Yoenis Cespedes
This game wasn’t about the superb game David Wright had going 2-2 with three walks, two runs, a homerun and an RBI. This game isn’t about Michael Conforto snapping an 0-17 streak with a homer. It’s not about Yoenis Cespedes hitting another homer. It’s not about the 6-3 win snapping the Mets two game losing streak.
No, it’s about Bartolo Colon‘s homerun:
There’s nothing more than needs to be said about tonight’s game other than . . .
Bartolo Colon homered.
In a couple of days, Josh Edgin is about to learn that one of the oldest axioms in sports is false. Time and again, we’ve seen it. You can lose your job due to injury.
In 2014, Edgin made that leap from prospect to a bona fide Major Leaguer. In his 47 appearances, he had a 1.32 ERA, 0.915 WHIP, and a 9.2 K/9. That was good for an ERA+ of 266. He limited lefties to a batting line of .185/.217/.323. These are very good numbers for a lefty out of the pen. As such, he was expected to be a big part of the bullpen in 2015.
He wasn’t. He needed Tommy John surgery. While the Mets were winning the pennant, he was rehabbing. He’s currently in the minors on a rehabilitation stint. Under the rules, he has to be activated from the DL on Sunday.
When he’s activated, he will be optioned to Triple-A. There’s no room for him on the Major League roster. The Mets bullpen has been lights out. Jerry Blevins has done the job as a LOOGY. The bullpen’s other lefty, Antonio Bastardo, has been effective against righties and lefties. Aside from that, he has a two year $12 million contract. There’s no room for another lefty.
Edgin lost his job due to injury . . . just like Juan Lagares did with his elbow injury.
Coming into 2015, Lagares was coming off a Gold Glove season. Mostly due to his defense, he had a 5.5 WAR. The Mets saw a huge future for him, so they gave him a four year $23 million extension.
Lagares had an elbow injury that hindered him in 2015. There were debates as to whether he needed Tommy John surgery. It affected his throws, and it most likely affected him at the plate. His WAR dipped from 5.5 to 0.6. The Mets sought an upgrade, and they brought in Yoenis Cespedes, who went on an absolute tear at the plate.
In the offseason, the Mets wouldn’t trust a potentially healthier Lagares with centerfield again. First, they signed Alejandro De Aza to platoon with him. Then as the market knocked down Cespedes’ contract demands, they re-signed Cespedes. Lagares lost his job due last year due to an elbow injury.
Edgin is about to officially lose his as well for the same exact reason. The reason? Well, that is the Mets obligation to put the best team out on the field as possible. Before their injuries, that meant Lagares and Edgin. Now, it doesn’t.
You can lose your job due to injury.
Simply put, it was that kind of night for the Mets:
For a long time, it appeared that Colin Rea was going to pitch the first no-hitter in Padres history. He was mostly shutting down the Mets. The only Met who really hit him well was Curtis Granderson, who was robbed not once (as you can see above), but twice. However, with two outs in the seventh, Yoenis Cespedes singled putting an end to the no-hit bid.
In the ninth, Granderson lead off the ninth with a homerun to dead center. Jay wasn’t getting to that one. The homer knocked Rea out of the game. Up until that point, Rea had only allowed two hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
Rea was relieved by Brad Hand. He would allow a two run homer to Cespedes. What was a 5-0 cruise control win turned into a 5-3 lead necessitating the Padres closer, Fernando Rodney enter the game. Rodney would shut the door on the Mets rally and earn the save.
Rea was the real star of the game going 9+ innings allowing three hits, one earned, and one walk with five strikeouts.
Rea’s battery mate, Mets killer Derek Norris, helped Rea get the victory. Despite coming into the game with a .138 average, he teed off against the Mets’ pitching. He would go 3-3 with a walk, double, homerun, two runs scored and an RBI. He was hitting like there was a one hour rain delay and Terry Collins left Jeurys Familia out there.
In truth, the Padres all teed off on the Mets pitching. They would score five runs on 11 hits. Six of those eleven hits would go for extra bases. The two homers were hit by Norris and Wil Myers.
Most of the damage was done against Jacob deGrom, who was once again in the 93 MPH range with his fastball. He pitched five innings allowing eight hits, three earned, and one walk with only two strikeouts. He wasn’t missing bats, and he was getting hit hard. Logan Verrett came in and helped the bullpen a bit by throwing two innings of relief. While Verrett was luckier than deGrom, he got hit hard as well. His final line was two innings, three hits, two runs (one earned), no walks, and three strikeouts.
Most will point to the long flight as the reason for the Mets loss. Maybe. It’s also possible they ran into a pitcher that had everything working. It’s just time to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow night’s game, or tonight’s game for those Mets fans on the East coast.
Game Notes: While the Padres are the only MLB team without a no-hitter, the Mets are still the franchise with the most games played before pitching their first no-hitter.
Today is Star Wars Day (May the Fourth – get it?). In celebration of the day, here are the Mets alter egos from Episode VII: The Force Awakens:
Yoenis Cespedes – Poe Dameron
- Both Poe and Cespedes were renown for their incredible air power (Cespedes- HR, Poe – pilot). Both were thought to be gone only to return to the joy of everyone. We now know victory is certain.
Matt Harvey – Kylo Ren
- Both were once the most powerful apprentices only to have a younger one with long hair and more powers usurp them. Despite their most recent losses, they will be heard from again.
Noah Syndergaard – Rey
- Both were lost in the desert (Thor – Vegas, Rey – Jakku). Neither knew when they were going to be able to find their next lunch. Both are extremely powerful and are only now starting to realize it.
Michael Conforto – Finn
- Neither were supposed to be here. Neither were supposed to show any signs of greatness. Instead, they broke the mold and carved out a new path for themselves.
Curtis Granderson – Han Solo
- They’ve been around a long time, but they are still as cool as ever. It may be surprising, but they are in the thick of things like they always were. The only problem is there are some young upstarts (Granderson – Conforto, Han – Kylo Ren), who may push them aside. However, before that time comes, they will be heard from again.
Bartolo Colon – Chewbacca
- All these years later, they may be a step slow, but they still are large and in charge. One moment you’re questioning what something so old can do to you. The next, you’re getting your arm or bat taken from you.
Captain David Wright – General Leia Organa
- Years ago, they thought they had accomplished it all as the young, brash good looking people they were. Unfortunately, they didn’t. There’s still more work to be done. The difference is now they have to be the leaders and show a new generation how it’s done.
Logan Verrett – BB8
- Both are taking over for someone else’s role (Verrett – Sean Gilmartin, BB8 – R2D2), and they are performing admirably.
Zack Wheeler – R2D2
- Both are sitting around, shut down, but both still have a very important role to play.
Jacob deGrom – C3PO
- Both have problems with their arms (deGrom – decreased velocity, C3PO – it’s red) and no one knows how it happened. No worries. They’re back and better than ever.
Dan Warthen – Maz Kanata
- Both seem to have the secrets needed to unlock people’s secret powers and lead them on the path to greatness. Plus they kinda look alike.
Terry Collins – Admiral Ackbar
- Both seem like this has all passed them by, but they have returned. They came back and led their people to great victories (Collins – NL, Ackbar – blowing up the Starkiller Base). Now if only Collins had screamed, “It’s a trap!” in Game 5 of the World Series . . . .
Lucas Duda – Captain Phasma
- Their roles are relatively overlooked. Both are large and intimidating presences that can destroy you in the blink of an eye.
Juan Lagares – Snap Wexley
- Both have been here since the new generation’s fight began, but they’ve been pushed aside by Poe/Cespedes who gets all the focus and glory.
Mike Piazza – Luke Skywalker
- The time has come where their greatness has now become the stuff of legends. They are now at the shrines where it all began (Piazza – Cooperstown, Luke – first Jedi temple)
Note, there are no Mets compared to Supreme Leader Snoke or General Hux as they just seem pure evil with no chance for hope. With that said, I think there’s enough room here for one more:
Chase Utley – General Hux
- Their sole intent is to destroy everything for their victory regardless of the consequences. Actually, that’s not true. The more amoral pain and violence inflicted the better. The good news is that no matter what they do, they will ultimately fail.
Twenty year old me never would’ve thought I’d say, “Thank God the Mets get to play the Braves 19 times a year,” but here we are. The Mets get to beat up on an awful Braves team 19 times a year. The Mets starting beating up on the Braves immediately:
Yoenis Cespedes‘ and David Wright‘s homers were tattooed.
Back to back! Cespedes saw Wright hit a 106mph homer, so he decided to hit a 106mph homer of his own. pic.twitter.com/bfKert3HWS
— CitiFieldHR (@CitiFieldHR) May 2, 2016
As for Cespedes, his homer was a new Mets record:
Yoenis Cespedes: fastest player to 25 HR with Mets (77 G). Previous fastest? Carlos Delgado: 88 G. via @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/njYSdGDvzg
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 2, 2016
Speaking of Carlos Delgado, this was the first time the Mets hit three homers in the first inning of a game since 2006. How you take that is up to you, but I choose to think of that as a good omen.
Speaking of slugging Mets first basemen wearing the number 21, this was the fourth time this season Lucas Duda was involved in back-to-back homeruns. The Mets have gone back-to-back five times this year.
After the first inning, the Mets bats quieted down a bit. Nothing of note really happened unless you want to count Wright singling off the face of Reid Brignac in the
As for Bartolo Colon, he did what he does best. He beat a really bad team handily. Colon pitched eight shutout innings allowing seven hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts. Colon had only thrown 99 pitches, but Terry Collins pulled him out. Jeurys Familia would pitch the ninth. He allowed a run to spoil the shutout, but would hold on to preserve the 4-1 victory.
Colon put on a show on the mound and at the plate:
BARTOLO EXIT VELOCITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/tBtpW1Otr4
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 3, 2016
Yes, this happened again:
#BigSexy, pure concentration. pic.twitter.com/xM2tq4tg6t
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 3, 2016
Congratulations are in order to Colon for his 220th career win. He broke the tie with Pedro Martinez for the second most wins by a Dominican pitcher. Juan Marichal is in first place with 243 wins. For the Mets, it was their 16th of the year and are 4-0 against the Braves.
Game Notes: Eric O’Flaherty is officially a Brave again as he pitched a scoreless seventh. Both he and Kelly Johnson received their NL Championship rings before the game. Neil Walker stole his first base as a Met in the eighth.
Yesterday, the Mets faced a left-handed starter for just the third time this year. They have faced Adam Conley, Brandon Finnegan, and Madison Bumgarner. In addition, the Mets have faced lefty relievers here and there. Seemingly, the Mets have struggled against lefties.
On April 13th, Conley limited the Mets to four hits while allowing no earned runs and striking out nine over six innings. It should be noted that last year, Conley had similar success against a somewhat different Mets lineup. Last year, Conley pitched seven innings against the Mets allowing three hits, no runs, and six strikeouts.
On April 26th, Finnegan dominated the Mets over the first six innings. In those six innings, he allowed three hits, no runs, and three strikeouts. The outing was very impressive until he was over extended in the seventh inning. In the seventh, he allowed a walk, a single, and a laser of homerun off the first pitch he threw to pinch hitter Yoenis Cespedes. Finnegan is a former first round pick and a well regarded prospect.
On May 1st, Bumgarner got the better of Noah Syndergaard and the Mets. Bumgarner allowed six hits, two earned, two walks, and nine strikeouts in 6.2 innings. This should surprise no one. Bumgarner is one of the absolute best pitchers in the game. It can be argued he almost single-handedly won the 2014 World Series. You’re going to have bad days against Madison Bumgarner.
That’s the point. The Mets have faced some tough lefties. You know what’s interesting? The Mets have hit still hit lefties in general pretty well.
According to Baseball Reference, the Mets have hit .266/.339/.442 with a 118 OPS+ against lefties. Against righties, the Mets are hitting .254/.329/.448 with a 114 OPS+. Looking over these numbers, the Mets are just as likely to hit righties as they are lefties. It’s easy to lose sight of that after Madison Bumgarner, a lefty, pitches well against the Mets.
So yes, the Mets have had some struggles against three pretty good lefties. No one should read too much into those games. You can point to three different games this season the Mets struggled against three pretty good righties. Mets fans know better than anyone right now that good pitching is going to beat good hitting.
Overall, the Mets have a good offense. There’s no reason to believe based upon these three starts the Mets can’t hit lefties. In fact, the stats show they can.
Editor’s Note: this article was also published on mesmerizedonline.com
The Mets are in the midst of a stretch of 17 straight games without a day off. On Thursday, they’re flying out to the west coast for an eleven game road trip. Madison Bumgarner was on the mound. With all these factors present, it’s difficult to take umbridge with Terry Collins’s lineup on Sunday. There were many factors to consider.
With that said, his outfield alignment was inexcusable.
The Mets had Michael Conforto in left, Yoenis Cespedes in center, and Juan Lagares in right. Collins put the 2015 American League Gold Glove leftfielder in centerfield and the 2014 National League Gold Glove centerfielder in rightfield. With the exception of maybe Conforto, everyone was out of place.
First off, it should be acknowledged Cespedes isn’t a good centerfielder. By his own admission, he prefers to play left. He averages a – 3.2 UZR in and a -4 DRS in center. Coincidentally, those were his numbers playing center for the Mets last year. Long story short, Cespedes is a below average centerfielder. He’s only out there because the Mets value his bat over Lagares’ glove.
Lagares’ glove? It’s transcendent. When he won the Gold Glove in 2014, he had an 18.6 UZR and a 26 DRS. Those numbers are all the more incredible when you consider this was his second best defensive season. However, Cespedes’ problem is his bat. He’s a career .262/.298/.365 hitter. Against righties, he’s even worse hitting .253/.285/.339. It’s hard to justify keeping that bat in the lineup everyday. It’s why the Mets not only traded for Cespedes, but it’s also a factor why the Mets re-signed him.
When Cespedes and Lagares have played in the outfield with Curtis Granderson, Cespedes has been in left while Lagares has been in center. That’s perfect. Each player is playing their best defensive position. Even better, you have three plus defenders in the outfield. This only works because Granderson is a rightfielder. Conforto is not.
Neither Conforto or Cespedes have played rightfield in a major league game. In fact, despite his appearance in the 2015 Future’s Game, Conforto has only played in left. Therefore, Lagares was left as the only outfielder with any experience in right. Coming into Sunday’s game, he has exactly 16 games and 89 innings of experience in right. Fourteen of those games were in 2013 when Collins actually believed Matt den Dekker was a better defensive centerfielder than Lagares.
It doesn’t make sense for Lagares to play anywhere other than centerfield. It makes less sense that Collins considered the idea in Spring Training and is following through on it. When Collins put Cespedes in center last year and put Lagares in right, he explained Lagares was the only one who played there previously. While that excuse might’ve worked in 2015, it should not work this year.
The Mets had an entire offseason andSpring Training to prepare for this situation. Either Conforto or Cespedes could’ve received some rightfield reps to permit Collins to have some level of comfort in placing them in rightfield. It’s what the Mets did with Wilmer Flores in teaching him first base. Now, Flores has shown the Mets they can feel comfortable putting him at firstbase. It’s what the Mets needed to do with Comforto.
No, instead the Mets decided to ignore the issue despite them being very aware that moments like this would arrive. The Mets actually believed that Lagares in right was a better idea than teaching the position to Conforto. Why the Mets foresaw this issue and decided it was in the team’s best interests to play their Gold Glovers out of position is beyond logic.
Fortunately, this decision didn’t affect outcome of the game on Sunday. Hopefully, this will be the last time we see that happen. The Mets shouldn’t weaken their team defense due to a 14 game sample size.
All you need to know about tonight’s game is the Mets scored a franchise record 12 runs in the third inning. Here’s how it happened:
A 12-run inning? That’s the highest-scoring frame in @Mets history. https://t.co/mLUBSOeNVe pic.twitter.com/4eUVXnWN2U
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) April 30, 2016
Watch @ynscspds cap off our 12-run inning with a grand slam! #Metshttps://t.co/0Z4NwYW4Gb
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 30, 2016
As Ron Darling would later say, “You got the feeling that the inning might not ever end.” This inning was a far cry from the 2015 Mets June/July offense. The Mets sent 15 batters to the plate. The only Mets batter that didn’t reach base or score at least once was pitcher Steven Matz. With his grand slam and six RBI, Yoenis Cespedes broke Butch Huskey‘s team record of five RBI in one inning. Who knew?
The inning was so impressive Jake Peavy‘s ERA went from 6.86 to 8.61. The Mets scored half their runs off Peavy and the other half off of sacrificial lamb Mike Broadway. His ERA went from 3.86 to 11.81.
Matz lasted six innings allowing seven hits, zero earned, three walks, and four strikeouts. It wasn’t a dominating performance. He only had one 1-2-3 inning. With that said, he more than got the job done. The only run scored by the Giants was a leadoff homerun on the seventh inning by Angel Pagan off of Jerry Blevins. It was a good decision by Terry Collins to give Blevins a full inning of work in a blowout. Blevins has been the least used member of the bullpen.
As if they were irritated by Pagan’s homer, the Mets rallied again in the seventh to score a run. The 13th run of the game was scored on a Juan Lagares RBI single. Logan Verrett pitched a scoreless eighth, and Antonio Bastardo pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the 13-1 victory. I’m assuming Verrett, the long man in the pen, didn’t pitch two innings because Terry Collins’ Magic 8 Ball told him to do it.
This was the Mets first game this season against a National League team that was expected to be a contender for not only the postseason, but also the World Series.
Game Notes: Kevin Plawecki threw out Brandon Belt in the second. He’s now 5-9 in throwing out would be basestealers. Since taking over for the injured Travis d’Arnaud, he’s gone 2-13. David Wright, who for some reason wasn’t pulled, continued his throwing issues with a throwing error in the eighth. Eric Campbell entered the game to play LF in the eighth. Michael Fulmer made his debut for the Tigers against the Twins. He went five innings allowing two earned, one walk, and four strikeouts.
If you were asked to rattle off the names of some great pitching coaches, you would probably name people like Dave Duncan and Leo Mazzone. If you were asked to name a great hitting coach, you’re doing would most likely draw a blank.
Part of the reason is there’s an assumption that hitting coaches don’t do a whole lot. In essence, they show video or making suggestions, but their impact is generally regarded to be minimal. For some reason, there’s a belief that hitting and a batting stance is an innate ability. As the Mets have seen with Kevin Long, it’s time for that narrative to change.
Since coming to the Mets in 2015, he has helped players hit for more power.
As has been noted, Kevin Long was hired by the Mets, in part, to help resurrect Curtis Granderson. In 2014, Granderson hit a disappointing .227/.326/.388 with 27 doubles, two triples, and 20 homeruns. Long worked with Granderson on getting his hands in the right position and having a more compact swing. In 2015, Granderson hit a much better .259/.364/.457 with 33 doubles, two triples, and 26 homeruns.
Long hasn’t only had success with Granderson.
When Yoenis Cespedes came to the Mets, he was hitting .293/.323/.506 with 18 homers in 102 games. He was in the midst of what was a career year for him. Aside from working with Cespedes in the cage, he encouraged Cespedes to play golf. This helped Cespedes both clear his mind and focus on keeping his hands in. In 57 games with the Mets, Cespedes hit .287/.337/.604 with 17 homeruns.
This year Kevin Long has been working with and getting more power out of Neil Walker. Coming into this season, Walker was a .272/.338/.431 hitter who averaged 16 homers a year. Against lefties, he was a career .265/.321/.335 hitter with just 3 homeruns in six full seasons (seven total). Walker and Long worked on his leg kick and how he uses the lower half of his body. So far, Walker is hitting .500/.500/1.643 against lefties with three homers, and overall, he’s hitting .300/.325/.638 with a major league leading nine homeruns.
Now, it’s unrealistic to expect Cespedes to maintain his 2015 pace, and it’s unrealistic to expect Walker to keep up his current pace. With that said, it’s clear Long has an ability to work with hitters to get them to hit for more power than they have in the past. It’s become his trademark.
It’s time he starts to receive some of the accolades he’s deserved.
If you were asked to rattle off the names of some great pitching coaches, you would probably name people like Dave Duncan and Leo Mazzone. If you were asked to name a great hitting coach, you’re doing would most likely draw a blank.
Part of the reason is there’s an assumption that hitting coaches don’t do a whole lot. In essence, they show video or making suggestions, but their impact is generally regarded to be minimal. For some reason, there’s a belief that hitting and a batting stance is an innate ability. As the Mets have seen with Kevin Long, it’s time for that narrative to change.
Since coming to the Mets in 2015, he has helped players hit for more power.
As has been noted, Kevin Long was hired by the Mets, in part, to help resurrect Curtis Granderson. In 2014, Granderson hit a disappointing .227/.326/.388 with 27 doubles, two triples, and 20 homeruns. Long worked with Granderson on getting his hands in the right position and having a more compact swing. In 2015, Granderson hit a much better .259/.364/.457 with 33 doubles, two triples, and 26 homeruns.
Long hasn’t only had success with Granderson.
When Yoenis Cespedes came to the Mets, he was hitting .293/.323/.506 with 18 homers in 102 games. He was in the midst of what was a career year for him. Aside from working with Cespedes in the cage, he encouraged Cespedes to play golf. This helped Cespedes both clear his mind and focus on keeping his hands in. In 57 games with the Mets, Cespedes hit .287/.337/.604 with 17 homeruns.
This year Kevin Long has been working with and getting more power out of Neil Walker. Coming into this season, Walker was a .272/.338/.431 hitter who averaged 16 homers a year. Against lefties, he was a career .265/.321/.335 hitter with just 3 homeruns in six full seasons (seven total). Walker and Long worked on his leg kick and how he uses the lower half of his body. So far, Walker is hitting .500/.500/1.643 against lefties with three homers, and overall, he’s hitting .300/.325/.638 with a major league leading nine homeruns.
Now, it’s unrealistic to expect Cespedes to maintain his 2015 pace, and it’s unrealistic to expect Walker to keep up his current pace. With that said, it’s clear Long has an ability to work with hitters to get them to hit for more power than they have in the past. It’s become his trademark.
It’s time he starts to receive some of the accolades he’s deserved.