The Hot Corner

I am not really a fan of the City Connect uniforms I agree that they should incorporate the teams usual color pallette. Just incorporate them in a new way. Of these examples I like the Pirates & Padres. Personally, I would be fine if the City Connect uniforms were simply dropped.

Robert Jr. hoes KABOOM!!! He is winning me over. I was not impressed when they picked him up to be the answer for CF, but he is proving me wrong. I hope he continues to do so.

On the bright side, his offense has been much better than I expected thus far.

I don't think the Mets have many alternatives at this point. Looking at the Mets options for an outfield replacement if they were to send Carson Benge down to Syracuse: Juan Soto is on IL for 2-3 weeks with a right calf strain Mike Tauchman is recovering from surgical repair of a torn meniscus in his left knee - Likely out until mid-late May. RJ Melendez has never really hit much and is currently hitting .188 at AAA Syracuse. Nick Morbito is in his first season above AA Binghamton. Currently hitting .364 in 33 at Syracuse. Off to a hot start, but are the Mets willing to move him up to replace Benge? Tommy Pham has yet to make an appearance in the minors since signing with the Mets following Tauchman's injury in late March. Carson Benge will likely remain with the Mets until either Juan Soto returns, Tommy Pham is ready, or if the Mets want to see if Nick Morabito can do better than Benge. I suspect they will wait for Soto or Pham. Of course, Benge could start hitting and make this discussion a mute point, which would be the best possible option.

Peterson is getting hammered. Looks like this game is quickly turning into a Manaea & Lovelady game.

Perdomo breaks out of his slump with a perfect bunt. Setting up men on the corners with one out. Sac fly drives in Carrol from third. Nice backhand play by Lindor ends the inning. Mets down 1-0 coming to bat in the home half of the first. Let's Go Mets!!!

The Mets need Peterson to give them a solid outing. With Mendoza tending to avoid using relievers on consecutive days, it appears that today will belong to Myers, Lovelady, and Manaea.

We have a sudden glut of KTE threads for the A's series. I will take a crack at the upcoming series against the Dodgers.

Mauricio has throughout his limited MLB career displayed dramatic splits as a switch hitter. Granted, this is based on a limited sample size (82 & 188 ABs from Right and Left side respectively), but I would suspect that his minor leagues numbers demonstrate a reasonably similar split. I realize that his RH stats are displayed in the above article, but I display them again here to contrast the stark difference compared to his LH stats. For his career vs LH pitchers: .134/..174/.195/.370 with 37.8% K rate & 4.88% Walk rate For his career vs RH pitchers: .282/.348/.436/.784 with 28.7% K rate & 9.57% Walk rate Obviously, he is a free swinger that needs to make contact more regularly. However, the dramatic difference between his production as a left-handed batter as opposed to as a right-handed batter is telling. With such a huge difference in production, it begs the question should he drop the switch-hitting and concentrate all his time and energy to hitting left-handed? I would tend to think it could be a wise choice. His current stats make him a valuable LH bat off the bench and possibly a platoon player against RHP. Arizona offers Mauricio a unique opportunity for late game heroics (like yesterday) since they do not have a single lefty in their bullpen.

I am trying to change my profile photo. I have a personal photo that I took of the old Home Run Apple outside CitiField. It is apparently bigger than the 0.39 MB allowance for profile photos. I am not overly computer literate. How can I reduce it so it to work on this site?

Nice at bat bo Bichette to advance Lindor to 3rd. Great play by Marte to keep the game alive. Mauricio walks it off. Baty31 you need to hang with us more. You bring good luck.

Damn. I thought that was a stand up double in the gap. Great running catch by the Arizona CF.

Williams holds the Snakes at bay in the 9th. Setting up the possible walkoff for the Mets.

Aggressive base running by Taylor going 1st to 3rd on Baty's one hopper up the middle. I was shocked the Dback CF didn't throw to third. ZIt looked like he had a good shot of gunning Taylor down. Glad he looked then robbed it to second. Jared Young with a good at bat to hit the deep fly to score the run.

Walks (and errors) kill. Luckily, the Mets were the benefactors of Arizona's mistakes. 2-0 Mets through 2 complete

If the Mets call I would consider it. 😄 I won't hold my breath.

I'll take a shot that Phil Niekro got taken deep at some point during his long and illustrious career.

I am only an expert as it pertains to eyes and ocular health, but I have a decent background knowledge of anatomy and general medicine. As I age, I find it takes longer to recall information that was once instantaneous. I feel like I am forgetting past knowledge faster than I am learning new things. Dementia is prominent on the maternal side of my family tree. 🤕

Damn, I forgot that he has been denied for having used inappropriate rocket fuel. I am actually, glad to be incorrect on this one.

I should apply for the Mets medical staff now that I'm retired.

Piazza against Roger Clemens. I can't believe none of us recalled this given their history.

So much of base stealing is getting a big lead and reading pitchers. Great speed is a huge help, but runners that can time pitchers and get a big jump are tough to catch. Also, choosing the right pitch to run on can make success more likely. Much tougher for a catcher to get rid of the ball as quickly on a splitter or back foot slider than it is on a fastball. Studying pitchers tendencies is a big part of being a successful base stealer.

I think his change up makes the 4 seam fastball look faster. The change up is his best and most effective pitch. If hitters get looking for the change, the fastball can surprise them. Hitters are taught to look for the hard stuff (2 seam/4 seam/slider) and adjust to the off-speed stuff (change/curve). If the hitters is looking/guessing on the slow change, the fastball often beats them.

Okay shot in the dark. Just matching Mets hitters against HOF pitchers of the same era that haven't been matched up yet. I will go with Ron Swoboda against Sandy Koufax. If allowed a second guess in a single post, give me Swoboda against Don Drysdale.

Hopefully, his offensive resurgence continues. His glove is definitely still very good. His tag on Young's throw to nab Encarcion yesterday was wonderful.