The Mets came from behind to take the series from the Phillies and give Jon Niese his first win of the second half.

After a frustrating loss yesterday, the Mets came back this afternoon and beat the Phillies 5-3 to finish their road trip with a 4-3 record. Jon Niese pitched well, if not impeccably. His only big mistake came in the bottom of the fourth, when, with one out and a runner on first, Phillies left fielder Darin Ruf smacked a two-run homer to straightaway center that put the home team on top 2-1. Although Niese had a few minor hiccups after that, those were the only runs he allowed, and he struck out six through seven innings of work.

Other than a David Wright RBI single in the fourth, Phillies starter David Buchanan held the Mets in check until the seventh inning. In that frame, Buchanan issued a leadoff walk to Juan Lagares, who Matt den Dekker then drove in with a double to tie the game.  Ryne Sandberg then brought in Justin De Fratus to relieve Buchanan, and De Fratus gave up a single to Wilmer Flores that put runners on first and third for Anthony Recker. The back-up catcher then smacked a three-run homer to left to put the Mets on top 5-2.

With two outs in the ninth, the Phillies got a run on a Chase Utley pinch hit double, but Ben Revere then popped out to center to end it and allow the Mets to leave Philadelphia on a positive note.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

The spectacular rookie has been diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis.

The Mets have placed Jacob deGrom on the disabled list with rotator cuff tendinitis and recalled Rafael Montero to take his place in the starting rotation. deGrom has done nothing but impress since being called up in May, and his best work has come lately. He was named the National League Rookie of the Month in July, and it appeared that he would be one of the contenders for Rookie of the Year honors at the end of the season. Then, the rumblings began. It was reported earlier this week that deGrom was feeling shoulder discomfort and would require an MRI.

While this is certainly disappointing news, there are several positives: deGrom's injury does not seem severe, and he should be able to pitch again soon. In the meantime, Montero gets another shot to show what he can do at the major league level. After struggling in his first stint with the club, Montero has been very effective in Triple-A, posting a 2.26 ERA with 26 strikeouts over his last four starts.

With both veterans going unclaimed, the Mets are able to negotiate a trade with any MLB team if they so wish.

It's no secret that the Mets don't view the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline as the end of the trading season. Last season they received second base propsect Dilson Herrera and relief pitcher Vic Black in a trade for Marlon Byrd and John Buck in August. Could a similar deal be made this season?

Maybe. What we do know is that left-handed outfield Curtis Granderson and left-handed pitcher Jon Niese can be moved to any team before the August 31 waiver trade deadline. That's because the pair has reportedly cleared waivers, according to baseball insider Jon Heyman.

Both players have been assets for the Mets this season, but are on long-term deals that may make them difficult to trade. Niese was a borderline All-Star for the first half of the season, but he struggled in July and August as a minor shoulder injury forced him to tweak his delivery. Lately, Niese appeared to get back to his winning ways with a solid outing against the Phillies.

Granderson got off to an April so horrible that numerous Jason Bay comparisons were made, but he recovered enough to his 15 home runs and become an important source of power for the Mets. Still, 106 strikeouts and a .232 batting average limit Granderson's on-base ability, even if he does walk quite a bit.

With Granderson having just signed a four-year, $60 millon deal this winter, it will be tough to convince another team to take him on. Even if a willing suitor was found though, the power that Granderson gives the Mets out of right field makes him a piece that the Mets may need to depend on until 2014 first-round draft pick Michael Conforto arrives in the majors.

Niese's contract goes longer than Granderson's, but it is also is more affordable. The team-friendly deal -- which runs through 2018 at less than $10 million per season -- was previously viewed as a reason for the Mets to hang onto Niese, but given the team's depth of arms, it might be time to consider a deal. They say there's no such thing as too much pitching, but that really all depends on what the possible return could be.

Hefner, who had been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, may now require a second major surgery.

According to ESPN New York, Jeremy Hefner has been diagnosed with a forearm fracture and a torn UCL that may need a second major surgery.

In 2013, Hefner saw some success with the Mets. He was a more-than-serviceable back-of-the-rotation starter, with a 4.34 ERA on the year, and he even had a stretch in June where he looked like an ace. That just made it all the more disappointing when Hefner underwent Tommy John surgery in late August, presumably keeping him out for most, if not all, of 2014. The 28-year-old righty had been on schedule with his rehabilitation when he was pulled from his August 6 start at High-A Port St. Lucie after just one inning.

This is, of course,  terrible news, and you cannot help but feel for Hefner, who will now need to spend another entire year working his way back to the major leagues. We can only hope that Hefner makes a full recovery from this, and we can see him pitch again in 2016.

Phillies fall to the Mets. Again. The season series stands at 5-11.

Today's game marked the last time the Mets will play in Philadelphia this season. The Phillies, being the ever gracious hosts, sent them on their way with a parting gift in the form of a relatively easy win.

The game started off inauspiciously, as the Phils' latest incarnation of the surprisingly effective fill-in 5th starter that nobody had really heard of before this year, David Buchanan, pitched quite well. Buchanan did his best Mo'Ne Davis impersonation, throwing six innings of four-hit ball while striking out six and walking one, leaving the game with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately for the Phillies unlike the Little League World Series, MLB games do not end after six innings.

Buchanan allowed 5 base runners on the day, the first being Juan Lagares who he hit square in the middle of the back in the second inning. Daniel Murphy picked up the Mets first hit of the day with a double down the RF line in the 4th inning and came around to score as David Wright followed that with a slicing single up the middle.

The Phils took the lead in their half of the fourth as Darin Ruf blasted a ball deep into the center field batter's eye area with Ruiz on first following a walk. This was just Ruf's fourth start since Sandberg's "I know what [Howard] can do, I want to see what Ruf can do" about-face. Regardless, that would be all the offense could muster against an again-effective-for-no-particular-reason Jonathan Niese. He's actually a lot like Buchanan in that regard, as he doesn't have any dominating skills, but can command the ball okay--at least as much as you need to command against a team that doesn't like to take walks.

Buchanan was actually charged with the Mets' second run too, as he walked Juan Legaras to start the 7th inning, after which he was replaced by Justin Berfartus. I didn't use "relieved" in that last sentence, because he was of little relief. With Lagares on first De Fratus promptly served up line-drive double to right to Matt den Dekker (he of the .233 wOBA), whose mother missed out on a wonderful alliterative opportunity, allowing Lagares to score.

De Fratus then allowed a single to Wilmer Flores (.244 wOBA), and followed that up by spinning a hanging slider that Anthony Recker (.243 wOBA) smushed deep into the afternoon. Fun fact: Recker had been 0 for his last 18 before killing that baseball. Okay, maybe that fact isn't so fun. That tater was also inconvenient in that it allowed Niese to bat for himself and stay in the game for the bottom of the seventh, a boost for the Mets who have had some trouble at the back end of their bullpen this season. Good job, good effort, Berfartus.

The Phillies had a chance to plate another run in the seventh after Dom Brown's two-out pinch-hit double against Niese. Ben Revere singled on a ground ball through the middle, but I already said the Phils couldn't get to Niese after Ruf's bomb, so you know the gist of what's going to happen here. Ben Revere slapped a single up the middle and Pete Mackanin sent Dom home where he was out by approximately 2 AU. It was either a completely terrible call down by two with two outs with Rollins coming up (if you're trying to win the game), or a great call (if you're embracing the tank). I'll leave that assessment to the reader.

Bastardo Bastardoed the eighth inning, striking out two but walking one in the process, while Buddy Carlyle, a guy who is a professional baseball pitcher and not the guy who sang Shipoopi in the Music Man, or the guy in the plane crash The Day the Music Died, kept the Phils off the board in the bottom of the 8th.

After a clean top-half of the 9th by Cesar Jimenez. he of the not-at-all-likely-to-regress 0.00 ERA, 3.41 FIP and 5.46 xFIP, the Phils faced Jeurys Familia in the 9th. Ruf was due to lead off the inning, but despite being responsible for both of the Phils runs to that point Sandberg pinch-hit for him with Grady Sizemore, to a clattering of Twitter responses. I'm going to offer a hot take on this move: It was probably correct. Not so much because Ruf can't high right-handed pitching, but because Familia has been death to righties over his entire major league career, and has very pronounced splits - .154/.262/.244 vs RHB, .313/.409/.426 vs LHB. If I'm Ryne Sandberg I do the same thing there. I also probably cut out this paragraph and paste it on my wall, since it's one of the very few times he's going to see me defend his managerial moves -- or, well, no, if I'm Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg I don't actually care what a guy like me says, so never mind that.

Regardless, Sizemore struck out. Cody Asche worked a 2-out walk, and Chase Utley ripped a pinch-hit home-run ground-rule double to the right-center wall. The play was ruled a double after replays showed a fan leaned slightly over the rail to catch the ball with his hat, though if you catch a ball that's very nearly a homer in your ball cap I think it should count; round it up to a dinger. Call it style points or something. Chase was placed back at second base where he would be as Ben Revere flared a weak ball to center to end the misery that has been the Mets visiting Citizens Bank Park this season.

Overall, I'm like:

But it wasn't all bad times:

#Phillies Chase Utley is batting .351/.433/.667 in 67 career pinch-hit plate appearances.

— Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) August 11, 2014

Chase Utley's last 6 PAs: out, BB, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR (assuming this is a double)

— The Good Phight (@TheGoodPhight) August 11, 2014

Actually, it's 26 ABs without a K for Utley, forgot to count the last AB of the 8/3 game.

— The Good Phight (@TheGoodPhight) August 11, 2014

Fangraph of Now We Get To Stay Up Really Late to Watch Them Do This Stuff On the West Coast! Yay!

Source: FanGraphs

He was a funny, funny man.

Actor, comedian, and all-time-great funnyman Robin Williams is dead at 63. The presumed cause of death is suicide. Williams was known to be dealing with depression for a long time.

BREAKING: Gifted comic and actor Robin Williams has died, apparently by suicide, per @MarinSheriff. http://t.co/6GK4iZKXLw@sfgate

— Henry K. Lee (@henryklee) August 11, 2014

The relevance to Mets fans is minimal, except that he made lots of us laugh over the years and he once took batting practice at Shea Stadium in 1997.

If you are depressed or are having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to speak with a trained counselor in you area.

Please feel free to share your favorite Robin Williams memories in the comments. Here's another shot of him taking BP before a Mets game against the Pirates on July 26, 2007.

(Photo credit: NY Daily News via Getty Images)

Jon Niese won his first game since returning from the disabled list, and Matt den Dekker and Anthony Recker drove in four runs in the seventh to give the Mets a 5-3 victory in Philly.

Coming off a painful loss on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, the Mets were able to rebound in the series finale there today. While the Mets' playoff hopes may be nothing more than a pipe dream, the team came back to Citizens Bank Park today to beat the Phillies 5-3 to win the series and return home on a high note.

Today's contest started off quietly enough as Phillies starter Dan Buchanan and Mets starter Jon Niese both had 1-2-3 innings in the first. In the second, Niese had a slight hiccup, as he issued a four-pitch walk to Darin Ruf with two outs in the inning. Andres Blanco then smacked a double into left that sailed over the glove of a leaping Matt den Dekker, which advanced Ruf to third base. But Niese induced a groundout to second from Cody Asche to end the inning.

The Mets went down without any noise in the second and third, but in the fourth, Daniel Murphy led off with a double to the left field corner. David Wright then drove him in with a single that extended his hitting streak to ten games and put the Mets up 1-0. Wright got stranded at first, though, as Buchanan then struck out Lucas Duda and Juan Lagares. Andres Blanco then robbed den Dekker of a base hit to put the bats back in the Phillies hands.

Niese's only glaring mistake came in the bottom half of the fourth, when after a Ryan Howard ground out, he walked Carlos Ruiz to bring up Darin Ruf. Ruf took a 2-0 pitch from Niese and placed it over the center field wall to put the Phillies on top 2-1. Niese kept his composure, however, and got Andres Blanco to ground out to Wright and then struck out Cody Asche to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Niese ran into trouble again by issuing a walk to Buchanan to begin the inning. David Wright, perhaps sensing his pitcher needed to calm down, went over and spoke to Niese for a few seconds. Whatever the captain said worked, as Niese then induced a ground ball to Murphy that turned into a 4-6-3 double play, and followed that up by getting Jimmy Rollins to hit a comebacker to get out of the inning. Niese endured a few more bumps as the game went on, but unlike his last few starts, he managed to recover from them all and keep the Mets in the game.

The Mets' offense finally broke through against Dan Buchanan in the seventh. The Phillies starter walked Lagares to leadoff the inning, which should have been a big, glaring sign to Ryne Sandberg that something was amiss in the universe, as Lagares has only walked thirteen times all year. Matt den Dekker came up after Lagares and smacked an RBI double into right field to tie the game at two and knock Buchanan out of the game.

Justin De Fratus—who hadn’t allowed an earned run since a July 26 appearance versus the Diamondbacks—came on for the Phils and promptly gave up a bloop single to Wilmer Flores, bringing Anthony Recker to the plate. Recker ended De Fratus's scoreless streak with his fourth home run of the year, a three-run dinger that put the Mets up 5-2.

The Phillies threatened against Niese in the home half of the seventh. After Andres Blanco and Cody Asche both flew out to Juan Lagares for the first two outs of the inning, Sandberg sent pinch hitter Domonic Brown up to the plate. Brown swung at the first pitch he saw, and smacked it over the head of Curtis Granderson for a double. Ben Revere then singled to center, and for a split-second, it looked like another Phillies rally was in the making. Thankfully, Juan Lagares refused to allow it to materialize. When Brown rounded third to try to score on Revere's single, Lagares fired a throw to Anthony Recker, who then laid the tag on Brown to end the inning and squash the Phillies' hopes.

Antonio Bastardo and Cesar Jimenez then held the Mets scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, while Buddy Carlyle and Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless eighth for the Mets. Familia took the mound again for the Mets in the ninth inning to try to earn a four-out save. And that's when it got a little exciting.

Familia struck out pinch hitter Grady Sizemore, and induced a groundout to Lucas Duda off the bat of Andres Blanco. He then walked Cody Asche, and Ryne Sandberg then sent Chase Utley, who got the day off today against the lefty Niese, in to pinch hit. Utley made his only at-bat count, and very nearly hit a homer that would have cut the Mets lead down to one run. After a review, however, it was determined that a fan interfered with the ball, and Utley returned to second base with an RBI to make the score 5-3. Thankfully, he went no further than that, as Ben Revere flew out to Juan Lagares to end the game and give the Mets a win.

The Mets are scheduled to begin a three-game series at home at 7:10 PM EDT on Tuesday night, weather permitting.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* The Good Phight GameThread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Matt den Dekker, +18.5% WPA; Anthony Recker, +13.5% WPA
Big losers: Lucas Duda, -8.0% WPA; Curtis Granderson, -7.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Matt den Dekker's double in the top of the seventh
Teh sux0rest play: Darin Ruf's home run in the bottom of the fourth 
Total pitcher WPA: +16.7% WPA
Total batter WPA: +33.3% WPA
GWRBI!: Anthony Recker

The Washington Nationals got a much-needed (for everyone) day off on Monday, but they start a three-game set in Citi Field tonight with Doug Fister on the mound in the series opener with the New York Mets in Flushing, Queens.

RIP. NSFW, but the first scene that came to mind last night...[ed. note - "And seriously, Gus Van Sant directed the h**k out of this movie."]:

• THE BIG STORY!!!:

• "Manager Matt Williams is one of Span's biggest supporters. Despite calls that Span should hit down in the order, Williams never wavered. Span is his leadoff hitter for the rest of the season." -"Even-keeled Denard Span making big impact for Nats" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• NATS BEAT:

• "Taylor and Souza are just the beginning of what should be an infusion of minor league talent in September." -"Looking ahead to Nats’ 2014 September call-ups" - Chase Hughes, Nats Insider

SS Ian Desmond, who rejected a reported $90 million extension from #Nats last winter, has cleared waivers, along with starter Gio Gonzalez,

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 11, 2014

• "Werth took a moment to reflect and then offered an interesting response about hitting and perceptions about it." -"The Nationals’ second-half hitters" - James Wagner, Washington Post

• "The Nationals and Braves will not see each other again for nearly a month when the Nats host Atlanta on Sept. 8. That will begin a stretch where the two teams play six of 10 games against each other." - "State of the Nats: Pennant race set to heat up" - Chase Hughes, Nats Insider

Teammates Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg were both claimed on waivers, and the #Nats pulled them back.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 11, 2014

• "The Nationals open a three-game series with the New York Mets on Tuesday, the beginning of a stretch of 16 games in 16 days in which they face only two teams with winning records." - "Washington Nationals leave Atlanta feeling pretty good, despite losing 2 of 3 games" - James Wagner, The Washington Post

• Your Daily Message from the Dalai Lama on Twitter (@DalaiLama):

It is important to let people know that they have the source of contentment and happiness within themselves.

— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) July 31, 2013

• NATIONAL(S) BEAT:

• "Gio is not really known as a fly ball pitcher; in fact, he's spent more time above the average ground ball rate than below it." - "Gio Gonzalez and consistent success" - Kevin Ruprecht, Beyond the Box Score

• "Teams routinely put their players through waivers in August with no intention of moving them, in part to mask other players they hope to sneak through..." -"Report: Niese, Grandy clear waivers" - Adam Rubin, Mets Blog - ESPN New York

• "Harper is a nice young man, by most accounts, and he didn't mean any harm, but sometimes he does seem the 21 years he is. And sometimes, even younger." - "Stock Watch: Nationals getting most out of lineup with Span in center" - Jon Hemyan, CBSSports.com

• "Stephen Strasburg is 1-8 with a 5.25 ERA in 12 road starts this season. Overall, he already has surrendered 18 homers in 2014, two more than his previous career high." -"Series preview: Mets vs. Nationals" - Adam Rubin, Mets Blog - ESPN New York

• "And yet again, the Braves are surely asking: What to do about B.J. Upton?" -"The Braves beat the Nats, but what about B.J.?" - Mark Bradley, Mark Bradley blog

• "Over the weekend, Bryce Harper defiled the Braves logo behind home plate at Turner Field. Absolutely defiled it." - "The beauty of Bryce Harper defiling the Braves logo" - Grant Brisbee, SBNation.com

The unwritten rules of Bryce Harper and the Braves logo. I love this stuff too much. http://t.co/XK3IQo77G7

— Grant Brisbee (@mccoveychron) August 11, 2014

• "Some innings, Strasburg looks like a No. 1 draft pick and a future Hall of Famer. The next, he's clueless. Giving up three two-run homers against Atlanta during the series opener Aug. 8 was pathetic." -"Nationals Must Still Show Playoff Mettle" - Rick Snider, Pressbox DC

• "The Nationals are clearly in the process of running much of their roster through waivers, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports..." - "Desmond, Gonzalez Clear Waivers; Strasburg, Harper Pulled Back After Claims" - Steve Adams, MLB Trade Rumors

• "The Mets had their best shot of getting a head start on Washington with another strong outing from rookie Jacob deGrom." - "Washington Nationals at New York Mets - August 12, 2014" - Marla Torres, MLB.com Preview

• eMb:

• "Before that one loss, the Expos had won 20 of 22 games and had all the makings of the best team in the majors. But it was all downhill from there for Montreal Expos baseball." -"1994 MLB Strike Anniversary: What if the Expos won the 1994 World Series?" - Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com

• "While Keri is an admitted stats geek, he chose to go beneath and beyond the numbers in chronicling the history of Les Expos, both on the field and off." - "Nationals Buzz: Keri's 'Up, Up, & Away' should be required reading for Nats fans" - Pete Kerzel, MASNSports.com

• NATS MINORS:

VIDEO: Auburn Doubledays fall to the Vermont Lake Monsters, 6-2 http://t.co/jJqqFkKm5V#Ddays

— Jeremy Houghtaling (@CitizenHough) August 12, 2014

• Low-A Hagerstown: "Lucas Giolito's 2014 season has been so good that even the obstacles of opposing lineups don't seem to be enough for the right-hander. Now he's creating challenges for himself." - "Down a pitch, top Washington Nationals prospect Lucas Giolito silences Delmarva" - Tyler Maun, MiLB.com News

#Nats' prospect Lucas Giolito: 5.0 scoreless, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 69 P, 45 S, 6/1 GO/FO, 9th win for @HagerstownSuns tonight, 2.23 ERA in 93IP.

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) August 12, 2014

• "Nationals No. 1 prospect Lucas Giolito threw five scoreless innings and second baseman Wilmer Difo collected a career-high five hits Monday..." - "Nationals prospects Lucas Giolito, Wilmer Difo lead way in Class A win" - Teddy Cahill, nationals.com: News

• "Nationals prospect Wilmer Difo is riding a six-game hitting streak and continues to impress at low Single-A Hagerstown. He is batting .407 (11-for-27) in those..." -"Difo and Yezzo having big weeks in Hagerstown" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

#HbgSens/#Nats glance features @NationalDet, @Perez_Eury, @Ikeballou, @Rivero43&@CalebClay (in MLB!) ... http://t.co/ZIuhwtuDeb

— Geoff Morrow (@RageAgainstGMo) August 11, 2014

• Triple-A Syracuse: "The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, fell to the Charlotte Knights, 9-3, on Monday night at NBT Bank Stadium." - "The Syracuse Chiefs fell to the Charlotte Knights, 9-3, on Monday evening. Will Rhymes hit a three-run home run in the loss" - Syracuse Chiefs News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "The Syracuse Chiefs (68-52) remain at the top of the North Division in the International League, nearing 70 days in a row of being in first place." - "Slugger Brandon Laird powering Syracuse Chiefs during playoff run" - Tom Eschen, CNYcentral.com

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Syracuse Chiefs reliever Aaron Barrett rolled out of a rare off-day last week looking tanned and relaxed." - "Syracuse Chiefs reliever Aaron Barrett taking control of his career" - Lindsay Kramer, syracuse.com

• NATSTOWN:

• "A letter from Bill Taft" - Curly W Live

Here it is: @TylerClippard's Fan Choice bobblehead! Get yours on 9/27! Tix: http://t.co/RZPfja8Zw0pic.twitter.com/DjjclNMPcL

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 11, 2014

• "Missing games for a hand injury that has apparently sapped his power, he is certainly not playing like a superstar, hitting .249/.335/.363 on the season." -"Another Harper Disappointment" - cfliegel, The Nationals Review

• "Gio Gonzalez hikes baseball between his legs (Video)" - Nats Enquirer

• "In keeping with the Nationals’ most recent goofy home run celebration, Fister snatched Adam LaRoche’s helmet off his head..." - "Doug Fister’s dugout hoop skills are rusty" - Scott Allen, The Washington Post

• NL EAST UPDATES:

• Mets: "While deGrom heals, 23-year-old rookie Rafael Montero will come up from Triple-A Las Vegas and enter the rotation..." - "Mets Catch a Break as deGrom Won't Need Surgery" - Jared Diamond, WSJ

• Braves: "That’s a little over one-third of a season, and the Braves would gladly take a .292 average and .376 OBP from Heyward for a full year..." - "Braves’ Heyward becoming player we expected" - David O'Brien, Atlanta Braves blog

• Marlins: "There was no denying Stanton on Monday as the slugging right fielder became the Marlins' all-time leader with 13 multi-homer games while powering Miami to a 6-5 win over the Cardinals at Marlins Park." - "Stanton homers twice to power Marlins past Cardinals" - Craig Davis, Sun Sentinel

Yeah, @Giancarlo818 can hit it kind of far. http://t.co/9WP9N1oQ0m

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) August 12, 2014

•Phillies: "Ruben Amaro Jr.’s financial handiwork has given us another contender for the hallowed ‘worst team money can buy’ tag..." - "The Detroit Tigers are Too Reminiscent of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Recent Fall" - Mike Cardillo, The Big Lead

Your Tuesday morning dose of Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

A Monday matinee went the way of the good guys. Jon Niese went seven strong and the struggling Anthony Recker hit a three-run bomb in the seventh inning to lift the Mets to a 5-3 win, giving the Mets a series victory and a 4-3 record on their road trip.

Happy Recaps: AA (short, long), MLB.com, ESPN.com, Times, Post, Daily News, Newsday, Star-Ledger

In case you didn't know, Juan Lagares is a pretty good center fielder. Dominic Brown found that out the hard way in yesterday's game when Lagares threw him out at home plate in the bottom of the seventh.

Back with the Mets, Matt den Dekker is seizing his opportunity, writes Marc Carig. The outfielder is 3-for-8 with a double and an RBI in his return to the team.

Want to face former Mets pitchers John Franco or Doc Gooden? Well, here's your chance to do so.

Rafael Montero will indeed be getting the start for Jacob deGrom tonight, but the Post's Kevin Kernan thinks that it should have been Noah Syndergaard up instead.

Around the NL East

The Good Phight bemoans the fact that the Mets have had the Phillies' number at Citizens Bank Park.

Giancarlo Stanton continued his power streak, hitting two more homers—his 30th and 31st of the year—as the Marlinstopped the Cardinals 6-5. The Mets remain 1.5 games back of the Fish.

The struggles continue for the Braves. They've lost 10 of their last 12 and now stand at 8-15 since the break after dropping a 6-2 decision to the Dodgers.

The Nationals were off yesterday, but assistant GM Doug Harris swung by MLB Network Radio to talk about some of the club's minor league prospects, as well as Tanner Roark's strong play in D.C. The Nats also recalled outfielder Michael Taylor from Triple-A Syracuse.

Around the Majors

Injury news: first to Detroit, where the Tigers' Justin Verlander, who hadn't been pitching like the Verlander we've come to know, had to leave after the first inning against the Pirates last night due to shoulder soreness. And in Baltimore, the Orioles' Manny Machadotwisted his knee in the third against the Yankees and had to leave the game.

Guess who's leading the A.L. Central? Hint: it's not the Tigers or the Indians.

Check out this catch in Chicago, and no, it wasn't by a Cubs player.

Some Boston Red Stockings baseball memorabilia from the '70s (1870's, that is) fetched someone $1 million.

This Date In Mets History

In 2000, Benny Agbayani was nice enough to hand a baseball to a fan in the stands. Only problem: there were two outs in the inning.

Yesterday at Amazin' Avenue

As mentioned, it is Rafael Montero replacing Jacob deGrom in the rotation while the latter is on the 15-day DL. That sigh of relief you heard was Mets fans everywhere thankful that surgery won't be necessary for deGrom.

Zack Wheeler has been good lately, but his changeup could be better. If he can get that figured out, he could turn out to be great.

Jeremy Hefner has suffered another UCL tear and might need to go under the knife once more. To top it off, he also has a fractured forearm.

Jon Niese and Curtis Granderson both cleared waivers; the pair can now be traded if the Mets choose to do so.

Meter Avenue: hitters and pitchers.

Matt den Dekker's stance has changed.

We'd be remiss if we didn't offer our condolences once more to the great Robin Williams, who passed away yesterday at the age of 63. Eric Simon had a brief write-up last night.

The Mets' first baseman of the future just hit his first home run of the season, but there's good cause to be optimistic.

When looking at Dominic Smith’s stats from this season—specifically the fact that he has just one home run—it’s easy to be concerned about his future offensive potential. The concerns are exacerbated by the fact that he plays first base, a position where more power is expected. However, there are plenty of good reasons for Smith’s lack of power output this season that should make Mets fans rest a little easier.

When developing as young ballplayers, hitters have two kinds of power: raw power and in-game power. Raw power is the natural power a hitter has in his swing as a result of a number of factors, namely strength and bat speed. In-game power is the ability to translate the raw power into games, meaning the ability to square up the baseball with natural loft and drive it out of the ballpark.

A huge misconception with Dominic Smith is that he doesn’t have raw power. He doesn’t have the light-tower power of up-and-comers like Javier Baez and Joey Gallo, but he does have the strength and ability to drive the ball with natural loft out of the ballpark.

I traveled to Greenville in order to watch the Savannah Sand Gnats earlier this summer, and despite Smith’s lack of apparent athleticism, shorter stature, and youth relative to every other player on the field, his batting practice session made him look like a man among boys. You can watch some of his practice cuts from that week in the below video, and you can even hear me get excited starting around the 1:33 mark, where he goes on a streak of pulling balls over the right-center field wall.

It’s hard to tell from the batting practice video, but he started with a professional approach while driving the ball into both gaps consistently. He then proceeded to put on a show, turning on pitch after pitch and lofting balls over the fence with ease. I was skeptical heading into his first round, as I saw all the concerns I had heard about him: the bad body, the lack of energy, the poor projectability. But as soon as he stepped in the batter’s box, he suddenly seemed like the best athlete on the field, looking incredibly comfortable while barreling the ball and smashing it across the outfield and over the fence.

After my few days in Greenville it was clear to me that Smith had more than enough raw power to play first base. This was a relief, because the lack of power projection was clear in his body, but he currently has more than enough raw power to become at least 20-home-run bat in the big leagues.

However, there is still a major question about his ability to utilize that power in games. I can sit here and type all day about how impressed I was with his raw power, but that doesn’t change the fact that he has just one home run on the season, and that it took until this past weekend for him to hit it.

Even with the lack of home runs, Smith’s natural hitting ability has been very impressive and his season should be perceived as a positive one in his development. While Smith has slumped recently, the fact that he is hitting over .280 as a 19-year-old in the Sally League is wildly impressive. Remember, the Mets’ previous two first-round picks Brandon Nimmo and Gavin Cecchini spent their first full seasons out of high school playing at a lower level in Brooklyn and hit .248 and .273, respectively. Nimmo also hit just two home runs in the Sally League just a year ago, but he already has nine homers this year, including five since his promotion to Double-A.

The issue with comparing Nimmo and Cecchini to Smith is that Smith plays a position where he is expected to hit for much more power, but the point remains the same. Smith is a young player who has hit extremely well for his age in a league that is tough on hitters. The lack of in-game power is a concern, but considering the raw power he exhibited in batting practice and the natural all-fields approach he has shown off in games, it's not hard to imagine that the raw power will begin to translate in games.

Should we be concerned about his lack of in-game power so far?

The best power hitters in baseball don’t always put up massive home run totals in the minors like Kris Bryant and Joey Gallo have this season. Some players have superior raw power and learn how to utilize it in games later in their careers, a notable example being current Mets first baseman Lucas Duda.

Even with Duda’s very nice season this year, he is sill not one of the premier power bats in baseball. That being said, in terms of raw strength and ability to mash a baseball, Duda is right up there. However, as an amateur coming into the draft, Duda had exhibited almost zero in-game power. In his three-year career at USC, he hit a total of 11 home runs for the Trojans, and that was back in the aluminum-bat heyday where a lazy fly ball could regularly soar over the fence.

The Mets took a flier on the 6’4" behemoth in the seventh round, and Duda still just hit four home runs as a 21-year-old in the New York Penn League. That didn’t change the fact that Duda had monstrous power, and it has taken him until his age-28 season to eclipse 20 homers in the majors.

Now, I’m not suggesting Smith has superior raw power like a Gallo or Baez; my intention is to help alleviate concerns about his nonexistent power output. The process of becoming a major league power hitter comes faster to some than to others. The raw power is necessary, but the ability to jump on a mistake and loft it out of the ballpark takes time.

Right now, Smith is a very natural hitter who turns mistakes into live-drive singles and occasionally doubles. Prospects bust more often than not, and it is definitely possible that Smith either never develops in-game power or that his desire to hit for more power will harm his natural hitting ability.

However, it cannot be forgotten that he is just 19 while playing half his games in Grayson Stadium, a death trap for left-handed power hitters. If Smith is 22 in Double-A and still producing meager home run totals, you can start sounding the alarm about his future. But for now, Smith is doing more than fine, and fans should be excited for his power to come.

While Travis d'Arnaud struggles with controlling the running game and pitch blocking, his pitch framing has been valuable this year.

Watching Travis d’Arnaud lately has been quite enjoyable for Mets fans. Since his return to the majors on June 24, he’s hit .271/.315/.489 with six home runs, good for a 126 wRC+. But his defense on the year still looks poor. He’s given up 11 passed balls—most in the majors—and has a mediocre 20.8 percent caught stealing rate that ranks 59th.

But these are only two facets of catching, and relying solely on traditional counting stats and the eye test to judge defense is highly questionable. So how does d’Arnaud actually stack up? To answer this question, we’ll need to dig a little deeper than we would for other positions. Because DRS and UZR are both essentially useless for judging the defensive performance of a catcher, younger and more complex metrics must be used to characterize defensive performance behind the plate.

One important element of catching that is not captured by the traditional statistics is framing. Research in the last few years has begun to show just how important this skill is to the game, with new metrics springing up to measure it. Mike Fast’s 2011 article from Baseball Prospectus is a great read on the subject. According to StatCorner’s methodology, d’Arnaud's pitch framing rates 12.0 runs above average (RAA), good for 7th in the majors. Jose Molina, a noted defensive wizard behind the plate, comes in at 13.3 RAA. This methodology paints d’Arnaud as a borderline elite pitch framer.

Photo: Getty Images

On the other hand, Baseball Prospectus utilizing a "regressed probability model," is not quite as fond of d'Arnaud, ranking him 11th when using the count to contextualize strikes added. Interestingly enough, d’Arnaud falls all the way to 23rd when the context neutral variant is used, which seems to indicate that he is a ‘clutch’ framer. These metrics are still too young to determine whether this ‘clutch’ skill is sustainable, but perhaps d’Arnaud is just much better at pulling in those borderline strike-three calls. Interesting statistical trivia aside, Baseball Prospectus views d’Arnaud as a good catcher, but not quite as good as the near elite interpretation from StatCorner.

Baseball Prospectus also provides a more accurate method of judging a catcher’s skill at blocking pitches. Unfortunately, d’Arnaud grades out as poorly in this metric as one would expect, coming in at a whopping –3.7 runs saved, good for 88th on the leaderboard and only ahead of well-known butchers Evan Gattis and Wilin Rosario. In this case, advanced metrics confirm the conclusions of the eye test, and show that d’Arnaud really couldn’t be much worse in this department.

Now, by combining the two run added values for framing and blocking from Baseball Prospectus, we can get a clearer picture of a catchers total defensive value. When using the sum of these values as the sorting criteria, d’Arnaud comes out as the 14th-best defensive catcher in baseball with a total of 7.5 runs added. By these metrics, d’Arnaud’s pitch framing is more than valuable enough to make up for his poor blocking skills at the plate.

Travis d’Arnaud is not good at blocking pitches and is mediocre at controlling the running game. He’s also a pretty great pitch framer. Unfortunately, neither Baseball Prospectus nor StatCorner offers a method of contextualizing caught stealing percentage in terms of runs, meaning there is no way to factor it into the calculation and produce one neat statistic to by which catchers can be judged. Regardless, d’Arnaud’s 7.5 defensive runs added should help put the defensive questions about him to rest.

Jenrry Mejia's admission he has been pitching with a hernia that will require surgery has once again put the Mets' process of dealing with injuries in the spotlight.

The issue isn't that Jenrry Mejia has a hernia. It's not even that he'll need surgery to correct it. As is so often the case with the Mets, it's their handling of the injury itself that has become a point of contention.

After blowing the save and ultimately suffering the loss in yesterday's 7-6 defeat in Philadelphia, Mejia admitted that the lower back stiffness and calf tightness he has been dealing with is actually due to a hernia he's been suffering from the last three weeks. According to Mejia, the hernia will require surgery, but New York's closer is hoping to delay going under the knife until the offseason.

"The doctor said if that bothers me too much, let him know and they're going to fix it. I want to keep pitching and have the full season and then have the operation. At the beginning of the season, everything was good, normal. Now, I've got my leg, thigh, my back, a little bit of a hernia. So I've got to keep going. I don't want to stop for the season. I want to keep going. I want to keep pitching."

The problem here isn't with Mejia's decision. Any professional athlete will do what it takes to stay on the field. No, the issue is that he's being allowed to pitch at all. For a team that has had its share of poor public relations moments when it comes to injuries, allowing one of your prized young pitchers to gut out a hernia in a season that more than likely won't bear fruit is pointless and dangerous. But as mentioned, this is nothing new.

Here are a few of New York's not-so-great decisions injuries from the past few years.

Ryan Church, 2008

The outfielder suffered a mild concussion in spring training and another; far more severe concussion a little more than two months later in Atlanta when his head slammed into then Braves shortstop, Yunel Escobar's knee. The Mets used him as a pinch hitter two days later and had him fly with the club to Colorado, exacerbating his post-concussion symptoms. Unbelievably, Church wasn't placed on the disabled list for almost three weeks, leaving many to wonder what the club was thinking.

Jose Reyes, 2009

After seemingly moving past his early career injuries, Reyes suffered a small tear of his right hamstring tendon and did not play for the rest of the season, appearing in just 36 games. For reasons still unclear to this day, Reyes was allowed to test his injured leg at the very end of the 2009 season, ultimately tore his right hamstring, necessitating surgery.

Carlos Beltran, 2009-2010

After a season in which he played only 81 games due to knee problems, Beltran went rogue and decided to undergo knee surgery in January, 2010. The only problem? He did so without the consent of the Mets. The ensuing bitterness would last through the remainder of his tenure in Queens.

Ike Davis, 2011

Who knows how Davis's career with the Mets would have turned out if not for that fateful collision with David Wright in May, 2011? Off to a scorching start, what seemed like a simple ankle sprain turned into a season-ending malady for Davis and in turn made the Mets medical staff look like amateurs. A bone bruise turned into cartilage damage thanks to a walking boot that restricted the flow of blood to the ankle. In short, the injury and subsequent setbacks were a major embarrassment for the club.

David Wright, 2011

How do you allow the face of your franchise to play almost three full weeks with a broken back? Ask the Mets, because that's what they did with Wright. After initially hurting his back in a mid-April game, New York's star third baseman finally underwent an MRI—close to a month later—that showed a stress fracture in his lower back. It would be almost nine weeks until Wright returned to the major leagues.

To be fair, situations like this happen to all teams at some point or another. The difference is this seems to be a recurring issue with the Mets, whether it's under the previous regime of GM Omar Minaya or the current one led by Sandy Alderson. Manager Terry Collins, who didn't even admit to knowing about Mejia's hernia until the right-hander finally let the word slip yesterday, laid the onus at the feet of his closer.

"The medical people say he should be OK to pitch. So he’s got to make the decision. If he tells me [Monday] he can’t do it, then we’ll make a decision."

Wrong.

Former Mets reliever, Tim Byrdak had some pointed advice for Mejia.

Dear Mr Mejia. I pitched with sports hernia in 2010, results will not get better because you won't be able to finish your pitches#justssayin

— Tim Byrdak (@Givemethelefty) August 10, 2014

Photo: Getty Images

Alderson and Collins need to step in and definitively tell Mejia that he needs to be shut down. A doctor saying the hernia won't worsen is not justifiable cause to allow the 24-year-old to continue to pitch. The art of pitching requires so many moving parts and precision that any tweak in the delivery can lead to negative results or worse, altered mechanics and further injury. The former has already come to fruition.

During the last three weeks, or the time Mejia said he has been pitching through the hernia, he is 0-2 with six saves and a 4.15 ERA, allowing 15 hits and four walks across 8.2 innings. Opposing batters are hitting .375 off Mejia during the same period. The right-hander had saved 11 games in 13 opportunities with a 2.45 ERA and .222 batting average against in 25 previous games since taking over as closer.

His numbers are already suffering, and the Mets must take action before the possibility of further injury becomes a reality. It's times like this where New York needs to learn from their past mistakes so Mejia's name isn't added to the list of #LOLMets moments; many of which are anything but funny.

A surplus of pitching has the Mets in an enviable position to make trades. But should they?

The sigh of relief could be heard 90 miles away from Citi Field, all the way down the New Jersey Turnpike in Philadelphia. The Mets held their collective breaths when Jacob deGrom notified them last Saturday that he felt discomfort in his right shoulder. That they were able to exhale when the MRI results revealed tendinitis in his rotator cuff only underscores the fragility of pitchers in today's game.

New York has been through this before, going back to the mid-1990s hype of "Generation K:"Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, and Paul Wilson. All three were expected to lead the Mets to a new age of glory. All three endured serious arm injuries soon after making their major league debuts and never reached the lofty heights expected of them. Only Isringhausen carved out a strong career, saving 300 games over 16 big league seasons. Today, "Generation K" can best be described as a prime example of the immense risks associated with young hurlers.

Fast-forward to 2014 and the Mets are once again flush with pitching. Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard, and deGrom are already household names with New York's fan base. And there's more where that came from with names like Steven Matz, Michael Fulmer, and Gabriel Ynoa working their way through the minor league system. However, Harvey's injury last year and deGrom's recent shoulder scare shows just how fragile pitching can be, and that's why GM Sandy Alderson needs to be extremely cautious with his decisions this upcoming winter.

Unfortunately for the Mets, they do not reside in a vacuum where their troubles are known only to them. The screaming need for another run-producer or two to add to the lineup is no secret around baseball. Names like Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies and Starlin Castro of the Cubs have been associated with the Mets, but so far Alderson has refused to part with any of his young arms.

New York has done itself no favors with fans during a slow rebuilding process. Apathy and anger is at an all-time high among the Flushing faithful. Trying to explain why keeping unproven youngsters instead of trading for an established bat may fall on deaf ears, but Alderson should be prepared to do just that.

There are two axioms in baseball that hold true: You can never have enough pitching, and sooner or later a pitcher is going to break down. The Mets have made it clear that the future success of the franchise will rest on the arms of their young hurlers, a future that they feel is coming fast, writes Paul White in USA Today.

If pitching indeed has become the name of the game, then the Mets are poised to be players—provided they show at least basic aptitude for the rest of the game.

But now comes the hard part. In addition to Harvey, who continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery, Dillon Geemissed close to two months earlier this season with a strained lat muscle and Jon Niese has had three shoulder scares within the last year and recently came off a stint on the 15-day disabled list. Again, you can never have too much pitching.

Alderson knows this and that is why he must tread carefully. Does he swing for the fences and package a Syndergaard or deGrom to bring Castro or Tulowitzki to Queens? Or does he go a safer route, signing a shortstop and left fielder such as J.J. Hardy and Melky Cabrera, keep his surplus of pitching, and hope for a bounce-back season from David Wright and continued improvement from Lucas Duda and Travis d'Arnaud?

The more time passes and the more pitchers get hurt around the major leagues, the more Alderson may lean towards the cautionary path. By no means should he pass up an opportunity to obtain a certifiable run-producer or slugger, but if the cost is two of New York's best pitching prospects in one deal, he should say no and hold firm, particularly if it is for anyone short of the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton. Teams like the Athletics and Rays have been able to compete year-in and year-out with a basic formula: strong pitching and a balanced lineup that doesn't necessarily include a bona fide star anchoring the offense.

The Giants showed what strong pitching can do for a club once it reaches the postseason. Alderson shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He's sitting on a pile of arms that are the envy of baseball. If he and his front office are as good as they think they are, they'll make the right moves without sacrificing the wrong players.

It won't be simple and it won't be an easy sell, but it's the right way to do it.

Washington Nationals' outfielder Jayson Werth is out of the lineup tonight so Michael Taylor is set to make his major league debut tonight in Flushing, Queens, NY's Citi Field in the series opener with the New York Mets.

Jayson Werth returned to the Washington Nationals' lineup on Sunday night for the series finale with the Atlanta Braves in Turner Field, going 0 for 1 with the three walks in the Nats' 3-1 loss, but the 35-year-old outfielder talked to reporters this weekend about the AC joint in his right shoulder causing him considerable pain. Werth explained that he injured the shoulder on a play at the wall in Nationals Park during the last homestand.

"'It didn’t look like much on the replay,'" Werth told the Washington Post's James Wagner. "'But just having my shoulder up above my head and it hit the wall just kinda right.'"

Nats' skipper Matt Williams, as quoted in the article, told reporters he hoped a day off on Monday would help the inflammation in Werth's shoulder, but when the Nationals' lineup for tonight's series opener in Citi Field was announced, Werth wasn't listed. Instead, outfielder Michael Taylor's name was listed.

Taylor, the 23-year-old outfielder who was called up this weekend when Steven Souza, Jr. was placed on the 15-Day DL with a shoulder contusion, a result of another run-in with a wall, will be making his MLB debut tonight if weather in Flushing, Queens, NY allows it. There is a threat of rain tonight, but if they play Nationals fans who haven't seen Taylor on the field in the minors or in last month's All-Star Futures Game will get their first chance to see the 2009 Nats' 6th Round pick in action.

Taylor's fifth season in the Nationals' system began at Double-A Harrisburg, where he put up a .313/.396/.539 line with 17 doubles, 22 HRs and 34 stolen bases in 98 games and 441 plate appearances. Last week he was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse for a brief four-game stay before the Nationals called him up, in which he went 5 for 13 (.385/.529/.769) with three doubles and a triple.

• Here's the Nationals' lineup for the series opener with the Mets:

#Nats lineup @ #Mets: Span CF, Cabrera 2B, Rendon 3B, LaRoche 1B, Desmond SS, Harper LF, Ramos C, Taylor RF, Fister P

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 12, 2014

The Mets are playing three more games against the Nationals, so I tracked down Federal Baseball blogger Patrick Reddington in order to learn more about the division-leading Nats.

Patrick is a Nationals blogger over at Federal Baseball, and the Mets are hosting Washington for a three-game series starting tonight. It seemed like a good time to get to know each other better.

Amazin' Avenue: How necessary was the Nationals' acquisition of veteran shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera in exchange for prospect Zach Walters? Both players would be asked to play second base for Washington, but Walters is younger, cheaper, and has hit for a higher slugging percentage in the big leagues this season.

Patrick Reddington: I'm not sure you can read all that much into Walters' 43 plate appearances in the majors this season, but he put up really good numbers at Triple-A (.300/.358/.608, 18 doubles, 15 HRs) after he hit for power (32 doubles, 29 HRs) last season but struck out a lot (20 walks vs 134 Ks in 521 PAs) and was shaky defensively (31 errors at SS). I think the Nationals were just more comfortable with a veteran presence at the major league level when they're in a good position to compete this season, they needed to upgrade on Danny Espinosa at second (as good as he is defensively, he's lost from the left side at the plate) and wanted someone who could play short if necessary if anything were to happen to Ian Desmond since there is little infield depth in the organization.

What's going on with this outfield in the future? Bryce Harper, Denard Span, and Jayson Werth seemed like a solid unit heading into the season, but now Steven Souza has surged into the majors. Even though he got hurt, Michael Taylor (who might even be more talented) is up to replace him. What does the outfield look like by Opening Day 2015?

This is one of two big roster questions the Nationals will have to answer this winter along with what they're going to do at first base with Adam LaRoche headed for free agency again and Ryan Zimmerman seemingly in need of a new position. As for the outfield, when the Nationals acquired Denard Span from the Twins, Nats' GM Mike Rizzo talked about him as a bridge to the next generation of center fielders coming up. Michael Taylor jumped ahead of 2011 1st Round pick Brian Goodwin on the depth chart in the last year, but Taylor is just 23 and didn't play above A-ball until this year when he really took off at Double-A, moved to Triple-A last week and then got the call when Souza ran into the right field wall in Atlanta this week. I have a hard time imagining that the Nationals, who are in a window of contention now, are going to hand the center field job to Taylor next season. There is a $9 million club option in the 5-year/$16.5 million extension Span signed with Minnesota in 2010. Picking up that option and bringing Span back, the way he's playing now, seems like a logical move to give Taylor some time at Triple-A to continue his development. I think that's the only question in the outfield, Harper and Werth are locked for the near-future. If they think Souza, who's crushed Triple-A pitching, can work in a bench role, he makes sense as a backup outfielder who can fill in on a regular basis and allow Werth/Span to get some rest. Opening Day 2015: Harper, Span and Werth starting with McLouth, Taylor, Souza in the mix.

Bryce Harper has disappointed this season. Whether it be due to injury or growing pains, the young star hasn't yet progressed into the all-around player that so many fans and analysts think he can become. Is there reason for concern yet, or is that kind of talk too early when we're dealing with a kid who doesn't turn 22 until October?

I think the biggest factors this year are the knee injury and surgery from last season and the thumb injury this year. In the past year he's had two significant surgeries which also happen to be the first surgeries he's undergone. The torn ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb this year set him back significantly because obviously you can't do anything in terms of swinging a bat as you recover from surgery. Harper started slow this season, but was getting comfortable at the plate when he injured the thumb. He missed 57 games and jumped right back in after not being able to even swing a bat until right before he started his rehab assignment, so I'm not surprised he's struggled at the plate since returning. There are some signs in recent weeks that his timing is getting there and the power is coming back, but I think all of his struggles this year are tied to the injuries. And yes, he is still just a 21-year-old who jumped from high school, one year of junior college and a year-plus in the minors right to the majors, so the fact that he's still experiencing some growing pains as talented as he is probably shouldn't be a surprise. Man, I sound like a Bryce Harper apologist...

Finally, a little Mets talk. New York and Washington are the only two teams in the NL East with positive run differentials. The Mets have gotten a big boost on offense this season with the emergence of Lucas Duda, and next season their pitching staff could be even stronger than it is now. Do you see the Mets as the Nationals primary competition for division supremacy in 2015 and beyond, or does that role still belong to the Braves?

I lamented a few years back that I was really unhappy that the Mets brought Sandy Alderson in to right the ship because I thought for sure he'd actually do a good job. I don't know that I see the Mets and Nationals alone as the top contenders in the division in 2015 and going forward because I also like, as in "am impressed by," the talent the Braves have assembled and locked up and as much as everyone was ripping the Marlins for building and quickly dismantling their roster in the last few years they've managed to collect a talented of group of young pitchers and fielders who are staying relevant a lot later into this season than I would have thought without Jose Fernandez available. The Mets doing the same without Harvey has been equally impressive. Unfortunately I think both the Marlins and Mets are going to cause trouble going forward as the Nats try to maintain their lead in the division and I think all four teams are capable of hanging around deep into the season next year. Sorry, Phillies.

Thank you, Patrick! We look forward to an exciting series between the Mets and Nats starting to night at 7:10 p.m. Rafael Montero and Doug Fister will do your starters for the series opener.

Make sure to check out FanDuel for fun one-day fantasy games!

The Washington Nationals and New York Mets are scheduled to start their three-game set in Citi Field at 7:10 PM EDT tonight, weather permitting, so we talked to Amazin' Avenue about the Nats for a series preview Q&A.

In advance of the start of the Washington Nationals' three-game game with the New York Mets in Citi Field, we talked to the SB Nation's Mets site, Amazin' Avenue, to share some info about the Nats. Here's one question and answer and there's a link to the full post below:

Amazin' Avenue: What's going on with this outfield in the future? Bryce Harper, Denard Span, and Jayson Werth seemed like a solid unit heading into the season, but now Steven Souza has surged into the majors. Even though he got hurt, Michael Taylor (who might even be more talented) is up to replace him. What does the outfield look like by Opening Day 2015?

Federal Baseball: This is one of two big roster questions the Nationals will have to answer this winter along with what they're going to do at first base with Adam LaRoche headed for free agency again and Ryan Zimmerman seemingly in need of a new position.

As for the outfield, when the Nationals acquired Denard Span from the Twins, Nats' GM Mike Rizzo talked about him as a bridge to the next generation of center fielders coming up. Michael Taylor jumped ahead of 2011 1st Round pick Brian Goodwin on the depth chart in the last year, but Taylor is just 23 and didn't play above A-ball until this year when he really took off at Double-A, moved to Triple-A last week and then got the call when Souza ran into the right field wall in Atlanta this week.

I have a hard time imagining that the Nationals, who are in a window of contention now, are going to hand the center field job to Taylor next season.

There is a $9M club option in the 5-year/$16.5M extension Span signed with Minnesota in 2010. Picking up that option and bringing Span back, the way he's playing now, seems like a logical move to give Taylor some time at Triple-A to continue his development.

I think that's the only question in the outfield, Harper and Werth are locked for the near-future. If they think Souza, who's crushed Triple-A pitching, can work in a bench role, he makes sense as a backup outfielder who can fill in on a regular basis and allow Werth/Span to get some rest. Opening Day 2015: Harper, Span and Werth starting with McLouth, Taylor, Souza in the mix.

Here's a link to the full Q&A with Amazin Avenue:

Series Preview with Federal Baseball's Patrick Reddington http://t.co/MuCW7SCC6o

— Eric Simon (@AmazinAvenue) August 12, 2014

• Editor's Note:SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting daily $18,000 Fantasy Baseball leagues. It costs $2 to join and the first-place prize is $2,000. Click here for details.

The Jays will return to Olympic Stadium in 2015 after hosting a successful two-game set there prior to the 2014 season.

The Toronto Blue Jays will return to Olympic Stadium in Montreal for two spring training games in 2015, according to 98.5 FM Sports' Jeremy Filosa (via Bluebird Banter).

The Blue Jays will take on the Cincinnati Reds at "The Big O" a year after hosting the New York Mets in a pair of exhibition games that were attended by more than 96,000 people. Multiple teams reached out to the Blue Jays to participate in the 2015 event, according to Filosa, but the Reds -- featuring Joey Votto, who is arguably the best current Canadian player -- seemingly made the most sense.

The series between the Jays and Mets in 2014 marked the first time Major League Baseball returned to Olympic Stadium since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington after the 2004 season. The stadium was problematic throughout most of the 27 years the Expos called it home and played no small part in the team's departure. As of 2006, the total cost of the facility exceeded $1.47 billion, including the $770 million price tag for its initial construction -- a figure that, with inflation, would equate to more than $3 billion today.

The Washington Nationals pounded the New York Mets with 4 HRs in the game, but the biggest of the four was a two-run home run to right by debuting outfielder Michael Taylor. Taylor homered in his first MLB game and the Nats took the series opener. 7-1 D.C.

Shea is a Parking Lot Top 5:

5. Quick Recap: Bryce Harper ended last Thursday afternoon's game against the New York Mets with a walk-off blast to left field in Nationals Park, and he gave the Washington Nationals a 2-0 lead early tonight in Citi Field with his second home run in his last two at bats against the Nats' NL East rivals. Harper took a first-pitch fastball from Rafael Montero out to left field in Citi Field, clearing the wall in front of the Party City.com deck an at bat after Ian Desmond walked to start the second, so it was 2-0 Nationals early in the series opener in Flushing, Queens.

WATCH: @Bharper3407 sent the first pitch he saw on Tuesday into the left field seats & the #Nats grabbed a 2-0 lead: http://t.co/a9L5rLpgwI

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 12, 2014

Anthony Rendon hit the second home run of the night for the Nationals out to left field and into the Party City.com Deck again on a "hang-dogger" of a slider from Montero as Mets announcer Keith Hernandez described it.

WATCH: The #Nats have three runs home and no outs this inning, starting with this solo shot by Anthony Rendon: http://t.co/QktqLJ37rg

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 13, 2014

3-0 Nats on Rendon's 16th. A walk to Adam LaRoche in the next at bat and a two-run home run by Ian Desmond followed as the Nationals jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

WATCH: That's 20! @IanDesmond20 puts the #Nats up 5-0 with his 20th HR of the season: http://t.co/H2vD4mD0Iq#Steak

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 13, 2014

Michael Taylor was the third National to go yard in the sixth, taking a 2-1 fastball from Mets' reliever Carlos Torres out to right for an opposite field blast! Taylor's first career home run landed in the Mo Zone!! Congrats, Michael. 7-0 Nationals.

@Taylor_Michael3 !!!!!!!!!! Now a Homerun!

— Jamie-Lynn Sigler (@JamieLSigler) August 13, 2014

Did y'all expect anything different from @Taylor_Michael3 ... He does on a day to day basis

— Kevin Keyes (@KevinJKeyes) August 13, 2014

@Taylor_Michael3 showing why he is the man. Congrats buddy you are deserving of all of this #Nats

— Matthew Purke (@mattpurke47) August 13, 2014

Soak it in, @Taylor_Michael3! Here's your first MLB HR in GIF form: http://t.co/6DZ0r5et9e

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 13, 2014

Nats' lefty Ross Detwiler loaded the bases with no one out in the Mets' eighth and gave up a sac fly to center by Eric Campbell that made it 7-1 Nationals.

That's how it ended.

4. Who ya gonna call? Doug Fister!: Washington Nationals' right-hander Doug Fister faced the New York Mets for the second time in his career and the first time as a member of the Nationals' staff last time out on the mound in the nation's capital.

In 7 ⅓ innings pitched in Nationals Park last Wednesday night, the 30-year-old, 6'8'' starter held the Mets to six hits and one unearned run in a 7-1 win, inducing 11 ground ball outs from the 27 batters he faced in the process of earning the 11th win of his first season in the Nats' rotation.

"Kept them off-balance," Matt Williams said after the win over the Nationals' NL East rivals. "Threw strikes. Relaxed, certainly, after the first inning where we got some runs and went to work, so he was really good again tonight."

"The radar gun doesn't blow up," the first-year skipper continued, "but he throws the ball where he wants to. Tonight he was really down in the zone, really down and on the corners tonight. We got a lot of ground balls, got a couple of double plays, and that's kind of what he provides for us, the ability with one pitch to get two outs and that's huge."

Fister's one previous start against the Mets took place in Citi Field in 2013, when he was still part of the Tigers' rotation. In 6 ⅓ IP that night, he held NY's hitters to eight hits, two walks and one earned run in a 6-1 win.

Though he's enjoyed more success at home in Washington, D.C. this season, Fister has been solid on the road thus far for the Nationals, going (5-2) in nine starts (vs 6-1 in 7 GS at home) with a 2.93 ERA (vs 2.01), a 4.47 FIP (vs 2.89), eight walks (1.30 BB/9) and 30 Ks (4.88 K/9) in 55 ⅓ IP, over which he's held opposing hitters to a combined .277/.311/.429 line (vs a .208/.242/.315 line in 49 ⅓ IP in Nats Park).

His second career start in Citi Field and his 10th start on the road this season began with a swinging K.

1st: Curtis Granderson K'd swinging at a 3-2 sinker. Daniel Murphy fell behind 0-2 quickly and K'd swinging weakly at a two-seamer outside. David Wright lined to center in his two-out at bat, but Denard Span tracked it down and caught out no.3 of a 14-pitch, 1-2-3 first by Fister.

2nd:Lucas Duda took a 3-2 two-seamer inside for a called strike three and the first out of the second. Travis d'Arnaud doubled to left, just out of Bryce Harper's reach for the first hit off Fister. Matt den Dekker sent a fly ball to short center where Denard Span made the grab and Juan Lagares popped up to foul territory off first to end a 17-pitch frame that left Fister at 31 pitches total after two.

3rd: Wilmer Flores lined out to Michael Taylor in right to start the Mets' third. Rafael Montero grounded out to short. Curtis Granderson rolled over a 2-1 cutter and sent out no.3 to second. Nine-pitch, 1-2-3 frame for Fister. 40 total after three scoreless.

4th: Daniel Murphy grounded out to second on a 2-1 fastball to start the fourth. David Wright went the other way with a first-pitch cutter, but lined out to Taylor in right. Lucas Duda lined to right with two down, singling into the corner. Travis d'Arnaud stepped in with a runner on and lined out to center to end an 18-pitch fourth by Fister. 58 pitches overall.

5th: Matt den Dekker grounded weakly to second. Juan Lagares popped out to short right. WIlmer Flores singled past a diving Asdrubal Cabrera with two down in the Mets' fifth. Rafael Montero's pop to Denard Span in center ended a 14-pitch fifth that left Fister at 72 total after five scoreless.

6th: Curtis Granderson lined out to center to start the Mets' sixth. Daniel Murphy lined a one-out single to right for the Mets' fourth hit off of Fister. David Wright lined a single to left for hit no.5. Lucas Duda tried to take one out to left, but it died on the track for out no.2. Travis d'Arnaud stepped in with two on and two out and popped out to center to end a 17-pitch sixth that left Fister at 89 pitches overall.

7th: Matt den Dekker grounded out to second to start the Mets' seventh. Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores followed with back-to-back singles, Lagares with a grounder that bounced off the second base bag and Flores with a line drive to center. Kirk Nieuwenhuis sent a fly ball to center for out no.2. Curtis Granderson lined out to left to end Fister's seventh scoreless. 18-pitch frame, 107 overall after seven scoreless.

The line on @dougfister58: 7 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K -- 107 pitches, 71 strikes. #ace

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 13, 2014

• Doug Fister's Line: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks, 107 P, 71 S, 5/8 GO/FO.

3. No deGrom: Mets' starter Jacob deGrom put together a strong start vs the Nationals last week in D.C., but after that outing the 26-year-old right-hander experienced a problem with his shoulder which was later diagnosed as rotator cuff tendinitis. deGrom was scheduled to face the Nats again tonight in Citi Field, but since he was placed on the 15-Day DL, New York called hard-throwing 23-year-old right-hander Rafael Montero up to make tonight's start.

The Higuerito, Banica, Dominican Republic-born starter who signed as an international free agent in 2011 made four starts for the Mets earlier this season after making his MLB debut in May and he was already on NY's 40-man roster which made him a logical choice to make the start according to Mets' Asst. GM John Ricco.

In his previous outings in the majors this season before tonight, Montero was (0-2) with a a 5.40 ERA, a 6.33 FIP, 11 walks (4.95 BB/9) and 17 Ks (7.65 K/9) in 20 IP in which opposing hitters put up a combined .259/.348/.519 line against him.

Montero's spent most of his time this season with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, where he was (6-3) on the year with a 3.28 ERA, a 3.70 FIP, 32 walks (3.89 BB/9) and 75 Ks (9.12 K/9) in 74 IP before the Mets called him back up.

In Citi Field tonight, Montero gave up a one-out double to right by Asdrubal Cabrera, but stranded him at second when he struck Adam LaRoche out with a full-count fastball to end a 19-pitch first.

Montero's first walk of the game, to Ian Desmond in the first at bat of the second, cost him when Bryce Harper hit a two-run opposite field home run out to left on the first pitch he saw from the Mets' starter. Harper's fifth HR of the season sailed out to left and into the Party City.com deck for an early 2-0 lead. Michael Taylor singled to center on an 0-2 fastball from Montero for his first MLB hit in his first major league at bat, but he was stranded at first two outs later. 25-pitch frame for Montero, 44 total after two.

WATCH: Welcome to the show, @Taylor_Michael3! First MLB hit came in his first MLB at-bat: http://t.co/YXbLjo9tbV

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 12, 2014

Asdrubal Cabrera was 2 for 2 tonight after a leadoff single in the third, but he was stranded on the basepaths at the end of a 12-pitch, rain-delayed frame after which Montero was up to 56 pitches.

Montero and fellow 23-year-old Michael Taylor battled for nine pitches before the Nats' rookie grounded out to third base to end an 18-pitch, 1-2-3 3rd that left him at 74 pitches overall after four.

Doug Fister singled to center to start the fifth, but was doubled up on a liner to first off Denard Span's bat. A pop up by Asdrubal Cabrera ended a quick, 12-pitch inning that pushed the Mets' starter up to 86 pitches.

Anthony Rendon worked the count full in the first at bat of the sixth and crushed a hanging slider inside from the Mets' rookie right-hander, sending a no-doubter out to left. No.16 of 2014 for Rendon. 3-0 Nationals. Montero walked Adam LaRoche in front of Ian Desmond, and left another slider up and out over the plate that Desmond demolished, sending his 20th home run of the season out to left and ending Montero's night.

• Rafael Montero's Line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 3 HRs, 101 P, 61 S, 5/1 GO/FO.

.@Taylor_Michael3, starting in RF tonight, will be the 5th #Nats player to make his MLB debut this season. pic.twitter.com/0vlTu6nMAI

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 12, 2014

• 2. #Spanning the Globe: Denard Span entered tonight's game with a 14-game hit streak and a 36-game on-base streak going after he went 2 for 4 in Sunday's series finale with the Braves in Atlanta. Over the course of his hit streak, the 30-year-old outfielder was 25 for 58 before tonight (.431/.469/.517), with three doubles, a triple, five walks, three Ks and five stolen bases in 64 plate appearances. Over the course of his on-base streak, the second-year Nats' outfielder was 57 for 144 (.396/.463/.458) with seven doubles, a triple, 19 walks, 16 Ks and 10 stolen bases.

Span was 0 for 4 heading into his final at bat of the ninth in the top of the ninth. Mets' lefty Dana Eveland took over on the mound and retired the Nats' center fielder on a grounder back to the mound. 0 for 5. Streak over.

1. The Wrap-Up: Carlos Torres gave up a one-out single to right by Wilson Ramos after taking over on the mound for Montero and Michael Taylor followed with... A TWO-RUN HOME RUN TO RIGHT!!! Get out! Taylor went all the way the other way with a 93 mph 2-1 fastball and put it into the Mo Zone!!! 7-0 Nationals after five and a half.

Asdrubal Cabrera was 3 for 4 tonight after doubling to start the seventh, but he was stranded at third, three outs later.

The @Nationals’ third HR in an inning belonged to promising rookie @Taylor_Michael3: http://t.co/U4nZtPdv1D

— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2014

Bryce Harper singled to start the eighth, lining a first-pitch fastball from Buddy Carlyle to right, but after a Wilson Ramos' single, Michael Taylor grounded into a double play and Scott Hairston K'd swinging.

Ross Detwiler gave up back-to-back singles by Daniel Murphy and David Wright then hit Lucas Duda to load the bases with no one out. Travis d'Arnaud's fly to center failed to advance the runners. Pinch hitter Eric Campbell hit one deep enough to center to bring Murphy in, 7-1 Nationals.

Ross Detwiler came back out for the ninth and retired the Mets in order. Ballgame.

Nationals now 64-53

Rafael Montero's return to the big leagues did not go well.

Rafael Montero and the Mets were shellacked by the Nationals this evening. Pitching in Jacob deGrom’s vacated slot in the starting rotation, Montero gave up five runs on three home runs in five-plus innings of work. Carlos Torres gave up two more on a home run shortly after replacing Montero in the top of the sixth.

At the plate, the Mets were once again inept against Doug Fister. They didn’t score against him in seven innings, and they scratched out just one run against the Washington bullpen despite loading the bases with nobody out in the eighth. That was it for the Mets' scoring in the game.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

Although his production is down this year, perhaps Wright can help the team more in the leadoff spot.

David Wright is having a bad year. The veteran third baseman is on pace to tally the worst full-season statistical year of his major league career. Whether his lack of production is the result of an ailing shoulder, which he has denied, or a four-month slump and will turn it around in short order, it's possible that this is the hitter Wright will be for the foreseeable future. If Wright does not turn things around by the end of September, what does this mean for the Mets moving forward?

The Mets rank 24th in baseball in runs scored this year. Put simply, the team's offense is broken. Wright alone accounts for about 20 percent of the team's total payroll this year. For the Mets to be successful and competitive, he must succeed. He must also be put into a position to succeed.

It would, however, be extremely unfair to blame David Wright for the shortcomings of the offense. One hitter an offense does not make, and he is but a cog—albeit a very expensive cog—in this 25-man roster. For the purpose of this exercise in assuming that Wright maintains his current pace of production, how can the Mets best utilize Wright in the future?

Perhaps David Wright should no longer be hitting third. His current production is simply not consistent with that of a third hitter. He is neither hitting the ball with authority nor driving in runs, both things that a competitive team expects from its number three hitter. But his production and skill set would do a fine job if he was hitting in a place in the batting order where there were different expectations. The most optimal place for Wright to hit is second, but Daniel Murphy has that spot in the order locked down.

Dropping Wright down in the order to the fifth spot makes little sense. Even without much power, he is still one of the best hitters on the team, and over the long run the Mets would be better suited by giving him more at-bats. The most logical position for him in the batting order as this team is currently constructed is leadoff.

Curtis Granderson has been doing an admirable job in filling in at that spot, but he is the only other batter other than Lucas Duda who poses any power threat and should be in a position to drive in runs on a more consistent basis. Switching Wright with Granderson could be just what the doctor ordered.

Batting leadoff, Wright would have a different job. No longer will he be relied on to hit for power and drive in runs. He would be able to re-focus on what has always been perhaps his best skill: getting on base. This season, his walks are down, and his strikeouts are up. It is plausible to think that he is pressing, and he has admitted recently that much of his struggles are mental. It also may be posited that he is trying to do something that he no longer is capable: hit the ball over the fence with regularity.

If the Mets plan on keeping Daniel Murphy this offseason, it would be advantageous to give Wright an extended run in the leadoff spot from now until the end of the season. This would enable the Mets to put their two most potent power bats third and fourth in the order while keeping two hitters with high on-base percentages hitting in front of them.