- Mets GM Sandy Alderson said there wasn’t any new updates on Yoenis Cespedes’ DL situation, which leads the New York Post’s Adam Rubin to doubt whether Cespedes will be able to return to action this week. Cespedes’ rehab stint for a hamstring injury was interrupted by some soreness in his long bothersome right quad muscle, and he has yet to resume full running, though he has been jogging. Alderson had previously said that Cespedes could potentially return for DH duty when the Mets are in Texas for an interleague series with the Rangers this week, though that timeline seems tenuous at this point.
- Also from Rubin, he reports that the Mets “aren’t likely” to go after relievers Bobby Parnell and Ernesto Frieri. The two right-handers recently opted out of minor league deals (Parnell with the Royals, Frieri with the Yankees) and are now free agents. Parnell, of course, has a notable history with the Mets, pitching for the club from 2008-15 and serving as the team’s closer in 2013.
Mets Rumors
Collins' Job Not In Jeopardy
There’ve been an average of 3.4 in-season managerial firings since the 2007, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in the intro to his latest weekly notes column, but the 2017 campaign may be the rare year where all 30 Opening Day skippers are still at the helm of their respective teams at the conclusion of the regular season. Heyman notes that while there’s been plenty of fan and/or media criticism of high-profile managers like John Farrell (Red Sox) and Terry Collins (Mets), no manager seems to be on a particularly hot seat at the moment. He also runs down a list of nearly half the managers in the league and examines their chances of being dismissed, though again, the primary takeaway is that most seem to be rather safe.
NL Notes: Franco, Capps, Stephenson, Gsellman
The Phillies have at least held internal discussions about giving third baseman Maikel Franco some time at Triple-A, manager Pete Mackanin told reporters including Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Though nothing has been decided, and Mackanin was non-committal, that’s certainly a notable development. Franco, 24, has long been viewed as a building block for the Phils. But he took a step back last year after an excellent 2015 season, and currently owns a disappointing .209/.268/.349 slash through 190 plate appearances in the current campaign.
Here’s more from around the National League:
- It’s still not clear just when righty Carter Capps will make his Padres debut. As Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter, skipper Andy Green indicated that the reliever “drew mixed reviews” for his work on the bump yesterday. He’s scheduled to throw against live hitters in another controlled scenario on Friday. Capps, who missed all of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery, has struggled in eight rehab appearances thus far.
- The Reds have optioned righty Robert Stephenson to Triple-A, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. He’ll be replaced by fellow right-hander Jackson Stephens. Things have not gone as hoped for the former first round draft pick. Through 24 2/3 innings in 13 appearances, he carries an 8.03 ERA. Stephenson has been knocked around for 33 hits (including seven long balls) while recording 27 strikeouts against 16 walks. It remains to be seen whether he’ll return to starting upon his return to the minors.
- With several starters nearing returns, the Mets may again have a bit of extra rotation depth. That will likely force righty Robert Gsellman to the pen — and possibly, into quite a prominent role there. As Kevin Kernan of the New York Post writes, some within the Mets organization believe Gsellman’s stuff and attitude make him a good fit for the closer’s role. Addison Reed is currently filling in for the injured Jeurys Familia in the ninth.
Mets Still View Gsellman As Starter
- Despite the fact that right-hander Robert Gsellman will move to the bullpen in the near future when Steven Matz and Seth Lugo join the rotation, the Mets still view him as a starting pitcher in the long term, writes Danny Knobler for MLB.com. Manager Terry Collins expressed firm belief that Gsellman will be a “quality starter” in the Majors, but for the time being he’ll be relied upon to help in the ’pen. Gsellman will still get at least one more start this weekend, Knobler writes, and Collins pointed out that the righty could even return to the rotation in 2017 when Zack Wheeler’s innings count climbs to the point where the Mets need to cut back his innings.
Latest Mets Injury Notes
- There are some updates on notable injured Mets players, courtesy of Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Closer Jeurys Familia says he is “feeling good” and thinks he can resume throwing within about two weeks — possibly setting up a return as soon as late August. Both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo, meanwhile, will take additional rehab starts before returning to the majors. They are said to be slated for the rotation, with Robert Gsellman expected to move to the bullpen. Meanwhile, star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is looking at another week or ten days before he’s back, though the team is treading carefully. The current issue — not his hamstring, for which he originally went on the DL, but his quadriceps — is apparently tied to the injury that kept Cespedes out of action for a stretch last year.
The Mets' Year Without David Wright
David Wright’s last game was on May 27, 2016, which means that over a year has passed since the star third baseman has taken the field for the Mets. As Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes, Wright’s absence is heavily felt both on the field and inside the Mets clubhouse. Since Wright was recently shut down from throwing during his recovery from a shoulder impingement, it doesn’t look like Wright will return any time soon. Wright played in just 75 games in 2015-16 thanks to spinal stenosis and neck surgery, and given the seriousness of these injuries, it’s no surprise that there has been retirement speculation, though Wright himself has said that he enjoys the process and is hopeful of a return.
Heyman: Mets Unlikely To Re-Sign Lucas Duda
- It appears first baseman Lucas Duda is in his final season with the Mets, as Heyman implies that he’s primed to sign elsewhere over the winter. The 31-year-old power hitter has been among the Mets’ top players this season, having slashed .267/.406/.570 with six home runs in 106 PAs, but they do have a well-regarded youngster behind him in Dominic Smith. Baseball America sees Smith, 21, as the game’s 65th-best prospect.
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Better Building Block: Aaron Judge Or Michael Conforto?
If the first couple months of the major league season are any indication, two of baseball’s best hitters are emerging in New York. In the Bronx, there’s Yankees right fielder and American League Rookie of the Year front-runner Aaron Judge; in Queens, Mets outfielder Michael Conforto has rebounded from an underwhelming 2016 to fare even better than he did during his sensational rookie campaign in 2015.
Given that Judge looked lost during his first big league stint last season, his success this year has come as a bigger surprise than Conforto’s. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound behemoth did notch four home runs in only 95 plate appearances, but that came with an alarming strikeout rate (44.2 percent) and a horrid .179/.263/.345 batting line. To his credit, though, the 25-year-old Judge worked prior to the season on cutting down his strikeouts and making more contact, as FanGraphs’ Travis Sawchik detailed earlier this month, and the results have been excellent. Everything is trending right for Judge – his strikeout rate is down to a manageable 29 percent; his contact rate has shot up exactly 10 points (from 60.2 percent to 70.2 percent); his walk rate has climbed from 9.8 percent to a terrific 14.2 percent; his out-of-strike zone swing rate has fallen from 33.6 percent to 25.5 percent; and his swinging-strike rate is at 12.4 percent after sitting at 18.1 percent last year.
All of Judge’s gains have helped lead to a .316/.421/.665 line in 183 PAs – not to mention a first-place start for the Yankees – and he currently ranks third in the majors in both wRC+ (192, trailing only Mike Trout and Freddie Freeman) and isolated power (.348, again behind only Trout and Freeman), and second in home runs (15, one behind Trout and tied for second with Bryce Harper). While an unsustainable .391 batting average on balls in play has propped up Judge’s numbers, his production still looks legitimate when factoring in the degree to which he has punished baseballs. Judge’s expected weighted on-base average, which uses exit velocity and launch angle to gauge a hitter’s performance, is sitting at .427 – not far below his actual wOBA of .450 – per Baseball Savant. As great as Judge has been offensively, he has also held his own with the glove, ranking fifth among outfielders in Defensive Runs Saved (seven, behind well-known defensive wizards Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Kevin Kiermaier and Byron Buxton) and a respectable 34th among 70 qualifiers in UZR/150 (2.7).
Conforto, meanwhile, hasn’t been on Judge’s level defensively (a combined minus-one DRS and minus-5.2 UZR/150 at all three outfield positions); however, as Judge has been this season, Conforto was outstanding with the glove during his rookie year (nine DRS, 26.5 UZR/150), so there’s reason for hope going forward. Regardless, the bulk of the 24-year-old Conforto’s value will always come from his bat, and the lefty-swinger has done his best to match the right-handed Judge and keep the woebegone Mets afloat this season. Conforto, after hitting a so-so .220/.310/.414 in 348 major league PAs last season and even earning a minor league demotion, is now sitting at .322/.416/.658 with 13 homers and a 13.3 percent walk rate (against a strikeout percentage of 24.9) in 173 trips to the plate this year. He ranks fifth in the majors in ISO (.336) and sixth in wRC+ (178), and while he’s also running a BABIP (.370) that won’t last, his .391 xwOBA (down from a .440 wOBA) is indicative of a superstar-caliber hitter.
While Judge and Conforto have torn apart major league pitching this year, the fact that the two are thriving isn’t completely shocking, as each cracked various top 100 lists as prospects. Now, both sluggers are more than living up to the hype they generated before their major league tenures began. With Judge and Conforto potentially in the midst of becoming franchise cornerstones, I’ll ask you the same question Joel Sherman of the New York Post presented to major league scouts and front office executives earlier this week: Who’s the better long-term piece?
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yoenis Cespedes Dealing With Quad Soreness
- In yet another unfortunate break for the injury-laden Mets, left fielder Yoenis Cespedes felt soreness in his right quad Friday and won’t take live at-bats until at least Tuesday, Marc Carig of Newsday was among those to report (Twitter links). Cespedes’ setback occurred while running the bases in a Class-A rehab game, and the club scratched him Saturday as a result. There had been hope that Cespedes would return during the Mets-Brewers series between Monday and Wednesday of the upcoming week, but that no longer looks like a possibility. The Mets have been without Cespedes since late April, when he landed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain after getting off to a blistering start (.270/.373/.619 with six home runs in 75 plate appearances). Notably, a right quad injury hampered him at times last season.
Terry Collins Has Fred Wilpon's Support
- Mets ownership has given no indication that manager Terry Collins is in danger of losing his job, but the skipper does have critics within the front office, reports Marc Carig of Newsday. After back-to-back playoff seasons – including a World Series berth in 2015 – injury-plagued New York has gotten off to a 20-26 start this year and Collins’ bullpen management “has left some Mets officials fuming” along the way, writes Carig. However, Collins has the full support of owner Fred Wilpon, according to Carig, and could survive the season. The 68-year-old Collins became the longest-tenured manager in Mets history last week, having taken the reins back in 2011. He’s in the final year of his contract.
