IGT 5/31 - ChiSox @ Mets

[Frayed Knot]

7:10 first pitch -- Mat Latos (6-1; 4.06) vs Steven Matz

With so much wrapped up in the Nats & Dodgers series that preceded this one, we didn't get a chance to discuss the Sox much.
They started out as the talk of baseball in some circles because they were threatening to make the Cubs not even the best team in their own town and sparked talk of a WSWS: a Windy Sity World Series.
But then their 17-8 April has become a 10-17 May and they've dropped behind both the Royals and Indians in the AL Central with the Tigers hot on their tails.


Latos, like his team, was also a lot better in April than he's been in May.
ER by game start in April = 0, 1, 0, 1, 4
ER by game start in May = 4, 5, 5, 3, [u:2qyf0ov9]17[/u:2qyf0ov9]. OK that last one isn't real, I'm just anticipating that that's what we'll score in this one.
He's also a bit of a hot-headed asshole whom I've disliked since shortly after he came up. And apparently I'm not the only one as the Sox are his 6th team in 8 seasons including his 5th just since 2014 (Cincy, Miami, both LA clubs, and now Chicago).
He won a grand total of 9 games for four team across 2014-15 which not only explains the frequent travel but I like to think is also at least partially due to his team playing shitty behind him because he was forever getting pissed at them whenever someone would make an error or when a call wouldn't go his way. Oh yeah and he has lots of stupid tattoos which look even more ridiculous when your skin tone is about half a shade darker than albino.

Steven Matz, on the other hand, doesn't suck, nor is he an asshole.

Loney should be activated by Tuesday with either Campbell or Kelly banished back to Vegas - unless Dabid gets DL'd by then in which case they both stay although they'd start a whole lot less so at least there's that. Unless of course CF gets his wet dream and they send down one of them for Dilson Herrera but I'm not sure they're going to do that unless they intend to start him regularly.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: He's also a bit of a hot-headed asshole whom I've disliked since shortly after he came up.

Lot's o' badass death metal tatts, this one has.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Chi. White Sox at NY Mets
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Where: Citi Field, New York City, New York
SportsDirect Inc.

A masterful pitching performance gave the New York Mets a win in the opener of their three-game series with the visiting Chicago White Sox. The Mets hope for more of the same Tuesday when they send Steven Matz to the mound in search of his eighth straight win.

Matz has given the Mets plenty of outstanding starts, and he�ll look to do so again on the heels of Matt Harvey�s gem in a 1-0 win in the series opener. The Mets snapped a two-game skid Monday but have won seven of their last 10. The White Sox have lost seven straight and four of the last five have been one-run defeats. Fifteen of Chicago�s last 18 games have been decided by two runs or fewer.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, SNY (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Mat Latos (6-1, 4.06 ERA) vs. Mets LH Steven Matz (7-1, 2.36)

After rolling through his first four starts of the season, Latos has struggled. The 28-year-old turned the corner a bit last time out, holding Cleveland to three runs and five hits over six innings for his first quality start since April 24. Latos is 2-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 10 career starts against the Mets.

Matz, who turned 25 on Sunday, was tagged for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings in his season debut, but he has been dominant in seven starts since. His last outing might have been the best of the bunch, as he struck out seven and allowed four hits over eight scoreless innings at Washington for his seventh straight win. Matz has been outstanding in two previous interleague starts, allowing one run over 13 innings in a pair of wins.

WALK-OFFS:

1. New York 3B David Wright has missed three straight games with a herniated disk but is hopeful of avoiding the disabled list.
2. Chicago�s Nos. 2-4 hitters � Jose Abreu, Melky Cabrera and Todd Frazier � are a combined 4-for-45 during the team�s current road trip.
3. Mets RHP Jeurys Familia has converted a franchise-record 33 consecutive save opportunities, including 17 this season.

[Centerfield]

Frayed Knot wrote: Loney should be activated by Tuesday with either Campbell or Kelly banished back to Vegas - unless Dabid gets DL'd by then in which case they both stay although they'd start a whole lot less so at least there's that. Unless of course CF gets his wet dream and they send down one of them for Dilson Herrera but I'm not sure they're going to do that unless they intend to start him regularly.

I doubt it though right? I'm thinking David gets DL'ed, Wilmer becomes the everyday 3B, and Loney more or less the everyday 1B.

[Frayed Knot]

Centerfield wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Loney should be activated by Tuesday with either Campbell or Kelly banished back to Vegas - unless Dabid gets DL'd by then in which case they both stay although they'd start a whole lot less so at least there's that. Unless of course CF gets his wet dream and they send down one of them for Dilson Herrera but I'm not sure they're going to do that unless they intend to start him regularly. I doubt it though right? I'm thinking David gets DL'ed, Wilmer becomes the everyday 3B, and Loney more or less the everyday 1B.

With Campbell & Kelly as all-around IF back-ups, yes.
I don't think they're bringing Herrera up unless it's to play more or less everyday and, with Wilmer newly back and Loney freshly in, those two are going to get their chances now while Walker at 2nd falls into the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' category.

[Edgy MD]

Terry is slow to mess with veterans and their positions, but I don't think sliding Walker to third is off the table.

I just think they'll wait until there is confirmation of a long-term outage with Wright and/or have cycled through all other possibilities.

[Centerfield]

I think the long-term outage with Wright will be confirmed today. But I agree that the Mets will cycle through all other possibilities before calling on Dilson.

Not that this makes any sense in the world.

The only reason the idea behind "don't call him up unless he's going to start" philosophy holds any credibility is that irregular playing time will stunt a player's development. In this case, it doesn't apply. In AAA, Dilson posted an .899 OPS last year and has an .811 OPS this year. He is developed. He is ready. There is nothing more for him to prove at that level. The next step in his development is to prove he can hit major league pitching, which he can only do in the major leagues.

We've already given away nearly 100 PA's to Campbell/Kelly/Reynolds. That could be 100 PA's working toward Herrera's development. And even if he only performed to an OPS of .690 (his career MLB OPS so far) he would be far outperforming the guys who have taken these PA's from him. But whatever. It's not like we are in a pennant race or anything.

Plus, isn't anyone else curious to see how Herrera will do in the bigs before handing the job to him next season? Let's just speculate on Herrera might do. So long as we have a firm understanding of the abilities of Eric Campbell.

Herrera should be called up. Flores/Loney should platoon at 1B, and Lagares/Granderson should platoon in the OF.

But they won't do that. It makes too much sense.

[Edgy MD]

My guess is they'll do it sooner than you think, if not as fast as you like.

It all unfolds from the Wright prognosis, of course, so we'll see.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Best way for this to happen would be Herrera to take over at third, not Walker. Walker's not going to move!

[Edgy MD]

We went through almost the same exact thing last year during Wright's extended outage, with Terry eventually settling on Murphy at second, Tejada at third, and Flores at short, which was stable, but Gary Cohen poked at it every day as "playing three guys out of position.

He finally went with Flores-Tejada-Murphy when he realized things weren't getting any better, pretty much waiting for Murphy to give him unsolicited permission to move him over, and I imagine he'll do the same with Walker.

Terry's not insane, just insanely deliberate. Especially when it comes to moving vets off their position.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: My guess is they'll do it sooner than you think, if not as fast as you like. It all unfolds from the Wright prognosis, of course, so we'll see.

As fast as I like would have been a week ago, so certainly yes on that. Sooner than I think? Possibly. But I don't see it. I think both Flores and Loney will be given the everyday job, regardless of the starting pitcher, and both will be given a few weeks. At which point Wright will be close to returning, meaning Dilson stays down.

But one can hope.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, thus it depends on Wright's prognosis. A longer outage means a longer-term plan is needed, and more time to shuffle through the uncommitted-type plans.

Also, Loney can certainly play himself right back off the team. It's not like he hasn't done that before.

[soupcan]

Do you think not calling Herrera up may have something to do with management wanting to keep him from arbitration/free agency as long as possible? Basically not giving him the MLB time he needs to get to those milestones?

[Ceetar]

soupcan wrote: Do you think not calling Herrera up may have something to do with management wanting to keep him from arbitration/free agency as long as possible? Basically not giving him the MLB time he needs to get to those milestones?

seems unlikely he's good enough for that to matter.

[Ceetar]

Curtis Granderson � RF
Asdrubal Cabrera � SS
Michael Conforto � LF

Yoenis Cespedes � CF
Neil Walker � 2B

James Loney � 1B

Wilmer Flores � 3B

Kevin Plawecki � C

Steven Matz � LHP

[Guest d'Kong76]

Granderson RF
Cabrera SS
Conforto LF
Cespedes CF
Walker 2B
Loney 1B
Flores 3B
Plawecki C
Matz P

[Guest d'Kong76]

Eaton CF
Lawrie 2B
Abreu 1B
Frazier 3B
Cabrera LF
Garcia RF
Saladino SS
Navarro C
Latos P

[Frayed Knot]

Ceetar wrote: soupcan wrote: Do you think not calling Herrera up may have something to do with management wanting to keep him from arbitration/free agency as long as possible? Basically not giving him the MLB time he needs to get to those milestones? seems unlikely he's good enough for that to matter.

I think they don't want to call him up in advance of the big U.S. vs Columbia match which kicks off the Copa America on Friday night because, should the USA lose, the Columbian born Dilson could be selected as the target of rioting fans' derision.


But seriously folks ...

No, I don't think his FA/arb thresholds are of any consideration. He already has about 2/3 of a season's worth of ML service time under his belt from his call-ups in 2014 & '15 so in order for his specific call-up date to matter they'd have to hold him off until sometime in mid/late August (IOW, keep him under 1/3 of a season this year) in order to delay his FA eligibility to 2022 instead of '21, and even that's assuming that he stays up for good once called up, hardly a given at this point.

[TransMonk]

I would think at some point this season they would want to see him again at the ML level considering Walker is a FA after the year.

[soupcan]

Frayed Knot wrote: they'd have to hold him off until sometime in mid/late August (IOW, keep him under 1/3 of a season this year) in order to delay his FA eligibility to 2022 instead of '21, and even that's assuming that he stays up for good once called up, hardly a given at this point.

But if August is what makes the difference maybe it's not that far-fetched. Remember who were dealing with here.

[Frayed Knot]

We have some people here who I believe are vastly over-rating Dilson Herrera's value. Yes, it's far-fetched.

[Edgy MD]

Meantimes, Loney may end up setting the team's putout record in his first game.

[Edgy MD]

Latos is the type of mook who takes it personally if you beat him with the butcher boy.

I really applaud that sort of play.

[Edgy MD]

Nice to see the hitting coach going up and down the dugout looking for fist bumps after successful situational hitting.

[Zvon]

Edgy MD wrote: Meantimes, Loney may end up setting the team's putout record in his first game.

How about the first ball hit to him goes through him. Ha, I give Mets a sample size b4 I say they suck. That was a very hard play to make though.

I'm going to have to replay this later to get a screenshot of that above view with Gary's shiny dome.

[Edgy MD]

Now he's got the jitters.

What a slow thread. People are more enthused about the Dilson factor than the game, as the Mets' lead gets cut to 4-2.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Edgy MD wrote: What a slow thread.

It's Monday night, on a Tuesday.
Henderson!

[Edgy MD]

Putnam should be on the Mets

[Ceetar]

Daren Willman @darenw Noah Syndergaard has thrown 2 sliders at 93.7 MPH.... 388 pitchers this year have a slower average fastball than that.

[Edgy MD]

I don't know if this Synderelief thing is going to work, but I want to kiss Terry for trying it.