Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Max Scherzer took the bump for his second start of the spring on Friday afternoon against the Nationals. Former Met Trevor Williams started the game for Washington in his first action against the Mets since leaving in free agency this past offseason.

Scherzer and Williams both avoided trouble through the first two innings. Scherzer retired all six batters in order while the ball never left the infield. Williams gave up a leadoff Mark Canha single in the first but would avoid trouble as he also retired the next six in a row.

Scherzer’s success in the first two innings, however, would not repeat itself in the third inning which was a brutal one for the Mets. Ildemaro Vargas led it off with a weak infield single and advanced to second base on what was ruled a balk when Scherzer threw a pitch to Victor Robles who was in the batter’s box but was not ready for the pitch. Scherzer later expressed confusion over why this was called a balk. Robles wound up reaching base on a rare Luis Guillorme error.

Max Scherzer was confused about being called for a balk on this play:

"He calls time, I come set, I get the green light. I thought that was a clean pitch. He said no. We gotta figure out where the limit is." pic.twitter.com/nx1P2cI9Jt

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 3, 2023

Vargas scored on a fielder’s choice and Robles was driven in by an Alex Call single before Luis García hit a two-run homer to right field to make it 4-0. It seemed as though the inning was finally going to end but Guillorme almost unbelievably committed another error on a routine ground ball that went under his glove.

After giving up another hit, Scherzer was relieved by David Griffin who himself gave up two more hits and a hit-by-pitch before finally ending the nightmare inning by striking out CJ Abrams. In all, the Nationals put up eight runs in the inning to make it 8-0. Seven runs were charged to Scherzer but none of them were earned due to the errors.

The Mets’ attempt to rally began in the bottom of the inning when José Peraza hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit to six, however Edwin Díaz allowed the Nationals to add another run in the top of the fourth on a fielder’s choice.

The Mets’ rally restarted itself in the bottom of the fifth inning when Tomás Nido hit an opposite field homer off of Carl Edwards Jr. Edwards was unable to recover as he subsequently loaded the bases, allowing Jeff McNeil to drive in a pair of runs on a line drive up the middle. A Daniel Vogelbach sacrifice fly brought the Mets to within three runs before the Nationals were finally able to put the inning to rest.

In the top of the sixth, the Nationals once again responded to the Mets’ rally with a Luis García RBI single to make it 10-6. Elieser Hernández limited the damage by inducing an inning-ending double play.

Hernández stayed on in the seventh to pitch to Francisco Álvarez who relieved Tomás Nido, getting his first action behind the plate this spring. Hernández threw a quick eight pitch inning including two strikeouts to end his outing. In total, Hernández threw 15 of his 16 total pitches for strikes. John Curtiss followed up Hernández’s 1-2-3 inning with one of his own, striking out one and retiring the side in nine pitches.

Ronny Mauricio improved upon his already impressive spring with a check swing double in the bottom of the eighth, his only at-bat of the day. Mauricio’s OPS this spring is now up to 2.056. Francisco Álvarez was unable to drive him in, however, as he struck out to end the inning.

Yasel Antuna launched a solo home run off William Woods in the top of the 9th and the Mets went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to give the Nationals an 11-6 victory.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Player of the Game

José Peraza is the Mets’ player of the game in this one, as he impressed by going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer. Peraza will provide solid infield depth for the team this year, though he likely won’t be counted on to have much of an impact on the major league team as he did in 2021.

On Deck

The Mets head to Jupiter on Saturday to face the Miami Marlins. Justin Verlander will get his first action in a Mets uniform with the start, while the Marlins will be sending out lefty Jesús Luzardo. First pitch will be at 1:10 p.m. and it will be on MLB TV via the Marlins. 

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Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Who would have thought the most impactful free agent loss of the offseason was Trevor Williams?

The Mets replaced Jacob deGrom with Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt with Kodai Senga, and Taijuan Walker with Jose Quintana. The one move they didn’t make this offseason was bringing in a new bulk/spot starter. That’s because they believe they already have two on the roster: David Peterson and Tylor Megill.

Williams departed for the Washington Nationals after spending a year and a half on the Mets. In 2022, Williams made nine starts and 30 appearances. He threw 89.2 innings for a 3.21 ERA. Williams’ decision to leave the Mets came down to starting pitching opportunity elsewhere and not because of New York’s disinterest in him.

Still, with a potentially volatile rotation, the Mets needed to plan for the eventual injury of someone. That’s where Peterson and Megill come in.

In an interview with the New York Post, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner divulged his thoughts on the situation.

“What a blessing it is for us,” Hefner told The Post. “Maybe not a blessing for them, because in a lot of ways they are on the outside looking in, but things change all the time in this game, so if those guys start the year in Triple-A, we have two guys that probably deserve to be in the big leagues just from their past performance and their stuff.”

Even those two had their injury issues, mainly Megill, who missed most of the second half with a shoulder strain. Peterson was more than reliable going 6-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 19 starts.

“Stretching out Peterson and Megill in spring training is important and having them readily available in case something happens — and we’ll kind of see how the season unfolds — and I would imagine their roles would be similar,” Hefner said.

“If we have five starters make every single start all year they will be in the bullpen at some point, but that rarely ever happens. We need those guys. To do the things we want to as a team we need them to be the studs that they are.”

Other options for the Mets this season are Elieser Hernandez and Joey Lucchesi. Hernandez was acquired from Miami in November. The Mets hope there is still some untapped upside for the 27-year-old after posting a 6.35 ERA in 20 appearances last year. Lucchesi spent the 2022 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, he did not make an appearance in the majors but pitched in Triple-A.

Hefner says there’s a role for Lucchesi somewhere.

“I think all options are on the table for him,” Hefner said. “I think Joey could be in that Megill/Peterson bucket, but he also could be a long man. He is deceptive, batters don’t see him well, he can get quick outs. He doesn’t walk guys, he throws the ball over the plate and he will take the ball. He wants to be in the game and be a part of it.”

Four pitchers, all trying to replace the impact of one. The Mets should be solid in this area if their guys are ready to take on this new role.

The post Mets’ Peterson, Megill Hoping to Fill Trevor Williams’ Role appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Updated Post – Jan. 12, 14:20

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Thursday afternoon that they’ve released right-handed pitcher Trevor Bauer. Jon Heyman of the New York Post has already reported that the New York Mets will not pursue Bauer.

Original Post – Jan. 6, 19:39

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Friday that they will be releasing starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. Once his suspension was reduced from 324 games to 194, the organization had an important decision to make. The Dodgers decided that the best decision was to let him go. Bauer will still receive $22.5 million from the team in 2023. If Bauer signs with another team, the Dodgers won’t have to pay whatever his salary is with the new team.

Bauer originally signed a three-year, $102 million with the Dodgers in February of 2021. The 31-year-old pitcher made 17 starts during the 2021 season before he was placed on administrative leave due to allegations of sexual misconduct and domestic violence.

pic.twitter.com/L1fPfssoB7

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 7, 2023

In April of 2022, months after he was placed on administrative leave, Bauer was given a 324-game suspension by Major League Baseball for violating their domestic violence policy. The full two-season suspension for Bauer was the league’s longest suspension ever given out for domestic violence.

Martin F. Scheinman, an independent arbitrator, reduced Bauer’s suspension to 194 games in December of 2022, giving the Dodgers just a few weeks to make a decision on his future with the team.

Now that he is eligible to return to Major League Baseball, Bauer is a free agent and will be able to sign with another team. During the offseason that Bauer ended up signing with the Dodgers, the Mets were one of the other teams that competed for his services and at one point owner Steve Cohen thought for sure they had the winning bid.

The former CY Young Award winner was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 107 2/3 innings in his only season with the Dodgers.

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Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning Mets fans!

On Friday, new Met Kodai Senga admitted feelings of frustration that he felt with his former club in an Instagram Live. Senga, who spent a decade with the SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball, explained that he asked to be posted to Major League Baseball by the club “for the past five or six years.” What frustrated Senga wasn’t that the team wouldn’t post him, it was that they refused to explain why: “The top brass found it inconvenient to meet with me, citing their busy schedules.” He called this “a bitter feeling I never experienced in baseball.”

After the 2022 season Senga was able to opt out of his contract and exercise his international free agent rights, ultimately leading to his signing a five-year, $75 million contract with the Mets.

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest MLB News

The Dodgers announced that they are designating Trevor Bauer for assignment. The team can attempt to trade him, but it is expected they will will eat the $22.5 million owed to Bauer and release him.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has been cleared to resume baseball activities after undergoing shoulder and wrist surgeries in September and October.

The Giants officially announced that they have signed Michael Conforto to a contract.

The Red Sox officially announced that they have signed Justin Turner to a contract. Additionally, during the team’s efforts to sign Turner, Alex Cora reportedly had Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick send Turner a recruitment text.

The Padres signed outfielder Adam Engel to a one-year contract. The team also signed pitcher Brent Honeywell to a one-year contract.

Latest on MMO

Patrick Glynn details the newest updates from the Carlos Correa-Mets saga, including reports that the Mets are frustrated with Correa’s camp.

Rich Sparago lists some of the more unique moments around baseball from the 2022 season.

Mathew Brownstein interviewed Mets’ outfielder Mark Canha in the latest MMO Exclusive.

On This Date in Mets History

1992: New York Met legend Tom Seaver was officially elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He received votes from 425 of 430 writers (98.84%), the closest a player had ever come to being unanimously elected at that time.

2019: The Mets released David Wright, effectively ending his playing career after injuries derailed his final few seasons.

2021: The Mets pulled off a massive trade, acquiring Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco from the then-Indians in exchange for Amed Rosario, Andrés Giménez, Josh Wolf, and Isaiah Greene.

Birthdays: Francisco Rodriguez (41), Jorge Toca (52), Craig Shipley (60)

The post Morning Briefing: Kodai Senga Frustrated With Former Club appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland A’s announced on Friday afternoon that they’ve signed reliever Trevor May to a one-year deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports the deal is for $7 million guaranteed with another $500,000 in potential performance bonuses. The deal makes May the highest-paid A’s player for the 2023 season.

May, 33, struggled during the 2022 season to the tune of a 5.04 ERA though he pitched well down the stretch for the Mets with a 2.16 ERA in the last month of the season.

The right-hander had a much better first season with the Mets when he had a 3.59 ERA and struck out 83 batters in 62 2/3 innings in 2021. May signed a two-year, $15.5 million deal with the Mets in December of 2020 as the first significant signing of the Steve Cohen era.

Overall, May ended with a 4.00 ERA in 87 2/3 innings over 94 appearances for the Mets in two seasons.

The Mets entered this offseason with a large portion of their bullpen scheduled to hit free agency. They were able to lock up Edwin Diaz long-term before he hit the market and also brought back Tommy Hunter. Lefty Joely Rodriguez signed with the Red Sox and Trevor Williams has signed with the Nationals with a chance to start. Key pieces Adam Ottavino and Seth Lugo are still on the free agent market with the Mets showing interest in bringing back the former but not the latter.

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Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals are signing right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams to a two-year deal per Mark Zuckerman of MASN sports. Stephen Nesbitt of The Athletic reports that the two-year deal is worth $13 million.

The Mets did show interest in bringing Williams back after a good 2022 season, though the Nationals represent a better chance for Trevor to start.

The San Diego native is coming off one of his best major league seasons when he posted a 3.21 ERA in 89 2/3 innings in 2022. Williams worked in every role for the Mets giving them nine starts when they needed it, long relief outings, and even a few high leverage late inning outings.

Williams came to the Mets in a 2021 trade deadline deal that also brought infielder Javier Báez to New York and sent top center field prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong to Chicago.

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Former Mets right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams is at the Winter Meetings in San Diego this week as he looks to cash in on a good walk year in 2022.

Williams told Mike Puma of the New York Post that the Mets have kept in contact with him and that there might be a chance to start.

The San Diego native is coming off one of his best major league seasons when he posted a 3.21 ERA in 89 2/3 innings in 2022. Williams worked in every role for the Mets giving them nine starts when they needed it, long relief outings, and even a few high leverage late inning outings.

Williams came to the Mets in a 2021 trade deadline deal that also brought infielder Javier Báez to New York and sent top center field prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong to Chicago.

The Mets added starters Justin Verlander and José Quintana at the Winter Meetings and swung a trade for left-handed reliever Brooks Raley on Wednesday. The Mets are still looking to add another starter and a couple of bullpen pieces as they build their pitching staff.

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Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Edwin Diaz has been named the 2022 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year following a historic season for the New York Mets.

Diaz, who won the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award in 2018 while with the Seattle Mariners, joins Craig Kimbrel as the only players to win the Reliever of the Year Award in each league. It should come as no surprise that Diaz has officially been recognized as the best reliever in the NL given how dominant he was.

In what was a season for the ages, Diaz was prime time viewing every time he stepped on to the mound in 2022 with a stellar 1.31 ERA. He struck out 50.2% of the batters he faced and secured 32 saves in 35 opportunities. The righty struck out a ridiculous 118 batters in 62 innings, which amounts to a stunning 17.1 strikeouts per nine innings. That’s the highest single-season rate by any pitcher in MLB history with at least 60 innings pitched.

Diaz also held batters to a slash line of .160/.230/.216/.446 and he found a lot of success using his filthy slider, upping the usage to 51.8% with a run value of -22, which was the fifth best mark of any pitch in the major leagues last season. Diaz threw his electric slider 539 times and batters could only hit .114/.134/.154 against it with a whiff rate of 54.7% and a strikeout rate of 54.3%.

Diaz established himself as the best closer in all of baseball in 2022 and he was arguably one of the most important players for the Mets. He was absolutely money all season long and he was absolutely un-hittable at times. It continued a trend of the 28-year-old riding an upwards trajectory for the past couple of years. And, as a result of his dominance in 2022, Diaz signed a record-breaking five-year, $102 million deal earlier this offseason with the Mets determined to keep their elite shutdown arm in Queens. And the accolades keep on coming for Diaz with this latest honor.

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Position: Relief Pitcher
Bats/Throws: L/R
Age: 28 (December 5, 1993)
2022 Pitching
Traditional: 39G, 45 IP, 4.80 ERA, 1.489 WHIP, 4-3 W/L, 49 K, 17 BB
Advanced: 81 ERA+, 25 K%, 8.7 BB%, 4.91 xERA, 3.29 FIP, 3.52 xFIP, 0.4 fWAR, -0.6 bWAR

Rundown

Were you expecting a different brother of someone who pitched in the combined no-hitter? Tylor Megill‘s brother, Trevor Megill, is an intriguing pitcher in his own right and he might just be the next Clay Holmes.

Now you might be wondering why a team owned by Steve Cohen needs to be looking for relievers in the Island of Misfit Toys, to coin a phrase from Peter Brand. The only relievers the Mets have for 2023 that pitched in 2022 are Drew Smith, Elieser Hernández, Jeff Brigham, and Edwin Díaz. The Mets will probably sign some more guys but in order to rebuild an entire bullpen but they will also need to take some gambles and bet on some arms. Given the Mets need to fill three rotation spots and add a hitter or two, the bullpen’s construction will likely need to get creative.

I do not think getting creative in the bullpen is a bad thing. The Astros bullpen was anchored by Rafael Montero, Ryan Pressly, Ryan Stanek, and Bryan Abreu. Three of these guys were undervalued relievers on other teams. I do not think it is a coincidence the teams that always trot out the best bullpens year after year are teams that identify arms with breakout potential and amass as many of those arms as possible. Relievers can be very volatile so being able to find these inefficiencies gives teams a huge advantage. To think of it another way, the Mets will need to identify their Clay Holmes, Rafael Montero, Seranthony Dominguez,  and Robert Suárez.

Trevor Megill could be the Mets version of those guys listed above. For starters, Megill gets insane vertical movement on both his slider and curveball. Among pitchers with 100 pitches thrown, Megill ranks seventh vertical movement for his curveball and second with his slider. Megill is not the spin rate master like Seth Lugo has been but he is in the 85th percentile for his curveball and in the 92nd percentile with his fastball. A fastball that also averages 98 MPH.

Here are a few videos of him making hitters look silly with his pitches:

(Courtesy of Baseball Savant)

(Courtesy of Baseball Savant)

(Courtesy of Baseball Savant)

(Courtesy of Baseball Savant)

What makes his spin more enticing is that there is a lot of unused active spin in his profile. Active spin is essentially how effective a pitcher is at using his spin rate to generate pitch movement. Megill does a good job with his curveball but the active spin on his slider is only 40.5% and his fastball is at 80.7%.

That fastball could be a real weapon if there is some more active spin behind it, especially if it is coming in at 98-100 MPH. The Reds only had four pitchers with a lower active spin on their fastball than Megill did so Eric Jagers would have a fun first project with the Mets.

Package

How much would it take to acquire Megill and the answer is not much. The Twins added Megill on a waiver claim last off-season. If the Mets remain patient, they can probably see if the Twins DFA Megill when they add someone later this off-season. Of course, other teams probably see that the Megill has breakout potential too and will be calling the Twins about Megill too. I think they could get Megill in a similar deal to how they added Brigham and Hernández. It’s tough to predict small deals like this but the Yankees gave up Diego Castillo and Hoy Park for Clay Holmes. Those two had a future value (as graded by FanGraphs) of 40+ and 40 respectively. According to FanGraphs, two names who would match that level of value are Michael Otanez and Dedinel Núñez. I think that would be the higher end of what it would take to get Megill. Both are interesting relief prospects in the minors but Megill showed a more interesting repertoire at the MLB level.

My Opinion

All these numbers are great but as I usually do in my articles where I discuss buy-low options, there is probably a reason he has a career 6.03 ERA and I acknowledge he could very easily be a DFA candidate by July. I will say that I am not advocating for Megill to be their big remaining acquisition for the bullpen either. I just believe they are ready as an organization to turn an interesting arm with good underlying data into a useful Major League Pitcher. As I mentioned above though, the Mets will need to identify arms that have breakout potential in order to become a great bullpen. They have already started that process by adding arms like Elieser Hernández, Jeff Brigham, William Woods, Tyler Saucedo, and Stephen Ridings.

The post MMO Trade Profile: Trevor Megill, RHP appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Position: Relief pitcher
Age: 33 (9/23/1989), B/T: R/R

Primary Stats: 26 G, 25 IP, 5.04 ERA, 1.440 WHIP, 30 SO, 9 BB, 27 H, 6 Holds
Advanced Stats: -0.1 bWAR, 78 ERA+, 3.87 FIP, .338 BABIP, 27.0 SO%, .265/.324/.431
2022 Salary: $7.75 million

Grade: C-

2022 Review

Trevor May was supposed to be a relief option in the late innings of games in the 2022 season. He was coming off a 2021 season where he recorded a 3.59 ERA, 16 holds, and four saves in a career-high 62 2/3 innings pitched. The Mets also looked to depend on May after they lost Miguel Castro, Aaron Loup, and Jeurys Familia during the off-season.

The optics did not match reality for May in 2022 as he struggled with injury and poor performance right out of the gate. In April, May pitched to a 7.36 ERA and allowed 11 hits, including two home runs in 7 1/3 innings pitched. Then, after pitching one inning in May where he allowed two earned runs against the Braves, May was sidelined until August due to tricep inflammation and a stress reaction in his humerus. The injury certainly informed the early poor results.

After several months on the injured list, May was reinstated and pitched for the entire month of August. While not perfect, the right-hander improved upon his rough start to the season and pitched to a 4.32 ERA and struck out 12 batters in 8 1/3 innings.

May had another setback at the beginning of September when he returned to the injured list due to COVID-19. When he came back, however, May dominated the competition. For September, May held batters to a slash line of .194/.286/.258 and struck out 10 batters in six innings pitched. In fact, the only two runs that May gave up in September came in one appearance against the Oakland Athletics, on September 24.

While May did not have the season that he or the organization envisioned, he locked in and pitched great down the stretch. May struck out 13.9 batters per nine innings after coming off the IL and was able to lower his ERA from 8.64 to 5.04 at the end of the season.

2023 Outlook

May is coming off an injury-riddled season with numbers that don’t match the back of his baseball card.

The Mets should take a flier on May going into the next season. The career-high 62 2/3 innings from 2021 may have caused injury and poor performance earlier in 2022 the season. May’s 3.87 FIP also indicates that he ran into some poor luck behind him in 2022 and should pitch to better results in 2023.

The Mets bullpen will also need to be rebuilt in the off-season. Edwin Díaz, Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, May, Trevor Williams, Tommy Hunter, and potentially Mychal Givens will all be free agents this off-season. Due to his injuries last season and age, May most likely will be the cheapest option to retain out of the previously mentioned names. However, if the Mets cannot retain May, there are plenty of other options to replace him within 2023.

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