Carlos Torres rebounds, top prospects prosper, checking our moral compass

If the Mets relievers developed a gallows humor in regards to their usage patterns this year, you could hardly blame them. It’s easy to imagine Jeurys Familia whispering to Carlos Torres that the beatings would continue until morale improved. We went from every day Scott Rice to every day Torres and in late July-early August, the team was reaping what it sowed.

In a span of six games, Torres allowed runs in five outings and in 8 IP he surrendered 9 ER while the Mets went 0-6. This was despite multiple days off in the 18-day stretch for the guy who generally worked three out of every five days prior. While fans anticipated a trip to the DL was imminent, a strange thing happened. Instead of the expected announcement that he had a tired arm, Torres went back to pitching an insane amount. And his numbers rebounded.

Since August 14, Torres has been in 15 games and over 21 IP, he has a 0.86 ERA and a 1.095 WHIP. He has 19 Ks in this span and the only negative has been the 10 BB he’s surrendered. And he’s done this pitching in every role imaginable. He has three games where he pitched less than an inning, six more where he’s gone multiple innings of relief and there’s even a spot start thrown in there, too.

He threw 31 pitches in a two-inning appearance the first day of September and was right back out there the following night. Torres needed only four pitches to complete an inning on 9/2 so he got the call to pitch again the following night and gave the club another 1.1 IP. After getting three days off after the three consecutive outings, Torres has pitched five times in the last eight days.

For the year, Torres has tossed 90.1 IP and ESPN calculates that he’ll finish the season with 97.1 IP.

FITNESS CAMP UPDATE – Some people scoffed when the Mets conducted an offseason fitness camp for their players, led by an instructor brought to the organization by Jeff Wilpon. But as the season comes to a close, we see that the majority of guys who participated took a step forward in 2014. Ruben Tejada received the most press and while no one was thrilled with his season, his OPS was 103 points higher than a season ago and his work in the field was noticeably better.

Other fitness camp attendees include Lucas Duda, who saw a 53-point increase in his OPS and despite poor footwork, he proved to be an adequate defensive first baseman. Wilmer Flores saw a 59-point increase in his OPS and to the shock of nearly everyone, proved at least playable at SS. Juan Lagares has upped his OPS 74 points and repeated his fantastic defensive season from 2013.

It’s easy to say that these were young guys who underperformed offensively last year, so we should have expected improvement regardless. And no doubt there’s truth in that statement. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that those who are willing to spend time in Michigan in the winter working out to get better are the ones who have what it takes to be successful.

TOP PROSPECTS TAKE COLLECTIVE STEP FORWARD – While all it took to break the enthusiasm of the team’s strong recent play was a four-game visit from the Nationals, it’s harder to be down of the year turned in by the team’s top prospects. Looking at Baseball America’s top prospect list, the guys counted on to help turn things around in Queens in the near future all stayed healthy and all of them are closer to contributing in the majors.

Jacob deGrom (10) and Travis d’Arnaud (2) established themselves in the bigs. Flores (6) and Rafael Montero (3) have shown glimpses of their talent for the Mets. Gavin Cecchini (9), Brandon Nimmo (8) and Kevin Plawecki (5) all earned mid-season promotions and held their own at higher levels. Amed Rosario (7) and Dominic Smith (4) turned in solid seasons as young players for their level. And while some were disappointed that Noah Syndergaard (1) did not dominate and make his MLB debut, he went from pitching in the Lo-A Midwest League two years ago to putting up an entire season in the PCL at age 21.

It truly was a remarkable year for the club’s top prospects. And that’s not even counting the year put up by Steven Matz, who will be a top five player on everyone’s list for 2015.

SOMETIMES THERE ARE NO WORDS – Generally, my belief is that Sandy Alderson is a net positive for the Mets while Terry Collins is a near-colossal failure. But the promotion of Bobby Abreu leaves me unable to defend Alderson, who takes the “credit” for bringing back Abreu for a second go-round. This is nothing against Abreu, who has had a terrific career and who by all accounts was a good presence in the clubhouse. But promoting him now was a tone-deaf move on Alderson’s part, one where it’s hard to see any upside whatsoever. The fans are done with recycled veterans from other clubs and it’s difficult for us to justify his presence instead of just about anyone else in Double or Triple-A with a chance to contribute to the 2015 club.

MORAL COMPASS – Former Chief Justice Earl Warren once said, “I always turn to the sports section first. The sports section records people’s accomplishments; the front page nothing but man’s failures.” Me too but it’s been a tough go with the sports section lately, with disappointing and disturbing news coming from, among too many others, Josh Gordon, Jonathan Papelbon, Ray Rice and Donald Sterling.

The younger Wilpon finds himself in with this group, too, after a recent lawsuit alleges that he both created a hostile work environment and discriminated against a female senior vice president. While we giddily hope that the MLB commissioner will be proactive and force out the Wilpons, let’s not lose sight of the fact that there’s a larger issue at stake here – the right for all individuals to perform in an environment that allows them to operate as equal class citizens.

Last week I talked about the need for a meritocracy on the field and the same thing should hold place in the executive offices, too. While it would be great if the Wilpons were forced out much like Sterling, the really important thing here is that the commissioner (and the court system, should it go that far) leaves not a shred of doubt over the importance of a non-discriminatory workplace.