Wednesday night, the lone game on the docket was the Houston Astros going into Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers in Game 3 of the ALCS. The major headline heading into the game was the return of former Met Max Scherzer, who would make his postseason debut as a Ranger. The last time he was on the mound in October, it did not go well, to say the least, Scherzer went 4 2/3 innings while getting smashed for seven runs on four home runs in game 1 of the Wild Card Round against the Padres. Unfortunately for Max, this time was not much better. 

After a clean first inning for Max, which included a strikeout of Michael Brantley, it was all downhill from there. The Astros poured on three runs in the second inning behind a wild pitch and a timely Martín Maldonado 2-run single. Jose Altuve would add on as he put a high fastball over the left field wall, followed by a Mauricio Dubón RBI single in the fourth inning to cap Scherzer’s night.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Max finished the night with four innings pitched and five earned runs on five hits in his first outing in over a month. However, his Rangers are still up 2-1 in the series and are only two wins away from the team’s first World Series appearance in over a decade. 

Latest Mets News

Will Sammon of The Athletic gave an update to the Mets managerial search, as he reported that David Stearns and company would look outside of the organization to fill the role. This rules out names such as Carlos Beltrán and Eric Chavez while making the Craig Counsell rumors more credible. 

Francisco Alvarez has been nominated for the Luis Aparicio Award, per Mike Mayer of Metsmerized Online. The award is given annually to honor the Venezuelan who was deemed to have the best individual performance in MLB that season. A total of 33 Venezuelans are up for the 2023 award, in which the winner will be announced on October 28 before Game 2 of the World Series. 

Rawlings announced the 2023 Gold Glove finalists on Wednesday afternoon, and Francisco Lindor is the Mets’ lone Gold Glove finalist. Lindor is up against Dansby Swanson of the Chicago Cubs and Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies for the NL shortstop Gold Glove award. Francisco is going for his third Gold Glove award overall and his first one as a Met. The winners will be announced on November 5 on ESPN. 

MLB Pipeline released their All-Rookie teams for the 2023 season, and the Mets were well represented as both Kodai Senga and Francisco Álvarez made the cut. Kodai Senga was one of two starting pitchers to make the first team, and Francisco Álvarez made the second team, only being beat out by Yainer Diaz of the Astros for the first team’s catcher position. 

Latest MLB News

On Wednesday, there were major updates to the Boston Red Sox’s search for a general manager following their firing of Chaim Bloom. One of those updates came from Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, who reported that Boston talked to former Astros general manager James Click, but he has elected not to pursue the job due to family considerations. 

Patrick Mooney of The Athletic wrote an article detailing how Boston and Cubs executive Craig Breslow have been in advanced discussions on having him take over Boston’s highest job in baseball operations. 

The Major League Baseball Players Trust announced they are holding their second annual “Playmakers Classic” presented by Fanatics. The event supports the organization’s youth development, disaster relief, and other charitable initiatives and will be held in Las Vegas this year. Many current and former MLB players will be in attendance, including former Mets Tony Clark, Bobby Bonilla, Chris Capuano, Josh Thole, and others.

Latest on MMO

Christian De Block did a full breakdown of the full list of 2023 Gold Glove finalists.

The remembrance of the ’73 Mets continues as Brian Wright looks back at the one and only Rusty Staub. 

Jack Ramsey looked at some of the veteran pitching options for the Mets this upcoming offseason. 

On This Date in Mets History

1965: The Mets traded pitcher Tom Parsons to the Astros for catcher Jerry Grote. Grote was a two-time All-Star and part of the 1969 World Champion Mets.

2006: In the sixth inning of game 7 in the NLCS, Endy Chavez rises above the left field wall to rob Scott Rolen of a two-run home run and proceeds to double off Jim Edmonds at first base. Despite Chávez making one of the greatest grabs in MLB history, a Yadier Molina two-run shot in the top of the ninth put the Cardinals ahead, 3-1. Carlos Beltrán‘s knees would infamously buckle to an Adam Wainwright curveball with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, ending the Mets season. 

“He made the catch!”#OTD in #Mets history Endy Chavez made one of the most unforgettable plays in baseball history. pic.twitter.com/IHuY4RwcSQ

— New York Mets (@Mets) October 19, 2018

Birthdays: Rajai Davis (43), José Bautista (43), Joe McEwing (51), Sandy Alomar (80)

The post Morning Briefing: Astros Best Scherzer in Game 3 Win appeared first on Metsmerized.

Tonight, the New York Mets will take on the Miami Marlins at 7:10 p.m. on Pix 11. Rafael Montero has the ball for New York and will face Vance Worley.

Last night, a rain delay pushed the start time of the game to 9 p.m. Chris Flexen struggled in the second and third but was decent overall. He has certainly been progressing well since making the leap straight from Double-A Binghamton. The Mets offense had virtually nothing going all night behind the young right-hander.

Latest Mets News

The Mets struck a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers shortly after Friday’s bout with the Marlins. Curtis Granderson was shipped to the West Coast along with cash in exchange for a Player to be Named Later or cash.

Steven Matz may have his next start skipped after struggling yet again, this time against the New York Yankees earlier this week.

Latest NL East News

Max Scherzer was placed on the 10-day disabled with a neck issue. This after Bryce Harper just landed on the DL and is slated to miss 4-6 weeks for Washington.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald says David Sampson will be out as Marlins president now that the team’s ownership has switched hands.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com shows Ender Inciarte‘s fly ball trends.

Matt Gelb of Philly.com writes about the Phillies new exercise routine.

Latest on MMO

Mike Mayer did a prospect spotlight on newly acquired pitcher Gerson Bautista.

Joe D gives us his thoughts on the Subway Series.

This Day in Mets History

1969: Tommie Agee‘s 14th inning home run off beats the Giants, 1-0 at Shea.

Birthdays: Chris Capuano turns 39, Jeff Tam turns 47, Matt Franco turns 48, Ron Darling turns 57.

Let’s go Mets!

The post Morning Briefing: Goodbye Grandy! appeared first on Metsmerized.

According to Ken Rosental of Fox Sports, the Cleveland Indians have signed left-handed reliever Boone Logan, pending a physical. Indians beat writer Paul Hoynes reports that the deal is for one-year with a club option. The Logan deal could be a good measure for what Jerry Blevins might be able to get.

Logan, 32, had great 2016 season with the Rockies with a ERA of 3.69 in 66 games. He struck out 57 batters in 46.1 innings while pitching to an impressive WHIP of 1.01. Logan was even better vs lefties in 2016, holding to them a lowly .142/.222/.252 slash line.

Earlier this offseason, it was reported that the New York Mets showed interest in the veteran Logan. The Mets 40-man roster currently has Sean Gilmartin, Josh Edgin and Josh Smoker as their only lefty relievers.

Jerry Blevins is now easily the best lefty reliever left on the free agent market and the Mets may be willing to give him two years according to a recent report.

Other lefty relievers still available via free agency are Javier Lopez, Travis Wood, Craig Breslow and former Met Chris Capuano.

The post Cleveland Indians Sign Lefty Reliever Boone Logan appeared first on Metsmerized.

Second baseman Mark Ellis and left-handed pitcher Chris Capuano became free agents Thursday as the Dodgers declined to exercise their options for next season.

The post Dodgers Decline Option On Capuano, Mets Could Be Interested appeared first on Metsmerized.

Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, expects that free-agent starting pitcher Josh Johnson will eventually sign a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $8 million and an additional $5 million in incentive bonuses.

With Matt Harvey all but done until the 2015 season, and the Mets in the market for a veteran starter to bolster the rotation, why not bring Johnson in for one year as he looks to reestablish his value while giving the Mets a pitcher with a solid track record in place of their lost ace?

Johnson, 29, is coming off a disappointing 2013 season for the Toronto Blue Jays in which he finished with a 2-8 record and an unsightly 6.20 ERA in 16 starts, after missing half of his season serving two stints on the disabled list with a forearm injury. His second trip wiped out the rest of his season, but he’s expected to make a full recovery after arthroscopic surgery and be ready for Spring Training.

One lone bright spot during his dismal season was that Johnson lost none of his velocity, averaging 93 mph, and posting the highest strikeout rate (9.2) of his career.

Prior to his trip into the Twilight Zone, Johnson was one of the elite starting pitchers in the National League when he fronted the Marlins’ rotation. During his eight years with the Marlins, the big righthander posted a 56-37 (.602) record with a 3.15 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and an 8.2 strikeout rate.

There’s a chance that Josh Johnson could accept a qualifying offer from the Blue Jays, but Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos may just decide to let Johnson go rather than risk paying him in upwards of $14.1 million in guaranteed dead presidents.

Given the Mets’ need and Johnson’s past performance, he could apprise the role of similar Mets reclamation projects like Chris Capuano, Chris Young and Shaun Marcum. Only Johnson has an infinitely higher upside and may even net the Mets a nice bounty should he come back strong and the Mets find themselves 15 games back in late July.

The post Josh Johnson Could Be A Solid One-Year Option For Mets appeared first on Metsmerized.

That glimmer is fading.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen fixed Daisuke Matsuzaka’s long and cumbersome delivery, complete with a hitch. With a faster delivery, Matsuzaka showed he could be the real deal. After a rocky first two starts, Matsuzaka settled in to become one of the Mets’ most reliable starters in September.

Matsuzaka finished at 3-3 with a 4.42 ERA in seven starts with the Mets. His fastball returned with bite as evidenced by his 33-16 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. He averaged just under eight strikeouts per nine innings.

The Mets were interested when Matsuzaka came out of Japan, but didn’t come close to matching Boston with the qualifying negotiating offer to his Japanese team.

Matsuzaka earned $1.5 million this season from the Mets, who picked him up after Cleveland released him at the end of spring training.

The Mets also signed innings-eater Aaron Harang, Sept. 1, after his release from Seattle. Harang, who has also pitched for Cincinnati, San Diego and the Dodgers, is a reliable workhorse. From 2004 through this season, Harang has pitched less than 150 innings only twice, including this year when he worked a combined 143.1 innings with the Mariners and Mets.

Harang gave the Mets six innings in three of his four starts, and five in the other. He was 0-1 with a representative 3.52 ERA, but struck out 26 in 23 innings. However, he did give up five homers.

What Harang and Matsuzaka did was log enough innings to conserve the bullpen and prevent the Mets from unraveling the last month of the season.

What Harang and Matsuzaka also did was impressive to enough scouts to where somebody will make them an offer to pry them away if the Mets go low-ball. The last thing a journeyman pitcher wants to do is not leave an impression in September.

This would not be something new to the Mets, as both Chris Capuano and Chris Young proved enough in their Flushing auditions for another team to take them away.

They aren’t the only ones.

Carlos Torres, who previously pitched in Japan, Colorado and with the Chicago White Sox, was an asset as a spot starter, long reliever and situational reliever this season. In 33 games with the Mets, nine of which were starts, Torres was 4-6 with a 3.44 ERA.

He pitched 86.1 innings, which isn’t bad considering he wasn’t on their radar in spring training. He struck out 75 and walked just 17 with a career-best 1.112 WHIP.

Torres, who made $415,000 this season, will leave if the Mets don’t tender him a contract.

So, that feeling of holding the fort until Rafael Montero is ready, and to a larger extent, until 2015, is giving way to a sense the Mets might have done it again and fixed several pitchers to where somebody else will take them away from them.

The post Did The Mets Fix Dice-K Only To Lose Him? appeared first on Metsmerized.

Well Ike Davis got his little reward last night as promised by Terry Collins and started against a lefthander as many on this thread wanted.

Davis went hitless against Chris Capuano going 1-for-6 overall and stranding four runners on base. His lone hit was against righthanded reliever Brandon League – a double in the eighth.

His batting average against lefthanded pitching is now down to .141 for the season.with a team worst .394 OPS in 64 at-bats.

Original Post

I enjoyed reading this article today from Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal who digs deep into the numbers of Ike Davis who is batting batting .306 (26 for 85) since returning from his Exile on Main Street in Las Vegas.

Diamond writes that since the All-Star break, Ike Davis has swung at just 18.1% of pitches outside the strike zone, the second-lowest mark in all of baseball, and that “the most incredible thing about Davis’s turnaround has nothing to do with how well he’s swinging, but rather how well he’s not swinging.”

He adds that since the All-Star break, Davis is walking in an MLB-high 28% of his plate appearances. Obviously, we can all see that this is a vast improvement over the pre-exile version of Davis that was flailing at anything within a one mile radius of him and earning him the moniker of Strike Vegas.

But again, let me remind all of you that he’s been doing this exclusively against righthanded pitching as I mentioned yesterday. In fact, Davis has not started a game against a left-handed starter since May 14, exactly three months ago. Although that streak may end tonight against Dodgers lefthander Chris Capuano – at least that’s what Terry Collins said two days ago.

Josh Satin, who was on base twice against one of the toughest left-handers in the league last night, raised his average for the the season to .294, but even more remarkable is his .372 mark against leftys. Compare that to Davis’ .150 average against LHP and you have to wonder if Collins is filling out his lineup card to win, or something else?

There’s no doubt that Davis has made progress, but he has also reinvented himself into something else. As I told Jared Diamond this morning, yes these walk rates and swing rates are all nice, but at what cost?

Is this new Ike Davis the same middle-of-the-order, power-hitting first baseman the Mets thought they were getting when they selected him 18th overall with their first round pick?

Only time will tell….

The post Davis Gets First Start Against Lefty In Three Months, Goes Hitless Against Capuano appeared first on Metsmerized.

Well this loss wasn’t pretty…

Maybe we just caught them at the wrong time… but we just came so close to wining every game in this entire damn series that it frustrates me. They say good teams find a way to win ball games no matter what — and the Dodgers are certainly a good ball club right now. On the heels of five unanswered runs, the Dodgers slid by the Mets tonight by the score of 5-4.

Yasiel Puig turned a slow bouncer past the Mets’ diving shortstop into a one-out double in the 12th inning then scored on Adrian Gonzalez‘s two-base hit, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-4 victory over New York on Wednesday night that extended their winning streak to eight games.

Dillon Gee was, yet again, effective as he fired six innings of two-run ball. Both of the earned runs against him scored in the sixth, after the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out. Mark Ellis hit a soft grounder that the Mets couldn’t turn two on — and Hairston followed that up with an RBI single.  The Mets backed up Gee with four runs early, mostly on the strength of a three-run bomb by Marlon Byrd. After he hit that jack in the top of the second, the Mets would be held scoreless the entire rest of the game.

Pinch-hitter Andre Ethier tied the game with a two-run homer off LaTroy Hawkins in the ninth. Ethier returned after sitting out a day earlier with tightness in his left calf.

Puig legged out a double that glanced off Omar Quintanilla‘s glove and into center field after going hitless in his first five at-bats. Gonzalez hit the next pitch off Pedro Feliciano (0-1) down the left field line to win the game. Puig also sparkled on a bang-bang play in the second when Justin Turner singled to right field. Puig raced to pick up the ball and fired to third base to nail Marlon Byrd.

The Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Mets with their sixth walk-off win of the season. Los Angeles is 40-8 since June 22, the best 48-game run in the major leagues since the 1942 Cardinals went 41-7.

Tomorrow at 10:10 pm ET, the Mets begin a 4-game series against the San Diego Padres, with Zack Wheeler (5-2, 3.63 ERA) facing Tyson Ross (3-5, 2.75 ERA).

The post Mets Blow Late Lead In Dodgers 5-4 Walkoff Win appeared first on Metsmerized.

Mets at Dodgers • 10:10 PM • Dodger Stadium

Dillon Gee (8-8, 3.82) vs Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.50)

Starting Lineup

1. Juan Lagares CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. Josh Satin 3B
4. Marlon Byrd RF
5. Justin Turner SS
6. Ike Davis 1B
7. Andrew Brown LF
8. John Buck C
9. Dillon Gee RHP

Game Notes 

• Matt Harvey is enjoying a spectacular season, but as he showed Tuesday, even he is susceptible to a bad night. Lacking command of his off-speed pitches, Harvey was tagged for four runs on eight hits over six innings against the Dodgers, his ERA rising from 2.09 to 2.23.
• Wilmer Flores, who tweaked his right ankle in the series opener Monday rounding second base, was held out of the lineup Tuesday after the ankle worsened. Flores could be a candidate for the disabled list if the condition doesn’t improve. Flores is hitting .259 with a home run and nine RBIs over his first seven major league games.
• Dillon Gee takes an 8-8 record and 3.82 ERA into his start Wednesday against the Dodgers. Gee was stellar in his last outing, giving up just one run on eight hits over 7 2/3 innings in a 2-1 win over the Rockies. Gee is 2-1 with a 1.43 ERA over his last five starts. In three career starts vs. the Dodgers, Gee is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA.
• Juan Lagares hit his second homer in his past four games (third in 78 games this season) to give the Mets ahead 1-0 in the first inning against the Dodgers on Tuesday. Lagares is batting .313 (30-for-96) with six doubles, three triples, three homers and 14 RBIs in 26 games since the All-Star break.
• LaTroy Hawkins has a 0.75 ERA since the All-Star break, fifth best in the National League with a minimum on 10 innings pitched. He’s given up one earned run in 12 innings. Hawkins has issued just nine walks on the season.
• Jeremy Hefner is scheduled for a follow-up examination Wednesday on his sore right elbow, which has caused him discomfort since spring training. Hefner, who was optioned to the minors on Sunday, may land on the disabled list.

Game Preview

The Mets have dropped their last two at Dodgers Stadium and they look to correct that tonight as Dillon Gee goes up against a former Met in Chris Capuano. Dillon Gee is 8-8 this season with a 3.82 ERA over 139.0 innings while striking out 101 batters. In his last two starts he has pitched 14.2 innings allowing only 2 ER (one in each start) and two walks while striking out 7 batters. He missed the Dodgers earlier this year but last year he allowed 4 runs, 2 earned over 6 innings of work. The Dodgers have the following numbers against him:

Uribe 1-7, 2B
Ethier 0-4
AJ Ellis 1-3, 2B
Gordon 1-2
Ramirez 1-2

The Mets get a look at their strong starter back in the 2011 season tonight. Chris is 4-6 over 80.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA. His two August starts have been very different. He was fantastic in his first start shutting out his opponent in 6.1 innings of work. Last time out he allowed 5 ER over 4.1 innings. He missed the Mets earlier this season but last year over two starts he allowed 6 ER over 14.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Capuano:

Byrd 4-12, 2B
Buck 0-10
Davis 1-6
Young 3-4
Brown 2-3, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The post Mets vs Dodgers: Young Gets Night Off, Turner Batting Fifth, Davis In Against Capuano appeared first on Metsmerized.

He allowed a pair of runs in the fifth when Nick Punto ripped a two-run double, and a pair of runs in the sixth off a A.J. Ellis two-run single. He walked two batters in this game, after walking just one other batter since the all-star break. Harvey’s ERA rises to 2.23.

Of course, since he is bound to have these starts every now and then — and mind you they are barely “bad” — the Mets offense needs to step up to back him up. So what did they do? …A Juan Lagares solo home run in the first inning and a subsequent seven innings without a run? Yeah, that’s what happened… It was a tough game to watch. The Mets teased us in the ninth, when a John Buck RBI single brought Ike Davis to the plate with the tying run on first — but he broke his bat and grounded out to second to end the game. Opposing pitcher Ryu did look pretty good against us today, so it might not have been completely our fault. No Met had more than one hit, and only Lagares had an XBH.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a nice catch by Daniel Murphy early in the game to start a double play — almost identical to the jumping catch he botched yesterday, so nice job. Also, Gonzalez Germen looked spectacular in his inning of work. His change-up was dropping off the table.

Dillon Gee has been cruising recently and he takes on Chris Capuano as the Mets look to avoid the sweep against the Dodgers tomorrow.

The post Ryu Stifles Mets’ Offense While Harvey Struggles In 4-2 Loss appeared first on Metsmerized.