Odds and Ends: Conforto Et Al
Outfield grief, bad relief, trouble in the Suez!
G’Day! This afternoon we cover the urgency of keeping Michael Conforto, Matt Harvey’s re-ascension with the Orioles, and various relievers who will probably give you headaches. Enjoy yourselves.
Conforto
At Metsmerized this week, I argued that the Mets simply can’t afford to lose Michael Conforto in free agency after 2021. The reason? It boils down to something simple: there’s nobody good enough to replace him.
The 2021/22 outfield free agent class doesn’t have anyone who combines youth and talent the way Conforto does. It has one player — Charlie Blackmon — who’s probably a better hitter than Conforto, but on Opening Day 2022, Blackmon will be 35 and Conforto will be 29, and Blackmon has played home games at Coors Field for his entire career, and — surprise! — his career OPS is 240 points higher at home than on the road.
There’s also the fact that the National League will probably add the DH after 2021, which, for the Mets, will likely be Pete Alonso, which means Dominic Smith can shift over to first, which will open up another outfield spot…which means that if Conforto leaves, the Mets will need two new outfielders, and neither will be as good as Conforto. Which is all just the long way of saying that losing Conforto will mean taking an enormous step back. See my column at Metsmerized for full details.
Harvey
Matt Harvey has made the Orioles’ Opening Day roster. From the few bits and pieces of footage I’ve seen of him from Orioles camp, he looks completely reinvented. He’ll be pitching for the Orioles, which doesn’t seem like much fun, but still, it’s nice to see that Harvey will get another chance to start.
I’ve never understood the irrational contempt some Mets fans feel towards Harvey. He debuted and looked electric; in 2013 he looked even better; then he went under the knife. Things were fine until December 2013, when certified doofus Joe Benigno went on a radio rant about how he didn’t need to see Harvey having fun at a Knicks game. Then Mets fans, who are usually independent and not eager to follow a crowd — if they were, they wouldn’t be Mets fans — fell in line like robots, and all of a sudden you couldn’t walk out the door without hearing about how Matt Harvey needed to pull himself together.
I’ve never bought into it. One thing brought Harvey’s time in New York crashing down, and it wasn’t disrespect or aloofness; it was Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, developed after a season in which he pitched more innings in a return from Tommy John surgery than almost anyone ever had, and certainly more than doctors recommended. In game five of the 2015 World Series, he pitched eight scoreless innings and demanded the ball for the ninth, like the bulldog he’d always been. Matt Harvey wanted to be the greatest. Injuries kept him from claiming that mantle, but it never hurts to try — and for a brief moment that didn’t last long enough, he reached that mountaintop, and could do no wrong. Good luck to him in Baltimore.
Betances
Justin Toscano, who covers the Mets for North Jersey and The Record, has this report from Spring Training:
“Dellin Betances, who threw a scoreless inning, sat around 91-92 when throwing his hardest today. The more he pitches, he believes the velocity ‘will gradually increase as the season goes on.’”
Remember when people started realizing that quarantine was going to last longer than they thought, so they started making jokes about it that all followed the same template? Things like “’When COVID is over’ is starting to sound like ‘when The Beatles get back together.’” Well, that’s the sense I’m starting to get about Dellin Betances’ velocity. It’ll be August, and Betances will have a 5.23 E.R.A., and he’ll be sitting 92 and touching 94 with his fastball, and Luis Rojas will sit down for his postgame press conference. “We expect his velocity to keep rising as he continues loosening up,” he’ll say. “We project that he may touch 97 by early 2023 at the latest.” Meanwhile, apropos of nothing in particular, Steve Cishek and Shane Green remain free agents.
Relievers
Because I mentioned Steve Cishek, I feel obligated to ask a question.
Cishek is one of a few pitchers against whom the Mets have always seemed to absolutely rake. Sure enough, he has a career 2.78 E.R.A., but against the Mets, it’s 4.85. You know the type of guy I’m talking about: Edward Mujica, Vance Worely, Ricky Nolasco, etc. So here’s my question: has one of these pitchers ever changed sides and pitched for the Mets? Not just on a minor league deal that never panned out — Worley did that — but has anyone like this ever come to the Mets, simply so that he didn’t have to pitch against them anymore?
If you can think of anyone, let me know. The winner will receive a free year-long subscription to Shea Bridge Report. Let the research commence.