It hasn’t been quite the first half we were hoping for here in Mets land. Thanks in part to a World Series hangover, injuries – both nagging and substantial – and a dismal performance in getting timely hits, the Mets enter the break at 47-41, which is tied for second place in the NL East, six games behind the Nationals.
So, let’s line up everyone in alphabetical order and hand out midseason grades. Obviously, this is a very subjective process. My goal was to include role, preseason expectations and overall results in the final outcome.
Antonio Bastardo – He was excellent the first six weeks and a train wreck ever since. In his last 20 games, he has a 7.20 ERA, a 1.600 WHIP and opponents have a .945 OPS against him. Thought to be in line for 8th inning responsibility, he’s fallen much, much lower on the totem pole.
Grade D
Jerry Blevins – While Bastardo has seen his role rightfully decrease, Blevins is pitching more and handling his additional responsibilities. Sure, he’s still being used too much as a specialist, despite his .402 OPS allowed versus righties. But that’s not his fault.
Grade B+
Asdrubal Cabrera – Has been incredibly steady in the field and has produced about as much as could have been hoped for at the plate. However, we’ve seen a 180 in the type of hitter he’s been. On May 8, he was batting .306 with 2 HR. Since then he’s batting .239 with 10 HR. It’s not necessarily bad; it’s just something interesting.
Grade B
Yoenis Cespedes – He’s been an absolute beast with a bat in his hands and his PA are must-watch events with his third deck power. There hasn’t been any statistical improvement in his CF play and fans are constantly worried about a potential DL stint.
Grade A
Bartolo Colon – He shouldn’t have made the All-Star team ahead of the guy who represented the club last year. By xFIP, he’s pretty much the same pitcher this year (4.09) that he was last year (3.94), it’s just that this year he has an elevated strand rate that has allowed him to produce a pretty ERA. But he’s healthy and that can’t be overlooked.
Grade B-
Michael Conforto – No one anticipated a trip to the minors, especially after the strong start he got off to this year. But with a .148 AVG and a .519 OPS in his final 157 PA, it’s not like he didn’t earn that demotion.
Grade D
Travis d’Arnaud – Had a .549 OPS before getting hurt and a .733 mark since returning from the DL. Has drawn only one walk in the 8th spot since being activated.
Grade d+
Alejandro De Aza – Signed for a platoon role, he became superfluous after Cespedes re-signed. That’s not his fault. What is his fault is an OPS 206 points below his career average.
Grade D-
Jacob deGrom – Early decreased velocity and three meh starts in May are clouding what has been a fine season for deGrom. His last eight games have all been Quality Starts and he has a 2.25 ERA and a 5.5 K/BB ratio in that span
Grade A-
Lucas Duda – Ineffective and injured is no way to go through life. Still has a higher WPA and UZR/DRS than his replacement.
Grade D+
Jeurys Familia – Sometimes he’s really tough to watch, like John Franco with the ability to throw 98. But in a bottom line business, he’s been outstanding.
Grade A
Wilmer Flores – Was atrocious with sporadic playing time early and has had some big moments with increased playing time. Throws seem better from 3B than SS but his range has been terrible there. Might be the hardest guy on the team to evaluate.
Grade C+
Curtis Granderson – Was worse than Conforto the first three weeks in May. Was good before then and terrific since, with a .902 OPS in his last 185 PA. Arm still a liability in RF.
Grade B
Matt Harvey – Once the Dark Knight, now seems more likely to assume the role of tragic hero. It’s too sad to say anything else.
Grade D+
Juan Lagares – Defense seems better than a year ago but his arm seems a bit erratic. Offense seems borderline, still. Debating whether to put a minus sign here…
Grade C-
James Loney – Has greatly exceeded expectations. However, among 48 1B with at least 100 PA, he ranks tied for 20th in wRC+, 25th in wOBA and 32nd in WPA. Among 40 1B with at least 200 innings played, he ranks 34th with a (-8.3) UZR/150. Based solely on performance versus expectation, he would get an A+. With the combo scoring used here he gets a …
Grade C+
Steven Matz – Sometimes it’s hard to remember that this is his rookie year. Take away the first start disaster and Matz has a 2.77 ERA in 15 games with a 4.2 K/BB ratio. Now we just have to hope he can make it through the year without needing surgery.
Grade B+
Kevin Plawecki – He really shouldn’t have opened the year in the majors. He should have been playing every day in Triple-A. Maybe then he would have been better equipped to handle the playing time he got when d’Arnaud got hurt. Maybe. By the time he was demoted, his throwing might have been worse than his hitting.
Grade F
Addison Reed – At the beginning of the year, was thought to be in a battle with Bastardo for the eighth inning. Not only did he win that competition hands down, he’s been outstanding in the role. How many saw a 5.78 K/BB ratio from him?
Grade A
Hansel Robles – After allowing runs in three out of four appearances, Robles has been great in his last 11 games, with a 1.96 ERA and 23 Ks in 18.1 IP. He’s even vultured three Wins in this span. He’s pitched more than one inning in seven of these last 11, too. Hopefully this will be the way he’ll be used the remainder of the year. Those partial inning outings on a regular basis earlier was a real head scratcher.
Grade B-
Noah Syndergaard – His 2.56 ERA is terrific. And he has a FIP 50 points lower. Only the fact that he had sub-par performances in two of his last three starts – both against the Nats – keeps him from getting a plus.
Grade A
Neil Walker – Are we allowed to mention that he has a .226/.314/.342 line in his last 229 PA? There’s no way on earth he should be batting cleanup.
Grade C-
David Wright – Maybe Harvey deserved his fate, I don’t know. I’m confident Wright didn’t deserve his.
Grade C
D’Arnaud will never excel in the 8-spot. He’s not that kind of hitter. He’s a grip it and rip it kind of guy; would love to see him protected in the lineup.
I don’t understand why you look at Colon’s high strand rate as if it has nothing to do with pitching. He’s getting big outs with runners on base. Isn’t that related to performance?
Blevins deserves an A.
I liked Walker in the 2-spot, where he hit briefly before the Jose signing. The entire lineup feels out-of-whack to me.
Alderson made a big mistake by not sighning Murphy. Cespodis and Murphy got us into the world series last year, with Murph being our spark plug. too much for cespo to do it alone this year. We had a winning combo last year, why did Alderson tear it apart. Murphy reminds us every time he plays us, what a big mistake we made
Murphy can’t field. It’s been a pleasure seeing all those smooth double plays turned. As for his hitting, Murphy has never hit anything like this in his career. He was always a .280-.290 hitter with lots of doubles. Suddenly he’s hitting .350 on pace for 30 homers. Is this due to him being protected by Harper in the lineup or perhaps something else…
Carlt,
During the 2015-6 off-season, were you one of the few who supported signing Murphy to a large multi-year contract? If so, my hat off to you. If not, your comment is merely a second guess. Most observers, as I remember, seem to feel that Murph carried too high a price tag, and wanted too many years. No one knew that his offensive production would be off the chart. I really can’t fault the front office on this one.
Another point is that if Sandy Alderson had committed a ton of money to Murphy, would the Mets have had enough to sign Cespedes when he was available?
Brian – I mostly agree, but I would give Bart a higher grade than that. His one recent bad start drove up his ERA, but he’s been terrific. A few guys not on here that I’d add:
Logan Verrett – C
Rene Rivera – B-
Jim Henderson – B
Eric Campbell – D
Goeddell, Gilmartin, Reynolds, Lugo, Reyes, Nimmo, et al – too small a sample size
Rivera with a .591 OPS should not get a B-, even with his superior catching. Maybe a C- for him.
I might have given d’Arnaud a C-, but then we would have been denied the pleasure of that lowercase d+. Well played…
Ha. I think a “d’+” would also fit.
They seem to have patched enough positions to survive…which brings us back to the one condition of a Championship Run: the health and forward expectation for the Starting Pitching: C-
Brian, you give a catcher that we all know was out of his element an F, but give the free agent outfielder that got paid $5.5MM but performed less than Plawecki in every statistical measure, a D?
Also, Bastardo got a D also? He deserved a Z!
I wish you were one of my professors.
While I would not have started Plawecki in the majors, it’s not a ridiculous notion that a sandwich pick at age 25 with more than half a season in the majors already under his belt could handle an Opening Day assignment.
By the end, Plawecki was hurting the team both offensively and defensively.
De Aza looked absolutely horrible in CF. Mostly he’s played a corner outfielder here lately where he looks much better, particularly in LF. I don’t shudder when De Aza has to make a play in LF. When Plawecki had to make a throw by the end of his tenure, he was bouncing every one of them.
Plawecki had the chance to play and get regular ABs for an extended stretch. De Aza didn’t. He got five starts in 14 days in June and was not good. He’s gotten three starts in eight games in July and is 3-8 with 3 BB.
You saw first hand with Flores the difference that regular playing time has meant. KP got that and failed. The closest De Aza got was starting 1/3 of the games over half a month.
Maybe De Aza would have been just as bad if he had that opportunity. But when choosing between a player who got a shot at regular playing time and one who didn’t, the one who got the shot and didn’t produce should get the lower grade.
Over time, I’d expect de Aza to do his baseball card…. And I’d hope Plawecki doesn’t repeat his own
The play schedule for a 3rd lh of bat has been unfair to the player… And he has come up short as well.