But he is better than Cuddyer defensively and playing Cuddyer would leave Plawecki as the only right handed bat off the bench. Also the line-up did produce 13 runs last night so Terry Collins might want to see if they can produce enough tonight to clinch.
In 2013 he threw 124 pitches in Game 1 but was pulled after 6 IP and 91 pitches in a clinching win in game 4 against the Braves.
In 2014 however, he became only the 4th pitcher since 2000 to throw 100+ pitches in two starts on three days rest. His last pitch was a 3 run HR that put the Cardinals ahead on a 3-2 series clinching win.
Longwinded way in stating the obvious: we need to get Kershaw's pitch count up. He was gassed towards the end of Game 1. I wonder how much he has left.
The key with Matz will be the first few innings. He'll be jacked with adrenaline. Gotta keep him calm and hopefully keep his pitch count down.
but I think I read lefties do better than righties against Kershaw with the reason being he wont throw his Curve Ball to lefties making him a 2 pitch pitcher against them
He fared well against Kershaw in Game 1 and would actually be the kind of hitter that would help us against him tonight. He's pitching on short rest and Duda will work the count, so his patience will help get Kershaw out of the game sooner.
Is pitch count. I definitely don't see the moment as being too big for him, so I'm not concerned about that. But I am concerned about 100 pitches in the 5th inning. That's something that could definitely happen.
is degrom ready to go? He'd be a nice 3 inning bridge to Familia - especially considering the Dodgers righty heavy lineup tonight (which they'd have to go through their entire bench if we did that)
I like our odds better tonight to close this out than to go to LA and try to beat Greinke. And Thor would be on normal rest Thursday too.
A lot of what ifs here though -- hopefully Matz steps up and pitches efficiently.
which imo is stupid, this is the best lineup we can muster.
If they werent going to put him in against Brett Anderson last night, there was 0 chance that they were gonna put him in there tonight. I agree that I think he can hit lefties and its dumb to have him out, but at this point, it is what it is for the rest of the year. Especially tonight though against Kershaw, that is not the spot you want him to be hitting against his first lefty starter in the majors.
All we've seen him do is show up in big moments and he definitely knows how to work an at-bat. I mean, he's a young rookie...so he's entitled to nothing...but leaving him on the bench seems a bit shortsighted. Plus - he was kinda really good. Eh, can't win them all. At least Cuddyer was relegated to the bench after that embarrassment in Game 1.
But he is better than Cuddyer defensively and playing Cuddyer would leave Plawecki as the only right handed bat off the bench. Also the line-up did produce 13 runs last night so Terry Collins might want to see if they can produce enough tonight to clinch.
All we've seen him do is show up in big moments and he definitely knows how to work an at-bat. I mean, he's a young rookie...so he's entitled to nothing...but leaving him on the bench seems a bit shortsighted. Plus - he was kinda really good. Eh, can't win them all. At least Cuddyer was relegated to the bench after that embarrassment in Game 1.
Terry values defense over offense. Lagares was inches away from stealing a HR from A-Gonzalez last night . He also seems to have become somewhat a better contact hitter. Which could result in more pitches for Kershaw.
Is pitch count. I definitely don't see the moment as being too big for him, so I'm not concerned about that. But I am concerned about 100 pitches in the 5th inning. That's something that could definitely happen.
all on 2 out hits. Time for the bats to go to work, can't let Kershaw get on a roll. Need to answer like last night, even if they can only scratch out 1 run.
When in the hell did Justin Turner become Manny Ramirez at the plate??
Bad news is Kershaw's pitch count is in his favor. Good news it's 3 days rest so I don't think you're likely to see him past 100. If he keeps his current rate that's probably 7. If they can get him up they might get him out by 6. Have to start trying to work the counts better than they have this game.
both morons trying to hit 3 run HR's with no one on base. Murphy was our chance in the 8th and he just missed. I had zero faith in the 9th inning lineup.
Darling said the Mets stuck out 46 times in 4 games...
Not going to be easy to win there. But it's not like they can't. If there is any advantage to be had for the Mets it's Grienke has no real backup if he falters, deGrom has Syndergaard.
Kershaw was terrific and can do that to hitters. But guys were upper-cutting way too much. You have to just try and hit linedrives. Murphy's final AB was a perfect example. That's not his two-strike swing. He was trying to jack it and that's why he got underneath it. That was a fat pitch right over the middle of the plate.
Same thing with Conforto in his one AB. Travis is just frustrated and swinging frustrated. That was a truly terrible AB in the ninth. Jansen could see how he was swinging and just kept throwing high fastballs.
Need to do a better job in game 5
We had such a great approach at the plate overall in game 1
Especially on a 3-2 count with 2 out. Runners were in motion. Better than decent chance because of that Wright could score from 1st on a basehit. Murphy went for the 4-3 lead though and got under it. Poor decision.
Not going to be easy to win there. But it's not like they can't. If there is any advantage to be had for the Mets it's Grienke has no real backup if he falters, deGrom has Syndergaard.
That just sounds bad ass - deGrom has Syndergaard.
Tonight, not pretty, but the pitching was there. What could you expect more from Matz? He let up 3 but limited the damage. Colon is such a stud. So's Kershaw. Once he got that curve ball in for strikes...he's a phenomenal pitcher.
Pedro and Sheff criticizing Met hitters for not stepping out
Pedro in particular saying you can't let Kershaw set the tempo like that. Dusty Baker agrees, especially at home. Step out let the crowd noise build. Murphy was the only one who did that, according to Dusty
and we basically forgot exactly how to do that again tonight.
Kershaw pitched well but he wasn't unhittable.
He had quite a few hanging breaking balls. Some of them were high and out of the zone, but RH can hit those if they time them. But the Mets hitters were off balance all night. He is a great pitcher no doubt. But I agree he was not unhittable.
Mets have a more talented roster. They should win. Five game series tips the balance somewhat because the Dodgers can throw their two very good starters twice. But Mets have so much more depth. They should prevail.
Mets have a more talented roster. They should win. Five game series tips the balance somewhat because the Dodgers can throw their two very good starters twice. But Mets have so much more depth. They should prevail.
See but tonight was a textbook example of why the idea is to get into the dance. And in a 5 game series, not only is it somewhat a toss up in most of these even without these guys but when both teams can send out pitchers who can shut down any lineup and make any hitter look bad, its really almost irrelevant who has depth. The only thing that matters is whether that night's ace has his stuff going. Momentum doesn't matter, runs scored the prior game doesn't matter, home field doesn't matter. You've seen it now in our series and you've seen it in every other one, every year. However especially in this one, it's impossible to have any idea what will happen. The only time either team will be really successful at the plate is if the guy on the mound doesn't have his location or makes a couple mistakes that lead to homers. Otherwise just pray for some errors and hope you can get pitch counts high quicker than the other team
is really surprised at the large number of strikeouts in 4 games when 3 of those were against 2 guys with a combined 501ks in 454 innings. Right?
Amen. People are really citing K numbers and batting averages in a 5 games series facing Kershaw and Greinke two times a piece?? Really?? You mean a couple guys have struggled???? SHOCKER.
something that happens. He is the best pitcher on planet earth and there is disappointment but no disgrace. Thursday heroes or bums will be made in Met lore.
ZGiants98 : 7:56 am : link : reply
Amen. People are really citing K numbers and batting averages in a 5 games series facing Kershaw and Greinke two times a piece?? Really?? You mean a couple guys have struggled???? SHOCKER.
People should be talking more about how the hell Murphy smacked two dingers off of Kershaw more than they should about the K's.
Or the hitters last night. We got Clayton Kershaw'd. It was bound to happen eventually. We should have won game two and seized that opportunity but the umps fucked us. Let's hope this series isn't remembered by that play. Greinke is arguably the best pitcher in baseball this year and he's home where the Dodgers never lose. I can't see a more difficult game/situation amongst the remaining teams if we move on. This is the biggest challenge we could ever possibly imagine.
a good, not super powered freak of nature, our lineup exploded for 13 runs. We knew this would be tough. Whining about 3-4 game samples is pathetic.
I really don't understand the need to attack your fellow fans because some may complain about certain players that have vastly underperformed. Duda has been straight trash. Wright crushes lefties but has been held to one hit in four games (although he has walked a bunch). Except for one game, TdA has been awful. Yes, we are facing great pitchers...I understand that. Everybody complains about something, even you.
Eh, I do place blame on the hitters. The pitching was good
enough to win. The mets went away from their game plan and it hurt them. Kershaw is great, no doubt, but on three days rest we had an opportunity to hit him. The hitters did nothing to get him out of rhythm and they were all trying to hit the 5 run HR. You watch the Dodgers and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM stepped out of the box. All game, every game. It's the little things that allow you to win a game while only scoring 3 runs. I'm not surprised they weren't coached that way.
a good, not super powered freak of nature, our lineup exploded for 13 runs. We knew this would be tough. Whining about 3-4 game samples is pathetic.
I really don't understand the need to attack your fellow fans because some may complain about certain players that have vastly underperformed. Duda has been straight trash. Wright crushes lefties but has been held to one hit in four games (although he has walked a bunch). Except for one game, TdA has been awful. Yes, we are facing great pitchers...I understand that. Everybody complains about something, even you.
As long as you can identify it as simply complaining and not anything of merit. I get the need to voice frustration, even if it's misplaced. Also people clearly have biases against certain players. For you, you are going to rip Duda every chance you get, while Wright who has been worst, and has had the more favorable pitching matchups, we aren't likely to hear a peep about. It's all good, but it becomes pretty predictable and grating. You're right though. I have my targets too. I guess we all do. I actually think Wright and Duda have taken some pretty good atbats this series, TDA obviously had s huge night in game 3. We've played 4 games. Thinking a few guys wouldn't struggle against Kershaw/Greinke 4 out of 5 times is pretty asinine IMO.
RE: Eh, I do place blame on the hitters. The pitching was good
enough to win. The mets went away from their game plan and it hurt them. Kershaw is great, no doubt, but on three days rest we had an opportunity to hit him. The hitters did nothing to get him out of rhythm and they were all trying to hit the 5 run HR. You watch the Dodgers and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM stepped out of the box. All game, every game. It's the little things that allow you to win a game while only scoring 3 runs. I'm not surprised they weren't coached that way.
I don't know about that. I mean did you see Kershaw last night? The short day rest excuse doesn't really fly anymore. He was as dominant as I've ever seen him. The game plan WAS to take pitches and get him out of there. Wright has admitted this. Well guess what? Kershaw started every damn hitter off with strike one while they watched the pitch go by. Plan foiled. Advantage? The great Clayton Edward Kershaw.
fastball avg. velocity last night was the highest of all of his starts this season. It doesn't mean that the Mets shouldn't have stepped out of the box a bit more or, or that they couldn't have scratched a few runs off of him in such a big spot, but saying that he wasn't 100% because of 3-days rest is just not the case here.
fastball avg. velocity last night was the highest of all of his starts this season. It doesn't mean that the Mets shouldn't have stepped out of the box a bit more or, or that they couldn't have scratched a few runs off of him in such a big spot, but saying that he wasn't 100% because of 3-days rest is just not the case here.
Agreed. He was fired up and as on as on could be.
Z, last night was the first time I complained about Duda and
I made a whopping to comments citing his awful stats. I also mentioned that DW hasn't been great either so your claim about that holds no water.
And for what it's worth, DW has not been worse than Duda. Duda has exactly ONE extra hit while striking out the majority of his ABs ( and only 1 BB). DW hasn't been great but at least he's been getting on base at a decent clip bc of walks and been in the thick of the scoring. You praised Granderson all season for his ability to generate walks while not hitting as much...DW doesn't get the same benefit?
Yes, I'm aware it's a small sample size playing only 4 games...but that's what we've got. We've had an entire season for sample sizes, now we need to get it going. You miss the point of my post. I said that Kershaw was great. But we did nothing to disrupt Kershaws rhythm. We sat in the box and waited to swing for the fences. Like I said, and Pedro said last night, we should have been stepping out more like the Dodgers. I don't like it but it makes sense. Oh well, on to the next.
fastball avg. velocity last night was the highest of all of his starts this season. It doesn't mean that the Mets shouldn't have stepped out of the box a bit more or, or that they couldn't have scratched a few runs off of him in such a big spot, but saying that he wasn't 100% because of 3-days rest is just not the case here.
I never said he wasn't 100%. But pitching on three days rest isn't something a pitcher normally does. We see with our own Matt Harvey how it can affect pitchers if you change their routine. Darling talks about it all the time. I don't think it was a stretch to think he might have been less effective or prone to mistakes while on short rest. Create create create. It's been my gripe with the coaching staff all year. It may have changed nothing. But at least you try.
Over Wright. Just pointing out how some like to do exactly that. I also wasn't targeting you. There are people here that will jump on certain players every chance they get. I'm sure you you've witnessed the Wright bashers, Flores bashers, ect. For you... That seems to be Duda. Last year, it was Granderson. I don't see how Duda is "trash". He had a very nice, albeit streaky year, and actually finished hitting well. He's faced almost all lefthanders so far so it's not surprising he's struck out a lot.
Our lineup is arguably the best in the entire league. It is what it is. All 8 players have played their part in getting us to this point. Dissecting 3-4 game samples in baseball will always be stupid. I could care less who is hitting .300 or who is 0-11 over 3 games. These are all important players and we need to find a way to get runs across any way we can. Trashing and spitting all over our players is just annoying IMO. especially the good ones.
For you, you are going to rip Duda every chance you get, while Wright who has been worst, and has had the more favorable pitching matchups, we aren't likely to hear a peep about. It's all good, but it becomes pretty predictable and grating.
I made the post, you can certainly comment on it. I don't see the big deal about posting how awful a player is. We've all done it. Duda HAS been trash this series. Contributed nothing. Wright is a close second to Duda. I really don't get not caring about the small sample size because it's irrelevant. We are in a do or die series. If you are invisible like Duda, Wright, and TdA for the most part, it's fair game to point out their inability to contribute. I understand it may be annoying to some...but so is the constant excuses we get from some posters about certain players. To each his own I guess. But I don't think we fans have been THAT bad with killing the team on their shortcomings. But some absolutely deserve it. This is the constant fear with Duda. All or nothing with him...and we got nothing this series. It's hard to build success around that.
For you, you are going to rip Duda every chance you get, while Wright who has been worst, and has had the more favorable pitching matchups, we aren't likely to hear a peep about. It's all good, but it becomes pretty predictable and grating.
I made the post, you can certainly comment on it. I don't see the big deal about posting how awful a player is. We've all done it. Duda HAS been trash this series. Contributed nothing. Wright is a close second to Duda. I really don't get not caring about the small sample size because it's irrelevant. We are in a do or die series. If you are invisible like Duda, Wright, and TdA for the most part, it's fair game to point out their inability to contribute. I understand it may be annoying to some...but so is the constant excuses we get from some posters about certain players. To each his own I guess. But I don't think we fans have been THAT bad with killing the team on their shortcomings. But some absolutely deserve it. This is the constant fear with Duda. All or nothing with him...and we got nothing this series. It's hard to build success around that.
Still think your dismissing the Dodgers pitching. Like I said, the first time we faced a good, not fantastic Cy Young winner, we scored 13 times. We have very good hitters and Duda and Wright are good players. I'm happy they are on my team. Sometimes you go up against a buzzsaw and the buzzsaw wins. It's fine if you want to point out a player had a bad series, but it's the "build success around" part that irks me. Duda has now had back to back fantastic seasons and he is absolutely an important piece to this team. How he did in this series doesn't effect that IMO. One has nothing to do with the other. And as streaky as he was in 2015, he wasn't nearly in 2014. It's baseball. Players go through streaks.
I've said as much plenty of times. My gripe is only that we did nothing to get them out of a rhythm. It may have not done much, but it may have been the difference in a low scoring game. Much like it was for the Dodgers last night who seemingly stepped out on every single pitch. Pedro and Dusty killed the Mets for this last night after the game.
As for Duda...listen, I love the guy...and you can look at the stats for the year and say "hey, he did great". Depending on what stats you look at, that's up for debate. The point is that he is/was ultra streaky, and yes it is tough to build success around that. Same thing with Granderson last year. Yes, players go through slumps. But they don't just disappear for extended periods of time at multiple points in the year. That is hard to plan around and can tank a team at the wrong time. We can disagree about that until the cows come home but I don't think it's worth either of our time. I get where you are coming from.
Let's talk about how we are going to destroy them next game...led by Duda, DW, and TdA!!
Thought he had that one last night, but in his first AB he took a strike right down broadway with a full count. I don't think it's pressure that gets to him, I think he's just massively streaky and makes his lows even lower because he gets extremely passive. He's a nice piece if you have him on a good contract but he's not a guy who you can build around. He'd be very wise to just take the rumored extension in the offseason guaranteeing him his arb years and buying out 1 year of FA (and maybe 1 option year). I think mentally his performance would benefit from knowing he has some stability vs. playing for a big deal.
By most metrics, yes, he actually did have a better season than 2014. More doubles, higher on base, higher OPS in 18 less games and 42 less plate appearances. Also only 3 less homeruns in those same lesser amount of games and plate appearances. But in those lesser appearances he had 3 more strikeouts than 2014. It's an odd season. The metrics say it's better, it certainly doesn't feel it. If anything it feel likes a flat lined season of amazing hot streaks and amazing cold streaks. Nothing in between. You can either get him out every time he comes up or you can't get him out at all every time he comes up.
It'd be a nice time for him to get into a hot streak again. That's an understatement.
RE: Not dismissing the Dodgers pitching at all...they are great
I've said as much plenty of times. My gripe is only that we did nothing to get them out of a rhythm. It may have not done much, but it may have been the difference in a low scoring game. Much like it was for the Dodgers last night who seemingly stepped out on every single pitch. Pedro and Dusty killed the Mets for this last night after the game.
As for Duda...listen, I love the guy...and you can look at the stats for the year and say "hey, he did great". Depending on what stats you look at, that's up for debate. The point is that he is/was ultra streaky, and yes it is tough to build success around that. Same thing with Granderson last year. Yes, players go through slumps. But they don't just disappear for extended periods of time at multiple points in the year. That is hard to plan around and can tank a team at the wrong time. We can disagree about that until the cows come home but I don't think it's worth either of our time. I get where you are coming from.
Let's talk about how we are going to destroy them next game...led by Duda, DW, and TdA!!
By most metrics, yes, he actually did have a better season than 2014. More doubles, higher on base, higher OPS in 18 less games and 42 less plate appearances. Also only 3 less homeruns in those same lesser amount of games and plate appearances. But in those lesser appearances he had 3 more strikeouts than 2014. It's an odd season. The metrics say it's better, it certainly doesn't feel it. If anything it feel likes a flat lined season of amazing hot streaks and amazing cold streaks. Nothing in between. You can either get him out every time he comes up or you can't get him out at all every time he comes up.
It'd be a nice time for him to get into a hot streak again. That's an understatement.
Didn't he finish the year in a hot streak though? I mean, didn't he just rip off like 3-4 HR in the last week or so of the season? He's faced some great pitching, and he's struggled over 4 games. Hardly a big deal. I'm glad we have him in the lineup against Greinke Thursday. I know that.
Thought he had that one last night, but in his first AB he took a strike right down broadway with a full count. I don't think it's pressure that gets to him, I think he's just massively streaky and makes his lows even lower because he gets extremely passive. He's a nice piece if you have him on a good contract but he's not a guy who you can build around. He'd be very wise to just take the rumored extension in the offseason guaranteeing him his arb years and buying out 1 year of FA (and maybe 1 option year). I think mentally his performance would benefit from knowing he has some stability vs. playing for a big deal.
Define what makes a player you can build around? Duda is one of the best first baseman in the league. I really don't think that can be argued. He had a streaky year? How streaky has Cespedes been?? Granderson has made a career out of being streaky. Wright? TDA? We've seen all these players go through long sustained slumps. Anybody remember Delgado's tenure as a Met? Just don't understand this rational. It all balances out in the end which is why we don't generally look at small samples in baseball.
But that was the last week of the season. He's 2-15 in this series. Of course a huge part of it is the good pitching he has faced. But facing great pitching or not, this has largely been his 2015 season. Blistering hot one week, ice cold the next.
But that was the last week of the season. He's 2-15 in this series. Of course a huge part of it is the good pitching he has faced. But facing great pitching or not, this has largely been his 2015 season. Blistering hot one week, ice cold the next.
I don't really think he's been up and down week to week though. He had one brutal cold streak in May/June and then another mini one after he came off the DL and he had back issues late in the year.
Kershaw was Kershaw last night but Our hitting approach was poor
As others have noted, we let him dictate tempo all game long and didn't try to slow him down or take smart swings. It was all hurry-up ABs and home run swings. No 2-strike hitting, stepping out, etc. I'm sure that if we had been able to get him out of the game in the 6th (even with the one run allowed), we would have gotten to the middle relief and scored more runs.
Oh well... Hope they have a better approach against Grienke tomorrow. They'll need it. At leastwe got Degrom on the mound.
think fans focus too much on "streaky". Pre-playoffs in general terms end of the year stats represent a players "resume". Winning games in April show up the same as games in August. Duda is a streaky player, essentially "all" players are if you aren't Gwynn or Ichiro. Duda has struggled this series but 1. It's 15 ab's 2. 2 starts vs. the best pitcher in baseball who is a lefty and 1 start vs. the likely NL Cy Young award winner. Who knows what the season looks like if Duda doesn't go on a RAMPAGE in late July hitting 9 homers over 8 starts with a 1.651 OPS? The Mets went 7-2 during that run including 3 1 run victories vs. the Nationals. Without Duda's heroics maybe they lose all 3? I'd love to see him have a big game, we need someone to step up but "Duda is sooooo streaky" is a bit overplayed.
The last week or two of the season is irrelevant. Disappearing in the first four games of a five game series is the very definition of a huge deal. Yes, he has faced some tough lefties. So has Granderson. If anything, this just further defines how streaky he is and how it is hard to succeed around him. I hope he proves is all wrong. But if I was a betting man, I'd put money on him shitting the bed again next game.
But that was the last week of the season. He's 2-15 in this series. Of course a huge part of it is the good pitching he has faced. But facing great pitching or not, this has largely been his 2015 season. Blistering hot one week, ice cold the next.
I don't really think he's been up and down week to week though. He had one brutal cold streak in May/June and then another mini one after he came off the DL and he had back issues late in the year.
+1
Duda OPS by month
.915
.948
.576
.749
.976
.961
So he had an AWFUL June, a mediocre July and 4 excellent months bookending them
Dan, I respect your opinion and you are by far a more
knowledgable fan than I. I'm sure you can bombard me with stats that will weaken my argument but after watching Duda this year there is no way I can agree that the streaky thing is overplayed. His streakiness has been discussed all season long. The stats you just posted makes it seem like he's a superstar. He's not. And while all players can be streaky, he takes it to a new level. Just how I feel after watching nearly every game this season.
Full disclosure...I'm aware I may be offfbase. Just how I feel
knowledgable fan than I. I'm sure you can bombard me with stats that will weaken my argument but after watching Duda this year there is no way I can agree that the streaky thing is overplayed. His streakiness has been discussed all season long. The stats you just posted makes it seem like he's a superstar. He's not. And while all players can be streaky, he takes it to a new level. Just how I feel after watching nearly every game this season.
Phi,
I didn't exactly post advance numbers. Those are his OPS's by month. He was horrendous in June, mediocre in July and very good/great in the other months. I think at this point "OPS" is pretty much accepted as a "normal" stat by even the staunchest of "I don't like stats!" people
April/March he hit .325/.427/.488 over 23 games
May .276/.366/.582 over 27 games
June he was horrendous hitting .187/.312/.264
July his slump continued until late in the month when he went on his rampage which began on 7/25
August .304/.389/.587 over 13 games
Sept .227/.386/.576, but he hit 6 homers and walked more times than he struck out (15 vs. 14) so his OPS was a robust .961. Sept he simply had an unusually low BABIP (.196) otherwise he would have hit .260+
second half games Duda posted a .956 OPS with 15 homers and in 68 home games he was SUPERSTAR caliber (1.000 OPS). The Mets played 8 games from 7/25 to 8/2 winning 2/2 vs. the Dodgers, 3/3 vs. the Nationals, 4 of those 5 wins were 1 run games and Duda hit 9 homers hitting nearly .400. Who knows what the season looks like without that? The sweep of the Nats changed the season in my eyes.
True, but also who knows what the season looks like if he didn't
Define what makes a player you can build around? Duda is one of the best first baseman in the league. I really don't think that can be argued. He had a streaky year? How streaky has Cespedes been?? Granderson has made a career out of being streaky. Wright? TDA? We've seen all these players go through long sustained slumps. Anybody remember Delgado's tenure as a Met? Just don't understand this rational. It all balances out in the end which is why we don't generally look at small samples in baseball.
Cespedes is a gold glove LF'er with the ability to play a premium position. If you consider him a CF'er he has elite offensive stats - possibly even best in baseball at his position. He's also shown that he can come up with big hits in big games and thrives in the spotlight. Out of the guys you listed he's the only one who at this phase in their career is worth a 100M contract (or in other words someone you would be willing to build your team around).
Duda is a very solid 1B but he is not elite at the position. Rizzo, Freeman, Gonzalez, Goldschmidt, and Votto are all pretty clearly better than he is and that's just NL. Also, streaky is 1 thing but for those 6 weeks or so around June he was literally the worst player in MLB. I'm a fan of his but if he were a FA right now I'd be very afraid to give him a big deal.
So as I said, very solid player if he's on a good contract, which fortunately for us he is. I could very well see him stringing together a career year next year if the overall lineup were better for the entire season, but I think one thing that would also help him is having security and stability with his contract situation. It would not shock me at all to see the Mets not sign Cespedes this offseason because he gets too expensive and instead resign a bunch of guys to extensions - including Duda, JdG, and Harvey.
I think Duda's terrible June is burned in everyone's minds because it came at a time when we desperately needed offense. Everyone was hurt. This was before the Cespedes, Conforto, Uribe, and Johnson additions. We needed Duda to be our savior and he wasn't. The reality was he was very consistent and good for 4.5 months of he season and in a lot of ways was even better than he was in 2014.
I think the only place we disagree is, I think it's still worth speaking to Duda after the year about a reasonable extension. Maybe his price is beyond what makes sense but no harm in trying to use the "feel good" season as an approach in trying to keep a player. He's team controlled for 2 more. I'd offer to inflate his next 2 years salary + tack on 2 more + 2 "sweet" team options. Maybe he says no. But I wouldn't mind Duda locked up 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 with 2 additional options at BIG money (20ish) and buyout should Duda surprise/shock and be a David Ortiz type of long lasting player.
you also noted, I think people are forgetting how bad the Mets lineup was around Duda. If anything his good early season months were even more impressive. The Mets lineup at times around him was COMICAL.
RE: RE: RE: Duda has been very disappointing so far
Define what makes a player you can build around? Duda is one of the best first baseman in the league. I really don't think that can be argued. He had a streaky year? How streaky has Cespedes been?? Granderson has made a career out of being streaky. Wright? TDA? We've seen all these players go through long sustained slumps. Anybody remember Delgado's tenure as a Met? Just don't understand this rational. It all balances out in the end which is why we don't generally look at small samples in baseball.
Cespedes is a gold glove LF'er with the ability to play a premium position. If you consider him a CF'er he has elite offensive stats - possibly even best in baseball at his position. He's also shown that he can come up with big hits in big games and thrives in the spotlight. Out of the guys you listed he's the only one who at this phase in their career is worth a 100M contract (or in other words someone you would be willing to build your team around).
Duda is a very solid 1B but he is not elite at the position. Rizzo, Freeman, Gonzalez, Goldschmidt, and Votto are all pretty clearly better than he is and that's just NL. Also, streaky is 1 thing but for those 6 weeks or so around June he was literally the worst player in MLB. I'm a fan of his but if he were a FA right now I'd be very afraid to give him a big deal.
So as I said, very solid player if he's on a good contract, which fortunately for us he is. I could very well see him stringing together a career year next year if the overall lineup were better for the entire season, but I think one thing that would also help him is having security and stability with his contract situation. It would not shock me at all to see the Mets not sign Cespedes this offseason because he gets too expensive and instead resign a bunch of guys to extensions - including Duda, JdG, and Harvey.
Your talking about him getting edged out by the absolute biggest stars in the game. He finished tenth in baseball in WAR and ninth in wRC+ and again, you are talking about MVP types barely ahead of him. He goes up even further in the rankings if you take his two year averages. Cespedes has not won a gold glove and I don't know how he's proven he can hit on the biggest stage. He hit one homerun in garbage time against a crappy pitcher since its "counted". For us, during the year, he had a raging hot streak sandwiched between two cold streaks. He's also having a career year and has never had this much success before. You could easily argue Duda is more consistent then Cespedes at this point in their careers offensively. Duda's a 3 WAR player. He's worth 21 million annually and considering how rare power is, probably more. If he were a free agent, he'd easily get a 4-5 year deal worth 21 per.
I think the only place we disagree is, I think it's still worth speaking to Duda after the year about a reasonable extension. Maybe his price is beyond what makes sense but no harm in trying to use the "feel good" season as an approach in trying to keep a player. He's team controlled for 2 more. I'd offer to inflate his next 2 years salary + tack on 2 more + 2 "sweet" team options. Maybe he says no. But I wouldn't mind Duda locked up 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 with 2 additional options at BIG money (20ish) and buyout should Duda surprise/shock and be a David Ortiz type of long lasting player.
I'd be fine offering him an extension but one of the draws with him accepting it before 2015 was that he wasn't making a lot in arbitration this year. Now he's in his last two years of arbitration where he already stands to make a good amount of money. For him to forgo free agency and his one shot at a big pay day in two years, I think you tear up his arbitration years and offer him 5 years/ 100 million right now. That's essentially only a three year / 65 million dollar extension. Only way I can see it working IMO so it's fair for both sides.
you also noted, I think people are forgetting how bad the Mets lineup was around Duda. If anything his good early season months were even more impressive. The Mets lineup at times around him was COMICAL.
This is true and I vividly remember him getting pitched around a ton in the earlier months.
analyzing anyone in the lineup based on last night's game is futile. Best thing to do in my opinion is just to acknowledge that this is how baseball works, especially in the playoffs. WHen you go against a pitcher like Kershaw you just accept that there was no woulda, coulda, shoulda. When the guy on the mound dominates, they are in control of the whole game and the one on one nature of the sport plays out with the elite pitcher making everyone look foolish. I think the baseball phrase we've all heard more than any other is "Great Pitching Always Beats Great Hitting". And he is beyond great. He's a generational lefty who struck out 300 this year.
This ^
In 2014 however, he became only the 4th pitcher since 2000 to throw 100+ pitches in two starts on three days rest. His last pitch was a 3 run HR that put the Cardinals ahead on a 3-2 series clinching win.
Longwinded way in stating the obvious: we need to get Kershaw's pitch count up. He was gassed towards the end of Game 1. I wonder how much he has left.
The key with Matz will be the first few innings. He'll be jacked with adrenaline. Gotta keep him calm and hopefully keep his pitch count down.
Kendrick 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Turner 3B
Seager SS
Puig RF
Ellis C
Ruggiano LF
Kershaw P
...man they seem to have a lot of platoon hitters in that lineup. AG, Kendrick and Turner seemingly their only everyday players.
Kendrick 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Turner 3B
Seager SS
Puig RF
Ellis C
Ruggiano LF
Kershaw P
Hoping Matz can get past the early nerves and handle these tough righties.
I like our odds better tonight to close this out than to go to LA and try to beat Greinke. And Thor would be on normal rest Thursday too.
A lot of what ifs here though -- hopefully Matz steps up and pitches efficiently.
I'm going on record now.
If they werent going to put him in against Brett Anderson last night, there was 0 chance that they were gonna put him in there tonight. I agree that I think he can hit lefties and its dumb to have him out, but at this point, it is what it is for the rest of the year. Especially tonight though against Kershaw, that is not the spot you want him to be hitting against his first lefty starter in the majors.
Matt Reynolds is a right handed batter
Terry values defense over offense. Lagares was inches away from stealing a HR from A-Gonzalez last night . He also seems to have become somewhat a better contact hitter. Which could result in more pitches for Kershaw.
Let's go Matz !!
NLCS in Queens ???
Let's kick these fuckers out of our house, humble their arrogance, and look forward to the next series.
Let's end Chase Utley's season.
Ya gotta believe !!
Or maybe won't..
Lets hope we're not in that position, i dont trust him for shit
It's fucking maddening
We can still do this.
It's early yet , have faith
Throw Flores in there too.
thanks.
and Kershaw is cruising.
There no game tomorrow
Come on boys, give it to the fans!!!
Because he's Bartolo and he's a fucking BOSS.
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How's he able to do this?
Because he's Bartolo and he's a fucking BOSS.
They just said it's his first time pitching on consecutive days. Seems an odd time to try it, but it doesn't seem like a big deal.
Right?
We only have 3 more innings left, to do something .
Kershaw is answering all his critics.
he's getting stronger as the game goes on. he could go the distance.
or I just don't know the rule.
As is "Captain Streaky" Lucas Duda.
why not save deGrom for game 5.
I like Thor, but man deGrom was dominant last start and i'm more confident he can match greinke.
I'm not saying give up in this game, the Mets can pull it out, but I try to do it without deGrom.
it's not like they have a lead.
I said before I wouldn't advocate a pitcher throwing at someone's head.
I'd actually be cool with any Mets pitcher hitting Justin Turner in the face.
it's irrational of me, but the way he looks pisses me off and he seems like a douche.
He's been awful
this isn't over yet. it's a 2 run game.
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Can't get the ball out of the infield
He's been awful
Great grab DW
Lets go Bats!
Sure looks that way so far
Let's goooooooooo!!!!
Gave them a scare, but as it turns out, not so terrible, after all.
This was our chance... Fuck!
This is destined for a game 5.
what did they just say? he has 6 career multi-inning saves. something like that.
doesn't do it often.
fuck chase utley and the mlb
He's been a fucking bum
I like our chances with deGrom
Oh well, they play better on the road anyway.
This is why Game 3 is so important.
At least he can work out plenty of walks and has been a part of some key moments because he can get on base.
Duda is 2 for 15 with 9 Ks and 1 BB. He sucks.
Same thing with Conforto in his one AB. Travis is just frustrated and swinging frustrated. That was a truly terrible AB in the ninth. Jansen could see how he was swinging and just kept throwing high fastballs.
Need to do a better job in game 5
Kershaw pitched well but he wasn't unhittable.
And bean utley
That just sounds bad ass - deGrom has Syndergaard.
Tonight, not pretty, but the pitching was there. What could you expect more from Matz? He let up 3 but limited the damage. Colon is such a stud. So's Kershaw. Once he got that curve ball in for strikes...he's a phenomenal pitcher.
Kershaw pitched well but he wasn't unhittable.
He had quite a few hanging breaking balls. Some of them were high and out of the zone, but RH can hit those if they time them. But the Mets hitters were off balance all night. He is a great pitcher no doubt. But I agree he was not unhittable.
Degrom is different. He knows what he wants to throw and I think he will be dominant with the extra day of rest.
Exchanging posts has definitely made this season more exciting.
Here's to victory in Game!!!
We have quite a few years to make some noise.
With that said, I still want a taste of the NLCS again.
See but tonight was a textbook example of why the idea is to get into the dance. And in a 5 game series, not only is it somewhat a toss up in most of these even without these guys but when both teams can send out pitchers who can shut down any lineup and make any hitter look bad, its really almost irrelevant who has depth. The only thing that matters is whether that night's ace has his stuff going. Momentum doesn't matter, runs scored the prior game doesn't matter, home field doesn't matter. You've seen it now in our series and you've seen it in every other one, every year. However especially in this one, it's impossible to have any idea what will happen. The only time either team will be really successful at the plate is if the guy on the mound doesn't have his location or makes a couple mistakes that lead to homers. Otherwise just pray for some errors and hope you can get pitch counts high quicker than the other team
Amen. People are really citing K numbers and batting averages in a 5 games series facing Kershaw and Greinke two times a piece?? Really?? You mean a couple guys have struggled???? SHOCKER.
Amen. People are really citing K numbers and batting averages in a 5 games series facing Kershaw and Greinke two times a piece?? Really?? You mean a couple guys have struggled???? SHOCKER.
People should be talking more about how the hell Murphy smacked two dingers off of Kershaw more than they should about the K's.
That curveball to Kershaw is reminding me of Wohlers getting beat on his third pitch to Leyritz.
I really don't understand the need to attack your fellow fans because some may complain about certain players that have vastly underperformed. Duda has been straight trash. Wright crushes lefties but has been held to one hit in four games (although he has walked a bunch). Except for one game, TdA has been awful. Yes, we are facing great pitchers...I understand that. Everybody complains about something, even you.
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a good, not super powered freak of nature, our lineup exploded for 13 runs. We knew this would be tough. Whining about 3-4 game samples is pathetic.
I really don't understand the need to attack your fellow fans because some may complain about certain players that have vastly underperformed. Duda has been straight trash. Wright crushes lefties but has been held to one hit in four games (although he has walked a bunch). Except for one game, TdA has been awful. Yes, we are facing great pitchers...I understand that. Everybody complains about something, even you.
As long as you can identify it as simply complaining and not anything of merit. I get the need to voice frustration, even if it's misplaced. Also people clearly have biases against certain players. For you, you are going to rip Duda every chance you get, while Wright who has been worst, and has had the more favorable pitching matchups, we aren't likely to hear a peep about. It's all good, but it becomes pretty predictable and grating. You're right though. I have my targets too. I guess we all do. I actually think Wright and Duda have taken some pretty good atbats this series, TDA obviously had s huge night in game 3. We've played 4 games. Thinking a few guys wouldn't struggle against Kershaw/Greinke 4 out of 5 times is pretty asinine IMO.
I don't know about that. I mean did you see Kershaw last night? The short day rest excuse doesn't really fly anymore. He was as dominant as I've ever seen him. The game plan WAS to take pitches and get him out of there. Wright has admitted this. Well guess what? Kershaw started every damn hitter off with strike one while they watched the pitch go by. Plan foiled. Advantage? The great Clayton Edward Kershaw.
Agreed. He was fired up and as on as on could be.
And for what it's worth, DW has not been worse than Duda. Duda has exactly ONE extra hit while striking out the majority of his ABs ( and only 1 BB). DW hasn't been great but at least he's been getting on base at a decent clip bc of walks and been in the thick of the scoring. You praised Granderson all season for his ability to generate walks while not hitting as much...DW doesn't get the same benefit?
Yes, I'm aware it's a small sample size playing only 4 games...but that's what we've got. We've had an entire season for sample sizes, now we need to get it going. You miss the point of my post. I said that Kershaw was great. But we did nothing to disrupt Kershaws rhythm. We sat in the box and waited to swing for the fences. Like I said, and Pedro said last night, we should have been stepping out more like the Dodgers. I don't like it but it makes sense. Oh well, on to the next.
I never said he wasn't 100%. But pitching on three days rest isn't something a pitcher normally does. We see with our own Matt Harvey how it can affect pitchers if you change their routine. Darling talks about it all the time. I don't think it was a stretch to think he might have been less effective or prone to mistakes while on short rest. Create create create. It's been my gripe with the coaching staff all year. It may have changed nothing. But at least you try.
They found the holes and had their inning. Our pitching was pretty darn good yesterday. Theirs was better.
Our lineup is arguably the best in the entire league. It is what it is. All 8 players have played their part in getting us to this point. Dissecting 3-4 game samples in baseball will always be stupid. I could care less who is hitting .300 or who is 0-11 over 3 games. These are all important players and we need to find a way to get runs across any way we can. Trashing and spitting all over our players is just annoying IMO. especially the good ones.
They found the holes and had their inning. Our pitching was pretty darn good yesterday. Theirs was better.
Or Matz allow the opposing pitcher to get on base. Not getting that out was the killer, it opened the door for them.
I made the post, you can certainly comment on it. I don't see the big deal about posting how awful a player is. We've all done it. Duda HAS been trash this series. Contributed nothing. Wright is a close second to Duda. I really don't get not caring about the small sample size because it's irrelevant. We are in a do or die series. If you are invisible like Duda, Wright, and TdA for the most part, it's fair game to point out their inability to contribute. I understand it may be annoying to some...but so is the constant excuses we get from some posters about certain players. To each his own I guess. But I don't think we fans have been THAT bad with killing the team on their shortcomings. But some absolutely deserve it. This is the constant fear with Duda. All or nothing with him...and we got nothing this series. It's hard to build success around that.
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If Wright, Flores, and Murphy all moved the other way 6 inches then we probably get out of that inning with zero runs and win the game 1-0.
They found the holes and had their inning. Our pitching was pretty darn good yesterday. Theirs was better.
Or Matz allow the opposing pitcher to get on base. Not getting that out was the killer, it opened the door for them.
Yes, that also. That stung.
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For you, you are going to rip Duda every chance you get, while Wright who has been worst, and has had the more favorable pitching matchups, we aren't likely to hear a peep about. It's all good, but it becomes pretty predictable and grating.
I made the post, you can certainly comment on it. I don't see the big deal about posting how awful a player is. We've all done it. Duda HAS been trash this series. Contributed nothing. Wright is a close second to Duda. I really don't get not caring about the small sample size because it's irrelevant. We are in a do or die series. If you are invisible like Duda, Wright, and TdA for the most part, it's fair game to point out their inability to contribute. I understand it may be annoying to some...but so is the constant excuses we get from some posters about certain players. To each his own I guess. But I don't think we fans have been THAT bad with killing the team on their shortcomings. But some absolutely deserve it. This is the constant fear with Duda. All or nothing with him...and we got nothing this series. It's hard to build success around that.
Still think your dismissing the Dodgers pitching. Like I said, the first time we faced a good, not fantastic Cy Young winner, we scored 13 times. We have very good hitters and Duda and Wright are good players. I'm happy they are on my team. Sometimes you go up against a buzzsaw and the buzzsaw wins. It's fine if you want to point out a player had a bad series, but it's the "build success around" part that irks me. Duda has now had back to back fantastic seasons and he is absolutely an important piece to this team. How he did in this series doesn't effect that IMO. One has nothing to do with the other. And as streaky as he was in 2015, he wasn't nearly in 2014. It's baseball. Players go through streaks.
As for Duda...listen, I love the guy...and you can look at the stats for the year and say "hey, he did great". Depending on what stats you look at, that's up for debate. The point is that he is/was ultra streaky, and yes it is tough to build success around that. Same thing with Granderson last year. Yes, players go through slumps. But they don't just disappear for extended periods of time at multiple points in the year. That is hard to plan around and can tank a team at the wrong time. We can disagree about that until the cows come home but I don't think it's worth either of our time. I get where you are coming from.
Let's talk about how we are going to destroy them next game...led by Duda, DW, and TdA!!
It'd be a nice time for him to get into a hot streak again. That's an understatement.
As for Duda...listen, I love the guy...and you can look at the stats for the year and say "hey, he did great". Depending on what stats you look at, that's up for debate. The point is that he is/was ultra streaky, and yes it is tough to build success around that. Same thing with Granderson last year. Yes, players go through slumps. But they don't just disappear for extended periods of time at multiple points in the year. That is hard to plan around and can tank a team at the wrong time. We can disagree about that until the cows come home but I don't think it's worth either of our time. I get where you are coming from.
Let's talk about how we are going to destroy them next game...led by Duda, DW, and TdA!!
Lol. Sounds good man!
It'd be a nice time for him to get into a hot streak again. That's an understatement.
Didn't he finish the year in a hot streak though? I mean, didn't he just rip off like 3-4 HR in the last week or so of the season? He's faced some great pitching, and he's struggled over 4 games. Hardly a big deal. I'm glad we have him in the lineup against Greinke Thursday. I know that.
Define what makes a player you can build around? Duda is one of the best first baseman in the league. I really don't think that can be argued. He had a streaky year? How streaky has Cespedes been?? Granderson has made a career out of being streaky. Wright? TDA? We've seen all these players go through long sustained slumps. Anybody remember Delgado's tenure as a Met? Just don't understand this rational. It all balances out in the end which is why we don't generally look at small samples in baseball.
I don't really think he's been up and down week to week though. He had one brutal cold streak in May/June and then another mini one after he came off the DL and he had back issues late in the year.
Oh well... Hope they have a better approach against Grienke tomorrow. They'll need it. At leastwe got Degrom on the mound.
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But that was the last week of the season. He's 2-15 in this series. Of course a huge part of it is the good pitching he has faced. But facing great pitching or not, this has largely been his 2015 season. Blistering hot one week, ice cold the next.
I don't really think he's been up and down week to week though. He had one brutal cold streak in May/June and then another mini one after he came off the DL and he had back issues late in the year.
+1
Duda OPS by month
.915
.948
.576
.749
.976
.961
So he had an AWFUL June, a mediocre July and 4 excellent months bookending them
Phi,
I didn't exactly post advance numbers. Those are his OPS's by month. He was horrendous in June, mediocre in July and very good/great in the other months. I think at this point "OPS" is pretty much accepted as a "normal" stat by even the staunchest of "I don't like stats!" people
April/March he hit .325/.427/.488 over 23 games
May .276/.366/.582 over 27 games
June he was horrendous hitting .187/.312/.264
July his slump continued until late in the month when he went on his rampage which began on 7/25
August .304/.389/.587 over 13 games
Sept .227/.386/.576, but he hit 6 homers and walked more times than he struck out (15 vs. 14) so his OPS was a robust .961. Sept he simply had an unusually low BABIP (.196) otherwise he would have hit .260+
Define what makes a player you can build around? Duda is one of the best first baseman in the league. I really don't think that can be argued. He had a streaky year? How streaky has Cespedes been?? Granderson has made a career out of being streaky. Wright? TDA? We've seen all these players go through long sustained slumps. Anybody remember Delgado's tenure as a Met? Just don't understand this rational. It all balances out in the end which is why we don't generally look at small samples in baseball.
Cespedes is a gold glove LF'er with the ability to play a premium position. If you consider him a CF'er he has elite offensive stats - possibly even best in baseball at his position. He's also shown that he can come up with big hits in big games and thrives in the spotlight. Out of the guys you listed he's the only one who at this phase in their career is worth a 100M contract (or in other words someone you would be willing to build your team around).
Duda is a very solid 1B but he is not elite at the position. Rizzo, Freeman, Gonzalez, Goldschmidt, and Votto are all pretty clearly better than he is and that's just NL. Also, streaky is 1 thing but for those 6 weeks or so around June he was literally the worst player in MLB. I'm a fan of his but if he were a FA right now I'd be very afraid to give him a big deal.
So as I said, very solid player if he's on a good contract, which fortunately for us he is. I could very well see him stringing together a career year next year if the overall lineup were better for the entire season, but I think one thing that would also help him is having security and stability with his contract situation. It would not shock me at all to see the Mets not sign Cespedes this offseason because he gets too expensive and instead resign a bunch of guys to extensions - including Duda, JdG, and Harvey.
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Define what makes a player you can build around? Duda is one of the best first baseman in the league. I really don't think that can be argued. He had a streaky year? How streaky has Cespedes been?? Granderson has made a career out of being streaky. Wright? TDA? We've seen all these players go through long sustained slumps. Anybody remember Delgado's tenure as a Met? Just don't understand this rational. It all balances out in the end which is why we don't generally look at small samples in baseball.
Cespedes is a gold glove LF'er with the ability to play a premium position. If you consider him a CF'er he has elite offensive stats - possibly even best in baseball at his position. He's also shown that he can come up with big hits in big games and thrives in the spotlight. Out of the guys you listed he's the only one who at this phase in their career is worth a 100M contract (or in other words someone you would be willing to build your team around).
Duda is a very solid 1B but he is not elite at the position. Rizzo, Freeman, Gonzalez, Goldschmidt, and Votto are all pretty clearly better than he is and that's just NL. Also, streaky is 1 thing but for those 6 weeks or so around June he was literally the worst player in MLB. I'm a fan of his but if he were a FA right now I'd be very afraid to give him a big deal.
So as I said, very solid player if he's on a good contract, which fortunately for us he is. I could very well see him stringing together a career year next year if the overall lineup were better for the entire season, but I think one thing that would also help him is having security and stability with his contract situation. It would not shock me at all to see the Mets not sign Cespedes this offseason because he gets too expensive and instead resign a bunch of guys to extensions - including Duda, JdG, and Harvey.
Your talking about him getting edged out by the absolute biggest stars in the game. He finished tenth in baseball in WAR and ninth in wRC+ and again, you are talking about MVP types barely ahead of him. He goes up even further in the rankings if you take his two year averages. Cespedes has not won a gold glove and I don't know how he's proven he can hit on the biggest stage. He hit one homerun in garbage time against a crappy pitcher since its "counted". For us, during the year, he had a raging hot streak sandwiched between two cold streaks. He's also having a career year and has never had this much success before. You could easily argue Duda is more consistent then Cespedes at this point in their careers offensively. Duda's a 3 WAR player. He's worth 21 million annually and considering how rare power is, probably more. If he were a free agent, he'd easily get a 4-5 year deal worth 21 per.
I'd be fine offering him an extension but one of the draws with him accepting it before 2015 was that he wasn't making a lot in arbitration this year. Now he's in his last two years of arbitration where he already stands to make a good amount of money. For him to forgo free agency and his one shot at a big pay day in two years, I think you tear up his arbitration years and offer him 5 years/ 100 million right now. That's essentially only a three year / 65 million dollar extension. Only way I can see it working IMO so it's fair for both sides.
This is true and I vividly remember him getting pitched around a ton in the earlier months.
Get your popcorn ready for next game and pray.