The Mets’ hopes for 2017 rest in large part on their starting pitching staff, which has the potential to blow the competition away… if they stay healthy. Let’s take a look at the second rotation through the Mets’ (hopefully) fab five and note what we’ve seen.

What I saw

Noah Syndergaard

Syndergaard finally brought back his curveball, and his full mix of pitches was too much for the Marlins to handle. Noah had trouble getting his fastball down, but his gas often works better upstairs anyway. A dominant outing, with the final line marred only by one bad pitch to Dee Gordon.

Jacob deGrom

Jacob’s fastball was flat, and even when he located it at 95, hitters were able to foul it back. The only other times I’ve seen the pitch lack its signature late life were when deGrom was injured (with the last 3 starts of 2016 being the prime example).

His secondary stuff was up in the first inning, but he got it down after that (though not the fastball) and pitched five good innings on primarily curveballs and change-ups. As Ron Darling said, even deGrom’s bad starts are pretty good.

Matt Harvey

Harvey didn’t show any consistent ability to locate his fastball, but the pitch was 94+ with great life, and his arm swing looked more free and easy to me. His secondary stuff featured the sharpest downward break I’ve ever seen from Matt, though it was often in the dirt.

Zack Wheeler

Wheeler took a huge step forward. Just like his first start, he threw plenty of strikes, but this time he mixed in effective breaking balls. Despite occasionally yanking or spiking a pitch, Zack’s location was solid overall, with lots of sinkers at the knees generating easy ground balls. Not his most dominant performance, but arguably the best I’ve ever seen him pitch… for the first 5 innings. In the 6th he had nothing, and Collins left him out there to load the bases anyway. (Which Hansel Robles promptly un-loaded via a grand slam meatball to Maikel Franco, turning Wheeler’s line from 0 earned runs to 3.) In non-contact sports, injury generally occurs when pushing past the point of fatigue, and Wheeler threw a dozen or so offerings after losing all ability to finish his pitches.

Ron Darling made the excellent point that managing to the pitch count has this downside: not only do managers pull a guy who’s cruising because the pitch count gets too high, they’ll also leave in a guy who’s gassed because the pitch count looks low.

Note: The Phillies fouled off a few short-breaking, high-velocity sliders, leading me to wonder: Are all five Met righties throwing the Warthen slider now? And if so, are opponents going to get used to it?

Robert Gsellman

Fastball command continued to be a problem for Gsellman. To his arm side, it was occasionally unhittable and otherwise okay, but to his glove side it was flat and up. Unfortunately, d’Arnaud kept calling for that pitch, even after Gsellman had carved up some Marlins hitters with his curveball. The curve was great all night until Robert tried to throw it on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and it didn’t break.

His line looks horrible, but he retired the Marlins in order in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings. The first 4 runs he allowed were the result of an error that was bizarrely scored a hit, and one bad pitch to Marcell Ozuna for a two-out grand slam. Then in the 5th he was left in after running out of gas, much like Wheeler.

What did you see?

Please share your observations in the comments!

The Mets’ hopes for 2017 rest in large part on their starting pitching staff. On paper, the Nationals and Marlins have better hitting and defense, but the Mets’ rotation has the potential to blow the competition away… if they stay healthy.

A team’s group of starting pitchers is often referred to in baseball as “the rotation” for how it cycles from #1 through #5 (usually) then back to #1 again. Let’s take a look at the first rotation through the Mets’ pitching staff and note what we’ve seen. Is everyone looking healthy and effective?

What I saw

Noah Syndergaard

Not his best location, but not bad either. Better downward movement on his change-up than I’ve ever seen. Usual great velocity, but that waned in the later innings along with slider command. Removed because of a blood blister on his middle finger, which probably accounts for some issues. I’ve always thought Noah was more effective when he pitched up and/or inside more than occasionally, and used his curve regularly as a change of speed. He did neither, which was fine against the Braves, but we’ll see against better opponents.

Jacob deGrom

Great fastball through three innings – not up to Jacob’s peak, but better than early 2016. After emphasizing his change-up during spring training, he didn’t throw it in this game; perhaps the cold was to blame. He showed great command of his slider, painting backdoor to lefties, something I’ve never seen from deGrom. This was the first time I’ve seen him throw the Warthen slider, with higher velocity and shorter break than in the past.

Jacob took a mighty swing at a high fastball in the 3rd inning and grimaced, and after that his velocity dropped from 94-96 to 92. Hopefully these two things are not related, and the reduced speed can be attributed to “first start, cold night”.

Matt Harvey

I saw the same Matt Harvey I saw early in games in 2016. Lots of strikes with different pitches, keeping hitters slightly off balance, but rarely hitting the glove or fully commanding anything. His fastball was mostly 94-95 with a little movement, and his secondary stuff was often elevated. The real test would have come with baserunners on, but the Braves never managed that – all of their batted balls went right to the defense, or over the wall.

I didn’t notice any signs of anything amiss, physically, but I also didn’t see the delivery I saw in 2013 and parts of 2015, when his arm seemed to come through more freely to get the ball down and to his glove side.

Zack Wheeler

Wheeler looked as good as I’ve ever seen him in the first inning, dotting the knees with a running fastball at 96. For the rest of the game, his fastball was all over the place, and his breaking balls were mostly hangers. His command of his secondary stuff was so poor that I’m wondering how much he’s actually pitched in the last two years and whether he ought to be progressing through the minors as he rediscovers his stuff. At least he didn’t fall back into the nibbling pattern that was his undoing in many starts in 2014.

His motion might be slightly improved, but is more or less as scary as ever. I am reminded a bit of Rich Harden.

Robert Gsellman

Gsellman’s best weapon wasn’t there – his two-seam fastball was running flat instead of sinking, and the Marlins destroyed the pitch. Fortunately, Gsellman kept the Mets in the game with some well-timed change-ups and well-placed curveballs. He also did an admirable job of keeping his composure through adversity, a great sign in his 8th big league start.

What did you see?

Please share your observations in the comments!

This is the fourth annual article on this topic.
The 2014 edition is here.
The 2015 edition is here.
The 2016 edition is here.

The story so far…

After providing fans with an exquisite array of heartbreak, disappointment, frustration and disgust from 2007-2013, the Mets finally reversed course in 2014. Despite a 79-83 record, the 2014 season saw a big jump forward thanks to Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom and 6th-runner-ups Travis d’Arnaud and Jeurys Familia. Add in the emergence of Juan Lagares and Lucas Duda, and the progress of several top prospects, and the future finally looked bright. In 2015, that future arrived in late July, when acquisitions to bolster a weak supporting cast allowed the team’s exceptional starting pitching to carry the Mets all the way to game five of the World Series. Entering 2016, the New York baseball headlines eagerly questioned whether the Nationals had a realistic shot at the Mets, and whether the Mets had a realistic shot at “Best Rotation Ever.”

So what actually happened in 2016?

Well, the short answer is that the team finished 8 games behind the Nationals but won 87 games and made it to the Wild Card game, where a bad outing from Jeurys Familia was all Madison Bumgarner needed to send the Mets home for the winter.

The long answer is much more complicated. Very little went exactly as planned. There were a lot of disappointments, but also a lot of pleasant surprises. The pitching staff did excel, but that was less about Matt Harvey and more about minor leaguers stepping up and a career year for the team’s 8th inning guy. The Mets’ corner infield bats got hurt, but the middle infielders suddenly morphed into sluggers. Prospects backslid, and aging veterans turned it on late. Given their position in mid-August, playing past Game 162 was a triumph, and the 2016 team deserves as much credit for clutch play and intangibles as any Mets squad in recent memory.

Takeaways?

I’m not sure where all that leaves us going forward. Should Mets fans be optimistic based on two consecutive playoff appearances? Or should we be pessimistic based on the team’s worsening injury history, the projections which all favor the Nationals, and the fact that 2016’s path to success doesn’t exactly look repeatable? Should 2016 be viewed as this team’s toughest trial, or as the kind of grind they’ll need to endure every year if they hope to play in upcoming Octobers?

Let’s examine how the Mets’ roster has progressed since this time last year. I’ll focus on future takeaways, but also give some nods to 2016’s developments in the never-ending soap opera that is Mets fandom.

Stock Up, Stock Down

Catcher

Travis d’Arnaud – stock: down
From 2013-2015, d’Arnaud juggled health, offense, and defense. He never put all three together at once, but seemed to be trending upward overall. That came to a halt in 2016, when he combined injury with poor play on both sides of the ball. The missed time and the ugly throwing would have been much easier to tolerate if he’d repeated his .485 slugging percentage from 2015; unfortunately, he cratered at .323 instead. Age 28 isn’t necessarily all that late in a catcher’s development, so d’Arnaud retains some of his ceiling, but he’s shown that his floor is way too low for a contending team’s comfort.

Kevin Plawecki – stock: down

Imagine you have a pretty good slugger on your team — not an MVP candidate, more like a borderline All-Star. Someone like Carlos Gonzalez or Justin Upton, or maybe Marcell Ozuna or Melky Cabrera, or maybe Carlos Beltran. A hitter with flaws, and risks — maybe they get injured too much, or are too slump-prone, or strike out a ton — but overall a good hitter, without a doubt. Now imagine that, in the field, they’re below average; might hurt you a bit out there. So, this player… do you play them? Do you put them in your lineup every day?

This isn’t a trick question. If you’re anything like the typical baseball fan, or player, or manager, or executive, the answer is “yes.”

Okay, second imaginary scenario: you have a hitter on your team who doesn’t make a lot of outs. He draws walks, gets hit by pitches, bunts for singles, and so on. You have other guys who do other things better, so this get-on-base guy doesn’t play every inning of every game, and that’s fine. So what should his role be? Do you only use him when you’re trailing late in games and the guy leading off the inning isn’t very good and you want to pinch-hit with a rally-starter? Or do you use your on-base machine, y’know, most of the time, figuring that every time he reaches base instead of making an out is a good thing?

Again, not a trick question. Again, it seems to me that the obvious, agreed-upon answer is “yes.” You use this player most of the time. Sub him out when the situation warrants; otherwise, let him play.

Doesn’t this make sense? If you have someone like Carlos Beltran on your team, you’d like to give him four at bats every day, right? And if he’s slow and wears down easily and can’t field anymore, you still try to get him as many at bats as you reasonably can, right?

Now imagine the exact same player, except he does it with his glove rather than his bat.

That’s Juan Lagares.

In 2013-2014 combined, Baseball Reference credits Juan Lagares with 6.9 defensive WAR. Then in 2015 he was awful, with 0.4 dWAR. Then in 2016 he was only given a part-time role.

Those other players I mentioned above, the ones who do it with their bats? In the last few seasons (I looked back as far as 2012), they’ve had good years and bad years too. None of them were demoted to part-time roles.

When a hitter demonstrates that type of ability but then has a bad year, most teams give him another chance. And sometimes another, and another. When a hitter shows he can be elite, he doesn’t wind up in a role where he’s only used if the situation is perfect.

Juan Lagares shouldn’t be a back-up. Juan Lagares shouldn’t be playing only when the Mets are leading and he can sub in for a player who won’t bat again, on the off chance that someone hits a difficult fly ball his way in the tiny portion of the game remaining.

Juan Lagares should be given the chance to recapture his form from 2013-2014, to see if he can save the Mets as many runs with his glove as some of those hundred million dollar men add with their bats. He should be pinch-hit for when the situation calls for it, and left in the lineup otherwise to work his magic on as many defensive plays as possible.

Juan Lagares should be the Mets’ 2017 starting center fielder.

I’ve always been a fan of rare pitches. It’s made sense to me that a pitch batters see less often will be harder for them to recognize, and a pitch they get fewer swings against will be harder to barrel up. In today’s game, the cut fastball is the latest pitch to go from rarity to trend, and it’s recently gotten to the point where batters are crushing the mediocre ones.

Not so with our old friend the split-finger fastball. The big pitch of the 1980s is now thrown by very few MLB pitchers, and every time a guy from Japan comes over and features a good one, it seems to produce great results. Akinori Otsuka? Hideki Okajima? These guys weren’t studs in Japan, but their out-pitches sure translated to MLB. Was it because their splitters were particularly great? Or was it because MLB hitters didn’t have any to practice on? In 2006 Salomon Torres led MLB in appearances and was the Astros’ and Brewers’ kryptonite, throwing a fastball whose velocity was embarrassing for a late-inning short reliever. He didn’t throw it too much, though; his go-to pitch was his splitter.

The Mets aren’t primed to throw out huge dollars or give away huge talent for a sure-thing reliever. But bargain-hunting doesn’t seem appropriate for a team with a lot of “win now” to it either. So how about a mixed-bag guy with a great out pitch? How about betting on the splitter?

First up is Koji Uehara, a strike-thrower with the best K/BB rate in MLB history. He’s a free agent who’s willing to pitch in a variety of roles and shouldn’t break the bank. His fastball is deceptive and made more so by his sharp, diving splitter, which he throws a ton. The risks: he’s 41, can be homerun prone, and had his worst year as an MLB reliever last season.

Next up is Zach Putnam. Putnam throws his splitter almost exclusively in some outings. When it’s at its best, he doesn’t need anything else. Putnam pitches for the team which just traded away Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, so I have a feeling he’s not off-limits. I’d guess that the Mets should be able to part with a palatable amount of minor league upside for him. The risks: health. Putnam’s arm is extremely late in his delivery, and he’s already had shoulder and elbow problems in his short career.

Finally, we have former elite closer Greg Holland, more of a guy who happens to throw a splitter than a “splitter guy” like Putnam and Uehara. At his best, Holland’s fastball, slider and splitter were all elite. He’s coming off Tommy John surgery and looking to re-establish himself, so this is as cheap as he’s going to get. Unfortunately, the place where he’s looking to re-establish himself is in the 9th inning, where the Mets’ incumbent just saved 51 games.

I don’t know which of these options is the best bet, and which is the most doable for the Mets. But I do think they’d be well-served to pick the best option and go for it. I’d love to see the swings the NL East would get against the splitters thrown by these guys they’ve never (or at least rarely) faced before. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy may not have ever seen anything like it!

Which of these three pitchers would you prefer? Got any better ideas for relief help? Let us know in the comments!

In case you missed the news, the Atlanta Braves just made two player acquisition moves. News broke on Thursday that they had signed R.A. Dickey and on Friday that they had signed Bartolo Colon.

I think it’s a huge whiff on the Mets’ part to not bring back Colon. Was the team unprepared to negotiate? Was the $12.5M price tag way too steep? Were the Mets somehow not interested in Bart’s services?

Dickey would have been a fine back-up plan, another low-ceiling, high-floor innings-eater. But the Braves gobbled him up first.

I don’t think I need to be particularly pessimistic about the Mets’ young starters’ health to predict that we’ll be seeing a lot of innings from pitchers worse than Colon in 2017.

Plus, as a fan, it’s going to be hard for me to root against Dickey and Colon the 5 or so times the Mets face them this year.

Oh, and also, a division rival just got better.

As a Mets fan, I’m not happy with these developments, not one bit. What’s your reaction?

2017 finds the Mets roster in an awkward place, with enough strengths that contention is within reach but enough weaknesses that standing pat could prove fatal to the team’s chances. Alderson and co. have their work cut out for them.

Where to start?

Trades

The White Sox are finally rebuilding, and might move Chris Sale for the right package. I can’t think of any Mets options for Sale that don’t start with Amed Rosario, but how about aiming a little lower and going after Jose Quintana? Sell high on Seth Lugo as a potential replacement, and move Travis d’Arnaud while his slugging pedigree is still relatively recent. These two are supplemental pieces; the cornerstone of the trade would be Jay Bruce, giving the White Sox a much-needed OF/DH with power. The Mets could also offer the Sox some financial flexibility by taking James Shields and part of his salary. Shields may be done as a good starter, but with a move to the ‘pen and a little acclimation time in AAA, I’m sure he could become a lights-out reliever if he could regain the control he had for the first 9 years of his career.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, the Diamondbacks have crashed and changed management, leading me to wonder – is the time finally right to attempt a Paul Goldschmidt deal? The Mets can offer Lucas Duda to replace him, a fly ball hitter who should thrive in Arizona. The Mets can offer a high-ceiling pitcher or three. The Mets can offer a controllable young player who’s unlikely to become a huge asset, but would be a steal if he does. How about Steven Matz – Duda – Brandon Nimmo – Zack Wheeler? This really depends on how much the D’backs like Matz. If they don’t, subbing in Quintana would be an option.

I’d also ask the D’backs to throw in Andrew Chafin, a groundball guy who developed strikeout ability last year but posted a 6.75 ERA due to what the advanced metrics see as awful luck.

These would be my key winter moves.

Then, in the spring, I’d make one more. With the games not mattering yet, and with a ton to prove, Matt Harvey will surely show up in the best shape of his life and be throwing 99 past hitters in spring training. That’s the time to trade him to an all-in contender like Boston for a young stud prospect like Andrew Benintendi or Rafael Devers. I don’t expect Harvey to thrive in New York going forward, whether for physical reasons or mental ones, and the Mets desperately need to deepen their ranks of potential impact players for the future.

Signings

The Mets need Yoenis Cespedes, and Cespedes seems to like the Mets, so I’d hope a deal could get done without any ridiculous behavior on either side, such as lowball offers from the Mets or 7-year demands from Team Yo.

That will leave the team with limited financial flexibility, and probably preclude major upgrades over the current roster at both primary positions of need, catcher and second base. My take is this: I liked having Neil Walker on the team, but his range was subpar and I doubt back problems bode well for a middle infielder’s future. At second base, the drop-off from Walker (the best-fitting free agent, as far as I’m aware) to what the Mets have now might not be that bad. The same is not true at catcher. I’d earmark the FA budget for Wilson Ramos and hope that no one gives him a crazy contract based just on 2016.

My 2017 Mets:

Lineup and Bench

1. 3B Jose Reyes
2. RF Curtis Granderson
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
4. LF Yoenis Cespedes
5. C Wilson Ramos
6. SS Asdrubal Cabrera
7. 2B T.J. Rivera / Wilmer Flores / Ty Kelly / Matt Reynolds
8. CF Juan Lagares

• Sign Rajai Davis to sub for Grandy against lefties and pinch-run.
• If Michael Conforto earns playing time, give him time in RF with Grandy moving to CF and Lagares sitting.
• If David Wright refuses to retire, then whenever Reyes, Cabrera, or the 2B needs a day off, plug Wright in at 3B and move Reyes around as needed. David can also pinch-hit against lefties.

Starting Pitching

1. Noah Syndergaard
2. Jacob deGrom
3. Jose Quintana
4. Bartolo Colon
5. Robert Gsellman

• Bring back R.A. Dickey to serve as swingman, long relief, and injury sub. The knuckleballer suffered from Rogers Centre for four years, and from having another knuckleballer in his division in 2016. If he can throw as many strikes as he did during his Mets time, he’ll thrive again in the N.L.

Bullpen

9. Jeurys Familia
8. Addison Reed
7. James Shields / Andrew Chafin / Rafael Montero

If Montero ever musters the courage to throw strikes, his fastball is sneaky and gets a lot of pop-ups. His change-up is deceptive, so when it’s moving, it’s a good second pitch. The slider is just enough to keep righties off the fastball.

Summing it Up

With Ramos providing improved offense and defense behind the plate (and not killing the Mets as an opponent), Goldschmidt anchoring the lineup and the infield, Quintana bringing an impeccable record of health and success, a few bullpen additions offering some 7th inning upside, and a new stud prospect or two bolstering the farm, I think the Mets would be in a great position for 2017 and beyond.

What do you think of these moves? Do you have some ideas of your own? Please let us know in the comments!

Of course you did. You’re a Mets fan. You were aware of the other options, from the pinstriped team across town crowing about their 26 or 27 or 28 championships to the new hotness of the moment such as the 2008 Rays or the 2013 Blue Jays or the 2015 Padres. But each time you were reminded that there were more and better baseball teams beyond Queens, you said, “No thanks,” (or something less equanimous) and kept following the Mets. You have your reasons. I’m not going to try to list them all. But at this point, after the frustration and embarrassment and despair of 2007-2014, I feel pretty sure of one of them:

Because long odds make a victory that much sweeter.

This isn’t how 2016 was supposed to go, of course. 2016 was supposed to be Mets fans’ reward for keeping the faith from the Tom Glavine game in 2007 through the runs-free summer of 2015. In 2016, the Mets were supposed to be great, and only the possible also-greatness of the Nationals was supposed to keep the Mets from being *gasp* front runners.

MetsToday readers polled between April 7-11 predicted these win totals for the 2016 team: 101, 94, 93, 92, 92, 90, 90, 89, 88.

But these are the Mets. They don’t just make you earn your fan satisfaction decade by decade. They make you earn it year by year, month by month, sometimes day by day.

So of course Cy Young hopeful Matt Harvey fell apart mechanically and psychologically and had a rib removed. Of course Jacob deGrom frayed a nerve, and Steven Matz grew a new elbow bone, and clapping our hands three times and saying “Ya gotta believe!” didn’t heal David Wright‘s spine. Of course the Mets burned through plans A and B at most positions on the field.

A funny thing happened, though: plans C and D stepped up.

2016 WAR by position:

C

A) Travis d’Arnaud 0.0
B) Kevin Plawecki -0.1
C) Rene Rivera 0.4 (first game April 30)

1B

A) Lucas Duda 0.3
B) Eric Campbell -0.7
C) James Loney -0.3 (first game May 31)
D) Wilmer Flores 0.6

2B

A) Neil Walker 3.8
B) Kelly Johnson 0.3 (first game June 11)
C) Wilmer Flores -0.1
D) T.J. Rivera 0.7 (MLB debut August 10)

SS

A) Asdrubal Cabrera 2.7
B) Matt Reynolds 0.0 (MLB debut May 17)
C) Jose Reyes 0.1

3B

A) David Wright 0.5
B) Ty Kelly 0.1
C) Wilmer Flores 0.6
D) Jose Reyes 1.1 (first game July 5)

RF

A) Curtis Granderson 1.5
B) Brandon Nimmo -0.1 (MLB debut June 26)
C) Jay Bruce 0.3 (first game August 1)

CF

A) Yoenis Cespedes 1.7
B) Juan Lagares 0.5
C) Michael Conforto 0.2
D) Justin Ruggiano 0.2 (first game July 30)
E) Alejandro De Aza 0.1
F) Curtis Granderson 1.5

LF

A) Michael Conforto 0.6
B) Brandon Nimmo 0.0
C) Yoenis Cespedes 1.1
D) Ty Kelly 0.6 (MLB debut May 24)

A third-choice catcher, fourth-choice third baseman, fourth-choice first baseman, and sixth-choice center fielder? This is the stuff of “poor us” teams, not playoff teams.

With Neil Walker lost for the season, along with two of the Mets’ top 4 starting pitchers (Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz), it’s gotten even crazier during the stretch run, as second base plan D T.J. Rivera and rotation plans F and G Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman have taken on vital roles.

Mets fans, this isn’t what you hoped for, but doesn’t it feel right somehow? Doesn’t embracing an underdog feel like second nature at this point? Wouldn’t watching a team full of established stars dominate the competition feel strangely alien? Don’t you yearn more to see a gritty over-achiever overcome all odds?

This is your team.

Let’s go Mets.