If only we had more games like this one – score early, jump out to a big lead, and hold it. No nail biting, just a good, clean win against an inferior team.
The Mets went to town on Padres starter Jhoulys Chacin, knocking him out of the game before he could complete a single inning with seven runs on eight hits in the opening frame. The big blows were the first of two Michael Conforto home runs and a Lucas Duda double. Every hitter except for Curtis Granderson and Matt Harvey got hits off Chacin, who delivered one of the worst starts of his career against the Mets.
Spotted a seven run lead, Matt Harvey pitched a scoreless first inning before getting into a little trouble in the second, but then settling down for three more scoreless frames. All told, his start was uneven, but encouraging. On the bright side, he allowed just two runs on three hits and struck out six. On the flip side, he walked four and only last five innings. It was enough to earn his third win of the season.
The star of the game was Conforto, who hit his second home run of the game of Craig Stammen and also hit a single and got on base via hit-by-pitch. All in all, he went three for four with four RBIs for one of his best career games. Duda also contributed three hits, while Neil Walker and Wilmer Flores each tallied two apiece. Mets hitters went six for seven with RISP. Savor that – it doesn’t happen often.
Josh Smoker allowed a solo homer in the sixth, but Paul Sewald, Jerry Blevins, and Fernando Salas combined for three scoreless innings after that.
A nice win for the Mets who again play the Padres tomorrow night with Robert Gsellman back on the hill. Let’s go Mets!
Glad to see that Dalton didn’t jinx Conforto tonight. Big night for Duda, too. Hopefully Bruce’s injury isn’t anything serious.
During the chatter, Metsense pointed out that Smoker was used as a starter in Las Vegas and was stretched out to go multiple innings. This would have been the perfect time to use him in that role. Too bad the administration doesn’t believe in that concept.
As I was reading Matt’s write up, I was thinking the same thing about Smoker’s appearance. It could be an organizational thing or it could be a manager thing, they won’t tell us; that’s for sure.
Right when Harvey walked two guys in the third inning and Ron Darling was questioning his confidence, Harvey seemed to get pissed off and starting just rearing back and not aim like he had been. I felt much better about things then, and hope he’s turned a corner. The stiff legged follow through Darling referred to that was the result of the aiming was replaced by a full “fall towards first” follow through that told me he was letting it fly.
It’s Harvey’s 5th straight start where he’s gone less than 5.1 IP and walked 3 or more batters in a game. It’s like he’s turning into Wheeler right before our very eyes.
Cheap shot with an absence of all context, nuance.
But at least this season don’t have to read you calling Colon “fat” and “fatty” for post after post . . . while he performs with dignity game after game.
The eagerness to pile on and roast players . . . I think it says more about you than it does about them.
Jimmy P might be my favorite reader.
I agree. These are the missed opportunities that are so frustrating.
So many modern managers get stuck in narrow role definitions. It’s the 7th inning, time for X! And so on.
OTOH, only Sewald among last night’s relievers worked on Sunday. So everyone else had at least two days off. Nice to see Salas throw well. Blevins hadn’t worked in a while.
I honestly think TC is trying to be more conscious of work loads, balancing a desperate need to win now with a starting rotation that’s simply not giving the club any length.
Besides Conforto, the hitter that most impressed me tonight was Lucas Duda. When he stops trying to jerk everything over the moon, he can be pretty good. Unfortunately, he too often forgets that he has good power the other way and he feels he needs to pull everything to be a “homerun hitter”.
Conforto two home runs on breaking balls.
On a side note, I love that Robles was demoted. Not only does it give him a chance to right himself but it takes away Collins’ prerogative to put him in with bases loaded in a tight game.
Michael Conforto, who is just 24 yoa and not a free agent until 2022, has become a force and is fulfilling the potential he had exhibited during the late summer of 2015 and start to of the 2016 season. Many felt that he would be a very good player but at this point he is playing as an elite player. Are we witnessing the making of a young superstar? That would be grand.
Harvey was so erratic with his command, and the broadcasters indicated his velocity was down also. Is he masking the fact that he still has nerve problems? He struck out the side in the 5th and it seemed that he was more in command in that only one batter went to three ball count. I know it is nuts in today’s baseball but even with 103 pitches I would have sent him out there for the sixth to see if he really found what has been eluding him this year; control.
Harvey’s performance is especially troubling being as it was against essentially a quad A line up, outside Myers. I mean 4 walks against some of the worst hitters in baseball. Thats not a lot to be terribly pleased with.
Maybe what we are seeing is the recovery from TOS is gonna take a lot longer than we all closed our eyes and clicked our heels for.
I always feared that surgery. Dillon Gee had it and never came back. Others, too.
This isn’t a character issue. This is an injury issue. A guy fighting back after two career-threatening surgeries. Obviously he’s not right.
I think the realistic hope, expressed by Warthen, was that he’d be closer to himself in July, August. Or Harvey’s hope, that he could simply take the hill on his regular starts, begin working his way back. Wheeler in the same boat. They need regular work to build back up.
At this point, it’s all process, not result. Which of course is tough, since it’s a results business.
I feel sorry for them both, and I’m rooting for them. Both athletes have been blessed with an inner fire of greatness and I hope they can rekindle that flame over time.
I thought Harvey’s outing was encouraging. He got some swings and misses. He needs to rediscover that slider. That was his big out pitch. I agree with Metsense, that I’d have put him back out there in the 6th. The walks are troubling though. I mean, he walked a relief pitcher.
As a fan I want to preface this comment with this: there’s a whole lot I don’t know about what’s going on out there. Obviously, Harvey isn’t what he used to be right now. Might never be. What frustrates me about Harvey and Wheeler has more to do with philosophy than results. Too many awful pitches wasted with 2 strike counts. As a fan I find this painful to watch night after night.
So I guess my question is — is this their inability to get their secondary pitches over or is this Warthan and Collins on the bench telling the catcher to waste a couple? Maybe both. I have no way of knowing but, clearly, this isn’t working. Nobody’s fishing. Go after them – especially Wheeler. Put the ball in play.
The polar opposite was Roy Halliday. Never wasted a pitch unless it was just off the strike zone. A joy to watch even when he was mowing down Mets.
Great point, IB.
I remember reading how Greg Maddox hated the idea of wasting a pitch and firmly believed in going after the hitter at an 0-2 count. Of course, Maddox was always happy to leave a game after 6-7 innings, one of the first truly great pitchers to ever think like that.
Anyway, I was thinking along similar lines. Fans will always, always complain when a batter gets a hit on an 0-2 count. We all do it. To the point where the message is clear: Don’t give him anything to hit when the count is 0-2. So until that mentality changes, we are going to see inflated pitch counts and wasted pitches.
In an isolated AB, that approach makes sense. Batters will fish, expand the strike zone, be left vulnerable. 0-2 count and I’m throwing a slider away to any Rivera I see. But the cumulative effect might be a net negative: Guys reach 100 pitches by the 5th inning.
Also, obviously, we are seeing historic numbers of strikeouts and home runs. Batters are more dangerous than ever, but also going deep into counts and striking out a lot. This trend hurts swing-and-miss pitchers like Wheeler.
One other side aspect, which touches on the length of the games. I have not looked up the stats, but on a pitch-by-pitch basis, I think we’re seeing historic lows in “batted balls in play.”
That is, less and less is happening more and more.
Per pitch, we are seeing more “non-events” than ever before.
Makes one pine for the old days of contact hitters and a corresponding premium on quality defense.
Great line: “..less and less is happening more and more.”
There’s always been guys who go out there and lengthen at bats with lousy waste pitches. Al Leiter comes to mind and he was no slouch. I just haven’t seen any positive results using this strategy with Harvey and Wheeler. Time to rethink it.
And the game drags with predictable “non-events”. Tough to watch.
IB, that’s a great point. IMO, I don’t think it’s black and white. Depends on the particular batter and at bat. Your not going to get Joey Votto to swing at an 0-2 waste pitch, but Mike Stanton can’t resist an 0-2 fastball up at his armpits. deGrom and Syndergaard (when healthy) have the ability to hit his spots with an out pitch. Harvey and Wheeler don’t seem to have the command this season, at least not yet. When Harvey gets to 0-2 he starts throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them. When Harvey’s right, it’s either a wipeout slider or a high riding fastball for strike 3. Clearly, he’s not there yet.
The first inning, after the Conforto blast, was a homage to putting the bat on the ball. Many bleeders and dunkers and they kept finding holes.
Harvey’s problems are Mechanical…and they are visible. He has little consistency/muscle memory for his motion and release. His hands are all over the place–high—mid…. his separation between throwing hand and glove hand is inconsistently timed. He has mentioned struggling with release point and angles. His top Half rotation and load does not match his earlier approach. He’s a Mess in Motion.
I don’t know if he’s forgotten how he throws the ball, or whether he just cannot find his way back to it…and maybe he cannot physically replicate or feel it, with a removed rib on his throwing side.
He has Velocity…and he had some live movement last night. As long as I’m seeing him physically healthy with strong velocity and movement, I will predict that he has much better days ahead.
Eraff – very astute. He’s overcompensating by coming too over the top – remember Floyd Youmans? Elbow has to be above the shoulder, but not too high above. Every pitcher has a different slot, but he may have to adjust to a slightly new one. Coming too far over the top affects grip and release point and is costing him movement, especially on his slider. His legs look right. Last year I noted he was landing short and not getting his back into his delivery enough. I agree with you that Harvey will figure it out. He may never be dominant again, but I believe he will be a good pitcher again – hopefully soon.
I believe he can be Dominant again….his arm is Live, and he has a Pitcher’s Brain that he’s demonstrated over time. It’s 75% Mechanics/25% “does he want to pitch…really really want to pitch?”
I discount the 25% mental aspect, think he’s a competitor. But okay, I’ll give it 10% based on overcoming all the physical obstacles. Doubt creeps in. Hiccups aside, I don’t seriously question his will to succeed and his desire to compete.
I believe this is mostly a physical/health issue. In most cases, things like arm slots and changed mechanics are derived physical issues. You can’t confidently speak of one without the other. The physical informs the mechanical.
Guy has had two major surgeries, how do you deny the physical aspect of that?
However, I agree that he can be very good again. Just not sure we’re going to love the timetable.