Jon Springer – Page 42 – Mets by the Numbers

To Be Young Again

I consider myself fortunate to have missed most of the goings-on last night due to another engagement but have no excuse but my own laziness with respect to not keeping the roster updated.

Chris Schwinden: The book is closed on the first No. 63 in team history. He was claimed by the Blue Jays the last time the Mets tried designating him. Manny Acosta and Rob Johnson in the meantime cleared waivers and will try to get their stuff together in Buffalo.

Johnson’s departure meant that Josh Thole was back, it’s a miracle the Mets made even a little progress without him. Boy do we have some awful bats out there.

Josh Satin was recalled from Buffalo and again wearing No. 3 as Mike Baxter hit the disabled list as a result of his heroics in the Santana game.

DJ Carrasco: DFA’ed some time ago, cleared waivers, and now officially dumped by the organization. Another guy guy to debut a number (77) with horrid results.

Also returning to the team was gigantic soft-tosser Chris Young, again wearing No. 55. He gives me a little more confidence at the back end of the rotation that Miguel Batista, who also reappeared this week when Ramon Ramirez hit the disabled list with a hamstring injury suffered while rushing to the mound in celebration of Santana’s no-hitter. This was a small price to pay given that Ramirez didn’t look to me like he was in great shape to begin with.

Jack Egbert, destined to be one of the most obscure Mets ever I can already assure you, was sent down when Young arrived. Egbert was so nondecript I forgot even to create a record for him here but that’s done now.

Great Change-Up

Congratulations to Johan Santana and his Mets teammates especially the heroic Mike Baxter for spectacularly ending the Mets’ random but remarkable 8,020-game no-hitter drought. I have to say I was more stunned than elated as it came to pass but glad a deserving Met earned it. And any time you humiliate the Cardinals is a bonus. Let’s Go Mets! This is becoming a pretty good year.

Elvin!

I’ve never seen Elvin Ramirez in a Mets uniform so don’t have any idea what number he’ll turn up in when he arrives Friday. He’d been with the Mets organization since he was a teenager, but only began to enter the radar screen when he was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Nationals, only to miss the year they were required to keep him with a shoulder injury. He was returned to the Mets this year, and he’s been kicking ass in Buffalo, so he will get the call, likely at the expense of Chris Schwinden (again). Ramirez was wearing No. 36 in Buffalo, which happens to be available on the Mets now. Nos. 20, 22, 38, 45, 51 and 58 are also vacant possibilities. So I guess I do have an idea.

UPDATE: My idea is wrong again. Mets.com roster lists Ramirez in No. 62. I think we have to consider the 60s are no longer “unusual” for the Mets.

Josh Thole is also en route back, which ought to help a lot given we’ve somehow continued contending despite three weeks of Mike Nickeas and Rob Johnson, one of whom will likely get cut to make room for him. I don’t much like Johnson’s defense nor Nickeas’ offense, and each the other.

Jennry Mejia (32); Pedro Beato (27) and Chris Young (55 in his last go-round) are also on the horizon.

Mets by the Letters

A remark in the comments section in the previous entry, noting that slugging middle infielder Omar Quintanilla had become the Mets’ first Q surname and the 25th letter represented overall, inspired the following attempt to field a team of Mets using each letter of the alphabet only once. Thanks for the inspiration and the post-list suggestions. I like this team’s chances even if Seaver might have to sit to get Strawberry’s bat in the lineup. Isn’t that so Metly?

Starting pitchers (5)
Gooden, SP
Koosman, SP
Leiter, SP
Seaver, SP
Viola, SP

Relievers (6)
Dotel
Franco
Innis
McGraw
Orosco
Zachry

Catchers (2)
Carter
Piazza

Infielders (6)
Alfonzo, 2B-3B
Hernandez, 1B
Quintanilla, SS-2B
Reyes, SS
Teufel, 2B
Wright, 3B

Outfielders (6)
Beltran
Everett
C. Jones
Nieuwenhuis
Unser
Youngblood

Back in Circulation

Omar Quintanilla this evening will become the 39th player to suit up for the Mets in the No. 6 jersey and the first since Nick Evans wrestled it away from Ramon Martinez in 2008 and began four years of bobbing recalls and DFAs typical of classic Met sixers. Quintanilla replaces the roster slot of Justin Turner who went down with an ankle injury yesterday. As noted here often, No. 6 is the official address of the Met scrub, having been issued more times than any other jersey in team history. Back in 2009, I counted down the 10 greatest sixes in Mets history: A revised version would probably have to include Evans for sheer persistence in waiting around for another turn — and getting them — in the face of so many invitations to take a hike.

Also back tonight is Chris Schwinden, rapidly becoming Evans’ pitching equivalent. He’s up for Manny Acosta but likely just holding a spot in line for someone better. That they designated Acosta for assignment is less of a mystery than why Terry Collins chose to use him in a 1-run game the Mets still had a chance to win, but Manny, like so many of those who dared to wear No. 46 before him, is leaving the Mets in disgrace.

You Don’t Know Jack

Jack Egbert, that is. He was called up to the Mets this afternoon from AAA Buffalo, while Robert Carson goes the other way. Egbert, 29, was pitching to a 2.09 ERA in Buffalo albeit with underwhelming strikeout ratio for a bullpen guy. He’s a Rutgers product whom the Mets acquired on waivers from the White Sox, who had him up briefly in 2009. The Mets roster lists him in No. 61, joining forebears Jesse Orosco (1979), Mario Ramirez (1980), Jeff Duncan (2003), Chan Ho Park (2007) and Livan Hernandez (2009).

I neglected to mention Vinny Rottino’s return to the squad the other day: He took the place of Chris Schwinden, who briefly took the place of Miguel Batista.

Mets Brace for Batista vs. Bautista

Last night’s beating has left the relievers in need of relief, so the Mets today recalled Jeremy Hefner and sent down infielder Jordany Valdespin. Hefner appeared earlier this year wearing uniform No. 53 and backing up starter Miguel Batista when Batista was hammered by the San Francisco Giants. The prospect of the Blue Jays bats unloading on Batista — despite his best start last time out — suggests the Mets are making a prudent move.

Heeeeeerrre’s Robert!

It’s a shame it had to be in the middle of a humiliating double-figure deficit but Robert Carson finally made his Major League debut tonight. Carson was recalled after Terry Collins’ heavy-handed bullpen management put DJ Carrasco in a position where a bad outing would not only cost us a game but him a career. Carson debuted wearing a crooked, straight-bimmed cap and the same No. 73 jersey he’d worn in Spring Training and in his brief appearance on the big-league roster a few weeks back. He becomes the third Met to wear No. 73: Kenny Rogers who ought to be remembered more for the strong work that got the ’99 Mets into the postseason than the bases-loaded walk that lost them; and forgettable veteran Ricardo Rincon, an actor in the 2008 collapse, were the others.

Carrasco was designated for assignment. He was the first signee of the new front-office regime.

Seaver Coming, Seaver Going

Here are links to the paper and the powerpoint presentation I gave as a part of the Mets 50th Anniversary conference last month at Hofstra University. My topic was examining each of the transactions involving Tom Seaver, beginning with Bing Devine’s role in “making your own luck” and convincing the Mets to enter the Seaver drawing in 1966, the tension with Don Grant leading to the Seaver trade in 1977, and the story behind his reacquisition in 1983 and loss as free agent compensation in 1984. In retrospect I could have pitched a paper on any one of these deals, rather than all four, as the original paper was something like 19 pages long and I was supposed to have limited it to 12. And even then…

I’ve said this before, but this conference was a great event, and I’m sorry I got to see so little of it. I welcome your feedback!

You Don’t Have to Call Me Johnson

Catcher Rob Johnson is in uniform in Philly tonight and wearing the same No. 16 he had during Spring Training. As we’ll all remember for a long time, Jordany Valdespin was suddenly recalled to the Mets Monday when Ruben Tejada hit the disabled list, his home run capped a wild and memorable game during which Josh Thole was knocked silly in a collision with the Phillies’ Ty Wigginton — Wiggy was out — necessitating the Mets to invoke the new 7-day disabled list for concussion symptoms and recall Johnson.

Rob Johnson by the way would be the 7th Johnson to play for the Mets, and the third Robert Johnson: Bob D. Johnson and Bob W. Johnson preceded him.