Yoenis Cespedes
So far this season, two of the positive story lines, even when the team was really struggling was David Wright playing like the David Wright of old, and the continued development of Noah Syndergaard. Both were on display tonight.
Just like when Wright first came off the DL last year, he homered tonight in his first at bat in Citizen’s Bank Ballpark:
#DavidWright delivered an oppo ? in the first inning. #Metshttps://t.co/HIgn4DcI9E
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 18, 2016
He also made a nice bare-handed play in the field:
A little variation on vintage David Wright: https://t.co/Y2uGh85KEZhttps://t.co/Nx1yXyAIdS
— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2016
The Mets needed Wright because once again runs were hard to come by against a Phillies starter. The Phillies young starters are very underrated. Tonight, it was Jerad Eickhoff. Once again, he showed a filthy 12-6 curveball. He would pitch seven innings allowing five hits, two earned, three walks, and nine strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.89.
In the sixth, the Mets broke a 1-1 tie with a two out rally. Yoenis Cespedes would hit a triple, and he would score on a Lucas Duda RBI single. With Duda is struggling this year, he is hitting 4-10 with RISP. It was not the last time we would hear from Duda. For his part, Cespedes showed no ill effects from the bruised leg in the field on the basepaths.
The real mystery from tonight was how in the world the Phillies scored the one run. Syndergaard was throwing fastballs that appeared to be 101.9 MPH. His fastball was hovering around 100 MPH all night. His slider was hovering around 95 MPH all night. His change was around 90, and his curveball, or Thor’s hammer, was around 85 MPH. His stuff was once again practically unhittable.
Overall, Syndergaard pitched seven innings allowing five hits, one earned, two walks, and eight strikeouts. This actually raised his ERA to 0.90.
Once Eickhoff left the game, the Mets began to tee off against a terrible Phillies bullpen. In the eighth, Duda hit a laser to right field for his first homerun of the season.
Neil Walker would go back-to-back with an opposite field homerun to left. It was his fourth of the year. In the ninth, Wright would hit his second homerun of the game. Both were opposite field shots. They turned a tight 2-1 pitcher’s duel into a comfortable 5-1 win.
Antonio Bastardo pitched a scoreless eighth. Jeurys Familia came into a non-save situation. On the one hand, it could’ve been your typical closer struggling in a non-save situation. It also could’ve part of what has been, at least for him, a tough start to the season. Familia let up a single and double before settling down. He got the next three out, but not before allowing a run to score on a fielder’s choice. Fortunately, Familia finally shut the door before allowing a run preserving the 5-2 win.
The Mets are back to .500, and with a soft part of their schedule this week, the Mets look to be ready to take off.
Game Notes: The Mets hitters continue to strike out a lot. Tonight, they struck out 11 times. Mets have hit 23 homeruns in their last 11 games at Citizen’s Bank. Travis d’Arnaud missed the game with the bruised elbow. In the eighth, Juan Lagares was double switched into the game forcing Michael Conforto to the bench. The Mets allowed three stolen bases including two when Syndergaard was on the mound. It’s the one thing he doesn’t do well. In the fourth, when Duda popped out, a whale appeared on the screen:
I guess the parakeet’s and the raccoon’s days are numbered.
Tonight’s start by Noah Syndergaard was good. Why do I describe it as good? Because no matter what adjective you would pick to describe his start would be grossly underselling it, so you might as well just go with good. Too bad the Mets offense can’t even be described as putrid. Otherwise, Syndergaard and the Mets might’ve gotten the win tonight.
Syndergaard just dominated the Marlins like he did the Royals – like he’s going to do to the rest of baseball this year. Syndergaard went seven innings allowing seven hits, one earned, one walk, and 12 strikeouts. His ERA actually increased to 0.69.
However, as good as Syndergaard was, he still needed some help. Derek Dietrich would start the inning with a leadoff double, and he would wind up running the Marlins out of the inning. After a ground out and line out, Ichiro Suzuki singled to short, and Dietrich did a poor Eric Hosmer impersonation. Lucas Duda nailed him easily at the plate. Even if Ichiro would’ve been ruled out on replay, it was good to see Duda get some measure of redemption.
However, despite Syndergaard’s domination, the Mets still lost. They lost because the Mets still are not hitting or scoring runs.
The only run was scored on a Duda first inning RBI single. After that, it was pretty much nothing. At least tonight, they had the excuse of a dominant Jose Fernandez for five innings. Yoenis Cespedes gave one a ride in the third, but it was knocked down by the 29+ MPH winds blowing in from left field.
The turning point was Dee Gordon‘s eighth inning sixteen pitch at bat against Jim Henderson. Gordon would single to left. Henderson would walk two of the next three to leave the bases loaded. Henderson just lost his control, and he almost hit Giancarlo Stanton in the head. Jerry Blevins came into the game, and Don Mattingly used Martin Prado to pinch hit. Prado would get the game winning sac fly, and the Marlins would win 2-1.
The Mets have now lost four in a row and are 1-4 at home.
Game Notes: Terry Collins allowed Michael Conforto to hit against a lefty with runners on first and second with one out in the sixth. He grounded into an inning ending double play. Cespedes had another good night at the plate going 1-3 with a walk. Collins ignored the fact that Henderson is playing his first full season since shoulder surgery:
Jim Henderson with his career-high 34th pitch. And it's a walk to load the bases with one out. TC to the bullpen.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) April 13, 2016
At a time when Mets fans were still clamoring for Yoenis Cespedes, the Mets made a move designed to sure up their bullpen when they signed Antonio Bastardo to a two year $12 million contract.
Generally speaking, the move was well received. While Bastardo was a left hander, he was not a LOOGY. For his career, he actually holds righties to a very respectable .211/.307/.331. Bastardo was a guy that the Mets could slot into the seventh or eighth inning. He was supposed to be a very important part of the Mets bullpen. So far, in 2016, it hasn’t happened that way.
After a terrific stint with the Mets last year, Terry Collins handed the eighth to Addison Reed. After a terrific Spring Training and an even better start to the season, Jim Henderson has locked down the seventh. To date, Bastardo’s role has been much less glamorous.
Bastardo’s first appearance came in a Mets 7-2 trouncing of the Phillies. It was Bastardo’s job to mop up the ninth inning. Last night, Bastardo was called upon to eat up a many innings as he could after Steven Matz only lasted 1.2 innings. Bastardo was the second guy in after Hansel Robles pitched the first 2.2 innings. Essentially, Robles is the seventh or last guy in the bullpen, and Bastardo is the sixth.
Somewhat surprisingly, Bastardo has become the forgotten man in the bullpen. Collins feels more comfortable going elsewhere when he’s looking for a guy to get some important outs. It’s too early to say or suggest that’s he’s in the doghouse, especially since the season’s only six games deep. The fact is Collins feels more comfortable looking to Reed and Henderson. It’s not what anyone had in mind when the Mets signed Bastardo this offseason.
With all that said, there’s still a lot of games left to be played. As the season progresses, Bastardo is going to get some important innings. After he shows this Mets coaching staff what he can do in those situations, he will be put into more and more high leverage situations.
However, until that time, Collins is going to continue looking elsewhere when the game is on the line.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com
The season has gotten off to a rocky start and increasingly, it is becoming apparent that there are two types of Mets fans – Optimistic and Pessimistic. Here’s the breakdown:
Optimistic: the Mets won in 1969 and 1986. They win in years which have a 6 in them. It’s 2016!
Pessimistic: Tell that to the 1962 – 1968 Mets and the 1976 Mets. Also, someone probably should’ve told that to Carlos Beltran when he didn’t swing the bat.
Optimistic: The ’86 Mets began the year 2-3, and they lost two games to the Phillies.
Pessimistic: The 1992 Mets were also a high profile team people thought were World Series contenders that opened the year 2-3. By the way, the 1986 Phillies were a decent team. The 2016 Phillies are horrendous.
Optimistic: Yoenis Cespedes seemed to get off the snide. He went 2-4 with a homerun and two RBI.
Pessimistic: He’s still batting only .200, and did you see him drop that ball in Kansas City?
Optimistic: The Mets have the best ERA in baseball.
Pessimistic: Matt Harvey has been terrible. It’s only a matter of time before we discover Jacob deGrom needs surgery or he will be out half the year. By the way, the Mets have the best ERA, faced an awful Phillies team, and they’re still under .500.
Optimistic: The bullpen has been off to a terrific start.
Pessimistic: You must’ve missed yesterday’s game when Addison Reed melted down like it was Game 5 of the World Series.
Optimistic: David Wright has looked good to start the year.
Pessimistic: His throws have been terrible, and he’s already had to miss a game.
Optimistic: Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera have looked great up the middle.
Pessimistic: Anything would’ve been an upgrade. By the way, they’re not hitting, and it hasn’t translated to wins. Speaking of wins, the Nationals are 3-1. Coincidentally, they have Daniel Murphy, the guy who carried the Mets in the postseason, is a National. He’s hitting .462/.611/.923.
Optimistic: This team is built to win the World Series, and I’m going to enjoy every single part of the ride.
Pessimistic: I don’t know what team you’re watching.
Well, that happened quickly. I think Mets fans took longer to boo Bobby Bonilla and Jason Bay than they have Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes has gone from a conquering hero to getting booed within just four regular season games.
Part of this is created by the fans’ unrealistic expectations. Cespedes came to the Mets last year, and he hit .287/.337/.604 with 17 homeruns and 44 RBI in just 57 games. Everytime he stepped to the plate last year, you expected magic. Whether Mets fans admit it or not, they’re expecting [or desperately hoping] for more of the same this year. It’s just not going to happen. Cespedes is a career .270/.319/.484 hitter. Prior to 2015, he averaged 24 homeruns and 81 RBI. He’s a career .234/.298/.477 hitter at Citi Field.
What Mets fans saw last year was not the real Cespedes. To hold him to that standard is unfair and unrealistic. Similarly, Cespedes’ struggles so far this season is also not the real Cespedes.
There is no doubt Cespedes has had a rough start to the season. On his first play of the season, he dropped an easy out giving Mets fans flashbacks to the inside-the-park homerun created by his lacksadasical play. At the plate, he has not been good, and at times, he has appeared overmatched. So far, he is 2-16 with seven strikeouts. With all that said, Mets fans have an awfully short leash if they’re starting to boo him.
Yes, it is too soon to boo him. However, it is not too soon to be concerned.
Last year, Cespedes removed himself from Game Four of the NLCS with an aggravated AC joint. With the shoulder injury, Cespedes would hit .150/.143/.150 with son extra base hits and six strikeouts in what was for him a forgettable World Series.
During Spring Training, Cespedes felt a twinge in the same shoulder. Additionally, he dealt with a sore hip. These two issues caused Cespedes to only miss one game. However, Cespedes was dealing with some injuries that could affect his ability to make solid contact. In fact, he’s one of a few players in baseball who have yet to have one hard hit ball this season.
Another issue that could be affecting Cespedes is his approach at the plate. Hitting Coach Kevin Long worked with Cespedes to focus on driving the ball up the middle and the other way rather than pulling the ball as ferociously as he did with the Mets last year. At times this year, Cespedes has looked lost or crossed up at the plate.
So no, it is not time to boo Cespedes. It is way too soon in the season. However, with his injuries and changing approach at the plate, it’s not too soon to get nervous about Cespedes.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com
It was a cold windy night at Citi Field. If you’ve been to one of those games, especially in the Promenade, you’re freezing. About the only thing colder than those fans tonight were the bats.
While the Phillies are going to be terrible this year, perhaps ’62 Mets terrible, we did get a glimpse of the hope for the Phillies future. Vincent Velasquez started for the Phillies, and he absolutely dominated the Mets. He allowed only three hits, three walks, and he struck out nine in six innings.
It’s not fluke for Velasquez. He’s a prospect with a high ceiling. Tonight, he featured a filthy curveball and a fastball with life. More importantly, he was locating those pitches. While facing the Phillies 19 years will be fun, facing Velasquez both this year and the years to come will be unpleasant.
As for Velasquez’s counterpart, Bartolo Colon, Mets fans were treated to the full Colon experience. He dominated a bad ballclub. He pounded the strike zone while fastballs in the high 80’s. Shockingly, he did get one up to 92 MPH. He didn’t allow a walk while striking out seven. He also lost his batting helmet while swinging and missing at a pitch. Furthermore, Colon made a terrific play in the field:
They don’t call him #BigSexy for nothing! pic.twitter.com/WP9FLaqvuT
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) April 10, 2016
The only mistake he made was a pitch to Ryan Howard that was deposited in the left field stands for the Phillies only run of the game.
Now, this run should not have held up. The Phillies have an abominable bullpen. In the eighth inning, David Hernandez was erratic. Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, and Lucas Duda got to three balls in the count. None of them reached base.
The Mets are allowed to lose a game. They’re allowed to not hit when a pitcher like Velasquez is just dealing. However, this Phillies bullpen is dreadful. They were wild and gave the Mets very hittable pitches. If the Mets want to win the division, they need to take advantage of these opportunities. You cannot be shut out by this Phillies team. It’s inexcusable.
Some important notes on the Mets. The team was smart in sitting David Wright on a cold windy day. Travis d’Arnaud threw out another would be basestealer. Teams seem to be adjusting to Michael Conforto by pounding him inside. Conforto would go 0-3 with a strikeout against Velasquez. Hansel Robles pitched to Cameron Rupp without any incident. Cespedes continues to struggle starting the year 2-16 with seven strikeouts. He received some boos.
Aside from the fact that Curtis Granderson didn’t hit a homerun, Opening Day sure felt like a repeat of the 2015 World Series. As the late Yogi Berra would say, “It’s déjà vu, all over again.” We had the following:
- Yoenis Cespedes failing to make a routine play in the outfield leading to a run;
- A good Matt Harvey effort getting wasted;
- The Royals taking advantage of a poor Mets defense;
- Michael Conforto being really impressive; and
- The Mets losing.
For all the debating over the course of the offseason regarding Terry Collins leaving in Harvey, we got a taste of what Game 6 would’ve looked like. It wasn’t pretty. It really highlighted what the Royals did well, and the Mets did poorly.
The main difference between these teams is fundies (as Keith Hernandez puts it), defense, and a little bit of luck. Cespedes drops an easy out off the bat of Mike Moustakas, and he later scores on a single past Asdrubal Cabrera, who showed off his limited range at short on the play. Eric Hosmer‘s bunt stays fair while Juan Lagares‘ goes foul. Yes, it would lead to a run. Alex Gordon hits one off the end of the bat falling just out of the reach of Lagares to score a run. It was as frustrating as the World Series.
Since the Mets lost, let’s start with the bad. Mainly, it was David Wright. He couldn’t hit a fastball. He was 0-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. The last strikeout was in the ninth with the tying run on third. He made a couple of plays in the field, but he was able to get absolutely nothing on his throws. While it’s still early, and you don’t want to overreact to anything. However, with Wright’s back, I’m not sure it overreacting.
Also, the home plate umpire wax terrible. He was calling strikes in the area where Noah Syndergaard goes when he’s standing 60′ 6″ away, but over the plate was called a ball. Even worse than that was the ESPN brand new telecast. They delayed the start 40 minutes for an already late 8:00 start. They did inane segments like “The Mendoza Line” and Aaron Boone imitating batting stances. Even better, there were all-in on the Royals. When the Mets got something going in the 8th, they were being Royals-esque.
This is also Opening Day – a time when anything is possible. A time when we are supposed to be full of hope. There were definitely reasons for hope.
Harvey was good. The stat line wasn’t pretty with him allowing four runs (three earned) with eight hits, three walks, and only two strikeouts in 5.2 innings. However, his stuff looked good, and he really wasn’t helped by his fielders.
Conforto was 2-2 with a double and two walks. Last year was a fluke. He’s a much better player than he showed he was last year. Another good sign was the Mets offense that was asleep for almost all of Spring Training, woke up in the 8th and made it a game. The rally was highlighted by a Lucas Duda two run bases-loaded RBI single.
Sadly, the 8th inning rally fell short as the new double play combination make the outs killing the rally. In the ninth, we yet again saw Wade Davis and record the save, stranding the tying run on third, and locking down the 4-3 win. It was as frustrating a loss as you could’ve imagined. However, the Mets can build off of this. There was nothing you can point to tonight that would make you believe the Mets aren’t World Series contenders.
It’s time to dust themselves off. Continue to work on things during their off day, and go to the next ace in the fold in Game 2.
Whether players like it or not, New York City has enacted a smokeless tobacco ban that will prevent them from using chewing tobacco at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium. As we see from the quotes, there are players like Lucas Duda, to whom it’ll have no effect. There are others who do use it. We don’t know what, if any, impact it will have on them.
At this point, no one knows how this will work or how it can be enforced. No one knows how effective it will be. Remember this is the same city that has banned smoking indoors for over a decade, and yet, everyone looks the other way when Yoenis Cespedes sneaks into the clubhouse to have a cigarette. This begs the question of why even bother doing it? These are grown men. No law is going to stop a player from using chewing tobacco. Most players who feel they need it to perform may do it anyway. So why do it?
The answer might be found in Curt Schilling‘s struggles with cancer as he describes in The Players’ Tribune. Schilling started at 16, and he could never stop. As a result, he faced a life or death struggle with mouth cancer. A fight he won; a fight others have lost.
Tony Gwynn died at the age of 54. He started dipping in rookie ball and couldn’t stop. He woke up, brushed his teeth, and then threw in a dip. He’d have a dip in his mouth the rest of the day. He dipped through every scare. He dipped right up until he had cancer.
These are the reasons for the laws. No one wants to see Curt Schilling go through this. This was a man who was unbeatable in October. He got sutures in his ankle just to pitch in the 2004 ALCS and World Series. During the biggest moments, he’s seemingly invincible. No one is invincible when it’s cancer. So whether we agree with the law or not, to a man, we can all agree that we hope it works. We hope it’ll stop people from starting. We hope it’ll get people to quit.
The problem is it won’t. Smokeless tobacco has been banned in the minor leagues since 1993. Despite this ban, minor leaguers come to the majors and use chewing tobacco. Whatever measures baseball has put in place has not stopped players from using it. So no, banning it will not reach the intended goal. Banning something rarely does.
Banning it hasn’t worked, and it won’t work now. Instead, what we have is an avenue for big leaguers to talk about their use and why preventing them from doing it is a bad thing. So in essence, this law is going to have the direct opposite effect of its intention, at least in the short term. Instead, everyone should be looking for real solutions to solve the problem.
Man today’s players just don’t respect the game or their opponents. Years ago, they never would’ve celebrated on the field:
Yes, that’s Kirk Gibson celebrating a homerun off of Goose Gossage. That was from the 1984 World Series. You know what I couldn’t find anywhere? Gossage condemning Gibson for the celebration. Sure, it would seem like sour grapes, but he had a platform then and didn’t use it.
Now? Well now, the Hall of Famer rails against how players today celebrate. He called Jose Bautista and Yoenis Cespedes and their celebrations to be an embarrassment and disgrace to the game. He’s apparently taking issue with the bat flips:
Gossage comes off like an old man lamenting how things were better in his day. He is remembering the days when if you hit a homerun, you put your head down and rounded the bases. No one out there showed any emotion so as to not show anyone up. They knew if they did the pitcher was going to stick one in your ear. The thing is that he has selective memory. Additionally, times have changed.
In an ESPN the Magazine interview with Tim Keown, Bryce Harper shared his thoughts on player celebrating on the field:
Baseball’s tired. It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig — there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.
Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down in the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesn’t care. Because you got him. That’s part of the game. It’s not the old feeling — hoorah . . . if you pimp a homer, I’m going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot . . . I mean — sorry.
If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I’ll get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun.
Overall, Harper’s thoughts represent a a change in the culture of baseball.
Players today are more apt to celebrate on the field. Their celebrations are more elaborate. When these celebrations happen, players seem to take it the same way Heyward says he takes it.
Sure, there are current players who feel differently than Bautista, Cespedes, and Heyward. Apparently, there were people like Kirk Gibson who felt differently than Goose Gossage when it came to celebrating a homerun back in the day when Gossage pitched.
If this is the current culture of the sport, we should all accept it. As long as these bat flips don’t result in players getting plunked, who are we to judge? In fact, what Harper states is that the celebrations fuel him to get the pitcher the next time. If these celebrations are both fun and bring out the best in everyone on the field, how can this be anything but good for baseball?
For baseball’s part, they seem to be embracing it showing the bat flips in commercials and putting them on YouTube. Baseball is going it because the culture has changed from the time Goose Gossage has played the game. Players want to celebrate, and fans want to see it.
The culture of baseball has changed whether or not the Goose Gossages of the world approve.
Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com
It’s fortunate that the Cleveland Indians Spring Training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona because Yoenis Cespedes seemingly has it out for Juan Uribe:
https://twitter.com/nypost_mets/status/705582411531362305
It’s hilarious that Cespedes would name a pig that’s a champion and name him Uribe. I can think of no more fitting tribute for Uribe. The man has been a part of multiple World Series winning teams, and we saw last year he has the heart of the champion. We also saw over the course of his career that there’s a little more of Uribe to love.
Cespedes naming his pig Uribe shows how much the Mets players loved and respected not just Uribe but each other. It shows that the Mets will miss Uribe, Kelly Johnson, Daniel Murphy, and Michael Cuddyer. That speaks volume not just about those players, but also this team.
Fortunately, a strong clubhouse remains. It’s going to welcome these new players, and they’re going to continue to be a strong tight-knit team that will hit the ground running once the 2016 season officially begins.
I love this team.