Morning Report – August 13th – Jenrry Mejia, Philly Series, Mash Report, Matt Reynolds

San Diego designates OF Jeff Francoeur for assignment.

Beelzebot asked -

Hey Mack, There was some buzz online yesterday about Mejia having a hernia and wanting to play through it the rest of the year.  I have not seen any articles on any major sites about that, however, it would explain a lot about his recent performance.  My question is:  Who is making these decisions in this organization?  I do not think he should throw another pitch until he gets it fixed.  If the hernia throws off how he lands on the mound, that could potentially cause other injuries.  Does the medical staff not think about this stuff?  I am not a trainer but I have done enough various sports, martial arts for example, that I know even a little tweak in one spot can lead to a chain reaction of other injuries.  I am kind of speculating because like I said, I did not see anything other than on Twitter.  Maybe I am overreacting but how this team is run is frustrating.  (I did not even touch on the deGrom mystery shoulder issue that is "not a big deal".) – BT

            Mack – Hey BT

The final say on who plays and who doesn’t is the trainer, but the player needs to tell the trainer what is going on first. It seems like both the trainer and the manager were in on the injury here so there is no story.

Players don’t like to admit they are hurting especially on teams that tend to assign long periods of healing time. The admission of a hernia first falls on the player and baseball is sort of split on whether a player should play their way through it (R.A. Dickey won the Cy Young while pitching through one). I agree with you that he should spend some time healing, especially if the injury happens in a year that you are not in a pennant race.

I’m not sure this one falls on Terry Collins. Even Collins would have no say if the trainer wanted Mejia to sit this out.

Just some random thoughts... 

No one liked the third game of the 4-game Philadelphia series that just ended. If I told you the Mets would leave Philly with a 3-1 result from this series, you would be quite satisfied.

Some here debate whether or not the Mets are still in a pennant or wild card race. I don’t. But, that being said, they went into the AA-Star break 8-2 and have played 12-12 through this series. That’s 20-14 in the last 34 games. That’s a pace of 95 wins over a full 162 game schedule.

Last night's game against Washington quickly reminds us that we aren't in the same class with the Nationals. The sucked for so many years, and drafted so well, it was only a matter of time they would put together a decent team.

They also have ownership that's not afraid to spend a buck, but that's a whole post on its own.

The strange thing is after all those home runs last night, the Mets are still only 6 games back for a Wild Card slot.

I especially liked the comments from Keith Hernandez during the fourth game of the Philadephia series. As much as we all hold our breath when a ball is hit to Wilmer Flores, Hernandez pointed out how he loves the way Flores is hitting the ball, regardless of result. The same praise went out for Matt den Dekker and his new swing.

A great portion of this game is mental and it helps if you go to work every day and know you’re going to play. There’s a real small sample here on den Dekker, but I really like the new look. I’m not sure if the team needs another outfielder without pop, but he sure looks like a future trade chip.

I share the thoughts of Bob Gregory about being sick of talking all the time about the future of this team, but I never tire about the improved play and unexpected accomplishments of minor leaguers at the major league level.

I can’t wait to be proven wrong about my original long ranged projections of dD.

The post-game period after Monday’s win against Philadelphia was ‘good news, bad news’ for Mets pitchers. The doctor’s diagnosis for Jacob deGrom put him on the disabled list, but tendonitis was a much better diagnosis than the one given on Jeremy Hefner.

‘Hef’ may never have been a projected rotation pitcher for the Mets, but this is a big potential long-relief lost for the 2015 staff.

I hope a couple of things are learned here.

First, I’d like Matt Harvey to cool his jets and slow down the increased amount of pitches off the mound. Add 30 more days to the rehab program. What the hell. You’ll still be ready for opening day.

          (this was originally written before Sandy Alderson's press conference on late Tuesday afternoon where he confirmed my wishes and said that Harvey will most probably be limited to bullpen sessions and will skip Instruction ball...)

Secondly, I’d like to see deGrom stay on the DL for the remainder of the regular season. I don’t need to show this kid off anymore. He’s part of my five-man rotation in 2015.

And lastly, I’d like to see Rafael Montero finish the season as the rotation replacement for deGrom. I know it seemed that he had a bad outing last night, but it really was three bad pitches. I can’t think of a lose situation here. He will either be very successful and become a major trade chip in the off-season, or he will create a possible scenario where he joins the Mets pen next season.

Michael Scannell to me re: Matt Reynolds -

What's the scoop on this kid?  Does he have an MLB bat?  Will we see him this year?

            Mack – It’s so hard to say. Could be.

This kid really developed out of nowhere (???). He hit .226 last year in 433 at-bats for St. Lucie, which followed a .259 in Savannah the year before. The good news sometimes is players like Juan Lagares and Matt den Dekker take the time to improve their game as they mature and grow into their mid-twenties. Now, all of a sudden Reynolds hits .355 in AA-ball and now is producing in the .330 range in Vegas.

Defensively, he’s better then Wilmer Flores at short, but that may not be enough.

Michael, I just don’t know about this guy. I never hear anything about him from the Mets coaches or the scouts. I mean, let’s give him all the credit he’s due for a great year, but I really think you are going to see Tulo in Queens next year in a package built around Syndergaard.