Look, I advocated for the Mets to acquire Kelly Shoppach last winter. The idea, then and for much of the 2012 season, was a simple one: Josh Thole hit righties well, but not lefties. Give him a platoon partner who could hit lefties, and the Mets suddenly had an above-average… Read More →
Yesterday, Terry Collins talked about putting Ronny Cedeno and Ruben Tejada into a platoon. This comes on the heels of looking to get Kelly Shoppach more playing time against righties at catcher, at the expense of Josh Thole, and Justin Turner more regular time at second base, at the expense… Read More →
So for the better part of three years, the Mets seemed to have solved one half of their catching situation. Josh Thole was a perfectly adequate platoon partner. He is lefty, hits righties at a .739 OPS clip, and is young and cheap. But Thole, it appears, will be arbitration-eligible… Read More →
The Mets announced this afternoon that Josh Thole will be activated from the 7-Day DL, while Elvin Ramirez will be promoted from Buffalo. These moves have the potential to help immensely. The lack of production from catcher makes Thole’s return tremendously important, while Ramirez has been lights-out relieving at Triple-A…. Read More →
So it is hard to think of a victory more thrilling that Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Phillies, thanks to Jordany Valdespin’s three-run homer in the ninth inning. There were those back-to-back wins at Citi Field in 2010 on walkoff home runs by catchers, first Rod Barajas, then Henry… Read More →
There have been lots of things contributing to the 13-9 start by the New York Mets. There’s been David Wright, playing at an otherworldly level. Ruben Tejada’s been great, and Daniel Murphy’s been very good. Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been spectacular. They’ve outperformed their pythagorean expected record. They’ve only made six… Read More →
Welcome to the position-by-position breakdown of the Mets relative to the rest of the National League East. We’ll start at catcher. 1. Atlanta Braves: Clearly, the best backstop in the division is Brian McCann. Now 28 years old, McCann has settled into a routine of posting an .800+ OPS with… Read More →
At least, that’s the only reason I can see for them to pursue Luis Martinez, the catcher recently designated for assignment by the San Diego Padres. Martinez, 26, is right-handed, has no power whatsoever, and can hit for a decent average and control the strike zone, particularly against lefties. He’d… Read More →
An interesting, under-the-radar change for the Mets has been Ronny Paulino’s assumption of primary catcher duties. The general consensus was that Josh Thole would face righties, Paulino lefties, which would mean Thole would receive a greater proportion of the at-bats. But entering Wednesday night’s game, Paulino had started 12 of… Read More →
NEW YORK (AP) – Oliver Perez hit Adam Kennedy with a pitch before walking three batters in a row in the 14th inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 2-1 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep. It was a fitting ending to a miserable season for Perez…. Read More →
NEW YORK (AP) – David Wright hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to power a New York Mets’ starting lineup of seven rookies past the Washington Nationals 7-2 Saturday. Raul Valdes outpitched Yunesky Maya in the first matchup of Cuban starters in seven years, and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey… Read More →
NEW YORK (AP) – With the Mets braced for a management shakeup, Josh Thole homered in the 10th inning Friday night to begin the final series of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Thole connected against Tyler Clippard (11-7), hitting a one-out drive into the right-field… Read More →
NEW YORK (AP) – Light-hitting rookie Ruben Tejada laced a two-run double in the ninth inning off closer John Axford, rallying the New York Mets to a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. David Wright had a two-run homer and the Mets opened their final homestand of… Read More →
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The plastic hanging at the top of the lockers in the Phillies clubhouse remained unfurled. Philadelphia will have to wait at least one more day to celebrate a return to the playoffs. Lucas Duda hit a three-run double in the Mets’ five-run seventh inning, and New York… Read More →
NEW YORK (AP) – R.A. Dickey flustered the Houston Astros with knuckleballs and foiled them with his bat, leading the New York Mets to a 5-1 victory Sunday. Josh Thole homered and Dickey keyed a second-inning rally with a two-run single that helped the Mets end Bud Norris’ four-game winning… Read More →