Could the 28-year-old shortstop be an upgrade for the Mets?
The Mets might look at 28-year-old Roberto Carlos, a shortstop who defected from Cuba in late 2012, says Mike Puma of the Post. The team has had a glaring hole at shortstop since losing Jose Reyes to free agency. Carlos, a switch-hitter, batted .339 with four homers and 49 RBI with the Cuban national team in 2012. Concerns linger, however, because he hasn't played at a high level of competition the past few years.
Wilmer Flores is currently auditioning at short, but there have always been questions about whether or not he is defensively capable of playing there. Flores's bat hasn't exactly lived up to expectations yet, either, as he has hit .222/.255/.293 in 251 major league plate appearances between last year and this year. Matt Reynolds might be another option down the road for the Mets, hitting a combined .346 between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas this season. And the Mets still have Ruben Tejada, of course.
Carlos is an interesting option. According to Puma, sources familiar with the player claim he may have "slipped through the cracks" because he did not have representation immediately after defecting from Cuba.
The team hit the skids and the man in charge has seemingly disappeared. What gives?
The Cincinnati Reds are 1-9 in their last 10 games, which is the worst record in baseball over that time.
The Reds are also 10-20 over their last 30 games, which is tied for the worst record in baseball over that time with the hapless Colorado Rockies and the decimated Texas Rangers.
The Reds' .276 OBP since the All-Star break is the worst in all of baseball, and were it not for the sad exploits of the New York Mets, the 111 runs scored and .226 batting average since the break that Cincinnati has produced would both rank last in either league, too.
Both the team's most expensive hitter (Joey Votto) and pitcher (Homer Bailey) are on the shelf with nebulous potentially serious injuries, and quite possibly the most physically talented and dominant player the franchise can boast (Aroldis Chapman) has been fighting some sort of mysterious shoulder issue whose severity was never divulged.
This is all from a team that sat at 51-44, a half game out of the playoffs, and with five All-Stars to their name just five and a half weeks ago.
That everything has unraveled so quickly has been baffling, but the thing I find most troubling is that the man in charge of it all has been dead silent through the whole nosedive.
Seriously, where the heck is Walt Jocketty? Does he live in Cincinnati? Has he been on vacation?
Can someone get him on the phone and ask his opinion on something?
Nobody is asking him to hold a press conference or to present a powerpoint on precisely why the season went to the toilet in such a hurry. I mean, we can all pretty well see how a rash of injuries and a lack of depth torpedoed what looked like a good thing. But would it be too much to ask for the guy steering the ship to be accessible, or to at least acknowledge how disappointing it has all been?
It's confusing. That he's out of contract in just one more month makes it even more confusing.
To the links:
Mark Sheldon has his latest notebook up at Reds.com, and it's rife with stuff I wish Jocketty would talk about. I mean, it's basically the three biggest stories the Reds have dealt with of late, yet each and every quote is coming from Bryan Price, not Walt. The team's best player and former MVP has dealt with absurd criticism about his injured leg, and decided to put on record exactly what he's dealing with to put a stop to the speculation and misconceptions: no GM there to back him up. Aroldis Chapman is now available after being unavailable with a shoulder issue (which is a terrible problem for a baseball-thrower to have): no comment from the GM. 40-man and 25-man roster moves: no comment from the GM making them. Potentially serious arm injury to the pitcher who just signed a $105 million contract extension: no comment from the GM who signed him. Odd.
Similarly, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer dropped some of his own insight into the same major stories facing the Reds these days. He covered Homer's injury issues (which include getting platelets injected into his ailing elbow/forearm), and even caught up with Votto, too. No sign of Walt there, either.
Rosecrans' colleague John Fay also spoke with Bryan Price about something that probably would have helped things out tremendously had it happened in the past: the idea of Devin Mesoraco working at 1B or even LF to keep his bat in the lineup on days he's not catching. It's something Mesoraco has never done, and it's something that likely would have helped the Reds struggling offense this season as it attempted to mix and match in the wake of injuries to Votto, Brandon Phillips, and numerous others. That's kind of a big topic for the grand scheme of things, isn't it? Isn't the idea of moving your former top prospect turned current All-Star catcher around the diamond something that, I dunno, the guy in charge of the roster should have an opinion on? Jocketty, party of 1...?
Switching gears a bit, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick has a great article on Pete Rose on the 25th anniversary of the day he was effectively banned from baseball for life. I've never really known what to think of Rose, really, as I was born in his waning days as a player and wasn't around to see and feel how his impact on Cincinnati established him as one of the city's icons. To this day I still remember him more for being the manager who's canning paved the way for Lou Piniella, the 1990 season, and the World Series victory that cemented baseball as the sport I loved following the most. Regardless of your views on Rose, Crasnick - himself a former Cincinnati Reds beat reporter - wrote a heck of an article, and it's absolutely worth the read.
FanGraphs and whatever the heck agreement they have going with FOXSports put together a compilation of pitch framing numbers, and it's kinda sorta interesting. The gist: the Reds aren't very good at making borderline pitches get called strikes, at least they're not as good as they used to be. Here's where you can put up Ryan Hanigan's batting stats again to tell me he's not missed and I'll roll my eyes again.
Finally, here's Grant Brisbee with the second installment of his Top 10 underrated players in baseball list(with a link to the first installment in it). I'd have been interested to see what this would have looked like in 2013, as I get the feeling both Mat Latos and Shin-Soo Choo would have had a decent shot prior to their injuried-plagued and $130 million contract offseasons put them a bit more in the limelight, respectively. I still can't believe that neither of those two have made an All-Star team in their careers.
The Dodgers took two of three games against the Mets in New York from May 20-22.
The Dodgers welcome the Mets to town for a three-game series beginning Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Here is a look at the staring pitching matchups for the weekend.
Friday, 7:10 p.m. PT (SportsNet LA)
Dan Haren needs 37 innings to reach 180, which would transform his 2015 club option for $10 million to a player option, with roughly seven starts remaining. Over his last seven starts, Haren has pitched 34⅓ innings, and put up a 6.29 ERA. Jon Niese has been susceptible to the long ball of late, allowing five home runs in his last three stars, with a 5.21 ERA during that span.
Saturday, 6:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)
The middle game is a matchup of ailing starters. Zack Greinke was pushed back two days with elbow discomfort, but says he can pitch at 100-percent effectiveness even without feeling 100 percent physically. After missing two weeks with shoulder soreness, rookie Jacob deGrom looks for his sixth straight win. He is 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last six starts, with 41 strikeouts and only seven walks in 40⅔ innings.
Sunday, 1:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)
Kevin Correia hasn't faced the Mets since 2012. He makes his third start as a Dodger in the homestand finale. Bartolo Colon has a 2.86 ERA over his last five starts, with 30 strikeouts in 34⅔ innings, and has lasted seven innings or longer in 16 of 24 starts this season.
The Dodgers took two of three games against the Mets in New York from May 20-22.
The Dodgers welcome the Mets to town for a three-game series beginning Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Here is a look at the staring pitching matchups for the weekend.
Friday, 7:10 p.m. PT (SportsNet LA)
Dan Haren needs 37 innings to reach 180, which would transform his 2015 club option for $10 million to a player option, with roughly seven starts remaining. Over his last seven starts, Haren has pitched 34⅓ innings, and put up a 6.29 ERA. Jon Niese has been susceptible to the long ball of late, allowing five home runs in his last three stars, with a 5.21 ERA during that span.
Saturday, 6:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)
The middle game is a matchup of ailing starters. Zack Greinke was pushed back two days with elbow discomfort, but says he can pitch at 100-percent effectiveness even without feeling 100 percent physically. After missing two weeks with shoulder soreness, rookie Jacob deGrom looks for his sixth straight win. He is 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last six starts, with 41 strikeouts and only seven walks in 40⅔ innings.
Sunday, 1:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)
Kevin Correia hasn't faced the Mets since 2012. He makes his third start as a Dodger in the homestand finale. Bartolo Colon has a 2.86 ERA i his last five starts, with 30 strikeouts in 34⅔ innings, and has lasted seven innings or longer in 16 of 24 starts this season.
Added to the roster to take Colon's place, Germen heads back to the minors.
The Mets have activated Bartolo Colon from the bereavement list and optioned Gonzalez Germen to Triple-A Las Vegas. Colon was slated to start on Monday, but he had to leave the team to visit his ailing mother, who passed away later that day.
On Tuesday, the Mets called up Germen to take Colon's place on the roster. He appeared just once in the Mets' two-game series in Oakland and gave up two runs in one inning of work. On the season, he has a 5.27 ERA and 5.88 FIP in 22 appearances with the Mets.
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers face Jon Niese on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the Mets, looking to improve against left-handed pitching.
That might seem like a weird thing to say since the Dodgers are 20-11 against left-handed starting pitchers this season, and the loss to Eric Stults on Wednesday was just the third Dodgers loss against a left-handed pitcher in their last 16 games against southpaws.
Starting Lineups
Mets
Dodgers
RF
Granderson (L)
2B
Gordon (L)
2B
Murphy (L)
CF
Puig
3B
Wright
1B
Gonzalez (L)
1B
Duda (L)
RF
Kemp
C
d'Arnaud
LF
Van Slyke
LF
den Dekker (L)
3B
Turner
CF
Lagares
C
Ellis
SS
Flores
SS
Arruebarrena
P
Niese (L)
P
Haren
Location: Dodger Stadium Time: 7:10 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA
But against left-handed pitching this season the Dodgers are hitting just .236/.319/.365, 12th in the National League in OPS, slugging percentage and home runs (21), 14th in batting average, 10th in wOBA (.306) and sixth in on-base percentage.
By contrast, the Dodgers are hitting .265/.329/.400 against right-handed pitching, fourth in the NL in OPS and slugging, third in wOBA (.323), and second in on-base percentage and batting average.
Against left-handed starters, the Dodgers are hitting .246/.330/.370, but against southpaws in the bullpen the team is down to just .215/.294/.354.
Scott Van Slyke has been the Dodgers' primary weapon all season against left-handed pitching, hitting .260/.408/.623 with seven home runs against them, and he is starting in left field on Friday night against Niese. It is the 10th start in 33 games since the All-Star break for Van Slyke, who is 8-for-36 with three doubles and a home run during that span, hitting .222/.275/.389, including 3-for-17 (.176) with a home run and a double against lefties.
Mets roster move
Before Friday's game, the Mets activated Sunday starter Bartolo Colon from the bereavement list, and optioned right-hander Gonzalez Germen to Triple-A Las Vegas.
The Mets have been outhomered by their opponents every year since 2008.
Since Sandy Alderson took over as general manager for the New York Mets, the offense, which has often struggled generally, has lacked power in particular. As Marc Carig from Newsday writes in his article today, the Mets have not finished a season with more home runs than their opponents since 2008.
This year has been no different for the Mets. Terry Collins has voiced his frustration over and over about the team’s lack of power in the lineup. Although 13 of their pitchers have a sub–4.00 ERA this season, they have allowed opposing batters to blast 118 homers against them.
That importance shows up all throughout the franchise's history. Of the club's top five teams by winning percentage, all but one (1969) outhomered their opponents. But under Alderson, the Mets' attempts to add power have yielded mixed results. Since taking over after the 2010 season, Alderson has brought in two players who have hit at least 20 homers in a season, Marlon Byrd (21) and Scott Hairston (20). They also made the correct decision to trade Ike Davis over Lucas Duda, who has hit 23 homers in a breakout season.
With the offseason rapidly approaching, the Mets may have only a small amount of money to spend to upgrade the offense. Chris Young was taken off of the roster after hitting a horrendous .205 in 88 games with the Mets. Carig notes that Curtis Granderson, who Alderson hoped to be the main source of power for the club this year, has hit a mere 15 homers in what has been a mediocre season for the 33-year-old.
The team’s starting pitchers have performed well this year. Jacob deGrom has been splendid this season with a 2.87 ERA since moving up to the majors, yet due to the lack of power from the offense he has just six wins on his résumé. The same is true for the rest of the rotation. Bartolo Colon is the only pitcher on the team to have more than 10 victories this year, but he has given up more hits than innings and has allowed 17 home runs in 24 starts.
As Alderson stated in the Newsday piece, the Mets have plenty of pitching prospects. However, the club lacks power all around, and they might need to give up a few of these young pitchers in order to trade for a big bat.
The theme for Dan Haren on Friday was a terrible first impression, followed by a terrific recovery. Haren contributed on the mound and at the plate in the Dodgers' 6-2 victory over the Mets on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Haren allowed a home run to his first batter faced in the first inning, when Curtis Granderson took took him over the wall in right field for a quick 1-0 lead. It was the 25th home run allowed by Haren this season, second most in baseball, and his seventh in the first inning.
"For Dan Haren it is a tired old script," noted Vin Scully on the SportsNet LA broadcast. "That is the 25th home run he has allowed."
Things also started out poorly at the plate for Haren, who managed to bunt into a double play in the third inning, then completely missed a bunt on a suicide squeeze play in the fifth inning, hanging Justin Turner out to dry.
Luckily for the Dodgers, Erisbel Arruebarrena - who walked - was able to advance to third base as Turner got into a rundown, then Haren delivered a full-count, two-out single to bring home the go-ahead run.
30 -Innings needed by Dan Haren to reach 180 on the season, which would turn his $10 million 2015 club option into a player option.
Dodgers pitchers this season have 12 RBI, and Haren has five of them.
Dee Gordon drove home the Dodgers' first run with an RBI single in the third inning, one of three hits on the night. He added a triple into the right field corner in the seventh inning, his major-league-leading 11th of the season. Only two Los Angeles Dodgers have had more triples in a season: Willie Davis (16, in 1970) and Kenny Lofton (12, in 2006).
The seventh inning busted the game open, thanks to a two-out throwing error by shortstop Wilmer Flores - who also tripped over his own feet earlier in the game - allowing Gordon to score and extending the inning for Matt Kemp, whose two-run double was his 28th of the season.
The Mets made three errors on the night.
A.J. Ellis added an RBI double in the eighth inning, snapping an 0-for-11 skid.
Up next
The Dodgers go for a third straight win on Saturday night, with Zack Greinke on the mound with seven days rest after elbow discomfort. The Mets will counter with rookie Jacob deGrom, who will be activated from the disabled list to start the middle game of the series.
Friday particulars
Home run: Curtis Granderson (16)
WP - Dan Haren (11-10): 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 6 strikeouts
Things started off strong, with Curtis Granderson leading off the game with a solo shot. Unfortunately, that was all the positive news to report as the Mets lost 6-2 and committed multiple errors.
Curtis Granderson started this game off on the right foot with a leadoff home run, his 16th home run of the season, to give the Mets an instantaneous 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, that would represent the only lead of the evening as the Mets fell 6-2 to the Dodgers.
The Mets scored their only other run in the ninth inning, on a sacrifice fly by Lucas Duda, scoring Daniel Murphy. The Dodgers tied the game in the third on a Dee Gordon single, and then took the lead for good in the fifth inning on a Dan Haren RBI single after a botched suicide squeeze attempt. The Dodgers then tacked on three additional runs, largely resulting from a throwing error by Wilmer Flores in the seventh, allowing Dee Gordon to score, followed by a double by Matt Kemp to score Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez. They then added one additional run in the bottom of the eighth on an A.J. Ellis double, allowing Justin Turner to score.
GameThread Roll Call
Nice job by MetsFan4Decades, her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.
The 23-year-old heads back to the minors to make room for Jacob deGrom.
Following their ugly loss in Los Angeles on Friday night, the Mets optioned Rafael Montero to Triple-A Las Vegas. The move clears a spot on the active roster that the team will use to activate Jacob deGrom from the disabled list on Saturday.
Montero gave up a run in one-third of an inning in relief—his first professional appearance out of the bullpen since 2011—before the Mets demoted him. His previous appearance was an excellent start against the Cubs on Sunday. In total, Montero has thrown 32.2 innings in the big leagues this year and has a 5.23 ERA and 6.07 FIP. He has pitched well in Las Vegas this year despite an uncharacteristically high walk rate.
With the return of deGrom, who has been one of the bright spots of an otherwise uninspiring Mets season, the Mets are back to their regular five-man starting rotation, which also includes Bartolo Colon, Zack Wheeler, Jon Niese, and Dillon Gee.
Known primarily as the Met who would deliver whipped-cream pies following walk-off wins, Justin Turner has found a home in his own backyard with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After three unspectacular—if not solid—years as a utility player with New York, Justin Turner was somewhat surprisingly non-tendered last December. While the move itself was a mild eye-opener, the so-called reason for it seemed even stranger. Soon after being cut loose, word leaked out that Turner was let go because of a "lack of hustle," something GM Sandy Alderson didn't deny when questioned about the whispers. Two months later, the defending National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers inked Turner to a minor league deal, bringing the former Cal State Fullerton standout home.
While Turner wasn't the most popular Met, his consistent banter with fans through his Twitter account (@redturn2)—along with his ceremonial post-game-interview whipped-cream pies to the face—made him popular with many fans. Though he compiled a pedestrian .265/.326/.370 batting line in his four seasons in Flushing, his hustle and willingness to play multiple positions endeared him to manager Terry Collins, who used him in a career-high 117 games in 2011. As the Mets visit the Dodgers for a three-game set this weekend, Collins spoke glowingly of his former player, telling ESPNNewYork.com:
"He was always ready for whatever we needed him for. Play left field one day, third base, second base, whatever. It's been a good situation with him over there [with the Dodgers]."
Much like his 2011 campaign with the Mets, Turner has found himself playing more than anticipated for the Dodgers. Raised in the greater Los Angeles area, Turner has turned in the finest season of his career, hitting .314/.386/.441 in 229 at-bats. Amazingly, he is second on the Dodgers with a 2.2 fWAR, trailing only All-Star Yasiel Puig. Not too bad for a player who entered 2014 with a career fWAR of 0.8 in 318 career games.
So what does this all mean to the Mets? The simple and most direct answer is very little. Major leaguers like Turner who make their living as spot starters and pinch hitters fluctuate wildly from year to year, very similar to middle relievers. Being non-tendered may have come as a surprise because of the flexibility he provided Collins, but no one connected to the Mets lost sleep when the move was made and it's a near certainty they still aren't.
Though Turner will never enjoy a highlight reel like former teammate David Wright, he has had his share of interesting moments in New York, the biggest possibly being his departure. It's not often a player of Turner's stature garners enough attention to be smeared on his way out the door, but smear the Mets did.
Although he speaks highly of his time in New York and of his former teammates, Turner didn't mince words earlier this year when questioned about the circumstances surrounding his departure, telling Howard Megdal:
"I think the issue is that nobody takes responsibility for what they say. It's all 'a source said that they're not happy with him.' It's like, you know what? If you're gonna come out and gonna attack a guy's character, and his work ethic, be man enough to put your name on it. Don't say 'This is off the record,' and then off the record means they're gonna write it anyway."
Sadly, this is nothing new to the Mets and stature has little to do with it. Ruben Tejada and Ike Davis have drawn the wrath of those in the organization in recent years. Even Carlos Beltran, perhaps the best all-around player New York has ever employed, wasn't immune. But that's a problem for the Mets.
It doesn't seem to matter to Turner. He's home, he's winning, and he's happy.
Who will be the Mets closer in 2015 –– Jenrry Mejia or Bobby Parnell? It'll depend some on whether Mejia can make it all the way through this season.
Jacob deGrom returns to the Mets today and he's glad to get the chance to pitch more this season. Bartolo Colon is also back, as the Mets demotedGonzalez Germen to Las Vegas to make room for him.
It appears the Mets made the right call sticking with Lucas Duda. Even with Duda's power in the lineup, the Mets still need more of it.
There was a scary moment in yesterday's GCL Mets game as first baseman Manuel Hilario collided into the second baseman's knee on a slide and went unconscious before going into seizure.
A report says the Mets are going to scout Cuban shortstop Roberto Carlos and third baseman Pavel Quesada.
Dilson Herrera is on fire at Double-A Binghamton and he has New York in his sights.
Toby Hyde answered some questions about Matt Bowman, Michael Conforto, and Marcos Molina.
The Red Sox have inked Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo to a seven-year contract. Castillo is unlikely to be the next star to emerge from Cuba, however, as 19-year-old shortstop Yoan Moncada appears to be it.
The minor league affiliate carousel has already started churning, as the Dodgers appear set to move their Triple-A squad to Oklahoma City next year, leaving Albuquerque open. Also in there: the Giants are moving from Fresno to Sacramento and the A's plan to move from Sacramento to Nashville.
Those awful MLB.tv blackouts based on location may be a thing of the past starting in 2015. This is great news!
If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in.
Mark Appel's struggles this season have been well documented, but the 2013 first overall pick has been better since his promotion to Double-A.
"Don’t scout the stat line" is a phrase commonly heard in scouting circles, especially when it comes to scouting Minor League or amateur players. There are a multitude of factors that play into a players’ stat line other than his true talent, including luck, age relative to his level, park factors, health, and transition to pro ball. For these reasons, it is essential to separate the numbers from the true talent, but when the numbers do not match the talent, it is often worth a second look to examine the causes of the poor numbers. Was the initial evaluation of the player inaccurate or can the poor performance be explained by other reasons? Have the tools that helped the player initially climb the lists regressed?
This week, I’ve examined one of these players each day. Today's piece, featuring Astros' righty Mark Appel, is the final part of this four part series. Link to the other pieces in this series can be found in the "Must Reads' snippet of this article.
Mark Appel’s 2014 Statistics
At High-A: 44.1 IP, 9.74 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, 74 Hits, 11 BB, 40 K
At Double-A: 26.1 IP, 4.10 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 28 Hits, 9 BB, 24 K
As safe of a pitching prospect as there has ever been, Mark Appel has not been the player that the Astros’ envisioned when they drafted him first overall in the 2013 draft. Assigned to the pitcher’s hell that is High-A Lancaster to begin the year, Appel’s run prevention was nothing short of awful. He was hit around like a piñata at a children’s birthday party, surrendering three or more earned runs in nine of his 12 starts.
The Astros felt that they had to get Appel out of that situation, so as soon as Appel put together a decent start they promoted him to Double-A Corpus Christi. Additionally, the Astros had Appel stop at Minute Maid Park to throw a bullpen on his way to Double-A, a cool experience for the young pitcher that was met with an uproar from players and analysts. A national conversation about Appel’s poor performance and the Astros’ handling of him ensued and often centered around the Astros promoting the underachieving Appel instead of lefty Josh Hader, who was 9-2 with a 2.70 ERA at Lancaster this season. As a player who likes to stay out of the spotlight, this was certainly a tough time for Appel, but he has responded reasonably well at Double-A. Before getting into his numbers there, let’s take a look back at his performance at Lancaster, where his inflated ERA does not tell the whole story.
Appel’s performance at High-A is the perfect example of why ERA is often misleading when judging prospects. Sure, preventing runs is ideal, but I value the pitcher’s ability to miss bats, command the baseball, keep the ball in the park, and possess an arsenal that has the potential be effective at the Major League level much more highly than his ERA. Appel has actually been quite good in the first two categories, as his 8.12 K/9 and 2.23 BB/9 at High-A shows that he can still miss bats and throw strikes. The strkeout numbers have remained but the walks have regressed a bit at Double-A, although in his last three starts Appel has a 16 Ks and just three BBs in 17 innings. He is turning his dreadful season around and with every decent start at Corpus Christi his unsightly line in Lancaster looks more and more like a BABIP, park effect, and luck driven aberration.
The home run rate is alarming but also quite inflated, as ten of the 65 fly balls allowed by Appel this season (combined at both levels) have left the yard. That’s largely due to the swirling winds at Lancaster hurting many pitchers who are not ground ball specialists (Hader is a ground ball pitcher, Appel is more neutral), and should not be expected in the future. The move to Corpus Christi has already helped him in this category as he has seen his HR/9 rate drop from an unsightly 1.83 to a very good 0.44. His true ability in home run prevention probably falls somewhere in between the two, but much closer to the low end than the high end.
As for the scouting aspect, reports on Appel are down. Ron Shah of Baseball Prospectus saw three of his starts with Lancaster this season and was very critical of the profile he displayed during those starts. Shah reported that Appel sat 92-93 with the fastball and touched 94, but "mostly just grooves the offering over the plate." Shah is more optimistic about the changeup, noting its deception and grading it as a future 60 offering (on the 20-80 scale), but is down on the slider. He grades this offering as a present 45 with a future grade of 50 and noting that it was often "flat" and "left over the plate." Furthermore, makeup grades from this report are not positive. I agree with Shah that not every player ought to wear his heart on his sleeve, but when a player is being hit around and seems to be pitching "like it’s a bullpen session," there is a bit of cause for concern.
Shah clearly saw Appel at his worst, and has certainly made some improvement since that time. A MiLB.com report after Appel’s scoreless Double-A debut noted that he began the game throwing his fastball in the 96-97 range and recorded all four of his strikeouts on the slider. His velocity in that start dipped to around the 90 MPH range later in the outing, but it is still encouraging to see the highly touted righty regain some of the form that was absent earlier this season.
Appel is a tricky case, as his terrible numbers in High-A are largely due to a four-run difference between his ERA and FIP, a .414 BABIP, and one of the most hitter-friendly home parks in the Minor Leagues. However, even if we remove his fluke of an ERA, many questions about the profile remain. Will he be a pitcher sitting 92 with merely average offspeed offerings? Will he be able to touch 97 and record strikeouts with a quality slider? Is the safe number two starter that Astros thought they were drafting last summer still a possibility? I don’t have an answer for that, as Appel is still a work in progress with a fluctuating profile. The outlook on this player depends on the time during the season when he was seen, but it is encouraging to see Appel improve throughout the year. He will need to make some improvements to become the pitcher many thought he could be, but his improvements at Double-A show that he is not a lost cause.
2015 Outlook
I expect Appel to return to Double-A to open next season, where the Astros will hope he can finally experience sustained success as a professional. His chances of experiencing said success are entirely dependent on which Appel shows up next spring. I have no idea which one it will be, that is up to Appel himself, but the realistic expectation at this time is that he will be a low three or high number four starter in the Major Leagues. That projection is far from a lock and he could still improve his future outlook, but at this time it would be a stretch to project a realistic role as anything more than a low number three. As for a ranking, I’d have a tough time ranking such a player as high as 34 and would probably bump him down to about the 45-55 range, depending on his performance in his final few starts this season.
Dan Weigel is a contributing writer for Minor League Ball and Beyond the Box Score.Follow his tweets about prospects and baseball on Twitter at @DanWiggles38.
Noah Syndergaard and the 51s got off to a rough start last night, but both rallied to make this a happy recap. Thor allowed five runs on five hits (three line drive doubles and two ground ball singles) in the opening inning, but found his Mjölnir-dropping form for innings two through six. Perhaps his most impressive piece of pitching came in his last frame of work. After singling and scoring in the bottom half of the fifth, Syndergaard took the mound for the sixth and immediately found himself in a bases loaded, no-out jam thanks to an infield hit, a sharp single, and a Matt Reynolds error. With the top of the order coming up, New Orleans seemed poised to blow the game wide open, but Noah struck out leadoff batter Austin Wates swinging, then induced two ground outs to strand all three runners.
Speaking of Matt Reynolds, he had another great day at the plate, even by the high standards he's set this year. The shortstop reached base in all six of his plate appearances. He's now riding a six-game hitting streak that's pushed his OBP over the .400 mark and his slugging percentage over .500.
Meanwhile at Binghamton, Dilson Herrera keeps building the case that he should be Matt Reynolds's double play partner next year in Vegas. That is, assuming one, or even both, don't wind up breaking camp with New York (unlikely, of course, but fun to think about). The fine Columbian prospect wore out Akron's pitchers last night, lacing two doubles, lining a single, and lofting a sacrifice fly. He also drew a walk for good measure. Cleanup hitter Jayce Boyd barely took the bat off his shoulder, as he took three free passes in five trips to the plate, but one of the swings he did take ended with a ball sailing over the wall of NYSEG Stadium.
High-A - St. Lucie Mets (30-30 / 70-59)______________________________________
St. Lucie split their doubleheader with Jupiter, losing the regularly scheduled game 1-0 in the day half and wasting a great start from Luis Cessa. They rallied to take make up contest 4-2, however, thanks to Domingo Tapia's best performance of the year. He pitched into the seventh inning for fourth time in twenty starts, only walked one batter, and struck out six (four swinging). Gavin Cecchini also continued the trend of middle infield prospects having perfect days at the plate in the nightcap.
Robert Gsellman didn't have it last night and there must be some kind of noise ordinance on the books in Greenville, because the Sand Gnats bats went quiet after the sixth inning.
The Tri-City River Cats let down the people of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy by committing as many errors (four) as they managed hits against Brooklyn pitching. Despite the sloppy D, not one of the seven runs that the Clones scored were of the unearned variety.
The K-Mets were supposed to play two yesterday on account of Thursday's rain out, but the skies opened up during the sixth inning of game one and washed away that plan. They'll attempt to make up the make up game tonight.
Play between the GCL affiliates of the Mets and Nationals was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning when Mets infielder Manuel Hilario suffered a seizure after a head-to-knee collision with Nats second baseman Younaifred Aguero. Hilario was airlifted to a hospital for a CT scan that thankfully came back normal. The full story is here.
Like the Mets themselves, many of the team's beat writers are already looking to 2015 and beyond.Michael Fensom of The Star-Ledger opines that Mejia's constant maladies have turned the ninth inning into a mystery for New York moving forward.
Newsday's Marc Carig also wonders who will close for the Mets in 2015. When asked about the ninth-inning role, Collins—whose own status for next year is still a question mark—threw his former closer a bone.
"When Bobby Parnell comes back, he will be pitching during his rehab as if he's the closer, because that's...certainly in our plan when he gets back."
The general rule of thumb is that established players don't lose their jobs to injuries, a rule that is often broken in professional sports. Parnell was excellent in his first year as a closer in 2013, posting 22 saves in 26 opportunities along with a 2.16 ERA (2.33 FIP) and a WHIP of just 1.00 in 50 innings. However, his absence in 2014 has opened the door for Mejia and quite possibly Jeurys Familia to be the ones who shut the door for the Mets in 2015.
"I bet if you go back in the last number of years and look, he's missed time in every season. And so, for him to have a complete season because he's had a couple of nicks and scrapes and he's got to face hernia surgery at the end of the season, to get through it is still a major accomplishment, I think, for him."
Until his recent struggles, Mejia looked like a clear answer for the ninth inning. The right-hander converted 16 of 18 save opportunities from May 17 through August 2, posting a 2.05 ERA and a 2.84 FIP.
The wild card in this discussion is Familia. Like Mejia and Parnell, Familia came through the system as a starter before being moved to the bullpen. After an inconsistent rookie campaign in 2013, he has exploded onto the late-inning scene this year, sporting a 1.97 ERA in 61 appearances. As with Mejia, Familia is enjoying some luck as his FIP of 3.19 and strand rate of 78.5% suggests. However, armed with a mid-90s fastball, a devastating slider, and the ability to keep the ball in the park (four home runs allowed in 87 career major league innings), the 24-year-old has thrown his hat in the ring for next season as well.
Photo: USA Today
According to Collins, whatever the decision is, it won't be made now or any time soon.
"There's nothing etched in stone because certainly somebody can stand up and show up and say 'OK, I'm going to take that job.' And when Bobby's ready, we've got a nice problem on our hands. But looking that far ahead, we certainly can't have any idea who is the guy pitching in the ninth."
As the Mets continue to claw toward building a contending team, there's comfort in knowing that they may have not one but three dominant late-inning relievers to help along the way.
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers look for their third straight win on Saturday night, facing the Mets with Zack Greinke on the mound against Jacob deGrom. The Dodgers have enjoyed success at home against New York the likes of which they haven't seen in 33 years.
Friday night's win was the Dodgers' fifth straight win against the Mets at Dodger Stadium, dating back to 2012, the longest such streak since 1980-81, when Los Angeles beat New York in six straight games.
But most eyes will be on the mound, where Zack Greinke will start for the first time in eight days. He has been dealing with right elbow discomfort recently, so much so that he had an MRI exam, though it revealed no structural damage.
Greinke lost two straight starts on Aug. 4 and Aug. 9, allowing a total of nine runs on 14 hits in 13 innings, then on Aug. 15 walked a season-high-tying five in a no-decision against the Brewers. Greinke only lasted five innings in that last start, needing 99 pitches to do so, but also allowed no runs and said he felt stronger during that start that he did in his previous few outings.
With last Monday's off day the Dodgers had the flexibility to push Greinke's scheduled Thursday start back two days, to tonight's game against New York. Manager Don Mattingly said the Dodgers would continue to use the remaining off days and September roster flexibility to give Greinke extra rest whenever possible.
On Wednesday Greinke said his elbow discomfort is something that comes and goes, but is confident he'll be able to pitch effectively the rest of the season.
"I expect to pitch at a 100-percent level, but I don't expect to feel 100 percent while I'm throwing," Greinke said.
But Greinke is not the only pitcher dealing with an injury or potential injury at this point. The Mets will activate deGrom to start on Saturday after the rookie missed two weeks with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff.
He last pitched on Aug. 7, but has pitched six straight quality starts dating back to July 8, with five wins and a 1.55 ERA during that span. In his last nine starts deGrom is 6-1 with a 1.82 ERA, with 60 strikeouts and 15 walks in 59⅓ innings.
That was the Dodgers' 15th multi-homer game of the season, in their 47th game, including their eighth such game in May to that point. The club has just seven games with multiple home runs in 83 games since.
Mets roster move
To make roster room for deGrom, the Mets after Friday night's game optioned Rafael Montero to Triple-A Las Vegas. Montero made two starts in place of deGrom and pitched in relief in Friday night's game, allowing one run while recording one out in the eighth inning.
You'll remember that the Mets made a move like this last season. With Marlon Byrd and John Buck claimed by the Pirates off waivers, the team was able to complete a trade that sent the two of them to Pittsburgh in exchange for highly-touted prospect Dilson Hererra and a player to be named later. That player turned out to be Vic Black, who has proven to be a viable option out of the bullpen.
We'll know for sure in a few days, but at least for now, a move to ship Colon to a contender that has just lost an important arm in their rotation seems very likely.
LOS ANGELES -- Andre Ethier gets a rare start for the Dodgers on Saturday night in the middle contest of a three-game series against the Mets at Dodger Stadium.
Starting Lineups
Mets
Dodgers
2B
Gordon (L)
LF
Crawford (L)
1B
Gonzalez (L)
coming
RF
Kemp
soon
CF
Ethier (L)
SS
Arruebarrena
C
Butera
3B
Rojas
P
deGrom
P
Greinke
Location: Dodger Stadium Time: 7:10 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA
Ethier is in center field batting fifth on Saturday as Yasiel Puig gets a day off, as does catcher A.J. Ellis and Justin Turner, who had started six straight games at third base. Puig started 11 straight games before getting Saturday off.
It is the first start for Ethier in eight games, since Aug. 14, and just his fourth start in the last 29 games. His start comes a day after his comments about his diminishing role appeared in the Los Angeles Times. From Steve Dilbeck:
"What role?" Ethier said. "What role is that? They still haven’t said what my role is."
"Wouldn’t you want communication to know what’s expected of you?" Ethier said.
Manager Don Mattingly has talked with Ethier about several things, including taking grounders at first base. I'm not sure exactly how much discussion there is to be had to discuss the limited playing time of a bench role, which is what Ethier has been reduced to.
Ethier, hitting .245/.312/.366 with four home runs this season and .200/.294/.289 with three extra-base hits and no home runs in 51 plate appearances since the All-Star break, sang a different tune on Aug. 5, also from Dilbeck and the Times:
"It’s tough," Ethier said. "It’s one where you come to the field every day and just check the lineup card and see if you’re in there. As of late, it hasn’t been, so you have to scale back and figure out what you’re going to do that day to get on the field and help the team win."
"It’s not the ideal situation, it’s not the way you want it to be, but it’s what we need right now and what we’re doing," Ethier said. "We’re a first-place team, playing good baseball, and I don’t think anyone can be griping in this locker room about that right now with where we’re at, about [what] anyone’s role is.
"We have to keep doing what we’re doing and we have a team that can possibly achieve something special during the year. All that personal stuff, sometimes that definitely goes away when you realize you have the opportunity to do that."
With the days off, the Dodgers have Carl Crawford batting second and four left-handed batters in the first five hitters against Jacob deGrom.
Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in five runs, and Zack Greinke pitched seven innings to lead the Dodgers over the Mets on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers look for their third straight win on Saturday night, facing the Mets with Zack Greinke on the mound against Jacob deGrom. The Dodgers have enjoyed success at home against New York the likes of which they haven't seen in 33 years.
Friday night's win was the Dodgers' fifth straight win against the Mets at Dodger Stadium, dating back to 2012, the longest such streak since 1980-81, when Los Angeles beat New York in six straight games.
But most eyes will be on the mound, where Zack Greinke will start for the first time in eight days. He has been dealing with right elbow discomfort recently, so much so that he had an MRI exam, though it revealed no structural damage.
Greinke lost two straight starts on Aug. 4 and Aug. 9, allowing a total of nine runs on 14 hits in 13 innings, then on Aug. 15 walked a season-high-tying five in a no-decision against the Brewers. Greinke only lasted five innings in that last start, needing 99 pitches to do so, but also allowed no runs and said he felt stronger during that start that he did in his previous few outings.
With last Monday's off day the Dodgers had the flexibility to push Greinke's scheduled Thursday start back two days, to tonight's game against New York. Manager Don Mattingly said the Dodgers would continue to use the remaining off days and September roster flexibility to give Greinke extra rest whenever possible.
On Wednesday Greinke said his elbow discomfort is something that comes and goes, but is confident he'll be able to pitch effectively the rest of the season.
"I expect to pitch at a 100-percent level, but I don't expect to feel 100 percent while I'm throwing," Greinke said.
But Greinke is not the only pitcher dealing with an injury or potential injury at this point. The Mets will activate deGrom to start on Saturday after the rookie missed two weeks with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff.
He last pitched on Aug. 7, but has pitched six straight quality starts dating back to July 8, with five wins and a 1.55 ERA during that span. In his last nine starts deGrom is 6-1 with a 1.82 ERA, with 60 strikeouts and 15 walks in 59⅓ innings.
That was the Dodgers' 15th multi-homer game of the season, in their 47th game, including their eighth such game in May to that point. The club has just seven games with multiple home runs in 83 games since.
Mets roster move
To make roster room for deGrom, the Mets after Friday night's game optioned Rafael Montero to Triple-A Las Vegas. Montero made two starts in place of deGrom and pitched in relief in Friday night's game, allowing one run while recording one out in the eighth inning.
The Dodgers have beaten the Mets six straight times in Los Angeles, the longest streak since 1980-81.
Adrian Gonzalez homered and tied a season high with five runs batted in to power the Dodgers over the Mets 7-4 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have won three straight games and now lead San Francisco by 4½ games in the National League West.
The win was the third straight victory for the Dodgers, the 11th time this season the club has won at least three games in a row. Only once this season have the Dodgers extended one of those winning streaks past three games, pushing to six games from July 25-31.
Gonzalez singled home a run in the fourth inning then scored on a sacrifice fly to pull within 3-2, then hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning to give the Dodgers their first lead. Gonzalez tattooed another ball to right field in the seventh inning, but it was caught by Curtis Granderson for a sacrifice fly.
The five RBI by Gonzalez match a season high, also accomplished on April 11 in Arizona. Gonzalez, who was hot on the road trip but only 4-for-24 on the current homestand entering Saturday, was 2-for-3 on the night.
Since the All-Star break Gonzalez is hitting .328/.380/.525 with 28 RBI in 34 games.
"For the past month, month and a half, he's been swinging the bat well. We need him to do that," Zack Greinke said of Gonzalez. "He's always been hitting well with runners in scoring position, but now he's seemingly hitting well all the time."
With 88 RBI on the season Gonzalez ranks second in the National League, five behind Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins. Manager Don Mattingly praised Gonzalez's steadiness at driving in runs.
"Adrian's a day-in, day-out kind of grinder. He picks up one, picks up two. Tonight he got five. He's a guy who will drive in runs with a guy on third, put the ball in play if he needs to," Mattingly said. "As far as consistency, I don't think we've had anybody quite like him."
Gonzalez credited his RBI totals to "staying in the lineup," which is definitely a part of it. He also leads the majors with 183 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, 13 more than anyone else.
"I have a simple approach I guess, not trying to do too much," Gonzalez said. "It's just my mentality. There is no formula."
The offensive outburst made a winner out of Greinke, who allowed at least one hit in every inning but gutted through seven frames for his 13th win of the season. Greinke struck out four on the night in his seven innings, none bigger than getting David Wright swinging with runners on first and third to end the seventh inning.
Greinke also used Wright to escape a first-and-third situation in the fifth inning, inducing a double play to end the frame.
29 -Dodgers' magic number to clinch the NL West. Any combination of LA wins and SF losses totaling 29 clinches the division for the Dodgers.
Amid concerns about elbow soreness that caused this start to get pushed back two days, Greinke did allow two home runs for the second time in three starts and for only the third time all season.
One was a three-run home run by Juan Lagares in the fourth that gave the Mets a 3-0 lead. It was the first three-run home run allowed by Greinke since June 16, 2013, when Pedro Alvarez took him deep in Pittsburgh. It was only the sixth of his 18 home runs allowed this season with anyone on base.
Lucas Duda also took Greinke deep with a solo shot in the sixth.
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: USA Today
