“Is that my starter in there?” (Me outside the Harvey operating room)
Today Matt Harvey officially joined David Wright on the list of 2016 players to succumb to METS disease. When your star pitcher comes to you and says, “Hey skip I can’t feel my arm anymore. It’s numb,” you know it’s METS disease. He got the TJ surgery. He came back and led the Mets to the 2015 World Series. He blasted through his innings limits and gave the team everything he had. Unfortunately I thought he figuratively gave the Mets everything he had. It turns out he actually went all in physically. As a fan, I will never forget the sacrifice Matty made for this team.
In truth, I don’t know how connected his 2015 innings total is to the thoracic outlet syndrome that is ending his season. I’m sure there’s a genetic component. Obviously it’s also related to the Mets drinking water in the clubhouse. There are many factors in play here. Regardless of what caused it, the syndrome ends Matt’s season. Now he needs to get a surgery that for many pitchers has helped prolong their career (Chris Young, Jaime Garcia) and for others has signaled the end of their career (Chris Carpenter, Josh Beckett). The surgery could involve getting a rib removed. No this isn’t your classic cosmetic/pleasure motivated Marilyn Manson rib removal surgery. They remove the rib because it has been displaced and is affecting blood flow. It’s a serious career threatening procedure. Figures. I hope he comes back healthy and strong, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Much like David Wright and his spinal stenosis, this goes beyond baseball. These guys need to get healthy and worry about the stupid game later.
And so we play on in 2016 without Matt who never really pitched anywhere near his capabilities at any point this season. Can you imagine if he had? We’ll just have to make a run without him. I’m sure we’ll use the internal options at our disposal initially. Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, Gabriel Ynoa, Sean Gilmartin, Logan Verrett are all here and ready to contribute. Hopefully Zack Wheeler will be here soon, although yesterday Sandy made it seem like a 2016 return for Zack is no longer a certainty. Greeaaaat.
I don’t know if this means we’ll try and trade for a pitcher. The Pirates are shopping Jon Niese already which is one of the most hilarious things I’ve heard this season. I’d take him back for a sack of potatoes and nothing more. This whole thing really sucks. This is the reason why building your team around young pitching is smart but also risky. You really need a ton of arms to make it work. The only way you survive is with unlimited depth. Pray for Matt. Pray for all the other arms on our team. We need every arm that we have left.
A man can only admit when he was wrong and ask for forgiveness.
Final Score: Mets 9, Nationals 7
Before this game, Terry didn’t include Wilmer Flores in the lineup. The general consensus among Mets fans was that this was a classic case of Terry being a moron. Wilmer had 4 home runs this week. He’s scorching hot. Everyone was furious about the decision. I must say, I was not angry. I was completely fine with sitting Wilmer. It’s not that I don’t like Wilmer. I just figured he’d play at least two games this weekend, and I didn’t feel like getting worked up about the benching. I’m excited about our new stable of viable infielders, and I got caught up in the depth celebration.
Well a man can only admit when he was wrong and ask for forgiveness. Wilmer has a .309 career batting clip in July. His next highest monthly batting average is .267 in August. His home run last night has started to help us avenge the June sweep by the Nationals in Washington. Wilmer is now Summer Flo. He is…The King in July! The King in July!
Murph Out The Gate: In the first inning, Bartolo Colon gave up a leadoff triple and of course Daniel Murphy drove in the run to make it 1-0. Murph’s public shaming of the Mets organization continued right away last night.
Clutch Single: In the first inning, James Loney struck out with two outs and runners on second and third base. But in the third inning with Yoenis Cespedes on second and Neil Walker on first, Loney came through with an RBI single to tie the game 1-1.
Love Getting Burned By The Big Dogs: In the fourth inning after retiring Murph, Bartolo Colon gave up a solo bomb to Bryce Harper. My first thought was that we really love getting burned by the best player on the team huh? Giancarlo Stanton had a field day and now Bryce. That was before I knew there was no stopping the ball from flying out of the park last night. Plus it’s not like we are going to issue first inning free passes to Harper with the bases empty.
Ball Was Flying: Still in the fourth inning, Clint Robinson and Anthony Rendon hit back to back homers with two outs. They made it 4-1 Nats.
Ball Was Officially Flying: After the Nationals fourth inning home run barrage, I was shook. But it wasn’t until the Mets homers in the bottom of the fourth that I realized we were playing this game with diminished gravity levels or something. The home runs did not stop. Travis d’Arnaud hit a solo shot. Jose Reyes launched an upper decker home run to right. Then Curtis Granderson doubled and Yoenis Cespedes doubled to make it 4-4. The Mets came back to tie the game instantly. They chased Lucas Giolito in the fourth inning. Hell, Neil Walker and Yo executed a double steal!
The First Botched Takeout Slide Call: In the fifth inning, Bartolo gave up a single to Oliver Perez and Ben Revere. Jayson Werth then grounded into a force at second. That set up first and third with one out for Murph. Murph hit a double play ball up the middle. The Mets turned the double play and the outs were called on the field. Unfortunately Murph was safe by a mile at first. The Nationals won the challenge, and Oliver Perez scored to make it 5-4 Nationals. My beef on the play was that Jayson Werth’s slide at second was a violation of the takeout slide rule. It was an obvious violation in April of 2016. At the start of the season they were making the call on the field every time. Since then they’ve stopped calling it because MLB listens to fan outcry and seemingly is run by a bunch of pathetic cowards who can’t implement a rule change to save their lives. Well on this particular play the umpires felt the slide was legal and the run scored.
Who Can Leave Their Starter In The Longest: Lucas Giolito should have come out after the Grandy double in the fourth inning. He couldn’t get ahead in the count at all last night. Frankly all the pitchers struggled to execute. But I felt Dusty left him in too long. Well in the fifth inning, Terry tried to steal the crown from Dusty. After the run scored on the challenged double play, Jerry Blevins should have been coming in to face Bryce Harper. Instead Terry left Tolo in. He gave up a single to Bryce and an RBI single to Wilson Ramos that made it 6-4 Nationals. When Terry finally did bring in the pen, Jerry Blevins walked his batter but Hansel Robles was able to get out of the inning.
The King In July: The most important part of Terry’s call to the bullpen in the fifth inning was that he double switched Wilmer Flores into the game. In the bottom of the fifth, Asdrubal Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo hit back to back singles off of Oliver Perez. Then with one out, Wilmer Flores hit the game altering 3-run shot that made it 7-6. TC said after the game it reminded him of Wilmer’s enormous home run last season against Washington. It was remarkable. He has 5 home runs this week alone. He has to be NL player of the week. Also in the fifth, Curtis Granderson doubled with two outs and the Nats intentionally walked Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets should probably take note and stop getting burned by the elite player on every team we face.
Ollie: In the 6th inning, Oliver Perez doubled for his second hit of the game. That was only notable because it was additional evidence that this particular game was completely insane.
More Bombs: Asdrubal Cabrera launched a solo shot in the bottom of the 6th that turned out to be the game winner. It made the game 8-6. As much as Wilmer had the big hit, every single Mets infielder contributed with the stick last night. Reyes, Walker, Loney, Cabrera, and Wilmer all had RBIs.
What Do We Do?: In the 7th inning, Antonio Bastardo reminded us all yet again that he sucks. He gave up a leadoff solo shot to Mets killer Daniel Murphy making it 8-7 Mets. Then he retired Bryce Harper and Wilson Ramos. He then induced a comebacker off the bat of Clint Robinson and he made arguably the worst throwing error of the season. He just threw it away right past Wilmer at first. Terry was forced to go to Addison Reed who was just stellar in relief. He retired the side. I really don’t know what to do with Bastardo. We paid him. We need to see if he turns his season around. It’s a really crummy spot to be in.
Bonehead Pickoff: In the 7th inning with one out Jose Reyes walked. I knew as soon as he got on base he was going to try and steal, but I was completely against it. The ball was flying out of the park. I wanted to give Grandy and Yo a chance to put one in the seats. Unfortunately, Jose got picked off like an idiot. In the end we still got the insurance run because Grandy singled, the Nats walked Yo (Duh), and then Neil Walker hit an RBI single to make it 9-7.
The Second Takeout Slide Call: Addison Reed slammed the door in the 7th and retired the Nats in the 8th. He’s been absolutely stellar. Jeurys Familia came on in the 9th and walked the leadoff man like a fool. But then in true Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion, the entire game came full circle. With Jayson Werth on first, Murph hit a ball that nearly got past a diving Cabrera at short. But Cabby made a fantastic stop and started to turn the double play. The Mets got the out at second and made an unsuccessful throw to first. But Werth rocked Neil Walker on a takeout slide, and this time the umps called the Utley rule. They called the double play. The Werth slide wasn’t all that different from the play in the fifth inning. The bottom line is Werth purposely took out Walker and came off the bag. It’s a rule violation. Then Familia struck out Harper to end the game.
Nats Cry Like Babies: The Nats GM Mike Rizzo tried to fight umpire Jim Joyce after the game. I get their frustration. I share it. It’s appalling that the umps can’t make consistent calls in the same season, same month, same week, or the same freaking game. It’s a complete joke. But they got the call right. The Nats can’t complain about that. I’m done listening to complaints about the slide rule. The rule has been changed. Stay on the bag and slide directly at the bag. Period.
Also Harvey Is Out Forever: On the day of arguably the biggest win of the regular season, the Mets basically announced Matt Harvey is deciding between getting surgery for thoracic-outlet syndrome and missing the rest of the season or getting some interim thing done that will ultimately delay the inevitable surgery until after the season. He’s dunzo. I’ll have more on this once Harvey decides. Until then there’s really nothing new to report. Well other than what Sandy snuck in at the end of the Harvey press conference. Apparently Zack Wheeler is behind in his rehab from TJ and may not be back this season. Sandy snuck that gem into the conference at the last second. Jesus Christ we can’t have nice things at all.
The Mets officially placed Matt Harvey on the 15-Day DL. This isn’t surprising at all considering he’s been inexplicably struggling all season. Despite his insistence that his underwhelming performance this year was stemming from mechanical flaws, I think most of us had a gut feeling it was due to some physical issue. The early reports are concerning to say the least. He’s going to see the doctor in St. Louis that performed that shoulder blood cot surgery on Dillon Gee. The guy is a vascular surgeon specializing in thoracic outlet syndrome and other blood-flow ailments. I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure shoulders need blood. And more blood clots? First the pee clots and now in the shoulder. Sweet Jesus this man can’t catch a break in 2016.
Grab your rosary beads. Light your prayer candles. We’ve survived without Harvey performing on the mound this season. But this goes beyond the team and our 2016 performance. Shoulder problems are bad. They are career derailing bad. Chris Young battled shoulder issues forever. Johan Santana never came back after his shoulder gave out. Let’s hope it’s minor. Right now the Mets say it’s precautionary. Let’s hope the doctor’s visit shows that his blood flow is fine. But if he needs some kind of shoulder surgery…Sheeeeeiiit. That would be terrible.
In the interim the Mets will call up Seth Lugo to take Harvey’s roster spot. If he winds up being out for a long stint, I have to believe there’s a chance we’ll see Robert Gsellman or maybe Gabriel Ynoa. But they might just stick with Sean Gilmartin or Logan Verrett too. Hopefully Zack Wheeler comes back soon. For now, forget about the contingency plan and let’s focus on prayers for the Dark Knight.
On July 4th 2016, Yoenis Cespedes did what he’s been doing for the Mets for over 130 games at this point. He sparked the offense, had clutch hits, and won the team a baseball game. The Mets had arguably their most impressive victory of the season yesterday. Before the end of the third inning, they were down 6-0 to the Marlins. Matt Harvey gave up 11 hits, 6 runs (5ER) over 3.2 innings. He continued what has been an unimpressive campaign in his second season removed from Tommy John surgery.
But despite being down 6-0, the Mets were able to crawl back and eventually win this ball game. Travis d’Arnaud and Curtis Granderson hit solo homers in the fourth and fifth inning respectively. That made it 6-2 Marlins. In the sixth inning, the Mets got to the Marlins bullpen. Travis d’Arnaud hit an RBI single and Kelly Johnson hit into a run scoring double play to make it 6-4. It was at this point that Yoenis Cespedes took the team on his back and contributed the big hits that were needed. In the 7th inning, Neil Walker walked and Yo hit a huge doubleto make it second and third with nobody out. That set up a James Loney RBI groundout and a Wilmer Flores sac fly to make it 6-6. Then in the 8th inning, d’Arnaud drew a leadoff walk. Juan Lagares then sacrificed him over to second base in what was a close play at first that was originally called safe, challenged, and ultimately ruled a sac bunt. Then with two outs Neil Walker was walked (again), and Yoenis Cespedes crushed a doubleto score d’Arnaud and Lagares to make it 8-6. The double was Yo’s third hit of the game. 8-6 was the final score.
Almost every member of the bullpen stepped up and combined to toss 5.1 scoreless innings of relief. The bullpen was huge in the effort to bail out Harvey. But there’s just no way the Mets score enough runs to win that game without Cespedes. We could probably say that sentence for a majority of the team’s wins in 2016. I have always been firmly in the “pay Cespedes whatever he wants” camp. But I think considering the MVP level 2016 campaign he is putting together, we’ve reached that point in the season where it’s time to be more vocal about the need to lock him up.
Cespedes is the only true undisputed impact bat (franchise bat? elite bat? choose whichever cliché you want) in this Mets lineup. Without him this team doesn’t make the playoffs last year and is barely a Wild Card contender at this point in the season. I still have no idea why he didn’t receive any market value offers this past offseason. I have no idea why the Nationals didn’t up their offer so it had a higher Net Present Value than the Mets 3 year deal. Part of me thinks Cespedes dealt with a little bit of the Daniel Murphy effect. I’m not trying to compare the actual career production of these two players at all. But I am saying that teams may have been hesitant to pay Murph and Cespedes because of enormous spikes in production relative to their career numbers over the last year or so.
Murph’s 14 regular season home runs last year combined with his 7 postseason home runs certainly represented a spike in power production when you consider his previous season high was 13 (in 2013). When you look at that and then you consider his 14 home runs in 2016 along with his .347/.387/.579 batting line through 81 games, the production starts to become a little more than a product of small sample size. Yoenis Cespedes has had a similar spike in 2015-16. He’s been hitting between .290-.300 for a season and a half at this point and posting an OPS close to .900. He’s on pace for 40 home runs. This is a guy who hit .240 in 2013 and .260 in 2014 and never hit more than 26 long balls before his 35 home run campaign last year. Daniel Murphy is 31 years old and Cespedes is 30. I can understand that teams might be skeptical that these two players will sustain these late career production spikes in the short term and over the course of a long term deal.
I also think regardless of whether you feel it should, the poor 2016 performance by Matt Harvey may impact the Mets decision to sign Cespedes. It seemed unlikely before the season that Matt Harvey was going to sign a contract extension with the Mets because he’s a Scott Boras client, and also because he was under team control for another 3 years. Well based on his performance so far this year, it seems almost impossible that he will sign any type of extension in the near future. He’s certainly not going to lock up a deal with his value at an all time low, and I don’t think the Mets are going to be inclined to pay him right now either.
Assuming the Mets financial resources are somewhat limited (which seems to consistently be the case) the team might be more inclined than ever to use their additional revenue to extend Cespedes rather than plan to save funds for a future Harvey deal. Again, the two deals should not be linked because the Mets should spend whatever is necessary to field a winning product. I think in the long run, a winning product should include Cespedes and Harvey. But we must be realistic and acknowledge that any long term contracts they give out will undoubtedly diminish the chances that they give out more of them. If the Mets are actually debating whether to devote future resources to Cespedes or Harvey, 2016 may fully tip the scales in Yo’s direction.
The bottom line is Yo is going to opt out of his contract at season’s end, and I think it’s safe to assume a lot of teams are going to bet on his 2015-16 level of production continuing. I think the majority of teams are going to want to add his franchise bat to their lineup. He’s only enhanced his value this season by showing that he can at least hold his own as a center fielder. The Wilpons need to grab their checkbook, call Roc Nation, and add whatever number of years and dollars he wants to his current deal so they remove the opt out and ensure the Mets keep him in the lineup for the next 6 years or so. I don’t care about the bad back end of the deal. I don’t care that he may throw his back out at the driving range. We need to make this happen ASAP and avoid an offseason bidding war. The guy is a warrior and a star. He’s the heart of the offense, and I want to be able to see him launching upper deck moon shots at Citi Field for years to come.
The Mets didn’t deserve to win that game last night against the Atlanta Braves. The pitching staff was getting smacked around, and the umpires gave the Mets a huge break. But that doesn’t matter. The Mets were in a position to win, and they still blew it. We just had a great home series sweep against the Royals, and then we come out the gate at Turner Field and blow the freaking game? Ridiculous. The Mets are 5-5 against the Braves. The Braves are the worst team in the NL. If the Mets aren’t going to beat the Braves this year, then the season is already over. We talked about this before the season even started. We have to beat the NL Least and beat those teams more often than the Nationals. This was another pathetic inexcusable loss, and the losses of that variety have been piling up lately. This team hasn’t been resilient or consistent. We’re supposed to be contenders. We’re supposed to have class. But lately we’ve been bums.
Alejandro Baby: In the top of the second inning, Michael Conforto walked and with one out Alejandro De Aza launched a double to bring him home making it 1-0. Alejandro De Aza went 2 for 4 in this game and made three really nice plays in center field. It’s about damn time that this guy contributed.
Thanks Bonifacio: In the third inning, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a double and advanced to third on a James Loney line out to center field. Then Neil Walker hit a shallow fly ball to left fielder Emilio Bonifacio who nearly lost the ball in the wind and then made a horrendous throw nowhere near home plate. It was a gift sac fly thanks to Bonifacio’s spaghetti arm. Thanks Emilio.
Singles Not Dingers: In the fifth inning, the Mets did something they never do. They scored on singles instead of dingers. Curtis Granderson singled with one out, and then with two outs James Loney singled to make it first and third. Then Neil Walker singled to drive in Grandy. That gave the Mets their third run.
Dark Knight No Mechanic: Matt Harvey struggled with his mechanics again. He went 6 innings, gave up 8 hits, 2 runs, and only struck out 3. He struggled in the first inning when he gave up a leadoff single to Jace Peterson, but then he picked him off. Then he gave up a single to Ender Inciarte, but he retired the next two guys. He gave up two straight two out singles in the second inning but retired the pitcher to escape that jam. In the third inning, De Aza made a stellar catch to prevent a Jace Peterson double. In the fourth inning, Nick Markakis doubled, and with one out A.J. Pierzynski singled him in to make it 2-1. To end that inning, Michael Conforto made a stellar catch against the left field foul wall. Harvey neded tons of help to get through these arduous innings. In the sixth inning, Nick Markakis hit a one out single and advanced to second base on an Adonis Garcia slow roller to Matt Harvey. Then with two outs, A.J. Pierzynski doubled Markakis home to make it 3-2 Mets. For the record, Pierzynski sucks. He’s hitting .200. But he sure as hell doesn’t suck against the Mets.
Home Plate Play: In the top of the 7th, the Mets had a chance to score some more runs with two outs. James Loney walked with two outs and Neil Walker singled to set up first and second for pinch hitter Wilmer Flores. Wilmer failed to come through. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Terry pulled Harvey with 91 pitches. Some might call that an early hook, but not based on the way Matt was pitching. He looked like crap, and I had no confidence that he was going to get out of any inning let alone the 7th inning 91 pitches deep. So Terry brought in Sean Gilmartin (I guess because everyone else was dead?). Gilmartin proceeded to walk Emilio Bonifacio and give up a single to pinch hitter Jeff Francoeur. Jace Peterson then sacrificed the runners over to second and third. Ender Inciarte then hit a ball to Michael Conforto in left field foul territory. Conforto caught the ball for the second out and made an incredible throw to home plate to nail the tagging Emilio Bonifacio. The only problems were 1) Travis d’Arnaud kind of blocked the plate illegally and 2) Emilio Bonifacio kind of slid in safely anyway even though it was a horrendous slide. The Braves challenged, and the umpires reviewed the play. I figured the call would be overturned and it would be 3-3 Braves. Luckily for the Mets, the umpires continue to blow calls every single day. Either the umps were punishing Bonifacio for his terrible slide or rewarding Conforto for his fantastic throw, but they made the wrong call on the field and confirmed the wrong call. They didn’t even defer to the “not enough evidence to overturn the call” mantra. Nope they felt it was obvious that the runner was out. I’m happy the Mets got the break (this time), but it’s ridiculous that these guys can’t make the right calls with replay. Absurd. Obviously the Braves manager got tossed.
We Blew It Anyway: After that huge break from the umpires the Mets went ahead and blew the game anyway. Jerry Blevins started the 8th inning and gave up a single to Freddie Freeman. It’s tough to get mad at Blevins because he’s been great all year. But a leadoff hit was brutal. Then with one out and Freeman on first, Terry went to Addison Reed. Reed gave up an 0-2 two run shot to Adonis Garcia. It was a terrible 0-2 pitch right over the middle of the plate. He tried to get it up and completely missed. I realize Reed has been fantastic this season, but your setup guy blowing a game against the worst team in the league stings like hell. A mistake pitch on an 0-2 count is a joke. Anyway that made it 4-3, and that was the ball game.
D’Arnaud Taking Names: Travis d’Arnaud threw out a base stealer last night in the 8th inning. I think it’s the second guy he’s nailed since returning. I guess his shoulder feels better. For now.
Lucky Bastards: The Braves had 12 hits yesterday, but a bunch of balls just managed to find holes. Lots of cheap lucky hits. And the Mets crushed a bunch of balls that just found gloves. Unlucky night for the Mets.
Thor Blames Workload: Noah Syndergaard indicated that his labor intensive start against the Pirates where he threw 115 pitches may have led to his struggles/elbow soreness in his start against the Royals. Ummm that’s Terry’s fault bro. TC needs to handle these guys with care. Not most of the time. Not some of the time. All of the damn time. If that means cap them at 105 pitches you do it. The guys who study this crap know that high stress pitches late in games lead to the arm injuries. It’s science. So let’s avoid those situations all the time. Okay TC? I’m looking at you moron.
Jose: Jose Reyes is officially going to be released on Saturday. The Mets/Reyes reunion is being rumored as inevitable at this point. I wrote my thoughts on the potential reunion earlier in the week. Let’s wait and see what happens.
Today: Speaking of high stress pitches and elbow soreness, Steven Matz pitches tonight. Jesus Christ please be careful with him. Limit his innings. He’s a rookie, and he’s had TJ surgery already. Let’s turn it around tonight.
I have been to 4 games at Citi Field this season, and the Mets are 0-4 in those games. I’m a freaking mush. I’m just going to stay away from the stadium from now on. This game was an absolute snoozefest. Super boring. It was Neil Walker t-shirt night, and the highlight of the game was in the first inning when this enormous fat guy sitting in front of me removed the t-shirt he wore to the game exposing his hairy body. He then proceeded to sit in his seat shirtless for a good 30 seconds before he put on his new McDonald’s sponsored Walker t-shirt that barely fit him. That guy was a big fat dynamo, and he had more swagger than the entire Mets team did tonight.
Dark Dump On The Field: Matt Harvey battled despite not having his best stuff, but the Braves beat him good. He went 6 innings, gave up 7 hits, 4 runs and only struck out 5. Crappy all around performance from Matty. Harvey walked the leadoff hitterErick Aybar in the third inning. He was sacrificed over to second and then a grounder allowed him to advance to third. Then Ender Inciarte crushed a double that scored the run making it 1-1. Then Freedie Freeman crushed another two out double to make it 2-1. In the fourth inning, Jace Peterson doubled and with one out Harvey gave up an A.J. Pierzynski RBI single to make it 3-1. In the fifth, Harvey walked leadoff hitterMallex Smith, and with two outs gave up a RBI single to Nick Markakis to make it 4-1. Harvey sucked tonight.
Walk It Up: Antonio Bastardo had a crappy inning of relief giving up a hit and a walk but no runs luckily. Erik Goeddelwalked the leadoff man(notice the theme of the night?) and ended up giving up a run to make it 5-1. The Mets walked five Braves. They don’t normally walk people. Let’s not make that a new habit.
Of Course He Did:John Gant, the pitching prospect that the Mets gave up in the Juan Uribe/ Kelly Johnson deal from last year, pitched 6.2 innings, gave up 2 hits and 1 run. He completely shut the Mets down other than an RBI groundout from Yoenis Cespedes in the first inning. In the 7th inning, he walked Kelly Johnson and the Braves yanked him. Reliever Chris Withrow gave up a single to James Loney and walked Kevin Plawecki to load the bases. The Braves then brought in lefty Hunter Cervenka to face announced pinch hitter Alejandro De Aza and the Mets countered by pinch hitting with Wilmer Flores. Flores struck out on three pitches. In his defense strike two was a ball. Horrendous call by the umpire. He wasn’t good tonight either. In the 8th inning, Curtis Granderson singled and Asdrubal Cabrera promptly hit into a double play. Then Yo singled, Neil Walker singled, and Michael Conforto struck out.
The Good: Grandy seems to be back. He had two hits.
The Bad: Everyone else really stunk. Conforto went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks. Brutal. Kevin Plawecki walked twice but he’s really overmatched every time up. We need Travis d’Arnaud back ASAP.
Tomorrow: Steven Matz vs. Aaron Blair tomorrow. The rookie Aaron Blair is 0-4 with a 7.59 ERA. Expect him to shut out the Mets.
This game was an absolute slopfest. Sweet Jesus Christ. The Mets left the world on base, and ultimately won in the 11th inning because the Brewers misplayed what should have been an inning ending double play.
Dark Knight: Matt Harvey is really back. He’s put together a few great starts, and now he’s consistently showing the velocity and command we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the years. Harvey ran out of gas late. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 2 hits, 1 run, and struck out 8. His only slip up came in the fifth when he gave up a triple to Kirk Nieuwenhuis, a walk to Aaron Hill, and a sac fly to Ramon Flores to make it 1-0. Also the Mets gave him no run support and he didn’t get a W. Duh.
Double Challenge?: In the third inning, Aaron Hill walked, the pitcher Junior Guerra sacrificed him over to second base. Then with two outs Jonathan Villar singled and Guerra initially scored on a close play at home. The Mets challenged the call arguing the tag was applied before Hill’s foot touched home plate. The Mets won the challenge, and the call was reversed. Then the Brewers challenged that Kevin Plawecki blocked home plate illegally. That challenge was overruled. It was a stupid challenge by the Brewers as Plawecki clearly gave the runner the path to score. I’m not sure I can remember ever seeing the double challenge. I’m in favor of replay challenge and getting the calls right. But even I can agree with Keith that the double challenge is an insane time waster. I can’t believe they don’t just take one long look at the play and assess everything. It’s completely ridiculous.
Return Of Kelly: Kelly Johnson returned to the Mets and went 2 for 4. Captain Kirk also robbed him of either a home run or double off the top of the center field wall in the 7th inning. He doubled to leadoff the third inning and with one out, Matt Harvey hit a ball right up the middle. For some reason Kelly was basically frozen a few steps off the bag and at the last minute decided to retreat to second base. Unfortunately, Jonathan Villar was basically standing in his way to easily make the tag and then make the throw to first to complete the double play. Also when he stepped into the bag, Johnson’s leg bent and he fell over. I thought he blew out his knee. He did not. That’s just how I think as a Mets fan.
Yo Duh: In the 6th inning, Yoenis Cespedes crushed a solo blast to make it 1-1 thus ensuring these two teams would be tied forever and play for hours. He went 2 for 5. Thanks for being our only elite hitter Yo.
The Pen and Finger Problems: After Harvey came out, Hansel Robles, Antonio Bastardo, Jim Henderson, Jerry Blevins, and Jeurys Familia combined for 5 scoreless innings of relief. The only downside was Henderson kind of struggled in the 9th inning issuing a couple of walks. But he got out of it. Then he came out for the 10th, issued a walk and was pulled from the game because his finger nail ripped off. Yikes.
The Blown Chances: In the fifth inning, Wilmer Flores hit a leadoff single. Kevin Plawecki hit a single with one out to put runners on first and second for Harvey. Matt sacrificed the runners over to second and third. The Brewers intentional walked Curtis Granderson to load the bases for Alejandro De Aza. De Aza promptly grounded out to second base in pathetic fashion. In his gift start, De Aza went 0 for 5. So much for more playing time. In the 9th inning, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a walk, Wilmer Flores singled, and then Kelly Johnson singled to load the bases. The pathetic Mets offense couldn’t get a sac fly. Kevin Plawecki popped out, Neil Walker struck out, and Curtis Granderson grounded out. We didn’t deserve to win this game. We had 10 hits. Not scoring with the bases loaded and nobody out is inexcusable.
The Gift Wrapping: In the 11th, we nearly did the same thing as the 9th inning. Asdrubal singled, Wilmer doubled, and Kelly Johnson was intentionally walked to load the bases. Plawecki fouled out in pathetic fashion. Then Matt Reynolds hit a liner to the shortstop Villar who dropped the liner and threw the ball to second base to make the force out there. The runner scored from third. The runner that was on second base went to third without a play. Reynolds was easily safe at first base. As Terry said after the game, “You just take the win and go get ready for tomorrow. You don’t try to analyze that one.” Amen to that. But FYI the analysis is it was a gift wrapped run and should have been an inning ending double play. Thanks Milwaukee.
Today: Logan Verrett gets the spot start today thanks to this week’s doubleheader throwing off the rotation. We should win again. The Brewers are pathetic.
There’s not much to recap in this game. Jose Fernandez absolutely dismantled the Mets over 7 innings. He gave up 4 hits and struck out 14. The Mets really didn’t have a chance to do anything offensively in this game. Curtis Granderson hit a two out double in the first but Jose retired Neil Walker to end the inning. In the 7th inning, Michael Conforto and James Loney hit back to back two out singles. Fernandez struck out Wilmer Flores to end that threat. The bottom line is the Mets took 2 out of 3 in Miami, and that’s fantastic in my book. They also did to the Marlins what they failed to do against the Dodgers at home. They won the two games that didn’t involve untouchable aces. The Mets lost to Clayton Kershaw, and they lost to Jose Fernandez. So does every other team in the league. We must tip our cap and move on to the next series.
HarveyDay Back:Matt Harvey pitched great, didn’t get any run support, and got the L. That’s classic HarveyDay. He didn’t really have his strike out stuff working today as he only put away three Marlins. But he was almost as effective as Fernandez this afternoon. He went 7 innings, gave up 4 hits and gave up one run. He made a mistake in the fifth inning. He gave up a one out double to Derek Dietrich and then an RBI single to J.T. Realmuto. That was all it took for Fernandez to get the win.
Asdrubal’s Knee: In the 8th inning Ichiro Suzuki got picked off by Antonio Bastardo and he slid into Asdrubal Cabrera at second base. His head smashed into Cabrera’s knee. Cabrera hobbled off the field but stayed in the game. The Mets roster is littered with blue eyed corpses.
Lagares Dunzo: Juan Lagares is heading to New York to get an MRI on the thumb he injured during yesterday’s game. Might as well zip up that body bag and send him to the DL aka the morgue. Poor Juanny. I cursed him in my series preview by talking about how great of a season he’s been having in this reserve role.
D’Arnaud Stands Up: Rumor has it that Travis d’Arnaud finally stood up in Port St. Lucie and took a few baby steps without having his legs shatter beneath him. Mr. Glass is even going to DH in some Florida State League games. They say he’ll be back in three weeks. Yeah right.
Tomorrow: The Mets head to Pittsburgh now to face the Pirates and our old friend Jon Niese. This is a big road series against a top NL team. The Mets need to keep the road momentum going.
Well the floundering White Sox came to town and with that Matt Harvey has returned. Today was a vintage Matt Harvey start. He went 7 innings, surrendered 2 hits, no runs, and struck out 6. His fastball had that high 90s velocity, and he was able to locate it. He threw all his pitches effectively. He even got out of a couple jams. In the 5th inning, he gave up a single with one out to J.B. Shuck. Then he got Brett Lawrie to hit into a double play. In the 7th inning, he surrendered a leadoff walk to Adam Eaton and a single to Jose Abreu. But he managed to retire the next three hitters without surrendering any runs. He was resilient and fired up.
Jose Quintana was just as impressive in this game until he tired late. He also went 7 innings, gave up 6 hits, one run, and struck out 7. He made a bad pitch to Neil Walker to leadoff the bottom of the 7th inning and Walker launched a dinger. The solo blast was the game’s only run. It was the difference.
Familia Returned Too: Jeurys Familia got the save in this one which was huge after a horrendous weekend where he blew two games. I trust him. He’s our rock in the pen.
My Boy Rene: Rene Rivera called a hell of a game and deserves some credit for the success of Harvey and Familia. Too bad he can’t hit at all.
Hurry Loney: This game was also classic Harvey in the sense that we couldn’t give him any support. Jose Quintana is the AL ERA leader, so it’s rare that anyone scores off of this guy. That being said, Alejandro De Aza and Ty Kelly didn’t bring much to the table today. They really never do. We need to get James Loney in this lineup as soon as possible. I’m hearing he’s going to start tomorrow.
Pray For Wright: David Wright is seeing the neck doctor tomorrow. The DL seems like a lock. We should probably re-acquire Kelly Johnson or Juan Uribe or get someone to replace David Wright as soon as he joins the injured All-Stars in Port St. Lucie. Pray for David.
Mini Mid-Series Preview: I didn’t get a chance to post a full series preview for the White Sox. Obviously I’ve been too busy honoring our troops etc. But here’s a mini dose. In my season preview, I had the White Sox near the bottom of the AL Central right above the Twins in the cellar. They have some hot pitching at the top of the rotation in Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. I wasn’t convinced Todd Frazier solved all their offensive woes from 2015. Well for the first month of the season, I looked like an idiot. The White Sox and Cubs were the two best teams in the game through the first week in May. But lately? Lately the White Sox have been struggling. They are on a seven game losing streak now. They’ve dropped 15 of 19. They are now in third place in the Central. I’m not sure if it’s a blip on the radar or if they are returning to their stanky 2015 form.
Some Kind Of Sven-Jolly: The Mets and Harvey had a closed door meeting this morning, and in five minutes they decided to keep Matt Harvey in the rotation for his next turn against the White Sox. Unbelievable. This mofo is more persuasive than Elaine Benes’ Svengali psychiatrist. Harvey talks to Collins for 8 seconds, and he’s coming out for the 9th inning in Game 5 of the World Series with nothing left in the tank. He gets shelled at home against the Nats last week, chats with Terry, and he’s pitching 5 days later in Washington. He gets shelled in Washington, has a morning chat with Terry and John Ricco, and he’s starting in 5 days against the White Sox. All Harvey needs is one more conversation, and he’ll be inking a lucrative post Tommy John surgery contract extension with a 6+ ERA in May.
I honestly can’t believe this is the route the Mets are choosing to go. Work it out on the field? What is this spring training? It’s simple. Harvey doesn’t give the Mets the best chance to win right now. Period. Sean Gilmartin or Logan Verrett should get a couple of starts and Harvey should get a break. Pitchers have been given breaks due to performance issues a billion times in the past. Strasburg did it last year, Cliff Lee did it at one point, Roy Halladay did it. There are a ton of examples. What are we even talking about? Ehhh the Mets are so stupid. That being said, if he turns his season around in his next start I officially believe in magic.
Press War: After the closed door meeting with Terry this morning, Matt Harvey still refused to speak to the media. I love it! To hell with all of ya. I don’t have a press pass. I ain’t part of the machine. Honestly, I’m totally down with Matt Harvey waging an all out war against the media. They’ve dragged him through the mud so much since he debuted, that it would only be fitting for him to finally snap during his darkest hour. He should blow off postgame press conferences. When he does speak to the media he should do so through intermediaries. He can borrow Bartolo’s translator. He should just show up to the postgame interview with the translator and after each question look at the translator, make a facial expression or body motion, and then let the translator make up the rest. Athletes just give canned responses anyway. What the hell is the difference?
The media had it coming too. It’s amazing how much they fabricate whatever they want the narrative to be. Bartolo Colon is a known HGH cheat. Bartolo has multiple families and doesn’t pay child support. A couple days ago it was reported that a Nats fan heckled him about his two families and he shouted at the crowd “I have three families” or something like that. I don’t even know what that means, but the media couldn’t care less. The “Big Sexy” headline sells more papers than the “Bartolo is a jerk” headline. So that’s what they print. Or they print both and sell twice the number of papers. If Harvey is going to be portrayed as the selfish prick no matter what he does, then he should flip both middle fingers at the reporters and play the part.
On a related note, if I’m given a press pass and paid the big bucks to write for the machine, I’ll sell my soul and turn my cloak on Harvey right away! The Metssiah for sale! Integrity schmegrity. I’ll sell it all if the price is right. The Metssiah says “Harvey Stinks” brought to you by Pepsi the most delicious cola on earth. The Metssiah says, “The Wilpons Rule” brought to you by Marlboro the smoothest smoke on the market.
The Metssiah 