Tag Archive for Ty Kelly

I’m A Loser, Baby

June 20, 2018 Dumb Move 2 comments

As been pointed out below, Chris Beck has joined the Mets and is wearing No. 61. I happened to have been listening on radio when Josh Lewin described it as having been the previous jersey of Jack Egbert, whom I have argued might go down as the most obscure Met ever. Both Egbert and Beck came from the White Sox organizations. Most recently 61 belonged the Kevin McGowan, who has been getting knocked around the Las Vegas bullpen.

Speaking of the Las Vegas bullpen, anyone stay up to see Jason Vargas pitch last night?

In the meantime, MBTN favorite Ty Kelly was sent back to Vegas before appearing in the 66 jersey he was issued; Jay Bruce hit the disabled list; Tim Peterson was recalled and AJ Ramos is headed for season-ending shoulder surgery.

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Triple Play

June 12, 2018 Met Mysteries, Uni Controversies, Wild Speculation 6 comments

So the time has come to move on from Adrian Gonzalez, who more or less did what was expected of him, providing the Mets with evidence of a long but steadily declining career while giving prospects like Dominic Smith and Peter Alonso a little more time to bake in the oven. I said it before the Mets would be lucky if either of those prospects crafts a career nearly as good as the one Gonzalez had, and if weren’t for the fact that Yoenis Cespedes will be missing even more time than expected we might be seeing Jay Bruce as the new first baseman beginning tonight.

Instead Dom Smith gets a new chance and hopefully he runs with the opportunity this time. You may remember Dom as having worn No. 22 last year and very briefly this year.

Coming up along with him is the switch-hitting utility player Ty Kelly, whom I like and have advocated for previously. Sure he’s not not exactly lighting the world on fire in Vegas, and he won’t up here, but he’s understanding of his role and oozes with regular-guy appeal that I want to think will help light up a morose clubhouse where there’s a failure virus infecting half the lineup.

What number will Ty wear? The Mets haven’t said. He’s previously worn 55, 56 then 55 again and upon his return to the organization this spring was issued No. 11 — a designation I’d argued for in the past. The Mets in the meantime issued 11 to Jose Bautista. He’s sort of out of uniform himself, preferring No. 19.

So here’s my suggestion. Let’s get Jay Bruce out his slump, Jose Bautista back in familiar clothing and Ty Kelly into his preferred No. 11 with a three-way trade putting Kelly in 11, and Bautista in 19 while Bruce moves to occupy the No. 23 left behind by Gonzalez. For Bruce it could mix up the mojo while also reflecting a spin on the 32 he wore previously with the Reds.

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Non Smelly Kelly

March 17, 2018 Uncategorized 4 comments

The Mets are having a terrible Spring Training. Not scoring, not fielding particularly well and beyond a few individual efforts you have to squint to see the good. The clear-eyed observation would indicate this is a team destined to strike out a lot and hit into a million double plays with a new manager who’s yet to really distinguish himself. That they will require good pitching and good health goes without saying. Now, all that could change when the games start to count, but all things being equal I’d have hoped to see more from them so far.

Who’s been having a good spring? Ty Kelly, that’s who (well, he’s hitting .206 but he’s got 6 walks, that’s a lot better than Jose Reyes and Juan Lagares). I like Ty now, I liked him the first time around, and I’m glad to see they finally took my advice and dressed him in the No. 11 that matches his twitter handle and the LL’s in his last name.

Ty probably won’t make the opening day roster and if he does, something else went wrong but I hope he can find a role as the season goes along. He switch hits, which is great; he doesn’t embarrass the club at any position, which is also good; he can draw a walk, which I’m afraid this club may desperately need, and I think he possesses a clutch gene, even if I don’t believe such a thing exists.

With all that, Kelly could be the kind of bench guy that all good clubs need and seem to rise and fall along with the fortunes of the team they play for, which is to say if the Mets have a good year, and Ty Kelly is part of it, it could be the kind of year that has us mentally comparing him to Matt Franco or late-career Rusty Staub and ends with an appearance as the costumed Santa Claus at the holiday party.

Happy St. Patty’s Day to Ty Kelly, Kelly Stinnett, Kelly Johnson, Kelly Shoppach and all you Irish Mets.

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Yeah We Tease Him A Lot

January 24, 2018 Met Mysteries 3 comments

Never a bad thing to have a versatile switch-hitter around camp, even if he sticks around only long enough to fill spring training boxscores and gets selected off waivers by the Blue Jays after a single big-league at-bat.

Yes we’re talking about Ty Kelly, who just like last year has been invited to camp as a non-roster minor leaguer. He’s a hustler, he can get on base, he strikes a bit too much, he looks like a regular guy.

Ty Kelly was issued 55 as a 2016 Met, then switched to 56 after the Mets reacquired Kelly Johnson that year. After Kelly was claimed off waivers No. 56 went to Tyler Pill. Turns out this week that Pill, who had a smattering of OK and not-OK appearances last year before elbow surgery is now a minor-league free agent, so 56 is available again.

In other news, Chasen Bradford was cut from the 40 to make room for Adrian Gonzalez and was claimed by the Mariners, surrendering No. 46.

The Mets are due soon to set a numerical roster for Spring Training, where there are about 17 guys due to be issued numbers.

Thanks to friends at the Queens Baseball Convention for having me out to provide a little uni-number perspective last week. At the event special guest Chris Flexen expressed his support for remaining in No. 64 despite perhaps preferring 27 or 33 but deferring those assignments to respective incumbents Juerys Familia and Matt Harvey.

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Jagged Little Pill

May 26, 2017 Uncategorized One comment

The Mets announced Friday that they’ve recalled Tyler Pill from AAA Las Vegas to take the roster spot undeservedly belonging to Rafael Montero, who the club evidently has finally had enough of.

Pill, a righthander who was a 4th-round drfat pick in 2011, was assigned uni #56, becoming the first Met since Ty Kelly to wear the digits and the first pitcher since Scott Rice.

Montero has been sent to Las Vegas to make room but unless I’m mistaken might not get there as his options have expired. I know, he’s really sucked this year but he also has some good stuff and the way things are going its not like the Mets are in a position to give away guys with 95-mph stuff and a slider even if they suck.

Pill has been described as a Dillon Gee-type and got off to a hot start in AA and AAA this year despite an alarming lack of strikeouts. His brother is the former Giants’ first baseman Brett Pill so at least he’s got baseball in his blood.

When I think of Met 56s I think, for some reason, of Darren Bragg, the reserve outfielder who said he wore it in honor of Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. He sure didn’t wear it in honor of other Mets in 56, who include Brian McRae (another baseball blood-relative who said 5+6= his dad Hal McRae’s #11); Dyar Miller; Jeff Kaiser; Edwin Almonte; Luis Ayala; Jon Switzer or Andres Torres. McRae was all right but that’s a lot of crud otherwise.

Seth Lugo was moved to the 60-day Disabled List to make room for Pill.

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Seaworthy?

April 8, 2017 Uncategorized One comment

Well it took less than a week before the Mets required reinforcements, as righthander Paul Sewald was recalled from AAA Las Vegas following last night’s game and reserve Ty Kelly designated for assignment.

And though we feared that recent history would result in Sewald retaining the ghastly No. 79 he wore during spring training, good sense prevailed and Sewald will suit up in the somewhat less controversial No. 51, last seen on the back of Jim Henderson last year, Jack Leathersich the year before, bullpen predecessors Rick White, Mike Maddux, and Mel Rojas, and a ton of coaches. Fun fact: The only position player ever to appear in a Mets game wearing No. 51 was Lance Johnson in a one-game issue on Mookie Wilson Day in September of 1996 (Mookie, then a coach, and Johnson, then wearing No. 1, switched for the occasion). Johnson had three hits including a triple that day.

For the Mets the move to 13 pitchers would presumably give additional hitting opportunities for little-used bench guys like Michael Conforto and T.J. Rivera, but I’d suspect the move has more to do with the unsteady performance of the low-end bullpen guys like Josh Smoker and Rafael Montero and the fact that there’s just 2 off-days among the next 32. Eventually, I’d like to see Brandon Nimmo get that Ty Kelly role but he’s I guess we have to get through this next batch and see what happens. At any rate, we need to hit more.

Ty never got back to me on my suggestion he switch to No. 11, by the way. I’m telling you right now, it’s harder to DFA a guy wearing 11 than a guy wearing 56. Think of your career, man.

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Fake News? Ty Ballgame, updated

March 27, 2017 Wild Speculation 5 comments

New-arriving information indicates the news I passed along yesterday regarding Ty Kelly may not be entirely accurate, and by “entirely” I mean, entirely. Can anyone clear this up? I’ve asked Ty himself to check in.

Thanks to alert reader Chris who passed along a tip: Ty Kelly is back in uni No. 55, after having arrived at camp assigned 56.

I haven’t confirmed this independently and should have asked the reader for the dope.

Kelly as you may remember was issued 55 a year ago when he made his Met debut but lost his number, along with a big-league job, when the Mets re-acquired Kelly Johnson last June and gave the 55 jersey he’d worn for a glorious half-season in 2015. When Ty Kelly reappeared later in the year he was wearing 56, which also happened to be the uni on Kelly’s back during the recent World Baseball Classic, when he represented Isreal.

Whether Kelly resurfaces with the Mets remains in question as he lost his 40-man roster spot in February and resigned a minor league contract and so would need a 40-man space to open up before he returns. That said with Juan Lagares expected to miss time with an injury and a mostly right-handed bench the switch-hitting, multi-position playing Kelly could be in demand.

I’m also wondering if Kelly is really changing numbers why he wouldn’t pounce on the still-available 11, which matches his Twitter handle and the double Ls in his last name.

It’s been a long Spring Training, a long off-season, in fact, with little to speculate on but the butt-end of the Met bench and bullpen, what Tim Tebow is up to and, perhaps, who gets Juerys Familia’s spot for the length of time he’s suspended. It’s been so boring, in fact, my friend Jason is wondering whether there will be any new Mets at all when the curtain rises a week from today.

That brings us to the possibility that Paul Sewald comes north. Like Kelly he’s a recent ex-resident of the 40-man but he’s had a good spring. Would he stay in 79? Stay tuned.

Sewald was optioned just after I wrote this. Sorry, Paul!

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Send Me an Angel

September 1, 2016 Met Mysteries, SHaMs, Uni Controversies 11 comments

59The Mets following Wednesday’s victory over the sinking Marlins said they have acquired veteran right-handed reliever Fernando Salas from the Angels in exchange for Class A pitcher Erik Manoah. Salas, a one-time closer with the Cardinals and currently serving that role part-time in Anaheim, is expected to add depth to the “7th-inning” level of the Met bullpen, where Hansel Robles and Jim Henderson have encountered recent struggles.

49Salas has worn No. 59 in both St. Louis and in Anaheim, although that figure currently belongs to Josh Smoker. It would seem an awful lot of work to accommodate him but it could be done if Smoker goes back to the 49 he was issued when he first arrived, or grabs one of the few remaining unassigned numbers (2, 46, 53, 58). More likely though we’ll see Salas in one of those.

00Here’s a suggestion though. What if they took advantage of SALAS’ palindromic qualities and gave him a number that looks the same frontward and backward? 00?

Salas’ arrival by the way ensures he can be post-season eligible, as can the four guys the Mets have already announced are getting recalls from Class AAA Vegas: Michael Conforto (30), Kevin Plawecki (26), Ty Kelly (56) and Gabriel Ynoa (63). With news that Neil Walker is also likely to be out for the rest of the year you wonder if or when Gavin Cecchini gets a call but perhaps this is T.J. Rivera’s time to shine.

Four games into the below mentioned “21-12” scenario, the Mets are 3-1 and sure enough are making the progress they have to towards the playoffs but my pennant fever at this point is still just an itchy rash. As I’ve said all year if and when they puncture that 10-games-over plateau, maybe the temperature rises.

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Ynoa the Drill

August 14, 2016 Uncategorized No comments

63Another AAA pitcher has appeared on the big-league roster, taking his spring training number with him. Last night it was Gabriel Ynoa, who not only threw a scoreless inning in his big-league debut but earning the win while doing so surpassed his only predecessor in the jersey, Chris Schwinden for most victories by a guy wearing No. 63.

Ynoa (63) follows the recent pattern of AAA callups simply retaining their spring numbers upon initial promotion — Eric Goeddel (62); Akeel Morris (64); Josh Smoker (49); Ty Kelly (55, now 56) and Seth Lugo (67). Along with a concurrent willingness to dress even non-pitchers in high jerseys (T.J. Rivera 54, Kelly Johnson 55), the Mets are likely running their highest average uni count ever, though I haven’t looked that up.

35To make room for Ynoa the Mets demoted Logan Verrett, who hung in there for awhile as the fifth starter — it seemed like every outing was a must-win for him — but he didn’t go and lose all by himself until his most recent starts. Jose Reyes also came back, costing Matt Reynolds his role as starting shortstop. Reynolds showed he get into one every once in a while, but those whiffs are a little much to hang in a pennant race with.

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Net Gains

August 2, 2016 Met Mysteries, Useless Milestones 2 comments

19As you probably know by now the Mets have issued the newly arriving Jay Bruce No. 19 and have allowed Jon Niese to take back the No. 49 he wore in his last go-round with the club.

49Bruce, who is scheduled to start in right field and bat third, will become the 36th guy to wear 19 for the Mets and has an outside shot of overtaking Roger Cedeno as the jersey’s most prolific home run hitter by the end of the year. (Roger had 18 dingers over three seasons as a Met 19).

66Also Tuesday, the Mets placed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (13) and outfielder Justin Ruggiano (1) on the disabled list, demoted bullpenner Seth Lugo (67) and recalled utilityman Ty Kelly (56) and reliever Josh Edgin (66). Edgin is making his first reappearance in a Mets jersey since September of 2014.

I don’t normally keep track of this stuff, but it is notable the club is adding a combined 190 in combined uni numbers while subtracting just 90 — a net gain of 100 that has to rank as one of the largest one-day swings in club history.

Here’s to more big swings from the new guys.

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