Edgy MD

We also have every opportunity, and all the data we need, to assign wins and losses on a partial basis to multiple pitchers. It is also quite easy to divide up the responsibility for earned runs among two (or more!) pitchers. But dogma has a way of persisting.

The name of the thread is "Return of the 25-game winner." I do not object to this course of action, as the later innings are higher-leverage than the earlier ones, so there is a motive for pushing Jacob deGrom deeper into the game. It has been used, and while sometimes it is used effectively, it is also found to be unwieldy. You have to find three or more relief pitchers who (a) are regularly effective; ( are willing to put throw 100 innings or more; and © are happy to never earn a win, save, or hold, but still accrue losses. You have to be figure out how to maneuver if you have scheduled a quality starter a week in advance, but then don't want to use him if your opener has you in a hole. You have to do that every day. It can be done, and has been done, but it comes at a cost and the cost-benefit ratio has not paid off for any team or manager. Still, the real issues are not being addressed.

You are overthinking things. Night games after night games are just games.

Come on! Pull Alonso!

Awkward to be talking about Trevor Bauer. Hopefully, they will pull Alonso after his last trip to the plate.

The Braves need to re-acquire Luís Guillorme to pitch the rest of the way.

Yes, outwalking the other side is what winning teams do. But not tonight, as the Mets hit two more.

Voit probably has to go through his adjustments, as he only played wood-bat summer ball briefly (11 PA) after his frosh year.

Still only two walks. No big deal, obviously, but they will need those when the hits dry up.

A little more majestic that time.

Soto and McNeil are the only guys not in the hit column. Pour it on.

Hey, Lindor is the leadoff hitter. And with the rate the Mets are stealing and the rate of Soto hits going for extra-bases, I say you take what you are given.

A slider from Strider is good for rider.

Bunt hits are golden.

Plenty of time to draw more blood.

This game is going to be great.

Dom Hamel has not been starting.

Transactions, 8/2/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Released[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitchers[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/657240/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Julian Merryweather [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1991-10-14[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] Longtime Cub Julian Merryweather spent less than a month in the Mets organization. His contract came with a right to demand his release, and when the Mets fattened up on relief help at the deadline, he didn't like getting bumped so many steps down the ladder, and he exercised that right. Transactions, 8/8/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed away by MIL[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitchers[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/657240/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Julian Merryweather [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1991-10-14[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] While the Brewers were sweeping away the Mets, the only downside of their weekend was how un-merry the weather was, so they celebrated their success by fixing that as well. Transactions, 8/11/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]NEUTRAL[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Ended Rehab Assignment and Demoted to Syracuse[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitchers[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto/w_180/v1/people/663399/headshot/milb/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Brandon Waddell [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1994-06-03[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/L[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] The question must be asked: If you finish your rehab assignment and get assigned to the same place you were rehabbing, was what you were doing actually rehab?

Well, I really was more interested in discussing whether he has a future in switch-hitting.

It may be too early to give up on switch hitting for Ronny Mauricio, but I looked at his lefty-righty splits in the minors, and while they aren't as grossly distorted as they are in the majors, it seems to be a consistently stark difference every year. Here are his MLB numbers. The minor-league numbers are harder to sort through for posting, but the pattern is certainly clear. [TABLE][TR][TH][/TH][TH]OPS vs. L[/TH][TH]OPS vs. R[/TH][/TR] [TR][TH]2025[/TH][TD].234 (35 PA)[/TD][TD].857 (115 PA)[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]2023[/TH][TD].491 (46)[/TD][TD].767 (55)[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

That last batch was submitted without remark. Transactions, 8/4/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]GOING[/td90][td90]GOING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction[/th][td90]Released[/td90][td90]Released[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitcher[/th][th] Infielder[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_213,q_auto:best/v1/people/806709/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/zitella-jake-2023.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Deivy Paulino [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/dominican-republic-flag-small.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Jake Zitella [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]2005-06-15[/td90][td90]2005-02-24[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]Rk (2025)[/td90][td90]Rk (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] Deivy Paulino did passingly as a starter in the DSL, but moved up to the FCL this year, he found himself in the pen and he lost the plate. Deivy hails from San Pedro de Marcoris where you get signed just for being born male. Corner infielder Jake Zitella was in his third season in the organization, but still hadn't graduated from Rookie ball. He got to the plate only a dozen times this season, all in May, so it appears he got hurt and was released upon healing. Transactions, 8/5/2025 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][td90]COMING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed as Undrafted Amateur Free Agent out of Mercer, Assigned to FCL Mets[/td90][td90]Signed as Undrafted Amateur Free Agent out of Florida State, Assigned to FCL Mets[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Starting Pitchers[/th][th]Starting Pitchers[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://mercerbears.com/images/2025/1/13/MU-BSB_MediaDay-07.jpg?width=300[/fimg][/td90][td90][fimg=90]https://images.sidearmdev.com/crop?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Ffsuni.sidearmsports.com%2Fimages%2F2023%2F9%2F12%2FCharles__Joe.jpg&width=180&height=270&type=webp[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Colton Cosper [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][td90]Joe Charles [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]2002-09-08[/td90][td90]2000-04-05[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/L[/td90][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90]Division I (2025)[/td90][td90]Division I+ (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] Colton Cospor should not be confused with Colton Cowser, Kolten Wong, Collin Cowgill, or Rod Gaspar. Colt comes to the Mets from Mercer University down in Braves territory. There he spent four unremarkable seasons, but then he enrolled in the MLB Draft League and really put his best foot forward, giving up only one run in 17 innings, walking one and whiffing 20. That wasn't enough to get him drafted, but it got him on the Mets radar. Joe Charles is from Daytona Beach, suggesting there is a non-zero chance he is related to fellow-Daytona Beach native and former Met Ed Charles, or perhaps more likely related to the people who owned Ed's family. With a little help from the loosened rules of the Covid pandemic, Joe managed to appear in five ACC seasons over six years with two different schools.

As demonstrated by the Mets' pre-emptive hook of Montas in that same game, you can turn starters into bulk relievers and hope that pushes them further into the game, but if you continue to ever-shorten their workdays and keep them out of high-leverage mid-to-late-game situations, the real crisis remains.

You can ask any Rays as to how it succeeded and how it failed to succeed, depending on whether your goal is to win more or to get more wins credited to your rotation. I certainly can speculate.

An entire potential outfield there. Bad news for your Omar de los Santoses and your Gilberto Celestinos.

Some teams have gone to a consistent opener strategy for a time. Most notable is The Rays. It tends not to last, and the 20-game winner tends not to emerge. As with most pitcher-deployment innovations, the team finds they are robbing Peter to pay Paul.