New York Mets

The Texas Rangers put second baseman Ian Kinsler on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday because of bruised ribs. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – New York Mets News

Don’t look now, but your woebegone New York Mets are winners of three of four. They’re hot! My recent advice stands: Find something else to do with your summer, with the possible exception of every fifth day, and let the Christmas carolers be a reminder to check on the team’s financial condition. That, more than anything else, will determine whether you should pay attention in 2014 or wait for new ownership. But the fact that you’re reading this suggests you aren’t any better at taking advice than I am at practicing what I preach, so there we were at 2:20 p.m., a time that will always suggest “Wrigley Field matinee.” Which is a thing to be appreciated even in the worst of seasons. The Mets fell behind early, thanks to Dillon Gee surrendering a titanic shot to opposing pitcher Travis Wood, which seems more pathetic than it was — I’m not familiar with Wood but he looks doggone Hamptonesque up there. They fell behind, but they kept the snowball from turning into an avalanche leaving behind nothing but scattered orange and blue gear and pissy calls to the FAN. David Wright got them within one on a little bloop, they fell back again when Ryan Sweeney homered and thus avoided being called out at third while actually being safe, but in the seventh Juan Lagares got a 2-2 curveball that hung right over the middle of the plate. Wood gazed at the unrecallable pitch in horror for a split-second before Lagares mashed it into the back of the left-field bleachers for his first big-league home run. (Lagares would get the ball back when a bleacher inhabitant heaved it back onto the field, a tradition that’s fine at Wrigley and annoying everywhere else.) An inning later Daniel Murphy — who’d hallooed the Cubs batboy into handing over his teammate’s dinger — golfed a Kyuji Fujikawa fastball to the back of the right-field bleachers for an honest-to-goodness Mets lead, leaving Bobby Parnell to record a spotless ninth and sending the Mets home with a 3-and-4 road trip when 0-and-7 would have surprised none of us. A win in the daytime at Wrigley is always a satisfying thing, but the reason for this post’s title is that the clout that mattered came from Lagares. He’s 24, one of those maybe-prospects whose weaknesses get discussed as much as his strengths. Lagares, it’s generally agreed, shouldn’t be in the big leagues yet — he’s been rushed. Yet when the Mets acquired Rick Ankiel, they compounded the weirdness of that acquisition by keeping Lagares around as half of a platoon instead of sending him back and taking a peek at the barely glimpsed Andrew Brown. Ankiel’s story is one to admire, yes, but all of that was long ago, and what you get now is a soon-to-be 34-year-old outfielder who struck out 35 times in 62 at-bats with the Astros, who decided even they could do better than that. Lagares is raw, but even as he’s struggled you’ve been able to see that sweet swing and the power potential. This is a platoon between “Maybe” and “Why?” — Lagares has a slim to moderate chance to be something, where Ankiel has an excellent chance at making us think more fondly of Jeff Francoeur. Given that the Mets aren’t going anywhere near the playoffs this year, I’d sure rather watch “Maybe” than “Why?” All of our hopes for this club are bets on some future that isn’t slated to arrive until 2014 or 2015 … if it arrives at all. The uncertainty is corrosive and infuriating, but we’re stuck with it. Since we are, it would be a small mercy to see the Mets win or lose with guys who might be a part of that future, instead of worn-out vets whose role in the present is baffling enough.

The strongest argument I believe anyone has is that Collins has failed to change the culture — that there still are too many Mets who feel like they have accomplished something when they haven’t, or that the roster still has no collective idea what it takes to put aside individualism and alibis and prioritize winning on a daily basis. But this might be more of a problem from the top of the hierarchy down than someone in middle management, like Collins, could impact.via Mets’ roster of rubbish makes it impossible to evaluate Collins – NYPOST.com.The post Mets’ roster of rubbish makes it impossible to evaluate Collins – NYPOST.com appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:Terry Watch: Mike Vaccaro: Terry Collins may not be right man for Mets, but problems not his fault – NYPOST.comTerry Watch: Mets have issues, but selfless, patient Collins isn’t one of them – CBSSports.comTerry Watch Watch: Not Right How Mets Are Judging Terry Collins | The John Delcos New York Mets Report

Despite conspiracy theory claims from one of the Mets beat writers, Rafael Montero's stay in Triple-A Las Vegas will be a short one. After Collin McHugh's promotion to the Mets' roster earlier this week, the Las Vegas team needed a starter for Monday. For this turn in the rotation, that will go to Rafael Montero. The 22-year-old right-hander has been a rising star in the Mets' system and has flourished at Double-A Binghamton this season, recording a 3.47 ERA in 46.2 innings while striking out 54 and only walking six. According to Marc Carig of Newsday, Montero will make one start in Las Vegas before heading back to Binghamton. It's unclear who will replace McHugh after Montero gets sent back down. There was some speculation that Montero's stay in Vegas would be longer after Andrew Brown was placed on the disabled list, but that did not turn out to be the case.

It would be great if a Mets series victory over the Chicago Cubs—a team that finished fifth of six teams in the National League Central the past three years and entered play today six games below .500—weren’t a cause for celebration. But the Mets have been even worse than the Cubs this year, and the fact that they pulled out a win in the rubber game of their weekend series was something of a relief. The last time the Mets won a series was in the middle of April, when they surprisingly beat the Nationals in two of three games at Citi Field on a weekend that they faced Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan ZImmermann. They split a pair of two-game "series" between then and now, too, one thanks to inclement weather in Atlanta and the other thanks to Major League Baseball’s quirky schedule. But until today, it had been a month since the Mets beat a team more often than that team had beaten them. As for the game at hand, Dillon Gee looked more like his 2012 self for most of his outing. While he only pitched five-plus innings, Gee struck out six, walked one, and gave up three runs. On top of the good strikeout and walk numbers, his average fastball velocity was on par with last year’s, something that wasn’t happening in the early going this year. On the downside, however, Gee gave up a two-run home run to opposing pitcher Travis Wood in the fifth inning, which marked the first two runs scored by either team in the game. And after David Wright drove in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning to cut the Mets’ deficit in half, Gee gave up a solo home run to Ryan Sweeney to begin the sixth inning before allowing a Nate Schierholtz double and getting the hook. Luckily for the Mets, the bullpen was in tip-top shape this afternoon, starting with Greg Burke, who retired the first three batters he faced, stranding Schierholtz at third base. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Ruben Tejada singled. The left-handed Wood was still on the mound for Chicago, and if there was one thing Juan Lagares showed in the minor leagues that might help the Mets, it was his ability to hit left-handed pitching. He hadn’t hit much at all in limited playing time since he was called up, but Lagares drilled a two-run home run off Wood to tie the game at three. Scott Rice took over for the Mets in the bottom of the inning and pitched the first of his two scoreless frames. Daniel Murphy, who was hitting leadoff today, led off the eight with a solo Blue Collar Blast against Kyuji Fujikawa to put the Mets ahead 4-3. Rice completed his scoreless eighth inning, and the Mets didn’t add any insurance runs against Carlos Marmol in the top of the ninth. But Bobby Parnell, who has very good for a while and excellent this season, struck out two batters in a one-two-three bottom of the ninth to preserve the Mets’ slim lead and notch the series victory. The Mets begin a three-game series against the very good Cincinnati Reds tomorrow at 7:10 pm EDT at Citi Field. Shaun Marcum is slated to start for New York, while Johnny Cueto will start for Cincinnati. SB Nation Coverage * Amazin' Avenue Gamethread * Bleed Cubbie Blue Gamethread Win Probability Added (What's this?) Big winners: Juan Lagares, +34.9% WPA, Scott Rice, +22.5% WPA, Bobby Parnell, +19.4% WPA, Daniel Murphy, +16.2% WPABig losers: Dillon Gee, -15.4% WPA, Justin Turner, -12.1% WPA, Anthony Recker, -11.9% WPA, Ruben Tejada, -10.1% WPATeh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares’s game-tying two-run home run in the seventh, +29.4% WPATeh sux0rest play: Travis Wood’s two-run home run in the fifth, -21.3% WPATotal pitcher WPA: +32.8% WPATotal batter WPA: +17.2% WPAGWRBI!: Daniel Murphy

The Mets today posted a lineup that had Marlon Byrd batting 4th in the order for the 2nd time this season. This comes a day after news that Ike Davis who has been mired in a season long slump said after meeting with Mets GM Sandy Alderson that he probably has a month or whatever to figure things out. Ike during this series vs the Cubs looked like he may have been starting to carry his hitting out to the field as he has not looked sharp with the glove so maybe a day off was best. But the more pressing issue to me is how much longer can the Mets continue to allow Ike to work through his struggles at the major league level while falling further below .500 and what do they do if Ike can’t work himself out? It’s not just Ike Davis also, Lucas Duda is another Met who struggled last year before being sent down and despite getting off to a better start than Ike Davis this season, over his last 20 games he too has struggled. The Mets 4th & 5th slots in the lineup have combined so far this season to post a .581/OPS. They are the only team to post an OPS below .600 with the next closest being the Miami Marlins with a .614/OPS. Click here to view in separate Web Page. The 4th & 5th slots in the Mets batting order combined have produced 12/HR and 40/RBI but keep in mind that 6 of those HR’s and 21 of those RBI’s came from the bat of John Buck who got of to an unexpected torrid start this season. In fact if you looked at the 3 Mets with the most plate appearances combined batting 4th & 5th this season they would be John Buck (96/PA), Ike Davis (92/PA) and Lucas Duda (80/PA). Yet even if you combined Davis & Duda’s HR (5) & RBI (11) totals out of the 4th & 5th slot they still do not surpass what Buck’s HR (6) & RBI (21) totals have been out of the 4th & 5th slot this season. Click here to view in separate Web Page. Which again brings me back to my original question. How much longer can the Mets continue to allow Ike to try and figure things out at the major league level while the team continues to plummet further and further below .500? How much longer do they go with Duda as well? I understand the difficulty with towing the line between a player developing and also trying to win ballgames and going too much to one side at the expense of the other where the Mets are concerned is not an easy thing so are the Mets finding themselves going too much to one side where Davis is concerned? I have seen the arguments made that if Davis is sent down he still will have to show he can hit at the big league level when he comes back up so why not let him just work it out up here and the other argument made is there is no guarantee he will figure it out at AAA as well. Ike in my opinion was expected to be part of the nucleus going forward but maybe it’s time to start to accepting that Ike may just never be what the Mets had hoped. If that is the case I don’t know how the Mets go about replacing him. Do they give Wilmer Flores or Zach Lutz a 1st baseman’s glove? Do they go with Josh Satin instead? Moving Duda to 1st doesn’t seem like a solution either since Duda’s body of work may be coming to a head as well as far as how much longer do the Mets continue to wait on his bat? It seems I am still waiting on the 2011 Duda I saw post Beltran trade and I have to wonder if I will ever see him again. As I finish writing this post the Mets held on to win the rubber game vs the Cubs putting them 7 games below .500. Byrd went 0 for 3 with a walk and 1 LOB out of the 4 slot. Duda went 1 for 4 out of the 5th slot. Neither played a part in any of the Mets runs today. Hopefully Davis made the best of his day off and figures things out A.S.A.P. or risk finding himself figuring things out in Las Vegas.

The New York Mets won the rubber match game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon and capped off the day by promoting one of their top pitching prospects, 22-year-old Rafael Montero, to Triple-A Las Vegas. #bbpBox_336230168853102593 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_336230168853102593 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Rafael Montero promoted to Las Vegas, for what that’s worth. 40 minutes ago via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite @AdamRubinESPN Adam Rubin According to Lynn Worthy, who covers the Double-A Binghamton Mets for the Press & Sun-Bulletin newspaper, the promotion may just be a short term arrangement. #bbpBox_336233841494740992 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_336233841494740992 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Montero’s Las Vegas start looking like a spot start situation. #BMets expect to have him back in their rotation. 26 minutes ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite @PSBLynn Lynn Worthy Montero was 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA for the Binghamton Mets, with 54 strikeouts and just 6 walks in 46 2/3 innings of work. Toss out a horrendous outing on May 1st in which he allowed 7 ER over 6 2/3 innings and his ERA would be a full point lower, making his overall numbers look nearly as dominant as his strikeout total. #bbpBox_334342615359188992 a { text-decoration:none; color:#C4543D; }#bbpBox_334342615359188992 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Mets MiLB: Rafael Montero (4-3, 3.47) leads the Eastern League in strikeouts with 54. He’s allowed just 6 BB’s in 46.2 IP (8 games). @bmets May 14, 2013 12:21 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite @heelsonthefield Jessica Quiroli There’s no doubt that Montero’s been turning heads ever since this Spring but it seems unlikely that this regime would rush any of their prospects and I’d be surprised if they didn’t approach this situation as they have others in the past. #bbpBox_336235043917807616 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_336235043917807616 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } @jedleyq Montero has just 8 starts at Double-A. Harvey has 12. Wheeler had 19. #Mets 21 minutes ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite @PSBLynn Lynn Worthy Photo by Michael G. Baron In any case, it would be exciting to see the youngster get a call up in September as the future of the Mets pitching staff could be in very good shape should he make good on the attention he’s drawn throughout this season.

The Mets won Sunday afternoon after home runs by Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy erased a late deficit, and kept Dillon Gee from picking up a loss he probably didn't really deserve. Gee made it into the sixth inning, and the bullpen was perfect after his departure, helping to seal the win. Coming off his blood clot from 2012, Gee hasn't been great this year, particularly on the road. This is his first game away from New York all season in which he made it out of the fourth inning, and also in which he's given up fewer than four runs. He certainly wasn't spectacular, but he had six strikeouts in five innings while walking only one, which I choose to take as encouraging signs. I also choose to overlook the eight hits, because I can do that. Gee left the game down 3-1, after giving up a home run to opposite number Travis Wood. The very next inning the Mets offense sprung to life, such as it is. With two outs Ruben Tejada hit a single to keep the inning alive, and Lagares followed up immediately with his first career home run, tying the game. After a perfect bottom of the 7th from Scott Rice, Murphy led off the 8th with a go-ahead home run, and the Mets couldn't be caught from there as the bullpen somehow mowed down every Cub batter they faced. Wins are more fun than losses, and hopefully there will be more effectiveness from Gee in future starts (rather than the alternative). And hopefully Scott Rice's arm won't fall off. Game Thread Roll Call Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all. # Commenter # Comments 1 MetsFan4Decades 166 2 The Nameless One 83 3 the caveman 83 4 cstroh8 77 5 Terry_is_God 70 6 nerfan 67 7 Joveoak 55 8 Russ 55 9 KeithsMoustache 45 10 piazza62 42

Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy homered to pick up Dillon Gee, and the bullpen came up with a superb effort with four perfect innings to give the Mets a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs Sunday at Wrigley Field. The victory gave the Mets their first series victory since they beat Washington, April 19-21, at Citi Field. RECORD: 17-24, 4th NL East ON THE MOUND: Dillon Gee gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings for the no-decision. … Scott Rice was superb in relief retiring six straight hitters. … The Mets also received a strong one-out showing from Greg Burke and Bobby Parnell worked the ninth for his sixth save. … The Mets’ bullpen retired 12 straight hitters. AT THE PLATE: Inserted in the leadoff spot, Murphy hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth. … Lagares hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh. He had two hits in the game. … The Mets had six hits in the game and struck out seven times. BY THE NUMBERS: 15-for-29: Murphy’s hot streak. THEY SAID IT: “Everything comes to a head at some point.’’ – GM Sandy Alderson when asked if there was a limit to Ike Davis’ slump after saying sending him so ON DECK: Shaun Marcum is scheduled to open the Mets’ three-game series against Cincinnati, beginning Monday at Citi Field.

#Cubs lineup vs. @mets 5/19: DeJesus CF, Castro SS, Rizzo 1B, Sweeney LF, Schierholtz RF, Valbuena 3B, Castillo C, Barney 2B, Wood P — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 19, 2013 #Mets lineup vs @cubs 5/19: Murphy 2B, Turner 1B, Wright 3B, Byrd RF, Duda LF, Recker C, Tejada SS, Lagares CF, Gee P — TySim19 (@tysim19) May 19, 2013 LOL Daniel Trollphy twitter.com/Meriwyn/status… — Meriwyn Travisano (@Meriwyn) May 19, 2013 Keith’s Harry Carray impersonation starts the broadcast. >>>>> — Mark Ethe (@TooGooden16) May 19, 2013 The @snytv team has either finally gone off the deep end, or they’re still drunk from last night. — Maggie Wiggin (@maggie162) May 19, 2013 New lineup, same results. Mets down quietly in the first. — Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) May 19, 2013 Dan Warthen said Gee made some “mental” adjustments after his last start: “I look for him to have a good ballgame,” Warthen said. — Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) May 19, 2013 Wow, Lagares really Mets-ed up that one. — Maggie Wiggin (@maggie162) May 19, 2013 Ankiel catches that … #JustSaying #Mets — —– Kev © —– (@MrMetKevC) May 19, 2013 that’s a clutch strikeout by gee. i like when pitchers get outs — Jon Presser (@metsjetsnets88) May 19, 2013 Gee is throwing alot of curve ball and change ups early in this game — happy hank (@happyhank86) May 19, 2013 Lucas Duda looks an awful lot like Marlon Byrd…hmmmm #Mets twitter.com/MetsKevin11/st… — MetsKevin11 (@MetsKevin11) May 19, 2013 Literally with the Ump Ass Cam RT @susimjk: Keith and Gary like all the shitty camera angles. — Matthew Falkenbury (@dailystache) May 19, 2013 Byrd batting 4th and gets the walk. Already a HUGE improvement over Davis!#METS — Mets Fan In Therapy™ (@MetsFanInPhilly) May 19, 2013 With all the attention on Ike Davis of late, Lucas Duda has put some good swings on the ball in recent days. Another hard single there. — Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) May 19, 2013 Tejada didn’t pop up. He double played. Um…….progress? #mets — Robert Z (@Rob_Zloto) May 19, 2013 Ruben Tejada isn’t exactly making his case for “shortstop of the future” this season. #Mets — Rich MacLeod (@richmacleod) May 19, 2013 It’s insane to me that Anthony Recker, who is a stocky 6’2″/240, has 3 career HR. And Jose Altuve (5’5″/175) has 11. That’s baseball. — Gabriel De León (@gabe_deleon) May 19, 2013 “It just looks like the Mets are playing the Mets.” – Cecelia. I know she means the uniforms, but that shit is deep, man. — Katye McCarthy (@myfriendkatye) May 19, 2013 Ummmm Scott Atchison…RT @eddieadlmets: There is no one alive that remembers the Cubs winning the WS — Scott (@Pilam76) May 19, 2013 Gee looks pretty good through 2 innings. Pitch count is the problem. — Joe(@JoePo_) May 19, 2013 Gee finding his spots. #Mets — Ira Lieman (@dances_w_vowels) May 19, 2013 Somewhere, 2 guys are discussing their fantasy team and saying, “…Oh Gee, I’ve got Wood.” — Daria White (@Jetmet702) May 19, 2013 New York Metrollpolitans — Steve Smistermet (@_mistermet) May 19, 2013 The #Cubs have Wood and the #Mets are flaccid. — Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) May 19, 2013 base maintenance delay! — Jon Presser (@metsjetsnets88) May 19, 2013 Duct tape the base? That’s a new one. Not even the #Mets have those problems. — Super Nick™ (@Super_Nick_) May 19, 2013 Hey Keith, don’t worry about other ppl’s facial hair and GO BACK THE STACHE #Tears — Matthew Falkenbury (@dailystache) May 19, 2013 Insanity? RT @marccarig: Amazing to think that you can try to accomplish something every year for 104 years without ever having achieved it. — Ellie S. (@NieuwenMets) May 19, 2013 The #METS offense makes me sleepy. zzzzzzzzzzz — Mets Fan In Therapy™ (@MetsFanInPhilly) May 19, 2013 Byrd to Ruben to David. Beautiful. (E