Looking back at the day in Mets, with game reaction and highlights of
the days news
Game Reaction
Two
losses, one game.
It’s yet to be determined how bad
David Wright’s shoulder injury is, but it’s not good to hear that it’s bad enough
for him to get an MRI. David Wright has played in 79 games so far this season –
Friday was the Mets 80th game of the season. He was used as a pinch
hitter in the only “day-off” he was given this season, and was removed early from a
game twice – once in the 7th, once in the 8th. His 713.2
innings played were second most before tonight, behind only Paul Goldschmidt of
Arizona. I’m not saying a few games throughout the season would change how his
shoulder feels now, just that I question the 160-games-started pace that he was
on before he got scratched – he was on pace for a career high in innings played
in the field.
As for the game, it was another
rough losses in a season full of them. It was also another strong start for
Jacob ∂eGrom that was spoiled by a lack of run support and poor defense.
Impressively, he recorded 10/20 outs on the ground in the game, living up to
the groundball-heavy reputation he made for himself earlier in the season with
the Las Vegas 51s. His 4th inning was an example of why this is a
game of inches unlike than any other. First, Andrew McCutchen reached on a single
that feel in just in front of a diving Juan Lagares in CF. Lagares trapped the
ball, but it was very close. Had ∂eGrom thrown the ball a little faster, or
McCutchen swung a little faster (or been using a heavier bat), maybe the ball
is hit a few inches farther and caught instead of trapped. The next batter,
Neil Walker, would foul off seven pitches before striking out. Any one of those
swings might have produced a different result if the point of contact is
changed by just a few inches. The next batter, Russell Martin, hit a sharp
grounder to a diving Duda at 1B and the ball bounces off and away from Duda,
allowing Martin to win a foot race to the bag. The ball and Duda’s glove are
just a few inches away from each other but didn’t find each other. Also, the
boll rolled just far enough away from Duda that he dove back to the bag a
moment too late to get Martin at 1B. A few inches difference and ∂eGrom has two
outs and McCutchen on 2B. He’d get the next batter, Ike Davis, to hit a
grounder to the right of Murphy, but the Mets were once again unable to turn a
double play. The change-up 3-2 to Pedro Alvarez was a nice idea, but ∂eGrom did
not execute as he hoped. Still, teams will normally take their chances against
the 8-hitter in that situation over Alvarez. Jordy Mercer came through with a
key single to tie up the game, hitting a groundball that Daniel Murphy was
unable to field. Murphy needed more than a few inches, but a slightly different
fielding position at time of the pitch makes that ball fieldable. I’m not looking
for anyone to blame in this paragraph, just considering the few inches here and
there that sometimes ruin an inning for a pitcher.
As for the rest of the game, the
Mets offense was very quiet outside of the 4th inning. They only had
runners in scoring position in the 5th (when Lagares and then Travis
∂’Arnaud reached 2B) and the 9th (when Lagares was stranded at 3B).
The bullpen was strong, but Vic Black couldn’t make it through the 11th.
Black’s been pretty effective since coming up, and I can’t be that mad at him for raising
his ERA to 1.76. Jenrry Mejia was a beast, especially after that BS non-call in
the 10th (see picture below) – strikeout looking, intentional walk
to load the bases, strikeout swinging, fly out to RF.
 |
| Josh Harrison "on the base path" |
Unless he gets a clean bill of
health and feels better tomorrow, I hope the Mets aren’t slow to make a move, as
they are very short-handed on the infield. If he needs the DL, the situation
would be perfect to commit two weeks of regular at-bats to Wilmer Flores. If
Wilmer's bat can get going at the major league level, maybe he can be back in the
middle infield (SS specifically) mix. I know his defense isn’t spectacular, but
he made all of the routine plays for the Mets as a SS (as defined by Fangraphs
Inside Edge). His defense at 3B is fine, and his bat has the potential to
provide better than average production.
Daily news and rumors
The
big news was that David Wright would be getting
an MRI on his shoulder.
Lehigh
Valley’s The Morning Call considered the Mets upcoming
decision at backup catcher between Anthony Recker and Taylor Teagarden.
Someone
flew
a drone over PNC Park during the game Thursday night – that’s scary.
Higgs boson + cosmic inflation = new particles? http://t.co/K80XxCWoz2 (from #NOVAnext) pic.twitter.com/5fkq4u7D3r
— PBS (@PBS) June 25, 2014
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