Mets Game 153: Win Over Phillies
Mets 6 Phillies 4
Mets move themselves one more win away from a protected pick in next June’s draft.
Mets Game Notes
Despite his last two stellar starts, I kept waiting for Daisuke Matsuzaka to implode — and he never did. Well, I guess you could kind of say he imploded in the fourth, but the Phillies were helped by defensive miscues, including a questionable call on a horrendously executed rundown. And though a Mets fan might say the Phillies were “lucky” that inning, by the same token, the Mets were damn lucky to have so many fisted duck snorts and Texas Leaguers drop in at just the right times to score the majority of their runs — it goes both ways.
Cole Hamels always has that almost Cliff Lee-like coolness about him, but in this game it came across as not giving a hoot — like he was just out there because he had to be, playing out the string. But, that could be more due to my personal feeling about these last two weeks of the season projected upon him.
Juan Lagares made a beautiful running catch on a liner in the bottom of the ninth to rob Darin Ruf of an extra-base hit and keep Latroy Hawkins out of trouble. As good as Matt den Dekker has looked in center, it doesn’t make much sense to put Lagares anywhere else — especially considering his questionable bat. He’ll save plenty of runs in center, but won’t save enough in one of the corners to justify what will likely be a .250 hitter with minimal power and slightly above-average speed.
Omar Quintanilla royally screwed up the rundown in the fourth — regardless of whether he actually tagged Ruf. It was poor execution. No error on that though, another remarkable quirk of official scoring. It was merely a fielder’s choice without an out being recorded — apparently, MLBers aren’t expected to execute a simple rundown. Go figure.
The one error of the ballgame was charged to Eric Young, Jr., whose short-hop throw couldn’t be handled by Daniel Murphy at second base, allowing Domonic Brown to score. I guess the error has to go to Young there because the throw wasn’t perfect, but gee whiz shouldn’t a MLB second baseman handle that, or knock it down? Maybe not.
But, I’m too hard on Murph. After all, he did have three hits and score three runs — so he made up for any defensive shortcomings. And, he stole his 20th base, meaning he can be mentioned in the same sentence with Lawrence McCutchen, Carlos Gonzalez, and some other guys for some random stat combination or another. Perhaps even more valuable to the Mets, Murphy has really turned it on since the meaningless month of September started. After spending the bulk of the year as a .270 hitter with a .300 OBP, he’s suddenly at .284 with an OBP that’s threatening to reach .320. If he can stay this hot through the last 9 games of the season, his end-of-year numbers may look respectable enough to make him legitimate trade bait over the winter.
So far, I’m liking what I’m seeing of Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate, and still believe he’ll hit enough eventually. However, the Mets better give him some media training over the winter, because he looks like a frightened deer in the headlights during the postgame interviews. No big deal right now, because he’s a kid, but next year, he may be expected to be one of the go-to guys. Or, maybe he can take the Carlos Delgado route and go hide in the trainer’s room every night. Personally, I’d like him to get more comfortable in front of the camera, because he seems to be a very likable and intelligent guy who has the potential to provide plenty of worthwhile comments.
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Phillies do it again at 7:05 PM on Saturday night in Philadelphia. Dillon Gee goes against Tyler Cloyd.
Mets Item of the Day
Another cool-weather item: a hoodie. No, a duffel. Wait, is it a hoodie or a duffel bag? It’s both! Now, if it’s one of these questionable autumn days when you’re not sure if it will be in the fifties or the seventies, you can use this as a duffel while it’s warm, and wear it as a hoodie if it gets cold. Click this link or the image below to buy from Amazon: New York Mets Hoodie Duffel
Unless you don’t believe in statistics he’s been the Mets MVP in 2013. Sure he’s made a few defensive errors but most of them was when he was attempting to make an impossible play. Most 2nd baseman would just hold the ball to avoid hurting their fielding percentage. No, he doesn’t have the range of Brandon Phillips but few who do. Who was it that said, “Give me errors of enthusiasm.” Might have been Branch Rickey. Why is it that Mets fans always manage to lose their best players? Perhaps they can only tolerate disrespect for so long. Murphy should remain the Mets 2nd basemen for years to come. Forget it, Robinson Canoe isn’t going to sign with Little Brother after playing all these years for New York’s best team.
Daniel Murphy disappeared from the Yankees series until the all-star break, making his manager have to offer that Murphy was tired. Wish we had another second baseman on the roster then. Then, he took August off, too.
Don’t be insulted, it’s only a difference of opinion. To paraphrase Branch Rickey, the Mets finished below .500 with Murph, they can finish below .500 without him.
If the Mets are going to get better they have to trade to fill some big holes. Murph,in a package, might help get someone in a trade to fill a hole at SS or OF. Who else do they have that might create an attractive offer? Of the starting eight only Wright is truly an attractive trade chip. Davis, Duda et. al. are not going to do it. Maybe Lagares, D’Arnaud or Den Dekker might have to be considered trade bait, but they are young, inexpensive and hopefully talented enough to build upon. Murph, with his shortcomings, may have to go.
Looking purely at the stat line, you have a valid argument for Murphy as the Mets offensive “MVP” — whatever that’s worth on a 4th-place club that was out of the postseason hunt as of July.
I’m not going to try to change your mind because you’re obviously a big fan of Murph. However, anyone who views Murphy objectively can see he’s a below-average fielding second baseman – and unless you don’t believe in statistics, every defensive metric available supports that notion.
I disagree with you BIG TIME here. I see a .275 hitter with gap hitting capability….WITH A DIFFERENT MANAGER…who leaves him alone either 8th or leadoff. But the TC bounce-around his not exactly prospect friendly.
And you’ve been right about as often as I have so we’ll see how it pans out.
If Lagares does hit .275 with gap power and can get on base about 32% of the time and continue wielding a great glove, then he should be the Mets everyday center fielder.
You see him as a Garry Maddox, I see Cesar Geronimo. If he winds up in between, he should have himself a nice mlb career.
– Also Wifredo Tovar is getting a look on Sunday. Just after TC made some curious comments about Tejada.
For what it is worth, I live in Australia and see a handful of games each year. Hence my comments are based on MLB Gameday tracking and reading game reports and blogs, of which this is my favorite. Manager’s job – put guys in a position to succeed, play to their strengths. Or stick Duda in LF, move Lagares to RF, have Germen close a game, generally mismanage bullpen but al least he is consistent in that regard, overexpose EY Jr, pull TDA the other night down 1 run in the 9th even though he had his first walk off earlier this week and Duda can’t hit with RISP, and on, and on, and on.
Murphy’s OPS+ stands at 104: he’s nobody’s MVP, but he isn’t terrible. His 87% SB quotient suggests he isn’t an idiot in the running game. If he improves his plate discipline next year, and improves his defense – I’m not saying this is too terribly likely, but it wouldn’t be miraculous, either – he would be a legitimately above average player. So yes, I can see him being attractive trade bait. But despite the lack of love in this community, he hasn’t been a disgrace, and there are much bigger issues to deal with in 2014.
I don’t want to stir you up any further, but the Mets were out of it the day they broke camp this season. The ownership, and the GM as an extension of that ownership, made sure of it. If that is the case next opening day, despite my addiction saying otherwise, I will tune out.
Whatever good things a hitter accomplishes — 36 doubles, 89 runs, etc. — he also does a bad thing when he makes an out. Murphy’s .317 OBP is bad for a baseball player, and downright terrible for the middle-of-the-order hitter the Mets see him as, and it means he’s made a lot of outs. So if you’re going to be impressed by the 36 and 89, you also have to be disgusted by the 466. That’s 466 outs made, 2nd most in the NL.
Here’s a break down of Murph’s hot, cold, and middling stretches in 2013:
18 G – .357 / .395 / .571
15 G – .138 / .180 / .155
12 G – .458 / .471 / .729
42 G – .224 / .259 / .301
9 G – .297 / .316 / .405
4 G – .647 / .684 / 1.176
17 G – .203 / .225 / .246
13 G – .259 / .286 / .315
7 G – .484 / .485 / .742
15 G – .281 / .339 / .404
If you chop his season into larger chunks, it’s not hard to make it resemble that of a fairly typical .284 / .317 / .407 hitter. The reverse is not true, though — good luck finding another .284 / .317 / .407 guy who hits .138 for 15 games, then .457 for the next 12.
Murph is an average player who played a lot of games this year, and he lacks plate discipline. That he is a leader in outs is therefore inevitable. But as with other historical outs leaders, he has the potential to play much better, and perhaps he will. It would come as no surprise to me if he does.
Also to consider is that this is the third September in his career that he’s turned it on. Coincidence? Or is he feasting on bad pitching?
Some of Murphy’s splits are remarkably inconsistent. For example, he hit .322 at home last year with a .360 OBP. This year? .259 / .295. Last year vs. LHP, .283 — and .291 vs. lefthanded starters. This year, .271 / .262. I have no idea what it all means, other than perhaps the sample sizes are too small.
Personally, I’d prefer to see Turner at 2B in at least a platoon role with Murphy, if not the everyday second baseman. I don’t think Turner would be an All-Star, nor a Gold Glover, but he’s a stronger and smarter option defensively, less prone to mistakes in the field, at bat, and on the bases, and he’s not as challenged offensively as people think. He put up very good OBP numbers as a minor leaguer and was fine enough for me in his one shot at semi-regular playing time in 2011 – he was similar to Murphy with his streakiness, but he was far less boneheaded and much more sure in the field.
Of course, the minute I launch it, Murphy will be traded to the Colorado Rockies.
Its pretty obvious that the Mets should entertain offers for Murph. The question is will other mlb teams be interested and how interested. This will depend on two factors. How they see him going forward (will he progress) and on what their specific needs might be.
In other words, can he be a part of a deal maker for a real bat or can he a part of an exchange for a Murphy type outfielder.
Perhaps we could trade Murph for a prospect the Cubs like, then include that prospect with Montero and Plawecki for SS prospect Javier Baez.
Turner and Tejada could then share time at 2B, with Turner getting more ABs and Tejada getting more innings in the field (where his defense is more impressive than at SS).