Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Metsmerized Online’s own Jacob Resnick reported that the Mets have signed RHP Vance Worley to a minor league deal.

Worley, 30, spent Spring Training with the Cincinnati Reds before being released by the club. He went 1-1 with a 6.17 ERA, allowing eight earned runs in 11.2 innings pitched. He struck out five and walked two as a starting pitcher.

Mets fans should remember Worley as he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 with the Phillies when he went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA and 3.32 FIP in 131.2 innings pitched. He had another effective season in 2014 when he posted a 2.85 ERA and 3.44 FIP across 17 starts. Other than those two seasons, he has been a fairly average Major League pitcher with a career 35-36 record, 4.09 ERA, 4.02 FIP and 97 ERA+ pitching for the Phillies, Twins, Pirates, Orioles, and Marlins.

He is not a strikeout pitcher by any means with a career 6.7 K/9 mark. He has allowed 9.9 H/9 and 3.0 BB/9 over the course of his career, good for a 1.433 WHIP.

This signing could mean many things. He has been both a starter and reliever in his career, appearing in 163 games and starting 97 of those. It could mean the Mets are getting ready to deal a starting pitcher for, perhaps, a catcher. It could mean one of the Mets starters (i.e. Zack Wheeler) is gearing up for a move to the bullpen. Or, quite simply, he could just report to Triple-A for depth in case of injuries.

This is a zero-risk, decent potential reward signing for the Mets. At the very least, they gain some depth and at best, an average MLB pitcher. He will report to extended spring training before getting an assignment.

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Tonight, the New York Mets will take on the Miami Marlins at 7:10 p.m. on Pix 11. Rafael Montero has the ball for New York and will face Vance Worley.

Last night, a rain delay pushed the start time of the game to 9 p.m. Chris Flexen struggled in the second and third but was decent overall. He has certainly been progressing well since making the leap straight from Double-A Binghamton. The Mets offense had virtually nothing going all night behind the young right-hander.

Latest Mets News

The Mets struck a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers shortly after Friday’s bout with the Marlins. Curtis Granderson was shipped to the West Coast along with cash in exchange for a Player to be Named Later or cash.

Steven Matz may have his next start skipped after struggling yet again, this time against the New York Yankees earlier this week.

Latest NL East News

Max Scherzer was placed on the 10-day disabled with a neck issue. This after Bryce Harper just landed on the DL and is slated to miss 4-6 weeks for Washington.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald says David Sampson will be out as Marlins president now that the team’s ownership has switched hands.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com shows Ender Inciarte‘s fly ball trends.

Matt Gelb of Philly.com writes about the Phillies new exercise routine.

Latest on MMO

Mike Mayer did a prospect spotlight on newly acquired pitcher Gerson Bautista.

Joe D gives us his thoughts on the Subway Series.

This Day in Mets History

1969: Tommie Agee‘s 14th inning home run off beats the Giants, 1-0 at Shea.

Birthdays: Chris Capuano turns 39, Jeff Tam turns 47, Matt Franco turns 48, Ron Darling turns 57.

Let’s go Mets!

The post Morning Briefing: Goodbye Grandy! appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets open a four-game series at Pittsburgh, with Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-1, 2.68) opposing right-hander Vance Worley (1-0, 1.98) at 7:05 PM tonight at PNC Park.

New York had its season high-tying three-game winning streak snapped last night. Despite the loss, the Mets have won five of their last seven and are 6-4 in their last 10 games.

In his last start, Dice-K received his first loss since September 2, 2013 in the Mets’ 3-2 defeat to the Marlins on June 20 at Marlins Park. He pitched 5.1 innings allowing one earned run and a season-high six hits while walking one and striking out four.

Prior to tonight’s game, the Mets will activate outfielder Juan Lagares from the 15-Day Disabled List. He was placed on the DL on June 2 with a right intercostal strain. The Mets optioned infielder Wilmer Flores to Las Vegas (AAA) to make room on the roster.

Ruben Tejada has hit in four straight games, going 6-14 (.429) with a .500 on-base percentage. Tejada is hitting .304 (24-79) since May 25, a span of 24 games. His 31 walks are the fifth-most by a shortstop.

The Mets lead the National League and are third in the majors with 283 walks. Oakland is first with 323 walks and Minnesota is second with 284. Curtis Granderson is third in the NL with 47 walks.

Starting Lineup

1. Curtis Granderson – RF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Lucas Duda – 1B
5. Bobby Abreu – RF
6. Juan Lagares – CF
7. Travis d’Arnaud – C
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Daisuke Matsuzaka – RHP

The Mets look to bounce back from the loss yesterday and get back to the winning track they have been on for the better part of hte last week in Pittsburgh tonight as they take on Ike Davis‘ new squad. Yesterday the Mets had the offense, but not the pitching in a bizarro world game experience. Today Matsuzaka gets the start for the Mets while the bats face in old foe in Vance Worley.

Matsuzaka is 3-1 on the season over 47.0 innings of work with a 2.68 ERA. In his last four outings he has started 3 times, pitched 13.1 innings and a sparkling 1.35 ERA. Daisuke has never faced the Pirates in his career but he has faced a few of the Pirates players while they were with other teams:

• Snider 1-10
• Barmes 0-2
• Sanchez 0-2
• Martin 1-1, 2B

Vance Worley, who debuted in the majors with Phillies is back to face the Mets with his new team. He has made two starts this year pitching 13.2 innings allowing only 3 ER. He pitched in 10 games, 8 starts against the Mets in his career going 3-4 with a 6.64 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Murphy 12-17, 2 2B, 3B
• Tejada 7-18, 2B
• Wright 6-17, 2B, HR
• Duda 5-11, 2B, HR
• Abreu 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

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Of all the players I ran into over the weekend Niese somehow stood out. He carries himself well, he’s bigger than I thought (actually they’re all bigger than you think – they’re like on a different scale), he’s soft spoken and unassuming and just seems like a really nice guy.

Jonathon Niese was born on October 27th 1986, the day the Mets won their last World Series. Talk about cosmic coincidences. He was picked 209th overall in the 2005 draft, and he spent time at all three levels of the Mets minor league system where his numbers were good but not great. His best year was probably his 2008 season in Binghampton when in 22 games he had a 3.04 ERA. The season before in St. Lucie he’d gone 11-7 with a 4.19 ERA. At the age of 22 while at AAA Buffalo in the midst of a stretch where he’d pitched to a 3.82 ERA over 16 games he got the call.

My first impression of him was that he was ok, nothing special. He gave up a homerun to his first batter, Rickie Weeks, and ended up surrendering three runs in three innings. Not so good, I thought. Maybe a back end number 4 type guy at best. Then in his next start Jonathan Seagu … er, Niese, surprised me, pitching 8 shutout innings to beat the Braves 5-0. What I noticed was the sweet arcing trajectory of his beautiful southpaw curveball. A true hammer. Jonathon had defied my initial impression with that performance.

Niese got called up again in 2009 after Oliver Perez got hurt. He pitched to a 4.21 ERA that year making only 5 starts before he suffered a complete tear of his hamstring and had to miss the rest of the season. Niese went 10-9 in 2010 with a 4.20 ERA and 11–11 in 2011 with a 4.40 ERA and it was looking like my initial assessment was maybe not so far from the truth, middle to back end of the rotation kind of guy.  But like Jonathan Seagull’s doubters (a seagull cannot fly like a hawk!)  I was focusing too much on his limitations …

Niese had rhinoplasty after the 2011 season at the urging of ex-teammate Carlos Beltran. I knew what this was. Nasal deformity can result from skeletal hypoplasia or skeletal asymmetry and can cause an assortment of breathing problems up to and including sleep apnea. The problem can also affect nasal resonance (hyponasality), which can distort speech. I found it a little odd that a number of early stories found humor in Niese’s “nose job.” When you look at some older pictures of Niese, his nose deviated severely to his right. Functional rhinoplasty is actually a vital procedure for those who suffer from obstructed and malaligned nasal passages.

The surgery likely addressed some lingering asymmetry that was obstructing his airway. I’d learned about this stuff during a graduate practicum at the University of Minnesota’s Craniofacial Clinic (one of the top institutions of it’s kind in the nation). I knew that if the breathing was repaired it could potentially make a big difference in his O2 intake as an athlete, not to mention the far more significant effects of improved sleep (if apnea was an issue). Sure enough he had the best season of his career, going 13-9 with a 3.40 ERA. Jonathon was on the move again, defying expectations, ascending.

Jonathon pitched a hell of a gutsy game the other night. With brutal near blizzard conditions at game time the Mets came out and pounded Vance Worley with 5 quick runs in the first. Worley’s command was off, his pitches all appeared to be some version of a straight fastball, he had nothing. The Minnesota weather was brutal, I couldn’t imagine trying to grip a baseball in this stuff when you could barely feel your hands.

I had my fingers crossed when Niese came out and sure enough he ran into some trouble with a walk and a hit. Niese appeared to be having trouble locating his signature cutter. Buck went out and chatted with him and Niese seemed to settle down after that, sans the cutter. He relied mostly on his fastball and change with a few breaking balls thrown in for good measure. In the end, Niese gutted out 5 innings for the win with 4 earned runs, 4 walks and a strikeout, which, under the circumstances was nothing short of amazing. This quiet kid from Lima, Ohio is something else I thought. Pitching like a true ace, Jon Niese has become resilient, able to do what he has to to win even when his stuff isn’t there and the conditions are stacked against him.

On Saturday, the morning after Niese’s start, as the groundskeepers were doing their thing and hosing down the infield, Niese was the first guy out of the Met clubhouse doing laps. He was working on that conditioning that had made all the difference for him in 2012.

This kid has gone from the ninth pick of the 7th round of the draft, from his average days in the minors, from an uninspiring start to his major league career, to what he is now, which is one of the best starters in the league with a true knee-buckling curveball that has to be one of the toughest breaking pitches in the game.

I wouldn’t put anything past this guy. Like Jonathan Seagull, he is on a stratospheric trajectory. There’s no ceiling in sight for Mr. Niese, and I don’t think he’s set any limitations on where he may end up, so I certainly won’t.

The post Jonathon Livingston Niese appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

I hadn’t been off the phone for more than 30 seconds when the snow got harder, then it started doing something that I think they call sleet, then more snow and some frozen ice pellet things, then even harder snow and it began to look like maybe there wouldn’t be a game.

Fortunately the snow tapered off just enough as game time approached and the temperature dipped to 34 degrees. It was the coldest game time start since the opening of Target Field.

Now even though 34 degrees is downright balmy when you consider what the past couple of months have been like out here — it gets so bad you have to be careful not to keep your eyelids closed for too long because they can freeze together – it’s not exactly baseball weather. You wouldn’t want your eyelids to freeze together while you’re trying to track down a fly ball… you could run into a wall, or Lucas Duda.

It was a strange night. The Mets came out swinging the big boy bats and pummeled their old National League adversary Vance Worley with a 5 run first that had to feel like a cold slap in the face when the wind chill is 12 degrees. Worley left with his ERA having snowballed to 10.5.

Command appeared to be an issue for both pitchers and they struggled to grip the ball. Worley left pitch after pitch over the plate while Niese uncharacteristically walked several batters in the first few innings. Neise and Buck smartly decided to give up on his cutter after the first inning as Niese was unable to get a feel for it.

“We went to more the 4 seam, changeup and curveball,” Said Buck. “Canned the cutter because it was backing up, it was hard for him to control, obviously we all know it’s his bread and butter, so those runs we got up front definitely helped us be more aggressive, pounding the strike zone, make them hit their way back in the ballgame. We knew were were going to give up a couple of hits, it’s kind of what the game called for, with the conditions.”

The Mets tacked on another 5 spot in the second with Buck hitting a bomb 386 feet over the left field wall with the bases loaded. Worley didn’t get an out in the second.

Murphy had 4 hits with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. David Wright had 3 hits with 4 RBI and 2 runs, Valdespin had 2 hits with an rbi and 3 runs, Buck had a run a homer and 4 rbi. All in all the Mets left the Twins out in the permafrost this nigh with Terry Collins smartly plugging Aaron Laffey in for 9th inning duty to save his bullpen. The bullpen, incidentally was outstanding as Atchison, Burk, and Laffey contributed 4.0 innings of shutout ball.

Game time: 3 hours 24 minutes
WP Niese
LP Worley

Thoughts from Joe D.

Despite the most deplorable playing conditions one could ever imagine for a baseball game, the Mets braved the snow and freezing temperatures to defeat the Minnesota Twins 16-5 tonight at Target Field.

Leadoff hitter Jordany Valdespin got on base three times and ignited three big rallies for the Amazins as the team exploded for ten runs in the first two innings and knocked out Twins starter Vance Worley faster than you could say Winter Wonderland. By the way, I thought it was a nice tough when Andy Williams started blaring over the PA system singing his Holiday Classic, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” as the Mets baserunners kept crossing home plate.

The Mets torched Twins pitching all night long and racked up 15 hits as they put their two game losing streak in Philadelphia in their rearview mirrors.

Catcher John Buck continues his torrid home run streak and tonight walloped a grand slam in the second inning that iced the game for the Mets. It was his  fourth home run in four games, and sixth this season to lead the league.

David Wright finally broke out of an 0-for-8 slump and racked up three hits falling a home run short of the cycle and driving in and four. But it was second baseman Daniel Murphy who led this hit parade with a 4-for-5 performance including a pair of doubles and he now has 12 RBI for the season, second only to Buck who leads the NL with 19 ribbies.

Jonathon Niese started and didn’t bring his A game, but still pitched well enough to win. He allowed a season high five runs but picked up the win anyway. I’m chalking this up to frostbite. Great job by the bullpen as Scott Atchison, Greg Burke and Aaron Laffey combined to toss four scoreless innings. Nice…

Hey the Mets won and improve to 6-4 for the season and Matt Harvey takes the mound today which bodes well for another win.

Lets Go Mets…

The post Live From Target Field: Mets Freeze-Dry Twins In 16-5 Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Here’s a couple of shots Matt sent in from the press box at Target Field. Looks like he has a great view…

Bases Loaded For John Buck…

Is that Kevin Burkhardt roaming around in the upper deck?

Matt tells me he’ll bring a regular digital camera for the Saturday and Sunday games…

Starting Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. John Buck C
6. Lucas Duda DH
7. Marlon Byrd RF
8. Mike Baxter LF
9. Ruben Tejada SS

Jon Niese LHP

Game Notes

The Mets went 8-7 in Interleague play in 2012. The Mets are .500 or better in 11 of their 16 seasons of Interleague play, and are 135-127 all-time in Interleague play. The 135 wins are the fourth-most among National League teams.

The Mets have signed LHP Sean Henn to a minor league contract. Henn has not appeared in a Major League game since 2009 when he went a combined 0-3 with a 7.53 ERA in 20 relief appearances with the Twins and Orioles.

David Wright has 89 career RBI vs. the American League, tied with Mike Piazza for the most in team history. The 89 Interleague RBI are the ninth-most among any major leaguer since 2005, the first season Wright played an Interleague game. He has 19 career Interleague home runs, nine behind Piazza (28) for the most in club history.

Jonathon Niese has thrown 6.0 or more innings in his last 22 consecutive starts, the longest current streak in the major leagues. The streak is also the longest by a Mets pitcher since Tom Glavine went 27 starts from July 15, 2005-June 3, 2006 lasting 6.0 or more innings.

Has hit a home run in three straight games (April 8- present) for the first time in his career. Buck has five home runs through the team’s first nine games, tied for the second-most in franchise history with Darryl Strawberry (5 home runs in nine games in 1987) and Jeff Kent (5 home runs in nine games in 1994). Dave Kingman holds the team mark with seven home runs in New York’s first nine games in 1976.

In New York’s five wins, Mets starting pitchers have posted a 2.03 ERA (seven earned runs/31.0 innings). In the club’s four losses, the starters have combined for a 6.87 ERA (14
earned runs/18.1 innings).

The Mets bullpen has hurled 16.2 innings in their last four games. During that span, the pen has allowed four earned runs (2.16 ERA). Overall, the Mets pen is 2-0 with a 3.34 ERA (11 earned runs/29.2 innings). The ERA is 7th in the National League.

Overall, the Mets have recorded a 3.53 ERA (31 earned runs/79.0 innings), ranking third in the NL and seventh in the majors.

Game Preview

The Mets travel to Minnesota tonight to start their first interleague game of the season. Some of you may be asking yourself, “Hey, why are we playing an interleague game so early”. To those of you, “HAVEN’T YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION! GEEZ..”

The Astros joined the American League this year making each league have 15 teams thus making the wild card system for fair in terms of chance of getting one. Having 15 in each league forces two teams to always be locked in an interleague series. Anyway, the Mets might be playing in the American League tonight but will see an old foe as they take on Vance Worley behind Jonathan Niese.

Niese is off to a good start this year going 1-0 in his first two games pitching a total of 12.2 innings allowing 3 earned runs, 4 total. In that stretch he has 12 hits and 4 walks while striking out 9 batters. He has faced the Twins once where he picked up the win throwing 6 shutout innings of baseball allowing 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. The Twins have the following numbers against Niese:

Carroll 3-5
Willingham 2-5, HR
Worley 1-6
Mauer 0-2

The Mets batters going from facing the Phillies to an ex-Philly in Vance Worley who is 0-1 this season over two starts. During that time has pitched 11.0 innings allowing a league leading 18 hits, 8 runs (7 earned), and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. Last season he was 6-9 over 23 starts and 133.0 innings with a 4.20 ERA. He was 0-2 against the Mets last season over 3 games where he allowed 14 ER over 14.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Vance:

Murphy 10-15, 2B, 3B (Seriously, that’s 2 hits per 3 AB’s)
Tejada 7-17, 2B
Wright 4-15, HR
Duda 5-10, 2B, HR
Davis 1-9
Turner 4-10, 2 2B
Baxter 1-3, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea!

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Ryan Howard is not the player he used to be.

The Mets begin a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies tonight at Citizens Bank Park, their first road series of the year and their first against a decent team.

Tha Phillies are currently at a crossroads. Where health and age meet talent. The Phillies are getting older, and this may be their last year to make a run at the World Series, although it’s very unlikely. The Phillies went 81-81 last season, spending half the year without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. They have both back this year, but neither is the same player they used to be. Howard struck out in a career-high 33.9% of his plate appearances, while batting just .219. 57.1% of the balls he hit last year were ground balls. That’s significantly higher than his 39.4% career average, and a bad sign for a slugger. Utley has been slowly losing his power. His Isolated Slugging Percentage (ISO) was just .173 last season, compared to a .213 career average. A healthy spring training does not necessarily mean a better year for those two either, as they are both another year older and another year slower.

The pitching staff isn’t looking much better, either. After losing Joe Blanton and Vance Worley, the Phillies’ once-great rotation is lacking depth. And although it appears Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels are as good as ever, Roy Halladay is showing signs of age. He had a 4.49 ERA in 25 starts last year, and hasn’t looked much better this year.

While there is an outside chance the Phillies make the playoffs, it’s unlikely. They are only a shell of the group that dominated the division a few years ago, and they will only be getting worse from here as their expensive assets become less tradeable with age. Nonetheless, they are probably about on-par with the Mets right now, which will make this series a fun one to watch.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey (2012: 59.1 IP, 141 ERA+, 2.69 K/BB) vs. Roy Halladay (2012: 156.1 IP, 89 ERA+, 3.67 K/BB)

Halladay hasn’t been himself lately, struggling this spring and in his first start, in which he went 3.1 innings, allowing five runs and two home runs. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com talked to a scout about Hallday. Here is some of what he said:

“If you didn’t know it was Roy Halladay out there,” he said, “you would say, ‘This guy looks like a journeyman.'”

A journeyman. For more than a decade, that would have been the last word anyone ever would have attached to a description of Roy Halladay. But now he finds himself a few weeks from his 36th birthday with more than 33,000 pitches on the odometer. And all of a sudden, the same scout said, “he looks like a guy who doesn’t have a whole lot left in his tank.”

“I didn’t see anything alarming,” the scout went on. “Nothing where you’d say he’s doing this or doing that, and that’s what was wrong. I just think he’s thrown a lot of pitches over the years. He’s always kept himself in great shape, so it isn’t that. But you’ve only got so many throws in that arm.”

He may be right: this may be the end for Halladay

Game 2: Dillon Gee (2012: 109.2 IP, 94 ERA+,3.34 K/BB) vs. Cliff Lee (2012: 211 IP, 127 ERA+, 7.39 K/BB)

Lee was horribly unlucky last season. Despite posting a 3.16 ERA and 3.06 xFIP (first in baseball), the Phillies lost most of the games Lee started. His win-loss record from last year is completely misleading. He is still one of the best in the game, walking only 1.219 batters per nine while striking out 8.8. In his last outing, Lee tossed eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out eight.

Game 3: Jeremy Hefner (2012: 93.2 IP, 76 ERA+, 3.44 K/BB) vs. Kyle Kendrick (2012: 159.1 IP, 103 ERA+, 2.37 K/BB)

Kendrick has proven himself to be a solid option at the back of the rotation with an occasional stint as a long man. With a career 4.7 K/9 rate, he doesn’t dominate, but he doesn’t walk too many hitters either, with a 2.61 BB/9 ratio. Kendrick allowed five runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings in his last start against Kansas City.

Series News & Notes

• Carlos Ruiz, who batted .325 with a career-high of 16 home runs is still serving a 25-game suspension for violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy.
• The Mets have hit at least one home run in each of their first six games, the longest such stretch to open a season since New York hit a home run in six straight games to begin the 1987 campaign. That team went on to hit home runs in their first eight games.
• David Wright played his 61st consecutive game without an error yesterday, extending the franchise record for third basemen. Lenny Randle is second on the list with 54 consecutive errorless games.
• In his final start in 2012, Harvey allowed a leadoff home run to Jimmy Rollins on September 19…That was the only hit and run allowed by Harvey over seven innings as he racked up seven strikeouts in a no-decision…the Mets lost, 3-2.

The post Series Preview: Mets Head To Philly After Solid Homestand appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports that the Phillies have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent pitcher Joel Pineiro, according to a major league source. The deal includes an invitation to the Phillies’ big league spring training camp.

Pineiro, 33, went 7-7 with a 5.13 ERA while dealing with shoulder tightness last season which required some time on the disabled list. The Phillies were looking have been looking for some insurance for their starting rotation and Pineiro will give them some depth behind Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton and Vance Worley.

The Washington Nationals announced that they have signed newly-acquired left-hander Gio Gonzalez to a reported five-year, $42 million dollar contract extension. The deal buys out all of Gio’s arbitration years plus one year of free agency and also includes options for 2017 and 2018.

Gonzalez, 26, was acquired from Oakland for top prospects Tommy Milone, Brad Peacock, Derek Norris and A.J. Cole. It was a good move for the Nats considering what they gave up for the promising young lefty. Last season, Gonzalez posted a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts for the A’s, striking out 197 batters in 202 innings.

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