You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
So, Steven Matz is hurt – of course he is. Because while God hates Cleveland, she’s also sadistic when it comes to the Mets. Or maybe it’s not the Mets. Maybe it’s just the six-man rotation that she hates. The first one to be used for this purpose was Rafael Montero, who came up for spot starts and ended up with a shoulder injury that refuses to heal. Then Dillon Gee filled that role and did nothing but serve up meatballs until he was mercifully sent to the minors. And now Matz.
So, who is the next pig sent to the slaughterhouse known as the Mets’ sixth starter? We could see a return engagement with Gee. That would be the easiest, least controversial move so it’s probably what we should expect. But really, who wants to see more of Gee? Instead, let’s give a shot to Logan Verrett in the rotation.
Verrett pitched as well as anyone could have dreamed earlier when he was a member of the bullpen. But he was sent to the minors because, well, because he had the least amount of MLB experience. There were at least three other guys who deserved a demotion more. So, let’s make it up to Verrett now and give him a shot at a few starts in the majors. Seems a couple of good starts would do more for his trade value than a similar output would do at this point for Gee.
KP MAKES THE MOST OF EXTRA PA – In his first 108 PA in the majors, Kevin Plawecki had a dismal .528 OPS. Yet when the Mets sent a catcher to the minors, they elected to send the veteran Anthony Recker down and keep the young guy in the majors. It was shocking when it happened, given the team’s track record with rookies. And what happened? Well, over his last 60 PA, Plawecki has a .321/.367/.415 line. Good for Plawecki, who has more than his share of backers among the team’s fan base. And perhaps the club can keep this in mind in the future if a top prospect doesn’t immediately excel in the majors.
THE BULLPEN LEFTIES – The Mets’ bullpen has done an excellent job this season, a fact made all the more remarkable given how many injuries have hit the team in this area. The one area which hasn’t been so good is the performance of the team’s lefty relievers versus opponents’ lefty batters. This is a problem given our manger’s preference to play matchups whenever possible.
Alex Torres has a .591 OPS allowed versus righties and an .833 mark versus lefties. Sean Gilmartin has a .463 OPS against righties and a .720 mark against lefties. Yet despite the fact that they do not enjoy a platoon advantage, Terry Collins insists on using them as if they were the greatest LOOGYs ever. A good manager would adapt to the talent on hand. Instead, we keep trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
LF REPLACEMENTS ENJOY IMMEDIATE SUCCESS – The injured Michael Cuddyer has sat the last two games and is expected to receive plenty of time off in the near future, too. It’s possible the team may wait until after the All-Star break before starting him again. In his absence, his replacements have gone 3-8 with a double and a homer. John Mayberry Jr. had a double and Eric Campbell provided the long ball. Since June 1, Mayberry has an .816 OPS with a .290 BABIP. Hopefully he will get more playing time and allow Cuddyer plenty of time to heal his injured knee.
HEY, WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME? – The Mets have used 38 different players so far this season. Of the current guys on the team’s 40-man roster, 36 have spent time on the active roster in the majors. The only ones yet to appear in Queens this season are Dario Alvarez, Vic Black, Wilfredo Tovar and Gabriel Ynoa. The first three of those already have major league experience under their belt. Ynoa has been so-so in Double-A this year and unlikely to reach the majors this season. In fact he may find his spot on the 40-man in jeopardy this fall. Actually, that’s probably true for all four of these guys.
CHECKING IN ON HOW THE TEAM IS DOING WITH RISP – Mets batters have a .667 OPS with RISP while their pitchers have a .671 mark. While the raw numbers are similar, the rankings tell a different story. The Mets rank 12th among league hitters in this split, while the team’s pitchers rank third. National League batters have a .722 OPS with runners in scoring position while league pitchers have a .732 mark, with the difference occurring thanks to Interleague play.
Based on your analysis of RISP, perhaps batting deGrom 8th is not enough. How about cleanup?
For Verrett, you wrote:
“But he was sent to the minors because, well, because he had the least amount of MLB experience. There were at least three other guys who deserved a demotion more.”
and then you turn right around and flip the argument for Plawecki/Herrera
“And perhaps the club can keep this in mind in the future if a top prospect doesn’t immediately excel in the majors”
So basically it doesn’t matter if a youngster struggles or excels, he should always be kept in the majors and never sent down?
Obviously that’s ridiculous.
However, in a meritocracy, Verrett would not be sent down. You cannot say with a straight face that if you were making the decision that you would have picked him to go.
I thought we were trying to win games here.
The mistake is in believing the team (or any team) runs as a strict meritocracy. I think sending Verrett down instead of dropping A Torres was terrible. But thats the way the contracts roll….maddening as it may be.
Well, that’s my point.
You can’t say Verrett didn’t deserve to be sent down because he’s pitching well, and then turn around and cry foul when Herrera is sent down when’s he’s struggled
And nowhere did I say that.
Your position on Herrera remains silly, and using Plawecki as a comp doesn’t make sense. KP stayed up because d’Arnaud was hurt. So it was between him and an established backup hitting about .175. At 2B, the Mets had Flores, the club RBI leader, already on hand.
Again, let’s go around the league and name all the 21-year-olds hitting under .200.
I’ll wait.
You’re the one bringing up Herrera. He was not mentioned at all in the article.
Come on. We all know who you were referring to when you wrote this:
” And perhaps the club can keep this in mind in the future if a top prospect doesn’t immediately excel in the majors”
I was referring to Michael Conforto. Future, ya know
Plawecki not only had rookie induction, he had a sinus problem that was effecting him. The recent surge should insure that he doesn’t get sent down when TDA comes back.
I saw a recent tweet on Rubin’s site that a poker player usually wins with 4 aces. I would like to add- not when there is a joker in the deck (TC) who still uses a LOOGY.
So if you really want a shot then don’t settle for Parra instead go all in for an Upton rental. Is Nimmo for Upton similar to Wheeler for Beltran?
Black is the only one that has a chance to see a call up prior to Sept 1st and even that should be a long shot.
I expect a better OPS in the second half especially with the added bats that Sandy is bringing in at the trade deadline. Oh…..he’s not?…… never mind.
It’ll be curious to see what the Padres demand/get for Upton. Is a top 50 guy like Nimmo enough? I wanted to see if Wheeler made the top 50 in the 2011 midseason update but that one was for subscribers only. Doh!
We can see the preseason lists, though. Prior to the 2011 season he was #55 and prior to 2012 he was #35. So, I think it was safe to say he was at the end of the midseason list. Wheeler performed much better after being acquired by the Mets in 2011, which likely helped his stock for the 2012 list.
However, the 2012 midseason list is free and had this nugget.
“We considered adding 2012 draftees but didn’t because the signing deadline still comes after the July 1 midpoint of the season.”
I believe Name was asking why they didn’t include 2015 draftees when we linked to the current BA midseason list earlier.
I’ve been reading that Matz complained of a shoulder problem after his first start. The Mets basically ignored it and put him out there for his second start. Despite the results, someone has to be held accountable for the negligence.
But wait, this is the NY Mets we’re talking about.
Remember that this is the team that fired Minaya because, while he was good talent evaluator, he was not very good as the lead FO guy. If you have forgotten, reference the way in which he fired Willie Randolph, and his inability to control his own asst. I’m sure there are other examples.
So, to rectify the situation, on the recommendation of BS ( the Commish), they hire a man with a great reputation for running a ship the correct way. A former Marine, as I recall.
What we got was a guy who lies to the fans. A guy who is willing to trash his good name to protect ownership. A guy who in five years has yet to address the hole at SS. A guy who hired a manager who would never dare to complain publicly that he has been forced to play AAAA players because the GM is protecting people who, while they pay him a very nice salary, will not bring their baseball budget up to a big city standard.
To paraphrase the old saying: Money corrupts and big money corrupts absolutely.
Very, very happy to see Plawecki having some success after those dizzy spells and a bad first few weeks in the majors. I think he’ll get sent down once TDA is back so he “can play every day”.
If the object is to win, and assuming he maintains his recent 60 at bat surge, then he should remain on the major league roster where he can benefit the parent club. There is no need to groom him for the role of TDA’s backup in 2016 if this surge is authentic because he has already won the position from Recker and Mondell.