Manager Mickey Callaway recently said that he plans to start using some of the young relief pitchers in high leverage spots to see how they can handle it. Of Jacob Rhame, Bobby Wahl, Tyler Bashlor, Gerson Bautista, and Drew Smith who do you think has the best shot to earn a meaningful role in the bullpen?
They all have the potential to become Hansel Robles. I had to look up our former bullpen mate’s statistics: all of the above mentioned relievers would be Mets closer right this instance.
Drew Smith seems to be the most consistent over time. Or we could go with old friend Rick Ankiel who is attempting a comeback.
Did a podcast with David last night on the minor league system. You can download it here – http://cast.rocks/hosting/13288/David-Groveman.mp3
Enjoyed the podcast and the wide ranging prospect talk, but after telling me a few days ago how encouraged you were to see Levi Michael succeed as a former top prospect, how can you not ask David his opinion about this guy? After all, he’s hitting .302 with an .856 OPS at SS, with double digits steals and HRs.
Also, does he think Newton is for real? I like tools, so these guys that show a little of everything but not much of something specific don’t keep my eye, but MLB ranked him 16th on the Mets!
Thanks for listening!
One of the challenges in the podcast is keeping the listener in mind. And when we talk about prospects, they want to hear about the guys they’ve heard of – Alonso, Dunn, Gimenez and the like. The Michael question is one that would have appealed to fewer people.
Newton might have been a good question, though.
Check out this bit if news from MLBTR about a player we all wanted this past off-season:
“The Mariners moved Dee Gordon all the way down to ninth in the batting order in tonight’s game. That’s largely due to the speedster’s incredibly pedestrian offensive performance on the season. He’s hitting .280, but with just a .300 on-base and .343 slugging percentage. The biggest culprit to his lackluster showing is a paltry 1.5% walk rate that’s by far the lowest in the majors and approximately half the size of the next player on that list (Salvador Perez of the Royals). Though the plan right now seems to be for Robinson Cano to usurp some playing time from Ryon Healy when he returns from his suspension, it’s fair to wonder whether Gordon could rest in favor of Cano on occasion down the stretch, if he can’t figure out how to show more patience.”
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Many times Rosario’s lack of lead off skills have been mocked. But as Eraff pointed out, Didi Gregorious took three years to come around. As for Rosario’s defensive ratings, the kid has range and maybe we can give him a mulligan for his rookie year?
You are right about Gregorious. I was really surprised by the way that he developed.
It is way to early to make judgements on Rosario. What we hope for is improvement through the rest of this year and improvement next year. Have to let the kid play and other kids play.
What will piss me off this offseason is if the Mets continue to get old junk players and play them in place of youngsters.
Gus,
Pointing out Rosario’s glaring deficiencies is not necessarily akin to mocking him. The kid is 22 and physically gifted, so no one in their right mind would give up on him after what amounts to just about one year of MLB service.
The two things that bother me tremendously are 1. While he is young, the Nets have had him 6 years and he is still very raw and 2. The hit tool often takes time to hone, and these young top prospects can usually offset that with some plus defense in their early years. He is playing league bottom defense. Why is that, can it be improved, and can he ever be a plus defensive SS in the bigs? I don’t think it is too early to be questioning that component of his game, and the Mets desperately need massive improvement in their defense.
Neither Chris nor I wanted him. Don’t think Name did, either.
In reply to Chris F.
Your stance on juicing has been undeniably consistent through the years.
I don’t want Gordon, either, but I’m chalking up his 2015 season to something different. Everyone looks good when they post a .383 BABIP. He’s never posted a mark higher than .346 in any other season in his career. He’s got a healthy .336 mark right now and he’s just not good. I don’t want a guy who has to run a BABIP greater than .350 to be good, especially since he’s only done it once in his career.
He’s played in 81 games and has 353 PA. If we double that, he would have 706 PA and if we double his runs scored, it would be 94. Everyone keeps telling me what a strong offensive team the Marlins have. If your leadoff hitter can’t score 100 runs despite 700+ PA in front of a strong lineup, well, he’s just not elite.
Jose Reyes had 703 PA in 2006 and had 122 runs scored.
I definitely did not want Gordon.
Gordon was, and most likely still is, a doper. I think he went too far in ’15, got careless, and was rung up.
But I hear you Brian. I guess I would say the doping gave him just that hair more to make better contact. He’s a lot like Lagares, who just could never live up to the high BABIP consistently.
I’m the biggest culprit there but Gordon still gives you speed and defense.
Rosario has been a huge disappointment. He was highly rated by all the groups who specialize in farm systems and prospects. He not only has crapped out as a hitter he also has been a poor fielder. What happened?
“What happened?”
People’s expectations. Despite all the hype and being treated like gold, there is a reason they are called prospects. They are possibilities, not guarantees.
So maybe DeGrom and Wheeler shouldn’t be traded for prospects?
There is also no guarantee that established major leaguers will continue at their current pace.
Darvish, Cobb, and even Vargas all were solid/good in 2017 and signed to big deals yet they’ve been awful in 2018.
Name, that’s a great point. This season has been a sterling example of why it’s hard to rely on free agency, especially with pitchers. Vargas has been a bust, but so have Lynn, Cobb, Cashner, and Darvish. Arrieta has been OK but hardly worth his ace contract. Meanwhile bounce back flyer guys like Bucholz, Liriano and Hellickson have all been pretty good.
Its living proof baseball is played by players, and that there are a zillion unaccountable for variables. Of course you do your best to pick the players, but you cant simply predict the outcomes of games, or Vegas would be broke.
Of course that’s true, and we generally allow ourselves to imagine every top prospect is automatic, like a Lindor or Corea or Betts etc. thos are rare talents, even in the top prospect game.
But Chris, while dreaming that Rosario would grow into Lindor, that was certainly not my personal expectation for 2018. Objective evaluators told us Rosario’s hit tool and discipline needed work, but he was an elite athlete with a plus arm and plus defense. He is quick charging but very poor side to side. I am hoping that Syracuse will give evaluators a much better read on defense. That Vegas infield may make projections more difficult.
Totally agree. I actually think the game is too fast on the left side. Id move him to 2B.
What really shocked me was that after all this time of Sandy being the great baseball whisperer, the Mets do not have an established learning guide how to play the game that gets instilled from teh start. He told us he was remaking the whole system…with what, post-it notes? The team has absolutely no solid preparation for players, and so AAA players get to the show are are bare naked. We need a solid system of how to play the game and better more accurate talent evaluators. I regularly malign the talent evaluation, and still maintain it must be near the bottom of the league.
I haven’t given up on Rosario,you can see the tools are there.Did he get the coaching he needed in the Mets organization to make maximum use of those tools?Will he?
It’s easy to see the Ozzie Albies and Ron Acuna’s burst the scene and forget that there is a longer list of top prospects in baseball and all sports that are somewhere between Stalled and Failed.
Very few young players have a straight trajectory…. some are delayed—Mike Trout did a minors tour after an initial debut. Some guys soar and then Fail– Matt Harvey. Some guys stall—Conforto???
This is now a Test of the Eye Test that the Mets have on Rosario…and it’s a test of his Work Ethic.
Forgetting the mistakes, I see effort….until recently, I didn’t see him bailing out of the grind. I see some of that now. It’s a long season for a young player…especially at a skill position in a thin lineup.
As long as he’s playing and Grinding, he should be here. That should be the message to him.
Agreed. Actually, I don’t find the thought of him playing center field to be that crazy. However, to implement it would require that he get significant reps at a level other than the majors. This would mean winter ball for a spell and then starting the season at Syracuse. It may not be the worst for him but it would sure leave a hole at SS that would require filling. I don’t think rushing Gimenez to fill that hole would be smart, even if his skills at age 19 are more advanced than Rosario’s. In CF, his pure speed and strong arm could make him a plus defensive player and plus overall player; perhaps he could progress his defense more in the OF than at SS. Tough call, needs a great baseball eye to really discern.
Wheeler: We’ve had discussions about Eye Test Versus Stats….and now we have new sets of measures, the Stat Cast Stuff measuring Spin and Velocity and how hard balls are hit, etc.
This is a great example of The Eye Test and The Stats leading to the same point….. this guy has very different results and it’s a very different approach and execution. I’ll venture a further guess that he has finally unravelled and settled some major mechanics that have hime “completely out of his own way.”
I’m left with no choice other than to Wait Til Next Year—that Traditional Brooklyn Refrain