So how are things in the NY baseball scene? well today we wake up with both teams in 1st place, yup we are 2 months into the season and so far so good as we get near the halfway point approaching the all star break. Who would had thought that both the Yankees and the Mets would be leading their divisions on June 9th?
So let me start with the bad guys from the Bronx.
The NY Yankees are currently on a roll, on a 6 game winning streak, coming off sweeps of the Mariners and Angels, they are the team to beat in the AL weak, they are taking care of what's in front of them and the game plan is simple, hit the ball outta the park! They are 2nd in MLB with 74 HR's trailing the Houston Astro's who lead with 78, they are also 2nd in MLB with 265 runs scored, the Toronto Blue Jays lead with 303, but as a team they have a 248 team batting average which is tied for 9th and tenth place in the AL with Boston, 18th in MLB, they are not that much better than the Mets who are at #21 with a 243 team batting average, but they play their home games at the Bandbox, I understand that both teams have to hit in that place they call Yankee Stadium but teams don't build their teams around that place so the Yankees have the advantage, it is why they have mostly pull hitters up and down the lineup, it is also why they can have a guy like Stephen Drew in the lineup with his 7 HR's even though he is way below the Mendoza line with a 168 batting average, a guy the Yankees re-signed for the 2015 season after Drew batted only 162 in 2014, it's crazy.
As long as the Yankees can generate the long ball they will be in the game, team HR leader Mark Teixeira is healthy for the 1st time in 3 years, he is 2nd in the AL with 17 HR's, 1st in RBI's with 45, and although he is only hitting 237 he is still very productive because he's been going deep, he has become Dave Kingman only with a much better glove. Than you have Alex Rodriguez coming back and producing like the AROD of old, hitting a very respectable 280 to lead the team to go along with his 11 bombs, Brian McCann is having a decent season with 9 hr's and is 2nd on the team in rbi's, Drew and Chris Young follow with 7 hr's a piece.
But you can't survive in the major leagues by just hit HR, the pitching has been a surprise, they are currently 6th in the AL and 11th in MLB with a 3.73 ERA, it has held up so far considering that their ace Masahiro Tanaka has spent the 1st 2 months in and out of the rotation, a big question mark going forward, Michael Pineda has stepped up big time taking on the roll of ace, but the rest of the rotation are not going to blow you away, Adam Warren has been a surprise but how long can a guy like Warren keep that up? Help seems to be on the way with Ivan Nova making progress in the minors, but If the Yankees are to continue and win games it wont be because of their starting rotation, it's about the long ball and their sensational duo in the bullpen, it's about going yard and giving the ball to Betances and Miller.
The NY Yankees are what they are, a HR hitting team with 2 all stars in the 8th and 9th innings.
And now to the Mets...
As of today the NY Mets stand in 1st place and who would had thought? I knew this was going to be a good year because I believe in the pitching, I also believe that the lineup was going to score enough runs to win games, but David Wright and Travis d'Arnaud have been out for a while now and now Daniel Murphy is out as well and that is too much of a hit, to make matters worst David Wright and his spinal problems have me reminiscing of Don Mattingly and his back issues from back in his playing days that ultimately shorten his production and career. Right now I can't count on David Wright coming back and if he does how good will he be?
Yup this is a major blow to a guy who the Mets have under contract for the next 5 years and still owe $107 millions, for now the Mets will have to wait it out until things are more clearer with Wright, for now they will wait for Murphy and d'Arnaud to return and for the market to open up before they can make a real decision, but one thing is for sure the Mets need offense, right now they are 24th in MLB in runs scored with 219, they don't have much team speed either so they are pretty much base to base, scoring runs is not their thing. So far Lucas Duda has been the lone big bat in the lineup that I trust, Michael Cuddyer has not produce but has begun to hit a little more, hopefully better days are coming from Cuddyer, but to me the one guy who has been a disappointment is Curtis Granderson, I thought with the walls coming in and Kevin Long coming in that Granderson would have a bounce back 2nd year with the Mets, it is still early so there is time to turn things around. Yea the Mets offense is not going to scare anybody, they have to scrap for runs and pitch pitch pitch, and pitching is the one thing the Mets can do.
I trust in Bartolo Colon, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard, but I no longer trust in Jonathan Niese in the rotation, his days are numbered just like his buddy Dillion Gee who is now in the bullpen as the dreaded longman, yea the 6 man rotation experiment is no more, and the only reason Niese is pitching over Gee is because he is left handed, but there is another lefty who is ready to come up and take his spot if Niese continues to flounder, the other prospect Steven Matz. So the rotation can get even better, the way I see it it's only a matter of time before we see Matz replace Niese.
NY baseball is back tonight as the (32-25) Yankees take on the (30-27) Nationals for a 2 game series at the bandbox, tonight I root for the bad guys as Max $cherzer takes on Masahiro Tanaka who will be making his 2nd start since coming back from the DL. It will be interesting to see if the Yanks can keep Bryce Harper in the park, Harper will be making his Yankees stadium debut, the Nationals are 2-8 in their last 10 games, the only reason the Mets are in 1st place by a half game.
The (31-27) Mets are also at home today as they take on the defending Champions, the 2nd place Giants, SF (32-26) come into the game 1 game back of the 1st place Dodgers, Noah Syndergaard takes the ball trying to bounce back from his last outing where he was rough up, he faces Chris Heston who I never heard of, both teams come in 4-6 in their last 10 games.
As always Lets go METS!!
5 comments:
So much to say here. Ok, lets start at the top:
Well as of right now the Yanks have fallen out of first but are only 1 game behind Tampa Bay while the Mets stay on top of the NL East.
The Yankees are showing that they are really streaky, they'll win 5-6 in a row and then look terrible for a few games and then go on another run. The AL weak? 4 of the 5 teams in the division are over .500, the only division in MLB that boasts that stat. The Yankees are in 2nd place in the division but if they were in the NL East they'd be in 1st so not exactly sure where you were going with that dig. The one thing that has been abundantly clear is that other than the Cardinals there isn't a very good team in the majors, all the years of revenue sharing and all the TV money has finally given baseball parity.
The Yankees pitching has been holding up and with Nova coming back you figure things will get even better, right now they just have to weather the storm of losing Miller and hope he's back sooner than later along with Ellsbury and they can put together some quality baseball in July-August.
On to the Mets. Yes, they're in 1st place BUT you have to admit that the Nationals have yet to be fully healthy this season, I know that the Mets have had there issues with injuries but a fully healthy Nats team right now is better than a fully healthy Mets team. I'm not too up on the Mets but I have seen that they can't hit, no one on that team even remotely worries you when they're at the plate, this was most evident when they got no hit, AT HOME by a ROOKIE. I think if the Mets really want to be taken seriously they're going to have to make a trade for a bat, if you're a Mets fan you would hate to see them part with one of the young arms but in this world you have to give to get.
The next few weeks leading into the All-Star game should be very interesting in NYC because it'll tell if the teams are really going to be able to contend for a playoff spot but like I said earlier MLB right now has so much parity that we'll be in September before teams start to throw in the towel.
Lets Go YANKEES!
Hey Bro, you make some good points, BUT, at the time I put this out the AL weak had only 2 teams at 500, yes they are the only division in MLB that can say that but again it's the TB Ray who is in 1st place, the weakest 1st place team in baseball.
You can also call the NL EAST weak right now but thats because the NATS have not played to their potential, still the Nats and the Mets have the best starting pitchers and because of that they can hang. I agree that there is some parity in baseball.
Yes the Mets offense is not that great but d'Arnaud is back and we get Murphy this week, It should balance out the lineup, and once the Mets find out more about Wright whether he comes back or not, than we can move forward on strengthening the lineup, for now you wait it out until the all star break where there will be more to get. I don't mind giving up a young pitcher like Syndergaard but that all depends on who we talking about, I trust Sandy Alderson on this, can't trade him for a Zorbist type. What I really want to get is another arm in the bullpen, my wish list is getting a guy like Tyler Clippard, I would even trade a Noah Syndergaard for a Aroldis Chapman instead of a bat.
Yes the next few weeks should be interesting.
Forgot about the Yanks, yea getting Ivan Nova is a boost if he can come back full circle, still I think they will need to get another arm in the rotation because Evoldi is better off in the bullpen and CC is clearly your #5, you need a solid #3 type, also how long can Tanaka stay healthy for?
Some parity? You have 18 teams at .500 or better and 2 more a game under. We're over 60 games into the season and I still can't say who's good or bad. Ok, with that said lets move on to the teams. The Mets need a bat, a Zobrist would be nice but not for Syndergaard. Now if the Reds dangle a Frazier then you have to listen.
As for the Yankees, when Nova gets back look for Warren to move to the pen. You can't have Evoldi in the pen, would you want to bring that guy into a game that is in question? He has an electric arm but needs to put everything together.
Oh yea I didn't mean to sound like there is a little parity, there is a lot.
Now if the Reds come in and dangle Frazier of course you listen and I still say no to that, now Chapman for Noah, yes.
Even though we need a bat I rather just put Murphy at 3rd which is where he will be going once he gets back this week because I don't see Frazier being that much of an upgrade over Murphy.
I can see Warren going in the pen but to me he is not pen material because he is not electric with his velocity which is what you really want coming out of the bullpen, now as a long man he is ok but you guys already have that with Capuano, that is why Evoldi who can reach 99 on the radar may be better suited for the pen where he can come in and just air it out for an inning, just my 2 cent.
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