Frayed Knot

Five consecutive ABs w/a runner in scoring position, but even with a Single & HBP mixed in, 2 Ks and a FO keep the inning scoreless.

Edgy MD wrote: This game should be about 6-0 by now, right? Nelson hasn't shown me anything. Yes, but even our hits w/RiSP don't score runs.

And we know that ZVon is rooting for Carter Kieboom just for the future graphics he can create for him.

Yeah, Rutherford is mentioned a couple of posts above under the 'if he falls' theory. Considered top-10 type material but also with the leverage of a UCLA commitment in his pocket that could scare some teams off with high demand$ and actually increase his earning the further he falls. Mets are in a better position than most to snag him if he falls because they could make up for overpaying him by underpaying for pick #31 and therefore not blow most of their assigned budget for rounds 1-10 on just one guy. Those rumored pre-draft talks would then be the two sides trying to gauge where a mutual number might sit. Without at least semi-agreeing to one beforehand it could wind up as a wasted pick and that unspent bonus is NOT money that can be applied to later rounds. Index & profiles of many of those expected to go among the top 60 or so picks Rutherford I can't believe they're going all NFL on us and stretching this over three days. Top 41 picks tonight. Rounds 2-10 Friday. The remainder Saturday. Pre-TV they used to knock the whole thing out by phone in a couple of hours, and they had more rounds then too.

Cervelli is a very fist-pumping demonstrative type of player who can be very annoying if he's on the opposition. Even Ron Darling mentioned during the telecast that he's the kind you like if he's on your own team but don't if he's not, this came after he whined about a ball/strike call for about the 9th time in the game last night.

Most rumors have the Mets interested in college bats with their top pick, either the above mentioned Will Craig or possibly one of several college catchers (who may turn into corner IFs later on anyway) such as UVA's Matt Thaiss But one idea being floated is that having two first round picks (#s 19 & 31) gives the Mets the flexibility to shoot for a high-ceiling prep school kid who may fall through the top half of the first round due to perceived high bonus demands, the strategy being that you could overpay for the first pick and then make up for it by taking a safer 'under-slot' choice at #31 and not blow your allotted budget for the remaining picks. So if either of Blake Rutherford, an OF from California, or RHP Matt Manning* slide past the first 18 picks then the college bat theory may go out the window. * not related to the football Mannings or to former Indian/Brewer OF Rick but is the son of former NBA'er (1995-97) Rich. Matt has a scholarship to Loyola Marymount to play both baseball & basketball so will have a lot of leverage come bonus talk time

Like I said earlier, this is hardly the first time Ventura has precipitated something like this so there's a decent chance his teammates are getting sick of this. There's been a lot of shit-stirring by a 25 y/o with just 73 ML starts to his name. btw, last night was the 7th straight loss (sweeps by Cle & Balt) for the now one-game-over-.500 Royals

Frayed Knot wrote: Are our opponents allowed to hit into rally-killing, soul-crushing GiDPs too? Apparently so, although it's not over yet.

Y'know Jeurys, there's only one letter difference between [u:1aes1ib4]C[/u:1aes1ib4]loser and Loser

Leadoff freakin' walk after an 0-2 count !!!

Edgy MD wrote: Shouldn't Walker have scored on that also? Did he get deeked? Nah, he had to make sure that wasn't going to be caught.

Give us seven cracks at getting a runner in from 3rd and we'll get it right eventually. Only ONE run of course, but that's still a wee bit better than none.

Are our opponents allowed to hit into rally-killing, soul-crushing GiDPs too, or is that just a one-way thing?

K'd the side, but at least we made the reliever throw 12 pitches to do it instead of just 9.

So what is it with these Pirates? Mets have lost nine straight against them, 11 of the last 12, and 17 of 22 The last win came on 6/28/14 (Niese won it, Mejia saved it, and Eric Campbell got 3 hits). That same game also represents the only time in the last 12 NYM-Pitt games were the Mets have scored more than 3 runs. In fact the Mets have scored 3 or fewer in 18 of these last 22 games going back to early 2013. And, yeah, the Buccos during the past three-plus seasons have been relatively good teams (.575 winning pct) but not that good and are currently about an average pitching team and we're missing their ace in Gerrit Cole. Meanwhile the Pirates have beaten every pitcher in the Mets current rotation as the not-too-shabby stable of Colon, Syndergaard, Harvey, Niese, Parnell (10th inning), Gilmartin (14th), Parnell again, and now Matz & deGrom have been the losing pitchers during the nine-game streak. Niese gets the odd distinction of being both a winning and losing pitcher during the current run.

And that brilliant RiSP hitting comes through again ... not.

So 6 hits tonight - that's about our usual quota. And 3 runs - which is at the very top of our quota

If Syndergaard's hair doesn't cross the plate until three seconds after he does, can the Pirates appeal that he left 3rd too early?

Frayed Knot wrote: ... and if more than one hit does happen then a GiDP is mixed in between so as to cut down on any potential runs created And now even in an inning with a 2R HR, the runs scored in an inning with a walk plus 2 XBHs is held down due to a GiDP mixed in. Even when we don't suck we suck.

... Vanderbilt pitch-thrower-person Jordan Sheffield, Gary's neph. Just read that he is NOT related to Gary Sheffield, but is rather the brother of a guy drafted in the 1st round 2 years ago by Cleveland. They're from Tennessee. Cal Quantrill is son of Paul though (as opposed to the myriad other Quantrills). Other bloodline guys: Bo Bichette (Fla HS) - son of Dante, also brother of Dante Jr in Yanx system Bo Weiss (Col HS) - son of Rox player now mgr Walt (so what is it with ex-Rox and the name Bo?) JaVon Shelby (U of Kentucky) & Jaren Shelby (HS) - sons of John Grae Kessinger (Miss HS) - grandson of 1960s era Cubs SS Don (that's it, I'm officially old!!) Cavan Biggio (Notre Dame) - son of HoF Craig Ryan Reynolds (Louisiana HS) - son of Shane Preston Palmiero (NC State) - son of Rafael Jacob Matheny (StL HS) - son of Mike Bichette, Weiss, Kessinger, and the older Shelby kid are considered top-200 guys on the board.

bmfc1 wrote: And that terrible organist. Stop playing Hava Naglia every inning. You suck. I don't mind organ music, but I noticed last night that they play it there between pitches!! That, unfortunately, is part of the modern philosophy that us sports fans are so completely ADD that we can't be allowed even five seconds without outside stimulation of some sort. Hockey arenas are the biggest culprit (am I really more entertained by hearing 12 seconds of 'Born to Run' while they line up for a face-off?) and God knows the pyrotechnics going on during NBA & NFL games. Baseball is just too stupid not to think they have to copy it.

Frayed Knot wrote: ... and if more than one hit does happen then a GiDP is mixed in between so as to cut down on any potential runs created We actually tried to hit into TWO GiDPs in that inning but were prevented by a decision not to go to replay as well as by the minor inconvenience of it being not possible. But if any team can do it ...

And so it begins: - the guy who never makes an error makes an error - the staff who leads the league in fewest walks follows the error with a walk - Pirate hits, whether hard or soft, are placed where they just elude fielders - even slow runners steal uncontested - the NYM pitcher requires 2+ inning's worth of pitches to get through the 1st so as to ensure that 5 or 6 is the maximum tonight - and Met bats continue their tradition of one -- but no more than one -- hit per inning and if more than one hit does happen then a GiDP is mixed in between so as to cut down on any potential runs created And, as our history vs the Pirates indicates, 2 runs against is almost enough already to mean we have little chance of winning if the staff shuts them down for the rest of the game

Eh, not all that jazzed up over this. His contributions last year -- like those of Uribe although to a lesser extent -- were more due to the timing of his hits than it was from the raw numbers themselves [.250 BA, .304 OBA; 38 Ks in 128 AB] and his stats this year playing at least semi-regularly with Atlanta aren't even as good as that [.215/.273; 1 HR] Will he help? Maybe. A better 24th/25th man over the random Campbell/Ty Kelly type? Probably, seeing as how they (Campbell mostly) were so bad, but not necessarily. I guess he gets some ABs at 3rd base vs RHPs plus represents the Terry's best 'scary' PH bat off the bench. Now how long is it until the poll is up for when and where he gets traded away?

Centerfield wrote: Certainly seems like the Mets have been unlucky. But even if you adjust for luck, where would they fall? 25? 24? That's still not good. And we are in June so this is not a small sample size. Our BA/OBA aren't good overall so, no, with better luck we'd still be a HR-reliant squad. But the ridiculous gap between being the HR hitting-est team in NYM history and yet the lowest scoring one since the Ford administration would be shrunken somewhat if even only slightly more fortunate. I keep wondering about this BABIP. We keep saying it has to get better and that we are unlucky. But we also have 2 hitters (Granderson and Conforto) that are completely incapable of doing anything but pull the ball. So if all of the infielders are on one side, and the hitter keeps hitting to that side, then we should expect the BABIP to remain low, no? (At least for those 2 guys anyway) Shifts are everywhere man, and while we might be more shift-venerable than some squads, I don't know that we particularly unique in this area and in this era.