Tomas Nido

Patrick Mazeika With Yet Another Walk-Off

With Marcus Stroman and John Means pitching, we had the hopes of a pitcher’s duel. Boy, were we ever treated to one.

The Orioles didn’t get anything going until the seventh. That was because Stroman was that good. In fact, at one point, he retired 14 of 15.

One of the reasons why is Stroman is a great fielder. When Means tried to get a sacrifice bunt down in the sixth, Stroman popped off the mound and got the lead runner.

The Mets wouldn’t get a rally going until the fourth. Part of the reason for the offensive struggles for them in this game was Means. Another was Jeff McNeil pulling up lame trying to stretch a single into a double.

In the fourth, the Mets got a pair of two out singles, but Jonathan Villar popped out to end the inning. The Mets had a bigger opportunity in the sixth go to waste.

Jose Peraza, who replaced the injured McNeil, and Francisco Lindor hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. After a Michael Conforto fielder’s choice, there were runners at the corners with one out.

Unfortunately, the Mets wouldn’t cash in. Pete Alonso, who had a very bad night, popped out. Kevin Pillar then flew out to end the inning.

The seventh inning saw one of the more unusual things you’ll ever see in a game.

The Orioles got to Stroman in the seventh. After Freddy Galvis and Maikel Franco led off the inning with consecutive singles, Rio Ruiz dropped a successful sacrifice. That led to intentionally walking Pedro Severino to load the bases.

With the game tied 0-0, the Orioles felt compelled to pinch hit for Means. What was odd was right when Means was taken out while throwing a gem, the Mets did the same with Stroman.

Stroman was keeping the ball on the ground, and the Mets needed the double play. Instead, they opted for Aaron Loup. He’d allow a sacrifice fly to Pat Valaika. The Mets got out of the inning, but they were down 1-0.

The Mets chances of responding died when James McCann hit into a double play. That wouldn’t be the Mets only back breaking GIDP of the night.

The Mets fell down 2-0 in the eighth partially due to one of the scariest plays you’ll see. Against Trevor May, Austin Hays hit a drive to deep center. Albert Almora tracked it down, caught it, and then he face planted against the wall going full speed thereby dislodging the ball.

Conforto made a heads up play to get it in and keep it to a triple. May came up huge striking out the next two Orioles, but Galvis would drop down a perfect bunt to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

Tomas Nido pinch hit for May in the bottom of the eighth, and he drew a lead-off walk. Peraza struck out, and Lindor walked. Conforto then hit an opposite field single to pull the Mets to within 2-1.

The Mets were well poised to not only tied but break it open. That was until Alonso hit into an inning ending double play. With the way the game was going, it seemed like the Mets blew their shot. They’d get another.

The Orioles brought in their closer Cesar Valdez, and for the briefest moment, at least until the umpires got a clue, it looked like Pillar tied the game with a homer. It was foul.

Instead, he singled, and then Villar would single. After McCann first missed badly on a bunt attempt, and then struck out.

Dominic Smith didn’t start due to the left-handed Means, and he came in when Almora was injured. As noted by Ron Darling, Smith, with his ability to hit off-speed pitches, was exactly who the Mets wanted up in that spot.

Smith hit a single which fell just in front of the diving right fielder. Pillar did a great job base running scoring just ahead of the throw. When the third got past Severino, Villar scampered to third.

With runners on the corners and one out, Patrick Mazeika pinch hit. After falling behind 0-2, he’d foul off three pitches and even the count. He’d then hit into a fielder’s choice. First baseman Trey Mancini‘s throw was nowhere near in time to get the speedy Villar walking off the 3-2 win.

Once again, Mazeika delivered a game winning RBI. On the season, he has three RBI and no hits. Certainly, the Mets will take it.

Game Notes: Alonso is 3 for his last 21 with no extra base hits albeit with seven walks. Jeurys Familia picked up the win after pitching a scoreless eighth. Notably, all of the infielders on the 40 man roster are with the team or on the IL.

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20/20 Hindsight: Rats and Raccoons More Powerful Than Snakes

The New York Mets seemingly have a million different issues thus far, but as we saw in their sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, it is not stopping them from winning games:

1. The biggest issue the Mets have right now is the health of Jacob deGrom. Fortunately, his MRI was clean, and even better, the team is taking a cautious approach by putting him on the IL.

2. The Mets are getting next to nothing from their starting rotation right now, and it is not stopping them from winning games because the bullpen has been phenomenal. There is a lot of credit due to Jeremy Hefner, Jeremy Accardo, and Luis Rojas for not only getting the most out of them, but also for putting them all in positions to succeed.

3. If Edwin Diaz is bailing the Mets out of innings, and he is getting five out saves, this Mets team is going to be completely unstoppable.

4. The Mets are in first place right now without Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco, Seth Lugo, and Brandon Nimmo. It is high time the narrative on Rojas shifts from over his head to being a good manager. At this pace, he may emerge as a real Manager of the Year candidate.

5. We don’t know what happened between Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor in that tunnel, but we do know it has not stopped them from turning absolutely incredible double plays.

6. The coverage of the “ratcoon” story was all the more puzzling when you consider everything the press looked the other way on when the Wilpons were in control. Apparently harassment of women and interfering with medical decisions didn’t need the serious reporting a fight between teammates warranted.

7. The press feeling insulted by Lindor “lying” to them is tough to take. After all, J.D. Davis lied to their faces about his involvement in the Astros sign stealing scandal, and they didn’t seem to remotely care.

8. At the moment, it seems like Tomas Nido is outplaying James McCann. The problem for any organization is determining whether Nido is superior to McCann or if McCann just needs some additional time to return to his expected form. Many times, it is decisions like these which define a season.

9. The Mets are getting a lot of production out of their bench. As noted, Nido is actually outplaying McCann. We also see Kevin Pillar playing very well in all aspects over the last few weeks. If he can keep this up, he is going to make decisions very difficult for the Mets.

10. If Dominic Smith is going to continue to struggle at the plate and in the field, and Pete Alonso is going to continue to play defense this well, it is going to be very difficult to find Smith playing time. The hope is the firing of Chili Davis could help turn around his season.

11. Once again, Michael Conforto appears to be a very good baseball players, and we are starting to see him pick it up defensively. It just goes to show you not to over rely or overreact to players have slow starts.

12. Jonathan Villar had a golden opportunity to claim himself an everyday job with Davis and Luis Guillorme injured. With his struggles at the plate and seeing him let a pop up fall, he’s cementing himself as a pure bench option.

13. With Villar’s struggles and Albert Almora flat out not hitting, if you look forward, perhaps the Mets could look to bring back old friend Asdrubal Cabrera for bench help for the postseason. Yes, this classifies as getting ahead of ourselves, but we should be embracing the excitement of the moment.

14. David Peterson is certainly making things easy on what the Mets should do when Carrasco and Syndergaard are ready to return from the IL.

15. One of the most bizarre things happening right now is Patrick Mazeika‘s penchant for pinch hit RBI where he doesn’t actually deliver a hit. So far, he has had an extra innings fielder’s choice and a bases loaded walk.

16. One of the biggest shames of the ratcoon fallout is seeing Mazeika not get celebrated for his first career walk off hit.

17. It’s not only funny to see Trevor Bauer up in arms over the Los Angeles Dodgers struggling, but it is downright hilarious he is being outpitched by Taijuan Walker so far this season. And yes, that is happening with Walker having a better ERA+ and FIP than Bauer.

18. For all the problems with the Mets offense, with their pitching, they only need to get to four runs. When that has happened this year, the Mets are 15-2.

19. The Mets do have a negative run differential, but that is partially fueled by their 12 run loss against the Cubs. If you take that game out of the equation, they would have a positive nine run differential, which would be good for sixth in the NL. Put another way, aside from one game, they’ve been in the upper echelon of the NL.

20. The Mets being able to play games has clearly been good for them. They’re getting into a rhythm offensively and defensively. As we see them play more and more games, we can see them get better and better. They’re in first place now, and who knows just how far they will go from here.

Game Recaps

Francisco Lindor and Mets Show Some Fight

The Rat and Raccoon Lead Mets to Victory

Mets Had a Lot of Good Despite Jacob deGrom

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Francisco Lindor Rat/Raccoon Story Genius

There is not one soul on the planet who believes Francisco Lindor‘s explanation about what happened. Really, no one believes there was a dispute between him and Jeff McNeil over whether they saw a rat or a raccoon in the clubhouse.

We know there was some sort of an altercation. Well, we at least expect there’s one. What really happened is only known by the Mets team.

Yes, it’s the job of the reporters to ask questions and get to the bottom of things. However, their reaction was been way over the top. Instead of bemusement, we saw a charge led by Todd Zeile where they were personally insulted.

Of course, they didn’t with Jeff Wilpon when he stood in the way of Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Jed Lowrie, and countless others with their career threatening and altering injuries. The same goes for creating an environment of harassment with Mickey Callaway, other employees, and his own actions. Who knows what other heinous acts went unreported.

That’s partially besides the point. The media gets to cover what they want to cover. Then again, teams and players in turn get to dictate how to respond to inquiries. There are several options including ignoring the questions, boilerplate answers, and as we saw with Lindor, having some fun with it.

And, the Mets did have fun with it. We saw McNeil have fun saying it was a possum. We also saw tweets from players like Marcus Stroman, Dominic Smith, and Tomas Nido.

Instead of the incident between Lindor and McNeil dividing them and the team, we saw it become a moment which brought the team together. We got a sense of that from Stroman.

It’s also something which has galvanized the fanbase. Mets fans are very protective of their players, and they’re all the moreso when they believe their players are being unfairly maligned.

The raccoon is also a fun angle reminiscent of the rally raccoon. For that matter, Mets fans always enjoy a good animal story whether it’s the black cat or Yoenis Cespedes‘ rally parakeet.

Whatever the case, Lindor took what could’ve been a divisive moment, and he made it absurd. From there, the players and fans rallied together. His ability to do that may very well pay dividends now and in the future.

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Francisco Lindor And Mets Show Some Fight

This was the type of game which had the potential to spell doom for the entire New York Mets season. That’s not hyperbole either.

With a bullpen game the other day and another one due tomorrow, David Peterson was bad. He would get knocked out of the second inning after allowing three runs on three hits and three walks.

It would’ve been worse, but Robert Gsellman bailed Peterson out. That said, he did allow a run in the third putting the Mets behind 4-0 with the Diamondbacks pitching Zac Gallen.

Even with Francisco Lindor reaching on an “infield single” and advancing to second on an Asdrubal Cabrera error in the third and scoring on a Michael Conforto single, things were not getting better.

Lindor got booed again even with his making another sterling defensive play.

The Mets did get another run off Gallen in the sixth. Gallen issued a leadoff walk to Pete Alonso, who advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. Jonathan Villar came up huge with an RBI single to cut it to 4-2.

After that, things got weird and dark. It started with a seemingly innocuous play where Jeff McNeil didn’t get out of Lindor’s way on what proved to be a Nick Ahmed single. After what was a scoreless inning, an altercation seemingly ensued:

Conforto and Dominic Smith went down the tunnel. McNeil eventually emerged with what looked like a swollen eye. With Lindor due up, you could see McNeil has swelling around his eye. That wouldn’t be Lindor’s last big hit that inning.

After Tomas Nido, who had been double switched into the game, earned a lead-off walk, Lindor would get his first Citi Field homer:

That homer as well as the Mets bullpen allowing just the one run over the final 8.1 innings and some good defense allowed the Mets to get to that 4-4 tie.

One key play came in the ninth. Edwin Diaz hasn’t been good in tied games or with runners on base. That’s what made Conforto throwing out Cabrera trying to stretch a single to a double all the more important.

Aaron Loup was up next in extra innings. Because of the ever changing rules, a runner started the inning at second. Despite that. Loup would would get out of the inning unscathed. The same wouldn’t be true for the Mets. Smith was intentionally walked to start the inning, and with two outs, Villar singled to load the bases. That set the stage for rookie Patrick Mazeika to get his first career RBI.

That’s a good and uplifting win. It also wasn’t one without drama. Specifically, the issue if the altercation came up. Lindor did his part to downplay it saying he and McNeil were trying to determine if there was a rat or raccoon. It was neither, but it allowed the Mets to move on from it when with all the questions.

Game Notes: Luis Guillorme will not return from the IL tomorrow as anticipated.

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Mets Split Bizarre Doubleheader

The first game of the doubleheader between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets was just an ugly game. Really, almost everything about it was bad.

The Mets were 0-for-5 with RISP leaving five men in baseball. That’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

The Mets loaded the bases in the fourth wig no outs. They only scored one run on a James McCann fielder’s choice. On the play, Nolan Arenado fielded the ball while stepping on the bag simultaneously.

After that, Jonathan Villar and Albert Almora struck out to end what was the Mets only rally of the game.

Of course, no discussion of that fourth inning is complete without discussing the Kwang Hyun Kim interpreter controversy and ensuing roughly 10 minutes of deliberations and replay.

Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizer went to the mound to talk with Kim, and Kim’s interpreter came from the dugout to the mound. Later in the inning, the interpreter joined Mike Maddux, Luis Rojas correctly pointed out that was technically a second mound visit necessitating Kim be removed from the game.

The umpires blew the call because they didn’t know the rules, and the replay officials got it wrong even when they informed them of the rule, they let Kim stay in the game.

Sadly, Marcus Stroman, who was making a start on a sore hamstring, made the mistake of allowing two earned runs.

The first was a Paul Goldschmidt first inning homer. In the third, Arenado had an RBI single. That’s all the runs the Cardinals would need.

The final score was 4-1 as Francisco Lindor threw a ball away with two outs, and Paul DeJong continued being a Mets killer by hitting a two run homer.

While we wouldn’t see the Mets offense respond to the Chili Davis firing in the first game, we would in the second.

After a scoreless first where we saw the Mets use Miguel Castro as an opener, the Mets bats would put runs on the board for Castro and Jordan Yamamoto, who was making his first Mets appearance.

Dominic Smith started a rally against Cardinals starter Johan Oviedo with a lead-off single. He’d move to third on a Kevin Pillar double.

With respect to Pillar, he’s really stepped up when the Mets needed it most. Their best hitter, Nimmo, was injured and finally hit the IL. Since Nimmo has gone down, Pillar is 8-for-16 with four runs, a double, two homers, and four RBI.

After two quick outs, you were left wondering if the Mets would ever score. That made Oviedo’s wild pitch allowing Smith to score a relief. What was even better was Tomas Nido‘s ensuing two run homer:

The Cardinals had a chance to respond in the second. Former Met Ali Sanchez doubled, and Oviedo tried to help his own cause, but Pillar would gun down Sanchez.

Villar increased the Mets lead to 4-0 with a solo homer in the fourth.

The Cardinals put a rally together in the fourth. Yamamoto hit Tyler O’Neill to start the inning, and he’d be on second with two outs when the Mets went to the bullpen.

Aaron Loup relieved Yamamoto, and he’d allow an inherited runner to score on a Dylan Carlson pinch hit RBI single. Things were getting dangerous after a Tommy Edman single, but Loup would retire Matt Carpenter to get out of the inning.

After the Cardinals scored one in the bottom of fourth, the Mets would get one back and then some in the fifth.

What was impressive was the Mets delivered with two outs again. With runners on first and second and two outs, Pillar and Villar hit consecutive RBI singles to increase the Mets lead to 6-1.

Villar, the surprise starter at short had a very good game. In addition to the two RBI, he’d later make a very good play in the hole.

From there, Trevor May pitched a scoreless fifth, and Robert Gsellman allowed one run in the sixth.

With Bernardo Flores Jr. wild, the Mets took advantage loading the bases and scoring a run on a Pillar RBI groundout.

The Mets sent Jeurys Familia to the mound to close out the five run lead. Even though such an act was impossible earlier in the week for Edwin Diaz, Familia took care of business securing the 7-2 win.

In a bizarre series of games, the Mets secured a split of the doubleheader, and they are in position to split the series with a win tomorrow. That closes out a wild 72 hours.

Game Notes: Sean Reid-Foley was the Mets 27th man for the doubleheader. Lindor is hitless over his last 24 at-bats, the second worst stretch in his career. Brandon Nimmo was put on the IL between games with Patrick Mazeika getting called up off the taxi squad. Keith Hernandez was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame.

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Mets Front Office Hurts Mets Chances To Win

Honestly, the New York Mets lost this game when the front office made a baffling decision. The St. Louis Cardinals are dangerous against left-handed pitching, and they relatively struggle against right-handed pitching.

Knowing that, the Mets decided to call-up Joey Lucchesi to make the start. Not Jordan Yamamoto, who has good numbers against the Cardinals. They didn’t even look to pitch Robert Gsellman or Sean Reid-Foley.

No, they went with Lucchesi, and it backfired spectacularly. Keep in mind, the Mets offense handed Lucchesi a 5-2 lead heading into the third.

In the second, Adam Wainwright got wild. With runners on first and second and one out, Mike Shildt made the odd choice to intentionally walk Jonathan Villar to load the bases.

That decision backfired as Wainwright plunked Tomas Nido to force in a run. After striking out Lucchesi, Wainwright walked Jeff McNeil to force home a second run.

The rally ended there as Francisco Lindor struck out to end the inning. Again, Lindor’s struggles at the plate continue. However, his defense remains as magnificent as ever:

The Mets would get back at it in the third starting with a Michael Conforto lead-off walk. After Pete Alonso hit his second double of the game, Dominic Smith drove home a run with an RBI groundout. Kevin Pillar followed with his second homer in as many days:

With a 5-2 lead, Lucchesi retired the first two batters he faced in the third. He then completely fell apart.

After allowing back-to-back singles to Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt, Lucchesi would surrender a game tying three run homer to Nolan Arenado. For some odd reason, Luis Rojas didn’t have anyone ready to relieve him.

Paul DeJong would continue being a Mets killer hitting a double. He’d then score on a Tyler O’Neill RBI double. With that, the 5-2 lead became a 6-5 deficit, and Lucchesi would be out of the game.

The real shame is Gsellman (2.1 IP) and Reid-Foley were terrific (2.0) over 4.1 scoreless innings. They’d combine to allow just two hits while walking none and striking out four.

When you throw in Jacob Barnes, the bullpen pitched 5.1 scoreless. Converse that with Lucchesi who allowed at least one run over each of the first three innings.

Both bullpens did their job not allowing any runs after that third inning. Of course, that meant the decision to start Lucchesi was the big factor which cost the Mets this game.

It’s a shame because the Mets scored five runs, played good defense, and pitched well in the pen. Someone should be accountable for that, but instead, Rojas will have to face the criticism for it.

Game Notes: J.D. Davis was put on the 10 day IL. Stephen Tarpley was called up to take his place.

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Mets Will Win 2021 NL East Title

Maybe this is just the excitement which comes from Opening Day. Certainly, that is amplified by new ownership, the Francisco Lindor extension, and Jacob deGrom taking the mound. However, taking everything into account, this New York Mets team is the best one we have seen since 2015 and probably 2006.

Like most times the Mets are good, they are going to be led by pitching. Their starting staff is great, and when healthy, it is the best in baseball. Part of the reason why is deGrom is still the best pitcher in baseball. Behind him right now is Marcus Stroman. Stroman has made adjustments and added new pitches, and he looks set for a career year. That is really saying something considering he has been a gamer his entire career, and he was the World Baseball Classic MVP.

Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco may be the two most underrated pitchers in baseball. Looking at their FIP, they pitch at or near an ace level. In this rotation, they may be no better than third or fourth starters. It’s not just doing deGrom-Stroman-Syndergaard-Carrasco. This is one of the deepest rotations in all of baseball.

Behind that quartet is Taijuan Walker who was once a top 100 prospect, and he seems poised to take a big step forward after using analytics to help him improve. After Walker, the Mets have David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi, and Jordan Yamamoto, each of whom could be around a three in most rotations. For the Mets, they will eventually be on the outside looking in.

They are all going to be better pitchers because they have the tandem of James McCann and Tomas Nido behind the plate. Both of these players are strong catchers who are excellent pitch framers. Having catchers like that behind the plate make good pitchers even better. When your starting pitching is great and operating at a high level, you are going to win a lot of games.

This is paired with an incredible lineup. They Mets have an embarrassment of riches on that front. Consider Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil have each been All-Star lead-off hitters, and they aren’t even the Mets best lead-off hitter. That’s Brandon Nimmo. With that group plus Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith, their 1-6 of their lineup can and probably should be hitting in the middle of the order.

Now, this Mets team isn’t perfect. Far from it. The first problem is their bullpen. The good news on that front is between Edwin Diaz and Trevor May, they have the last two innings covered well. The hope is at least one of Dellin Betances, Miguel Castro, or Jeurys Familia can figure it out to become that seventh inning reliever. That is at least until Seth Lugo is good to return. When that happens the Mets bullpen will be in great shape.

Another factor there is the Mets have some other interesting options. Sooner or later, Drew Smith will be healthy and ready to rejoin the bullpen. It should also be noted when the Mets have their full rotation, someone like Lucchesi can move down to the bullpen where his churve could be a weapon on par with Lugo’s curveball.

The other issue is the defense. Simply put, having J.D. Davis at third is unacceptable. He can’t remotely field the position. Having Dominic Smith behind him makes the left side defense one of the worst in baseball. To that, they may not be the worst in the division with the Atlanta Braves probably being worse with Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna.

It’s very possible Brandon Nimmo can succeed with positioning in center. After all, he’s had positive OAAs in center most of his career, and he does have the speed for the position. Jeff McNeil seems more comfortable at second, and while Alonso has his defensive issues, he is quite adept and receiving throws around first.

While the lineup has serious defensive issues, the bench does not. Luis Guillorme is a Gold Glove caliber defender. Albert Almora and Kevin Pillar are also quite good. With the lead, we can and should see Luis Rojas run all three out with Smith moving to first base. When that happens, the Mets defensive alignment turns from questionable to really strong.

Therein lies the key. Aside from health, Rojas is going to be the biggest key to this Mets season. He is going to need a deft touch as to when to utilize his defensive replacements. He and Jeremy Hefner are also going to have to get their rotation healthy through the season, which is all the more challenging because of the shortened season last year. They are also going to have to find the right mix in the bullpen while making sure they don’t overuse their best relievers.

Right now, the Mets have the right mix to have a great season. They also have an owner willing to invest in the team, and they have Sandy Alderson in charge, who we know will not be shy making a key trade or two to improve this Mets roster.

Looking at the Braves, their pitching has durability issues, and their defensive issues may be worse than the Mets. The Phillies don’t have the starting pitching, and their bullpen was a disaster last year. The Marlins are young and not deep. The Nationals still don’t know what they are going at key positions on the field.

Taking everything into account, the Mets are the best team in the National League East. If Rojas is up to the task, and there is every reason to believe he will be, the Mets are well poised to return to the postseason again and let their pitching take them back to the World Series.

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Miguel Castro Can Make Or Break Mets Season

As the New York Mets embark on the 2021 season, we know Edwin Diaz will close, and we know Trevor May can pitch as a set-up man. Past that, this bullpen is a complete and utter quagmire.

Seth Lugo may be out for the first two months of the season. Aaron Loup is a LOOGY. Dellin Betances lost his velocity, and Jeurys Familia still doesn’t have his command.

Robert Gsellman has an 80 ERA+ since being converted to a reliever at the start of the 2018 season. Jacob Barnes has not been good since 2018. Even with his good whiff rates, he gets hit very hard.

After sifting through all the options, you eventually come to Miguel Castro. With Castro, the Mets may have the key to the entire bullpen.

Castro, 25, has been a mediocre reliever in his career as evidenced by his 104 career ERA+. However, that is mostly due to his control issues.

According to Baseball Savant, Castro has elite velocity throwing 98+ MPH. He generates good spin, and, at least in 2020, that led to a lot of swings and misses. That’s also evidenced by his 13.9 K/9, which is nearly double his career 7.4 mark.

The issue for Castro is he just can’t control anything consistently. He has a career 4.7 BB/9, and he hasn’t had a season better than 3.1. His K/BB is a woeful 1.59, and it hasn’t been better than 2.40 over the course of a full season.

It’s not just the walks. Castro gets hit extremely hard. Essentially, Castro puts himself at a disadvantage with his control, which leads to walks and extra base hits. If he can truly harness it, Castro can emerge as dominant a reliever as there is in baseball.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/miguel-castro-612434

On that note, the Mets have helped him and their entire pitching staff. James McCann has emerged as an excellent pitch framer. Tomas Nido is also strong in that department. As we have seen in Spring Training, this has helped Castro not only rack up the strikeouts but also limit walks.

That should help him make quicker work of batters. It should also give him more confidence in attacking hitters. It’s been looking good so far in Spring Training.

In 6.1 innings, he has allowed just two hits while walking just one. He’s also struck out eight batters. Essentially, it’s been difficult for batters to make real good contact against him, and that’s for the batters who can make contact.

If he carries that into the season, Castro can stake a claim as the Mets top reliever. Better yet, between him, May, and Diaz, it’s a six inning game. And, that’s before Lugo returns.

If Castro reverts back to what he’s always been, well, the Mets bullpen is in trouble. That’ll leave Diaz and May as the only true reliable late innings relievers. After them, who knows?

That’s how important Castro is to this team. If he falters, the Mets bullpen is in bad shape. It’ll be a bunch of used to be greats and a group of pitchers hoping someone can break out.

That’s what’s at stake. Castro can single-handedly swing the fortunes of the Mets bullpen. It can be great or less than mediocre depending on Castro’s development. That makes him pivotal to what the Mets want to accomplish this year.

For the Mets sake, they need Castro to be as dominant as he was in the Spring. They need him to be the guy whose light out stuff can shut the door. They need it from him because the Plan B in this Mets organization isn’t there yet or is hurt right now.

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Carlos Carrasco Injury Has Hidden Benefit

Make no mistake, Carlos Carrasco suffering a tear in his hamstring is terrible news for the New York Mets. He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he’s arguably the second best pitcher on the team even when everyone is healthy.

That said, this injury does present an opportunity for the Mets, or better yet, their pitchers.

As detailed on The Apple, prior to Carrasco’s injury, the Mets currently have a very interesting fifth starter competition between Joey Lucchesi, David Peterson, and Jordan Yamamoto. So far, Lucchesi and Yamamoto have separated themselves from Peterson.

That’s to the Mets benefit because Peterson should probably begin the season in Syracuse. Part of the reason is his control and FIP, and the larger reason is with Noah Syndergaard returning, the fifth starter will be removed from the rotation. The Mets certainly won’t want to do that to Peterson.

Regardless of that, in the small sample size that is Spring Training, Peterson has just been out-pitched by Lucchesi and Yamamoto:

  • Lucchesi – 2 G, 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
  • Peterson – 2 G, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, K
  • Yamamoto – 3 G, 8.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, ER, BB, 5 K

Looking at the stats, Lucchesi has probably been the most dominant, but he’s walked three. Yamamoto has been strong, and he’s shown the most progress of this trio. In fact, he’s really been much more in the zone than he had been with the Miami Marlins.

Based upon your point of view, you could make a strong case for either pitcher. Other considerations to account for are Lucchesi being 27 and Yamamoto only having one option remaining.

In some ways, margins that razor thin can be dangerous. Part of the reason why is it’s just Spring Training, and these pitchers have only thrown the equivalent of one start.

As we know, aside from the greatness of Jacob deGrom, pitcher performances vary start to start. Making important decisions on that can lead to bad results. We’ve seen it happen with the Mets.

One classic example is the Tyler Yates/Aaron Heilman competition in 2004. Yates lasted seven starts, and Heilman never really would get the chance to start. The butterfly effect of that was the Mets losing Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

Of course, there’s Glendon Rusch beating out Bill Pulsipher in 2000. Rusch was very good in the Mets rotation that year before pitching extraordinarily well in the postseason that year. Pulsipher flamed out, and he was moved for Lenny Harris, who was great off the bench for that team.

While people don’t typically look at it that way, that’s what’s at stake in fifth starter battles. Remember, the fifth spot in the rotation comes up less than five times the top spot in the rotation does.

Who the fifth starter is does matter. We’ve seen that, and having seen that, it would greatly benefit teams to have more time to make their assessments.

That’s what the Carrasco injury affords the Mets. It allows them to start the season with both Lucchesi and Yamamoto in the rotation.

They can see how they work with James McCann and Tomas Nido in games that matter. They can see them against Major League rosters and going through a lineup more than once. All of that gives them better information to make their assessments.

In the end, Carrasco’s injury created an opportunity for another pitcher to grab a rotation spot. We will now see who is truly up for the task.

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Trevor Bauer Is A Met, Or Maybe Not

Trevor Bauer signed a three year deal with the New York Mets with an opt out after the first year. That seems to put a capper on a big spending offseason for Steve Cohen and the Mets.

https://twitter.com/craigcartonlive/status/1357465831588958212?s=21

Except, Bauer actually didn’t agree to a deal with the Mets. Rather, he’s still negotiating with the Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Regardless of how you feel about Bauer, this is just the latest in what has been an absolutely exhausting week and year so far for Mets fans. In fact, it’s Tomas Nido who sums it up best by saying:

Hopefully, we just get a resolution to this soon because the only thing more exhausting than the Mets crises has been Bauer’s entire free agency. In the end, we can only hope the Mets do what is right for 2021 and beyond.

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