Between injuries and recent struggles, the Mets may need to find a rental on the trade market ahead of the trade deadline. Plus, notes on the third base carousel
It’s so disappointing that none of our young guys, including Alvarez, look like they can hit right now. I agree ultimately I still have faith in Vientos because of last season. Acuna is a good 26th man. It’s looking like we will need to trade for a starter unfortunately.
What a difference two weeks makes! Two weeks ago there was something out there to the effect that the Mets were fielding inquiries about Blackburn...now we're looking at getting a pitcher in a trade. Looks like Vientos, Baty, Mauricio, and Acuna are competing for two spots. A real tough decision for management. Of the four of them, I think Vientos is the only one who's below average defensively, so I guess I'd make him available in the right trade. He might turn out to be a good DH. Don't know what they've tried to get Alvarez going but it hasn't worked...somehow his .241 feels like .190...2 homers on the year, yikes!
Alvie has shown no power at all. Just can't square it up. They had him closed for a bit and then opened him back up a few degrees, which I think is a mistake. He's such a bucketfoot already, there's no reason to pull his front foot back off line like that. It should go the other way.
Anyway, thinking long term, I can see us keeping all four of Vientos, Baty, Mauricio and Acuña. But it would mean Mauricio moving to centerfield.
The thing is, it would also mean blocking Jett Williams in the near term, and he might be ready to come up and take a shot. He almost certainly will be ready to have a go at it in a year.
Blackburn isn't suited to long relief, so I'm not surprised he blew up. He's a fifth or sixth starter under any circumstances, a .500, 4.50 ERA innings eater on the back end of the rotation. He's not someone who's going to come in and get outs in the middle of a game.
Megill and Canning are bigger issues. For the former (and I know I've said this a few times), simplicity is the key. He needs to just go with his three best pitches, change speeds on them instead of going max effort on every hurl, and then execute, execute, execute.
As to Griffin, I think the league has figured out he's going to nibble with his breaking stuff and they just need to lay off and let him fall behind. He needs to make an adjustment himself and start getting ahead on counts again. Otherwise, he's just going to keep putting cookies on the plate.
Basically, that's what he was in his two best seasons with Oakland, 2022 and 2023. He was actually good enough in the first half of '22 to make the All-Star team — after 13 starts, he was 6-2 with a 2.26 ERA.
But then he starting having injury problems and started getting killed. He ended up 7-6 4.28 and the following year he was 4-7 4.43 and then it all really fell apart.
Even at his best, he often ran high pitch counts and didn't get all that deep into games. So, we know what we have. After tonight's debacle (Tuesday, 6.17) I just hope he can put together a decent start against Atlanta and give us some confidence over the next few weeks.
A team never has enough starting pitching, especially when they are trying to win a World Championship. I like Acuna for all the reasons that you mentioned. Manea will also be a welcome addition when he returns
It’s so disappointing that none of our young guys, including Alvarez, look like they can hit right now. I agree ultimately I still have faith in Vientos because of last season. Acuna is a good 26th man. It’s looking like we will need to trade for a starter unfortunately.
What a difference two weeks makes! Two weeks ago there was something out there to the effect that the Mets were fielding inquiries about Blackburn...now we're looking at getting a pitcher in a trade. Looks like Vientos, Baty, Mauricio, and Acuna are competing for two spots. A real tough decision for management. Of the four of them, I think Vientos is the only one who's below average defensively, so I guess I'd make him available in the right trade. He might turn out to be a good DH. Don't know what they've tried to get Alvarez going but it hasn't worked...somehow his .241 feels like .190...2 homers on the year, yikes!
Alvie has shown no power at all. Just can't square it up. They had him closed for a bit and then opened him back up a few degrees, which I think is a mistake. He's such a bucketfoot already, there's no reason to pull his front foot back off line like that. It should go the other way.
Anyway, thinking long term, I can see us keeping all four of Vientos, Baty, Mauricio and Acuña. But it would mean Mauricio moving to centerfield.
The thing is, it would also mean blocking Jett Williams in the near term, and he might be ready to come up and take a shot. He almost certainly will be ready to have a go at it in a year.
These, of course, are wonderful problems to have.
Blackburn isn't suited to long relief, so I'm not surprised he blew up. He's a fifth or sixth starter under any circumstances, a .500, 4.50 ERA innings eater on the back end of the rotation. He's not someone who's going to come in and get outs in the middle of a game.
Megill and Canning are bigger issues. For the former (and I know I've said this a few times), simplicity is the key. He needs to just go with his three best pitches, change speeds on them instead of going max effort on every hurl, and then execute, execute, execute.
As to Griffin, I think the league has figured out he's going to nibble with his breaking stuff and they just need to lay off and let him fall behind. He needs to make an adjustment himself and start getting ahead on counts again. Otherwise, he's just going to keep putting cookies on the plate.
Your description of Blackburn is generous .
Basically, that's what he was in his two best seasons with Oakland, 2022 and 2023. He was actually good enough in the first half of '22 to make the All-Star team — after 13 starts, he was 6-2 with a 2.26 ERA.
But then he starting having injury problems and started getting killed. He ended up 7-6 4.28 and the following year he was 4-7 4.43 and then it all really fell apart.
Even at his best, he often ran high pitch counts and didn't get all that deep into games. So, we know what we have. After tonight's debacle (Tuesday, 6.17) I just hope he can put together a decent start against Atlanta and give us some confidence over the next few weeks.
A team never has enough starting pitching, especially when they are trying to win a World Championship. I like Acuna for all the reasons that you mentioned. Manea will also be a welcome addition when he returns