Ray offers some starting pitcher options that you should consider streaming on Tuesday, including Jake Odorizzi, and Jacob deGrom.
The Streamer Report provides you with daily startng pitcher streaming selections for owners who prefer to stream starting pitchers on a daily basis. This report identifies starting pitchers who are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues, and who either has a decent track record vs their opponent, has pitched well of late, or has a decent matchup.
deGrom has given up three runs or less in eight of this last ten starts and owns a low 3.18 ERA on the season, yet is owned in just 33% of leagues right now.
If any of your teams are out of the money right now and you have started to rebuild for next year and beyond, you might want to think about testing your fantasy baseball knowledge in a Fan Duel daily fantasy baseball league. You pick a different team every day, and have a chance to win real money every day.
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.
He's no spring chicken, but Mr. Koo will have to do!
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Korean baseball superstar and former Mets reliever/speedster Dae-Sung Koo has agreed to play with the Penrith Panthers, an Australian major league baseball team, for the 2014-2015 season. Koo, now 44 years old, pitched for the Mets back in 2005, making 33 relief appearances and finishing with a 3.91 ERA. He spent just one season in the United States before returning to Korea to pitch for the Hanwha Eagles.
Nearly ten years later he's still pitching, and he's expected to have a substantial role with Penrith. Coach Shane Summersford noted his excitement for Koo's arrival:
"Dae-Sung has played in three big leagues, in Japan, Korea and in America. He's a big impact in terms of him coming to Penrith. . . he gives us more depth in our pitching and as the high profile guy that he is hopefully a few other guys will want to come over as well."
Whether Koo is successful in Australia is yet to be determined, but one thing is certain: He definitely won't lack experience, having pitched professionally for two decades now. How many seasons does Koo have left in the tank? "When the players [can't] hit my ball that's when I'll stop playing baseball", said Koo.
To some, age is just a state of mind. For Koo, if he can consistently pitch at a high level, sign the guy up until he's 60!
The Mets followed up two losses in San Diego with another in Seattle.
In their first of three games in Seattle, the Mets lost their third straight game overall. Jon Niese did not look sharp in his return from the disabled list, and the Mets’ lineup struggled to score for the third straight day. As a result, Seattle won 5-2.
While Niese struck out six and walked two in six innings, he gave up a staggering eleven hits and allowed four runs to score. The Mets got their lone run of the evening on a David Wright single in the third, which knotted the game at one at the time, but did little else after that. Travis d’Arnaud had a home run robbed by left fielder Dustin Ackley in the sixth, and the Mets were able to scratch out one run in the ninth on a Robinson Cano error but failed to score more than that.
GameThread Roll Call
Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.
Roenis Elias and the Mariners bullpen limited the Mets to two runs as Dustin Ackley and Willie Bloomquist led the Mariners offense with three hits apiece.
After a series against the Angels filled with excessive amounts of anxiety, it was nice to watch a baseball game without feeling like I wanted to die several times. Good job, Mariners.
QUESTIONS:
1. As Mariners fans, it's been so long since we've really had a reason to care about baseball this late in the season. The playoff race for the second wildcard spot is fairly tight, so these games "matter". How do you guys get through high leverage, intense situations while watching games? I tend to pace a lot. And yell at my girlfriend's cats.
2. I was briefly discussing this with CapSea in today's gamethread, but does anyone have any summery beers that they find particularly enticing/refreshing? Locally, I enjoy Fremont Brewing's Summer Ale and Elysian's Super Fuzz. Less locally, Stone's Saison is quite tasty.
3. This past Saturday, I participated in the Refuse to Abuse 5K down at Safeco. It was a lot of fun; the course took runners around each level of Safeco Field, including down in the tunnel, before finally finishing on the warning track near third base. Did anyone else get a chance to attend? And are there any other races that folks are looking forward to this summer?
Jacob deGrom was outstanding, and the Mets beat the Mariners on Tuesday night in Seattle.
The Mets beat the Mariners 3-1 on Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. Rookie righty Jacob deGrom was excellent once again and gave up just one run over seven innings. He struck out seven, walked just one, allowed only five hits, and now has a 3.01 ERA and 3.10 FIP on the season.
While the Mets’ lineup didn’t dominate, it scored three runs. Travis d’Arnaud tripled in Bobby Abreu on a ball to shallow center that was misplayed and rolled past Seattle’s James Jones, and Ruben Tejada singled to score him. After deGrom gave up a run in the fifth, the score held at 2-1 until Lucas Duda hit a monstrous solo home run in the top of the eighth for some insurance. That lead held up, as Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia threw a scoreless inning apiece to complete the game.
GameThread Roll Call
Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.
The Mets finally won a game last night in Seattle. Jacob deGrom was great yet again—and now has a 3.01 ERA and 3.10 FIP on the season—as the team won 3-1.
Adam Rubin asks: Should Jacob deGrom be considered for the National League Rookie of the Year award? As he points out, there's no runaway candidate just yet, and it seems deGrom would have a case if he were to maintain his current level of production.
The first notable Mets trade rumors are here! Teams are asking about Bartolo Colon, which makes perfect sense. Regardless of their record over the next week-plus, it would not be a surprise if Sandy Alderson deals Colon.
Ruben Tejada was hit on the hand by a pitch last night, but the injury was not even enough to prompt the Mets to take x-rays.
Eric Young Jr. bumped into some fans, one of which was young, trying to catch a fly ball down the left field line last night, but he gave the kid a few gifts shortly thereafter.
Jared Diamond takes a look back at David Wright's decade with the Mets in a couple of pieces in the Journal.
Jason Parks takes a look at what he missed when evaluating Steven Matz, who he now considers one of the Mets' top prospects.
The Times notes that the optimism that was abound as the first half took a hit with the Mets losing three of four games out of the break. They also wrote up Alex Torres, the Padres pitcher who wears the protective cap.
Around the National League East
The Braves dropped their game to the Marlins last night, which helped the Mets gain a little ground. The Phillies lost to the Giants, too, which is always nice.
Unfortunately, the Nationals won thanks to a three-run home run from Adam LaRoche.
Around Major League Baseball
The Yankees finally traded for Chase Headley yesterday in an attempt to get a little bit better this year.
Brian P. Mangan says it's time to stop playing Ruben Tejada at shortstop and give Wilmer Flores, who has been raking in Triple-A since his demotion, the job.
If you see a link or story you think would be a great addition to MMN, send an email to our tips address, tips@grission.com, and we'll try to add it in.
Misael Siverio, left-handed pitcher formerly of Villa Clara, is now an MLB free agent. Does he have the talent to play in the major leagues, and are there any roles that he might fill with the Mets?
Misael Siverio Mesa was born June 12, 1989, in Placetas, a city of roughly 70,000 in the Villa Clara province of central Cuba. Honing his pitching skills as a youth and adolescent, Siverio eventually made the Villa Clara Naranjas, despite standing only 5'9" and weighing 190 pounds. Why? Siverio pitched with his left arm. Initially appearing as a relief pitcher, the lefty pitched his way into Villa Clara's starting rotation, helping the team reach the finals in the 2009-2010 season and win the championship in 2012-2013.
Back in 2012, the U.S. Collegiate National Team went to Cuba to play a five-game series against the Cuban National Team, the first time in sixteen years that the two teams directly engaged each other in friendly exhibition baseball. According to Antonio Castro, the son of Fidel Castro and the vice president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, the series was "very important for the U.S. team, and for Cuba, it's beyond explanation...It is important for our athletes to have matches at another level of baseball." According to Victor Mesa, former star outfielder and Cuban National Team manager, "The most important thing is to maintain this matchup, both in Cuba and in the United States. I would love to go play there." The 2012 series went off without a hitch, and Mesa got his wish, as the Cuban government and the International Federation of Baseball worked out another series, this time taking place in the U.S. in July 2013.
Misael Siverio was among the players who went to the United States, specifically selected by his coach from Villa Clara, Victor Mesa. Only hours after arriving in Iowa, the left-hander left the hotel he and his team were staying at in Des Moines and defected. How exactly he left—Cuba generally doesn't exactly allow its nationals free reign when traveling abroad—is unclear, but it is not without precedent. Aroldis Chapman did just that, when he defected from Cuba in the Netherlands in 2009. The All-Star closer told teammates and coaches that he was going outside to smoke, got into a car waiting outside, and that was that.
"Leaving behind your country is not easy, but this was a decision that I gave a lot of thought. I made this decision for my future and for my family. My dream, of course, is to make the major leagues, and starting today I will start doing what I need to do to accomplish that."
Siverio did not have a wife or children, making his decision to leave much easier, but he did leave something precious behind:
"With all of the work I put in to get on the Cuban National Team, I wanted to bring my jersey, so I could have those memories forever, but circumstances did not allow me. Luckily, I spoke to some people with the team, and they're looking after everything I left behind. That, to me, is golden."
According to his manager Victor Mesa, Siverio was "not that great of a pitcher," and he was only with the team because "he's a left-handed pitcher." Mesa considers him, at best, a Double-A or Triple-A talent. "You may see that gentleman who defected working as a laborer one day," he said. Jamie Torres, Siverio's legal advisor at the time, disagreed, saying that his client has the upside of an MLB pitcher. "All you have to do is see the videos, to see the talent he has. In addition, he is left-handed. That will open many doors."
Simply put, Mesa's opinion might be some sour grapes, as the numbers do not back up what he was saying. Generally speaking, Siverio was considered one of the better left-handed pitching talents in Cuba. Still, the lefty isn't exactly holding a grudge. "He helped me get to the National Series and gave me a chance when others didn't, and for that I will always be grateful," he told Jorge Ebro in an interview with El Nuevo Herald:
"For me, as a man, I would have liked to have told him that I was leaving, that I was fighting for my dream to play in the major leagues. But I'm not naive—I don't know how he would have reacted, now that he is in charge of the National Team selection."
"
Year
Age
G/GS
IP
ERA
FIP
BB
K
2008-2009 (48th SNdB)
19
38/6
80.1
2.35
3.75
43
75
2009-2010 (49th SNdB)
20
37/1
76
5.33
3.50
26
86
2010-2011 (50th SNdB)
21
21/19
111.1
3.23
3.54
52
98
2011-2012 (51st SNdB)
22
22/13
85.1
3.69
3.79
38
58
2012-2013 (52nd SNdB)
23
24/24
139.2
2.06
3.31
38
95
(Source: www.beisbolcubano.cu)
After defecting, Siverio began working with Orlando Chinea, a Cuban exile who once pitched on the same Villa Clara team that Siverio pitched on. Working out in Tampa, Chinea helped refine the left-hander's pitching arsenal, in addition to his confidence. While in Cuba, Siverio mostly threw curveballs, sliders, and changeups. The curve is his main strikeout pitch, a slow, sweeping breaking ball that he has enough confidence in to throw in any and all counts. The slider and changeup were more get-me-over pitches. Working with Chinea, he added a sinker to his repertoire, refined his change to have more movement and more of a speed differential as compared to his fastball, and added some velocity on that fastball. While in Cuba, his heater didn't have much heat to it, generally sitting between 85 and 90 mph. Now, he is regularly hitting the low 90s with it. Over the winter, he kept in game shape by playing in the Mexican Winter League, pitching for the Aguilas de Mexicali. He posted a 2.45 ERA in 29.1 innings, striking out 36 and walking 10.
Siverio probably has an uphill battle ahead of him. At 5'9", he is small for a ballplayer, and his height will likely be a hurdle, no pun intended. Though the connection between size, stamina, and injury is tenuous at best, the baseball establishment still very much believes in the mantra that "bigger is better", and the Cuban pitcher will always be viewed with an air of doubt because of his size, regardless of the initial results. Still, as a starter in Cuba for the better part of three years, Siverio has demonstrated that he can, at the very minimum, log a decent amount of work on his arm over the course of a season. Innings thrown in La Serie Nacional are certainly not innings thrown in MLB, but the hundreds of pitches thrown and their effects on the body know not of man-made boundaries and borders; if he was able to log a fair amount of innings in Cuba to no ill effect, he should be able to log a fair amount of innings in the U.S. to no ill effect.
As Jamie Torres made mention of, Siverio is a lefty, and that is automatically going to open doors for him. He probably does not have the stuff to be a major league starter, but as a southpaw, he automatically has a leg up against lefties, as left-handed hitters generally fare worse against fellow left-handers than they do against right-handed pitchers.
Siverio does not possess the talent level that recent defectors such as Aroldis Chapman or Raciel Iglesias have, and his contract will reflect that. With all of the questions surrounding him, if Siverio even receives a guaranteed MLB contract, I will be surprised. More likely, he receives a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training.
For the Mets, that's well within their price range. With Josh Edgin having had an up-and-down MLB career thus far, and Scott Rice having undergone season-ending elbow surgery, the Cuban lefty could be brought in as a potential left-handed bullpen piece to pitch concurrently with Edgin, or as an insurance policy of sorts if Edgin does not produce.
The right-hander's salary makes him hard to unload in a trade.
The Mets are actively shopping right-hander Bartolo Colon and are "trying hard" to move him in a trade, according to Danny Knobler of ESPNNewYork.com. Despite their efforts, Colon's contract status and average performance on the season are making it difficult for the team to deal him, according to reports.
Multiple teams have called the Mets to express interest in Colon, according to Marc Carig of Newsday, who notes that the Mets are not looking to pay some of Colon's salary for next season if they decide to deal him. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported, Colon's $11M salary for next year seems to be a serious obstacle for getting a deal done,e because teams have concerns about his age, weight, and steroid use in the past.
Sherman writes that Colon would draw significant interest on the trade market if his contract was expiring at the end of the season, but teams are hesitant to take on an $11M contract for a pitcher who will turn 42 in late May of next season.
Teams looking for rotation help include the Yankees, Orioles and Blue Jays, who could all make a run at Colon if the Mets are desperate to deal him and are willing to eat a large amount of his salary. Sherman reports that the Giants have not yet engaged the Mets on a possible match for Colon, and would only do so if the Mets are willing to take on a large chunk of his salary for next season.
Colon, who signed a two-year deal with the Mets last winter, is 8-8 with a 4.12 ERA in 19 starts so far this season.
Baseball. The National Pastime. The sport that ushered in the Golden Age of sports in the 1920s, when Babe Ruth was a giant, Lou Gehrig was the Iron Man and the sport held a collective grip on the nation.
What is baseball today? It's a sport I loved, a sport I still love, but a sport that is really struggling to find its place in these the modern times. Look at ballparks when you watch games on TV and you'll see empty seats everywhere. The Mets moved into Citi Field in 2009, and really can't draw flies to their relatively new playpen. Sure, the team hasn't won on a consistent basis, but there is something happening across the country and baseball better be savvy and ready for it.
MLB officials will tell you all about the good stuff. They're doing great with MLB.com, their digital offerings are making huge profits, so the bottom line is more than fine. But, that only tells part of the story. Not only is attendance down, but so, too, is relevance. Love it or hate it, sports talk radio continues to grow, and if you listen carefully to it, you'll find that baseball games get nary a mention.
There was a time when talkers reviewed the previous night's action in the majors. They would give you the trends, the who's hot and who's not, the teams that are surging and those who are floundering, but today, nothing. ESPN can't be blamed either. No network is more self serving than ESPN and ESPN Radio. They don't care much about soccer, but when the World Cup gripped the nation, ESPN Radio was all over it, and oh, they broadcasted the games, too. Even Mike and Mike, who five weeks ago, couldn't tell a soccer ball from a dodge ball, were discussing the games and the sport regularly. In 2018, the World Cup shifts to FOX, so one will wonder how rabid ESPN's devotion will be? This morning, I listened to two national sports talk stations and the topic was the NFL and should college football and basketball players be paid. Ignored were the 15 games on the MLB scheduled and this is not an aberration, it's a daily theme.
ESPN also carries baseball, both on radio and television and if you listen to ESPN Radio from 6 AM to 3 PM, they don't give the sport much love unless there is an issue to discuss such as PED use, the quirks of All Star game voting or some other non-game issue. This illustrates just how far baseball has fallen. Johnny Manziel's off season national tour along with the LeBron and Carmelo watch garnered far more attention than the old national pastime. If you're a lover of baseball, you have to be a bit concerned. Except for the NFL, sports talk radio used to be about the games, before and after; now, it's more about issues and events.
We know that football is king, and we know that college football is more watched than baseball and if wasn't for New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, college football would be blowing baseball away. We know that those three cities love baseball, but they also have a general ignorance for college football. Could you imagine if just 10 percent of those metros watched the SEC on CBS? Baseball would be buried.
Baseball is not a niche sport like hockey and soccer are, but you wonder how things will look in ten years? We know that soccer will never captivate America like it does elsewhere, but Major League Soccer is moving forward. They play in nice, new soccer specific stadiums, they're expanding to 24 teams and they're putting people in the seats. Look around most MLS stadiums and you'll see them full, while baseball stadiums are half-full at best. And, love it or hate it, soccer's best feature is that a game that starts at 7 pm is over by 9:15 at the very latest.
Bud Selig has done many good things for baseball, but people remember the bad more than they ever will the good. But, Selig needs to step away as soon as his retirement date comes, because the game needs a new vision, preferably a younger person with that vision. Baseball is timeless, but Americans are in a time crunch. I have less free time than my parents ever did and sitting down for a baseball game that starts at 7 pm and might not end until 11:30 pm is just not in the cards. Americans are drawn ever more to event television, event programming. They're watching the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes (when a Triple Crown is on the line), the Oscars and they've always adored the Super Bowl. Baseball is no longer event television, and that includes the World Series games that often see 3-2 games run nearly four hours. A seventh game is event television and perhaps a Game 6, but the rest, no way. We have seen with the World Cup that Americans like events because, in essence, that's what we have time for.
Is baseball dead? Of course not, and it's not on life support either, but as the older generation dies off, where will it be? Young people are on their phones and tablets all night, can they really sit through baseball games? And, what about their kids? When I was eight, I could watch baseball all the time; the Saturday Game of the Week was a must watch as was Monday Night Baseball. My three kids have never watched a complete baseball game and all are over the age of eight.
I may be going too fast here, but as lifelong baseball fan, I'm worried. The sport needs to progress, but it's very nature, it's being doesn't lend itself to progression. For years, that was its charm. In a way, baseball was the class clown in high school. Back in the day, he was funny, charming, and quick witted and the nerds looked up to him. Now the clown isn't as funny, or charming and the nerds are living in the $800,000 mansions while the clown manages a grocery store. The charm goes only so far and lasts so long. Substance eventually takes over. The clown is doing alright, but what got him by 25 years ago, doesn't do so anymore.
The baseball officials know that they have to do something and deep down, they're concerned. They still have a good product, but right now, nobody's talking about it. There's too much other stuff to take away from it and they need to act before they slip into fourth place on the major sports landscape.
In the bottom of the fifth, Eric Young raced toward the stands to grab a fly ball, smashing into some fans in the process. He was kind enough to stick around and help a young fan to his feet:
With the Mets leading 2-1 in the top of the eighth, Lucas Duda hit a ball that may have broken Safeco Field:
In the bottom of the inning, current Mets defensive wizard Juan Lagares ran down a fly ball to deep center off the bat of former Mets defensive wizard Endy Chavez:
You can check out the proper recap here and the gamethread here. You can watch other highlights of the game at MLB.com.
The Dodgers have lots of outfielders, while the Mets have struggled to get offense at those positions for much of the season. Could there be a trading match?
If the New York Mets fancy themselves as contenders this season or next, they’re going to need to reinforce their offense. With few options forthcoming in free agency, the team’s front office needs to be creative.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a glut of outfielders, both young up-and-comers and high-paid veterans. Their already crowded outfield may soon get a new addition in top prospect Joc Pederson, which could mean a corresponding move to alleviate the logjam would be necessary. The question then becomes if there is a fit between the Dodgers’ embarrassment of riches in the outfield and the gaping hole that is the Mets’ starting left field position?
Two expendable Dodgers’ outfielders, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier, are both having extremely poor seasons at the plate and both players are owed over $60 million through 2017. Both have batting averages hovering around .250 and on-base percentages (OBP) around .300 in addition to very little power and speed—obvious reasons as to why the Dodgers may look to move the two aging under-performers.
Crawford has undergone a steady decline since signing a mega-contract in 2010, leaving him as a shell of his former self and a player the Mets shouldn’t go near. Ethier has been an above-average player as recently as last season, and in the right deal (with the Dodgers picking up most of his contract and minimal prospects required in return) he may be an option. However, aside from what would be a perfect and probably unrealistic deal for the Mets, Ethier shouldn’t be on the Mets’ radar either.
While Crawford and Ethier wouldn’t be good options, Matt Kemp and Scott Van Slyke stand out as intriguing options for the Mets, albeit for very different reasons.
Let’s take Kemp’s case first. After nearly winning the National League Most Valuable Player of the Year Award in 2011, injuries and poor performance have plagued the talented 29-year-old. His struggles at the plate and in the field (–2.6 dWAR this season according to Baseball Reference) along with a bloated contract (over $110 million he is owed through 2019) make Kemp an undesirable player to acquire.
With that said, Kemp has been more durable this season and has shown some signs of life at the plate. He has posted a slugging percentage of .425 and a wRC+ of 116, which would rank second and third respectively amongst Mets’ starting position players this season. While it seems like wishful thinking to say that Kemp has the potential to again be an All-Star caliber player, very few players in Major League Baseball offer Kemp’s upside and are available.
AVG
OBP
SLG
XBH
BB%
K%
wOBA
wRC+
Kemp 2014
.269
.333
.424
32
8.7%
26.1%
.334
116
Trading for Kemp, even in a Mets-friendly deal, would be a huge gamble. If the Dodgers kick in $60 million or more to cover some of the remaining contract and the price in prospects isn’t too steep, however, it might be a gamble worth taking.
While acquiring Kemp would be a high-risk, high-reward proposition for the conservative Mets’ front office, acquiring a player like Scott Van Slyke is a much safer option.
The 26-year-old Van Slyke won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2016 and while his upside is limited, he could fill a few holes for the Mets. A right-handed bat, he could play in left field providing solid offense and defense and/or form a formidable first-base platoon with Lucas Duda. Duda struggles mightily against lefties, hitting .167 with a .262 OBP and a .074 isolated power while striking out 36%of the time. Van Slyke doesn’t have the same problem, crushing lefties at a David Wrightesque clip.
AVG
OBP
SLG
ISO
BB%
wRC+
Duda 2014 vs. RHP
.282
.377
.539
.257
12%
157
Van Slyke 2014 vs. LHP
.295
.449
.738
.443
19.2%
228
While Van Slyke’s .443 ISO and 228 wRC+ against lefties have come in a relatively short sample size (78 plate appearances) and there are certainly questions if he can be more than a part-time player, he would be able to contribute regardless of his role. Van Slyke hasn’t been given too many opportunities, but a .808 career OPS can always be useful. His patient approach at the plate and ability to get on base would also make him a seamless fit with a team that has the fourth highest walk rate in Major League Baseball. If he’s available, the Mets shouldn’t consider giving up too much in exchange for Van Slyke, but for the right price he could provide a new dimension for the Mets’ lineup.
As the trade deadline approaches, there will likely be opportunities for the Mets to make a move, whether it be a flashy move like acquiring Kemp or a more conservative one like acquiring Van Slyke. Whether it’s with the Dodgers or another team, no trade will be perfect, but general manager Sandy Alderson has the roster and prospect flexibility to make impactful moves. If he does is a whole other question.
The shortstop is presumably undergoing concussion tests.
During the top of the fifth inning of today's Mets vs. Mariners game, Ruben Tejada was hit in the head by a wild Taijuan Walker fastball and left the game without seeing another pitch.
As the pitch was coming in, Tejada managed to duck his head a little bit and took the ball right off the front of his helmet. Kevin Burkhardt reported on SNY that there was a baseball-shaped imprint on the helmet afterwards.
The force of the blow forced Tejada to the ground, and if he lost consciousness, it was not for long. After a few moments, he got to his feet and was able to walk off the field on his own power.
Right now, it's assumed that Tejada is undergoing concussion tests in the clubhouse. We'll update you on the situation as it develops.
Eric Campbell entered the game as a pinch-runner and stayed in to play shortstop.
-P- Brent Morel's jersey was conspicuously hanging in a locker when the Pirates' clubhouse was opened to the press this afternoon. With Starting Marte out of the lineup for the second night in a row, the immediate suspicion was that the Pirates' left fielder would be heading to the disabled list. But, as of 5:00 p.m., no move has been announced.
"We're still going through the appropriate testing on Starling [Marte], and we have a plan B if the testing does not come back right," Clint Hurdle said.
Hurdle confirmed that the testing was concussion related.
"It is a very difficult situation to assess," Hurdle said of head injuries. "The way they feel one day might not be the way they feel two days later because of the lingering effects."
[Update 7:05] Pirates have announced that Starling Marte has been placed on the 7 day concussion disabled list. Brent Morel will take his spot on the roster and is active for tonight's game.
-P- Pedro Alvarez has left knee discomfort. Hurdle said that they will wait and see if he is potential candidate to come off the bench tonight.
-P- Gerrit Cole participated in a simulated game this afternoon.
"Everything was pretty good, I feel good," Cole said. "I was a little rusty in some areas but I got better as I went on."
He threw 70 pitches, 15-20 more than originally intended.
"They just kept letting me go," Cole said of throwing more than expected. "I threw [all my pitches], not a ton of breaking balls. I threw some really good ones and some really bad ones."
The right-hander added that their was no "guarding" or thinking about his injury.
"I'm in a better position than when I started at this point in time [the last time he was the disabled list]."
Cole also said he would go on a rehab assignment this time around.
"I felt good coming off the sim games [last time], and I was sharp, but coming in against the Mets, there were still some things I needed to clean up," Cole said. "At this point in the year, I can't come out not sharp and give games away and put us in a hole like I did against the Mets. ... It's going to come down to the wire, and there's no room to feel [bleep] on the mound right now."
Robinson Cano broke up history with two outs in the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon.
Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon flirted with perfection against the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon, retiring the first 20 batters he faced at Safeco Field in Seattle, before Robinson Cano hit an opposite-field, two-out single to left field to break up the perfect game and no-hitter.
New York leads Seattle 3-0 through seven innings in the finale of a three-game series.
Colon had five strikeouts through seven, needing just 84 pitches through seven innings. It is quite a turnaround for Colon, who entered Wednesday having lost his last three decisions with a 5.88 ERA over his last four starts.
There have been 23 perfect games in Major League history, the last by Felix Hernandez of the Mariners on Aug. 15, 2012, also at Safeco Field in Seattle.
At 41 years, 60 days old, Colon would have been the oldest pitcher with a perfect game, surpassing Randy Johnson, who was 40 years, 251 days old when he pitched a perfect game for Arizona against the Braves on May 18, 2004.
Colon would have been the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter of any kind since Nolan Ryan no-hit Toronto at 44 years, 90 days old on May 5, 1991.
The Mets have one no-hitter in their history, an 8-0 whitewashing of the Cardinals by Johan Santana at Citi Field on June 1, 2012.
Bartolo Colon set down the first 20 batters he faced, while his teammates scored just enough runs and staved off some late charges from the Mariners to take two of three in Seattle
The Mets plated the first run of the game on a Daniel Murphy RBI double in the opening inning, then expanded that lead on a Juan Lagares sac fly in the sixth and a David Wright run-scoring single in the seventh. For most of the game, three runs appeared to be more than enough as Bartolo Colon continued his traditional dominance at Safeco Field by retiring the first 20 batters he faced while barely breaking a sweat. Dreams of perfection were doused by a two-out single by Robinson Cano in the seventh, and dreams of a win were soured by a two-run Seattle rally in the eighth. Jeurys Familia restored order by recording the last two outs in that inning, while Jenrry Mejia earned a shaky save, allowing two singles but stranding both to preserve the win.
GameThread Roll Call
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Your Thursday morning dose of Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
The Mets got a series win in Seattle with a victory yesterday afternoon. Bartolo Colon was perfect through six-and-two-thirds innings before Robinson Cano singled to break up that bid. Up 3-0 at the time, the Mets wound up holding on for dear life and winning 3-2.
Colon was so good in his start that he may soon be a goner, writes Jared Diamond in the Journal. Trading Colon makes plenty of sense for the Mets, of course. Colon doesn't know what the future holds, writes Mike Vorkunov.
Vorkunov also takes a stab at Jacob deGrom's case for the National League Rookie of the Year award.
Fangraphs takes a look at team pitching framing stats this season and finds the Mets leading the way.
The Mets have called up the hot-hitting infielder a day after Ruben Tejada was hit in the head by a pitch.
The Mets have recalled Wilmer Flores from the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s and optioned Kirk Nieuwenhuis to make room for him on the roster. The move comes following a scary moment on Wednesday in which Ruben Tejada was struck in the head by a 94 mile per hour fastball, which forced him to leave the game and undergo concussion testing. While Tejada showed no immediate signs of a concussion and was allowed to fly with the team.
The injury to Tejada highlighted the Mets' lack of shorstop depth, as utility infielder Eric Campbell played shortstop for the remainder of the game.
Flores has been raking since being sent back to Triple-A, hitting .340/.374/.632 with 8 home runs over the past 26 games. The Mets would definitely like to see offensive production of that sort out of the shortstop position, with Tejada providing an anemic .235/.358/.292 slash line, with the on-base percentage partially buoyed by intentional walks to get to the pitchers spot.
Nieuwenhuis has hit .246/.328/.509 in 67 plate appearances with the Mets this year but has spent most of his time this year playing in Las Vegas. With his demotion, the Mets are no longer carrying six outfielders on their active roster.
Although it once looked like Milwaukee might just run away with the National League Central, its division lead has shrunk recently due to a prolonged slump prior to the All-Star break. A recent sweep of the Reds has opened up a little breathing room for the Brew Crew, but there are still some issues that the team needs to address if it plans on staying in first place through September.
The Brewers' hitting is their calling card, and Jonathan Lucroy continues to look like an MVP candidate with a .312/.382/.500 slash line to go with great defense and leadership behind the plate. Scotter Gennett has provided surprising production at the keystone, but he's currently day-to-day with a quad injury. Then there's Jean Segura, who has struggled mightily this season after a incredible breakout 2013. Beyond the Box Score thinks that the shortstop should consider going back to not pulling the ball.
Even with Segura mired in a season-long slump, however, the Brewers score plenty of runs. Preventing them has been another story. Kyle Lohse has been terrific at the top of the rotation, but the rest of the starters have been average at best, and Marco Estrada was giving up so many home runs that he had to be shifted to the bullpen. It would have been fascinating to see if Estrada, who has given up 27 long balls in just 114.2 innings, could challenge Bert Blyleven's MLB record of 50 home runs allowed in a single season (1986), but the Mets will have to settle for hoping that Jimmy Nelson -- the top prospect was called up to take Estrada's spot in the rotation -- isn't yet ready for the big show.
The Brewers were once carried to the postseason by a deadline trade for CC Sabathia. Could a similar deal be in the works to keep this version of Milwaukee in front of its rivals? In a division as competitive as the NL Central, sitting still at the trade deadline could be a risky proposition.
Who are these guys?
For all the riches that the Brewers have on offense this season, they have still not found a suitable replacement for Prince Fielder at first base. Right now the position is being "filled" by a platoon made up of over-the-hill veterans Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay.
Reynolds, I was surprised to learn, is only 30 years old. He seems so much older because five years ago he was one of the most exciting players in baseball. In 2009 with the Diamondbacks, Reynolds was a three-true-outcomes star with 44 home runs, 24 stolen bases, 76 walks, and a whopping 223 strikeouts. He struck out less and walked more in 2010, but a deteriorating BABIP and less power led to "only" 32 home runs and an anemic .198 batting average. That winter, Reynolds was traded to the Orioles, and he's bounced around a lot since then between teams who need a quick injection of home run power. He still walks a lot, but consistently low BABIPs have made him more of an out machine than he was in his glory years.
Overbay is a guy who is cool to look at in a Brewers uniform because he originally broke out with the team in the mid-2000s. In his prime, he was the antithesis of Reynolds. Overbay was the rare player who walked a lot without striking out a ton. The only thing holding him back from being a superstar player was a modest power stroke that saw him max out at 22 dingers in 2006 with Toronto. Like Reynolds, on the other hand, Overbay has seen his BABIP and power decrease as he grows older. As a 37-year-old with an isolated power of .109, he's only very useful to teams like this year's Brewers and last year's Yankees that have no other options at first base. Overbay has had a really nice career, though.
Neither horrible nor amazing, Garza is your typical fastball/slider starter who has been bouncing around the majors for a while now. Save for one awesome summer with the Cubs in 2011, Garza has always been good enough to fit in the middle of a rotation, but never great enough to be an ace. ERAs between 4.00 and 3.50 are the norm with him, and he'll sometimes tease with a brilliant start before getting slapped back to reality. That has been the case this month for Garza, who in back-to-back starts shutout the Reds and held the Phillies hitless for six innings. In his first start after the All-Star break, though, Garza was shelled by the Nationals for five runs in just one third of an inning.
Gee has also had flirtations with brilliance over the years that are mixed in with mediocrity. In fact, during his last start in San Diego, he experienced both at once. On one hand, Gee assuaged my concerns about his sliding strikeout rate by punching out eight Padres in five innings. On the other hand, he also gave up four runs on two home runs. It will be much tougher to avoid the long ball in Milwaukee, so hopefully Gee can be more precise with his pitches and lead the Mets to a win while boosting his trade value.
Back in 2007 when he was 21 years old, Gallardo hurled 101 strikeouts and 37 walks in 110.1 innings to secure "ace of the future' status in the Milwaukee organization. After an injury-derailed 2008 and a 94-walk 2009, the Mexican right-hander finally delivered the goods in 2010 with a 3.02 FIP and 4.5 fWAR. He appeared to have a bright career in front of him with another two solid seasons in 2011 and 2012, but Gallardo's strikeout rate dropped from 24 percent down to 19 percent in 2013, and this season it's down to 18 percent. Continued durability and the lowest walk rate of his career are good signs for Gallardo in 2014, but right now he looks more like a mid-rotation starter than the anchor of a staff.
That last sentence sounds like something we could be saying about Wheeler one day if he doesn't blossom into a player reflecting his former prospect status. He's a young fastball/slider/curve thrower and is striking out about one batter per inning like Gallardo was when he came up. Wheeler's walks have been a concern this season, but lately he's blazed through a streak of solid starts. In his last four, Wheeler has allowed exactly one run while pitching between six and seven innings. The competition hasn't been stellar over that stretch, so Milwaukee should provide a nice litmus test.
Peralta has taken some nice steps forward this season to improve on his promising rookie campaign of 2013. His walk rate is down more than one batter per nine innings, and his ground ball rate is up 3.5 percent. Those figures have helped balance Peralta's ERA at 3.58 despite an unsightly home-run-per-fly-ball rate of 15.8 percent. Back on June 11 at Citi Field, he allowed just one run against the Mets in 6.1 innings, and Peralta has been even better in his last two starts overall. Two runs allowed in 14 total innings against the Cardinals and Reds with 10 strikeouts and just two walks is nothing to sneeze at.
Niese's streak of allowing three or less runs in every start was finally broken in Seattle of all places. On Monday, he let up four runs in six innings during New York's 5-2 loss. You can excuse Niese for being a little rusty on his first start back from the disabled list, but against Milwaukee, he'll need to be at his best. He was just that earlier this year against the Brewers. The lefty shut them down with eight strikeouts, one walk, and one run allowed in 7.2 innings of an extra-inning loss on June 12.
Sunday: Jacob deGrom vs. Jimmy Nelson
With the way Nelson has pitched in the Pacific Coast League this season, it's worth wondering why the Brewers waited for Estrada to completely unravel before calling up the promising young right-hander. Nelson struck out more than a batter per innings for the Nashville Sounds and posted a 1.46 ERA in 111 innings, so it appears that he's ready for the show. His first major league start in July was tough sledding (six runs allowed in less than five innings against St. Louis), but he rebounded to pitch a quality start against the Reds in his last time out.
deGrom made it three straight magnificent starts with his latest performance in Seattle. The young right-hander now has seven innings pitched, at least seven strikeouts, and one run allowed or fewer in each of his last three outings. He's finally starting to realize the command that made him so successful in the minor leagues, and his strikeout rate is the highest it's been since Class A. That strikeout rate is well worth watching, because it could determine deGrom's future success in the majors. With the way he's been pitching, every time he and his flowing locks take the mound is highly anticipated.
Prediction: deGrom and Wheeler shine, allowing the Mets to earn a split.
What about some highlights?
ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian was smoked during his first run in the famous Milwaukee Sausage Race earlier this summer.
Hank, the adorable pooch who the Brewers adopted in spring training, had a lot more fun during his Sausage Race debut.
Taylor Teagarden, in his Mets debut, hit a grand slam to lift the team to its only win over the Brewers this season.
The Mets were blown out in the series opener in Milwaukee.
The Mets were blown out in Milwaukee this evening, as Dillon Gee was not good and the team’s lineup managed just one run on two hits against Matt Garza and the Milwaukee bullpen. It was a pretty miserable baseball game.
Gee gave up one run in the first, four in the second, and one more in the third. He wound up putting up zeroes in the fourth and fifth, but it was too late. And when Daisuke Matsuzaka took over in the sixth, he gave up a solo home run on the first pitch he threw. He gave up two more on a Ryan Braun home run in the seventh.
The Mets’ lone run scored on a very long home run by Lucas Duda in the top of the seventh. It might not have mattered much in the outcome of the game, but it’s always fun to see The Dude hit one a long way.
GameThread Roll Call
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