Among the many (many (many)) wonders of this second half for the Mets is the sudden and unexpected surge of offense from Asdrubal Cabrera. The shortstop has suddenly turned into the Mets’ version of Gary Sanchez. No, really. Over the past 30 days, Cabrera has hit for a .448 OBP and .731 slugging percentage, while […]
Author: Mike Vorkunov
Conforto and Plawecki’s Late Summer Revival Tour
The old maxim, as it goes in baseball, is that you can’t trust what someone is doing in spring or September. There’s just too many variables that keep the context of the at-bats and games from their normal level of meaning. Or something like that. Whatever. When September actually rolls around this year (today!), the […]
Is 2016 Ruining The Mets’ 2017?
It’s a weird thing to look at the Mets now, almost like an optical illusion. They are the playoff contender going nowhere. Or the 2017 gazer a hot week away from a wildcard spot. Just let Bartolo Colon be your Rorschach Test. It’s this lack of definition that must make it so difficult to understand […]
Bruce is Loose in Flushing
Now that the trade deadline has passed and the Mets have acquired Jay Bruce, it means that their machinations to change their 2016 roster are pretty much over. There will be call-ups and demotions and perhaps some kind of parade of formerly-walking wounded that leaves the disabled list, but the heavy work has been done. […]
The New Jose Reyes, At Least On The Field
The Mets’ signing of Jose Reyes last month was a questionable one for a lot of reasons. There were the ones dealing with morality, of choosing talent over a person with a contemptible recent history, and of the meaning of second chances—all covered adroitly here by Bryan Grosnick. It is exactly what a team must […]
The Mets’ Rotation Tightrope
Between the drama that this season has brought the Mets’ pitching staff–what with the bone spurs and the sudden disappearance of Matt Harvey’s elite talent–it was a little surprising to look at their stats page the other day and see that the rotation this year has actually been better so far than it was last […]
The Mets and the Battle To Prevent Injuries
Recently, I had a conversation with White Sox general manager Rick Hahn about his pitching staff. Talented as it is, it’s also superbly injury-averse. As we talked, he mentioned how infrequently Chicago’s pitchers get hurt. As of last March, only three teams had its pitchers undergo fewer Tommy John surgeries than the White Sox since 2005. […]
The Mets Are Running Out Of Backup Plans
At 5:52 p.m. Wednesday evening, the Mets sent out an email that could very well serve as a microcosm of their season right now. Juan Lagares was scratched from their starting lineup with a left thumb injury. The day before he had a bad toothache. Kelly Johnson, the security blanket the Mets acquired the week […]
The Mets’ Groundhog Day Problem
Kelly Johnson is a Met again, so let’s start there and work backwards now, just as the Mets appear to be caught in some sort of repetitive loop. This is their Groundhog Day. The beauty of sports, and baseball especially, is that it always seems to provide comps and context. For the Mets, it’s easy […]
The Pipeline Runs Dry For The 2016 Mets
As the Mets try to figure out what’s wrong with Matt Harvey, the club has decided to let him keep pitching. He’ll make his next start Monday. And the club has said that he’s been a part of this decision-making process, talking his way to the mound. It’s not unfounded to let a player help […]