Frayed Knot

I wasn't wild about the double-switch with Flores in for Duda. But the pitcher's slot is likely to come up this inning and, if so, it'll keep Blevins in the game to face the lefty Polanco to start the 8th, plus the Pitt closer, Tony Watson, is a LHP so you might not want Duda in there anyway in the late inning.

Nice by Blevins after the semi-pitch-around to Harrison. In case you ever forget who the NYM starting catcher is under all that gear, it's easy to figure out. d'Arnaud leads the league in pointing back to his pitcher. He does it after every third pitch or so.

We have far too many XBHs in four innings to only have four runs to show for it.

Searage has made like nine trips out to the mound already (OK it's maybe more like three but it seems like more) but, jeez, it's only the 4th inning. Cap those trips! Cap those trips!

Ashie62 wrote: On another note, Josh Smoker closed in the minors. Maybe I would give him a shot. He's also served up HRs to the first batter he's faced in each of his last two appearances ... so maybe not.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Blevins warming in the bullpen, though. Why???? Cuz he's the only pen guy who hasn't throw 50+ pitches over the last two nights?

Attendance woes at Yanqui Stadium The LOL here isn't at the Yanx for drawing fewer people as the article talks about various aspects of drawing fans in today's game not unique to the them specifically. No, the real LOL is for those Yanx fans forever talking about how much better they liked the mid-90s team and their home-grown 'core four' as compared to than the FA-heavy team of the early 21st century. But the problem with that claim is that the 2000's teams drew about double what the mid & late '90s teams did. And now that they've got what they were clamoring for, a younger, more home-grown, AND winning squad, they're not showing up as much. The real secret here is that they secretly liked ARod and Clemens even if they were reluctant to say so out loud

Centerfield wrote: Thanks guys! Heading over now. Centerfield wrote: Thanks guys! Heading over now. [fimg=250]http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/46/46e6e1cc43035c580deb7f6ae6ce7d2e711740ad27b03d34604a87c81d119f66.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=250]http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/46/46e6e1cc43035c580deb7f6ae6ce7d2e711740ad27b03d34604a87c81d119f66.jpg[/fimg]

Not sure what that 60-day DL assignment does to Lugo's status. My initial assumption was that the fact that he already made a rehab start in a real game (as opposed to extended ST) meant that he couldn't be transferred to the 60 without, in effect, restarting the clock all over again and making him not available until 60 days from now, but it doesn't seem logical that they'd do that. If it's merely 60 days from whenever they first DL'd him then that time is just about up anyway and this is essentially a bookkeeping thing.

What's up wit' da Pirates? -- mini-KTE 22-26, last place in NLC (although there's only 4 games from top to bottom in that division so things change daily) -24 Run Differential They're in the midst of their NL East tour, coming off winning 2 of 3 vs Washington, then 2 of 3 vs Philly, then splitting a four-game set in Atlanta where they dropped the first two before storming back on Wednesday with 2 in the 9th and [u:50d3gpw9]7 in the 10th[/u:50d3gpw9] to win that one, then smacked around Bartolo on Thursday Their roster has been a bit of a mess this year, between last year's Korean pick-up Jung-Ho Hang not being on the team all year so far (can't leave Korea due to DUI arrests), to LF Sterling Marte (80 game drug suspension), and the continued and mysterious decline of former MVP Andrew McCutcheon (.203 BA and getting benched recently). New this season is 24 top prospect Josh Bell (played in 45 games in 2016). He's been installed as their everyday 1B [.242/.329/.484 - 9 HR] 2B has been a mix and match thing all year with Kang gone, but lately has been the province of the 27 y/o South African Gift Ngoepe (discussed in a thread a few weeks back). Not exactly tearing things up but holding his own. SS - Jordy Mercer plays everyday [.239/.344/.342 - 4 HR] 3B - Another mix and match spot, mostly between whirling dervish Josh Harrison (he'll play 3B, 2B and sometimes OF) and one-time StL WS hero David Freese C - Francisco Cervelli is having himself a nice little career both with the glove and bat. And in keeping with recent tradition, all Pitt catchers have to be one-time Yanquis meaning that Chris Stewart backs up and hits like a back-up. The OF is where the real mess is: McCutcheon started in RF amid much fanfare, then moved back to CF when Marte got flagged, and lately finds himself on the bench Gregory Polanco just came off the DL so probably wants his LF job back but, in his absence, 2nd year player Adam Frazier has taken the job and run with it, hitting .361/.446/.515 in less than 100 ABs Last year's 1B, John Jaso (and his hair) had been bumped to RF to make room for Bell but he's hitting worse than McCutcheon so is likely the odd man out with Polanco's return. Pitchers: Friday (7:05) - Chad Kuhl (good thing his parents didn't name him Joe), a guy I never heard of before. He threw 14 games last year with some success and nine so far this season with a lot less [5.85 ERA, 1.60 WHIP] Saturday (7:15 - FOX) - Gerritt Cole, former 1/1 draft pick out of UCLA, is their ace despite his 2-5 record in 10 starts this year [3.36; 1.12] Sunday (8:00 - ESPN) - Tyler Glasnow - 23 y/o Pitt draft pick in his second season, having a rough go of it right now [6.69; 1.93 - over 9 starts] The Mets have never faced either Kuhl nor Glasnow. Cole has started against them three times going 1-2 while giving up 9 runs (8 ER) in 17.1 IP

Got 2 runners on in the 6th, 2 more in the 7th, 2 more in the 8th, and then 2 in the 9th. Need more than 2 total runs out of those situations.

I was right about the only two hits part, but they accidentally scored a run while doing so. Someone will need to talk to them about that. Those 8 LOBs could be even worse seeing as how they've also had three runners erased on the paths: the one out at home and the two on the front end of GiDPs

Time to get two, but only two, runners on this inning. Your mission is to guess which two will be stranded. Walker is the early favorite.

Edgy MD wrote: I wonder what Montero's favorite dinosaur is? Walkasaurus

So Cabrera active but not starting, and Jay Bruce's back tightness turns out to be a minor thing after all. Both lineups contain a d'Arnaud batting 8th.

Translation: They know this game is going to be delayed, interrupted, or just plain canceled so why waste a potentially good start from the guy who is essentially our only reliable starter this season. They were going to have to go to a new starter on Saturday anyway so the spare guy goes tonight instead.

Nats and Braves both pre-lost this afternoon, so if we do get this game in there's a chance to leap the Braves and close the gap on the Nats.

Asdrubal Cabrera: went 2-for-5 in his rehab assignment w/Binghamton Wednesday night. Terry said that he could need "from six to ten games" before being reactivated. So, mid/late next week if nothing else goes haywire.

7:10 deGrom vs Dinelson Lamet Lamet was just called up and will be making his ML debut From John Sickels: Lamet ranked eighth on the pre-season San Diego Padres Top 20 prospects for 2017. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2014 for $100,000. He was already 21-years-old, unusually aged for a Dominican player, but he’s certainly justified their faith with his pitching. He posted a 2.99 ERA with a 120/44 K/BB in 105 innings in Low-A in 2015, then vaulted three levels in 2016, ending the year in Triple-A. Posted 3.00 ERA with 158/61 K/BB in 150 innings between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A with just 126 hits allowed; impressive 90-96 MPH fastball with good movement, also has a plus slider, racks up strikeouts; change-up erratic, some observers rate it as major league average, others say it is quite weak; opinion on the change-up determines if you see him as a starter or reliever; given proven ability to eat innings I’d give him a chance to start and see if the change can progress to decency. So far in 2017 he’s thrown 39 innings for Triple-A El Paso, posting a 3.23 ERA with a 50/20 K/BB with 32 hits allowed. Lamet is officially listed at 6-4, 190 (although he looks heavier than that, he’s probably 220), a right-handed hitter and thrower born July 18, 1992. He’s maintained the mid-90s fastball he showed last year and has held his peak velocities readily. He still has the plus slider, too, and the K/IP ratio in the Pacific Coast League is not lying about his ability. His control can still wobble at times and opinions about his change-up remain mixed, although this hasn’t had any serious negative impact in Triple-A. The Padres obviously believe in him as a starter and they know him better than anyone. If they are right, he could be at least a number three starter.

THAT was a bad loss.

Edgy MD wrote: Andy Green is weird. Does he have a scouting report on the Mets? Either he has bad scouting reports or Mr. Hand doesn't know his history re: Wilmer vs LHPs

Lucas gets a reprieve from the Governor. Just don't GiDP in front of Wilmer vs the lefty.

We keep getting leadoff guys on and then not scoring them. Gotta change that up here. They tied up the game after 2 outs, none on, and an 0-2 count.

[fimg=150]http://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201704071/images/headshots/e/eec4e783_davis.jpg[/fimg][fimg=150]http://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201704071/images/headshots/b/b7c916e5_davis.jpg[/fimg][fimg=150]http://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201704071/images/headshots/7/7c626e9c_davis.jpg[/fimg][fimg=150]http://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201704071/images/headshots/1/14d9693f_mlbam.jpg[/fimg] That's Mo, Larry, Curly, and Schimpf I gotta do something to distract myself from this pitching staff

d'Kong76 wrote: Maggot CF Solarte 2B Myers 1B Schimpf 3B Renfroe RF Cordoba LF Aybar SS Torrens C Cosart P Heh, heh ... Maggot Do you suppose that this Cordoba guy in LF has a glove made out of rich Corinthian leather?