The Official 2015 Mets Thread

[mets1090]

http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2015/06/david_wright_has_realistic_chance_to_return_to_met.html

The Mets could get David Wright back next month. General manager Sandy Alderson said this afternoon that he believes there is a "realistic possibility" Wright returns at the All-Star break.

Edit: My own opinion here... I almost don't want him to come back. I have little confidence that he will be able to play at a high enough level to warrant his salary. It was one thing when he was simply an injury risk. It's another thing altogether when he has a diagnosed congenital condition. Take the 75% from insurance and run with it.

Having said that, I hope I am very wrong and he is a pleasant surprise.

 

[mets1090]

http://nypost.com/2015/06/14/mets-talked-replacing-syndergaard-with-matz-in-rotation/

From what I've read in this thread, shouldn't Gee/Niese be the ones up first to lose their spots?

Yes. If anything I would boot Gee and have Matz take his spot as spot starter/long man. That would accomplish the goal of limiting his innings and ensuring the rest of the rotation almost always gets 5 days rest.

 

[UConnMike04]

Gee is gone. DFA'ed, 10 days to trade him. If not, he can be put through waivers or released. I don't see him accepting a minor league assignment with the Mets. He's done with the org, and they're done with him. Was a supporter of him until his "me-first" attitude came up.

 

[mets1090]

Gee is gone. DFA'ed, 10 days to trade him. If not, he can be put through waivers or released. I don't see him accepting a minor league assignment with the Mets. He's done with the org, and they're done with him. Was a supporter of him until his "me-first" attitude came up.

My thoughts exactly. Sitting in the stands on Sunday I had the feeling (and hope) that was the last we would see of Gee. I think he'll catch on with a team that has a shortage of pitching this year and have a fine career as a 4/5 starter. Wasn't in the cards here.

If he had kept his mouth shut I don't think people would be so hard on him. It's hard to cut someone slack when they're publicly bitching and there's a better option in AAA waiting for his chance.

 

[TheDoggPound]

I believe Gee has 1 option remaining so if he's not traded he'll be out-righted to AAA.

As far as David Wright, please don't fall for the false hope the Mets FO are sending out. He's done playing baseball. Forever. They just want us to divert our attention from the team's biggest problem which is the Wilpon's ownership.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Desperate times call for desperate measures for you guys?

We needed someone to come up and eat a few innings as insurance for our pen after the Braves series. He's the only option on the 40-man other than Ynoa who's a starter and has a 5+ ERA this season in AA.

 

[mets1090]

We needed someone to come up and eat a few innings as insurance for our pen after the Braves series. He's the only option on the 40-man other than Ynoa who's a starter and has a 5+ ERA this season in AA.

That about sums it up. He most likely won't pitch unless the bullpen needs to get 12+ outs or it's a 5+ run lead late. I wouldn't imagine anyways.

As far as David Wright, please don't fall for the false hope the Mets FO are sending out. He's done playing baseball. Forever. They just want us to divert our attention from the team's biggest problem which is the Wilpon's ownership.

I doubt most fans actually believe Wright will contribute anything this year or even the rest of his career. When I saw his pre game interview a week or two ago (I believe the only time he's spoken to the media since going on the DL) I got the feeling he thought his season and possibly career were over.

 

[mets1090]

I believe Gee has 1 option remaining so if he's not traded he'll be out-righted to AAA.

I think they would have to put him on waivers to out-right him to AAA. I would think there is little to no chance he would make it through waivers without being claimed.

 

[Deepster]

Nice to see the staff, aside from two pitches to Batista, silence a white hot Jays offense. Especially Thor going against the team that traded him and ringing up 11 k's.

Also interesting to hear about the forgotten guy in that Dickey trade, outfielder Wuilmer Bucerra. Traded to the Mets as an 18 yr old prospect, he's grown into a good all around player:

He was then promoted in 2014 to the Kingport Mets of the (R)-Appalachian League as a 19-year old, where his offensive abilities achieved considerable improvement.
In 58 games played and 228 plate appearances, he improved to .300/.351/.469, with 62 hits, 10 doubles, 7 home runs, 29 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. From his first season to the next, he converted 22 more plate appearances into 20 more base hits, which made him 1 of only 6 Appalachian players with 200+ at-bats to hit .300 or better. He also tied for 2nd in home runs, 6th in runs scored, and was 8th in total bases.
Primarily a right fielder, he has thus far played well and demonstrated a solid arm. In 2013, he handled 101 chances, committed a lone error, and made 8 outfield assists. Last year with Kingsport, he handled 104 chances, committed a pair of errors, and made 7 outfield assists.

 

[mets1090]

Becerra has an .833 OPS playing for Savannah. For those that don't know, Savannah is considered to be one of the best pitcher's parks in all of minor league baseball. 8 homeruns and 16 doubles in 59 games there is mighty impressive for a 20 year old. He's definitely someone to keep an eye on for 2018.


Two great wins for the big league club in the last two days. They showed it's possible to actually win a game when the starter isn't dominant and then the next day they come out and dominate the hottest lineup in baseball (save for a couple mistakes to Bautista). They should have had that game locked up in 9 but considering Cuddyer's ground ball in extras should have been a game ending double play, I'll take the win any way I can get it.

 

[8893]

Really nice to see Harvey make adjustments last night. The change-up is exactly what the doctor ordered.

 

[Deepster]

Nice to see Parnell get out of a tough spot and gut out a save too. With Mejia due back in a few weeks, the pen may round into form. I didn't like hearing that Familia has 4 two inning saves so far this year and worry about him burning out.

 

[UConnMike04]

Honestly I say beat Mejia to death. He's not eligible for the post-season, he deserves it for the 'roids and his greatest benefit will be to be used when guys need a rest (ESP familia). He will have a lot of innings in his arm to be put to use bc he missed 80 games, and I say let him pitch as much as possible giving Familia, Parnell, both Torres', etc longer breaks so they are fresh come...Oct?

 

[mets1090]

I was just discussing that last night (re: abusing Mejia in the second half). At this point though I don't want to be greedy and I'll just be happy if he can give them an effective 30-35 innings. The biggest impact will be that they would stop needing Familia to get 4 or 5 outs at a time. Despite the good numbers, no one else in the pen is actually trustworthy when it comes to getting a big out. Mejia can be that guy and hopefully Parnell too despite the concerns about a slow/incomplete recovery from surgery (huge save last night by the way).

Really nice to see Harvey make adjustments last night. The change-up is exactly what the doctor ordered.

The good thing about Harvey is that despite being a classic egotistical alpha male, he is an incredibly hard worker and tends to be very self aware. He's shown he'll put the work in to make the necessary adjustments so I think he'll be fine in the long run.

 

[8893]

The good thing about Harvey is that despite being a classic egotistical alpha male, he is an incredibly hard worker and tends to be very self aware. He's shown he'll put the work in to make the necessary adjustments so I think he'll be fine in the long run.

Yeah, I think get the crap kicked out of him of late was good for him, in a humbling way. Like most all power pitchers have to realize sooner or later if they want to last (sooner in the case of guys who go through TJS), you can't just rely on your fastball--especially when guys are sitting on it and you end up leaving it across the middle of the plate. You gotta pull the string and keep them guessing, and he did that very well last night.

 

[UConnMike04]

The Harvey we saw last night was def the Harvey I want to see. Everyone falls in love with K's and it's great to see a stat line of 6 IP, 12 K's, etc but if you have a lot of K's often time it means you've thrown a lot of pitches. I'd rather see Harvey get 4-7 K's, and a lot of fly ball/ground ball outs and go longer in games bc he's getting more 0-1 or 1-1 ground ball/fly ball outs and throwing less pitches per inning.

 

[Rico444]

Yeah, I think get the crap kicked out of him of late was good for him, in a humbling way. Like most all power pitchers have to realize sooner or later if they want to last (sooner in the case of guys who go through TJS), you can't just rely on your fastball--especially when guys are sitting on it and you end up leaving it across the middle of the plate. You gotta pull the string and keep them guessing, and he did that very well last night.

I think you're reading way too much into this. Nobody comes back from Tommy John without missing a beat -- the major surgery is pretty much 100% the reason for his struggles.

 

[8893]

I think you're reading way too much into this. Nobody comes back from Tommy John without missing a beat -- the major surgery is pretty much 100% the reason for his struggles.

That's my point. He apparently thought he could be the same type of pitcher he was before, overpowering people with heat and painting the corners. And I think his hot start reinforced that belief. Then when he struggled he kept going at good hitters with nothing but fast balls, even on 0-2 counts, and he was leaving them over the middle of the plate because he didn't have command. He needed to switch up speeds to keep them off-balance and guessing, and that's exactly what he did last night. I think I read that ten of his outs came on changeups last night, which is a huge difference.

 

[Rico444]

That's my point. He apparently thought he could be the same type of pitcher he was before, overpowering people with heat and painting the corners. And I think his hot start reinforced that belief. Then when he struggled he kept going at good hitters with nothing but fast balls, even on 0-2 counts, and he was leaving them over the middle of the plate because he didn't have command. He needed to switch up speeds to keep them off-balance and guessing, and that's exactly what he did last night. I think I read that ten of his outs came on changeups last night, which is a huge difference.

He CAN be that same kind of pitcher; it's just going to take some time. He shouldn't change his pitching style, the kind that had him on track to win the Cy Young in 2013, when it's likely to work for him as soon as his command tightens up by season's end.

 

[mets1090]

To me, what we know for certain is that Harvey wasn't pitching well because he hadn't been able to spot anything off speed on 0-2 or 1-2 counts so he was just pumping in fastballs. Obviously major leaguers can handle 98 when there's no other threatening pitch (Thor has also struggled when his curveball command isn't there because his change up is pretty mediocre right now).

What we don't know is if Harvey has struggled to spot his curve/slider more than in the past because of actual physical limits from surgery or if he is just worried about throwing too many because he's afraid his elbow is going to blow. In either case, featuring the change up more looks like it was a good adjustment and should hopefully bridge the gap until his breaking balls return to form. I think in 2016 we'll see another wire to wire dominant season from Harvey but this year we'll probably see some more hiccups before everything is back as it was.

 

[mets1090]

1) Niese pitched well. Soft tossing lefty against a righty dominated lineup that mashes against lefties in a pitcher's ballpark. I would have signed up for 7 innings and 3 runs in a heartbeat. You'd like to see him walk fewer batters but hey, he's their 5th best starter at this point so I'll take what I can get.

2) We all could have guessed that Morris had no business being in the majors. Just one of those quirky things with the 40 man and a tired bullpen where it was their best option. I'm glad he was in a game where they were down 3-0 with 1 inning left and little chance of a comeback rather than an extra inning game. The terrible outing pretty much means nothing; you just wish he was able to finish the inning to give the rest of the pen the day off.

3) Offense didn't look good but overall they've hit well more or less since the no hitter. Can't win them all, etc etc.

4) Still 1.5 up on the Nationals who have yet to show any signs of a surge. Mets have 22 games left before the ASB. They've got some tough teams in there (Cubs, Giants, Dodgers) but also a 3 game set with the Brewers and 9 games against mediocre teams (Braves, Reds, Diamondbacks) so it's a pretty balanced schedule. 9 at home and 13 on the road. I'd say anything over .500 would be a success and 14+ wins would be huge.

 

[Deepster]

I disagree on Morris. He got called up from A BALL. You never see a guy get that big a call up. Hernandez commented that, when the coach called him in, he probably was psyched he was going to Double A. Then he is in the bigs, on the road against that lineup? I hope he didn't get mentally crushed because he got his handed to him badly. There has to be another journeyman guy you can bring up if you're that desperate for a couple innings.

 

[mets1090]

The only options they had on the 40 man roster were Morris, Alvarez (26 years old with a 4.6 ERA in AA), Black (hurt), Matz (don't want to call him up for a couple weeks), and Ynoa (5.23 ERA at AA), and Verrett (started on Sunday so he wouldn't have been available out of the bullpen). I guess they could have thrown Alvarez to the wolves but other than that they didn't really have any other options.

If getting smacked around that one time has an effect on Morris's future then he probably had no shot at making it anyways. He hopefully learned more from being in the majors for 3 days than he would have elsewhere. He'll be disappointed for a couple days and then move on. He's a professional athlete and is better off learning to deal with failure now.


edit: I like that they sent him down to AA in exchange for Verrett. Now it's like he got a 3 day bonus trip to the majors in addition to his promotion to AA.

 

[Dove]

Steven Matz pitched 7 scoreless innings last night in a win.

 

[mets1090]

Steven Matz pitched 7 scoreless innings last night in a win.

Yeah I think just 4 hits and 1 walk allowed on something like 87 pitches. Guessing we see him get the call in the next 2 weeks or so and he'll inherit the role that was supposed to belong to Gee.