New York Mets

The Braves are in Queens, New York tonight to open up a three-game series against the Mets. Catcher Evan Gattis isn’t starting, but figures to be used as a pinch-hitter late in the game if the Braves are in need of some offense, as the 26-year-old came up with two big home runs recently on… View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – New York Mets News

A source confirms exclusively to Us Weekly that supermodel Anne Vyalitsyna is dating New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey! The pair first met, briefly, at a New York Rangers Game — and the 24-year-old athlete can credit Twitter for helping him land a date.via Anne V Dating Matt Harvey: Supermodel, Mets Player Affectionate in Picture – UsMagazine.com.The post Supermodel Anne V reportedly dating Matt Harvey appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:Must Read: The excellence of Matt Harvey and the misery of the Mets – GrantlandHow Matt Harvey Became the Most Exciting Pitcher in Baseball – Allen Barra – The AtlanticMets’ Matt Harvey seems to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated

@dailystache gets us started at 7:25and old reliable @sclevine sent this around 7:55 and @stuporfly around 8pm The post Fireworks Night Mets Crowd Shots appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:Wednesday night Mets game crowd shotsYour Friday night Mets crowd shotsFriday night Mets crowd shots vs. Phillies

Today, on “As the Ike Turns”… Three Up: 1. 2B Daniel Murphy: Three hits, two runs, two RBI…a nice little game for the new leadoff man. 2. OF Rick Ankiel: Three extra-base hits, including the game-tying RBI triple. 3. RHP Brandon Lyon: A fine relief effort for Lyon, who struck out a pair in his 1-2-3 inning. Three Down: 1. 1B Ike Davis: Is Ike’s offense spilling into his defense? More and more, that seems to be the case. 2. RHP Bobby Parnell: The game-winning rally was not necessarily his fault, but Shin-Soo Choo’s leadoff double certainly did not help. 3. 3B David Wright: A fat 0-for-4 in the middle of the lineup was not what this struggling offense needed. Three Up, Three Down Season Standings: +6 RHP Matt Harvey +5 OF Marlon Byrd, C John Buck +4 2B Daniel Murphy, 3B David Wright +3 INF Justin Turner +2 RHP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Mike Baxter, OF Juan Lagares, LHP Scott Rice +1 LHP Jon Niese, LHP Robert Carson, RHP Jeremy Hefner, RHP Greg Burke, OF Rick Ankiel -1 RHP Collin McHugh, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Bobby Parnell -2 LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Shaun Marcum, OF Jordany Valdespin, C Anthony Recker, SS Ruben Tejada -3 OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis -4 LHP Josh Edgin, RHP Dillon Gee -14 1B Ike Davis Follow me on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.

Memorial Day Tier Sale – Save up to 25% Off Orders Over $99 at Shop.MLB.com! – Ends 5/27/13The post Up to 25pct off orders over $99 at MLB Shop appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:25pct off at MLB Shop (buy Matt Harvey jerseys!)Mets’ Matt Harvey seems to be on the cover of Sports IllustratedAre Mets Marketing Harvey Too Much, Too Soon? | The John Delcos New York Mets Report

In an article by Adam Rubin of ESPN New York Collins talks about the possible options to replace Davis at 1st base. He lists Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda and Justin Turner as clear choices. Regarding the 3 Collins says, “If Ike’s not here, we have several options,” Collins said. “Now have we discussed them? No. Because he’s the first baseman still. But you’ve got Lucas, you’ve got Dan Murphy, you’ve got Justin Turner. We’ve got options. But no one has discussed anything about any replacements yet.” Collins goes on to talk about also the concern of going to Vegas and hitting a few HR’s and thinking your ready to come back up. “Sometimes you send them to a place like Vegas, that confidence will come back in a hurry. I’ve seen some guys go down there and hit the ball pretty good and all of a sudden, ‘Boy, I’m ready now.’ … But in Ike’s case, I don’t want, if something should happen and he goes to Vegas, to look up and have him hit a home run tonight and a home run tomorrow and a home run the next day and all of a sudden say, ‘He’s back.’ I think the process is going to be a little longer than that.” You can read what else Collins has to say here.

In response to a question by Matt Cerrone, Buster Olney of ESPN said the Mets are going to have to start spending and even overpaying if they ever want to be in a position to compete. I think we can look at what the Seattle Mariners are going through, because I think they’re the closest comparison to what the Mets are going through right now. They have a star pitcher who can go out there every five days and dominate any team [in Felix Hernandez], but a real lack of depth among the position players. And how do you convince great players to go there at a time when the team is struggling? For example, take Shin-Soo Choo, who is a free agent this fall. I think the Mets will have to do what the Mariners had had to do, in recent years with position players, and overpay Choo. He’s a terrific player, but they’ll be competing against other teams that are in a better position to win than the Mets. And the way you overcome that, if you’re the Mets, is to spend a lot of money. Is that the right thing to do? I don’t think you want to just spend a lot of money on a lot of different players and not know if it fits, just look at the Dodgers. But, at some point, you do have to have that foundation in place so that you can lure other players, veterans, to want to play for your team. And that’s going to be an important step for the Mets. I’m not sure the Mets will take that important step. I know that they have been pointing to this offseason as the one where they suddenly, and magically, open their wallets and do what is necessary to get them back to the postseason. I see a team that will 3-4 core players that will likely try to fill in the gaps much like they have been with players recovering from injuries or scrapheap signings. I don’t believe that overpaying for any player, good or great, is in their DNA. I’ve said that so many times. Last offseason proved that. Next offseason wont be that different. I’m certain we’ll have plenty of rumors from “team sources” of the Mets being interested in Choo or Carlos Beltran or Jacoby Ellsbury. But in the end, they will come up a day late and a dollar short like they always do. Then it’s on to the next dog and pony show. I’m sorry, but I’m just not buying it.

Starting Lineup Daniel Murphy – 2B Rick Ankiel – CF David Wright – 3B Lucas Duda – LF Marlon Byrd – RF John Buck – C Ike Davis – 1B Ruben Tejada – SS Jeremy Hefner – RHP Game Preview The Mets open up a home series against the Braves tonight at Citi Field where the Mets will look to Wright the ship (I’m writing this at 5:40 AM, I’m allowed a terrible pun, deal with it). Anyway, the Mets find themselves 10 games under .500 after being swept by the Reds this week and its not even June yet. There are two ways to look at that: one with deep depression, the other with optimism that there is plenty of time to turn it around. Anyway Kris Medlen will get the nod for the Braves tonight and square up against Jeremy Hefner. Hefner is 0-5 over 9 games this year, 8 starts while pitching 45.0 innings with a 5.00 ERA. Hefner struggled in his last start allowing 4 ER over 4 innings of work. In the Month of May he’s pitched 16.o innings while allowing 11 ER. He hasn’t faced the Braves yet this season but last year he allowed 6 ER over 6.1 innings of work. The Braves have the following numbers against him: Freeman 2-4, HR McCann 2-4, 2B Medlen 1-3, 2B Uggla 2-3 Heyward 1-3 The Mets will get a crack at Medlen tonight who is 1-5 this season over 9 starts with a 3.02 ERA. In his last four starts he’s pitched 26.1 innings with a 2.73 ERA. In 27.2 innings against the Mets last year he posted an amazing 1.3o ERA while striking out 21 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against him: Davis 4-15, HR Wright 2-16 Murphy 2-14, 2B Tejada 3-13, 2B Duda 1-8 Baxter 2-7 Lets Go Mets!

Mets vs. Braves Series Preview The Mets begin what will be a very tough three-game series against the Braves tonight at Citi Field, weather permitting. The Braves are on fire right now and pulling ahead in the division at 28-18, four and a half games in front of the second-place Nationals. They are 7-3 in their last ten and are one of six teams in the NL (and one of 11 in all of baseball) to have a winning record on the road. They are going to be a tough team to beat. The Atlanta pitching has been what has carried them, but recently, the offense has stepped it up as well. Over their last seven days, the offense is hitting .273/.353/.448, compared to .245/.322/.418 on the season. This is all happening while the Upton brothers are cooling down. B.J. has not been able to hit all season and he is currently batting .155 on the year and Justin has hit just .239 this month with two home runs, after hitting 12 in the month of April. Evan Gattis, of all people, has been their leading home run hitter (along with Dan Uggla)  this month with four. Freddie Freeman has also stepped up, leading the team in hits with 21. While the offense has come and gone, however, the one thing that has remained constant for Atlanta has been their bullpen, which is third in baseball with a 2.79 ERA and tied for first with a 1.14 walk. Despite some injuries to some key pieces, the Braves have kept their strong bullpen, led by Craig Kimbrel, together. Just like the last time these two teams met, this should be a hard-fought battle with some very close games. Pitching Matchups Game 1: Jeremy Hefner, RHP (0-5, 5.00 ERA, 45 IP, 6.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9) vs. Kris Medlen, LHP (1-5, 3.02 ERA, 56.2 IP, 6.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9) Medlen’s win-loss record does not at all tell the story of his season. Despite being 1-5 on the season, he has actually been very good. It was difficult to expect him to match his magical run last season in which he posted a 1.57 ERA in 50 appearances (12 starts). One major concern though is his walk rate, which is uncharacteristically high this season at 3.5 batters per nine innings. That’s unusual for Medlen, who, throughout his minor league career and most of short time in the majors, has walked somewhere around 2.1 to 2.3 per game. Another thing to note is his strikeout rate, which is down almost two full strikeouts per nine innings over last season, and a strikeout and a half below his career average. Medlen career vs. Mets: 15 G, 1.58 ERA, 45.2 IP, 37 K, 12 BB Game 2: Dillon Gee, RHP (2-5, 6.04 ERA, 44.2 IP, 6.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9) vs. Mike Minor, LHP (5-2, 2.78 ERA, 58.1 IP, 7.9 K/9, 1.9 BB/9) Minor, a former top pitching prospect, has had only a so-so career on the mound. The 25 year-old has a career ERA of 4.11 after shooting through the minor leagues out of the University of Vanderbilt. Minor posted a 4.12 ERA last season in 30 starts, his first full season with the Braves. He hasn’t lived up to expectations, but Minor has settled in as a decent fourth or fifth starter. Minor career vs. Mets: 7 G, 5.63 ERA, 38.1 IP, 28 K, 13 BB Game 3: Shaun Marcum, RHP (0-5, 6.59 ERA, 27.1 IP, 6.6 K/9, 2.6 BB/9) vs. Julio Teheran, RHP (3-1, 3.99 ERA, 49.2 IP, 5.4 K/9, 1.6 BB/9) Teheran is trying to ressurrect his status as a future star for the Braves. He is finally getting his first chance at a full-time role this season. He struggled badly last year in Triple-A, unable to strike guys out and finishing with a 5.08 ERA in 26 starts. That terrible year brought him from #4 on Baseball America’s top 100 list to outside the top 30. This year has been better for him in terms of ERA and actual results, but his strikeout rate is down (although so is his walk rate), which is a bit concerning. It’s still too early to tell what the Braves have in Teheran. Teheran career vs. Mets: 2 G, 5.63 ERA, 8 IP, 5K, 4BB Series Notes The Mets have scored three runs or fewer in 12 of their past 16 games. Matt Harvey was upset about the way he pitched in his las

With Ike Davis all, but assured of a trip to Triple-A Las Vegas, the easy part is done. The difficult part will deciding on how to replace him, in body only, at first base. On the current roster, we already discussed some of the options available and they range from moving Lucas Duda from left field to first base, moving Daniel Murphy over to first, or giving Justin Turner significant playing time at first as well. None of those options sound very appealing and each one opens up a new set of problems. Instead, the solution should come from the minors. The simpleton’s choice would be to turn to Zach Lutz. However, he has struggled of late after getting off to a torrid start and is now batting just .271/.354/.421 in 140 at-bats. Only 12 of his 38 hits were for extra-bases. Scarier still, is the 42 strikeouts. How well do you think those metrics will translate at Citi Field? Not very well I can assure you. The smart money would be on Josh Satin. Already the starting first baseman for Las Vegas, he is having a very solid 2013 season, batting .299 with six home runs and 24 RBI. His on-base is at .410 and he boasts a .470 slugging percentage. What I love about Satin and why I feel he would be the ideal choice is this… In 164 at-bats he’s struck out just 37 times, but he has also drawn 30 walks. This is someone who is obviously ready for the next challenge. Additionally, Satin has regularly played first base (198 games) while the position is still relatively new to Lutz who has logged just 42 games at first base in his entire pro career. Back on May 1, I wrote the following about Josh Satin: Satin has always been a great and disciplined hitter and one look at his career .397 on-base in six minor league seasons should have the suits in the front office with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, as would his .466 slugging percentage. I don’t know about you, but I’m growing tired of watching Ike Davis suffocate this offense and have been calling for a reduced role for him since the season began. He’s not suddenly going to magically begin teeing off against lefty pitching as a few lingering fans still believe. That’s a wooden bat he has in his hands, not a magic wand. Ike Davis is nothing more than the long end of a platoon player at best. I’ve said that before and continue to stand on that position. Josh Satin deserves a chance to prove he belongs. He’s paid his dues and has nothing left to prove in the minors. Let’s get this done and right a wrong that has gone on for far too long. Let’s give this kid his well-deserved shot. The worst thing that a team as bad as the Mets could do, is to keep trotting out the same undeserving and underperforming ballplayers while some hidden gems waste away at Triple-A when they should be here instead helping the team score runs. Before that on April 17, in a post entitled, “Time To Promote Josh Satin and Platoon Ike Davis“, I said: Satin has been hitting the ground running from the moment he signed his first professional contract and has posted an.865 OPS during his minor league career with the Mets, and has made the Minor League All Star Team as the starting third baseman, first baseman or second baseman every season since 2009. Wow… I think it’s time to call this and tell it like it is… Ike Davis is nothing more than the long end of a platoon player at best. Enter Josh Satin, who despite the gaudy stats I already posted, is even better against left-handed pitching. He torches southpaws unmercifully like a demon from Hell. Let’s get this done and right a wrong that has gone on for far too long and give Josh Satin his well-deserved shot. The fact that it’s taking this long is a cardinal sin. I was called nuts when I wrote that, but who’s nuts now? Some guy from Bayonne who knows baseball and can see things with his eyes, told me I lost my baseball mind and that Ike was fine and I should shut up about this. Anyway… The choice is pretty clear as to what th