Tag Archives: Cardinals

Mar 08

Mets’ Top Five Questions As Opening Day Looms

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Opening Day is three weeks from today and there’s more than a foot of snow outside my door. The Mets lost today and now are 5-9 this spring. Today the Nationals lit up Jeurys Familia for five runs.

Results and stats don’t matter in spring training. It’s about getting ready for the season and right now Mickey Callaway’s team isn’t ready. Far from it.

Callaway and GM Sandy Alderson have a boatload of questions that must be addressed before the Cardinals get to town.

The following are the top five:

  1. What is the rotation?

A: There are four givens – Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Jason Vargas – with Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo competing for the fifth spot.

  1. What is the make-up of the front end of the bullpen?

A: Familia, AJ Ramos, Anthony Swarzak and Jerry Blevins are the givens at the back end.  If Gsellman and Lugo don’t start, one of them could end up in the pen. So might Rafael Montero, who is out of options. Jamie Callahan, Paul Sewald, Jacob Rhame and Hansel Robles will compete for the final spot or two.

  1. Who is the leadoff hitter?

A: Brandon Nimmo is the best bet because of his on-base percentage. But, will the Mets commit to him in center field until Michael Conforto returns or will they go with a platoon of Nimmo and Juan Lagares until then? Amed Rosario has the speed, but a poor on-base percentage. It could end up being Asdrubal Cabrera, who has a passable on-base percentage and can add some pop.

  1. Is there a healthy first baseman?

A: Adrian Gonzalez has a bad back and Dominic Smith has a bum leg. Other than me, nobody ever mentions Wilmer Flores, who is destined never to get a fair shake with the Mets.

  1. How healthy is Yoenis Cespedes?

A: He played only 81 games last year with a quad injury and is having a slow spring. If the Mets are to be competitive, they need a big year from Cespedes.

 

Jan 04

Imagine Being A Marlins’ Fan

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If you’re a Mets fan, and the assumption is you are, then you have to be grateful to Miami, because as stagnant as Wilpon’s team has been, the Marlins simply don’t care. Derek Jeter, one of baseball’s greatest frauds, is the face for the Marlins’ latest ownership group bent on stripping whatever competitiveness is left of the franchise.

The Marlins, reeling after the death of ace Jose Fernandez, were realistically a pitcher or two of being a contender for a wild card. Two starters could have made it a possibility.

Well, after trading Dee Gordon to Seattle, and Giancarlo Stanton the Yankees for a song, and then Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals for a whistle, the Marlins can be regarded possibly as worse than the Mets.

That would be assured if Jeter is successful in trading outfielder Christian Yelich, catcher J.T. Realmuto and infielder Martin Prado. Compounding matters for the Mets is the contenders to land these players are the Nationals, Braves and Phillies.

Reportedly, Jeter told MLB in the screening process he had no intention of stripping the Marlins. Whether he did or not is open for debate, but his actions speak otherwise.

The Marlins’ ownership groups have always been a mess, and it goes before Jeter. Have you forgotten the Marlins gutted their franchise after winning the World Series in 1997 and 2003?

This time Jeter didn’t even wait until a parade. He has scuttled the Marlins. So, if you think things are bad with the Mets, imagine being a Marlins fan.

Nov 20

Mets Release Partial Spring Training Schedule

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The Mets released a partial spring training schedule this afternoon with 12 dates still to be filled in. This spring the Mets at a home-and-home with the Yankees, and so far four games against the champion Astros. The schedule also features games against the Braves, Cardinals and Nationals.

Feb. 23 Braves at PSL

Feb. 24 Cardinals at PSL

Feb. 25 Marlins at PSL

Feb. 26 Astros at West Palm Beach

Feb. 27 TBA

Feb. 28 Braves at Disney

Mar. 1  TBA

Mar. 2  Nationals at PSL

Mar. 2  Astros at West Palm Beach

Mar. 3  Marlins at Jupiter

Mar. 4  TBA

Mar. 5  TBA

Mar. 6 TBA

Mar. 7  Yankees at PSL

Mar. 8  Nationals at West Palm Beach

Mar. 9   Tigers at Lakeland

Mar. 10 Yankees at Tampa

Mar. 11 Astros at PSL

Mar. 12 TBA

Mar. 13 Nationals at West Palm Beach

Mar. 14  Marlins at Jupiter

Mar. 15 Marlins at PSL

Mar. 16 TBA

Mar. 17 Nationals at West Palm Beach

Mar. 18 Orioles at Sarasota

Mar. 19 Astros at West Palm Beach

Mar. 20 Cardinals at Jupiter

Mar. 21 TBA

Mar. 22 Nationals at PSL

Mar. 23 Cardinals at PSL

Mar. 24 Cardinals at Jupiter

Mar. 25 TBA

Mar. 26 TBA

Mar. 27 TBA

Mar. 28 TBA

Mar. 29 REGULAR SEASON STARTS

Jul 19

Mets Wrap: DeGrom Shows Why Teams Want Him

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One can certainly see why the Houston Astros, or any other team for that matter, would be interested in Jacob deGrom. The Mets’ ace struggled with his mechanics early, but settled down to do what aces do, which is carry their team.

Manager Terry Collins said deGrom was flying open and rushing his delivery during a 25-pitch first inning.

DE GROM: Ace. (AP)

DE GROM: Ace. (AP)

“He was very uncomfortable in the first inning,’’ Collins said. “He is who he is and late in the game he was still in there.’’

DeGrom said after the first inning he was more tuned into pitching to contact to preserve his pitch count.

“I noticed early on that I didn’t have my best stuff,’’ deGrom said. “I felt fine physically, but I didn’t have a good feel. I felt like I was rushing things.’’

With their season slipping away, deGrom picked up the Mets and willed them to a 7-3 victory over the Cardinals. In doing so, he won his seventh straight game. And, it not an appeal of a foul tip had gone against the Mets, deGrom would have pitched his seventh straight game of at least seven innings.

As the trade deadline rapidly approaches, there have been reports of the Astros’ interest. GM Sandy Alderson didn’t exactly call deGrom an “untouchable,’’ but did say he would have to be blown away.

As well as he should be.

DeGrom hears the rumors.

“I guess it is a good thing if people want you, but my job is to win here,’’ he said.

DeGrom gave up one run in 6.2 innings in breaking the Mets’ three-game losing streak, one that put them 15 games behind Washington at the start of the game. Just imagine where the Mets would be without deGrom, now 11-3 with a 3.37 ERA.

DeGrom has certainly been sharper, but what makes him so special is what he did tonight without his best stuff. He struck out only three, but more importantly walked only one while giving up seven hits.

“We knew when he first got here that he was going to be special,’’ said Collins.

So, if the Mets want to trade deGrom, I’m all for it – in nine or ten years.

HOW TRADE CHIPS FARED: Addison Reed converted his 16th save opportunity in 18 chances. … Lefty specialist Jerry Blevins gave up two hits and a walk with the three hitters he faced. … Jay Bruce had a hit in five at-bats. … Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits and Jose Reyes had two hits. … Lucas Duda doubled in a run.

CESPEDES HAS GOOD NIGHT: Yoenis Cespedes showed breakout signs with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored after flipping with Bruce in the order; Bruce moving up to third and Cespedes hitting cleanup.

 

Jul 18

Mets Wrap: Wheeler Unravels In Loss; Gets No Help From Pen

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Sometimes too much is made of baseball’s specialized statistics, but one of them speaks volumes of the Mets’ Zack Wheeler. It all fell apart for Wheeler in the Cardinals’ six-run sixth inning, which raised his ERA for that particular inning this year to a lofty 13.50.

WHEELER: Sixth inning blues. (AP)

WHEELER: Sixth inning blues. (AP)

Outside of injuries that sidelined him for the past two years, what has primarily prevented Wheeler from reaching stardom has been high pitch counts, often culminating into hitting a wall in the sixth inning.

Such was the case again tonight, as Wheeler cruised through four innings, but things began to unravel in the fifth, and he completely lost it in the sixth, highlighted by a two-run homer by Paul DeJong and a RBI double by pitcher Adam Wainwright.

As puzzling as Wheeler has been was manager Terry Collins’ decision to send him out for the sixth inning, considering he walked the bases loaded in the fifth.

“He certainly didn’t look tired or like he was laboring,’’ Collins said.

Wheeler said he lost the feel for his curveball and it wasn’t spinning out of his hand the way it should.

Asdrubal Cabrera robbed Jedd Gyorko of a two-run single to get out of the inning. Instead of being grateful, Collins pushed the envelope with Wheeler in the sixth.

Collins not only made a mistake in trusting Wheeler, but compounded it by keeping him in after DeJong’s homer, and doubled down on that mistake by bringing in Hansel Robles, who promptly gave up a three-run to Tommy Phan.

“It was my fault,’’ said Wheeler, who was stand-up and refused to throw his bullpen under the bus. “I should have made my pitches and gotten out of it.’’

Wheeler gave up four runs on seven hits and four walks in 5.1 innings and has gone eight straight starts without a victory.

So, after routing Colorado in the first two games coming out of the All-Star break, Mets’ pitchers Steven Matz and Wheeler were routed themselves.

“You can’t go on a run if you don’t get consistent pitching,’’ said Collins, stating the obvious.

Meanwhile, prior to the game, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey played catch on flat ground. Both were pleased, but it was only catch.

Of course, what Collins couldn’t say is he stuck with Wheeler and went to Robles because GM Sandy Alderson gave him no other alternative.