Commissioner Rob Manfred

“For multiple generations of baseball fans, Rickey Henderson was the gold standard of base stealing and leadoff hitting. Rickey was one of the most accomplished and beloved Athletics of all time. He also made an impact with many other clubs during a quarter-century career like no other. He epitomized speed, power and entertainment in setting the tone at the top of the lineup. When we considered new rules for the game in recent years, we had the era of Rickey Henderson in mind.

Rickey earned universal respect, admiration and awe from sports fans. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to Rickey’s family, his friends and former teammates, A’s fans and baseball fans everywhere.”

Dave Stewart, childhood friend, World Champion teammate with Athletics

“I can’t explain what someone who was present in every memory, childhood to today, means to me, or what it means to cope with having no more tomorrows alongside him. Rickey Henderson was the best ballplayer many know, but that is nothing in comparison to the brother he is to me.”

Mike Piazza, Hall of Famer, teammate with Mets

“Rickey Henderson was a dream to hit behind as a teammate and a nightmare for a catcher as an opponent. He was one of the most generous, hysterical and gracious human beings. He will be sorely missed. Prayers for his soul and family.”

Dave Winfield, Hall of Famer, teammate with Yankees

“I truly cannot believe I’ve lost one of my favorite teammates and great friend Rickey Henderson. Rest in peace.”

José Canseco, teammate with Athletics

“I’m heartbroken and devastated. Rickey Henderson was an incredibly talented player but an even better human. I’ll never forget all the incredible memories we created together. Memories I’ll never forget. Rest easy my friend.”

Dennis Eckersley, Hall of Famer, teammate with Athletics

“I’m very sad about the loss of my friend, teammate and fellow Hall of Famer. We were two Bay Area boys. I was proud to play with him. He was the greatest player I ever played with. I cherished our recent times together both in Cooperstown and at the Oakland Coliseum. My condolences to his family.”

Bobby Valentine, Mets manager, 1996-2002

“It was an honor to be in the same uniform with Rickey Henderson. He was the most entertaining and dynamic player I ever saw. RIP Rickey. You were the greatest!”

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Sandy Alderson, baseball executive with Mets, A’s and Padres

“I traded Rickey Henderson twice and brought him back more times than that. He was the best player I ever saw play. He did it all,  hit, hit for power, stole bases and defended,  and he did it with a flair that enthused his fans and infuriated his opponents. But everyone was amused by his personality, style and third-person references to himself. He was unique in many ways. Rickey stories are legion, legendary and mostly true. But behind his reputation as self-absorbed was a wonderful, kind human being who loved kids. His true character became more evident over time. Nine different teams, one unforgettable player. Sandy gonna miss Rickey.”

Willie Randolph, teammate with Yankees

“People always ask me who was the best player I’ve played with. I played with so many tremendous players through the years that I hate picking just one. But pound for pound, Rickey Henderson was the greatest player I ever played with. He possessed so many talents that could positively impact the outcome of a game. I’m going to cherish the memories Rickey and I shared together. He was a special man.”

Buck Showalter, former Mets manager

“I played against Rickey when he was with Jersey City in the Eastern League in 1978. He batted .310 but didn’t hit a home run in 133 games. People don’t realize how dedicated he was to being the best he could be. He took great care of his body and was ahead of his time in nutrition and conditioning. In my opinion, he was the best leadoff hitter of all time.

“He was in my first big league camp, and my first time throwing to big-league hitters was to his batting group. He had a strike zone the size of a thimble, and I had never seen anyone run the way he did, with powerful strides that were fluid and violent at the same time. As a young coach working with the outfielders, Rickey laughed easily and made me feel comfortable. I can’t believe he’s gone. He was one of a kind.”

Associated Press file photos

Billy Wagner, former Mets reliever

“RIP, there will never be anyone like Rickey Henderson. I’m in pure shock. Grew up wanting to be Rickey. Played against him and he was our Mets 1B coach. Truly a great player but a tremendous person. Thank you for Rickey Time.”

Jerry Blevins, former Mets, A’s reliever

“Rickey Henderson was an incredible man. A legend who was so much more approachable than his image would have you think. From playing cards in the clubhouse to picking his Hall of Fame mind about holding runners, Rickey would share his wealth of knowledge with ease. RIP Rickey.”

Pamela Henderson

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of my husband, Rickey Henderson. A legend on and off the field, Rickey was a devoted son, dad, friend, grandfather, brother, uncle and a truly humble soul. Rickey lived his life with integrity, and his love for baseball was paramount. Now, Rickey is at peace with the Lord, cherishing the extraordinary moments and achievements he leaves behind.”

The National Baseball Hall of Fame

The Man of Steal … and so much more.

• 1,406 stolen bases –  1st all-time
• 2,129 unintentional walks – 1st all-time
• 2,295 runs scored – 1st all-time
• 81 leadoff home runs – 1st all time

The post The Baseball World Continues To Mourn Rickey Henderson appeared first on Metsmerized.

Former Mets player and fan favorite Daniel Murphy will join the booth on February 27 and 28. Continuing tradition, SNY’s Mets’ Hot Stove will premiere Wednesday, February 21 from Clover Park, hosted by former Mets players Jerry Blevins and Todd Zeile. Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor will join the show.

SNY will also broadcast the Spring Breakout Game featuring the top minor league players in the Mets’ farm system on March 15. The Mets take on the Nationals at 3:00 pm before the 6:00 pm game that evening.

The post SNY Releases Spring Training Broadcast Schedule, Daniel Murphy Joins appeared first on Metsmerized.

Spring Training is an exciting time of year.

It marks the beginning of a long baseball season, a team’s core players get to mingle with the new offseason additions, prospects get a chance to experience a taste of the big league lifestyle, and some guys come in just looking for a chance to prove themselves and end up being pleasant surprises.

Pitchers and catchers report to the Mets Spring Training facility in St. Lucie, Florida this week, and as such, the Mets released their full spring roster, as well as non-roster invitees as things begin to ramp up.

The list of non-roster guys is an area of particular intrigue, as we might see some of these guys in Queens this season, and hopefully some make an impact.

The Mets did a good job this winter of bolstering the upper levels of their minor league system which had been stripped away under the team’s previous regime. So there are some interesting guys that will be in camp this winter. Let’s take a look at five players to keep an eye on this Spring.

I have chosen to exclude well-known prospects such as catcher Francisco Alvarez, right-handed pitcher Matthew Allan, infielders Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos, and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in this article. It will be exciting to see these guys, but they likely won’t make it to Queens this year, and they are already rookies that are closely followed.

Rick Scuteri/USA Today Sports

Oscar De La Cruz, RHP

Back in November, the Mets inked right-hander Oscar De La Cruz to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training as part of a slew of moves.

The 25-year-old has yet to reach the majors, but is a former top prospect from his time with the Chicago Cubs, ranking as high as No. 1 in their system in 2017.

De La Cruz originally signed with the Cubs as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. In 2018, the righty was popped with an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Furosemide, a masking agent and banned substance. He would still remain with Chicago until 2020, but was released in May before latching on with the Mets.

Even after the suspension, De La Cruz hung around in the Cubs’ top 30 prospect list by MLB Pipeline over the years. Originally, De La Cruz came through the ranks as a starter, but in recent years has slowly been transitioning to more of a bullpen arm.

This might be beneficial for him, as his arsenal includes a curveball with good break, a complementary changeup and a mid-90s fastball on the upper end.

Transitioning him to be a full time bullpen arm could make him a potential effective big league middle reliever.

At just 25-years-old, De La Cruz’s former top prospect status was enough to warrant seeing what they could get out of him.

Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

Ryley Gilliam, RHP

Right-hander Ryley Gilliam is a bit different from some of the other non-roster invitees as he is not someone the Mets are trying to catch lightning in a bottle with, but a minor league reliever who is pretty close to the big leagues.

Of the non-roster invitees who were incumbent members of the Mets system, Gilliam likely has the best shot of making the big leagues this season.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB draft out of Clemson, Gilliam rose rapidly through the Mets system, appearing in 17 games for Short-A Brooklyn in 2018, and then advancing as high as Triple-A Syracuse in 2019.

Due to the shortened MLB season and no minor league season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gilliam was forced to miss the season.

Now with MLB and MiLB back on track as the 2021 season approaches, Gilliam will likely start the year with either Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Syracuse, but could be called up after he gets some additional seasoning.

In 2019, Gilliam struggled a bit as he advanced to the higher levels of the minors, but now that he’s 24-years-old and nearly two years later, he might see that correction.

A bit of an undersized reliever at 5’10”, Gilliam makes up for it with a quick arm action, a mid-to-upper 90s fastball and a secondary curveball with good downward plane.

The Georgia native punches out a strong amount of batters, but has had some control issues that has led to an elevated walk rate during his time in the Mets sytem.

Though, as a mid-to-back end reliever at his ceiling, Gilliam could be an effective bullpen piece for the Mets if he continues to develop and everything culminates.

Gilliam is ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the Mets system by MLB Pipeline.

Tylor Megill, RHP

Taken just a few rounds after Gilliam, right-hander Tylor Megill‘s placement in this article is all contingent on how the Mets deploy him going forward.

Standing at an imposing 6’7″, The 25-year-old Megill has been used as both a starter and a reliever during his time in the Mets system, though his future could very well be the latter.

Megill has always had strong spin on his fastball going back to his college days at the University of Arizona and has racked up a ton of strikeouts as a professional.

The combination of his large frame, delivery, high spin fastball and hard slider would make him an absolute threat as a reliever and if that’s the route the Mets decide to go, they could have something really fun on their hands.

Megill has some control issues, but generates strong velocity on his pitches and is deceptive, so used more sparingly as a reliever as opposed to a starter, Megill could thrive.

The California native appeared in just one game for Double-A Binghamton in 2019, but a couple years later and being in his mid-20s now, Megill will likely start the year in Double or Triple-A.

The right-hander currently ranks as the No. 28 prospect in the Mets system according to MLB Pipeline.

Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports

Jerad Eickhoff, RHP

Mets fans might be familiar with right-hander Jerad Eickhoff, as he spent the 2015-19 seasons with the division rival Philadelphia Phillies.

In 2020, he spent time as part of the Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres’ rosters but didn’t pitch in an MLB game. The Mets inked him to a minor league deal in December.

Eickhoff, 30, comes with three more years of control and is a guy who will likely be on the taxi squad from Citi Field to Syracuse in 2021, especially if the team plays a lot of seven-inning doubleheaders.

In 2016-17, the Indiana native was worth 5.0 combined fWAR for the Phils, but missed almost the whole season in 2018 due to a back strain followed by numbness in fingers.

The numbness was due to nerve damage, but he met with specialists who ruled out thoracic outlet syndrome or carpal tunnel. He received two cortisone shots after this.

In 2019, Eickhoff pitched in 12 games for the Phillies, but his season was again cut short due to biceps tendinitis.

What Eickhoff does bring to the table when he is healthy is a decent back end rotation piece. Though, he will likely be used for spot starts in 2021 barring a spectacular spring or an injury.

His fastball spin in 2019 was higher than it ever was in his career, while his curve spin went from slightly above average to extremely strong. Though, it was a small sample size as he only had 10 starts to show for it.

If he can hone in more on his fastball and curveball spin in 2021, he could benefit the Mets as even more rotation depth. If not, perhaps he finds some of that success that he had during the middle part of the 2010s.

Raymond Carlin III/USA TODAY Sports

Mallex Smith, OF

Barring any additional moves, an area where the Mets are somewhat thin for 2021 is the outfield.

The team recently signed Albert Almora to be the team’s fourth outfielder, but beyond that they have only Guillermo Heredia on the 40-man roster.

After that? There is Mallex Smith, who was signed as a non-roster invitee on November 4, 2020.

Smith, 27, comes with two more years of control and a minor league option, so if he sticks with the team through spring, there’s a good chance he gets to don orange and blue this season.

At the dish, Smith doesn’t hit for much power as he has clubbed just 13 long balls in his entire career, though he does have excellent speed, ranking in the 96th percentile by Statcast in 2019, as well as in the 96th percentile in outs above average and in the 90th percentile in outfielder jump.

In the past, players like Smith including Jake Marisnick and Billy Hamilton, who have upside but are also flawed, have been acquired for minor league prospects. However, a move like Smith on a minor league deal is exactly the kind of a move a front office should make for this caliber of a player.

He will likely start the year as the starting center fielder for the Syracuse Mets, but could see some time in Queens, and perhaps even have some moderate success like he did just a few years ago with the Tampa Bay Rays when he put up 3.5 fWAR in 2018.

Harol Gonzalez/Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

Honorable mentions

Apart from the guys above, there are a few other interesting players to keep an eye on, such as right-hander Harol Gonzalez, who could make some starts at the big league level this year, former Atlanta Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino if he can still throw a high velocity heater, and Johneshwy Fargas, who like Mallex Smith, also has some wheels. Oh, and who could forget longtime Mets LOOGY Jerry Blevins who is back in the New York groove for his second tour of duty with the team!

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Left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins has signed a minor-league contract with the New York Mets, according to a report from Bob Nightengale. The contract will pay him $1.25 million when he’s in the major leagues with $750,000 in incentives.

Blevins last pitched in the majors in 2019 with the Atlanta Braves. He was a mainstay in the Mets bullpen from 2016 to 2018 after the Mets traded for him before the 2015 season, most of which he missed due to injury. In his four seasons with the Mets, Blevins pitched to a 3.38 ERA and a 118 ERA+ over 218 relief appearances and one “start,” in which he was used as an opener.

After getting released from the San Francisco Giants before the 2020 season, the 37-year-old served as an occasional contributor on SNY and stayed in-tune and engaged with the Metsies on his Twitter.

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Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Atlanta Braves have acquired former Mets’ reliever Jerry Blevins from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash (reported by David O’Brien of the Athletic). The team has activated the left-hander.

Blevins, 35, signed a minor league deal with the Athletics this offseason and did not make the Opening Day roster. However, Blevins made seven appearances for Triple-A Las Vegas (ironically used by the Mets up until this season), in which he registered a 1.69 ERA, 1.219 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts over 10 2/3 innings.

The Ohio native was with the Mets from 2015-2018 in which he appeared in 219 games and had a 3.38 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.269 WHIP, and 166 strikeouts over 138 2/3 innings.

Last season was his worst with the club, though, as he had a 4.85 ERA, 4.97 FIP, and 1.359 WHIP while striking out 41 batters in 64 appearances (42 2/3 innings pitched). He also struggled severely against left-handers, who had a .786 OPS against him while right-handers only had a .682 OPS.

However, for his career, Blevins has been known to neutralize his same-handed opponents who have a lowly .586 OPS in 940 plate appearances against him.

In order to make room for Blevins, who now will have pitched for three NL East teams (Mets acquired him from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Matt den Dekker), the team optioned reliever Wes Parsons to Triple-A Gwinnett and transferred Arodys Vizcaino to the 60-day IL.

The post MLB News: Braves Acquire Jerry Blevins From Athletics appeared first on Metsmerized.

Wittgren Traded to Indians

The Miami Marlins have traded relief pitcher, Nick Wittgren to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for right handed pitcher, Jordan Milbrath per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of Fancred.

Wittgren was designated for assignment by the Marlins last week in order to make room for Neil Walker on their 40-man roster, whom they recently signed via free agency.

Wittgren had an up and down year between triple A and the big leagues last season, but nonetheless posted a 2.94 ERA in 32 appearances. He also had a 1.59 ERA in the month of September after being called back up to the majors, which made this move  a bit of a surprise by the Marlins.

Jerry Blevins Signs with the A’s

According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, left handed relief pitcher and former Met, Jerry Blevins has signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics, which could be worth up to 1.5 million if he reaches the majors. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle had also previously reported that the deal was close just prior to the announcement.

Blevins spent the first seven years of his career in Oakland before being traded to the Washington Nationals in the 2014 offseason, only to sign with the Mets in 2015, where he played his last four seasons in New York.

After having stellar 2016/17 campaigns setting career highs in appearances in back to back seasons, the 35-year-old lefty seemed to experience a bit of a workload burnout last year struggling with a stat line of a 4.85 ERA, 4.97 FIP, and 1.359 WHIP in 64 appearances.

Giants Mull the Possibility of Ellsbury

The San Francisco Giants have reportedly discussed the possibility of acquiring outfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury from the New York Yankees per Buster Onley of ESPN.

The Giants are currently in the market for “2-3 veteran outfielders” as Onley tweeted out last week due to their lack of experience and depth at all three spots. New York still owes Ellsbury $48 million on his contract, so a potential “bad contract” swap would make sense.

As Onley noted, veteran starting pitcher, Johnny Cueto is coming off of Tommy John Surgery and has $68 million left on his contract, which could make him a prime candidate. Despite this factor, the deal would ultimately have to even out on the money end, as well as the Yankees receiving insurance relief on Cueto.

Pirates Bring Back Liriano

According to Rosenthal, the Pittsburgh Pirates have brought back veteran left handed pitcher, Francisco Liriano on a minor league deal. The deal is reportedly worth 1.8 million with a potential 1.5 million is incentives tweeted Robert Murray of  The Athletic.

Liriano previously pitched for the Pirates from 2013-2016, where he experienced success going 35-25 and never posting an ERA or FIP above a 3.5, along with a WHIP over 1.3 in 86 starts. Despite these solid numbers, the 35-year-old struggled for the Detroit Tigers last season going 5-12 with a 4.58 ERA, 5.11 FIP, and a 1.496 WHIP in 26 starts.

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Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Oakland Athletics have signed former Mets reliever Jerry Blevins to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. San Francisco Chronicle writer Susan Slusser was the first to report that the two sides had been nearing an agreement earlier today.

The 35-year old lefty first joined the Mets at the onset of the 2015 season, when he was acquired in a trade with the Washington Nationals for Matt den Dekker. Though a hand fracture in early-May ultimately cost him the rest of the season, he re-signed ahead of 2016 on the back of his perfect five innings of work, and continued his success through his next two seasons in New York.

In that time, he managed a 2.87 ERA with 121 strikeouts through 91 innings, with his curveball sitting fourth in the league at 13.3 runs above average (first among southpaws).

His best work came against left-handed hitters, who compiled a measly .220/.279/.259 clip in 245 plate appearances. His 1.13 FIP against them was the lowest in the big leagues in that time, his 8.0 K/BB ratio sixth, and his 93.9% strand-rate eighth.

2018 was a different story for Blevins, who set a career-high in walks per nine innings with 4.6 while his strikeouts dipped to 8.6 – his lowest mark since 2013. His splits curiously reversed, with lefties mashing a .785 OPS against righties’ .682. Between questions of overuse and a loss of feel for the once-vaunted curveball, Blevins’ 34.2% hard-hit rate (another career-high) did little to help his case as a standout arm in a crowded pool of free agent relievers.

Nonetheless, he will have every chance to contribute to his former team in Oakland, where he posted a 3.02 ERA and 3.1 bWAR in over 200 innings between 2010 and 2013 en route to two playoff appearances. He is due to make $1.5MM in 2019 should he crack the big league roster at any point.

The post Jerry Blevins Signs Minor League Deal with Oakland Athletics appeared first on Metsmerized.

Daniel Zamora got his first taste of Major League action in 2018 and made the most of it. The southpaw, whom the New York Mets acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Josh Smoker on Jan. 31, 2018, spent most of 2018 in Double-A Binghamton before getting the call to The Show.

While with the Rumble Ponies, Zamora put up a solid 3.48 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, while striking out 69 batters in 40 games and 51 2/3 innings.

The injury bug hit the Mets hard yet again in 2018. After Bobby Wahl headed to the disabled list with a right hamstring strain, Zamora got the call and became the franchise-record-tying 54th player that the Mets used in 2018.

Zamora was notified of his promotion on Aug. 17 and quickly made his MLB debut later that night against the Philadelphia Phillies. He started things off strong as he fired 1 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out two.

He continued keeping opponents off the board in his next four appearances as well. In them he pitched two scoreless innings accompanied by two hits, no walks and two strikeouts.

The 25-year-old’s toughest stretch of his brief stint came in three games from Aug. 27 to Aug. 31. In those games he gave up two runs in 1 1/3 innings. That also included an appearance on Aug. 28 against the Chicago Cubs in which he replaced Paul Sewald in the bottom of 11th and gave up a walk-off RBI single to Ben Zobrist.

The one positive taken out from that three-game stretch was that Zamora was still able to remain the strikeout pitcher that he is as he fanned all four batters he retired in those appearances.

In September, Zamora rebounded quite nicely. He appeared in eight games and four innings for the Mets, and limited opponents to one hit, one walk and no runs while striking out eight of the 12 batters he retired.

The Mets often used Zamora as a lefty specialist which was valuable as Jerry Blevins took a massive step back in 2018. Blevins became unreliable in that role as he actually had more success against right-handed batters in 88 at-bats (.193/.330/.352/.682) than against left-handed batters in 72 at-bats (.264/.341/.444/.786).

2019 Outlook

Zamora emerged in 2018 as a solid reliever who has a good chance of playing a part in the Mets’ 2019 plans.

While nine innings is not enough to simply hand him a job in the bullpen on Opening Day, the fact that he is a lefty strongly helps his case.

The Mets had no real lefty options for 2019 before signing Hector Santiago and Luis Avilan to minor league deals recently. Brodie Van Wagenen has indicated that Avilan has a good chance of getting a spot on the Opening Day roster. However, even if Avilan does indeed make the team, it should be alongside Zamora rather than in place of him.

Zamora would likely only see his role shrunk if the Mets add another southpaw or two on major league contracts. However, even if that does happen, Zamora being an up-and-coming young player still helps his chances over Avilan. Barring a very weak spring training, it can be expected that he makes the Opening Day roster regardless of any moves the Mets make from now until March 28.

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Good morning Mets fans! On Wednesday the Boston Red Sox took a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The World Series continues tonight as Game 3 gets underway at 8:09 p.m. EDT at Dodger Stadium. Rick Porcello (1-0, 4.22 ERA) will try to inch the Red Sox even closer to their ninth World Series in franchise history, while Walker Buehler (0-1, 5.40 ERA) will try bring the Dodgers back into this series.

Latest Mets News

Peter Alonso received third place in the MiLBY voting for the top offensive minor league player in 2018.

Franklyn Kilome underwent Tommy John surgery as announced by the Mets.

Chaim Bloom released a statement yesterday about his Wednesday interview: “We had a productive meeting yesterday. There was a lot of baseball conversation and I enjoyed the time we spent together.”

The choice for the next Mets GM has been whittled down to Bloom and super agent Brodie Van Wagenen.

The Mets will be holding a “Futuras Estrellas Equipment Donation” event on Nov. 6 at their Dominican academy. At the event they’ll host youth teams, give them equipment and show them around the facilities according to Tim Healey of Newsday.

Latest MLB News

The Baltimore Orioles announced that they have agreed to terms with international players Kevin Infante of Cuba, Angel Gomez of Venezuela, Gilbert Machado of Venezuela and Kelvin LaRoche of the Dominican Republic.

The Super Two cutoff date for arbitration-eligible players has increased from 2.123 years to two years and 134 days of service time, according to former ESPN.com writer Jerry Crasnick.

Rocco Baldelli will be the Minnesota Twins’ next manager as reported by Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports.

The owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings is considering moving on from Fox Sports Detroit and creating his own regional sports network according to Eric Fisher of the SportsBusiness Journal.

Latest NL East News

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com took a look at the Miami Marlins’ potential 2019 outfield after signing Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. on Monday.

Five Atlanta Braves have been selected as Gold Glove finalists. Those five are Adam Duvall, Freddie Freeman, Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis and Julio Teheran.

Patrick Reddington of Federal Baseball wondered how the Washington Nationals and Ryan Zimmerman will handle Spring Training after last year.

The Philadelphia Phillies announced the hiring of Josh Bonifay as their director of player development.

Latest on MMO/MMN

Jack Hendon graded Jerry Blevins‘ performance during the 2018 season.

Tim Ryder stated that the Mets’ general manager decision should be a simple one as Bloom is the best choice.

Christopher Soto recapped the Wednesday performances from Mets who are participating in Winter League games.

Ed Leyro reminisced about Game 6 of the 1986 World Series which occurred 32 years ago yesterday.

This Day in Mets History

1998: Mike Piazza and the Mets agreed to a seven-year $91 million deal which was the richest contract in baseball history up until that point.

2000: The Mets lost Game 5 of the World Series to the New York Yankees by a score of 4-2. The win propelled the Yankees to their MLB-record 26th World Series championship.

Birthday(s): Jaime Cerda turns 40. Elio Chacon, who played for the Mets in their inaugural season, was also born on this day in 1936.

The post Morning Briefing: The Dodgers Try To Fight Back At Home appeared first on Metsmerized.

With hopes of contending and a franchise-best 11-1 start to the 2018 season, this past year ultimately fell flat for the New York Mets. And while there were a number of positives to come out of the last 162 games, it’s the negative stuff that usually gets most of the air time.

After all, the organization has to find a new general manager that will hopefully make enough moves — and keep Jeff Wilpon away long enough — to fix a flawed roster, along with giving this team a shot at contention once March rolls around.

As a generally positive person, I like to think there’s almost always something good that can be taken from statistics for players with a large enough sample size. It may be harder for some than others, but it’s still possible. We try to figure that out for most of the Mets’ 2018 roster, based on a few qualifications.

In order to be included below, players had to finish the year on New York’s roster (whether they were active or on the disabled list). Hitters needed to accumulate 100-plus plate appearances, starting pitchers needed 90-plus innings, and relief pitchers needed at least 30 frames under their respective belts.

Position Players

Despite collecting 31 fewer plate appearances in the second half, Michael Conforto outproduced both his homer (11 in the first half, 17 in the second half) and RBI production (30 in the first half, 52 in the second half). He set new single-season career highs in both of those categories for the second straight year.

Amed Rosario still has plenty of work to do on his plate discipline, but his numbers finished much better than his abbreviated MLB debut in 2017. He managed to improve each of his walk rate (1.8% to 4.9%), strikeout rate (28.8% to 20.1%), and swinging-strike rate (18.1% to 12.8%) by a significant margin.

There are lots of positive stats to choose from for Brandon Nimmo, but his power surge is definitely one of the most striking. He entered 2018 with six homers and a .128 ISO in 295 career plate appearances. He finished 2018 with 17 homers and a .219 ISO through 535 plate appearances.

It’s not as easy to find positive stats for Todd Frazier, who had a rough first year in Queens. However, his 40.8% hard-hit rate ended up as a career-high mark, while his 17.6% soft-hit rate is the lowest it’s been since 2014 with the Cincinnati Reds (16.9%).

Wilmer Flores has never exactly been prone to striking out a ton, but he limited them at a new level this past year. His 87.9% contact rate tied a career high, and it was also the third consecutive year in which that number has improved. He paired that with a 5.7% swinging-strike rate and a 9.8% strikeout rate, both of which are new personal bests.

Jay Bruce had a season he’d like to forget as quickly as possible, but the obvious positive is that his second-half performance (123 wRC+ in 125 plate appearances) was light-years better than what he did in the first half (71 wRC+ in 236 plate appearances).

Kevin Plawecki‘s 37.9% fly-ball rate was more than 10 percentage points higher than what it was in 2017. While it didn’t lead to a huge spike in power, his wRC+ on that batted-ball event rose from 95 in ’17 to 130 in ’18. (OK, that one was kind of hard.)

After a horrific first half, Jose Reyes improved his OPS (.503 to .699) and ISO (.065 to .233) by nearly 200 points each. (OK, that one was really hard.)

Only eight players put together a higher second-half fWAR than Jeff McNeil‘s 2.7. He also gave them all a head start since his MLB debut didn’t happen until July 24th.

Devin Mesoraco‘s 11 homers, 33 RBI, 24 runs scored, 0.7 fWAR, and 274 plate appearances outpaced his production from the last three seasons combined, which have been riddled with injuries.

Despite a 30.7% hard-hit rate that finished below the league average, Austin Jackson‘s .387 BABIP was the highest it’s been since he was a rookie with the Detroit Tigers in 2010 (.396). That was another stretch, but in my defense, there wasn’t a whole lot to work with here.

Yoenis Cespedes suffered through a rough March and April (96 wRC+, .729 OPS, 38.1% strikeout rate), but he looked much more like himself in May (163 wRC+, .973 OPS, 17.9% strikeout rate). Now, if only he could stay on the field, then the Mets would be in business.

Dominic Smith looked like a much different hitter in the second half than he did in the first half, but the one constant was an improvement in his ground-ball rate. It settled in at 50.4% last year before dropping down to 34.4% in 2018. Most of that difference went to his line-drive rate, which rose from 16.0% to 26.0%.

Starting Pitchers

We could close our eyes and pick just about anything for Jacob deGrom here. I’ll go with this: he only finished two months with an ERA higher than 2.00 (2.06 in April, 2.36 in June).

Zack Wheeler‘s 4.1 fWAR in 182.1 innings is better than his performance from the last three seasons combined (3.8 fWAR in 371 innings).

Among starters with at least 150 innings pitched, Noah Syndergaard‘s 21.9% hard-hit rate allowed was the best, while his 25.3% soft-hit rate allowed was second best to only Chris Sale.

Steven Matz started 30 games for the first time in his career and also tossed a career-high 154.2 frames. For a guy that seems to be injured constantly, that’s huge.

Although there’s a big discrepancy in his ERA from 2017 (4.16) and 2018 (5.77), Jason Vargas‘ SIERA actually decreased (4.86 to 4.32). Plus, it’s impressive that his season-long ERA even ended up being that low since it was 8.53 through his first 25.1 innings with the Mets.

Relief Pitchers

Robert Gsellman‘s slider was filthy this year. After watching hitters post a 96 wRC+ and just a 16.0% strikeout rate against it in 2017, those numbers improved to 1 and 39.1%, respectively.

Seth Lugo‘s strikeout rate (17.3% to 19.5% to 25.1%) and hard-hit rate allowed (38.4% to 34.6% to 31.0%) have both progressively gotten better in each of his first three big-league seasons.

Paul Sewald threw his changeup nearly the exact number of times over each of the past two seasons. After allowing a 187 wRC+ and .300 ISO against it as a rookie, those numbers dropped to 43 and .083, respectively, during his sophomore campaign. It was the rest of his pitchers that were a problem.

Jerry Blevins posted a 9.00 ERA or above in both April and September, but the months in between were much better. In those 30 innings, he produced a 3.00 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.

Jacob Rhame continued to struggle in 2018, but at least his numbers normalized a bit with a larger sample size. After posting a 15.6% strikeout and walk rate to go along with a 12.9% soft-hit rate and 38.7% hard-hit rate in nine innings, he ended up producing a 20.0% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate, 12.9% soft-hit rate, and 30.1% hard-hit rate in 32.1 innings this year.

While Tyler Bashlor‘s first three months in the majors were a little difficult, his 7.1 frames in September were encouraging. He posted a 2.45 ERA to go along with a .262 wOBA against, 33.3% strikeout rate, and 6.7% walk rate.

The post An Encouraging 2018 Statistic For Each Mets Player appeared first on Metsmerized.