As Baseball Prospectus co-founder and current Newsletter/Sports Illustrated writer Joe Sheehan says, there’s little point in analyzing a baseball season until you’ve seen 40 games. At that point in the 2016 season, Mets fans would have cried to learn they’d be 1.5 games behind the tanking Phillies. Yet, four games above .500 and only 2.5 games out of first […]
Category: Articles
Game recap May 22: Mets complete sweep as Noah Syndergaard’s dominance continues
Noah Syndergaard, who has comfortably established himself as the Mets best starter this season, was opposed by Chase Anderson as the Mets went for the sweep of the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Anderson nearly tossed a no-hitter against the Cubs in his last outing, while Syndergaard was coming off a win in a pitcher’s duel […]
Game recap May 21: Mets walk off on David Wright’s heroics
What Happened, In One Sentence: David Wright swung on a 3-0 count with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, lining a fastball to right-center for a walkoff 5-4 win. Bats Run Hot and Cold Early: Curtis Granderson ambushed a mistake fastball right down the middle for a leadoff home run. Two batters […]
Game recap May 20: Conforto’s blast seals Matz’s strong start
MATZ CRUISES AFTER EARLY BUMP IN THE ROAD: Steven Matz quickly fell behind the Milwaukee Brewers’ lineup in the first, despite flashing a lively mid 90s fastball and a curveball with nice shape. Jonathan Villar singled on a dribbler past Neil Walker, and advanced to third on some exceptional reads on breaking pitches. A sinker […]
Robin Ventura: The People’s King of the Grand Slam
“It was really crazy. You just come up there thinking, ‘Man, this is not gonna happen again.’” – Robin Ventura, 05/20/1999 When Robin Ventura was at his absolute peak, he was an all-around threat. At third base, he could rob extra base hits left and right, and then demolish a bad pitch in the other […]
Game Recap May 19: What Went Wrong
Today, while playing tennis, a group of kids watched behind the fence while waiting for their own hits to start. A flat serve to the body produced a short, sitting ball to my forehand that I promptly ran towards, only, I tripped over myself and flailed my racquet unsuccessfully at the ball. Clearly, I looked […]
Game recap May 18: Mets pitchers walk 11 in 7-1 loss
The Nationals defeated the Mets 7-1 in the second of a three-game set. The Mets are now 1.5 games behind the Nationals in the NL East and a half game behind the Phillies. This one was about the pitching. Mets hitters couldn’t figure out Nationals starter Gio González and were only able to muster two […]
A Little Dose of Optimism for the Future of Mets’ Catching
27-year-old Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud remains on the DL this week; unfortunately for both him and the team, the news of his injury was not really news at all. D’Arnaud has suffered a host of injuries over his minor and major league career, and has rarely been healthy for an extended period since 2010. From 2010-2013 […]
Game Recap May 17: Behind Blue Eyes
Executive Summary On the anniversary of Noah Syndergaard’s Citi Field debut, Thor bettered Max Scherzer and made two solo shots stand up. Mets 2, Nationals 0. Discussion and Analysis Noah Syndergaard’s dominating performance last night overshadowed: Max Scherzer’s next start after striking out 20 Tigers Daniel Murphy’s return to his old stomping ground Bryce Harper’s first […]
We Are All Kevin Plawecki
I was a terrible player. For eight years, I played youth baseball in a part of northeast Pennsylvania not known for churning players with even an iota of an chance for a professional career, and even among that group I was still forgettable. I could not hit, only draw the semi-occasional walk, and, as a catcher, […]