Just as the Mets almost let one get away, Wilmer Flores saved the day with another signature walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Citi Field faithful erupted in applause, the team stormed out of the dugout to celebrate, and a certain blogger jumped out of his seat and screamed so loud he scared his wife and daughter.Noah Syndergaard was dominant, striking out 11, including eight in a row and Brandon Nimmo had a monster day, with a home run, triple and four times on base. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the team seemed to be asleep as stranded base runners and two costly infield errors nearly cost them this game.
Syndergaard ran a high pitch count and had to be pulled in the sixth inning. On a day when he had his best stuff so far, including an unhittable sinking changeup, he allowed just two hits and one unearned run. Five relievers kept the Mets in the game until Flores stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to save the day.
The Nationals, who lost again today and now stand five and a half games behind us in the standings, come to town for a home series starting tomorrow, weather permitting. Gio Gonzalez will face Jacob deGrom in the series opener.
Gut reactions:
- Jose Reyes must really not like cold weather because he’s off to another dreadful start this season, still waiting for his first hit. It will be interesting to see how long a leash he’s given with Gavin Cecchini and Luis Guillorme in AAA and T.J. Rivera expected back in a month.
- Brandon Nimmo is really something and the Mets need to work out a way to rotate him into the lineup on a regular basis. The three starting outfielders have all cooled off and could each benefit from a day off here and there, especially with the cold weather.
Sometimes the front office really shows the fans that they know what they are doing.
So many of us fans wanted to trade Nimmo for a second baseman, possibly Harrison, possibly Kinsler, etc,etc.Nimmo can play and is young. Good asset for the team. How Callaway uses him will be a good challenge to have, but maybe 2-3 times a week, spotting the other OF’ers and lots of pinch hitting. The guy gets on base ! Also,I believe Sandy drafted Nimmo.
We all love to blast the GM and front office on a regular basis, me especially ! Time to give credit where it is due. I think here with Nimmo, it is due.
I am guilty. I am an impatient fan and I like trades and shaking things up. I am glad that they did not trade Nimmo.
Kudos to Mickey Callaway for letting Wilmer Flores bat in the ninth. I bet quite a few managers would have sent up a left-handed pinch hitter (Gonzalez?).
Play of the game…AJ Ramos sliding grab and bullet throw from his knees
Was the blogger who jumped up and screamed Name?
Was it Brian?
I bet it was Chris!!!
Noah Syndergaard: “Nido and I, I think I can speak for both of us, we just had a lot of fun out there. I look forward to throwing to him many more times.”
I know that Syndergaard has never said anything bad about a catcher before, but has he ever given such glowing praise?
100 pitches, 5.1 innings…he needs to get his head in the game.
I’m also tired of <7 inning appearances by pitchers being called "dominant" as dominance needs both quality and quantity.
They ran him out of the game early enough that he wasn’t a primary factor into the final outcome – that’s not dominance
“dominant” — not even close. We have a genuine starting pitching issue to contend with. This is not sustainable even through April.
Excellent point, Name. So, I certainly on’t want to complain or event nitpick with a 13-2 start, but the starters have been mediocre at best. Should this trend of 5+ continue, Callaway will be using his relievers in almost the same manner as Collins, who was highly criticized for his handling.
You know who else pitched 5 dominant innings today? Chris Sale. His manager, Alex Cora, also smartly pulled him after 92 pitches and the Sox won. You don’t push your starters to 115 pitches in April when it’s 40 degrees and damp.
I agree. You cant push your pitchers to injury in weather like this.
Not in Miami Matt. This team cannot do this without stronger starting pitching, period. We did that already. 5-6 innings from our main line starters is not enough. We see a developing concern: everything is going well, then 1 inning is 30 pitches and complete derailment. Luck to get another 2 IP after that. But we cannot keep this pace pitching 4 relief innings every day. By the way, we have had a super relaxed schedule…and that wont be the case ahead.
Chris, Callaway talked about that in his presser after the game. He said that they don’t want to push pitchers in the cold weather, but if need be, the Vegas shuttle will be active. I guess maybe the muscles don’t warm as well, so they want to avoid injury from fatigue and tightness?
101 pitches Gus…that’s officially “pushing” these days. In case you are wondering, a complete game at the number of pitches per out is 170 pitches. In case you are wondering, 5 pitches per out, gets you 15 per inning. Id like to see an “ace” be at 4 pitches per out (ppo).
The problem is efficiency. 11Ks is fine and “dominant” if you will, but only pitching 16 outs is not the least bit dominant. Even if the weather was 80 degrees and low humidity, Callaway isnt letting Syndergaard go 7 innings at the ppo count he had yesterday (6.3 ppo), which would take him 134 pitches.
Well, he threw 29 pitches in the 1st inning and it should have only been 17 or 18. Wendelstadt screwed him on a pitch that would have been (was) strike three on Cain.
Gus – it was me of course
Haters, save the negativity for when we stop winning. Let’s enjoy this ride. The weather has been awful – unseasonably cold, damp. We’re carrying extra arms for this reason. There’s no sense pushing these guys so early on. We have enough bullpen arms to shuttle between Vegas and we can always pick up another in July.
😉
I know Matt. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity… The guys probably expected it.
I don’t think you’re understanding what is frustrating us.
92 pitches in 5 innings. 18.4 pitches per inning. That’s the problem – it’s inefficient and fueled by the SP trying to strikeout every batter.
This is a game-wide and even fan-wide problem. It’s all about achieving personal records – the strikeout, the home run – rather than what’s better for the team. A 7-inning, 2 run, 5 k performance is better for the team than a 5 IP, 1 run, 11 K line, but the second one is better for the pitchers stat line and more “impressive” for fans
With no men on base, a 2 pitch weak grounder should be more desirable than a 6 pitch strikeout, but it’s not viewed that way. When you have the 2nd and 3rd 1 out – absolutely go for the strikeout. The goal of SP should be to try to get as many outs as possible, and in that regards Syndergaard was a complete failure today. If you just want to strike out every batter, go to the bullpen where pitch counts don’t matter.
If i ever got to vote on Cy Young, i would completely disregard strikeouts and only look at them in a tie-breaking scenario
Correction: Jeremy Hellickson will start for the Nats tomorrow.
Name, I agree with you on that point. Blame it on sportscenter.
Wow, “Syndergaard was a complete failure today”. That’s not what I saw. I would love to see him be a complete failure like this in every start.
I agree that it’s frustrating when pitchers don’t go deep into games.
But there might be a correlation between pitchers who pitch the most innings and guys who strike out a lot of batters.
Last year 15 pitchers threw 200 or more innings and here’s how their K/9 broke down
10+ – 6
9s — 3
8s — 4
7s — 2
Now, it may just be a one-year thing and it would also be important to note how guys did the following year, too. Can a guy with a K/9 in the 7s (or lower) continually pitch 200 innings?
Regardless of how that plays out, I don’t know how realistic it is to order guys at the MLB level to focus on getting weak contact early in the count. If a guy has that skill, he’s likely pitched that way earlier in his career.
That said, the area where I think we can improve upon is the Zack Wheeler special – where the pitcher gets to two strikes by challenging hitters and then goes to nibbling and next thing you know it’s a full count. It’s one thing to do that with the other team’s best hitter. The problem is when you do that to every hitter who comes to the plate.
“But there might be a correlation between pitchers who pitch the most innings and guys who strike out a lot of batters.”
There certainly is. That’s why FIP looks at strikeouts, walks, HRs, and IP. But at some point there’s diminishing returns for more strikeouts and I think we’ve hit that wall.
Maybe what i’m looking for requires a whole new way of thinking. I assume that the current strategy of pitchers is to look at hitters hot/cold zone and pitch to their weakness as that’ll generate swings and misses. But maybe instead of focusing on the weaknesses, they should instead try to pitch in “neutral” locations earlier in the count, which entices hitters to swing and make early contact, but hopefully weak and fieldable.
With managers willing to give less ammo to SP each year, the starters will have to adapt and increase efficiency to make up for the limits placed on them if they want to maintain their status in the game (aka getting paid 20+ mil per year)
Matty,
No hating here…13-2 an loving every minute of it.
Just saying, Met starters have 3 “quality starts” out of 15 and have put up the best record in baseball. The pen has been awesome, and hopefully the starters will be able to go deeper more often as the weather warms up.
Way to go Mets. this team is fun to watch and wow what a start! Nats coming to town next, lets take care of business!
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https://mobile.twitter.com/FalseMets/status/985645765853933568/photo/1
It was pointed out that had the Phillies swept the Mets instead, their records would be reversed. But, isn’t Kapler screwing them up?
And if my aunt had a **** she’d be my uncle. Kapler is a joke. That the Phillies are playing well speaks more to their emerging talent. I still don’t think they have enough to compete over the long haul of the season, but they could chase .500 and seriously compete next year with a few additions. Of course, once he blows a few more games for them, I believe Kapler will be the first manager fired.
The reminder that it’s still very early in the season is that the Pirates are way out in front of the Cubs and Joe Mauer is leading the majors in hitting. Of course, Minnesota has only played 11 games thanks to a combo of terrible weather, the league’s poor scheduling and the city of Minneapolis’ brilliant decision to go without a dome in the new stadium.
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL
You kill me Matt. They have played the Mets, Marlins, Reds, Rays, and Braves so far, so that m a y play a role. But it looks nice!
12-2 is a great way to start the season. Nimmo has looked good as a lead off batter and should get more playing time. Vs RHP he should start in the OF and Bruce start at 1B. The hero of the game, Flores, should platoon vs LHP at 1B and Bruce play RF on those days.
The 5th inning pinch hitting of Nido for Bruce served no purpose.
Familia has not given up an earned run. Bring on the Nationals.
If the Mets can keep this going and somehow, some way sweep the Gnats this week, they’d be nine games up on them before April 20. Amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!
Just saying….