The Official 2015 Mets Thread

[UConnMike04]

Put it this way, and it's a stat I read that made me feel better. We have to go 7-9 and Nats have to go 15-2 just to force a tie.

 

[mets1090]

I'm just going to take it one day at a time and avoid the whole "Well if the Mets just play .500 ball, the Nats would have to go **-** over the next 17 games" thought process. That hits far too close to home from 2007.

I know the odds are minuscule so objectively I'm really not nervous, that specific reasoning just still hurts a little lol.

 

[Alum86]

I am no troll. Probably went to UConn before 1090 was born and a Mets fan since before I can remember. deGrom is not the ace, Harvey is. And Jake has sown warts lately. This lead looks eerily like '07. Let's just TCB. This wknd, and not play Cuddyer or Campbell at all please. WTF ? Cause lefties pitch?

 

[8893]

I won't really sweat it unless the lead is cut to 5 by the end of the weekend. At that point it's going to be hard not to go into panic mode because the Nats really just have to get it down to 3 heading into the last series.

Well, not quite panic mode, but certainly not comfortable--especially with that abomination of a "plan."

Worse than the result last night is the funk the Harvey situation casts over the dugout. Wright apparently didn't know about the five-inning limit beforehand and didn't sound happy about it; and Collins certainly wasn't happy, either. More non-answers from Harvey himself.

Well, if nothing else, it worked out well for Boras and Harvey as an audition for Harvey's likely next employer.

 

[mauconnfan]

Well, not quite panic mode, but certainly not comfortable--especially with that abomination of a "plan."

Worse than the result last night is the funk the Harvey situation casts over the dugout. Wright apparently didn't know about the five-inning limit beforehand and didn't sound happy about it; and Collins certainly wasn't happy, either. More non-answers from Harvey himself.

Well, if nothing else, it worked out well for Boras and Harvey as an audition for Harvey's likely next employer.

Amazing thing about Harvey is he's not even the same guy as a couple years ago but still gets people out. When he gets the extra 2-3 MPH back he is that good! But he's typical of what people don't get about baseball - his 93 on the hands is moving and heavy making it very tough to hit - Robles 96-97 is flat and hittable a lot. Harvey at 95-97 when stronger is really dominating. Hope he gets back there.

 

[mets1090]

Amazing thing about Harvey is he's not even the same guy as a couple years ago but still gets people out. When he gets the extra 2-3 MPH back he is that good! But he's typical of what people don't get about baseball - his 93 on the hands is moving and heavy making it very tough to hit - Robles 96-97 is flat and hittable a lot. Harvey at 95-97 when stronger is really dominating. Hope he gets back there.

I know this wasn't the focal point of this post but the funny thing is that Robles has a 2.7 ERA and a WHIP just under 1.00 since June 1 while striking out over 9 per 9 innings. Obviously he's not nearly on the level of any of their young starters otherwise he wouldn't be in the bullpen in the first place, but he's come a long way since the first couple months of the season.

He's got a good approach (i.e. he goes after hitters and trusts his stuff) which is a great quality for a relief pitcher. He's still learning how to pitch but in the next few years he could develop into a lights out type 7th or 8th inning guy. He's been a bit of an unsung hero since outside of Clippard and Familia, the pen has been a train wreck at times.

 

[mets1090]

I am no troll. Probably went to UConn before 1090 was born and a Mets fan since before I can remember. deGrom is not the ace, Harvey is. And Jake has sown warts lately. This lead looks eerily like '07. Let's just TCB. This wknd, and not play Cuddyer or Campbell at all please. WTF ? Cause lefties pitch?

I didn't really mean to call you out as a troll per se. Just who says you can't have 2 aces on a staff? Is Kershaw suddenly not an ace because Greinke is going all 1968 Bob Gibson on baseball right now? Is Greinke not an ace because Kershaw is the Dodgers ace? That's really all I meant. I guess it's a semantics argument, not really all that important.

Anyway, as for the whole 2007 comp (not directed at you 86, just general thoughts because it's an obvious comparison a lot of people are making), the Mets magic number is down to 8. Obviously, you'd like to get this thing wrapped up before the Nats come to town. The Mets next 10 games are against 3 teams with a combined 179-269 record. 6-4 has to be the absolute minimum. 7-3 or 8-2 are reasonable goals. No giving guys days off to keep them fresh for October. Lock this thing up yourselves with a few games left to play they can take off all the time they want against the Nationals.

 

[Deepster]

Amazing thing about Harvey is he's not even the same guy as a couple years ago but still gets people out. When he gets the extra 2-3 MPH back he is that good! But he's typical of what people don't get about baseball - his 93 on the hands is moving and heavy making it very tough to hit - Robles 96-97 is flat and hittable a lot. Harvey at 95-97 when stronger is really dominating. Hope he gets back there.

Including last night, the league is hitting .192 against Robles. Righties are .211, lefties are .164. Dont' know how "hittable" that is....

 

[mets1090]

Including last night, the league is hitting .192 against Robles. Righties are .211, lefties are .164. Dont' know how "hittable" that is....

Just one more comment on Robles. Some time in May I remember thinking I like this kid and feeling like he was pitching decently well for a rookie. Then I looked at his numbers and my reaction was basically . I think he generally looks pretty good and might be better than his season numbers. Around 10 K/9, 3 BB/9 (not great but not terrible), and 1.1 HR/9 (solid).

Yeah, his stuff isn't overwhelming like Familia (who the hell throws a 94 mph splitter with good fade as their third pitch?!) but he's got the stuff to be a solid set up guy.

 

[mauconnfan]

Including last night, the league is hitting .192 against Robles. Righties are .211, lefties are .164. Dont' know how "hittable" that is....

I know the Yanks couldn't hit themselves out of a wet paper bag and then BANG BANG. That's hittable isn't it?

He's good don't get me wrong and those numbers are impressive. The 3 plus ERA not as much. My point was his fastball is solid but not as heavy or flat as Harvey's, that's all.

 

[mauconnfan]

I know this wasn't the focal point of this post but the funny thing is that Robles has a 2.7 ERA and a WHIP just under 1.00 since June 1 while striking out over 9 per 9 innings. Obviously he's not nearly on the level of any of their young starters otherwise he wouldn't be in the bullpen in the first place, but he's come a long way since the first couple months of the season.

He's got a good approach (i.e. he goes after hitters and trusts his stuff) which is a great quality for a relief pitcher. He's still learning how to pitch but in the next few years he could develop into a lights out type 7th or 8th inning guy. He's been a bit of an unsung hero since outside of Clippard and Familia, the pen has been a train wreck at times.

Again, I'd take him in a second. Just a comparison of 2 guys with really good arms and fastballs. One is more dominant because it moves and is a heavier ball, always tough to hit. Reed has that 93-93 that's heavy and it acts like 97-98. Robles does have the stuff to get there but every time I've seen him, guess by chance because I haven't seen him much, he doesn't get people out. His numbers say otherwise obviously and his stuff looks good.

2 of 3 against a damn good team I'm thrilled especially since I thought our only one would be Tanaka

 

[mets1090]

Obviously we pretty much agree on the kid. He's good. You happen to have seen him in some of his worse outings which is going to happen with small sample sizes. And of course he's not as good as Harvey. No argument there. Few people have a fastball that good.

 

[8893]

Anyway, as for the whole 2007 comp (not directed at you 86, just general thoughts because it's an obvious comparison a lot of people are making), the Mets magic number is down to 8. Obviously, you'd like to get this thing wrapped up before the Nats come to town. The Mets next 10 games are against 3 teams with a combined 179-269 record. 6-4 has to be the absolute minimum. 7-3 or 8-2 are reasonable goals. No giving guys days off to keep them fresh for October. Lock this thing up yourselves with a few games left to play they can take off all the time they want against the Nationals.

I realize that the 2007 collapse was improbable enough and that we're in even better shape now, so it's even more improbable. But I can't say that I feel all that comfortable with Niese, Verrett and Colon going these next three games. The closer we get to having a cushion of three or less by the time the Nats come to town, the more the pressure on the team is going to mount. This Boras & Harvey act was just such an unnecessary distraction and I think it is hurting the team's psyche as a whole.

 

[mets1090]

I'm concerned about Niese as well but hopefully this will make you feel a little better.

4 Days Rest: 54.1 IP, 6.96 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 5.80 K/9, 3.31 BB/9, 1.66 HR/9
5 Days Rest: 80.7 IP, 3.24 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 6.25 K/9, 2.45 BB/9, 0.89 HR/9
6 Days Rest: 27.0 IP, 2.67 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 5.67 K/9, 2.67 BB/9, 0.33 HR/9

Niese undoubtedly benefits from extra rest more than anyone on the staff. Tonight he will be on 7 days rest. He's been a solid 4 or 5 starter for this franchise and this is the most important start of his career. He paid his dues on some terrible teams and this is finally time for all that to pay off. This is going to be just another page in a storybook season for these Mets.

Verrett has been more than solid in his limited innings this year. Colon has been great against horrible teams for the last 6 weeks. I think the Mets take 2 out of 3 or sweep. They've bounced back all year, I don't see why this week will be any different.

 

[8893]

I like the positive thinking. I just don't want to see this face:

But I wouldn't mind see more of wifey:

 

[8893]

Nice job tonight by Niese. Solid.

 

[UConnMike04]

Yea, that was a nice surprise. 6.5 up and the Nats having to play a double header (extremely hard to win both) puts us in a great position.

Saw that winning last night makes magic number 7 and the Nats would have to go 13-0 to tie us if we go 6-6...

 

[Alum86]

Homer tonight aside, since Prince Davey came back and supplanted Uribe, we lost our mojo.
He's playing more than Collins said he would, after his injury

 

[mets1090]

Wright is hitting .297 with an .840 OPS since coming back. And they had an 8 game winning streak including a sweep of the Nationals during that stretch so I don't even know how you can possibly attribute some fantasy loss of mojo to Wright.

Uribe has a .214 average since joining the Mets. He was hitting .177 when Wright came back. Since Wright's return, he has shifted to a pinch hitting and spot starting role and is hitting .277. He was acquired to bridge the gap and then be a bench player when Wright came back for the stretch run and that's exactly what he's doing. He's been great in his new role.

During this recent skid, Wright is hitting .364 with a 1.076 OPS. The pitching has allowed 5 or more runs in 5 out of 7 games. It's very obvious that's been the main cause for concern. Grandy has a .514 OPS over the last 7 games. Cespedes has a .484 OPS during that same stretch. d'Arnaud has a .145 OPS!

The whole team was red hot and they took care of business for 8 straight games, including 3 games against the Nationals which basically buried them. Now they're all normalizing a little bit (except for Wright who has been consistently good) and they've struggled for 7 games. I guess it's time to jump off a ledge.

 

[8893]

Yeah, I don't get the Wright criticism at all. I was very skeptical of his return and I was dead wrong.

I was wrong about Conforto, too; but in my defense I thought that was the only move they were going to make, and that the pressure to perform and provide a boost by himself would negatively affect his performance.

 

[mets1090]

Yeah, I don't get the Wright criticism at all. I was very skeptical of his return and I was dead wrong.

I was wrong about Conforto, too; but in my defense I thought that was the only move they were going to make, and that the pressure to perform and provide a boost by himself would negatively affect his performance.

Conforto has been unreal. .892 OPS with a solid glove, decent range, and great throwing accuracy. He doesn't have the arm strength to play RF or the range to play CF, but he should be a very good LF. Combine that with a .285 average and 25 homeruns and you get an All Star basically. The only thing he doesn't do is steal bases, but I can't recall many (or any?) base running blunders that you might expect from a rookie.

 

[mauconnfan]

Conforto has been unreal. .892 OPS with a solid glove, decent range, and great throwing accuracy. He doesn't have the arm strength to play RF or the range to play CF, but he should be a very good LF. Combine that with a .285 average and 25 homeruns and you get an All Star basically. The only thing he doesn't do is steal bases, but I can't recall many (or any?) base running blunders that you might expect from a rookie.

I like that kid, reminds me of Mattingly in so many ways. He's a keeper, future AS

 

[8893]

Well that sucked. Don't like dropping three consecutive series.

 

[mets1090]

Obviously you want to be playing your best baseball entering October and the Mets certainly aren't doing that. But they've got ~10 days to heat up again so I'm not overly concerned. If they put together another 2-6 stretch over the next 8 then I'll be worried.

 

[Rico444]

We've got 7 games with the Reds and Phillies; should be able to go at LEAST 4-3 in that stretch, which would seal it for us as long as the Nats lose one game in their next two series. Preferably, we go 5-2 and don't give the Nats a chance.