The Mets need offense at shortstop and in left field, and they have lots of young players who could interest the Rockies.
The Mets' two biggest offensive holes are at shortstop and in left field, and the Colorado Rockies have two players at those positions, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, who are both excellent hitters and may well be on the trading block.
The Rockies are said to think highly of Noah Syndergaard, Brandon Nimmo, Steven Matz, Dilson Herrera and others. In other words, the Mets — if they are willing to part with some combination of good farmhands — will be factors for CarGo, Tulowitzki or any other star that comes onto the market.
Tulowitzki will be 30 in October and Gonzalez will turn 29 that same month, so neither is especially young. Both have suffered their share of injuries but both are also signed to long-term deals, which means any deal would stand to benefit the Mets both in 2014 and in subsequent years. Both players would also look amazing in orange and blue.
I'll leave you with this quote from the above-linked article:
one NL executive said “because Colorado always needs to address pitching, I actually see the Mets as their perfect partner.”
The Mets only managed two hits against Brewers starter Matt Garza. At least one of them was a Lucas Duda home run, but that didn't stop Milwaukee from stomping our boys 9-1.
Before the game, the Mets recalledWilmer Flores from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned Kirk Nieuwenhuis to make room. The move comes as a response to the head injury suffered by starting shortstop Ruben Tejada on Wednesday.
Tejada is expected to avoid the seven-day concussion disabled list and could be back in the lineup tonight.
In a Joel Sherman report, the Mets are described as the "perfect partner" for Colorado if the club decides to deal either Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez. The Rockies need young pitching, and New York has plenty of it.
This season has provided a lot of angst for fans of the Amazins, but at least the bullpen has been solid. Jeurys Familia in particular has been outstanding in his eighth-inning role.
The Tigers haven't been linked to the 41-year-old hurler, but it makes more sense than you think.
The New York Mets are 48–53 this season, eight games behind the Washington Nationals in the NL East. Crazier things have happened, but it's probably safe to say that they aren't going anywhere in 2014. With Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard slated to join an underrated starting rotation in 2015, the club could stand to move a starter. Naturally, the guy to get the heave-ho will be the 41-year-old Bartolo Colon.
Heard Mets trying hard to move Bartolo Colon, which isn’t exactly a surprise. Also no surprise: Dodgers trying hard to move Kemp.
The Tigers haven't shown any interest in Colon yet, but should they?
WHY THIS MAKES SENSE
While the Tigers don't need a starter, acquiring someone like Colon can have repercussions throughout the roster. Any trade for a starting pitcher will likely move Drew Smyly to the bullpen for the rest of the season, save for an occasional spot start. While Smyly's long-term future is in the rotation, he is currently on pace to throw nearly twice as many innings as he did in 2013. Moving Smyly to the bullpen will both limit his innings — possibly keeping him fresh for a deep playoff run — and provide a huge upgrade to the bullpen.
Additionally, Colon is under contract through the 2015 season. While this could be an issue in itself, it gives the Tigers an extra year to let one of the current minor league arms develop (assuming Max Scherzer is not re-signed this offseason). Robbie Ray has struggled recently, and Drew VerHagen ran into trouble in his lone spot start. Colon is still pitching well, allowing a 3.50 FIP while averaging 6⅔ innings per start.
For one, the Tigers don't seem to be in the market for a starting pitcher. While they have been linked to several players, all but one —Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, courtesy of Jon Heyman — have been relief pitchers.
The biggest reason why acquiring Colon could be a concern is his age. Already 41 years old, Colon is barely scraping 90 mph with his fastball, which he uses almost exclusively. He is also due a guaranteed $11 million next season with no contract option or buyout attached. Given the Tigers' recent luck with aging pitchers, that deal could become problematic at almost any time.
LIKELIHOOD: 0/10
It makes sense on paper, but there's little chance of the Tigers picking up a starter at the deadline when a reliever will come cheaper.
As we rocket toward the July 31 trade deadline, the Rockies find themselves in a delicate position. This season has been a disaster. They have assets to sell. Do they go full rebuild and snap up three to four stud pitching prospects for Tulo and Cargo? Or do they do as they always do and stay relatively quiet at the deadline (Ubaldo trade notwithstanding). I don't think Dick Monfort is ready to part with Tulo quite yet.
The linked article by Joel Sherman has a number of interesting nuggets. "Sources" of Sherman's say that the Mets think they have the prospect firepower to land Tulowitzki, and their young pitching core is enticing indeed. They also say the Cardinals love Tulo still and that the Yankees want him.
Also noted is that the Rockies have been watching Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli is a solid player--a good defensive backstop with a solid bat (career wRC+ of 95, and he's at 109 this year). The Yanks are looking for a starter, ie De La Rosa or Anderson. If the Rockies make this deal, it means they are finally moving on from the Wilin Rosario era, which they tried to do last off season as well.
As for Stubbs, now seems like the perfect sell high opportunity. I love what he's done here in Denver, and he's the perfect fourth outfielder for our lefty-heavy starting outfield. But he's starting to make some money, and you shouldn't be afraid to trade a relatively expensive fourth outfielder in a lost year. Maybe the return offered by the Mariners was lousy, who knows. Personally, I think that Safeco Field would be absolute death for Stubbs.
Who knows what the future holds for Ben Paulsen, but his opening series against the Nationals sure was nice (five hits in eleven at bats). My untrained eye was impressed with his swing at any rate. He's certainly a better option at first base than Charlie freakin' Culberson until Morneau returns. Check out Paulsen's derp-face in the article.
A terrific piece by Eno Sarris at Fangraphs about Brett Anderson's arsenal. Definitely read the whole thing, because it's replete with quotes from the eminently quotable lefty. Also included are some close up photos of his effed up finger and his opinion about the difficulties of pitching at Coors. I found it interesting that he could never figure out the change up; I could never throw it either. I'd just spike it into the ground and look like a total idiot.
Our friend Rockies Zingers writes that the Colorado Rockies are starting to resemble the hapless Cubs; but the Cubs seem to have a plan in place to get better. What's the Rockies' plan?
Bradlee Ross reviews ONEOK Field, the home turf of the Tulsa Drillers. He liked it a lot. If you click through, be sure to mute your speakers, as I got scared half to death when a Wal Mart ad auto-played at full volume.
The organization's top pitching prospect has unspectacular stats this season in Triple-A Las Vegas, but his inflated ERA belies an otherwise impressive 2014 season.
New York Mets pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard came into the 2014 season looking to follow the same path that Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler did the prior two years, spending the first half of the season in Triple-A before coming up to the bright lights of New York City. He was coming off of a statistically amazing season, striking out 133 batters in 117⅔ innings with just 28 walks and a 3.06 ERA as a twenty-year-old.
However, this season he has been lit up in Triple-A Las Vegas. He has a 5.34 ERA and 1.527 WHIP in 18 starts, scaring many Mets fans into thinking he isn’t as good as they previously thought.
So, this past week when ESPN’s Keith Law ranked the Mets as the fourth-best farm system in baseball, he surprised many fans by writing: “Noah Syndergaard (No. 1) has had an excellent year in the pitchers’ hell of Las Vegas.”
Law continued to push forward this idea in his Wednesday chat, saying, “[Syndergaard] seems unfazed by the altitude out there and it’s not like he’s having bad results,” and “you have to look past Syndergaard posting a 6 ERA in Vegas and realize he’s doing what you want him to do.”
If you just look at the basic stats of what Syndergaard is doing this year, it’s hard not to think Law is crazy, high, or just trolling people. However, if you look beyond Syndergaard’s poor numbers, you can see where he is coming from.
Fans of struggling teams like the Mets often have a habit of perusing through minor league box scores and drawing conclusions from stats. After last season, fans decided Syndergaard was the best pitcher on the planet based on his stats in Single- and Double-A, and those beliefs were reinforced by reports from different scouting websites.
There was little doubt that Syndergaard was one of the most exciting pitching prospects in baseball coming into this season, but the fans who believed Syndergaard was great because of his stats are now thoroughly disappointed in his season this year because of the punishment Vegas has inflicted upon him.
Vegas has a reputation for being a tremendous hitters’ park. Every year, the runs scored per game in Vegas are higher than most other minor league stadiums outside of the Pacific Coast League (with the possible exception of the California League). Heading into this season, the Star-Ledger’s Mike Vorkunov wrote about the issues of the stadium and how the 51s are trying to improve the conditions.
Photo credit: Gordon Donovan
Minor league stats are far from meaningless, but they should be taken with a grain of salt, even beyond specific hitting and pitching environments. Matt Harvey had a solid but unremarkable 3.68 ERA and 1.318 WHIP while playing in a fair environment in Buffalo, but exceeded those numbers tremendously after getting called up.
Harvey is a freak who by all accounts started throwing harder with more polished secondary pitches after getting called up, and expecting the same leap for Syndergaard is wildly optimistic. However, Syndergaard’s current struggles in Vegas can be compared to Harvey’s performance in college. Scouting pitchers in minor league environments like Las Vegas and the PCL is similar to scouting college pitchers before the NCAA switched to BBCOR bats.
Looking back at Harvey’s statistics during his career at UNC, they do not look like the production you would expect from someone who dominated the major leagues in 2013. This was the case especially with Harvey’s sophomore year, during which he recorded a bloated 5.40 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in 75 innings, hardly a small sample. He improved in his junior season to a 3.09 ERA and 1.20 WHIP, solid numbers but not what you would expect from a major league stud.
Despite the unremarkable statistics, Omar Minaya actually made a good decision and trusted the scouting department, selecting the future star with the seventh overall pick. Harvey struggled in college for many reasons, the most important being that he just wasn’t as good then as he was three years later. But pitching to aluminum bats is a daunting task, as weak contact can lead to line drives spraying across the field and grounders flying through holes.
In Las Vegas, it is a similar situation. The part of Las Vegas that gets brought up the most is how the ball flies there, causing normal fly balls to leave the yard. However, a huge aspect of the environment is the hard dirt in the infield caused by the desert climate. Balls hit in Vegas are similar to balls hit by aluminum bats in that normal ground balls shoot through holes while hitters can rely on sub-par contact to drive the ball.
Pitchers can respond in a number of ways to this aluminum-bat effect (as I’ll refer to it from now on). Ideally, a pitcher wouldn’t worry about his numbers and would approach hitters as if he was pitching in a normal environment.
Pitching in a terrible environment can force pitchers to make improvements in order to succeed. Jacob deGrom came into this season and was able to excel in Vegas because of a remarkably improved changeup, which we now see in every start from him in the big leagues. Instead of worrying about giving up hard contact, deGrom found a way to miss bats and succeed despite the factors working against him.
Pitching in a terrible environment can force pitchers to make improvements in order to succeed.
Syndergaard hasn’t been able to miss bats as much, which could benefit him in the long run. He is currently a three-pitch pitcher, throwing a fastball-curveball-changeup mix. Last season Syndergaard’s curveball took a huge step forward and was a major reason for his statistical success while his changeup lagged behind. However, Vegas has a reputation for being a place where it is difficult to throw effective breaking pitches, and as a result, his numbers have suffered as he is left with a plus-fastball and two fringier pitches.
Even if Syndergaard’s changeup never becomes a plus-pitch for him, he should be an effective big-league starter. However, if he is ever going to be a front-of-the-rotation guy, having a third pitch with which to miss bats will put him over the top. As long as he doesn’t let the aluminum-bat effect change his approach to pitching, the odds of his changeup becoming a plus offering increase as he is forced to throw it more often.
And even without his curveball there to help him, Syndergaard has still missed a ton of bats this year. His strikeout rate isn’t quite as good as last year but just marginally so. He had a strikeout rate of 24.8% in High-A and an ungodly 32.2% strikeout rate in Double-A, while he has struck out 23.1% of hitters this year.
Some pitchers try and nibble at the edges of the zone when thrown into a tough environment because they are afraid of giving up hits, and while it possibly improves their ERA by a marginal percentage, it can create bad habits.
The fact that Syndergaard hasn’t changed his approach is undoubtedly one of the reasons Keith Law believes his performance in Triple-A is just fine. Just like his strikeout rate, Syndergaard’s walk rate is not as good as last year, but just slightly worse. In 2013, he walked 6.2% of batters in High-A and 5.6% in Double-A, while this year he has walked a still very respectable 7.3%.
Photo credit: Gordon Donovan
Syndergaard also has an absurdly high BABIP-against of .379 in Vegas. BABIP is an imperfect stat as it can mean a hitter is either very lucky or he consistently makes hard contact. As far as Syndergaard’s BABIP-against in Las Vegas, it can easily be explained as a result of the aluminum-bat effect combined with bad luck.
Odds are that Syndergaard is giving up more hard contact than he normally would since his curveball is less effective, but still, the fact that hitters are hitting .379 against him when making contact is comical. Given the quality of his stuff, allowing hard contact shouldn’t be an issue for him moving forward.
No matter which way you look at it, Noah Syndergaard is not having an ideal season. In a perfect world, he would be striking out everybody and forcing the Mets to call him up. However, because of many factors involved, he is doing just fine in Vegas despite what his stat line indicates. He is still attacking the zone while working with one less plus-pitch than he usually has, and all the while he is being forced to improve his changeup.
When looking at a player, there are a plethora of factors to look at outside of their statistics. Yes, it was nice to see Syndergaard strike out 32.2% of hitters in Double-A last season, but that doesn’t mean his 1.527 WHIP this year should have the same meaning. He’s still throwing hard, improving his location, and most importantly staying healthy (despite a scare).
As hard as it may be to believe from his stats, Syndergaard is having a good season.
The Mets need to quit horsing around and just let Wilmer Flores start every day.
In Part I we argued that the Ruben Tejada Experiment was over (although it might make for a cool band name) by explaining that Tejada's performance this season, and in his career, was lackluster. We did this by pointing out three salient facts:
Tejada is 161 out of 162 major leaguers in slugging percentage this season
Tejada is 22nd out of 28 among all shortstops in fWAR
Tejada's poor overall batting line of .233/.353/.292 is similar to his career major league batting line of .255/.329/.314
That was, I thought, the easy part. Although we concluded by saying that Tejada was indeed a major league caliber player, who would rush to defend Tejada? Apparently more than a few people, including Dan Haefeli of Rising Apple, who wrote a thoughtful counterpoint. Unfortunately, I'll need to address that in another article, as now I must answer the hard part of the Wilmer Flores question: The justification behind #FreeWilmer.
Flores is, and hits like, an A+ prospect
Wilmer Flores, the player, needs little to no introduction to the New York Mets' fanbase. Flores was born in Venezuela in 1991 (!!) and has been in the Mets' organization since 2007, when he signed for $750,000 (he was considered one of the top hitters in the international class that year). Promoted aggressively throughout the Mets' minor league system, Flores was often playing with players half a decade older than him, yet still performing admirably. Check this out:
Flores was regularly four or five years younger than the average players in his league, yet made his way to Class-A St. Lucie by the time he was only 18 years old. For those of us who were once 16 years old (I assume all of us) we know what a huge difference four or five years makes at that age. Nonetheless, Flores prospered, leading Baseball America to rank Flores as the Mets' second-best prospect three years in a row, from 2008 through 2010, as well as rate him in their MLB Top 100 three times. When ESPN's Keith Law named Flores the #47 prospect in baseball in 2011, he wrote that Flores's "bat should profile at any position because of his quick wrists, short path to the ball and strong follow-through with good loft for future power as he fills out."
But that's ancient history, how about lately? Well, Flores's bat sure did mature, and he began to crush the ball at every level of the minor leagues that dared to attempt to contain him. Minor league expert John Sickels wrote this about Flores in August of last year:
The power began to surge last year: he hit .289/.336/.463 with 10 homers in 64 games for St. Lucie, followed by a .311/.361/.494 mark with eight more homers in 66 games for Double-A Binghamton. This year, playing for Triple-A Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), Flores has hit .321/.357/.531 with 15 homers, 36 doubles, 25 walks, 63 strikeouts in 424 at-bats.
Flores started setting fire to opposing pitching, with an 855 OPS at Binghamton (at age 20) and his current reign of terror in Triple-A Las Vegas. He hasn't slugged less than .494 in three years.
Take a look at that batting line in Las Vegas, where he is, give or take, half a decade younger than his competition. Wilmer Flores now has a tidy 162 games played in Triple-A, how statistically convenient! Here's his monstrous batting line: .321/.360/.543 with 28 home runs and 143 RBI. Yeah, 143 RBI in one season's worth of at-bats. And he's actually been hitting better since his last demotion, with a .333/.409/.564 line over his last ten games.
Are you concerned because the Triple-A PCL is a notorious hitter's league? Well I am, so as a general rule I like to compare a player's performance to that of his peers, people playing under the same conditions, to put his performance into context.
Flores has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.
Concern about Flores’s defense
If you're reading this, then you already know the excuse used by folks who want to prevent Wilmer Flores from running away with the starting shortstop job in Flushing: His defense. For many years we have heard how Flores was going to have to "eventually move off the position." But is it truly the case that he won't be able to handle shortstop? And if it is, when is "eventually"?
Sometimes, a narrative can run away with you and overtake reality and substance. Rather than speculate based on the copy-and-paste of scouting reports from 2009 and 2010, here's what we actually know about Flores:
He was twice rated by Baseball America as having the "best infield arm" in the entire Mets minor league system.
He has 26 starts at third base in the majors, and 16 starts at shortstop in the majors, spanning 354 innings, and has made only three errors.
UZR has so far, in a tiny sample, considered Flores to be an above-average defender. Even if he is not an above-average defender, every inning he plays to positive reviews narrows the band of his expected outcomes. If you thought previously that Flores was a defender between 0 and -30 UZR/150, maybe now you think he's between 0 and -20 instead.
Notice I'm not arguing here that Flores is a plus-plus-defensive shortstop. However, he is a professional baseball player who played shortstop his entire life until he was moved off the position in 2012, and he has continued to intermittently play shortstop since then. It's virtually assured, given what we already know, that Wilmer Flores would not be the worst defensive shortstop in baseball right now.
Flores can probably play a passable shortstop, especially in an organization that actually considers—I wish I were joking—Eric Campbell an option as a backup shortstop.
The question, then, is just how bad will Flores be at shortstop, and how bad does he have to be to offset his offensive contributions? Put another way, is Flores's combination of offense and defense better than Ruben Tejada's? We've got an answer.
Flores's offense-plus-defense justifies his major league playing time
Flores doesn't have to be a great, or even good, defensive shortstop in order to be better than Ruben Tejada. As long as he's "not bad" the odds are that he will contribute enough offensively to make up the difference. But where is that line?
Luckily, the very smart Astromets (@astromets31) tackled a similar question in May, asking what Flores would have to bat in order to be worth two or three wins above replacement even if his defense was terrible. It's quite a mathy article, so I will summarize its findings here.
Astromets found that even if Wilmer Flores was a -15 UZR/150 shortstop, he would be a 3 WAR contributor if he batted .297/.346/.464. If he was a -10 UZR/150 shortstop, he could contribute 3 WAR by batting .295/.337/.446. If he was only slightly below average at -5 UZR/150, he would contribute 3 WAR by batting .270/.321/.437.
He could hit even less than that if you set the bar at 2 WAR, which would be a more productive season than any Ruben Tejada has ever turned in in his career. If you don't understand or like UZR or WAR, then forget the math for a second, it is just a common-sense proposition: The better his defense, the less he will need to hit.
It is unlikely at this point that Flores is a -15 UZR/150 or worse shortstop, which would make him twice as bad as Hanley Ramirez, who for his career is only -8.8 UZR/150 out there. In fact, as another tall shortstop (Hanley is 6'2", Flores is 6'3") who is a former Top-100 prospect maligned for his defense but praised for his offense, Hanley might be an excellent comparable.
All of the evidence, from scouting to stats, says that Flores will hit in the major leagues. His career batting line in the minor leagues, despite his having being young for each level, is .292/.334/.440, which is weighed down by a bad season he had in Low-A in 2009. Not only has he hit in Triple-A Vegas, but he hit .311/.361/.494 in Double-A Binghamton in a notorious pitcher's league.
You'd have to go back to 2011 in order to find a single season where Flores did not bat .300 or better (he hit .300 over 547 at-bats in 2012, he hit .321 in 463 at-bats last year, and he's batting .323 this year). Even when discounting the inflated statistics in Vegas, Wilmer Flores's batting line looks pretty similar to that of his peers—no player at Vegas has with at least 200 plate appearances has an OPS as high as Flores's.
Wilmer Flores is a top prospect, time to treat him like one
The bar is not high for Flores to be a better option at shortstop than Ruben Tejada. To do so, he'll simply have to play -10 UZR/150 defense (essentially Hanley Ramirez defense) and hit only about as well as Manny Machado (.283/.314/.432) or Marco Scutaro (.297/.357/.369) did last year.
But why approach this and argue from the negative? Why not be aggressive? Only the Mets would take a Top-100 Prospect and focus only on what reports say he might "someday" not be able to do. Flores has crushed the PCL as a 21- and 22-year-old among much older men. He's looked fine on defense at the major league level, and the statistics so far back that up. If given time to play, I expect that Flores can easily surpass his preseason ESPN projections (.267/.309/.400) for the rest of the season. After so many years, this writer is prepared to see what we have in Wilmer Flores.
Unfortunately, it does not look like #FreeWilmer will be happening for the time being:
How long is Wilmer Flores sticking around? "Had [Ruben Tejada] not gotten hit in the head, we wouldn't even be talking about this," TC said.
But I ask the Mets: What is there to lose in letting Flores show what he's got? The organization at times has revived the idea that Flores could play shortstop, with reports indicating that he improved his agility and quickness at the team's winter strength and fitness camp, and he certainly didn't embarrass himself at shortstop the last time he was called up. As a bonus, Ruben Tejada makes a perfect backup in the middle infield and his bat control, his best attribute, makes him a decent option to pinch hit late in a game when you need more than one run.
Will Flores make errors? Sure. Will there be a chance that he can't handle shortstop? Sure. Is there a chance he isn't ready to hit in the major leagues? Sure, even that is possible. But in baseball, like in life, we've got to make the best decisions we can, at any given time, with the data that is available to us. And our data says Wilmer Flores is done hitting .330 in Triple-A and is ready for the Show. It begins today.
The starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter-turned-reliever after some discomfort during Thursday's loss to the Brewers.
The old adage that you can never have enough pitching has been demonstrated yet again. Daisuke Matsuzaka reported to NY today for anMRI on his elbow. It had been observed that Dice-K was in some discomfort during Thursday's game following two innings of relief work, however Terry Collins has stated that he was unaware of any injury at the time.
The potential loss of Dice-K would be an unfortunate development for the flexibility of the Mets' pitching staff. Matsuzaka has pitched reasonably effectively in both starting and relief roles throughout the season, having started nine games and appeared in relief 18 times while maintaining a 3.87 ERA. While Dice-K has struggled with walks—his 5.9 walks-per-nine rate this season is fairly terrible—a solid strikeout rate (8.6 K/9) and a career low home run rate against (.61 HR/9) have allowed him to be a valuable asset to the team, especially considering his versatility.
After a solid pitching performance from Zack Wheeler, the Mets come from behind late and defeat the Brewers, 3-2.
After barely registering a pulse for eight innings against Brewers starter Jovani Gallardo, the Mets offense scored three runs in the ninth to lock up a victory in Milwaukee, and bring their record for this crucial road trip back to .500.
Zack Wheeler pitched 6⅔ stellar innings, one-hitting the Brewers for much of the night and allowing only one unearned run thanks to a Daniel Murphy error. However, with two outs in the seventh, Carlos Gomez homered to put the Brewers up 2-0 and presumably stick Wheeler with a tough-luck loss.
Thankfully, Murphy redeemed himself for his earlier miscue and got on with a double in the top of the ninth off of Francisco Rodriguez. David Wright drove him in with a single to left, and Lucas Duda homered for the second time in as many games to, miraculously, put the Mets up 3-2.
Jenrry Meija would enter the game in the ninth, and after walking the first batter he faced, struck out the next three to earn the save.
GameThread Roll Call
Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.
Rafael Montero made his second start post-oblique strain for Las Vegas last night and pitched better than his final line would indicate. The righty struggled out of the gate, allowing a line drive homer to Brennan Boesch in the first and a couple of hard hit balls in the second, but settled down from there. The highlight of Montero's evening came in the fourth when he struck out the side with all three victims going down swinging.
Offensively, Las Vegas came to life after Montero's departure from the game, as the heart of the order combined to go deep four times from the fifth inning on. The biggest blow was struck by the recently demoted Kirk Nieuwenhuis: a go-ahead three-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh. The Captain also singled twice and scored a pair of runs and remains the third-best outfield option on the 40-man roster at the moment.
The B-Mets scored six times despite the inability of Brandon Nimmo and Dilson Herrera to set the table for the rest of the offense. The pair combined to go one-for-nine with Nimmo knocking the lone safety. With the oh-fer, Herrera's most recent hit streak came to an end at a dozen games. The lower half of the lineup, particularly Jayce Boyd and Darrell Ceciliani, brought the lumber in support of Greg Peavey. Not that he needed much help at all. The righty held Trenton to just six base runners and needed exactly 100 pitches to hurl eight innings of one-run ball.
Savannah batters managed just five hits, four singles and a Neifi Zapata triple, against three Augusta pitchers. As far as highlights go, Champ Stuart showed off his non-hit tools, stealing his 15th base of the season and gunning down GreenJackets center fielder Chris Lofton (no relation to Kenny) as he tried to go first to third on a single.
Michael Conforto continues to acquit himself nicely to professional baseball. The first-rounder picked up his fourth multi-hit game of the week last night, lacing a single and an RBI double. After a week as a pro, his line sits at .407/.429/.556. Too soon to PROMOAT?
'Twas a rough day for Kingsport, as they were outscored 10-4 en route losing both ends of a doubleheader with the Rookie League Royals. Shortstop Jose Martinez pretty much single-handedly won the game one for the Royals by beating out an infield hit in the bottom of the tenth, stealing second base, and then coming all the way home when he attempted to a steal third on a very wild pitch uncorked by reliever Bryce Beeler.
Wuilmer Becerra had two of Kingsport's three hits in the nightcap. The 19-year old is hitting .425 with a .667 slugging percentage over his last ten games. He now has 100 at-bats for the season and his line is .320/.355/.530. The 4/26 BB-to-walk ratio over the same span could use some improvement, however.
Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from July 25th.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 10-2 vs. Pawtucket Red Sox
1B Jose Pirela 1-5, 2 K - hitting .195 over last 10 games 2B Rob Refsnyder 1-3, BB, K LF Zoilo Almonte 1-4, RBI CF Adonis Garcia 2-4, 2B DH Kyle Roller 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB C John Ryan Murphy 0-4, K, 2 PB RF Taylor Dugas 1-4, K, outfield assist 3B Rob Segedin 1-4 SS Carmen Angelini 0-4
Matt Tracy 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R/2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, HR, 2 HBP - 59 of 94 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/3 FO Danny Burawa 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB - 18 of 37 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/2 FO Rich Hill 1.0 IP, 3 K - 11 of 13 pitches for strikes Joel De La Cruz 1.2 IP, 2 H, K - 14 of 17 pitches for strikes, 3 GO/0 FO Tyler Webb 1.1 IP, 4 K, WP - 18 of 24 pitches for strikes, 1 GO/0 FO
Double-A Trenton Thunder:L 6-1 vs. Binghamton Mets
LF Ben Gamel 0-4 CF Jake Cave 1-4, K DH Gary Sanchez 2-4, K - hitting .317 over last 10 games C Peter O`Brien 0-3, RBI, BB, K RF Tyler Austin 1-4, K - hitting .361 over last 10 games 1B Francisco Arcia 1-3, BB, 2 K, two errors 3B Dan Fiorito 0-4, 2 K 2B Casey Stevenson 1-3, K SS Ali Castillo 0-3, K
Dan Camarena 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R/2 ER, 5 K, HR - 60 of 94 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/9 FO Nick Rumbelow 1.0 IP, H, 2 R/1 ER, BB, 3 K - 13 of 22 pitches for strikes Nick Goody 0.1 IP, ER, BB, K - 12 of 19 pitches for strikes Jairo Heredia 1.2 IP, H, 3 K, HBP - 21 of 32 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/0 FO
CF Danny Oh 3-5, K RF Aaron Judge 1-4, RBI, K 1B Greg Bird 2-5, 2 RBI - hitting .389/.465/.722 over last 10 games DH Dante Bichette 0-3, BB, 3 K 3B Eric Jagielo 0-4 - hitting .167 over last 10 games 2B Jose Rosario 1-3, BB SS Cito Culver 1-4, K C Trent Garrison 1-3, 2B, BB LF Anderson Feliz 0-3, RBI, BB, outfield assist
Brett Gerritse 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, K - 6 GO/3 FO Kyle Haynes 2.0 IP, 2 BB, 3 K - 2 GO/1 FO Taylor Garrison 2.0 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 2 K - 2 GO/0 FO Cesar Vargas 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K - 1 GO/0 FO
CF Mark Payton 3-5, 2B, RBI, K - hitting .364/.478/.527 on the season SS Abiatal Avelino 0-4, BB, K, throwing error (4) 2B Tyler Wade 2-5, 2B - hitting .442 over last 10 games 3B Miguel Andujar 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, K LF Michael O`Neill 1-3, BB, SB - 29th stolen base of the season C Eduardo de Oleo 0-3, RBI, fielding error (8) DH Gosuke Katoh 0-4, K 1B John Murphy 0-4 RF Brandon Thomas 1-3, BB, K
Chaz Hebert 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, WP - 6 GO/1 FO Evan Rutckyj 1.1 IP, BB, 2 K - 0 GO/1 FO Stefan Lopez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/0 ER, 3 K - 1 GO/2 FO
Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:L 9-7 vs. Tri-City Valley Cats
Devyn Bolasky 1-4, BB C Luis Torrens 2-5, throwing error (3) - hitting .376/.411/.565 in NYPL 3B Ty McFarland 2-5, HR, 4 RBI - hitting .375 over last 10 games LF Chris Breen 1-3, 2 BB, K 1B Connor Spencer 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB SS Vince Conde 0-5, K, throwing error (2) DH Isaias Tejeda 2-5, K - hitting .410 over last 10 games RF Austin Aune 2-4, 2B, 3B, 2 K, throwing error (3) 2B Jake Anderson 0-2, RBI, BB
Dillon McNamara 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R/1 ER, 3 BB, K - 6 GO/2 FO Sean Carley 0.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R/6 ER - 1 GO/0 FO Conor Mullee 2.2 IP, H, 5 K - 1 GO/2 FO Andury Acevedo 1.0 IP, H, BB, 2 K - 0 GO/1 FO
Zach Wheeler put in another solid performance as the Mets come from behind to beat the mighty Brewers 3-2 thanks to the Big Lebowski.
For eight innings of Friday night's game against the National League Central leading Brewers, the Mets offense looked as it has for this entire road trip: without energy, without power, and without life. Indeed, the Mets had only scored fifteen runs in their last seven games, and for most of the night it looked like this contest was going to be another depressing ordeal for Mets fans.
The baseball gods, though, had other things in store for the Amazins. And in the top of the ninth inning, having only gotten four hits all night, the Mets jumped in front of the streaking Brewers and evened their record on this road trip to 4-4.
The vast majority of the game was a pitchers' duel between Zack Wheeler and Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo three-hit the Mets for most of the night, with two of those hits coming from Daniel Murphy, who is now 8-for-18 against the Gallardo in his career. Other than that, though, Gallardo cruised. He struck out eight and allowed no runs through seven-and-two-thirds innings of work. Gallardo had retired fourteen Mets before Eric Campbell's infield hit in the eighth knocked him out of the game.
As for the Mets side of things, Wheeler performed nearly as well. After a giving up an infield hit to Carlos Gomez and hitting Rickie Weeks with a 96 mile per hour fastball, Wheeler settled down nicely. He struck out Ryan Braun next, got Aramis Ramirez to hit into a fielder's choice, and then got Khris Davis to ground out to short. He breezed through the second and third innings before a changeup got away from him and hit Davis in the fourth. Undeterred, he struck out Lyle Overbay to end the inning without any further hiccups. In the fifth, he would work around Daniel Murphy's error and got the excitable Carlos Gomez to ground out to third on a nice play by David Wright.
The trouble for the Mets began in the sixth, when, after an eight pitch at-bat, Wheeler issued his first walk of the game to Rickie Weeks. Wheeler then induced a ground ball from Ryan Braun that should have been a double play, but instead managed to sneak through the legs of Daniel Murphy for the All-Star's second error of the night. (No word yet on whether Murph flogged himself in the dugout at the end of the inning.)
Unlike the first error, the Mets would pay for this one, as the speedy Weeks advanced to third on the play. Wheeler then faced Aramis Ramirez. The Georgian threw his entire arsenal all over the strike zone at Ramirez until the Brewers clean-up hitter slapped a ball to short that eliminated Braun but scored Weeks to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. In response, Wheeler showed incredible maturity and resilience by striking out Khris Davis, and, despite walking Lyle Overbay, got Jean Segura to ground out to third.
The trouble in the following inning would be entirely of Wheeler's own making. After Martin Maldonado grounded out to third, and Yovani Gallardo struck out looking, the Mets starter faced Carlos Gomez. Gomez took the first pitch he saw, smacked it just over the wall in right-centerfield, and performed his obligatory chest pounding celebration as he rounded the bases, to the chagrin of Mets fans (and anyone with taste) everywhere. Next up, Rickie Weeks would almost make it back-to-back solo homers, but his hit managed to stay in the park for a double. Wheeler's night was finished, though, and while Vic Black would get Ryan Braun to fly out to Juan Lagares, it looked as if Wheeler would get stuck with the tough-luck loss.
The Mets had a shot to tie it in the eighth on the aforementioned two-out hit from Campbell that knocked Gallardo out of the game. With Curtis Granderson due up, Ron Roenicke called in lefty Will Smith to get the final out. The Fresh Prince did just that, striking out the slumping right-fielder on four pitches and ending the threat.
After Carlos Torres came in the eighth and held the Brewers at two, Daniel Murphy led off the ninth inning against former Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez. Perhaps it was the sight of an old friend, or perhaps Murph's desire for redemption spiritually guided his bat to contact, or perhaps it was just old-fashioned Mets magic, but Murph doubled to left for his third hit of the night. Captain Wright promptly drove Murph in, muscling a single into left field to cut the Brewers' lead in half. Lucas Duda now lumbered to the plate. The first baseman jumped on the first pitch he saw, smacking a home run that put the Mets on top 3-2, and most likely dented the wall beyond the right-center-field fence at Miller Park.
Jenrry Meija would have his work cut out for him in the ninth, though. Roenicke sent up Brewers messiah Jonathan Lucroy to pinch hit for Maldonado, and Meija walked him to put the tying run at first with no outs. Luckily, Logan Schafer came up to bunt Lucroy over to second and failed miserably. Meija struck him out, partially to record an out and partially to put the poor boy out of his misery. This brought the histrionic Gomez back up, but sadly for Brewers fans, lighting failed to strike twice, and Gomez struck out swinging on an 87 mph slider from Meija. Meija then struck out Weeks to end the game and earn his fourteenth save of the year.
Murphy redeemed, K-Rod defeated, Mets victorious. We should do this more often.
Big winners: Lucas Duda, 44.0; Jenrry Meija, 19.4 Big losers:Bobby Abreu, -11.9; Curtis Granderson, -10.1 Teh aw3s0mest play: Lucas Duda homer, top of the ninth Teh sux0rest play: Carlos Gomez homer, bottom of the seventh Total pitcher WPA: 27.9 Total batter WPA: 22.1 GWRBI!: Lucas Duda home run, top of the ninth
Despite a great pitching performance by Zack Wheeer, the Mets still found themselves one run behind the Brewers in the top of the ninth. That was amended when Lucas Duda smashed a two-run home run off of Francisco Rodriguez. New York won 3-2.
Duda's career-high 17th home run of the season turned what could have been a tough loss into an exhilarating win for the Amazins.
Daisuke Matsuzaka went to get an MRI on his elbow yesterday. The swingman has been quite valuable for the Mets this season, so hopefully he turns out to be okay.
Andy Martino reports that the Mets would be willing to eat $2 million of Bartolo Colon's remaining salary in a trade of the 41-year-old starter.
Last weekend's Citi Field Sleepover was a great experience for fans of all ages.
Benjamin Morris of Five Thirty Eight knows that it's only appropriate to use numbers to show how awesome of a general manager Oakland's Billy Beane has been.
The Atlantic League is adding some new rules to speed up its baseball games. The commissioner's office will no doubt be keeping track of how players and fans react to the changes.
In other Atlantic League news, the Bridgeport Bluefish have presented what is perhaps the worst uniform of all time.
The Hall Of Fame has decided to make a change to its selection eligibility rules.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame has announced a change to its voting schedule, as players may now only stay on the ballot for 10 years, as opposed to the previous 15 years. The change will allow three players, Don Mattingly, Bubba Trammel, and Lee Smith to be grandfathered in and stay on the ballot. The change is slated to be made next season.
On a Hall of Fame Weekend where there has been much discussion surrounding the players who were left out, this change has the potential to greatly alter the outlook of the players who were not voted in. Voters will have less time to make a decision on players like Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds, who were directly connected to steroid use. Some of the general thinking on the Hall of Fame was that, as time passes, the sentiment about players like Bonds and Clemens will soften and the players will get closer to election.
From a Mets perspective, the change greatly affects Mike Piazza, who has yet to be elected, despite the fact that detractors have kept him out over hearsay. Piazza was included on 62.2% of ballots, and that number was expected to improve in coming years. Piazza will have an uphill battle on his hands next year with Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz all appearing for the first time. With the change in voting, it remains to be seen just how Piazza will fare with the pressure on voters building.
Matsuzaka most recently pitched during Thursday night's debacle, where he gave up three earned runs on two home runs. Matsuzaka had been hit hard in his previous two appearances as well, including giving up four runs—despite striking out 10—in his most recent start in Miami.
Buddy Carlyle has seemingly had round-trip tickets from Las Vegas to New York all season, despite the fact that he's only appeared in five games. Carlyle has posted a 1.29 ERA during his combined major league stints, while allowing only one run. Although the sample size is small,Fangraphs suggests that Carlyle may be due for some regression as hisxFIP sits at 3.70. Carlyle most recently appeared for the Mets in San Diego on July 19, where he pitched a scoreless inning.
If the Mets really want the superstar shortstop they should be prepared to pay dearly for him.
On the SNY postgame show following last night's Mets come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Brewers, former Mets GM Jim Duquette opined on the organization's interest in Colorado Rockies superstar shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Either player would represent a significant upgrade over what the Mets currently have at those positions, but the suspected cost for acquiring either player would be considerable.
Regarding Tulowitzki, Duquette speculated that any deal with the Mets would begin with Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero, and Dominic Smith, and at least one other player would have to be added to that formidable package. We don't know if Duquette is basing this conjecture on conversations he has had with Mets officials, Rockies officials, executives from other teams, or just his own experience, but he clearly thinks the Mets—or any team interested in Tulowitzki—will have to pay a hefty sum to land the four-time All-Star.
Tulowitzki will be 30 in October and has averaged just 120 games played over the past seven seasons (2007-2013). He is making $16 million this season, but his salary jumps to $20 million a year in 2015 and will remain at that mark through 2019, after which it dips to $14 million in 2020 (Tulowitzki will be 35). The Rockies have a team option at $15 million for 2021 with a $4 million buyout.
Good offense is hard to find at shortstop, and great offense is exceedingly rare. If Duquette is on the mark with respect to the type and quantity of players the Rockies will be asking for, is this a gamble the Mets should be considering?
After a remarkably hot start to the season, the center fielder has cooled considerably at the plate.
Juan Lagares has lately looked more like the player we saw during the 2013 season than the one who had a red-hot start during the first two months of the season. His offense has suffered mightily ever since he came off the disabled list recovering from the strained hamstring he suffered in May.
Collins on Juan Lagares: "He is trying way too hard. We’re trying to get him to reduce the strike zone, and he’s enlarging it.”
Lagares’s batting line of .295/.337/.429 before his injury has now dipped to .272/.305/.374. His defense more than justifies his playing time, but providing generally solid offense has allowed him to be an everyday player this season. That solid offense has slipped over the last month, as he has a .529 OPS in 78 at-bats since late June.
During yesterday’s Mets broadcast, Keith Hernandez talked about Lagares’s approach at the plate now compared to a couple of months ago, specifically with respect to hitting curveballs. Hernandez mentioned that the breaking ball moves a bit slower when you’re hitting better, allowing you to lay off the pitch in the dirt. Lagares struck out on a curveball thrown fromYovani Gallardo that broke into the dirt, which was Lagares’s sixth strikeout in the past five games.
Lagares has done a better job of swinging at pitches in the strike zone this season, which helped him cut down on his strikeout percentage earlier in the season. His recent struggles are reminiscent of the player that used to constantly chase pitches out of the zone, and that’s something manager Terry Collins and hitting coach Lamar Johnson will continue to work on.
One bad inning out of Jonathon Niese was all it took as the Mets lost the third game in this four game series.
The Mets lost by a score of 5-2 in Milwaukee tonight in disappointing fashion. New York struck first in this one with a run in the second off an RBI single by—who else—Lucas Duda. Curtis Granderson said hello in the fifth inning with a solo shot, his first since the All-Star break and first by a Met not named Duda in that same time span. The two runs would be all the Mets could manage, however, as they proceeded to give up five unanswered to the Brewers.
Niese was in cruise control through the first four innings and appeared to be working on a gem when, rather suddenly, the wheels fell off in the fifth. With two outs, Jean Segura scored on a wild pitch, Jonathan Lucroy hit an RBI double, and Ryan Braun added an RBI single. Just like that the Brewers were ahead 3-2. The Brewers would tack on one more in the sixth on a Mark Reynolds solo bomb and another in the eighth on a Khris Davis RBI double.
The Brewers' bullpen was dominant and there was no ninth-inning magic tonight, as Francisco Rodriguez, with a three-run cushion, closed it out in the ninth. The Mets will look to even up the series tomorrow in Milwaukee and head back home with a .500 record on this long, ten-game trip.
GameThread Roll Call
Nice job by MookieTheCat; his effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.
The Mets were only able to score two runs as they were unable to take command of series in Milwaukee
Jonathon Niese, making just his second start since Independence Day, was back on the bump and looking to rebound from his previous shaky outing in Seattle. Unfortunately for Jon, he was unable to do so, as the Mets lost in Milwaukee by a score of 5-2. With just five days remaining until the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, this loss puts the Mets' record at 49-55. This long road trip was said to have a huge causal effect on whether Sandy Alderson would determine his club to be buyers or sellers and at 4-5 the jury is still out. The Mets will now look to even the series tomorrow afternoon and head back to New York Sunday night with a .500 road trip.
In an effort to shake up a slumping lineup, Terry Collins pulled a Tony La Russa, again, by batting the pitcher eighth in order that the speedy Eric Young would bat in front of the leadoff man. Much has been written about this tactic, and whether you like it or not, it did little to change Terry's offensively challenged group. Juan Lagares did not get a hit last night so, of course, he was back on the bench tonight. The lineup has been extraordinarily quiet in the second half and this game marks the eighth straight game of scoring three runs or fewer. Whether the bulk of the blame belongs to Collins, Alderson, or the players makes for an engaging and passionate conversation, but the fact remains, this is not a good offensive ball club at the moment.
Niese came out with his typical bulldog mentality in the first and looked extremely determined to rebound from his last poor outing in Seattle. He had command of all his pitches early and was able to generate a lot of swinging strikes and ground balls throughout the first four innings. In the fifth inning, however, the wheels fell off, and he gave up three frustrating runs. He probably deserved better given the stuff he possessed tonight, but Milwaukee is leading the NL Central for good reason, and he ran into trouble against their potent lineup his third time through.
Brewers starter Wily Peralta, for his part, struggled with his command all night and labored through nearly each inning he was on the mound for. Luckily for him, the Mets were unable to put together a big inning or string any hits together whatsoever and he was tagged for just two runs in his five and two thirds innings. He did not have his best stuff by any stretch of the imagination, and if he was up against a tougher offensive force he may have gotten shelled. But, as they say, it was not meant to be.
The first two innings went by without so much as a whimper, but the Mets were able to get the scoring started with a run in the top of the third. Curtis Granderson led off the inning by roping a double over the head of Carlos Gomez to dead center. Daniel Murphy then grounded out productively to second base, allowing Granderson to scamper over to third. David Wright then walked, Peralta's third of the game already at this point, which brought up the white-hot Lucas Duda. Peralta was almost consumed with Wright's presence on first base—he did steal a bag back in the first—and threw over numerous times during the Dude's at-bat. The big hurler should have probably been more concerned with the opposing batter than the runner on first, though. Duda was given the green light on 3-1, and lined an RBI single to center.
With Travis d'Arnaud up, Peralta's command troubles continued, and he threw a wild pitch that allowed Duda and Wright to advance to second and third, respectively. d'Arnaud was unable to make Peralta pay, however and could not plate the runner from third with one out and flew the ball weakly to shallow right field. Chris Young was up next and—stop me if you've heard this before—did not deliver, grounding out to second to end the inning.
The Mets had to wait until the fifth inning to deal their next blow while Niese was mowing down the Brewers in the early stages of the game. Granderson led off the inning with a line drive home run to the right field corner near the foul pole that just snuck out of Miller Park. It was a refreshing sight to see Grandy not only get a hit in a baseball game, but to hit the ball with some power. The home run was his 15th on the year as he continues to try and live up to his large offseason contract. Murphy quickly followed up with a single, but the hopes of a big offensive inning were quickly put to bed as Wright grounded into a double play and Duda flied out to right.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Brewers responded immediately and were able to plate a trio of runs. With Juan Lagares on the bench, Chris Young was unable to get to a shallow fly ball from Mark Reynolds that fell in for a leadoff single. It would have been a routine play for Lagares, but he could not make the play from his spot on the bench. Jean Segura then hit a sharp ground ball to Murph, who came up with a magnificent play lunging for the ball and throwing out the lead runner at second. On the turn by Wilmer Flores, Segura just narrowly avoided hitting into the double play by legging it out on a close call at first. With the pitcher up and trying to bunt, Segura caught Niese a little sleepy and took off for second, successfully stealing the base. Segura then tagged on a fly ball to right, moving to third base with two outs and Gomez at the plate.
Niese then shot himself in the foot by throwing a wild pitch that d'Arnaud was unable to block and Segura alertly jogged home, scoring easily. Gomez, who struck out badly in his first two at-bats against Niese, hit a sharp ground ball single that set the table for Jonathan Lucroy to hit a two-out double to the deepest part of the park in right center. Niese badly missed his spot and was lucky that the ball stayed in the park. The speedy Gomez came home all the way from first to tie the game at two.
The hits kept on coming, and Braun followed up with an RBI single. Niese finally got out of the inning by getting Aramis Ramirez to fly out to center. Niese was in complete cruise control leading up to the fifth inning and was visibly frustrated by the results,his body language deteriorating while these runs crossed the plate.
The top of the sixth inning saw the managers engage in their first battle of wits on the night. Chris Young hit a one-out double, bringing up the owner of a brand-new right-wrist tattoo, Wilmer Flores, who advanced the runner by grounding out to second. With the Mets down a run and Niese due up hitting eighth, Terry Collins elected to pinch hit for him with Bobby Abreu. Niese made no attempt to hide his feelings about this decision and smashed his bat against the dugout tunnel wall several times.
With a lefty due up and Peralta throwing the ball all over the place and sporting a high pitch count to boot, lefty Zach Duke came in from the bullpen. Abreu was subsequently switched out for the right-handed Eric Campbell with the tying run on third. Despite the matchup seemingly favoring the righty Campbell, he struck out to end the inning.
After the chorizo won the sausage race in the middle of the sixth, Carlos Torres took over on the mound as he looked to keep within a run. He failed, however, and after nearly giving up a home run to Khris Davis, which was caught by Granderson on the warning track, Mark Reynolds took him deep with a mammoth home run to center to give the Brewers a two-run lead.
Terry Collins wanted to get some length out of Carlos Torres in an effort to preserve his bullpen, and left him in through the eighth inning. It might have been an inning too long, as Torres allowed yet another run in the form of an RBI double to Khris Davis. Davis advanced to third on the throw home and nearly scored another run. Reynolds, the next batter, grounded to Wright, who threw to first for an apparent out, but the first base umpire ruled that Duda came off the bag and Reynolds was called safe. Collins quickly jogged out from the dugout to challenge the play and the ruling was overturned, thus ending the inning.
The Mets' offense was simply punchless and was unable to repeat last night's late-inning heroics. Duke and Jeremy Jeffress provided the seventh-inning bridge to their potent eighth-and-ninth-inning combo of Will Smith and Francisco Rodriguez. The Brewers' bullpen was responsible for ten total outs—eight via the strikeout—as the Mets went quietly into the night.
Big winners: Curtis Granderson, 11.5%; Chris Young, 6.6% Big losers: Jonathon Niese, -17.0%; Travis d'Arnaud, -15.8% Teh aw3s0mest play: Curtis Granderson solo HR, 5th inning Teh sux0rest play: Jonathan Lucroy RBI double, 5th inning Total pitcher WPA: -25.2 Total batter WPA: -24.8 GWRBI!: Ryan Bruan RBI single, 5th inning
The Iowa Cubs dropped both ends of a doubleheader, but Javier Baez had a big day. Daytona won both ends of their doubleheader. Addison Russell is adjusting to the Southern League.
Despite a pair of Javier Baez home runs, the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) swept a doubleheader from the Iowa Cubs, 5-4 and 6-4.
Dan Straily started game one and for his second start in a row, he gave up two home runs. Straily allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings. The positive note is that he struck out eight and walked only two.
Second baseman Javier Baez hit a three-run home run in the first inning of game one. He would later just miss a second home run with two out in the bottom of the seventh when the potential tying run hit high off the wall in dead center field for a double. He was stranded there when Kris Bryant grounded out to end the game. Baez was 2 for 4.
Center fielder Matt Szczur was 3 for 4 and scored a run.
Right fielder Jorge Soler was 2 for 3 with a double.
In game two, starter Yoanner Negrin pitched five innings and allowed five runs, two earned, on six hits. He struck out four and walked two.
In the bottom of the first of game two, Baez did it again with another three-run home run. He now has 19 home runs on the year and eight in the month of July. Baez was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Josh Vitters was responsible for the other Iowa run when he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second. Vitters was 1 for 3. He now has nine home runs this year.
Center fielder Ryan Kalish was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. He scored on the Baez home run.
Starter Matt Loosen pitched 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He did strike out seven while only walking one. (He did hit one batter.)
Tony Zych pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth and got the win when the Smokies scored three runs in the top of the tenth. He did not record a strikeout. Frank Batista pitched a perfect bottom of the tenth for his eighth save, seventh in Tennessee.
Catcher Taylor Davis came to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the tenth and plated all three runners with a double. Earlier in the seventh inning, Davis hit a two-run home run to cut Birmingham's lead to 4-3. It was Davis' second home run of the season. Davis was 3 for 5 with two doubles and five RBI.
The other two RBI in this game came off the bat of shortstop Addison Russell. Russell hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his sixth for the Smokies. Then he tied the game in the eighth inning with an RBI double. Russell was 3 for 5.
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs swept a doubleheader from the St. Lucie Mets, 6-3 and 9-1.
In game one, Felix Peña got the win after five innings allowing three run, two earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked two.
Stephen Perakslis tossed the final two innings for his third save. Perakslis retired all six batters he faced, striking out two.
In his first game for the Daytona Cubs, center fielder Jacob Hannemann was 3 for 4 with a stolen base. He scored twice and had one RBI.
Shortstop Marco Hernandez was 2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. He scored in the first inning.
In game two, Tayler Scott had his best game of the season and got his sixth win. Scott gave up five hits. He struck out eight and didn't walk anyone.
In game two, Hannemann went 3 for 4 with a stolen base again!. But this time, instead of three singles, he hit two singles and a double. He scored after the double in the fourth inning.
Shortstop Marco Hernandez hit a two-run triple as a part of Daytona's seven-run second inning. He also singled home Hannemann in the fourth. Hernandez went 2 for 4 with one run scored and the three RBI.
DH Dan Vogelbach was 3 for 4 and scored once. Right fielder Billy McKinney was 2 for 3. He had an RBI single and he scored as a part of that seven-run second inning.
Paul Blackburn allowed five runs on six hits over 4.1 innings. Only two of the five runs were earned, but since Blackburn made two errors himself, he can't really complain about his defense. He struck out two and walked two.
Left fielder Shawon Dunston has been on fire lately. Tonight he was 2 for 4 with a double and a triple. He scored twice and had one RBI.
Center fielder Trey Martin was 2 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored. Second baseman Chesny Young was 2 for 4 with an RBI triple in the fourth inning.
Dillon Maples made his first start for Boise this season. He allowed four runs on three hits over three innings. Only one of the four runs was earned, but it was his error that led to the unearned runs, so that doesn't count in my book, even if it does count in the official scorer's book. Maples walked two and struck out three.
Ryan Williams got the win in relief. He pitched two innings and gave up two runs on four hits, including a solo home run. Williams struck out two and walked one.
Brad Markey pitched the final two innings and got his first career save. He didn't allow a run or a hit, but he did have some control issues as he walked three. He also had a wild pitch that ended up being the third out of the inning when the runner tried to go all the way to third from first.
Second baseman David Bote was 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base. He had two RBI and scored twice.
Center fielder Rashad Crawford went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI. First baseman Alex Tomasovich was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Right fielder Charcer Burks went 2 for 5 with a double. He scored once and had one RBi. Left fielder Calvin Graves went 2 for 4 and was hit by a pitch.
The Hawks walked nine times in this game. DH Mark Zagunis went 1 for 2 with four walks. He scored twice and he got one RBI when he walked with the bases loaded in the second inning.
The Mets took an early 2-0 lead over the Brewers yesterday, but they wound up losing 5-3. Jon Niese had a rough go of it, as his defense did him no favors in a three-run fifth inning, and he was not pleased that he was pinch hit for in the following inning.
The Mets were reportedly among the teams that watched Cuban defector Rusney Castillo at his showcase yesterday.
A couple of former Mets are being inducted into the Hall of Fame today. Tom Glavine—who was solid for the Mets in the years he spent with the team but is best known for the worst start of his major league career—and his counterparts won't have much time to speak at the ceremony. And Greg Prince takes a look back at Joe Torre, Mets manager over at Faith and Fear.
Daisuke Matsuzaka might not need surgery on his elbow, but he was placed on the disabled list because of it. With that, Buddy Carlyle is back with the Mets again. Let's see how many times he pitches per week this time around.
Ever wanted some background on the Mets' walk-up music choices? Newsday has you covered.
Speaking of Red Sox trade rumors, former Mets farmhand Mike Carp—traded away in the infamous J.J. Putz trade—has requested a trade out of Boston. You don't hear of part-time player making such requests often.
And speaking of former Mets farmhands, who has signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
The Hall of Fame decided to change the rules so players could only remain on the ballot for ten years instead of fifteen. Jay Jaffe is not a fan of the change, while Rob Neyer thinks it's fantastic.
