Curtis Granderson has elevated his defense

Curtis Granderson made a great throw from right field in yesterday's game, albeit a close call, to throw out a runner tagging up from third. It was his eighth outfield assist, placing him 11th in all of baseball among outfielders in that particular stat. That's the total he had the entirety of 2014. It's this [...]

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Defensive grades that Strat-O-Matic might give the 2015 Mets

Broadcasters Howie Rose and Keith Hernandez sprinkle allusions to the Strat-O-Matic Baseball game they played extensively in their teens. It is a game that is still going strong and the defensive grades it assigns players are respected for accuracy and consistency. In recent years as a service to my fellow league members I give them [...]

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Gut Reaction: Mets 14, Rockies 9 (8/21/15)

The Mets prove that nothing's better for slumping bats than a trip to Coors Field, as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead and hung on for a 14-9 win over the Rockies Friday night. The Mets' win and the Nats' loss gives New York a five-game lead in the East. Yoenis Cespedes had one [...]

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More late-inning arms a must for playoff hunt

Carlos Torres, the Mets reliever who continued the bullpen’s recent struggles allowing a walk-off home run against Baltimore Wednesday night, said location wasn’t a problem on Henry Urrutia’s first career home run. “We called for a fastball up. I threw the fastball up. These guys, unfortunately, they’ve been seeing [Noah] Syndergaard and [Jacob] deGrom, so [...]

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Steven Matz and 15 cups of coffee

Technically speaking, it is incorrect to refer to a September call-up as “cup of coffee.” This old baseball term was historically used in reference to a short stretch spent in the majors to fill in for an injured player, not for a player filling out a roster spot for the last month of the season, [...]

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Mets fans’ apprehension is informed by the past

The Mets lost last night in excruciating fashion. We should be used to that by now, and the team did have a four-and-a-half game cushion going into it, but a loss like that still stings. The fact that the Washington Nationals were able to shave a game off that lead didn’t help. The collective “uh-oh,” [...]

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Fans should lower their expectations for David Wright

The New York Mets continued another week in first place, amazingly enough. The starting pitching has been good, the bullpen has been shaky and the offense has been streaky at best. With all of this inconsistency, it's a wonder the team is still holding on to their spot atop the NL East. They have been [...]

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Gut Reaction: Orioles 5, Mets 4 (8/19/15)

The Mets lost a tough game today, as they had the lead multiple times, but the Orioles were pesky and prevailed with a 5-4 victory. Noah Syndergaard's struggles on the road continued tonight, as he allowed eight hits, walked two in five innings. Too many base runners in a short period led to a short [...]

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A quick look at Michael Conforto’s debut

Michael Conforto has more than held his own in his first exposure to major league pitching. After 61 PA, he has a .751 OPS and a 112 wRC+. Compare those numbers to the .668 OPS and 89 wRC+ that big free agent signing Michael Cuddyer has produced this season. To be fair, Conforto has seen [...]

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A look at the Mets’ potential postseason roster

August is a little more than half way over, and the Mets have a convincing enough lead over the Washington Nationals in the National League Eastern Division to begin thinking about the post season. As any fan would expect, a lot of work and thought goes into a team’s post season, including ticket sales, promotions, [...]

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