Even for bullpen games, teams generally announce who will start the game way before hand. Not the Yankees. The first game went into the 7th inning today and there still was no official announcement as to who would start game two. The Mets got off to a rough start in the first game thanks to Wacha the Mets were down 4-0 early.

The Yankees gifted the Mets one run before some Mets magic happened. They hit three homers off of Chad Green – a three run shot by Alonso then solo shots by Dominic Smith and Jake Marisnick. Marisnick was activated right before the game. Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh and the Mets completed their best comeback of 2020.

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo – CF
2. Michael Conforto – RF
3. J.D. Davis – 3B
4. Dominic Smith – LF
5. Robinson Cano – 2B
6. Pete Alonso – 1B
7. Jeff McNeil – 2B
8. Luis Guillorme – SS
9. Ali Sanchez – C

Yankees Lineup

1. Luke Voit – 1B
2. Clint Frazier – RF
3. Aaron Hicks – CF
4. Gary Sanchez – C
5. Mike Tauchman – LF
6. Miguel Andujar – 3B
7. Jordy Mercer – SS
8. Thairo Estrada – 2B
9. Erik Kratz – C

David Peterson is making his return to the mound. In his first four starts of his career he has thrown 21.2 innings with a 2.91 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.154 WHIP and 146 ERA+. In his last start he allowed one run, unearned, over 5.0 innings after an early-ish exit and then landed on the IL. So far he is one of the largest bright spots of this 2020 Mets fiasco of a team.

Speaking of 2020 bright spots, let’s talk about a few Mets hitters. First, there’s the breakout season for Dominic Smith, who before game 1 today, was hitting .315/.402/.699 over 87 PA’s, a 1.101 OPS, leading the team. Who would have thought that Cano, in 74 PA’s would be second on the team in OPS at 1.051 with a slash line of .382/.419/.632. If I knew just those two things, I would think that the Mets would be leading the division. Alas, things in the rotation, runners in scoring positions, etc, have not worked out well for the Mets. This weekend would be a great time though to shock the world.

Game Notes

Before Game 2, the Mets activated Peterson off the injured list and designated Game 1 winner Walker Lockett for assignment.

Let’s Go Mets!

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Yankees, Game 2 appeared first on Metsmerized.

As we continue to wait to see what happens with the start of the baseball season, we continue to think about projections for different players. Under normal circumstances a player like J.D. Davis would be difficult to project. He’s coming off a breakout year without a clear position on to a Mets roster that gets increasingly crowded the healthier it gets.

J.D. Davis made me look like I had the worst take in the world last year, and I love it. Last year around this time I was vocal against the Davis trade because I was a big fan of both prospects the Mets gave up (Luis Santana and Ross Adolph) plus the Mets just signed Jed Lowrie and Davis looked like an extra player that was needed.

Lowrie ended up basically never playing, a story that is still continuing and Davis went from a 78 DRC+ in in 2017 and a 68 DRC+ in 2018 (meaning he was 22% worse and 32% worse than the average hitter in the league both of those seasons) to 122 in 2019 (flipping it, hitting 22% than the average hitter). Plus we all fell in love with his charm in the dugout.

2019 Stats: 453 PA, 410 AB, 22 HR, .307/.369/.527, 1.0 WAR, 122 DRC+

The problem for Davis is where does he play. The Mets have a million corner outfielders and no center fielders, and dozen fringe third basemen. It will be Rojas’ job to find time for him somewhere because when he plays, Davis delivers.

Looking at his 2020 projections, it seems that most places are saying that he played above his level last year, he’s projected for steep step backs in power and a moderate step back in OBP, but even with that a line of .270/.333/.472 is still quite good when you’re not supposed to be nearly the best bat in the linuep. And remember, of course, we are really only looking at his slash line, stats like homers, PA’s, AB’s don’t mean anything without knowing how many games will be played this season.

This is one of those rare projection articles where we see regression, agree that the regression makes sense but the regression is still so much higher than we were anticipating a year ago we don’t care.

(Citations: BP projections come from the Baseball Prospectus Annual, a must read for all baseball fans and can be purchased here. ESPN comes from their fantasy baseball projections and can be found here. Both ZiPS and Steamer are found on FanGraphs. ZiPS can be found here, Steamer can be found here. BR comes from the Baseball Reference for this specific player and is linked earlier in the article)

The post 2020 Mets Projections: J.D. Davis, IF/OF appeared first on Metsmerized.

Right before everything shut down, we all got word that Michael Conforto tweaked his right oblique, throwing is Opening Day start into jeopardy.

That feels like a lifetime ago, right?

Almost lost in Pete Alonso’s amazing rookie year, Jacob deGrom’s back to back Cy Youngs and Jeff McNeil’s arrival as one of the better hitters in baseball was Michael Conforto. Conforto, very quietly, had a good year on offense hitting over 30 homers, getting on base over a .360 clip and slugging nearly .500.

According to Baseball Prospectus he was 22% better than the average hitter last year, which is very, very good. (A couple of years ago Nimmo had the best ranking in that stat on the whole team).

2019 Stats: 648 PA, 549 AB, 33 HR, .257/.363/.494, 3.5 WAR, 122 DRC+

It looks like computer projections have Conforto putting up practically the same season, especially where it counts in OBP and SLG. A consistent Conforto is the backbone of this team and at some point the Mets are going to need to lock him up on a long term deal. As we have discussed with each article in this series so far, we can’t look at the raw homer numbers, we have no idea how many games will be played in 2020 (but a 30-34 homer season if Conforto was given the chance to play would just be *chef’s kiss*).

The only question is will the rest of the league recognize Conforto for what he is. He’s only been named to one All-Star game, 2017, but if he puts up the numbers he did last year again like the consensus of projections show, then he should be in the All-Star game every single year.

(Citations: BP projections come from the Baseball Prospectus Annual, a must read for all baseball fans and can be purchased here. ESPN comes from their fantasy baseball projections and can be found here. Both ZiPS and Steamer are found on FanGraphs. ZiPS can be found here, Steamer can be found here. BR comes from the Baseball Reference for this specific player and is linked earlier in the article)

The post 2020 Mets Projections: Michael Conforto, OF appeared first on Metsmerized.

From the very moment Ron Blomberg stepped to the plate on April 6, 1973, the designated hitter rule has been one of the most heated arguments in all of baseball. With this being the penultimate year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the traditionalist who dislike the DH appear to be losing the argument as it is oft reported the universal DH is a fait accompli.

Much of the arguments in support of a universal DH surround aesthetics of the game while rationalizing the implementation will be good for the game. What is interesting about many of these arguments is the underlying data is rarely analyzed. To that end, here is a look at the current data and the universal DH arguments.

No One Wants To See Pitcher’s Hit

Looking at attendance figures, the last time an AL team had the highest attendance was 2010. This year, three of the top five and six of the top 10 teams in attendance were NL teams. By the same token, nine of the worst 11 teams in attendance were AL teams.

This is something which holds true year-in and year-out. If the DH is really a drawing point for fans, it’s not showing up in attendance figures.

Pitchers Kill Rallies

The scenario always painted is based loaded, two outs, your team down one, and you lose because the pitcher comes up to the plate. Frankly, this doesn’t happen.

On that front, from the seventh inning on, NL pinch hitters have a 78 wRC+. That’s slightly higher than AL ninth place hitters with their 77 wRC+. Fact is, when the game is on the line, NL and AL teams are sending the same caliber of hitter to the plate.

As for the pitchers being rally killers, it’s hard to argue they’re not even if the case is grossly overstated. In 2019, there were 2,079 PA by batters with two outs and runners in scoring position. Only 97 of those PA (4.7%) were from pitchers.

Really, as we move towards increased bullpen use, pitchers are not batting much at all. In 2019, Stephen Strasburg led all pitchers in plate appearances averaging 2.3 plate appearances per game. This is just further evidence pitchers are out of the game with the game on the line.

Really, when you break it down, pitchers aren’t getting the plate appearances in high leverage situations proponents of the DH want you to believe.

DH Means More Offense

Now, there’s no doubting a DH is a better hitter than a pitcher. After all, in 2019, DHs had a 104 wRC+ as compared to the pitchers -18 wRC+. That’s an astronomical difference. Even with the difference between the two, it’s not making the difference in run scoring and offense as people will have you believe.

In 2019, NL teams hit .251/323/.431, and AL teams hit .253/.323/.439. On average, NL teams scored 4.8 runs per game, and AL teams scored 4.9 runs per game.

Even with disparity in the caliber of hitter a DH is to a pitcher or even a NL pinch hitter, in terms of runs per game, there isn’t a real discernible difference between the leagues. The reason for that, as noted above, most pitchers get two PA per game, and pitchers not batting in high leverage situations.

DH Keeps Veterans Around Longer

This has always been a curious argument. At its core, this argument is saying fans would want to see older players with diminishing skills over exciting young players.

Putting that aside, that’s not how teams utilize the DH. Last year, the 10 batters who had the most PA as a DH were:

• Nelson Cruz (39)
• Khris Davis (32)
• J.D. Martinez (32)
• Renato Nunez (25)
• Jorge Soler (27)
• Miguel Cabrera (36)
• Shohei Ohtani (25)
• Daniel Vogelbach (27)
• Yordan Alvarez (22)
• Shin-Soo Choo (37)

If you’re looking to discern a pattern here, it is these are players teams have decided they don’t want in the field. That applies to the 22 year old reigning AL Rookie of the Year to the 2013 AL MVP.

Looking at Cabrera, he is a DH not because teams want to see him finish up his Hall of Fame career and give him a chance to put more numbers. Rather, it is because he has a long-term deal, and the Tigers have to play him somewhere.

Cabrera and players like Cruz are a dying breed in the AL. Teams are increasingly using the DH for poor fielders or as a way to keep players fresh. Accordingly, Hall of Famers like Vladimir Guerrero aren’t being given the same opportunities to hang on to compile for a few years at the end of their careers because teams want to move in a new direction.

Pitcher Injury Concerns

Whenever this issue comes up, we undoubtedly hear about Chien-Ming Wang‘s season ending injury. It was unfortunate, but let’s revisit it.

Wang injured himself running. It did not occur into a base or in a collision with a fielder. Rather, he injured himself stepping on a base. Realistically speaking, this is no different, than pitchers running to cover first, which is something Wang had done countless times.

Another factor with respect to Wang’s unfortunate injury was it occurred over a decade ago, and we haven’t seen another pitcher suffer a similar injury since that time. We also very rarely see pitchers suffer injuries batting, and those who do rarely suffer significant injuries.

When re-examining Wang’s injury, this is something which happens maybe once a decade, and perhaps not even that frequently.

MLB Is Only League Where Pitchers Hit

This is just flat out false. In fact, the NPL Central League also has pitchers batting. When you look at it that way, the two very best professional baseball leagues have pitchers batting.

In the minors, we also will see pitchers batting when NL affiliates square off against one another.

Overall, when you incorporate Triple-A, three of the absolute best baseball leagues in the world have pitchers batting. In reality, it is only the lesser professional leagues who have implemented the universal DH.

Perhaps, this is indicative of the substantial number of baseball fans who love the National League style of baseball. Those fans opine they prefer the strategy associated with the game. Whether or not you agree with them, the data shows the National League brand of baseball generates higher attendance and larger revenues while having a game with substantively speaking the same amount of offense.

The post Data Disproves Many Universal DH Arguments appeared first on Metsmerized.

Brock Holt

Position: 2B, 3B, 1B, OF
Bats/Throws: L/R
Age:  June 11, 1988 (31)

Traditional Stats: 87 G, 295 PA, .297/.369/.402, 14 2B, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 38 R
Advanced Stats: 1.3 fWAR, 103 wRC+, -2 DRS, 2.4 UZR in 469.1 innings at 2B

Brock Holt was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth round of the 2009 MLB Draft and went on to make his MLB debut with the club in 2012.

In 2013, Holt was traded in a six-player deal that sent him to the Boston Red Sox. Mark Melancon was one of the players that went back to the Pirates. Holt spent a majority of the season in Triple-A, only spending 26 games with the Red Sox. While he was not on the active roster, the Red Sox went on to win the World Series in 2013.

Holt finally became a mainstay on the Red Sox roster in 2014, becoming a great utility player. Throughout the season, Holt played every defensive position but pitcher and catcher, while hitting .281/.331/.381.

In 2015, Holt became the first Red Sox player to hit for the cycle in 19 years, when he did so against the Atlanta Braves. Holt was later selected to be on the All-Star team by Royal manager Ned Yost. He entered the All-Star Game as a pinch runner for Mike Trout and successfully stole second base, before scoring a run.

Over the next couple of years, Holt continued to play the utility role for the Red Sox, but did not receive quite the same amount of playing time as he did in 2015. In 2014 and 2015, Holt eclipsed 400 plate appearances each season. Over the next two years, Holt would not even reach 300 plate appearances.

In 2018, Holt once again eclipsed 300 plate appearances, playing in over 100 games for the third time in his career. He hit .277/.362/.411, with seven home runs, 18 doubles, 41 runs scored and a career-high 46 RBIs. In Game 3 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, Holt became the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle in a postseason game. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers that year.

This past season, Holt set career-best marks for his batting average and on-base percentage. He hit .297/.369/.402, with 31 RBIs and 38 runs scored in 89 games played. Holt once again played every position except center field, catcher and pitcher.

Contract

Brock Holt is a free agent for the first time at 31 years old and will be trying to cash in on the versatility that has made him such a key piece for the Boston Red Sox over the years.

Last season, Holt made $3.575 million in his final year of arbitration with Red Sox. MLB Trade Rumors predicts that Holt will sign a two-year deal worth $8 million, so he may not receive much of a raise through free agency.

Recommendation

When it comes to position players, the New York Mets have only added center fielder Jake Marisnick to their MLB roster, as their primary focus has been to address the pitching staff. Marisnick replaces Juan Lagares, but the Mets have yet to address the loss of Todd Frazier through free agency.

Frazier was not expected to play the biggest of roles coming into last season, but due to Jed Lowrie never seeing the field, he remained as the Mets starting third baseman. Frazier hit .251/.329/.443, with 22 home runs and 67 RBIs. He was the Mets fourth-best position player according to his 2.2 bWAR.

It appears that the Mets are planning to make Jeff McNeil the everyday third baseman and are counting on better health from Brandon Nimmo, Yoenis Cespedes and Dominic Smith to absorb the innings that McNeil spent in the outfield in 2019.

Still, if McNeil is playing exclusively at third base, there is no one on the roster that is slated to take over his super utility role from last season. Luis Guillorme is a great defensive infielder and showed some offensive promise at the end of last season. Lowrie should have a role of the bench, but there is no guarantee that he will be healthy enough to contribute.

All of that is to say that the Mets could use a player with Brock Holt’s skill-set, as a starting caliber hitter that can play all over the diamond. If the Mets can sign Holt to that two-year, $8 million deal that MLB Trade Rumors suggested, they should jump at adding him to this roster.

The post MMO Free Agent Profile: Brock Holt, UTL appeared first on Metsmerized.

Dominic Smith, OF/1B

Player Data: Age 24, B/T : L/L
Primary Stats: 89 G, 197 PA, 11 HR, 25 RBI, 19 BB, 44 SO, .282 BA, .355 OBP, .525 SLG
Advanced Stats: .320 BABIP, 0.8 fWAR, 134 OPS+, 133 wRC+, 1 DRS/0.9 UZR (1B), -3 DRS/-3.6 UZR (OF)
Free Agent: 2025
2019 Salary: $559,320

Grade: B-

2019 Review

Dominic Smith has been through quite a bit already in his brief baseball career. The 24-year-old first baseman was the 11th overall pick in the 2013 draft. He made it to the Majors in 2016 and has been beset by a laundry list of problems including weight issues, sleep apnea, low power numbers in the minors, tardiness in spring camp, a pulled quad in spring training last year among others. Spring training 2019 was different for the California native.

Dominic showed up in shape and well-rested, his sleep apnea being controlled by a CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure). His manager noticed: “He comes to the park rested and feeling good. He has more energy. His eyes are actually open because he’s not tired.” His production was among the best of anyone in camp as he was in the top five in hits for much of the Spring.

Unfortunately for Smith, he was battling for the first base job with a prodigy named Pete Alonso, who was hitting everything that was thrown at him. Alonso had four home runs just a few weeks into camp. Alonso won the first base job, relegating Smith to pinch hitting duty, occasional stints in left field and to spell Alonso at first.

Though his playing time was limited, he put up some decent statistics for the first four months of the season. He was swatting .278/.352/.506 with 10 homers and 10 doubles in 88 games in 2019, when another in the lengthening list of unfortunate events took place on July 26. He suffered a stress fracture in his left foot. Initially, he tried to play through the injury, but things felt worse. Smith told reporters, “You feel something and you don’t think much of it. We’re all competitors here. We all play through little things. …It just was getting worse.”

Smith would be in an orthotic boot for weeks and even used a scooter to get around Citi Field more easily. He was originally placed on the 10-day IL but was later transferred to the 60-day injured list meaning he could only come back for the last five games of the season.

Through his convalescence, he became known as the unofficial cheer leader of the Mets especially during their winning ways in the second half. The omni-present scooter had on its license plate the rallying cry, “LFGM2019”. Smith was always on the top step of the dugout rallying the troops and was the first to lend a hug to an Alonso or Conforto or whoever hit a home run. His positive attitude seemed infectious as the team seem to mesh nicely even through some difficult times.

2019 Key Moment

As if scripted by Hollywood, Dominic Smith had the last laugh (and last at-bat) of the 2019 season. Smith didn’t even know he would get into game 162 against the Atlanta Braves, but as the game wound into extra innings, Callaway removed Alonso so he could get one more ovation and replaced him with Smith. It was his first game back since his injury. The Braves had taken a 6-4 lead in the top of the 11th on a home run by former Met Adeiny Hechavarria.

In the bottom of the frame, the Mets put two men on base, and with two out, Smith came to the dish to face Grant Dayton. He promptly smacked a three-run home run to deep right center catapulting the Mets to a walk-off victory. It was the first walk-off in Smith’s career and his first competitive at-bat in two months. Smith had trouble finding words in the post-game presser. “I couldn’t have dreamed of anything like this,” Smith said. “If I had gone up there and gotten out, I still would have been just as happy, just as satisfied to make it back into a game. … I don’t even know what to say, how to think. I can’t even wrap my head around everything right now.”

2020 Outlook

What does 2020 have in store for Dominic Smith? He could be caught in a numbers game. The Mets have their first baseman for the foreseeable future and depending on the off-season and the potential return of Yoenis Cespedes, there could be a logjam in the outfield. Could Smith be used as trade bait to help bolster a struggling bullpen? That will be a decision for the front office to make but through it all, Smith remains positive. He told reporters,  “I know I’m going to come in like I did this year in great shape and I’m going to do my best to force another tough decision. That’s all I can do. I just feel very confident in what I can do and I showed that this year. There’s no reason why I can’t do that again next year.”

Projection: .265 BA, .370 OBP, .510 SLG, 18 HR, 50 RBI. Of course these numbers can change drastically depending on where Mr. Smith is playing in 2020.

by Marshall Field

The post 2019 Mets Report Card: Dominic Smith, OF/1B appeared first on Metsmerized.

On Sunday morning, Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway told the media that the team will consider playing Michael Conforto or Jeff McNeil in center field more often to get J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith in the lineup, and that Robinson Cano will play “as much as he can” at second base, per Zack Braziller of the New York Post.

With the return of Cano from the injured list, McNeil will be forced to return to spending most of his time in outfield. This won’t be a big adjustment for the lefty, as he has played 36 of 68 games this season in left field, and owns a .911 OPS there- his highest while playing at any defensive position.

J.D. Davis started 28 games at third base to begin the season with Todd Frazier rehabbing an oblique injury sustained during Spring Training, and Jed Lowrie out indefinitely with knee and hamstring issues. Since Frazier’s return, he’s platooned mainly in left field and as a pinch hitter.

Davis’ steady production is shown in his .277/.341/.482 slash line with eight homers. He’s exceeded expectations in clutch situations with a solid 1.101 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position, and a .906 OPS in high leverage situations, per Baseball Reference.

At first base, Pete Alonso is crushing a casual .263/.348/.610, with 23 homers- three behind Christian Yelich who leads the National League with 26-  which also forces Dom Smith into the outfield.

Smith’s improvement at the plate has been nothing short of impressive. He is slugging .337/.430/.547 through 100 PA this season. For comparison, last season in 149 PA, Smith hit .224/.255/.420. His 1.2 WAR is fifth best on the team this season- ahead of a majority of the club besides Alonso, Jacob deGrom, McNeil, and Conforto.

The urgency to get Davis and Smith into the lineup as regular starters is not surprising with struggling Carlos Gomez and Juan Lagares platooning in the outfield.

The Mets signed Carlos Gomez to a Minor League deal during Spring Training for outfield depth, which has proved necessary with recent injuries. On May 23 , just five days after being called up, Gomez’ three-run go ahead homer in the bottom of the eighth led the Mets to a 6-4 win over the Washington Nationals. While he made a splash early on to start off his second stint with the club, he is currently hitting just .205/.280/.370 through his 84 PA.

Lagares is currently slashing.185/.252/.269, with a -0.9 WAR.

With a combination of Conforto, McNeil, Smith, and Davis in the outfield, the club will be putting it’s best lineup forward, especially with the recent news of the crashing halt in Brandon Nimmo’s rehab assignment.

As of now, Lagares and Gomez will still be available off the bench to come into the game late if a defensive substitution is necessary.

The post Mets Could Deploy McNeil or Conforto in Center Field appeared first on Metsmerized.

John Flanigan/MMO

The Mets have fallen to three games below .500 in games that don’t matter as they face the Nationals today in a game that really won’t matter from a starting pitcher perspective. As we’ve discussed each of the last two game previews, the Mets are starting to hide their regulars from the Nationals/Marlins thus Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson will be pitching in the “B” game today.

This means the remaining pitchers fighting for the last roster spot, plus some pitchers already assigned to minor league game will get more work today and some late spring exposure.

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo (LF)
2. Pete Alonso (1B)
3. Robinson Cano (2B)
4. Michael Conforto (RF)
5. Dominic Smith (DH)
6. Jeff McNeil (3B)
7. Amed Rosario (SS)
8. Devin Mesoraco (C)
9. Keon Broxton (CF)

Starting Pitcher: Hector Santiago

Things To Watch Out For:

1. Hector Santiago gets an opportunity to show the team where he belongs on the depth chart. The Newark native has pitched six innings in major league games in Spring Training over four games allowing one run from four hits and a walk while striking out an outstanding 11 batters. Let’s see what he can do when he’s not limited to one or two innings of work.
2. Ryan O’Rourke is the only other lefty available for the Mets today. In six games and 6.1 innings this spring he has allowed two runs off seven hits and four walks while striking out eight. As a result, he has an ERA of 2.84 and an ugly WHIP at 1.737.
3. Robinson Cano had a great day at the plate yesterday and now in 37 PA’s this spring, he’s hitting .457/.486/.686.
4. Michael Conforto has had a bit of a slow spring but hit his second spring homer yesterday changing his hitting line to .244/.292/.400 in 48 PAs.
5. Today marks another game where Smith and Alonso, who are both competing for the same spot, are in the same starting lineup. Smith as the DH has hit .400/.462/.543 in 40 PA’s and Alonso the first basemen has hit .356/.396/.644 in 48 PA’s.

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea for more Mets Insights!

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs. Nationals, 1:05 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets play against the Nationals today, the Marlins tomorrow, the Nationals on Sunday, the Nationals on Monday, the Marlins on Tuesday and the Marlins on Thursday. Essentially, in their last 10ish days of spring training games they are playing half of the NL East over and over and over again. This is routinely the argument made for the Mets moving their Spring Training facility to avoid this. Anyway, don’t be surprised over the next week if Mets pitchers who should be in major league games end up in the backfields in minor league games instead.

The game starts at 1:10 p.m. ET and can be seen on SNY.

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo (LF)
2. Jeff McNeil (3B)
3. Robinson Cano (DH)
4. Wilson Ramos (C)
5. Dominic Smith (1B)
6. Keon Broxton (CF)
7. Amed Rosario (SS)
8. Luis Guillorme (2B)
9. Rajai Davis (RF)

Starting Pitcher: Steven Matz

Things To Watch For:

1. Matz will make his 4th start of spring training today. Over his first three he has allowed 5 runs over 8.2 innings while striking out 7. In his last outing he allowed only 3 hits and no runs over 4.0 innings, so hopefully today is another step forward in that direction. He should be pitching between 5-6 innings today.
2. It is becoming increasingly likely that Frazier and Lowrie will not be ready for Opening Day, so McNeil is at third again today. In 28 PA’s this spring he has a .321/.321/.571 line.
3. Wilson Ramos continues to make me smile. In 27 PAs he has a .360/.407/.480 line. I’m so excited to see him the regular season.
4. Seth Lugo and Luis Guillorme are quietly having an amazing spring. We talked about Lugo yesterday. Luis is hitting .417/.533/.625 over 31 PA’s this spring.
5. Robinson Cano is hitting .414/.452/.655 over 31 PA’s spring. Beautiful!

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea for more Mets insights!

The post MMO Game Thread: Nationals vs Mets, 1:10 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.

Here’s the good news about yesterday’s 10-3 loss to the Red Sox: several key Mets hit solo homers. Cano hit his first homer in a Mets uniform. McNeil finally got his first hit this Spring and it was a long homer. Gimenez, ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Mets farm system by most prospect ranking outlets hit his first spring homer showing everyone his potential. Good day for those three. (And Avilan who is trying to get on the roster. He added another scoreless inning of work keeping his ERA to 0.00 this spring).

It just wasn’t a good day for almost everyone else. Syndergaard allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 4.0 innings (but still struck out 8). Lugo allowed 4 runs, only 1 earned over 1.2 innings. Gsellman allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over an inning of work. Dominic Smith who had been doing very well this spring had his first o-for day adding 2 strikeouts to boot.

The Mets will look to move past yesterday as they head to the Red Sox this afternoon.

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo (CF)
2. Keon Broxton (LF)
3. Danny Espinosa (2B)
4. Pete Alonso (1B)
5. JD Davis (3B)
6. Tomas Nido (C)
7. Rymer Liriano (DH)
8. Luis Guillorme (SS)
9. Rajai Davis (RF)

Staring Pitcher: Zack Wheeler

Things To Watch For Today:

1. There was a common theme in going through the pitching lines from yesterday: unearned runs were not equal to earned runs. The Mets have committed 28 errors in 15 games so far. While it’s spring and that doesn’t matter for results, it does matter for pitcher preparedness. They are getting less clean inning opportunities because they are reaching their pitch totals for the day full innings before they were expected to, thanks to extra outs.
2. Wheeler will be making his third start of spring today. So far in 2.2 innings he has allowed 5 runs, 3 earned over 2.2 innings with a 2.625 WHIP. While he’s the victim of some bad defense, the WHIP lets us know that this line is his fault too. The Mets are hoping, I assume, to get him 3-4 innings today.
3. Injuries around the Mets infield have created opportunities for NRI guys and low depth chart roster players. Espinosa, in the former, has had 18 PA’s so far and has hit .071/.278/.286. Guillorme, in the latter, has had 22 PA’s so far and has hit .368/.455/.579. Both are starting today.
4. Rymer Liriano and Rajai Davis continue their competition this spring today with both getting starting spots in the in the lineup. Liriano, DHing, is hitting .130/.160/.261 in 25 PA’s. Davis is hitting .267/.389/.600 in 18 PA’s.
5. JD Davis is coming back down to Earth a bit the more he plays but he is still putting up a better spring line than expected, now hitting .267/.333/.433 in 33 PA’s.

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea for more Mets Insights!

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs. Red Sox, 1:05 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.