Meet the Mets
I took a half day on Friday, headed to the bar, watched Jenrry Mejia dominate the Nationals. Was feelin' pretty good, you guys. Mets had Matt Harvey going in the night cap, could sniff second place. Didn't quite work out, and then, uh, things escalated quickly. I was off the grid for much of Sunday afternoon, and managed to check in right as Josh Satin made a bad error after striking out three times. So, yeah, it was that kind of day.
With the Mets falling back to ten games under .500, you might think it would be time to start looking into trades before Wednesday's deadline. But Terry Collins doesn't see that happening. I gave my spiel on last week's Amazin' Avenue Audio, but if Marlon Byrd is on this team on Thursday, that's probably a mistake. Not a huge mistake, mind you, but a mistake.
If you need a bit of a pick-me-up, and since you are a Mets fan, at this point you probably do, check out these Jenrry Mejia heat maps courtesy of Mark Simon's 'Met'rics.
For a brief, fleeting moment, Greg Prince remembered what being in a pennant race was like. Fortunately, the Mets quickly made sure he wouldn't have to deal with those emotions again for a while.
Jordany Valdespin has been destroying baseballs since his demotion to Las Vegas. Rising Apple wonders what comes next for JV1.
Yesterday at AA
Brock Mahan looked back at the Wheeler-for-Beltran trade. I remember sitting in the dining room of my old apartment, following along and trying to talk myself into Gary Brown, and then BAM, Wheeler time.
PitchFx guru and podcast guest Josh Smolow dove into the data from Jenrry Mejia's first major league start of 2013.
Around the NL East
The Good Phight wins the Bloggy for "Best Recap Headline of the Year." Also, their tears taste like a fine dessert wine to me.
If the Phillies want to turn their season around, maybe they should hire Jonathan Papelbon as their GM, he has some fresh ideas.
Crashburn Alley takes a look at the scouting reports on Cuban pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who the Phillies just signed for a very large chunk of change.
I don't know why you would want to read Federal Baseball's recap of yesterday's game, but I am obligated to link it.
The 2013 Marlins continue to hit new lows, as hitting coach Tino Martinez resigned after accusations of verbal and physical abuse.
Jose Fernandezoutpitched Gerrit Cole in yesterday afternoon's tilt. Sure is a lot of sexy young pitching in the National League right now.
The Bravescompleted a three-game sweep of the Cardinals on Sunday night baseball, which I did not watch because ESPN broadcast team.
Around MLB
Here is all of Sunday's action in one handy-dandy scoreboard. Of particular note: Yasiel Puig's bat flip. ONE MAN! FIVE TOOLS! But seriously, how the heck does he pull that pitch out of the park?
With the next round of Biogenesis suspensions set to come down this week, Ted Berg looks at the sad state of A-Rod, while Emma Span writes about the potential lifetime ban for the Yankees' third baseman.
MLB Daily Dish looks at the impact the addition of the second wild card is having on the trade deadline.
Beyond the Box Score wonders if Nate Schierholtz will be the next Cub to get a one-way ticket out of town.
Howard Megdal writes about the Cape Cod League, which I tell myself every summer I will get up to see, and then drive ten hours to watch Appy League games instead.
And finally, a pet peeve of mine. Twins prospect Miguel Sanosat out four games for "pimping" a home run too much for the vaunted Twins way. Meanwhile, when I sat on New Britain last weekend, I saw prospect Eddie Rosario make the laziest throw I've seen in my life, which actually cost the team a baserunner (and a run in the end). No punishment. Scouts I was sitting with were shocked he didn't get pulled. Never seen Sano mail it in on the field, even if he can show a bit too much #rig at times.