Michael Conforto

Mets Bullpen Picks Up The Win

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Mets play in a real Coors Field game, but the stage was set with Chris Flexen and Tyler Chatwood being the starters for tonight’s game. 

Flexen was getting hit hard all night, but he dodged a number of bullets thanks to some good defense from Amed Rosario and Yoenis Cespedes throwing out a runner at the plate. 

The floodgates would eventually happen in a five run third punctuated by a Carlos Gonzalez two run homer to dead center. 

After that Flexen was done having thrown 64 pitches in the three innings. He might’ve been coming out anyway, but his developing a blister on the index finger of his pitching hand essentially sealed the deal. 

Normally, you’d expect for this game to be over, especially with this Mets bullpen. Then again, this is Coors Field. 

Michael Conforto and Asdrubal Cabrera got things started in the fourth hitting back-to-back singles to set up first and third with no outs. The rally sputtered a bit with Cespedes hitting into a double play allowing Conforto to score. The Mets would pull to within 5-2 on a Jay Bruce solo shot:

https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/892932832791801856

In the fifth, Curtis Granderson got things started by ripping a ball past Rockies first baseman Mark Reynolds. The play was scored as an error. Granderson would then score on a Rosario ground rule triple. Yes, you read that correctly. 

Rosario hit a call down the third base line. As Rosario was beginning to round second, a fan touched it before Gerardo Parra would  get to it. This was Rosario’s first extra-base hit and RBI. 

Travis d’Arnaud was then robbed of a base hit by Trevor Story. Instead of an RBI single, d’Arnaud had an RBI groundout, and the Mets pulled themselves within one. 

It’s in the sixth then the Mets offense really broke out. 

The sixth started with Cespedes doubling home Cabrera tying the game. . Bruce followed with a walk. After Brandon Nimmo hit into a force play, it was runners at the corners with one out for Granderson. Granderson untied the game:

https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/892944145559539712

The rally wouldn’t end there. d’Arnaud, Jose Reyes, and Conforto hit consecutive singles making it 9-5. A Cabrera RBI ground rule double made it 10-5. 

In that inning, the Mets batted around scoring six runs. 

What is truly remarkable about this game wasn’t the rally. It was the Mets bullpen keeping the Rockies at bay:

The Sewald outing was particularly informative for a player who may still yet be an important part of the Mets bullpen next year. 

After a clean seventh, he was called to pitch another inning. He then worked around a Reynolds double. This is the latest example we’ve seen with Sewald where he’s comfortable pitching when there’s pressure. Better yet, he typically works his way out of if. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ramosaj01.shtml

The good bullpen work carried forward to the ninth with AJ Ramos. 

This was all part of pitchers making the adjustments they need to make to succeed. Wins and losses don’t matter much when the Met is going nowhere. Rather, you’d like to see them improve at their role.  At least for tonight, we saw them successful in both fashions. 

Game Notes: Josh Edgin cleared waivers and was sent down to Triple-A. This was Bradford’s first career win. 

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Five Mets Players Who Need A Bigger Role Now

The Mets have unofficially announced they are focusing their attention to the 2018 season.  Gone are Addison Reed and Lucas Duda, and in their stead are four promising minor league relievers.  The Mets have added AJ Ramos with an eye towards him being the primary set-up man for Jeurys Familia next year.  Amed Rosario has already played his first game with the Mets, and according to Sandy Alderson, Dominic Smith is not far away.

Seeing Ramos in the bullpen is a good start.  Rosario and Smith are even better.  However, that’s not enough.  As the 2017 season comes to an end, the New York Mets are going to have to find out about a number of players and how they factor into the 2018 season:

INF Wilmer Flores

2017 Stats: .287/.320/.486, 14 2B, 3B, 11 HR, 32 RBI, SB, 0.2 WAR

With Neil Walker being an impending free agent, Asdrubal Cabrera possibly having his option declined, and David Wright‘s continuing health issues, the Mets will enter the offseason with question marks at both second and third base.  Ideally, Flores could slot in at one of those two spots.

It was just two years ago, the Mets thought Flores could be the everyday shortstop for a playoff caliber team.  Since then, we have seen uneven performances at the plate and on the field.  The Mets have seemingly come to terms with him being a platoon bat, but lost in that is the fact he is still just 25 years old and an improving player.  That is exhibited by him being much better against right-handed pitching hitting .281/.326/.467 off of them.  If Flores can continue hitting like that against right-handed pitching, he could conceivably play everyday.

The key for him is to find a position.  That’s easier said than done, but he is a significantly better second than a third baseman.  In 667.0 innings at second, he has a career -7 DRS and a 0.3 UZR.  In 911.0 innings at third, he has a -16 DRS and a -4.4 UZR.  With that said, let Flores focus on second and see if he can be a solution there next year.

RHP Rafael Montero

2017 Stats: 1-7, 5.56 ERA, 21 G, 7 GS, 56.2 IP, 1.729 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, -0.4 WAR

Montero has survived this long on the roster, and he has finally shown the Mets some glimpse of the talent that caused the Mets to keep him on the 40 man roster.  Since his latest last chance to prove himself, Montero has a 4.14 ERA, 1.297 WHIP, and a 9.0 K/9.  In this stretch, we have seen him pitch into the seventh inning, and we have seen him meltdown.

While there have been promising signs, his usage runs counter-intuitive to his utility to the Mets.  If Montero is going to be with the Mets next year, it is going to have to be in the bullpen as there will be no room for the Mets to even consider him being a part of the rotation next year. This means the Mets should be utilizing the rest of the season to see how he pitches out of the bullpen whether it is using him as a long man or as a late inning reliever.

The Mets need to do this because Montero is out of options.  This means he either makes the Opening Day roster in the bullpen, or the Mets stand to lose a player they have stubbornly held onto for so long.  Before making that decision, they should at least see if the new and improved Montero can hack it in the bullpen.

CF Brandon Nimmo

2017 Stats: 16 G, 25 PA, 21 AB, 7 H, 2B, 2 RBI, .333/.440/.381

While the Mets left side of the infield defensive deficiencies have been oft discussed, not nearly enough attention has been paid to the centerfield situation.  On the season, Mets centerfielders have a 0 DRS, which may not sound so bad on the surface.  However, consider this is 19th in all of baseball.  Also, consider this number has been propped up by Juan Lagares having played 216.0 innings at the position posting a 7 DRS.

The Mets answer lately has been Michael Conforto, who has a 0 DRS, which is remarkable considering he has never really played there full-time at any level.  There is still the possibility he could be adequate there, but shouldn’t the Mets first find out about Nimmo first?

Nimmo has been a center fielder throughout his minor league career.  While there is some debate over his ability to play the position, he does have the experience out there, and he deserves to benefit from the same major league coaching that has helped Conforto play there.

More than that, Nimmo has shown the ability to be a top of the order hitter who can get on base.  At a minimum, he has showed enough to earn the opportunity to serve as part of a center field platoon with Lagares.

Lastly, Nimmo was the first first round pick of the Sandy Alderson Era.  Doesn’t the team owe it to themselves to see what a player they heavily invested in can do at this level before looking to further address the outfield situation in the offseason.  Consider that once the Mets sign another outfielder, whether that is Jay Bruce or Lorenzo Cain, the Mets have effectively made a first round pick a fourth or fifth outfielder without so much as giving him an opportunity to win a job.

RHP Paul Sewald

2017 Stats: 0-3, 8 H, 4.07 ERA, 35 G, 42.0 IP, 1.238 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, o.4 WAR

After being used in a variety of roles this season, Sewald has found himself being used in the seventh inning or later in his last 10 appearances.  In those appearances, Sewald is 0-1 with six holds, a 2.79 ERA, 1.034 WHIP, and an 11.2 K/9.

Even with him walking five batters over that stretch, Sewald has shown he should get a closer look in one of the two primary set-up roles.  With Reed going to the Red Sox, and Ramos presumably becoming the new closer, there is no reason why the Mets wouldn’t use Sewald as their eighth inning reliever to close out the season, or at least until Familia comes off the disabled list.

If Sewald shows he can handle the stress of protecting a late inning lead at the major league level, the Mets are that much closer to building a bullpen that can compete in 2018.

3B Neil Walker

2017 Stats: 63 G, 266 PA, 233 AB, 35 R, 62 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 34 RBI, .266/.347/.455, 0.9 WAR

Since Wright went down with spinal stenosis, third base has been a black hole for the Mets.  With Wright presumably missing the entire 2017 season, it is now clear the Mets cannot rely upon him to return to play third or any position next year.  With no prospects coming through the pipeline, it is likely the Mets will have to address the position in free agency or via trade.

If they are going the free agency route, it may behoove them to re-sign Walker.  The two sides were interested in a long term contract extension this offseason.  Just because the two sides were unable to reach an accord does not prevent Walker from returning.

Considering Walker’s back issues as well as his getting older, he may be best suited to playing third base.  Certainly, the way he has hit as a Met, he does have the bat to play the position.  The only question remaining is if he can play the position.  The Mets have 59 games to find out.

If Walker can do it, the Mets know they have a team player who has been a liked figure in the clubhouse.  They will also have a veteran who can help show Rosario and Smith the ropes.  More than that, they have a middle of the order bat to really extend the lineup.

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Rosario Flashes Talent And Inexperience In Debut

Surrounding all the hoopla of Amed Rosario‘s first game with the Mets, a baseball game broke out, and it was a pretty good one at that. 

Rosario’s impact was felt immediately. In the first, he made a couple of plays including turning a 1-6-3 double play. 

That play helped preserve a 1-0 lead when Yoenis Cespedes doubled home Michael Conforto, who has reached with a lead-off walk against Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman. 

That lead grew to 2-0 when Jay Bruce doubled in Cespedes from first in the sixth. 

At that point, things looked great for Steven Matz. Despite a rough stretch over his last four starts where he pitched to a 14.18 ERA (not a typo), he was dealing. 

Through the first four innings, he had a no-hitter going. That was broken up on a Trevor Story lead-off single. On the play, Rosario got to a ball no other shortstop on the roster comes near, but with one slight tap of the glove before the throw, Story was able to beat it out. 

In that inning, he labored, but he managed to work his way out of the jam. He wasn’t so lucky in the sixth. 

A DJ LeMahieu double set up second and third with no outs. Matz was flirting with disaster since the fifth and in the following at-bat. He fought back into the st-bat getting it to a 3-2 count, and that’s when Nolan Arenado hit an opposite field go-ahead homer. 

After a Mark Reynolds double, Terry Collins finally pulled Matz. The combination of Josh Smoker and Erik Goeddel would limit the damage keeping the game at 3-2.

The Mets tied it in the seventh with some help from Rockies catcher Ryan Hanigan. When Pat Neshek struck out Jose Reyes to start the inning, Hanigan whiffed on the ball. With the ball going to the backstop, Reyes reached base safely. 

Reyes moved to third on a Conforto single, and he’d score the tying run on an Asdrubal Cabrera sacrifice fly. On the play, Charlie Blackmon didn’t have much of a chance to get Reyes, but still:

It would be untied in the eighth on a Bruce homer off Chris Rusin:

https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/892587987346886657

For a moment, it appeared as if that 4-3 lead might grow. 

Rosario would get his first career hit off Scott Oberg. It was an infield single to short (turnabout is fair play). Rosario moved to second on Story’s throwing error. It appeared as if Rosario was going to score his first career run when the ball left Travis d’Arnaud‘s bat. 

Unfortunately, the ball ricocheted off Oberg’s leg to Reynolds. Reynolds was able to flip to Oberg to record the out. It was a bigger out than originally anticipated. 

Paul Sewald started his second inning of relief by allowing a base hit to Reynolds. Collins responded  to this by bringing in Jerry Blevins to face a couple of lefties. 

Blevins responded by allowing singles to Gerardo Parra and Carlos Gonzalez. The hit by Gonzalez was cued right off the end of the bat, and Cabrera had little to no chance to get anyone out. With Blevins allowing yet another inherited runner to score, it was a tie game. 

The Rockies rally sputtered when Hansel Robles came on to get the last two outs. Robles wouldn’t be so lucky in the ninth. 

After allowing a lead-off walk to Blackmon, LeMahieu hit what could’ve been a double play ball. Likely, it was just a fielder’s choice. Still, that play wasn’t turned as Rosario broke towards second with Blackmon moving on the play. With Rosario booting it, it was first and second with no outs instead of bases empty with no outs. 

After that, Arenado blooped the ball into center, and Conforto had no chance to get Blackmon. Ballgame. 

Overall, it was an entertaining game where we saw all that Rosario could be. We also saw that he’s an inexperienced rookie that needs more seasoning. 

Game Notes: Matt Reynolds was sent down to make room for Rosario on the roster. 

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deGrom Not Being deGrominant Isn’t Enough

With Jacob deGrom having won eight straight starts and today’s game being a day game, you’d think this game was as close to being a lock as you could imagine. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards today. Home Plate Umpire Shane Livensparger had an inconsistent strike zone, and that’s putting it nicely. He also lost some focus after losing control and hitting Mitch Haniger in the face with a fastball. 

https://twitter.com/smashtalksports/status/891406081766957056

After the game, deGrom admitted the HBP affected him:

It should come as no surprise. After all, deGrom is human. How else can you explain him allowing a two RBI base hit to Jarrod Dyson?

The Mariners lead grew to 3-0 in the the inning. That wasn’t so much on deGrom as it was Neil Walker. Walker took what should’ve been a double player grounded off the bat of Robinson Cano. Instead of the double play, it was second and third with no outs.

It really is a testament to deGrom the only damage that inning did not spiral out of control. The only run scored that inning was a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nelson Cruz. 

The 3-0 lead was problematic because the Mets offense couldn’t get going. In fact, the Mets didn’t get a hit with a runner in scoring position until there were two outs in the ninth inning. 

Before that, the Mets were 0-8 with RISP with a wake of missed opportunities. The biggest one was in the sixth inning.

The Mets had Yovani Gallardo on the ropes. It led the Mariners to go to Tony Zych, walked both Curtis Granderson and Wilmer Flores to force in a run. With Jose Reyes lining out on a 3-2 pitch, the rally was over. 

Asdrubal Cabrera killed a rally the following inning by hitting into a double play. 
The Mets best chance came in the ninth. Michael Conforto singled home Flores, who led off the inning with a double. It pulled the Mets to within 3-2.

It was another good game for Conforto in his hometown. At the plate, he was 1-4 with an RBI and a walk. In he field, he made this play:

 Sadly, that’s where it ended with Cabrera striking out to end the game. 

The Mets now have one more game in Seattle. For many, this will be their last ever game in a Mets uniform. If that’s the case, let’s hope things go different than they way they did today. 

Game Notes: Lucas Duda homered in his second consecutive game for the Rays. AJ Ramos should report in time to be active for Sunday’s game. 

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Conforto Homers Twice In Comeback Win

This was a Mets game that went from promising to false hope, to utter surprise, to more often same, to sheer shock, and finally joy. 

The Mets were off to a quick lead thanks to homers from Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto:

https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/891129995120316417

The homer must’ve been extra special as he was back in his hometown in front of his friends and family.

The Mets lead grew to 4-0 when Wilmer Flores hit a third inning sacrifice fly scoring Asdrubal Cabrera. Cabrera found himself on third because while advancing to second on a Ariel Miranda wild pitch, catcher Mike Zunino hit him with the throw. With no one guarding third, Cabrera was able to get there without a play. 

For an ever so brief moment, this seemed like enough for Rafael Montero, who started the game terribly. Through the first four innings, Montero had allowed just one hit – a homer by Zunino. It all came crashing down for him in the fifth. 

There were some reasons why. Montero was facing the Mariners the third time through the order. He was getting squeezed a tad by the home plate umpire. As Keith Hernandez pointed out, Rene Rivera was not calling a good game. No matter what the reason, the biggest issue was Montero stopper executing. 

Montero loaded the bases with no outs, and he threw a wild pitch allowing a run to score. It was definitely a wild pitch, but it’s also true Rivera didn’t get down completely to block that pitch. 

Montero then walked Jean Segura to re-load the bases, and Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly to pull the Mariners within one. Montero then issued another walk, this one to Nelson Cruz, to re-load the bases. At this point, Terry Collins did what he had to do, and he pulled Montero. 

Unfortunately, Josh Edgin didn’t get the job done. He allowed a two run RBI single to Kyle Seager. With that, the Mets 4-1 lead became a 5-4 deficit. 

Through the work of Hansel Robles and Jerry Blevins, the Mets remained within a run. 

The Mets got that run back when Conforto hit not just his second homer of the game, but his second homer of the game against a lefty. This time it was Marc Rzepczynski. 

This led to the Mariners bringing in a friendly face – David Phelps.  Entering the game, Phelps had a career 6.09 ERA against the Mets. The ERA would go up. 

Cabrera and Bruce each singled, and Flores hit what could’ve been a double play ball due to his lack of speed. With Flores just barely beating the throw, the inning continued. 

Neil Walker would go the other way with the ball hitting an opposite field RBI single against the shift. Flores would then score on a Curtis Granderson RBI single off the glove of Mariners first baseman Danny Valencia. The single gave the Mets a 7-5 lead. 
Like we’ve seen with Paul Sewald on a few occasions this year, he got himself into some trouble. With the Mets having used both LOOGYs, Collins stuck with his young reliever in this spot. 

After a Jarrod Dyson sacrifice bunt, the Mariners had runners at second and third with one out. 

Sewald escaped the jam striking out Zunino and getting Segura to strike out.

This set the stage for what may very well be Addison Reed‘s last save opportunity as a Met. 

With a Ben Gamel grounder eating up Walker, it appeared as if this could be another tense outing. Reed settled down, and he erased Gamel inducing Robinson Cano to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. After a Nelson Cruz fly out, Reed had his 19th save of the year. 

It was a good win. At a minimum, it shows even with the Mets selling this team is still playing hard. 

Game Notes:  Lucas Duda homered in his first game with the Rays. The Mets obtained AJ Ramos in a deal with the Marlins. Segura tried his best to get on base by pretending to get HBP (overturned by review):

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Flexen’s Tough Debut

This was about a bizarre a debut as you will possibly see. Unfortunately, that wasn’t always a good thing for Chris Flexen. 

On the third pitch of his Major League career, he allowed a homer to Manuel Margot. The inning would continue, and the Padres would have runners on the corners with one out. That’s when Travis d’Arnaud would help his young pitcher with two outstanding tags:

The first was off a nice play from Flexen to field a Cory Spangenberg safety squeeze. d’Arnaud then blocked the plate and get the tag down on Carlos Asuaje. 

During the next at-bat, Spangenberg broke for second. With d’Arnaud throwing through, Wil Myers broke for home. Wilmer Flores made a strong albeit slightly offline throw.  In one motion, d’Arnaud caught the throw and just tagged Myer’s hand before his foot touched the plate. 

The second inning didn’t go as well for Flexen. 

The Padres loaded the bases with no outs, and Margot struck again hitting a double to the wall. Luis Torrens originally stopped at third, but he came home to score as Asdrubal Cabrera forgot how the pick up a baseball. For reasons that cannot be explained, Michael Conforto got charged with the error. 

Flexen was able to navigate out of this inning, and he pitched a good third. With his having thrown 69 pitches, and his turn due up, Terry Collins lifted him. 

Flexen’s final line in the loss was three innings, five hits, four runs, three earned, four walks, and two strikeouts. 

The young pitcher was shaky in the first couple of innings, and by the time he settled in, his manager went elsewhere. Hopefully, he will get one more start to prove himself. 

With Flexen out, Collins went to Tyler Pill despite Pill having thrown two innings yesterday. It came back to burn the Mets as a gassed Pill allowed three runs to give the Padres a 7-1 lead. 

In another bizarre twist, the Mets used both Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz as pinch hitters. This was due to Lucas Duda getting traded and T.J. Rivera. 

The real shame in all of this is just with one or two different things happening, the Mets might’ve won this game. Case in point was the seventh inning outburst. 

With the Mets down 7-1, Yoenis Cespedes hit an RBI double leading the Padres to pull starter Luis Perdermo and bring in Jose Torres.  Torres immediately balked home a run, and then allowed a home run to Jay Bruce pulling the Mets to within 7-5. They’d get no closer. 

After the homer, it was 7-5 Padres. The Mets would get no closer giving the rookie his first major league lost in his first career start. 

Game Notes: Flexen became the first Mets pitcher to make the jump from Double-A to the majors since Mike Pelfrey in 2006. 

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Defense Matters, That’s Why The Mets Lost 

Here’s the game in a nutshell. Steven Matz didn’t have it, and the Padres defense made the 85 Bears look like a sieve. 

The Padres were hitting Matz hard right from the jump when Manuel Margot hit a two run homer to give the Padres a 2-0 lead. 

After a scoreless second, the Padres jumped all over Matz again scoring four runs. Matz didn’t get help from his defense. Case in point was the Cory Spangenberg grounder. 

Jose Reyes couldn’t pick it up cleanly, and he made an ever so slightly offline soft toss to Wilmer Flores. It wasn’t a particularly difficulty play for either middle infielder, but neither could complete the play. Only because it was home town scoring, it was ruled a “single.”  

This was Reyes’ second RBI of the night with him singling home Jay Bruce in the second inning. 

After that third inning, Matz was done. His ugly final line was three innings, nine hits, six runs, six earned, no walks, and four strikeouts. Honestly, Matz probably wasn’t even that good. 

The Mets did have a chance to get back in this game in the sixth inning. 

The Mets loaded the bases with one out against tiring Padres starter Jhoulys Chacin with Lucas Duda coming to the plate. Padres Manager Andy Green went to the left-handed Buddy Baumann to face Duda.

Duda hit a deep enough fly ball, but the combination of Hunter Renfroe‘s arm and Asdrubal Cabrera‘s lack of speed, there would be no sacrifice fly. Cabrera would score when Baumann walked Reyes pulling the Mets to within 6-2. 

Craig Stammen came in to pitch to Rene Rivera, who hit a hot shot up the middle. Allen Córdoba made a nice play on the ball, which could’ve been a two RBI single, and got Rivera at first to end the inning. 

With Reyes and Córdoba, we really witnessed what a difference defense makes. Then again, we saw it all game long with this Padres defense, especially with both Margot and Jabari Blash making sliding catches to rob Michael Conforto of a couple of hits. 

The Mets did pull within 6-3 when Flores homered to center:

https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/890432456020688896

Even with the homer, the Mets couldn’t catch up to the Padres. Maybe the Mets would’ve had a chance if they had better defense, but the Mets were content to punt on defense this year. It’s haunted them many times. Tonight was the latest example.

Game Notes: Erik Goeddel, Tyler Pill, and Hansel Robles combined to pitch five scoreless innings out of the pen. Pill will likely be demoted tomorrow to make room for Chris Flexen, who is scheduled to make his MLB debut tomorrow. 

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The Full Cespedes Experience

During last night’s game, we got to see the full experience of what it has been like watching Yoenis Cespedes in a Mets uniform.  Much like he did in 2015, we got to see Cespedes make an immediate impact in the first inning with a home run off of Padres starter Kyle Lloyd:

https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/890034579041636353

After the Padres played some Home Run Derby of their own with Hunter Renfroe and Allen Cordoba each hitting a pair of third inning home runs off Seth Lugo, the Mets were trailing 3-1.  For Renfroe, it was his second homer in as many at-bats against the Mets, and it was his third homer in three days.  Thank God he plays in the NL West.

After the Mets pulled themselves within a run in the fourth with Travis d’Arnaud getting another two out RBI in this series, it was time for Cespedes to go back to work and help take this game over.

Cespedes joined the doubles hit parade in the fifth.  After Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera led off the inning with a pair of doubles, Cespedes followed with one of his own to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.

It was just one of those nights where things weren’t going to be easy.  After Lugo surrendered a lead-0ff single to Matt Szczur, Cabrera didn’t get down low enough to field what should have been a Jose Pirela ground out.  This set up first and second with no outs.  Both runners would advance on a deep Carlos Asuaje fly out.  Lugo did his best to limit the damage by allowing just one run to score on a Wil Myers sacrifice fly.

Lugo’s final line was six innings, eight hits, four runs, three earned, no walks, and one strikeout.  He got the win in large part because of Cespedes.

The game winning runs came on what was about as bizarre as a Little League home run as you are ever going to see:

Where do you begin with this one?  The check swing triple?  Myers throwing the ball away when there was no play at third?  Cespedes’ head first slide into home?  The offline throw from Cory Spangenberg?  Or was it that Hector Sanchez failing to both catch the ball and tag Cespedes?  It was the typical comedy of errors you see in your standard Little League home runs, but with Major League Baseball players.

With the triple, Cespedes found himself a single short of the cycle – the easiest one to get.  Cespedes didn’t get that chance.

Despite Gary Cohen trying to assure us Michael Conforto was coming into the game in left field in a double switch so Terry Collins could get two innings out of Paul Sewald, we all knew better.  Cespedes left the game with leg problems, which were later described as a quad tightness.  Who knows how many games he will miss if any.

With Cespedes being the dominant figure in the game, putting the Mets on his back offensively, and leaving the game with a leg injury, Mets fans got the full Cespedes experience.  Or at least very close to it as we did not get to see Cespedes unleash his cannon of an arm.

From there, Collins went to Addison Reed, who must be on fumes, in the ninth.  The closer, who the Mets are trying their best to keep up his extremely high trade value, had another shaky ninth.  He allowed a Dusty Coleman two out RBI double to bring the Padres to within 6-5.  Much like he did last night, Reed then shut the door to preserve the victory.

With the win, the Mets are now just four games under .500, and they are nine games behind the Colorado Rockies (seven in the loss column) for the second Wild Card.  Of course, this all means little when Cespedes leaves yet another game with a leg injury.

Game Notes: Conforto was initially out of the lineup to give him a day off.

 

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Mets Must Trade Jay Bruce

Looking at the numbers, Jay Bruce is having one of his better seasons as a professional and a much better season than most expected with his nightmare stint with the Mets last year.  So far, he has played in 91 games hitting .264/.328/.523 with 25 homers and 67 RBI.  If he were to finish the season with the Mets, he may very possibly challenge the Mets single season home run mark of 41 shared by Todd Hundley and Carlos Beltran.  He should not get that chance.

Simply put, the Mets have to trade Jay Bruce at the trade deadline.

The 30 year old right fielder is a free agent at the end of the season.  Given the fact the Mets are not going anywhere this season with or without him, there is no reason to hold onto him.  There’s even less reason when you consider the Mets are probably better off without him next year.

Heading into next year, the Mets will have Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto firmly set in the Mets outfield for the next three years.  During their tenure with the Mets, both players have shown they are capable of handling center on a short term basis, but both players have also shown they should not be playing center field on a full time basis.  With respect to Cespedes, it is clear neither side wants him moving back to center.

On Conforto’s part, he seemingly wants to play the position.  On the surface, he appears serviceable at the position with a 225.2 innings at the position, Conforto has a 0 DRS and a 1.2 DRS.  Given his work ethic and his athletic ability, he could improve those numbers.  However, he’s not likely to improve them to the point where he’s a good enough defender at the position.

Ultimately, the Mets need a good center fielder.  Their Mets center fielders, including Conforto, have posted a 0 DRS, which is 18th in the majors.  The Mets are in the bottom half of the league defensively at an important defensive position.  That has been a common theme with this team.  This is a bad defensive team that has been bad at key defensive positions.

This has had a direct result on the struggles on the pitching staff.  As a team, the Mets pitchers have allowed an absurdly high .320 BABIP, which is dead last in the majors.  Yes, the pitching staff has had some issues, and yes, the left side of the infield, which is atrocious with a -29 DRS contribute to this.  Another contributing factor is the lack of a true center fielder who can cover the amount of ground a major league center fielder needs to cover.  Again, the Mets center fielders are 18th in the majors.  The team needs an upgrade.

Part of that is finally finding out what Brandon Nimmo can provide.  At a minimum, the Mets need to see if he can platoon with Juan Lagares next year.  For that to happen, the Mets need to trade Jay Bruce to free up some playing time for Nimmo.

If Nimmo can handle the job, great.  If not, the Mets could decide to go with Lagares, or they can look outside the organization for players like Lorenzo Cain.  The one thing they cannot do is bring back Jay Bruce.

Bruce has been a good player for the Mets, he has been healthy, and he has done all the team has asked him to do.  The reward for that is to send him to a contender.  It’s not to bring him back on an overpriced deal or to risk getting stuck overpaying him on a qualifying offer next year.  Bringing him back is only going to cement the Mets defensive problems, and it is going to lead to another season like this.  No one should want that, Jay Bruce included.

Accordingly, it is time the Mets put defense front and center, and move on from Jay Bruce.

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Reed Makes Easy deGrom Win Shaky

When the Mets have Jacob deGrom pitching, they look like one of the best teams in baseball. Not only does deGrom shut down the opposition, but his presence on the mound seems to wake up the Mets bats. That was true again today in San Diego. 

The lone mistake deGrom made in the evening was a pitch Hunter Renfroe hit atop the Western Supply Co. Building. At that point, the impressive home run was little more than a footnote in another deGrominant start. 

deGrom’s final line was eight innings, five hits, two runs, two earned, two walks, and eight strikeouts. He’s now won eight straight starts. 

It was a footnote because the Mets scored more than enough runs off Padres starter Clayton Richard. The scoring against him started with Wilmer Flores:

https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/889674702175784960

Coming into the game, Flores only at-bat against Richard was a homer. This at-bat made two straight homers. 

In the third, it looked like Yoenis Cespedes was going to break his long home run drought. Instead, it hit the CF wall, and Cespedes pulled in for an RBI triple scoring Asdrubal Cabrera.  Cespedes then scored on a Jay Bruce RBIsingle through the drawn in infield. 

In the fifth, Michael Conforto got the rally started with a one out double. After Cespedes was walked intentionally, Bruce hit his second RBI single to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. 

After the Renfroe homer, the Mets would get the run back. 

Jose Reyes hit a two out infield single, and he stole his 500th career stolen base. He then scored on a Travis d’Arnaud RBI single. 
With the Padres knocking in another run in the eighth, it created a save opportunity for Addison Reed. Things got interesting with a second Renfroe homer. 

It got more interesting with Manuel Margot and Hector Sanchez hitting back-to-back singles to get the tying runs on with just one out. Jabari Blash JUST missed a homer with the ball going foul and just missing the pole. 

Reed settled down, struck out Blash, and got the final two outs to save the 5-2 game. 

It may have been just a mirage with this being a deGrom start, but the Mets look good again just as they’re selling. 

Game Notes: Zack Wheeler was put on the DL with an arm injury. Tyler Pill will be in the bullpen for now, and Chris Flexen will be called up on Thursday to take his spot in the rotation. 

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