The Hot Corner

Martinez is 3-4 tonight with a grand slam. So they send in JD (Just Don't) Stewart (and his .179 BA) up to pinch hit for him. I just don't understand that decision at all.

Okay an insurance run (or two) would make me feel a lot better. Top of the order due for the Mets. Let's put this one to bed.

Looking at his last five outings with the Mariners, you can see how that happens. He made 5 appearances, faced a total of 16 batters over 2.2 innings pitched. Essentially, at least in his last 5 appearances, he doesn't face very many batters, but he records even fewer outs. As a result, his innings pitched was pretty low. Let's just say at least in his last 5 outings, he hasn't been too good at preventing runs and getting outs. He does have a history of success in the past. He is armed with a 97-100 mph fast ball and a very good splitter. Hopefully, a change of scenery will help the "good" Stanek to emerge.

A big win for the Mets. Only 3 hits on the night, but they made them count. Sale pitched a great game, but the Met staff got the job done tonight. 5 innings with no hits allowed by the bullpen.

Actually putting a ball in play would enhance the odds of scoring the free runner.

I went with the 36-31 second half. Hopefully, Senga can return and be a reasonable facsimile of last season and they can acquire some bullpen help before the deadline, then I am optimistic they can do well. Otherwise I feel they are essentially a .500 (or faintly better) team.

I know the Mets just drafted him in the second round (46th overall pick) last night, but I have watched him pitch (on TV) a few times for Duke during the ACC season, so I wanted to watch over him. He has a fastball in the mid-90's (93-95) and a very good slider in the low 80's. His third pitch is a change up, but he doesn't rely too heavily on it. His main issue has been command and consistently throwing strikes. Hopefully, that will get better with time and he can improve his change up to give him 3 legitimate MLB quality pitches. During his career at Duke opposing hitters batted .208 against him. This season, opponents hit only .188 against him and he racked up 90 strike outs over 58 innings of work.

Drew Smith underwent UCL reconstruction (Tommy John) surgery on his right elbow for the second time. Likely ending his career as a Met.

=metirish post_id=162237 time=1720791181 user_id=72] I was away and have no memories of him

Frayed Knot wrote: Do keep in mind as we continue to blame the bullpen for virtually each and every loss, NYM bats over the last 13 innings managed to amass a grand total of one single (3rd inning today) and two BBs (8th inning Wed, 2nd inning today). In the other ten innings they were retired 1-2-3. [innings 6 thru 9 Wed night and all 9 today] I understand, it is hard to fault the pitching for today's loss. You can never win if you fail to score. I am discussing my personal frustration with the way the construction and use of pitching staffs have evolved over the years. This extends far beyond the Mets, with regards to the 12-13 man pitching staffs. Yet, I don't sense (I may be wrong) that it is protecting arms (or leads).

I understand that the game has evolved, I'm just not sure that it has evolved for the better. I don't think the Ryans, Gibsons, Carltons, Johnsons and Seavers were coasting against many batters. They may not have thrown as hard as most pitchers today, but I doubt they were holding much back. They just didn't give up the ball or their turn in the rotation every time the felt a twinge. Some of the limited use of pitchers is also a factor of the amount the teams have invested in the pitchers, particularly starters. If one looks at the statistics for Tommy John surgeries now being done on teenagers due to overuse, while chasing their dreams, I believe the root of the issue is apparent, at least to me. I know that most youth leagues limit the number of innings a pitching can throw, but most talented kids now play year round, not just in the summer. Then you add the fact that the most talented youngsters often play overlapping leagues so they throw the maximum inning in not just one league, but often in two or three competing leagues. They are often damaging their arms before they are ever drafted.

I general, I agree with you regarding too many arms in the bullpen. Unfortunately, the game has changed and managers will pull pitchers who are cruising threw the opposition because of pitch counts or fear of wearing the starter out. Managers don't hesitate to pull pitchers in the midst of throwing a shut out or even a no hitter. It seems that 5 or 6 innings is all most managers seem to be looking for from their starting pitching. Then they try to throw 4-5 more pitchers out there to close the final 3-4 innings in hopes that every single pitcher you send to the mound is "on" that day. Unfortunately, the days of sending Seaver, Gibson, Carlton, Marichal, Maddux, Ryan, Palmer, Johnson, or Ford (etc.) to the mound and going with your best for as long as you could are long gone. It is a change that has led to so many of the late inning collapses we so often see. I believe all the coddling, pitch counts, and six man rotations are a misguided attempt to protect pitchers arms from injury by not overworking them. It doesn't appear to be working. I don't have any statistics regarding injury rates to pitchers now versus 20, 30, or even 50 years ago, but it sure seems that the pitchers breakdown and are out for injury more now than in the past. I think the pitchers are throwing far too much at too young an age in order to get the college scholarships or get drafted. Many of them are already damaged goods by the time they get into the minor league systems. The number of young players high schoolers and even mid-teens that are undergoing Tommy John surgery has been rising steadily for the past 20-30 years. If they want to protect arms, they need to start doing so at much younger ages.

In a different era, I would have thought steroids. However, his career is after the clamp down on steroid usage. Rather mystifying.

Definitely not with the bullpen they currently have. I know every team goes through injury issues, particularly when it comes to pitchers, but the Mets bullpen has been decimated. Calls to the bullpen would not be quite as terrifying if the Mets still had, Brooks Raley, Sean Reid-Foley, and Drew Smith available. Now with Edwin Diaz serving out a suspension, there is not much reliable depth to call on. I am afraid that the Mets will burn out the few reasonable options left in the pen due to overuse. It would help if the starting pitchers could go at least 6 innings on a regular basis. Time for our President of Baseball Operations to bring in some reinforcement that are capable of actually getting ML hitters out.

Damn!

Okay, I was all set to guess Al Jackson for sticky Throneberry with the "Marvelous Marv" moniker, but now that you posted a photo of the answer I will go with Jay Hook.

If you could be so kind as to steer some of that rain here, I would gladly send some hot, sunny days your way. It has been 90+ degrees and sunny everyday for close to 2 weeks. No rain to speak of the entire time. Our entire area is like a tinder box and the farmers are really suffering.

Frayed Knot wrote: Among other things: no Diaz, no Smith, no Raley, and starters who can't go longer than 5 Also missing Sean Reid-Foley.

I did a search earlier today to confirm the salaries of all 5 catchers. You are correct that Alvarez appears to be on a 1 year deal for $762,500. I thought the $2.7 was damn good considering being totally under team control, but that is what popped up this morning. Or perhaps, I needed a little more coffee this morning. Anyway, you are correct regarding his salary being $762,500 for 2024.

Edgy MD wrote: Tomás Nido is getting paid $2.1 million by the Mets to be a Cub and James McCann be getting paid $9.5 million by the Mets to be an Oriole. Wow, the Mets attempting to upgrade the catcher position while saving money with the McCann signing has really been a costly mistake for the organization. Hard to imagine that McCann ($9.5 mil.) makes over 3 times what Alvarez ([CROSSOUT]$2.7 mil.[/CROSSOUT]$762,500) does while Nido ($2.1 mil.) & Narvaez ($2.5 mil.) make almost the same. Throw in Torrens ($1.3 mil.) and the Mets are currently paying ([CROSSOUT]$18.1 mil.[/CROSSOUT]$16.1 mil.) to catchers with James McCann making more than half of that to be the Orioles back up. Sometimes, life just doesn't seem fair. I guess Alvarez is paying his dues and setting the stage for his big pay day in the future.* *=This likely would have been better placed in the Alvarez thread, but I have no idea how to move it and I don't want to double post.

That game got way less fun down the stretch. Well a win is a win, but it certainly didn't end up being the laugher it once appeared destined to be.

Few things in life more fun than watching the Mets open a can of whoop ass on the Yankees.

I don't much care for the concept of city connect uniforms in nor the execution of them. Most of them are ugly as sin. Give me the Mets white w/ blue pinstripes any day.

I went with Ken Griffey, Jr. Like Mays before him, he could do virtually anything on a baseball field and he had a way of making it look rather effortless. If I were to go with a pitcher, I would have to choose Greg Maddux. He never looked overly impressive, but he reliably and methodically carved up the opposing line up game after game.

A part of my childhood innocence died with the passing of Willie Mays. I have always been a Mets fan, but as a youngster playing Tee Ball and Little League, my favorite player, my hero, was unequivocally Willie Mays. He was the epitome of greatness. He was a tremendous ambassador for the game of baseball both during his playing days and during his long life following his career. Rest in Peace Mr. Mays. Thanks for the wonderful memories.