SBNation.com User Blog: Chris McShane

Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, Week 7

Chris McShane — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:04:52 -0000

On their seven-game road trip over the last week, the Mets scored a total of 23 runs, an average of 3.28 runs per game. The team continues to slide down the run-scoring rankings in the National League, now sitting 6th in the league at 4.24 runs per game this season. If the team's hitters don't turn things around soon, they'll soon be at or below the league average of 4.08 runs per game.

Player	Last Week	Comment
Rick Ankiel, OF	--	It's hard to figure out why the Mets signed Ankiel in the first place, but of course he had an excellent first week with the team. The guy hit 2 home runs and put together a 1.033 OPS.
Mike Baxter, OF		On-base percentage is Baxter's biggest strength as a hitter, but it was just .133 over the last seven days.
John Buck, C		Buck actually drew four walks in the six games he played, but he hit .211 and had no extra-base hits. He also got thrown out attempting to steal second base.
Marlon Byrd, OF		Byrd only started two games but played in four and hit very well. That he threw out a would-be tying rub at home plate in Chicago was a bonus.
Ike Davis, 1B		Shaun Marcum had more hits than Ike Davis on the road trip. Ike had a .122 OPS and looked shaky in the field at times.
Lucas Duda, OF		Duda has been one of the Mets' best hitters this year, but the putrid week he had the plate on this road trip was his worst all year.
Juan Lagares, OF		With Ankiel on the team, Lagares is slated to platoon in center field. His first big league home run was well timed, tying the game in Chicago yesterday.
Daniel Murphy, 2B		Following a long slump, Murphy had one of his best weeks of the year, posting a .500/.517/.857 slash line, including 2 HR and 4 doubles.
Anthony Recker, C		He went 0-for-4 in his lone appearance of the week.
Ruben Tejada, SS		Tejada played plenty on the road trip but hit just .125 with no walks and no extra-base hits. Among qualified shortstops, Tejada's .256 wOBA on the season is the second-worst in baseball.
Justin Turner, IF		Turner didn't so much as reach first base in 10 plate appearances, striking out 4 times in the process.
Jordany Valdespin, OF		Valdespin's consistently sub-.300 OBP is a lot less palatable when he's not hitting for power.
David Wright, 3B		Wright bounced back nicely from a pedestrian week at the plate with a home run and a .950 OPS.

Tracking Matt Harvey's Season: Start #9

Chris McShane — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:16:19 -0000

RESULTS

7.1 IP, 2 R, 6 K, 0 BB, 106 pitches (78 strikes), 66 Game Score

Matt Harvey's start against the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field didn't begin well, as he gave up two runs in the first inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Alfonso Soriano hit an infield single to plate the first run, but the second only came around to score on the play because Ruben Tejada's bounced throw to first base couldn't be handled by Ike Davis. Both runs were charged as earned runs, though the Mets appealed that ruling for the second run over the weekend.

From there, though, Harvey was excellent, allowing only two runners to reach base through the remainder of his seven-and-one-third innings of work.

PITCHf/x DATA (via Brooks Baseball)

Here's a breakdown of how Harvey mixed his pitches in the game:

Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Count	Strikes / %	Whiffs / %
FA (Fastball)	96.39	99.66	43	33 / 76.74%	1 / 2.33%
SI (Sinker)	96.49	97.33	3	2 / 66.67%	0 / 0.00%
CH (Changeup)	87.74	90.55	22	15 / 68.18%	4 / 18.18%
SL (Slider)	90.60	92.74	19	15 / 78.95%	3 / 15.79%
CU (Curveball)	83.44	86.84	19	13 / 68.42%	2 / 10.53%

Harvey used all three of his off-speed pitches frequently and with great results in the start, relying slightly more on his changeup than his slider and curveball. He's throwing the curve a lot more now than he did in the past. Just 9 percent of Harvey's pitches in 2012 were curveballs, but 17.9 percent of his pitches—nearly double last year's rate—were curves on Friday afternoon.

And here's the plot of Harvey's pitches from the game:

As usual, Harvey worked up in the zone plenty, but he didn't generate many swinging strikes in the upper half of the zone in this start. Instead, most of his whiffs came on pitches in the lower half or outside of the strike zone, which makes sense given the fact that he got just one whiff on a fastball and the rest on off-speed pitches.

WHERE HARVEY RANKS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

With seven weeks of the season in the books, Harvey's still right in the thick of the early race for the National League Cy Young Award. Here's how he compares to his peers.

	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	SwStr%
Harvey	1.55	2.21	29.2	6.0	12.4
NL Rank	4th	2nd	2nd	14th	1st
NL Avg.	3.91	3.98	18.8	7.7	8.5

Harvey trails Clayton Kershaw, rookie Shelby Miller, and Patrick Corbin in ERA. In FIP, he trails only Adam Wainwright.

HARVEY IN METS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Let's take a look at Harvey's first nine starts this year in comparison to the first nine starts of three of the Mets' previous Cy Young seasons.

Pitcher	IP	ERA	K	BB	GSc
Matt Harvey (2013)	56.1	1.55	68	14	71
R.A. Dickey (2012)	50.1	3.45	51	16	56
Dwight Gooden (1985)	69.1	1.69	66	18	69
Tom Seaver (1973)	65.1	1.57	61	19	73

Despite having the second-fewest innings pitched of the four seasons here, Harvey still leads in strikeouts. He still has the fewest walks, too. And even though Harvey's ERA went up a bit on Friday afternoon in Chicago, it's still the best of the bunch.

Mets Player Performance Meter: Pitchers, Week 7

Chris McShane — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:06:39 -0000

The Mets' pitching staff has been in a rut for over a month, and despite some positive signs from the starting rotation over the past week, the team's pitching staff has still been one of the worst in the game. Its 4.54 ERA ranks 26th in baseball, and its 4.17 FIP ranks 21st.

Mets starting pitchers have compiled a 4.41 ERA and 4.03 FIP, while the bullpen has a 4.77 ERA and 4.40 FIP. So the bullpen has been a bit worse than the rotation, but both have been below average. This week's player meter covers the Mets' seven-game road trip through St. Louis and Chicago, during which they won three games.

Player	Last Week	Comment
Scott Atchison, RHP		Perhaps the first victim of the Mets' overburdened bullpen, Atchison hit the DL with pain in his pitching elbow.
Greg Burke, RHP	--	Recalled to help an overworked bullpen, Burke made 4 appearances totaling 3.2 innings. He allowed just one hit, no walks, and had a pairs of Ks.
Robert Carson, LHP		He served up 3 home runs in just 4 innings of relief work. Yikes.
Jeruys Familia, RHP		There hasn't been an update on Familia, who hit the disabled list last week with biceps tendinitis.
Dillon Gee, RHP		He compiled an 8.00 ERA in two starts, but there's a little bit of silver lining as his fastball velocity was better and he struck out 11 in 9 innings of work.
Matt Harvey, RHP		Just another day at the office for Harvey: 7.1 IP, 6 K, 0 BB, 2 R.
LaTroy Hawkins, RHP		His lone one-inning appearance was eventful: 2 K, 2 BB, and 1 run allowed.
Jeremy Hefner, RHP		In a pair of starts, Hefner pitched a total of 10 innings, gave up 7 runs, walked 6, and struck out 5.
Brandon Lyon, RHP		He didn't pitch much but didn't do much of note when he did, either.
Shaun Marcum, RHP		After a string of terrible starts coming off the disabled list, Marcum finally put together a good one. If he's healthy, there should be more of those to come.
Collin McHugh, RHP	--	Making his first appearance with the Mets this year, McHugh gave up 5 hits and 3 runs in a two-inning relief appearance against the Cubs.
Jon Niese, LHP		If the Mets are going to turn things around this year, they'll need Niese to pitch like he did in his most recent start.
Bobby Parnell, RHP		Parnell has been nothing short of excellent this year, and this week was no exception.
Scott Rice, LHP		He's still making appearances at an absurd clip, and the results weren't so great this week as he gave up a couple runs in 3.1 innings.

Mets vs. Cubs Recap: Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy home runs lead the Mets to first series win in a month

Chris McShane — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:27:46 -0000

It would be great if a Mets series victory over the Chicago Cubs—a team that finished fifth of six teams in the National League Central the past three years and entered play today six games below .500—weren’t a cause for celebration. But the Mets have been even worse than the Cubs this year, and the fact that they pulled out a win in the rubber game of their weekend series was something of a relief.

The last time the Mets won a series was in the middle of April, when they surprisingly beat the Nationals in two of three games at Citi Field on a weekend that they faced Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan ZImmermann. They split a pair of two-game "series" between then and now, too, one thanks to inclement weather in Atlanta and the other thanks to Major League Baseball’s quirky schedule. But until today, it had been a month since the Mets beat a team more often than that team had beaten them.

As for the game at hand, Dillon Gee looked more like his 2012 self for most of his outing. While he only pitched five-plus innings, Gee struck out six, walked one, and gave up three runs. On top of the good strikeout and walk numbers, his average fastball velocity was on par with last year’s, something that wasn’t happening in the early going this year.

On the downside, however, Gee gave up a two-run home run to opposing pitcher Travis Wood in the fifth inning, which marked the first two runs scored by either team in the game. And after David Wright drove in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning to cut the Mets’ deficit in half, Gee gave up a solo home run to Ryan Sweeney to begin the sixth inning before allowing a Nate Schierholtz double and getting the hook.

Luckily for the Mets, the bullpen was in tip-top shape this afternoon, starting with Greg Burke, who retired the first three batters he faced, stranding Schierholtz at third base.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, Ruben Tejada singled. The left-handed Wood was still on the mound for Chicago, and if there was one thing Juan Lagares showed in the minor leagues that might help the Mets, it was his ability to hit left-handed pitching. He hadn’t hit much at all in limited playing time since he was called up, but Lagares drilled a two-run home run off Wood to tie the game at three.

Scott Rice took over for the Mets in the bottom of the inning and pitched the first of his two scoreless frames. Daniel Murphy, who was hitting leadoff today, led off the eight with a solo Blue Collar Blast against Kyuji Fujikawa to put the Mets ahead 4-3.

Rice completed his scoreless eighth inning, and the Mets didn’t add any insurance runs against Carlos Marmol in the top of the ninth. But Bobby Parnell, who has very good for a while and excellent this season, struck out two batters in a one-two-three bottom of the ninth to preserve the Mets’ slim lead and notch the series victory.

The Mets begin a three-game series against the very good Cincinnati Reds tomorrow at 7:10 pm EDT at Citi Field. Shaun Marcum is slated to start for New York, while Johnny Cueto will start for Cincinnati.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bleed Cubbie Blue Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Juan Lagares, +34.9% WPA, Scott Rice, +22.5% WPA, Bobby Parnell, +19.4% WPA, Daniel Murphy, +16.2% WPA
Big losers: Dillon Gee, -15.4% WPA, Justin Turner, -12.1% WPA, Anthony Recker, -11.9% WPA, Ruben Tejada, -10.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares’s game-tying two-run home run in the seventh, +29.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Travis Wood’s two-run home run in the fifth, -21.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +32.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: +17.2% WPA
GWRBI!: Daniel Murphy

Mets vs. Cubs Recap: Hefner ineffective, bullpen bad, bats nearly silent as Mets lose

Chris McShane — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:17:53 -0000

There are Mets games started by Matt Harvey, and then there are other Mets games. Today's game, started by Jeremy Hefner, fit perfectly into the latter category.

The first three innings of the game didn't look horrible, though. Hefner cruised through the first inning and managed to pitch a scoreless second despite a leadoff single by Alfonso Soriano, who moved to third on a ground out, and an ensuing walk of Luis Valbuena. He struck out Welington Castillo and induced a pop-up from Darwin Barney to end the inning.

But the Mets weren't able to score in the first or second inning, either. They had two baserunners in each of the first two innings but came out of the second without having scored. The third inning wasn't much better, as Daniel Murphy was the only runner to get on base. He attempted to steal second base and was thrown out. On the season, Murphy has stole on base and been caught stealing three times. He should probably consider not attempting to steal bases in the future.

Hefner retired the Cubs in order in the third. and the Mets returned the favor with a one-two-three top of the fourth. The Mets' odds of winning went south in the bottom of that inning.

Anthony Rizzo singled, and Hefner hit Soriano with a pitch. Nate Schierholtz singled to load the bases, and Luis Valbuena followed it up with a sacrifice fly to score Rizzo and move Soriano to third. Welington Castillo singled to plate the Cubs' second run, but Darwin Barney, the eight hitter, lined out to center.

With Scott Feldman coming up to the plate and two outs, Hefner looked like he'd escape the inning with relatively minimal damage, but Feldman hit a long double to score the Cubs' third and fourth runs of the afternoon. Given the way the Mets' offense has been failing of late, a four-run deficit felt like a mountain, even at the early stage of the game.

The Mets had a couple more baserunners in the fifth inning: Marlon Byrd and Mike Baxter, both of whom singled. But again, they were unable to score, as Daniel Murphy and David Wright struck out in succession to end the inning.

Robert Carson took over to pitch the bottom of the fifth, and he promptly gave up a leadoff home run to Rizzo. He managed to complete two innings without giving up any more runs, but as Gary Cohen pointed out on the SNY broadcast, he has now allowed 7 home runs in just 11 innings of work this year in the big leagues. That's not good.

As the Mets continued to flail at the plate, Collin McHugh took over in the bottom of the seventh inning to make his 2013 debut with the Mets. He threw a one-two-three inning in the seventh but gave up two runs in the eighth.

The Mets avoided a shutout in the ninth inning when John Buck singled and Rick Ankiel hit a home run to score the team's only two runs of the afternoon.

Tomorrow at 2:20 pm EDT, the Mets look to take the weekend series with Dillon Gee on the mound. Travis Wood is slated to start for Chicago.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bleed Cubbie Blue Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Marlon Byrd, +1.8% WPA
Big losers: Jerey Hefner, -19.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Welington Castillo's strikeout in the first inning, +7.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Scott Feldman's two-run double in the fourth, -12.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -21.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: -28.9% WPA
GWRBI!: Scott Feldman

Final Score: Cubs 8, Mets 2 — Why can't every day be Harvey Day?

Chris McShane — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:54:32 -0000

Having won their previous two games, the Mets came into Saturday afternoon with a shot at their longest winning streak in quite some time. But they didn't even come close to winning the game.

Jeremy Hefner gave up four runs on five hits in four innings of work and now has a 5.00 ERA on the season. The Cubs did all of their damage against him in a four-run fourth inning. Robert Carson gave up a run on a solo home run in two innings of relief before Collin McHugh made his season debut and allowed three runs in two innings of work.

The Mets had a few baserunners early in the game, but they failed to score until Rick Ankiel hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning. With that, the Mets avoided being shut out, but the game inning shortly thereafter.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	MetsFan4Decades	149
2	cstroh8	110
3	robotoverlord	104
4	PriceIsAlwaysWright	90
5	northernvatiger	69
6	TKFJ	64
7	JJJ	51
8	GetMetsmerized	27
9	gonzo69	25
10	rcnt123	23

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cubs, 5/18/13

Chris McShane — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:25:26 -0000

Jeremy Hefner

#53 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 11, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jeremy Hefner	0-4	8	7	0	0	0	0	41.0	37	21	21	8	16	27	4.61	1.29

Scott Feldman

#46 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Height: 6-7

Weight: 230

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Feb 07, 1983

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Scott Feldman	3-3	7	7	1	0	0	0	42.2	32	19	12	5	17	33	2.53	1.15

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	CHICAGO CUBS
Mike Baxter - RF	David DeJesus - CF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Starlin Castro - SS
David Wright - 3B	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
Ike Davis - 1B	Alfonso Soriano - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Nate Schierholtz - RF
John Buck - C	Luis Valbuena - 3B
Rick Ankiel - CF	Welington Castillo - C
Ruben Tejada - SS	Darwin Barney - 2B
Jeremy Hefner - P	Scott Feldman - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:05 PM	WPIX	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Jeremy Hefner

#53 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 11, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jeremy Hefner	0-4	8	7	0	0	0	0	41.0	37	21	21	8	16	27	4.61	1.29

Scott Feldman

#46 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Height: 6-7

Weight: 230

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Feb 07, 1983

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Scott Feldman	3-3	7	7	1	0	0	0	42.2	32	19	12	5	17	33	2.53	1.15

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	CHICAGO CUBS
Mike Baxter - RF	David DeJesus - CF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Starlin Castro - SS
David Wright - 3B	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
Ike Davis - 1B	Alfonso Soriano - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Nate Schierholtz - RF
John Buck - C	Luis Valbuena - 3B
Rick Ankiel - CF	Welington Castillo - C
Ruben Tejada - SS	Darwin Barney - 2B
Jeremy Hefner - P	Scott Feldman - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:05 PM	WPIX	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cubs, 5/17/13

Chris McShane — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:28:50 -0000

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	CHICAGO CUBS
Jordany Valdespin - RF	David DeJesus - CF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Starlin Castro - SS
David Wright - 3B	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
Ike Davis - 1B	Alfonso Soriano - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Nate Schierholtz - RF
John Buck - C	Luis Valbuena - 3B
Rick Ankiel - CF	Welington Castillo - C
Ruben Tejada - SS	Darwin Barney - 2B
Matt Harvey - P	Edwin Jackson - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
2:20 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	CHICAGO CUBS
Jordany Valdespin - RF	David DeJesus - CF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Starlin Castro - SS
David Wright - 3B	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
Ike Davis - 1B	Alfonso Soriano - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Nate Schierholtz - RF
John Buck - C	Luis Valbuena - 3B
Rick Ankiel - CF	Welington Castillo - C
Ruben Tejada - SS	Darwin Barney - 2B
Matt Harvey - P	Edwin Jackson - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
2:20 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Mets vs. Cardinals Recap: Gee rocked in short start, Mets lose again

Chris McShane — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:18:40 -0000

The Mets’ stretch of terrible baseball continued in St. Louis as the Cardinals defeated them 10-4. Aside from Matt Havey, the Mets’ rotation has been awful of late, pitching poorly and departing games early. The trend unfortunately didn't come to an end tonight as Dillon Gee surrendered six runs in four innings, putting the Mets in a hole and further taxing an already overworked bullpen.

After the Mets failed to score in the top of the first, Gee immediately got into trouble in the bottom of the inning by walking leadoff man Matt Carpenter. Gee then got a ground ball to first base from Carlos Beltran—which should have been a double play, but was turned into a throwing error by Ike Davis. With runners on the corners, Matt Holliday doubled to score the first run of the game. Allen Craig singled to plate Beltran and Holliday, and the Mets were down three.

The Mets didn’t accomplish much at the plate until the sixth inning. The Cardinals, on the other hand, put together more productive innings before then. They plated three in the third inning on a trio of RBI singles by Pete Kozma, Matt Carpenter, and Carlos Beltran. And after Robert Carson came in to relieve Gee in the beginning of the fifth inning, they scored three more when Beltran hit a seemingly effortless three-run home run into the third deck in left field.

Down 9-0, the Mets made some noise in the sixth against Cardinals starter John Gast, who was making his big league debut. A one-out single by Daniel Murphy and walk by David Wright got the mini rally started. Murphy scored on a John Buck single, and Wright scored a Lucas Duda groundout to first. Buck was caught in a rundown on the play, and although Wright would have scored regardless of the outcome, the Cardinals should have ended the inning there. Buck, who recently stole second base in a real big league baseball game, managed to get there safely as the Cardinals struggled to cover the bag. And with the inning still alive, Marlon Byrd hit a home run to cut the Mets’ run deficit to five.

Jon Jay hit a home run against Robert Carson in the bottom of the inning to put the Cardinals in front by six, and both bullpens kept the score intact through the end of the game. Perhaps the only benefit to getting blown out on the road is that the Mets only had to use three relief pitchers, with Brandon Lyon and Greg Burke following Carson with an inning of work each.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Viva El Birdos Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Marlon Byrd, +2.1% WPA
Big losers: Dillon Gee, -32.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Dillon Gee’s strikeouts of Pete Kozma and David Freese in the third, +2.2% WPA each
Teh sux0rest play: Matt Holliday’s run-scoring double in the first, -9.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -34.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: -15.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Carlos Beltran

Final Score: Cardinals 10, Mets 4 — Gee shelled, Mets lose fifth straight

Chris McShane — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:55:35 -0000

The Mets lost their fifth straight game in a blow out against the St. Louis Cardinals this evening. Dillon Gee allowed nine hits and six runs with five strikeouts and four walks in just four innings of work. The Cardinals scored three in the first and three in the third against him.

St. Louis added three in the fifth against Robert Carson on a three-run home run by Carlos Beltran to take a 9-0 lead before the Mets plated four in the sixth to make the game a bit less lopsided. The Cardinals tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth when Jon Jay hit a solo home run against Carson. Neither team scored again in the game.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	MetsFan4Decades	145
2	mzvalaren	127
3	JJJ	80
4	robotoverlord	76
5	Terry_is_God	74
6	Sheaoutofluck	72
7	omegasupreme44	57
8	stickguy	53
9	Steve Sypa	49
10	Seaver73	36

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cardinals, 5/14/13

Chris McShane — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:34:20 -0000

Dillon Gee

#35 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-1

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Apr 28, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Dillon Gee	2-4	7	7	0	0	0	0	35.2	44	22	22	5	13	22	5.55	1.60

John Gast

#64 / Pitcher / St. Louis Cardinals

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Feb 16, 1989

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Justin Turner - SS	Matt Carpenter - 2B
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Carlos Beltran - RF
David Wright - 3B	Matt Holliday - LF
John Buck - C	Allen Craig - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF	Yadier Molina - C
Marlon Byrd - RF	Jon Jay - CF
Ike Davis - 1B	David Freese - 3B
Juan Lagares - CF	Pete Kozma - SS
Dillon Gee - P	John Gast - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
8:15 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Dillon Gee

#35 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-1

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Apr 28, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Dillon Gee	2-4	7	7	0	0	0	0	35.2	44	22	22	5	13	22	5.55	1.60

John Gast

#64 / Pitcher / St. Louis Cardinals

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Feb 16, 1989

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Justin Turner - SS	Matt Carpenter - 2B
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Carlos Beltran - RF
David Wright - 3B	Matt Holliday - LF
John Buck - C	Allen Craig - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF	Yadier Molina - C
Marlon Byrd - RF	Jon Jay - CF
Ike Davis - 1B	David Freese - 3B
Juan Lagares - CF	Pete Kozma - SS
Dillon Gee - P	John Gast - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
8:15 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, Week 6

Chris McShane — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:31:44 -0000

Given the way the Mets have struggled to score runs lately, it wouldn't be surprising if they had dropped to the bottom of the National League in scoring by now. But six weeks into the season, their 4.44 runs per game still rank 5th in the league, slightly behind the St. Louis Cardinals and ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers. The league average thus far is 4.08 runs per game.

The Mets' .303 wOBA on the season is poor and ranks 11th in the National League, which is better than just the Padres, Phillies, Nationals, and Marlins. If that sounds surprising, the Mets' 38 home runs rank 7th in the league, which helps mitigate the team's atrocious .304 OBP.

Here's how the hitters did over the past week.

Player	Last Week	This Week	Comment
Mike Baxter, OF			Mike from Whitestone didn't play much, but he had two walk-off hits. Thank goodness.
Andrew Brown, OF			He was one of the Mets' capable hitters this week at .250/.357/.500.
John Buck, C			Buck's .255 OPS on the week was lower than Justin Turner's batting average.
Marlon Byrd, OF			When he played, Byrd was, surprisingly, the word.
Ike Davis, 1B			Maybe he'll turn into a major league hitter in June again this year.
Lucas Duda, OF			The components of Duda's .555 OPS were a .111 OBP and .444 SLG. You don't see that every week.
Juan Lagares, OF			His bobble-catch was pretty great, but he didn't hit at all.
Daniel Murphy, 2B			Ugh.
Anthony Recker, C			Home runs the best. Or in this case, a single home run in one game played.
Ruben Tejada, SS			Yuck.
Justin Turner, IF			He only hit singles and drew walks, but Turner's .762 OPS was acceptable.
Jordany Valdespin, OF			Even in small samples, Valdespin always seems to find a way to put up a sub-.300 OBP. This week, it was .286, but he slugged .667 thanks in large part to another home run.
David Wright, 3B			Well, it was his first bad week of the year, and he still posted a .375 OBP. The bar's a bit higher for Wright than the rest of these guys.

Tracking Matt Harvey's Season: Start #8

Chris McShane — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:39:40 -0000

RESULTS

7 IP, 2 R, 4 K, 2 BB, 105 pitches (64 strikes), 61 Game Score

Pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday at Citi Field, Matt Harvey wasn't at his best, particularly early in the game. He struggled in the third inning, allowing two runs to score, but wound up pitching seven innings without allowing any more. He struck out four, walked two, and gave fives hits, one of which was a Clint Barmes home run.

PITCHf/x DATA (via Brooks Baseball)

Here's a breakdown of how Harvey mixed his pitches in the game:

Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Count	Strikes / %	Whiffs / %
FA (Fastball)	95.78	97.62	47	30 / 63.83%	6 / 12.77%
SI (Sinker)	95.42	97.51	10	8 / 80.00%	2 / 20.00%
CH (Changeup)	87.50	89.24	7	4 / 57.14%	1 / 14.29%
SL (Slider)	89.53	91.88	23	14 / 60.87%	3 / 13.04%
CU (Curveball)	83.48	85.97	14	8 / 57.14%	0 / 0.00%

In his young career, 12 percent of Harvey's pitches have been changeups. Yesterday, he only used the pitch seven times, which was only 6.6 percent of the 105 pitches he threw. Even without his best stuff, Harvey generated twelve swinging strikes in the start, good for an 11.4 percent rate. The major league average swinging strike rate is 9.2 percent.

And here's the plot of Harvey's pitches from the game:

Harvey's strength is pitching in the upper half of the strike zone, which he didn't do as effectively yesterday as he did in his previous start. And when he missed the strike zone, he missed it by a wide margin, resulting in balls instead of whiffs. Harvey's is clearly capable of generating swinging strikes in the zone, but he does even better when he gets those whiffs on pitches just a bit outside of it.

WHERE HARVEY RANKS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

Harvey still compares very well to his fellow National League starting pitchers in ERA, FIP, strikeout percentage, walk percentage, and swinging strike percentage.

	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	SwStr%
Harvey	1.44	2.29	30.1	6.8	12.7
NL Rank	1st	2nd	2nd	21st	1st
NL Avg.	3.90	3.97	18.9	7.8	8.6

Harvey and Adam Wainwright are jockeying for position at the league's top starting pitcher. They're slightly trailed by an excellent group of pitchers: perennial aces Jordan Zimmermann, Cliff Lee, Clayton Kershaw, and Madison Bumgarner and the suddenly-good-again A.J. Burnett.

HARVEY IN METS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Through eight starts, Harvey's season still fits right in with some of the best in Mets history.

Pitcher	IP	ERA	K	BB	GSc
Matt Harvey (2013)	56.1	1.44	62	14	74
R.A. Dickey (2012)	50.1	3.75	40	16	54
Dwight Gooden (1985)	61.1	1.61	57	18	70
Tom Seaver (1973)	65.1	1.38	54	18	74

With the slight rise in his ERA, Harvey is just behind Tom Seaver at this stage of the season, but his strikeout number is still the best despite having pitched the second-fewest innings. His walks, too, are the fewest, though there's some advantage to having thrown fewer innings there. And his average game score of 74 is equal to Seaver's, which is no easy feat.

Mets Player Performance Meter: Pitchers, Week 6

Chris McShane — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:44:45 -0000

Five weeks ago, the Mets' pitching staff ranked third in baseball in ERA and fourth in FIP. That was, of course, at the end of the first week of the season, and it seemed a little too good to be true. Since then, they've come plummeting down to earth.

Now, the staff as a whole has a 4.45 ERA, which ranks 26th, and a 4.13 FIP, which ranks 22nd. The gap between ERA and FIP has been there all along, and given the team's lack of defensive prowess, it won't be a surprise if the it remains over the rest of the season.

This week's player meter covers the team's games between May 6 and May 12.

Player	Last Week	This Week	Comment
Scott Atchison, RHP			He's been overworked lately, as he pitched on a day that he was unavailable, but he wasn't all that good in 3 appearances, either.
Robert Carson. LHP			The Mets haven't hesitated to give Carson opportunities at baseball's highest level, and he was actually pretty good this week.
Jeurys Familia, RHP			He gave up a home run and a walk in his only appearance before hitting the disabled list with bieceps tendinitis.
Dillon Gee, RHP			Having allowed 1 run in 5 innings in his start, Gee would have received the green arrow if he hadn't left the bases loaded with nobody out for Brandon Lyon in the sixth inning. He owes that guy a beer.
Matt Harvey, RHP			Sure, he looked human yesterday, but he wasn't bad. And he damn near threw a perfect game in his first start of the week. Harvey the best.
LaTroy Hawkins, RHP			With 5 K and 0 BB in 4 IP, Hawkins still gave up 6 hits and 2 runs.
Jeremy Hefner, RHP			At least he pitched six innings.
Brandon Lyon, RHP			He bailed out Gee and didn't do anything too awful in his only other appearance.
Shaun Marcum, RHP			Terrible.
Jon Niese, LHP			Really terrible.
Bobby Parnell, RHP			Yes, he allowed an inherited runner to score the game-winning run yesterday, but he fared well over the course of the week.
Scott Rice, LHP			With 2 K, 4 BB, and a 7.71 ERA, it wasn't Rice's finest week.

Mets vs. Pirates Recap: Harvey doesn't pitch a complete-game shutout, Mets lose

Chris McShane — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:35:20 -0000

Once every five days, there's a great reason to watch the Mets: Matt Harvey. The rest of the rotation has struggled mightily this year, particularly over the past couple of weeks, and Harvey's been the best pitcher in the National League, if not all of baseball.

Harvey wasn't at his best today, but he was by no means terrible. He retired the Pirates in order in the first inning and allowed just a two-out double to Pedro Alvarez in a scoreless second inning. He didn't eappear to have his best stuff, though, as he didn't strike anyone out through the first two innings.

In the bottom of the second, Lucas Duda hit his eighth home run of the year, a one-out solo shot to center field to give the Mets an early lead. John Buck hit a bloop single and—believe it or not—stole second base. Mike Baxter drew a walk, and it seemd like the Mets had a rally brewing. But Juan Lagares grounded into a fielder's choice to short, and Matt Harvey struck out with runners on first and third to end the inning.

Harvey's toughest inning of the day, by far, was the third. Clint Barmes hit a home run to left field to begin the inning and tie the game. Harvey retired opposing pitcher Jeanmar Gomez thanks to a fantastic catch by center fielder Juan Lagares.

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But Harvey walked Starling Marte and gave up a single to Travis Snider. With runners then on the corners, he walked Andrew McCutchen to load the bases. He fell behind Garrett Jones, who then flied out to right field to put Pittsburgh ahead by one. And Harvey then got Jordy Mercer out to end the inning, limtiing the damage in what could have been a much worse frame.

Neither team did much of anything at the plate through the sixth inning, and Matt Harvey finished strong in the seventh, thanks in part to John Buck catching Clint Barmes sleeping and picking him off second base to end the inning.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, John Buck walked for just the sixth time this season. He moved to second on a wild pitch, and Mike Baxter blooped a single to left field to bring him home and tie the game. With Lagares at the pate, Baxter stole second, and he stole third, too, as Lagares struck out swinging. Up came Justin Turner to pinch hit for Harvey, but he struck out swinging to end the Mets' threat.

Terry Collins called upon Scott Rice to start the eighth inning and wound up using three pitchers in the inning as the Mets allowed a run. Rice recorded an out before walking McCutchen. The Pirates sent Met killer Gaby Sanchez up to pinch hit, and Collins went to Brandon Lyon, who walked Sanchez and struck out pinch hitter Jose Tabata. With runners on first and second, Collins opted to bring in Bobby Parnell. The Mets' best relief pitcher gave up a single to Pedro Alvarez, giving the Pirates the lead again. Parnell got Michael McKenry to line out with runners on second and third, but the one-run lead was all Pittsburgh would need to win the game.

The Mets had a great chance to tie the game in the bottom half of the eighth, after Daniel Murphy's one-out double and a mostly-intentional walk to David Wright. But Ike Davis struck out swinging and heard plenty of boos from the Citi Field crowd for the second time this afternoon as he returned to the dugout. Wright had stolen second base on the play, and Lucas Duda hit a hard ground ball down the first base line. The ball hit the bag and popped up directly to second baseman Brandon Inge, who easily threw out Duda at first base. It was a disheartening freak play, to say the least.

Parnell worked around some trouble to pitch a scoreless ninth inning, but the Mets went down in order against Jason Grilli in the bottom of the inning to end the game.

Six games below .500, the Mets head to St. Louis to face the very good Cardinals. Jeremy Hefner gets the start tomorrow night at 7:05 pm EDT opposite Lance Lynn.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bucs Dugout Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Mike Baxter, +17.2% WPA, Daniel Murphy, +12.2% WPA
Big losers: Ike Davis ,-28.2% WPA, Bobby Parnell, -20.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: ##
Teh sux0rest play: ##
Total pitcher WPA: -10.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: -39.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Pedro Alvarez

Final Score: Pirates 3, Mets 2 — Harvey Day ruined by the Mets' inability to score runs

Chris McShane — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:35:29 -0000

The Mets lost to the Pirates for the third time in four games this afternoon. Matt Harvey wasn't his dominant self, but he still gave up just two runs in seven innings. He struck out four, walked two, and hit a batter, all of which were uncharacteristic of him but none of which were particularly poor.

Lucas Duda put the Mets on the board first with a solo home run in the second inning. Harvey gave up his pair of runs in the third, the first of which was the result of a solo home run by Clint Barmes. Mike Baxter knotted the game on a bloop single in the seventh inning, but three Mets relief pitchers combined to allow a run in the eighth. That, unfortunately, put Pittsburgh up for good.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	MetsFan4Decades	177
2	Terry_is_God	130
3	MookieTheCat	127
4	The Nameless One	98
5	Russ	97
6	cstroh8	95
7	stickguy	75
8	GetMetsmerized	66
9	KeithsMoustache	64
10	painiac	59

Open Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 5/12/13

Chris McShane — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:28:25 -0000

Matt Harvey

#33 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 27, 1989

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Matt Harvey	4-0	7	7	0	0	0	0	49.1	22	7	7	2	12	58	1.28	.69

Jeanmar Gomez

#30 / Pitcher / Pittsburgh Pirates

Height: 6-3

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 10, 1988

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jeanmar Gomez	2-0	7	2	0	0	0	0	22.2	18	7	6	3	11	15	2.38	1.28

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Starling Marte - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Travis Snider - RF
David Wright - 3B	Andrew McCutchen - CF
Ike Davis - 1B	Garrett Jones - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF	Jody Mercer - 2B
John Buck - C	Pedro Alvarez - 3B
Mike Baxter - RF	Michael McKenry - C
Juan Lagares - CF	Clint Barmes - SS
Matt Harvey - P	Jeanmar Gomez - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:10 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Matt Harvey

#33 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 27, 1989

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Matt Harvey	4-0	7	7	0	0	0	0	49.1	22	7	7	2	12	58	1.28	.69

Jeanmar Gomez

#30 / Pitcher / Pittsburgh Pirates

Height: 6-3

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 10, 1988

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jeanmar Gomez	2-0	7	2	0	0	0	0	22.2	18	7	6	3	11	15	2.38	1.28

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Starling Marte - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Travis Snider - RF
David Wright - 3B	Andrew McCutchen - CF
Ike Davis - 1B	Garrett Jones - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF	Jody Mercer - 2B
John Buck - C	Pedro Alvarez - 3B
Mike Baxter - RF	Michael McKenry - C
Juan Lagares - CF	Clint Barmes - SS
Matt Harvey - P	Jeanmar Gomez - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:10 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Mets recall Greg Burke, place Jeurys Familia on disabled list

Chris McShane — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:12:39 -0000

The Mets have recalled sidearming right-handed relief pitcher Greg Burke and placed fellow right-handed relief pitcher Jeurys Familia on the disabled list to make room for him.

Familia is experiencing biceps tendinitis, which the Mets announced before their game on Friday night. While the team tried to put off a disabled list decision on Familia for a couple of days, the bullpen has seen a ton of work over the past few games. Since Matt Harvey's nine innings of brilliance on Tuesday, only Jeremy Hefner has pitched six innings. Shaun Marcum, Jon Niese, and Dillon Gee each pitched five or fewer innings. The team really needs as many healthy arms in the bullpen as a result.

Familia had thrown just 10.1 innings with the Mets after starting the season on the big league roster and spending some time in Las Vegas before rejoining the team. He's posted a 3.48 ERA but a poor 6.20 FIP thanks to identical strikeout and walk rates of 6.10 per nine innings and his propensity to serve up home runs.

Burke's just the opposite when it comes to those numbers, having posted a 7.36 ERA and 2.33 FIP in his brief time with the Mets to begin the season. In Vegas, he's posted a 4.66 ERA and 2.68 FIP in 9.2 innings.

Mets vs. Pirates Recap: Niese shelled again, Mets manage just two runs in loss to Pirates

Chris McShane — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:43:44 -0000

For the second straight game, the Mets were beaten, badly, by the Pirates at Citi Field. Between the hitters’ inability to produce much of anything against Francisco Liriano and Jon Niese’s brutal start, the Mets were out of the game very quickly.

Niese hasn’t looked right all year, but he had his worst start yet this afternoon. In four-and-one-third innings, he walked three, struck out only one, and gave up eight runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs.

In the second, Niese loaded the bases with one out but allowed just one run to score before Francisco Liriano grounded into an inning-ending double play. The bottom of the Pirates’ order bailed Niese out, but he wouldn’t be nearly as fortunate in the third.

A one-out single by Andrew McCutchen gave the Pirates a two-nothing lead. A two-out home run by Jose Tabata plated the Pirates’ third and fourth runs. Given the way the Mets have been struggling to score over the past couple of weeks, even a four-run deficit seemed insurmountable. And then came the top of the fifth.

Jordy Mercer hit a one-out home run. Niese proceeded to walk the next two batters he faced before yielding a double to Tabata to score a run. The Pirates had scored six times, and Terry Collins called upon Scott Atchison, who was supposed to have the day off after pitching two innings last night. Atchison got a ground out, but Mike McKenry singled with two outs to score both of Atchison’s inherited runners. McKenry moved to second on Andrew Brown’s throw to home plate and came around to score Pittsburgh’s ninth run on a Clint Barmes single.

The Mets finally scored a run in the bottom of the sixth when David Wright crossed the plate on a Marlon Byrd infield single. But it didn’t really matter by then. LaTroy Hawkins, who had thrown a scoreless sixth inning, gave up a run in the seventh. Robert Carson gave up a solo home run to Jordy Mercer in the eighth.

Severe thunderstorms came rolling through New York City in the middle of the ninth inning, putting the game into a rain delay for a bit. Andrew Brown hit a solo home run after played resumed, but the Mets went down in order to finally end the game.

Mets hitters struck out sixteen times in the game. Jon Niese is making it look like he’s hurt and has walked more batters than he’s struck out on the season. It wasn’t a good day in Queens.

Tomorrow, however, Matt Harvey takes the hill at 1:10 pm as the Mets try to split the four-game series with Pittsburgh. Jeanmar Gomez is scheduled to start for the Pirates.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bucs Dugout Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Juan Lagares, +1.5% WPA
Big losers: Jon Niese, -31.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Liriano’s GIDP in the second, +13.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jose Tabata’s two-run home run in the third, -15.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -32.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: -17.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Jose Tabata

Final Score: Pirates 11, Mets 2 — Niese has another terrible start

Chris McShane — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:32:34 -0000

The Mets were blown out by the Pirates at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon as Jon Niese struggled mightily once again. In just four-and-one-third innings, Niese gave up eight runs, walked three, gave up two home runs, and only struck out one. Niese now has a 5.93 ERA and 5.31 FIP on the season, and he's walked more batters than he has struck out.

Francisco Liriano held the Mets to one run in five-and-one-third innings, struck out nine, and walked two. The Pirates tacked on a few more runs against the Mets' bullpen, while the Mets didn't scored just one on an Andrew Brown home run in the ninth. It was about as ugly as Mets baseball can get.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Steve Sypa; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	Steve Sypa	334
2	feslenraster	121
3	MetsFan4Decades	115
4	mzvalaren	108
5	Terry_is_God	97
6	TKFJ	84
7	JJJ	71
8	danman11	67
9	omegasupreme44	60
10	robotoverlord	60

Open Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 5/11/13

Chris McShane — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:07:57 -0000

Jon Niese

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 27, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jon Niese	2-3	7	7	0	0	0	0	36.2	42	23	19	3	19	20	4.66	1.66

Francisco Liriano

#47 / Pittsburgh Pirates

Height: 6-2

Weight: 215

Born: Oct 26, 1983

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Starling Marte - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Jody Mercer - 2B
David Wright - 3B	Andrew McCutchen - CF
John Buck - C	Gaby Sanchez - 1B
Justin Turner - 1B	Jose Tabata - RF
Marlon Byrd - RF	Brandon Inge - 3B
Andrew Brown - LF	Michael McKenry - C
Juan Lagares - CF	Clint Barmes - SS
Jon Niese - P	Francisco Liriano - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:10 PM	WPIX	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Jon Niese

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 27, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jon Niese	2-3	7	7	0	0	0	0	36.2	42	23	19	3	19	20	4.66	1.66

Francisco Liriano

#47 / Pittsburgh Pirates

Height: 6-2

Weight: 215

Born: Oct 26, 1983

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Starling Marte - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Jody Mercer - 2B
David Wright - 3B	Andrew McCutchen - CF
John Buck - C	Gaby Sanchez - 1B
Justin Turner - 1B	Jose Tabata - RF
Marlon Byrd - RF	Brandon Inge - 3B
Andrew Brown - LF	Michael McKenry - C
Juan Lagares - CF	Clint Barmes - SS
Jon Niese - P	Francisco Liriano - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:10 PM	WPIX	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Mets vs. Pirates Recap: Bullpen strong, Ike Davis and Mike Baxter come up with biggest hits in win

Chris McShane — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:44:51 -0000

For the second time this week, Mike Baxter gave the Mets a walkoff win in a low-scoring game. This time, Baxter singled to drive in Marlon Byrd in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Mets a 3-2 victory over the Pirates.

Before the dramatic finish, though, the score was close throughout the game. The Mets got on the board first on a sacrifice fly by Marlon Byrd in the second inning, and the team held the one-run lead until the sixth inning.

Dillon Gee got the start for the Mets, and he was good through five innings but got into trouble in the sixth. He loaded the bases, allowing a pair of singles to Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones and hitting Russell Martin—who made very little effort to move his elbow-guarded elbow out of the way—with a pitch. So with nobody out and the bases juiced, Brandon Lyon took over.

He induced a flyball out from Pedro Alvarez, which scored McCutchen from third to tie the game at one. Lyon then retired Brandon Inge and Clint Barmes in order to keep the game tied. The inning could have gone considerably worse. With the bailout by Lyon, Gee finished the night with five innings pitched having allowed one run on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Mets didn't score in the bottom of the sixth, and Lyon began the seventh by giving up a single to Jose Tabata. The Pirates sacrifice bunted him to second, at which point Terry Collins turned to the hardest working relief pitcher in baseball: Scott Rice.

Like Lyon the inning before, Rice recorded a quick out, intentionally walked McCutchen, and got the third out to once again keep the game tied. And in the bottom of the inning, Andrew Brown hit a one-out single, and Ike Davis, who had entered the game in a double-switch when Rice came in, hit a double to give the Mets their second one-run lead of the night.

In the top of the eighth, however, LaTroy Hawkins came in and yielded a solo home run to Pedro Alvarez, and the game was tied again. Hawkins has been very dependable of late so a solo home run in that situation was not the end of the world.

David Wright singled against the suddenly-dominant Mark Melancon in the bottom of the eighth, but New York wasn't able to score. Bobby Parnell came in to pitch the ninth for the Mets, and Jose Tabata once again led off with a single. Parnell struck out Starling Marte and got pinch hitter Jordy Mercer to ground into a force out at second base. Andrew McCutchen came up next, though, and hit a shot to center field that would have likely hit the very top of the blue fence if not for an outstanding catch by center fielder Juan Lagares.

The Pirates turned to their closer, Jason Grilli, in the bottom of the ninth, an unconventional strategy that Terry Collins should be willing to use more often. But in this instance, the Pirates' closer wasn't able to get the job done.

Marlon Byrd beat out an infield single to start the inning. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Brown. And then Mike Baxter came in to pinch hit, and for the second time in three nights, he came up with the walkoff hit—a single to center field—to plate Byrd and give the Mets the dramatic win.

The series continues tomorrow at 7:10 pm with Shaun Marcum facing off against Wandy Rodriguez.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bucs Dugout Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Mike Baxter, +31.1% WPA, Ike Davis, +25.4% WPA, Brandon Lyon, +13.8% WPA, Bobby Parnell, +12.5% WPA, Scott Rice, +12.1% WPA
Big losers: LaTroy Hawkins, -16.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Baxter's walkoff single, +31.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Pedro Alvarez's game-tying home run, -27.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +21.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: +28.9% WPA
GWRBI!: Mike Baxter

Final Score: Mets 3, Pirates 2 — Baxter's walkoff wins it for the Mets

Chris McShane — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:18:47 -0000

For the second time in three games, Mike Baxter won the game for the Mets with a walkoff hit as New York defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2. Earlier, the Mets had gotten on the board first with a sacrifice fly by Marlon Byrd in the second inning, and Dillon Gee kept the lead intact through five innings.

In the sixth, though, Gee loaded the bases with nobody out, and Brandon Lyon took over. The first batter he faced hit a sacrifice fly, but Lyon shut the Pirates down to keep the game tied. In the seventh, Lyon gave up a single and a sacrifice bunt, and Scott Rice came in to notch two outs and bail him out, too.

Ike Davis put the Mets back on top in the bottom of the seventh with a double—yes, really—but the Pirates knotted the game on a solo home run against LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth. Fortunately for the good guys, Juan Lagares made a fantastic catch in the top of the ninth to save a run with Bobby Parnell on the mound. And Byrd legged out an infield single against Pirates closer Jason Grilli in the ninth, was bunted to second, and scored the winning run on Baxter's single.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Steve Sypa; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	Steve Sypa	211
2	MetsFan4Decades	152
3	Terry_is_God	112
4	The Nameless One	98
5	TKFJ	88
6	stickguy	74
7	Help!I'maRock!	63
8	Kepler	49
9	danman11	36
10	painiac	34

Open Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 5/9/13

Chris McShane — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:14:48 -0000

Dillon Gee

#35 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-1

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Apr 28, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Dillon Gee	2-4	6	6	0	0	0	0	30.2	39	21	21	5	11	19	6.16	1.63

Jeff Locke

#49 / Pitcher / Pittsburgh Pirates

Height: 6-0

Weight: 185

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Nov 20, 1987

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jeff Locke	3-1	6	6	0	0	0	0	33.2	26	13	12	4	16	19	3.21	1.25

Dillon Gee

#35 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-1

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Apr 28, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Dillon Gee	2-4	6	6	0	0	0	0	30.2	39	21	21	5	11	19	6.16	1.63

Jeff Locke

#49 / Pitcher / Pittsburgh Pirates

Height: 6-0

Weight: 185

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Nov 20, 1987

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jeff Locke	3-1	6	6	0	0	0	0	33.2	26	13	12	4	16	19	3.21	1.25

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Starling Marte - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Travis Snider - RF
David Wright - 3B	Andrew McCutchen - CF
John Buck - C	Garrett Jones - 1B
Justin Turner - 1B	Russell Martin - C
Marlon Byrd - RF	Pedro Alvarez - 3B
Andrew Brown - LF	Brandon Inge - 2B
Juan Lagares - CF	Clint Barmes - SS
Dillon Gee - P	Jeff Locke - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
7:10 PM	SNY	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Matt Harvey's season through seven starts

Chris McShane — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:10:19 -0000

RESULTS

Matt Harvey nearly threw a perfect game last night against the Chicago White Sox at Citi Field. It was fitting that the only player to reach base against him did so on an infield single, as Harvey was filthy from the outset. Chicago came in with a struggling offense, and Harvey's season was already off to a fantastic start. Harvey did not disappoint, mowing down the opposition with seemingly little effort and, at least in the first inning, a visibly bloody nose.

IP	R	K	BB	Pitches	GSC
9	0	12	0	105	97

PITCHf/x DATA

Thanks to the incredible Brooks Baseball, here's how Harvey used his pitches against Chicago last night. The data shows the pitch type, average speed, maximum speed, number of times each pitch was thrown (count), and the strike and whiff (swing-and-miss) percentages for each pitch.

Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Count	Strikes / %	Whiffs / %
FA (Fastball)	96.15	98.79	57	43 / 75.44%	6 / 10.53%
CH (Changeup)	87.66	89.50	16	10 / 62.50%	5 / 31.25%
SL (Slider)	90.36	92.02	20	14 / 70.00%	3 / 15.00%
CU (Curveball)	83.91	86.40	11	9 / 81.82%	2 / 18.18%

Of the 16 swinging strikes Harvey generated, 5 came via his changeup, which is awfully impressive. So is the fact that he threw all of his pitches for strikes so consistently, particularly his relatively slow curve, which doesn't even look fair when he mixes it in with the other three.

Also via Brooks, here's a plot of Harvey's pitches from last night:

As usual, Harvey worked heavily in the upper half of the strike zone. He rarely missed the strike zone, but when he did, the result was often a swinging strike.

WHERE HARVEY RANKS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

Through seven starts, Harvey has been just about as good as it gets. Here's how he ranks among National league starting pitchers:

	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%
Harvey	1.28	1.90	32.6	6.7
NL Rank	2nd	2nd	2nd	20th

Only Jake Westbrook has a better ERA than Harvey, and Adam Wainwright's 1.89 FIP just barely edges him out for the league lead. It's also worth noting that Harvey's allowed just 4.01 hits per nine innings, the best mark in baseball among starting pitchers. Five other pitchers have allowed 5.50 or fewer hits per nine so far in 2013, and the single-season record is held by Nolan Ryan, who allowed just 5.26 hits per nine in 1972.

HARVEY IN METS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Let's compare Harvey's first seven starts to the first seven starts in three of the Mets' Cy Young award seasons: Tom Seaver's 1973, Dwight Gooden's 1985, and R.A. Dickey's 2012. Seaver won two other Cy Young awards with the Mets and perhaps had his best year in 1971 despite not winning the award. But 1973 was the best of Seaver's Cy Young seasons so we'll stick with that, like last year, for the sake of this comparison.

Pitcher	IP	ERA	K	BB	GSc
Matt Harvey (2013)	49.1	1.28	58	12	73
R.A. Dickey (2012)	44.1	3.65	32	15	54
Dwight Gooden (1985)	55.0	1.31	56	16	73
Tom Seaver (1973)	56.1	1.60	51	17	72

Harvey is very unlikely to come anywhere close to the innings pitched totals of Gooden (276.2) and Seaver (290.0), but given the way starting pitchers are used in baseball today, that's not a knock on him. In terms of everything else, it's fair to say that Harvey's been better.

Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, Week 5

Chris McShane — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:25:53 -0000

While the Mets have allowed an awful lot of runs to score against them, the team still ranks among the top ten in baseball in runs scored per game. They've been slowly sliding down the list of top-scoring teams, but at 4.89 runs per game, they are still seventh in baseball and second in the National League. Their descent in the rankings may continue, though, as their .309 wOBA is 19th in baseball.

This week's player meter covers the Mets' five games of the past week: three in Miami and two in Atlanta.

Player	Last Week	Comment
Mike Baxter, OF		It's been a long time since Mike from Whitestone had a good week.
Andrew Brown, OF	--	Brown only got into one game, but he went 0-for-3. Better luck in the next meter, Andrew.
John Buck, C		With a .350 OBP and 2 more home runs, Buck has a very nice bounce-back week.
Marlon Byrd, OF		He didn't get on base much but had that big home run. That's enough to avoid the red arrow.
Collin Cowgill, OF		His playing time was already greatly diminished, but Cowgill now finds himself playing for Las Vegas.
Ike Davis, 1B		Watching Ike at the plate is like watching The Hangover Part II over and over and over again.
Lucas Duda, LF		If only every hitter in the Mets' lineup were producing as well as Duda, the team would still lead baseball in runs scored per game.
Juan Lagares, OF		Zeroes across the board for Lagares, who didn't play much but failed to reach base.
Daniel Murphy, 2B		A few weeks ago, Murphy was one of the Mets' best hitters, but he put together a .511 OPS in the past five games.
Anthony Recker, C		He plays about once a week. This time, Recker went 0-for-2 with 2 K but plated a run on a sac fly.
Ruben Tejada, SS		Coming off a good week, Tejada "hit" to the tune of .250/.280/.292.
Justin Turner, IF		With a 1.000 OPS on the week, Turner made Terry Collins look good.
Jordany Valdespin, OF		This might sound familiar: In limited playing time, Valdespin had a terrible .273 OBP but hit a huge home run coming off the Mets' bench.
David Wright, 3B		Wright has been excellent week after week and tore the cover off the ball this time: 3 HR, one of which sent Friday night's game into extra innings, with a .333/.368/.889 slash line. TRAID.

Mets Player Performance Meter: Pitchers, Week 5

Chris McShane — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:26:45 -0000

Run prevention has not been the Mets' strength this season, to say the least. Twenty-eight games into the year, the team has surrendered 4.93 runs per game, tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the fourth-worst mark in baseball.

The pitching staff's 4.39 ERA ranks 24th, while their 4.08 FIP is slightly better at 20th. Compared to last week, that's an improvement, as the Mets ranked 26th and 24th in those categories, respectively.

This player meter covers the five games the Mets played over the past week: three in Miami and two in Atlanta.

Player	Last Week	This Week	Comment
Scott Atchison, RHP			The results were okay, but the process—0 K and 2 BB in 4.1 IP—won't always work out so well.
Robert Carson, LHP			Both of his outings were brief. One went well, the other didn't.
Jeurys Familia, RHP			Still inconsistent, Familia had in an incredible inning to notch the save in the Mets' extra-innings win in Atlanta on Friday night.
Dillon Gee, RHP			It was another bad start for Gee who struck out just one opponent in 5 innings and gave up 4 runs.
Matt Harvey, RHP			The only knock on Harvey last week was that his start went just 5.1 innings. He struck out 7 and gave up just one run, though.
LaTroy Hawkins, RHP			He's really become the Mets' second most reliable pitcher behind Parnell.
Jeremy Hefner, RHP			Believe it or not, it was Hefner who led the Mets in strikeouts with 8 in his start in Miami. He also didn't walk anyone and was charged with just 2 runs in 8 innings.
Brandon Lyon, RHP			The early-season favorite to be the coveted eight-inning guy, Lyon has bounced around a bit but had an okay week.
Shaun Marcum, RHP			Marcum's relief appearance in extra innings resulted in a Mets loss, and he wasn't very good in his start on Friday night, either. He doesn't look like himself yet.
Jon Niese, LHP			The Mets' defense didn't help him at all, but Niese wasn't very good, either. His 6 walks in 4 innings were somewhat alarming.
Bobby Parnell, RHP			Despite just 1 K in 3.2 IP, Parnell gave up just one run.
Scott Rice, LHP			He continues to make appearances at a Feliciano-esque pace. With 3 in 5 games this week, he's up to 17 in the Mets' 28 games, a pace of 98 over the course of 162 games.

Mets vs. Braves Recap: Poor pitching and defense make for a long day at Turner Field

Chris McShane — Sun, 05 May 2013 21:31:52 -0000

Having won in dramatic fashion on Friday night and been rained out on Saturday in Atlanta, the Mets came into the day looking for a two-game "sweep" of the Braves. That did not happen.

Jon Niese and the Mets’ defense combined to give up a whole lot of runs. Niese was mostly okay through the first two innings, but Dan Uggla’s one-out triple in the second was the first of the Mets’ several bad defensive plays in the game. Given the ball’s hang time, it was hard to believe the ball wasn’t caught in the first place. But Niese got the next two batters out and escaped unscathed.

The third inning, though, was a nightmare. He retired Tim Hudson to start the inning but then gave up a hard-hit double to Andrelton Simmons and walked Chris Johnson. Justin Upton singled to score the Braves’ first run, and Freddie Freeman followed up with a routine fly ball to the warning track in left field that Lucas Duda badly misplayed into a two-run "double." There are many reasons why errors are a flawed concept, and Duda’s non-error was just another example.

Freeman moved to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch by Niese, a pitch that John Buck probably should have had. Niese walked Uggla and induced a grounder from B.J. Upton that should have ended the inning, but David Wright misplayed it at third base. Like Duda, he wasn’t charged with an error. With the inning still alive, Reed Johnson singled to plate the Braves’ fifth run. Niese walked Hudson before finally retiring Simmons to end the inning.

Daniel Murphy led off the fifth inning with a walk, and David Wright hit a home run to center field to quickly pull the Mets back within three runs of Atlanta. Unfortunately the Mets didn’t do a whole lot else against Hudson in the inning or the rest of his start.

Niese got right back into trouble in the bottom of the inning, allowing a single to Evan Gattis and throwing another wild pitch that let him take second base. He proceeded to walk Uggla and B.J. Upton to loaded the bases, and his day was done.

Through seven starts, Niese’s numbers are worrisome. With three strikeouts and six walks in four innings, he has now struck out just 4.91 batters per nine innings and walked 4.66, the latter of which also happens to be his ERA. Two of his starts did come in the cold weather of Minneapolis and Denver, but his strikeout and walk numbers have never looked this bad over the course of a season.

Jeurys Familia took over for Niese with the bases loaded and nobody out and gave up a weak single to Reed Johnson, making it 7-2 in favor of the Braves. But he got out of the inning without allowing another run to score.

The Mets didn’t score in the sixth, and Familia gave up a solo home run to Freddie Freeman in the bottom of the inning. In total, Familia pitched two innings, striking out two without issuing a walk. The home run he yielded wasn’t ideal, but he’s had worse outings than he had today.

Tim Hudson kept the Mets off the board again in the seventh, and Brandon Lyon did the same in the bottom half. But in the top of the eighth, Mike Baxter pinch hit for Lyon and led off with a double. Hudson struck out Ruben Tejada, but that was the last batter he faced as Atlanta turned to Luis Avilan out of the bullpen.

Murphy lined out, Baxter moved to third on a wild pitch, and Wright drew a walk. With runners on the corners and two out, Lucas Duda took four pitches to get ahead in the count and singled through the right side to score Baxter.

The Braves went to the pen again, calling upon Cory Gearring, who hit John Buck with a pitch. They went right back to the bullpen for Eric O’Flaherty, prompting Terry Collins to send up Justin Turner as a pinch hitter for the struggling Ike Davis. Turner worked a walk to cut the Mets’ deficit to four, but Marlon Byrd came up an struck out to end the inning on a pitch that would have very likely been ball four. Despite the threat to make it a very close game, the Mets were still down by four.

Robert Carson allowed a couple of baserunners in the bottom of the eighth, and Scott Atchison took over and gave up a sacrifice fly to Evan Gattis to give the Braves their ninth run of the day. Anthony Varvaro took over to pitch the ninth and set the Mets down in order to end the game.

The Mets are off tomorrow, but they’ll be back in action at Citi Field on Tuesday at 7:10 pm with Matt Harvey making the start against the Chicago White Sox.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Talking Chop Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: David Wright, +8.5% WPA
Big losers: Jon Niese, -31.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: David Wright's two-run home run in the fifth, +8.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Freddie Freeman's "double" to left in the third, -15.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -33.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: -16.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Reed Johnson

Final Score: Braves 9, Mets 4 — An ugly game at Turner Field results in Mets loss

Chris McShane — Sun, 05 May 2013 20:37:50 -0000

Neither Jon Niese nor the Mets' defense was sharp in Atlanta this afternoon as the Mets lost 9-4 to the division rival Braves. The game went off the rails early, with Atlanta scoring five runs in the third inning. The Mets made several defensive miscues in the frame, though none were officially scored errors.

David Wright put the Mets on the board in the fourth with a two-run home run against Tim Hudson, but Atlanta put two more on the board in the fifth, both of which were charged to Niese, who threw four-plus innings, struck out three, walked six, and was charged with seven runs.

Each team scored two more runs before the game ended, but the Mets' pair came in the eighth inning, which ended with a Marlon Byrd strikeout with the bases loaded.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Steve Sypa; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	Steve Sypa	225
2	MetsFan4Decades	164
3	ScottfromPeekskill	124
4	Terry_is_God	105
5	aparkermarshall	83
6	cstroh8	71
7	omegasupreme44	61
8	KeithsMoustache	57
9	Manic McReynolds	52
10	the caveman	50

Open Thread: Mets vs. Braves, 5/5/13

Chris McShane — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:39:18 -0000

Jon Niese

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 27, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jon Niese	2-2	6	6	0	0	0	0	32.2	35	16	12	3	13	17	3.31	1.47

Tim Hudson

#15 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-1

Weight: 175

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 14, 1975

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Tim Hudson	3-1	6	6	0	0	0	0	35.0	31	15	15	5	11	24	3.86	1.20

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	ATLANTA BRAVES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Andrelton Simmons - SS
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Chris Johnson - 3B
David Wright - 3B	Justin Upton - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Freddie Freeman - 1B
John Buck - C	Evan Gattis - C
Ike Davis - 1B	Dan Uggla - 2B
Marlon Byrd - RF	B.J. Upton - CF
Jordany Valdespin - CF	Reed Johnson - RF
Jon Niese - P	Tim Hudson - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:35 PM	SNY, TBS	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

Jon Niese

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 27, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Jon Niese	2-2	6	6	0	0	0	0	32.2	35	16	12	3	13	17	3.31	1.47

Tim Hudson

#15 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-1

Weight: 175

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 14, 1975

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Tim Hudson	3-1	6	6	0	0	0	0	35.0	31	15	15	5	11	24	3.86	1.20

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	ATLANTA BRAVES
Ruben Tejada - SS	Andrelton Simmons - SS
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Chris Johnson - 3B
David Wright - 3B	Justin Upton - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Freddie Freeman - 1B
John Buck - C	Evan Gattis - C
Ike Davis - 1B	Dan Uggla - 2B
Marlon Byrd - RF	B.J. Upton - CF
Jordany Valdespin - CF	Reed Johnson - RF
Jon Niese - P	Tim Hudson - P

Time (EDT)	TV	Radio
1:35 PM	SNY, TBS	WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WEPN 1050 (Sp.)

SBNation.com User Blog: Chris McShane

Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, Week 7

Tracking Matt Harvey's Season: Start #9

RESULTS

PITCHf/x DATA (via Brooks Baseball)

WHERE HARVEY RANKS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

HARVEY IN METS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Mets Player Performance Meter: Pitchers, Week 7

Mets vs. Cubs Recap: Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy home runs lead the Mets to first series win in a month

SB Nation Coverage

Win Probability Added

Mets vs. Cubs Recap: Hefner ineffective, bullpen bad, bats nearly silent as Mets lose

SB Nation Coverage

Win Probability Added

Final Score: Cubs 8, Mets 2 — Why can't every day be Harvey Day?

Game Thread Roll Call

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cubs, 5/18/13

#53 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#46 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Lineup

More from Amazin' Avenue:

#53 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#46 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Lineup

More from Amazin' Avenue:

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cubs, 5/17/13

Lineup

More from Amazin' Avenue:

Lineup

More from Amazin' Avenue:

Mets vs. Cardinals Recap: Gee rocked in short start, Mets lose again

SB Nation Coverage

Win Probability Added

Final Score: Cardinals 10, Mets 4 — Gee shelled, Mets lose fifth straight

Game Thread Roll Call

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cardinals, 5/14/13

#35 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#64 / Pitcher / St. Louis Cardinals

Lineup

#35 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#64 / Pitcher / St. Louis Cardinals

Lineup

Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, Week 6

Tracking Matt Harvey's Season: Start #8

RESULTS

PITCHf/x DATA (via Brooks Baseball)

WHERE HARVEY RANKS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

HARVEY IN METS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Mets Player Performance Meter: Pitchers, Week 6

Mets vs. Pirates Recap: Harvey doesn't pitch a complete-game shutout, Mets lose

SB Nation Coverage

Win Probability Added

Final Score: Pirates 3, Mets 2 — Harvey Day ruined by the Mets' inability to score runs

Game Thread Roll Call

Open Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 5/12/13

#33 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#30 / Pitcher / Pittsburgh Pirates

Lineup

#33 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#30 / Pitcher / Pittsburgh Pirates

Lineup

Mets recall Greg Burke, place Jeurys Familia on disabled list

Mets vs. Pirates Recap: Niese shelled again, Mets manage just two runs in loss to Pirates

SB Nation Coverage

Win Probability Added

Final Score: Pirates 11, Mets 2 — Niese has another terrible start

Game Thread Roll Call

Open Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 5/11/13

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#47 / Pittsburgh Pirates

Lineup

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

#47 / Pittsburgh Pirates

Lineup

Mets vs. Pirates Recap: Bullpen strong, Ike Davis and Mike Baxter come up with biggest hits in win

SB Nation Coverage

Win Probability Added

Final Score: Mets 3, Pirates 2 — Baxter's walkoff wins it for the Mets

Game Thread Roll Call

Open Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 5/9/13