It has since become known as the “Marshmallow Experiment.” In 1960, Stamford Professor Walter Mischel, wanted to find out whether delayed gratification, having to wait before attaining a satisfying outcome, was healthy for people. Mischel devised a study to find out.

Mischel brought together a group of young children in a test study. Each child was taken into a room where they were presented with a marshmallow. The youngsters were told they could eat the marshmallow whenever they wanted. They were also told if they waited without eating the marshmallow they would be rewarded with a second marshmallow treat.

Mischel left the room and didn’t return for 15 minutes. The children were taped. Some gobbled their marshmallow almost before Mischel could get out the door. Others waiting in agony fighting off the temptation to consume their prize wanting a second marshmallow.

In a testimony to his ability to delay gratification, Mischel, studied the youngsters for years after the experiment recording data about different facets of their lives. The results were astonishing. In almost every category, the youngsters who were capable of delaying the need to instantly consume their marshmallow outperformed those who could not. Those who showed an early ability to delay gratification had fewer behavior problems, lower stress, developed stronger friendships and social networks, and performed better academically, including SAT results.

Yale researches have also studied the topic concluding that people demonstrating delayed gratification provided more stimulation to a particular part of the brain. The Yale researchers proved a link between intelligence and delayed gratification and self-control.

This should be great news for Mets fans. Over the last three seasons, Met fans have received a more than healthy opportunity to test our delayed gratification capabilities. For many of us, that means around the corner, sometime in the future when the Mets return to respectability, we should have less of a likelihood to get into trouble, experience less stress, stop whining and complaining and maintain more friends, and, by heavens, we’re already smarter.

In his Sunday “Shooting from the LIP” column, New York Daily News sportswriter Mike Lupica signaled the days of delayed gratification for Met fans could soon be over. Lupica claims the reality for Met fans is that a three-year Sandy Alderson Cleanup, like the end of the cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico after BP, is ending. I like Lupica’s analogy but advise caution. The negative effects of the BP spill are still being felt in the Gulf.

Not to be outdone, Mark Hale of the New York Post wrote that Alderson, when meeting with season’s ticket holders, had unveiled a six-month plan. Alderson’s message to Met fans: the team will soon be adding substantial pieces to the roster and the need for patience (delayed gratification) is almost over. “I believe in the next six months or so, we’ll be in the position to make some significant acquisitions, either by free agency or trade,” Sandy told the big spending Met faithful.

There has been a lot of discussion over the last six months about Sandy Alderson’s plan to bring the Mets back to baseball respectability. I’ve always believe the Met General Manager has had a plan and that the plan would someday prove positive. I still maintain the faith.

Having said that I wish Sandy would use concise and exact language to outline the key points of his plan for Met fans. I think in some ways his meeting with the season ticket holders was a start. Still, I’m looking for an Improvement Plan Brief sent directly to fans, maybe through MetsMerized. It might be a four-point plan, a five-point plan, whatever, with each point explained simply, perhaps like this.

The Sandy Alderson Improvement Plan

Point 1 – Revamp and improve the minor league system.

Point 2 – Use the draft and an upgrade scouting and player development system to stockpile young talent, especially strong pitching arms, to build a infrastructure for future success.

Point 3 – Cleanup the roster bringing salary spending within affordable parameters while shedding unproductive salary costs.

Point 4 – Evaluate current roster and minor league prospects closest to playing in Flushing to determine the viability of a future role with the organization.

Point 5 – Strategically add substantial pieces to the roster to fill greatest priority needs.

A clear and precise list of points or indicators making up the foundation of the plan could then be evaluated more fairly. Has Alderson revamped the Mets minor league system? That would be a point of fair debate. I believe the answer is an overwhelming yes, and I feel there is good evidence to support that claim. The fact the Met minor league teams have winning records at every level this season might be one indicator. Minor league evaluations by different baseball research groups showing huge leaps in progress for the Met minor leagues might be another.

The same process can be used to evaluate each point of Alderson’s plan. Remember, this is MY summary of the points I believe are included in the Met Improvement Plan. I’m wishing the Mets would provide fans specified points and their own evaluation.

By the way, point five of my example, adding substantial roster pieces through trade or free agency was recently marketed by Sandy as something new that will occur over the next six months. For the past two years, I’ve considered it part of the plan. It only makes sense that when the Santana and Bay salary commitments concluded a cash strapped franchise desperately needing roster upgrades will seek trades and free agent acquisitions at strategic positions to improve baseball results.

The tough pill to swallow is the enormity of that task. At the conclusion of last season you could make a decent argument that Ruben Tejada, Ike Davis, and maybe Lucas Duda could be seriously considered as future roster pieces. At the moment, those assumptions would seriously challenged.

Forged and fortified by years of delayed gratification and bolstered by an Improvement Plan, Met fans are ready to rock. Even though we don’t feel smarter, are certainly not less stressed, and might be having trouble maintaining friendships, our patience is wearing thin. Come on, Front Office, how about specifying your Improvement Plan with some simple clarifying points we could then evaluate, up or down, and gauge the progress you’re making and the likelihood the Mets could be winning at least half their games next season.

The Ike Davis saga lasted about a month and a half too long and the team paid the price with a dead out in the heart of their lineup for the first-third of the season.

On Tuesday, Terry Collins announced that he would go with a six-man rotation. At least for now, it buys him a week or two to decide who between Jeremy Hefner, Shaun Marcum and Dillon Gee will go to the bullpen to make room for Zack Wheeler in the rotation.

More indecision to be sure, but this time I can hardly blame the team for buying themselves some additional time. Lets examine all three…

With $4 million worth of bonus escalator clauses built into his contract, mostly based on innings pitched, you can bet the MLBPA would raise a stink if they try sending Marcum to the bullpen. Even though he delivered one of the best relief outings in franchise history during the 20-inning loss to the Marlins, his spot in the rotation is pretty secure whether that stature is deserved or not. He has been wildly inconsistent and in his last six appearances dating back to May 10, he has allowed 6, 2, 4, 2, 4, 1 earned runs. His 4.95 ERA reflects just how inconsistent he has been, and for a pitcher who initially presented as a No. 2 type starter, he’s been more of a No. 5 starter on a bad team and has the highest ERA among all Mets starters.

Then you have the good yet underrated Hefner. Nobody expected much from Hefner and saw him mostly as place holder for Zack Wheeler. But of the three pitchers on the line he has been the most consistent by far.  It’s hard not to root for the Moore, OK native who is sitting atop a 1-6 record, with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He’s currently riding a streak of four quality starts in a row, allowing just seven earned runs in his last 25 innings pitched while striking out 21 and walking four. What’s not to like? Like Matt Harvey, Hefner has been victimized by some bad Mets defense and lack of run support. He could easily be 7-2 for the year.

That brings us to Dillon Gee, fresh off a gem that saw him go 6.2 innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out seven. Gee has finally begun to make some strides after a horrid start to his season. In his first 10 starts, Gee posted a 6.34 ERA with an MLB high .909 OPS allowed. For the year, Gee has posted a 5-6 record with a 4.84 ERA, 1.53 WHIP in 70.2 innings while walking 20 and striking out 63. However, after his last start, manager Terry Collins revealed that Gee has been battling tendinitis in his right elbow and in fact was almost going to be scratched from his last start.

As I said, I don’t believe there’s any chance that Marcum gets pulled from the rotation so it basically comes down to Gee and Hefner. If you want to base it on merit or 2013 results, then Hefner is your man. If you want to base it on seniority and past results, then you go with Gee.

Personally, in a season that has spiraled out of control for the Mets, I would like to see them get into the habit of rewarding players who perform the best and keep Hefner in the rotation. It might not be a bad precedent to set.

Plus, we already know what we have in Gee. I’d like to see more of Hefner and find out what we have in him before shuffling him off to the side. What do you think?

Usually at this time, the team is at least still somewhat relevant and playing somewhat exciting baseball.

But not this year.

Sure, there are some good things to look forward to with the big-league club, especially the much-anticipated debut of Zack Wheeler on Tuesday.

However, later on in the day Tuesday, the Mets’ short-season Single-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones, will open their 13th season in Coney Island.

I have been tabbed the Cyclones’ beat reporter for Mets Merized Online, and I’m excited for this opportunity to get to know the prospects who are way down on the farm.

Many of these guys are right out of high school and college and have a long road ahead of them. But they surely will be showing up each night with enthusiasm as they begin their baseball careers.

Just look at the Mets’ roster right now. Daniel Murphy, Bobby Parnell, Lucas Duda, Dillon Gee, Josh Satin, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jordany Valdespin and Juan Lagares all were Brooklyn Cyclones. Not to mention some first baseman in the Mets’ farm system named Ike Davis.

I will be covering the majority of the home games this summer and will try to provide brief updates on road games. I will have player insights, and maybe I will try to develop a weekly spot with manager Rich Donnelly – a coach who has seen it all in his experience with baseball.

I’m always open to suggestions about my coverage. Got a question for a prospect? Got a story idea? I’d love to hear about it. I will be checking the comments section of my stories frequently, so drop me a note and I’ll take care of the rest.

I hope you enjoy the coverage of the future Mets. It’s certainly a luxury to have a minor-league affiliate so close to the parent club.

And MCU Park is truly a great venue to watch a ballgame. After Hurricane Sandy, the Cyclones ripped up the damaged grass field and installed a beautiful FieldTurf surface. It will be interesting to see how this affects the game.

I’ll be bringing you all that and more this summer. Thank you in advance for following the Cyclones!

The Mets have assured Terry Collins that his job is not in danger and his future with the team will be discussed when his contract expires at the end of this season, two sources told Newsday.

Not only is Collins safe, there have been no conversations about Wally Backman as a potential replacement, either for this year or beyond. In fact, Backman’s bold guarantees this week about fixing Ike Davis have rubbed some in the organization the wrong way after so much time and effort trying to help Davis at the major-league level.

When asked about the possibility of Backman eventually taking over for Collins, one person familiar with the situation replied, “There’s zero chance of that happening. Zero.”

That’s pretty funny… Before even reading this report from David Lennon, I was asked my opinion by several friends and I even got a call from my long lost cousin who I haven’t spoke to in 3-4 months. “Did you hear Backman on WFAN,” he asked. “It sounds like he’s going to be the next Mets manager”.

He and the others were excited about that, but I on the other hand knew better.

“There is no chance in hell that someone like Sandy Alderson would ever hand his team over to the likes of Wally Backman.”

That was my response to them.

I love Wally… I  mean what Met fan doesn’t? I get the emotional ties that many fans have with Wally and I completely understand the fascination. In the past 15 months alone we’ve interviewed him exclusively three times – twice while chilling out with him in his office before a game. He’s a likable guy… the kind of guy you want to hang out with, have a few beers, and just talk baseball. And boy, can Wally talk baseball… His players would go through a wall for him…

But then you have Sandy Alderson…

You have his clean cut approach to things…

Sandy loves things to be perfectly organized with everything in its proper place. The people he chooses all need to fit into his master plan. Alderson is the most methodical general manager this franchise has ever had. He overthinks everything… sometimes to a fault.

The bottom line? Backman just doesn’t fit into Sandy Alderson’s grand scheme of things.

Collins on the other hand is perfect… To Sandy, Collins is just right…

Terry Collins projects the image that Sandy wants his team to project. Collins is the good soldier who always follows orders and there’s no chance that he would ever embarrass the front office or the organization. He’s always well spoken and professional… He takes the rotten hand he’s been dealt and never complains about it… He has David Wright in his corner…

Before Wally Backman’s interview on WFAN, there was another interview. And in that interview the man who will make the final decision gave Collins a ringing endorsement that the manager job is his until the end of this season. He also left listeners with the strong possibility that he’ll get a new deal to stay on as manager of the Mets.

“Don’t blame any of this on Terry. This is not a Terry issue, it’s a player issue and that’s on me. Terry is doing a heck of a job.”

Trust me… Terry’s not going anywhere.

As for Backman?

If he is ever going to be a major league manager, it will not be with the Mets. He probably deserves a shot somewhere, but as long as Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi are running this ship, the likelihood that Backman will one day manage this team range from slim to none.

That’s not a knock on Wally… That’s just the reality of the situation…

It’s a shame because there really isn’t anything positive to write about this team these days. Even during our most downtrodden times we’ve been able to find that silver lining that offers us a bit of hope. That silver lining has faded into the ether for most of us. It definitely has for me.

I give the bloggers here and on other sites so much credit for trying to find that fresh, inventive angle when writing about the Mets. I still don’t know how we haven’t stuck our collective heads in our electric ovens is beyond me. Yet, we carry on.

I do feel bad for Ike, who wouldn’t? I’m sure he’s had everyone give him their two-cents about fixing him going on two years now. At some point, unless there’s a physical problem, you can only walk away with two possible reasons for Ike’s downfall. Either he’s not focusing enough and taking direction well or and I hate to say it, maybe he’s just not that good.

Sure the guy can hit a ball 500 feet but, so could Rob Deer. So could Steve Balboni. So could Butch Huskey. Remember his illustrious Met career? I think we’ve allowed our own hopes and aspirations of Ike to cloud the reality of his situation. We’ve replaced the actual, unfortunate and ugly truth with our hopes and dreams of the player Ike should be.

Some have said that if Ike could just hit .220 with 30 to 40 homeruns and 100 RBI with 100 walks then so what if he strikes out 200 times. He’d be a clone of Adam Dunn and at this point, I’d take it now and twice on Sunday. But unfortunately he’s not even a bad Adam Dunn; he’s a bad version of the bad Adam Dunn. But at least Ike can field. Yeah I wanted to inject something positive about him but I couldn’t do it with an honest key stroke.

So here we are, two years into this and it now falls on Wally Backman’s shoulders to fix Ike and to return him (or with him?) to his proper self, hopefully later this year in Flushing. It’s sort of fitting that it all comes down to Backman.

While Alderson has publicly said that Terry Collins and his staff are safe, he didn’t go so far as to offer any of them contract extensions – not that any of them have been all that deserving. You can bet Wally is keenly aware of it all.

Backman has gone on record saying he knows what Ike’s doing wrong and that it’s just a few but apparently simple fixes. I’m not sure what he sees’s that Collins and his staff haven’t but at this point, do I care? Do you? I just want Ike back on track.

Hopefully all he needs is to get his mechanics and his mind right but unfortunately for Ike, history and plain and simple odds are against him. Here’s hoping the anachronistic Ike Davis can do what so many have tried and failed in Las Vegas and beat the house.

Two years ago, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be typing the first six words of this post, but it’s true. Daniel Murphy has proven himself as a formidable second baseman in 2013, and jerking him around the diamond is not going to do him or the Mets any favors.

The 28-year old Jacksonville-native has had a remarkable year on both sides of the diamond this season, most impressively in the progression of his fielding. Coming off a season in which he was an eye sore at second in 2012 and looked very inexperienced, Murphy has busted out this season to emerge as one of the better defensive second baseman in the National League. Murphy has had improved range, better footwork and has just looked more like a middle infielder, not to mention he leads all NL second baseman with 42 double plays turned.

There is no doubt that Murphy’s advancements at second are a direct result of his getting consistent time there to learn the ins and outs of the position. When I spoke with Murphy last month, he confirmed this.

“Having more time there has made me become more consistent, more comfortable, and has given me a better understanding of how to position myself and how much time I have,” said Murphy.

Now that he is finally settled into his new home on the diamond, Terry Collins has opted to throw a monkey wrench into that plan and send Murphy over to first with the demotion of Ike Davis and stick Jordany Valdespin at second when facing right-handed pitching.

I understand wanting to get the best righty/lefty matchups and I especially would like to see Valdespin get some consistent at-bats, but not only is it not fair to Murphy to unroot him from the position he has taken the better part of three season to learn, but it also isn’t right to have Josh Satin ride the pine until a southpaw comes along after he has worked so hard all year in Triple-A Las Vegas.

They cannot do to Satin what they did to Lagares and have him rot in the dugout. They called him up, he should be getting regular at-bats.

I get that Collins wants to get a good look at what their young guys can do now that the white flag has been all but waved, however Murphy is presumably the Mets second baseman of the future, not Valdespin. Valdespin’s future in orange and blue is in the outfield.

Murphy along with David Wright have been the primary offensive producers this year in 2013, and disrupting Murph’s defensive groove could potentially also affect his bat, which the Mets cannot afford to happen if they have any hope of finishing above the Marlins.

The Mets have spent three years making Daniel Murphy a second baseman, now keep him there. 

Poor Ike Davis…  He gets demoted to Triple-A, deservedly so, and leaves for Las Vegas without commenting on his feelings or the matter. The obviously crushed first baseman kept his head down after the game on Sunday as he emptied his locker, packed his bags and headed for the airport.

SNY sent their Baseball Insider Andy Martino to Vegas and asked Davis what was going through his mind after a couple of days to let the reality of the situation sink in.

“It’s not a good feeling. I was a little down, for sure,” he said. “You’re getting fired or demoted. In a normal job, that’s what happens, but you’ve got to brush yourself off and go back to where you should be. You don’t ever want to come back to the minor leagues after playing in the big leagues for three straight years.”

Ike Davis is now where he belongs. I wish they had done this in April when I first pointed out his slump would continue because his swing was out of whack. This wasn’t a problem of not making contact as much as it was a swing that that was in need of an overhaul. Anyway, better late than never…

The good news is that manager Wally Backman is determined to get Davis back on track and the Met first baseman has put his hurt feelings and bruised ego aside and is prepared to let Wally help him. The goal is to bring back the Ike Davis who thrilled fans from 2010 until Ankle-Gate in 2011.

When asked if the Mets gave him any type of timetable for a return, Davis responded:

“I’ve proven that I can get hot in a couple of months and totally turn things around,” Davis said. “Hopefully, if I rake, I’ll be back soon, but they didn’t have a date or anything.”

It’s hard not to like Ike… He’s the ultimate competitor and we all know what a positive presence he was in the clubhouse from day one. He fit right in from the start.

I’m confident that Davis will be back and that Backman will have him performing better than ever. You couldn’t have a better qualified person than Wally to get Davis through this. He’ll keep his new first baseman motivated and focused as he begins the task of getting him to play and enjoy the game the way he used to.

Davis will have plenty of time to make adjustments without having to worry about the boo-birds haunting him if he strikes out. The atmosphere will be relaxed now that he’s away from the pressure cooker at Citi Field. He’s gonna be just fine…

Get back soon, Ike…

Original Post 6/11

Anthony Rieber of Newsday, spoke to Las Vegas manager Wally Backman who has been charged, along with hitting coach George Greer, with fixing Ike Davis beginning today.

“It may be two weeks. It could be a month. I don’t know,” Backman said regarding the length of Davis’ demotion. “He’s coming here for us to fix him, and we’re going try to fix him. I think there’s a lot more mental than there is physical. When I sit him down and talk to him, we’re going to try to attack that. Try to clear his head from everything. He was getting, from what I heard, lots of different people giving him a lot of different information. So basically, mentally, he’s totally messed up.”

Backman said that he’s already “watched hours and hours of tape” on Davis and that his swing now is so completely different from when he first arrived to the big leagues.

“He’s made so many changes. I think personally it’s been too many changes. Try to get him back to what he did to get to the big leagues. We’re going to work with him on a daily basis. It’s going to be one-on-one work with me, him and George. Nobody else is out there. We’re going to let him really try to figure it out.”

Greer, who coached Davis in the minors, told Rieber that they will be going back to square one with the former Mets first baseman.

“We’re just going to go from ground zero. He’ll tell me how he feels, and I’ll tell him what I see, and because we have worked together in the past, we’ll come hopefully to a happy medium where he can start feeling good about himself.”

One thing to consider is that Davis, who is now earning $3.125 million, could become a non-tender candidate for the Mets after this season. Especially if he doesn’t get himself sorted out. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.

I think all of us knew the 2013 Mets were not a playoff caliber baseball team. However I was also of the belief that although the Mets were not postseason ready, they would at least be competitive. Boy was I wrong. Here we are a week before Father’s Day, and we find the Mets in total disarray. In fact the Mets have not been relevant since Mother’s Day. So today we present a 3&3 featuring the top three Surprises (players meeting expectations), and the top three disappointments.

Masterful Matt: I usually don’t buy into the hype surrounding young players, however Matt Harvey appears to be something special. Matt has a 5-0 record at this point in the season, with a 2.10 ERA. He has struck out 95 batters in 90 innings pitched, and the opposition is batting .196 against him. Pretty much each and every one of Matt’s starts have been quality starts. The intangible that Harvey brings to every game, is he gives his teammates and fans the feeling that the Mets will win that night’s game. That’s huge.

Dan Is Still The Man: Now that Ike Davis is in Area 51, there are reports circulating that the Mets may move Daniel Murphy to first base. Don’t do that. Murphy has proven to be a very solid second baseman. He’s worked very hard to learn how to field his position, just let him be. Not that I have any doubts that Murphy would excel anywhere the Mets choose to play him, but his bat plays better at second. Murphy has done everything the team has asked of him. Not only that, but he is one of just two genuine MLB hitters the Mets have, the other being that guy at third base.

Wright As Rain: We all know what David Wright brings to the team on the field each and every night. What I want to mention here is David’s emergence as a leader. For a while I wondered if David had the moxie to speak up and lead this team. Over the last few games, whether it’s frustration over losing, or him flexing the power of his captaincy, I see him exerting himself more and more on the field. With a young team, that’s exactly what the Mets need.

What Happened To Ruben: Last season, Ruben Tejada had us all saying “Jose who?”. This year, Tejada has been a major disappointment. Prior to going on the DL, Ruben was batting a paltry .209. More shocking has been his fielding which has regressed sharply. Before the start of this season, I considered the Mets infield to be pretty good. Boy was I wrong.

Viva Ike Vegas: After being swept by the Marlins this past weekend, Ike Davis was handed a plane ticket to Area 51… coach. My only question is what took so long? Ike was batting .161 when he was sent to Vegas. It’s really hard to understand what happened to Ike, but hopefully he’ll be able to get his act together real soon.

Abandon (Owner)Ship: While Sandy Alderson certainly deserves part of the blame for this mess, the fish stinks from the head down and by that I mean Fred & Jeff Wilpon. If there was such a thing as ownership malpractice, the Wilpons would be guilty of it. How can Mets ownership see the substandard product on the field and expect fans to pay top dollar to watch? Joe D. posted a great entry about the mystique of the new stadium wearing off. It’s true. Nobody is going to pay hard earned money to see this team as currently constructed. This feels like the late 1970′s. Unless the Wilpons do something to earn our goodwill and trust, Mets attendance will continue to suffer and deservedly so.

So there we have it. Hopefully the next edition of 3 Up & 3 Down will address on field happenings.

Chris and Jenson bring you another edition of The Mets Weekly. In this episode they recap the week that was against the Nationals and those low-down, no good, dead from the neck up Marlins. Jenson has some really good advice for the recently demoted Ike Davis – pay attention, Ike…

Follow Chris and Jenson on Twitter at @TheMetsWeekly and you can subscribe to them on YouTube at youtube.com/themetsweekly.

Alderson said that he does not consider Ruben Tejada or Lucas Duda as part of the team’s core.

You know what? Neither do I, but I doubt that Duda or Tejada care what I think.

Alderson also said he “does consider” Ike Davis to be part of the core. He of course being the player that was just demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday.

Obviously, Davis is a former first round pick and naturally has a higher ceiling, so again, no disagreement there, but the way he went public with his feelings about Duda and Tejada rubbed me the wrong way.

It reminded me of M. Donald Grant’s style when he was running things. Grant openly criticized his players publicly and believed it was a good motivation vehicle. Is that what Sandy was doing? Motivating?

Just before that he took a shot at a great deal of players without mentioning names.

“We have too many players who don’t approach our hitting philosophy the way they should be.” Alderson said.

“What I mean by that is putting yourself into hitting counts. When you have a preponderance of players who don’t follow that approach it becomes infectious. Right now we have too many players like that.”

Are Tejada and Duda two of those players?

Hey, it’s no skin off my back. Terry Collins is the one that has to deal with the aftermath not me…

But what a strange thing to say about two of your current players, one of whom is still just 23-years old, the other one who’s on pace for a 30 homer season.

Core players? Not at all… But what other GM devalues his players publicly rather than elevating them?

Well, after last night’s debacle and the recent stretch in general, I would say that hope is on life support and if nothing improves before the end of June, the chord will be pulled.

With that being said, the timing was right for the Mets to shake things up and shake them up they did. In almost one fell swoop Ike Davis, Rick Ankiel, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson were sent packing.

My biggest issue right now with the Mets is how the playing time was being distributed. While I agreed with cutting Ankiel to make room for Kirk Nieuwenhuis, I don’t agree with having Jordany Valdespin and Juan Lagares spending so much time on the bench. We need to see what they can do.

Lagares has hit decently over the past couple of games and defensively he has flashed the leather and a strong arm. Valdespin has had a few clutch moments and is toolsy, but still very raw. How do you polish up a player like that? You play him. So either send him down to Triple-A where he can play everyday or commit to starting him 4-5 times a week and continue to develop him. Maybe the best move for now is a demotion at least until we have more clarity after possibly trading Marlon Byrd at the deadline.

Apparently, Collins is starting to see the light as he claimed that Valdespin will start to get more playing time on Sunday, but we’ve heard him makes such claims before.

I hope that this time Collins means it, and not just with Spin, but with all the youngsters that now also include Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Josh Satin in addition to Spin and Lagares.

Heading into next season, the front office needs to identify what pieces need to be acquired and which current players can supplement our team’s core that for now includes Matt Harvey, David Wright and possibly one or two others.

Thoughts from Joe D.

Albin raises a big issue…

My biggest fear is that Terry Collins is only concerned with saving his job, and in his mind that means winning as many games as he can to keep the season relevant. Wrong approach… Realistically, he should be using the rest of this season to determine which players, if any, can serve a useful role in 2014 either as a core player or as a bridge until other prospects are ready to take over.

That he doesn’t get that is a big problem. That him and the front office still think it’s about winning games this season, is a huge problem. Listening to Collins and Sandy Alderson talk about results yesterday tells me they don’t have their priorities in order.

2013 is not about results. If it were, then shame on Sandy Alderson for the way he handled the offseason – he gets a big Fail. This season is about development and evaluating players. At some point they have to stop half-assing this rebuild process. The sooner they can do that, the faster this team can become relevant again.

Updated by Satish Ram at 7:45 PM:

Adam Rubin is reporting that first baseman Josh Satin, center fielder Collin Cowgill and lefthanded reliever Josh Edgin will be promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas to replace Ike Davis, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson who were all optioned to Triple-A after today’s 8-4 loss to the Marlins.

Satin will be added to the 40-man roster to fill the empty spot left when Rick Ankiel was released yesterday.

That means within the last 24 hours, Satin, Cowgill, Edgin and Nieuwenhuis were all added to the MLB roster.

Let’s go youth movement!

Thoughts from Joe D.

No surprise here. As I speculated earlier there was no chance that anyone was coming from Double-A Binghamton and that these three were your likely suspects.

Of the three, the only one I look forward to watching is Josh Satin who I’ve been calling for since mid-April. I can assure you he will outproduce Ike Davis simply because he’s a more disciplined hitter than Ike was and he knows how to get on base.

I don’t foresee much success for Cowgill or Edgin unfortunately, and I’m not sure any of this will change anything or have a significant impact on the standings.

Original Post

Sandy Alderson has announced that the Mets have optioned Ike Davis, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson to Triple-A Las Vegas following today’s brutal 8-4 loss to the Marlins.

“At some point you just have to say to yourself this is not in his best interest,” Sandy Alderson said about Davis’ demotion. “I was one of his biggest supporters. I just felt at some point we’ve got to get him out of here. Hopefully he’ll be back in a short period of time. But he needs to go there. He needs to be able to play every day. He needs to be able to work on his swing without worrying necessarily about the outcome. We think it’s in his best interest.”

“It’s tough to sit through 30 innings and score not even a handful of runs,” Alderson said. “It’s been frustrating for everybody. I’m sure it’s frustrating for the fans, too. But we’ve got an off-day tomorrow and we’ve got to pick it up on Tuesday.”

Corresponding moves are expected to all come from Triple-A Las Vegas, but will not be announced until Monday. If true that means no Jack leathersich or Robert Carson.

David Wright (courtesy of ESPN New York) added this:

“When you’re struggling the way we’re struggling, changes come — whether you like it or not,” Wright said. “That’s the name of the game. I think what every player, what every front office, what every coach strives for is consistency. But you can’t have consistency when you are a dozen or so games under .500.”

“You keep getting asked about the Marlins and teams you should beat,” Wright said. “I think I said it the other day: Teams are probably looking at us that way, where you’ve got to come in here and beat us. So we can’t look at any other team that way.”

This team is an absolute joke right now. This should have been done a month ago when the season was still relevant, not now when they are floundering and playing worse baseball than the Miami Marlins – if that is at all possible.

These moves come a day after Rick Ankiel was released and let’s call this what it is – an act of desperation by the front office..

Davis has been in a season-long funk that has suffocated the offense and sucked the life out of it. He will not be replaced at first base by Lucas Duda or Justin Turner – so look for Josh Satin to get the call.

This could also open the door for Wilmer Flores, but unless he’s given an everyday job, I doubt it. Look for either Andrew Brown or Collin Cowgill to replace Baxter. Both players have already disappointed this season with the Mets forcing their own demotions to Triple-A, but lets face it folks – the cupboard is bare.

Will Josh Edgin replace Carson? Probably, but he’s had a rough go of it in Binghamton and Vegas since being demoted himself. Edgin was one of the first relievers to get axed from Sandy’s 2013 bullpen.

This team sucks right now… We’ve gone from bad to worse… They can’t do anything right…

I will keep updating this post with more of my thoughts throughout the night…

Credit: Gordon Donovan

It’s time.  Losing seven out of our last eight to the Miami Marlins is proof enough.  Measured changes at Citi Field are long overdue. Binghamton’s southpaw reliever Jack Leathersich has been nothing short of dominant this season — and his ascent to the show should be at the top of a long list of personnel changes.

As a B-Met fan who attends Binghamton games regularly, I would hate to see Leathersich go. He is a joy to watch pitch in person and never fails to deliver. Yet, player development is the primary purpose of the minor leagues, and Leathersich has proven he has electric stuff.  There is nothing left for Leathersich to prove in Binghamton and with the major league team playing AAA like ball in Flushing, there is much to gain in jumping Leathersich from Binghamton to the big club.

Leathersich has been lights out in Binghamton.  The kid has a mid 90′s fastball, above average curve and a funky windup that can be deceptive for opposing hitters.  Leathersich’s Eastern League strikeout numbers are dazzling.  In 28 innings, the B-Met pitcher has fanned 53 batters, nearly two per inning. He has held opposing hitters, as a whole, to a miniscule .170 average.

In late May, Rob Castellano of SB Nation reported Leathersich’s strikeout percentage was a full 20% higher than the average in the Eastern League. Leathersich misses bats — this is something I can validate from my visits to NYSEG Stadium this spring. He is also improving his command, as he has walked only three batters in his last twelve innings, after he walked ten in his first 13.0 to begin the season.

Sandy Alderson just reported that Robert Carson is headed back to Triple-A.  At the press conference Alderson reported the Mets will be looking for a second left-handed arm to offer support to Scott Rice in the bullpen.  The numbers are literally screaming at Alderson to make the call for Leathersich.  His 1.61 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and those crazy strikeout numbers all build a case for adding Leathersich to the major league team.  Elevating Leathersich now provides the Mets adequate time to conduct a fair evaluation to help determine if the lefty reliever should be part of the team’s overall improvement plan.

Thoughts From Satish R. 

You know what? Leather Rocket would be better served to pitch in Flushing than with the Las Vegas team at this point and he is absolutely dominating AA. He is the most advanced homegrown relief pitcher in our system right now and has recently drawn rave reviews, including a comparison to Billy Wagner from our own Joe D.

The only issue here is that Leathersich is not only the 40-man roster, and the Mets have only one open spot. My original idea that was the Mets would promote Josh Satin and Collin Cowgill for Ike Davis and Mike Baxter, respectively. Satin would take up a new spot on the 40-man and that would likely leave Josh Edgin as the man in line to be promoted for Robert Carson. That being said, the Mets could drop Carson from the 40-man and promote Leathersich with Satin — or promote Andrew Brown over Satin and then take Leathersich…

Bottom line? Keep your eyes and ears open.

After scoring four times in the top of the tenth, the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets by the score of 8-4 in another embarrassing loss at Citi Field.

It’s the second weekend in a row that the Mets were swept by the Marlins which begs the question; which of the two teams is the worst in baseball right now? A good argument can be made for the Mets.

Jon Niese started in his first game back since a bout with shoulder tendinitis, The southpaw gave the Mets a quality start, allowing just three runs (two earned) on eight hits in 6.2 innings of work. He walked one and struck out four. He left the game with a 4-3 lead, but didn’t figure in the decision.

The bullpen was an absolute disaster for the Mets beginning with Scott Rice who was greeted by a leadoff homer to Derek Dietrich and didn’t stick around to face a second batter. He was replaced by Brandon Lyon who escaped further damage by the skin of his teeth after allowing three hits before getting out of the eighth.

After pitching a clean ninth, Bobby Parnell stayed in for the tenth and was betrayed by his defense when with runners on first and and second, Daniel Murphy booted a potential doubleplay grounder by Adeiny Hechavarria and allowed Logan Morrison to score the go-ahead run.

The Marlins would score three more runs capped by a back-breaking two-run homer by Miguel Olivo off Robert Carson who has now allowed eight home runs in 18 innings this season.

Wow, what a fail…

Aside from his defensive flaw in the tenth, Murphy had a good game at the plate with a stolen base, a walk, and a pair of RBIs including one on his fifth home run of the season in the second. David Wright had a two-run double in the third inning to account for all of the Mets scoring.

What a terrible job by the Mets who continue to get manhandled by the Marlins who have beaten them eight times this season which is all the more stunning when you consider they have just 18 wins on the season. I don’t want to hear anymore excuses – this Mets team is awful.

After the game, Sandy Alderson announced that they have now demoted Ike Davis, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson in the hope that it will shake the team up. But lets face it, this might be a case of too little, too late.

Thankfully, we get a break tomorrow as the Mets have the day off before beginning a three game series against Carlos Beltran and the St. Louis Cardinals who lead the majors with 40 wins. Jeremy Hefner (1-5, 4.36 ERA) opposes Michael Wacha (0-0, 5.40) on Tuesday at 7:10 PM.

Miami Marlins vs. New York Mets

Sunday, June 9, 1:10 PM EDT, Citi Field

Jon Niese (4.40 ERA) vs. Tom Koehler (3.70 ERA)

 Starting Lineup

1. Omar Quintanilla – SS
2. Jordany Valdespin – RF
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Daniel Murphy – 2B
5. Mike Baxter – LF
6. Ike Davis – 1B
7. Anthony Recker – C
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Jonathon Niese – LHP

‘Spin and Lagares both in the starting lineup? Shocker… What have they done with the real Terry Collins? – Joe D.

Game Notes

The Mets bolstered their relief core with 31-year-old David Aardsma, who had thrown just one Major League inning since 2010 before being promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas. He had a 2.05 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 22 innings. He threw a scoreless 12th inning on Saturday.

Starter Shaun Marcum came into Saturday’s 20 inning game in relief in the 13th inning and picked up the loss despite an excellent appearance out of the bullpen. He went eight innings and gave up just one run on five hits, which is better than almost every start he’s made this season.

After Rick Ankiel went hitless in four at-bats and struck out three times in Saturday’s 20-inning game off the bench, the Mets designated the outfielder for assignment and will promote Kirk Nieuwenhuis from Triple-A Las Vegas. Ankiel was 2-for-his-last-35.

Matt Harvey plans to make his next start. He insisted his lower-back issue was resolved when it was “popped back into place” during a chiropractic adjustment after departing Saturday’s game.

Game Preview

The Mets got excellent pitching throughout the entire game. Harvey started off well, the bullpen took over well and then Marcum got in 8 innings where he, in a twisted decree of fate, allowed only one earned run in the top of the 20, and the Mets couldn’t do anything. Anyway, Jon Niese looks to keep the good pitching going today as he takes on Tom Koehler.

Jon Niese is 3-5 over 11 starts and 61.1 innings with a 4.40 ERA. Jon has really turned it on in his last three starts posting an ERA of 1.33 over a stretch of 20.1 innings. In that stretch he has walked only 6 and struck out 14 batters. In his one start against the Marlins this year he allowed 8 hits, 2 earned runs and one unearned over 6.0 innings of work. The Marlins have the following numbers against him:

Polanco 12-35, 5 2B
Coghlan 2-10, 2B
Ruggiano 2-8
Dobbs 1-4
Olivo 1-3

Tom Koehler is 0-4 this season over 11 games and 5 starts with 41.1 innings while posting a 3.40 ERA. He has pitched 30.0 innings as a starter with a 3.90 ERA. He pitched 3.0 innings against the Mets allowing 1 hit, no runs while striking out 5 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Murphy 1-5
Baxter 1-3, 2B
Davis 1-3, 2B
Duda 0-3
Wright 0-3

Hopefully, the Mets try to do something after yesterday… Like beat the Marlins for example…

The Miami Marlins scratched out a run in the top of the 20th inning to break the 1-1 deadlock and beat the Mets 2-1 at Citi Field tonight.

Matt Harvey started for the Mets and was solid for seven innings until he was removed with what the team initially diagnosed as “lower back tightness.”  The righthander gets his fourth straight no-decision after allowing just one run on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts. The Marlins’ only run off Harvey came in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Chris Coghlan.

Shaun Marcum was just as solid despite getting tagged with the loss. The veteran tossed seven scoreless innings of relief before tiring in his eighth inning of work and allowing the Marlins to score the game-winner. he allowed five hits, walked none and struck out seven. It was the longest relief stint from a Met reliever in 30 years.

The bullpen as a whole was outstanding with Brandon Lyon, Bobby Parnell, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice, Greg Burke, and David Aardsma combining for five scoreless innings of relief.

The only Mets run came in the second inning when Juan Lagares drove in Ike Davis with an RBI single. Lagares  in the second inning. After that there was nothing but a whole lot of awful offensively…

The Mets were a franchise worst 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position and left 22 men on base. They had plenty of chances to score the go-ahead and squandered prime opportunities the eighth, ninth, and tenth innings.

The good news? Rick Ankiel has been designated for assignment, more on that in an update by my wingman Satish…

The Mets and Marlins will hook up again tomorrow as Jon Niese (3-5, 4.40) will face Tom Koehler (0-4, 3.70) at 1:10 pm in the Sunday finale.

If losing in nine innings to the Marlins is unacceptable, then losing in 20 is [expletive deleted].

— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) June 8, 2013

The only thing that will keep the Miami Marlins from losing more games than the 1962 New York Mets is the 2013 New York Mets. #Ducks

— Mets Merized Online (@MetsMerized) June 8, 2013

Two months into the 2013 campaign, Sandy Alderson’s patchwork roster has yielded many more questions than answers.  By all accounts, Matt Harvey, David Wright, Bobby Parnell and maybe Daniel Murphy have secured their spots on the roster going forward.  Thought to be roster locks before the season started, Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada now find themselves in a special sort of limbo that would have seen each demoted long ago if better options were available.  Everyone else, to include Jon Niese and Lucas Duda, finds themselves expendable.

You see, the biggest problem with the Mets right now isn’t their record, its the fact that they’re not progressing.  The 2013 season wasn’t supposed to be about winning the World Series or even winning the division, it was about simply taking the next step towards relevance.  The blueprint called for playing out the season, allowing the youngsters to arrive when it was their time, and then supplementing the roster with free agents when the books cleared this upcoming winter.  That was the plan, but yet again things have changed.

The Mets unfortunate start to this season has done more than open holes to fill going forward.  Thus far, the team has averaged more than 1,300 fewer fans per game and SNY viewership is down over 20%. We can only expect those numbers to worsen as the situation grows more dire.  In fact, with nothing but the promotion of prospects to draw fans to the ballpark, it should make us wonder what impact this season may have on ownership’s ability to spend this winter, regardless of how much money is coming off the books.

Is this speculation? Sure.  However, as things continue to get worse instead of better, so too does the possibility of Sandy Alderson turning this ship around.  While he has excelled when it comes to maximizing value via trade, he is yet to show the ability to draw the big free agents to town.  Should our high hopes for the likes of Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada and others fall flat, the onus will turn to free agency if this franchise hopes to stop the bleed.

Asking Mets fans, who have enjoyed only five playoff runs in the previous twenty-eight years, to remain vigilant for yet another season is not only unreasonable, its foolish.  While the season as a whole may be lost, the franchise needs to turn the corner in the coming months.  Perhaps the promotion of Zack Wheeler and eventually Travis d’Arnaud nudge things in the right direction, but if that isn’t the case it all falls back on Sandy Alderson.  Both he and the Mets are reaching a breaking point.  Progress is necessary, for it not only hints at the idea that a plan is in place, but it also provides fans with hope.  Hope at this point, may be all we have left.

** Like what you’ve read?  Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83 **

Through the first month or so of the season, John Buck was a revelation for the New York Mets. A throw in for the deal and a salary dump on the part of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Dickey deal, the original plan for Buck was to be a stopgap until top-prospect Travis d’Arnaud was ready to take the reins at home plate in Flushing.

What the Mets didn’t plan for was their blue-chip prospect taking a foul ball off his foot and landing him in a boot for six weeks. Luckily enough, Buck was on fire, ranking among the league leaders in multiple offensive categories while also working well with the young pitching staff.

Through May 3rd, Buck had ten homers and 29 RBIs, on a pace for an astonishing 65 dingers and 188 runs batted in. Since then however, the 32-year old Wyoming native’s numbers have gone into a free fall.

Through May 3rd, Buck had a .905 OPS. Since then, his figures have been comparable to those of Ike Davis. His OPS has plummeted to an abysmal .498 with just one home run and six runs driven in. Over the past month, Buck has batted a mere .176 and slugged only .235 while striking out 30 times, the same number of punch outs as Davis over that time.

The simple answer is to give him some rest and throw Anthony Recker in the lineup until Buck gets back in the swing of things. The problem is, Recker isn’t a solid replacement option on either side of the diamond. By midseason, Buck was supposed to be the backup to d’Arnaud, and with that plan on hold, the Mets are now very thin at the catching position outside their slumping backstop in Buck.

Hopefully Buck can turn things around at the plate soon, and get that incredible power we saw in April back into his swing, because the Mets offense is suffering without it.

Draft day is approaching quick; June 6^th to be exact. The most important phase of the June rule IV Player Draft is the first round, which is speculated over and over every year. The first round usually sets the tone for priority of picks by selecting players teams feel have the highest ceiling or amount of polish in the draft. Though baseball sites do not know the inside of any organization they are speculating on, they always give interesting insight of who they feel teams will pick. After scouring over the main database of mock drafts, I have recorded the results for the Mets from 40 different mocks. Here are the results:

Analysis

Highest Picked:

Interestingly enough, the mock drafts have the Mets drafting high school catcher Reese McGuire, University of Nevada right-handed Pitcher Braden Shipley, and high school first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith more times than any other player. They feel that the Mets are more likely to look for players in the infield rather than the outfield, with 3/8ths of the mocks saying they will pick one of these three.

I have also analyzed the positions covered in these mock drafts.

Outfield

In terms of the Mock’s coverage of the Mets’ needs for outfield prospects, the mocks do acknowledge the need as much as they should. Twelve out of 40 picks have the Mets taking Clint Frazier (HS, three times) Trey Ball and Ryan Boldt (HS, two times), and Austin Wilson and Hunter Renfroe (College, two times each). I do not consider Dominic Smith as an outfielder, nor Jacoby Jones, despite his athleticism. Interestingly enough, Clint Frazier falls to the Mets three times in these mock drafts, and they would have to be absolutely insane to pass up on him. My hope is for a player not on this list: Phillip Ervin. He provides speed, power, and a possibly great center field.

First Basemen

First basemen have the next amount of selections after outfield, being selected 11 times out of 40. I guess the mock drafts have felt our pain when it comes to Ike Davis and his recent disappointments. Dominic Smith is the player who has been selected the most out of this group, (HS, five Picks). D.J. Peterson is considered one of the top all-around college hitters in the draft class, and was picked three times, while Colin Moran has an interesting bat as well as some good power.

Right-Handed College Pitchers

College right-handed pitchers were drafted eight times by the Mets in these mock drafts. What’s the reason behind this? You can never have enough pitching on the horizon. University of Nevada’s Braden Shipley was drafted the most, with five selections.

High School Catchers

With the new promise of catchers in the system, it is uncertain why the Mets would pick another one, yet they were selected seven times. Reese McGuire has been selected five times, and while he has a high ceiling for a high school catcher, it is a stretch at #11 for both organizational depth, and the numbered pick to use on such a need. Jon Denney has the highest ceiling out of a deep class of high school catchers in this draft, with plus power, and was selected twice.

Conclusion

Although these sites are just press, they have interesting insight on the draft, and a few selected accurately within the last couple of years with Gavin Cecchini and Brandon Nimmo. If they are right, the Mets could go for McGuire, Shipley, or Smith for their first pick. On the outside chance, they will pick an outfielder such as high school player Clint Frazier, or first basemen like Colin Moran and D.J. Peterson.

New York Mets (22-32) at Washington Nationals (28-29)

RHP Jeremy Hefner vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann

Starting Lineup

1. Omar Quintanilla – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Lucas Duda – LF
5. John Buck – C
6. Ike Davis – 1B
7. Jordany Valdespin – RF
8. Rick Ankiel – CF
9. Jeremy Hefner – RHP

Game Notes

The Mets have dropped three straight following their five-game winning streak and are 5-5 in over the last 10 games. They are 10-15 on the road this year. The Mets’ odds are so long now, that they are now among the three biggest longshots in MLB of going to the 2013 World Series according to this sports betting site. Maybe Jeff Wilpon was right?

Daniel Murphy ranks sixth in the NL with a .343 road batting average. The Mets will play 14 of their next 23 games away from Citi Field.

The Mets hit three home runs on Sunday at Miami (Lucas Duda, Omar Quintanilla and Ike Davis). It was the fifth time this season the Mets had three home runs in a game, last accomplished on May 4 at Atlanta. New York achieved that feat three times in the club’s first 15 games of the season.

The Mets have scored three runs or fewer in 10 of their last 16 games. The team is 7-9 over that span. New York is hitting .220 (116-527) over that period. The Mets have a .227 team batting average ranking 30th in the majors.

Lucas Duda hit his 10th home run of the year in the Mets’ 54th game, putting him exactly on pace for 30 home runs. Over his last 17 games, Duda is batting .297 (19-64) with five doubles, two home runs and seven RBI and is also tied for ninth in the majors with 28 walks.

Ike Davis is hitting .292 (7-24) with one double, one home run and seven RBI over his last seven games dating back to May 26. Davis has multi-RBI games in three of those seven games.

Over their last 10 games, Mets starters have tossed 62.0 innings and issued 10 walks, while notching 64 strikeouts. Overall, Mets starters have a 4.28 ERA, ranking 19th in the majors.

Matt Harvey set a franchise record on Sunday with his no-decision at Miami. It was his 12th start of the season without a loss. Armando Reynoso went 11 starts to begin the year without a loss in 1997.

The pen had a 1.20 ERA (two earned runs/15.0 innings) from May 25-31, before allowing 10 earned runs in 7.0 innings (12.85 ERA) over the final two games vs. the Marlins. New York relievers had seven victories in May, the third-most in the majors. Overall, the bullpen ranks 30th in the majors with a 4.90 ERA. Bobby Parnell has converted seven straight save chances.

Marlon Byrd collected his 1,100th career hit on Sunday at Miami with his RBI single in the fifth inning.

The Mets have committed at least one error in each of their last six games, their longest streak since they made an error in seven straight games from July 20-26, 2011.

Game Preview

The Mets look to forget their last series with the Marlins in its entirety as they welcome the Nationals into New York. The last time the Mets were in New York, they swept the Yankees, let’s hope that’s the Mets team we see tonight as Hefner takes the mounds for the Mets and takes on Zimmermann.

Jeremy Hefner is 1-5 this season over 57.0 innings with a 4.74 ERA. In his last two starts he has pitched 12.0 innings with a 3.75 ERA as he has become a more stable part of the Mets rotation (most of the time at least). Against the Nationals earlier this season he allowed 3 ER over 4.0 innings of work. The Nationals have the following numbers against Hefner:

LaRoche 2-10, HR
Espinosa 5-10, 2 2B, 2 HR
Zimmerman 2-8
Desmond 1-8, HR
Lombardozzi 2-6

Jordan Zimmermann is 8-3 over 11 games this season pitching 79.2 innings with a 2.37 ERA and a league leading 3 complete games. Jordan has become one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. He is also coming off of by far his worst start of the season where he allowed 7 ER over 6 innings of work which saw his season ERA jump from 1.71 to 2.37. Earlier this season against the Mets he allowed 2 ER over 5.0 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:

Wright 9-28, 2 2B, 2 HR
Murphy 7-24, 2 2B, HR
Davis 4-16, 2B, HR
Buck 4-13, 2B, HR
Duda 2-12, 2B
Valdespin 1-7, HR

Lets Go Mets!