Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy homered to pick up Dillon Gee, and the bullpen came up with a superb effort with four perfect innings to give the Mets a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs Sunday at Wrigley Field. The victory gave the Mets their first series victory since they beat Washington, April 19-21, at Citi Field.

RECORD: 17-24, 4^th NL East

ON THE MOUND: Dillon Gee gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings for the no-decision. … Scott Rice was superb in relief retiring six straight hitters. … The Mets also received a strong one-out showing from Greg Burke and Bobby Parnell worked the ninth for his sixth save. … The Mets’ bullpen retired 12 straight hitters.

AT THE PLATE: Inserted in the leadoff spot, Murphy hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth. … Lagares hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh. He had two hits in the game. … The Mets had six hits in the game and struck out seven times.

BY THE NUMBERS: 15-for-29: Murphy’s hot streak.

THEY SAID IT: “Everything comes to a head at some point.’’ – GM Sandy Alderson when asked if there was a limit to Ike Davis’ slump after saying sending him so

ON DECK: Shaun Marcum is scheduled to open the Mets’ three-game series against Cincinnati, beginning Monday at Citi Field.

Starting Lineup

1. Daniel Murphy – 2B
2. Justin Turner – 1B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Marlon Byrd – RF
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Anthony Recker – C
7. Ruben Tejada – SS
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

The Mets have scored three or fewer runs in 10 of their last 12 games and in 15 of their last 21 games. Overall, New York is averaging 4.25 runs per game, the seventh-most in the NL. New York ranks 28th with a .231 team batting average.

The Mets are hitting .216 (16-74) with runners in scoring position over its last 12 games. They are fifth in the NL and 12th in the majors with a .259 (77-297) batting average with RISP. The club has 11 home runs in such situations, tied for the seventh-most in the majors. David Wright is hitting .429 (15-35) with RiSP, the seventh-best mark in the National League.

Daniel Murphy went 2-4 yesterday. Murphy is hitting .368 (14-38) with three doubles and eight RBI in 10 career games at Wrigley. He is 13-for-his-last-24 (.542) over his last six games and currently has a seven-game hitting streak (14-28, .500). Murphy is batting .392 on the road this season, the third-best mark in the NL.

David Wright extended his hitting streak to six games going 1-4 yesterday…Wright is batting .417 (10-24) with four RBI during this span. Wright is hitting .357 (20-56) with three doubles, four home runs and eight RBI in May. He ranks second in the NL and fourth in the majors with a .409 mark during day games.

Justin Turner is hitting .319 (15-47) in his 12 starts this year. He has multi-hits in four of those starts. Overall, Turner is batting .305 (18-59) with three doubles and five RBI in 24 games this year.

Game Preview

The Mets look to bounce back from yesterday’s loss this afternoon as Dillon Gee takes on Travis Wood in the rubber game in Chicago. Yesterday the Mets just could not get it done on all fronts, but Rick Ankiel still hit a homer. Anyway, let’s hope for the the best today!

Dillon Gee is 2-5 on the season over 8 games with 39.2 innings of work while posting an ERA of 6.13. In the month of May he has made two poor starts sandwiched around a good start thus making 1-1 over 14.0 innings of work with a 6.43 ERA while walking 7 and striking out 9. Last year he was 1-1 over 13.0 innings with a 3.46 ERA. The Cubs have the following numbers against Gee:

Castro 3-9
Barney 2-9
Soriano 1-8, 2B
DeJesus 3-7
Rizzo 3-6, 2B

The Mets bats will get a crack at Travis Wood today who is 4-2 over 8 games and 53.1 innings of work with a 2.03 ERA. He’s 2-1 over 3 games over 21.1 innings with a 1.69 ERA while walking 6 batters and striking out 13 batters. Last year he was 2-0 against the Mets over 13.0 innings with a 1.38 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Wood:

Byrd 2-9, 2B
Tejada 0-8
Wright 3-9, 3B
Davis 1-5
Duda 1-6, HR
Buck 1-4, HR
Turner 3-4, 2B
Valdespin 0-1

Lets Go Mets!

Jeremy Hefner lasted just four innings and dropped to 0-5 on the season as the Mets took it on the chin in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Hefner allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and quickly put his team in a hole. The right-hander now has a 5.00 ERA and the Mets are 0-8 when he starts a game.

“He just fell behind in counts,” said Terry Collins. “When he got behind, he had some three-ball counts that he didn’t have earlier. And then he had to come around the plate. When he came around the plate, they put it in play.”

The bullpen was no better as Robert Carson and Collin McHugh both pitched two innings each and allowed a pair of runs.

The Mets wouldn’t get on the board until the ninth inning when they were already down 8-0. John Buck singled and then center fielder Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer, his second as a Met and seventh overall.

David Wright had two critical strikeouts and looks like he’s trying to do too much at the plate. Ike Davis went 0-for-4 and has about two weeks to straighten himself out or face a demotion to the minors. He is 1 for his last 30.

One bright spot came late in the game when shortstop Ruben Tejada made a spectacular diving stop and initiated an incredible 6-4-3 double-play.

The Mets were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. They are now 0-9 the day after Matt Harvey starts.

Another day game for the Mets tomorrow as Dillon Gee (2-5, 6.13 ERA) opposes left-hander Travis Wood (4-2, 2.03) in the 2:20 PM rubber match.

Mets at Cubs Series Preview

The Mets are playing terribly, and they need a team to beat up on. They have played three out of their last four series against teams above .500 and have suffered badly, losing six of their last seven games. Luckily, they play the Cubs this weekend, who, even though they might be better than the Mets, they are certainly easier to beat than the Pirates and Braves.

The Cubs are rebuilding. That’s very, very clear. Theo Epstein and the rest of Chicago’s front office is trying to build a team from the talented young core they have in place. So far, their plan seems to be working out well. Anthony Rizzo looks like he is a future star and Starlin Castro is shaping up to be a cornerstone piece at shortstop.

The Cubbie pitching staff is getting younger and with Jeff Samardzjia and Jackson to build their rotation around, they have a solid foundation for a playoff team. However, while the Cubs are building, they are still far off from being a playoff contender. They are currently 22nd in runs scored, and don’t have too many offensive threats. They have been carried almost exclusively by Rizzo and David DeJesus this season, rak=nking 24th in On-Base Percentage as a club. If it weren’t for those two, the offense would be one of, if not the worst in baseball. On the pitching side, their starting rotation has been solid, even without Matt Garza, but the bullpen has been awful. Aside from Kevin Gregg, who has been fantastic as Chicago’s closer as of late, they have received almost no consistent production out of the bullpen. Carlos Marmol has been himself (and therefore awful) and Kyuji Fujikawa has been unable to take his place. The Cubs as a team rank 22nd in baseball in bullpen ERA, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to get any better.

Long-term, while the Cubs are on the rise, they are still a very weak offensive team and have a long way to go before they become contenders. While two of the three pitching matchups this series don’t look great for the Mets, the series should be rather close.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey, RHP (56.1 IP, 256 ERA+, 4.43 K/BB) vs. Edwin Jackson, RHP (43.1 IP, 66 ERA+, 2.10 K/BB)

Jackson has failed to live up to expectations after signing a four-year, $52 million deal with the Cubs this winter. His 6.02 ERA is the worst on the Cubs among starters. He has been uncharacteristically wild, walking 4.2 batters per nine innings. Although some of his walk numbers from early on in his career are ugly, he has kept them largely under control the past few seasons. At least until now. He has failed to go more than six innings in a start this season. In his last start on May 11, he gave up two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings against the Nationals, walking two and striking out three.

Game 2:  Jeremy Hefner, RHP (41 IP, 80 ERA+, 1.69 K/BB) vs. Scott Feldman RHP (42.2 IP, 156 ERA+, 1.94 K/BB)

Feldman, 30, is your typical journey man starting pitcher. He pitched with Texas for eight years, in which he had a 4.81 ERA in 204 appearances. He has been much better since coming to the Cubs. He has put together a string of four outstanding starts, including his outing on April 26 against the Padres in which he gave up only two runs on three hits in nine innings, striking out 12 and walking a single batter. In his last start on May 12, he allowed one run on three hits in five innings against the Nationals.

Game 3: Dillon Gee, RHP (39.2 IP, 60 ERA+, 1.69 K/BB) vs. Travis Wood, LHP (53.1 IP, 195 ERA+, 2.12 K/BB)

Despite posting mediocre numbers from 2010 through 2012, Wood has been incredible this season. He leads the team with a 2.03 ERA in eight starts and has given up only 5.4 hits per nine innings. What has been the key to his success? Most likely luck. Wood hasn’t changed anything significant in terms of his approach and none of his pitches have gotten significantly better. However, his .193 BABIP makes it seem like he might come down to Earth soon. Wood shut out the Rockies over seven innings in his last start, allowing just two hits.

Series Notes

The Mets snapped their six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at St. Louis yesterday…New York is 3-7 in its last 10 games…The Mets are 6-11 on the road this year.

In addition to this three-game series vs. the Cubs, the Mets will return to Chicago later this year to play the White Sox in a two-game series (June 25-26).

The Mets will play four straight day games (yesterday in St. Louis and three in Chicago) for the first time since September 3-6, 2010 (three in Chicago and one in Washington)…New York is 7-10 in day games…David Wright is batting .379 during day games, the fourth-highest average in the National League.

Daniel Murphy went 4-4 with two doubles and a walk on Thursday…The four hits tied his career-high…It was the eighth time he’s collected four hits in a game, last on April 12 at Minnesota…Murphy is 10-for-his-last-16 (.625) over his last four games and currently has a five-game hitting streak (11-20, .550) …Murphy is batting .394 on the road this season, the best mark in the NL and is second in the majors.

The Mets scored five runs yesterday but have scored three or fewer runs in eight of their last 10 games and in 13 of their last 19 games…New York is averaging 4.34 runs per game, the fifth-most in the NL and the 14th-most in the majors.

New York is hitting .238 (15-63) with runners in scoring position over its last 10 games…The Mets are fifth in the NL and 12th in the majors with a .266 (76-286) batting average with RISP…The club has 11 home runs in such situations, tied for the fifth most in the majors…John Buck has four of those home runs, tied for second in the majors…

David Wright is hitting .441 (15-34) with RISP, the fifth-best mark in the National League…As a team the Mets have stranded 256 runners, including eight yesterday, tied for 25th in the majors.

John Buck had one RBI yesterday and is tied for third in the NL with 31 RBI…Buck’s 31 RBI lead all catchers…San Francisco’s Buster Posey is second with 22 RBI.

Marlon Byrd is 4-for-his-last 8 (.500)…He is seven hits shy of 1,100 for his career…Byrd has at least one hit in seven of eight games this month (10-27, .370) with two home runs and six RBI.

Bobby Parnell has three wins and two saves this month…Parnell has hurled 6.0 scoreless frames in May…He leads all relievers with four wins and is eighth in the NL with a 1.04 ERA (min. 17.0 innings).

Where would this team be without Matt Harvey?

Is it safe to say that as of this moment, the only proven and legit core player under the age of 30 this team has is The Dark Knight of Gotham?

I like Jon Niese a lot, but is he a core player? Or just an number three pitcher who plays the role of an ace on a very bad team?

I quickly threw some numbers into a spreadsheet and I can’t believe how appalling the numbers are once you take Harvey out of the equation.

Two of our top three starters have ERA’s of 5.93 for Jon Niese and 6.13 for Dillon Gee. Our number four starter, Jeremy Hefner has got them both beat with a 4.28 ERA. You may recall me saying back in January that he would be a sleeper and best choice for fifth starter? (Hey Alex68, remember this? Underrated????? SMH!!!)

Then you have the pitcher who was supposed to help replace R.A. Dickey‘s innings in Shaun Marcum. The Mets gave marcum a guaranteed $4 million dollars and in return he’s already missed one month and since his debut is averaging 4.1 innings in three starts and has a team worst 8.31 ERA.

Mets pitchers are now officially the worst in the National League and second worst in the Major Leagues. And that’s with Matt Harvey who is in the top five in over a half dozen pitching categories.

That’s kind of embarrassing, wouldn’t you say?

Gee has been the latest starter to deliver an abysmal performance after allowing six runs and nine hits against the Cardinals last night in 4.0 innings.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know what to say, really. I didn’t feel all that bad tonight”, said Gee after the game. “Physically I feel great. There’s nothing going on there. I don’t know. I’m kind of lost.”

You don’t say?

Gee and Co. is partly why the Mets bullpen has been as abysmal as it has. They are burning through arms at an unprecedented rate. Six weeks in and already eight transactions related to the bullpen alone. And it’s not as if it was a great bullpen to begin with. It was put together with sticks and Krazy Glue.

So while everyone is piling on when it comes to the Mets offense, the truth of the matter is that this team is quite atrocious on all fronts. Take a look at the evidence:

METS PITCHING RANKINGS

METS HITTING RANKINGS

That stinks to high heaven. It’s a shock to the system to even look at those awful, awful numbers.

I can tell you right now that Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud alone are not going to fix that. In fact I think it’s a sin that those two are being setup for an unfair amount of undue pressure, as if trying to stick in the majors wasn’t already challenging enough.

On Wednesday, Sandy Alderson seemed concerned that Wheeler is being looked upon as some sort of savior and he admitted to Mike Francesa that he wasn’t. But the fact that both he and d’Arnaud will be walking into this disaster is going to be something to behold and I don’t mean that in a good way. I wonder how they will handle it, and God forbid if they don’t produce immediate results and hit the ground running.

The other day on Twitter I tossed out the suggestion of just letting both of them stay at Triple-A and don’t bring them up unless this team turns it around. Losing is contagious. I know you all know that. If this is what those two kids are going to walk into, I’d rather wait and call them up in September.

At least in September they can come up without the pressure of having to carry a team that was poorly constructed. It’s bad enough that Matt Harvey has had to deal with this. I totally feel sorry for that kid. On any other team, but the Mets, Harvey would probably be 8-0 right now.

I don’t know if this is rock bottom, but heaven help us if it isn’t and it continues to get worse.

Starting Lineup

1. Justin Turner – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Marlon Byrd – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

WFAN Mets beat reporter Ed Coleman has reported that shortstop Ruben Tejada is in Terry Collins’ doghouse and that is why he is out of the lineup and Turner is playing short. That’s all he said. (Hat tip to Leroy)

Veteran outfielder Rick Ankiel went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored a run in Monday’s series-opening loss after signing with the Mets earlier in the day. The Mets signed Ankiel in an attempt to jumpstart their sputtering offense, particularly from the outfield position. Ankiel hit just .194 with 35 strikeouts in 62 at-bats over 25 games with the Astros this season before being designated for assignment last week. In making his Mets debut in center field Monday, Ankiel became the 10th player to appear in the Mets’ outfield in 2013.

Over the club’s last 11 games, Mets starting pitchers are 1-5 with 5.68 ERA (40 earned runs in 63.1 innings). Overall, New York starters are 8-15 with a 4.35 ERA (94 earned runs in 194.1 innings), ranking 21st in the majors.

On Monday, Terry Collins vowed to keep Ike Davis in cleanup spot until he breaks out of his slump. “He’s our guy.” Three days later he’s batting seventh.

The Mets optioned Andrew Brown to Las Vegas and moved Jenrry Mejia to the 60-day DL in order to clear a spot for Ankiel. Mejia will continue to pitch in the minors uninterrupted. Until early June, though, he will not count against the 40-man roster.

The Mets have signed right-hander Matt Fox out of York in the independent Atlantic League. He will work out of the Triple-A Las Vegas rotation. Fox, 30, was the 35th overall pick in the 2004 draft by the Minnesota Twins. His lone four major league appearances came in 2010, with the Twins and Boston Red Sox.

Frank Francisco was examined Monday in New York for continued elbow discomfort. He was diagnosed with a strained flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow and was advised to refrain from throwing for 72 hours. He may then attempt to resume activity. Bottom line: He is making $6.5 million this season. And he likely will not contribute anytime soon.

David  Wright is hitting .433 (13-30) with RISP, tied for third-best mark  in the National League. Daniel Murphy is hitting .500 (5-10) with runners in scoring position and two outs this year, tied for the fourth-best mark in the National League.

Mets OF prospect Matt den Dekker will return to baseball in a few weeks as he continues his comeback from a broken wrist. Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, who fractured the first metatarsal in his left foot four weeks ago, has an exam scheduled for Friday in New York. He hopes to be cleared to shed an immobilizing boot and begin weight-bearing activity.

Game Preview

The Mets try to correct the ship tonight in St. Louis and break their four game losing streak. Last night the Mets and Cardinals each  got 3 runs early and then things fell silent until the Cards were able to get to the Mets pen for 3 runs. Meanwhile the Mets were able to do nothing against the Cardinals pen thus locking in a loss in the opener. Tonight Dillon Gee will try to play stopper as he goes up against John Gast in his major league debut.

Dillon Gee is 2-4 with a 5.55 ERA on the season over 7 starts and 35.2 innings of work. After a couple of poor starts in a row, Gee allowed only 1 ER in his last outing, but was only able to stay in the game for 5 innings. Last year he made one start against the Cardinals where he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 7 innings of work. The Cards have the following numbers against Gee:

Freese 3-6
Holliday 1-6, 2B
Molina 0-6
Beltran 0-4
Craig 1-2
Descalso 0-2
Jay 0-2
Wigginton 1-2, HR

The Mets bats will try to break out of their collective slump tonight against John Gast in his major league debut. Gast, the left hander, is 3-1 this season over 7 games allowing 5 ER over 38.2 innings in Memphis. When you run the numbers, that’s an ERA of 1.16. In those 38.2 innings he allowed 15 BB and struck out 35 batters. Last season in Memphis he was 9-5 over 109.1 innings and 20 games with an ERA of 5.10.

Let’s Go Mets!

The legend of Mike Baxter continues to grow as he came through in the clutch for the Mets yet again on Thursday night, with his second walk-off hit in three games!

This was a low scoring affair for the Mets due to Dillon Gee dancing out of trouble in each of his first five innings on the mound tonight, without allowing a run through them. He started the sixth for the Mets and allowed two singles and hit a batter to load the bases before he was removed in favor of Brandon Lyon, who allowed a game-tying sacrifice fly.

The only run support the Mets were able to provide Gee while he was on the mound was a sacrifice fly via Marlon Byrd in the second. They would rally to score in the seventh, via a smoked RBI double by Ike Davis, but LaTroy Hawkins gave up a solo shot to Pedro Alvarez in the top of the eighth, which tied the game up…again.

But fear not, Mets fans, as Mike Baxter, heroic wings and all, drilled an RBI single off Pirates closer Jason Grilli to win the game in exciting fashion for the Mets.

Say what you want about Baxter, but when you think about all the work he has put in for us, he has definitely become a fan favorite.

Lets Go Mets!

That shot of Lucas Duda entering the dugout after a solo homerun in the second inning of the game was tonight’s highlight as the Mets were defeated by the Chicago White Sox by the score of 6-3.

What a difference between the energy in last nights game compared to this one which had all the excitement of a wake.

Jeremy Hefner started and to be honest, he pitched better than what you’ll see in his pitching line. Even terry Collins said after the game that he left him in as long as he did because they weren’t really hitting him hard and he was just very unlucky tonight. Hefner allowed four earned runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out five. One of those runs came on a leadoff home run by Alejandro De Aza.

Meanwhile, Chicago White Sox starter Jake Peavy was unstoppable and the Mets couldn’t touch him aside from the Duda homerun. He pitched into the seventh and held the Mets to just two hits after that.

The Mets almost made a game out of it in the eighth when they got the tying run to the plate, Andrew Brown and Lucas Duda struck out with two men on base. They scored a run in the ninth and again got the tying run to the plate, but this time Juan Lagares struck out to strand two runners to end the game.

The Mets begin a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night at 7:10 PM. Dillon Gee (2-4, 6.16) will be on the mound for the Mets, opposed by lefty Jeff Locke (3-1, 3.21).

Just call him Mr. Clutch or as our own Daniel Nelson likes to refer to him, “El Dramatico”. Yes, of course we’re talking about the incredible Jordany Valdespin who came off the bench once again and delivered another dramatic pinch-hit home run to help the Mets beat the Marlins 7-6 and salvage the final game of the series.

Valdespin continues to display an uncanny ability for rising to the occasion whenever the Mets need a big hit, and in the last two seasons, no player in baseball has delivered more pinch-hit home runs than El Dramatico.

His five pinch-hit homers last season set a franchise record, and only one month into the season he’s already launched his second big knock of the year.

The Mets were trailing by three when David Wright opened the sixth with a leadoff double. Marlon Byrd followed with an RBI single and after another Ike Davis single, Valdespin took reliever A.J. Ramos deep with three-run homer. It was incredible and even more so was watching Spin pumping his fist as he rounded the bases. It put the Mets up 5-4.

An inning later, the Mets would tack on two more runs thanks to a two-run double by John Buck who begins the month of May the much in the same way he ended April. Buck now leads the league with 27 RBI.

David Wright had a great game with a dazzling play at third base and he homered, singled, and doubled at the plate.

Dillon Gee started the game and delivered a very rocky performance in which he was tagged for four runs on nine hits and two walks. It could have been worse if not for some nifty plays in the field.

Things got dicey in the bottom of the seventh when Lucas Duda misplayed a fly ball by Justin Ruggiano off reliever Scott Atchison allowing two more Marlins run to score and make the score 7-6. But the bullpen held down the fort the rest of the way, and Bobby Parnell pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the victory and end the Mets’ six game losing streak. For Parnell it was his third save of the season.

This wasn’t a picture perfect win, but after a week of grim and disheartening losses, I’ll take it. After a day off on Thursday, the Mets will head to Atlanta to begin a weekend series with the Braves on Friday night at Turner Field. Shaun Marcum will make his second start of the season and will oppose the Braves’ Mike Minor at 7:05 pm.

 Starting Lineups

Game Notes

• The Mets’ losing streak has reached six games after the club failed to protect a one-run lead with three outs remaining for a second straight day at Marlins Park. It matches their longest losing streak of the 2012 season. They are now in fourth place in the NL East, just two games ahead of the last place Marlins.They are 1-6 in one-run decisions this season and have dropped five straight one-run games.
• Adam Rubin reports that Collins is giving serious consideration to getting Justin Turner into the lineup as an outfielder. Collins opted to leave Turner out of the lineup today rather than have his first taste of the outfield come in a spacious ballpark with tricky outfield walls. Wow… Looks like this might happen.
• Terry Collins is pissed. ”I’m pissed off. I’m extremely pissed off,” the Mets manager said after last night’s game. “They’re playing as hard as they can. Everyone’s is struggling with the way things are going. We have to fight through it. This is what the game is about. You have to act like a man, you have to act like a pro and get out here and get ready to play tomorrow.”
• Rubin also says that Collins may be toeing the party line when he said that he is pleased with the Mets’ approach at the plate, despite the recent futility. The Mets have scored three or fewer runs in eight of their past 12 games.

Game Preview

The Mets try to put this Marlins series out of its misery this afternoon as they play the get away game / salvage game today. Even though there was a terrible call last night at third base in 9th inning that cost Hefner his gem of a game, the real blame of the game falls on offense. The bats have fallen completely silent to the point that during this losing streak everyone in the lineup is under-performing. Here’s hoping last night was enough of a fire to spark this offense, which is as spark-able as wet wood right now. Dillon Gee gets the start today vs Wade LeBlanc.

Dillon Gee is 1-4 this season over 5 starts with a 5.96 ERA over 25.2 innings. He is starting to look like a better pitcher. He had a scoreless outing two starts ago and last time out he was cruising with the exception of one inning. He hasn’t faced the Marlins since 2011, back then he was 1-0 over 2 games while allowing 4 ER over 11.0 innings. The Marlins have the following numbers against Gee:

Polanco 2-12
Pierre 2-6
Dobbs 1-3, HR
Stanton 1-5, HR

Wade LeBlanc looks to keep the Mets bats depressed. On the season, Wade is 0-4 over 5 games with a 6.20 ERA over 24.2 innings of work. In his last three games, he’s allowed 13 ER over 13.2 innings. Last year he was pretty good against the Mets allowing 3 runs, 2 earned over 11 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Wade:

Wright 6-10, HR
Tejada 1-7
Murphy 4-8, HR
Davis 3-7, HR
Buck 0-3
Duda 2-3

Lets Go Mets! (Please, just win)

The only decent player on Miami’s roster is Giancarlo Stanton, of course, but even he has been on-and-off this season. He didn’t hit his first home run until his 18th game of the season two nights ago against the Cubs. He went on to hit two on Sunday, but his power numbers still have left much to be desired. His walk numbers and BABIP are at normal levels for Stanton, so perhaps it’s the shoulder contusion that Stanton suffered a few weeks ago which has been bringing down his production.

Overall, the Marlins are a team the Mets should handily beat. Although some cynics predicted the Mets to compete with the Marlins for last place, that seems unlikely with the way the Marlins have started the season. Hopefully the Mets will be able to use this series to get back on track.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey, RHP (35 IP, 233 ERA+, 3.90 K/BB) vs. Jose Fernandez, RHP (20 IP, 84 ERA+, 2.38 K/BB)

The Mets saw Fernandez make his big league debut against them on April 7, when he allowed one run on three hits in five innings while striking out eight. He has had one good start and two iffy ones since then. In his last start, which came against Minnesota, he gave up four runs on six hits in five innings. In his start before that, he gave up five earned in four innings against the Reds. One thing to take note of in game one of this series will be Fernandez’s pitch count. The Marlins have coddled him thus far, keeping him around 8- pitches in each of his starts.

Game 2: Jeremy Hefner, RHP (21 IP, 70 ERA+, 1.09 K/BB) vs. Kevin Slowey, RHP (29.2 IP, 155 ERA+, 3.50 K/BB)

After spending an injury-riddled 2012 season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate, the once top prospect Slowey got another shot with the Marlins. Slowey has been their best pitcher so far, putting up a team-best 2.43 ERA. It’s hard to say long-term whether Slowey can hold up, but he has been very good so far and keeping his walk numbers down, which he has always been known for. In his last start against the Cubs, Slowey gave up three runs in six innings while striking out six and not walking a batter.

Game 3: Dillon Gee, RHP (25.2 IP, 61 ERA+, 2.00 K/BB) vs. Wade LeBlanc, LHP (24.2 IP, 61 ERA+, 2.00 K/BB)

LeBlanc was traded to Miami for John Baker in November 2011 after four years with the Padres. LeBlanc spent last season as a starter and reliever for the Marlins, posting a 3.67 ERA in 25 games, nine of them starts. He hasn’t been as terrible as his numbers might say. His ERA is inflated from his April 15 start in which he let up seven runs in 3.2 innings against the Nationals. He has otherwise been decent. In his last start against Chicago, he gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings.

Series News & Notes

• Adeiny Hechavarria, who you might remember from the last series these two teams played, suffered a bruised elbow on April 16 and was placed on the disabled list the next day. Hechavattia went 4-for-10 in the last series against the Mets in early April.
• New York embarks on its second road trip of the year with three games in Miami and then three contests in Atlanta…The Mets will play 13 of their next 19 away from Citi Field…New York went 3-5 on its first road trip of the season…The Mets were 38-43 on the road in 2012.
• David Wright is tied for second in the majors with 19 walks and Lucas Duda is tied for fourth in the majors with 18…The Mets have drawn 87 walks, tied for the fifth-most in the majors.
• David Wright is day-to-day with a stiff neck. He will miss the first game of the series.
• The Mets have hit at least one home run in 17 of their 23 games and 25 on the year, tied for the sixth-most in the National League…The Mets have hit three grand slams to lead the majors.
• John Buck’s eight home runs tie him for the third-most by a Met during the month of April with Dave Kingman (1982), Jeff Kent (1994), Todd Hundley (1996) and Mike Piazza(2001)…Carlos Delgado (2006) and Dave Kingman (1976) hold the club record with nine home runs in the month of April.

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright is officially rolling, and despite the lack of production and support around him, he continues to produce and be the leader of this team. Wright batted .300/.400/.350, with six hits, a double, a sacrifice fly, five RBI, and a stolen base as he helped lead the Mets offensive attack last week.

Wright reached base in all six games the Mets played this past week, with six hits and four walks. Taking it a step further, the 30-year-old has reached base safely in 21 of the Mets 23 games this season.

Terry Collins shook up the lineup this week and moved Wright into the cleanup spot for a few games, before moving him back into the three-hole. The third baseman has not yet begun to show much in the way of power, having just two long balls on the season. However, he continues to hit and drive in runs seemingly on a nightly basis. To date, the Mets captain is batting .309/.436/.506, with two home runs, four doubles, three triples, and 19 RBI. He has an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 15:19, and has already swiped six bases.

Right now, Wright is doing the best he can with the pitches he is seeing. There is no real fear of any of the hitters behind him, so pitchers can be careful how they pitch him. They are fine with giving him a free pass, or having him slap a single to left or center. With John Buck cooling off a bit, and Lucas Duda and Ike Davis yet to provide the protection Wright needs, he will continue to see limited pitches that he can drive.

Honorable Mentions

Matt Harvey

Harvey had his worst start of the season, and it wasn’t even that bad. The big righty gave up three earned runs over six innings of work, while striking out seven. Harvey makes two starts this coming week, and if he keeps rolling like this, I will be hard pressed to not hand him his second MMO player of the week honor.

Ruben Tejada

The young shortstop began to pick things up with his bat this week. Tejada had a .300/.417/.450 slash, including three doubles, an RBI, and scored four runs. Tejada returned to the top of the order this week, which is where he spent almost all of last season. The move paid immediate dividends, as Tejada is currently riding a five game hitting streak, and seemed to return to his old self at the plate. Tejada is batting a measly .163 in the eighth spot in the order, while he is hitting a combined .341 when he bats first, second or seventh.

Jeremy Hefner

Hefner may not have many quality starts as the season goes along, but he pitched a gem in his last outing. Hefner went seven innings, gave up just three hits, one earned run, and struck out four batters. The righty did not receive the victory, and remains winless on the year. I hope that the 27-year-old has more starts like that to offer this season.

Jordany Valdespin

Valdespin has a flare for the dramatics, and his walk off grand slam was a great moment early in this season. Spin makes the honorable mention list mainly because the big hit, but aside from that, he did not do much else during the week. The 25-year-old batted just .167, with five RBI, a double, and the game winning grand salami against the Dodgers.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

1. David Wright – 2

2. John Buck - 1

2. Matt Harvey - 1

Starting Lineup

1. Mike Baxter RF
2. Ruben Tejada SS
3. Daniel Murphy 2B
4. David Wright 3B
5. Lucas Duda LF
6. John Buck C
7. Ike Davis 1B
8. Jordany Valdespin CF
9. Shaun Marcum RHP

Game Notes

• Josh Edgin, 26, was demoted to Double-A Binghamton to make room for today’s starter Shaun marcum. He has struggled this season with a 9.64 ERA and lefties were hitting .350 (7-for-20) against him.
• The Mets dropped below .500 for the first time this season with a 4-0 loss to the Phillies in Friday’s series opener. Dillon Gee matched zeroes with Kyle Kendrick until the sixth, when Gee surrendered a run-scoring single to Michael Young and a three-run homer to Ryan Howard.
• The new lineup had David Wright batting cleanup and Daniel Murphy batting third. It produced three hits against Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick. The Mets earned only one walk, failing to work the count against Kendrick as he breezed through a complete game.
• Daniel Murphy had his eight-game hitting streak snapped last night. Murphy is tied for eighth in the NL with seven doubles, is eighth with a .329 batting average and tied for seventh with 17 runs scored. Murphy has at least one hit in 15 of his last 18 contests, (.347, 25-72).
• Mets manager Terry Collins is concerned about Zack Wheeler‘s six-walk performance. “What worries me the most is that he’s not pounding the strike zone. We’ve got to have some strikes out of him because his stuff is going to play,” Collins said.

Game Preview

The Mets try to rebound after a subpar group of games today as they play the Phillies in game two of the series. Last night the Mets bats were shut down for the second day in a row as scoring was hard to come by. The team had an incredible streak of run scoring earlier in the season, so hopefully the can get it going against against Pettibone today.

The main headline for Mets today is the debut of Shawn Marcum. Marcum was 7-4 last year over 21 starts and 124.0 innings with a 3.70 ERA. Marcum hasn’t faced the Phillies since 2011. Back then he pitched 12.2 innings over two starts with a 3.55 ERA. Marcum’s velocity is down from last year but he’s a professional pitcher and I’m excited to watch him go to work today (and comparing him to a Laffey start makes Marcum relatively great). The Phillies have the following numbers against Marcum:

Young 4-16, 2 2B
Howard 4-8, 3 HR
Rollins 3-10
Utley 3-7, HR

The Mets bats draw Jonathan Pettibone making his second career start. In his Major League debut he went 5.1 innings allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs against the Pirates. During that start he didn’t walk a batter and struck out 6. He had a good year in the minors last year pitching nearly 160 innings with a 3.10 ERA. This year he struggled in his two starts allowing 10 earned runs, 12 total in 9.1 innings. I’m curious to see what the Mets do against him today.

Lets go Mets!

The New York Mets were shutout by the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 tonight at Citi Field. Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick hurled a complete game gem, limiting the revamped Mets lineup to just three hits and a walk.

For the Mets, Dillon Gee was matching zeroes with Kendrick for five innings and actually did a nice job of keeping the Phillies off the board until the dreaded sixth inning when it all fell apart for him. Gee was torched for four runs with the big blast coming off the bat of Ryan Howard who rocketed a three-run homer into the night. Howard owns Gee who now falls to 1-4 on the season with a 5.96 ERA.

The bullpen delivered three scoreless innings, two from Jeurys Familia and a surprisingly clean 1-2-3- ninth from Josh Edgin which was very good to see.

Offensively for the Mets? There was none. Ironically, Terry Collins juggled the lineup before the game and batted David Wright clean-up believing it would lead to more runs. (Hey Terry, your team is already ranked number one in the NL in runs per game.)

But there was no beating Kendrick on this night. The Mets flailed at his pitches and were completely powerless against him.

The Mets (10-11) now fall one game under .500 for the first time this season. Tomorrow, Shaun Marcum will be activated from the DL and make his Mets debut.

Have at it…

Hefner gave the Mets seven solid innings on the mound, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks while striking out three. He didn’t figure into the decision and left with the game knotted at 1-1. The Mets scored their first run on a sac-fly by David Wright in the sixth.

Andre Ethier broke the tie with an RBI single off Scott Rice in the ninth to give the Dodgers the lead and would be charged with another run when Juan Uribe drove in what would prove to be a valuable insurance run on an infield hit off Bobby Parnell.

Ike Davis made things a little interesting when he led off the ninth with a homer to pull the Mets within one, but the team went down quietly after that, losing the game and also suffering their first series loss at home this season.

Like yesterday, the Mets had many opportunities, but went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. In a one-run game, that’s never good.

The Phillies come into town for a weekend series beginning on Friday night at 7:10 PM, when Dillon Gee (1-3, 5.95 ERA) opposes right-hander Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 3.28) for Philadelphia.

Zack Wheeler

Wheeler, the Mets’ top pitching prospect, is currently at Triple-A Las Vegas as he continues to work on control issues before he gets that anticipated call to join the Mets.

Although most knew he was headed for the minors to start the season until his arbitration date passed (April 21, I believe), now many people expect it to be much longer because of the number of pitches he has thrown in games and the amount of walks he has issued.

I don’t care. It’s time for Zack Wheeler to join the Mets.

Why? It’s simple.

The back of the Mets’ rotation is not pretty. Yes, Shaun Marcum is set to make his Mets debut on Saturday, but who knows how that’s going to go? I expect him to be a strong mid-rotation starter, but there are no guarantees, especially with how many injuries he has had over the last two months.

Jeremy Hefner seems like a great teammate, but I don’t think he should be starting once every fifth day.

As for Dillon Gee, I’m still willing to give him some time. He continues to work back from a pretty serious injury that ended his season last year, and I expect him to put things together and be a solid No. 5 starter.

So, why Wheeler? Why now?

Well, as we all know, Matt Harvey has been ace-like through his first four starts, and I expect that trend to continue when he makes his fifth start tonight. But his Triple-A numbers weren’t all that off from what Wheeler has posted.

Let’s take a look …

In 2012, Harvey went 7-5 with a 3.68 ERA. In 110 innings, he issued 48 walks and tallied 112 strikeouts. His WHIP was 1.318.

In 10 Triple-A starts, Wheeler is 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA. In 51.1 innings, he issued 28 walks and tallied 52 strikeouts. His whip is 1.383.

So, in exactly half of the Triple-A starts as Harvey, Wheeler has very similar numbers (except for the win-loss record). It’s also very different pitching in Las Vegas than it is in Buffalo.

Yes, Wheeler probably has issued more walks than the Mets front office would like to see, but he was also battling a pretty bad blister on his pitching hand.

Harvey and Wheeler — statistically — are very similar.

Harvey is a gamer. He’s gritty, and he wants to win. You can see it on his face when he’s on the mound. I think Wheeler is the same way.

The other day, Wheeler posted the following on Twitter:

“Snowed out two days in a row here in Colorado. Heading back to Vegas tomorrow. About to turn this funk around and show out.”

If Wheeler got called up, I think he would get it figured out. After all, he is a top prospect for a reason.

And wouldn’t you rather see Wheeler get experience and figure things out at the big-league level than watch someone like Hefner or Aaron Laffey get rolled when they start?

I’m tired of hearing about how he’ll adjust if he gets lashed in an outing. He’s a competitor; he’ll be fine.

Wheeler is ready. And it’s time to unleash him.

Thoughts from Joe D.

This is what I love most about Metsmerized Online… The fact that we can express opposing viewpoints in the most civil and engaging ways. After a post by me suggesting the exact opposite view this morning. my friend Andrew espouses an opposing view and yet both posts have their merits. Now if only the commenting community can be as engaging and civil.

Baseball is such a great sport. There is something for everyone, offense, defense, strategy, statistics, history and pitching. I’ll take a well pitched game over a slugfest any day. When you look at the Washington Nationals starting rotation, you just got to love what you see: Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez (one of my favorites), Jordan Zimmermann, and Dan Haren. This is a team with the potential go on a super long winning streak. Looking at this series, we knew Friday night’s Stephen Strasburg vs. Matt Harvey game was going to memorable, then looking at Saturday & Sunday, the Nats had the edge in the pitching match-up. But the Mets were better, taking two of three which is why you have to play the games. Nobody ever wins anything on paper. Here are the 3 & 3 from the series.

Matt-tastic: On Friday night Matt Harvey was yet again spot on, raising his record to 4-0. Harvey gave up one run, and struck out seven, in 7.0 innings of work, besting Stephen Strasburg. The atmosphere at Citi Field was electric on Friday with the fans chanting “Harvey’s Better!” You got to love it. I said it before and it bears repeating – Matt Harvey’s starts are Must See TV.

Duda & Davis Duplicate Dingers: Lucas Duda and Ike Davis both went yard in Friday night’s win not once, but twice! It makes you want to dream about how awesome life would be if they just did that on a more regular basis. Especially Davis who is still struggling and whiffed three times the very next day.

Gee Gets An “A”: In the last 3&3 we got on Dillon Gee, so we’re more than happy to bump him up here, for his great start on Sunday afternoon. When the Mets needed a guy step up, Dillon did just that, tossing 5.2 shutout innings in the Mets 2-0 win over the Nats. Keep up the good work Dillon.

Another Laff-able Outing: Aaron Laffey, we hardly knew ye  After blowing the Mets lead on Saturday afternoon after coming out of the bullpen, the Mets finally had enough of Laffey and designated him for assignment. The Mets recalled Robert Carson to replace him and we hope he proves to be an upgrade. As we mentioned last time out, Laffey has looked overmatched during his short tenure with the Mets. Good luck to him.

No Washington Leadership: Not our elected officials, but on the field for the Nats. Watching Gio Gonzalez struggle Saturday afternoon, I kept waiting for one of the infielders to talk to him, and try to calm him down. It didn’t happen. The great 1986 team that Davey Johnson managed had two on-field leaders with Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter. In recent times we’ve seen David Wright go to the mound and get on big Mike Pelfrey and even Jon Niese. I just don’t understand why Adam LaRoche didn’t try to break the funk Gonzales was in. It worked out great for the Mets though.

Dodger Danger: A struggling L.A. Dodger team comes into Citi Field this week. It seems to me that struggling teams get healthy fast against the Mets. Let’s hope that’s not the case this time. Here’s to seeing the Mets kick the Dodgers while they are down.

It was a great weekend series for the Mets, taking two of three, especially after being swept in Denver. Until next time, Lets Go Mets!!!

It is a baseball fundamental understood by everybody, with the exception of those insisting the Mets bring up Zack Wheeler, who walked six hitters in his last start.

The clamoring is getting louder in the wake of the Mets’ continued problems with the back end of their rotation. Maybe Dillon Gee, he of the 0-3 record and 8.36 ERA, will get it going Sunday against Washington. But, also struggling are Jeremy Hefner and Aaron Laffey, both of whom were hit hard Saturday by the Nationals.David Wright was correct in saying if the Mets score five runs off Gio Gonzalez they should win, but the combined efforts of Hefner and Laffey made that impossible. Hefner has given up seven homers in 14 innings, with two of them coming Saturday. Laffey gave up three runs in 2/3 of an inning out of the bullpen.

The Mets are hoping for Shaun Marcum’s return, or could give Triple-A starter Collin McHugh a spot start because it won’t, and shouldn’t, go to Wheeler.

The six walks Wheeler gave up trump any radio host’s rant of, “I want to see what he can do.’’ Well, we know what he can do, and that’s walk hitters and get shelled. Hey, the Mets are getting that now.

Do they really need to see one of their prized prospects get routed up here? The Mets took their time with Matt Harvey and should do the same with Wheeler.

And, let’s hear no more about the Mets being cheap because they want to keep him away from the free-agent market another year. That is not the issue. Wheeler is simply not ready for the major leagues, a fact Collins reiterated Saturday.

“That’s a red flag and I don’t want to see walks from those guys,’’ Collins said. “I told Zack in spring training, you’re going to pitch in a tough place [the Pacific Coast League] and I was in that league for 12 years, I know how hard that league is to pitch in.’’

Collins said he would talk to Las Vegas manager Wally Backman about Wheeler. There are times statistics aren’t defining in evaluating performances in the minor leagues. Walks, however, are telling on any level. Overall, in four starts, Wheeler has walked 12 in 18.1 innings. On top of that, he’s given up 20 hits.

“Ten hits, I can understand,’’ Collins said. “But six walks, he’s better than that.’’

He needs to show it.

The New York Mets (9-8) bounced back from a disappointing 7-6 loss to the Washington Nationals on Saturday, and took the series with a convincing 2-0 win this afternoon at Citi Field. The team is once again, a game over .500 for the year.

Dillon Gee bounced back from a couple of brutal starts and tossed 5.2 innings, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out six. All three walks came in the sixth inning, when Terry Collins called for LaTroy Hawkins to come in and get the last out of the inning.

This was by no means a dominating start for Gee, but it was certainly an improvement and a step in the right direction. One thing Gee did well was use his changeup very effectively, and he definitely had it working today. We’ll need to see more efforts like this from Gee before we can sit back and relax. I like Gee, but to me he is a solid number five pitcher who the Mets have slotted in the three slot.

The Mets got on the board in the second inning thanks to a 450 foot blast by John Buck of Nats starter Jordan Zimmermann. The Mets catcher launched a solo shot into the second deck in left field, otherwise known as “no-man’s-land” – or as Gary Cohen called it, “Bryce Harper Territory.”

Mike Baxter plated the second run when he lifted one to center field to score David Wright on the sac-fly in the fourth.

A day after publishing my post calling for the promotion of Collin McHugh to the Mets (which you can read below), I took some flack the following day when he had a less than stellar outing for Triple-A Las Vegas against Colorado Springs.

Original Post 4/21

Laffey or McHugh? Laffey or McHugh? Laffey or McHugh? Remember when I wrote that as a caption to the picture on the left back in March?

When you scan the organizational leaders in pitching only two names predominantly appear across every major statistical category; Rafael Montero, who has been chronicled very heavily here on MMO, and then there is Collin McHugh.

Despite pitching under the same exact conditions as Zack Wheeler for Triple-A Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League, Terry Collins need not make any excuses for McHugh as he did for Wheeler yesterday:

“Wheeler’s got good enough stuff. If he pounds the zone, he’ll get people out. All the walks…That’s a red flag. I don’t want to see walks from those guys. I told Zack in the spring, ‘ You’re going to pitch in a tough place.’ I was in that league for 12 years. I know how hard [it] is to pitch in, but good pitchers have done well because they threw strikes. I’d rather see 10 hits — that I can understand. But six walks, he’s better than that.’

Wheeler’s 4.93 ERA is more of an indication of his lack of readiness than the result of pitching in the PCL. His 1.71 WHIP shows a big problem and the league is batting .287 against him. He’s not just walking a lot of batters, he’s allowing far too many hits and far too many runs to cross the plate.

Meanwhile, his teammate Collin McHugh goes out every fifth day in the same park and facing the same exact conditions, but leads the league with an 0.51 ERA. McHugh is holding batters to a .217 average to lead the team, and his 1.06 WHIP also leads the 51s.

I noticed that this morning, the folks at CaptainObvious.com are now talking about McHugh, only two and a half weeks after I first said McHugh should have been the fifth starter all along and not Aaron Laffey. I’ve called for his promotion five times in the last week and a half alone. Welcome to the party guys, better late than never.

In a perfect world, McHugh should have been in the Mets rotation all along had the Mets gone with my pre-season projections. I also had Cory Mazzoni in the Vegas rotation, and Jake deGrom at Binghamton. None of that happened, but it’s all starting to come into play now. Things are slowly falling into place.

As I’ve maintained all along, everything we saw from covering Wheeler extensively while at Mets spring camp to covering two of his first four starts in Vegas all pointed to the same conclusion. It disputed everything the scouts were saying, but we saw a pitcher who is not major league ready.

What we saw was a great fastball with 98 mph velocity and late movement. We saw two great secondary offerings that we also considered plus pitches. We saw a changeup that was average, but with three plus pitches it didn’t really matter. This kid has some great stuff – a truly amazing collection of plus-plus pitches.

What we didn’t see was a confident demeanor on the mound. What we didn’t see was the ability to bear down with runners on base. What we didn’t see was an ability to throw any of his pitches with some semblance of command. There wasn’t even a hint of it. I would go as far as saying that Wheeler has no clue as to where the ball will go once it leaves his grip. None.

Our conclusion, or I should say my conclusion, as not all MMO Minor League analysts share my opinion, is that Wheeler is still a raw talent who still needs a lot of work and refinement. I feel that he would likely benefit from a full season in Triple-A. I get the feeling that Sandy Alderson feels the same exact way based on what he’s said publicly and privately.

Enter Collin McHugh.

This talented right-hander is everything that Wheeler is not. First and foremost he has that bulldog mentality we already see in Matt Harvey. Confidence is the biggest difference between Harvey and Wheeler. Harvey has always shown it at every level, while Wheeler has not.

McHugh doesn’t have any one pitch that can even compare with Wheeler, but he’s no slouch and has two plus pitches of his own. Both his four-seamer and two-seamer average about 90-93 mph in velocity range. However, it’s the two-seamer that is by far his most effective fastball due to it’s great deceptive late sink and we’re talking about almost a one foot drop. (Not kidding) Not only does he miss a lot of bats with the two-seamer, but even when they make contact, it’s usually a grounder.

His slider is effective against righthanded hitters, but his best pitch of all is his 12-6 curveball. That’s his weapon of mass destruction. It’s tough to hit and comes in looking like his heater.

What’s most important to note here, is that unlike Wheeler, McHugh can command each of his pitches with surgical precision. He’s not afraid to challenge hitters when he has to, and he usually wins those battles. He is a control artist and has a superb 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. This is what the Mets need most in their rotation right now; someone who is not afraid to pitch to contact and can pound the strike zone. McHugh should be able to fill that role quite nicely.

As for Jeremy Hefner, well, he’s been a disappointment. I had high hopes for him and often called him a sleeper this past offseason. The fact is that he simply does not measure up and even for the backend of a poor rotation as the Mets have, he offers very little value. It appears I may have misjudged what he can bring to the table.

But right now it’s time for the Mets to right a wrong and give McHugh the rotation spot he should have gotten in the first place. Aaron Laffey has already been designated for assignment to make room for Robert Carson. Shaun Marcum will be activated next week and presumably make his first start of the season.

I’m saying let’s go full tilt and start the next series with a rotation of Matt Harvey, Jon Niese, Shaun Marcum, Dillon Gee and Collin McHugh.

The Mets are 1-7 when the backend of our rotation starts, and 7-1 when Harvey and Niese start. We need to change that 1-7 record and Marcum alone won’t do that.

We need McHugh to be a part of the equation and solution.

After Matt Harvey and Rafael Montero, McHugh has been the most effective starting pitcher in the entire Mets organization.

A plane ticket from Vegas to LaGuardia is only $153. Let’s do this thing.