Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas defeated Iowa 9-4.
• Binghamton beat New Britain, 8-3.
• St. Lucie dropped Dunedin, 5-3.
• Savannah lost to Charleston, 4-2.
  

Prospect Pipeline

• Zack Wheeler was back in action after missing a start due to inflammation of the AC Joint in his throwing shoulder. Wheeler looked a tad rusty from the get-go. He didn’t have great command over his pitches, and in fact, he missed the strike zone wildly a couple of times. He got hit hard throughout his five innings of work, and ended up giving up two home runs and a triple that narrowly missed being a third home run. You can see a full recap of his start at MetsMinors.net.
• Rafael Montero got sent back to Double-A Binghamton after his fantastic start on Monday with Las Vegas. Montero impressed against Iowa yesterday, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. While it was labeled as a “spot start”, I had a feeling that if he proved himself worthy, he would be staying with Las Vegas. Sandy Alderson squashed those thoughts on SNY, saying that Montero would be heading back to Double-A. he GM did mention he would likely return to the 51s mid-season, and went as far as saying he wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the big leagues by the end of the year.
• In his first start since earning his second SAL Player of the Week honors, Rainy Lara only lasted 4.2 innings against Charleston last night. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
• Josh Rodriguez led the B-Mets offense with a 3-for-4 day, including a walk, double, and two RBIs to help Binghamton defeat New Britain.
• Noah Syndergaard faced his former organization for the first time since the Blue Jays traded him last winter. He took the loss against Dunedin, throwing 5.2 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
• Francisco Pena hit a two-run homer against Iowa yesterday, and Adam Rubin tweeted that we shouldn’t be surprised if he makes his way to Flushing sometime this season.
• Cory Vaughn continues his strong start to 2013, raising his season average to .302 with another two-hit game last night in New Britain. With the mess that is the current New York Mets outfield, Vaughn could also be making his big league debut sometime this year.
• XtreemIcon covered the B-Mets in Great Britain on Monday and Tuesday and was able to spend some time with pitching prospect Logan Verrett. He wrote a must-read article about him that includes quotes from Blake Forsythe, Jack Leathersich, pitching coach Glenn Abbott and manager Pedro Lopez.
• Curious as to how the Mets’ top prospects are performing? Catch up with this week’s Top-10 Tracker.

Stat Line of the Day

Francisco Pena: 2-for-4, two-run HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

Transactions

Rafael Montero was transferred from Triple-A Las Vegas back to Double-A Binghamton.

RHP Dylan Owen transferred from Las Vegas (AAA) to Binghamton (AA)

Quote of the Day 

Cory Vaughn on his improved hitting approach:

“I think I’m just not panicking as much. I’m just going out there and having fun. Up here, if it’s 3-1, 2-0, they’re not just going to be throwing a ‘cookie’ every time. If they throw me a slider 3-1 and I’m not looking for it, or looking wherever they throw it, I’m going to take it as opposed to just swinging and getting a rollover groundout.”

(Photo credit: Michael G. Baron)

Photo by Michael G. Baron of SNY.

Updated by Mitch Petanick on May 17, 2013

Adam Rubin has reported that Zack Wheeler is scheduled to start throwing again today, and is back with the team in Las Vegas. He was placed on the seven day DL, retroactive to his last start. He will rejoin the rotation next Wednesday when the team is in Iowa.

Wheeler received a cortisone shot last Wednesday after being diagnosed with inflammation of the AC joint in his throwing shoulder. He is still expected to only miss one start, which would have been on Saturday of this week.

Updated by Joe D. on May 15, 2013

Zack Wheeler has been diagnosed with slight inflammation in the AC joint in his shoulder, and will miss one start, according to Assistant GM John Ricco.

Wheeler received a cortisone shot at the Hospital for Special Surgery in his right shoulder and is flying to rejoin his team at Triple-A Las Vegas.

We spoke to his agent a few minutes ago who said there is no structural damage and that he is in good spirits.

That said, until I see Wheeler back on the mound pitching again, I will remain concerned.

It’s just the Mets fan in me.  :-)

Get back on that mound soon, Zack…

Original Post May 14, 2013

Zack Wheeler has a sore right clavicle, and will fly to New York to be examined by team doctors tomorrow at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

“I think we’re being a little conservative,” assistant GM John Ricco told reporters about the Mets top prospect. Wheeler had already met with the team doctor in Las Vegas.

That said, Ricco added that Wheeler will not make his scheduled start on Saturday in Omaha.

Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Wheeler will undergo an MRI exam on his collarbone while in New York.

Terry Collins commented on this and said:

“From what I’ve heard today, it doesn’t sound serious. But any time you miss a start, it’s for the best interest of the player. We’ll wait to hear the doctor’s report and go from there. If it’s only one start, that’s certainly something we can handle easily.”

After a rough start to the season. Wheeler made a mechanical adjustment and has had incredible success over his last three starts for Triple-A Las Vegas and walked only three while posting a 1.35 ERA.

Overall, the right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.74 ERA for the season with 18 walks and 47 strikeouts in 43.1 innings pitched.

While the team calls this precautionary and conservative, any kind of soreness in the surrounding shoulder area should be a cause for some concern.

Thoughts From Mitch Petanick:

I’m hoping for the best here, but preparing for the worst. What I am worried most about is the fact that Zack Wheeler pitches using a delivery called the “Inverted W,” which could put added stress on the anterior labrum ligament in the shoulder — it slowly loosens the ligament and can actually lead to tears. Some pitchers use this delivery and go through their careers injury free, but many of them suffer injuries that require surgery…like John Smoltz and Stephen Strasburg.

Wheeler also recently tweaked his mechanics, which is what his improved control is accredited to, but could that mechanical fix in addition with the Inverted W delivery been enough to cause this shoulder discomfort? I guess we will find out after his MRI, but even precautionary MRIs are a cause for concern.

The Inverted W is like playing with fire…you can get burned.

Thoughts from Matt Musico:

Scott Atchison, who experienced numbness in his fingers while pitching Monday, has been placed on the disabled list according to Assistant GM John Ricco.

Atchison was examined Tuesday in New York by team doctors who said there is “no new structural damage.”

The 37 year old veteran reliever opted not to have Tommy John surgery last year despite a ligament tear in his right elbow.

Collin McHugh has been promoted from Triple-A and is in St. Louis. He will work out of the bullpen while with the team.

In eight starts for Las Vegas, McHugh was 3-2 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. In 49.1 innings, he’s walked nine and struck out 36.

Originally Posted at 9:00 AM

Mets reliever Scott Atchison took the mound pitched last night at Busch Stadium with numbness in the fingers of his right hand, which he classified as a side effect of his torn elbow ligament.

The Mets plan to send Atchison for tests on his elbow, although the reliever is not sure what that will accomplish. He has been pitching with a torn ligament since at least 2009, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

“It’s documented, obviously, with my elbow,” Atchison said. “Some of it’s, ‘What can I handle?’ I feel like I’ve been managing it pretty good all year, and today for whatever reason the tingling came back.”

Atchison, 37, missed more than two months last season after experiencing similar numbness, but opted against Tommy John surgery.

In 19 appearances spanning 18.0 innings Atchison has a 4.50 ERA and allowed 20 hits, 6 walks, six strikeouts and a 1.44 WHIP.

He said he could not feel his fingers last night when he failed to get an out and gave up three hits including a two-run homer to Matt Holliday.

Ankiel is expected to be in uniform on Monday night for the Mets and Andrew Brown already has been told he is being dispatched to Triple-A Las Vegas according to Adam Rubin.

Ankiel, 33, was released by the Astros last week after hitting .194 with a .231 OBP in 25 games for the Astros. He also hit five home runs and drove in 11, but had 35 strikeouts and three walks in 65 plate appearances.

Thoughts from Matt Balasis

You may remember Ankiel from Game 2 of  the NLCS against the New York Mets, Ankiel was removed in the first inning after throwing 20 pitches, five of which went to the backstop. Ankiel appeared again in the seventh inning of Game 5 facing four hitters, walking two, and throwing two more wild pitches. The Cardinals lost the series four games to one to the Mets.

Since then Ankiel has more or less reinvented himself as an outfielder with his best season probably coming in 2009 when he hit .264 with 25 home runs and 71 rbi. Since then he’s been primarily a 4^th outfielder used primarily for pop off the bench. Ankiel is of course known for his rifle arm and has often been used late inning defensive replacement in right field with a runner on first.

I’ve always thought it a shame that this guy never figured out how to get back to pitching off a mound. Perhaps letting him pitch from center field might have helped him since his control from there appears to be deadly accurate.

Ankiel is also remembered for having purchased a 12 month supply of HGH with perccriptions signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called The Health and Rejuvenation Center as reported by the Daily News in 2004. Ankiel was never suspended as HGH wasn’t banned by MLB until 2005.

Ankiel was hitting .194 but had five home runs in 25 games before the Astros released him. Ankiel, 33, could provide some interesting options for a Met team in dire need of outfield help.

The Mets with less than stellar performances from Lucas Duda, Jordany Valdespin, Malon Byrd, Colin Cowgil and Mike Baxter, the Mets could be a fit for the veteran Ankiel. The Met offense has been struggling mightily of late  with a 691 OPS (24th best in baseball. The Mets scored just 14 runs on their recent six-game homestand. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada SS
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. John Buck C
5. Justin Turner 1B
6. Marlon Byrd RF
7. Andrew Brown LF
8. Juan Lagares CF
9. Dillon Gee RHP

Game Notes

New York will play consecutive four-game series (vs. Pittsburgh and at St. Louis) for just the third time since 2008. The Mets played two straight four-game sets last year, July 26-August 2 at Arizona and at San Francisco. The Mets played two four game road series, July 1-6, 2008 at St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Over the club’s last nine home games, the Mets have scored 22 runs (an average of 2.4 per contest) while hitting .181 (51-282). They have scored two runs or less in six of those games. Overall, the Mets have plated 71 runs in 17 home games (4.2 runs per game).

The Mets are averaging 4.70 runs per game, the third-most in the NL and the eighth-most in the majors. David Wright is tied for third in the majors with 23 walks and Lucas Duda is tied sixth in the majors with 21 walks. The Mets are sixth in the National League with 106 walks.

The Mets are fourth in the NL and 11th in the majors with a .272 (62-227) batting average with RISP. The club has 10 home runs in such situations, tied for the third-most in the majors. John Buck has four of those home runs, tied for the major league lead. David Wright is hitting .414 (12-29) with RISP, the seventh-best mark in the National League. As a team the Mets have stranded 203 runners, including seven last night, ranking 27th in the majors.

Frank Francisco pitched 1.0 scoreless inning yesterday for St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League vs. Daytona. He did not allow a hit, issued two walks and recorded two strikeouts. Francisco has not permitted a run in five rehabilitation outings with St. Lucie. He’s worked 5.0 innings, allowed one hit, issued two walks and fanned six.

Matt Harvey will be presented with his NL Pitcher of the Month Award for April in a pre-game ceremony. Harvey will also receive an engraved watch for his Player of the Week (April 8-14) honor. In April, Harvey’s 1.56 ERA ranked third, his 46 strikeouts were tied for fourth and he limited opposing hitters to a .153 batting average, the lowest mark in the NL…He was one of only two NL starters to post four wins in April without suffering a loss.

Game Preview

The Mets fresh off of a split with the White Sox start a four game series with the Pirates tonight. Last night the Mets offense was flat, and too little too late. It wasn’t until the end of the game where the Mets started to get hits but they still couldn’t get runs. Anyway, Pittsburgh comes to town today and they are second in the NL Central with a 18-15 record. Tonight Dillon Gee will go up against Jeff Locke.

Dillon Gee is 2-4 this season over 6 games with a 6.16 ERA and 30.2 innings of work. In his last two starts he has allowed 8 ER over 11.0 innings of work. Gee hasn’t faced the Pirates since 2011 where he was 2-0 in as many games pitching 15.0 innings with a 2.40 ERA. The Pirates have the following numbers against Gee:

Tabata 4-10, 2B
McCutchen 1-9
Jones 2-7, 2B
Martin 0-5
Harrison 2-4
Alvarez 0-2
Barmes 0-2

The Mets will get a look at Jeff Locke today, who is in his 3rd season in the majors. This is the season where Locke is starting to put it together pitching 33.2 innings over 6 starts with a 3.21 ERA. At the start of the season, he wasn’t doing too well as he allowed 9 ER over 15.2 innings but in his last three starts he has allowed 3 ER over 18 innings. He has made one start against the Mets where he allowed 5 ER over 3.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Buck 1-3
Murphy 2-3
Tejada 3-3
Davis 0-1
Duda 0-2
Recker 1-2, HR
Wright 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

Starting Lineups

Game Notes

The Mets held the White Sox to one hit over 10 innings last night. It was the second 10-inning one-hitter in team history. Terry Leach hurled a 10-inning one hitter on October 1, 1982 at Philadelphia in a game the Mets won, 1-0. Luis Aguayo had a fifth-inning triple in that game. The last 10-inning one-hitter in the majors was May 28, 2011 when the Twins won 1-0, holding Anaheim to one hit. Last night was the 37th regular season one-hitter in Mets history. Since 1962, only the Dodgers (42) have more one-hitters

Mike Baxter singled home Ike Davis with one out in the 10th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 win last night It was Baxter’s first career game-ending RBI and the Mets’ third walk-off win of the year and first since Jordany Valdespin’s pinch-hit grand slam on April 25 vs.Los Angeles. The Mets had six walk-off victories in 2012.

Jordany Valdespin is leading off tonight and is batting .300 (9-for-30) with two walks as the team’s leadoff hitter this season. Ruben Tejada, Collin Cowgill, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter, and Justin Turner have combined to hit .194 (18-for-93) with eight walks and 22 strikeouts out of the leadoff spot.

Matt Harvey wasn’t credited with a victory, since the Mets won the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. But he remains undefeated on the season (4-0), is second in the National League in ERA (1.28), and leads the NL in strikeouts (58). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harvey is the only pitcher in the last 100 years with at least 125 strikeouts and 25 or fewer earned runs allowed in his first 17 career starts.

The Mets are taking it slow with Michael Fulmer as he returns from surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Fulmer has not pitched again in a game since throwing two innings in an extended spring training game last Monday.

Game Preview

The Mets look to take the series tonight as they play their second game against the White Sox. Last night was definitely a Matt Harvey Day as Matt threw 9 innings allowing one hit and striking out 12 batters. Sadly, the bats were not able to help him out at all and the game went to extras where Mike Baxter knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. The Mets look to continue the good pitching and hope to find their bats tonight as they take on Jake Peavey behind Jermey Hefner.

Hefner is 0-3 on the season over 6 games, 5 starts, while pitching 29.0 innings with an ERA of 4.34. He has been on fire in his last two starts allowing 3 ER over 15 innings, and that number could have easily been lower. His two runs in his last start came in the 9th inning when he allowed the first two batters on in the inning and the bullpen imploded behind him. During those 15 innings, he struck out 12 batters.  Hefner has never faced the White Sox but has faced two batters. Wise is 0-1 while Greene is 0-3.

The Mets will get a look at Jake Peavey today who is putting his career back together in Chicago. He was fantastic as a Padre, found himself with the White Sox via trade. His career in Chicago was thrown off a bit by injury at the start but over the last two seasons he is starting to look like shades of his former self. This year he is 3-1 over 5 starts with a 3.38 ERA. In his career, he is 5-2 over 10 games and 62.0 innings against the Mets with an ERA of 3.48. The Mets have the following numbers against Jake:

Wright 2-14, 2B
Byrd 3-10, 2B
Buck 3-6, 2 HR
Murphy 1-2, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

BUY METS TICKETS!

All valid in the early Duda critique.

Now, unbelievably, he’s become too selective, too patient at the plate. No matter how hard I try, I don’t get this one.

Even Keith Hernandez, who has forgotten more about hitting than most of us will ever know, has been after Duda on his patience. Hernandez believes Duda should be more aggressive with runners in scoring position. Yesterday in that position, Duda worked deep into the count. And, as the at-bat continued and the talk was for him to be more aggressive, Duda lashed a 3-and-1 pitch through the right side of the infield for a RBI single in a perfect piece of hitting.

Until that swing, the conversation was about Duda’s growing patience, as if it was a fatal, fundamental flaw  instead of a strength.

Duda has a .417 on-base percentage, in large part to 21 walks. While the season is still young, his on-base percentage and OPS are the best of his career. For much of the spring he had more walks than strikeouts, but that has reversed.

However, what people are noting most are his six homers with only 11 RBI. Surely, with that much power, he should have more RBI. It it is a plausible argument, but not an all inclusive one.

Pitchers, wary of Duda’s power, have been exceedingly cautious and try to get him to chase. However, when he might have swung earlier in his career, he’s now waiting them out. Instead of giving away at-bats, he’s learned to take the walk, but that’s not a flaw.

Do you really want to see Duda be another Ike Davis, who gives away countless at-bats by flailing a pitches he has no chance of hitting?

The best thing for Duda would be to continue being patient and taking his walks. If somebody – are you listening Davis? – provided more protection behind him, then Duda might see more pitches, fastballs to be exact, in the zone.

Trust me on this one, the last thing you want is for Duda reverting to bad habits and chasing junk. The more walks he takes, the better he’ll become at recognizing pitches. He’ll waste fewer at-bats and eventually get his pitch to drive.

The expectations for Duda to walk less and swing more have been brought on by the Mets’ overall woeful offense.  The problem isn’t in Duda is taking too many pitches, but others in the batting order are not.

Updated on May 7

Zack Wheeler turned in his second straight strong outing with Triple-A Las Vegas, limiting Sacramento to three hits and a walk in six scoreless innings Sunday. Sandy Alderson has suggested Wheeler needs to turn in a string of positive starts before promotion consideration is made.

That said, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York speculates that Wheeler could make his MLB debut when the team will need an extra starter during a June 17-20 series at Turner Field. Because of Saturday’s postponement, the addition of the make-up date on June 18 will now that a five-game series.

“That likely would come after the Super 2 deadline, meaning Wheeler would miss an extra year of arbitration eligibility,” writes Rubin. “It probably would be a sweet moment for him, too, since he grew up in Dallas, Ga., outside Atlanta. Of course, this is all speculation.”

Original Post May 6, 2013

Top Mets pitching prospect Zack Wheeler followed up a solid start last week with an even better one today as the Las Vegas 51s beat the Sacramento River Cats 6-2.

Wheeler tossed six scoreless innings and allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out four. What stood out was that he tossed 91 pitches (55 strikes, 36 balls) and left the game looking he had plenty left in the tank.

He picks up his second win of the season and while he had command issues through the first two innings (15 strikes, 11 balls, walk), he got into a groove and dominated the rest of the way.

That’s two good starts in a row for Wheeler who made an adjustment to his delivery before his last start and so far things have turned around since a rocky start to the season.

Thoughts From Satish R. 

Wow! This is exactly what I wanted to see from Zack. The minor leagues are a place where you work on the kinks in your game – including things like mechanics. If the adjustment Wheeler made to his rotation before last week’s start was the big difference between a great performance and a bad one, then superb catch by the staff. He probably had another inning in him if they wanted to push it, but I’m alright with Backman pulling him so the young Wheeler stays in high confidence mode.

I was a little worried with how he started this game and thought we were headed towards a shaky performance, but Wheeler turned it around quickly and stood his ground. He was the aggressor on the mound and looked like a pitcher who finally trusted his pitches – at least his dominant fastball. The Wheeler watch is definitely on now… As everyone has been saying all season long, if Zack Wheeler strings together a couple of good starts in a row, it will be really interesting to see what the Mets brass does with him.

I still want to see more from the young man, but I have been very impressed with these last two starts.

Thoughts From Mitch Petanick

I will probably be in the minority when saying I wasn’t blown away by Wheeler’s start. On paper, the start was fantastic — no runs allowed while giving up three hits and one walk. It’s exactly what you want to hear about your prized prospect. However, I saw some things in the game that caused me to raise an eyebrow.

Let me preface what I am about to say with letting you know I only watched the first four innings of the game today. With that being said, I felt that Wheeler was not really throwing his off speed pitches for strikes, especially his breaking balls. The batters seemed to figure out that he was not throwing them for strikes, so they didn’t chase them out of the zone very often, and were sitting on the fastball (this is probably why Wheeler only had four strikeouts instead his usual seven or eight). That usually spells trouble for a pitcher, unless you are throwing 97 mph. Wheeler’s fastball was good enough to get the hitters out today, but that won’t always be the case.

The 97 mph fastball will not be enough to get hitters out at the major league level alone. He will have to throw the off speed pitches for strikes consistently. I didn’t see that enough today, although it was definitely another step in the right direction for Wheeler.

Even the 195-strikeout pace Davis is on wouldn’t be as excruciating if the 26-year-old would demonstrate a hint of humility after getting punched out time after time.

But that’s the issue. He hasn’t. Through his four MLB campaigns, Davis seems to believe he’s entitled to borderline calls at the plate, which—for better or worse—are not given to players in their early 20s all that often. Although there is a way to eradicate that unwritten rule: to get on the umpiring crew’s good side. MLB Etiquette 101.

Either Ike isn’t aware of that, or believes he can complain his way to the benefit of the doubt. Four seasons, 364 games, and nearly 1,500 plate appearances into his Major League career, and Davis still can’t grasp the very simple concept of taking his lumps and sitting down quietly. This, unfortunately, is what deserves an entire post.

Davis has been prone to strikeouts over his career—that cat was let out the bag years ago. But it’s never been more apparent than in 2013. His strikeout percentage is up around 30 percent (chart via Fangraphs), which is more than five percent higher than in any prior season.

Through April 28, eight of Of Davis’ 26 Ks in 2013 have been punchouts. That equates to 31 percent of his strikeouts coming with the bat on his shoulder, which is a five percent increase from 2012 and seven percent higher than the league average.

I broke down the tape of those eight backwards-Ks, and found that Ike did his very best to show up the home plate ump on six of the eight strike-three calls. That comes out to a 75 percent Ike-Davis-Being-Immature rating—yeah, you can call me a sabermagician.

Note: One GIF from 4/10 vs. PHI was lost in the heat of battle . Davis has also struck out looking twice since 4/28 that I haven’t been able to retrieve video from. With or without the missing clips, the point still stands. Ike won’t be getting the close ones any time soon.

Included are strikezone plots for corresponding at-bats from Brooks Baseball.

Example 1: April 4, Inning 1

Example 2: April 4, Inning 8

Example 3: April 7, Inning 8

Example 4: April 16, Inning 1

Example 5: April 20, Inning 2

I hate to exert this much energy ranting against Ike, because I’ve been on his side of the Keep-Davis-or-Keep-Duda argument all along. His second-half numbers from 2012 are downright scary, and I didn’t think it was outrageous to expect the ball to continue rolling in that direction in 2013. Perhaps I was wrong.

The point here is that sometimes Davis has a legit gripe with the home plate ump. But acting out like a spoiled child leaving the toy store empty handed isn’t exactly the way to present an argument to an umpire (a grown man).

It’s an issue that Davis was approached about as early as 2010 as a rookie. Nearly three years later, it’s still an issue.

Ike’s struggles during his ABs are one issue—and don’t be mistaken, they’re plentiful—but its the lack of judgement after them that are especially concerning as he transitions from a precocious neophyte to a whiny veteran.

Follow me on Twitter at @JSDorn6.

Stats and graphics obtained from Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs, and Brooks Baseball.

Matt Harvey was named the Pitcher of the Month for April, the first Met to win the honor since R.A. Dickey last did so in June, 2012.

Harvey, 24, went 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA and 46 strikeouts in six April starts. His four wins tied for the National League lead, while his 1.56 ERA is third in the league for the month. His 46 strikeouts are tied for fourth in the league.

Harvey became the first pitcher in since 1900 to win his first four starts of the season, while allowing no more than 10 hits combined in those four starts.

This the second honor for Harvey this season as he was named National League Player of the Week during April 8-14. That was the week when he flirted with a no-hitter through 6.2 innings against the Twins in a frigid Minnesota.

Harvey now stands at 7-5 with a 2.26 ERA in 16 career starts, having given up only 63 hits in 99 2/3 innings.

It’s the first career monthly award for Harvey, who was selected ahead of pitchers such as Pittsburgh’s Jason Grilli, who logged 10 saves and a 0.82 ERA; San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, who posted a 3-0 mark and 1.55 ERA; and Adam Wainwright, who went 4-2 with a 2.03 ERA.

In what has been a month full of questions, concerns and a losing record to start the season, seeing Harvey win this award is certainly one of the bright spots.

Congrats Matt, may you win many more. Hey, if he keeps this up he may even win a Cy Young.

Noah Syndergaard accomplished two important things on Sunday. He picked up his first win of the season and he pitched seven innings for the first time in his professional career. That according to Jonathan Raymond who got a chance to get up close to the Mets pitching prospect in his last start.

Syndergaard is trying to put that one bad start when he allowed seven runs over three innings completely behind him and he seems to be doing a heck of a job of it too. Since that forgettable outing all he’s done was manage to toss two starts without allowing an earned run. Combined he thrown 13 innings and held the opposition to just eight hits and three walks while striking out 11 of them.

“He really located his fastball really well over both sides of the plate. Kept the ball down and was pretty much in command of all his pitches,” St. Lucie pitching coach Phil Regan said. “He also had two strikeouts on curveballs and two on changeups, and these are the things we have been working on.

“And he went seven innings. It was an interesting thing, someone mentioned to him it was the first time he went seven innings this year. And he says, “Yeah, it’s the first time in three years, since high school.’”

After Sunday’s performance, Syndergaard has lowered his ERA to a respectable 3.24 ERA while striking out 26 and walking ten in 25 innings pitched this season.

“He’s really coming along well. I think he’s making a lot of strides,” Regan said. “He’s understanding a lot about pitching and he’s just a tremendous kid, soaks up knowledge and wants to learn. I think he’s done exceptionally well for his age and where he’s coming from. He’s not afraid, he goes right after hitters, aggressive on the mound. I think he’s got confidence in himself, and that’s all part of it.”

As we said in our Prospect Spotlight back in February, “Syndergaard is a perfect physical specimen for a pitcher and really looks like he can become a perennial all-star. Although there are some things that come into question – his command at times, his stamina, and as always, furthering the development of his third pitch, there is a lot to love about Noah Syndergaard.”

The seven innings pitched certainly shows positive gains with regard to his stamina, and Regan says that his curveball and change have improved and are becoming effective weapons as his command. That’s exactly what we were hoping for.

“He is aggressive on the mound and stays relatively emotionless,” is what we about said about him in our MMO Top 25 Prospect rankings. We also said:

If Syndergaard makes the move to AA during the 2013 season, I have faith that he will breeze through it. It is important not to put too much pressure or to rush the young prospect, as he represents a new wave of pitching prospects…or a changing of the Gaard. See what I did there? Good.

So far, out of our Top 5 Prospects, Michael Fulmer and Travis d’Arnaud are still on the disabled list, Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores are both trying to figure out the PCL for entirely different reasons, and Syndergaard has looked and played the part so far in the early going.

I know it’s early, but if I were handing out Monthly Report Cards like they did in Catholic School:

Syndergaard Gets an A-

Flores gets a B

Wheeler gets a C+

Fulmer and d’Arnaud get Incompletes.

Just saying…

After another three-strikeout performance, Davis now has 29 Ks in 82 at-bats and is on pace for over 195 strikeouts.

Back on April 17, I stated that Davis has shown himself to be nothing more than a platoon player at best throughout his major league career. I suggested that the Mets promote Josh Satin from Triple-A at the time and looking at each of their numbers now, almost two weeks later anevat the end of April, everything I wrote back then has been completely validated.

The right-handed hitting Satin can give the Mets what they need desperately right now as his .333/.429/.550 batting line would attest. A product of the PCL? Not on your life. Satin has always been a great and disciplined hitter and one look at his career .397 on-base in six minor league seasons should have the suits in the front office with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, as would his .466 slugging percentage.

Collins is playing favorites. You see, Ike Davis is gritty so he gets to play and avoids the same kind of treatment that Lucas Duda got when he was sent to Triple-A last season. After all. we wouldn’t want to piss Ike off… Him and Wright are besties…

I’ve now gone from clamoring for a platoon at first base to now sending Davis back to the Minors. Yes, Ike, that’s where hackers like you belong.

We’ll miss your occasional bomb that you sandwich in between a dozen or so strikeouts, but we won’t miss you .159 batting average which has sucked the life out of our offense. I know many a Met fan who wasn’t this patient with Jeff Francoeur despite his gaudy defense. So what’s the big holdup here?

Right now Davis is a negative impact player.

It’s time to release the Kraken.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas dropped to Tacoma, 5-3.
• Binghamton dropped to Akron, 7-5.
• St. Lucie blew topped Tampa, 9-2.
• Savannah edged out West Virginia, 3-2.

Prospect Pipeline

• Noah Syndergaard got his first win of the 2013 season against the Tampa Bay Yankees after a dominating performance. Since his implosion on April 18, he has pitched in 13 innings allowing eight hits, three walks, and had 13 strikeouts. He allowed two runs in those 13 innings, but neither of them were earned. On Sunday he easily delivered his best start of the year.
• Hamilton Bennett is quietly having a solid season coming out of the bullpen for St. Lucie. In 12 innings pitched, he has allowed three runs, and has 15 strikeouts on the year. He also has two saves.
• Alonzo Harris was 0-for-4 last night, snapping a ten game hit streak.
• Cory Vaughn has been on absolute fire the past ten games. Over that span, Vaughn has clobbered three home runs and is hitting  healthy .342, with eight RBI. He smacked his fourth home run of the year yesterday, tying him for second best in the organization (Dustin Lawley has five). Vaughn is now hitting .299 on the year.
• Brandon Nimmo has cooled off. He has been hitless in four straight games, dropping his average on the year to .337. Over the past ten games, he is hitting .205.

Stat Line of the Night

Noah Syndergaard: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 7 K

Transactions/Injuries

• Big news for center fielder Matt den Dekker who tells us that his cast is being removed by team doctors today. He could be back by mid-May.
• Cesar Puello, who out with a sore left wrist was back in the lineup on Sunday and went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. He now has six swipes in 13 games and is sporting a .286/.375/.429 slash.
• Cory Mazzoni is still on the DL, but he could be throwing a bullpen session one day this week.
• Right-handed pitcher Luis Mateo, who made one start with the B-Mets in place of Mazzoni, is no longer with the team. He has returned to the Mets facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Hat tip to Lynn Worthy). Mateo should resume throwing again in the next week or so, based on his elbow strength.
• Michael Fulmer tossed twelve pitches over the course of an inning in an extended spring training game. No reported issues.

Quote Of The Day

St. Lucie pitching coach had this to say about after Syndergaard’s dominating performance yesterday:

“Today, he really located his fastball really well over both sides of the plate. Kept the ball down and was pretty much in command of all his pitches,” St. Lucie pitching coach Phil Regan said. “He also had two strikeouts on curveballs and two on changeups, and these are the things we have been working on.

“And he went seven innings. It was an interesting thing, someone mentioned to him it was the first time he went seven innings this year. And he says, “Yeah, it’s the first time in three years, since high school.’”

Photo of the Day

You’ve got five seconds to hand over that MMO Minor League Report.

According to Terry Collins, it’s too early to worry about Ike Davis and his prolonged slump.

“There is no need to panic about Ike Davis, or talk about sending him to the minor leagues,” Collins told reporters.

Would the Mets consider sending Ike to minors?

“If that discussion is going to be had, it’s not going to be had for a long time. You have to have patience.”

Ike Davis is batting seventh in the order in tonight’s game against the Phillies.

Original Post 9:30 AM

Ike Davis should log on to his computer, Google the book, “Ted Williams: The Science of Hitting,’’ and order a copy.

Maybe it is time both he and the Mets realize Davis isn’t just struggling, but that perhaps he doesn’t know too much about hitting. Davis homered yesterday, but for my money I would rather he slapped a single to left in the sixth with runners on second and third and two outs.

Instead, he struck out. Again. For those scoring at home, it was the 24^thtime he has walked back to the dugout in disgust, compared to just 12 hits. Old stats, new stats, it doesn’t matter, Davis is not producing.Davis has four homers and seven RBI. He’s hitting .174 with a .260 on-base percentage, .348 slugging percentage and .608 OPS. However, the number that kills me is he’s on pace for 194 strikeouts.

I spoke with Davis about strikeouts and using the whole field and he told me he’s a home run hitter, he likes to hit home runs, and strikeouts are part of the equation. He’s missing the boat with that reasoning, much like he’s missing the breaking ball away.

Suppose Davis cut his strikeouts in half to 97, which is still a lot. That would be 97 times he would be putting the ball in play instead of throwing his bat. Think how many more homers he’d produce in those 97 at-bats, not to mention productive at-bats when he’ll drive in a run with a hit, sacrifice fly or ground out.

“It’s about contact,’’ manager Terry Collins said. “These big home run hitters, they’re going to strike out. That’s part of the program. Ike, when he’s going good, he gets hits. He just doesn’t get home runs.

“You go back two years ago in the first half where he drove in everybody who was standing at second base. They were base hits. They weren’t always home runs. I think if he again starts using the field more – especially the opposite field – it also takes that shift away from them, which a lot of teams play on him. And I think it’ll make a difference.’’

That’s what Williams preached in his book. Teams used the shift against Williams, and this is when he didn’t use his own advice. However, Williams was so good he produced over his own stubbornness. In his wildest dreams, Davis isn’t half as good as Williams.

Williams might have been the greatest hitter ever, even considering Babe Ruth. Williams’ average year was .344 with 37 homers and 130 RBI. When you factor in he lost five prime years of his career serving in World War II and the Korean War, his lifetime numbers would have been through the roof.

When you boil it down, Williams’ fundamental advice about hitting was get a good pitch to hit. Williams was so precise he broke down the strike zone into baseball-size segments to where he had each area had its own batting average.

“As we’ve studied his at-bats, they’re just killing him away,’’ Collins told reporters after Thursday’s loss.

Williams calculated the low-and-away pitch at best would produce a .230 average. Davis isn’t even giving the Mets that much. That average would increase, Williams said, if the hitter went that way instead of trying to pull. Instead, Davis is chasing everything, which means the pitch doesn’t have to be that good.

Collins sees that: “If he starts going that way to where he’s going to use more of the field to hit, he’s got some better opportunities to drive some runs in.’’

Unfortunately, Davis does not: “Sometimes they’re helpful. Sometimes they’re not. Me slapping the ball the other way early in the count is probably not helpful.’’

Rebuttal: How would Davis know if he hasn’t tried it routinely? He did when he first came up, but rarely since.

Either Davis doesn’t know the fundamentals of hitting, or refuses to listen to his coaches and manager. And, Collins and GM Sandy Alderson are wrong for accepting this kind of performance.

Listen, I don’t know how to build a watch, but I know how to tell time, and the time has come for Davis to change. Either him, or the Mets should.

Please follow me on Twitter @jdelcos

Mets Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Marlon Byrd – RF
6. Lucas Duda – LF
7. Justin Turner – 1B
8. Collin Cowgill – CF
9. Jonathon Niese – LHP

Game Notes

The Mets lead the National League, averaging 5.82 runs per game, narrowly ahead of the Colorado Rockies (5.78). Imagine if we had a legitimate backend of the rotation? We’d have at least 11-12 wins with that kind of run support. (Joe D.)

Juan Lagares, who was promoted to the Mets from Triple-A Las Vegas today, will be available and wear Uniform No. 12 which was last worn by Scott Hairston. Wally Backman has always spoken highly of Juan Lagares who has a .282 minor league average. (Joe D.)

The Aaron Laffey era is officially over as he was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays on waivers this afternoon. Laffey had a 7.20 ERA, allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits with four walks and nine strikeouts in 10 innings for the Mets. And so it goes… (Joe D.)

Left-hander on the mound and Ike Davis on the bench. Does Terry Collins read MMO too? It’s about time Terry… (Joe D.)

Mets minor leaguer Christian Montgomery has been suspended 50 games for a second positive test of a drug of abuse, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Game Preview

The Mets and Dodgers start a series tomorrow night as the Mets look to build off of a series win against the Nationals. The Mets are catching the Dodgers at a good time as several players are struggling and moral is low. The Dodgers catch the Mets at an interesting time as they just beat two of the better pitchers in baseball (Strasburg, Zimmermann) and the Mets will get another challenge tonight in Clayton Kershaw.

Jon Niese had two rough starts in a row in two cold weather environments. In his first two starts, he was 2-0 over 12.2 innings with 9 strikeouts and a 2.13 ERA. In his next starts he was 1-1 after pitching 11.0 innings allowing 8 runs with 7 earned. Tonight he looks to channel the first two starts. He had a no decision in one start last year against the Dodgers allowing 3 ER over 7 innings. The Dodgers have the following against Niese:

Uribe 0-11
Hairston 1-10
Kemp 4-9
Ethier 4-9
Cruz 1-5
Punto 0-5

The Mets batters will try to rough Kershaw tonight who is 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA in his first four starts on the season. He started off the season with 16.2 scoreless innings which he followed up with 6 ER over 12.2 innings. He had one start against the Mets last year and he allowed 3 runs, 1 earned over 7 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Clayton:

Wright 2-12, 2B
Buck 1-8
Turner 1-10
Byrd 6-9
Tejada 3-5
Davis 1-6, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Wright celebrates after one of his two home runs

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright finally took flight for the 2013 season this past week, as he lifted off with two home runs in Colorado. The Mets captain had been hitting well to start the year, but was not producing much in the way of power until he entered the thin Colorado air.

Wright batted .350/.519/.850, with two triples, two home runs, and five RBI as he helped lead the Mets offensive attack. He didn’t just drive in runs, as he scored five runs himself, accounting for a total of 10 runs during the week.

Wright got on base a total of 14 times in his 27 plate appearances, with seven hits and seven walks, which equated to his .519 OBP. Another promising sign that jumped out at me the most, was the fact that he did not have one strikeout all week. When David is locked in, he makes steady contact. With some of the strikeout issues he has had in recent years, it was nice to see him square the ball up and have such a good eye at the plate.

I am excited to see Wright get off to a good start this season. Sometimes players sign a big contract and struggle to live up to it, but that does not appear to be the case with the Mets third baseman.

The 30-year-old has just 10 strikeouts in 76 at-bats, and has walked 15 times in 17 games. Wright already has 14 RBI, and may be on his way to his sixth 100 RBI season. As the Mets team captain, Wright will look to be a rock in the three-hole and lead by example for his young teammates.

Honorable Mentions

Matt Harvey

Harvey matched up against Stephen Strasburg on Friday, and was the better pitcher in the highly anticipated pitching duel. The big righty went seven innings, gave up just four hits and one earned run, while striking out seven in his victory over the Nationals and Strasburg. Harvey was so impressive, chants of “Harvey’s better!” from the Mets faithful filled the air at Citi Field. Harvey has won all four of his starts as he continues his domination to begin the 2013 season.

Lucas Duda

Duda flexed his muscles this week cranking two more home runs, giving him five on the season. Duda continued to get on base at a high rate, walking six more times, and now owns a 1:1 (15 K, 15 BB) strikeout-to-walk ratio for the year. Duda batted .308/.526/.769 for the week.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

W1. John Buck - 1

W2. Matt Harvey - 1

W3. David Wright – 1

Rafael Montero took s the hill for Binghamton today and dominated.

When it comes to pitching prospects in the Mets organization, Zack Wheeler is the guy that the majority of fans will stop to see how he performed the night before. However, it seems that with every start Wheeler makes, he is getting further and further away from making his Citi Field debut. On the other hand, Rafael Montero seems to be getting closer and closer with every start he makes.

Is there a more impressive pitcher in the Mets organization right now than Montero? He started today’s game for Binghamton and dominated again. He pitched six innings, allowing no runs, struck out six batters and walked none. He now has 27 strikeouts this season, and has only given up one walk. I think I have to say that again for effect – He now has 27 strikeouts this season, and has only given up one walk. That is about as phenomenal a ratio as you will see. He is holding opposing hitters to a .182 average against him. In other words, the batters that are reaching base against Montero didn’t have a bowl of Wheaties for breakfast, they had Lucky Charms.

I never thought I would be pondering this question, but if Montero keeps up this pace, is there a chance that we will see him in Citi Field before Wheeler?

The answer is yes, it is a definite possibility — especially with the way Wheeler has been pitching lately. Montero is showing complete mastery of the strike zone, something that we have yet to see from Wheeler. Wheeler may have better stuff than Montero, but at this point, Montero is a better pitcher. By the All-Star break, expect Montero to be with Las Vegas. And if he continues this level of dominance at Triple-A, expect him to be a September call up.

As of right now, I would place Montero as the No. 3 pitcher in the Mets organization, but he is hot on the heels of the pitchers ahead of him. Wheeler still hangs on to the top spot, and Noah Syndergaard hangs on to the No. 2 spot, but that is simply due to their high ceilings. The better pitcher of the three of them right now is Montero, and there is a chance that Montero makes it to the show before both Wheeler and Syndergaard if he continues pitching like he is from another planet.

Rafael Montero takes the hill for Binghamton today.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas Tops Sacramento 10-5
• New Hampshire Tops Binghamton 5-2
• Fort Myers Routed St. Lucie 14-2
• Savannah Tops Lakewood 7-2

Prospect Pipeline

• This is now fourth straight starts in which Zack Wheeler failed to deliver six innings. It was another start where his pitch count was remarkably bad. 108 pitches and only 61 strikes in 4.1 innings is not going to get anyone promoted to the majors no matter how high you rank on Baseball America’s Top Prospect. You still have to execute. So far this season, Wheeler has pitched a total of 18.1 innings, averaging only 4.5 innings per start. That’s not going to cut it. He’s walked 12 and allowed 17 hits and his ERA now stands at an unsightly 4.91 his WHIP is now north of 2.00. The thing of it is that you can’t blame all those walks on the PCL or park factors. This has been a chronic problem for Wheeler throughout his career. (Joe D.)
• Baseball America had Wilmer Flores “In the Team Photo” in this week’s Hot Sheet. They writes: “The 21-year-old went 12-for-30 (.400) with a homer and four doubles this week, but more remarkably he has just three strikeouts in 15 games this season.” Actually it’s now four strikeouts in 68 plate appearances while drawing seven walks. (Joe D.)
• Andrew Brown continued his hot streak to open the season with a two-run double, giving him 14 RBI in 16 games. He’s now batting .344/.425/.565 and more than half his hits are for extra bases. He may ne in Flushing sooner rather than later. (Joe D.)
• Here’s someone that often gets overlooked. Triple-A outfielder Juan Lagares went 2-for-4 last night and was on base three times. Lagares, 24, has now hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games and is batting .368/.403/.544 this season. (Joe D.)
• One night after Noah Syndergaard was torched for seven earned runs for St. Lucie, Angel Cuan outdid him and was charged with nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. He surrendered four homers. I thought the St. Lucie rotations was supposed to be the Dream Team? (Joe D.) 

Stat Line of the Night

* * * Kevin Plawecki went 3-for-4, homered, doubled, walked and had four RBIs. * * *

Tweet of the Day

Transactions/Injuries

• Travis d’Arnaud will not require surgery and the Mets expect him to be out for eight weeks, but say he could be back sooner. The Mets catcher fractured his big toe or as Jerry Seinfeld would say, the captain of the toes.
• RHP Luis Mateo will miss about three weeks with a strained elbow, but the MRI revealed no structural damage. Mateo will take anti-inflammatory medication after being examined by team doctors in New York.
• Sandy Alderson had relatively good news on pitching prospect Cory Mazzoni who will rest three days after being diagnosed with elbow irritation by team doctors.
• Josh Satin came out of last night’s game with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

Prospect Audio/Video

Here’s a look at shortstop Phil Evans, shot last week by Mike Newman of ROTOscouting.com.

That’s What She Said

You have three seconds… Where’s my MMO Mets Minors Report?

Live Blog From Citi Field Pressbox

Top First: It starts to rain right after the anthem and moment of silence for Boston and Texas. The weather isn’t Minnesota-Denver bad, but I thought there would be more people here for Harvey-Strasburg. Harvey strikes out his first hitter and gets out of the inning with a runner on second.

Bottom First: Jordany Valdespin leading off again. Glad to see Terry Collins running with this. Valdespin reaches on E6. Takes third on Daniel Murphy’s hit-and-run single and scores on wild pitch. Murphy takes third on fly ball and scored on John Buck’s RBI. That’s 20 RBI for him. Really is amazing. I like Murphy’s aggressiveness in advancing on fly to right.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Second: A lot of attention in the press box on what’s going on in Boston. Harvey breezing. Fans Chad Tracy. A 1-2-3 second.

Bottom Second: Marlon Byrd doubles, but is stranded on third as Strasburg punches out Valdespin. That’s a wasted opportunity and you don’t get many off Strasburg. We’ll see if this haunts them later. Strasburg nearing 50 pitches already.

End Second: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Third: Strasburg doubles, but Harvey gets out of it by striking out Jayson Werth.

Bottom Third: Rain gone. Doc Gooden gets a nice ovation when they show him on the video board. He tweeted Harvey is the real deal. Looks like it. … Meanwhile, Boston PD has suspect cornered. That’s where a lot of the attention is. … Ike Davis strikes out for second time. Buck fans and another runner is left in scoring position.

End Third: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Fourth: Harvey finished the fourth with one hit and two walks and five strikeouts. He’s thrown 62 pitches, 41 for strikes. Everything is working for him tonight.

Bottom Fourth: There’s a steady falling mist again. Strasburg walked Duda, but set the next three hitters down. He’s settled down since the first, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and five strikeouts. He’s pitching a good game, too.

End Fourth: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Fifth: A 1-2-3 inning for Harvey, Strikes out Suzuki swinging. They have apprehended the second suspect. Pressbox buzzing.

Bottom Fifth: Valdespin, Murphy, Wright go down in order. Just in – Brandon: Nimmo is 3-for-3.

End Fifth: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Sixth: Everyone watching the breaking news of suspect capture in Boston. Terrific job by law enforcement across the board. Boston can sleep easier tonight.… Harvey throws DP grounder started by Murphy, who is looking better and better at second. … Valdespin makes diving catch to end inning.

Bottom Sixth: Davis and Duda homer. Davis hit his to left and Duda’s went to center. … Crowd chanting “Harvey’s better.’’ Actually, pretty funny. … Strasburg already over 100 pitches, so this figures to be his last inning.

End Sixth: Mets 4, Nationals 0

Top Seventh: Harvey enters the inning with a two-hit shutout on 82 pitches. But, a walk and a couple of hits later and his shutout was gone. … Perhaps even more impressive was getting out of a bases loaded jam with no outs without giving up further damage. … Harvey finished with one run given up on four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Bottom Seventh: Strasburg didn’t come out. He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings. “USA – USA – USA -USA!” The crowd chants as news of arrest shows on scoreboard.

End Seventh: Mets 4, Nationals 1

Top Eighth: Big cheer when news on the scoreboard announced second suspect was captured. … Another cheer when Boston Police Department was saluted. … Scott Rice pitched a scoreless inning.

Bottom Eighth: Drew Storen now pitching and gives up leadoff triple to David Wright and two-run homer to Davis. … Duda added another homer, his fifth of the season.

End Eighth: Mets 7, Nationals 1.

Top Ninth: Sweet Caroline was played as Bobby Parnell threw his warm-up pitches. The Mets did it before, but it sounded better tonight. … Sweet, diving play by Murphy to get the second out.

Final: Mets 7, Nationals 1

Mets Starting Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. John Buck C
6. Lucas Duda LF
7. Marlon Byrd RF
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Matt Harvey RHP

Game Notes

No Surgery for Travis d’Arnaud! The Mets’ top prospect suffered a nondisplaced fracture of the first metatarsal in his left foot when he was struck with a foul ball in the sixth inning of Triple-A Las Vegas’ game Wednesday night. He has been placed in a walking boot and will miss approximately eight weeks, Terry Collins just said..

Shaun Marcum got through yesterday’s extended spring training game fine. Mets will try to get him to 80 pitches next time. He tossed four hitless and scoreless innings in an extended spring training game, struck out five.

Relievers Josh Edgin, Scott Atchison and Jeurys Familia combined to allow six runs in the seventh inning, and the Mets lost to the Rockies 11-3 Thursday afternoon at Coors Field. The Mets dropped to .500. Hopefully, Matt Harvey gives the pen a day of rest tonight. They need one.

New York had two games postponed on its recent road trip. They will play the Rockies at Coors Field on June 27 at 6:10 PM, and will make up its game against the Twins on August 19 at 2:10 PM at Target Field.

Game Preview

The Mets finally get out of Colorado and return home to Queens tonight to one of the most anticipated pitching matchups in a long time. The Mets entered Denver with a 7-4 record and were swept, dropping them down to a record of 7-7. While there is plenty of blame to go around, the bullpen, who saved the Mets in an earlier Laffey start at home and was strong at the start of the season, fell apart on the road. Anyway, Matt Harvey looks to keep his strong start going against Stephen Strasburg.

Harvey is 3-0 in first three starts with a 0.84 ERA over 22.0 innings. In that stretch he has allowed only 2 ER and only 6 hits while walking 6 and striking out 25 batters. He’s leading the league in WHIP, Wins, and H/9. He faced the Nationals once last year picking up the loss after allowing only one earned run over 5 innings of work while striking out 10 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Matt:

Desmond 1-2
Harper 0-3
LaRoche 1-3
Werth 0-2
Zimmerman 1-2, HR
Suzuki 0-2

The Mets will get a crack at the National’s phenom today in Stephen Strasburg who is 1-2 over 18.1 innings and 3 games so far this year while posting a 2.95 ERA. He has had two dominant games where he went 7 shutout innings 6 innings allowing 0 earned runs (2 unearned). He also had one start where he allowed 6 ER over 5.1 innings. He was good against the Mets last season holding them to one earned run over 13 innings and two starts, who have posted the following numbers against him:

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

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea!

Its always interesting when you hear the opposing press rave about a player. Patrick Reusse, legendary Twin Cities sportswriter, and a few others peppered me with questions about Harvey as I was one of the first members of the Mets press to arrive last Saturday before Harvey’s start.

“How hard does he throw?” “How’s his command?  “How’s his breaking ball?” “Is he as good as he was last year?”

They were clearly intrigued by our phenomenal young starter.

“He reminds me of Tom Seaver,” I said, “Big righthander, late life up in the zone with his fastball. His strikeout rates are actually comparable, maybe a little better.”

Funny thing, don’t mention Tom Seaver to Patrick Reusse. While Tom Terrific is revered in Met circles like no one else, I quickly realized following a remarkably colorful string of expletives (that all but made me spit my coffee out laughing), this isn’t necessarily the case in other circles.

“Harvey seems like a nice kid,” I interjected. “Soft spoken, low key.”

Reusse raised his eyebrows and laughed, “He sure isn’t like that on the mound.”

I had to concur there, Mr. Harvey is all business when he takes the hill.

“I think he’s actually been better than he was last year, his command is better.” I said, as Mr. Reusse did a double take.

Harvey’s biggest goal in the off-season and during the spring, by his own admission, was to improve his command so that he could work deeper into games. So far so good.

His changeup and slider have been working well, he’s been able to mix his pitches and change speeds both with his fastball and his changeup  He’s worked his slider inside to left-handed batters, using it almost like a cut fastball with marvelous effectiveness (one notable exception), while spotting his fastball with pinpoint accuracy.

Harvey’s also been able to dial up his velocity in key spots late in games, causing you to overhear things like “reminds me of Justin Verlander that way.”

Harvey mentioned during the press briefing that his curveball needs some work, that it’s been up at times. Difficult to imagine what he’ll be like if he can get his breaking pitch working right.

Below are a collection of quotes by his teammates from the post game press conference following his last start:

Kevin Burkhardt: Asks Marlon Byrd, “After 13 starts does he wow you a little bit with the way he pitched tonight?”

Marlon Byrd: “He looks like he’s pitched 1,300. He’s one of those guys, certain guys, you know he’s bringing it to the table, that bulldog mentality.”

“To be young and throw 97 and be able to use his other pitches like he does. He hits his spots. You know he’s going to work hard and we’re going to work hard for him. It”s nice, it’s nice when he’s out there, you try to get a run or two and you know you have a chance to win.”

Burkhardt: Asks John Buck, “What has it been like catching his first 3 starts?”

Buck: “Yeah it”s a lot of fun, gives you a lot of weapons to work with. The most exciting part about it is right after, he wants to evaluate his starts, to say, ‘hey, what could we have done better here and here,’ he’s not satisfied. He knows there’s room to improve. He also liked to go over some of the good sequences as well , he’ definitely looking to get better.”

Burkhardt: ”When he asks you what can he do to get better, what do you tell him?”

Buck: “Usually it’s like a sequence I know, like a certain particular sequence, or a hitter, or when he’s had a long inning, being ready for the first hitter, little things like that, he pays attention to detail, those are the little things he wants to get better at and repeat better. That’s exciting for me.”

On whether Buck was worried about how the home run would affect his mindset:

Buck: “Yeah, no, that’s one of his pluses. To be able to stay focused. I don’t think we’ll ever see Harv back off. If anything I have to ask him to, especially in that situation. I think David went out there to see but he quickly turned away. I think he saw he (Harvey) was pretty locked in.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

For Met fans, the excitement in the air every time Harvey starts is palpable. We find ourselves throwing out “not since … ” comments with every batter he blows away, with every overpowering high fastball.

You don’t want to miss a pitch, you hurry and grab a sandwich before his next inning. But what continues to impresses me like nothing else after these first three starts of his season is his demeanor, his understated intensity and his desire to improve.

This kid is the definition of “special.”

We’ve got a good one on our hands Mets fans.