Primer Having lost the last three games of their four game set in Miami, the Mets returned home to start a three game series against the Phillies with Zack Wheeler on the mound. Wheeler has been flashing his potential in an up-and-down start to the season, suffering from some bad luck with a 7.45 ERA […]
Tag: Rafael Montero
Game recap April 8: Lucas Duda homered, other people did less good things
What happened, in a moment Keith Hernandez threw paper in to a garbage can before SNY went to commercial in the seventh, giving the perfect (unintended?) metaphor for the Mets listless offense in a 8-1 loss. Rough start for Gsellman Robert Gsellman was a nice unexpected surprise at the end of last season. This year […]
Game recap April 7: Some hope, then some rust
Primer Nearly any Mets fan perusing these pages likely remembers that amazing doubleheader in 2013 when Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler teamed up to give a terrible Mets team a glimpse of hope. Friday night was a throwback, with Wheeler making his first start in two years the night after Matt Harvey made a solid […]
Game Recap April 5: More Rafael Montero than your doctor prescribed
I think we can all agree it’s great that baseball is back. Baseball is wonderful, usually. But last night was one of those times when baseball is not wonderful. Was it really necessary for us to experience the laborious, low-scoring extra inning game that features pitchers like Josh Edgin and Rafael Montero so soon? Can’t […]
Reviewing the Opening Day Roster
Barring any last-minute disasters, 24 of the 25 Opening Day roster spots have been decided for your 2017 New York Mets. There’s still one single open question–we’ll get two the two pitchers duking it out later on–but most everything seems set in stone for Day One. Feel like reviewing the roster containing the first New York Mets […]
Game recap September 24: Close only counts in horseshoes and pre-replay neighborhood plays at second base
When the scoreboard flashed 10-0 in the fourth, some fans thought “no problem, we can come back. We’ve already seen record comebacks this week!” It’s one thing to dream about setting the record for biggest comeback in team history. After Terry Collins took out his four leading hitters, the replace-Mets did more than dream. They brought […]
The One That Didn’t Work Out
Last week in this space, I looked at the difference between Robert Gsellman as a prospect and as a major league pitcher. Gsellman’s improvements in the upper-minors and at the MLB level are fairly typical of what the Mets have imbued on a number of pitching prospects over the past few years, leading to outcomes […]
Game Recap September 12: Know When to Fold ‘Em
Executive Summary The Mets gambled that Rafael Montero could tame the second-best offense in baseball. Didn’t happen. Nationals 8, Mets 1. Discussion and Analysis Mat Latos was cut by the White Sox after posting a 7.25 ERA from April 30 through June 7. In two relief appearances for Washington, Latos’ 7.71 ERA was even worse. Yet […]
Game Recap September 6: Mets Continue Power Surge, Bullpen Bails Out Montero
The Mets hit four home runs and were backed by 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win. Playing in front of a sparse crowd at Great American Ball Park, New York (73-66) remained one game behind in the NL Wild Card race following the […]
See You In September!
September is upon us. The leaves are changing, the Mets are still on the edge of the playoff race, and major league teams can recall up to 40 players to the active roster. Four call-ups have already been confirmed by Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I brought out my Magic 8-Ball to predict […]