Game notes:
Brandon Beachy was okay, but not great.
Justin Upton was a last minute scratch with an upper back strain.
Evan Gattis and Jordan Schafer continue to struggle in their post-injury second halves.
The Braves once again struggled against Zack Wheeler, who may be the Mets’ third best starter going forward. (Jennry Mejia is out for the remainder of 2013 having bone spurs removed from his elbow, but he was lights out fantastic in his return from TJ surgery.)
It would be easy to complain about losing to the Mets. A historically moribund franchise that’s near 20 games out is always a tough loss to take. But fairness and honesty dictate that we give credit where due, and as odd as it is to say, the Mets sure seem to be building something interesting on the ashes of the Wilpon’s follies. Matt Harvey, Mejia, Wheeler, and Dillon Gee is a rock solid starting four, and they have Noah Syndergaard tearing up AA too. The offense in Flushing is still pretty horrific; the Braves would have likely won this game if their defense hadn’t been atrocious all night long; but the Mets pitching staff really does have the potential to be something special for the next few years.
At this point, the Mets are the “other team” to consider competition for the NL East, along with the Nats. The Phils are on a downward trajectory for the next few years at least, and Miami is a fake storefront for Jeff Loria to suck cash out of the pockets of real baseball team owners.
Pittsburgh and the Dogs of LA both won last night, so the Braves’ lose a game to each in the race for best record in the NL (+2.)
We need one of Schafer or BJ to figure it out soon.
I honestly think Gattis needs to either sit for a few days or get a lot more playing time.
I honestly think a tour of Gwinnett as the starting C could do Gattis a little good. 15 games up with Laird and McCann on the roster already…
@2…
big Gattis fan, however..
that’s a very good suggestion. why not? maybe send Fletcher down with him, continuity..
@2
I’m a big Gattis supporter, but I don’t mind that idea.
Right now he swings at everything in his eyes, completely tied up by high heat inside, pops out most of them, occasionally drives one to the track or gets something away that he can poke for a single. He’s not the same player who was feasting on fastballs earlier this year.
This is the part of the season where we’ll probably take our foot off the gas. I may not watch as closely for a few weeks. It’s going to be a lot of half-scrub lineups and giving rest to the top guys in the pen.
Agreed about Gattis, he’s not doing the team or himself any favors right now and some time down in AAA might help him get sorted.
Just a couple weeks left in the minor league season, right?
Was thinking the same as Sam last night, Oso needs a bunch of at bats to get it going. Jordan can get plenty of time in the OF with BJ stinking and Justin aching.
If Bethany thinks that needs to happen…
Think it’s a great idea about Gattis. I think Gwinnett might see an attendance spike with Uggla and Oso (the Owl and the Bear – now there’s a children’s book for Bethany to illustrate!) in the lineup.
Nice pitchers’ duel for a while there last night, but my lasting memory will be Heyward’s catch in the 2nd inning.
Our perspective on that was probably a little deceiving–we were sitting along the first-base side–but the moment Legares hit the ball, I just thought, “Oh, that’s a triple.” Heyward made up so much ground in such a short amount of time, it just looked impossible.
Yeah, Heyward’s catch was amazing.
Another cool thing about Heyward’s game last night: he went 0 for 4 with a walk, yet saw 23.8% of Mets pitches in the process. True, he got an extra plate appearance than everyone else – these things happen with the leadoff hitter – yet 35 pitches is nevertheless a lot for a guy to see in 5 plate appearances. The past couple months he has really put it all together.
We’re skipping Minor’s next start. I think that’s a good idea. I’ve been wondering if his arm is bothering him any. He hasn’t looked right lately.
We’re going to have a roster crunch when Maholm comes off the DL.
@14
Umm…that could be bad.
@14- Mazzone stated on the radio that he wasn’t a fan of resting Minor. He said he would prefer to give starters consistent starts to avoid injury. He was all about routine. He pointed out that this would give Minor 1 and 1/3 innings work over 12 days.
Not that he should or would take credit for their lack of injuries, but this worked pretty well for Maddux and Glavine. Interesting perspective.
Seems like we’re just gonna go through the rotation, giving everybody a turn off, replacing them with Maholm for that turn. I think it’s a good idea. As far as I’m concerned, our No. 1 worry going into the playoffs isn’t our inconsistent offense, which has grown much more consistent over the past month or so. It’s our starting rotation. The top three are gonna be in uncharted territory innings-wise, it seems unwise to count on Beachy, and Wood has been in the majors less than a full year. Giving Minor, Teheran and Medlen rest is a very good idea, and I’m pretty sure that having Minor pitch 1 1/3 innings in 12 days is exactly the point.
EDIT: And by the way, just because somebody who had been playing well stops doing so doesn’t mean they’re injured.
He hasn’t been throwing as hard…that’s what worries me.
I think this Minor thing is a big deal. This is how the Braves handle things right before the player shows up in Birmingham to “play golf” with Dr. Andrew.
The club has already announced that it’s going through the rotation and giving everyone a day off while Maholm comes through. They’re basically doing a modified six man rotation to give all of the kids who aren’t 200 inning workhorses (yet) a little breather.
I think that’s brilliant.
@21
I hope that is true. After reading the AJC article, I feel better about it.
However, I’ve seen this before (Venters, Beachy, Hudson, Hampton, Smoltz, Hampton, Smoltz, Hampton) and this is exactly the front office lip speak we get. All of the sudden Minor is trying to get back for next years trade deadline.
I think it’s brilliant for everyone, except maybe Beachy. I would like to see him keep getting his starts and let Maholm sit on that day somehow. Basically Beachy is just now out of Spring Training. Mazzonne has the right to his opinion and he had some great SP’s that worked under his philosophies, but Roger certainly has earned the right to do things his way.
Smitty, what are you referring too? The braves have only announced that they want to rest their young arms. Most of these guys are probably approaching the career IP. Have the braves announced that Minor has an injury of some sort or is that blog speculation?
Last night’s catch was amazing, but really, to my eyes, the screencaps I made below is THE one (same park oddly enough). Perhaps it’s a perspective issue.
https://sphotos-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/970134_10201711331851479_321822775_n.jpg
https://sphotos-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/992811_10201711370692450_1415894796_n.jpg
@24
In the past they have this small tid bit that someone’s arm is sore (or something like that) and they are going to rest them. All of the sudden they are having TJ.
I love Jason Heyward.
Game thread is up.