The Mets finally have at least partial clarity to what has kept Jed Lowrie off of a major league field for the better part of two seasons.

It’s far from conclusive, but a second opinion revealed what GM Brodie Van Wagenen referred to as ‘PCL laxity,’ or limited strength in the posterior cruciate ligament.

“When he wears his larger brace, that pain is mitigated,” Van Wagenen said. “When he takes that brace off or plays in a smaller brace then that pain increases.”

It is too early to tell if the condition will require surgery, Van Wagenen added.

Lowrie looked to be trending in the right direction during Summer Camp, where he participated in low-intensity simulated games and batting practices. Ultimately, the pain prevented him from being a full-go for the regular season.

The Mets have been reluctant to place Lowrie on the 45-day injured list, which would clear a spot on the 40-man roster but virtually close the door on the two-year, $20 million contract he signed in January of 2019.

“We think the player can help us,” Van Wagenen said. “We saw it in Summer Camp. Offensively, he can be a value add to the team.

“The goal would be to get him back to contribute but the conversations that come from the doctors here over the next couple of days will determine what the timeline is based on the course of action.”

Though joint ailments have a tendency to be chronic, Van Wagenen doesn’t believe that the PCL laxity would have gone unrecognized at the time of Lowrie’s signing.

“The PCL laxity has been part of the root of his problem here for several months. As far as missed when he signed, I don’t believe that’s the case.”

Operating without Lowrie is nothing new for the Mets, who have a slew of mediocre-at-worst infield options to plug in. Despite not participating in Summer Camp, the recently-signed veteran Brian Dozier was promoted to replace Eduardo Núñez, who joined Lowire on the injured list on Thursday.

“Obviously he’s got pedigree having been an all-star, a Gold Glove winner, a world champion last year,” Van Wagenen said of Dozier.

“This guy has always been able to hit, particularly against left-handed pitching. We felt like Brian gave us a real threat from the right side of the plate.”

The post Jed Lowrie Dealing With PCL Laxity appeared first on Metsmerized.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN, the Mets will probably go outside the organization to replace Wally Backman as manager of their AAA affiliate in Las Vegas, despite having some internal options. The Backman, 56, was let go from his managerial position after the 51s posted a 70-74 season in the PCL.

The former second baseman parted ways with the Mets organization to “move on and look for other opportunities with the possibility of a major league coaching position,” according to Sandy Alderson at the end of the season. “We had a lot of players graduate from Las Vegas, and prior to that time Buffalo, to the major leagues. I’m very pleased with the work he did, and I wish him the best of luck.”

The interviews to replace him will most likely take place during the Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland next month.

The post Mets Seeking Outside Option To Replace Wally Backman appeared first on Metsmerized.

Sandy Alderson will be heading out to Las Vegas this weekend to discuss the club’s affiliation with the Las Vegas 51s, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post.

The Mets and 51s have had an affiliation agreement since the 2013 season, after the Buffalo Bisons ditched the Mets for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mets were essentially stuck with Las Vegas, which has caused all sorts of problems. The hitter-friendly run environment both in Las Vegas and in the Pacific Coast League as a whole has made it more difficult to evaluate players and the distance between the two clubs has caused some logistical issues.

Ideally, the Mets would like a team close by and in the International League, rather than the PCL. The Rochester Red Wings are the most logical option and with Terry Ryan gone in Minnesota, they could look into changing parent clubs.

To attract a decent affiliate, the Mets will probably need to show that they can provide them with some decent prospects. The system is certainly not as loaded with big-time talent as it was a few years ago, but names like Gabriel Ynoa, Robert Gsellman, Gavin Cecchini, and Brandon Nimmo could help them reel in a new Triple-A team.

Teams in Toledo, Lehigh Valley, Colorado Springs, or El Paso could be of interest as well. Whatever happens, Las Vegas will probably be the last choice.

The post Could The Mets Be Changing Triple-A Affiliates Again? appeared first on Metsmerized.

‘Put on your running shoes’ could be the motto for Wally Backman’s Las Vegas 51’s this summer. The scrappy 2014 PCL Manager of the Year has used the running game as a weapon in leading his team to a possible first place finish in the Southern Division.

Las Vegas ranks fifth out of sixteen PCL teams in stolen bases this year, a huge leap over the previous two seasons when the club finished second to last in pilfering bases.

Second baseman Wilfredo Tovar symbolizes the running nature of Backman’s 2015 squad more than anyone else. He has stolen 30 bases, third best in the PCL and two behind Jonathan Viler and Darrell Sweeney, both tied for the league lead. Perhaps Tovar, long rated has the best defensive infielder in the Mets minor league system, decided he needed to emphasize another part of his game to finally get a shot in the major leagues.

Tovar’s 30 stolen bases represent pronounced improvement and a career high. The 24-year old infielder has swiped double digit bases in every minor league season since 2009, but never more than the 17 bases he robbed in that campaign. The deft fielding infielder is having another solid season in the batter’s box hitting .283 following a .288 season in his first Triple-A campaign.

Perhaps Brandon Nimmo’s brief stint in Las Vegas is indicative of Backman’s running emphasis this year for the 51’s. Nimmo who spent the lion’s share of his time in Double-A Binghamton in 2015 (68 games) did not steal a base for the B-Mets. In 22 games under Backman, the future Met outfielder has already swiped 5 bases.

Nine 51’s have stolen five or more bases this season with Darrell Ceciliani trailing Tovar with 16 and Matt Reynolds also reaching double-digit totals with a dozen. Dilson Herrera is one shy of the double-digit mark with nine stolen bags.

Wally has the 51’s running all the way to another regular season Pacific Southern Division title and perhaps another Manager of the Year award for his trophy case.

The post Mets Minors: Wally Has Team Running To Another First Place Finish appeared first on Metsmerized.

Here’s a look at the Mets minor league starting pitching leaders which features strong showings from Steven Matz, Michael Fulmer, Robert Whalen, and Casey Meisner who all pitched this weekend.

I left out Noah Syndergaard‘s strong 3-0 start with 1.82 ERA, 0.944 WHIP, and 4.25 SO/W ratio because he is in the bigs now and hopefully has seen the last of the Minors.

A breakdown for the relief pitchers will be done next week after they have a chance to accumulate more innings.

Lets compare how the Mets teams have compared to the league averages:

• Las Vegas – 3.99 ERA, 1.299 WHIP, 2.49 SO/W, 8.5 H9, 4.06 R/G compared to PCL averages- 4.42 ERA, 1.414 WHIP, 2.22 SO/W, 9.3 H9 4.71 R/G
• Binghamton – 4.22 ERA, 1.428 WHIP, 2.17 SO/W, 9.5 H9, 4.60 R/G compared to EL averages- 3.82 ERA, 1.350 WHIP, 2.19 SO/W, 8.8 H9, 4.27 R/G
• St. Lucie – 3.53 ERA, 1.250 WHIP, 2.28 SO/W, 7.9 H9, 4.11 R/G compared to FSL averages- 3.34 ERA, 1.285 WHIP, 2.41 SO/W, 8.5 H9, 3.94 R/G
• Savannah – 4.17 ERA, 1.349 WHIP, 3.07 SO/W, 9.2 H9, 4.76 R/G compared to SAL averages- 3.63 ERA, 1.298 WHIP, 2.62 SO/W, 8.6 H9, 4.17 R/G

ERA

1. Robert Gsellman, St. Lucie – 1.46 (2nd in FSL)
2. Steven Matz, Las Vegas – 1.80 (4th in PCL)
3. Casey Meisner, Savannah – 2.31 (11th in SAL)
4. Seth Lugo, Binghamton – 2.45 (8th in EL)
5. Robert Whalen, St. Lucie – 2.50
6. Rainy Lara, Binghamton – 2.51
7. Luis Cessa, Binghamton – 2.97
8. Miller Diaz, St. Lucie – 3.00
9. Martires Arias, Savannah – 3.23
10. Gabriel Ynoa, Binghamton – 3.72

WHIP

1. Gsellman – 0.865 (2nd in FSL
2. Lugo – 1.034 (8th in EL)
3. Matz – 1.060 (3rd in PCL)
4. Whalen – 1.083
5. Diaz – 1.148
6. Meisner – 1.171
7. Fulmer – 1.174
8. Arias – 1.207
9. Lara – 1.237
10. Josh Prevost, Savannah – 1.267

SO/W

1. Lugo – 6.75
2. Corey Oswalt, Savannah – 4.57
3. Marcos Molina, St. Lucie – 4.00
4. Prevost – 4.00
5. Meisner – 3.44

H9

1. Gsellman- 5.6
2. Matz- 6.1
3. Diaz- 6.7
4. Whalen- 8.0
5. Lara- 8.1

SO/9

1. Brad Wieck, Savannah- 12.2
2. Matz- 9.7
3. Lugo- 9.5
4. Molina- 8.8
5. Diaz- 8.8

BB/9

1. Lugo- 1.4
2. Whalen, Prevost, Oswalt all at 1.8
3. Cessa, Gsellman, Molina all at 2.2

FIP

1. Molina- 2.39
2. Lugo- 2.50
3. Gsellman- 2.62
4. Prevost- 2.78
5. Cessa- 2.89
6. Matz- 2.92
7. Oswalt- 3.07
8. Wieck- 3.08
9. Whalen- 3.32
10. Meisner- 3.39

LOB % (Average is 70-72%)

1. Matz- 83.3 %
2. Gsellman- 82.9%
3. Meisner- 79.6%
4. Ynoa- 79.2%
5. Diaz- 73.6%
6. Lara- 72.5%
7. Cessa- 72.1%
8. Whalen- 71.1%
9. Lugo- 71.0%
10. Arias- 70.7%

The post Mets Minor League Starting Pitching Leaders appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets (20-12) and Cubs (16-15) play game two of their four-game series at Wrigley Field on Tuesday at 8:05 PM

Noah Syndergaard will make his major league debut and will oppose RHP Jake Arrieta (3-3, 3.41) for the Cubs.

Syndergaard was 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA (six earned runs/29.2 innings) in five starts for Triple-A Las Vegas this year. He ranked fourth in the PCL in ERA and fifth with 34 strikeouts at the time of his promotion.

Opponents were only hitting .192 against Syndergaard, the third-lowest mark in the PCL and his 0.94 WHIP was the fourth-lowest in the league. He also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, a two-run home run, two runs scored and had two RBI in his last start at Albuquerque.

Syndergaard will be the sixth Met to make his major league debut this year, joining Sean Gilmartin, Kevin Plawecki, Hansel Robles, Danny Muno and Jack Leathersich.

Mets Starting Lineup

1. Curtis Granderson – RF
2. Daniel Murphy – 3B
3. Michael Cuddyer – LF
4. Lucas Duda – 1B
5. Wilmer Flores –SS
6. Kirk Nieuwenhuis – CF
7. Kevin Plawecki – C
8. Noah Syndergaard – RHP
9. Ruben Tejada – 2B

Last night was a rough one for the Mets last night. Jacob deGrom struggled early, allowing 3 runs in the first inning (and it didn’t help that even when he started to pitch to get outs, the defense started to fall apart). The Mets would eventually lose the game 4-3, so the first inning ended up being the inning that sank them.

However the real story of the series comes tonight as Noah Syndergaard is set to make his major league debut. Coming into the season, he is the #11 prospect in Baseball America, #10 prospect according to MLB.com and #9 prospect in Baseball Prospectus.

Syndergaard came to the Mets organization as part of the R.A. Dickey deal (but you all already know that). This season he has really turned it on in the PCL, a league notorious for being tough on pitchers, pitching to a 3-0 record over 5 games with a 1.82 ERA over 29.2 innings. He is also coming off of a game where he had three hits with his bat including a double and homer that both went over 400 feet.

The Mets bats will get a crack at Jake Arrieta. Jake is 3-3 on the season over 6 games with a 3.41 ERA over 37.0 innings. May has been rough for Jake where he has allowed 8 ER over 10.1 innings over 2 starts. Prior to May, Arrieta had a 2.02 ERA in 4 starts in April. Last year he was very good against the Mets allowing only 1 ER over 11.2 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Arietta:

• Granderson 9-25, 2B, 3B, 3 HR
• Duda 3-6
• Cuddyer 2-6
• Murphy 1-6
• Lagares 0-3
• Flores 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Cubs, 8:05 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.

Sandy Alderson told reporters that he expects to lose multiple players in the Rule 5 Draft, particularly during the minor league portion.

Joel Sherman adds that the Mets are expected to lose RHP Logan Verrett during the MLB portion of the draft.

Verrett, 24, went 11-5 with a 4.33 ERA and 1.370 WHIP for Triple-A Las Vegas last season. In 162 innings pitched he walked 34 and struck out 115 batters.

Among Las Vegas starting pitchers with 10 or more starts, only Rafael Montero (3.60) posted a better ERA in the hitting friendly PCL.

The post Mets Could Lose Multiple Players Including Logan Verrett In Rule 5 Draft appeared first on Metsmerized.

Today Baseball America completed their league-by-league Top 20 Prospect lists by posting both the International and Pacific Coast League.

In the Pacific Coast League, three Mets prospects made the grade with Noah Syndergaard ranking 5th, Rafael Montero ranking 14th, and catcher Kevin Plawecki coming in at 16th.

This is what they had to say:

5. Noah Syndergaard, RHP, Las Vegas (Mets)

Managers and scouts held mixed opinions on the physical Syndergaard, based on his performance at Las Vegas’ notoriously hitter-friendly Cashman Field. He led the PCL in strikeouts but took his lumps as well. One rival manager called Syndergaard a “good prospect, but not an accomplished pitcher right now,” while a scout from a rival organization called him “probably the best pitcher in the PCL, prospect-wise.”

Acquired by the Mets in the deal that sent R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays, Syndergaard touched 100 mph this season and pitched at 95-97 with heavy run and sinking action on his fastball. He adds to that a deceptive changeup for which he has feel and a curveball that flashes average. He was slowed in 2014 by injuries to his right forearm and left shoulder.

“His deception’s not great, especially on his breaking ball,” said a second scout, “but the action on it is good. He’s a horse.”

14. Rafael Montero, RHP, Las Vegas (Mets)

Montero has dominated minor league competition thanks to a fearless approach and above-average control. He lacks a plus pitch and can nibble and fall behind batters, which was his undoing during a lackluster big league debut.

Despite a fastball with some sink at 92-93 mph, Montero often prefers to pitch backwards, using his low-80s slider to keep hitters in check before going with a solid-average to plus changeup to collect strikeouts.

A scout from a rival organization and an opposing PCL manager both see a major league future for Montero, possibly as high as No. 3 in a rotation.

“The command could be special,” the scout said. “I’m not surprised that he struggled (in the majors) because he needs to tighten up the breaking ball. But when I saw him he just dotted the black at 92-94 (mph) . . . He’s very athletic and the potential for command might make him even better (than projected).”

16. Kevin Plawecki, C, Las Vegas (Mets)

Plawecki’s offensive emergence the past two seasons—he has hit .307 with solid power—has prompted the Mets to at least consider the idea of moving young big league catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who suffered a concussion in May, to left field.

Plawecki has a short stroke and makes contact with incredible frequency, frustrating opponents with his ability to foul off pitches. A consequence of so much contact is that he doesn’t walk much and must rely on the hits falling in to keep his on-base percentage afloat. Plawecki hits for mostly gap power but can turn on the inside pitch for home runs to his pull side.

“His approach is pretty good, and he has the ability to make contact,” one scout said. “I think he gets to double-digit (home runs) for sure. He has enough raw power to hit 10-15 homers.”

Plawecki’s defense is not as advanced—he threw out just three of 29 basestealers, a 10 percent success rate—though he has good hands, average arm strength and average accuracy. Some scouts think he and d’Arnaud compare favorably behind the plate.

* * * * * * * * * *

As I have said before, the people who do these lists aren’t scouts, but they do consider various recommendations from them to comprise these Top 20 lists. They do a very nice job.

As always, BA Chat comments will be posted in the comment section.

The post Baseball America: Syndergaard, Montero, Plawecki Make PCL Top 20 appeared first on Metsmerized.

On Monday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Allan Dykstra won the 2014 Pacific Coast League Home Run Derby.

Ironically, Dykstra beat former Mets farmhand and teammate Francisco Pena to claim the belt.

“My goal was to make sure I beat Frank,” jokes Dykstra about squaring off against his former teammate.

“I have enough power to have fun in this kind of competition,” Dykstra tells Bob Sutton, Special to MLB.com.

Dykstra launched the winning shot over the right field wall in the final round and walked away with the belt.

The 27-year old 51s first baseman was selected to represent Las Vegas as a DH in the All Star game on July 16th, but on Monday night in the derby he didn’t disappoint.

Dykstra finished the first half of the season batting .282/.428/.516, with 12 home runs and 59 RBI’s.

This is just another award that Dykstra has earned since joining the Mets organization when he came over in a trade with the San Diego Padres in 2011. In 2013, he was named the Eastern League MVP and the Sterling Organizational Co-Player of the Year for the Mets with 21 home runs and 82 RBI’s.

The 6’5″ lefty is only one step away from reaching his dream of becoming a major leaguer, even though at this point it may be a tough task to break through on a Mets team that already has a lefty hitting power first baseman. But on Monday night, Dykstra was given the opportunity to showcase some of his own power and he walked away victorious.

Congrats Allan on winning the HR Derby belt.

(Photo Credit: BrianFlemingPhotography.com)

The post Allan Dykstra Is Crowned The 2014 PCL HR Derby Champ appeared first on Metsmerized.

Back in November, I wrote a piece here on MMO entitled Montero is Better Than People Think. You can read that post in its entirety below, but it’s nice to see that Montero is starting to get the kind of recognition he deserves.

Montero was recently ranked on MLB’s Top 100 prospect list at No. 85. This ranking is still too low according to MILB.com’s Sam Dykstra. Dykstra states on his blog, MILB Perspective, that Montero was his most underrated prospect in the top 100 list:

Rafael Montero, RHP, Mets – The 23-year-old right-hander moved up from No. 98 to 85 with the new rankings, but I think he could have gone higher. Any talk about Montero, who owns a plus fastball with an improving breaking ball and changeup, starts with his control after he allowed just two walks per nine innings between Double-A Binghamton (66 2/3 innings) and Triple-A Las Vegas (88 2/3 innings) in 2013 to go with an 8.7 K/9. His FIPs (1.88 and 2.87) were equally  impressive, especially considering his work in the Vegas and the PCL which are notoriously tough on pitchers.

I’m not saying Montero deserves a top-50 spot, but I’d take him over Nelson and Trevor Bauer (73) at this point. He could very well be a part of a Mets rotation by year’s end that already features hopeful youths Zack Wheeler and Jenrry Mejia as well as the Tommy-John’d Matt Harvey.

I would have to agree with Dykstra. Players like Montero sometimes get lost in the shuffle of these top prospect lists due to things like projecatbility, body types, and tools. While all of these things are important when evaluating players, good old-fashioned baseball playing ability sometimes takes a back seat to the flashy tools—especially on these lists.

Montero may not be able to throw a 99 mph fastball, and while things like Montero’s size and his velocity keep him buried towards the bottom half of the top 100 list, his pitching ability ranks him among some of the top pitching prospects in the game (see below).

Original Post 11/24 – Montero Is Better than People Think

Rafael Montero is good. This isn’t breaking news. But with how quickly his name comes up in trade talks makes me wonder if people truly understand how good he really is.

Let’s be honest—unless you subscribe to MilbTv, or live in one of the areas where Montero has played the past couple of years, it’s safe to say that most people have never seen him pitch. What they know about Montero comes from the limited footage that can be found on YouTube, or from reading their favorite baseball sites.

I’m here to tell everyone that Montero should not be looked at as a trade chip (unless it’s an offer that the Mets can’t refuse). He’s a keeper.

I’m not going to give an in-depth breakdown of why Montero is so good. Mets fans know what he brings to the table. But what I will do is add some reasons for you to take into consideration that will make you realize that Montero is, in fact, better than we think.

Not wasting any time, let’s look at what Montero did for Las Vegas, last season. As you probably already know, Las Vegas plays their games in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), which is generally known as a “hitter’s league.” When pitchers are assigned to the PCL, they know in advance that their sexy stat lines won’t be so sexy anymore.

Pitching in the PCL can alter the way pitchers pitch. Knowing that it’s a hitter’s paradise, pitchers try to stay away from pitching over the fat parts of the plate. By doing this, they tend to walk more batters. As they walk more batters, they are forced to keep their pitches in the hitter’s red zones, and hitters begin to tee-off. It’s sort of a lose-lose situation. This is something to keep in mind when looking at Zack Wheeler‘s roller coaster performance in Vegas last season.

Speaking of Wheeler, let’s look at what he did last season in Las Vegas. He pitched 68.2 innings, compiling a 9.57 K/9, 3.54 BB/9, 1.18 HR/9, 71.1% LOB, 2.89 BABIP, and 4.04 FIP. The average FIP for a pitcher in Triple-A was 4.31 back in 2012 (2013 number was not available). This average takes into account the International League and the PCL. While the average FIP changes every season, you can see that Wheeler is pretty close to average with regards to his FIP.

Now let’s look at Montero’s numbers from Las Vegas. He pitched in 88.2 innings, compiling a 7.92 K/9, 2.54 BB/9, 0.41 HR/9, 71.8% LOB, .316 BABIP, and 2.87 FIP. According to Fangraphs, 2.9 is an excellent FIP—Montero is slightly below that.  That’s probably based on the major leagues, and Montero put up an excellent FIP in a hitter-happy league. In fact, among pitchers who pitched a minimum of 80 innings in the PCL last season, Montero had the third-best FIP in the league. His FIP was better than prominent pitching prospects Tyler Skaggs, Michael Wacha, and of course, Zack Wheeler.

Here is a look at how Montero stacked up statistically against the other prominent pitching prospects mentioned in the previous paragraph:

Table created on Fangraphs.com.

After looking at these numbers, why would you want to trade Montero? Among the top prospects listed above (all in the PCL in 2013), he has the best FIP, second-best ERA, second-lowest BB/9, the lowest HR/9, second-best BB%, and his LOB% was second-best as well.

While other pitchers’ numbers tend to hit a downward trajectory in the PCL, Montero didn’t skip a beat. While other pitchers try to pitch around hitters in the PCL, Montero kept coming at them, and won the majority of the battles. Heck, his numbers stack up against some of the top pitching prospects in the game.

The results can only mean one thing: Montero is better than we all think.

You can make a strong case that the Mets should save their money with regard to pitching this off-season, and give Montero a spot in the rotation in 2014. The team can then use that money they would have spent on a stop-gap pitcher, and focus on attaining bats, which they so desperately need.

Unfortunately that won’t happen. I would hope a trade involving Montero is unlikely as well.

The team will probably start Montero in Las Vegas once again in 2014. But one thing is for sure, Mets fans will see Montero at Citi Field this coming season.

The post Rated MLB’s No. 85 Prospect, Rafael Montero Is Still Underrated appeared first on Metsmerized.