Seth Lugo
Ray Ramirez and Barwin Method jokes aside, do we really know who to blame for all of these Mets injuries? Thi has seemingly been an issue since Pedro Martinez was with the Mets when in three straight seasons the Mets suffered a rash of injuries to their starting rotation. It should be noted, Pedro put some blame on Jeff Wilpon’s shoulder for making him pitch hurt, but that doesn’t address how Pedro go hurt in the first place.
We saw it again last year with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz needing season ending surgery. It is happening again this year with Harvey and Matz both landing on the Disabled List. We also have seen Seth Lugo, Jeurys Familia, Tommy Milone, and Josh Smoker land on the Disabled List.
It goes further than that. The position players keep getting injured too. This year, Travis d’Arnaud, Lucas Duda, Neil Walker, David Wright, Asdrubal Cabrera (twice), Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Lagares (twice), and Brandon Nimmo have all landed on the Disabled List. If you’ll notice, you will have seen many of those names pop up on the Disabled List last year.
There’s a simple reason for that. Here’s example of how the Mets handle the situtaion:
Maybe if the Mets continue handling training and treatment of injuries the same way, maybe they’ll have a breakthrough. Just like the Futurama clip, it’s not going to happen.
At the end of last year, Seth Lugo was everything the Mets needed. He was a terrific arm in the bullpen who made Anthony Rizzo look downright silly with one of his curveballs. He transitioned to the starting rotation after the rash of injuries, and he was terrific there too. Overall, Lugo had a largely unheralded season going 5-2 with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.097 WHIP.
The offseason was a different season. Many an article was written about the majesty of Lugo’s curveball. In the World Baseball Classic, he was the ace of a Puerto Rican team that went all the way to the championship game. As the team ace, Lugo dazzled with his full repertoire, curveball included. The amazing thing to think watching his was that arm wasn’t good enough to crack the Mets starting rotation.
Then disaster struck not just to Lugo, but the Mets team as a whole. Lugo went down, and the Mets starters either were injured or under-performed. Lugo, who was once seen as a luxury for a Mets team purportedly deep in pitching, was now seen as a necessity. The team needed him back, and they needed him back in the rotation. They needed him to be the pitcher he was at the end of 2016. Ideally, they wanted the pitcher they saw in the World Baseball Classic.
Yesterday, we saw Lugo go out there and dominate. For a Mets team that has struggled to get their pitchers past the fifth inning, Lugo pitched seven innings, and he needed just 90 pitches to do so. It wasn’t a mirage either. Lugo did to the Braves what he did all of last year.
For those that forget, Lugo is a throwback. He doesn’t max out on every pitch. He pitches to contact because he’s the type of pitcher who is comfortable the opposition is not going to hit him very hard. When he gets in trouble, he adds a little more to his fastball, and he increases his curveball rate. This is a major reason why he is able to consistently get out of trouble.
The best example of that was the fifth inning. After Lugo walked Matt Kemp, the Braves had bases loaded with no outs, and Matt Adams coming to the plate. In that spot, Lugo did his job. He got the ground ball from the slow footed Adams he needed.
https://twitter.com/MLBReplays/status/873988655861440512
That play was also reminiscent of what led the 2016 Mets to the postseason. As we have seen time and time again, Asdrubal Cabrera has little to no range at shortstop. His real value is being able to make the plays at short that he can get field. Him and Neil Walker combine to make a veteran up the middle combination that do everything they can to ensure they can turn that double play. There was no wasted motion by either infielder, which helped them JUST get Adams to get out of the inning preserving the 2-1 lead.
The Mets got the 2-1 lead by playing some small ball. Michael Conforto led off the game with a double off Braves starter Jaime Garcia. Juan Lagares followed by sacrificing him to third, and Conforto would score on a Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly. It was the old get’em on, get ’em over, and get ’em in type of baseball. It may not always be the most effective way to score runs, but when executed as perfectly as the Mets did in the first inning, it has its own beauty.
In the third inning, Lugo helped himself hitting a one out double, and he moved to second on a Conforto ground out. Lagares came up, and he did what he needed to do most in that spot. He put the ball in play. Lagares hit a chopper to the left of Braves third baseman Johan Camargo who made a diving stop, but there was no throw. You can debate whether it was Camargo never quite fully getting control of the ball or Lagares’ speed. Either which way, Lagares got what was the game winning hit.
From there, the Mets had base runners in every inning but the eighth inning. However, they could not push the insurance runs across the plate. The seminal moment was the ninth inning. Jose Ramirez quickly put Walker and Cabrera on. After two quick outs, Curtis Granderson hit a pinch hit infield single to load the bases. This seemed like a big spot for Conforto. It wasn’t.
The Braves went to Ian Krol, and the Mets countered with Yoenis Cespedes. Look, it’s easy to criticize Collins in this spot. Conforto was 2-4 with a double in the game. He’s a much better hitter against left-handed pitching this year hitting .265/.390/.559 off of them this year. Collins was taking out a hitter going well for a cold hitter just off the Disabled List. But, this is Cespedes. Right now, it’s a fair debate over who is the better hitter right now. With the way Krol has been dominating left-handed batter this year, Cespedes was the right choice. His popping out to end the inning doesn’t change that.
With the lack of insurance runs, that meant the game was now in the hands of the Mets defense and bullpen. For most of the season, this has spelled disaster. Today, it worked.
Cabrera made a nice diving stop to get out of the seventh. With Nick Markakis and Adams due up in the eighth, Collins was able to go to Jerry Blevins for a full inning, and he pitched a perfect inning. Addison Reed, who has been much better of late, came on to pitch a perfect ninth for his 11th save.
Just like that, the Mets look like the team we expected them to be. The veterans are playing solid if not spectacular baseball. The starting pitching is going deep into games. The left-handed batters can’t hit Blevins. Reed looks like the dominant reliever he has been since joining the Mets. The Mets are dominating bad baseball teams like the Braves.
As good as this feels right now, we’re about to find out if this team is for real with the Cubs and Nationals coming into town.
Game Notes: Jose Reyes started for the third time in this series. He’s now in a 2-30 streak and his -1.1 WAR is the second worst among National League infielders. This is the first time all season three Mets pitchers pitched into the seventh inning in consecutive games.
Well, this was exactly how the Mets drew it up. Dominant starting pitching and an offense to match. They only thing missing was the players capable of doing it.
Now that Yoenis Cespedes and Steven Matz are back, the Mets are in position to once again dominate lesser opponents like the Braves.
But either Cespedes or Matz had an impact in this double header, Robert Gsellman made his latest case as to why the Mets should keep him in the rotation.
Gsellman flat out dominated the Braves over 6.1 innings allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out four. It was his latest big start after he had been temporarily moved to the bullpen due to his early season struggles.
The Mets needed that start too. They needed it because the Mets bullpen has been a mess. They needed it because of the double header. They needed it because Sean Newcomb was dealing for the Braves.
The Mets were only able to scratch one run against him in the second with the assistance of a throwing error from Newcomb. T.J. Rivera hit a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Mets had to wait until the eighth to get another real threat going.
The Mets had second and third with no outs against Luke Jackson after he hit Michael Conforto with a pitch, Cespedes singled, and Jackson threw a wild pitch. Ender Inciarte took what was a sure extra base hit and turned it into a Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly.
The Mets had Jackson and the Braves on the ropes, but they left him off the hook. Then Fernando Salas allowed an eighth inning homer to Brandon Phillips, and he needed to get bailed out by Addison Reed, who was coming on for the five out save partially because Terry Collins ripped through his bullpen yet again.
The ominous tone of the game, and perhaps the season changed with one swing of the bat:
Just like that, it was 6-1, but it was more than that. The Mets were rejuvenated. They won the first game, and then they went out and dominated the second game.
Like the first game of the double header, it all began with the starter. Matz pitched seven innings allowing just one run. That one run was in the seventh, but by that time, the game was already over.
Jay Bruce hit a three run homer in the fifth off Matt Wisler. Somehow in the sixth, Flores hit a triple, and he scored on a Travis d’Arnaud sacrifice fly making it 4-0.
T.J. Rivera provided insurance with an eighth inning two run homer. In the ninth, Juan Lagares hit a two run double making it 8-1. That’s a lead not even Neil Ramirez or Tyler Pill could blow.
That’s how different things are with Cespedes back in the fold. The Mets are scoring insurance runs, and their bullpen doesn’t blow leads.
Overall, it was a double header sweep where the Mets dominated the Braves. The Mets looked like the team many thought they would be to start the year. Both starters pitched into the seventh. There was a different vibe around this team. At least for one day, you believed this team still has some life.
Game Notes: Neil Walker returned from the stiff knee and played in both games starting the second. Cespedes was the 26th man. Rivera and Pill were sent down after the game to accommodate Matz and Seth Lugo being activated from the disabled list. Flores, Jose Reyes, and Conforto were the only players to start both games. Asdrubal Cabrera committed two errors.
The Mets have a number of excuses why they are in the position they are. Those excuses mostly surround the pitching. Noah Syndergaard went down in April with a torn lat. Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom haven’t been the same since returning from their season ending surgeries. There has been a revolving door at the fifth starter spot that has seen the likes of Rafael Montero, Adam Wilk, Tommy Milone, and Tyler Pill. This has put stress on the bullpen, and the bullpen broke.
They broke because Jeurys Familia went down for the season. Hansel Robles couldn’t keep up with the workload and fell apart. Josh Smoker hasn’t been able to figure it out this year. Addison Reed is a much better set-up man than a closer.
Through all of this, despite playing a weak schedule, the Mets are seven games under .500. The Mets are THIS CLOSE to being sellers.
However, there is hope. Seth Lugo and Steven Matz are coming off the Disabled List. Last year, Lugo was 5-1 with a 2.68 ERA and a 1.149 WHIP. He followed that breakout performance with a breakout performance in the World Baseball Classic.
Matz is even better than Lugo. Before succumbing to the bone spur in his elbow last year, Matz had a stretch from April 17th to June 18th where he was 7-2 with a 1.91 ERA and a 1.047 WHIP. That was after his rookie season where he was 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA and a 1.234 WHIP.
That combination of Lugo and Matz vastly improves the Mets rotation. It also bumps a good pitcher like Robert Gsellman into the bullpen. Lately, Gsellman has figured it out. In his last four appearances, he’s 2-0 with hold posting a 2.66 ERA and a 1.082 WHIP. This will give the bullpen a fresh arm. More than that, it means one of Smoker or Neil Ramirez is going to be gone from the bullpen.
Finally, the Mets will have the pitching to help an offense that has tried to carry this team. In May, the Mets averaged the second most runs per game (5.7) in the National League. Things promise to get better with Yoenis Cespedes having played in his first rull rehab game for St. Lucie last night.
With that, the Mets will have as complete a team as they can expect for the reason for the season. Now, they just have to take advantage of their opportunities. That starts with the four game series with a Braves team who is a half game up on the Mets for second place in the National League East. Sweep them, and the Mets will find themselves just three games under .500.
After that, the Mets have a seven game home stand. First, there are the Chicago Cubs, who are not the same team they were last year. After that, the Mets have a four game set with the Washington Nationals.
If the Mets take care of business against the Braves and Cubs, that could be a HUGE series for this Mets team. Sweep the Nationals at home, and all of a sudden the Mets could be just eight games back in the division or better. That’s still a large deficit to overcome, but it’s not as daunting as the 12 games they are now.
The Mets don’t take advantage of this opportunity? It’s time to sell. At that point, the team should look to move everyone to pave the way for Amed Rosario, who frankly should be here now, and Dominic Smith to become the David Wright and Jose Reyes of this generation.
If the Mets don’t want to do that, it’s time to take care of business. That starts tonight with a huge start for Matt Harvey. This used to be the exact moment you wanted him on the mound. It is time for that to happen again.
Back when the Mets traded Carlos Beltran for Zack Wheeler, the Mets touted the trade as the team adding another potential ace that would one day serve as one of the cornerstones of a rotation that would bring the Mets their third World Series title. Unfortunately, with Wheeler missing two years after his Tommy John surgery, it hasn’t happened that way.
In the time he was gone, he almost became expendable. Matt Harvey was the ace in 2013, and he was well on his way in 2015 to re-claiming that spot. Jacob deGrom went from 2014 Rookie of the Year to the Game 1 starter of the 2015 NLDS. Noah Syndergaard brought a repertoire that included a 100 MPH fastball and a mid 90s slider. Throw in the tantalizing talent of Steven Matz, and the Mets almost moved Wheeler in 2015 as part of the ill-fated Carlos Gomez deal. With Gomez’s hips, Wheeler remained a Met, but after he missed all of 2016 as well, he was almost an afterthought.
Now, he has gone from damaged goods to the staff ace. After shaking off some rust in the early part of the season, he really has been a dominant starting pitchers. Since May, Wheeler has made six starts going 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA, 1.431 WHIP, and a 7.7 K/9 while averaging over six inning per start. Last night, we watched Wheeler play the part of the stopper with him going seven strong and giving the Mets a chance to snap the Mets out of a funk that saw the team lose five out of its last six games.
Now, many would point to the fact Wheeler is now the staff ace because the rest of the rotation is either injured or has struggled. Syndergaard is likely gone for the year with a torn lat. Matz and Seth Lugo have yet to throw a pitch this season. Harvey and deGrom have not been the same pitchers after last year’s season ending surgeries. And frankly, anyone is better than Rafael Montero, Adam Wilk, and Tommy Milone. Still, even if everyone was pitching to their best abilities, Wheeler would stand out.
It’s easy to forget, but we did get a taste of this with Wheeler. In 2014, Wheeler had a stretch from July until September 6th where he made 12 terrific starts. In those starts, Wheeler was 7-1 with a 2.28 ERA, 1.213 WHIP, and an 8.9 K/9. During that stretch, Wheeler looked like the ace the Mets thought they were getting when they traded away Beltran. It was during that stretch where you believed the three starters who would carry the Mets to the World Series were Harvey, deGrom, and Wheeler.
It seems as if Wheeler is recapturing some of what he was back in that terrific 2014 stretch. If he is, he is certainly becoming the ace the Mets believed he could be. More than anything, he is the ace the Mets need right now.
Given his struggles as a starter of late, there have been growing calls to make Matt Harvey the closer for the Mets. Given how Harvey has pitched this season and how the Mets bullpen has performed, this may not be just an absurd fan overreaction to the struggles of a pitcher returning from season ending surgery last year to alleviate the effects of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). In fact, you could argue the TOS could be part of the reasons for Harvey’s struggles, and why he needs to be moved to the bullpen.
The biggest case you can make for Harvey moving to the bullpen is his numbers. This season, Harvey is 4-3 with a 5.43 ERA, 1.484 WHIP, and a 6.8 K/9. It’s scary to think about, but Harvey is actually putting up numbers worse than the numbers he posted last year when everyone was wondering what was wrong with Harvey. The surgery that was supposed to fix Harvey hasn’t tangentially resulted in better numbers. Instead of getting stronger and better as the seasons has progressed, Harvey is regressing. In Harvey’s first four starts, he was 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, and a 6.0 K/9 while averaging 6.1 innings per start. In his seven starts since, Harvey is 2-3 with a 7.25 ERA, 1.861 WHIP, and a 7.3 K/9.
Normally, you would take someone like this out of the rotation, but there was no one to put in Harvey’s stead. However, with Steven Matz and Seth Lugo coming off the Disabled List, and Robert Gsellman starting to return to form, the Mets have the avenue to move Harvey to the bullpen if they were so inclined. Putting aside for the moment whether they would be willing to do so, or whatever interference may be ran by Scott Boras, the question is whether such a move would make sense for the Mets.
Let’s start with the positive. According to Brooks Baseball, Harvey certainly has the velocity to be an elite bullpen arm. After the surgeries, he is averaging just under 95 MPH with his fastball. If given the opportunity to air it out for one or two innings, we could see him once again touch the high 90s he did back in 2013 and 2015. Even if he can’t, Harvey’s current velocity should be more than sufficient. A move to the bullpen would also allow Harvey to focus more on his two or three best pitches to get batters out.
And despite everything that has gone on, Harvey still has that grit and determination. Despite diminished stuff, Harvey bears down when he needs to most. Batters are hitting just .132 off Harvey this year with runners in scoring position. No one has gotten a hit off of Harvey this season with a runner in scoring position and no outs. This should come as no surprise. Harvey has always wanted to be the guy on the mound in those pressure situations, and he has consistently delivered in those situations. Certainly, Harvey has the stuff and the swagger to be a dominant late inning reliever.
Unfortunately, there is more evidence to suggest the bullpen is the wrong place for Harvey. Batters leading off an inning are hitting .327/.439/.709 off of Harvey. In high leverage situations, batters are hitting .273/.368/.545 off of Harvey. In Harvey’s first 25 pitches of a game, batters are hitting .241/.353/.534 off of him. More than any of this, Harvey has been more than susceptible to the long ball. In all but one of his starts, Harvey has allowed a home run, and he has allowed 1.9 homers per nine innings.
The biggest reason for all of these struggles is Harvey is having difficulty putting batters away. His strikeouts are way down this season as batters are either fouling off his pitches, or they are better able to take a pitch they would have felt inclined to swing at two or more years ago. In fact, Harvey has a career high 4.7 BB/9.
Overall, Harvey isn’t putting guys away, he’s walking them, and he’s giving up a lot more home runs. That’s not a recipe for success in the bullpen.
And yet, the Mets need to do something. Maybe emulating post-Tommy John surgery John Smoltz is the way to go. For those that forget, Smoltz was suffering from the same issues Harvey is now. He found himself in the bullpen, became a dominant reliever, and he would return to the rotation to be a good starter once again.
Given Harvey’s early season struggles, it might be time to try something different. It might be time to at least try him in the bullpen for at least the short term just to try to help him find himself. If a Hall of Famer like Smoltz accepted the move, everyone else should be willing as well. Harvey included.
Let’s be honest. With nearly two months gone in the season, there is not a lot of reason to believe in the 2017 Mets. The team is five games under .500 and just 14-16 against their own division. Important players like Yoenis Cespedes, Jeurys Familia, Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard and David Wright have had extended stints on the disabled list. Presumably, Familia, Syndergaard, and Wright are done for the season. The team features two everyday players who are fighting to get and stay atop the Mendoza Line, and the entire pitching staff has underperformed. And despite all of these problems, and many more which have not been mentioned, there are very real reasons to be optimistic about the Mets as we head into the summer months:
1. The Starting Pitching Is Improving
In case, you haven’t noticed the Mets are no longer have the worst ERA in all of baseball. A huge reason for that is the starting pitching is not only improving, but they are also pitching deeper into games. That has started with the re-emergence of Jacob deGrom. Before last night’s debacle, in his last two starts, deGrom pitched 15.1 innings allowing just one earned run. He threw down the gauntlet, and the other starting pitchers have responded.
The Mets are now starting to put together quality starts with some regularity. Matt Harvey and Robert Gsellman are coming off their best starts in over a month. Zack Wheeler continues to pregress well in his first season in over two years. Matz and Seth Lugo will soon join the rotation. As we have seen time and again, this team goes as its pitching goes, and the pitching is trending in the right direction.
2. The Bullpen Is Settling Down
With the starters failing to go deep into games and Familia essentially being a non-factor this season, the bullpen has struggled. The struggles stem from both overwork and trying to slot guys into different roles than had previously been anticipated. With the starters going deeper, the bullpen is starting to get some rest, and the bullpen is starting to look better.
Another factor is the emergence of Paul Sewald. A player the Mets were willing to risk losing in the Rule 5 Draft has now become the Mets most important reliever. He has been used for multiple innings and to nail down the eighth inning. He has shown his success in Vegas was no fluke pitching to a 2.21 ERA in 20.1 innings. His emergence has allowed Terry Collins to ease up on some of his other relievers.Salas has responded by lowering his ERA by almost two runs in the month of May, has not blown one lead, and he has not allowed an earned run in 11 of his last 14 appearances. A rejuvenated Salas is good for the Mets.
Another key factor is the composition of the bullpen. Rafael Montero is gone. Neil Ramirez is on his way out as well. He should be gone once Hansel Robles figures things out in Vegas and/or Gsellman is moved to the bullpen with the return of Matz and Lugo from the disabled list. Certainly, the composition of arms is going to be much better down there, and with the starters going deeper, they will be better rested.
3. Help Is On The Way
As noted, Matz and Lugo will soon rejoin the rotation. Behind them, we may also see Robles return to the majors prompting the Mets to send down one of the more ineffective arms in Ramirez and/or Josh Smoker. But it’s not just on the pitching side that the Mets will improve, it’s also on the offensive side.
According to various reports, Cespedes is about 7-1o days away. When he returns, the Mets will be adding an MVP caliber player to play alongside Michael Conforto in the outfield, who is having an MVP caliber season himself. Cespedes not only lengthens the lineup, but he also adds a right-handed power threat which the lineup is sorely lacking right now. While the offense isn’t the issue so far, a team that is fighting to not only get back to .500, but also to get back to the postseason needs to upgrade everywhere it can.
It’s more than Cespedes. At some point, the moving target that is the Super Two deadline is going to comfortably pass clearing yet another hurdle for the Mets to call-up Amed Rosario. If Rosario does get called-up, it would significantly improve the Mets infield defense, and it could also improve the lineup. Through his first 50 games, Rosario is hitting .354/.393/.519 with 13 doubles, three triples, five homers, and 37 RBI.
With all that, there is legitimate reason for hope the Mets will be a better team over the final four months of the season. That team could catch the Nationals in the standings especially when you consider the two teams have 13 games against one another remaining. That is enough games to make-up the 9.5 game gap between the teams in the standings. That goes double when you consider the Nationals have bullpen issues of their own, and they are just 15-12 since losing Adam Eaton for the season.
If the Mets play as well as they can play, this is going to be an exciting summer at Citi Field. If the Mets play the way they are capable, this will soon become a pennant race.
In his last start, Terry Collins controversially lifted Robert Gsellman after throwing 84 pitches over six innings in a 5-3 game. It came back to haunt the Mets as the bullpen blew the lead and the game.
Today, Collins controversially left Gsellman in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Gsellman was due up with the bases loaded and two outs. To that point, Gsellman had thrown 89 pitches, and the Mets were clinging to a one run lead.
Rather than go for the knockout punch, Collins stuck with his starter in what could be Gsellman’s last start. Before the game Sandy Alderson announced both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo will likely join the rotation some time next week. In all likelihood, this means Gsellman is bound for the bullpen or Vegas.
Collins’ faith in Gsellman was rewarded in more ways than one. First, Gsellman earned a bases loaded walk off Brewers reliever Rob Scahill with some help from C.B. Bucknor:
Call hurts #Brewers
Ball 3 should be strike 3
Bot 6 Scahill vs Gsellman
30% call same
1.1in from edge pic.twitter.com/uFnOvwnT0S— Brewers Strike Zone (@BrewersUmp) May 29, 2017
It was actually Gsellman’s second RBI of the game. His previous RBI came in the fifth inning.
The Mets had runners on second and third after a Rene Rivera RBI double. Gsellman hit a medium to shallow fly ball to right, and Glen Sherlock sent Wilmer Flores. Rivera would then score on a Michael Conforto RBI double.
With that, it was 4-2 Mets heading into the seventh. Gsellman rewarded his manager’s faith in him by mowing down the Brewers with a 1-2-3 inning. That would close the books on a good start for him.
Gsellman’s final line was seven innings, three hits, two runs, one earned, two walks, and five strike outs. It was the Mets fourth straight quality start, and it might’ve been his best start of the season.
He kept a good hitting Brewers team at bay. The one run on him was a home run he allowed to Domingo Santana on a pitch that was on the batter’s shoe tops. The first run was on the Mets infield.
Asdrubal Cabrera threw a ball away allowing Jonathan Villar to reach. Later that inning, Jose Reyes picked up a Matt Garza sacrifice fly bunt attempt rather than letting it go foul. This put Villar in scoring position and allowed him to score on a groundout.
The Brewers wouldn’t have a rally like that until the ninth. Travis Shaw and Domingo led off the ninth with back-to-back singles. Addison Reed then settled down by striking out the next two batters and then getting a game ending ground out. It was Reed’s seventh save of the season.
Right now, it’s time to start getting optimistic about this team. The offense is still scoring runs, and the starting pitching has been pitching better and going deeper into games. If that continues, you’ll see more games of just Paul Sewald and Reed. That right there is a winning formula.
Game Notes: Jerry Blevins did not warm up. Unlike Saturday, Curtis Granderson moved to right field for defense when Juan Lagares came on in the eighth for defense. On Saturday, Jay Bruce stayed in and couldn’t get to the game winning hit. Flores was 3-4 with all at-bats coming against right-handed pitching.
For the past seven games, the Mets have found new and interesting ways to lose. Today, it was a tried and true method for this team. Not getting hits with RISP and some truly bizarre managerial decisions from Terry Collins.
Like most of the games on this road trip, things started well for the Mets. Michael Conforto, who Collins has spent the better part of two years telling us can’t hit lefties, hit a two run homer off Patrick Corbin to give the Mets a 2-0 first inning lead.
From that point forward, the Mets would go 1-6 with RISP.
Matt Harvey would give up that lead. In the first, he allowed a lead-off triple to Rey Fuentes. Fuentes then scored on a Chris Owings ground-out. In the third, Harvey allowed an opposite field two run homer off the bat of Jake Lamb.
It was all part of a maddening start by Harvey. He did not have one 1-2-3 inning. He walked four batters including the opposing pitcher. He allowed his 11th homer of the season. He needed 95 pitches to get through 5.1 innings.
And yet, there were positive signs. He didn’t allow a hit with RISP. He had big strikeouts of Paul Goldschmidt and Yasmany Tomas. He left the game in line for the win.
The Mets had a 4-3 lead when Harvey departed. The additional two runs came in the fourth. Juan Lagares hit a long home run to tie the score at three. Matt Reynolds followed with a walk, and he would score on a Jose Reyes RBI double. As we know, the Mets wouldn’t win this one.
For some reason, Collins went to Robert Gsellman and his 7.07 ERA to pitch the seventh. This is the same Gsellman the Mets have just removed from the rotation for the next couple of weeks. Depending on the ETA of Steven Matz and/or Seth Lugo, Gsellman may not start another game this year. Despite this, Collins felt Gsellman was the right man to protect a one run lead to help the Mets break a six game losing streak.
Gsellman would walk Goldschmidt, and he would score on a Tomas RBI double. Just like that, the score was tied.
The Mets would mount subsequent rallies to try to get another lead. In the eighth, there were runners on first and second with two outs, and Lagares grounded out. In the eleventh, the Mets had the same situation, and Reyes struck out. That would be the Mets last chance.
The real part of the Mets bullpen had done a good job. Josh Edgin got Harvey out of the sixth unscathed. Jerry Blevins (8)and Addison Reed (9 & 10) pitched perfect innings to get the Mets to the 11th. At that point, Collins did the complete opposite of what he should have done.
He brought in Rafael Montero. Not the red hot Paul Sewald. Not Fernando Salas who has been better of late. Not Neil Ramirez who the Mets signed to help the bullpen. No, he brought in Montero, and his rationale was absurd:
To recap: Mets were down to Montero, Sewald, Salas, Robles, Ramirez.
Salas-off, Robles-iffy, Ramirez-extended lay off; Sewald-closer.— Matt Ehalt (@MattEhalt) May 18, 2017
First batter Montero faced was Chris Herrmann. Herrmann is a career .207/.277/.338 hitter who entered the game hitting .160/.250/.280. He injured his hand in this game. Naturally, he did this:
"That ball is gone! Chris Herrmann walks it off!"#DbacksSweep pic.twitter.com/vATHD6f4mg
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 17, 2017
To recap, Collins brought in a guy with a 7.07 ERA to preserve a one run lead, and he used a guy with a 9.00 ERA to keep the game scoreless. At this point, you have to wonder if he’s trying to get fired.
Game Notes: Reyes tried to go to second on a play in the second on a throw to the cut-off man. The play wasn’t even close, and it killed what could have been a big rally.
The Mets are a team with a number of issues right now. The pitching staff as a whole has the worst ERA in all of baseball. The starters haven’t been going deep into games, and the bullpen is just now starting to crack. While the position players are hitting, the team defense is unacceptably poor. While there may not be any causation, there is certainly a correlation between the Mets poor pitching, and their poor defense.
With Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia going down, it is hard to believe the pitching staff is going to get any better. Right now, the Mets can pin their hopes on Steven Matz and Seth Lugo, but who knows when they can come back? And when Matz comes back, how long is he going to be healthy? Same goes for Lugo who has a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. With the Mets unlikely to significantly upgrade the pitching staff in any way, the team is going to have to upgrade their defense.
There are some minor tweaks that can be made. Juan Lagares can start in center field over Curtis Granderson. Typically, you do not want to start Lagares due to his offense, but with Granderson hitting .144/.206/.272 on the season, it’s hard to argue Lagares can be any worse. Unfortunately, a switch from Granderson to Lagares is likely insufficient to address the defensive issues. That goes double with the Mets statistically having the worst middle infield in the major leagues.
Right now, the easiest position to upgrade is shortstop. Asdrubal Cabrera has a torn ligament in his thumb leading the Mets to consider putting him on the disabled list. In addition to his thumb, we have also seen Cabrera struggle for the second straight year with some leg issues. If he were to go on the disabled list, the natural option to replace him would be Jose Reyes.
For his part, Reyes just isn’t hitting. For the season, Reyes is hitting .189/.286/.315. Those numbers have been boosted by his numbers in May. In May, he is hitting .220/.283/.341. As a result of his poor hitting, Reyes is eminently replaceable. In fact, he has been replaced. When Lucas Duda returned from the disabled list on Friday, Reyes moved to the bench, and T.J. Rivera was moved to third base.
Overall, the Mets need a shortstop. As it so happens, they have on in Triple-A with Amed Rosario.
Depending on whichever source you rely, Rosario is either a top 10 prospect or the best prospect in all of baseball. One of the main reasons for this is he is succeeding in Triple-A. Through his first 36 games, Rosario is hitting .359/.401/.493 with 11 doubles, a triple, two homes, and 22 RBI. This isn’t even him padding his numbers at Cashman Field. In fact, he has hit better on the road.
Now, Rosario has cooled off in May hitting .283/.339/.472. However, if those numbers are indicative of what a slump looks like for Rosario now, that’s extremely encouraging. Even with a potential regression if he were to be called up to the major leagues right now, Rosario’s offense would certainly play in the majors. One of the reasons why is Rosario is a good defender.
Look past his nine errors this season. This is a player widely regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in baseball. Overall, it is his defense that is needed right now. His range at shortstop is far and above what either Cabrera or Reyes can provide at the moment. Those ground ball hits pitchers give up could be turned into outs. If those hits become outs, rallies end, or maybe rallies don’t start in the first place. The starting pitchers now have to throw less pitches, and they could go deeper into games. In turn, this could take some of the burden off of the bullpen.
Is this an oversimplification? Perhaps. But there is no denying the Mets need a better glove at shortstop. A shortstop with more range would permit help abate the range issues Neil Walker has at second and Rivera has at third. Even if this all is an oversimplification, it’s at least worth a shot.
Right now, the Mets are not really going anywhere as currently constituted. There are few areas in which the team can look to upgrade internally. With Cabrera’s injuries and Reyes’ ineffectiveness, shortstop is one of those areas. If the Mets are serious about winning in 2017, now is the time to call-up Rosario.