Dillon Gee came into last night’s start against the Phillies with a 7.71 lifetime ERA against Philadelphia, including a 9.56 mark at Citizen Banks Park. His last outing against the Phillies, he gave up 5 ER in 6.2 IP, with 2 HR. For a pitcher who was scuffling coming into the game anyway, this start had disaster written all over it. So, it was especially nice to see him allow just 1 ER over 7 IP. This start hopefully marks a turning point in his season.
In his previous four games, Gee managed just 22.1 IP, a 6.85 ERA and an 0-3 record. The Mets dropped all four games in this stretch. For the season, Gee had been outpitching his peripherals and this looked like regression coming on with a vengeance. Even after this poor four-game stretch, Gee still has a FIP (4.48) nearly a full run lower than his ERA (3.54).
The combination of a low BABIP (.230) and a high LOB% (78.4) shows the reasons for Gee’s good ERA this year. Last night was a continuation of that theme. He allowed just two non-HR hits and he stranded all five runners to reach base.
Gee has typically pitched better than his peripherals but this year he’s taken it to a different level. The Mets will have to determine if Gee is likely to pitch to a 3.54 ERA going forward. With SP like Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz nearly ready for MLB action, the Mets will have to determine if they’re better off turning to the kids or if a veteran hurler like Gee or Jonathon Niese makes more sense for their future rotations.
COLLINS MANAGES GAME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON – Last night’s game went 11 innings and even with one reliever unavailable, the Mets were not on the edge of running out of pitchers because Terry Collins ran a sensible bullpen. He used four relievers and each one pitched a full inning. There was none of his usual matchup masturbation and the results were just fine. His four relievers had eight PA without the platoon advantage and in those they combined to allow just two singles. The horror of righty relievers facing lefties and lefty relievers facing righties resulted in a .250/.250/.250 line for a .500 OPS against. And one of those singles did not leave the infield. There’s a lesson in here somewhere.
WRIGHT CONTINUES ODD HITTING STREAK – In the top of the 11th inning last night, David Wright delivered a single to center field, extending his hitting streak to eight games. What’s odd about this streak is that he has just nine hits and only one for extra-bases. It all adds up to a slash line of .273/.314/.303 in 35 PA. How often does a player of Wright’s stature, in the middle of a down season, rip off an eight-game hitting streak and see his OPS go down? Before the streak started, Wright had a .722 OPS and now he sits with a .714 mark.
DUDA DELIVERS VERSUS PHILLY LEFTIES – This looked like a bad weekend for Lucas Duda, who has struggled mightily versus lefty pitching this year. Not only does Philadelphia have four lefties in its bullpen, it also has Cole Hamels in the rotation, one of the top southpaws in the league. Additionally, Duda came into the game just 1-15 since the All-Star break versus LHP. So, in the first two games against the Phillies, Duda goes 3-7 versus lefties, including the game-winning RBI in the 11th inning Saturday night.
METS’ HOMEGROWN PEN TAKING SHAPE – Last night with 24-year-old Jenrry Mejia unable to close, 24-year-old Jeurys Familia came on to get the save. The game also featured 27-year old Josh Edgin. It’s very possible that next year’s pen will feature five players who’ve only played in the Mets’ organization and six aged 30 or younger. Carlos Torres might be the old man at age 32. Torres and Vic Black might be the only guys not signed and developed by the Mets, with Black having just three appearances in the majors for another team.
ONE-RUN MAGIC CONTINUES – With back-to-back one-run wins against the Phillies, the Mets have won eight of their last 10 one-run games. This brings their record in these contests to 18-22 for the year. It’s a vast improvement over the 8-17 mark they held earlier this season. The Mets and Phillies have played 14 games so far this season and eight have them have been decided by a single run. The Mets are 5-3 in those games, this despite losing the first two one-run games of the season against their division rival.
I completely agree about the bullpen — Terry nearly did me in the other day when he used both Eveland and Edgin for one batter each in a 13-inning game. It would be a crime to turn every effective lefty into Scott Rice, who could not get RH-batters out. The one-batter-only role puts the rest of the bullpen behind the 8-ball; they need to find and develop pitchers who can get anybody out.
That said, I think Familia needs to learn how to pitch to RH hitters. He probably needs to develop a new pitch.
So what got into TC last night?Is it the water in Philly?Seemed like Warthen talked him out of pulling Gee and using Edgin for one batter in the 7th.
Collins has gone through stages where he manages sensibly in the past. It’s only a matter of time before he goes back to his typical sub-optimal usage. Enjoy it while it lasts – just don’t expect it to last long.
It was nice to see Duda deliver because he is the Mets legitimate power threat and with the lack of run producing needs to be an everday player. Campbell may have lost his first base platoon spot but TC finally moved him into RHB left field platoon. The bullpen was normal and maybe Sandy told TC to pitch these guys full innings to see if they can handle it. In other words, maybe Sandy is finally dictating how the personnell be utilized: Duda, Flores, MDD, Campbell,Edgin and Eveland.Maybe Sandy is realizing TC is not the man for the job.
One run magic is nice but only emphasizes the need for another established quality impact bat for this lineup. Last night it was Gee giving up one run, it could have been Harvey, Wheeler or Noah . That is why the priority need for a EQIB in 2015.
Wright’s hitting streaks
April 9-21 – 20 hits, 2 doubles, .407 SLG
May 2 – 13 – 20 hits, 7 doubles, 1 HR, .588 SLG
May 16 – 25 – 16 hits, 2 doubles, 1 HR, .583 SLG
June 16 – July 5 – 16 hits, 7 doubles, 2 HR, .674 SLG
August 2 – 10 – 11 hits, 1 double, .316 SLG
Doesn’t seem like David is going on huge tears when he’s streaking. Rather he’s mostly collecting singles and some doubles with an occasional HR sprinkled in. I hope this latest streak is the start of a late-season boom for him, though.
I’d group the streaks a little differently.
April 9-21 – 20 hits, 2 doubles, .407 SLG
May2-June2-44 hits, 11 doubles, 3 HRs, .485 SLG
June16-July13-27 hits, 10 doubles, 4 HRs, .681 SLG
Seems like we have 2 months of normal Wright (May2-July13) sandwiched inbetween 1 month each of bad Wright.
True. I was just going off countable hitting streaks, but yes he did have that early killer month. I knew the All-Star game was going to cool him down. Plus the shoulder acted up to whatever degree. It sucks. It literally makes me sad when DW doesn’t have it going.