The Mets have the bats to have big innings and should have the ability to come back from four runs down. MLB pitching is suspect enough. I constantly see crooked numbers (six or more runs) in innings, sometimes with good teams giving them up.
The Mets have two key arms coming back this week. Knock on wood. If they are healthy, that should allow Mendoza to limit Clay's innings more. Let Clay pitch five.
A sixth starter would be nice -- Megill's IL stint has been extended. Who trusts Blackburn? They are trying a bunch of arms to see if they can be reliable mid-game relief. Some are showing some potential.
Hey they gave him a shot to be a starter, and maybe the Yanks were right ( I hate to say it), Maybe he is a reliever and a spot starter. I never believed Soto would not prtoduce, he needed to find his place in a new environment. His history shows that he will adapt, and look what we have for years. Take that Michael Kay! I think Rich might have hit it yesterday, Mauricio might be the answer at 3b. Things look different after a few stale weeks, and are on the upswing. Get a starter that takes the ball every 5th day and gives 6-7 innings and we might be on our way!
Correction. Holmes issues started in the sixth. His first five innings were okay and he got no outs in the sixth. Mendy left him in quite a while with consecutive hits. Hope is not a solution to a starter fading.
So glad to see Soto getting the credit he deserves. I disagree about how Mendoza handled Holmes. Given what he's shown, he definitely should have been yanked after allowing the first two runners to reach in the 6th, certainly after loading them up with no outs. Gotta accept that he's a 5 innings and out pitcher.
I got the impression last night that Carlos was trying to force Vientos 2025 to morph into Vientos 2024. He inserted right where he could have done a lot of damage, right where he did a lot of damage last year. Unfortunately, Mark came up short. He may be on the trading block and a team or two may be willing to take a flyer on him, but his trade value is in the toilet right now. They can't keep starting him and can't send him down, so what to do?
No good solution. Imagine being a fan of the team that trades for Vientos. "We gave up that for him"? He's an automatic out. Can't continue to play him.
Holmes seems to lose his slider command when he starts getting tired and then he just hangs them up there. But he still has good velo, and he still has that good hard sinker.
Maybe it's time for Hef and the Lab to get him into the mindset of him being his own relief pitcher in the fifth and sixth innings and coming hard with the fastball/sinker combination. Forget about setting anyone up. Just go after them.
It's probably more of a pitch count issue — and that's where walking people becomes a problem. He's been giving up more dingers too, which tells me his breaking stuff is flatter and over the middle too much.
But I think he can be a solid six inning starter and maybe even get into the seventh on a fairly regular basis if he cleans it up. It would mean averaging 15 pitches per inning or fewer.
I don't see him getting there unless he throws his fastball for strikes and works off that, especially by working in the power sinker. He's definitely not getting there if he's slider-happy.
The Mets have the bats to have big innings and should have the ability to come back from four runs down. MLB pitching is suspect enough. I constantly see crooked numbers (six or more runs) in innings, sometimes with good teams giving them up.
The Mets have two key arms coming back this week. Knock on wood. If they are healthy, that should allow Mendoza to limit Clay's innings more. Let Clay pitch five.
A sixth starter would be nice -- Megill's IL stint has been extended. Who trusts Blackburn? They are trying a bunch of arms to see if they can be reliable mid-game relief. Some are showing some potential.
Hey they gave him a shot to be a starter, and maybe the Yanks were right ( I hate to say it), Maybe he is a reliever and a spot starter. I never believed Soto would not prtoduce, he needed to find his place in a new environment. His history shows that he will adapt, and look what we have for years. Take that Michael Kay! I think Rich might have hit it yesterday, Mauricio might be the answer at 3b. Things look different after a few stale weeks, and are on the upswing. Get a starter that takes the ball every 5th day and gives 6-7 innings and we might be on our way!
Correction. Holmes issues started in the sixth. His first five innings were okay and he got no outs in the sixth. Mendy left him in quite a while with consecutive hits. Hope is not a solution to a starter fading.
So glad to see Soto getting the credit he deserves. I disagree about how Mendoza handled Holmes. Given what he's shown, he definitely should have been yanked after allowing the first two runners to reach in the 6th, certainly after loading them up with no outs. Gotta accept that he's a 5 innings and out pitcher.
I got the impression last night that Carlos was trying to force Vientos 2025 to morph into Vientos 2024. He inserted right where he could have done a lot of damage, right where he did a lot of damage last year. Unfortunately, Mark came up short. He may be on the trading block and a team or two may be willing to take a flyer on him, but his trade value is in the toilet right now. They can't keep starting him and can't send him down, so what to do?
No good solution. Imagine being a fan of the team that trades for Vientos. "We gave up that for him"? He's an automatic out. Can't continue to play him.
Holmes seems to lose his slider command when he starts getting tired and then he just hangs them up there. But he still has good velo, and he still has that good hard sinker.
Maybe it's time for Hef and the Lab to get him into the mindset of him being his own relief pitcher in the fifth and sixth innings and coming hard with the fastball/sinker combination. Forget about setting anyone up. Just go after them.
Or just resolve that once he gets to the 6th, yank him at the first sign of trouble.
It's probably more of a pitch count issue — and that's where walking people becomes a problem. He's been giving up more dingers too, which tells me his breaking stuff is flatter and over the middle too much.
But I think he can be a solid six inning starter and maybe even get into the seventh on a fairly regular basis if he cleans it up. It would mean averaging 15 pitches per inning or fewer.
I don't see him getting there unless he throws his fastball for strikes and works off that, especially by working in the power sinker. He's definitely not getting there if he's slider-happy.