicked. Every position player got at least one hit:
- Granderson 1-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB
- Cabrera 4-6, 3 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
- Cespedes 4-6, 3 R, 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI
- Bruce 1-6, 2 RBI
- Walker 2-5, 2B, BB
- Duda 4-6, 2 R, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI
- Reyes 1-6, R, 2B
- d’Arnaud 3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB
As noted above, the lineup hit seven homers with Cespedes becoming the first Met to hit three homers in one game twice:
Are you not entertained⁉️ #Cespedes pic.twitter.com/22M6pF0HHS
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 12, 2017
Cespedes also tied a Mets club record with four extra base hits in one game.
As impressive as that was, Duda absolutely annihilated a home run to deep center over the batter’s eye in sixth inning:
NYM@PHI: Duda launches monster home run to center https://t.co/XXd9mGqyKk
— Mets Daddy (@MetsDaddy2013) April 12, 2017
Duda now has 14 home runs at Citizens Bank Park. That’s the most home runs by a visiting player.
Another note on Duda, he hit his home run off the left-handed pitcher Adam Morgan. Typically, Duda struggles against left-handed pitching. This year he already has three extra base hits, including two home runs against them. He’s using that up the middle approach that was so successful for him in 2015. This is a good harbinger of things to come.
Another good harbinger was Matt Harvey‘s start. The velocity was there, and the results were mostly there. He would go 5.2 innings allowing five hits, two runs, two earned, and one walk with six strikeouts.
The Phillies got the Harvey in the fifth loading the bases with two outs. Harvey then snapped off three nasty curve balls to strike out Odubel Herrera to get out of the inning. Of note, the first two curves were spiked in the dirt, and d’Arnaud gobbled them up keeping the runner at third.
Overall, you knew it was the Mets night when T.J. Rivera pinch hit for Robles and drew a walk. As we know from last year and his minor leader numbers is Rivera never walks.
The one issue with Harvey is he tweaked his hamstring in the sixth. Collins did the right thing by not chancing anything and going right to Hansel Robles who got the Mets to the eighth.
Also, if you are prone to overreact, Josh Edgin had his first rough outing allowing two doubles and two runs in the eighth inning. However, the game was a blowout. No one should focus too much on anything when a game gets completely out of hand.
Conversely, Paul Sewald got into his second game, and he looked more calm and composed even if he walked one. He pitched a scoreless ninth to close it out for the Mets.
Overall, Cespedes hit three homers. Cabrera, Duda, and d’Arnaud fell just one triple short of the cycle. The seventh inning was the only inning they didn’t score a run. By far, it was the best Mets offensive game this season.
Naturally, with this being the Mets, we couldn’t exactly enjoy this 14-4 win completely because we have to wait with baited breath about Harvey’s health.
Game Notes: Mets are now 41-18 in their last 59 games at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets now have 46 homers in their last 21 games at Citizens Bank Park.