Lately there hasn’t been much to get excited about when it comes to the play of the Mets. They continue to be ravaged by injuries and are seemingly dead in the playoff hunt. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to look forward to down the stretch. Although a lot will happen between now and next [...]
Catcher Josh Thole had a big game Saturday night, with three hits, seven total bases, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. He also threw out a runner who tried to steal. The story for Thole is that he finally has a big game. Instead, the story should be Thole continues his strong play. [...]
Last year at the All-Star break the Mets were 48-40 and in second place in the NL East. They were a game behind the Dodgers in the Wild Card race. But they started the second half of the season going 2-9 and never recovered. This year the picture at the All-Star break is not nearly [...]
Manager Terry Collins has given more playing time recently to Ronny Paulino, essentially splitting time equally behind the plate between Paulino and Josh Thole for the last six weeks. Before the season started, I suggested that the duo would make an ideal platoon team, with Thole getting the majority of the ABs due to being [...]
Fans often make big deals about who bats where in the lineup but in the overall scheme of things it does not matter very much. Now, that does not mean teams should pull their lineup out of a hat or start batting their pitcher leadoff. But the standard lineup does not come out much worse [...]
The Mets salvaged the final game of their three-game series against the Phillies as the bats finally came alive. The first two losses were tough to take, as the Mets held leads after seven innings in both games. They both fall into the category of toss-up games that I mentioned how the Mets are struggling [...]
While Ronny Paulino will not make you forget about Mike Piazza, he could possibly make it easier for you to dismiss Josh Thole and his slow start. Paulino has come back from the DL with authority. Although it’s a very small sample size, the club likes what it sees in Paulino. Paulino is 7-13 thus [...]
Last year the Mets got rotten offensive production from the second base position. It did not matter who they threw out there, that person could not hit. Now when I say that, an idea probably comes into your mind of a couple of guys being bad and dragging down everyone else’s numbers. But that’s not [...]
My first go round at Opening Day predictions at Mets360 did not go so well. So, I could go one of several ways: A. Try to make “easy” predictions to make me look good in hindsight. B. Make off the wall assertions and when one of them came true, trumpet the fact that I picked [...]
When you hear the name Josh Thole, an image automatically pops in your head of the pudgy lefty-hitting catcher who chokes up on the bat. You probably think of him as a pretty good hitter, one who does a nice job of getting on base. The only problem is that because of his batting style [...]
In yesterday’s New York Post, Joel Sherman wrote a column entitled, “Odds stacked against Mets.” In the piece, Sherman laid odds on varying events occurring. It was a mix of positive and negative things. Here’s what the oddsmaker wrote: Carlos Beltran has 500 PA – 20% Johan Santana makes 10 starts – 30% Jason Bay [...]
The Mets’ catching situation in 2011 is potentially a team strength, but that fact has been all but lost given all of the hoopla around the ownership situation plus speculation how the big guns will do. Before we look at what the Mets might get from Josh Thole and Ronny Paulino this year, let’s look [...]