Michael Conforto

As Granderson Goes, The Mets Go

The Mets saving grace last year was having a healthy and productive Curtis Granderson. While Mets players seemingly ranged from injured to incompetent in the first half of 2015, he kept hitting. He was seemingly the only player who could hit and keep the Mets afloat offensively. On top of that, he was a finalist for the Gold a Glove Award for rightfielders. As he went, the team went. 

Even with the arrival of Yoenis Cespedes and his incredible hot streak, it was Granderson who drove the Mets offense. From August 1st until the end of the season, he hit .267/.390/.495 with 45 runs, 14 doubles, one triple, 10 homeruns, and 34 RBI. In the stretch run to claim the NL East, Granderson played even better than he had all season. Like with most team MVP’s, as Granderson went, so did the Mets. 

In 2016, the Mets are seemingly falling into the same pattern they did last year. 

Through the first six games of the season, Granderson was 1-24 with a single and six strikeouts. He was hitting an abysmal .042/.179/.042. The Mets were 2-4 and were averaging 2.8 runs per game. After those six games, Granderson has taken off and so have the Mets. 

Over the past 13 games, Granderson had hit .333/.387/.678 with 13 runs, four doubles, two triples, four homeruns, and eight RBI. In that stretch, the Mets have gone 10-3 and are averaging 5.2 runs per game.  

Overall, we can point to many factors for the Mets turnaround. Stellar starting pitching.  Terry Collins batting Michael Conforto third in the lineup.  Cespedes and Neil Walker hitting homeruns. All of these are very important factors as to why the Mets are now winning. Once again, the success of his teammates is overshadowing Granderson’s contributions. 

That’s fine. Granderson is once again on his way to having another big season with the Mets. At the end of the day, he could very well be the team’s MVP for the second straight year. If the Mets perform the way they’re expected, Granderson may very well be in line to recreate his World Series homerun barrage. 

If the Mets do return to the World Series, it’ll be because one again Granderson has led them there. 

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Cespedes Revives the Mets

Sometimes it’s just looks like it’s not going to be your night. Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d’Arnaud were out with injuries. Reds starter Brandon Finnegan showed why he’s a highly rated prospect. Bartolo Colon didn’t have the mojo working:

No, after the Ivan DeJesus two run homer in the third to make the score 3-0, it looked like it wasn’t going to be the Mets night. Even when the Mets could get rallies going, this would happen:

No, the Reds were in control and about to snap their nine game losing streak against the Mets. Then the Reds got greedy. They tried to push Finnegan through the seventh inning. 

Juan Lagares had a one out single followed by a Kevin Plawecki walk. The Reds could’ve pulled Finnegan there. He just got out of a jam unscathed in the sixth. Instead, the Reds let him face Cespedes, who was pinch hitting for Logan Verrett. First pitch Cespedes saw:

Tie game. 

Finnegan was gone after six brilliant innings (and one tough inning). We then got a glimpse of why the Reds were loathe to go to their bullpen. 

Tony Cingrani entered the game. He was greeted by Curtis Granderson with a triple. Granderson would later score on a David Wright RBI single. It was a nightmare night for Wright at that point having gone 0-3 with two strikeouts at that point. It was emblematic of his recent struggles. In a brief moment, it was forgotten with that single making it 4-3. It was remembered again when he was picked off of first base (technically a caught stealing). 

This gave Verrett the win. He was terrific. He came on in the sixth inning, and he threw two shutout innings. He showed both his versatility and his value. He deserved this win. 

For the second straight night, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia locked down the eighth and ninth. They preserved the Mets first come from behind win. It’ll be one of many. 

Game Notes: With the Cespedes injury, Michael Conforto hit cleanup against the lefty Finnegan. He went 2-4. Before the game, d’Arnaud was placed on the 15 day DL. Lucas Duda sat against the lefty but came on in the ninth for defense. 

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Young Players Dominating Baseball

Looking at the Mets this year, it’s amazing to see Michael Conforto emerging as the Mets best everyday player if he isn’t already. The same goes for Noah Syndergaard who is emerging not just as the Mets ace, but also as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Each of these players are playing their first full seasons in the majors at 23 years old. 

Mets fans are left to think about how much better these two 23 year olds can get. They’re already dominating the majors at an age when most players are in AA or AAA. It’s not too long before they cement their status as two of the best players in the game. 

You know what’s funny?

The current debate in baseball is over who the best player in the game is – Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. Harper is 23 years old, and he’s playing in his fifth season. Trout is slightly older at 24, and he is playing in his sixth season. 

Between the two of them, they have made seven All Star teams.  Each year, they were the youngest All Star on their respective teams. Both of them have won the Rookie of the Year Award and an MVP. They’ve accomplished all of this before Syndergaard and Conforto have played one full season in the majors. 

With that said, neither Harper nor Trout have played in an LCS, let alone a World Series. Syndergaard won a game in the World Series. Conforto hit two homeruns in a World Series game. Syndergaard and Conforto are primed to lead the Mets back to the World Series this year and perform even better. 

Overall, these are four young players dominating the baseball landscape. They’ve already accomplished much, and they’re going to accomplish much, much more. It’s a good time to not only be a Mets fan, but also a baseball fan. 

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Young Players Lead the Way

There was a time the Mets relying on the young meant hoping Chris Young‘s shoulder wouldn’t fall apart, or the other Chris Young hitting above the Mendoza Line. The 2016 version is much better. 

Tonight, the Mets were carried by two 23 year old superstars – Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto. 

Syndergaard was throwing so hard he broke the radar guns in Citi Field.  With that said, he wasn’t dominating. Of the seven innings he pitched, he had only two 1-2-3 innings. 

However, just because he wasn’t dominating doesn’t mean he wasn’t intimidating. In Billy Hamilton laid down a bunt single in the third inning. He then stole two bases leading to the Reds’ only run of the game. Hamilton’s next at bat? Syndergaard buzzed him inside reminding Hamilton he’s 60’6″ away. 

Still Syndergaard had some problems. In  the sixth, the Reds had runners on second and third with one out. Syndergaard would then strike out Devin Mesoraco and Adam Duvall to get out of the jam. He got them both with sliders. 

Speaking of the slider, Syndergaard went to that well too often.  After he passed 100 pitches, and the Reds were going to the fourth time through the lineup, they were able to get a two out rally started. 

Zack Cozart would chase Syndergaard in the seventh with an RBI single before Antonio Bastardo came in and showed signs of over use. He walked the first batter he faced before allowing a game-tying single to Joey Votto. Logan Verrett came on in relief and got the Mets out of the jam leaving the score tied 3-3. 

Syndergaard’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, three earned, no walks, and nine strikeouts. 

The Mets would retake the lead on yet another Neil Walker homerun:

For his part, Conforto couldn’t make an out.  In the first inning, he hit a homer. He followed that with a single in the third. He got a shift double in the fifth. He hit a bloop by the left field line. Suarez got under it, but he still couldn’t make the play. It bounced into the stands for a ground rule double.  He walked in the seventh. The cycle was not to be.  He’s been amazing since he was called-up, and he’s been better since he started hitting third:

By the way, Lucas Duda hit another homerun:

In what was a good night overall, there was some cause for concern. Travis d’Arnaud continues to struggle behind the plate. While Syndergaard doesn’t hold runners on well, d’Arnaud’s throws were terrible. He was palming the ball. He was winding up too much. He seemed to be thinking more than reacting. Overall, the Reds were 5-5 in stolen base attempts. 

Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia closed out the win. 

The game was tougher than it should have been, but it’s still a win. It extended the Mets winning streak to four games. The streak should continue as the Mets are pulling it all together and are beating bad teams like they should. 

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Mets Powered by Grandy Slam

Before the game, Matt Harvey declared he figured out his mechanical problems, and that he was back. He took no chances as the Mets ore the traditional road grays instead of the blue alternates he prefers. The Mets need him to be back because he has not resembled the Matt Harvey we’ve seen:

First inning, Harvey came out guns blazing. He got three quick outs, including one strikeout. After the first, it was a struggle. It could’ve been the same problems he’s had all year. It could’ve been the delay due to the need to change home plate umpires due to the home plate umpire getting injured on a foul tip. In any event, Harvey’s pitches were up. His velocity was generally down (about 1-2 MPH), and the Braves were making solid contact.

Fortunately, the Braves were only able to score runs in the second. The first was an RBI single by old friend Kelly Johnson. Another run would score off an RBI double by Mallex Smith. Harvey would be in trouble most of the night. He would’ve allowed more runs in the fifth but for Yoenis Cespedes’ arm:

Keith Hernandez was right. He missed the cut-off man, but it was a near perfect throw that got the runner. It reminded me of Major League when Lou Brown essentially said to Willie Mays Hayes to never do it again.
Cespedes also left his impression at the plate with his seventh game with an extra-base hit. In the seventh, he hit an RBI double to score David Wright, who hit an opposite field one out double himself. Cespedes came up gingerly after sliding awkwardly into second. It should’ve been a standup double, but he didn’t break it out of the box presumably thinking it was a homerun. A noticeably uncomfortable Cespedes stayed in the game despite the a Mets having a 6-2 lead. He would eventually have to be pulled:

Curtis Granderson was responsible for the other five. In the second, Granderson hit his first grand slam as a Met. In his very next at bat, he hit a solo shot off of Braves’ starter Bud Norris. Granderson looks to be rounding into his 2015 form after a tough start.

The Mets’ bullpen would come through to get Harvey his first win of the year. Antonio Bastardo pitched 1.2 innings before needing to be pulled with runners on first and second. Jim Henderson only faced one batter – it was the seventh after all- and he allowed an RBI single to Adonis Garcia. Jerry Blevins came on and ended the rally by striking out A.J. Pierzynski. Blevins was the only one to get Pierzynski out all night.

After about an hour rain delay, Addison Reed came on to pitch the eighth. Originally, it was supposed to be Blevins, but the rain eliminate that option. Reed pitched a scoreless eighth despite a throwing error from Asdrubal Cabrera.
Jeurys Familia had a save opportunity in the ninth because God has a good sense of humor. With Cespedes out if the game, Terry Collins allowed Michael Conforto hit against Eric O’Flaherty. Conforto hit a soft liner to the shortstop, and Juan Lagares was doubled off of second for the inning ending double play. It didn’t matter. Familia pitch a scoreless ninth to preserve the 6-3 win.

In any event, Harvey struggled. He only pitched five innings allowing seven hits, two earned, one walk and five strikeouts. He fought through it. He still had work to do, but at least he has a win under his belt.

Game Notes: Freddie Freeman got his first hit in 20 at bats against Bastardo, who Collins was trying to pitch for two innings. While Harvey was struggling, Travis d’Arnaud tried talking to Harvey in the dugout. A visibly frustrated Harvey wanted none of it.

On another note, Ricky Bones was the pitching coach. Dan Warthen missed the game because he was attending his mother’s funeral. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Warthen family at this time.

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Lagares’ True Value

The Mets roster is full of game changers. The pitching staff can change a game with their dominating stuff. Most of the lineup can change the game with the swing of the the bat. However, there’s only one gamechanging defensive player. 

Juan Lagares. 

Lagares won the Gold Glove in 2014 despite playing in only 116 games. He was that good. His UZR was 18.5, and his DRS was 26. These are elite numbers. His numbers were better in 2013 when his UZR was 21.5, and his DRS was 26. Overall, he’s a deserving Gold Glover. Time and again, he can change a game by getting to a ball no one else could field. He’s a game changer in the field. 

Except last year. Lagares’ offense and defense slipped noticeably. Yes, he had an elbow injury that was rumored to require Tommy John surgery. However, that would explain his offense and throwing more than his range. Last night, Lagares showed everyone that he’s back:

That right there is Lagares’ true value. He saved three runs there (even if it didn’t matter in terms of the game). While Terry Collins may look to platoon Lagares with Michael Conforto to get Lagares’ bat in the lineup against lefties. Collins is mistaken. The Mets don’t need Lagares’ bat. They need his glove. They need him out there late in the game to protect leads with his play in the field. 

He will make a catch like he made last night again – only next time it’s going to change the outcome of a game. 

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Citizen’s Bank is Homer Sweet Homer for the Mets

Thank goodness for PIP (picture in picture) technology. Because of that, I was able to watch both the Mets-Phillies game and Game Three between the Rangers and Penguins. By the way, if not for my wife and the Declaration of Independence, I’d propose getting rid of Pennsylvania a together. 

In any event, the Mets did all people who were both Mets and Rangers fans a huge favor tonight by blowing out the Phillies and giving Rangers fans something to cheer about. 

While the Phillies have terrific young starting pitching, we were reminded of the perils of relying on young pitching. While Vincent Velasquez has pitched incredibly well this season (including a terrific game against the Mets), he struggled against the Mets. The Mets jumped on him right away when Michael Conforto hit a two run homer in the first. It was not a good start for Velasquez who only lasted 4.1 innings allowing five hits, five runs (two earned), no walks, and four strikeouts. With the Phillies bullpen, the game was over once Yoenis Cespedes did this:

This was more than enough for Logan Verrett, who once again had a terrific spot start. Verrett would go six innings allowing six hits, no runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. He seemingly had someone on every inning, but he navigated how way through all the trouble. 

Overall, it was the type of night you expected from a World Series contender against a team that’s expected to contend for the first pick in the draft. The Mets offense went off hitting six homeruns. Aside from the aforementioned homeruns, the Mets got homeruns from Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, and two from Neil Walker. Walker gave one a ride in the ninth but fell just short of a three homerun game. All told, the Mets would score 11 runs. 

Things went so well, there was even a Rafael Montero sighting. Keep in mind, that was only after Terry Collins pitched Jim Henderson of an inning to protect the then 9-0 lead. As always, the seventh inning belongs to Henderson. 

Montero wasn’t good. He allowed two hits, one earned, one walk, and two strikeouts. It would’ve been much worse if not for a Gold Glove play by Juan Lagares, who came into the game after the blowout started, robbing Maikel Franco of a homerun:

Naturally, Collins gave the ball to Hansel Robles in the ninth to preserve the 11-1 victory rather than letting the long man Montero, who will soon be sent back to Triple-A, finish the game. 

Right now, the Mets are beginning to get in a rhythm and are beating up on bad teams.  It’s what they did very successfully last year. It’s what they’ll need to do in order to return to the postseason. 

Game Notes: The Mets are back over .500 at 7-6. Every Mets starter got a hit, including Verrett, who had his first career hit. Verrett has not allowed a run in 12 innings as a starter. Travis d’Arnaud returned to the lineup after getting hit on the elbow on Saturday. The referees are still calling the Rangers-Penguins one-sided even as Sidney Crosby asks for the Rangers to get a game misconduct for giving him a mean look. Rangers trail the Penguins 2-1 in the series. 

* photo from the Mets Twitter account

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For Four’s Sake

Tonight’s start by Noah Syndergaard was good. Why do I describe it as good?  Because no matter what adjective you would pick to describe his start would be grossly underselling it, so you might as well just go with good. Too bad the Mets offense can’t even be described as putrid. Otherwise, Syndergaard and the Mets might’ve gotten the win tonight. 

Syndergaard just dominated the Marlins like he did the Royals – like he’s going to do to the rest of baseball this year. Syndergaard went seven innings allowing seven hits, one earned, one walk, and 12 strikeouts. His ERA actually increased to 0.69. 

However, as good as Syndergaard was, he still needed some help. Derek Dietrich would start the inning with a leadoff double, and he would wind up running the Marlins out of the inning. After a ground out and line out, Ichiro Suzuki singled to short, and Dietrich did a poor Eric Hosmer impersonation. Lucas Duda nailed him easily at the plate. Even if Ichiro would’ve been ruled out on replay, it was good to see Duda get some measure of redemption. 

However, despite Syndergaard’s domination, the Mets still lost. They lost because the Mets still are not hitting or scoring runs. 

The only run was scored on a Duda first inning RBI single. After that, it was pretty much nothing. At least tonight, they had the excuse of a dominant Jose Fernandez for five innings. Yoenis Cespedes gave one a ride in the third, but it was knocked down by the 29+ MPH winds blowing in from left field. 

The turning point was Dee Gordon‘s eighth inning sixteen pitch at bat against Jim Henderson.  Gordon would single to left. Henderson would walk two of the next three to leave the bases loaded. Henderson just lost his control, and he almost hit Giancarlo Stanton in the head. Jerry Blevins came into the game, and Don Mattingly used Martin Prado to pinch hit. Prado would get the game winning sac fly, and the Marlins would win 2-1. 

The Mets have now lost four in a row and are 1-4 at home. 

Game Notes: Terry Collins allowed Michael Conforto to hit against a lefty with runners on first and second with one out in the sixth. He grounded into an inning ending double play. Cespedes had another good night at the plate going 1-3 with a walk. Collins ignored the fact that Henderson is playing his first full season since shoulder surgery:

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Inexcusable Loss to the Phillies

It was a cold windy night at Citi Field. If you’ve been to one of those games, especially in the Promenade, you’re freezing. About the only thing colder than those fans tonight were the bats. 

While the Phillies are going to be terrible this year, perhaps ’62 Mets terrible, we did get a glimpse of the hope for the Phillies future. Vincent Velasquez started for the Phillies, and he absolutely dominated the Mets. He allowed only three hits, three walks, and he struck out nine in six innings. 

It’s not fluke for Velasquez. He’s a prospect with a high ceiling. Tonight, he featured a filthy curveball and a fastball with life. More importantly, he was locating those pitches. While facing the Phillies 19 years will be fun, facing Velasquez both this year and the years to come will be unpleasant.  

As for Velasquez’s counterpart, Bartolo Colon, Mets fans were treated to the full Colon experience. He dominated a bad ballclub. He pounded the strike zone while fastballs in the high 80’s. Shockingly, he did get one up to 92 MPH. He didn’t allow a walk while striking out seven. He also lost his batting helmet while swinging and missing at a pitch. Furthermore, Colon made a terrific play in the field:  

The only mistake he made was a pitch to Ryan Howard that was deposited in the left field stands for the Phillies only run of the game. 

Now, this run should not have held up. The Phillies have an abominable bullpen. In the eighth inning, David Hernandez was erratic.  Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, and Lucas Duda got to three balls in the count. None of them reached base. 

The Mets are allowed to lose a game. They’re allowed to not hit when a pitcher like Velasquez is just dealing. However, this Phillies bullpen is dreadful. They were wild and gave the Mets very hittable pitches. If the Mets want to win the division, they need to take advantage of these opportunities. You cannot be shut out by this Phillies team. It’s inexcusable. 

Some important notes on the Mets. The team was smart in sitting David Wright on a cold windy day. Travis d’Arnaud threw out another would be basestealer. Teams seem to be adjusting to Michael Conforto by pounding him inside. Conforto would go 0-3 with a strikeout against Velasquez. Hansel Robles pitched to Cameron Rupp without any incident. Cespedes continues to struggle starting the year 2-16 with seven strikeouts. He received some boos. 

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2016 Shouldn’t Be a Disappointing Season

Between 1984 – 1990, the Mets finished in second place or better.  Over the course of these seven seasons, the Mets averaged 95 wins.  Without question, this was the best stretch in Mets history.  It’s strange to think that any point in time your team averages 95 wins over the course of five seasons, you are disappointed.  However, as Ron Darling expained to Mike Francesa, he feels “very disappointed” that the Mets didn’t accomplish more.

While Dariling’s feelings are understandable, and many Mets fans would agree with him, there are a number of reasons that we can point to as the reason why the Mets didn’t win more.  Rick Sutcliffe went an amazing 16-1 after the Cubs acquired him helping them win the division in 1984.  The Mets had to contend with a really good Cardinals team year in and year out.  The Mets were snakebit with injuries during the 1987 season.  The Mets ran into Orel Hershiser, who had one of the greatest seasons for a pitcher ever in 1988, in the NLCS.  However, truth be told Davey Johnson managed a horrific series.  In 1989, the team was in transition, and in  1990, the Pittsburgh Pirates were just better and were embarking on their own run.  All of these reasons are valid, but the main reason everyone points to would be the drug problems, namely with Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

There’s another reason why those Mets teams only got one shot at a World Series – the postseason format.  Back in that time frame, the only teams that went to the postseason were the division winners.  In today’s game, it would be unheard of a team winning 98 games not only missing the postseason, but also missing the postseason by three games.  If you apply, the current postseason rules and divisional formats to the 1980’s, the Mets would have had won the NL East for all seven of those seasons.  Its possible that instead of talking about the 1986 World Series, we’re talking about the Mets’ dynasty.  It’s possible the Mets would’ve won multiple World Series during that stretch.  It’s also possible that like the Braves in the 90’s, the Mets would only win one World Series, and we would be left questioning what happened.

Whatever may be the case, it’s apparent that those Mets teams did not get as many chances to reach the postseason as this current Mets team will.  Last year, the Mets won the NL East with 90 wins.  From 1984 – 1990, the Mets only won the NL East in the two seasons they won 100 games.

There is no reason for this Mets team to only go to the postseason twice with their current core group of players.  Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard are under team control until 2019.  Young players like Michael Conforto already contributing,  There are big prospects like Dilson Herrera and Amed Rosario who we should see within the next few seasons at Citi Field contributing to what is already a World Series contending team.  Without being too unreasonable, I believe this Mets team is set to contend for a longer period of time than Ron Darling’s Mets’ teams.  To expect that seems unreasonable, but when you consider the young talent already on the team and in the pipeline, it’s certainly possible.

So before the Mets play their home opener today, they’re going to raise 2015 National League Champions flag.  As we saw again that postseason, there is a lot that can happen along the way that can help you advance in each series.  If not for Daniel Murphy having a game for the ages, and the Dodgers being unable to hit deGrom despite him having nothing, the Mets lose in the NLDS.  The Mets are instead raising at 2015 National League East flag.  So no, the 2016 season is not World Series or bust, nor in retrospect is the Mets only winning one World Series from 1984 – 1990 really disappointing.

With that said, I don’t blame Ron Darling for feeling the way he does.  I won’t blame the current Mets players from feeling the same way about 2015.  There is a World Series championship in the Mets clubhouse.  Whether that is in 2016 or later, we do not know yet.  Right now, I will say that as long as this Mets group wins one World Series, I won’t be disappointed because I will have been able to see something that has only happened twice in the Mets 54 year history.  No matter what happens in 2016, it promises to be a special season, and I can’t wait to watch each and every minute of it.

Lets Go Mets.

 

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