Two keys to the Mets’ 2016 season

There’s been a week’s worth of Grapefruit League games, now and the Mets are a .500 ballclub. I say this in jest, but it betrays my innate Met-fan fear that last year was an illusion, that a tremendous run of luck propelled the team into the World Series and that they might not be as [...]

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Dan Farnsworth on Wuilmer Becerra

The most impressive development last year for Becerra was the improvement in his approach, resulting in fewer chases out of the zone and his best strikeout rate in three years. His slight swing changes have helped him make more contact, but he has more work to do to ensure he can handle the better command [...]

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Should the Mets be paying Jacob deGrom more?

It’s a given that if we are going to discuss baseball salaries that logic gets tossed out the window. You would be hard put to describe another industry where you labor for slave’s wages for anywhere from one to ten years and then, if you are good enough, start to make logarithmically higher sums. Your [...]

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Mets Minors: Travis Taijeron flashes some promise

At the age of 27, with a career (minor league) OPS just under .900, you might think that Travis Taijeron is a forgotten prospect.  You might think him one of the players who gets ignored because of pedigree, regardless of performance.  That isn’t, quite, the case.  Does Taijeron have power?  Yes.  Can he hit?  Sure.  [...]

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Dilson Herrera’s 2016 season prepares him for future

With Spring Training just beginning, there have been numerous balls flying out of the yard, and batters running around the bases. In yesterday’s game against the Houston Astros, newly acquired Neil Walker hit a home run coming from the left side of the plate, and last week, Dilson Herrera hit an inside-the-park home run against [...]

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On the possible loss of David Wright to injury

Earlier this morning, uber commenter James Preller reminded us of the fragility of David Wright with the following note: I am highly suspicious of the fact that David Wright has not yet run the bases. I understand the official reasons, and there’s some logic to the idea that they are “not rushing it,” but still. [...]

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The Mets’ rotation dominates with efficient, quality heat

Spring Training games have finally begun, and we've (almost) officially moved on from news stories focused on championship hogs and which car/truck/animal Yoenis Cespedes will ride to Tradition Field. We've transitioned to actual games of baseball, albeit exhibitions, but real games nonetheless. While we don't yet have any meaningful data to analyze, we can certainly [...]

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Daniel Murphy in red is just weird

The sight of Daniel Murphy in a Washington Nationals uniform just doesn’t make sense. The eyes see it but it somehow doesn’t register properly in the brain, like a hotdog with ketchup or a Prius with a spoiler. Yet there he was yesterday, one of our favorite players of the last decade, suited up for [...]

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The 2016 Mets: Let the games begin

Today begins the age of discovery. Today is the first day of spring training games for the New York Mets. This afternoon, the Mets will renew old acquaintances with the Washington Nationals. This seems apropos, seeing as the Mets and Nats will likely wrestle for the NL East title all season. Yes, the shortest/longest winter [...]

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