IGT 4/21 Mets vs Nats Flubber Game

[Edgy MD]

Man, that was pretty shaky-feeling for a four-hit shutout.

[Zvon]

YEEEHAAA!

[Gwreck]

Books!

Nice series win.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

A 20% better bullpen, and it would have been a nice series sweep... alas.

It's always nice when someone doesn't have a cray-cray, mindblowing, Sportscenter-leading major-league debut against us. Y'know, for a change. Also, an unexpectedly... well... okay start for Gee. (Perhaps JCL can find it in his heart to make Gee ThisYear'sDickey, magical-invective-wise?)

One thing... play the shift, don't play the shift... but if you're going to do it, don't your pitcher on-board, busting the guy middle-in and refraining from, say, backdoor breaking stuff that begs to be poked into left field?

[Frayed Knot]

Gwreck wrote: Nice series win.

Yup!
Only won four all season against these chumps last year so we're already half way there.
Also considering that the pitching match-ups seemed against us in all three games (even if only by prior reputation in Game 1) lots o' folks would have considered one win a moral victory.
Gee not shitting the bed bodes well for this rotation going forward (assuming it's not just a one-time thing).

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Another thing: Gee* was helped out by the home plate umpire, whose strike zone seemed to drift quite a bit from side to side. Who was the ump?

*Hawkins, too, on the outside-corner Desmond K.

[Frayed Knot]

I agree that we got a couple of calls for us today* (both pitching and batting - he seemed to have missed one or two of Zimmermannnn's curves) and, yeah, in a tight game, little things like that can make a difference. But I'm still not going to spit on a shut-out of a good hitting team or Gee's first good game since last July. The shitty spring and bad start to this year coming off the surgery shouldn't make us toss out the fact that he was on a pretty good roll prior to the 2012 ASB. And while one decent game doesn't mean he's BACK!!!, him being merely decent means having 2.5 good starters instead of 2 plus three days of praying. Add in the hopeful swap of Marcum for Laffey and things get at least a bit less dire than they were.


* HP ump wasn't perfect the other way either

[Edgy MD]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: (Perhaps JCL can find it in his heart to make Gee ThisYear'sDickey, magical-invective-wise?)

I think he's using all his magic in douche-baiting Harvey to his 4-0 record.

[metsmarathon]

so the play log for the john buck throwing out of denard span is curious to me.

it was a pitch in the dirt by gee. span takes off for second. buck throws him out by a wide margin.

but it doesn't really make the box score.

it wasn't credited as a caught stealing. the pitch in the dirt wasn't called a wild pitch or a passed ball.

it's just, all of a sudden, there's one less baserunner.

i assume buck at least got an assist out of the deal...?

[Edgy MD]

I hate losing Sunday flubber games.

[Frayed Knot]

metsmarathon wrote: so the play log for the john buck throwing out of denard span is curious to me. it was a pitch in the dirt by gee. span takes off for second. buck throws him out by a wide margin. but it doesn't really make the box score. it wasn't credited as a caught stealing. the pitch in the dirt wasn't called a wild pitch or a passed ball. it's just, all of a sudden, there's one less baserunner. i assume buck at least got an assist out of the deal...?

Yeah that's kind of weird.
I never really thought of it before but I guess the fact that Span didn't take off until after the pitch was made means it doesn't get tagged as a steal attempt but rather as an "out trying to advance" as if he was trying to stretch a single or some other type of daring base-running.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And yes, Buck would have to get the assist on that play, no matter how it was (or wasn't) scored.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: metsmarathon wrote: so the play log for the john buck throwing out of denard span is curious to me. it was a pitch in the dirt by gee. span takes off for second. buck throws him out by a wide margin. but it doesn't really make the box score. it wasn't credited as a caught stealing. the pitch in the dirt wasn't called a wild pitch or a passed ball. it's just, all of a sudden, there's one less baserunner. i assume buck at least got an assist out of the deal...? Yeah that's kind of weird. I never really thought of it before but I guess the fact that Span didn't take off until after the pitch was made means it doesn't get tagged as a steal attempt but rather as an "out trying to advance" as if he was trying to stretch a single or some other type of daring base-running.

That's how Gary described it. But that doesn't really make sense to me. It's not like there's a time frame you can steal bases, and the ball wasn't put in play.. I guess if he was safe they would've awarded him the base on the WP not a SB though, although I'd disagree with that as well, since the ball never actually got past the catcher.

[batmagadanleadoff]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: ... at least Valdespin and Duda have SOME upside.

Probably. But Duda has no future with the Mets. Or any other National League team, I'd guess. He's an atrocious train-wreck of a defensive outfielder, and in the long run, is likely to give back everything he accomplishes on offense. Unless he can continue to hit at his current MVP caliber pace all season long.

And it's a shame because Duda, an historically slow starter, has demonstrated, at every professional level, that he can absolutely demolish opposing pitchers. I'm not entirely surprised at the season he's having. He's a fun player to watch, easy to root for, and one of the most intriguing Mets to come along in a while. I'm pulling for him, but I have my doubts.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: ... at least Valdespin and Duda have SOME upside. Probably. But Duda has no future with the Mets. Or any other National League team, I'd guess. He's an atrocious train-wreck of a defensive outfielder, and in the long run, is likely to give back everything he accomplishes on offense. Unless he can continue to hit at his current MVP caliber pace all season long. And it's a shame because Duda, an historically slow starter, has demonstrated, at every professional level, that he can absolutely demolish opposing pitchers. I'm not entirely surprised at the season he's having. He's a fun player to watch, easy to root for, and one of the most intriguing Mets to come along in a while. I'm pulling for him, but I have my doubts.

I'm not very good at reading the defensive stats on Baseball Reference, but based on about 1/4 of a season at 1B Duda's defensive stats seem to be about neutral when playing there. That could either be a selling point if he is traded, or a fallback if Ike is moved.