There is an old football saying that states, “the most popular guy in town is always the backup quarterback.”  Although that phrase may not directly translate to the game of baseball, I think we can all relate it to the Mets current managerial situation.  The incumbent skipper, Terry Collins, has seen his tenure dominated by poor play thanks in part to a poor roster.  Lurking in the distance is current Las Vegas manager, Wally Backman, who at the very least has developed a bit of a cult following amongst Mets fans.

The weaker the Mets have looked, the stronger the cry for Backman to take over has gotten.  As you would imagine, Dave Lennon’s piece in yesterday’s Newsday that Collins’ job is not only safe, but that Wally has no chance of the big league managerial spot, wasn’t well received by those residing in Backman’s corner.  Whether or not that’s accurate is currently a non-factor, but I can’t help but wonder what difference, if any, Backman would have on the current state of affairs in Queens?

I think its safe to assume that there are very few Mets fans who have actually watched Backman manage a game.  Therefore, I’m forced to believe that his popularity is due to both his comments to the press, and his theatrical, profanity laced ejections that you can find on YouTube with little effort.  While I admit they are comical, I question whether or not they have a place in today’s game.

People have to realize that there is quite a difference between motivating young players in the minor leagues, who still have much to learn, and established big league players with established big league egos.  Its foolish to assume that such tirades would simply light a fire under the current roster, and its extremely possible that he would ostracize as many players as he would motivate.  Those thinking that the current roster is comprised of minor league caliber talent are correct, but on the off chance that the Mets do bring in better talent in the coming months, there is a much better chance that Backman’s criticisms could fall on deaf ears.

The other, and quite possibly more devastating effect of Backman’s antics is the impact it would have on the media.  Fans needn’t look back any farther than last month, when Terry Collins made a comment about not having to answer to the fans, to see how managerial comments can be blown out of proportion.  That was a rare lapse in judgement for Collins.  For Wally, that’s a Tuesday.  While I genuinely enjoy it when a manager gets ejected and I agree that the more animated the disagreement, the more fun it is to watch, Backman could be a few press conferences away from turning Flushing into a three ring circus.

Perhaps I’m wrong.  Perhaps Wally Backman not only possesses the ability to set his ego aside, but also brings with him the surgical precision necessary to manage the egos of a big league baseball team.  Perhaps he could better manage the bullpen, and find a lineup that works on a daily basis.  Perhaps he is the right man for the job.  I’m not saying he isn’t.  What I am saying, is that Backman’s campaign (if you will) to be Mets manager is not one based on great managerial decisions, its one focused on a very blunt and very boisterous technique that fans find entertaining.

Whether or not Backman’s entertainment would produce more wins is an answer we may never get.  Has he put in his time with the Mets organization?  Yes.  Is he deserving of the managerial spot if it should become available?  Probably.  It would even be beneficial to add a connection to the 1986 World Series winning team into the current fold.  But for all the positives, the potential for disaster would always be present with Backman at the helm.  For an organization still searching for positive consistency, that may not be a risk the Mets can afford to take.

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

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.

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.

With center field prospect Matt den Dekker still a long way from returning from the DL (read more here), and Rick Ankiel now hitting only .218 with a .286 on-base for the Mets, Terry Collins will look to give rookie Juan Lagares some extended play.

Lagares has been languishing on the bench since being promoted, but Collins is resolved to change that and will start playing the toolsy centerfielder against righthanded pitching.

“We’ve got to start taking a look at Juan against right-handed pitching,” the manager said after Saturday’s game. “We’ve got to put him out there and make sure he understands what he has to do to play here. He is part of a young bench that’s going to be the future here.”

The Mets were trying to platoon Lagares with Ankiel, but with the team exclusively facing right-handed pitching this series and in Washington, Collins said he may bend and start Lagares against a righty to get him playing time, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

For weeks I’ve wondered why the Mets promoted Lagares only to have him sit mostly on the bench instead of further developing by playing everyday at Triple-A Las Vegas.

In extremely sporadic play, Lagares is batting just .146 in just 48 at-bats. He was batting .346/.378/.551 at Triple-A before his promotion, and before that he batted .304/.347/.470 in 661 at-bats with Double-A Binghamton.

The 24-year old International signee was originally a shortstop before being converted to center field where scouts and Las Vegas manager Wally Backman have said he’s a better defender than Matt den Dekker.

“Niese’s masterpiece aside, the Mets have been careening toward disaster for most of May and are now on pace for 100 losses. No one should be surprised; this roster has been badly flawed from the outset. Still, it’s disturbing how quickly the season has unraveled, leaving in its wake the sense that it’s hopeless from here to September.”

Klapisch says manager Terry Collins made himself an easy target in light of recent comments disparaging Mets fans. He says, “It’s hard to repair the damage once a wedge has been placed between the players and the ticket buyers. It’s how managers get themselves fired.”

He does go onto saying that Collins isn’t really the problem and replacing him with Wally Backman wouldn’t change the real problem which is the makeup up of the entire roster.

“GM Sandy Alderson chose to populate his bullpen with aging relievers…Alderson’s bullpen will keep breaking their hearts. At least until the Mets can score more runs.”

The most discouraging thing was what one national League Official told him:

“That tells me the Mets really have no plan, they’re just going from crisis to crisis,” said one league official. “What can Ankiel give them? I’m sorry, you just don’t belong in the big leagues when you’re striking out [35 times in 62 at-bats before being released by the Astros last week]. You have to try to be that bad.”

One scout also doesn’t understand the fascination with Ike Davis saying, “What’s he even doing on that roster?”

There’s some good points made coupled with a few bad ones, but definitely worth taking a look.

Like many quick-fixes, it will not work. Despite Collins’ outburst, firing him is not the answer as it screams panic.

As the appearance is things spiraling out of control, the Mets desperately need to show signs of stability and reiterate the growth process. Sacking the manager does not achieve this goal.General manager Sandy Alderson needs to take several steps to show the fan base there is a plan, and it has to entail more than asking for patience and talking about a supposedly increased payroll after this season.

The first thing Alderson must do is speak out in defense of his manager. Jordany Valdespin isn’t being hung out to dry, it is Collins. Alderson must say Collins is his man and his job is not in jeopardy.

Supporting Collins also entails ridding the Mets of the topic, which set him off in the first place, and that is Valdespin. If Alderson can’t trade Valdespin, whose value is low, then designated him for assignment. Don’t bother sending him down because you don’t want to pollute a farm team with his selfish, punkish attitude. Get rid of him, and if he comes back to bite the Mets in the butt, so be it.

You will notice an immediate cleansing in the clubhouse. The Mets spoke about changing the culture of the franchise, and that should include getting rid of that kind of attitude. One can’t help but notice neither Collins nor Alderson care for Valdespin, and for whatever talent he has, he’s not worth the trouble.

Next, send down Ike Davis and Lucas Duda until they show signs of understanding how to hit. I keep hearing there’s nothing down below that can help. Well, how will they know unless they try?

Clearly, Davis and Duda aren’t getting it done on the major league level and the pressure is only increasing. When they get home, they will hear boos and that won’t help. It will be like Jason Bay all over again, but in two positions.

The Mets aren’t going to make a trade or sign anybody now, so let’s see what is below. If you don’t want to screw with Wilmer Flores changing positions, I understand. But, let’s look at Josh Satin. Or Zach Lutz. Or any Little Leaguer in the Tri-State area. I’m just tired of watching strikeout after strikeout.

Davis shows no signs of patience or understanding of the strike zone and Duda has regressed from a promising start. Maybe these guys are the future, but they certainly aren’t the present. And, it is obvious they aren’t learning anything up here.

Finally, Alderson should flat out say Zack Wheeler is not coming up and it is because of his contract status. We all know about Super Two, so let’s stop the charade. Putting a date on Wheeler will eliminate the distracting groundswell, which has included Wally Backman’s muddying projection.

Collins’ status, Valdespin, Davis, Duda and Wheeler are all distractions that could be eliminated by forceful actions from Alderson.

Just do it.

His recent comments where he dismissed the fans view on his handling of the Jordany-gate, although brusque, were not off base. Most fans, bloggers and some members of the media struggle to understand what it takes to manage people, much less lead 25 athletes from diverse backgrounds in the biggest city in the world. From a big picture standpoint calling out the fans gets you nowhere. Why fight a battle that doesn’t help you in the long-run?  The bigger concern isn’t the comments, but the fact that he never sticks to a conviction. I am not in the clubhouse, but my view from the outside is one of a placeholder manager that seems to struggle with his leadership role. You get the feeling the Anaheim mutiny is still in the back of his head. That mindset is not going to move this team forward and create the kind of culture necessary for a sustained winning environment.

For as little talent as ownership (notice I said ownership, not the front office) has provided Collins the last two plus years, you can’t forget how his teams have collapsed under his stewardship. The 2011 team was probably the best of the bunch and they were going south when Alderson pulled the trigger on the Beltran-Wheeler deal. Last June, you couldn’t ask for better karma after the Johan Santana no-hitter and R.A. Dickey’s string of zeros. How did they leverage that? With .280 baseball in July. That was the end of the 2012 Mets who, up to that point, were a feel-good story.

Again, lack of depth on the big league roster and in the minors is largely to blame. None of that is Collins’ fault.What he is accountable for is a failure to live up to anything he says for a sustained period of time. A perfect example is last September after the Phillies drubbed the Mets 16-1 at Citi Field.  Asked after the game if he was embarrassed, Collins said, “I am.” Asked if he thought his team quit, he responded, “You have to ask them.”

One of the biggest issues with the organization has been lack of accountability and a culture of failure. One of the main reasons Collins was hired was to purge that stench from the locker room. If there was ever a defining moment in his tenure it was that night. What did he do with that opportunity? He backtracked the next day after the players took exception to the comments. This leads me to believe that he doesn’t have conviction, control or autonomy. The media can be a useful tool to send messages to a ballclub. Collins did exactly what any skipper should do when their club doesn’t compete; especially when it was their ninth straight loss.

Truthfully, all I need for a manager to succeed in this town is to manage a bullpen, run a clean clubhouse and keep the media appeased so there aren’t any peripheral distractions.  Collins is not a long-term solution at a time where the organization needs to sell the future. Also, if Collins was truly in the plans for 2014 and beyond, why wait to extend his contract at the end of the year? The players know he is dead man walking.

So do you sit back and make this get ugly? That’s where it’s headed after a sixth straight loss last night. If bringing up Zack Wheeler and others is necessary to make the future better, why not do the same with the manager? I believe it’s time to do what should have been done in 2010: Hire Wally Backman.

I believe Backman is the kind of manager that could achieve the aforementioned three criteria that I believe makes for a successful manager. He could be the Mets version of Ron Gardenhire or Mike Scioscia: a manager who defines their current club as much as the uniform. We haven’t seen that type of scenario since Davey Johnson came onboard in 1984. In a lot of ways Backman could have a similar impact.

Backman is known to be a great motivator and teacher. He won’t wave a magic wand and make this 4-A squad a contender, but I guarantee the players will maximize their potential- whatever that may be. He can manage a bullpen, and certainly will run a clean clubhouse. He will demand respect and a winning attitude.  The Mets may not win under Backman, at least not right away, but they will compete. This is not what I can say has been the case 100% of Terry Collins’ tenure.

So why wait? Yesterday Collins again flip-flopped during his weekly WFAN segment with Mike Francesa. After calling out the fans for their criticism of how he handled Valdespin, he retracted and couched his comments in a softer manner. People show their true colors when under pressure. The comments that Collins made a day earlier was how he really feels. I would have respected him more if he stood by it instead of playing politics after the fact – just like he did last September.

Does the team really have a choice? When Francesa asked why he thinks things will get better Collins’ responded by saying the “clubhouse is in great shape.” I am glad to hear that everyone is happy and comfortable with the prospects of a fifth straight losing season.

If hope and dreams is the Terry Collins solution then why don’t we just sign up for magic beans and pixie dust? That isn’t going to help Tejada, Davis, Duda or Niese out of their malaise.  It’s time for something real and sustainable. It’s time for the Wally Backman era to start now.

I only was in the car long enough to hear his opening monologue, but you know what? He was dead on.

Look, Valdespin is a jerk – he’s an immature bench player who constantly finds himself on the wrong side of the headlines. But he’s our immature bench player.

It’s not about race, it’s not about having it out for a kid who doesn’t deserve it – it’s about the entire team being an utter disaster. If somebody wants to inject race into this issue, they are missing the point and doing a disservice to anybody who has ever dealt with real race issues.

You know, everybody wants to pin the failure on Sandy. That’s fine, everybody who hates him will always hate him. But the truth is, Sandy Alderson cannot magically turn Ike Davis, Jon Niese and Lucas Duda into the players we all thought they’d be. He cannot turn Ruben Tejada into a kid who can handle big league pitching when pre-Jose Reyes, Tejada was pegged as the future 2B. So you cannot even use the Reyes dismissal as an excuse. The players have to perform.

I’m sorry but guys like them mean more to the failure of the Mets than guys like Collin Cowgill or Anthony Recker.

The “plan” was that next year could be a big turning point, but that can’t be true when the guys you are counting on are playing in various level of mediocrity. Ike Davis is an embarrassment. He’s not a star 1B, he’s barely a big league 1B and that changes everything. Spare me this idea that come June he’s going to show up again. Too little too late.

Jon Niese is proving he’s a #2 on a bad team, #3 on a good one – and Duda is proving he truly is one dimensional.

You pair that with the fact Terry Collins who I do like mind you, is more of a minor league instructor than a big league manager. His handling of Valdespin was a “teaching moment.” At this level, the education should be complete. The best example of this is – when David Wright would have gotten beaned last year, Collins wouldn’t let him go out there. He said he knew he’d get hit and so he took him out. He did the reverse with Valdespin. Not because Valdespin is Dominican – because he thinks its his job in the major leagues to educate Valdespin and he forgot that this is a big league club and not a collection of kids.

I think Valdespin is an over hyped bench player, but it’s my job as a fan to think that and shake my head at his antics. It’s not the Manager’s or his teammates job.

Who is the most liked Met player in the clubhouse? I truly don’t know – but lets just say it’s Justin Turner. What if the Pirates decided rather than plunk Valdespin, they were going to hit Turner? What would the Mets players have done? Turn and wag a finger at Valdespin or react to the Pirates? In the major leagues when you want to get your point across to a player, you bench him and talk to him. You don’t air your dirty laundry and you certainly don’t send him out to get beaned.

The screams are becoming louder than Wally Backman needs to be the Manager. I love Wally Backman – he’s my favorite all time player because he was my first favorite player. But he is not the guy for this team. The Mets need an outsider. They need somebody who hasn’t been here, who hasn’t been a part of this dark cloud that has hung over the franchise for the last 7 years. I do not know who that is yet. Part of me is hoping that Mike Scioscia is the guy, and the other has me imagining what would happen if Don Mattingly became available.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas dropped Albuquerque, 4-3. 
• Binghamton split a double header with Harrisburg, 3-1 and 9-3. 
• St. Lucie had an off day.
  
• Savannah lost to Rome, 4-1. 

Prospect Pipeline

• Wheeler Watch: Joe D. thinks the timing is right, everyone likes what they see (including Wally Backman — see below), and the Mets could us a jolt…one more solid start and Zack Wheeler may be packing his bags for Queens.
• What’s that? You have nothing to do this evening? Why not follow Rafael Montero‘s start against the Akron Aeros? The game starts at 6:05 PM. I will be live tweeting and have a summary of his performance up here on MMO immediately following the game — you can follow me on Twitter @FirstPitchMitch.
• Wheeler isn’t the only pitcher that seems to have gotten his act together in Las Vegas. Collin McHugh is back on track, after pitching seven innings in last night’s game, only allowing one run (on a home run). McHugh has had a roller coaster of a season so far, but it has had more peaks than valleys. He started off the season pitching lights out, allowing just one earned run over 18 innings pitched. His next three starts, not so good. He allowed 13 earned runs over a span of 17.1 innings pitched. It looks like we are on another incline, as McHugh has held the opposition to one earned run over his last two starts (14 IP). McHugh now ranks tenth in the Pacific Coast League in ERA, with a 2.74, and leads the league in innings pitched, at 49.1 — not too shabby.
• The Mets, looking for bullpen help, have recalled right-handed reliever Greg Burke from Las Vegas.
• Cory Mazzoni is shaking off the rust, and had a much stronger start in his second go after being activated from the disabled list last week. He is still on a strict pitch count, but pitched very well, and was popping off at 96 mph until his very last pitch.
• Hansel Robles takes the hill for St. Lucie today. The Mets haven’t played in a game since Friday night. Robles has a 2.36 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .200 batting average this season.

Stat Line of the Day

Collin McHugh: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Transactions

New York Mets recalled Greg Burke from Las Vegas 51s.

Quote of the Day

Wally Backman regarding Wheeler’s past three performances:

“I think the kid is on a mission. His last three starts have all been quality starts,” 51s manager Wally Backman said. “To me, just looking at the kid, knowing him, having him for part of last year and this year, he smells it. He knows what’s in front of him and he’s going at it as a professional, in the right way. As long as he puts up zeros the organization will have to make some decision on that shortly.”

“He has made some huge improvements over his last three starts. He’s worked with [pitching coach] Randy St. Claire, who’s done a wonderful job of showing him video, some of the mechanical issues he might have had. And he responded to it,” the former Major League infielder said. “He did what he had to do to overcome the problem. He was very receptive to what Randy has told him and he’s gotten a lot better in his last three starts.

” He showed the consistency with all of his pitches and he’s throwing everything for strikes. He’s showing what you have to do at the Major League level to be a successful Major Leaguer. There’s no question, his stuff doesn’t play to be an average Major League pitcher — his stuff plays to be a very, very quality Major League pitcher. I think to all of us in the organization it’s just a matter of being consistent, and he’s shown it his last three starts.”

“I’d love to keep the kid. The more we can season him at the Minor League level, the better he’s going to be when he gets to the Major League level. But can he pitch in the big leagues tomorrow? Absolutely,” Backman said.

“Does he need more seasoning? Maybe. But I said that about Matt Harvey last year, too, and the rest is kind of history.”

Photo of the Day

I love to start my week off with the Mets Minors Report.

 

How many of you are sitting at home tonight, wondering and asking yourselves how long it will be until we finally see Zack Wheeler wearing that uniform and hurling 98 mph fastballs from the mound at Citi Field?

The question is not an easy one to answer and in fact it’s a perfect paradox by virtue of the logical arguments one can make for either side. It’s a conundrum, that much is true, but it’s a wonderful dilemma to be in.

Four starts ago, I talked about his mechanical flaw that kept him from harnessing the command of his four plus-pitches. I even said that a small tweak could fix that flaw and give him a more consistent release point and enable him to spot his pitches better than he had been.

By sheer coincidence, Wheeler did make an adjustment after that start, and while it didn’t completely eliminate that inverted w, it’s certainly no longer as pronounced as it once was. More importantly, his release point is now not lagging behind his plant as drastically as it was before. He’s now throwing the ball exactly where he wants it to go, and it’s no longer the guessing game it used to be. He’s no longer crossing up his catcher. Let me interject that Juan Centeno deserves some credit for this transformation. Calling games and being a top defensive backstop is what Centeno does best.

Anyway, the results have been dramatic.

Over his last three starts, Wheeler has thrown a combined 20 innings and allowed just three earned runs. But the real news here is that Wheeler struck out 19 and walked only three batters – one in each start.

To put that into perspective, that’s three walks in his last 20 innings as compared to 15 walks in his previous 23.1 innings before he tweaked his delivery.

Four starts ago, Wheeler ranked 47th in ERA among qualified starters in the PCL, his 3.74 ERA now ranks 16th and looks so much better than the 7.67 he sported after his first five starts.

To those so-called experts and quasi-analysts who blamed the humidity or lack thereof for his woes, or that it was the altitude playing tricks on his brain, I’ll stand by what I’ve said all along. “None of that stuff matters if you’re pitching great.” The problem was mechanical and not related to all those cop-outs and excuses. Many great pitchers have made it through the PCL just fine as I pointed out last month.

We are now seeing the Zack Wheeler that we’ve all been anxiously awaiting since the middle of the 2011 season. The kid with electric stuff and four phenomenal pitches is now throwing strikes and pounding the zone. He’s hitting the corners, overpowering hitters, and sending them back to the dugout talking to themselves. He’s gone from a great thrower to a great pitcher.

This feels so good, and the timing is beginning to feel right.

In Spring Training, Terry Collins challenged Wheeler and told him, “If you want to be a major leaguer, go to Triple-A and pitch great.”

Guess what, Terry? Zack Wheeler is pitching great.

The Mets sure could use a jolt of enthusiasm and energy on this team right now…

Matt Harvey sure could use somebody to help him shoulder the load in the Mets rotation…

Met fans could use another reason to keep watching…

I couldn’t give a rat’s ass if bringing Wheeler up now will cost the Wilpons a few million dollars over the first seven years of team control. My regular readers know my feelings about Met fans who like to play team accountants. This is New York not Oakland or San Diego.

If Wheeler is ready than he should be called up and to make room for him, I’ll drive Shaun Marcum to the airport myself.

If Wheeler’s dominance continues in his next start, I see no reason why he shouldn’t be able to join the Mets rotation during the next homestand when the Cincinnati Reds come to Citi Field. Or better yet give him a couple of extra days of rest and have him make his Major League Debut against the New York Yankees on May 27 at Citi Field. I just love the sound of that, don’t you?.

As you know, MMO has been covering every Zack Wheeler start like white on rice. Our reports and analysis are based on our own observations, discussions with scouts, and of course what we learn from Wally and Randy.

The following are some thoughts from Rob and Mitch from last night. But before that I just want to thank the incredible Jay Horwitz for bailing me out yesterday. If you’re reading this Jay, that was awesome, thanks a lot.

Thoughts from Rob

Last night I was at Cashman Field to witness the ace of the Las Vegas 51s and prized prospect Zack Wheeler on the mound. In many ways Wheeler lived up to the hype and pitched as expected. However, what I did NOT expect was the competitive spirit he displayed. His poise is more like what one would expect from a seasoned veteran and not a kid three weeks shy of turning 23.

Wheeler pitched well, keeping Albuquerque batters on their toes all evening long. He tossed 7 1/3 innings, the longest of any 51s pitcher this season, allowing just two runs on six hits and fanned seven while walking just one and throwing 61 of his 91 pitches for strikes, his best ratio this season. No opposing batter reached second base again until the seventh.

It was good to see how Wheeler responded when some pressure and adversity came his way. After Alburquerque outfielder Matt Angle launched a first pitch fastball from Wheeler high into the Vegas night he was unfazed. His manager  Wally Backman showed faith in him and didn’t even come out to settle him down. He didn’t wave to the bullpen either. Instead he gave his young ace a chance to show what he was made of and Wheeler answered the call by striking out the next batter on a knee-buckling curveball. Nasty.

After watching him tonight, it’s clear—as we’ve all been reading and hearing—that Wheeler has “the stuff.” What I learned, however, is that he also has the make-up. He did not get rattled. He did not get flustered. When he had to reach back for something extra, he succeeded.

Another interesting observation about Wheeler was the efficiency he pitches with. He keeps the game moving at a quick clip. He doesn’t take a lot of time between pitches. This obviously keeps the fielder’s sharp. Steve Trachsel he’s not.

It seems like every few years we Mets fans hear about ‘the next’ Tom Seaver or Jerry Koosman. We hear it so much we’be become numb to it. Am I saying Zack Wheeler will be the next Koosman to Matt Harvey’s Seaver? No.

However, after seeing Harvey pitch over the last month and personally witnessing Zack Wheeler last night, maybe, just maybe, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thoughts from Mitch

Wheeler was locked into cruise control for the majority of the night. He threw 99 pitches, 61 for strikes, and only allowed one walk to his final batter. He gave up a run early in the first inning, but settled down after that and took control of the game.

Wheeler showed poise after he gave up a leadoff home run to Matt Angle in the seventh, but he stuck out the next batter and retired the side in order, looking unphased in the process. He continues to build on his previous performances, and it appears that fixing the mechanical glitch has made the difference. Since the fix, he has only walked three batters, one in each of his past three starts. One more thing, late in the game when he fanned his last batter, he was still hitting 96 mph on the radar gun…wow.

“Personally, I think if he has a couple of more starts like his last start he’ll be headed to the big leagues, and rightfully so,” Backman told Las Vegas’ ESPN radio affiliate.

We’ll have our Las Vegas beat writer Rob Silverman on hand Saturday when Wheeler takes the mound against his former teammate Aaron Laffey – now with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque Isotopes.

In his last two starts, Wheeler has rebounded nicely after a rocky start to his season. In 12.2 innings pitched he’s limited opponents to just one run on eight hits and two walks while striking out twelve.

Overall, the Mets’ top pitching prospect has a 4.00 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in seven starts, and the league is batting .246 against him.

Wheeler believes his turnaround was due to an adjustment he made to his delivery. “I was keeping my shoulder square to the plate, which allows me to have a bit better command,” he told MLB.com. “Before, the command was off, and the mechanics allow me to hit spots a little bitter, sharpens up my pitches.”

Kevin Burkhardt of SNY has been calling for Wheeler’s promotion since the season began and last night he said that if he pitches two more starts like his last two, he will be here. Darling and Cohen both agreed with him and spend about 5-10 minutes of every broadcast this season talking up Wheeler with little to no concern about triggering the extra year of arbitration eligibility for Wheeler.

I actually asked one of SNY’s producers about that last month, to which he said “Wheeler is all most Met fans want to hear about regarding the minors. That’s all they care about.”

It’s been widely reported that June 4th is the cutoff this season for avoiding Super Two eligibility for Wheeler.

A team source told Mike Puma of the NY Post, that “it’s highly unlikely” that Wheeler will be a candidate for promotion to the Mets regardless of the results in his next start.

We’ll be looking forward to speaking with both Backman and Wheeler on Saturday, and as usual we will quickly post a full accounting of his performance when his night is done. We’re all hoping for another solid start as he inches closer and closer to joining Matt Harvey in the Mets rotation.

Zack Wheeler had a test of fortitude staring him in the face today when he took the mound against the Reno Aces. The good news for Mets fans is that the young Wheeler stared adversity in the face and punched it in the mouth.

He ran into some trouble right out of the gate, as lead-off hitter Tyler Bortnick singled and stole second base. Wheeler then induced two ground balls, one which moved the runner over and the latter one bringing him home. He allowed a single after that, but settled down to strike out Brad Snyder to end the inning.

Wheeler danced out of a self-created jam in the second inning where he allowed two singles by getting Bortnick to fly out. Of course, that’s when the fun started. Including Bortnick’s fly out, Wheeler went on to retire the next eleven batters straight, mixing in a healthy amount of strikeouts along the way and demonstrating overall dominance. The next baserunner that reached against him was due to a fielding error, but that was barely a blip on the radar for him as he went ahead to pick up a flyout and then a strikeout to end the sixth inning.

He took the mound and immediately allowed a lead-off single, and after getting two outs, he walked Evan Frey – that’s when Wally Backman pulled him from the ballgame. I wish he would have left him in. The walk to Frey, by the way, was his first of the day – what an excellent sign. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that Wheeler had some solid defense behind him throughout the entire game, which undoubtedly helped his cause.

Zack Wheeler’s final line was an impressive one:

6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 8 K. 65/108 pitches went for strikes.

For what it’s worth, Wheeler actually had a solid day at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI single, a walk, and a run scored. He is the proud owner of a .333 batting average. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a trend for Wheeler as he settles down to become a huge part of our future plans.

I was 13 years old and it was October in New York City. Game 6 of the 1986 World Series was on TV. While listening to Evans speak, I remembered Billy Buckner, who was not in the auditorium with us, but the memory of that amazing night was vivid in my mind. All I could think about was that ball rolling between his legs and that famous call by Vin Scully:

“A little roller up along first; behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!”

Every time I hear that call, it gives me goosebumps. I feel like a kid again. I was watching the game in my room and from what I can remember, there were three very nervous people in my home wishing and praying that something miraculous would happen as the Mets neared the end of Game 6.

While my stepfather watched the game in the living room, my mother was in the bedroom reading and relying upon me for instant updates from me. We lived on the second floor of a duplex in the East New York section of Brooklyn, and the rooms weren’t that far from each other. So running into her room to give her updates and running back, didn’t take too long  and was actually quite fun.

As the game went along and the Mets found themselves down 2-0, my heart was pounding very hard and I couldn’t breathe. It was only the 4th inning, but being down three games to two and needing to win this game, I couldn’t begin to tell you how frazzled my nerves were.

Then the Mets tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Whew, a sigh of relief went through my body, now I could finally breathe a little. At this I wondered why my mom wouldn’t come out her room and watch the game with my stepfather on the big TV in the living room. It was if she was too nervous to watch and preferred my between innings updates.

I had this thing, that throughout the World Series, no one was allowed to watch the game in my room; it was off limits because I wanted to be alone when it mattered most and if I wanted to scream or yell, I didn’t want anyone to tell me to shut up.  Neither of them would dare come in especially after the second game of the series, they knew I needed to be alone – just me and my Mets.

Now back to the game. It’s now the top of the 7th and those damned Red Sox scored again, Oh man was I having a fit, but that was short lived because the Mets scored to tie it again in the bottom of the eighth at 3-3.  What a nail-biter this was becoming.

“It’s okay,” I would say to myself. “David, just breathe man, just breath, they will do it, just like the song says. “Do it…Let’s go! Do it…Let’s go!  Lets make it happen!”

We’ll win it in the bottom of the ninth – I was convinced. That’s what I kept telling myself. However, the bottom of the ninth just comes and goes and we are headed into extra-innings. I’m sweating profusely while gazing at my TV in a trance-like state after watching the Red Sox score two runs to take the lead 5-3.

This can’t be happening. Please God, don’t let it end like this…

My mind went blank. I was now so upset that my mother yelled toward my room telling me to stop screaming. By now she was huddled with my stepfather and watching it all unfold together. What’s the matter with them? Did they not just see what has happened; of course I’m screaming.

I dug my head in my pillow and remembered praying real hard that if God would just allow the Mets to somehow come back, that I would always listen to my mom. I am sure my mother would get a thrill if she could read this part of this post.

Here we go… We’re down to our last three outs and before I can finish my praying, Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez both hit fly balls for outs.  Now its two outs and nobody on and I can hear my mother whisper to my stepfather, “Oh this is not good.”

I am sure she was more concerned about me and what my reaction would be rather than the Mets who looked like they were about to lose the World Series.  For so many years at school. my friends had given me a verbal beating for rooting for the Mets rather than the Yankees.

But the Mets were my team and I would be there for them no matter how bad they were. But in 1986, they weren’t bad, they were the most dominating team in the game. It was hard to sit and watch them go down like this. I just couldn’t stand to sit there and watch them lose the biggest game in their history at the time. I was dying inside and then suddenly a glimmer of hope…

One of my favorite Met players Gary Carter came up to bat. And as I peeked through my fingers, as if I am watching a horror flick, I prayed one last time for a miracle. There it was! A base-hit  by Carter and the Mets were still alive!

And before I knew it another base-hit by Kevin Mitchell and suddenly we had two men on and the winning run at the plate and it’s Ray Knight.  I am alive again for just a moment, and think okay, a home run right here and we win. Knight lines another a base-hit and Carter scores as Mitchell hustles to third base.  At this point I start to hear some noise coming from outside my window. I can hear screams from my neighbors, but I just didn’t want to get too excited yet, it was still two outs and the tying run was on third base.

Mookie Wilson comes up to bat.  The pitch comes in toward Mookie and he leaps in the air in one swift motion as the ball goes under him and to the backstop, and Mitchell scores to tie the game. Oh My God, the neighborhood erupted, people screaming out the windows, I have tears running down my face, I am so excited that I start to cry.  I can’t believe what I just witnessed, was it real, could it actually be happening.  I run into the living room, and give my mother and stepfather high-fives and run right back to my spot. The game isn’t over yet, but we are back in it and the winning run is now at third base in Ray Knight.

And then it happens… The play that any Met fan watching will never forget – the image burned into our minds forever. A ground ball to first base, everything seems goes into slow motion and I all I hear is that famous Vin Scully call:

“A little roller up along first; behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!”

What, Oh My God, Oh My God, we win, we win, and now my mother and stepfather come running into my room, we are screaming, I am screaming out the window, my friends are all coming out their homes and a party is going on in the street that night.  What a game and with one more win the Mets will become champs.

Well we all know what happens in Game 7 of the World Series.  I got to witness my very first Mets championship, and unfortunately to this point it has been their last.  But I still have hope that they will get it together and allow me the opportunity to relive the Glory Days and witness some more of that Mets magic.

After the Mets win the series, my mother promises me that I could go to the parade, even if it meant me missing school. I am not sure what she told the nuns at my school, but who cares – I was going to the Canyon of Heroes in New York City to celebrate the greatest Met moment of my life. Nothing else mattered other than the Mets were finally champions – and to all my friends that mocked me, I finally had something to brag about.

The night before the parade, my stepfather tells us that we need to be there no later than 7:00 AM.  He says that millions of people will be there and we need to get a head-start. When we arrive in downtown Manhattan, I kid you not, no one was there.

It was 7:00 AM in the morning and the crew that were preparing the parade route were just arriving and just starting to put the barricades up. But because of my stepfather’s insistence that we get there early, we had a great vantage point for the greatest parade I would ever see.  Front row seats to watch our Champions parade down the Canyon of Heroes. How lucky can you get!

It was great… It was amazing… It was a day that is embedded in my brain and I will never forget.  A former Red Sox was a guest speaker a church breakfast meeting and revived one of the greatest games in Mets history. Thanks Dewey.

Here are some pictures we took the day of the parade. They’re not great, but I picked out the best ones that I could share with all of great Met fans on MMO. I hope you enjoyed my story.

October 28, 1986

World Champion Mets Victory Parade

1986 Mets Parade: Darryl Strawberry batted cleanup that day...

1986 Mets Parade: NYPD Blue

1986 Mets Parade: I'm Keith Hernandez...

1986 Mets Parade: That's a Roger...

1986 Mets Parade: Rick Aguilera was there too...

1986 Mets Parade: Here they come...

1986 Mets Parade: Let's have a party!

1986 Mets Parade: Bobby Ojeda and family...

1986 Mets Parade: Mookie Wilson was all smiles...

Tacoma 10, Las Vegas 1

The Las Vegas 51s managed just four hits Friday against visiting Tacoma in a 10-1 loss at Cashman Field.

The 51s allowed double-digit runs for the second straight game and dropped their third straight overall. Partially responsible for that huge run total was starter Carlos Torres, who was rocked for six earned runs over five innings. Dylan Owen struggled as well, allowing three earned runs over his two innings of work. Unfortunately for Las Vegas, Tacoma only failed to score in two innings while they were being no-hit for most of this game.

Josh Satin, Andrew Brown and Kirk Nieuwenhuis were the only men who picked up hits for Vegas in this one, with Josh Satin responsible for two of the combined four. The recently demoted Nieuwenhuis led off the ninth inning with a double, and was sent home via a Josh Satin RBI single.

Vegas will continue the series with the third game out of four on Saturday evening, at 10:05 PM.

Key Stats

Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Josh Satin: 2-for-4, 1 RBI

Andrew Brown: 1-for-4

Carlos Torres: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 6 ER, 4 K

Darin Gorski: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 ER

Dylan Owen: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 ER, 1 K

Sean Henn: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER

(I wonder how Wally Backman feels managing against Ho-Jo. Howard Johnson is the hitting coach for Tacoma, if I remembered correctly.)

Last night, in the Mets 7-2 loss to the Dodgers, Juan Lagares entered the game in the top of the fifth inning to play center field as part of a double-switch – officially marking his major league debut.

Lagares led off in the bottom half of the fifth with a hard hit fly to the warning track in left field against Dodgers’ ace LHP Clayton Kershaw. In his next at-bat, Lagares singled against left-hander Paco Rodriguez in the seventh for his first major league hit. The first of what I’m sure will be many.

“When I got to the dugout, all my teammates said ‘Congratulations,’” Lagares said. “I really don’t know how to say it, but I am so excited to be here with the team.”

Lagares, 24, was promoted in place of outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who was optioned to Las Vegas after hitting .125 (2-for-16).

I appealed to the Mets to call him up only the day before they did after looking at his .346 (27-for-78) in 17 games with Las Vegas. The athletic outfielder started every game in centerfield and had already hit three home runs, three doubles and two triples in his 82 total plate appearances. His .929 OPS was second on the team.

“He’s the future,” Mets manager Terry Collins said before Tuesday’s game. “A great defender. Got some power. There are people in this organization that think he’s a better outfielder than Matt den Dekker. That speaks a lot.”

Initially an infielder, Lagares converted to the outfield in 2009 and has only gotten better according to Wally Backman.

Collins said Lagares will start Wednesday with the Dodgers starting left-hander Ted Lilly.

Welcome to The Show, kid…

Juan Lagares Is Legit – (Photo by Gordon Donovan)

Updated 2:30 PM

Whatever I said below, it’s now official…

Updated at 11:30 PM

Outfield prospect Juan Lagares, who is tearing up the Pacific Coast League, likely will join the Mets as soon as Tuesday, baseball sources told ESPN New York.

Lagares, 24, is hitting .346 with three homers and nine RBIs through 78 at-bats with Triple-A Las Vegas. All 17 of his appearances with the 51s have been in center field. He also has experience.

See you again soon, Kirk… Nice getting to know you…

I’m getting really good at this….

Original Post 3:00 PM 

Prospect Spotlight: Juan Lagares Is Finally Getting His Due

When we did our MMO Top 25 Prospects back in January, we caught some flack for including outfielder Juan Lagares at No. 21.

Some of the blowback we received on Twitter and in our threads included some of these gems:

• Anyone can do a top ten, that’s easy. You need to really know the system to start doing top 25. Putting Lagaras anywhere on it speaks volumes. Having him at 21 is nuts. (Umm it’s Lagares, not Lagaras.)
• The fact you’re the only site that has him ranked in the top 25 doesn’t say much for your analysis, Lagares sucks.

After we finished releasing out MMO Top 25, several other sites rolled out their own Prospect Rankings weeks later and aside from Mack’s Mets and Toby Hyde, Juan Lagares was included in everyone else’s Top 25 including Amazin Avenue, Jonathan Mayo, and John Sickels (Top 20, but had Lagares among honorable mentions).

Here is our original MMO Profile:

21. Juan Lagares, OF

Height: 6’1″
Weight: 175 LBS
Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Juan Lagares had a monster season in 2011 and followed it up with a good season at Binghamton hitting .283 with some improvement in his plate discipline and his continuing ability at playing CF. Lagares’ value at this point is held to which position on the field he will play because despite the high batting average, Lagares doesn’t exhibit the type of power you would expect from a corner outfielder. Expectations would see Lagares going to Las Vegas for the 2013 season to either start in CF if possible, otherwise playing a corner and proving his bat is solid

Outlook: Lagares can hit but the only downside is the tweener label at this point and value that goes to each position. The Mets outfield at this point is so devoid of right-handed bats, if Lagares came up to the Mets for the 2013 season I would not be surprised in the least bit. That being said, I think Lagares gets 400+ AB in Las Vegas, playing all three OF spots and makes the big club by September 2013 for a tryout for 2014.

In one of my replies to one of those commenters, I wrote the following about Lagares sucking:

Not according to what Paul DePodesta had to say about him yesterday, when he said Lagares will most likely make his MLB debut in 2013. (That was based on comments DePo made at a Citi Field event back in January.)

Even before Travis d’Arnaud injured his ankle, the top slugger on the Triple-A Las Vegas squad was and continues to be Juan Lagares and my other MMO fave, Josh Satin.

Lagares is swinging a .346 bat to lead the 51s with a .378 On-Base, .551 Slugging and a .929 OPS. In 17 games played he has three doubles, two triples and three home runs to go with 13 runs scored and nine driven in.

As we projected, Lagares is Wally Backman‘s leadoff man and with the injury to Matt den Dekker he has started every game in center field where he ranks third in the PCL in range factor and fifth in fielding percentage. He leads the team in putouts and has already had his arm tested, accumulating four outfield assists in barely two weeks.

Is this a fluke? Not really, in 2011 – and in a not so hitter-friendly league – Lagares batted .370/.391/.512 for Double-A Binghamton in 170 plate appearances. Combined with St. Lucie that season he hit .349 in 550 Plate appearances.

Last season toolsy outfielder produced at a .287 clip and some people were already willing to toss him into the wood chipper. What also gets overlooked is Lagares’ speed and in the last three seasons he has stolen 21, 15 and 25 bases.

I feel strongly that unless Collin Cowgill gets that on-base percentage significantly over .200 real quick, Juan Lagares will be promoted from Las Vegas to fill the void and see plenty of time batting leadoff for the Mets. His right-handed bat would pair very well with Jordany Valdespin as a platoon in center field.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He needs to show it.

His overall line left a lot to be desired, as he allowed four earned runs off three hits and the aforementioned six walks, while striking out four in 4.1 innings.

Wheeler is under a lot of pressure as the Mets’ top prospect right now and he seems to be running into the same issues he’s always had – walking too many batters. If you break down his start a little further, you can see that he threw 108 pitches. His strike to ball ratio was 61:47, which was rough, and nowhere near the level of efficiency we need to see from him.

He blew a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning, where he was eventually lifted in favor of Greg Peavey. To be fair, Wheeler left with the bases loaded and Peavey allowed all three inherited runners to score, but he was still wild overall and they were his runners.

This was Zack’s second start since the blister problem that was causing him discomfort in his first two starts. This was also one of Wheeler’s worst starts since joining the New York Mets organization after being acquired for Carlos Beltran.

As Mr. North Jersey mentioned in the comments, we can only hope there is no injury issue at play here, and that this is all a part of his growing pains. The potential still remains for Wheeler to become a dominant ace-like pitcher in the near future, so remember that this is all part of the process.

Thoughts from Joe D.

As I said after Wheeler’s last start, was his no-walk performance a sign of things to come, or just a fluke and a blip on the radar given the control problems that have plagued him throughout his pro career?

This is now fourth straight start in which he 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.

Collin McHugh, who I bring up all the time and am very high on, has walked just four batters in 18 innings and has 0.49 ERA to lead the team if you’re looking for a comparison.

And yet despite all of this data, day in and day out Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins are constantly bombarded with questions asking when Wheeler will be promoted.

Wheeler simply has not shown any signs that he is ready to take on the likes of Joey Votto, Bryce Harper and a host of other National League sluggers. He is not ready to mow down a major league lineup.

As one scout told Kevin Kernan yesterday, there’s dozens of pitchers who can throw 98 mph. Until Wheeler can consistently string together at least a half dozen quality starts (6.0 IP, 3 ER) calling him up shouldn’t be an option. How does promoting him now help him from a development standpoint, or more importantly how does he help the backend of our rotation?

When your pitch count is consistently around 90 pitches after four innings, how can you possibly provide any relief to an already very taxed Mets bullpen?

You can disagree with me all you want, but this is not a slight mechanical kink he needs to work out. The problem is much deeper than that. Zack Wheeler is simply not ready for major league duty and needs to show he can handle a full season in Triple-A. Currently, there are 30 qualified starting pitchers in the PCL who have a better ERA and WHIP than Zack Wheeler.

Terry Collins said back in March that if Wheeler wanted to make it to the Mets he needed to go to Las Vegas and lead the league in pitching. Wheeler isn’t even close.

Fast forward ten years to the days of competing for the right to command the front and back pages of the local New York newspapers with the Yankees. Winning baseball didn’t seem to consist of just developing the youth, it mattered most about getting the right players in a trade or free agency to try and win each and every year. Some years it was successful and other years it was just a terrible waste of money.

The 2000 Mets seemed to have the right pieces in place with some home grown players mixed in with a group of veterans brought in to help the Mets finally reach what they hadn’t done in nearly 14 years, and that is not just make it back to the World Series, but actually win again. With a city focused on Yankee baseball, the right ingredients were what mattered most for the Mets. And in 2000, they had the right team that made it back to the World Series, but this time met a Yankees team that was stronger and more experienced winning the big game, so the Mets settled for another year waiting in second place to the Yankees and longing for that elusive ring.

With six more years of trying to get it right, the Mets tried again to bring in talent from out of the organization through trade and free agency and had a team that the starting lineup consisted of only two homegrown players as in David Wright and Jose Reyes. This mix of players took them to the brink of another World Series appearance, only to be beaten by the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS and once again sending the organization back to the drawing board to try and get it right.

Well in 2013, I believe they finally have the pieces in place to maybe mimic the youth movement of the early to mid 1980’s. Twenty Seven years later, the Mets have decided to go with what they knew best back in the day, to build a team around a few stars, but allow their younger players to grow into superstars.

The lineup that the Mets posted on Opening Day 2013 included six home grown players and the 25 man roster today in total includes 15 players that are from the Mets minor league system. Very impressive when you consider what that would mean to a team in a big market who needs to put a winning product on the field each year. But for the Mets, with the talent that they are producing have set themselves up for many years to come with players that will grow up together and with the hopes of only getting better and one day winning that elusive ring that the franchise has longed for since the last one in 1986. And the Mets are not done yet with two young studs, catcher Travis d’Arnaud (Trade with Blue Jays) and Pitcher Zack Wheeler waiting for their turn to call Citi field their home, hopefully later this season.

This year may not produce a Mets World Championship, but once again there is a future in the Mets part of town and it is exciting. The season is very young (only six games in) but they are already exciting to watch and they are young and just want to play baseball. That is something not seen in NY in a very long time, but something that has been well worth the wait. This season is gearing up to be an exciting run for the Mets with an upside to the whole equation; the Mets are young and only going to get better. The Youth Movement is back in Queens.