Fan Shot by Doug Who is the real Steven Matz? Steven Matz is a 28-year-old left-handed starting pitcher for the New York Mets. Matz is a former 2nd round pick from Ward Melville High out on Long Island (I bet you never heard that before, right?). Matz was an ever so slightly below average pitcher in 2019 (as measured by ERA+, barrel %, exit-velocity against, K%, spin, xwOBA against). And...
If Zack Wheeler walks in free agency this winter, the Mets will have a tall task in replacing his production in the starting rotation. Wheeler, 29, has put up nearly 9 fWAR in the last two seasons for the Mets. If they don’t re-sign him, it’s unlikely anyone in house can give them similar production. There are players on the open market that could, but it seems a foregone conclusion...
A report by Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports, says that the Mets front office was split on whether they should bring back reliever Jeurys Familia in the offseason, and a source confirmed that there was no universal support for the former Mets closer. However, needing to bolster a bullpen that floundered in 2018 and ranked in the bottom five in Batting Average Against, FIP and ERA, newly tapped general...
On the eve of Opening Day, the New York Mets made a number of important decisions regarding their starting pitchers. The biggest among them was sending Zack Wheeler down to Triple-A, which had the ripple effect of Seth Lugo claiming the fifth starter spot in place of the injured Jason Vargas. Where the Mets go from here is anyone’s guess, which is probably MMO received questions on this...
The New York Mets went into the ninth inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday with a 3-2 lead and closer Jeurys Familia coming in. Familia got the first out of the inning before walking Joe Panik to put the tying run on. He then got a ground ball from Eduardo Nunez to third baseman Wilmer Flores that should have been a game-ending double play. Flores booted the ball,...
The Mets have signed right-handed relievers Ben Rowen and Cory Burns to minor league deals. Rowen gets an invite to big league camp while Burns does not. Rowen, 28, has made 12 total appearances in the major leagues. In those appearances, he has pitched 11.2 innings with a 6.94 ERA, 2.057 WHIP, and a 6.9 K/9. Aside from a brief cup of coffee in the majors, Rowe split time between the Blue Jays...
The general consensus as to why Hall of Famer Walter Johnson was so dominant was the saying, “You can’t hit what you can’t see.” In analyzing some new data by MLB’s StatCast, that saying can now be applied to the young New York Mets’ pitching staff. As Andrew Simon of MLB.com notes, the Mets threw more pitches of 95 MPH or faster than any other team in the...
It felt so good to hand it to the Yankees on their home turf during the first two games of the Subway Series, and I’m hoping that the Mets bats continue to pummel the baseball when the action shifts to Citi Field tonight. From all the talk on the SNY post-game show and waking up to a dozen or so different articles about last night’s win, the big concern is Zack Wheeler who has one...
Cole Hamels can’t beat the Mets. The left-hander, who liked to call the Mets chokers, fell to 7-14 against the Amazins, with another loss on Tuesday. On a rainy night, that suffered through an hour-and-a-half rain delay, the Mets added six more earned runs to Hamels’ ballooning 4.65 ERA against them. Meanwhile, Jon Niese was fantastic. He pitched through periods of heavy rain, always...
Once again, the Mets got stellar starting pitching, and once again, the bullpen was solid with the exception of Jose Valverde, but unfortunately, as has happened far too often this early season, once again, the Mets bats fell silent. The Cardinals got a brilliant pitching performance by Adam Wainwright, who was forced to leave the game after seven innings due to an apparent knee injury, and beat...
There are nights when everything works, right from the start. Tuesday in Arizona was one of those nights for the Mets. Facing Met-Killer, Bronson Arroyo, and wearing number 42 on all of their jerseys in honor of Jackie Robinson, the Mets put three quick runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Eric Young, Daniel Murphy, and David Wright starting the game with successive hits. The tone...
I could dedicate an entire post to Ike Davis’ miserable .169 batting average, or maybe his .315 slugging percentage. The fact that he has hit just four homers and driven in eight runs through 25 games is alarming too, but those are things we’re all made well aware of each day. He’s recorded 15 hits, and we’ve now entered the month of May. Even the 195-strikeout pace Davis...
