Mickey Callaway

Resilient Mets Win Behind Resurgent Cespedes, Bruce

If you were paying attention before the game, there was a stir over a contrived controversy featuring Yoenis Cespedes.  No, it was not the typical contrived Cespedes controversies with his golf, cars, or his hat being backwards.  No, this one was the utterly false claim that somehow Mets fans are irritated with or hate Cespedes.  Today, Cespedes set out and showed why such claims are utterly preposterous:

If you think he took out a month’s worth of frustrations and completely demolished that ball, you would be right:

The Mets really needed that homer too because the Mets have not been playing their best baseball of late, and they were not really getting anything going against Cardinals starter Luke Weaver to that point, and Zack Wheeler was struggling.

Wheeler’s day started with his allowing a Tommy Pham two run homer in the first.  He would never quite settle in with his not registering one 1-2-3 inning in the game.  While he dodged troubled in the second and third, the Cardinals got to him again in the fourth with Kolten Wong‘s second double the day scoring a run, and Weaver delivering an RBI single of his own to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.

The Mets lone run had come off a complete Marcell Ozuna misplay in left on what was scored a Jay Bruce RBI triple.  The Mets continued rallying from there, but they were not able to score another run in that second inning.  The seminal play was an Adrian Gonzalez hot shot Wong made a great play on which kept the slow and injured Bruce at third.

Really, the Mets looked dead in the water until there were two outs in the top of the fifth, and Weaver lost the strike zone.  He walked Wilmer Flores and Michael Conforto on eight straight balls until the aforementioned Cespedes homer.

With Wheeler lifted after four uninspiring innings, this put the game in new reliever Matt Harvey‘s hands.

In the fifth, he was victimized a bit by Bruce’s complete and utterly lack of speed.  Dexter Fowler hit what should have been a single, but with Bruce’s speed, he made it an easy double.  That allowed Fowler to score easily on the subsequent Paul DeJong double. Likely, Fowler doesn’t score from first on the De Jong double.  Still, Harvey did allow back-to-back well struck balls which broke the 4-4 tie.

Overall, Harvey pitched fairly well out of the bullpen.  In his two innings, he allowed one earned on two hits with one walk while striking out two.  Tomas Nido was helping him get those extra calls, and Harvey had better velocity than we have seen of late:

All in all, it was a positive outing for Harvey was in line for the loss partially because Mickey Callaway has been making some odd decisions of late and because of Bruce’s speed.  Really, Bruce’s speed cost the Mets at least two runs tonight – when he couldn’t even score on the Wong play and his allowing Fowler to get into scoring position.

As for Callaway, in the top of the 7th, Callaway used Juan Lagares instead of Brandon Nimmo as a pinch hitter.  Considering Nimmo’s OBP and Jordan Hicks‘ 6.2 BB/9 this year, you might as well of put Nimmo on first to start the inning.  Instead Callaway went with his best defensive outfielder who struggles historically against right-handed pitching.

Still, even with the Bruce speed issues and Callaway’s curious decision making, this is a resilient Mets team.

Paul Sewald kept the Mets in the game with a scoreless seventh, and the Mets offense went to work against Hicks in the eighth.

Todd Frazier started the inning with a four pitch walk, and he went first to third on a Bruce single which snuck just past Jose Martinez.  A Gonzalez sacrifice fly would tie the game up at 5-5.  Unfortunately, that was where the rally would end.  Luke Gregerson came on and struck out Amed Rosario and got Nido to fly out to get out of the jam.

This would be the second time the weak bottom of the lineup prevented the Mets from cashing in on an opportunity, and it was another instance where you were left wondering why Callaway didn’t bring Nimmo into the game to take full advantage of a key opportunity.

Again, even with that, Sewald was great out of the Mets bullpen again.  He had two scoreless innings keeping the Mets in the game.

Robert Gsellman would make things really interesting in the ninth by first walking Matt Carpenter, and then allowing a bloop single to Pham.  However, he would send the game into extras by first striking out Martinez and then inducing Ozuna to hit into the inning ending 5-4-3 double play.

That play loomed large as Bruce would hit a go-ahead homer in the top of the 10th off Matthew Bowman.  Inexplicably, Mike Matheny challenged whether Bruce touched first base, which only served to give Jeurys Familia more time to warm up in the bullpen.  The well warmed up Familia came on to blow through the Cardinals for his ninth save of the year.

With some questionable decisions and calls, the Mets are back to their winning ways.  They won mostly because this is a resilient club with every member of this team summoning something each night to help deliver a win.

GAME NOTES: This was the first time all season the Mets wore a blue alternate jersey.  Mets are now 3-0 in extra inning games.

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Matt Harvey Could Have Career Tim Lincecum Should’ve Had

After another poor start, a frustrated and defiant Matt Harvey stood in front of his locker and declared, “I’m a starting pitcher.  I’ve always been a starting pitcher. That’s my mindset.”

With an off-day and Jason Vargas not far away, Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland made the decision to removed Harvey from the rotation.  On the move, Callaway said, “Dave and I have both seen guys go to the bullpen and come out of it better than they were before.  I think that can be the case with Matt Harvey.”  (New York Times).

Eiland was a little more assertive saying, “If he wants to be on this team, he has to do what’s asked of him to help this team win. And, if he wants to continue his career, he’s going to have to go out and pitch, and pitch well. What’s best for him is best for this team. It goes hand in hand.”  (Matt Ehalt, Bergen Record).

Considering how Harvey’s stuff has dropped off, his assertions he is really best suited to the rotation, and the team finally making the decision to put Harvey in the bullpen, there are some parallels to be drawn here with Tim Lincecum.

Like Harvey did in 2012 and 2013, Lincecum burst onto the scene.  He was more than an ace on a rotation of aces which included Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, he was the dominant figure of the group.  He was the one who achieved the highest of highs, and as we have seen, he was the one who succumbed to the lowest of lows.

In 2012, the wheels came off for Linceum.  The pitcher with two Cy Youngs and four straight All Star appearances was pedestrian.  Instead of leading the league in strikeouts, he led the league in losses, earned runs, and wild pitches.

Come the postseason, the Giants made the tough choice.  Instead of Lincecum joining Cain and Bumgarner in the rotation, it was going to be Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong.  Years prio, it was unfathomable Lincecum would ever be bumped from any rotation for Vogelsong, and yet, there he was in the bullpen.

Lincecum turned out to be a revelation as a reliever.  Over the course of that postseason, he made five relief appearances and one start.  In his relief appearances, Linceum was completely dominant in his 13.0 innings.  Overall, he was 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA, 0.385 WHIP, and an 11.8 K/9.

Basically, Lincecum was what we have come to see from Andrew Miller over the past few postseasons.

This should have been a strong indication to both Lincecum and the Giants the former Cy Young should have become a full-time reliever to be a dominant force in the bullpen, to once again become a game-changer.  Instead, like what the Mets have been doing with Harvey of late, both sides agreed to have Lincecum continue on in the rotation.

The dip in velocity and effectiveness continued.  In the ensuing two seasons, Lincecum was 29-27 with a 4.46 ERA, 1.373 WHIP, and a 79 ERA+.  This was decidedly not the Lincecum who was both a vital part of the Giants rise to prominence and their first World Series title.

This was a different pitcher, one who no one really wanted.  After a disaster of a stint with the Angels in 2016, he didn’t pitch in the majors last year, and now finally, he has accepted his fate as a reliever.  He’s now sitting on the 60 day disabled list with blister issues hoping they’ll resolve themselves, and he will get another chance.

Right now, Harvey is in the spot Lincecum was in 2012.  He’s seen the dip in both velocity and results.  He’s not the same pitcher anymore.  For now, the Mets have decided he’s a reliever, which must be hard to accept for Harvey because he’s behind Vargas, the Mets version of Vogelsong.

Like Lincecum in 2012, Harvey is in a position where he needs to decide to put everything into a reliever.  Given the competitor he is, and with his ability to get into the mid 90s in Spring Training, it’s possible, Harvey is going to be a shut down reliever.

The question is what happens from there.  Does Harvey let his ego and heart stand in his way, and he keeps searching for that next starting pitching shot?  Or does he return to his place in baseball as a dominant pitcher, albeit one in the bullpen?

If Harvey opts the bullpen route, similar to what we once saw with injury prone pitchers with great stuff like John Smoltz, we may see Harvey become a great pitcher again.  Ultimately, we may see him have the career Tim Lineceum should have had if he was willing to accept the fact he was really a relief pitcher and no longer that ace atop the rotation.

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Mets Blow Another Late Inning Lead

Through seven innings, the batters in this game might as well have gone up to the plate blindfolded and holding onto a broken tennis racket.  That was how good their chances were scoring a run against either Jacob deGrom or Julio Teheran, both of whom dominate the other team and allowed just four hits apiece tonight.  Really, their final lines were practically identical:

deGrom (ND) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Teheran (ND) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 6 K

It wasn’t until the bullpens got involved that these offenses would wake up, and with the Mets being the away team, they were the ones who went off first.

Wilmer Flores drew a leadoff walk against Braves reliever Sam Freeman, and he moved to second on a Jose Reyes single.  For Reyes, despite him entering this game 0-20, he had a resurgent game reaching in his first three plate attempts going 3-4 with a run and a stolen base.

The pivotal moment of the inning, and at that time, the game was when Ozzie Albies just botched catching the throw in his haste to turn a double play on a Michael Conforto grounder.  While Reyes was initially ruled out, Mickey Callaway challenged the call, and Reyes was ruled safe.

As an aside, it was the second successful challenge for the Mets on the day.  The other was just as important on what was initially ruled an Ender Inciarte stolen base of third with no outs in the sixth:

Todd Frazier‘s holding on the tag kept the game scoreless, and it helped allow this game remain scoreless into the eighth.

With the bases loaded and no outs, this was the spot where you assumed Yoenis Cespedes would come through.  Even with his recent struggles, and his batting .195 on the season, he’s still gotten the clutch hits, and he is still hitting with the bases loaded.  Except for tonight.  He hit a shallow fly to Nick Markakis, and with Flores on third, there was no way he was going to tag up and score on that.  With Cespedes’ failure to deliver, it put the rally in jeopardy.

That was until Asdrubal Cabrera came up and hit a clutch two run RBI single to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.  Jay Bruce followed with an RBI single, and he hustled to second on an Inciarte fielding error.

Eventually, Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked, and Jose Lobaton hit a sinking line drive which Preston Tucker almost misplayed.  Instead he made a sliding catch getting the Braves out of the inning down 3-0.

With his performance yesterday, you thought this would be enough for AJ Ramos to lock down.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see that Ramos tonight.

No, we saw the Ramos who has troubles maintaining the strike zone.  He’d bookend an Inciarte strikeout with walks to Ryan Flaherty and Albies.  With Mets killer Freddie Freeman coming up, Callaway understandably went to his lone lefty Jerry Blevins.

Much like how he performed on the season, Blevins failed to get the exact guy he was brought into the game to get.  Freeman hit a two RBI double to pull the Braves within one.

Blevins would strike out Markakis, but the damage was done.  It was done not just because the Braves plated two runs, but because Blevins failure to get both left-handed batters, but also Ramos’ ineffectiveness, Jeurys Familia needed to come into the game to get the last out of the eighth.

Going multiple innings like this was something that was once old hat for Familia, and with him doing it already two times this season, the hope was he could do it tonight.  He didn’t.

It started with a leadoff walk to Dansby Swanson, who scored the game tying run on a Johan Camargo (yes, the very same one) triple.

The Mets got a bit of a break with Kurt Suzuki lining a ball off of Frazier’s glove.  Suzuki reached first safely, but Camargo wouldn’t score on the play.  It seemed things were turning back towards the Mets direction as Charlie Culberson struck out, which at least created the possibility the Mets could get out of the inning with double play.  That didn’t happen because, as Gary Cohen predicted may happen, Inciarte dropped down the drag bunt:


With that bunt, the Mets lost the game 4-3.  More than that, the Mets blew a great start from deGrom.  More than anything, this is the second time this week, the Mets bullpen has lost a game against a division rival.  It is still too early to begin worrying about these sorts of things, but it is never to be soon to be aware of what issues it could raise for the Mets down the road.

Game Notes: Before the game, it was announced Matt Harvey was moving to the bullpen.  Joining him there was Corey Oswalt.  Gerson Bautista was sent down to make room for Oswalt.

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More Faith In Gsellman Than Reyes

Last night, Mickey Callaway made a crucial decision in the game, which surprisingly, helped lead towards the Mets scoring the winning run in the top of the 12th inning.  Instead of pinch hitting for Robert Gsellman, he sent him up to the plate, and he was plunked by Josh Ravin to lead-off the inning.

Now, there were many things which informed the unuual decision of having a pitcher lead off an inning in extra frames.  Mostly, this was the result of Paul Sewald being unavailable, Gerson Bautista likely unavailable, Seth Lugo and AJ Ramos having already pitched, and Callaway likely holding onto Jeurys Familia for a save inning.

For his career, Gsellman is 6-50, and yet, most Mets fans probably had more faith in Gsellman in that spot than Jose Reyes.

On the season, Reyes is 0-20, and he probably hasn’t even been that good.

So yes, with a the game still in the balance, I’d rather see a reliever hit for himself than see Reyes take the plate.  That’w where things are for Reyes now.  It is better to go with the reliever than trust the guy who simply cannot get a hit.

To rub salt into the wound, Gsellman was kept into the game to run for himself instead of Callaway going to Reyes.  That’s pretty bad when you consider that’s the one thing Reyes actually still does well.

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Cespedes Strikes Out Until Clutch Situation Arises

With the Mets blowout loss on a really bad Matt Harvey start, it looked like a team who lost three of their past four games needed to gain some momentum.  Fortunately for the Mets, in baseball, momentum in the next day’s starting pitcher, and the Mets were sending Noah Syndergaard to the mound.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the rest of the team was not quite up to the task when he was on the mound.

Yes, Syndergaard was beat by Ozzie Albies on a fastball, but that was Albies hitting a good pitch.  The other runs against Syndergaard was really on the Mets.

In the third, Jay Bruce, who has struggled in every aspect of his game lately, misplayed a John Flaherty ball leading to an RBI double that allowed Dansby Swanson to score from first.

In the sixth, Nick Markakis made the mistake of challenging Yoenis Cespedes‘ arm trying to stretch and single into a double.  As poor as the decision was to challenge Cespedes’ arm, it was a smart decision to test Asdrubal Cabrera‘s glove. With Cabrera unable to field the one hop throw, Markakis was safe at second.

Markakis moved to third on a Syndergaard wild pitch, which was partially the result of Tomas Nido not getting down, and he would score the third and tying run on a Kurt Suzuki sacrifice fly.

The shame of it was Syndergaard was very good on the night.  His final line was 6.0 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, no walks, and six strikeouts. He would get the no decision, partially because Wilmer Flores couldn’t quite score in the top half of the inning:

Still, the Mets did score three runs against Braves starter Sean Newcomb.

The Mets scored their first run in the third inning on an Amed Rosario double to deep center allowing Nido to score from first.  With Ender Inciarte making a throwing error on the play, Rosario was able to scoot over to third.  This allowed him to score on a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly, which, at the time, gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.

The Mets lead grew to 3-1 the following inning.  Todd Frazier drew a walk to lead off the inning, and he stole second putting him in scoring position to score on a Flores RBI single.

After the sixth, the Mets would begin to play much better in the field, including Nido, who threw out both Flaherty on a strike ’em out-throw ’em out double play in the seventh.  He would then nail Albies in the eighth.  These would be the first two players thrown out on the basepaths by Mets catchers.

As impressive as that was, the Mets bullpen was even better allowing just one hit after Syndergaard departed the game.  Seth Lugo pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth.  AJ Ramos threw a scoreless ninth. Robert Gsellman contributed a scoreless 10th and 11th.

With the tired arms in the Mets bullpen, Mickey Callaway sent Gsellman up to bat against Josh Ravin, who was in his second inning of work.

Gsellman would reach with Ravin hitting him with a pitch, and Gsellman quickly found himself on second on a successful Rosario sacrifice bunt.  For a moment, it appeared the Mets were going to squander an opportunity with Conforto popping out, and the .197 hitting Cespedes, who had already had the golden sombrero on the night, coming to the plate.

However, like Cespedes has done many times this season, despite his struggles, he came through hitting an opposite field single against the shift scoring Gsellman from second and giving the Mets a 4-3 lead.  That lead expanded to 5-3 when Cabrera hit a double off the right field wall.

Then for the second time in a week, Cabrera made a really bad base running mistake.  On the way to third on what should have been a stand up triple, he did one of his slides to stop himself, and he went back to second.  He was beaten back to the base by Swanson leading to the third out of the inning.

The good news is that play needed a replay review giving Jeurys Familia more time to warm up and get into the game.  Between that and the two run lead, the Mets had all they needed to lock up this 5-3 win.

Once again, the Mets are back to their winning ways, are still in first place, and are sending another ace to the mound in tomorrow’s game.  Once again, things are looking up for the Mets.

Game Notes: With a bloop opposite field double in the sixth, Bruce snapped an 0-19 skid.  He then went hitless in his next two at-bats.

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Give Harvey One More Start, Just One, And Not With Lobaton

Last night, Matt Harvey had another low moment in his Mets career.  Really after Terry Collins went to the mound in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series, it has been nothing but low moments for Harvey.  He’s was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, forever complained about his mechanics, and he had stress reactions from being rushed back to the rotation.

Now, this was supposed to be the year Harvey turned it around.  He had Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland there to help get him back on track.  He is also a pending free agent, and the assumption always is Scott Boras free agents always have their best years in their contract walk years.

In his first start of the season, there was a real glimmer of hope.  In five innings, Harvey limited what is a pretty decent Phillies lineup to one hit over five scoreless innings while striking out five and walking one.  He focused more on locating than blowing it by batters.  Really, this is what everyone agrees Harvey needs to be now, and he looked great doing it.

Since then, he hasn’t been quite as good.  Against the Nationals, he fooled no one allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk in five innings, and he only struck out two.  That said, Harvey did keep the Mets in the game.  That’s something he has failed to do in his two subsequent starts.

The worst of which being last night with the Braves tattooing Harvey in two separate innings to score six runs.

Even with that, if you wanted to find a silver lining, it was there for you as Harvey retired 11 of the last 12 Braves he faced.  After the adversity of the first and third innings, he didn’t meldown.  He refocused, and he at least got the Mets through the sixth inning. If you wanted to justify giving him another start, you had it right there.

As it stands anyway, it does not seem like Jason Vargas is going to be ready in five days.  Corey Oswalt was held out of his last start with an illness meaning he’s no longer lined up for Harvey’s next start, and it’s not likely Chris Flexen is going to be lined up for Harvey’s next start either.

With the Mets in the midst of 10 straight games without an off day, and the team playing 15 games over the next 16 days, including stops at Atlanta, St. Louis, and San Diego, they should avoid using Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo for a spot start.  The bullpen has issues of its own with the team twice needing to go into the minors to get a fresh arm, and after Gerson Bautista‘s performance last night, they may need to do it again.  The bullpen issues need not be exacerbated for the sake of one start.

Really, all signs indicate Harvey should probably get just one more start.  However, if that does happen Jose Lobaton cannot be the one who catches him.

In the two starts they have been paired, Harvey has an 8.18 ERA and batters are hitting .348/.367/.630 off of him.  Contrast that to the 3.60 ERA and .250/.302/.375 batting line opposing batters have off of him when d’Arnaud caught him.

Maybe it’s just the reflection of small sample sizes.  Maybe its’ the difference in opponents.  Maybe Harvey doesn’t jive well with Lobaton, or maybe Harvey needs a good pitch framer to get those borderline strikes to ensure he doesn’t have to pitch closer to the strike and hitting zone.

Whatever the case, we’ve seen a glimmer of hope with Harvey.  The team needs one more start out of him before Vargas returns.  You’ve invested so much into him the past few seasons.  Give him one last chance with the best chance to succeed with Tomas Nido behind the plate.

If that doesn’t work, you can honestly say you’ve tried all you can do, and it’s time to discuss bullpen, minors, or releasing him.  But before you do that, just give him one last start with every chance for him to succeed.

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Brandon Nimmo Should Be Celebrated, Not Criticized

Aside from his rare ability to draw walks and find a way to get on base, Mets fans have take a real liking to Brandon Nimmo because he expressly the very same joy on the baseball field we have watching him play.  The homegrown Mets always has a positive attitude and a smile on his face.  Overall, he plays the game the right way, and he has the right attitude in everything he does.

This begs the question as to why he seems to rub people the wrong way.

Seeing Nimmo’s disposition, it was of no surprise Nimmo is willing to accept any role with this team.  In fact, he went a step further saying, “I want to be part of a World Series team, and if that means I need to come off the bench and put up a good at-bat for a pinch hit or whatever, it may be then that’s what I’m going to do.”  

On the Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Maggie, and Bart, Chris Carlin implored him to “Dial it back” because he’s Brandon Nimmo.  Bart Scott told him to “Be quiet young man” and even called him “Rex, Jr.”  It should be noted Maggie Gray defended Nimmo for being upbeat and buying in.

In the sixth inning on Sunday, Nimmo hit a big game-tying home run the half inning after the Mets had lost the lead.  There were no bat flips and slow trots.  Instead, he sprinted around the bases with a smile on his face.

Apparently, this rubbed Mark DeRosa, former Major Leaguer and Mets managerial candidate this past offseason, the wrong way.  On MLB Central, DeRosa would feel the need to put Nimmo in his place saying, “I get it.  We’re grown men competing!  Wipe the smile off your face!  It’s game 14!”

Last night, with the Mets down 3-2 in the sixth inning, Nimmo was hit by a pitch by Tanner Roark, which loaded the bases.  Nimmo responded to the beaning by smiling, clapping his hands, and running to first.  That prompted this reaction from WFAN overnight host John Jastremski:

So far in his career, Nimmo has not had a cross word to say about anyone.  He plays hard, and he does not take one game off. In everything he does on the field, he plays the game the right way.  He’s that rare quality of being both a grinder and being a guy who gets both his team and the fans into the game.

When it comes to the team or the clubhouse, no one ever has a bad word to say about him.  In fact, Mickey Callaway went so far as to compliment him after Nimmo had to be sent down to the minors despite his terrific play saying, “Tough break for Nimmo, he deserves to be here, he handled the news unbelievably. What a guy. He’s a winning player, he’s going to help us for a long, long time so it’s tough but we felt like it was necessary.” (northjersey.com)

This is a guy who loves being a Met, baseball, and life itself.  He checks his ego at the door, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to win.  Normally, players like this are celebrated.  However, because Nimmo does it with a smile on his face and plays with joy on the baseball field, people want to just tear him down.

Through it all, Nimmo has risen above it, and he’s been a great ambassador for baseball.  It’s why Mets fans love him, and it’s why he’s quickly become a fan favorite.  So, they can all go ahead and mock him and criticize him.  Mets fans will be here cheering for him and smiling along with him every step of the way.

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Mets Blogger Roundtable: Pleasant Surprises of The 2018 Mets Season

After the Mets lost a brutal game to the Washington Nationals with an epic eighth inning meltdown, you’d be hard pressed to think of anything good about the 2018 Mets even with the team having a 12-3 record.  Of course, last night, the Mets had their own eighth inning rally to remind everyone just how good this Mets team can be.

With there being so many different surprises this season, our Mets bloggers answered the question about what they believe to be the most pleasant surprise of the 2018 season:

Roger Cormier (Good Fundies)

I would have to say it’s all of the winning. Now don’t get me wrong – I didn’t expect a 1-161 season (the Mets always win Opening Day), but boy, all of the winning at the jump? It was an embarrassment of riches. I would *never* ask for 11 wins after 12 games. Yet the other shoe kept refusing to drop. My shoes just stayed on my beach blanket as I danced in the sands of glory. I have pneumonia now of course thanks to this weather, but boy was it fun. They say you never know when you’re living in a golden age, and I wanted to prove this ‘they’ wrong. Back to reality though. *Nyquil chug* Sorry, what was I saying? Oh right, the winning. Yes, the surprise was all of the winning.

Joe Marcic (Loud Egg)

I was going to say the bullpen… but maybe not.

Besides the bullpen, I’d say the DL. I do not want to say this too loudly and jinx things, but Mickey Callaway‘s handling of his players (especially pitching) has been great. Both catchers being out hurts, but it’s not too bad this early in the season. Unpleasant surprise: Jose Reyes not getting a hit. Did not see this coming.

Metstradamus (Metstradamus Blog)

Adrian Gonzalez. Everything else is a distant second.

Greg Prince (Faith and Fear in Flushing)

The most pleasant surprise of the early season was that the ugly 8-6 loss to the Nationals fifteen games in was considered a total shock as opposed to business as usual. Wouldn’t have seen the status quo reshaping itself so definitively prior to Opening Day.

Mets Daddy

The Todd Frazier effect on everything Mets.  He’s brought a winning attitude to the team.  He’s become the upbeat clubhouse guy, and he’s started this fun friendship with Yoenis Cespedes.  He also helped start that goofy grinder thing that has someone become not just a team bonding thing, but a thing Mets fans have come to actually like.

Speaking of Mets fans, Frazier is one of the good ones, like Wilmer Flores, who takes time to interact with the fans.  He’s already making himself a fan favorite, and he seems like one of those players we will irrationally love for the next 40 years.

While the Mets have been a surprise this season, the excellent work from the participating bloggers isn’t.  As always, I encourage you to visit their sites to get their unique, thoughtful, and interesting takes on the Mets.

 

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This Time, The Mets Own The Eighth Inning

Considering what happened the last two nights, the Mets really could have used a fast start to this game.  Instead, they got Steven Matz threw a 3-2 changeup that Ryan Zimmerman hit for a three run home run to give the Nationals an early 3-0 lead.

After the Zimmerman homer, Matz would allow a Moises Sierra single before going on a tear where he retired the next 11 Nationals in a row.  That stretch included a pick-off (scored a caught stealing), no walks, and five strikeouts.  He was at 74 pitches, and he looked good to go for a few more innings.

Essentially, Matz settled into the game.  However, where Matz settled in, his manager Mickey Callaway, did not.

With Tanner Roark starting to bark at the home plate umpire over some borderline calls, the Mets began to rally in the bottom of the fourth.

Asdrubal Cabrera led off the inning with a double, and Todd Frazier would follow with a one out walk.  Once again, it was Adrian Gonzalez delivering a key and unexpected RBI single.  The single scored Cabrera and allowed Frazier to go to third.

Jose Lobaton followed with what should have been an inning ending double play.  The only problem for the Nationals is Zimmerman can’t throw anymore, and he pulled Trea Turner off the bag not only preventing the Nationals from getting the double play, but also them getting even just one out.

On the play Frazier scored pulling the Mets to within 3-2 with runners on first and second and just one out and Matz due up.  Instead of using Matz in an obvious sacrifice bunt situation, Callaway pinch hit Brandon Nimmo.

Considering the events of the past two days, this reeked of a panic move.  You could only hope it would work out.  Initially, it looked like it would with Roark hitting Nimmo, who smiled and cheered all his way to first base.  Still, the move blew up as Amed Rosario hit into the inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

Considering how the Mets left a small island nation on the bases yesterday, and the team going all-in on the fourth inning, there was legitimate concern the Mets blew their shot.

That’s where Paul Sewald came in, and he gave the Mets another incredible three inning relief appearance.  If not for an extremely ill advised Jay Bruce dive, it’s likely all three innings would have been scoreless.  Instead, his final line would be 3.0 innings, one run, one earned, one hit, no walks, and five strikeouts.

Sewald both saved a taxed bullpen, and he gave the Mets a chance to win.  For once this series, the Mets took advantage of that chance.

With Ryan Madson working a third day in a row, the Mets offense would immediately go to work starting with back-to-back-to-back singles from Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes, and Cabrera to load the bases.  After an injured and struggled Bruce popped out, Frazier delivered with the game tying RBI single. On the single up the middle, Cespedes would get his hand in just ahead of the Severino tag.

The Mets weren’t done either.  Gonzalez was intentionally walked to re-load the bases, Madson struck out Wilmer Flores leaving the game in the hands of Juan Lagares.  Historically, Lagares has struggled against right-handed pitching, but this season he can do no wrong, and he did no wrong in this at-bat hitting a go-ahead two RBI double.

As the inning continued, and the Mets batted around, Sammy Solis would issue a bases loaded walk to Conforto giving the Mets a 7-4 lead.  The capper would be Cespedes hitting a grand slam to give the Mets an 11-4 lead.

No, it wasn’t quite the Nationals coming from down 6-1, but it still felt good and nearly as important.  Also, it might have demoralized a Nationals team who thought they were going to return the favor to the Mets for them sweeping them at home last week.

Thanks to the heroics of Sewald and a revitalized Mets offense, the Mets won 11-5, and they are well back on track as they go on the road to make a statement against the Braves.

Game Notes: Jose Reyes grounded out to the pitcher in a seventh inning.  He’s now 0-18 on the season.

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Callaway May Be Overworking The Mets Bullpen

After an epic eighth inning bullpen meltdown against the Washington Nationals, the fans and media began the process of second guessing Mets manager Mickey Callaway. With that the central question was why Callaway went to Seth Lugo instead of allowing Jacob deGrom to face Howie Kendrick, who deGrom has completely dominated both that night and over the course of his career.

As we know, Lugo did the inexcuable and walked Kendrick on four pitches. This led to Jerry Blevins, AJ Ramos, and Jeurys Familia not getting the job done. With the exception of Blevins, there were ensuing questions about how each reliever was used in that inning.

These questions are interesting for debate, but they are missing the larger issue here. In his brief managerial career, Callaway has ridden the bullpen too hard for this team to have sustained success over the course of a 162 game schedule.

There are a number of caveats many people will cite. There have been a number of off days. The Mets pitchers aren’t going deep enough into games thereby forcing Callaway’s hand. The bullpen can’t possibly be overworked because they have pitched just the 17th more innings in the majors.

Here are some other key stats to consider. There are 15 pitchers in baseball who have made double digit appearances this season. The Mets have three of those pitchers with Familia, Ramos, and Blevins. By the way, they were also the three pitchers who failed to get the job done that fateful eighth inning.

By the way, the Mets are the only team to have three relievers make double digit appearances, and that number will grow to four when Robert Gsellman, who has scuffled a bit of late, makes his next appearance.

We tend to over-focus just on the number of appearances, innings, and pitches relievers throw. Them getting up to warm up also counts. It is part of the fatigue which can set in for a reliever.

At this point, we can not be definitively sure any of the Mets relievers are gassed even with the recent drop-off. Really, that can be explained by regression to the mean or just a fluke small sample size.

Here’s what we do know. For most of this season, Callaway has had a bullpen with an extra arm in it. Despite that, the Mets have had to make roster moves on two separate occasions to get a fresh arm into the bullpen. First, it was Corey Oswalt for a day. Now, it’s Gerson Bautista for who knows how long?

The answer to that one may just be up until he gets gassed and the Mets need to go back to the minors to pull up Hansel Robles or Jacob Rhame again. Maybe this time, it’s Tyler Bashlor who comes up to the majors straight from Double-A.

Point is, the way Callaway is using this bullpen is having an effect, and it is causing the Mets to need to dip into their minor league depth to get fresh arms into this bullpen. Maybe this was the plan all along, and that plan is buttressed by Sandy Alderson’s moves at the trade deadline last year. Probably not.

Whatever the case, the Mets are going to have to figure something out because this cannot continue for 162 games.

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