Scouting Scale for Starting Pitchers: #1 Starter: Two plus pitches, average third pitch, plus-plus command, plus makeup #2 Starter: Two plus pitches, average third pitch, average command, average makeup #3 Starter: One plus pitch, two average pitches, average command, average makeup #4-5 Starter: Average velocity, consistent breaking ball, decent changeup, command of two pitches Jeremy Hefner and Dillon Gee are fighting for their spots in the rotation over their next 1-2 starts as Zack Wheeler [...]

From his key double in his first at-bat in blue and orange, to his crucial catch in Johan Santana‘s no-hitter, to last night’s tenth inning walk-off knock against the White Sox, Mike Baxter has already found his place in Mets history and into the hearts of the Flushing Faithful. For Baxter however, he is always looking to improve and perform to the best of his ability. Baxter started off the year having difficulties at the [...]

Among the highs and lows to already come out of the first month of this season, the continued improvement of Daniel Murphy has certainly been one of the brighter spots to this point so far. Playing out of his natural position, Murphy has slowly made the proper adjustments on both sides of the diamond. After being jostled all over both the infield and outfield, Murphy has finally found himself a home at second base with [...]

Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler headline a handful of budding young pitchers who hope to one day bring the New York Mets organization back to relevance again. Harvey,  in his first full season, is doing his best to do just that–as exemplified by his near-perfect, nine shutout frames in Tuesday night’s walk-off victory by the Whitestone kid, Mike Baxter–and Wheeler is knocking on the door to crack the big-league rotation soon enough. As both develop, [...]

Last month, I had the chance to conduct an email interview with John Sickels of the well-known minor league blog, Minor League Ball. Sickels worked for ESPN many years ago, where he had his own column about minor league baseball. Here is some of what we talked about: Q: Were the Mets too conservative with the Gavin Cecchini selection? A: I thought Cecchini was a slight overdraft but I didn’t really think that about Nimmo. By slight, [...]

Blue chip pitching prospects are professional sports’ most delicate flower. Except, unlike a flower, no scientifically proven method has been established regarding proper cultivation. There’s no “right” way to bring a teenager up through an organization’s system while still absolutely maximizing his production at the major league level. And in the back of everyone’s mind lingers the possibility to a debilitating injury that is always one pitch away. For every David Price or Matt Moore [...]

By the end of last season, I was pretty excited about Ike Davis. He got off to a horrible start in 2012, but seemed to finish strong with 32 dingers. His average still sucked, but it seemed like things were finally starting to click for him. Now it’s a month into the season and he can’t get above the Mendoza line. Over in left field, Lucas Duda is getting on base and hitting with some [...]

It’s now been over seven years since that promising Opening Day in 2006, which was only day one of a season that took the Mets just a big swing away from the National League Championship trophy, and a visit to the World Series. With the exception of a few R.A. Dickey masterpieces, and a special no-hitter, there hasn’t been much cheering in Flushing since that magical run in 2006. The Metropolitans are a team that has always been [...]

The following comes to us from the folks at the GrandstandGazette.com and penned by Christian Fazzini. At the start of the season, the Mets were desperate for starting pitching. R.A. Dickey was traded, which turned out good for the Mets since he is getting rocked in the American League. Johan Santana is out for the season with another injury. What else is new? So what would the Mets do now? Would the ace of their staff really [...]