Frayed Knot

2013 1st round draft pick Dominic Smith is still homerless this season w/only 7 2Bs among his 51 hits for an overall .260/.330/.296 line in the notoriously tough on LH power home park in Savannah. But the 19 y/o hit a much improved .320/.398/.360 in the month of May so he's getting his knocks for the 38-17 Sand Gnats and appears to have put a slow April start behind him.

Wheeler - 4.5 Black - 0.4 den Dekker - 1.4 Granderson - 2.2 Duda - 0.5

What a fucking ridiculous game.

Matt den Dekker, cf Daniel Murphy, 2b David Wright, 3b Curtis Granderson, rf Chris Young, lf Lucas Duda, 1b Wilmer Flores, ss Travis d'Arnaud, c Zack Wheeler, rhp Emilio Bonifacio, 2b Junior Lake, cf Anthony Rizzo, 1b Starlin Castro, ss Luis Valbuena, 3b Nate Schierholtz, rf Chris Coghlan, lf John Baker, c Jake Arrieta, rhp

Thumbnail scouting reports on all the upper ranked choices including (if you believe the draftniks) those most likely to be chosen by the Mets at #10 overall. Newcomb � 6� 5�- 240 Newcomb works at 90-94 mph and reaches as high as 97 with his fastball. His best secondary pitch is his slider, a low-80s breaker with some bite. He also uses a curveball and changeup. He's still learning to repeat his delivery and locate his pitches consistently, but there aren't many left-handers who can match his velocity. Zimmer � 6� 4� - 185 Zimmer has a nice package of tools, with his bat standing out the most. He has a sweet left-handed stroke, and he manages the strike zone and recognizes pitches well. His body has enough strength and leverage to possibly produce plus power if he were to add some loft to his swing, though he's content to spray line drives all over the field for now. He enhances his solid speed with keen instincts, which make him an asset on the basepaths and in the outfield. He has a chance to play center field, and if not, his strong arm will fit well in right. Older brother Kyle (a pitcher) was #5 overall in 2012 by KC Beede � 6� 4� - 215 When Beede is at his best, he can display three above-average pitches. His fastball usually operates around 92-94 mph and can clock as high as 97. His sharp curveball and his changeup both arrive in the low 80s, playing off his fastball well. The biggest question with Beede is whether he'll be able to harness his quality stuff. His delivery can get out of sync. He can be unhittable but also has problems finding the strike zone. Turner � 6� 1� - 170 His top-of-the-scale speed with an ability to make contact and control the strike zone, he has the tools to become a quality leadoff hitter at the Major League level. The key will be toning down his swing, which can get long, and his approach, which can get a little out of control. He can get home run-conscious and would be best served by focusing on getting on base, where his speed and instincts make him a prime basestealing threat. A third baseman as a freshman, Turner moved to shortstop in 2013. He has the quickness and arm strength to stick at shortstop, something few college players do, though he needs to improve his defensive consistency. Conforto � 6� 2� - 217 Conforto�s signature tool is his left-handed power, which could produce 25-plus homers on an annual basis once he gets to the Major Leagues. He doesn't get cheated at the plate, taking a big uppercut hack that produces nice loft on his drives. While he's willing to take a walk when pitchers won't challenge him, Conforto swings and misses too much to hit for a high average. Most of his value comes from his bat, because while he has some athleticism, he's a left fielder with subpar speed, range and arm strength.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Never heard of Hector Rondon until just now. I conflate him with Bruce Rondon, the big beefy RHP the Tigers were trying to morph into a closer last year, and I likely with conflate him in the future with Carlos Rodon, the LHP out of NC State who'll likely be a Top-10 pick in the upcoming draft

Centerfield wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I have no problem with the current dimensions - and the idea that changing them in some fashion or another will somehow benefit NYM bats while not simultaneously helping opposing bats and hurting NYM pitchers is, at best, akin to chasing your tail. That's never been the idea. The theory is that the dimensions fuck with our hitters more since they play 81 games here, while the opposition simply moves on after 3 games. By changing the dimensions, you unfuck our hitters. Sure, the opposition will get a benefit, too, but the idea is that revised dimensions will benefit our hitters more than they will benefit our competition. I've heard all that but just don't buy it. I was all for the changes they already made; the RF fence was quirky for quirk's sake and was too tricked out by about half, and the LF fence was simply ridiculous; make it high or make it far but don't make it both. But now, while still favoring pitching, it's hardly 'extreme' by any definition and I don't think moving this or that by a few feet one way or the other is going to affect much of anything. And if the dimensions are supposedly 'fucking with guys heads' for five years now I think they've got bigger problems than a fence tweak will solve.

Today stands to be just another sleepy, dusty, delta day. Hope that, and the euphoria from the 4-of-5 in Philly, doesn't blunt any momentum as they drive for .500 and for 2nd place against the dregs of the National League.

I have no problem with the current dimensions - and the idea that changing them in some fashion or another will somehow benefit NYM bats while not simultaneously helping opposing bats and hurting NYM pitchers is, at best, akin to chasing your tail.

Mock of the Day, from mlb.com's Keith Law this time, links the Mets to LHP Sean Newcomb from U Hartford. More generally he says that the Mets priorities are, in some order, Newcomb, Oregon ST OF Michael Conforto, and NC State SS Trea Turner. If those options are gone, fallbacks are Vanderbilt RHP Taylor Beede (I heard he's venerable) or U-San Fran OF Bradley Zimmer

In five games and 57 innings played (the Heinz series?) the Mets used 14 different pitchers a total of 28 times. Chart shows pitchers, Game Appearances, Innings Pitched, Batters Faced, and Pitches Thrown GamesIPBFPTRICE41.1623BLACK34.01662MEJIA32.01139WHEELER16.123108MONTERO13.22080MATSUZAKA22.11251EDGIN32.2830FAMILIA34.018261TORRES34.21663deGROM16.3323101CARLYLE13.01140 NIESE18.03191 COLON17.029110EVELAND10.2210 TOTAL2856.0*226869 * Innings pitched add up to only 56 because Mejia didn't retire a batter in the 14th inning on Friday and therefore got credit for 0.0 innings pitched

Just when I was about to start critiquing Flores's swing too. You can see his bat-on-ball skillz but I was about to say how he looks like he's feeling for the ball too often, that even a sizable chunk of the hits he is getting are softies somewhere that are just falling in or sneaking through. Then he goes and dumps one 15 rows deep on a swing that wasn't all that violent and you see what others saw in him all this time. How much power he would develop was always in question but not that there was power potential there.

Oh, so THIS is what a laugher looks like. Been so long since I've seen one I forgot what one was like. P.S. Just when it looked for a moment that we were getting a sub-3 Hour game ....

Are we allowed to be in the bottom of the 8th in under 2-1/2 hours or does that break some rule?

Reach out and dink someone.

Zvon wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Stairs is Canadian I didn't know that. He does give that away on certain words, like "out" and "about". If he starts talking about the Phillies or-gan-I-zation then it'll really be a dead give-away -- although I tend to think of that sort of accent as more middle-Canada (Ontario or west) while Stairs is from New Brunswick in 'The Maritimes' The odd part about Stairs when he was playing (for part of his career at least) is that he made his off-season home in ... Bangor, Maine*! Think about that for a minute, Choosing Bangor as the home you're going to live in for only October through January! Was kind of cool though in that he'd spend that time coaching youth hockey. * he left his home in the Maritimes and headed down the turnpike for New England -- sweet New England Name that tune if you know ^^^

I'll start with this: What is your intended point on changing it at all?

Stairs is Canadian so he probably thinks all bats are made of maple. Hell, he probably thinks that all wood is maple.

4 out of 5 sounds (and is) a helluva lot better than 3 out of 5. Will stay ahead of Philly no matter what, can catch Washington with a win tonight. I'd flop MdD and Abreu in the lineup. Not for all time maybe, but for right now I would.

The only problem with hitting Murphy at leadoff is that it might encourage him to start running even more recklessly.

Gregorius = .310/.389/.447 in 226 ABs at AAA Reno in 2014 coming on the heels of his 357 ML ABs of .252/.332/.373 in 2013 As for Arizona - who knows what's going on out there. They seem to like Chris Owings at SS who might have a bit more pop and is a year and a half younger than Didi On the other hand the team has the 2nd worst record in the NL and has recently gone and pulled a Jim Dolan/Phil Jackson by bringing in Tony LaRussa to do a job he's never done before, that is to be an extra layer between the owner and the field with vaguely described duties which will play out ... somehow, a move which has the current GM and manager walking around on tippy-toes.

Was out all day so am just catching up to game results now. So what was better in the Yanx game today, that Phil Hughes* shut them down to 2 runs on 3 hits over 8 innings, or that Robertson didn't just blow a 1-run save but did so in a way that led to a 6-run 9th (5 after 2 were out) for the Twins? Twins took two-of-three from the Yanx in the Bronx for what I believe was the first time since like the Carter administration. * Hughes having himself a very nice year btw

"Hey MSG, check out my surgical scar"

1Byron BuxtonOFTwins2Xander BogaertsSS/3BRed Sox3Oscar TavaresOFCardinals4Javier BaezSSCubs5Carlos CorreaSSAstros6Archie BradleyRHPDBacks7Miguel Sano3BTwins8Francisco LindorSSIndians9Addison RussellSSA's10Taijuan WalkerRHPMariners11Kris Bryant3BCubs12Jonathan GrayRHPRockies13Gregory PolancoOFPirates14Noah SyndergaardRHPMets15George SpringerOFAstros Checking in on the pre-season top prospects (above chart) Byron Buxton -- Just 20 ABs so far due to a wrist injury Xander Bogaerts -- Everyday starting SS Boston Red Sox: .304/.397/.438 Oscar Travares -- Called up May 31. HR'd in 2nd ML AB Javier Baez -- Having a brutal early season [.223/.280/.416] in AAA Iowa, striking out 1 time in 3 Carlos Correa -- Just 19 y/o and hitting well in A+ Cal Lg. Probably will NOT see ML action this year Archie Bradley -- Injured elbow (although not TJ surgery) has limited him to just 5 starts on the year. Expected back in a month or so Miguel Sano -- A position player out for the year with TJ surgery. Man it's a bad season to be a fan of Twins prospects (see also: Buxton) Francisco Lindor -- Hitting well at AA Addison Russell -- Torn hamstring, only 7 ABs so far Taijuan Walker -- Set back by shoulder woes, only 12 innings of work so far this year Kris Bryant -- Mashing at AA [.350/.453/.685 // 1138] in his first full season of pro ball Jonathan Gray -- Pitching well at AA Gregory Polanco -- Raking at AAA [.349/.411/.552] only fear of future arbitration payouts is keeping him off the ML roster and that should change soon George Springer -- Called up in mid-April, already 10 HRs and 17 XBHs.

Mets didn't actually win this game, but they did manage somehow to unlose it.