In his first year-plus as a Major League pitcher, Matt Harvey has shown us he possesses an impressive set of tools. A biting fastball, a devastating curve and a fine change-up are the main pieces of his game arsenal. A solid pitcher’s build is the principal physical attribute. A bulldog, take-no-prisoners attitude fires his professional [...]
Vic Black is an intriguing character. When the Mets received him as the Player to be Named Later from the Marlon Byrd/John Buck trade, he immediately stepped into the New York bullpen where he put up a 3.46 ERA in 13 IP, struck out 12 and walked only 4. It was a nice sign from [...]
The 2014 roster is coming together: The Mets are building in a contingency for Bobby Parnell, re-kicking the tires on signing Stephen Drew and debating the value of having Ike Davis and Lucas Duda fight for starting first baseman. You may have seen Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson say wacky things like, “Wilmer Flores will [...]
Four days have now passed since the passing of the legendary original Mets broadcaster Ralph Kiner at the age of 91. Since then, there have been numerous tributes written by bloggers and spoken by broadcasters in remembrance of the beloved baseball lifer. I’m only 21 years old. I don’t remember seeing more than one or [...]
Rumors floated around the past couple of weeks that the Mets were going to try to sign reliever Fernando Rodney. For some, this was disheartening because Rodney was going to be expensive considering his record. Rodney did sign a contract, but not with the Mets, and he was expensive -- a two-year, $14 million deal [...]
Note: This is the final entry in a short series comparing (at a high level) where the Mets roster stood last year at this time and where it stands heading into Spring Training 2014. We're quickly approaching the reporting date for pitchers and catchers and the start of baseball for 2014. The off-season may not [...]
When news came out about the fitness camp that many Mets are involved with this offseason, it was unfathomable to me that before now, top prospect Wilmer Flores had never had any training regimen that he participated in once the baseball season was over. Sure, we all get a good laugh out of John Kruk [...]
There are some roles within the 2014 Mets that are givens. David Wright will almost definitely hit 3rd, Curtis Granderson will almost certainly hit 4th and whoever is playing first base will likely be hitting 5th or 6th. What we don’t know is who will be leading off for the Mets. As I see it, [...]
Baseball cannot come soon enough, at least for most die-hard fans who think the modest, four month offseason is excessive. For the Mets, pitchers and catchers are slated to report on February 15th, so it’s only natural for fans to prepare themselves for what is in store for the ensuing season. While the games played [...]
You could not have grown up a baseball fan in greater New York and not known that Channel 11 belonged to the Yankees and Channel 9 belonged to the Mets. Phil Rizzuto belonged to the Yankees but Ralph Kiner belonged to the Mets. Teamed up with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy, he was with the [...]
Bartolo Colon, Curtis Granderson and now, according to Mike Francesca at WFAN on Wednesday, possibly Stephen Drew? Two signings that were necessary to tie up some loose ends. One is a possible signing that could fill a major hole left by the defection of Jose Reyes at shortstop that has never been filled to this [...]
I'm sorry for the delay in getting this episode up, my internet was down all day yesterday. I present to you (one day late) the chat I had with the very #Elite Jon Presser of The Shea Faithful at the Queens Baseball Convention. If you like Jeff Keppinger, you'll love this episode.