3 UP
1. Grandy Best In June
In the month of June, Curtis Granderson has been the best hitter in the National League with a 203 wRC+. Overall, he hit .319/.448/.739 with three doubles, a triple, eight homers, and 13 RBI.
This is a far cry from the .128/.174/.221 hitter we saw in April. Much like he’s done throughout his career, he’s built upon his poor Aprils and got better as the season progressed.
That includes this year with him hitting .293/.402/.611 since May 1st. In that stretch, his WAR has risen from -0.8 to 1.2. He’s once again a fixture atop the line and one of the Mets best hitters.
2. TdA Is OK
There is just something about Miami that brings out the best in Travis d’Arnaud. In Marlins Park, d’Arnaud is hitting .471/.526/1.000 with a double, triple, two homers, and six RBI. Those two homers were huge too. The first was the game winning home run in the 16 inning game. The second was the game tying home run in the seventh on Tuesday, which at least gave the Mets a chance to win that game.
It has been more than Miami with d’Arnaud lately. Over the past week, he is hitting .269/.345/.577 with two doubles, two homers, and four RBI. In that stretch, he has looked more like the 2015 d’Arnaud than the 2016 version. There is hope from him to build on this.
While d’Arnaud has traditionally had a lower BABIP, this season has bordered on the absurd with d’Arnaud having a .225 BABIP. With d’Arnaud hitting the ball as hard as he ever has, this seems more like a statistical fluke that downward trend in his career. Essentially, some of those balls are destined to start falling in for base hits. If that happens, he is primed for a big second half.
3. Nationals Bullpen Crumbling, Injury Woes Continue
Yes, the Mets are 10.5 games, third place in the division, and have issues that have yet to be addressed.
It is also true the Nationals are in trouble. They’ve already lost Adam Eaton for the season, and now Trea Turner has a fractured wrist after getting hit by a pitch.
In addition to this, the Nationals bullpen is the worst in the National League with a 4.91 ERA. To help address the bullpen issue, the Nationals signed Francisco Rodriguez and his 7.82 ERA to be the savior.
With Turner going down and the Nationals pinning their hopes on K-Rod, there’s a small window of opportunity here for the Mets.
3 DOWN
1. Sticking With What Doesn’t Work
After Robert Gsellman went down with a hamstring injury running to first base, Ron Darling had enough, and he went on a rant about how the injuries are bordering on the absurd. A day after Darling’s rant, Mets Assistant General Manager John Ricco met the press to do what the Mets always do in these situations. Basically, they affirm their belief in those people in charge of training and conditioning, and they say they are always re-evaluating the situation. There are dozens of Sandy Alderson quotes to this effect over the years, and there has been little change.
We shouldn’t expect a rash decision from the Mets firing Ray Ramirez or terminating their relationship with Mike Barwis. We shouldn’t expect that because no one truly knows if either, both, or neither are the root cause of these injuries. The problem is the Mets don’t know either. If the team doesn’t know what the issue is, they can’t address it.
2. Ramirez Is A Bad Omen
Heading into Tuesday’s game, Neil Ramirez had a 6.66 ERA. Now, why he came into pitch in the seventh inning of a game tied 3-3 is anyone’s guess. Sure, the Mets had used Paul Sewald for three innings, but the rest of the Mets bullpen was relatively rested and ready to go. Literally, anyone else in the Mets bullpen is pitching better than Ramirez.
To the surprise of no one, Ramirez would take the loss in the game snapping the Mets three-game winning streak. With the loss, Ramirez’s ERA rose to 7.36 making it worse but less demonic. It should be noted with Ramirez’s appearance, his walks per nine rose to 6.66.
Overall, whenever Ramirez steps foot on the mound, it is a bad omen for how the game will turn out for the Mets.
3. Rosario Slumping
As noted in the Mets Minors article yesterday, Amed Rosario has been slumping badly throughout the Month of June hitting .231/.277/.365. Moreover, he is hitting just .299/.335/.419 away from the 51s’ home stadium Cashman Field. With him hitting like this, there is little to no chance a Mets team, who was reticent to call up Rosario when he was raking, will call Rosario up now.
Of course, this means the Mets will trot out Jose Reyes and his .199/.271/.330 batting line and -4 DRS at shortstop everyday.
After winning two of three from the Marlins, the Mets finished the road trip at .500, which is impressive when you consider the road trip started with the Dodgers sweeping them in a four game set to start the trip. Now, the Mets return home to play a three game series against the Phillies in advance of what could be another interesting series against the Nationals.
