Neil Walker
With the Mets injuries, it’s easy to blame the lack of offense on the Mets supposed depth. It’s true. The Mets backups have been dreadful:
- Kevin Plawecki and Rene Rivera have combined to hit .194/.291/.302 since Travis d’Arnaud played his last game on April 25th.
- Eric Campbell, Wilmer Flores, and James Loney have combined to hit .197/.231/.328 since Lucas Duda played his last game on May 20th.
- Flores and Ty Kelly have combined to hit .216/.310/.243 since David Wright played his last game on May 27th
These players haven’t done their jobs, and they have hurt the Mets. However, while the Kellys and the Campbells of the world get the blame for hitting the way you reasonably anticipate them to hit, the regulars who haven’t been hitting have not faced the same scrutiny. In fact, the Mets right now have five regulars still in the lineup and four of them are just flat out not producing:
- Asdrubal Cabrera – Since April 27th, Cabrera is hitting .227/.278/.355 with only 10 extra base hits in 151 plate appearances. Over that stretch, he is striking out in 23.8% of his plate appearances.
- Michael Conforto – Since May 1st, in what is now being infamously referenced as the Madison Bumgarner Effect, Conforto has hit .160/.224/.311 while striking out in 31% of his plate appearances. He only has seven extra base hits over this stretch. Terry Collins once had concerns with him lefties. Right now, Conforto isn’t hitting anybody.
- Yoenis Cespedes – Since May 25th, Cespedes is hitting .086/.132/.114 with no homeruns while striking out 34.2% of the time. He is once again dealing with a hip issue, and he is clearly frustrated saying he is “a little lost at the plate right now.” (ESPN).
- Curtis Granderson – Since April 30th, Granderson is hitting .180/.269/.375 while striking out 28.3% of the time. His problems have been analyzed before show he’s hitting the ball on the ground more and it getting beaten by the shift. So far, Granderson is not making the necessary adjustments.
Then again, no Met is making the necessary adjustments right now. The end result is a putrid offense that is the worst offense in the major leagues. According to Baseball Tonight, since May 12th, the Mets are the last in the majors in runs per game (2.8), OBP (.282), and strikeout rate (28%). The team is also second to last in slugging (.354). These numbers would look a whole lot worse if Neil Walker wasn’t hitting.
Overall, this isn’t the July 2015 Mets that had Campbell and John Mayberry hitting in the middle of the lineup. There are legitimate hitters in this lineup who just aren’t hitting. We can all analyze who the Mets should get to be their possible long term solutions at catcher, first, and third in the event any of those injured players aren’t able to return. However, the simple truth of the matter is that unless the players currently here start hitting it’s not going to matter if the Mets make another move at the deadline.
You knew it was going to be a long day when Jon Niese dominated the Mets in game one of the doubleheader.
Niesepitched seven scoreless innings allowing two walks while striking out two. This unrecognizable man even recovered shrugged off an error turning a Steven Matz double into a triple by getting the next couple of batters out to escape the jam. For his part, Matz battled through five innings allowing eight hits, two earned, and two walks while striking out eight.
It wasn’t a good outing for Matz, but he fought through it and limited the damage as much as he could. The problem is he got no help. The Mets didn’t score until Curtis Granderson hit an eighth inning homerun. Before that homer, Granderson was 2-53 as a Met against the Pirates (not an exaggeration). Granderson’s homerun was too little too late what would be a 3-1 loss.
The nightcap was more of the same with another 3-1 loss.
Terry Collins trotted out the same lineup as the first game, with the exception of the requisite swap of starting catchers, hoping for a change. Instead he got more of the same. It was made all the worse by the loss coming against a Juan Nicasio whose 4.75 ERA does not appear long for the Pirates rotation, especially with Jameson Taillon‘s much anticipated major league debut tomorrow.
Overall, Nicasio pitched five innings allowing three hits and one earned with two walks and seven strikeouts over five innings. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he pulled off a successful butcher boy in the fifth setting up the third run of the game. Nicasio pulled the bunt back and singled off the glove of Jacob deGrom. The play moved Chris Stewart to third. He later scored on a John Jaso double.
Like Matz, deGrom didn’t have his best stuff, but he mostly kept the Pirates at bay. He pitched six innings allowing six hits and three runs with no walks and no strikeouts. Like Matz, the Mets offense abandoned him. The only run scored was on a Kevin Plawecki RBI single scoring Michael Conforto in the fifth.
There’s just no sugar coating it. The Mets offense was, and has been, putrid. They played 18 innings, and they only collected nine hits while scoring two runs. They went down 1-2-3 in nine of the 18 innings.
Asdrubal Cabrera was 0-8, and he hasn’t had a hit in last 14 at bats. Yoenis Cespedes was 0-7, and he’s 3-36 in his last 11 games. Michael Conforto was 1-6, and he’s been hitting .160 since the end of April. These are three important bats in the lineup. Even without the Mets injuries, the Mets still need these guys to hit. They’re not, and their struggles are magnified because the Mets need them more than usual.
Simply put, if they’re not hitting the Mets aren’t winning. They didn’t hit today, and the Mets were swept in both ends of the doubleheader.
Notes: About the only good thing that happened today was Neil Walker got loud ovations before his first at bat of both ends of the doubleheader. It was a classy move for a classy player. Eric Campbell was the 26th man in the second game of the doubleheader. He didn’t play.
For the past year, we have seen the magic that can happen when a player plays for the team he rooted for throughout his entire life. Steven Matz is an astounding 11-1 as a Met. Not only has he become a beloved Met, but his grandfather has become a beloved figure as well. It doesn’t get any better than that.
However, what happens after that? What happens when the team you love decides they are better off without you?
Twenty years ago, that was what happened to Bernard Gilkey. Gilkey was born and raised in St. Louis. In 1984, Gilkey was signed as amateur free agent. Six years later, Gilkey made his major league debut for his hometown team. In six years, Gilkey played very well for the Cardinals. He hit .284/.354/.431. In his four seasons as a starter, he had a 117 OPS+. Then, after the 1995 season, the Cardinals decided they could do better than him as they had Ron Gant, Ray Lankford, and Brian Jordan. This facilitated a trade to the Mets.
Gilkey responded by going 2-4 with a homerun and 2 RBI on opening day against those same St. Louis Cardinals. It was the first step in what turned out to be a career year for Gilkey. Gilkey hit .317/.393/.562 with 30 homers and 117 RBI. He set a still standing Mets record of 44 doubles. He had a 155 OPS+. It stands out as the greatest season a Mets left fielder has ever had. Gilkey responded to the heartbreak of leaving his hometown team, the team that drafted him with a career year.
This year Neil Walker finds himself in the same predicament Gilkey did twenty years ago. Walker is responding in a similar fashion.
Moreso than Gilkey was to St. Louis, Walker was Pittsburgh. His father was good friends with Roberto Clemente. Walker walks this earth because Clemente told Walker’s father not to get on that plane. Walker was born in Pittsburgh, and he grew up in their suburbs. He was the Pirates first round pick in 2004, and he made his debut with the team in 2009. Walker was an important part of the make-over of the Pirates from a team that had a losing record 20 consecutive seasons to a team that made the playoffs three consecutive years. Despite all of this, the Pirates decided Walker was too expensive, and they traded him to the Mets.
Like Gilkey, Walker is responding by having a career. year. Walker has already hit 13 homeruns this year. That’s a 38 homerun pace, which would shatter his career high of 23. He is hitting .279/.348/.505. The OBP stands to be his second highest ever, and his slugging percentage would be his best ever. His 131 OPS+ would also be a career high. Perhaps more important than any of this is the fact that Walker is now a true switch hitter.
Before coming to the Mets, Walker only hit .261/.306/.338 with only six homeruns against lefties. This year, he’s hitting .341/.396/.727 with five homeruns. He’s nearly doubled his career homerun total. He’s gone from being meek against lefties to being a force in the lineup against lefties. In some way, the coming to the Mets as turned Walker’s already solid career around. Like Gilkey, coming to the Mets seems to be the best thing that has ever happened to Walker. Sometimes, the best thing that can happen to a player is for them to leave their hometown to fully develop as a player. The Mets have been fortunate to have Gilkey and Walker blossom after they left their hometowns.
With all that said, we all hope Matz never leaves the Mets. From what we’ve seen with him, he doesn’t need to leave the Mets to be great.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
The biggest trade of the offseason was the Mets trading Jon Niese for Neil Walker. Now matter your thoughts on the trade, Walker has been terrific for the Mets as he has been their second best player this season.
Just glancing at the numbers, Niese has been pretty terrible this year making the trade look even better.
However, after starting the year 3-1 with a 5.94 ERA and a 1.680 WHIP in his first six starts Niese has turned a corner. It’s not that surprising given Ray Searage is his pitching coach. In Niese’s last five starts, he is 2-1 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.206 WHIP. Part of that is his BABIP going from .337 to .264. Part of that is his level of competition has dropped a bit. And yes, part of it is his pitching coach.
Whatever the case, Niese pitching well now is certainly the worst case scenario. No one – I repeat – NO ONE wants to see Niese beat the Mets.
Niese was a guy who had no love for Mets fans. He always had an excuse for why he was pitching poorly. He took a jab at his teammates about their defense on his way out of the door. In sum, Niese wasn’t built for New York.
He still had some good moments as a Met. He volunteered to go to the bullpen for the postseason, and he pitched well there. For a few years, he was one of a few viable starting pitchers in the rotation. It speaks volumes that he once got an Opening Day start. However you felt about him, he’s now toeing the rubber against the Mets tonight.
This is not a game any Mets fan wants to lose. I’m sure the players he slighted on the way out the door feel the same way. Hopefully, Walker goes out and does this tonight en route to a big win:
Go out and beat Niese tonight.
You’re not going 162-0. It’s simply not going to happen. Even the 108 win 86 Mets lost 54 times. Your only hope is that when the Mets lose they can provide you with something positive.
Matt Harvey did that.
Harvey did take the loss, but he lost 1-0 against Jose Fernandez, a great pitcher in his own right. Harvey was good again today. He pitched seven innings allowing only four hits, one earned, and no walks with three strikeouts. He was averaging 96 MPH with his fastball. Harvey built upon his last start. This is a other sign the Harvey of old is coming back:
Since 1913, most games allowing one run or fewer by starting pitcher in first 77 starts:
Dwight Gooden: 38
Matt Harvey: 35— New York Mets Stats (@NYMStats) June 5, 2016
Ultimately, no one wants to see the Mets lose. However, this loss is more acceptable than most as Harvey took another step forward. Getting Harvey back to form is more important than the outcome of any game.
The Mets just had to tip their caps to Fernandez, who was awesome against the overmatched Mets backups:
José Fernández led the Marlins to a win over the Mets with 14 K. Here's a look inside his dominant performance: pic.twitter.com/OslZ22sCTb
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 5, 2016
Fernandez is difficult for any lineup. It’s even worse for a lineup without David Wright (DL – neck), Travis d’Arnaud (DL – shoulder), Yoenis Cespedes (DTD – hip), and yes, even Juan Lagares (DTD – presumed sprained thumb). About the only positive from the game from an offensive standpoint was Michael Conforto and James Loney going 1-3. Both hitters got hits in what has been a good series for both.
The Mets now travel to Pittsburgh where Neil Walker gets to face his old team. Making the matchup all the more interesting is the fact that old friend Jon Niese takes the mound.
Game Notes: Harvey recorded his 500th career strikeout in this game. Harvey fell to 1-18 in his career when the Mets give him two runs or less of run support. In those games, he has a 2.53 ERA in such games.
David Wright is gone for who knows how long. Yoenis Cespedes was scratched right before the game with a hip issue. When you don’t have the big bats in your lineup, you’re doing to need everyone to pitch in to try to help secure the victory.
As usual, Juan Lagares provided Gold Glove defense:
Sorry, the gap's closed today: https://t.co/ZAOFAXw8FG #Juanderfulhttps://t.co/hr1USxY5HI
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2016
It was an important catch as the game was 3-2, and that hit could’ve put the game out of reach. Instead, the Meys got new life.
That’s when James Loney made his contribution. Loney led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a passed ball. Loney then scored on an RBI single by surprise starter Michael Conforto. Conforto has been struggling badly of late, but today he was 1-3 with a run scored, a walk, and two RBI. Conforto later scored on an RBI pinch hit single from Matt Reynolds. Reynolds had to pinch hit for Lagares, who left the game with an apparent injury, which may or may not have been related to that amazing catch.
Seemingly every Met contributed to this 6-4 win. Wilmer Flores was 3-4 with a run and a walk. Neil Walker scored two runs, and Asdrubal Cabrera scored one as well. He also stayed in a game where everyone seemed to get knicked up a bit. Bartolo Colon pitched in and out of trouble allowing only one run over five. Jerry Blevins, with a little help from Lagares, bailed out Hansel Robles in the sixth. Jim Henderson pitched a scoreless 0.1 innings, and Addison Reed pitched a scoreless eighth. Alejandro De Aza had a two out, two run double in the the ninth. Jeurys Familia recorded his 18th save. As you can see, pretty much everyone contributed to this win, save Kevin Plawecki.
He has an error in the second when he took a throw from Flores and couldn’t find homeplate with his foot or tag the runner. In the top of the third, he hit a double and was immediately picked off second. In the eighth, he couldn’t get down a sacrifice bunt. It was a tough say for him on what was a terrific day for his teammates.
So long as the Mets role players and lesser starts keep stepping up like this, this is going to be a special season.
Last year when David Wright went on the disabled list with a serious injury, the Mets moved Daniel Murphy to third base and recalled Dilson Herrera to play second base. This year? This year, we get Neil Walker at second with a revolving door of AAAA caliber players at third base.
Now, it should be noted that Walker has been far better than anyone could’ve imagined. With his hitting .283/.345/.522 line with 13 homeruns, he’s in the midst of a career year. He’s been everything the Mets couldn’t asked for and more. With that said, he isn’t a versatile player. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets have reservations about moving Walker to an unfamiliar position.
This means Walker will remain at second while Herrera remains in the minors. That’s a problem.
Dilson Herrera is a superior player to Ty Kelly, Eric Campbell, and Matt Reynolds. He’s better than T.J. Rivera, who, for reasons unknown, is still not getting a shot. With his play this year, it’s fair to say Herrera is a superior option to Wilmer Flores. However, it doesn’t matter that Herrera is better than the four other options that have been and will continue to get playing time at third base. It doesn’t matter because there’s no room for Herrera to play second every day.
Herrera would be the second baseman right now if Murphy was here. It’s further evidence of how the Mets made a mistake by letting Murphy walk out the door. Better yet, Murphy’s in Washington helping a Nationals team that has a three game lead over the Mets in the NL East.
Walker’s been great player this year, but he’s still not a better fit for this Mets team than Murphy would’ve been. The reason is simple: No matter how good Walker plays this year, it won’t be worth having one of Flores, Reynolds, Kelly, or Campbell play third for long stretches of time.
Despite the spinal stenosis, David Wright was playing well in 2016. He was hitting .226/.350/.438 with seven homeruns and 14 RBI. He had hit homeruns in three straight games before it was discovered he had a herniated disc in his neck. It was a cruel setback for a player who has worked so hard to get back to this point. It leaves everyone questioning if this is the straw that will break the camel’s back. If it is, or if Wright needs another lengthy stint on the disabled list, the Mets are going to have to find a long term solution to third base.
Internal Options
Wilmer Flores. Going into this season, the Mets tabbed Flores to be the main backup at four infield positions. With Wright needing days off here and there due to the spinal stenosis, it was presumed Flores would play a lot of third base. At the outset, Flores appears to be the player who will get the first crack at the position. However, if he continues hitting .167/.231/.267, the Mets are going to be forced to turn in another direction.
T.J. Rivera. Eric Campbell already had his shot, and he hit .159/.270/.222 leading him to be designated for assignment. Matt Reynolds had a brief call-up and he hit .100/.182/.100 in limited duty. The revolving door has now brought us to Ty Kelly, who is hitting .167/.231/.167 in limited duty. While this triumvirate has been given the opportunities and failed to hit, Rivera stays in AAA hitting .364/.399/.535. Sooner or later, he’s going to get a shot to play in the majors with the way he has been playing.
Gavin Cecchini. The former Mets 2012 first round pick is currently hitting .308/.390/.400 in his first season in AAA. The issue is in his minor league career, Cecchini has only played SS. If he gets called up, the Mets would have to choose between playing him at a position he has never played before or making him the SS while Asdrubal Cabrera moves to third, where he has only played one inning in his major league career.
Dilson Herrera. The Mets could elect to call-up Herrera to play second while sliding their second basemen to third like they have the past few seasons. The issue here is Herrera is not raking in AAA the way he usually does, and Neil Walker hasn’t played third base regularly in his big league career, and he hasn’t played there in six years.
External Options
If you are going to make a move at this point, you are really only going to be able to obtain a player from a team that is completely out of the pennant race, or a player that has been designated for assignment. With the current two Wild Card format, a safe line of demarcation is any team 10 games or more out of first place is out of contention. Looking over the standings, that would mean the Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds (who have nothing of value), and the San Diego Padres. Of course, due consideration should be given to the Oakland Athletics, who are always ready, willing, and able to make a trade.
Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe is one of the many reasons the Twins are having a down year as he is hitting .246/.273/.369. For his career, he’s a .245/.307/.417 hitter. As such, he’s not going to resolve any of the Mets offensive problems. Also, as per UZR and DRS, he has only been an adequate defensive third baseman meaning he doesn’t have the superior defense to carry his bat.
Eduardo Nunez. The former Yankee is having a nice year for the Twins hitting .340/.367/.507 in 42 games. This year he has mostly played third and shortstop. In the event Wright does come back, Nunez can be a valuable utility player. The main issue with the 29 year old Nunez is that he will not be cheap as he still has a couple of cost controlled years before he becomes a free agent in 2018.
Kelly Johnson. Johnson was a valuable bench piece for the Mets last year hitting .250/.304/.414. The benefits are you know he can play in New York, and he should not be expensive. The downside is he’s hitting .218/.279/.307 this year.
Gordon Beckam. While Beckham has never quite lived up to the hype, he is having a good year this year as a utility player for the Braves playing second, third, and short. The career .244/.307/.374 hitter is hitting .293/.393/.446 this year for the Braves. Maybe it’s the small sample size of 30 games, maybe it’s the change to the National League, but Beckham is a better offensive player this year.
Aaron Hill. Hill is having a tremendous year as the Brewers’ third baseman this year hitting .275/.351/436. He’s also capable of played second in his career. The main sticking point with Hill is his salary. He is earning $12 million this year with the Arizona Diamondbacks paying $6.5 million of that. If the Mets were to obtain Hill, they would have to take on the prorated portion of the $5.5 million the Brewers are paying him or part with additional prospects to get the Brewers to eat some of that salary.
Brett Wallace. Wallace is a left-hand hitting third baseman. He has bounced around as he has never reached his full potential at the plate. He has also been a below average fielder wherever he has played, including third base. He seems to have found a home as a Padre these past two seasons. This year he is hitting .219/.379/.381. The issue with him is he’s still a cost-controlled player just entering his arbitration years.
Yangervis Solarte. Former Met Roger Cedeno‘s nephew, Solarte, is hitting .300/.397/.600 this year while playing mostly third base. He is a versatile player with a good bat. He is only making $525,000 this year, and he’s not arbitration eligible until 2017. If you want him, you’re going to have to pry him away from the Padres. Remember, this is the same Padres front office that rejected Michael Fulmer for Justin Upton. Solarte would be a great fit for the Mets, but it is unlikely the Mets are going to be willing to pay the price of what it’ll take to acquire him.
Ruben Tejada. Simply put, Tejada is a major league caliber player that is better suited to playing shortstop. He was a career .255/.320/.323 hitter on the Mets. He played poorly with the Cardinals hitting .176/.225/.235 before being released. He’s better suited for the bench than he is as the third base option. Even if he’s not the third base solution the Mets should claim him and put him on the bench.
Jed Lowrie. Lowrie is in the midst of a good season hitting .309/.351/.360 for the Athletics. He is capable of playing second, third, or shortstop. However, he has little power, and he is in the middle of a relatively large contract that pays him $7.5 million this year and $6 million next year with a team option/buyout in 2018.
Danny Valencia. Valencia is having a terrific year this year hitting .333/.370/.558 while playing third base for the the Athletics. He has an extremely reasonable $3.15 million salary this year. However, that is part of the problem. He has a reasonable salary this year, and he is under team control until 2018. Given the way Billy Beane does business, he will be extremely expensive.
Overall, that is the problem. If Wright is really going to miss a significant amount of time for the second straight season, the Mets are going to need a real long term solution. If the Mets enter the trade market and pay high prices for good, quality players like Solarte and Valencia. For the most part, you are looking to trade with a Brewers franchise you cancelling a trade with last year, or a Padres or Athletics team that really drives a hard bargain. That leaves the Mets in a very difficult situtation. Therefore, for the time being, the most prudent course might be to see if Flores can handle the position defensively and offensively. If he doesn’t the Mets will need to make a big trade just like they did last year. If that time should come, hopefully, they will have the pieces necessary to make that happen.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
For the first five innings Steven Matz was cruising. He had only allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three. His scoreless inning steak reached 19 innings. He was showing why he’s getting strong All Star consideration and is a leading Rookie of the Year candidate.
That’s the thing. Seeing how composed and dominant he’s been, it’s easy to forget he’s a rookie who has never thrown more than 140.0 innings in a season. We were reminded he was a rookie in the sixth inning. He was touched up for three runs off five hits, one walk, and a Todd Frazier homerun. Matz was pulled with two outs. His final line was five innings, seven hits, three earned, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Matz was bailed out by a double play and Jim Henderson. The 4-3 lead was preserved, and the Mets bullpen went to work starting with Noah Syndergaard:
Noah Syndergaard in the seventh inning by MPH: 100, 101, 101, 94, 101, 94, 100, 101, 95, 101, 94, 101, 99, 100, 99, 92, 92.
— D.J. Short (@djshort) June 1, 2016
The 94s were sliders, and the 92s were changeups. Syndergaard appeared in the game as Terry Collins wanted to get him some work after Sunday’s ejection.
The Mets had scored the first two runs off not one but two – TWO! – sacrifice flies. The first was by Yoenis Cespedes in the first. The second was by Curtis Granderson in the third. Granderson has gotten hot of late. Over his last nine games, he’s 10-32 with six walks, a double, triple, and two homers. Speaking of homers, Neil Walker hit his 13th homer of the year for the third and fourth runs of the game.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The Mets bullpen struggled again. Hansel Robles lost the lead in the eighth after allowing a two run homerun to Melky Cabrera. He left two runners on when he gave way to Jerry Blevins. Blevins allowed a walk to Adam Eaton. Logan Verrett relieved him, and allowed an RBI single to Brett Lawrie. Robles took the loss pitching 0.2 innings allowing one hit, three earned, and two walks with one strikeout.
The natural question is why Collins didn’t let Syndergaard pitch two innings. It’s a fair question, but the Mets bullpen has been great all year. You should expect them to get the job done, but they didn’t, and the Mets lost 6-4.
Game Notes: It was James Loney‘s Mets debut. As a left-hand batting contact hitter forced into action at first base due to injuries, he was given the number 28. He was 0-4.