The Mets are 13-9 and if the season ended today, and I know it doesn’t, the Mets would be in the playoffs. The Marlins and Phillies on the other hand would be watching from home like you and me. Now onto the meaty stuff…
During the Colorado series the Mets bullpen was charged with 17 earned runs in 11 innings, prompting Terry Collins to say: “If we started getting banged around at Citi Field I might have some concerns. But this place?” That’s all fine and dandy TC, but lets not pretend the Mets bullpen ERA wasn’t ranked 13th in the NL before you boarded the plane for Denver and that after this debacle, the bullpen is now ranked 15th with a 5.04 ERA. I smell smoke.
Ruben Tejada continues to amaze and went 10-17 (.588) during the three-game series at Colorado’s Coors Field. The 10 hits were the most in a three game series since Edgardo Alfonzo also had 10 hits in a three-game series against the Rockies on April 28-30, 2000. Umm, Rock On!
I have a strong hunch Ike Davis may be ready to bust out of his funk in a big way. In my last H&M I said I thought Ike would have a good series in Colorado, and he did. But now I’m thinking he’s due for a major hot streak that will include a nice power display. Sit back and enjoy the fireworks, this oughta be good!
Safe to say we’re all digging Kirk Nieuwenhuis in center field, what’s not to love so far? But remember that when the league finally gets the book on him and they all figure out he loves to chase pitches out of the zone, those incoming fastballs down the middle won’t be as easy to come by. My hope is that when he ultimately settles down, he becomes a steady .280 hitter with solid run production and spectacular defense.
How good has R.A. Dickey been since joining the Mets? This good… Since joining the Mets in 2010, Dickey has posted a 3.16 ERA in 407.1 innings. Among pitchers with at least 350.0 innings since 2010, Dickey’s 3.16 ERA ranks ninth best in the NL. He has tossed at least seven innings in 15 of his last 24 starts and pitched into the eighth in 18 of them. What a steal.
I’ve been reaching out to many of the beat writers for the affiliates and even many of the players themselves since the start of the season. It’s amazing the kind of insights you pick up from them even in just the shortest of exchanges. Not to mention what an incredible resource I have in Pete who knows more about the Mets minors as a whole than anyone I’ve ever known. The guy is so dialed in that even the beat writers keep throwing praise his way on email and twitter, and all the players absolutely love him.
Hey, who among you love to look at a pitcher’s K/BB ratio? Well I certainly do. Check out some of these incredible splits…
- Rafael Montero, Savannah – 22.2 IP, 18 K, 1 BB
- Jack Leathersich, Savannah – 13 IP, 23 K, 6 BB
- Domingo Tapia, Savannah – 19 IP, 20 K, 3 BB
- Adam Kolarek, St. Lucie – 11 IP, 17 K, 1 BB
- Jeremy Hefner, Buffalo – 26 IP, 14 K, 4 BB
Cory Vaughn should be up for a promotion is what I see some other sites saying. His five homers and .539 slugging is great to see, but I really think he still needs to cut down on those strikeouts before he gets bumped to Binghamton. He’s only 23 and a little extra seasoning isn’t gonna kill him. If you want to talk about promoting someone, look at 2B/SS T.J. Rivera instead. He’s 23 and has nothing left to prove in Savannah where he leads the league in batting at .396 and has a 1.106 OPS in 108 plate appearances.
Right-hander Zack Wheeler is getting very comfortable at Double-A Binghamton where he now has a 1.75 ERA in 5 starts spanning 25.2 innings. The remarkable thing that stands out is his 10.5 K-9 and the fact that he keeps missing bats at record levels from what I’m being told. It’s not far-fetched to believe that all three of our top pitching prospects may all be pitching at Triple-A Buffalo by the end of July.
Our friend Paul Swaney from Stadium Journey emailed me to say he just posted a review of the Sand Gnat’s Grayson Stadium on his site. Grayson is one of the most historic ballparks in the country, they write:
Grayson Stadium (named after Spanish-American War veteran General William L. Grayson), was built in 1926 as the home of the Savannah Indians. It went through a major rebuild in 1941 after a major hurricane decimated the structure in August 1940. A press box and other renovations were added in 1995, and a new scoreboard in 2007.
Check out the rest of this in depth review that covers everything from Atmosphere, Food, Neighborhood and more by clicking here.
One of our friends and popular Mets fan on Twitter, Laura Murphy, attended the St. Lucie game yesterday and sent us a camera shot of the red-hot Wilmer Flores. It looks like she had great seats, and next time she’s going to bring along her digital camera and send us even more nice pics. Thanks, Laura!
Super Sexy Slashes
AAA Bobby Scales – .413/.522/.600 in 94 AB
AAA Zach Lutz – .333/.425/.556 in 63 AB
AA Jefrey Marte – .365/.431/.492 in 62 AB
AA Josh Rodriguez – .343/.465/.471 in 70 AB
A+ Danny Muno – .282/.358/.471 in 85 AB
A+ Wilfredo Tovar – .318/.390/.406 in 69 AB
A T.J. Rivera – .396/.477/.582 in 90 AB
A Dustin Lawley – .284/.379/.477 in 88 AB
One final ponderance for you…
I’m kind of sick and tired of that score widget, or bug, or graphic, or whatever it is you want to call it on SNY’s Mets broadcasts. It regularly fakes me out and has me believing the score is Mets up 5-3 in the 6th inning, when in fact they are losing 6-5 in the 3rd. I can’t take it anymore, and no matter how many times I condition my brain that the middle number is the inning and not part of the score, I still keep getting faked out. Argh!!!
Hey, Mets vs Astros tonight, I smell victory… Enjoy the game!
