On Wednesday, the Mets announced that lefty reliever Danny Young will be placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to April 27, with a left elbow strain. Along with that move, righty Chris Devenski was selected from Triple-A Syracuse and the recently signed lefty Brooks Raley was transferred to the 60-day IL. Unfortunately, this does not seem like a short-term stint, as Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that the southpaw may need Tommy John Surgery.

On the field, the Mets came up short against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. Despite getting 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief from Brandon Waddell pitching in the big leagues for the first time since 2021, a ninth-inning rally from the Mets offense came up shy, resulting in a 4-3 loss. Click here for a full-game recap of Wednesday night’s loss at Citi. 

The Amazin’s will look to take the rubber match against Arizona on Thursday as Kodai Senga (1.26 ERA, 3-1) will face Zac Gallen (5.57 ERA, 1-4) at 1:10 PM EST. New York will look to get back in the win column before hitting the road for a 6-game road trip in St. Louis and Arizona.

Latest Mets News

Francisco Lindor stopped by St. John’s University to speak with the school’s baseball and softball teams.

Chris Majkowski was the producer-engineer for his 5,000th consecutive Mets game on radio on Wednesday night. Jay Horwitz went in-depth on the man behind the Mets radio broadcast. 

Latest MLB News

The Cubs called up veteran RHP Chris Flexen from the minors, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Flexen had a 1.16 ERA in 5 starts at Triple-A Iowa. 

Bo Bichette intends to join his brother and play for Brazil at the WBC, per Ayako Oikawa of MLB.com. Bo Bichette on the matter, “It means a lot to our whole family. We want to do our best to contribute to the team’s victory and draw some attention to Brazilian baseball.”

A fan fell onto the field from the Clemente Wall bleachers (21 feet in height) in right field during the Pirates game at PNC park last night. The latest update from the Pirates was that Pittsburgh EMS, along with both clubs’ athletic training teams, responded immediately, and he was taken to Allegheny General Hospital.

Mike Trout left Wednesday night’s Angels game with precautionary knee soreness, per Jeff Fletcher of SoCal News Group. Trout is already feeling better and will try to play on Thursday.

Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough announced that outfielder Griffin Conine will miss the remainder of the 2025 season after undergoing shoulder surgery on Tuesday. He is expected to be a full-go for 2026 spring training. 

The Seattle Mariners selected the contract of former Mets draft pick OF Rhylan Thomas and will make his MLB debut when he first appears in a game. 

Former Met Jake Diekman signed with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association.

The Miami Marlins released their new City Connect uniforms.

Latest On MMO

Brandon Waddell sparkled in his MLB return. 

Mark Vientos was the subject of MMO’s Weekly Statistical Spotlight.

Mets ninth-inning rally came up short.

On This Date In Mets History

2011: The crowd erupts in “U-S-A” chants during the ninth inning of a Mets-Phillies game after news of Osama Bin Laden’s death breaks.

1987: Tim Tuefel hits a walk-off pinch-hit solo homer to beat the Expos 7-6.

Born On This Date: Marcus Stroman (1991), Manny Acosta (1981), Joe Hietpas (1979), Armando Reynoso (1966), Charlie O’Brien (1960), Ray Searage (1955), Roy Lee Jackson (1954)

The post Morning Briefing: Danny Young Might Need Tommy John Surgery appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

If you are a Mets fan, you know that David Wright is still with team, or that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are in Toronto and St. Louis, respectively. But what happened to guys like Nick Evans or Rod Barajas? We have the answers.

11 Players who made it into a game in 2010 with the Mets, are still employed by the team. That would be the aforementioned David Wright, Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada (Although he is currently with Triple-A Las Vegas, he is still on the Mets payroll), Lucas Duda, Justin Turner, Jon Niese, Pedro Feliciano (Although he made another stop in the Bronx, he is with the Mets once again), Bobby Parnell, Dillon Gee, Johan Santana, and Jenrry Mejia.

10 players are employed by another Major League team. That would be Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, Beltran, Josh Thole, Henry Blanco, Joaquin Arias, Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, Francisco Rodriguez, and Oliver Perez.

As you may know, Jose Reyes was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Toronto Blue Jays this past offseason in a blockbuster deal involving Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and now former Met, John Buck. Reyes now puts on his uniform in the same locker room as R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole, who were traded together this past offseason from the Mets for Travis d’Arnaud, Buck, and Noah Syndergaard (don’t forget Wuilmer Beccera!). Angel Pagan was traded to the San Francisco Giants prior to the 2012 season for outfielder Andres Torres and pitcher Ramon Ramirez who have both since played again for the team they were traded from.

Carlos Beltran was traded at the deadline in 2011 to the Giants for Zack Wheeler, but has since made his home in St. Louis playing for the Cardinals, where he has enjoyed a couple of very nice seasons, including an All Star appearance this summer. Henry Blanco, who served as the Mets backup catcher in 2010, beat out Josh Thole for the same position on this year’s Toronto Blue Jays team, but was released and then signed by the Seattle Mariners who made the corresponding move by releasing 2012 Met alumni, Kelly Shoppach. Blanco played in Arizona for the Diamondbacks in 2011 and 2012.

Joaquin Arias, of whom the Mets received for Jeff Francoeur late in the 2010 season, played for the Kansas City Royals in 2011, and was then given a championship ring after serving as Pablo Sandoval‘s ninth inning defensive replacement in 2012 for the San Francisco Giants. He has been a key hitter off the bench for the Giants in 2013. Mike Pelfrey, after failing to play a month in the 2012 season, was signed by the Minnesota Twins, where his 5-10 record and 5.06 ERA is good enough to keep him in the starting rotation.

Francisco Rodriguez was traded to the Brewers in 2011 for Daniel Herrera (yes the 5-6 guy) and a minor leaguer, but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles at the deadline this year, downgrading from a closer to a setup man. Finally, Oliver Perez signed a two-year deal with the Seattle Mariners in 2012 and is proving to be an effective arm out of their bullpen. You would think that Perez’s ERA of 9.72 with Henry Blanco behind the plate would be the highest among catchers who have caught the Mexican native, but no. That award goes to Josh Thole, who provides Ollie with a sparkling 16.20 ERA.

Eight players are in the minor leagues with another organization. They are Mike Nickeas, Mike Hessman, Luis Hernandez, Mike Jacobs, Nick Evans, Hisanori Takahashi, Fernando Nieve, and Pat Misch.

Mike Nickeas, who was in the same deal that sent R.A. Dickey north of the border, is currently with the Blue Jays Triple-A team, the Buffalo Bisons, a team Nickeas has played for many times when they were the Mets affiliate. Nickeas has failed to make the Majors this season, playing 55 games in Buffalo. Mike Hessman, who is seven home runs shy of 400 for his minor league career and one shy of 15 for his Major League career, is currently a member of the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A team of the Cincinnati Reds, where he is teammates with base stealing extraordinaire, Billy Hamilton. Hessman played in Japan in 2011 for the Orix Buffaloes, and was with the Astros Triple A team in 2012.

Luis Hernandez, who played all of 17 games for the Mets, is with the Indians Triple-A team, after playing in the Texas Rangers organization in 2012. Nick Evans is the only 2010 Met alumni playing in Double-A. Evans, who is a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliated Mobile Baybears, was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 2012. Mike Jacobs was the placeholder at first base until Ike Davis came up in 2010 but he is now with the Diamondbacks Triple-A team. Jacobs also stopped in Colorado Springs, Toronto, and Mexico. Hisanori Takahashi, who has 12 games started and 21 games finished as a Met, has played in the Majors with the Angels, Pirates, and Cubs. He is now a member of the Colorado Rockies Triple-A team. Fernando Nieve hasn’t played in the Majors since 2010, but he has played with the Astros, Dodgers, Indians, and currently the Athletics, all in Triple-A. Finally, Pat MIsch has seen time with the Phillies and Tigers Triple-A teams.

Five players are not currently with a Major League organization. The names are Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas, Jason Bay, John Maine, and Sean Green.

Francoeur was traded to the Rangers for Joaquin Arias in August of 2010. He spent the rest of the year there. Frenchy played in Kansas City during 2011 and 2012, but was released midway through the 2013 season. The Giants picked him up, where he played 22 games. Francouer was designated for assignment of August 20th, and released two days later. Barajas played with the Pirates in 2011 and 2012, before being signed by the Diamondbacks. He ultimately lost the bid to be Miguel Montero‘s backup, as the DBacks went with Wil Nieves instead.

Jason Bay, who was released after the 2012 season much to the delight of Mets fans, was signed by the Mariners for the 2013 season. He hit a home run in his first spring training at bat, but after a disapointing season, was released of August 6th to make room for Mike Morse. John Maine spent 2011 in the Colorado Rockies minor league system, and pitched for the Scranton/Wilkes-Bare Yankees for all of 2012. He played for the Miami Marlins in April of this year, but was released on April 22. The sidearmer, Sean Green pitched with the Brewers in 2011, before playing with the Texas Rangers’ Triple A team in 2012. He also pitched with the Somerset Patriots in 2012 of the Independent Leagues but has not found a team since.

Six players have officially retired. They are Luis Castillo, Alex Cora, Fernando Tatis, Gary Matthews Jr., Frank Catalanotto, and Tobi Stoner.

Luis Castillo was released by the Mets at the same time they released Oliver Perez. Castillo signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, but after a disappointing spring training, he was released, at which time he retired. Alex Cora was released by the Mets in August of 2010, and he played the rest of the year with the Rangers. He played with the Washington Nationals in 2011, and was signed by the Cardinals in the spring of 2012, which didn’t work out. He is now a baseball analyst for ESPN (his brother Joey does the same work for MLB Network). Fernando Tatis was injured of July 4th of 2010. He was placed on the DL the next day and was transferred to the 60-day DL 10 days later. That turned out to be his last major league game as he retired after the season.

The “Son of the Sarge”, Gary Matthews Jr., was released by the Mets on June 15th, 2010. He signed with the Reds on June 24th and played the rest of the year with their Triple-A team, before retiring. Frank Catalanotto was designated for assignment of May 10th, when the Mets brought up Chris Carter. After failing to sign with another team, he retired in March of 2011. Finally, the German-born Tobi Stoner was released by the Mets in March of 2012. During that season, he played in the Independent Leagues with the Bridgeport Blue Fish and the Somerset Patriots. He retired before the 2013 season.

Four players are currently playing in foreign countries. Chris Carter, Manny Acosta, and Ryota Igarashi are playing in Japan, and Jesus Feliciano is playing in Mexico.

Carter (no not the former A’s prospect) played in the Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves Minor League system in 2011 before moving to Japan to play with the Seibu Lions in 2012 and 2013. Carter is 3-26 (.115) with three RBI in nine games this year. He is teammates with Kazuhisa Ishii. Manny Acosta pitched for the Mets through 2012 but signed with the Yomuri Giants in 2013 after being released. In 14 games he has an ERA of 5.54. His teammates include former major leaguers Scott Mathieson and John Bowker.

Ryota Igarashi played with the Mets until 2011. He then played in the minor leagues with the Yankees and the Blue Jays in 2012 though he pitched in the majors with both teams. He is now pitching with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks where he sports a 2.15 ERA in 36 games. He is teammates with with Vicente Padilla and former Mets minor leaguer Wily Mo Pena. Jesus Feliciano, who has signed with the Mets four different times in his career, played in all of his 54 career games with the Mets in 2010. He played with the Buffalo Bisons in 2011, the Durham Bulls in 2012, and he is now playing in Mexico with the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz. He has only played in three games with one hit.

One player is currently a coach. Elmer Dessens is the assistant pitching coach for the AZL Reds in the Arizona League (The Arizona equivalent to Florida’s Gulf Coast League). And here’s a fun piece of information. The manager of that AZL Reds team is former Met, Eli Marrero who the Mets received in 2006 when they traded Kazuo Matsui to the Rockies.

Well, now you know what happened to the 2010 Mets. Next week we’ll look at the players from Citi Field’s inaugural year, 2009.

LGM

The post The 2010 Mets: Where Are They Now? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The farm system may be in much better shape, and their projected 2014 payroll will be in the bottom of the majors for now – potentially opening a lot of financial flexibility going forward. However, is doom and gloom in store for the 2013 edition of the Mets? Or can they win the WAR?

While I´ll acknowledge that Wins Above Replacement is a somewhat flawed method of measuring talent – especially considering the flaws of defensive stats in this metric – it is still a sound way to judge a team overall.

So, the question is, what kind of an impact have this offseason’s transactions had on the team’s WAR compared to 2012? And how will it evolve in 2013?

Let’s examine the situation, and for those of you wondering, I’ll be using Baseball Reference’s version of WAR to conduct my analysis.

2013 Rotation: Net Gain 0.5 WAR

RA Dickey and his 5.6 WAR is gone, as are Chris Young (0.7 WAR) and Mike Pelfrey (0.9 WAR). In all likelihood, Chris Schwinden and his -0.6 WAR won´t return either. So, overall, 6.6 in WAR have to be made up and accounted for – a daunting task indeed.

Newly acquired Shaun Marcum posted a 1.3 WAR in 2012 and a 2.9 WAR in 2011. Splitting the difference, let´s assume his 2013 WAR will  2.1 as one member of this rotation.

The rest will have to be made up in-house.

Matt Harvey posted a strong 1.6 WAR in one third of a season. Since I very much believe in him, let´s assume he doubles his 2012 totals (tripling it would seem a bit outlandish). So, there´s a 3.2 WAR and thus a gain of 1.6.

Jonathon Niese had a 3.2 WAR in 2012. Let´s assume he matches that again this season and doesn´t take a step forward. Thus,.no change.

Dillon Gee posted a 0.8 WAR in 2012 while missing almost half the season. Let´s say he´s 100% back and almost doubles his previous total to a 1.5 WAR in 2013.

That leaves Johan Santana and his 0.1 WAR for 2012.

Santana’s WAR through June would was closer to 2.0 prior to his collapse over his final ten outings of the season. Let´s assume, he pitches to a modest 1.0 WAR for half the season and then gets replaced by Zack Wheeler for the other half who does half as well as Matt Harvey did in his debut. Overall, we can expect a 1.8 WAR from both of them combined.

Finally, we have Collin McHugh who made a few starts and posted a -0.9 WAR in 2012, thanks to a couple of atrocious outings late in the year while due to fatigue. Let´s assume he performs at a 0.0 replacement level.

Taking all of that conservatively projected data into consideration along with the historical data leads us to this conclusion.

The Mets needed to make up for the loss of 6.6 in Wins Above replacement.

When you calculate Marcum’s 2.1 WAR, plus the net gains of Harvey (1.6 WAR), Gee (0.8 WAR), the 1.7 WAR we could get from the Santana and Wheeler combination, and McHugh (0.9 WAR), it results in a total net gain of 7.1 in WAR.

So, overall, the rotation gains half a win vs. 2012.

2013 Bullpen: Net Gain 4.5 WAR

The Mets had one of the worst bullpens in the league in 2012.

Frank Francisco – in an injury riddled season posted a – 0.7 WAR and now seems DL bound for an extended period of time. Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez and Tim Byrdak (due to injury) are all gone from the 2012 cast and overall they combined for a 0.0 WAR last season. Manny Acosta and his -1.2 WAR is headed to Japan. Miguel Batista and his -0.2 WAR will write his poems for the Braves in 2013.

Meanwhile, the Mets have brought in Brandon Lyon (1.2 WAR in 2012), RH Scott Atchison (1.7 WAR in 2012), Pedro Feliciano (0.0 due to missing the season), Aaron Laffey ( 0.2 WAR) and LaTroy Hawkins (- 0.1 WAR). I´ll assume only Lyon, Atchison and Feliciano land a spot and replace Rauch – Ramirez – Byrdak. Conservative as I am, I´ll pencil in Lyon & Atchison for half as good a season and Feliciano as neutral. Gain: 1.5

Acosta is replaced in-house by either Jeurys Familia or Greg Burke. Since I like the latter ones quite a bit, I´ll project them as a +0.8 WAR reliever combined. Gain: 2.0

Finally, Josh Edgin posted a – 0.1 WAR in 2012 in his brief debut. Blessed with a power arm, he does modestly decent and finishes with a 0.4 WAR overall. Gain: 0.5

FF returns at some point and remains a disappointment. But instead of – 0.7, only is a – 0.2 reliever in 2013. Gain: 0.5

Parnell repeats his 2012 season as the new Mets closer.

Adding everything up, the bullpen turns from atrocious to a solid average. Yet, an overall gain of 4.5 Wins.

2013 Infield: Net Gain 3.5 Wins

Most of the 2012 Infield is back. David Wright – Ruben Tejada – Daniel Murphy – Ike Davis combined for a 10.5 WAR in 2012 – in spite of Murphy learning a new position,  Ike being limited by valley fewer, Tejada missing an extended stretch of time, and Wright being almost unprotected in the lineup most of the season.

The average age of the four regular infielders entering 2013 is 26.5 and thus pretty close to the prime years for a baseball player. Let´s assume Wright regresses slightly from 6.7 to 4.5, however Tejada improves from 1.9 to 2.5 over a full season, Murphy´s defensive improvements over the 2nd half of the season last to bring his WAR up from 1.2 to 2.0 while Ike finally has the break-out we´ve all been expecting and plays defense like in 2011 and 2010 to post a 3.0 WAR vs. 0.7 in 2012. Overall, that´s a gain of 1.5 Wins from these 4 players.

The backup infielder Cedeno (+ 0.3) is replaced by Hicks (-0.1) or Quintanilla (+0.5). Splitting the difference, this remains unchanged.

At Catcher, Josh Thole (- 0.1) gets replaced by John Buck (0.4 WAR in 2012) for a gain of half a win.

Backups Mike Nickeas (-0.7) and Rob Johnson (-0.2) are replaced by Anthony Recker (0 WAR in 2012) and Rookie Travis D´Arnaud. Being very conservative, I´ll give the latter two a combined 2013 WAR of merely + 0.6. Still, overall, that´s a 1.5 WIN gain vs. the terrible 2012 backup combo.

Adding things up, the catching improves by 2 Wins, the Infield by 1.5 wins for a total of + 3.5 wins.

 2013 Outfield: Net Gain 3.0 Wins

Ah, the outfield. A collection of rejects and suspects that has lost Scott Hairston (+ 1.5) and Andres Torres (+ 1.2) and Jason Bay (- 1.3 WAR in 2012). Total loss: 1.4 WAR.

Among newcomers, Collin Cowgill (+ 0.3 in limited action in 2012) figures to double his AB for a total WAR of + 0.6. Marlon Byrd (- 0.5 in 2012 but 1.7 in 2011) and Andrew Brown (-0.1) are competing for a spot. Let´s assume, overall they post a 0.4 WAR, so the new guys combine for 1.0 WAR.

That leaves things up to returnees.

Lucas Duda combined disappointing offense and horrible defense in RF for a – 1.4 WAR in 2012. With an easier assignment in LF and a better offensive approach, he emerges as a modestly solid player to post a 0.6 WAR – for a 2 WAR gain overall.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had his ups & downs and finished with a 0 WAR in 2012. At age 25, he´s poised for modest improvements and an expected WAR of a conservative 1.4 – which is still below average for a CF but certainly realistic.

Finally, Mike Baxter and his 0.3 returns to RF. He probably is what he is and remains unchanged.

Still doing the math, the outfield gains 3.0 Wins overall and “improves” from atrocious to well below average in 2013.

Overall Net Gain 11.5 Wins

Now of course, it only February 26 and a couple of the players here may change for a myriad of reasons as Spring Training battles are waged in St. Lucie, but we have a good case here to believe the Mets as currently constructed can out produce what they did in 2012. Even with the key losses of R.A. Dickey and Scott Hairston.

All included, the 2013 Mets gain 11.5 wins vs. their 2012 counterparts. Please note that these projections do not include monster-breakouts for anyone. Just gradual improvements which you´d expect for generally young players and no crippling injuries.

Adding 11.5 wins to a total of 74 wins in 2012, you get to 85.5 wins. Not good enough to beat the Nationals for the division and probably behind the Braves as well. But certainly good enough to challenge the Phillies for 3rd place in the NL East and thus compete for the second Wild Card in the NL. And if players such as D´Arnaud, Wheeler, Ike or Duda really happen to break out in a big way, there´s upside for an even higher total. But let´s stop dreaming and “only” look at a glass that could be a lot closer to “half full” than people realize.

The post MMO Featured Post: Can The Mets Win The WAR in 2013? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

According to his agent Gene Mato, former Mets reliever Manny Acosta has signed a one-year, $1.65 million contract with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. The deal includes $500K in performance bonuses.

The righthander was non-tendered by the Mets following a season that saw him post a 6.46 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP over 45 relief appearances.

Acosta, 31, pitched parts of three seasons with the Mets totaling a 4.37 ERA in 131 appearances all in relief.

Sayonara, Manny.

The post Acosta-lypse Now Playing For Japan appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

This has been due in part to injuries, but it has also been the product of the Mets organization’s unwillingness to deal with mediocrity.

Jack Egbert, the “power-hitting” Jeremy Hefner, Chris Schwinden, Rob Johnson, Omar Quintanilla, Jordany Valdespin, Vinny Rottino and even Kirk Nieuwenhuis all started the year in the minors and weren’t expected to be big-time contributors this season.

Especially in the bullpen, we have seen much turnover. That’s because the bullpen has been the team’s Achilles heel all season.

Manny Acosta

Michael Baron of MetsBlog reports that the Mets bullpen is 12-14 collectively this year and that this is way too many decisions for a bullpen through the first two months of the season. Too many times, the bullpen has blown a late lead, which resulted in either a late win or, more often, a loss.

Recently, D.J. Carrasco and Manny Acosta were designated for assignment after their abysmal performances. Though both were under contract, the Mets brass grew tired of their underachieving, especially Acosta, who showed flashes last season of being a capable reliever.

Ramon Ramirez appears to be next on the list if he can’t right the ship. Elvin Ramirez is heading to Flushing, and spring training sensation Josh Edgin may get the call soon.

Baseball is a “what have you done for me lately” business. If a player—especially a role player—struggles, there is usually someone waiting in the wings to take his place.

In the case of Ike Davis, the team has been patient, since Davis has shown in the past that he can provide pop in the middle of the order. But as Davis continues to struggle and Scott Hairston and Mike Baxter keep hitting, maybe Davis gets sent down and Lucas Duda plays first base.

I would much rather see the young players—and even the minor league veterans like Rob Johnson and Vinny Rottino—get a chance than see the same guys struggle all year.

The injury bug seems to be biting the Mets, but it’s not as bad as what the Phillies are going through, especially with the most recent injury to Roy Halladay. The Mets have a chance to pull away from the Phillies, despite losing two of three to Philadelphia this week.

Let’s see where this uncanny cast of characters can take us this summer. We are likely to see even more names, like Chris Young and Jenrry Mejia, join the big club at some point.

If everyone pulls their weight, we could be seeing the makings of an improbable playoff run forming before our eyes.

The post From Left Field: Two Months Of Turnover appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The 2012 New York Mets season has already seen its share of injuries, tough luck losses  and just outright poor, frustrating play. However, the positives in defeat, losses and watching players fail is you can determine what are your weaknesses as a team, and how can it be improved. So far, some hitting flaws have been exposed, some hitters have adapted better to new roles under the tutelage of Dave Hudgens while others have struggled to combine patience with a selective approach. Some bullpen pitchers have seen their stars fall, while others have capitalized on learning new pitches to help equalize the competition.

Ike Davis has come out of the gate, and been just about as bad as someone could have hoped. After yesterday’s game, Davis is hitting .170 with five home runs, 20 RBI and a 11/46 BB/K ratio. Ike has been getting killed on breaking balls, seeing less and less fastballs while swinging at more breaking balls on the outside corners and in the dirt. Defensively, Ike has been as stable but a few times it seems his struggles have come with him into the field.

The Verdict: The fans and possibly management itself overplayed how ready someone with just over 600 at-bats would adapt after a long lay-off. Ike has shown some signs of resurgence, but consistent ability to make quality contact has killed him. The BABIP will have to rise (.208) which is well below league-average.

Andres Torres went down on opening day with a flare-up of the calf injury that kept him out of the majority of the spring training games. While many Mets fans were prepared to see some combination of Hairston/Baxter/Bay patrolling center (yeah, looking back that was crazy), the Mets did something many fans wished they would, and called up Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Despite a major problem with striking out (53 on the season, tied for fifth with Cincinnati Reds CF Drew Stubbs), Kirk has managed to make his contact count, still hitting .288 with a .358 OBP and some solid, if not great center field defense. The performance merits playing time, but once Jason Bay returns, it will be interesting to see the utilization

The Verdict: Kirk was infact MLB ready, and the strikeouts are the only issue, but most expected him to have a high strikeout total. With better knowledge of how MLB umpires call games, Kirk will turn the strikeouts into walks and hits. While he may not be an All-Star, Captain Kirk is one of many reasons these Mets are six games over .500

Bobby Parnell, who has witnessed his stock and future role with the Mets waver every year came into the season expecting to be a situational righty,  especially with the additions of Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez and Frank Francisco. What he has become is the most consistent right-handed option in the bullpen who has finally learned to harness his stuff, as evidenced by his 3/21 BB/K ratio over the course of the young season. His ERA of  2.75 is only bested by Tim Byrdak’s 2.57, but Byrdak has been a machine himself. The knuckle-curve he learned from Jason Isringhausen seems to have made a difference, as hitters are forced to guess in any strikeout count: Will he throw me a fastball anywhere from 92-101, or paint a corner with an 83 MPH curve?

The Verdict: Parnell pitches much like a hitter hits – in streaks and stints. Parnell hasn’t really had any poor outings yet, and four of the six earned runs he’s allowed have come in two different outings. Bobby just may have figured out how to pitch now, and increased his value in the Mets bullpen drastically.

This isn’t to say there aren’t other stories to be spoken about such as the emergence of Mike Baxter as the best pinch-hitting option off the bench, Manny Acosta rendering himself incapable of getting out MLB hitters, Johan Santana returning to his old form or David Wright borrowing MJOLNIR from Thor to become one of the best hitters in the NL. It just means, when all things were assumed bad – there was an upside to it. Finding out what we thought we know wasn’t true, and finding out what we didn’t know was a lie.

The post The Upside Of Downside… appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

An introduction is not necessary as the title does all of the justice. Statistically, he has faltered in every role this season, from set-up man to mop-up guy. Acosta has almost as many walks as innings pitched, allowed more runs then innings pitched and has allowed a run in 10 of his 18 games pitched. So, logical readers of MMO – why is the man still up north occupying a roster spot, and who could produce a better ERA than Mr. Acosta who is in our minor leagues? The answer is virtually anyone,  but focus will be placed on why he is here.

The 2012 Mets have shown they will endure the growing pains of the early season if players seem to show life, and sadly despite his horrible ERA, Acosta did not have too poor of a May, but nothing someone would write home about either. Acosta was marginal in 2010, great in the latter portion of 2011, and has been atrocious during the 2012 season all together. If yesterday’s outing wasn’t enough of a sign that Mr. Acosta hurts the team, he entered a 6-1 game, his offense gave him two more runs, and he promptly gave the Padres back three. Acosta cannot locate his pitches, and when they are in the zone they are belt-high and right in the middle of the plate. The man is a hard-throwing, batting practice pitcher this season.

Who can outdo Manny Acosta’s 10.80 ERA over 18 games that is in the Mets farm system? Realistically, anyone in the Buffalo bullpen, and quite possibly a few arms in the Binghamton pen could challenge for that same title. Realistically, the names that Mets fans may expect to hear being called up to the big show sooner than later are Joe D’s personal favorites, RHP Jack Egbert and RHP Elvin Ramirez. What happened to LHP Josh Edgin and RHP Fernando Cabrera, early season front-runners set to find their way to Flushing by June? Josh Edgin has had trouble keeping runners off the bases, but is still striking out a ton of batters. Edgin has been decent against lefties with a 4/9 BB/K and 1 ER against lefties in 5.1 innings, but 3/7 BB/K and 7 ER in 9.1 Innings against righties. Fernando Cabrera has allowed two runs each in four of his last six outings, while struggling with his control.

RHP Jack Egbert has done nothing but pitch to contact, limit the walks and when needed turn it up to get his strikeouts. Egbert has allowed three runs and one walk in May, an amazing feat. Elvin Ramirez, who was returned to the Mets after the Nationals took him in the 2011 Rule 5 draft, has been aces since his promotion to Buffalo. When I mean aces, the man has an ERA of 0.00, allowing 3 hits and one walk in 10.2 innings, striking out twelve. What makes this even more amazing? He walked his first batter yesterday. Ramirez has been lights out so far, and has the power stuff required to thrive in a bullpen.

Robert Carson is still up with the big club, but it seems unlikely that Terry Collins would rather keep an unproven lefty with a heavy platoon-split in his MiLB career as opposed to a righty who can get ground ball outs and who doesn’t pitch too poorly against a lefty.

So why, oh why, is Manny Acosta still here? If I was a gambling man, I would bet it was to allow Elvin Ramirez to get some more innings under his belt coming off of a 2011 arm injury. With this last poor outing, however it seems more and more likely that a new arm will be joining the bullpen before the weekend

The post Why Is Manny Acosta Still Here? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Through the use of the scorecard, let’s take a look at how David Wright did this week:

Wright continues to impress everyone this year, and his batting average for the entire year sits at .412. His strikeout count has decreased quite a bit this year, he is not chasing many pitches out of the zone and thus is also getting more walks this year.

Honorable Mentions

These players, although not winning the Player of the Week award, had a very strong showing this week and deserve to be recognized. We will also show how strong a showing they had through the use of the scorecard.

Mike Baxter

Lucas Duda

Miguel Batista (Now on DL)

Tim Byrdak

Rob Johnson (Catcher in Relief)

Not So Hot

The Not So Hot area mentions a few players who did not have a good week this week.

Manny Acosta

Jon Niese

Jon Rauch

Dillon Gee

Mike Nickeas

Andres Torres

Ike Davis

Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

This area shows the scoreboard of the Players of the Week, and who has won already this season and how many times.

1. David Wright – 3

T2. Kirk Nieuwenhuis – 1

T2. Johan Santana – 1

T2. Andres Torres – 1

Trivia

To finish off the Player of the Week announcement each week, I’ll be asking you a trivia question. The answer will be announced during the next Player of the Week announcement, as well as the first person who answered correctly. Another question will then be asked. Last Week’s Answer is: 16 wins for Tom Seaver in 1967. Adam was the first person to correctly answer the question. So here is this week’s question:

When did David Wright make his Major League debut and against what team?

The post MMO Player Of The Week: David Wright appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

And the Mets still lost.

After Nieuwenhuis started a two-run inning for the Mets in the fourth inning with a single, Niese continued to pitch shutout ball before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.  Ramon Ramirez relieved Niese hoping to protect the lead.

Triple.

Home run.

Game tied at 2.

The Mets regrouped as they have been wont to do during the first month and a half of the season.  Against Marlins’ closer Heath Bell in the ninth, the Mets got a one-out double from Daniel Murphy, Doubles Machine.  Two walks later (including an intentional walk to Mike Baxter, who carried a .438 batting average as a pinch-hitter into the at-bat), Justin Turner whacked a double to right to score two runs.  Then Frank Francisco came into the game to save it and give the Mets a series victory.

Triple.

Walk.

Single.

Hit the showers, Frank.

Stop sniffing yourself, Frank. We all know you stink.

That was all for Armando Benitez-lite.  Frank Francisco was removed from the game by manager Terry Collins, but not before he stopped by home plate umpire Todd Tichenor to wish his mother a Happy Mother’s Day.  (At least I thought I heard him say something about Tichenor’s mother.)  Manny Acosta was summoned into the game to stop the bleeding but was “Acosta-ed” by the Marlins.

Sacrifice fly.

Tie game.

Pop out.  (I guess you can’t put ’em all on base.)

Walk.

Hit by pitch.

Giancarlo Stanton.

Say hello to my little friend.

The Mets will now retreat to Citi Field after a 4-2 road trip against the Phillies and Marlins.  If you had asked me before the season started that the Mets would win four out of six against the two teams expected to compete for the NL East title, I would have been thrilled.  But I’m not.

I’m mad.

Very mad.

Smoke coming out of my ears mad.

Paul LoDuca mad.

Paul LoDuca SMASH!!

Something has to be done about the bullpen situation.  Sandy Alderson did not have much money to work with during the off-season.  But what money he had, he used to upgrade the bullpen.  That “upgrade”  has now had a part in several late-inning meltdowns.

Both losses to the Marlins this weekend were charged to Frank Francisco.  Prior to Friday night’s loss, the Mets’ last loss was a 5-4 setback to Arizona on May 4.  That game was lost by Jon Rauch, who allowed three hits, two inherited base runners to score and a run of his own.  What about Ramon Ramirez?  He’s allowed 31 base runners (21 hits, 10 walks) in only 19⅓ innings.

Even a certain holdover, wearing Oliver Perez’s old No. 46, has pitched like dookie.  (And I’m not talking about Orlando “The Dookie” Hernandez, although I think he’d have better success right now than the current members of the Gasoline Brigade.)  Including Sunday’s series finale, Manny Acosta has faced 85 batters this year.  Almost half of them (36) have reached base.  Four of them reached base and then continued running around them.  That includes Giancarlo Stanton, who touched Acosta for a game-ending grand slam.

The Mets have done quite well so far.  That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t play angry after games like this.  There should be 25 mad men in the dugout on Monday against Milwaukee.  They should let it be known to each other that losses like this will no longer be tolerated.  The bullpen must improve.  The team must improve.  They’re better than that.  And they should know it.

The post Mad Men appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Dillon Gee struggled through his outing today, but the Mets would put across nine of the ten runs they scored after the sixth inning, and the Mets walked out of Philly with a three-game sweep, winning today 10-6.

Game Recap

Dillon Gee had a mixed outing today, giving up four runs on ten hits, while striking out four. Gee was leaving most of his pitches over the plate, and he was paying for it. The most surprising fact about Gee’s outing – all of the RBI’s he gave up were from the eighth and ninth hitter. If you can’t get out the lower portion of the order, but can the top maybe you are taking too much off.

Tim Byrdak came out for a third, and got the Mets out of the sixth and nabbed the win thanks to his effort in the seventh while the offense was rallying. Manny Acosta came on for the seventh and gave up one hit while striking out one batter. Jon Rauch would come out to essentially mop up the game, and would allow a run on two hits, striking out one. Rauch will live or die by contact, as he has struck out six batters in 14 innings. D.J. Carrasco received his first work in mop-up duty, and gave up one run on two hits, striking out one in his inning of work.

The Mets offense today was struggling early on, with a Daniel Murphy RBI double in the first and a David Wright RBI single in the sixth being the only runs the Mets would push across the plate off of Cliff Lee, fresh off a DL stint and on a pitch-limit. However, once Lee left is when the game, as most games in this series have blown open. The Mets would push across three in the seventh to get into the lead on a Justin Turner RBI double, a Lucas Duda HBP and an Andres Torres RBI groundout. The eighth inning would be much of the same, with David Wright scoring on an RBI double by Scott Hairston, and the hibernating Ike Davis obliterating a three-run home run off the facade in RF to give the Mets a 9-4 lead at the time. Andres Torres, now in a 9-5 game belted a solo shot, the first of his Mets career.

Game Notes

– Five Mets had two hits, which is always a good sign for life in an offense.

– Vinny Rottino was 0-2 with 2 strikeouts. Why would Rottino survive the cut expected on Friday for Ronny Cedeno being 0 for 5 on the season, but Valdespin would be sent down?

– Ike Davis appears to have broken out of his slump possibly, going 2 for 4 with a HR, three RBI, two runs and a strikeout. The most positive thing about Ike is seeing him be aggressive on pitches in the zone, and spitting on breaking balls that are in the dirt.

– Andres Torres continues his hot hitting since his return from the DL, going 2 for 4 with a HR, a walk, two RBI and two runs. Also made a great catch in the first to get Dillon Gee out of a jam.

Player Of The Game

For the sole purpose of this being the first game where he has looked like his former self, Ike Davis. It takes a good day against a good team to jump start some people, and he has grinded to hopefully see the light. Lets keep it up, Ike.

On Deck

After the sweep in Philly, the Mets will have Thursday off and travel to Miami to face the Marlins at 7:10 P.M. Johan Santana will face off against lefty Mark Buerhle.

The post The Comeback Kids Do It Again, Ike Goes Yard in 10-6 Win Against Phillies appeared first on Metsmerized Online.