Zack Wheeler did the heavy lifting today against the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the New York Mets earned a series split against them with a 1-0 victory today in the beautiful PNC Park.
Wheeler continued his recent stretch of strong starts against one of the more hot teams in the National League. Against the team that has scored the most runs this season in all of Major League Baseball, Wheeler held them scoreless. Over his six scoreless innings, Wheeler walked one, struck out seven, and allowed five hits. My Gut Reaction is that if Wheeler ends up being dealt before the deadline, this is one of the starts that could convince teams to trade for him. Wheeler showed that he has great command, and knows how to get outs when it really matters.
As for the offensive side of the game, Wheeler was the Met that helped the team pull through. It is only fitting for this Mets team that the only run scored in the past 18 innings for the team was driven in by a starting pitcher. This run came across the plate when Wheeler laced a double in the top of the fifth inning, driving in Luis Guillorme for the 1-0 lead.
Making his debut today for the Mets was the newly acquired Austin Jackson, who hit .318 last season with the Cleveland Indians. Jackson reached base three times today, including two singles. It will be interesting to see how he fits in with the team moving forward, especially with Yoenis Cespedes going down for the rest of the season.
Bridging the gap between Wheeler and victory for the Mets were Seth Lugo and Anthony Swarzak. Lugo pitched impressively over his two innings of work, as he only allowed one hit. Perhaps even bigger for the team was the fact that Swarzak looked effective in his save appearance, if not dominant. He struck out two Pirates on his way to earning the save.
With the victory, the Mets improve to 44-59 on the season. The Mets will be back in action on Tuesday night, as they will take on the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C. Steven Matz will take the mound against Tanner Roark at 7:05 pm.
It worked out, but why was Wheeler pulled out of the game after 89 pitches?
Almost nothing has gone right in this miserable season but the Mets had two aces coming into the season and now they have three. Wheeler is throwing harder than ever with better command than he’s ever shown and his split/change has become a huge weapon and his slider is filthy and he’s mixing up his pitches throwing his fastball less than ever. Zack is getting quick outsgetting deeper into games than ever and no longer nibbling, please don’t trade him. We’ve waited so long for him to breakout and here we are so extend him him instead of selling him off.
I agree – I think it’s worth the risk to build around the top four. Just don’t wear them out this year in a meaningless season.
I hear you. I never thought I would see Wheeler go past 6 innings with his pitch counts. I want them to keep all 4 pitchers but if one is to go it should be Matz. He may be a lefty but over his career RHB have a .260 BA and LHB have averaged .259 against him.
I would love to hear the plan on how to keep these pitchers, beyond “keep them”. What kinds of contracts do you envision, against the existing and projected obligations, and the typical 140-150M$ annual payroll.
Chris,
Getting into dollar allocation details is really too difficult, as there are many moving parts. The bottom line is that there is plenty of money to retain quality pitching, and then make decisions on who to extend at a time that makes the most sense. Below is the list of pitchers on the team now, that are certain or highly likely to be part of the 2019 team. Also is the final year of team control. The cost of the arb guys for 2019 is very projectable. Wheeler could be the best bargain in baseball next year for a 3rd year arb guy.
deGrom 2020
Syndergaard 2021
Wheeler 2019
Matz 2021
Vargas 2019
Oswalt 2023+
Lugo 2022
Gsellman 2022
Swarzak 2019
By the time they would need to pay the top 3 starters, the Wright/Cespedes $50 mil/year will be off the books. If the Wilpons stick to a $140-$150 million payroll for 2019-2020, they will have a tough time. If they up it to $170 million, secure the back end of the pen and import a legit bat with a solid glove, they have a strong shot to compete if the current low-cost kids step up/develop as expected.
Be prepared to be called naive, hopelessly optimistic, etc. about the Wilpons spending more. But maybe they might enjoy not being called the “Coupons” and “Wilponzis” for a change and do so. Anyway, you usually have to spend money to make money.
Its not difficult at all. Sure there are moving parts, but its worth looking at things that are not.
1. The payroll will not increase. There simply is zero evidence to support that.
2. The money recovered by insurance is *not* being reinvested. Jeffy said that. Lets go with a 150M$ cap.
3. How much do you think the contracts and arb $ will be in the near, and then extended, future.
Its worth being reasonable. You cant buy out 4 FA years for deGrom at 15M$ a year. If you made a deal with him now, say for 6 years to deal with arb and FA, I think you have to look at the contracts of Scherzer, Verlander, Strasburg, etc. deGrom is a 25M$/yr pitcher. If you want to extend Noah you need to begin buying out the arb years. Again pretty pricey. I guess I just dont see any value in saying “build around the pitching” with no plan. How much do you extend him for, if you think hes a #1? 20M$/yr? All the sudden 4 pitchers are eating a ton of salary.
Take a look at the Scherzer and Strasburg and Kershaw contracts and tell me you see “Mets” in those numbers?
If the offers for Wheeler are not really good offers, then keep him.
Maybe a team bites tomorrow or Tuesday.