So with the news that Juan Uribe could miss the National League Divisional Series with his chest injury, and reading the tea leaves on comments made by Terry Collins regarding Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Bartolo Colon, I wanted to post an updated version of my projected postseason roster.
Catchers (2)
No change here for me as the Mets are sitting pretty good with these two at the backstop position for the next five years at the very least. D’Arnaud will catch the lion’s share of the games of course, with Plawecki backing him up.
Notable Omissions: Anthony Recker
Infielders (6)
With Uribe out of the picture, Kelly Johnson is a shoe-in for the postseason roster. I’ve seen a few other variations that have left Ruben Tejada out and there’s no way I can see that happening. While Collins will probably lean heavily on Wilmer Flores to get some extra offense in the lineup, it’s Tejada who will be the key to giving David Wright a blow if he needs it with Murphy shifting to third and some combination of Tejada, Flores and Johnson in the middle. Tejada is also the team’s top defensive shortstop although the gap is not as wide as you might think. Terry Collins is already on record as saying that Duda and Murphy will be in the lineup regardless of whether a lefty or righty is pitching, so Johnson may just be a bat off the bench.
Notable Omissions: Juan Uribe, Eric Campbell
Outfielders (6)
Eric Young Jr.
I did not have Young in my first pass, so he is the top beneficiary of the loss of Uribe. Adam Rubin seems to have the Mets leaving Juan Lagares off the roster, but I have to disagree with him on that. I think it would be pretty insulting to Lagares to leave off the roster and he still has huge value defensively and against left-handed pitching. With the Dodgers potentially throwing three left-handers against the Mets, I don’t see Lagares as the odd man out. Conforto and Cuddyer will likely platoon in left, but I wonder if Granderson and his .532 OPS against LHP starts every game? That’s certainly what Collins was insinuating on Saturday.
Notable Omissions: Kirk Nieuwenhuis
Starting Pitchers (4)
In my first projection I had Syndergaard in the bullpen, but not only do I see him in the rotation at this point, but I think he may even be the Game 2 starter. Obviously, deGrom would be my Game 1 and Game 5 starter if necessary. Harvey and Matz are no-brainers at the three and four spots. Although Colon has pitched solidly, it’s pretty clear Collins has always earmarked him for the bullpen despite his indecisiveness on Sunday. In fact, expect the veteran right-hander to get some relief work in as the regular season winds down.
Notable Omissions: Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese, Logan Verrett
Bullpen (7)
This is where things get a little dicey. Of course , Familia, Clippard and Reed will form the backend of the bullpen, and a solid one at that. But it’s the rest of the bullpen composition that’s tough to figure out.
At this point, I believe Hansel Robles has also earned a spot despite his struggles with consistency and that whole quick-pitch thing that has other teams up in arms. While he’s not the only pitcher who has a quick pitch, Terry Collins says the others are not nearly as quick. Still, I’m putting him in my bullpen.
That leaves only three more spots and it appears that both Colon and Niese have already latched onto two of those spots. If it were up to me I would leave Niese off the postseason roster altogether as I did in my first projection, but clearly it looks like it’s already been decided so why fight it.
My 25th man is Erik Goeddel, and mostly because I love his .194 opposing batting average against left-handed hitters. Without a true lefty specialist in the bullpen, Goeddel could be tapped on to get those one or two big outs against the likes of Adrian Gonzalez or Andre Ethier.
Notable Omissions: Sean Gilmartin, Logan Verrett, Eric O’Flaherty, Bobby Parnell, Dario Alvarez, Carlos Torres
I’d really love to hear your thoughts. Where do you agree or disagree?
