Results tagged ‘ Jeremy Hefner ’
Mets win two of three in Chicago: Three Up, Three Down
A delayed reaction to this weekend’s series in Chicago:
Friday: Mets 3, Cubs 2
Three Up: RHP Matt Harvey, 3B David Wright, OF Marlon Byrd
Three Down: LHP Scott Rice, SS Ruben Tejada, C John Buck
Saturday: Cubs 8, Mets 2
Three Up: 2B Daniel Murphy, OF Rick Ankiel, LHP Robert Carson
Three Down: RHP Jeremy Hefner, 1B Ike Davis, RHP Collin McHugh
Sunday: Mets 4, Cubs 3
Three Up: OF Juan Lagares, 2B Daniel Murphy, LHP Scott Rice
Three Down: RHP Dillon Gee, 2B Justin Turner, C Anthony Recker
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+6
RHP Matt Harvey, 3B David Wright
+4
OF Marlon Byrd, C John Buck, 2B Daniel Murphy
+3
INF Justin Turner
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Mike Baxter, OF Juan Lagares
+1
LHP Scott Rice, LHP Jon Niese, LHP Robert Carson, RHP Jeremy Hefner
-1
OF Lucas Duda, SS Ruben Tejada, RHP Collin McHugh
-2
LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Shaun Marcum, OF Jordany Valdespin, C Anthony Recker
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
-4
LHP Josh Edgin, RHP Dillon Gee
-11
1B Ike Davis
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Cardinals 6, Mets 3: Three Up, Three Down
Blame Jon Niese’s glove?
Three Up:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: Yet again, Hefner gave the Mets a chance to win, which is all they can ask out of their fifth starter. The Cardinals had Hefner on the ropes early, but he made the necessarily adjustments to provide six quality innings.
2. 2B Daniel Murphy: This guy is so streaky that even his streaks have streaks. Murphy is 4-for-5 since emerging from last week’s massive funk; who knows how far the second baseman will take this?
3. RHP Greg Burke: Somebody had to put out the fire at Busch Stadium. It happened to be Burke. We’ll see if this is an isolated outing, or an example of real long-term growth from the adjustments he made at Las Vegas.
Three Down:
1. OF Rick Ankiel: Catching Ty Wigginton’s double would not have been easy, but Ankiel took a somewhat circuitous route to the ball. Throw in his two strikeouts in three at-bats, and this was hardly the Mets debut that he wanted.
2. RHP Scott Atchison: As if allowing hard-hit balls to all three batters he faced was not enough, Atchison revealed afterward that he couldn’t feel his fingers thanks to a torn elbow ligament. Never a good sign.
3. LHP Scott Rice: The fact that Rice took his third loss was at least partially Ankiel’s fault. But Rice also committed a critical blunder, failing to cover home on the ball that kicked off his foot.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+6
C John Buck
+5
3B David Wright, RHP Matt Harvey
+4
IF Justin Turner
+3
OF Mike Baxter
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Marlon Byrd, RHP Jeremy Hefner
+1
OF Juan Lagares, LHP Robert Carson, LHP Scott Rice
-1
C Anthony Recker, OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Lucas Duda, OF Rick Ankiel, 2B Daniel Murphy, RHP Greg Burke
-2
LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Dillon Gee, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Scott Atchison
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Shaun Marcum
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-8
1B Ike Davis
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Marlins 2, Mets 1: Three Up, Three Down
A nightmare ninth for Anthony Recker, and six consecutive losses for the Mets.
Three Up:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: That was not simply a good start, but one of the best of Hefner’s career on a night when the Mets desperately needed to restore some order to their bullpen. What a tough-luck loss for Hefner.
2. OF Lucas Duda: He’s hitting the ball hard and hitting it to the opposite field. Both are excellent signs for the Mets, who must not regret their recent decision to move Duda to cleanup.
3. 2B Daniel Murphy: Murphy’s double to lead off the fifth was one of the few hard-hit balls the Mets mustered all night against Marlins starter Kevin Slowey, directly leading to a run.
Three Down:
1. C Anthony Recker: You really feel for a guy like Recker, who must make the most of his rare opportunities to produce. But Recker’s three mistakes in the ninth inning — his throw to third base, his passed ball and his inability to corral the game-winning wild pitch — hurt the Mets, and he is the first to admit it.
1. OF Mike Baxter: The Mets still have not found an answer at leadoff. Baxter went 0-for-4 in that slot Tuesday, and is batting .143 as a leadoff hitter this season.
2. SS Ruben Tejada: A rare 0-for-4 from Tejada, who had been swinging the bat quite well. This “Down” could have also gone to David Wright, but he receives bonus points for his defensive work and willingness to play through injury.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+8
C John Buck
+3
RHP Matt Harvey, INF Justin Turner
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Marlon Byrd, LHP Scott Rice, 3B David Wright, LHP Jon Niese, SS Ruben Tejada
+1
RHP Jeremy Hefner, 2B Daniel Murphy
-1
RHP Dillon Gee, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Shaun Marcum, RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Bobby Parnell
-2
RHP Greg Burke, LHP Aaron Laffey, OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Mike Baxter, C Anthony Recker
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-6
1B Ike Davis
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Dodgers 3, Mets 2: Three Up, Three Down
One step forward, one step back. One step forward, one step back.
Three Up:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: A nice rebound for a starting pitcher who sorely needed it. The Mets would have done well to take better advantage of Hefner’s day, but can at least hope it’s the start of better things to come.
2. SS Ruben Tejada: If defense can slump, Tejada is currently on fire with the glove. But his greatest contribution Thursday may have come on the bases, where he deftly scrambled to third on a wild pitch in the third, allowing David Wright to hit a game-tying sacrifice fly.
3. 2B Daniel Murphy: Murphy continues to show a knack for fortitude when it counts, singling to further a rally in the sixth inning and walking to advance another rally in the eighth. You’d still like to see more power from Murphy, but he’s a good bat to have with the game on the line.
Three Down:
1. 3B David Wright: If nothing else, Wright has to advance the lead runner to third base with two men on and no outs in the eighth. He did not, and the Mets did not score. The rest, as Howie says, is in the books.
2. LHP Scott Rice: Rice had been playing with fire with free passes all season, but it was actually a leadoff double to a right-handed hitter that did him in Thursday. The Dodgers played ABC baseball from there, moving Nick Punto over on a groundout and scoring him on a single.
3. C Anthony Recker: Recker’s job is extremely difficult, coming off the bench to play no more than once a week. Still, he failed to put the ball in play twice in three at-bats Thursday, which — rust or not — won’t earn him any additional playing time.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+8
C John Buck
+4
2B Daniel Murphy
+3
RHP Matt Harvey
+2
INF Justin Turner, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Marlon Byrd
+1
LHP Jon Niese, OF Collin Cowgill, LHP Robert Carson, LHP Scott Rice
-1
RHP Jeurys Familia, RHP Dillon Gee, RHP Brandon Lyon, OF Lucas Duda, C Anthony Recker
-2
RHP Greg Burke, LHP Aaron Laffey, OF Jordany Valdespin
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
-5
LHP Josh Edgin
-6
1B Ike Davis
Follow me on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Nationals 7, Mets 6: Three Up, Three Down
The Mets are now 7-1 when Jon Niese and Matt Harvey pitch, and 1-7 with everyone else.
Three Up:
1. C John Buck: He may have stopped hitting home runs every single game, but Buck’s base hits have still been big. His RBI double in the seventh inning Saturday temporarily tied the game for the Mets.
2. SS Justin Turner: Turner has started five games this season. He is 10-for-22 with two doubles and three RBI in those games.
3. OF Collin Cowgill: It’s been a tough couple of week for Cowgill, who has not done much since his Opening Day grand slam. That two-run single to put the Mets on the board against Gio Gonzalez must have felt good.
Three Down:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: You can live with hits against Hefner, but he is not the type of pitcher who can get away with three walks in four innings. That’s the one thing that needs to change.
2. LHP Aaron Laffey: When Laffey entered the game in the fifth inning, it seemed conceivable that the Mets might try to get two or three innings out of the lefty. Instead, they received two outs (and three runs).
3. 1B Ike Davis: Another 0-for-4, including three strikeouts, has some wondering whether Lucas Duda might be the better fit higher in the lineup.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+7
C John Buck
+4
RHP Matt Harvey
+3
OF Marlon Byrd, 2B Daniel Murphy
+2
INF Justin Turner
+1
LHP Jon Niese, LHP Scott Rice, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, 3B David Wright, OF Collin Cowgill
-1
RHP Jeurys Familia, RHP Dillon Gee, OF Mike Baxter, OF Lucas Duda, RHP Jeremy Hefner
-2
RHP Greg Burke, SS Ruben Tejada, OF Jordany Valdespin, LHP Aaron Laffey
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
-4
LHP Josh Edgin, 1B Ike Davis
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Phillies 7, Mets 3: Three Up, Three Down
Remember this game? That’s pretty much what happened at Citizens Bank Park tonight.
Three Up:
1. C John Buck: Buck now has five home runs in eight games this season. Mets catchers combined for five home runs in 162 games last season. They’ll take the offensive boost.
2. CF Jordany Valdespin: Leading off, Valdespin rapped out three hits and saved starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner from further damage with his shoestring catch in the third. But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Valdespin, who also struck out with the bases loaded and was caught stealing for the first time this season.
3. OF Lucas Duda: Both of Duda’s two home runs were rockets, as was his first-inning double. If this is the beginning of a breakout from Duda, the Mets will certainly take it.
Three Down:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: The first six batters to face Hefner all reached base. Five of them scored. It’s hard to recover from that.
2. 3B David Wright: Wright is 0-for-8 over his last two games, striking out twice Wednesday (including in the first inning, when his whiff left Valdespin out to dry on the base paths). The Mets did well earlier this season without significant production from Wright, but now they need him to produce.
3. 1B Ike Davis: At what point does this become a significant concern? Another 0-for-4 has Davis batting .129 with one home run. Considering what happened last year, it has to be a worry.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+5
C John Buck
+3
2B Daniel Murphy
+2
LHP Jon Niese, RHP Matt Harvey
+1
OF Mike Baxter, OF Marlon Byrd, OF Jordany Valdespin
-1
RHP Jeurys Familia, SS Ruben Tejada, LHP Aaron Laffey
-2
LHP Josh Edgin, RHP Greg Burke, 3B David Wright
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, 1B Ike Davis
Follow me on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Marlins 7, Mets 5: Three Up, Three Down
That one got away from them quickly. Here are three reasons why, and three reasons why not:
Three Up:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: Once again, the Mets received a strong outing from their starting pitcher, leaning on Hefner for six innings of one-run ball. This loss was hardly Hef’s fault.
2. 2B Daniel Murphy: His three-run homer in the seventh proved that yes, as a matter of fact, the Mets did still have an offensive pulse. Murphy later grounded out with the tying runs on base, but we can’t hold that against him because he put the Mets in that position in the first place. Murphy saved another run with a nice defensive play in the ninth.
3. OF Jordany Valdespin: He was picked off first base once, nearly doubled off the bag twice, and took a horrific route to Giancarlo Stanton’s two-base hit in the ninth. But Valdespin did rap out two hits, steal a bag, reach base four times and draw an eight-pitch walk to set up Murphy’s homer. This is the least we can do for Valdespin, who was also plunked by the baseball twice (ouch).
Three Down:
1. SS Ruben Tejada: Tejada’s fielding error in the seventh inning opened the floodgates for the Marlins, who scored five runs in the inning. It was Tejada’s third error in four games. Somewhere, John Dewan shed a tear.
2. RHP Greg Burke: Of course, Tejada’s error would have been a footnote had Burke recovered to limit the damage. He didn’t, walking the next batter and allowing four runs (one earned) in 0.1 innings.
1B Ike Davis: Here we go again? Davis grounded into a double play (again), struck out (again) and finished 0-for-4 (again). He was robbed of a hit in the fifth inning, but stats are stats: he’s now 1-for-16 on the season.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+1
OF Collin Cowgill, LHP Jon Niese, RHP Matt Harvey, RHP Dillon Gee, C John Buck, INF Justin Turner, RHP Jeremy Hefner, 2B Daniel Murphy
-1
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, RHP Jeurys Familia, 3B David Wright, SS Ruben Tejada, 1B Ike Davis
-2
RHP Greg Burke
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Mets set Opening Day rotation
It’s official: here’s who’s pitching for the Mets next week:
April 1 vs. Padres: LHP Jon Niese
April 2: Off Day
April 3 vs. Padres: RHP Matt Harvey
April 4 vs. Padres: RHP Dillon Gee
April 5. vs. Marlins: RHP Jeremy Hefner
April 6. vs. Marlins: LHP Jon Niese
April 7 vs. Marlins: RHP Shaun Marcum
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Projecting the Opening Day roster, 3/5
Some tweaks from last week. I’m going out on a limb and projecting Johan Santana to open the regular season on the disabled list, even though that may not be the case. If it is, that would presumably bump Jeremy Hefner out of Triple-A and into the rotation. The result:
C : John Buck
1B: Ike Davis
2B: Daniel Murphy
SS: Ruben Tejada
3B: David Wright
OF: Lucas Duda
OF: Kirk Nieuwenhuis
OF: Marlon Byrd
Bench: Collin Cowgill
Bench: Mike Baxter
Bench: Justin Turner
Bench: Brandon Hicks
Bench: Anthony Recker
SP: Shaun Marcum
SP: Jon Niese
SP: Matt Harvey
SP: Dillon Gee
SP – Jeremy Hefner
RP: Bobby Parnell (CL)
RP: Brandon Lyon
RP: Scott Atchison
RP: LaTroy Hawkins
RP: Josh Edgin
RP: Greg Burke
RP: Robert Carson
DL: Frank Francisco, Johan Santana
In the running: C Landon Powell, 1B Josh Satin, INF Zach Lutz, INF Brian Bixler, INF/OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Andrew Brown, OF Matt den Dekker, RHP Jenrry Mejia, RHP Jeurys Familia, RHP Collin McHugh, RHP Elvin Ramirez, RHP Carlos Torres, LHP Aaron Laffey, LHP Pedro Feliciano, LHP Darin Gorski.
(You may notice that I have yet to take Grapefruit League stats into account in this projection. I just don’t think the sample size is big enough to warrant inclusion at this point, though I may start skewing toward statistical favorites next week.)
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