Category Archives: San Francisco Giants

Player Profile: On Matt Harvery

via Nj.com

Yes his name is Matt Harvey, but don’t tell that to the Mets. I mean there must be more to the starter who has excited Mets fan and given them restrained hope for the future. As the press release above correctly states, the Mets selected Harvey as the seventh overall pick in the 2010 first-year player draft. Harvey was the highest draft pick the Mets’ have had since 2004, in which they selected Phillip Humber No. 3 overall.

He is the reward for a miserable year that featured a 40-year-old Gary Sheffield’s carcass patrolling LF (a slight improvement over Jason Bay), Omir Santos as the everyday catcher, and Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding making the most starts in the rotation. That means that Matt Harvey is the Mets’ primary compensation for going 70-92 in 2009. Can one pitcher make up for such an excruciatingly bad year?

So far, yes. Since 2009 the Mets have progressed from mediocre to sub-par. They’re on the verge of becoming average, and possibly, a couple of years away from contention. Harvey is a key cog in all that: He’s the only Mets’ starter who can wow you with his pitches. He’s a power arm, with a durable build; a build Mets fans are hoping can carry this team into relevance.

***

via ProspectNation.com

Matt Harvey was born in New London, Connecticut on March 27th, 1989. He attended Fitch Senior High School in Connecticut, and as a senior Harvey had a sensational year, finishing with a 0.64 ERA and tallying 112 Ks over 54-and-a-third innings pitched. Harvey was named the Connecticut player of the year by Gatorade, and was considered one of the top high school pitchers in the draft along with Jarrod Parker, Madison Bumgarner, and Phillipe Aumont. He fell to the Los Angeles Angels in the third round (118th overall) due to signability concerns, and declined to sign for a $1,000,000 bonus. According to a LA Times article, his father Ed called it “the major disappointment of his life, at that point, not signing out of high school.”

Harvey spurned the Angels to accept a scholarship to the University of North Carolina. After an unspectacular year as a freshman, Harvey was dreadful his sophomore year. While his electric fastball didn’t lose any of its speed, he lost all control of it and finished with a 5.40 ERA.

While his issues were purely mechanical, scouts wondered if Harvey could stay as a starting pitcher. They felt he could be a shutdown reliever, but not a guy who you would starting every fifth day. Harvey corrected his flaws between his sophomore and junior campaigns, ultimately ending up with the ninth most strikeouts, and tenth most wins in Tarheel history. He finished his junior year with the Tarheels with a 3.09 ERA, 102 Ks, and 35 BBs in 96 innings of work.

His control came back and he was once again considered one of the top arms in a draft class featuring pitchers Jameson Taillon, Drew Pomeranz, and Chris Sale. While phenom Bryce Harper went first overall, Harvey was the fourth pitcher to come off the board and was considered an overdraft by the Mets.

***

via ESPN.com

He’s been anything but since, and he’s been a sparkplug to a fading franchise. Needing only a year-and-a-half in the minors before making the big leagues, Harvey looks like he’s here to stay. Harvey also possess a competitive attitude that borders on being a little too much. After his first career loss to the Giants in which he gave up two runs over 6+ innings he said he expects to go out and put 0s on the board, and anything less is a failure in his eyes.

He’s a Met with a not-so-Met attitude. Met fans just hope an unstoppable force of a winning attitude does beat the immovable object known as Mets futility.

Posted in Bryce Harper, Bryce Harper's Natitude, Chris Sale, Connecticut, Draft, Drew Pomeranz, Gatorade, Jameson Taillon, Jason Bay, Jason Bay's Contract Is So Big It Requires It's Own Tag, Los California Angels of Anaheim located in the United States of the West Hemisphere on the planet Earth, Matt Harvey, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, Omar Minaya's Good Moves, Player Profiles, San Francisco Giants, UNC | Comments Off on Player Profile: On Matt Harvery

Player Profile: On Matt Harvery

via Nj.com

Yes his name is Matt Harvey, but don’t tell that to the Mets. I mean there must be more to the starter who has excited Mets fan and given them restrained hope for the future. As the press release above correctly states, the Mets selected Harvey as the seventh overall pick in the 2010 first-year player draft. Harvey was the highest draft pick the Mets’ have had since 2004, in which they selected Phillip Humber No. 3 overall.

He is the reward for a miserable year that featured a 40-year-old Gary Sheffield’s carcass patrolling LF (a slight improvement over Jason Bay), Omir Santos as the everyday catcher, and Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding making the most starts in the rotation. That means that Matt Harvey is the Mets’ primary compensation for going 70-92 in 2009. Can one pitcher make up for such an excruciatingly bad year?

So far, yes. Since 2009 the Mets have progressed from mediocre to sub-par. They’re on the verge of becoming average, and possibly, a couple of years away from contention. Harvey is a key cog in all that: He’s the only Mets’ starter who can wow you with his pitches. He’s a power arm, with a durable build; a build Mets fans are hoping can carry this team into relevance.

***

via ProspectNation.com

Matt Harvey was born in New London, Connecticut on March 27th, 1989. He attended Fitch Senior High School in Connecticut, and as a senior Harvey had a sensational year, finishing with a 0.64 ERA and tallying 112 Ks over 54-and-a-third innings pitched. Harvey was named the Connecticut player of the year by Gatorade, and was considered one of the top high school pitchers in the draft along with Jarrod Parker, Madison Bumgarner, and Phillipe Aumont. He fell to the Los Angeles Angels in the third round (118th overall) due to signability concerns, and declined to sign for a $1,000,000 bonus. According to a LA Times article, his father Ed called it “the major disappointment of his life, at that point, not signing out of high school.”

Harvey spurned the Angels to accept a scholarship to the University of North Carolina. After an unspectacular year as a freshman, Harvey was dreadful his sophomore year. While his electric fastball didn’t lose any of its speed, he lost all control of it and finished with a 5.40 ERA.

While his issues were purely mechanical, scouts wondered if Harvey could stay as a starting pitcher. They felt he could be a shutdown reliever, but not a guy who you would starting every fifth day. Harvey corrected his flaws between his sophomore and junior campaigns, ultimately ending up with the ninth most strikeouts, and tenth most wins in Tarheel history. He finished his junior year with the Tarheels with a 3.09 ERA, 102 Ks, and 35 BBs in 96 innings of work.

His control came back and he was once again considered one of the top arms in a draft class featuring pitchers Jameson Taillon, Drew Pomeranz, and Chris Sale. While phenom Bryce Harper went first overall, Harvey was the fourth pitcher to come off the board and was considered an overdraft by the Mets.

***

via ESPN.com

He’s been anything but since, and he’s been a sparkplug to a fading franchise. Needing only a year-and-a-half in the minors before making the big leagues, Harvey looks like he’s here to stay. Harvey also possess a competitive attitude that borders on being a little too much. After his first career loss to the Giants in which he gave up two runs over 6+ innings he said he expects to go out and put 0s on the board, and anything less is a failure in his eyes.

He’s a Met with a not-so-Met attitude. Met fans just hope an unstoppable force of a winning attitude does beat the immovable object known as Mets futility.

Posted in Bryce Harper, Bryce Harper's Natitude, Chris Sale, Connecticut, Draft, Drew Pomeranz, Gatorade, Jameson Taillon, Jason Bay, Jason Bay's Contract Is So Big It Requires It's Own Tag, Los California Angels of Anaheim located in the United States of the West Hemisphere on the planet Earth, Matt Harvey, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, Omar Minaya's Good Moves, Player Profiles, San Francisco Giants, UNC | Comments Off on Player Profile: On Matt Harvery

Five Fun Facts About Yesterday’s Mets Victory

This isn’t going to be a daily thing or anything, just five fun facts about a game I find interesting enough. These will mostly be dramatic victories or heart-breaking losses (if Mets fans hearts could break anymore).

1. Yesterday was the first time Jason Bay reached base three times since April 18th of earlier this year. That was a 14-6 loss to the Braves.

2. The Mets won their first extra-inning game since April 29th against the Rockies. They had lost four other extra-inning games since then, including two by five runs.

3. Manny Acosta picked up the save by giving up one run in one inning. He also lowered his ERA to 10.25.

4. The Mets scored four runs off Sergio Romo in last night’s 8th inning. Romo had previously allowed four runs all season.

5. Scott Hairston is the only Met to hit a homerun in extra innings this year (doing so twice). The last Met to hit a homerun in extra innings was Jason Pridie on September 11th of next year.

Posted in Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Extra Inning Struggles, Five Facts, Jason Bay, Jason Bay's Contract Is So Big It Requires It's Own Tag, Jason Pridie, Manny Acosta, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Scott Hairston, Sergio Romo | Comments Off on Five Fun Facts About Yesterday’s Mets Victory

Five Fun Facts About Yesterday’s Mets Victory

This isn’t going to be a daily thing or anything, just five fun facts about a game I find interesting enough. These will mostly be dramatic victories or heart-breaking losses (if Mets fans hearts could break anymore).

1. Yesterday was the first time Jason Bay reached base three times since April 18th of earlier this year. That was a 14-6 loss to the Braves.

2. The Mets won their first extra-inning game since April 29th against the Rockies. They had lost four other extra-inning games since then, including two by five runs.

3. Manny Acosta picked up the save by giving up one run in one inning. He also lowered his ERA to 10.25.

4. The Mets scored four runs off Sergio Romo in last night’s 8th inning. Romo had previously allowed four runs all season.

5. Scott Hairston is the only Met to hit a homerun in extra innings this year (doing so twice). The last Met to hit a homerun in extra innings was Jason Pridie on September 11th of next year.

Posted in Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Extra Inning Struggles, Five Facts, Jason Bay, Jason Bay's Contract Is So Big It Requires It's Own Tag, Jason Pridie, Manny Acosta, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Scott Hairston, Sergio Romo | Comments Off on Five Fun Facts About Yesterday’s Mets Victory

Those Snakebitten Mets

For the unfamiliar, the name of this blog comes from the infamous New Yorker interview Fred Wilpon gave in May of last year (Bob Gelen alluded to this when he addressed the class last week). As just another Mets fan with no stake in the team, I can be a cynical jackass and maybe, just maybe, come across as passionate. Fred Wilpon can’t, because Fred Wilpon isn’t just another Mets fan.

He’s the Mets owner. The guy who OK’d Steve Phillips’ destruction of the farm system, and he OK’d the horrible contracts dished out by Omar Minaya. He let all of this happen under his watch, and he still chocked it up to bad luck and brushed it aside claiming the Mets were a lousy club.

The New Yorker piece is a fascinating read, but the point this post focuses on is on page seven. Jeffrey Toobin, the author of the article, gives us Wilpon’s analysis of the New York Mets from an April 20 game against the Houston Astros. Wilpon had some choice quotes that rubbed fans and players the wrong way, so, without further ado, the quote regarding their player, and what they’ve done since.

Jose Reyes

Then:

“He’s a racehorse,” Wilpon said. … He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money. … He won’t get it.”

Now:

Reyes had an All-Star season with the Mets in 2011, even garnering some MVP votes. In the off-season he signed as a free agent with the Miami Marlins for six years, and 106 million dollars. Wilpon was right, as he didn’t get Carl Crawford money (seven years/$142 million), but Jose Reyes money isn’t bad. Not bad at all. He’s currently having an average year for the Marlins.

David Wright

Then:

“He’s pressing. … A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.”

Now:

Wright is in the midst of a resurgent season. With a slash line of .336/.425/.559 entering Friday’s contest against the Diamondbacks, Wright is having more than a very good season. He’s having a superstar season during a contract season, so expect to see him playing somewhere else next year.

Carlos Beltran

Then:

“We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series. … He’s sixty-five to seventy per cent of what he was.”

Now:

Wilpon was referencing Carlos Beltran’s amazing 2004 postseason with the Houston Astros where he put up these ridiculous numbers:

Year Tm Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
2004 HOU NLDS ATL W 5 24 22 9 10 2 4 9 2 1 4 .455 .500 1.091 1.591
2004 HOU NLCS STL L 7 32 24 12 10 1 4 5 4 8 4 .417 .563 .958 1.521

So the Mets rewarded him with a lucrative seven year/$119 million contract. Beltran produced when he was healthy, but he couldn’t stay on the field for half of the contract. The Mets’ ended up flipping him to San Francisco at the trade deadline last year and stole the Giants’ #1 pitching prospect Zach Wheeler. Currently, he’s producing MVP-like numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ike Davis

Then:

“Good hitter. … Shitty team—good hitter.”

Now:

Davis is the starting first baseman for the Mets but has struggled mightily this year. He’s only recently brought his batting average over the Mendoza line (.200). He currently holds a streak of 42 consecutive games at Citi Field without more than one hit.

Posted in "We're snakebitten, baby!", Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Fred Wilpon, Ike Davis, Jose Reyes, Miami Marlins, Omar Minaya, Random, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Steve Phillips, Zach Wheeler | Comments Off on Those Snakebitten Mets