The Official 2015 Mets Thread

[The Viking]

Congrats boys. I'll be rooting for the Cubs in the NLCS but it will be fascinating to see the young mets pitching phenoms against the young Cubs hitting phenoms. Should be a hell of a series.

 

[mauconnfan]

Congrats Mets fans nice win. Murphy was so clutch in the series thus far great stuff.

Cubbies and Mets will be one for the ages. Good luck - survive and advance

 

[pepband99]

Daniel Murphy winning with a heads-up baserunning play is like Bernie Madoff doubling your tax return (legally). Seriously, this is the #@%@5@ing twilight zone!!!

 

[Dogdeacon]

Congrats to Mets fans, great series, karma, Let's Go METS!!

 

[Rico444]

Ugh. Now I'm gonna have this pit in my stomach for at least another week.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Great line:
deGrom was missing his spots in terrifying fashion, like a Dalmatian puppy who has fallen into a vat of ink

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-playoffs-mets-beat-dodgers-in-nlds-game-5/

 

[mauconnfan]

Daniel Murphy winning with a heads-up baserunning play is like Bernie Madoff doubling your tax return (legally). Seriously, this is the #@%@5@ing twilight zone!!!

LOL pep, he is an awful base runner almost as bad as Brett Gardner.

 

[8893]

Now what do we do until Tuesday?

Other than wait and see who our opponent is, and watch the Giants and Cowboys on Sunday.

I hope Uribe can come back for the WS. Btw, did Johnson play at all in the NLCS? I don't remember seeing him.

I'm guessing we'll keep the rotation the same as for this series (i.e., Harvey, Thor, Jake, Matz) because it worked so well and you don't want to mess with success; but I would be tempted to at least consider flipping Harvey and Jake to give Jake back the top slot, which he clearly has earned.

Do we have a preference as between Toronto and KC? I don't watch enough AL baseball to know. I'd kind of like to see Dickey again though; would make an interesting story line to have him going against his trade pieces, Thor and Travis.

Good problems to have.

 

[noeynox]

Kelly Johnson got a few PH chances including last night when struck out. With a team this hot, normally I would be worried about them cooling off, but with the innings limit and how hard the young starting pitchers pushed in every outing, I like them having almost a week to rest. As far as the rotation, I would go DeGrom, Noah, Harvey or Harvey, Noah, Degrom. Definitely wouldn't put the top 2 guys back to back in case you need one of them to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. That is what happened to the Cubs when Lester and Arrieta lost. They rested their hopes on the likes of Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel. Nothing against those guys, but if facing a series deficit and needing a big piching outing, I like my chances a lot more with either Jake D or Matt Harvey.

LETS GO METS!

 

[UConnMike04]

I'm still in a state of shock. So tired at work, but could care less. This whole thing is beyond incredible!!!

 

[Deepster]

What a run. From the young guns all season long....to Familia's rise into a closer...to Bartolo and his insane season....to the Cespedes trade and his electric month...to this postseason. deGrom beating the best of the best on the road....to MURPH. The Mets clearly have some crazy Mojo....and I know Mojo.

Ya gotta believe.

 

[8893]

Kelly Johnson got a few PH chances including last night when struck out.

Thanks. I see from the box scores now that he batted last night and Tuesday. Funny, the NLDS was so tense that I couldn't sleep for hours after the games were over, but the NLCS was much less dramatic and I ended up snoozing for a couple innings during each of the last two games, apparently missing both of his at bats.

I'm glad to see he got in there. And the reason I mention both him and Uribe is because, in thinking about the contrast between the performance of the Cubs' young talent and ours, I think that it is attributable in part to the veteran leadership and presence on the Mets. We had guys like Uribe, Johnson, Cuddyer and Colon who have been there before; and a guy like David Wright to remind them of the urgency to make the most of it and not take it for granted, because it may not come around again.

I also think it was huge that deGrom, Matz and Syndergaard each had experienced enough high-pressure situations beforehand that they were not overwhelmed by the moment.

By contrast, the Cubs looked like they were playing very tight and crapping their pants, and even after losses they seemed to be just happy to be there for the most part. The story line is that they got here maybe a year earlier than expected, and they should be happy with what the future holds for them. Well, as we've discussed here in this thread over the past few months, the same could be said for the Mets, but they now seem to appreciate that the future is promised to no one. Sure, with the strength of our pitching staff alone we should be in good shape to compete for the next few years, but at least a few key pieces of this run will likely be gone (e.g., Murphy and/or Cespedes), and you never know how well it all fits together or what the circumstances hold for the rest of the league.

Credit once again to Sandy for making the moves, and to Collins for shifting gears and dealing with essentially two different teams and two different seasons in one.

 

[Deepster]

I also think it was huge that deGrom, Matz and Syndergaard each had experienced enough high-pressure situations beforehand that they were not overwhelmed by the moment.

By contrast, the Cubs looked like they were playing very tight and crapping their pants, and even after losses they seemed to be just happy to be there for the most part. The story line is that they got here maybe a year earlier than expected, and they should be happy with what the future holds for them. Well, as we've discussed here in this thread over the past few months, the same could be said for the Mets, but they now seem to appreciate that the future is promised to no one. Sure, with the strength of our pitching staff alone we should be in good shape to compete for the next few years, but at least a few key pieces of this run will likely be gone (e.g., Murphy and/or Cespedes), and you never know how well it all fits together or what the circumstances hold for the rest of the league.

Credit once again to Sandy for making the moves, and to Collins for shifting gears and dealing with essentially two different teams and two different seasons in one.

1) Seeing how tough Noah, deGrom, Matz and Familia have pitched in the postseason is huge. They'll approach any future situations that much more prepared.

2) I worry about the Mets in the WS if they go against KC. KC had their heart broken, learned from it and would be back. I sometimes feel like you need your heart broken once to learn the true fire of what it really takes to get it done. Hopefully, I'm wrong there.

 

[progrocks]

The obvious rotation order would be deGrom, Harvey, Thor, and Matz. I would want Harvey having the extra rest day by going 2 and 6. Would also have deGrom and Matz ready to go for a game 7 situation.

There is no weak link there so anything will be okay. I expect that this version of Murphy is over, but maybe today was the beginning of the next Duda run.

 

[8893]

It will be interesting to see how Terry decides to play it. The only thing we know for sure is that Matz is the presumptive fourth.

I definitely like keeping Syndergaard second so you have one of the top two going for the third game, which is often pivotal.

Given Harvey's more dire innings limits issues and deGrom's dominance, I lean towards going with deGrom first. But you have to consider how the longer layoff will affect Harvey, and also the success of the way the NLCS played out with him in the first slot.

 

[Alum86]

I have had this for years. Obviously.
This team will not lose to the AL however

 

[superjohn]

I would assume Harvey goes game 1, can't have him sit any longer. Is Harvey now considered the third best pitcher on the Mets, I thought he clearly had the best stuff in the Cubs series.

 

[mauconnfan]

Think you have to have DeGrom go #1 with Harvey Thor Matz thereafter.

 

[8893]

I would assume Harvey goes game 1, can't have him sit any longer. Is Harvey now considered the third best pitcher on the Mets, I thought he clearly had the best stuff in the Cubs series.

I think Harvey and deGrom are both properly considered aces of the staff at this point, but Harvey still has the innings limit issue so the question becomes who would you rather have pitch twice first--if at all.

Syndergaard probably has a better fastball than any of them right now because they haven't ridden him as hard down the stretch, but he hasn't been quite as battle-tested (i.e., gutting it out when his fastball is not on), so I think he's still third best on the staff for the rest of this season. But his stuff is still every bit as good, if not better, depending on his control and command.

Because of the importance of game three, I want either Harvey or deGrom lined up for that game. I agree that having Harvey sit until the third game may be an issue, but I'm weighing that against wanting deGrom to be the first one lined up to pitch two games if necessary.

I could be convinced either way, but I have a slight preference for starting with deGrom. Seeing as that's the way we set up for the NLDS when we had the ability to choose, I would assume that's still the preference for Terry. But Harvey being Harvey, he could very well bully his way into that slot by essentially demanding the ball for the first game and saying that he's ready and willing to go again in game five.

 

[superjohn]

I think Harvey and deGrom are both properly considered aces of the staff at this point, but Harvey still has the innings limit issue so the question becomes who would you rather have pitch twice first--if at all.

Syndergaard probably has a better fastball than any of them right now because they haven't ridden him as hard down the stretch, but he hasn't been quite as battle-tested (i.e., gutting it out when his fastball is not on), so I think he's still third best on the staff for the rest of this season. But his stuff is still every bit as good, if not better, depending on his control and command.

Because of the importance of game three, I want either Harvey or deGrom lined up for that game. I agree that having Harvey sit until the third game may be an issue, but I'm weighing that against wanting deGrom to be the first one lined up to pitch two games if necessary.

I could be convinced either way, but I have a slight preference for starting with deGrom. Seeing as that's the way we set up for the NLDS when we had the ability to choose, I would assume that's still the preference for Terry. But Harvey being Harvey, he could very well bully his way into that slot by essentially demanding the ball for the first game and saying that he's ready and willing to go again in game five.

Buster Olney is reporting the rotation is DeGrom, Syndergaard, Harvey, Matz. I don't fault the rotation, they are taking into account Harvey's innings but 10+ days rest for Harvey seems way too long and doesn't bode well for him.

 

[UConnMike04]

Buster Olney is reporting the rotation is DeGrom, Syndergaard, Harvey, Matz. I don't fault the rotation, they are taking into account Harvey's innings but 10+ days rest for Harvey seems way too long and doesn't bode well for him.

I agree...I also have no issue with it because with DeGrom or Harvey going games 1 and 3 you could flip a coin but maybe they feel more comfortable in the long run with having Harvey go a possible game 7 on his regular rest (when he's usually dominant).

The layoff is a concern but maybe they are less worried about it bc the crowd will get him the adrenaline he needs being the first game back at Citi.

 

[8893]

Buster Olney is reporting the rotation is DeGrom, Syndergaard, Harvey, Matz. I don't fault the rotation, they are taking into account Harvey's innings but 10+ days rest for Harvey seems way too long and doesn't bode well for him.

I agree. It's a tough call either way. I would do it this way myself.

The 10+ days of rest for Harvey will be offset by pitching in front of the home crowd on a Friday night for the first World Series game ever at Citi, and the first for the Mets in 15 years. That is a Harvey moment if there ever was one.

 

[UConnMike04]

Now it's looking like they changed their mind and are going to go with Harvey/DeGrom/Noah/Matz as they want both Harvey and DeGrom going twice in the first 6 with Noah and Matz wedged in between. Only issue with this is if it gets to a Game 7 it'd be Noah on the road but I'm sure it'd be "all hands on deck". Also, this increases the chance of at least a split in the first two games, hopefully. Apparently DeGrom is a little tired and they don't want Harvey to have too much more of a break.

 

[Dove]

Mets will spend off-days drinking...

Good Scotch

 

[8893]

Now it's looking like they changed their mind and are going to go with Harvey/DeGrom/Noah/Matz as they want both Harvey and DeGrom going twice in the first 6 with Noah and Matz wedged in between. Only issue with this is if it gets to a Game 7 it'd be Noah on the road but I'm sure it'd be "all hands on deck". Also, this increases the chance of at least a split in the first two games, hopefully. Apparently DeGrom is a little tired and they don't want Harvey to have too much more of a break.

And what I just heard on the extended Mets report on WFAN is that, because of the deGrom fatigue, they are leaning towards Harvey/Syndergaard/deGrom/Matz. There appears to be no question that Syndergaard is the freshest and in a good groove, and I think they like having him between the other two one way or another.

Francessa says he would do it the way you just reported, but everyone seems to agree that it shouldn't make that much difference one way or another, at least as among those three.

The order might matter if you reasonably expect to use one of these guys three times, but that it not reasonably likely under the circumstances--except maybe out of the pen in a game seven.

Other tidbits:

Collins is not going to vary the rotation depending on the opponent. Francessa thinks that he should not start Matz against Toronto because they apparently do very well against lefties.

Uribe is likely to be on the WS roster in place of Nieuwenhuis (how screwed up is that name to type?). This is a big plus imo. Another solid bat and a great presence.

Cespedes did not get a cortisone shot in his shoulder after the game on Wednesday, but he did get one yesterday. They don't think it was injured either golfing or doing pushups; they think it was just a check swing or something like that. They fully expect him to be fine.

Interesting observation about the layoff: although the conventional wisdom is that such a long layoff really hurts a team that is peaking like the Mets, they appear to be really relishing the chance to recharge because they were pretty wiped, and especially the pitchers have been getting fatigued from the intensity and frequency of us in the past two weeks. They consider themselves fortunate to have the break and are enjoying it.