Frayed Knot

Colon - 2.0 Parnell - 0.4 O'Flaherty - 0.2 Murphy - 2.0 Cespedes - 1.0 Flores - 0.5 Granderson - 0.5

Neise - 4.0 Clippard - 0.7 Familia - 0.7 d'Arnaud - 2.3 Murphy - 1.4 Conforto - 0.3 Tejada - 0.3 Granderson - 0.3

On the heels of going 3-4 during a homestead vs the Snakes and the Rox, the Nats are starting a nine-game road trip out west: LA, SF, then Colorado again, meaning they'll have to see our scores probably before even taking the field and be forced to react to them. And after tonight's game they'll get Greinke and Kershaw Tuesday & Wednesday. In the meantime, Scherzer hasn't won either of his last two starts despite having 3-0 and 3-1 lead early on; Drew Storen has suddenly turned into a pumpkin after being switched to the 8th inning (6 runs allowed in the last 2 innings); Harper has HR'd in just one game since mid-July; and there are anonymous grumblings coming out of the clubhouse about Matt Williams. Werth, Rendon, and Zimmerman are back but it hasn't helped them score. Strasburg is back and had a good outing in his return but that's one in a row for a guy who often has trouble getting to two in a row. Long way to go still but I like the way this is trending.

Way to put up a 'W' and force the Nats to first watch it and then try to match it.

Didn't exactly smack the ball around the park that inning - but I'm not too proud to take it.

Gwreck wrote: Do you think about using Cuddyer here to hit for Granderson? Didn't see this until after the fact - but my answer would have been no anyway

This Gray guy is on pace for a complete game two-hitter on about 55 pitches and in about two hours.

John Sickels looks back on his pre-season NYM prospect list -- http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/8/10/9123559/new-york-mets-top-20-2015-pre-season-prospects-in-review Keep in mind that this ins't a new list but is rather a look - with eight months worth of hindsight - at the one he did last December so the order and grades are unchanged from the original. The (light type) stats, comments, and summary at the end are newly added to reflect this season to date.

For some reason I had it in my head that we had already played these guys this year, but that�s obviously not the case as we get them 7 times over the next two weeks. And they�ll have a big impact on the NL East as they get the Nats & Mets back-to-back on the east coast this week, and then back-to-back again in the mountains next week (Aug 18-23) Nice of them to start things off by taking two of three in DC this past weekend. As usual they�ve got a top-ranked offense but, as usual, there�s a major home/road split involved: .303/.357/.488 at home � .241/.289/.396 on the road It works the same for their pitchers too but not nearly to the same degree [5.43 ERA, 1.57 WHiP] or away [4.48, 1.42]. Basically they don�t pitch well at home, don�t pitch well away, and can�t figure out anywhere else to play. And what it all adds up to is a 47-62 record and last place in the NL West. Nice move, btw, NOT trading for Carlos Gonzalez at the deadline since it left him around to go 5/13 w/3 HRs while in Washington. Of course that could always backfire on us starting tonight. Reyes is 8 for 39 w/2 2Bs since the deal. More ominously, some BB2N guys (specifically Keith Law) were using phrases like �no longer able to play SS� when discussing reasons why Toronto so wanted to deal him off for Tulowitski . Nolan Arenado is probably the best 3B in baseball right now. Certainly defensively, and maybe only Josh Donaldson in Toronto is having a better all-around season. Looks like the pitching match-ups will be: Monday 7:10 � Niese vs Jon Gray (2nd ML game - 3 runs/2 ER on 5 hits over 4 IP vs SEA last week) 3rd overall pick in 2013 and a highly regarded prospect!! Tuesday 7:10 � Harvey vs Chris Rusin (LHP, 12 starts, 3-4, 4.66, 1.61) Wednesday 7:10 � deGrom vs Jorge de la Rosa (LHP, 7-4, 4.85, 1.40). Closest thing they have to 'an ace' Thursday 12:10 � Syndergaard vs Eddie Butler (15 starts, 3-9, 5.50, 1.80) 46th overall draft pick in 2012 In Washington over the weekend they were using Rule 5 pick (off the Yanx roster) Tommy Kahnle as their closer and he was 2-for-2 in saves. I guess John Axford (27 saves but also a 4.25 ERA/1.67 WHIP) and LHR Christian Freidrich (10 saves, 5.01, 1.63) weren't cutting it.

dgwphotography wrote: Idiot Yankees Fan Throws Back Home Run Ball, Hits Brett Gardner Teixeira briefly mixed it up with a fan today too. He objected to being bumped while leaning into the stands behind 1st for a foul ball. Blue Jays going all in at the trading deadline looking like a good decision right about now... Only one loss in 12 games since the Reyes/Tulo trade. Now just 1.5 games out, were 8.0 back on July 28

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Edgy MD wrote: Mets looking to help the Yankees out tonight. And they do, although that division, so tight just a few weeks back, is increasingly looking like a two horse race as the Rays are dropped to 8 games out and the O's lose out west to fall 6 back. The Sox did manage to win but they're all but irrelevant at this point. Not surprising to see a Yanx/Jays game decided entirely by HRs -- the surprising part was that there were only three of them as with these two teams I was expecting closer to an even dozen. Nice game by R.A. holding them over 7 innings to just a Teixeira HR, one which was initially ruled a grounds rule double due to fan interference but then changed to a HR on, from what I saw, was evidence that didn't even approach conclusive. Wasn't watching live so maybe there's some angle I didn't see but you figure the hi-light shows (and I watched several) would show the best they had and, if so, the best they had truly sucked. But I suppose that Yanquis hitting HRs off some front row dork's hand several feet shy of actually going over the fence is, like dead people in Chicago casting votes, a time-honored tradition in the Bronx so maybe the umps simply fell back on precedent in their ruling. Come to think of it, none of the three homers (Donaldson in the 1st then Bautista in the 10th for the Jays) would have been homers in a major league ballpark. Jays 3.5 out with David Price making his 2nd Toronto start this afternoon (vs Ivan Nova). Normally you'd think this would be a good thing although the last time Price faced the Yanx (as a Tiger) he got smacked around for 8 runs in 2.1 IP

Mets win ... minutes later Yanx lose ... minutes after that the Nats lose !!! That's like Triple Giddiness!!

HahnSolo wrote: Had to google Chris. Not very memorable. Came to Atlanta from Arizona as a rider in the Justin Upton deal in January 2013 and immediately launched the best year of his career [.321/.358/.457 w/46 XBHs] even though Keith would always talk about how he didn't like his swing. The Braves gave Johnson a four-year deal off that one season but it looks as if Keith was right as Johnson's yet to top a .300 OBA since.

Atlanta's back-pedaling as fast as they can away from those string of long-term deals they made two years ago. Upton - Gone!; Upton - Gone!; Gattis - Gone!; Kimbrel - Gone!; Johnson - Gone! Only ones they've kept (to date anyway) are Freeman, Teheran, and Simmons. On the other side, Swisher's been hurt for about two years running now (101 ABs since last Aug 9th) and Bourn's been decidedly mediocre ever since he left Atlanta after 2012 and the Mets opted not to sign him AND give up the draft pick that became Dom Smith. P.S. the Braves have now traded away three Johnsons -- Kelly, Jim, and Chris -- in the past two weeks. They are now, I believe, Johnson-less.

Edgy MD wrote: I tend to the think of the Braves and the Indians as regular trading partners. Sure, only they've traditionally called it 'Wampum'

The Yanx lead -- briefly as high as 7 games but currently shaved to 4.5 -- is to be tested this weekend by the surging Blue Jays, winners of 8 of their last 9. So it's an officially BIG series in the Bronx as I have little confidence in any of the other East teams mounting a challenge. Dickey vs Eovaldi tonight, then Price vs Nova tomorrow, Estrada vs Tanaka on Sunday These teams turn around and do it again next week and so play 6 of their next 9 games against each other and even then have seven more head-to-heads in September.

Outfielders? Yeah, they got several. We've already mentioned Kenin Keirmaier who plays pretty much every day in CF. For the other spots it's almost easier to talk about who we WON'T be seeing: - LF had been David DeJesus but he was dealt to the Angels last week (thus robbing Gary of at least a dozen mentions of Rutgers) - we also WON'T be seeing hard-hitting rookie Steven Souza (so no need to strike up the band) as he was DL'd last week - or #1 (2011) draft pick Mikie Mahtook (no, that's not mis-spelled) who was up briefly but just sent back down - we MIGHT be seeing Desmond Jennings who's been out since April but is on a rehab assignment and could be back any day now What we COULD see is a couple of reclamation projects instead: Grady Sizemore was recently picked up of waivers as was Daniel Nava (and when you're picking up parts that the Phillies and Red Sox don't want ...). They've also been using some guy named Guyer who's been with the team off and on since 2011 but I had never heard of until some 15 seconds before typing his name just now. John Jaso is doing much of their DH-ing these days

Double-A Binghamton SS Gavin Cecchini has been named the Eastern League Player of the Month (Aug. 6). In 29 games in July, Cecchini hit a league-best .387 with a .453 OBP and .532 SLG, racking up a dozen multi-hit games which included his first career five-hit game.

Not having a game tonight should qualify under the 'cruel and unusual punishment' clause. We also lost a half-game off our lead in the interim.

This thread is ripe for a satiric crack about a bizarre gardening accident but of course Bobby Ojeda already had one of those as a Met.

I remember when the (NHL) Rangers' Brian Leech screwed up his ankle in a curb-related incident, but at least then it was winter and it was icy so there was a partial excuse.

Their pitching seems pretty decent (4th fewest R/G, 2nd lowest WHiP in AL) and it looks like we're going to see the best of what they've got. Friday (7:10) -- deGrom vs Jake Odorizzi (6-6, 2.86, 1.19) Odorizzi is a 25 y/o former 1st round pick of the Brewers was traded to KC for Zack Greinke and then to TB for James Shields. First full season was 2014 Saturday (6:10) -- Syndergaard vs Nate Karns (6-5, 3.37, 1.20) Karns is a 27 y/o rookie who came from Washington two years back in an exchange for backup catcher Jose Lobaton and that Felipe Rivero reliever whose ass we kicked the other night. Sunday (1:10) -- Colon vs Chris Archer (10-8, 2.54, 0.99) Archer is in his 3rd full season now at age 26, was an All-Star this year, and is clearly the Tampa ace at this point. (113 hits in 148 innings) IOW, it certainly seems like runs are going to be tougher to come by than they were on the east side of Florida.

We last faced these guys in June of 2012 when we kicked the eventual 90-win Rays around in a 3-game sweep behind the likes of Chris Young (11-2), RA Dickey (9-1) and Johan Santana (9-6). That start for Johan was the 2nd one after his no-hitter and (although he didn't know it at the time) just eight before the end of his career. But the Rays have been in transition since then to the point where I don't know much about them right now. Things I do know about the current (54-55) Rays: - 3B Evan Longoria is still good but he's a cut below the superstar he seemed to be after he first came up as his upper 800s OPS's from 2008-2013 have morphed into the low-mid 700s over the last two years while Trout was blowing past him as the AL's hot young stud. - CF Kevin Keirmaier (Keer-Meyer) is a REAL GOOD center-fielder. He's a lot like a LH and somewhat better hitting Lagares. One year younger than JL and in his 2nd full season, he's a running, throwing, diving one-man hi-light reel but, again like Juan, one where it's not clear when or if the offense is going to catch up. He's even regressed a bit this season [765 OPS in 2014 >> 674] although he does have 35 XBHs this year including 11 triples. After those two I'm a bit stumped, so someone help me out here.

Harvey - 4.0 Uribe - 1.3 Granderson - 1.0 Cespedes - 0.5 Murphy - 1.1 Duda - 1.0 Tejada - 1.1