The Mets and Rangers played to a 4-4 tie this afternoon in Arlington, Texas. Here are some of my takeaways from Saturday’s final exhibition game of 2015…
Better late than never.
The Mets got the leadoff man aboard in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but failed to score in each of those frames. It was a continuation of a trend where the bats had gone cold over their last 5 games, having scored only 11 runs over that span.
But then came the ninth inning with two outs and nobody on. The Mets got one hit and drew two walks against Andrew Faulkner and Jesus Pirela and then capped their comeback with a grand slam off the bat of Anthony Recker, who played the entire game. It was the club’s 39th home run in 33 games this spring, an encouraging sign with the regular season about to get under way.
Dillon Gee deserved better than he got.
Gee pitched really well on Saturday, but he was victimized by poor defense on the middle infield behind him in the fourth and fifth innings. He threw 84 pitches and allowed two runs to score, but with better defense his line would’ve been completely clean.
In the fourth with two outs, Wilmer Flores poorly played a groundball of the bat of Adam Rosales, which allowed Nick Williams to score from second base. Then in the fifth with one out and runners at the corners, Daniel Muno was shaded towards the middle but he muffed a sure 4-4-3 inning ending double play, got no outs and allowed a second run to score.
They don’t go down as errors in the box score, but these misplays represent a key concern with this club heading into the regular season. These mishaps forced Gee to face extra batters, throw extra pitches, and they resulted in two runs which shouldn’t have scored.
A rough day at the office for Alex Torres.
Torres did get a lefty out to close the 5th inning, but struggled to get two outs in the sixth inning thanks to a general inability to throw strikes. Like Gee, Torres was victimized by poor defense behind him, but due to his lack of command, he couldn’t dodge those bullets and allowed two unearned runs.
Torres is not a typical lefty specialist since his change-up allows him to be effective against right-handed hitters as well as left-handed hitters. Collins was clearly testing his ability to get right-handed hitters out today, but outings like today don’t help him build a strong case to serve as a more versatile arm out of the Mets bullpen.
Ok, let’s do this!
Another long and monotonous spring training has come to a close, and it’s time for these games to count. That all begins on Monday afternoon in Washington, and I am really looking forward to seeing how this club’s story unfolds in 2015.
There’s more talent here, growing players from within, and higher expectations now, and I think we will be in for better times in 2015 as a result.
Let’s Go Mets!
Other notes from Saturday:
Zack Thornton – who was reassigned to Triple-A Las Vegas this morning – capped a fantastic spring with a 1-2-3 eighth inning. He finished camp with a 1.38 ERA.
Curtis Granderson singled in two at-bats on Saturday, finishing Spring Training with a .442 average.
Just Mets 