New York Mets - Texas Rangers July 5th Scouting Report

My brother Rory is going to a Mets game for the first time since the team was still playing at the old Shea Stadium when the Mets and Rangers play tonight at Citi Field (the same Citigroup that has had major economic problems over the past decade invested money in the Mets in purchasing the stadium's naming rights, so it is safe pretty safe to assume that nobody from that financial service has actually watched the team play on the field). Why my brother, who is a big time Yankees fan, is going to the game is a very good question. Although Met fans have not felt anywhere near the amount of misery that Cub supporters have grown accustomed to over the past few decades, the Mets are pretty much the biggest joke in New York since Spider-Man decided to come to Broadway.

The Miracle Mets have not won a World Series in 27 years (soon to be 28) since they were down in the series to the Red Sox 3-2 in 1986 and were down to their final out trailing by 2 runs in game 6 when a combination of Calvin Schiraldi, Bob Stanley, and of course Bill Buckner ruined everything for the Sox (I wasn't even alive and I'm still upset). In recent times, the Amazin's have not played in the postseason since back in 2006 (only the Marlins have a longer current playoff drought in the NL), they were up by 7 games on the Phillies in the NL East on September 12th and finished the 2007 season losing 12 of the last 17 games to lose the division in one of the worst collapses in sports history (the 2011 Red Sox and Braves know how the Mets feel), and they have won somewhere from 70 to 79 games each of the last 5 seasons.

Also, any free agent that the Mets sign or any player on their own team that they re-sign or extend seems to lose any ability to play baseball like the Monstars from Space Jam stole their powers. How about when the Mets signed Luis Castillo to a 4-year, 25 million dollar contract in 2007, who would then proceed to hit .245 in 2008 and then .235 in 2010 and miss 152 games over those two seasons. In 2009, the Metropolitans got Oliver Perez to agree to a 3-year, 36 million dollar deal and after that contract he went on to have a 6.83 ERA in 2009 and a .680 ERA in 2010. They signed Jason Bay in 2010 to a 4-year, 66 million dollar contract and after hitting 36 home runs and 119 RBI's with the Red Sox in 2009 and feasting on pulling balls off the monster in left, he was hitting .165 with the Mets in 2012 and looking more clueless than Benji in The Sound and the Fury at the plate. Not to mention Bobby Bonilla, who the Mets bought out in 1999 but are still paying because they offered him a deferred payment of 1.19 million dollars every year from 2011 until 2035 instead of giving him the 5.9 million dollars he was owed right away (a contract that makes the Joe Johnson deal not look so bad when you think about the fact that Bobby Bonilla will be getting more from the Mets than Josh Donaldson will be receiving from the A's or Jose Fernandez will be getting from the Marlins this season).

Although the Mets are currently sitting at 38-48 and are 10 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, most people could have expected that since they are, after all, the Mets and especially since they lost Matt Harvey to Tommy John Surgery before the season and decided to sign Chris Young and Curtis Granderson, but the Texas Rangers have surprisingly been just as bad. The Rangers, who joined the 1952 and 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1963 and 1964 New York Yankees, 1977 and 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers, and the 1991 and 1992 Atlanta Braves in 2010 and 2011 as the only teams in the last 75 years to lose in back-to-back World Series, are a dismal 37-49 and have fallen 16 games behind the Oakland "We Just Got Jeff Samardzija and are going for the World Series" A's in the very difficult AL West. The Rangers are more than likely going to miss the postseason for the first time since 2009 and they are on pace to have their fewest wins in a full MLB season since they went just 63-99 all the way back in 1985 when the Milwaukee Brewers were still in the American League and the Montrael Expos were still in baseball at all.

The answer to my question from earlier on of why my brother is going to a Mets-Rangers game is still a mystery to me, but major league baseball is still major league baseball even without the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Jose Abreu, or any semblance of an all-star player on the field. However, like all people do for their brothers when they are going to a baseball game, I am making him a scouting report for the inter-league contest so that he can keep it in his pocket and have it at all times during the game (interestingly, the Mets and Rangers have only played 10 times in their histories coming into this game with all of the match-ups coming since 2003).

New York Mets Scouting Report For Their July 5th Game Against The Texas Rangers:

SP Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.88 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.163 WHIP): The Mets signed the 41-year old Bartolo Colon (or so he says he is 41, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is actually like 51) in the off-season to a 2-year, 20 million dollar contract after he somehow went 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA with the A's in 2013 and finished in the top 6 of the Cy Young for the first time since he won the award back in 2005 with the Angels (one of the weaker AL Cy Young seasons when you think about the fact that Cliff Lee finished 4th in the voting despite having a 3.79 ERA, which he has not come close to reaching in any of the last 6 seasons). Colon is on his 9th MLB team, which is also the number of times he has probably juiced because he is the most obvious steroid user since Jose Canseco. Despite the fact that Colon is so old and is likely still taking steroids despite his suspension in 2012, he could still be a target for some teams looking to get into the playoffs or make a run in the postseason like the Cleveland Indians, who he began his career with all the way back in the gilded age from 1997 to 2002, or even the crosstown rival Yankees, who need some more pitching since C.C. Sabathia is out for the whole season and they would like to get some wins from somebody other than just Tanaka. Nonetheless, in the present, aside from Jonathon Niese, Colon has been the best pitcher for the Mets in his 16 starts, as he stays in the strike-zone and does not give away any free bases like a A.J. Burnett or a Shelby Miller (his 1.27 bases on balls per 9 innings pitched is only behind Phil Hughes of the Twins and David Price of the Rays in the MLB and his 5.27 strikeout to base on balls ratio is the 4th best mark in the National League). Colon relies a lot on his two-seam fastball and for what he doesn't have in velocity, he can sometimes make up for in his above average ability to locate his main pitch, especially down in the zone. In 7 of his last 8 starts, Colon has allowed 2 earned runs or less for the Mets.

If you think of the word terrible, or any synonym of the word terrible like atrocious, horrendous, dreadful, or awful, that word pretty much applies to the Mets offense this season. Through their first 86 games, only the Reds, Astros, Cubs, and Padres have had fewer hits than the Mets (they are averaging just 8 hits per game), just the Cubs, Astros, and Padres have a worst batting average than the club, only the Padres and Cardinals in the National League have hit fewer home runs than the Metropolitans, and the White Sox, Astros, and Marlins are the only teams that strikeout more than the team. The Mets are also second to last in the MLB in total bases and slugging percentage only ahead of the miserable Padres in both categories and are 26th in the MLB in extra base hits with only 221 all season long.

Batting Order:

LF Curtis Granderson (12 HR, 39 RBI's, .233 BA, .347 OBP, .413 SLG, .760 OPS): When the Mets signed the 33-year old Curtis Granderson to a 4-year, 60 million dollar contract this offseason, they did not envision him striking out every time he goes to the plate. Granderson's strikeout percentage of 23.4 is the 14th worst amongst major league outfielders and his 81 strikeouts are the 9th most amongst those same outfielders in the majors. The Curtis Granderson who hit .302, stole 26 bases, and used his ability to get on base and cause havoc with his leg, like he did in 2007 with the Detroit Tigers, is gone and has been replaced with a Granderson that looks impatient at the plate and is always looking for the long ball with his upper cut swing. Curtis has a fly ball percentage of 46.4, which is the 3rd highest in the National League, and is one of the reasons why he is struggling so badly at the plate because he is trying to hit home runs in a pitcher friendly ballpark like Citi Field. He has been unable to find the confidence that typically comes when you get on-base with a couple of hits up the middle or in between the holes in the infield. However, Granderson does have a .401 on-base percentage since May 18th and he has looked better since Terry Collins moved him up to the lead-off role and made it more so about him getting on base than anything else.

2B Daniel Murphy (7 HR, 34 RBI's, .296 BA, .347 OBP, .416 SLG, .763 OPS): A fun fact to tell your friends is that Daniel Murphy is shockingly tied with Andrew McCutchen and Jonathan Lucroy in hits and only behind Casey McGehee in the category in terms of National league hitters. Murphy is like a poor men's version of Matt Carpenter or a Mets version of a better player that another team has in their lineup, but he has been a very consistent table setter for the team at the top of the lineup. Murphy is on pace for just under 200 hits for the season with the Mets (Lance Johnson in 1996 and Jose Reyes in 2008 are the only two Met batters to ever have at least 200 hits in a season, which shows you just how sad of a franchise the Mets really are because the feat has been done more than 520 times in MLB history including 42 times by players on the Tigers and 10 consecutive times by Ichiro on his own from 2001 to 2010 but just twice by Mets hitters).

3B David Wright (6 HR, 41 RBI's, .277 BA, .333 OBP, .396 SLG, .729 OPS): David Wright is back in the Mets lineup for the first time since June 26th after missing more than a week of games with a bruised left rotator cuff in his shoulder. Wright seemed to be heating up before his injury, as he was batting .385 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI's in the last 10 games he played in prior to being sidelined. Although I think giving Wright a 7-year, 138 million dollar deal in 2012 was a mistake and done more so for the service he has given them for so many years, which Jurgen Klinsmann calls the "Kobe Contact", he has been the one consistent bat in the Mets lineup for years, especially since he is such a good fastball hitter.

RF Bobby Abreu (1 HR, 13 RBI's, .276 BA, .360 OBP, .398 SLG, .758 OPS): Although Rory will have to sit and watch the 40-year old Bobby Abreu play in right field and move as slow as a sloth in the outfield, it is probably better than having Eric Young Jr. or Chris Young playing out there, especially since Chris Young is hitting below the Mendoza Line at .199, has a -0.6 defensive WAR, and is getting paid 7.25 million dollars to be on pace for career lows in almost every offensive and defensive statistical category (yikes). Abreu was a very good hitter in this league for a long time like when he hit 30 home runs, had 105 RBI's, and batted .301 in 2005 with the Phillies or when he had a .405 on-base percentage in the postseason for the Angels in 2009, but my brother will have to rely on those memories because Abreu is way past his prime and his bat speed and control is nowhere near what it once was with the Phillies, Yankees, or Angels.

1B Lucas Duda (13 HR, 43 RBI's, .250 BA, .345 OBP, .472 SLG, .817 OPS): Lucas Duda has been an improvement over Ike Davis at first basemen for the Mets, who got traded away to the Pirates for Zack Thornton and minor league pitcher Blake Taylor, which isn't saying much since Davis didn't even make it seem like Granderson swung and missed too much. Duda, though, leads the Mets in home runs and has been more than serviceable for a team that has very few productive hitters.

CF Juan Lagares (2 HR, 18 RBI's, .294 BA, .332 OBP, .411 SLG, .743 OPS)

C Travis d'Arnaud (4 HR, 15 RBI's, .205 BA, .289 OBP, .317 SLG, .606 OPS): When the Mets traded R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, and Mike Nickeas to the Blue Jays for John Buck, Wuilmer Becerra, the hard throwing Noah Syndergaard, and the highly rated Travis d'Arnaud, people were so excited to have d'Arnaud as their catcher of the future and for him to follow in the footsteps of guys like Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Jerry Grote, Todd Hundley, and John Stearns (somehow a majority of the best players the Mets have had outside of Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden have all been catchers). However, they forgot that d'Arnaud actually can not hit a baseball if his life depended on it and has very limited power in his bat.

SS Ruben Tejada (2 HR, 17 RBI's, .234 BA, .345 OBP, .294 SLG, .639 OPS)

Texas Rangers Scouting Report For Their July 5th Game Against The New York Mets:

SP Colby Lewis (5-5, 5.71 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 1.74 WHIP): There is a reason why the Texas Rangers have the second worst team ERA in all of baseball at 4.64 despite having Yu Darvish, who is 8-4 with a 2.63 ERA and an American League leading 11.031 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched, and it is because of the very poor pitching of guys like Nick Martinez, Robbie Ross, Martin Perez, Joe Saunders, and especially tonight's starter, Colby Lewis (the Rangers 3.62 ERA in 2013 was amongst the top 4 in the American League). Lewis, who missed the entire 2013 season after getting elbow surgery and then having problems with his right hip, has not looked like the Lewis of old, a guy that won 14 games in 2011 and had a 3.43 ERA and a 1.076 WHIP in 2012. Colby has lost some velocity on his fastball, which he is throwing more so this season than ever before, and the pitch has been getting hit hard all season long along with his cutter. Batters are making contact with his pitches 91.5 percent of the time when they are in the strike zone and they are swinging and even when he does throw his fastball or slider outside of the zone, batters are still making contact with it 73.7 percent of the time when they swing the bat, which is a rate that is much too high.

Batting Order:

LF Shin-Soo Choo (9 HR, 31 RBI's, .254 BA, .378 OPB, .401 SLG, .778 OPS): Shin-Soo Choo has struggled a little bit at the plate in his first year with the Rangers after signing a 7-year, 130 million dollar contract in the off-season with the club. Choo is batting just .249 against right handed pitchers like Colon and has not always seemed comfortable in Arlington, especially when he gets down in the count because when the pitcher is ahead of Choo, he is hitting a dismal .163 with a poor .235 slugging percentage in those situations. However, Choo is still doing the best he can to get on-base at his normally very high rate, as his on-base percentage of .378 is not terrible for a guy that is hitting .254 overall because he is 6th in the American League with 48 walks.

SS Elvis Andrus (2 HR, 19 RBI's, .272 BA, .320 OBP, .347 SLG, .668 OPS)

RF Alex Rios (3 HR, 36 RBI's, .300 BA, .330 OBP, .425 SLG, .756 OPS): Although Alex Rios has lost a lot of the power he used to have, like when he hit 25 homers in 2012 with the White Sox, had a .516 slugging percentage, and added 312 total bases, he is a very solid contact hitter for the Rangers in the middle of their lineup. Rios also does not have the same bat speed he once did when he was with the Blue Jays or White Sox, but he still has underrated hands and is a good hitter when dealing with breaking ball pitches.

3B Adrian Beltre (10 HR, 45 RBI's, .336 BA, .383 OBP, .515 SLG, .898 OPS): Aside from the always amazing Yu Darvish, who I would still take over Masahiro Tanaka in a MLB Japanese pitching duel, Adrian Beltre has been the only other bright spot for the Rangers. I have to admit that I have always loved Beltre because in his only season with my Red Sox in 2010 he hit 28 home runs, 102 RBI's, had 49 doubles (best in the AL), a 7.8 WAR (4th best in the AL), batted .321 (4th best in the AL) with a .553 slugging percentage (5th best in the AL) and had a very good .919 on-base plus slugging percentage (5th best in the AL). He has always been a very underrated player even after he hit 48 home runs and finished 2nd in the MVP voting in 2004 with the Dodgers and is one of the best third basemen in the game today with Evan Longoria, Josh Donaldson, and Manny Machado (in a normal year he would have won the MVP, but it is tough to take the award away when Barry Bonds gets walked 232 times, the previous high being 198 set by Bonds in 2002, has a OBP of .609, an all-time record for a season, has a SLG of .812, the 4th highest ever, and has a OPS of 1.422, the highest ever in a single-season. Bonds was feared so much in 2004 that he could have had a .391 OBP without touching a ball all season long, which is saying something considering that first ballot Hall of Famers like Lou Brock, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken, Johnny Bench, Ernie Banks, Brooks Robinson, and Robin Yount never had a single-season in their legendary careers with at least a .391 OBP). Since 2010, Beltre has the 6th most home runs in the game (136), the 4th most RBI's (446), the 2nd best batting average only behind Miguel Cabrera (.316), and the 6th best WAR (26.0). Also, Beltre hits home runs while going down on one knee and gets pissed off when people touch his hair, so he can't get much cooler either. I honestly don't think that the Hall of Fame is that crazy to think about when it comes to Beltre, as his stats compare favorably to the 16 other players in Cooperstown who played at one time or another at the hot corner. For example, Paul Molitor was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and even taking away Beltre's power numbers because Molitor did not have too much pop in his bat (his only season with at least 20 home runs was in 1993 with the Blue Jays), Beltre is on his way to batting above .295 for his 5th straight season, something that Molitor never did in his 21-year career. Beltre's .479 slugging percentage is also better than power hitting Ron Santo, who made the Hall of Fame as a third baseman back in 2012 with a .464 career slugging percentage. 

CF Leonys Martin (3 HR, 23 RBI's, .271 BA, .330 OBP, .364 SLG, .694 OPS)

C Robinson Chirinos (7 HR, 23 RBI's, .246 BA, .279 OBP, .425 SLG, .704 OPS)

1B Carlos Pena (1 HR, 2 RBI's, .091 BA, .143 OBP, .182 SLG, .325 OPS): When Mitch Moreland went out with season ending ankle reconstructive surgery, it meant more time for Carlos Pena and and Donnie Murphy at first base for Texas. There was a time when Carlos Pena finished in the top 10 in the AL MVP voting in back-to-back seasons in 2007 and 2008 with the Rays including when he set club records in home runs (46), runs batted in (121), on-base percentage (.411), slugging percentage (.627), and walks (103), which is pretty impressive even if the Rays have only been around since 1998 and who have Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, and Aubrey Huff as their best players of all-time. There was also a time more recently when Carlos Pena batted .196 in 2010 and then .197 in 2012 and was in the bottom 6 in strikeout percentage in both seasons. Pena was once a very strong, pull hitting home run hitter, but not anymore.

2B Rougned Odor (3 HR, 17 RBI's, .263 BA, .297 OBP, .394 SLG, .691 OPS): With the Rangers trading away second baseman Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder, who is out for the entire season after getting neck surgery, and opening up that position for Jurickson Profar, who in turn is likely going to miss all of the 2014 season with a bad shoulder problem, Rougned Odor is the everyday second baseman for the Rangers. If somebody had said that to me a year ago, I would have thought they were crazy, or just Donald Grant.

There was a time when the bottom of the order for the Rangers looked like Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Mike Napoli, and either Craig Gentry, David Murphy, or Yorvit Torrealba. Texas now have Leonys Martin, Robinson Chirinos, Carlos Pena, and Rougned Odor in their 5-8 spots in the lineup, which I would say is just a little bit worse than what Texas previously brought out to the diamond during their World Series years in 2010 and 2011.