SBNation.com User Blog: Steve Schreiber

Mets Morning News: Maybe the Mets need to find their own Henry Rowengartner

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:27:36 -0000

Meet the Mets

The story was the same in yesterday's Mets game – decent enough starting pitching, no offense, bullpen allowed some runs, LOLMets defense, even some umpire mistakes. You know the script but if you'd like to read more, check out the recaps below.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, Newsday

Jeremy Hefner goes to the mound against the Cubs as the Mets look to avoid the sweep. Matt Garza will pitch for Chicago.

After yesterday's game, the Mets promoted righty pitcher Carlos Torres and demoted Greg Burke to Las Vegas. They also designated Collin McHugh for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Sandy Alderson spoke to season ticket holders before yesterday's game and his message: be patient. Alderson said that the Mets expect to make significant acquisitions to the big league team in the next six months after neglecting the major league team for most of the last three seasons. Good to hear, now it actually has to happen.

David Wright tied a career best, reaching base in nine consecutive plate appearances. He nearly made it ten straight but his long drive to left center field was caught by Alfonso Soriano about two feet from the top of the fence. Still, Wright says nobody on the team is having any fun.

At The Shea Faithful, Jon Presser writes about Shaun Marcum, the best 0-8 pitcher in baseball. The disparity between his ERA and FIP really is incredible. I do think he's been a bit more hittable this year due to decreased velocity but the Mets' defense certainly hasn't done him any favors.

Down in Triple-A, Rafael Montero's first start as an actual member of the Vegas rotation went pretty well. Montero allowed five runs and took a no decision but four of those runs came from four errors, three of them by shortstop Brandon Hicks. He threw 70 of 100 pitches for strikes which is nuts.

The Brooklyn Cyclones released their preliminary roster yesterday. Notable names include SS Gavin Cecchini, C Tomas Nido, 2B L.J. Mazzilli. There should be a few additions in the coming days as more draft picks sign and get assigned to teams.

Yesterday At AA

Alex Nelson has draft scouting reports for first baseman Zach Mathieu and pitcher Johnny Magliozzi.

Daniel Convery exhibited some grission in our Daily Farm Report yesterday.

Brock Mahan relives the Midnight Massacre in This Date in Mets History for June 15.

Around the NL East

The Nationals beat the Indians 7-6 on Anthony Rendon's first big league home run. They've also activated Stephen Strasburg from the disabled list.

The Rockies torched the Phillies 10-5 in Colorado. From that game, Rockies' outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is pretty good. So is Nolan Arenado. Wow.

Atlanta walked off with a 6-5 victory over the Giants.

The Cardinals outslugged the Marlins 13-7, as Carlos Beltran did plenty of Carlos Beltran things.

Around the Majors

The Dodgers are making progress on an extension with Clayton Kershaw.

Mark Teixeira left yesterday's Yankees loss after aggravating his wrist injury. Bad news for the Yankees, who've also seen their attendance and ratings drop.

Oliver Perez has been reborn as a reliever. Gross.

Grant Brisbee grades the suspensions from the Diamondbacks/Dodgers brawl.

Mets Morning News: Well, I'm hot-blooded, check it and see, got a fever 'cause they lost 6 to 3

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:44:36 -0000

Meet the Mets

With Foreigner in the building to play a post-game concert, the Mets were left seeing Double Vision as they fell to the Cubs 6-3. Shaun Marcum has played Head Games with Mets fans all season, trading good and bad outings but he certainly wasn't a Juke Box Hero last night. David Wright's baserunning blunder made it Feel Like The First Time he'd ever ran the bases. The Mets' offense, meanwhile, wants to know what runs are (cut me some slack here, that was a tough one).

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

Jon Niese will match up against Scott Feldman when the Mets and Cubs play game two this afternoon at 1:10 PM.

Zack Wheeler is now set to join the Mets on Monday in Atlanta in preparation for his big league debut against the Braves on Tuesday. Wheeler traded tweets with former Mets nemesis Chipper Jones last night. With Wheeler headed to the majors, top pitching prospect Rafael Montero was promoted to AAA Las Vegas and will start for the 51's today. Montero may have an outside shot at seeing time in Queens this year but an innings cap along with him not being on the 40-man roster work against him.

In injury news, Ruben Tejada has been fielding but not running in Port St. Lucie. In better news, Scott Atchison and Pedro Feliciano have moved their rehab up to Double-A Binghamton.

Jordany Valdespin's audition at second base hasn't gone well early on.

Las Vegas 51's reliever Gonzalez Germen had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad inning on Thursday night. Speaking of Vegas, the 51's have seen a nice bump in attendance this year.

The Mets announced that they signed 11 of their draft picks, a few to overslot bonuses. First rounder Dominic Smith wasn't one of them but it sounds like he'll sign in the coming days. Toby Hyde looks at what some experts are saying about the Mets' draft. Before for next season's draft, the Mets are preparing to introduce a new must-see tournament for scouts.

Yesterday At AA

Rob Castellano looks at the early returns from this year's amateur player draft.

On June 14th in Mets history Duke Snider joined the 400 home run club. Also, a crucial Keith Hernandez error cost the Mets a game against the Phillies in the Seinfeld universe.

Greg Karam has yesterday's Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

The Phillies beat the Rockies 8-7 in Denver. They may be a few games under .500 but Ruben Amaro says the Phillies have no intentions of dealing Cliff Lee or Jonathan Papelbon. God bless you, Ruben Amaro.

The Nationals lost in walk-off fashion to the Indians 2-1 at Progressive Field.

The Marlins beat the Cardinals 5-4. Miami has some relievers who could find themselves on the trade block. If the price isn't outrageous, I've always liked Steve Cishek, who seems totally miscast as a closer.

The Braves fell 6-0 to the Giants. Ben Duronio writes that it's probably time to get Andrelton Simmons out of the leadoff spot.

Around the Majors

MLB handed out suspensions from Tuesday night's Dodgers/Diamondbacks brawl and Brandon McCarthy tweeted about them.

Guess who has the best record in baseball over the last calendar year by a longshot? If you guessed the juggernaut Oakland A's, you were correct. Billy Beane might actually be a wizard.

Ben Badler writes about how teams can stretch their International Signing budgets.

Jose Reyes is expected to begin a rehab assignment with the Blue Jays on Monday.

Rangers' infielder Jeff Baker sprained his thumb giving a high-five. LOLMets, amirite?

Mets vs. Cubs Recap: Chicago beats Mets twenty-five or 6 to 3

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 03:12:50 -0000

On the night of Foreigner's Citi Field postgame performance, it was Chicago who won behind the pitching of Edwin Jackson and a three-run triple from David DeJesus (and of course, you the reader lost, as you got my shoehorned, incorrect Chicago reference as the title of this recap. The Mets should've scored one more run. Sorry!). Shaun Marcum struggled early with his command, leaving a number of hangers over the heart of the plate in the first two innings and the soft-tossing righty was unsurprisingly tagged for six runs in total on the evening.

The Cubs' offense got going with two outs in the first when Nate Schierholtz cranked a solo home run into the Pepsi Porch, staking Chicago to a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Marcum got himself into more trouble. After singles from Anthony Rizzo and Dioner Navarro, a Luis Valbuena walk filled the bases with nobody out and Darwin Barney's single up the middle cashed in the first run of the frame, putting the Cubs ahead 2-0. With the bases still loaded and nobody out, Marcum got the pitcher Edwin Jackson to strike out looking but it was DeJesus who would come through a batter later with the back breaker – a bases-clearing, three-run triple that landed in front of the right center field fence and over the outstretched glove of Juan Lagares. With that, five runs had crossed the plate and the Mets had dug themselves into an early hole.

It would take until the bottom of the third for the Mets to get on the board. Leading off the inning, Lagares got DeJesus back by driving a triple of his own into the same right center field alley that DeJesus had hit his triple earlier. Unfortunately, in going after the ball, the Cubs' center fielder crashed into the fence and fell to the ground writhing in pain. DeJesus would leave the game with a nasty looking shoulder injury and it sounds like he'll head to the disabled list. After Shaun Marcum and Jordany Valdespin popouts, Daniel Murphy lined a single into center, plating Lagares for the Mets' first run. The scoring ceased for both teams until the top of the sixth, when Marcum allowed doubles in the inning to Anthony Rizzo and Luis Valbuena, giving the Cubs their sixth run of the evening.

In the seventh inning, the Mets had what looked to be their best chance to close the gap. With lefty reliever James Russell having relieved Edwin Jackson, Collin Cowgill stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and doubled to lead off the inning. After Justin Turner pinch hit for Jordany Valdespin and lined out to shortstop for the first out, Cowgill moved over to third on a wild pitch and Daniel Murphy singled him in, cutting the Cubs' lead to four runs. The next batter was David Wright, who singled himself, putting runners at first and second with Lucas Duda stepping to the plate. Duda's had his troubles with runners in scoring position this year but in this case, the big guy delivered, lining a single into left center field. Daniel Murphy scored from second base to make it 6-3 but David Wright, aggressively testing the arm of Cubs' left fielder Alfonso Soriano, was thrown out trying to go first to third. Instead of having runners at the corners and one out, the Mets ended up with a runner at first with two outs and Marlon Byrd struck out to end the inning, stifling what looked to be a promising rally.

Despite the Cubs throwing out Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg in the eighth and ninth innings, the Mets were retired in order both innings. For the Mets, it's their second loss in a row and the fifth defeat in their last six games. They also fell to a season-worst 14 games under .500 on the season.

SB Nation Coverage

* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bleed Cubbie Blue Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: David Wright (6.9%), Daniel Murphy (3.1%)
Big losers: Shaun Marcum (-33.6%), John Buck (-10.6%)
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares' third-inning triple (4.8%)
Teh sux0rest play: David DeJesus' base-clearing triple (-13.7%)
Total pitcher WPA: -30.8%
Total batter WPA: -19.2%
GWRBI!: Nate Schierholtz

Final Score: Cubs 6, Mets 3 — Cold as ice and willing to sacrifice...bunt

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:44:01 -0000

Shaun Marcum didn't seem to have it early on and outside of Daniel Murphy and David Wright, the Mets' offense continued to not have it at all, as they fell to the Cubs 6-3 on Friday evening. Marcum allowed a solo home run in the first inning to Nate Schierholtz but the big blow came in the second, when the Cubs tallied four runs, three of them courtesy of a David DeJesus bases-clearing triple.

Marcum would manage to settle down, going 5.2 innings and allowing just one more run (six in total), but the Mets' hitters not named Wright or Murphy managed just four measly hits. Murphy had a pair of run-scoring hits and Wright was 3-for-3, though a 7th inning baserunning blunder essentially ended what could've been a bigger rally after the Mets had put two runs on the board in the inning.

Game Thread Roll Call

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

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	MetsFan4Decades	182
2	omegasupreme44	78
3	Donovan Rice	74
4	Terry_is_God	65
5	The Nameless One	60
6	foreverknyte	56
7	piazza62	56
8	Russ	46
9	danman11	44
10	Jakob Kaye	35

Open Thread: Mets vs. Cubs, 6/14/13

Steve Schreiber — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 22:30:49 -0000

Shaun Marcum

#38 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 14, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Shaun Marcum	0-7	9	7	0	0	0	0	49.0	51	28	27	3	10	43	4.96	1.24

Edwin Jackson

#36 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Height: 6-3

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 09, 1983

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Edwin Jackson	2-8	12	12	0	0	0	0	65.2	77	49	42	5	26	64	5.76	1.57

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	CHICAGO CUBS
Jordany Valdespin - 2B	David DeJesus - CF
Daniel Murphy - 1B	Starlin Castro - SS
David Wright - 3B	Nate Schierholtz - RF
Lucas Duda - LF	Alfonso Soriano - LF
Marlon Byrd - RF	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
John Buck - C	Dioner Navarro - C
Omar Quintanilla - SS	Luis Valbuena - 3B
Juan Lagares - CF	Darwin Barney - 2B
Shaun Marcum - SP	Edwin Jackson - SP

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

Shaun Marcum

#38 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 14, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Shaun Marcum	0-7	9	7	0	0	0	0	49.0	51	28	27	3	10	43	4.96	1.24

Edwin Jackson

#36 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Height: 6-3

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 09, 1983

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Edwin Jackson	2-8	12	12	0	0	0	0	65.2	77	49	42	5	26	64	5.76	1.57

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	CHICAGO CUBS
Jordany Valdespin - 2B	David DeJesus - CF
Daniel Murphy - 1B	Starlin Castro - SS
David Wright - 3B	Nate Schierholtz - RF
Lucas Duda - LF	Alfonso Soriano - LF
Marlon Byrd - RF	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
John Buck - C	Dioner Navarro - C
Omar Quintanilla - SS	Luis Valbuena - 3B
Juan Lagares - CF	Darwin Barney - 2B
Shaun Marcum - SP	Edwin Jackson - SP

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

Mets Morning News: More like Mets Mourning News, amirite?

Steve Schreiber — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 03:27:50 -0000

Meet the Mets

Outside of the first inning, the Mets' offense failed them again and Jeremy Hefner allowed 6 runs as the Mets fell to the Cardinals by a score of 9-2.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

Dillon Gee looks to continue his season turnaround against the Cardinals this evening at 7:10 PM. He'll face off against impressive righty Shelby Miller.

Terry Collins says that the Mets' current struggles have been the biggest challenge in his tenure with the club.

Ike Davis shuffled off to Vegas on Tuesday and he spent time working on his swing.

David Wright was chosen as the captain of the National League squad for the Home Run Derby. Robinson Cano is the captain of the AL team.

Ruben Tejada, on the DL since the Yankees' series with a quad injury, resumed running yesterday.

Toby Hyde has a nice interview with Brandon Nimmo, in which he talks about his hand injury and rediscovering his rhythm after returning from said injury.

In case you didn't realize it, Carlos Beltran is still really good at hitting baseballs despite being 36 years old.

Yesterday At AA

Meter Avenue looks at the position players over the past week. WARNING: there is a lot of red.

Alex Nelson has a scouting report on 10th round pick Luis Guillorme, a slick-fielding high school shortstop who signed with the Mets for a slightly overslot $200,000 bonus.

David Moseder looks back at June 11th in Mets history.

Greg Karam has yesterday's Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

Giancarlo Stanton homered in his return from injury, as the Marlins beat the Brewers 5-4.

The disappointing Nationals lost to the Rockies 8-3. Bryce Harper didn't have surgery on his knee but he did have a big brace on it.

The Twins beat the Phillies 3-2 as Cole Hamels threw up another no-decision. Just doesn't have TWTW, obviously.

The Braves fell to the Padres 3-2 in San Diego.

Around the Majors

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks brawled last night after Ian Kennedy hit Yasiel Puig in the face with a pitch. Miguel Montero got hit next, then Zack Greinke got hit and the real fireworks started.

The Mariners promoted top catching prospect Mike Zunino.

Cubs' player Ian Stewart took out his frustrations on Twitter on Monday. Grant Brisbee defends him.

In the category of awesome things that are also great for search engine optimization, Notgraphs presents an animated GIF of Gerrit Cole throwing a 99 MPH GIF of Yasiel Puig's grand slam.

Mets Morning News: Mets and fans spend 20 innings in hell, come out with a loss

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:51:57 -0000

Meet the Mets

Yikes. 20 innings after the game began, the Marlins mercifully scored a run to take a lead and the Mets ended up losing 2-1 in pitiful fashion. Matt Harvey got the ball and was great over the first seven innings before leaving with some back tightness. Harvey expects to be fine and make his next start. Shaun Marcum, meanwhile, tossed 8 strong innings in relief, though he gave up the run in the 20th. It'd have been nice for the Mets to have plated a run for him.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

Jon Niese heads to the hill this afternoon and he'll face off against Tom Koehler. For Niese, it's his first start back from shoulder tendinitis.

After yesterday's abomination ended, the Mets announced that they'd designated Rick Ankiel for assignment and that they were preparing to promote Kirk Nieuwenhuis back to the majors in his place. No offense to Rick but if I'm going to watch a fringy center fielder strike out a bunch of times, I'd much rather see Kirk than Ankiel.

The Mets made history yesterday, as their 20 inning game was the longest in Citi Field history and the longest in the majors since 2010 when the Mets beat the Cardinals in 20 innings by a score of 2-1 (you probably remember that game – the Jerry Manuel sac bunting twice against position players debacle).

Former Met Howard Johnson, hitting coach for Triple-A Tacoma, reviewed Zack Wheeler's readiness after watching him on Friday night.

The MLB Draft wrapped up yesterday (before the Mets game ended, I might add) and the Mets came out of the 40 rounds with a bunch of new dudes you've probably never heard of. At CBS Sports, Mike Axisa reviewed a few of the best picks on Day 2 and switch-hitting outfielder Jared King, taken in the 5th round by the Mets, made the list. Watching the live feed on Friday, I know Jim Callis and Jon Mayo were both pretty shocked King was still on the board and loved the pick for the Mets.

Yesterday At AA

Alex Nelson has a scouting report for Mets' third round pick Casey Meisner, a gigantic, projectable right handed starting pitcher out of a Texas high school.

Brock Mahan looked back at June 8 in Mets history.

Around the NL East

The Nationals lost to the Twins by a score of 4-3 as Kevin Correia shut down Washington's offense.

Kris Medlen beat the Dodgers with his arm and his bat, as the Braves defeated LA 2-1.

The Phillies dropped their second straight to the Brewers, falling 4-3.

Around the Majors

Brandon McCarthy, already on the DL with shoulder inflammation, suffered a seizure related to his head injury from last year. Sad news and hopefully for him this doesn't become a recurring issue.

MLB has been accused of bullying a witness involved in the Biogenesis case.

The Rays are not close to calling up top prospect Wil Myers because they have nowhere to play him in their lineup at the moment. Meanwhile, the Pirates are going to promote top pitching prospect Gerrit Cole to make his big league debut on Tuesday.

Grant Brisbee runs down some new MLB draftees worth following and rooting for.

Mets Morning News: A pair of rainouts means that the first Wheeler Day is that much closer

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:09:55 -0000

Meet the Mets

The Mets were rained out for the second straight game yesterday, adding another to the list of games they'll have to make up later this year. Today I can wish you all a Happy Harvey Day! Matt Harvey faces off against 20-year old Jose Fernandez of the Marlins. Game time is at 1:10 PM from Citi Field.

We may be close to celebrating our first Wheeler Day, as Zack Wheeler is rumored to be ready to make his big league debut next Friday against the Cubs. Wheeler started for Triple-A Las Vegas, looking dominant through four innings before getting knocked out in the fifth due to some struggles and a high pitch count. Jay Horwitz even flew out to Vegas to speak with Wheeler earlier in the week.

There is promotion news from Las Vegas today: the Mets have called up veteran reliever David Aardsma, who will replace Collin McHugh in the team's bullpen. To make room on the 40-man roster, Jeurys Familia was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Marlon Byrd's obsession with hitting has paid off for the Mets thus far, as Byrd now leads the team in slugging percentage.

Rounds 3-10 of the MLB draft were completed yesterday and among the 9 players the Mets selected was L.J. Mazzilli in the 4th round, the son of former Mets center fielder Lee Mazzilli. Little Maz is a second baseman, a college senior from UConn. Here's more on the rest of the Mets' picks on Day Two.

Yesterday At AA

Our draft guru Alex Nelson has scouting reports on second round pitcher Andrew Church and third round outfielder Ivan Wilson.

Rob Castellano reviews the week in Mets Tweets.

James Kannengieser wrote about the underrated Sid Fernandez.

Greg Karam has yesterday's Daily Farm Report, in which Cesar Puello continues to do awesome, awesome things.

On June 7th three years ago, the Mets drafted Matt Harvey with the 7th overall pick. And a glorious day it was.

In an AA Fanpost, user cpins wonders if the Mets' rotation is better than everybody thinks it is.

Around the NL East

The Phillies fell back to .500 as they lost to the Brewers 5-4.

Yasiel Puig continued his assault on big league pitching with his fifth home run in four games, as the Dodgers beat the Braves 2-1.

The Nationals and Marlins (obviously) were rained out yesterday. At Fishstripes, Michael Jong wonders where Marcell Ozuna's power is. Giancarlo Stanton could be back on Monday.

Around the Majors

So Yasiel Puig has been pretty incredible in his first five major league games.

Alex Rodriguez has hired the lawyer who helped to overturn Ryan Braun's suspension.

Angel Pagan is headed to the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring after already missing 11 straight games.

The Rays definitely have some black magic or something, as they've turned around many a career over the last few seasons. The latest of those is former Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson.

Manny Ramirez hit a home run in Taiwan and the home run call might be the strangest home run call ever made.

Mets Morning News: Bobby Parnell's long national nightmare is not over

Steve Schreiber — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:13:06 -0000

Meet the Mets

Jeremy Hefner threw a great game for the Mets but they lost 3-2 to the Nationals after Bobby Parnell came on for the save and was totally ineffective. The offense managed just a pair of runs against Jordan Zimmermann, allowing very little room for error.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue: Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, Newsday

Dillon Gee looks to build on his 12-strikeout performance against the Yankees, as he takes on Dan Haren and the Nationals tonight in game two. First pitch is at 7:05 PM.

David Wright is struggling because he's trying to do to much to spark the offense.

Jeurys Familia is headed to the DL, as he's going to go under the knife for arthroscopic surgery on his elbow.

The promotion of top prospect Zack Wheeler seems to be imminent but Terry Collins would like to remind you that Wheeler won't be a savior. Unless of course he can play first base on his off days, then all bets are off.

With the announcement of upcoming Biogenesis related suspensions, Mets' outfield prospect Cesar Puello may be among those sent on a league mandated vacation. Unfortunate news, considering Puello is in the midst of a huge breakout with Double-A Binghamton.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been on fire for the Las Vegas 51's and may be playing himself back into consideration for a big league promotion.

Former Mets' pitcher Al Leiter has interest in the New Jersey senate seat left vacant after the passing of Frank Lautenberg. But NO POLITIX!

Yesterday At AA

Chris McShane has some more Meter Avenue, looking at the woeful performance of Mets position players.

We put out four MLB Draft previews in advance of the big day on Thursday. You can read about potential first-rounders Austin Wilson, D.J. Peterson, Reese McGuire, and Aaron Judge.

David Moseder looks back at June 4 in Mets history!

Around the NL East

Prior to last night's game, the Nats shook things up with their roster: they activated Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon, and Ian Krol, while dumping Henry Rodriguez, Zach Duke, and Danny Espinosa.

John Mayberry's walk-off grand slam wiped out a bad call by Bob Davidson, as the Phillies beat the Marlins 7-3. At the Good Phight, Joecatz thanks Ruben Amaro for not giving up on Domonic Brown.

There was another walk-off last night in the NL East, as Andrelton Simmons won it for the Braves in the 10th inning versus the Pirates. In case you didn't realize, the Braves are a true three outcome team.

Around the Majors

ESPN broke some big news yesterday: Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun are among a group of 20 players who are going to be suspended for their involvement with the Biogenesis clinic. Matthew Pouliot took a look at some of the players who may find themselves suspended.

The first round of All-Star voting results have been released and David Wright finds himself behind Pablo Sandoval. Oh, COME ON!

Grant Brisbee asks whether teams getting better at drafting?

At Beyond the Box Score, Stephen Loftus looks at the variability of on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Chris Davis hits lots of dingers. Here are five of his most effortless swings.

Russell Martin started in right field for the Pirates for some reason.

Mets Morning News: So apparently the Marlins can only beat the Mets

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:10:50 -0000

Meet the Mets

Collin McHugh got knocked around and the Mets' offense was quiet again against Jose Fernandez, as they fell 8-1 to the Marlins in Miami.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

Happy Harvey Day! The Mets look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Marlins...wait, what? Today's game begins at 1:10 PM with Matt Harvey facing off against Kevin Slowey.

Regarding the Mets' offensive stuggles, Terry Collins states the obvious.

Ike Davis has made some subtle tweaks to his stance but outside observers think he needs an entire swing makeover.

Jon Niese is expected to make his next start, says Terry Collins. In other injury news, Matt den Dekker is not particularly close to returning from a wrist injury. Lefty Tim Byrdak is getting closer, as the lefty tossed his first inning in extended spring training.

Ken Davidoff looks at some advanced numbers when it comes to the first two months of Matt Harvey's 2013 season.

Yesterday At AA

Brock Mahan looks back at NOHAN!

Daniel Convery has our June 1st Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

B.J. Upton's struggles were pushed aside for one night, at least, as the struggling center fielder hit a 10th inning walk-off single to help the Braves beat the Nationals 2-1. The Nats promoted top prospect Anthony Rendon up to Triple-A Syracuse.

The Phillies lost to the Brewers again 4-3, partially thanks to this awful call by umpire Mike Estabrook. Nope, no need for instant replay, Mr. Selig. Baseball is just fine without it.

Around the Majors

Newsday has a great piece on all of the Ivy Leaguers that populate MLB front offices.

Adam Wainwright's strikeout to walk rate is insane. Meanwhile, Shelby Miller continues to dominate. Damn you, Cardinals.

Recently demoted Mariners' catcher Jesus Montero is now out for 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus. Well, that Montero for Michael Pineda trade has really turned into a dud.

At least five teams are interested in recently DFA'd Braves' third baseman Juan Francisco.

Mets Morning News: Mets lose to the Marlins, remember Johan Santana's no-hitter a year later

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 15:08:06 -0000

Meet the Mets

The Mets fell to the Marlins 5-1 last night, snapping their 5-game winning streak.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

Collin McHugh faces off against Jose Fernandez and the Marlins this afternoon at 4:10 PM.

Terry Collins talked about his emotions during Johan Santana's no-hitter a year ago, saying that he was "sicker than hell".

Four Mets relievers have suffered setbacks in their recovery from injuries, the most recent being Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia.

Tim Marchman writes about the "problem" of Lucas Duda not swinging enough.

David Wright starred in a commercial for the MLB all star game.

Yesterday At AA

Joshua Ryan was able to talk to Dwight Gooden and John Franco at SNY's plaza.

Joe Sokolowski has another edition of This Week In Mets Quotes.

Chris McShane writes that the Mets have found value in the bullpen with Scott Rice and Greg Burke.

Chris also continues tracking Matt Harvey's starts and he still compares pretty well with Doc Gooden's 1985 and Tom Seaver's 1973.

Brock Mahan looks back at May 31 in Mets history.

Greg Karam has yesterday's Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

The Phillies lost to the Brewers 8-5, despite Domonic Brown continuing his May assault on pitchers with two more home runs. Veteran reliever Chad Durbin was released by the team yesterday.

Washington beat the Braves 3-2 yesterday but the Nationals certainly aren't problem free. Stephen Strasburg left his start after two innings yesterday with what's being called an injured oblique. Also, Bryce Harper is likely DL-bound.

Around the Majors

Miguel Cabrera is incredible at hitting baseballs.

Rob Neyer wonders if the Nationals can be fixed.

There will be no International Draft until at least 2015.

The Yankees snapped their losing streak with a win over the Red Sox. Meanwhile, the cavalry arrived as Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis were activated off the DL.

Grant Brisbee created a new category of bad trade to describe the Rangers' trade of Chris Davis to the Orioles.

Mets vs. Marlins Recap: Against the Marlins, Mets are once again off the Marc

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 02:32:07 -0000

After finding themselves in the midst of a five-game winning streak following a sweep of their crosstown rivals, the Mets flew down to Miami to face a woeful Marlins team that was in the midst of their own streak – a nine-game losing skid. With this information, all signs pointed towards a Mets victory, that is until the game actually started and the Mets realized that they must've forgotten their offense in the Bronx. The Marlins snapped the Mets' win streak last night, defeating our heroes 5-1 on a mostly quiet evening of baseball.

Shaun Marcum was handed the ball for the Mets, fresh off of what was easily his best start of the season last Sunday against the Braves. The lineup Miami put out on Friday, to put it generously, seemed bereft of big league talent, so all signs pointed towards Marcum continuing his stretch of dominance. Fortunately, that scenario played out for six innings, as the soft-tossing righty danced around a few baserunners here and there to tame the Marlins. Their biggest threat to that point came in the fifth inning, when after a pair of singles and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out, Marcum got Jeff Mathis to ground into an inning ending double play.

The Mets, meanwhile, faced off against righty Jacob Turner. The former top prospect of the Tigers, acquired last year in the Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante trade, was making his season debut for Miami and didn't disappoint. The Mets did have a runner on base in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th inning against Turner but were unable to cash any of them in. Ultimately, Turner tossed seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out three.

The tide turned in the Marlins' favor in the bottom of the seventh. With Marcum still on the hill, Derek Dietrich hit a scorching ground ball into right field that rolled far enough into the outfield to turn into a double. The next batter was young Marcell Ozuna, who had three hits on the evening. The second of those hits was a bloop single in that seventh on an 0-2 fastball that Ozuna sort of checked his swing on. Luckily for the Fish, the ball found its way just over Daniel Murphy's glove into right field, putting runners at the corners with nobody out.

After striking out Chris Coghlan on three consecutive changeups below the strikezone, Ed Lucas stepped into the box and delivered another bloop hit into right field. For Lucas, it was his first big league hit and for the Marlins, it was their first lead of the night. With runners again at the corners, Marcum walked notorious Mets killer Greg Dobbs to get to the light-hitting catcher Mathis. On the third pitch of the at bat, Mathis lined a ball to Rick Ankiel in center field for a sacrifice fly, making the score 2-0 Marlins. It wasn't over there, though, as pinch hitter Jordan Brown ripped open the flood gates with a two-run double into the left-center field gap, chasing Marcum from the game.

Down 4-0, the Mets scratched out their lone run when Daniel Murphy doubled to deep left center field, chasing home Omar Quintanilla from first base. With Murphy on second, the Mets had a slight glimmer of hope that quickly faded as David Wright struck out looking to end the threat. In the eighth, the Marlins tacked on an insurance. Greg Burke entered and after a Quintanilla throwing error put a runner at second base, Marcell Ozuna pulled a groundball down the third base line and into the left field corner for a run scoring double, closing out the scoring and most of the hope for the Mets.

SB Nation Coverage

* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Fish Stripes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Omar Quintanilla (.025), John Buck (.009)
Big losers: Rick Ankiel (-.171), David Wright (-.107)
Teh aw3s0mest play: John Buck's infield single in the 7th inning (+6.0%)
Teh sux0rest play: Ed Lucas' RBI single in the 7th inning (-14.8%)
Total pitcher WPA: -.053
Total batter WPA: -.447
GWRBI!: Ed Lucas

Final Score: Marlins 5, Mets 1 — Offense goes ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzz

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:39:18 -0000

Coming off the excitement of a Subway Series sweep, the Mets' offense put up a stinker as they fell to the Marlins 5-1 in Miami. The defeat snapped their season best five game winning streak. Shaun Marcum got the start for the Mets and pitched well over the first six innings before it all unraveled in the seventh.

Both teams traded zeroes through the first six innings as Marcum and Jacob Turner both managed to easily shut down each lineup. In the bottom of the seventh, things caved in on Marcum as a double and a soft single put runners on the corners with nobody out. After a strikeout, Ed Lucas blooped a hit into right center to plate the first run and Jeff Mathis added another run with a sacrifice fly. With two outs, pinch hitter Jordan Brown drilled a double into the right center field gap, sticking a fork in Marcum as well as the Mets' chances to win.

Game Thread Roll Call

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

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	MetsFan4Decades	164
2	Terry_is_God	127
3	The Nameless One	79
4	natteringnabob	73
5	Paumanok	68
6	cstroh8	61
7	omegasupreme44	49
8	stickguy	44
9	danman11	44
10	GetMetsmerized	43

Open Thread: Mets vs. Marlins, 5/31/13

Steve Schreiber — Fri, 31 May 2013 21:07:09 -0000

Shaun Marcum

#38 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 14, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Shaun Marcum	0-5	7	6	0	0	0	0	34.1	39	23	22	3	8	32	5.77	1.37

Jacob Turner

#33 / Pitcher / Miami Marlins

Height: 6-5

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 21, 1991

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	MIAMI MARLINS
Omar Quintanilla - SS	Juan Pierre - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Placido Polanco - 3B
David Wright - 3B	Derek Dietrich - 2B
Lucas Duda - LF	Marcell Ozuna - RF
John Buck - C	Chris Coghlan - CF
Rick Ankiel - CF	Ed Lucas - SS
Marlon Byrd - RF	Greg Dobbs - 1B
Ike Davis - 1B	Jeff Mathis - C
Shaun Marcum - SP	Jacob Turner - SP

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

Shaun Marcum

#38 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 14, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Shaun Marcum	0-5	7	6	0	0	0	0	34.1	39	23	22	3	8	32	5.77	1.37

Jacob Turner

#33 / Pitcher / Miami Marlins

Height: 6-5

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 21, 1991

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	MIAMI MARLINS
Omar Quintanilla - SS	Juan Pierre - LF
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Placido Polanco - 3B
David Wright - 3B	Derek Dietrich - 2B
Lucas Duda - LF	Marcell Ozuna - RF
John Buck - C	Chris Coghlan - CF
Rick Ankiel - CF	Ed Lucas - SS
Marlon Byrd - RF	Greg Dobbs - 1B
Ike Davis - 1B	Jeff Mathis - C
Shaun Marcum - SP	Jacob Turner - SP

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

Mets Morning News: Captain Wright ties it and then the Dude abides

Steve Schreiber — Wed, 29 May 2013 03:58:19 -0000

Meet the Mets

Mariano Rivera opened last night's game on the mound and then closed it on the mound, as the Mets rallied for two runs to win it 2-1 in walk-off fashion. Matt Harvey was fantastic over 8 innings, allowing just a single run but the Mets' offense was quiet against Hiroki Kuroda.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

The Subway Series heads out to the Bronx as Jeremy Hefner faces off against David Phelps in game three.

Doc Gooden says that Matt Harvey should start the All-Star game, while David Lennon crowns Harvey the King of New York. Scott Boras talked about the wisdom of long term contract extensions in relation to Harvey.

While a number of players have been disappointments early on, Daniel Murphy seems to have improved on both sides of the ball.

John Sickels compared Mets' prospect Cesar Puello to Dodgers' outfield prospect Joc Pederson. Speaking of outfield prospects, Brandon Nimmo was back in the lineup for Savannah. At Scout.com, Kiley McDaniel's latest mock draft had the Mets taking HS outfielder Austin Meadows with their first round draft pick.

Yesterday At AA

Lee Mazzilli is #33 on the Mets' top 50 list.

Ben Berkon looked at some realistic outfield trade targets, Joc Pederson included.

Greg Karam has our Daily Farm Report from Tuesday.

On this date in Mets history, El Duque won his Mets debut.

Around the NL East

Cliff Lee pitched well and Jonathan Papelbon saved it, as the Phillies beat the Red Sox 3-1 in Boston. Domonic Brown picked up the NL Player of the Week award.

Brian McCann's two home runs propelled the Braves to a 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays.

The Rays walked off against the Marlins, beating them 7-6.

The Nationals smacked around Kevin Gausman as they defeated the Orioles 9-3.

Around the Majors

Brewers' shortstop Jean Segura is off to a great start and yesterday, he collected 6 hits in a game.

Sad news yesterday as renowned orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum passed away at age 65 from liver cancer.

Yu Darvish is really good at hurling baseballs towards home plate at high velocities.

Mariners' manager Eric Wedge blamed sabermetrics for the demise of infielder Dustin Ackley. Damn those sabermetrics! I hear they killed the dinosaurs, too.

Eno Sarris spoke with Stanford outfielder and potential first round pick Austin Wilson.

Twins' pinch hitter Chris Colabello was wearing the wrong uniform.

Mets Morning News: LOLMets forever!

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 26 May 2013 14:44:49 -0000

Meet the Mets

Another game, another loss. Actually, let's make it two on Saturday. They fell 7-5 in the completion of Friday night's game and then lost Saturday's originally scheduled matchup 6-0. Yuck.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Star-Ledger, NY Post, Newsday

The Mets look to avoid the sweep tonight with Shaun Marcum on the mound facing Julio Teheran.

Ike Davis made a slight mechanical change to his batting stance and is trying to keep his weight back. He singled in his first at bat and then struck out in his second last night.

Jeurys Familia and Scott Atchison both began their rehab assignments with the St. Lucie Mets last night.

The more opponents see Dillon Gee this season, the better they hit against him.

Yesterday At AA

Brock Mahan looks back at May 25 in Mets History.

Daniel Convery has Saturday's Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

The Phillies beat the Nationals 5-3 yesterday, while the Marlins lost to the White Sox 2-1.

Around the Majors

Could the Orioles' Manny Machado break the major league record for doubles in a season?

Is the MLB draft useful or should it go away?

The Giants won yesterday on Angel Pagan's walk-off inside the park home run.

Marlins' pitcher Alex Sanabia was caught spitting on a baseball a couple of days ago and says that he didn't realize that was against the rules. Seriously?

Mets Morning News: Rain stops game, doesn't stop Ike's strikeouts

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 25 May 2013 03:19:54 -0000

Meet the Mets

Tied at 5 apiece, the rains came down on the Mets and Braves and forced the conclusion of their Friday evening matchup to be pushed to tonight. Jeremy Hefner pitched well despite getting no-decisioned again and the Mets came back with two runs in the eighth to tie things up before the delay. Ike Davis struck out four more times.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, NY Post

The Mets and Braves will finish Friday evening's game tonight starting at 6:10 PM and then they'll play game two of their series immediately after. Dillon Gee and Mike Minor will face off in that one on Fox. The rest of the suspended game may go untelevised.

Ike's struggles continue to dominate the headlines around the team. Terry Collins says there are several options to replace Davis should be sent down and Adam Rubin looked into them. Eventually, one of those options could be Wilmer Flores, who played first base last night in Vegas. Michael Salfino looked back at sluggers who were sent to the minors and the results aren't terribly encouraging.

Jeurys Familia is working his way back and about ready to begin a rehab assignment in Port St. Lucie. Frank Francisco, meanwhile, is not improving.

Zack Wheeler will probably come up around the Super 2 date, which is still sort of a moving target. Howard Megdal brings up a cautionary tale when it comes to Wheeler and pitching prospects in general.

In his latest mock draft, Jim Callis of Baseball America projected the Mets to take Arkansas pitcher Ryne Stanek with the 11th overall pick in the draft, though from the description, it doesn't sound like Callis is sure which direction the Mets will go.

Toby Hyde writes about catching prospect Kevin Plawecki, who is still in Savannah but could move up at some point soon.

Yesterday At AA

Matthew Callan writes about the Mets and their use of rally caps in the 80's.

Amazin' Avenue Audio's 21st episode is out, so go listen to it!

Brock Mahan looks back at May 24 in Mets history.

Greg Karam has yesterday's Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

The Nationals defeated the Phillies 5-2 last night. The Nats lost reliever Ryan Matteus for 4-6 weeks after he punched his locker. Danny Espinosa, meanwhile, has been playing with a small fracture in his wrist for over a month.

Evan Gattis tells the story of his rise to fame.

The Marlins fell to the White Sox 4-3 in ten innings. Miami's outfield may actually become crowded in the next few weeks.

Around the Majors

Anibal Sanchez took a no-hit bid into the 9th before Joe Mauer broke it up with a clean single up the middle. Well played, Mauer.

Curtis Granderson is going back to the DL after getting hit by a pitch again, this time in the pinkie.

Miguel Cabrera has pretty crazy plate coverage, as this animated GIF shows.

In another bad day for umpires, the Rangers caught a break on a double play that was definitely not a double play. Then a poor Angel Hernandez call nearly cost the White Sox a win.

Mets 5, Braves 5: Rain halts game after eight innings

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 25 May 2013 02:06:56 -0000

Friday evening's game between the Mets and Braves was suspended due to rain after eight innings with a score of 5-5. The game will resume tomorrow night beginning at 6:10 PM. Prior to the sky opening up, Atlanta jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead against Jeremy Hefner on a Freddie Freeman home run. The Mets quickly halved that when Lucas Duda dumped a run scoring bloop single into left field. In the fourth inning, John Buck evened things up with a solo home run, his 11th of the year, and Marlon Byrd's single plated the go-ahead run an inning later.

With the Mets now leading 3-2 after 6 innings, Hefner gave way to LaTroy Hawkins who immediately served up a home run in the 7th to Dan Uggla. Things got worse in the 8th, as the duo of Scott Rice and Greg Burke combined to allow the Braves to score two runs. Behind 5-3 in the 8th, the rains came pouring down but the Mets got a bit of a break as the umpires did not pause the game and Braves' reliever Anthony Varvaro struggled to control the ball. With two men on, Daniel Murphy lined a single into center field plating one run and soon after, Varvaro uncorked a wild pitch to deadlock the score at 5 apiece. That's where they'll pick things up on Saturday evening, headed into the 9th inning.

Game Thread Roll Call

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

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	ScottfromPeekskill	253
2	MetsFan4Decades	228
3	Steve Sypa	225
4	mzvalaren	183
5	The Nameless One	126
6	TKFJ	116
7	robotoverlord	104
8	cstroh8	97
9	GetMetsmerized	82
10	Donovan Rice	80

Open Thread: Mets vs. Braves, 5/24/13

Steve Schreiber — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:59:22 -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	0-5	9	8	0	0	0	0	45.0	42	25	25	8	18	30	5.00	1.33

Kris Medlen

#54 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 5-10

Weight: 190

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Oct 07, 1985

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Kris Medlen	1-5	9	9	0	0	0	0	56.2	53	24	19	7	22	38	3.02	1.32

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	ATLANTA BRAVES
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Andrelton Simmons - SS
Rick Ankiel - CF	Jason Heyward - RF
David Wright - 3B	Justin Upton - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Freddie Freeman - 1B
Marlon Byrd - RF	Brian McCann - C
John Buck - C	Dan Uggla - 2B
Ike Davis - 1B	Juan Francisco - 3B
Ruben Tejada - SS	B.J. Upton - CF
Jeremy Hefner - SP	Kris Medlen - 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	0-5	9	8	0	0	0	0	45.0	42	25	25	8	18	30	5.00	1.33

Kris Medlen

#54 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 5-10

Weight: 190

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Oct 07, 1985

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Kris Medlen	1-5	9	9	0	0	0	0	56.2	53	24	19	7	22	38	3.02	1.32

Lineup

NEW YORK METS	ATLANTA BRAVES
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Andrelton Simmons - SS
Rick Ankiel - CF	Jason Heyward - RF
David Wright - 3B	Justin Upton - LF
Lucas Duda - LF	Freddie Freeman - 1B
Marlon Byrd - RF	Brian McCann - C
John Buck - C	Dan Uggla - 2B
Ike Davis - 1B	Juan Francisco - 3B
Ruben Tejada - SS	B.J. Upton - CF
Jeremy Hefner - SP	Kris Medlen - SP

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

Mets Morning News: Whatever happened yesterday doesn't matter now because today is HARVEY DAY!

Steve Schreiber — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:47:26 -0000

Meet the Mets

The Reds beat the Mets 4-0 last night. David Wright made a crucial error in the first inning leading to a couple of Reds' runs and the Mets' offense was el stinko for another evening. But hey, at least Jon Niese pitched well for his second consecutive outing.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, Newsday

Happy Harvey Day! Matt Harvey pitches against Mat Latos this afternoon beginning at 1:10 PM.

While on last night's SNY broadcast, Sandy Alderson spoke about Zack Wheeler's future, among other topics.

The Shin-Soo Choo choo train is boarding, so you should probably get on soon.

Rafael Montero pitched well in his Triple-A debut. Meanwhile, Brandon Nimmo has a glute issue.

Darryl Strawberry and Mets' scout Marlin McPhail will represent the Mets at the MLB Amateur Draft in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday At AA

Jeffrey Paternostro has a great breakdown of Rafael Montero's stuff.

Joe Sokolowski looks back at the past week in Mets quotes.

This Date in Mets History looks back at some memorable performances from pitchers.

Greg Karam has our Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

The Phillies defeated the Marlins 7-3.

Atlanta and the Twins went into extra innings late last night, while the Nationals took on the Giants in San Francisco.

Around the Majors

Grant Brisbee looks to find where Stephen Strasburg's missing strikeouts have gone.

BUNTZ! It's an art.

Johnny Cueto may be removing the twist out of his windup.

MLB teams will be wearing some ugly camouflage uniforms and hats on Memorial Day.

2013 Mets Series Preview: Five questions about the Cincinnati Reds with Red Reporter

Steve Schreiber — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:29 -0000

The Mets head back to New York where they'll meet up with the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field for a three game set that begins this evening. Coming off of a division title in 2012, the Reds have a 26-18 record and they find themselves tied with the Pirates for the second best record in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Cardinals. Brandon Kraeling writes about the Reds for SB Nation's Red Reporter and he answered a few questions about the team to help us preview the series.

Amazin' Avenue: What were your expectations for the Reds coming into the season and how has the team done so far in meeting those expectations?

Red Reporter: I think on paper, the Reds were a division winner that had one glaring flaw in 2012 that they effectively addressed in the offseason (leadoff spot). That said, the Reds had a lot of luck with their injury record, so going into the year, we expected the improvement of the lineup and a little less generosity from the injury bug, so about the same.

So far, they're right where they need to be, in my opinion. They did upgrade the leadoff spot with Shin-Shoo Choo, who has been fantastic. The injury bug hasn't been kind, with Ryan Ludwick, Sean Marshall, Ryan Hanigan, and Johnny Cueto missing significant time on the DL. They've handled everything in stride, and after a nice little winning streak, they're right where they need to be right now.

AA: Homer Bailey has been outstanding through his first 9 starts this year, with a 2.86 FIP and a much improved strikeout rate. Has Bailey made any noticeable changes and do you think he can keep pitching at this level?

RR: I think Homer Bailey has really made some strides over the past few years, and has turned from a proverbial "thrower" to a "pitcher". He got to the big leagues on stuff alone, and when he got there, had a pretty rude awakening. The biggest change we've seen from him has been between the ears, as he's staying more focused and not allowing his emotions to get the best of him. He's been meltdown prone the past few years, but this year, the biggest change is his ability to focus after he gives up a run and not getting knocked out early.

AA: The Reds had talked of moving Aroldis Chapman into their rotation prior to the start of the year before sticking him back in the closer's role. Should Chapman be starting or are Reds fans okay with him dominating out of the bullpen?

RR: I think he should be starting, but he doesn't really fit into the Reds' current roster that way. With Tony Cingrani in AAA, the Reds have 7 guys who can be league average starters, and before Chapman was named closer, Jonathan Broxton was penciled in there, which is pretty scary. You're catching Chapman at a good time, as he's blown his last two saves, but I think I'd still rather have him in that role over Broxton. When he's on, he's untouchable.

AA: Offseason acquisition Shin-Soo Choo has been one of the Reds' best hitters so far but the defensive metrics don't seem to like him out in center field. How has he looked out there? Also, do you think Great American Ballpark has helped with his early power surge?

RR: He's been alright. Not spectacular, but he gets the job done. There's been a few instances where he's taken weird routes to fly balls and doesn't get good jumps, but we can manage.

His power has been an unexpected surprise, but 4 of his 9 homers have come on the road. Of the 5 that he's hit at GABP, 2 have been opposite field shots, so I really don't think he's taking advantage of the short porch in RF.

AA: Zack Cozart has struggled at the plate early on this season with a .245 wOBA after putting up just a .298 mark a year ago. What do you see as a realistic offensive ceiling for Cozart and will he reach it?

RR: I'm afraid that we may have already seen Cozart's offensive ceiling last year. So far, he's J.J. Hardy with better defense. Doesn't get on base a ton, has a little pop, and does nothing to justify the fact that Dusty Baker insists on batting him second in the Reds' lineup.

Thanks again to Brandon Kraeling for giving us a preview of the Reds! Here are the pitching matchups for this series:

Next Game

Cincinnati Reds
@ New York Mets

Monday, May 20, 2013, 7:10 PM EDT
Citi Field

Johnny Cueto vs Shaun Marcum

Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 70.

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

Cincinnati Reds
@ New York Mets

Tuesday, May 21, 2013, 7:10 PM EDT
Citi Field

Mike Leake vs Jon Niese

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

Cincinnati Reds
@ New York Mets

Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 1:10 PM EDT
Citi Field

Mat Latos vs. Matt Harvey

Complete Coverage >

Mets Morning News: Saturday in the park, I think it was another Mets loss

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:59 -0000

Meet the Mets

Jeremy Hefner struggled in the fourth inning, as Cubs' pitcher Scott Feldman got the Mets' righty for a two-run double, as Chicago beat our heroes by a score of 8-2. The Mets' offense, meanwhile, had a few early chances but was mostly quiet until Rick Ankiel hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning. Despite the poor start, the Mets don't plan on skipping Hefner's spot in the rotation or even dumping him from it completely.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, Newsday

The Mets look to take the rubber game of their series at Wrigley Field, as they'll send Dillon Gee to the hill against lefty Travis Wood. Game time is at 2:20 PM and you can catch the action on WPIX.

Ike Davis' struggles continued, as the first baseman went 0-4, dropping his season line to a woeful .156/.238/.259. Sandy Alderson says that a demotion of Davis to Triple-A isn't imminent. If they were to demote him, however, they could take a look at recently DFA'd A's first baseman Daric Barton.

Matt Harvey's already sterling ERA may drop even further without him throwing a pitch – the Mets are appealing the second run charged against Harvey in Friday's game.

Ben Berkon writes that the Mets need to sign current Reds' outfielder Shin-Soo Choo when he becomes a free agent this offseason. I agree and am fully aboard the Choo Choo train.

Yesterday At AA

This Date In Mets History celebrates Nelson Figueroa's birthday.

Around the NL East

The Phillies were torched by the Reds 10-0, as Kyle Kendrick was not very good.

Miami was shut out by the Grissionbacks 1-0.

San Diego defeated the Nationals 2-1, as Jordan Zimmermann pitched well but the Padres' 2nd run scored thanks to a botched pickoff attempt.

The Braves beat the Dodgers 3-1, thanks to back to back home runs from Evan Gattis and Andrelton Simmons. Unfortunately, their bullpen took another major hit as lefty Eric O'Flaherty looks to be done for the year with a torn UCL.

Around the Majors

J.A. Happ, out since getting hit in the head with a line drive a few weeks back, is having his rehab held up by a knee injury that he suffered falling to the ground on that same play.

This world just isn't right: Endy Chavez may lose his job, while Jason Bay will keep his. Also keeping his job on the Mariners is Oliver Perez. So much hate.

Infielder Chris Nelson was claimed off waivers from the Yankees by the Angels, while the Yankees acquired 27-year old former top prospect Reid Brignac from the Rockies. In regards to why Ben Francisco is still on the roster, Brian Cashman seems like he's a bigger troll than Justin Turner.

Grant Brisbee looks at organizational positional droughts at first base.

Mets Morning News: Thanks to Matt Harvey's arm and bat, the Mets now have a winning streak

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:52:33 -0000

Meet the Mets

Matt Harvey gave up two early runs and then shut down the Cubs over the next 6.1 innings, as the Mets beat the Cubs yesterday 3-2. Harvey helped himself out as he broke a 2-2 tie with a run scoring single. For good measure, David Wright and Daniel Murphy hit home runs. Marlon Byrd also made an impressive throw to cut down Darwin Barney at the plate in the 8th inning, keeping the Mets' lead intact.

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Game two against the Cubs takes place this afternoon at 1:05 PM, as Jeremy Hefner matches up against former Rangers righty Scott Feldman.

Adam Rubin reports that the Ike Davis to Las Vegas talk is starting to grow louder in the Mets' organization and there's a chance it may happen as soon as the end of this series in Chicago.

In top prospect injury news, Zack Wheeler was placed on the 7-day DL. But don't fear – the move was backdated to his last start and he's scheduled to pitch for Vegas on Wednesday. He even resumed throwing yesterday. Travis d'Arnaud, meanwhile, will be in a boot for two more weeks without any weight-bearing activity in his return from a foot injury.

Matt Harvey took a page out of the Tom Seaver book, says Greg Prince at Faith and Fear in Flushing.

Yesterday At AA

The newest episode of Amazin' Avenue Audio is out, so go ahead and listen to it now.

Matthew Callan writes that Jordany Valdespin must be worse than everybody, ever.

Greg Karam has yesterday's Daily Farm Report, in which Noah Syndergaard and Rainy Lara strike out everybody (well, almost everybody).

Brock Mahan looks back at Steve Trachsel and Mike Pelfrey starts from previous May 17s in Mets History.

Around the NL East

Paul Goldschmidt dominated Kevin Slowey and the Marlins, as the Diamondbacks defeated the Fish 9-2. Miami also designated former Mets reliever Jon Rauch for assignment.

After blowing a lead in the 9th inning, Chad Tracy hit a home run to put the Nationals ahead of the Padres for good by a score of 6-5.

Justin Upton hit a grand slam and Jason Heyward made his return from the DL, as the Braves beat the Dodgers 8-5 last night.

Finally, the Phillies beat the Reds 5-3.

Around the Majors

Oh, Astros. Houston lost to the Pirates last night in ugly fashion (the animated GIF inside explains it all).

Jose Reyes could be back for the Blue Jays by late June if all goes well.

At Bucs Dugout, Pirates' manager Clint Hurdle discussed how the team uses pitcher/batter matchups and other stats in their daily preparation. It's cool to see that Hurdle is open-minded to the numbers.

A pair of Orioles minor leaguers are learning the knuckleball at Double-A.

Ken Woolums of Beyond The Box Score begins to look into where the next MLB city could be if a team has to move in the future.

Mets Morning News: Nope, no victories to be found here

Steve Schreiber — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:53:20 -0000

Meet the Mets

Dillon Gee continued his struggles, as the Mets were pounded by the Cardinals 10-4 on Tuesday evening. This one wasn't really a game, as the Mets fell behind 9-0 before scoring their runs.

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Shaun Marcum takes the mound tonight against phenom Shelby Miller for the Cardinals. First pitch is at 8:15 PM.

Everybody's ~~favorite~~ least favorite soap opera As The Valde Spins continues, as new details show that Jordany Valdespin tried to get out of pinch hitting on Saturday to avoid getting plunked. The outfielder also apparently refused to give teammate Juan Lagares a ride home from the ballpark. He took to Twitter yesterday afternoon, writing in Spanish that he "wasn't born to lose".

Terry Collins may've made the whole situation a bit worse off for himself, as he said regarding Valdespin that he doesn't answer to the fans.

In injury news, Scott Atchison was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow inflammation. In his place, the Mets recalled righty Collin McHugh from Las Vegas. Of course, the biggest news is that Zack Wheeler will miss his scheduled start with a sore clavicle. It doesn't sound like the team is worried but anytime a player gets sent to New York for tests I tend to hold my breath, cross my fingers, and brace myself for the worst.

Sandy Alderson was a guest of Mike Francesa's on the radio on Monday but recently he was also the guest of a young blogger in this interview, in which he talks a lot about his interesting past.

Yesterday At AA

Chris Meehan writes that the signing of Rick Ankiel limits Jordany Valdespin's future with the Mets. With the way this story is developing, I wouldn't disagree with that.

Joshua Ryan has a transcript of Sandy Alderson's interview with Francesa.

The Mets inked pitcher Matt Fox to a minor league deal. Fox, who has played with the York Revolution this season, will take McHugh's spot in Las Vegas.

David Moseder looks back at May 14th in Mets history.

Stephen Schmidt has our Daily Farm Report from Tuesday.

Around the NL East

Clayton Kershaw dominated the Nationals, as the Dodgers won 2-0.

Ricky Nolasco struggled as the Reds beat the Marlins 6-2.

Jonathan Pettibone continues to roll, as the Phillies defeated the Indians 6-2.

Finally, the Braves fell to the Diamondbacks 2-0 in Arizona.

Around the Majors

Eno Sarris wrote about how R.A. Dickey has lost velocity on his famous knuckleball. Of course after that gets written, Dickey went out and struck out 10 in 6 innings last night.

Joe Posnanski writes about the Yankees' witchcraft that has turned Vernon Wells into a good player again.

Marvin Miller was once investigated by the FBI for Communist ties.

What would you do if you were the commissioner of baseball?

Manny being Manny, Manny sliding like Manny (in Taiwan).

Mets Morning News: Not such a Niese start drowns Mets early on rainy Banner Day

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 12 May 2013 05:40:50 -0000

Meet the Mets

Jon Niese continues to struggle, as the lefty got knocked around in the Mets' 11-2 loss to the Pirates. Niese says that it's not an injury affecting him but bad mechanics instead. Jordany Valdespin became the focal point late in the game after he was drilled with a pitch and then made a scene in the dugout. They may have to make a decision on what to do with him if the antics continue.

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It's HARVEY DAY! Matt Harvey faces Jeanmar Gomez in this afternoon's finale with the Pirates.

Terry Collins announced after the game that he's restoring Ike Davis to the cleanup hole from now on and he'll let the first baseman play everyday, sink or swim. The Mets desperately need Davis and Niese to get on the right track.

In the Post, Steve Serby has a Q&A with Matt Harvey.

Looks like sidearmer Greg Burke is back on his way up from Las Vegas. No word on who'll get dropped in his place but Jeurys Familia to the DL wouldn't be a surprise.

Here is the winner from Banner Day yesterday.

In the minors, Zack Wheeler tossed another excellent game, going 7.1 innings and allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits, while striking out 7 and walking 1. Meanwhile, Rafael Montero's command continues to draw rave reviews.

Yesterday At AA

Brock Mahan took a look back at May 11 in Mets history.

Daniel Convery brings you yesterday's Daily Farm Report.

Around the NL East

Three of the other four clubs in the division suffered defeat on Saturday: the Nationals lost 8-2 to the Cubs, the Giants beat the Braves 10-1, and the Marlins lost to the Dodgers 7-1. It was the Phillies who were the only team to win, beating the Diamondbacks 3-1.

Around the Majors

Is Manny Machado in the same category as Mike Trout and Bryce Harper?

Joe Posnanski writes about the "awesomeness" of Matt Harvey and Shelby Miller, and looks for the last time two young pitchers this good came onto the big league scene at the same time.

Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan is headed under the knife with a torn flexor tendon.

Pretty nifty double play turn here by Brandon Phillips.

Scott Kazmir has somehow revived his career and he's throwing in the mid-90's.

Mets Morning News: Marcum walks the plank, Pirates steal Mets' buried treasure

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:06:50 -0000

Meet the Mets

Shaun Marcum was bad in his third straight start, not getting out of the fifth inning again, as the Mets fell to the Pirates 7-3. The offense was mostly silent, save for Anthony Recker's first home run as a Met and a couple of late runs off of the ancient Jose Contreras.

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If rain doesn't stop him, Jon Niese will take the hill this afternoon for the Mets and lefty Francisco Liriano making his Pirates' debut. Game time is scheduled for 1:10 PM.

David Wright fouled a ball off of his knee last night and was sore after the game but he's in the Mets' lineup today. Marcum, meanwhile, took a ball off of the thumb on his glove hand but he seems to be okay. Jeurys Familia is not okay, as he's still inactive with biceps tendinitis and may eventually be DL bound. That could open up a spot for Frank Francisco, who's taking his rehab up to Binghamton.

Terry Collins' spring mantra of aggression on the bases has worked out for the Mets so far, as they impressively lead the majors in baserunning runs.

Mike Baxter has had a lot of success as a pinch hitter off the bench and he credits that to tips he got from other great pinch hitters.

Marcum's third poor start should not lead to the Mets overreacting with a Zack Wheeler callup, says Anthony McCarron. Terry Collins says it's not his call.

Yesterday At AA

Brock Mahan looks back at May 10 in Mets' history.

Here's Greg Karam's daily farm report, in which Noah Syndergaard continues to be awesome.

Around the NL East

The grissiony Diamondbacks defeated the Phillies 3-2 last night as Tyler Cloyd replaced Roy Halladay. Speaking of Halladay, he apologized to Phillies' fans yesterday for his shoulder injury.

Washington won its fifth straight as the Nats defeated the Cubs 7-3. It wasn't all fun and games, as Jayson Werth is DL-bound.

The Giants beat up on the Braves 8-2, as Atlanta continues to fall back to Earth. Not falling back to Earth anytime soon is Andrelton Simmons' spectacular defense at shortstop.

The Marlins beat the Dodgers 5-4 yesterday. They also ran an ultimate fan contest and it went as hilariously as you'd expect it to go.

Around the Majors

The Washington Post has an excellent piece on Bryce Harper's swing mechanics, how he developed them, and how they're freakishly similar to those of Babe Ruth.

The Rotation asks if women will ever get the chance to play Major League Baseball?

It looks like former Mets' top prospect Carlos Gomez is good now, so here's how he will annoy you in the future.

Red Sox CEO took the internet in his own hands and addressed the media with this article.

Mets Morning News: It's all about Matt Harvey all day, every day, all the time

Steve Schreiber — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:33:30 -0000

Meet the Mets

MATT HARVEY MATT HARVEY MATT HARVEY MATT HARVEY! Matt Harvey, with a bloody nose, allowed just one hit in nine innings while striking out 12 in a 1-0 extra inning victory. Chicago's lone hit was an infield single that Alex Rios beat out by about half a step at first base. The Mets couldn't muster a run until Mike Baxter's game-winning base hit in the 10th inning. But all of that is immaterial this morning because HARVEY!

Matt Harvey, along with Terry Collins and Mike Baxter, believed a perfect game was possible.

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The Mets look to sweep their quick two-game set with the White Sox as they send Jeremy Hefner to the hill this evening to face off against former Cy Young winner Jake Peavy.

Frank Francisco is nearing a return, and while Bobby Parnell will be the Mets' closer for now, it may not stay that way. Considering that Parnell is easily the team's best reliever, I might actually prefer to see the Mets use him as the "fireman" in higher-leverage spots—assuming Francisco can hold things down in the ninth.

Mets PR guy Jay Horwitz continues to be a jokester on the Twitter.

Yesterday At AA

Rob Castellano wrote some more about Jordany Valdespin's developing plate discipline.

Jim Margalus answered some questions about the White Sox for our series preview.

Greg Karam points out that Baseball Reference has minor league splits! Hooray!

On this date in Mets history last year, Jordany Valdespin ripped a home run off Jonathan Papelbon.

Jeffrey Paternostro has our Daily Farm Report from Tuesday.

Around the NL East

Craig Kimbrel might be broken, guys. The Braves' closer blew the save as he allowed a pair of home runs in the ninth inning of the Reds' 5-4 victory over Atlanta.

The Marlins are on the road in San Diego The Phillies are in San Francisco.

The Nationals and Tigers were postponed due to rain.

Around the Majors

Scary moment in Tampa last night as Blue Jays' pitcher J.A. Happ took a Desmond Jennings line drive off the side of his head. Happ never lost consciousness, but he was bleeding and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

The Marlins are reducing capacity at Marlins Park starting next week by closing off the upper deck.

Go do yourself a favor and check out the Baseball Scouts Database. It's awesome!

Dave Cameron says that it's time to stop underrating Asian pitchers.

Melky Cabrera has gotten off to a slow start. Should we just assume it's because he's not on PEDs?

2013 Mets Series Preview: Five questions about the Chicago White Sox with South Side Sox

Steve Schreiber — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:01:04 -0000

The Mets welcome the Chicago White Sox to Citi Field for a rare two-game interleague series that begins this evening. The White Sox, who've never visited the Mets during interleague play, are off to a 13-17 start and currently sit in last place in the American League Central division. Jim Margalus writes about the White Sox at South Side Sox and he was kind enough to give us a little insight into the team.

Amazin' Avenue: What are your expectations for the White Sox this year and what has to happen for them reach those expectations?

South Side Sox: I had them around .500, give or take a few games. They're going to need to get healthy, as their second baseman, left fielder and third starter are on the DL, and John Danks isn't ready for MLB hitters yet.

AA: The White Sox have gotten off to a brutal start offensively and they have the second lowest wOBA in baseball ahead of the Marlins. Are there any signs of some of these guys waking up soon? Any legitimate worry about Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko considering Dunn's lost season in 2011 and Konerko's age?

SSS: The Sox were a limited-upside offense before Dayan Viciedo and Gordon Beckham went down, so they're trying to patch it together with bench players and other team's cast-offs until they come back, and it looks like it. I think Dunn's first half of 2012 was a dead-cat bounce. Since then, I think it's going to be a struggle to be even a tenable hitter for the last two years of his contract. Konerko still looks OK, and better than his numbers, but I don't think he has the heights from 2010-2011 in him.

AA: After years of having A.J. Pierzynski behind the plate, the veteran catcher signed with Texas in the offseason and the White Sox handed the starting catching job to Tyler Flowers. How has he looked so far as the starter and do you think he could be the guy back there long term?

SSS: Flowers has looked unsure of himself. He's supposed to be a lower-average, decent-OBP, good-power guy, but he's jumpy early in the count (might be nervous about striking out), and he hasn't given the Sox a lot of good at-bats. He'll get a long leash this season, but this is basically his make-or-break year as a starter, and it would probably serve him better to let his freak flag fly and go for 180 strikeouts, if it'll allow him to make better contact.

AA: It looks like the Mets will face lefty Hector Santiago on Tuesday. Give us a little scouting report on Santiago and what we should expect to see from him.

SSS: He's a hard-throwing lefty who can run a fastball up to 95. He throws a couple different kinds of fastballs, two tilts on his breaking ball, a changeup and a screwball, which is neat. This will be his second turn in the rotation after starting the season as the jack-of-all-trades in the bullpen, which means he isn't fully adjusted to conserving pitches, nor is he fully stretched out. It could be a 4-5 inning start if the Mets make him work. He's from Newark and proud of it, so he'll have a lot of family and friends in the stands.

AA: Robin Ventura is in his second season as the team's manager. How do you feel about the job he's done so far and what would you consider to be his strengths and weaknesses as a manger?

SSS: It's been a struggle for him the last two baseball months. The Sox offense hasn't given him many easy nights, and it looks like he's taken it upon himself to try to win some games for them (lots of pitching changes, pinch runners, runners in motion). That hasn't gone well, and that kinda flies in the face of his demeanor, which is on the unflappable side.

If any of you guys go to Tuesday's game when the gates open, there's a good chance you'll see the Sox taking infield. Ventura has his players do it before the first game of every road series, and the Sox might be the only team that does. Not that it's helped their defense much this year (which is really where Beckham's absence is felt).

Thanks again to Jim Margalus for giving us a preview of the White Sox! Here are the pitching matchups for this series:

1st Game

Chicago White Sox
@ New York Mets

Tuesday, May 7, 2013, 7:10 PM EDT
Citi Field

Hector Santiago vs Matt Harvey

Mostly cloudy. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60.

Complete Coverage >

2nd Game

Chicago White Sox
@ New York Mets

Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 7:10 PM EDT
Citi Field

Jake Peavy vs Jeremy Hefner

Complete Coverage >

Mets Morning News: It's a beautiful day for a ballgame...let's play one!

Steve Schreiber — Sun, 05 May 2013 04:20:31 -0000

Meet the Mets

The Mets and Braves were rained out yesterday, pushing Jon Niese back to today's start where he'll face off against Tim Hudson. Game time is at 1:35 PM.

David Wright prevailed against Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel on Friday by hitting a home run – with his eyes closed.

Mike Kerwick writes that the Mets only seem to be winning games when they plate five or more runs.

The closer job is Bobby Parnell's and nobody else's, according to Bobby Parnell.

Ruben Tejada has excelled with two strikes throughout his young career. Probably helps that his swinging strike rate this year is top 10 in the majors at just 3.9%.

Yesterday At AA

Daniel Convery has Saturday's Daily Farm Report.

Brock Mahan looks back at May 4 in Mets History.

Around the NL East

In Pittsburgh, the Nationals took a late lead and then held on to beat the Pirates 5-4.

Jose Fernandez was masterful in shutting down the Phillies and Marcell Ozuna hit his first big league home run as the Marlins beat Philadelphia 2-0.

Around the Majors

Things aren't going well for R.A. Dickey up in Toronto, as he surrendered 7 runs over 6 innings to the Mariners in yesterday's Jays loss and then called his team "dysfunctional" on the field afterwards. Maybe this is all part of Dickey and Sandy Alderson's master plan where the Mets reacquire Dickey for nothing after a year. I'll be over here dreaming.

Zack Greinke is ahead of schedule in his return from a broken collarbone.

Former Mets farmhand Scott Kazmir won his first game since 2010.

Is the passive approach at the plate that's making its way around the league really hurting scoring as some critics have contended?

Mets Morning News: Captain Wright saves the day

Steve Schreiber — Sat, 04 May 2013 14:54:20 -0000

Meet the Mets

With the Mets down 5-4 and facing unhittable closer Craig Kimbrel, David Wright stepped up to the plate and showed why he gets the big bucks. Wright's game-tying home run in the ninth propelled the Mets to extra innings where they won it in the 10th by a score of 7-5.

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Jon Niese looks to extend the Mets' win streak to three games, as goes to the hill against Julio Teheran in game two this evening. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

Speaking before the game, Sandy Alderson said that Terry Collins' job this season isn't in jeopardy and that he hasn't even considered firing the manager. My favorite quote: "You go through a tough week and people like to immediately jump to conclusions and start discussing a doomsday scenario. A good first week isn’t necessarily any more of an indication than a bad fourth week."

Shaun Marcum didn't get out of the 5th inning again, as he's still working out the kinks with his control. It's important to remember that this is still essentially spring training for him.

Jordany Valdespin was right in the middle of the Mets' 10th inning rally but he was also a no-show for batting practice prior to the game.

After picking up his first big league save and impressing while doing so, Jeurys Familia may be in line to get more late inning looks. If he can consistently throw his breaking ball like he did last night, absolutely!

With Andrew Brown called up and in the lineup, the Mets demoted outfielder Collin Cowgill to Las Vegas.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis did this for Las Vegas last night. Wow.

J.D. Sussman has a nice profile of intriguing Mets' pitching prospect Logan Taylor. The Mets took Taylor in the 11th round of last year's draft.

Mike Piazza made his ballet debut last night in Miami.

Yesterday At AA

Ben Berkon continues to ask what the Mets should do with Daniel Murphy, this time looking at what the infielder could potentially return in a trade.

I previewed the Mets and Braves series with Talking Chop.

Brock Mahan looked back at May 3 in Mets History.

Around the NL East

The Nationals continue to struggle through the first month of the season, as they fell to the Pirates 3-1. Davey Johnson says that the Nats need to "man up".

Jonathan Pettibone continues to pitch well for the Phillies, as they defeated the Marlins 4-1. Juan Pierre celebrated his 600th stolen base with...Hawaiian Punch and Honey Buns. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay is pissed at Mitch Williams.

Around the Majors

Cardinals' closer Jason Motte needs Tommy John surgery.

Here's an interesting idea: Total Baseball.

Jack Morris accused Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz of throwing a spitball, which lets Jack Moore of Fangraphs revisit the spitball. Meanwhile, I think Braves' righty Tim Hudson might be cheating.

What would happen if you applied sabermetrics to little league?

Ben Horrow of Beyond the Box Score tries to shake up MLB's postseason.