2009 Analysis: Nick Evans
An October 4th article by Ben Shpigel penned the morning before game 162 succinctly summed up Nick Evans’ season: Read more
FOUND: Nick Evans
A year ago Daniel Murphy had a partner in crime — a righthanded-hitting version of an infielder-turned-outfielder with a simlarly promising bat, questionable glove, hustling approach, and fresh off a hitting streak in AA. The two rookies gave the team a mild spark at the tail end of the season, with Murphy’s Wade Boggs imitation overshadowing the lesser but still promising performance of his B-Mets teammate. There was much excitement surrounding the two young men, as they exemplified the best of the fruits sown from the farm known as the Mets minor league system — a system that was gravely underestimated by the pundits (according to Farmer Minaya).
It’s OK if you don’t remember the name of Murphy’s sidekick, as it’s a simple, common, unassuming name — one that sounds like it came out of a Hardy Boys mystery or a Hemingway novel. If you forget his name, don’t fret — it appears his own manager forgot it as well, since he hasn’t written it onto a lineup card for the last three weeks.
It turns out that the young man was forgotten, but not gone. Despite rumors to the contrary, Nick Evans has been with the Mets this entire time. But he hasn’t been seen in ballgames because in addition to his manager forgetting his name, Read more
Josh Thole Promoted
With the rosters expanding to 40 tomorrow, the Mets have announced the promotion of catcher Josh Thole from AA Binghamton.
According to MetsBlog, Thole will wear uniform #30.
Nick Evans is expected to get a callup as well, though it has yet to be announced. The Buffalo Bisons are not exactly brimming with talent, and still have games to play, so more players will trickle in to Flushing over the next two weeks.
Mets May Acquire Dan Murphy Clone
If the Mets had access to stem cell technology, they’d likely have a team of scientists working feverishly in the lab on a Daniel Murphy clone. After all, the businesslike young man has been a fan favorite, is home-grown, and — most importantly — has remained healthy all season.
But of course, there is no stem cell lab at Citi Field, and the Mets’ Latin American scouting syndicate does not extend into Brazil
Several reports suggest that one of the two “players to be named later” in the Billy Wagner deal is a lefthanded-hitting outfielder / first baseman named Read more
Mets Forgot About Johan Santana’s Elbow
During the team’s conference call with the press today, Ben Shpigel asked Omar Minaya if Johan Santana’s elbow issue was related in any way to the discomfort he felt back in February. Minaya was stunned by the question — he had not remembered the elbow problem, stating that “spring training was a long time ago”. Later, Minaya said that the “spring training problem” had “more to do with Santana’s knee”.
Wow … and we wonder why the Mets’ medical issues have been such a problem this year. If the team can’t remember their $137.5M investment and ace pitcher had elbow issues, how can they possibly deal with the phyical problems of “lesser” players?
Now we understand why Jose Reyes played on a bad hammy, Carlos Beltran on a bad knee, and J.J. Putz with a bad elbow (among others) — the Mets simply “forgot” those players were injured!
Another strange quote by Minaya … after being asked why Santana wasn’t shut down earlier in the season — since he hasn’t thrown in between starts since June — Minaya’s response was:
“That’s why we’re shutting him down now. … After his last start is when he brought it up.”
Um …. huh?
In any case, Johan Santana was seen by Dr. David Altcheck, and the result of the examination is that Santana has bone chips in his elbow. He will have season-ending surgery to remove the chips.
There has been no confirmation one way or the other as to whether Santana had an MRI — only that he saw Dr. Altcheck. Strange, no?
Minaya also announced that Oliver Perez would be heading back to New York to have his knee examined. No word on whether Perez would also have his head examined, unfortunately.
Further, Minaya confirmed the Billy Wagner trade, and said that both Pat Misch and Nick Evans would be activated.
Finally, J.J. Putz will NOT pitch tonight in Brooklyn as scheduled. The Mets are going to “play it safe” with Putz and have him wait a little longer before throwing in a live game.
Nick Evans Back
With Billy Wagner traded to Boston, the Mets are likely to add Nick Evans to the 25-man roster in Wagner’s place.
At least, that’s what I gather considering that David Lennon of Newsday just tweeted that he saw Evans at the coffee shop — and Lennon is NOT currently in Buffalo.
Gotta love that Twitter …
Mets Promote the Versatile Cory Sullivan
According to several reports, the Mets have placed pitcher Fernando Nieve on the disabled list and promoted Buffalo outfielder Cory Sullivan. Sullivan will wear uniform #19 and should be available at some point during tonight’s contest vs. the Nationals.
Per Jerry Manuel, and posted on Bart Hubbach’s Twitter page, Sullivan was chosen over Nick Evans because Sullivan is “more versatile”.
For those unaware, the lefthanded-hitting Sullivan has played 253 MLB games in centerfield, 27 in left field, and 14 in right field. He is, essentially, redundant to Jeremy Reed. He is batting .290 with 2 HR and 16 doubles in 286 AAA at-bats this year, playing mostly in CF. To my knowledge, he has never played first base nor any other infield position (he is also a lefty thrower). But what does that matter? The Mets have Fernando Tatis, Jeremy Reed, and Livan Hernandez to back up Dan Murphy at 1B.
Mets Game 70: Win Over Cardinals
Mets 11 Cardinals 0
An unexpected rout of the Redbirds.
The supposedly sickly and flaccid Mets lineup racked up 16 hits — 5 for extra bases — as the New Yorkers pounded Sir Albert and his St. Louis disciples.
David Wright led the way with a 4-for-4 day, but received plenty of help from Ryan Church (3-for-4, two doubles) and recently promoted Nick Evans, who mashed a two-run homer in the fourth frame.
Ace starter Fernando Nieve threw six shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 5 to earn his third victory.
Notes
My apologies for the late post … my TV went out prior to the game last night and MLB.com wouldn’t let me watch the game due to blackout restrictions until a few hours ago. Thanks MLB !!!
As it was I didn’t watch the game, so please fill up the comments with richly vivid descriptions of the key points of the contest. Many thanks.
Next Mets Game
The series finale begins at 1:10 PM. Johan Santana goes to the hill against Chris Carpenter. Thankfully the game will be available on WFAN and XM 183. Tweet me if Keith says something silly.
Martinez Down, Evans Up
The New York Mets have sent outfielder Fernando Martinez back down to AAA Buffalo and have promoted Nick Evans from AA Binghamton.
It is assumed that Martinez was sent down in order to ensure that he would continue to play every day. Though F-Mart did not look overmatched in his debut stint in the bigs, he also did not prove to be much of a difference-maker. What we’ve learned is that he’s a solid all-around ballplayer who needs more time to develop his bat. A star in the making, but not a star just yet.
Interesting to see Evans get the callup as opposed to Wily Mo Pena, who has been hitting .333 in the month of June and starting to show some power. But, Pena is not on the 40-man roster and is out of options, while Evans is on the 40-man and can be optioned back to the minors.
After a very rough start and a demotion to AA, Evans has recently righted the ship, batting .390 with 2 HR, 6 doubles, and 6 RBI in his last ten games. My guess is the Mets are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, and take advantage of the fact Evans is currently “locked in”. If so, it makes sense to start him at 1B right away, if not tonight then tomorrow. Evans has been sharing time with Lucas Duda at 1B and also playing some outfield.
Pelfrey Looking Sharp
Mike Pelfrey turned in an outstanding performance against the Astros in the most recently televised spring training game, showing exactly why many people are looking at him as the Mets’ #2 starter.
The two things that most impressed me about Pelfrey in this particular outing were his ability to change speeds and his supreme confidence. This time last year, Pelfrey was pitching scared, thinking too much, and picking around the plate. In this game, his manner and body language oozed with confidence, and he looked like he had a plan. The curveball was dropping nicely at an 11-to-5 angle and staying around the strike zone, at a 75-MPH speed — which maybe is a little too slow, but hey, he’s still shaking the dust off it. Pelf also started to hammer his sinker in on the hands of lefthanded hitters — a new concept, since he has always in the past tended to stay on the third-base side of the plate with that pitch. A number of pundits are already getting silly about the “new” pitch (the NY Times coined it a “front-door sinker”), but really it’s the same sinker he’s always thrown, but he’s now spotting it on the other side of the plate. I’m liking it.
In addition to Pelfrey’s performance, Nick Evans continues to make roster decisions difficult for manager Jerry Manuel. Evans is driving the ball with power, spraying to all fields, and showing patience at the plate. His fielding is still a bit suspect, but you can’t knock him for his effort — he’s a hustler. Taken out of the optimism of Port St. Lucie, Evans looks like he could evolve into a “mistake hitter” — the kind of guy who can jack a pitcher’s mistake over the fence. At the same time, he has some holes in his swing and will get overmatched by hard fastballs inside. I love the kid, and am rooting for him, but it’s going to be tough to carry him on a roster that includes 11-12 pitchers and at least one backup catcher. Those 3-4 bench players have to be versatile, and bring more than one tool to the table. Alex Cora and Fernando Tatis have two of those spots sewn up, and you have to figure at least one other spot goes to either one of the defensive-minded outfielders in camp, or Marlon Anderson (another guy who can play multiple positions). Evans’ glove just isn’t strong enough at either 1B or in the OF, and he doesn’t have the speed of a pinch-runner, so he either has to win a platoon job (not happening) or hope for an injury, to go north in April.
Speaking of Tatis, a strange comment by Keith Hernandez during the SNY broadcast of Thursday’s game, in regard to how Tatis’ versatility can be used to keep people fresh:
“One thing we know about Jerry Manuel, Jerry Manuel likes to REST HIS REGULARS”.
For the record, Keith, here are some of the “regulars”, and their games played in 2008:
Jose Reyes: 159
David Wright: 160
Carlos Delgado: 159
Carlos Beltran: 161
Brian Schneider: 110
Of course, the other positions — LF, RF, 2B — were originally supposed to be manned by players who ended up on the DL for extensive periods (Moises Alou, Ryan Church, and Luis Castillo). So other than Schneider, who missed games due to minor injuries eight different times during the season, the “regulars” certainly didn’t get rest. Manuel TALKED about resting the regulars when he took over the club last June, but never actually FOLLOWED THROUGH with that plan. Funny though, how some people’s words speak louder than actions.
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