New York Mets

“Hefner is the Anti-Harvey.” I caught that in Adam Rubin’s Morning Briefing today on ESPN New York. I guess if you go by their won-loss records you could certainly make that claim, but it’s not that simple. With all the latest reports now confirming what we’ve all been waiting for since Carlos Beltran was shipped off almost two years ago, the question now is: If Zack Wheeler is in, then who’s out? Obviously, Jon Niese is safe so the choice will come down to either Jeremy Hefner (5.00 ERA), Dillon Gee (6.04 ERA) and Shaun Marcum (6.59 ERA). The early consensus has the one with the lowest ERA as the odd man out, Hefner’s 0-5 record I’m sure will weigh heavily in the decision, but he also has a lot less experience than the other two and we all know how Terry loves his veterans… Right, Ike? Jared Diamond of The Journal calls Hefner “unlucky,” and to a point he’s right. “Jeremy Hefner pitches for the Mets on Friday,” he writes. “Therefore, the Mets probably won’t win. “Baseball isn’t always fair, especially when you play for the Mets. All eight of Hefner’s starts this season have ended in a Mets loss, putting him in an unfortunate and lonely club: He is the only regular starter in the majors whose team has lost all of his starts.” Honestly, Hefner hasn’t been nearly as bad as his record would indicate, and as Diamond points out, after a tough first couple of games his ERA has been just a tick above league average which is exactly what one would expect or hope for from their fifth starter. The right-hander has has a 4.06 ERA over his last five starts, while the National League average comes in at 3.77. The Mets’ offense hasn’t exactly had Hefner’s back whenever he takes the mound, averaging about three runs a game whenever he pitches. He could just as easily be 3-2 instead of 0-5 when you examine a few of his last five starts, especially his April 30 start when he took a shutout into the ninth inning against the Marlins. In his start before that, he tossed seven solid innings against the Dodgers and allowed just one run. Of course the Mets lost both of those superbly pitched games. I do agree with the majority opinion and that Hefner will indeed be the one that Wheeler ultimately replaces, but it might not be a bad thing either for Hefner or even the Mets. Hefner seems to have trouble once the opposition gets that third look at him as do most pitchers. The problem with Hefner is that he doesn’t have those plus-pitches that could help him navigate through a lineup late in games. He doesn’t possess any electric stuff and eventually the other guys can figure him out. That’s a problem for a starting pitcher, but not so much for a long reliever. Hefner could be what the Mets have lacked ever since Darren Oliver bolted for the Angels after the 2006 season. Zack Wheeler may not spell the end for Jeremy Hefner, but it might mark the beginning of something new and possibly better.

Batter up! Join the MLB and NYRR in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for the All-Star 5K & Fun Run Benefiting Sandy Relief, presented by Nike. This event features a fast 5K (3.1-mile) race, a 1.5-mile fun run, and All-Star festivities. It’s the perfect start to a summer weekend for the whole family! MLB will contribute 100% of the race’s net proceeds to Sandy relief. Want to run for charity and have a chance to win big? Build your team—the top fundraisers, and the race winners, will receive exclusive MLB prizes!This can’t-miss All-Star experience will feature mascots, celebrities, and baseball legends. Registrants will receive an exclusive All-Star 5K & Fun Run T-shirt for both adult and children participants.Don’t miss the game’s best sluggers take the stage at the Home Run Derby, July 15 at 8:00pm on ESPN. Watch the 2013 MLB All-Star Game July 16 on FOX at 8:00 pm to see baseball’s biggest stars decide home-field advantage for the World Series. Go to AllStarGame.com to learn more.via All-Star 5K & Fun Run Benefiting Sandy Relief | NYRR.The post All-Star 5K & Fun Run Benefiting Sandy Relief | NYRR appeared first on The Mets Police.Related posts:The Crazy Mets Fan: Mets & David Wright Launch The Wright Thing Community Program To Honor Sandy Relief VolunteersTranscript Of Sandy Alderson’s Conference Call With Mets Bloggers — February 27, 2013 – Amazin’ AvenueMETS TO HONOR HURRICANE SANDY HEROES OPENING DAY

When the Mets drafted University of Baylor Left Handed Pitcher David Mark “Dav” Sorado in the 2010 MLB Draft, I really had high hopes for him. Despite the fact that he was only a 30th round pick, I thought he was the perfect big, durable lefty to pair with Niese in the rotation. His stats and scouting reports out of Baylor reminded me of a young Clayton Kershaw. Two lefties in the rotation sounded like a recipe for success to me. I was furious when the Mets tried to turn Sorado into a closer. It was a waste of his high ceiling and talent level. But, when he won 2011 Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year, I was finally alright with the path the Mets were taking with Dav. It was only a matter of time that he would be locking down the ninth in Queens. Then the shocker came. On June 4th, 2012, the Mets released Dav Sorado. Why on earth would the Mets outright release one of their best sleeper prospects, just to let a team like the Dodgers scoop him up for nothing? The hearts of Mets fan sunk, as the team once again let a future superstar slip through the cracks. It stung even more that Sorado had so much success with the Dodgers. He made his MLB debut on July 4th of 2012 and he was dominant against the Diamondbacks as he went 5.1 innings allowing four hits, one run, no walks, and striking out 11 in a losing effort. He was so impressive in both L.A. and after the Dodgers sent him back to AAA-Buffalo that the Marlins demanded he would be part of the package centered around Nathan Eovaldi that sent Hanley Ramirez to LA. Now Sorado is back to starting with the Marlins, and he has pitched very well for them so far. He even got the win against the very team that drafted him on August 25th last year when he went six innings, allowing five hits, one walk, two runs, and struck out nine. What sucks is that the Mets’ Scouting Department found this guy as a hidden gem, but instead of taking advantage of his talent, they let someone else utilize his unique ability. How nice would it be to have Sorado in our rotation right now with Harvey, plus Wheeler and Montero on the way? At this point, you are probably wondering, “I never heard of this guy before, just who in the hell is Dav Sorado????”. Well you are in good company, because many members of #MetsTwitter were asking themselves the same question late last night. After our own Matthew Falkenbury aka @dailystache discovered this Wikipedia page detailing the career of unknown southpaw David Mark Sorado, much of #MetsTwitter actually thought Sorado was for real, including myself for a brief moment. You know, except for the part where none of his story either makes sense, or is not stolen from the Wikipedia page of current LA Dodgers pitcher Shawn Tolleson. Sorado’s page is just realistic enough to buy it for a quick second. Whoever created this  page did add in some allusions to actual Mets history, which makes this elaborate prank even more hysterical. Take a look at the pitching line for Sorado’s MLB debut. It might just remind you of a familiar ace from New London, CT. Whoever took the time to create this Wiki page (created on May 15th, discovered yesterday) is a pretty good troll. But let’s be honest here: If Dav Sorado was real, then maybe Scott Rice’s arm would be saved. The post The Mystery of David Mark “Dav” Sorado appeared first on The Daily Stache.

Early in the spring we did a post mortem of the 2012 Mets’ second half in an attempt to discover the ugly specifics of last year’s second half swoon. What we found was interesting in that the culprit was not the offensive approach per se, but rather the downward spiral was precipitated by some hideous pitching performances by both our starters and bullpen alike. At the time of the analysis we’d just come off a series victory against the San Diego Padres and there was some dissent stirred up by my optimistic tone when I noted that the Padre offense wasn’t half bad last year (they were in fact arguably comparable to Cincinnati’s). As we’ve reached a point in the year where where sample size is sufficient in predicting broader outcomes things don’t look quite as peachy, but it’s nevertheless a good time to take account of where this Mets team stands in terms of their plate discipline. The good news is we may not have to worry about a second half collapse this year — you all know that nasty little cloud of dread that appears above even the most optimistic Met fan around mid-season. The bad news is the collapse may have come early given a team that appears to be playing worse than many of us predicted, if that’s possible. The bias dating back to last year among our fine announcers (especially Ojeda and Hernandez) has centered on blaming the lineup’s difficulties on a perceived tendency towards passivity. They take too many early pitches down the middle and strike out on balls outside the zone. Its hard to argue with this criticism because  on any given night you can watch a game and see this with your own eyes, but looks can be deceiving. When you crunch the numbers the first sore thumb that throbs out at you conspicuously from this bruised and painful numerical array is BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play). Rock bottom, second to last is where the Mets currently abide at .271, with only the Marlins a few notches lower. So really, when you consider the Marlins are, well, the Marlins, you could argue the Mets have the worst BABIP in baseball. The Mets are still walking at a somewhat reasonable 8.5% rate which ranks 11th in the league, but they are striking out on 22.6% of their at bats, which is 4th worst (oddly enough the Braves and Nationals actually strike out more — but so do the Astros). The Mets are also third to last in batting average at .227. OBP has tanked as well at .297, 4th worst in the game. What’s odd is that the Mets went from a 9.6 walk rate and a 19.7% K rate in March and April to a 6.9% walk rate and a 24% K rate in May.  Again, the numbers seem to show that in spite of appearances, the Mets offensive malaise (the Mets currently rank 24th in runs) is not the result of a proclivity towards being more selective but rather a consequence of having abandoned the approach. Have the Mets been seeing more pitches in the strike zone in May than they did in March and April? Lets take a look at a chart with a comprehensive array of plate discipline metrics. The first column in each row is March/April the second is May, the Y axis is percent, the X is the metric itself. Glossary: 0 swing – swings outside the zone, z swing – swings in the zone, swing – total swing %, o cont – contact outside the zone, z cont – contact in the zone, zone – total % contact, F strike – first pitch strike %, SwStrike –  swinging strike % The quick answer to whether or not the Mets are seeing more strikes is no, the Mets have not seen more pitches in the strike zone than what you might expect. They were about league average in that regard for the month of May. For March and April on the other hand, 47% of pitches they saw were in the zone, fourth highest in Baseball. So for May they are actually seeing fewer pitches in the strike zone. We can determine two distinct trends in the chart above (I debated whether to actually make two charts but for

A Sand Gnat player got promoted yesterday, and it wasn't the red-hot Kevin Plawecki. When Hansel Robles hit the DL, Rainy Lara was sent to Florida to take his spot on the roster. The Post looked at what the Mets have for options to potentially replace Ike Davis at first base. It's a slow enough news day that I'm linking to The Post. Up next for the Mets will be the division leading Braves, with game one featuring Jeremy Hefner and a hobbit. Yesterday at AA There wasn't a whole lot going on at AA yesterday either, but this date in Mets history took a look back at the debut of Mike Piazza. Around Baseball There were only five games on the major league schedule last night, and none of the five were in the NL East. There was only one game involving NL opponents, ad that one saw the Pirates beat the Cubs by a 4-2 score. Terry Francona returned to Boston last night, and it went far better for his current team than his former one. The Indians ended up beating the Red Sox by a 12-3 score. A few of the guys at Bullpen Banter had a discussion about who they would take with the top overall pick in the upcoming draft. Speaking of the draft, Minor League Ball took a look at the top performing pitchers from the 2012 MlB draft. It looks like the idea of forcing Jesus Montero to catch is going to be abandoned in Seattle. For whatever it's worth, Francisco Pena managed to stick behind the plate. The Rangers released Derek Lowe yesterday. If Omar was still in charge he'd almost certainly have secured a 25-man roster spot with the Mets by now.

We’ve got something special going on this morning! John Bernhardt, one of our esteemed writers at MetsMinors.Net, co-hosts a radio show called “Tip Off” every Friday morning at 8:00 AM. John comments on the site under the moniker “B-Mets Fan” and always provides great insight – and you might also know him for his excellent work charting some of our pitching prospects in AA. His guest this week is none other than myself! That’s right, I’m jumping on the show to talk about the world of blogging, my own life, and most importantly – Mets Minors! You can tune in through many avenues to check out what looks to be a fun exchange between John, his co-host Dawg, and myself. I’ll be on from 8:15 – 9:00 AM for you early birds out there who want to give it a listen. You can stream the show live by going here or here. John recommends the second link. For those of you who want to catch it later on in the day, you can use a free service on this website to have it recorded and sent to your email for your listening convenience. And for those of you in the Binghamton area, you can tune in to 91.3 FM WIOX Radio. I can’t wait!

The 2013 Dominican Summer League is starting on June 1st and the Mets have two teams there, as well as players that they have signed or might sign working out there. The reason that the Mets have two teams in the Dominican Summer League is that the second team is a replacement for their once Venezuelan League team. It was disbanded in favor of the second DSL team as tensions and violence grew in Venezuela. In mid-July of 2008, when I was 18 years old, I was sent to get a look at the new Dominican Complex that the Mets had built in Boca Chica. After volunteering in a micro-credit foundation called Esperanza International, I had lived in several places in the Dominican Republic such as Quisqueya, a little village near San Pedro De Macrois for a week, a weekend in Santo Dominigo, and another week in Puerto Plata, before heading to the Academy. It had not achieved its inauguration until the day I was leaving the facility, but I had lived there among the players and coaches, and found myself immersed in Dominican Baseball. This new complex, located in Boca Chica, stood tall among the trees, with beauty throughout. It had modern design, with glass-panes covering their center where the players would relax on their free time. It was state-of-the-art – it had TV’s with cable and many table games in the center. It also had its own locker room and a very large gym. There were 2 fields and one still being developed at the time. The main field where players would go was modeled after the dimensions of Citi Field, and the second field had its own, larger dimensions. The third field was being developed still at the time, and only had an infield to practice on. I hung around with players from the Academy, and new signees such as Aderlin Rodriguez, and scouts such as Ismael Cruz. On some road games, I accompanied the players to games in other complexes on their buses. On other days, I sat and watched players work out as Cruz and other scouts watched from the bird’s nest that had been built to watch over all of the fields. We would sit and watch the tryouts of these players, watch the guns, and test players for speed. I learned a few important lessons about scouting Dominican players. I learned about timing and approach, as well as the slide-step delivery. I also learned the difficult nature of scouting the players, such as age. I watched an 18-year-old hit 91 MPH on the gun and pointed it out to Ismael. He told me that his age might be wrong. That knowledge has been reflected in the recent discoveries about age falsifications surrounding some players. Lying about their age affects their signing bonus, and if they can hit 90 MPH at 16-18 years of age, it’s a bigger bonus. I stayed at the Dominican Complex for a couple of weeks back in 2008 and have fond memories of my experience there that I would like to share. I also did some digging around the organization and  recently interviewed a front office official that has experience working at the complex. This official. who prefers to remain nameless, gave me some information as part of a look-in to the operations of the Dominican Complex. During my interview, I asked him a few questions about operations down there, including schedules, what amateur level they can be compared to, and a few other things. This interview took place on May 10th.  Enjoy! Are people already there at the Dominican academy? Yes, there are people there. We’ve had players work out there since Mid-April. We actually had some exhibition games yesterday. We have players here that we have signed that are getting work in for the season. We want to make sure to get in as much work as possible. Can you compare them to any kind of league, high school or college? Well, yes, probably college, but the developmental times are different between them. College guys are a bit more polished than these guys at this point. Honestly, the experience levels are different between these two levels, it’s like apples and oranges. What happens o

*All results from games played on Thursday, May 23rd, 2013* AAA - Las Vegas 51s (21-24)__________________________________ LAS VEGAS 0, IOWA 4 (Box) The 51s faced off against the Iowa Cubs in Iowa on Thursday afternoon, with a glorious first pitch time of 1:05 PM EST. It seems ours is a nocturnal bunch, as Vegas was unable to plate any runs in losing 4-0. If you're looking for a bright spot, look no further than Wilmer Flores, who had two singles in four trips. Flores's ability to control the plate, combined with his young age for the level, should excite us all. Matt We-Have-To-Go-Back Fox -- signed out of independent ball -- was pretty mediocre, allowing three runs in five innings. CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 0-4, K; (.198/.303/.349) LF Collin Cowgill: 0-4, 2 K; (.219/.306/.406) 1B Josh Satin: 1-4; (.299/.410/.470) 2B Wilmer Flores: 2-4, K; (.271/.323/.441) 3B Eric Campbell: 1-3, BB; (.309/.412/.519) C Francisco Pena: 0-4, 2 K; (.214/.267/.643) SS Brandon Hicks: 2-3, 2B, K; (.188/.188.250) RH Matt Fox: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; (10 IP, 13 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 3 HR) AA - Binghamton Mets (26-21)_____________________________________ BINGHAMTON 0, NEW BRITAIN 1 (Box) No offense to be found here. Mark Cohoon and Logan Darnell matched zeroes until the fifth, when Cohoon blinked first and allowed a solo home run to Daniel Ortiz. Despite the dinger, this was by far the best outing of the season for Cohoon, who went 8 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 7 K for the complete game loss. The B-Met bats couldn't generate anything against Darnell, getting shut out for the fourth time this season. Cesar Puello had a single and was hit by a pitch, a skill that seems repeatable enough that it could possibly make up for his below average walk rate. RF Cesar Puello: 1-3, HBP, SB (10); (.304/.369/.519) LF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, K; (.300/.385/.469) CF Darrell Ceciliani: 0-4, 2 K; (.247/.310/.351) 1B Allan Dykstra: 0-4, 3 K; (.284/.430/.457) SS Wilfredo Tovar: 0-4; (.237/.280/.263) LHP Mark Cohoon: 8 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 7 K; (33 IP, 41 H, 12 ER, 10 BB, 34 K, 2 HR) Hi-A - St. Lucie Mets (26-19)________________________________________ ST. LUCIE 8, DUNEDIN 5 (Box) St. Lucie came out of the gates swinging when Aderlin Rodriguez smacked a first inning three-run homer. Dunedin was able to chip away over the next seven innings to briefly take a 4-3 lead before the Mets broke it open in 8th with five runs. A rehabbing Jenrry Mejia started off shaky, allowing five hits -- including three doubles -- and a walk in the first two innings. He settled down after that, striking out six of the next nine batters he faced, which is nice. I refuse to get excited about Mejia. I'm taking the under on a career WAR of 3. 2B T.J. Rivera: 1-5, R, K; (.292/.355/.360) SS Matt Reynolds: 1-5, R, K; (.244/.319/.357) LF Dustin Lawley: 1-4, 2 R, BB, 2 K; (.240/.295/.514) 1B Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR, K; (.251/.279/.480) DH Travis Taijeron: 2-3, RBI; (.277/.384/480) C Cam Maron: 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, K; (.210/.280/.301) RHP Jenrry Mejia: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 8 K; (8 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 14 K) Lo-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (26-19)__________________________________ CHARLESTON 1, SAVANNAH 3 (Box) Jayce Boyd drove in two runs on a fourth inning double and that was all Robert Gsellman needed as the Sand Gnats beat Charleston 3-1. Gsellman allowed a first inning run but settled down after that, allowing just one hit over the next six innings. Kevin Plawecki's lone hit was -- what else -- a double. He has 19 doubles already. I'm sure a promotion can't be too far off. Speaking of which: ROSTER ALERT: Rainy Lara was promoted to Hi-A St. Lucie yesterday. Lara had struck out 25.9% of the batters he'd faced and walked just 3.1% over 50.2 innings. His 1.42 ERA is second best in the South Atlantic League, and the only reason he's not first is because

Runs were hard to come by on the farm last night, except for one team that managed to break out the bats for a couple innings.  Let’s have a look: Iowa 4, Las Vegas 0 Matt Fox was decent, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings, but he didn’t get much support from the Vegas offense, which was held scoreless.  Wilmer Flores was 2 for 4.  Brandon Hicks was 2 for 3 with a double. New Britain 1, Binghamton 0 Mark Cohoon pitched all 8 innings, striking out 7 and allowing 6 hits, but he gave up a solo homer to lead off the 5th inning, and that was the only run of the game.  Richard Lucas was 2 for 4 with a double, but the B-Mets had just 6 hits and a walk the entire game. St. Lucie 8, Dunedin 5 The Lucies put up a 3-spot in the 1st inning and then scored 5 more in the 8th to take the lead.  Jenrry Mejia made his second start for St. Lucie, lasting 5 innings and allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts.  Robbie Shields and Cam Maron both had 2 hits, including a double.  Aderlin Rodriguez was 2 for 5 with his 9th homerun of the season and 4 RBI’s.  Travis Taijeron also had 2 hits. Savannah 3, Augusta 1 Robert Gsellman had another nice outing, giving up 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings, with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.  Paul Sewald and Bret Mitchell each threw a scoreless inning.  Jayce Boyd was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI’s.  Yucary De La Cruz and Kevin Plawecki both doubled as well.

Matt Harvey is still undefeated ... in two sports. Harvey, as you know ... and partially thanks to Rick Ankiel's triple on Wednesday, is 5-0 in 2013. Also, he's 7-0 in the stands as a fan of the New York Rangers, with no game being more important than the one the Rangers played on Thursday, a 4-3 overtime victory which saved their season for at least two more days. If played right, Harvey can save two franchises. The one he plays for, and the one he roots for. Hey, if you believe in superstition like most pro athletes do on some level, you have to find a way to get Harvey to Boston for Game 5. He can get his throwing in on the Amtrak. Then for Game 6, which would be on Monday at the Garden, adjust the rotation a bit. Give Harvey some extra rest and pitch him Tuesday. You saw what happened the last time Harvey pitched with extra rest. Then Game 7 on Wednesday. It's for the greater good, Sandy Alderson. This man has the gift, and if played right he could save two franchises! Well, he could save three franchises, if you believe the graphic that FOX Kansas City had up during the Royals game on Thursday: Yup. Little known fact: "Matt Harvey" is just the name he used to obtain his visa. But if they think Matt Jones is good, wait until the rest of the Mets minor league system hits the majors: Zack Underwood, Noah Doty, and Vyacheslav D'Arnaud.