After losing two of their past three Opening Day games, the Mets started the 2017 season in grand style, hanging a 6-0 defeat on the hated Atlanta Braves. The win upped the Mets’ record on Opening Day to 36-20 and 36-12 since 1970. It also snapped a six-game losing streak against the Braves in Citi Field.
- The Mets exploded for six runs in the seventh inning, taking advantage of the Braves’ bullpen, specifically their lefty relievers. Ian Krol and Eric O’Flaherty faced nine batters, who went 3-4 with four walks and a SF. Lucas Duda had the big hit, with a three-run double.
- The first run needed a replay review, as originally Wilmer Flores was called out at the plate on a goofy-looking slide, one he was lucky not to break his ankle on. Someone needs to tell new third base coach Glenn Sherlock that Flores has no speed.
- The game had been a pitching battle until that point, with Noah Syndergaard and Julio Teheran each throwing six scoreless innings. Syndergaard cruised through the first three innings but had to throw a bunch of pitches in both the fourth and sixth innings. If it was later in the year, he would have come out for the seventh inning, as he threw just 86 pitches. But no sense in pushing him at this point.
- Hansel Robles and Fernando Salas each retired all three batters they faced. Robert Gsellman came on in the ninth and surrendered back-to-back hits to put runners on second and third. But he struck out a batter and then got an unusual 1-3-6 double play, as the runner on third did not advance and the runner at second was unable to get back safely.
I like the fact the Mets were getting home those runners in scoring position, maybe it will set the tone for the season
I just want to see Flowers try to catch Dickey.
I mean, Dear God, that’s all I want.
Then you can take me.
O’Flaherty owed us that one, and then some.
Amazing he was out there, and stayed out.
Can’t get lefties out, and pitches around righties.
Weird to PR with d’Arnaud in 7th.
Weird to go with Gsellman to finish when Thor comes out with a blister.
Not wrong, just . . . different.
Brian, you still have that O’Flaherty jersey?
Nice start to the season!
In his last 59 IP, he’s allowed 51 ER.
I’m sure that’s not the worst extended stretch in MLB history but it certainly deserves recognition for its putridness.
O’No!’Flaherty!!!!
Syndergaard was awesome.
Duda beat the shift by going the opposite way with RISP which was a good sign.
They won the game on Flores legs! Go figure!
…and flowers being wildly out of position (my mind changed on this to reflect that statement), and Flores being luck enough to have caught a cleat with his lead leg such that it bounced on home plate! If flowers was out front, he would have been out by a mile. That throw was reminded me of Lagares.
A normal slide and his leg glides across the plate. Seriously, someone teach this guy how to slide into home. His last two attempts have been brutal.
Slow Runner+Terrible Base Runner….. he can’t outrun his lack of skill, and he cannot out think his lack of speed.
Yet somehow Flores stole a base as well??
He had a tremendous jump and it was an offspeed pitch.
Steevy! We’ve missed you in these parts. Hope to see you in the Game Chatter tomorrow night.
I can’t find the video but i thought the main reason was that Reyes was blocking Flowers as he was literally on the plate and blocked his line of sight and throw. I was mildy surprised they didn’t at least ask the ump if it was interference.
I just re-watched it.
Reyes swung on the pitch and his momentum carried him across the plate. It seems to me that would have been a tough call for the ump to make, especially since the catcher didn’t even attempt a throw. If he didn’t swing, it would be another matter.
Encouraging sign: Mets put 6 runs on the board without a homer and only 1 extra-base hit.
and
Lucky as hell that the Braves’ bullpen couldn’t find the plate with 2 hands and a flashlight.
LOL!
You guys really have an agenda with Flores. In a game where failure is expected, you knock him when he fails, you knock him when he succeeds. Last year when he was the only player hitting with RISP,but he was an ugly duckling. Then he get hurt and got out of your hair. His style is just never accepted. It seems to stem down from his manager, so again I say he needs to leave to find himself. He never will on the Mets. And that’s a shame. There are some things he can bring to the table, and other things he just has to overcome, and he works on overcoming them very hard. He goes to Barwis camp, he hardly ever makes a mental mistake on the field, but no one notices. A young middle infielder with power, and we poo-poo it. How many teams would love to have him?
Why knock the fact that he stole a base on an off speed pitch? If Walker does it, it’s because he “chose a good pitch to run on”. Flores is a slow runner, granted, but he hustled his butt off to get to that plate just ahead of the throw. End result: He’s slow, so he’s just lucky that’s all.
Tis a shame…
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Gus, Flores has won me over as an excellent bench man that can “fill in” at all infield positions and deliver with runs batted in. My above comment about his running was an observation that this year could be “something special” when the team wins in unexpected ways, like Flores stealing a base or scoring from second.
It was a shame that he got hurt when Walker went down last year. He would have had an opportunity to display if he had matured into an every player.
I’m quite happy to judge Flores on what he does, both positively and negatively.
I thought he should have been playing more in the middle of the year in 2016, and wrote an article about it. However, last year he had a .225/.261/.350 line with RISP, which is not good.
But even when he was going good in the middle of the year, he was only doing so-so versus RHP. For the year he had a .642 OPS against righties and for his career, he has a .660 mark in 906 PA.
The bat plays at SS but not at any other position. Last year the average 2B had a .771 OPS, the average 3B a .777 OPS and the average 1B a .791 OPS. If we limit it to guys who were starters, the numbers would go up across the board.
It’s just hard to see him as anything more than a platoon bat. And one who should be removed for defense in the late innings, regardless of which position he plays.
And just for completeness, in their six-run inning Monday, he went 0-2.
Yes, he went 0-2 with a stolen base and a run scored.
I find myself defending him because I see nothing but negative about him and I don’t think he is a bad player. Yes, Walker is better; so are Cabrera, Reyes and Duda. They should play full-time, I’m not arguing that. But my point is given his few chances, he hasn’t done badly.
In 2014 in 208 plate appearances, he had a .749 OPS against righties. In 2015, when Collins had him facing the best starters and had his pet facing the weaker ones and the lefties, Flores wasn’t very good. In 2016, he sucked. But, Granny set an all-time record in futility in RISP and he gets to start over this year. I could go over every players warts, but my point is that it’s a new year and every player gets a fresh start. Except one.
Well, I think we have to distinguish what’s expected versus what’s a fluke. As a young player in 2014, Flores showed improvement versus RHP and therefore got to face them a lot more the following year. It’s hard to look at his record before and after 2014 and come to a conclusion other than that what he did in 2014 was a fluke.
As for Granderson, he put up an OPS nearly 300 points beneath his career marks with RISP. It’s one thing to point out that he was terrible, which is irrefutable. But to bury him because he had fluke results seems myopic, at best.
Flores can “stand” at a couple of positions that he can barely field…that’s the truth. His best defensive slot may be 1st base, but a RH hitter with a big R/L split is more of a Problem than he is an Answer.
You can hide his glove in situations….he’s a reasonable bat off the bench. If he establishes himself better as a hitter, he will make money—otherwise, he’ll be a pretty fringe guy.
Gus, its just hard to understand what you are hoping for in terms of Flores. He has strong splits at the plate, period. Against RHP he carries numbers too low to keep in, except maybe at SS, where his defense is flat out atrocious. So he really belongs playing 1st or 2nd facing LHP. His best best defensive spot is likely 1B, but hes ok at 2B. He will not unseat Walker or Duda (or Smith for that matter), leaving him a spot starter and a bench guy. Sure he mashes lefties, but that carries so much of his value its near impossible to find a different solution. On a team with this level of expectation, its just not possible to put him on the field daily.
As for the slide…he got lucky. That is plain to everyone. He scored, and like a good soldier he followed Sherlock (that call was as bad as any Tuff made). If Flowers was in the normal spot and Flores did not catch his cleat forcing it to bounce down on the plate as the slide continued, he was out by 3 feet. Again, he scored and thats all that matters in the game, but 99/100 times that an out. THe SB was what it was. He has 3 SB in 346 games. Even a broken clock is right 2x per day.
He’s a fan fave. And Im happy to see him get his ABs v LHP.
Chris, I agree with most of your analysis. But, I don’t think his defense is “atrocious” at SS. The second half of 2015 he was clearly below average but much improved. However, all our back and forth won’t matter.
You ask what I expect of Flores. As a spare part, not much. As I note above, he isn’t better than any starter and I would rather move him if he has value on the open market. Would the Reds do Hamilton for Flores? The Mets need speed and diversity in their lineup, so if they can move an outfielder and Flores for a CF that can leadoff, there shouldn’t be any delay.
Otherwise, just use Flores twice or three times a week to keep the starters fresh. I disagree with platooning Duda. Big bats don’t get platooned and he has shown that he can hit lefties if you give him a chance.
Now that we’re “pitching thin”, i was thinking about Doug Fister on a Minor league deal with “outs”. The problem???…. does anyone want to show off their arm in Vegas????