NY Mets 2013

[Sausy]

I really hope some players start stepping up soon... I'm sick of seeing a lack of consistency offensively. We get a nice streak balancing timely hitting with good starts but now with DWright on the DL it looks like a bunch of guys just waiting around most of the time out there. And Zach Wheeler, while he no doubt has a lot of promise to go along with Matt Harvey at the top of the rotation is showing again today command and control problems and that he is most definitely a work in progress. It's been so much frustration over recent years it would be nice if the Mets could give fans a belief even on days when they still might be overmatched they will be capable of pulling it out. Make teams respect them, make teams squirm going into Citi Field to play them. Need players that get walks, makes things happen, get timely hits... at least a few guys in the lineup. Eric Young does his best but he's a fourth outfielder, complimentary sort. Daniel Murphy tends to be either hot or cold... I'd trade more consistency for going 4-4. I wish I could be happy with Ike, and as patient and supportive as sonny(and I hope he doesn't hate me for thinking and saying this) but there is no excuse for the total ineptitude of this year. Last year was very understandable, getting back into a groove after the severe foot injury and the Valley Fever would take a lot of time, and required patience. But Ike starting in early June of last year was so dependable... of course there would be strikeouts and bad at bats, but they weren't something people were dreading every time he came to bat. He was devastating... almost no one figured he'd be at 32 home runs and get anywhere close to the 90 RBI Ike wound up with after the horrendous first twio months last season. I want Ike to succeed, now there is talk the Mets may not even tend him an offer in the offseason to avoid arbitration. How can such a gifted player lose so much confidence? To paraphrase Cher from the movie comedy Moonstruck... "Ike, snap out of it!"

 

[sonny10305]

So with DWright out for a while Alderson Collins and DePodesta will be spending a big part of the off day today trying to figure out what to do with our lineup. I wrote the other day of some of the possibilities with Murphy moving over to third and Young taking over second base which would open a spot of Duda in the outfield. Also going to be considered is Josh Satin at third or bringing Wilmer Flores up from AAA Vegas interestingly Flores has been played 3B for a second straight day in Las Vegas yesterday, sooo
It will be interesting to see later today what the Mets decide to do; all I want is for the moves to be simple I do not want a whole lot of moves to make this happen. Kinda wanna leave Murph at second and I sure do not want Young to leave the outfield and cover second either. Yeah, I know what then for Duda. There are other issues as well like who’s is going to bat third and what do we do with Ike Davis who is completely baffled by what is going on with him I can promise you he has not lost confidence as he did last year, speaking with him you get the idea that he is confident he can get thru this but I will tell you if the Mets send him down again it will be a whole other story, THAT will not go well with Ike. Another topic today will be Bobby Parnell, who has not pitched since last Tuesday, he will be reexamined if that does not go well who will be our closer.

As for Wright don’t let that 15 day thing lead to believe he will be back in 15 days cause that aint gonna happen. First of all David has to remain inactive for a while to allow fluid to drain. Then there will be time needed for him to get into a running program followed by rehab in Port St. Lucie or maybe it will be decided that he could travel with the Mets to Arizona, L.A. and San Diego. David has said he gets that he might be some value in staying with the team he did not want to interfere with guy’s game preparations by tying up the training staff to get treatment for his hamstring strain.
I do not expect to see David back on the field before Sept 1st at the earliest and it could even be longer than that we will just have to see how he heals. We sure don’t want to push Wright if his hamstring doesn’t heal properly and suffer any setbacks.

As to our rotation you can expect a return to the six men again when Jon Niese returns from the disabled list. We are all excited to see Niese today in Brooklyn when he makes his final rehab start for the Brooklyn Cyclones. I can hardly wait to spend time later talking pitching with this great guy.

Still waitin for John Bucks wife to pop out that baby she is a few days overdue; when it happens Travis d’Arnaud will prolly fill in for a bit, he is currently with AA Binghamton where he caught in all three games over the weekend and went 4-for-14 with a home run and two RBI.

Back to my Cyclones I am proud to report that John Gant, Rob Gsellman, L.J. Mazzilli, John Mincone and Miller Diaz were all named to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game. Diaz will start for the National League. Manager Rich Donnelly, Pitching Coach Marc Valdes, Batting Coach Bobby Malek and Athletic Trainer Eric Velazquez will serve as the coaching staff for the National League.
The All-Star Game will be played on August 13 in Conn.

One of the great joys for me now is watching L.J. Mazzilli son of Lee Mazzilli polish his skills “Mini-Maz” as we lovingly call him had a great game Saturday knocked in three runs on two hits. But that was after he showed his Italian passion when earlier in the game after a couple of unproductive at bats he flipped his mitt flip when he took the field , but manager Donnelly took him aside as only he can do and told L.J come on that’s; not how a professional baseball players conducts himself basically telling him what was thinking throwing that glove up in the air and reminding him in the sternest but nicest way that he was not the first person to go 0-for-3. So you hit and ball and they caught it he went on to say, now let’s move on it’s no big deal. L.J apologized many times and that was that; I later told Donnely “chip off the ole block huh?”
Don’t get the wrong message here L.J. is a great kid just gets a little passionate about the game sometimes, nothin wrong with that. Donnelly knows plenty about those Mazziili boys he once coached L.Js father, Lee Mazzilli. And has been around the game for like 35 years or so and has an incredible knowledge of the game a day don’t go by I don’t learn something from him.
We have to give L.J some slack in his wanting not to fail he has been kind of under the spotlight since he got here with the press and everyone wantin to speak with the son of Lee Mazzilli. L.J is used to that cause most of his career, there have always been questions about his dad plus now Playing in Brooklyn it’s probably more than if I had started somewhere else, but he is cool about it all tries to take it as it comes and most importantly he seems not to put any pressure on himself, just a terrific kid and we love him.

 

[syam24]

So, I see, Jordanny Valdespin's name has popped up on the list of offenders in the PED ring. At least there is no chance of seeing him back in NY this year. 50 games off. Perhaps he suffers from 'roid rage.

 

[Sausy]

Well guess that's the end of Jordanny Valdespin's Mets career. So much talent and excitement but so little maturity and appreciation... well now he'll be like Lastings Milledge as Met farmhands who had a world of talent but acted as if they owned the stage from day 1 without showing respect for the game, their fans, teammates, organization . And did precious little when they had the chance. Good riddance Jordanny.... it's a shame when players with so much talent just waste it because they never get it.

Mets fans apparently will see longtime prospect Wilmer Flores...looks like he will be called up today to either play third or some first as the Mets may even put Daniel Murphy at third for the next few weeks while David Wright is out. Not sure of the specifics as Flores is playing second base but has been moved to the corner positions and defensively, might have to play in the long run with defensive deficiencies at second and shortstop, his original position. One thing Wilmer, a Venezuelan native, does do well is hit, and he is currently having his best year ever with a .315 average, 15 homers, 86 RBI. I'm sure sonny has a lot more info on how the Mets intend to play Flores, who if packaged with one or two of the Mets highly regarded stud pitchers might help command acquiring a top flight young outfielder in the offseason. It's also Wilmer's birthday today, August 6... so Happy Birthday Wilmer and welcome to the major leagues!!!

 

[sonny10305]

So the Mets brass had their pow wow yesterday and made a few decisions on what to do while Wright is out. Starting with Wilmer Flores coming in from AAA which is good I did not care for the idea of messin with Murphy since he is settling sown nicely at second Murphy and is top 10 in almost every offensive category at 2B. And I really did not want Young moved from the outfield so I like the way it went down and let’s see how all plays out. Flores will play third today bat 6th and wear No. 4.

Jon Niese's rehab start has been moved to AA rather than Brooklyn where he played his last rehab which disappoints a lot of guys but it is actually better for Jon and that’s what matters.

As to Jordany Valdespin all I can say is good riddance good bye, my feelings about that jerk are well documented here in this thread. Now we can add cheat to his resume. He made a statement thru his lawyer he regrets what he did and is sorry for his mistakes and hope to win the faith back with the Mets organization and fans. I think what he is sorry for is that he got caught.
So that delusional fool actually believes he will return to the Mets. Well his chances of that happening are as good as the proverbial snowball in Hell.
I know of no one who wants him back he is not fit to wear the proud uniform of a NY Met ever again. As one player said “It definitely confirms his stupidity” and another writing simply LMAO

So the lineup for tonight will be Young LF, Murphy 2B, Byrd RF, Davis 1B, Lagares CF, Flores 3B,
Buck C, Quintanilla SS and Mejia on the mound

 

[syam24]

Nice win by the Mets on Tues. Mejia pitched a good game, giving up one unearned run, and an HR following the delay when the home plate ump was injured on a foul ball. Legares continues his maturation with a 2 RBI triple for the Mets first two runs, then getting aboard on an infield hit in the eigth which scored EY, Jr from second base on a spectacular run/slide. The bullpen was effective, particularly Carlos Torres, and a save by Hawkins, though he had two baserunners after two were out, and got the final out with the help of a diving catch in foul ground by Ike Davis. Flores debut was nothing special, but his days will come. He did make an error on a ground ball which loaded the bases, but Torres pitched out of the jam. Let's go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

Thanks Syam for that update on the game yesterday

So the first day for Wilmer Flores did not go as well as expected he was 0-for-4 and his defense was not better he had just two plays to make and the first was bumbled and caused him to get an error. I guess we can call it nerves on his first game but Collins did replace him with Turner in the ninth not wanting to take a chance with a close game for any errors. Although he is in the lineup tonight at third again. But clearly we will have to see how he develops out there but clearly the door is open for other options to replace Wright.
We also got a look at LaTroy Hawkins who is now our unofficial closer with Parnell out. Hawkins got the job done but with more drama than we needed. Still he pitched a scoreless ninth and allowed a pair of two-out singles in the ninth, the good news was the runners remained thanks to an outstanding grab by Ike Davis that could have tied the game again or worse. In fact Ike had a really good day at the plate it was great to see him have a productive day.

As to our closer Terry Collins said he would mix and match for closer which would mean in addition to Hawkins we will see David Aardsma, Gonzalez Germen and Carlos Torres. Plus Collins should not disrupt Hawkins' eighth-inning spots which have been pretty darn good. Bobby Parnell he has as you know been placed on the disabled list with a herniated disk in his neck, Bobby said the disk in his neck is pushing on a nerve and making him uncomfortable with some discomfort down his arm. He hopes the epidural which is an anti-inflammatory injection he got on the disk will make it better he is thinking maybe he will get another injection in about a week, the worry is that if that does not work he could be; looking at surgery at which case he would be done for this year but would be ready for spring training.

I was ticked off about what happened to Mejia, after pitching really well the game was stopped for almost 20 minutes after that umpire got hit with that ball. During the time a new ump was getting ready Mejia just sat in the dugout doing nothing but stare into space. That was where he went wrong and while I can forgive Mejia for his inexperience I cannot forgive Collins and Warthan for letting him sit dormant. He should have been throwing, moving around in one way or another anything to keep the body going and Warthan and Collins should have told him that; why did they allow him to sit and rust because when he came back on the mound he was done could not get his rhythm back and pitched poorly. I mean WTF? By the way why does it take so long for those umpires to get ready I mean what do they need to do? And they say women take a long time to get dressed; good grief those ladies behind the plate need to cut down the time it takes to get ready, seriously.

While I am venting ting let me mention what Alderson said yesterday regarding Valderspin, basically that no decision has been made on his future and that have not even discussed it yet. I will tell Sandy what he can do and that is release, get rid of him, fumigate his locker and burn all his uniforms let us forget he ever disgraced a Mets uniform. WHAT??? TOO MUCH???

Ok I feel better now, so let’s give a big shout out to Anthony Young and the boys in the outfield and what an outstanding job they are doing I mean we have one hell of an outfield have we not? Young is just the shot in the arm we needed what an all around terrific ball player he is.

Other pitching news yesterday in AA Jonathon Niese allowed two runs on four hits he also strike out six and walking three in five innings. Of the 80 pitches he tossed 51 were strikes. He was very happy with his curveball his fastball ranged between 88 and 91 MPH. Three of the hits he gave up were extra-base hits, he also he would’ve liked to have thrown more strikes. Jon is feeling great and is really hoping to be activated from the disabled list on Sunday when we play the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jon got back to NY this morning and is going to be at the Citi field today. In the same game yesterday my boy Cory Vaughn had six RBIs.

Happy birthday Kirk Nieuwenhuis who turns 26.

In case you are wondering or have missed Kevin Burkhardt the good news is he well be back with the Mets this Friday in Arizona. KB is been out all week on assignment and some personal business with a wedding. –

A sad day this morning where someone painted a swastika and racial epithets on the statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese on display at the Cyclones ball park in Brooklyn. The NYPD is investigating the incident at the Coney Island ballpark as a hate crime.

Lineup tonight will be Young LF, Lagares CF, Murphy 2B, Byrd RF, Davis 1B, Flores 3B, Buck C, Quintanilla SS, and Harvey on the mound.

 

[Sausy]

Great update as always sonny... goodness I love your perspective so much I'd talk your head off with everything Mets that percolates in my kooky Italian brain, wish I could keep it short and sweet like syam but once I get going it's usually hard to shut me up!
Outstanding effort from Matt Harvey, who wasn't as sharp as he usually is his last start. Complete game 5-0 shutout allowing only four hits, no walks and six strikeouts... one of the best games ever so far at Citi Field. Ike Davis has been looking much better recently, getting back to the cleanup spot and hitting much better, and taking walks not looking anything like the clueless, frustrated mess of earlier in the season.

Wilmer Flores showed off some of his stuff too driving in three runs on a bases clearing double and having two hits.... the night after Eric Young saved the day defensively and offensively in the 3-2 win over the Rockies Mets got a classic pitching effort from Matt Harvey who got uncharacteristically for him a strong offensive showing behind him scoring five runs to put an exclamation point on his magnificent shutout effort.

 

[syam24]

3 game SWEEP!! at home even!! Dillon Gee follows up the maestro Matt Harvey's gem with his own terrific effort in shutting down the Rox. The Mets got some "dirty" runs on a bases loaded fielders choice/RBI from Wilmer Flores and a sac fly from Recker. Gee and the bullpen made them stand up with Latroy Hawkins earning his second save. It's off to the left coast for a bit, a nice finish to the homestand. Only one game out of second place, Let's go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

First of all thanks to Syam and Saucy for the comments I know how easy it is feel good about the way the boys are playing and they want to write about it. No worries Saucy your pots can never be too long we love your clever and intelligent posts comin off that “ kooky Italian brain”, as an Italian I know how it is to keep it short and sweet so don’t even try

Hey look! The Mets are within a game of gaining a share of second place in the National League East.
Which makes this west coast trip so much to look forward to. We are facing the two top teams in the National League West, who just happen to be playing really well and would it not be an outstanding if the Mets can finish second behind Atlanta. Ya gotta think if we were to do that it’d be an enormous lift not only for the team, but the Mets and all the fans come on now, we deserve that with the great baseball we have been playing even without our beloved David Wright.

A big big contribution to all of this has to be the pitching both starting and relief, The Mets bullpen has a current 2.10 ERA going back to the beginning of last month. Our starting pitching has been consistently awesome with Harvey leading the pack with that complete game shutout to Gee last night I would not have taken him out in the 8th by the way. Not to be overlooked in the successful pitching has been John Buck and his outstanding work calling those games. The game with Harvey the other day was almost as much about Buck as it was with Harvey. Well….almost
A big part of the game is watching what fingers the catcher puts down or his pitch selection overall it is so very important to the pitchers success. How thrilling it is to see a pitcher nod his head in approval of a catchers pitch selection and then watch the pitcher and catcher working together to execute the pitch and the best part is seeing the face on the batter when he strikes out. Thanks to our director Bill Webb sometimes we get to see the players in the opposing dugout talking to one another about a pitch saying wow did you see that? Especially when they are watching Harvey and shaking their heads in disbelief thinking how am I gonna beat that. Well lemme tell you guys for the most part Ya can't And don’t even try and recognize Matts pitches he hides them in a way that makes it nearly impossible .

Travis d’Arnaud was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas to join Lucas Duda who was also sent the other day after finishing up rehab at with Double-A Binghamton. Travis will be more accessible to the Mets who are on the west coast for when John Bucks wife finally gives birth and he leaves us for a few days. As for Duda it was the only move the Mets could make wit him right now we simply have nowhere to play him with our outfield playing so well I mean they are on fire out there and can’t consider first base right now with Ike Davis making great progress I would hate to see Lucas come up and spend most of the time on the bench wastin away there is too much of that already with Turner who I would love to see get more playing time. No, Duda needs to play every day so for now till something opens with the Mets he needs to play in AAA. As for Ike Since mid July, Ike has been slowly but surely climbing off the interstate and almost reaching .200 He has not shown the power yet but over 15 games he has drawn 16 walks and that for Ike is huge it shows how patient he has become and how well he is seeing the ball. Ike really feels good about himself he knows he is on his way back and is determined to be the Ike man we love. Another important improvement for Ike has been his strike outs which have improved a lot; he missed on only about 10-123 % of his swings which is a Hugh improvement over when he was missing on nearly a third of em. You guys saw that play yesterday when he ran past third base with two outs in the fourth and got caught in a rundown, we all thought that was a great try broke my heart to see him get that out but it showed his determination and no one can sit him on trying. Plus he nearly outran Nolan Arenado to the plate but just was not fast enough, oh so close
The boys got in early to Arizona after a trouble free flight lots of fun and games on board with all the guys feeling so good about the sweep.

Kevin Burkhardt rejoins the Mets broadcast team tonight as they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks

Birthday wishes to the beautiful and funny Victoria Murphy wife of Daniel,
best wishes sweetheart many many more

Daniel and Tori Murphy one very happy couple

 

[Sausy]

Always a lot of fun perspectives and personal notes from sonny... keep em coming, always enjoy reading them and the pics are a great touch! Much better Wheels effort last night in Arizona, six hits and only one run given up in six and a third innings in a 4-1 Mets victory...four strikeouts but most importantly, zero walks. Terry Collins was saying after the game with the kind of stuff Zack has, if he has control of his pitches he's awfully tough to face. This is the kind of effort like his previous great start two starts ago Zack has to build on, but once he gets it figured out the Harvey-Wheeler combo will be devastating for others to face. In even more intriguing pitching news, heralded young pitchers Rafael Montero in Las Vegas and Noah Syndegaard in Binghamton pitched gems and are fast on their way to knocking on the door at CitiField. Jon Niese comes back today after his rotator cuff scare and it appears the tear was very small and can fully heal through just rest, he'll still be watched for any troublesome signs but has pitched rehab games with no ill effect and if anywhere close to the Jon Niese that came into his own last season will be just fine.

Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores had big games yesterday, and Flores while not yet hitting for a real high average seems to do very well in the pressure situations.... walking Ike Davis to get to him but first lashing a liner just foul along the right field line than knocking in two runs with a clutch ripped single between third and short. His bat is intriguing... do the Mets find a position for him and make him part of their future, or do they trade Wilmer along with at least one of their many golden arms in the minors to get one big impact bat? At least the Mets have a real option now in bettering their offense, going either route.

 

[sonny10305]

Well ya had to love that game last night, Jonathon Niese struggled a little at first, but hey it was his first ML game in a while I sorta expected that. Did not use his changeup and his cutter was a little off but he had a lot of good things going for him. His curve and change were outstanding could a used a little more on his fastball but I am sure we will next time. It was just so great to see him out there pitching again

I have to write about Wilmer Flores who had a rough time of it his first game in the bigs but yesterday he showed what we have been seeing in AAA which is a solid player with a great future for us. That ninth-inning solo homer was his first big league long ball and he is now on a streak of games with an RBI to five. In fact he now has nine RBIs in his first six major league games. I always love when the bench ignores the rookie for a minute when he returns to the dugout after a hit like the one he had yesterday all the guys givin the silent treatment before jumpin all over him lots of fun there. Good ole boy Murphy forgot to do it last night and as Flores came into the dugout Murph started to give him a fist pump then suddenly remembered and pulled it back before Flores could return the gesture but Daniel could not hold off and came back quickly to greet Flores.

Then there was my boy Ike Davis, he has been saying over and over “I’m ok I just need to fix this I’m going to be fine” he has held that position ever since he started to struggle when he came back from AAA, and he sure has “figured it out” now finally off the interstate and batting .205, Ike reached base eight straight plate appearances over two games and had three walks and a single Sunday. In fact he has been on base 24 of his last 31 at bats. I keep saying I think he is seeing the ball better but Ike said he feels he wasn’t in a position to hit, yesterday for example you saw him get two hits from the pitcher throwin pitches over the plate in the past he would have missed those. Ike also understands that when he gives them more chances to hit a corner he is gonna have a bad at bat. He is walking more and making better contact on pitches that are in the middle of the plate. Not too many homers yet but with the great discipline he is showing now we all expecting that to come soon. Ya know something that is happing is that Ike has come to realize how the pitchers are pitching him he did not realize that most of the opposing pitchers have been pitching him as if he was DWright and that is why he is taking itches off the plate and getting in pitchers counts and when you do that he puts himself in a position to hit the ball hard and the more you hit the ball that way the more hits he is gonna get. He is no longer chasing all those pitches out of the strike zone and he is hitting a pitch that the pitcher misses and hit it down the middle. Yup the Ike Man may well indeed be back, next step is for him to be able to prove that he can do all of that against leftie which I am not sure Collins wants to let Ike try and do just yet.

With Hefner out The Mets will be going back to a five-man rotation, at least until we see how Jeremy responds to treatment, he may still end upon the DL not sure yet and there is no logical candidate to be promoted from Triple-A cause most of those guys like Jacob deGrom and Rafael Montero are due to hit innings limits soon. I wanted the 6 man rotation to ensure that Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey complete the season before getting shut down due to innings limits. I mean what if Harvey pitches another complete game shutout or no hitter Hey it’s possible, would that not qualify him for a CY Young? So we cannot shut him down. Hopefully Hefner will be healthy enough to make a few September starts

I was sick to see Cody Ross dislocate his right hip on that play yesterday. Cody is one of truly great guys in the game and was playing really well this season. Ask any player who knows him and they will tell you what a sweet kid he is. It a very serious injury and he is surly out for the season my worry is that is bad enough to say that it could even be career ending. All the best to Cody

Saucy I am Glad you like my personal touch on some posts I don’t usually like to write about my interactions with the players I prefer to keep that private but of all the wedding photos of Murph and his wife that is my favorite.

 

[sonny10305]

Saucy I am Glad you like my personal touch on some posts I don’t usually like to write about my interactions with the players I prefer to keep that private but of all the wedding photos of Murph and his wife that is my favorite.

Better image

 

[syam24]

Well, swept by the LA Dodgers. Mets starting pitching was adequate enough, although Matt Harvey was not as good as he usually is. The bullpen coughed up a couple and the Mets left men on base in crucial situations. I personally did not see any of the three games, just read news summaries and viewed a few videos. Marlon Byrd had a 3 for 6 game last nite including a 3 run jack, but got thrown out at third on a magnificent throw from Puig in short right field going away from the infield. A laser shot to third on a fly! What an arm! Hawkins gave up a two run HR in the bottom of the ninth to pinch hitter Eithier, just after taking a ground shot to the nutz by the previous batter. Latroy doesn't wear a cup. OUCH!! He says he may from now on...hindsight. THe Dodgers are playing unbelievable ball right now. THis is the best streak over 48 games in major league history going back to 1942. The Mets played pretty even with them in all 3 games. Lets go Mets!!

 

[Sausy]

Some Byrd, some Buck and a very effective Zack Wheeler helped lift the Mets to a 4-1 win over the Padres last night stemming the bleeding from the sweep of the Mets by the Dodgers. Wheeler had a bit of an odd game in that he did benefit from a couple of great defensive plays, he did get hit a bit giving up seven hits in six innings but only allowed one run. Most importantly, he walked only one and struck out 12, so while he wasn't unhittable at times, he pitched tough overall and made the night miserable for San Diego batters with good control as well, something that Zach has been very up and down with even earlier in the year in Las Vegas. A sign of real impressive maturity on Zach's part was that he realized he could still be much more efficient, and he should use his fielders and not have the approach of trying to strike everyone out which sometimes has the effect of backfiring or forcing too many pitches even if the walks are kept down. Definitely if not a great game for Zach because he was hit a bit the hint of how dominating he can be with all the strikeouts was tantalizing and the win was much needed after the frustrating sweep in LA of the Mets by the most "en fuego" team in baseball today, the LA Dodgers.

That Zach realized he can pitch and not just throw and win effectively is heartening and hope like Matt Harvey has grown so will Zach Wheeler. Of course there will be nights he is blowing the opposition away but he knows now not to force it, to just go with the flow of his talent and smart decision making between himself and his catcher.

 

[Sausy]

Tough break for Jeremy Hefner appearing likely to need Tommy John surgery on his partially torn elbow ligament after stringing together a very impressive set of games heading into the All Star break, but being much less effective since and recently diagnosed with that partial tear. The good news though is with that kind of surgery, and Jeremy's relative youth he likely could come back and not miss a beat so man successful examples of those returning from that kind of surgery.

Jonathon Niese, who had a rotator cuff scare but appears that it was more a small fraying that healed a lot with his DL time and can completely recover in the offseason, gave the Mets a positive showing his second stint back allowing one run in six innings, six hits and nine strikeouts with strong command. With all the rightful attention given to the electric stuff of Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler and the up and coming pitching in the minors it's easy to forget Niese came into his own last year and is a damned good pitcher in his own right with low 90's fastball and a good mix of other pitches he can effectively employ when healthy.

Second straight win in San Diego last night 5-2 as I mentioned Niese effective through six the bullpen was strong in relief and there was support with homers from Daniel Murphy (10) and Marlon Byrd(19), RBI double by Ike Davis and three hits for sonny's boy Anthony Recker, filling in as John Buck's baby watch finally ended and he left to be with his wife and newborn son... Travis d'Arnaud finally getting the callup from not so far Las Vegas and will start the next three games until Buck returns.

 

[sonny10305]

First off let me thank Saucy and Syam for keeping things going here I have taken on a few extra duties with the Cyclones an have been pretty busy

Well John Buck’s wife finally had their baby welcome to the world Bentley Ryan Buck; Travis d'Arnaud is now here from AAA. His first two games have been a little uneven at the plate not much pop yet but we need to remember his success in AAA was against minor leaguers and now he is facing the big boys so you have to expect a slowdown in his hits. But he showed some real chops behind the plate Travis kept up well with Harvey’s Fastball and showed some really good plate discipline in his first two games. Not sure if Travis was calling most of that game it appears that he was but I am sure Dan Worthan and Matt Harvey had a game plan set up and it appeared as though Travis executed. Harvey may have missed Buck a bit needs time to work with Travis but Harvey thought that d’Armaud did a good job. So maybe Travis did not exactly set the place on fire with his offense I was more than happy with his work behind the plate. As a result of Harvey being pulled after 6 innings now Matt can pitch on Friday instead of needing Torres with Harvey pitching on Saturday. Thru no real fault of his own d’Arnauds first game was hideous I mean that was a tough game to watch with the Mets playing so badly. The only really bright spot was the outstanding interview KB did with Travis’ parents such nice people ya had to love them. Kevin of course as he always does relaxed them a bit made them feel comfortable about going live on the air and it went beautifully so sweet and heartwarming. KB did as he always does did a spectacular job.

Buck and his new little Buck



Just sayin, do you think the Mets equipment staff could at put a real lower case d on d’Arnauds uniform instead of that ridicules backwards p also den Decker has had a mistake with a capital D in his name for way to long time it’s den Decker not Den Decker come on guys show some respect

So with Jenrry Mejia official on the DL our pitching rotation once again is going to have to be shaken up. Greg Burke has been promoted but that was to have been for the bullpen. Two of our options are to have Carlos Torres put back in the rotation or for at least for Mejia’s next start or we could skip that since we have the day of Thursday. That would also mean that Harvey and Zack Wheeler would have to pitch on standard rest, problem with that is it further hurts their ability to complete the season before hitting innings caps. Mejia will probably undergo surgery soon to remove the bone spur that has been giving him problems and miss the remainder of the season. If Torres does remain in the rotation it does not mean he will be there for the rest of the season. Some of the kids in the minors not facing innings limits likely would be used in the rotation. That would not include guys like Rafael Montero or Noah Syndergaard cause they are facing innings caps. Plus remember that Montero and Syndergaard do not need to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason either. But maybe Jacob DeGrom could be added to the 40-man roster to give a few starts at the big league level. Thing is that Jacob needs to be added anyway so he avoids Rule 5 thingy in December. But he too is getting close to his innings limit, plus he had that arm injury a while back and so gotta be careful with how much we stretch him out. In his last start Mejia had a bad time of it after an inning or so and maybe he should have not pitched at all, he did not have a good warm up there was warning of trouble not sure I would have let him pitch but what do I know.

Anthony Recker went 3-for-3 with a walk Friday; with d'Arnaud here and Buck expected back on Tuesday we prolly won’t see Anthony till September so he left us with something to remember him by Rec spent some off time with his family and some animal friends at the San Diageo Zoo







Along with Anthony in September with the call ups and I expect to see Duda, den Decker, Tejada and Nieuwenhuis. Kirk hit an inside-the-park homer and Las Vegas the other day.
I am wondering if we might see Tejada back sooner with now that Quiniti has cooled down clearly his 15 mins are up and I am beginning to miss Rubin.

In the Cyclones game last night Gavin Cecchini was a perfect 4-for-4 as he extends his team leading hit streak to 16 games and raises his batting average to .311. Miller Diaz got the loss but pitched well finishing with 6.0 IP, one run and seven strikeouts. Cyclones 29 28 2nd place one game out of first with 17 games to go

I thought the way he Phillies handled Charlie Manuel’s firing was a disgrace, a total insult to a great man. It could have been handled better the man’s contract is up this year anyways so why not replace him next year with dignity. Let’s not forget he won the 2008 WS championship as well as 5 straight NL East titles and is the manager with the most wins in Philadelphia’s history with 1000 wins. Charlie was replaced by third base coach Ryan Sandburg who clearly was looking over Charlie’s shoulder waitin to take over. I am sure gonna miss good ole Charlie next time the Mets play the Phillies He is one of the really nice guys in the game loved by his team and the fans and we all wish him well. What the Phillies did was weak!

 

[Sausy]

Nice perspectives as always sonny and the Anthony Recker pics are so adorable... from what I read Collins loves him and Tony does everything expected as a backup, and if John Buck is traded in the offseason so Travis can move in full time at catcher he'll make a great backup. Works with the pitchers really well, calls the game the Mets staff wants and shows good power when he does play. Can easily see Travis catching 120 or so games staring and Tony being a great backup.

Precious pic of John Buck and the baby Buck... such a big guy looking all tender and happy at the sight of his newborn! Travis so far isn't really doing much offensively but pretty much doing the rest of the job Collins and the Mets want... he's shown some patience too and walked some, and he should be fine with the bat as well as he gets comfortable.

Really looking forward especially to seeing Matt den Dekker(even I knew the den shouldn't be capitalized!) Kirk runs too hot and cold in his up and down stints, I think the Mets really want to see what a platoon of Matt den Dekker and Juan Lagares can do next year. Maybe one plays well enough to eventually win the job outright but from what I've read, while the Mets do want to add from outside the rganization offensively they aren't going to make ridiculous moves to trade off their valuable young pitching willy nilly, though of course a couple may go in the right trade. But if Colorado wants Zack Wheeler, Travis d'Arnaud and Noah Syndegaard for Carlos Gonzalez...from what I read the Mets won't do that. Especially as injuries to Mejia and Jeremy Hefner prove you can't just count on good fortune, though Mejia at least is expected to be fully recovered by spring training from surgery to remove those painful bone spurs in his pitching elbow. The Mets will be active, but as countless signings prove pending huge on megastars in itself won't make a club better, and can well backfire and leave the club with substantial payroll inflexibility. Though I realize that the stars will still get big money eight or ten year contracts are just too much a risk...four or five, six on the outside would be more prudent but even then, can you say the Mets would have been better with Michael Bourn committed to around 50 mil over four years than what Juan Lagares/Matt den Dekker could give them at significantly lower payroll? Sandy Alderson appears to be going in a wise direction...getting a few areas upgraded, of course paying some substantial money here and there but not locking his club into Josh Hamilton, Jayson Werth, Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder type contracts which have proven disastrous( though Werth is playing well this year, still getting superstar money for the next few years while being a very good complimentary player...but that's it).


Great effort in the Minnesota makeup game to end the long West Coast roadtrip with a 6-1 Mets victory. Dillon Gee countinues to be fantastic, going seven and two thirds innings allowing one run on six hits. Most positively, giving up only one walk while striking out nine. Balanced offense throughout the lineup highlighted by the 20th homer for Marlon Byrd. Gee has really solidied his standing in the rotation showing he is fully recovered from the blood clot that put an end to last season and it's so heartening that the Mets can count on others besides Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Jon Niese. It is sad though that Johann Santana could not end his Met career on a high note and pitch healthy this year, hopefully he still can fully recover and has some wins and magic left in that golden right arm.

Lastly, have to very strongly agree with sonny on the Phillies' classless sudden firing of Charlie Manuel who had been so instrumental in the Phillies' contending years, though maybe a change of direction was needed no reason to can him so unceremoniously now. Charlie's a great friend of Mets manager Terry Collins who tremendously values his baseball knowledge and ability. Hey, if the Mets have a high position in scouting open, Charlie's one of the best and anything to rub the Phils' nose in the dirt is a bonus! (Sorry, scrub!)

 

[syam24]

As Saucy wrote above, a solid Mets win, with Dillon Gee offering up another great performance. Everyone of the Mets starting lineup had two hits except d'Arnaud and Ike who combined for zero hits, but two walks. It's on to face the Braves and then the Tigers. Looks like Carlos Torres will get a start vs the Tigers on Friday, allowing an extra day between starts for Harvey, which will give us an All Star game rematch on Sat with Harvey vs Scherzer. That will be worth the price of admission. Lets go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

Well Anthony Recker is off to Vegas, Tony fully expected that to happen he knew it was just a matter of time before d’Arnaud would be arrive and is grateful for the time he had here. Terry told Anthony last night he would be back in September and was really great in thanking him for his hard work then went on to explain the whole d’Arnaud situation again. I just hope Terry will give Tony more playing time I always felt he spent too much time on the bench with Buck doing most of the catching. Tony looks on the good side in that in Vegas where although there are 4 catchers on the team he will get more playing time then he did here and will see wild and crazy Tim Byrdak again. Plus he gets to spend his birthday in Vegas when he turns the big 30 on the 29th.
His spirits are good he will miss the guys here but remains optimistic about his career and his future with the Mets we will have to see what happens with Buck next year and what the future holds for Rec’s Met career Tony is a warm sweet kid always smiling always upbeat, and he is a major hugger, when you run into him there is no handshake or fist bump it’s always a hug. In fact before each game when a lot of the guys have all kinds of wild and wacky handshakes, for Tony it’s a hug for all the players.

Looking forward very much to having Lagares and den Dekker on the field together that will be a dynamite duo, add Nieuwenhuis to that mix and oh my goodness . Yesterday in Vegas Matt went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two homers.

Then decision has been made the Mets went with Carlos Torres for Fridays start. Which also means Matt Harvey would remain on Saturday, pitching with an extra day of rest.

In injury news Bobby Parnell is still getting therapy here in in New York that herniated disk in his neck still not sure if he will have surgery his next doctor visit today.
Jeremy Hefner will also see the doctor today to maybe get an answer whether he will get Tommy John surgery.
David Wright Is still a while away from returning he has not done anything baseball related still getting treated for that hamstring. It is looking more and more like we will not see David the rest of this season.
The good news is that David and Molly have set the date for the wedding on Dec. 26 in California.
6 Mets got engaged before the season so there are going to be a lot of weddings this winter with Wright, Nieuwenhuis, Lutz, Havens, Satin and Recker all having gotten engaged this year.

In Brooklyn we had our rededication ceremony of the vandalized statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese which has been all cleaned up good as new.



So far the police have not caught those responsible for damaging the statue but we are hopeful they will be caught soon. There are now two cameras on the statue and a $50,000 reward has been posted for info on anyone with info that leads to the capture and conviction of those responsible. I have a message for the punks who committed the crime, stop by the clubhouse where me and a couple of the boys would like to have a few words with you.

With the Mets having the day off on Thursday SNY will be here in Brooklyn to broadcast the game between the Cyclones and the SI Yankees it airs at 7pm you will want to see Gavin Cecchini and L.J. Mazzilli two of the very exciting ball players on the team.
Maybe there will be another magnificent rainbow as the one we had yesterday





Tonight we will play the red hot Braves, I am not gonna predict anything here but after what happened with the equally red hot Dodgers how sweet would it be if we were to take one… OR TWO!!
It will be Zack Wheeler vs. Brandon Beachy