Game of the Week: May 24: COL @ NYM

[Zigmo-Whitesox]

Colorado Rockies (27-20) @ New York Mets (24-12)


NYM: Jhoan Duran (1-6, 7.04)

COL: Nate Vance (6-0, 4.27)

The Mets started off the month of May as cold as you can get going 2-9 including being swept by the lowly Diamondbacks however they have since flipped that record around going 9-2 in their last 11.  At the end of that long losing skid the Mets decided to make some changes.  They brought in todays starter Jhoan Duran from the Rays, and relievers Alfredo Medrano and Joe Batchelder from free agency and the initial results have been impressive as the trio has combined to allow just a single earned run in 13 innings of work.  However they will need to be truely tested.  The Mets current hot streak has come against the likes of Tampa Bay, Miami, and Atlanta and two games vs Baltimore(which they split).  Colorado should give the Mets more of a challenge tonight however questions about the Rockies offense will remain due to a fairly heavy dose of players working through injury. 


The Rockies come into the game with a surprising 27-20 record sitting 3 games back of the Giants and 3 games ahead of the Dodgers.  They own some impressive series wins vs the Cardinals, and Giants twice and have largely avoided any disaster series coming out on top in the majority of their contests vs teams not named the Dodgers.  The Mets have visited Colorado once this season and took the series two games to one.  Colorado has some interesting overall splits going into this game.  They are 19-9 at home vs 8-11 on the road.  They have played a ridiculous 30 games vs lefty starters(17-13) and only 17 vs righties(10-7).  The Mets are going to run out 4 righties this series and the game is on the road suffice to say lefty slugger Ralph Porter will be missed this series.  We may not get any long term answers but this will be a good test for Colorado away from Coors field and against one of the better staffs in the PBA.  One to watch for is Danny Davis this series the lefty slugger has had an amazing start to the season on pace for 6.1 War and 103 RBI however his scouting report says he should be an absolute RHP killer.  A heavy dose of Mets righties could lead to some big numbers regardless of it being on the road.

Hot/Cold of note: COL: C Brian Hampton(Hot), C Roberto Gomez(Cold)  NYM: RF Andy Fleck(Hot), SS Michael Bishop(Hot), SP Pat French(Hot), 1B Hector Jimenez(Cold)


Questions for the GMs:


For Erick Blasco, How do you plan to navigate the lengthy injury list with Porter out and Jacks and Perez dinged up?   

Lefty Brian Hampton is swinging a hot bat and righty Roberto Gomez is struggling.  Will we see more of Hampton this series vs all the righties or will you let Gomez work through his slump?

At the 1/4 mark of the season expectations can tend to start changing.  What would a successful 2032 season look like for the Rockies and what will it take to get there?



For Ryan Morneau, The bullpen seems to be turning around after a rough start and Duran threw a quality outing is his first Mets start.  Are you confident in the current Mets staff?

Andy Fleck has already equaled his 2031 WAR total and isn't showing any signs of letting up.  However the other guy from that Minnesota deal is now off the injured list and performing at extremely high level as well.  Has Sattler been the piece the offense has needed to jump start their 2032 production?

What would you consider a good season for the Mets?  Trip to the NLCS?  World Series or bust?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, How do you plan to navigate the lengthy injury list with Porter out and Jacks and Perez dinged up?

Good questions as the injuries are starting to really test us. Steve Hutchinson has been called up to replace Porter. He'll play most of the time against righties, including today. He has good extra base pop, good speed, plays a solid left, and before a ratings dip, was reliably batting in the .270s. He nowhere near as dynamic as Porter can be though, which hurts, but as our sixth outfielder, he's perfectly capable.

Greg Jacks will get the day off today. We'll rest him hopefully twice this week to hopefully manage his sprained ankle. Since we don't have a ton of off days and are in the midst of 36 games in 38 days, we're giving Juan Guevara some starts this week to fill in for Danny Davis and Steve Hutchinson, so we don't want to give him more than that, plus we could use his contact against some of the Mets' strikeout-focused arms later in the week. Meltdown doesn't have the best numbers versus Morrison, but we need to give Jacks a rest at some point.

Michael Perez has simply had to play through his bad knee with more playing time than we'd like, but Alec Sanchez' injury really forces our hand. We finally play predominantly righties this week, so Jake Burger loses the platoon advantage and isn't a great defensive option at third. That means Wilkerman Garcia will see more playing time there this week, meaning we'll need Perez more often than we'd like. We still have him with three days off as he's pretty fatigued heading into today, which means Burger will play Third and Garcia Second today, but it's not great. Burger has a .450 road OPS against righties this year, consistent with his Rockies history, and Garcia has a light bat. With Sanchez injured though, we need to just get through this period with guys resting.

I don't feel too confident about our lineup today, but if the defense can hang in there for Nate Vance, who has kept the ball on the ground and in the park, we may have enough pop to overcome the compromised lineup today.



Lefty Brian Hampton is swinging a hot bat and righty Roberto Gomez is struggling. Will we see more of Hampton this series vs all the righties or will you let Gomez work through his slump?

We want to give Hampton more playing time, but our lefty-heavy slate has limited that. Hampton will get more starts this week, including today. He's crushed righties this year, and has already homered off Morrison this season, so he'll get the playing time. The way he's produced, he may even become our primary starter against righties moving forward.


At the 1/4 mark of the season expectations can tend to start changing. What would a successful 2032 season look like for the Rockies and what will it take to get there?

Oh no, the past decade has been so rough for us that playing competitive baseball is still the goal. This is probably David Dahl's swan song, and we have a lot of players with one or two years left on contracts, or their team control ends after next season, so a rebuild may come in the medium term. Still, we saw an opportunity with a solid roster and some room to make small moves with good deals to improve the team this offseason and it's paid off so far. I trust our staff, and believe I've built up the best defensive infield I've had since the 2010s. I think that will carry forward, and the late-inning relievers will continue to produce. I'll need the soft spots in my bullpen to step up, my lighter hitters to not be absolute train wrecks on the road, and honestly, one of Dahl or Emmanuel Tapia to produce against righties at a good clip to navigate the Porter and Sanchez injuries. If that happens, I can at least be in the hunt. I've already played half my games against the Giants and Cardinals, and I'll be done with the Mets this week. I'm nearly halfway done with the Dodgers and don't play them again until the second half when I should be more healthy. I think things are set up okay for me, I just need to produce.

[Zigmo-Whitesox]

Mets 9 - Rockies 6 

WP: D. Lalitesh (2-1)
LP: A. Perry (0-1)


Jim Sattler left his imprint on the 9-6 New York win against the Colorado Rockies. Sattler, who finished 4th in the AL in triples with 6 in 2025, went 2-5 with a home run and a walk, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 3. New York reliever Devasarasa Lalitesh got the win, raising his record to 2-1. Aaron Perry was tagged with the loss. With the win, New York raised its record to 25-21.

The game was still up for grabs in the bottom of the ninth. With two out, Sattler hit a fastball from Aaron Perry for a 3-run home run. The Mets, in dramatic fashion, had a walk-off win.

"We'll savor this win," Sattler told the New York Bulletin, "then get ready for the next game."


Questions for the GMs:

For Erick Blasco, Well the good to start Davis really raked today an Hampton continued his hot streak.  Will you look to extend Davis this offseason?

Nate Vance had a rough outing today but at 6-1 seems to be doing fine for pitching half his games at Coors field.  Outside of the obvious Strangeland/Brancaccio who do you think can take their game a notch higher and help out in the pitching game? 

Looking forward you have a number of decent prospects ready or nearly ready any ones of note that you think could get a look this season?

For Ryan Morneau, your bats were on fire today including a 4 hit performance from Ozzie Albies how important is it to keep him healthy this season?

Jim Sattler and Andy Fleck continued to rake.  Are you surprised at all with how they performed.

Jhoan Duran struggled today.  After a rough start in Tampa are you worried about the hurler or was it just bad luck?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, Well the good to start Davis really raked today an Hampton continued his hot streak. Will you look to extend Davis this offseason?

Probably not. He's looking for $30 million a year, which means I'd have to do a lot of work to fill out my roster next year. I'll probably just see what he wants in arbitration and look to extend him next year, or trade him if I need to rebuild. Most likely, I offer him the Qualifying Offer, he declines it, everyone continues to decide that eating molten lava is preferable to losing a late first round draft pick, and I sign him the next Spring Training for a slight discount.

Nate Vance had a rough outing today but at 6-1 seems to be doing fine for pitching half his games at Coors field. Outside of the obvious Strangeland/Brancaccio who do you think can take their game a notch higher and help out in the pitching game?

Sam Carlson. I expect that we've seen the worst of him as he's been rusty signing aboard late, plus he's pitched a lot in Coors. I don't think he'll be great, but I think he'll settle in to be a decent option, who'll give up a homer or two, control BABIP, and strike out a few more guys than he has.

Looking forward you have a number of decent prospects ready or nearly ready any ones of note that you think could get a look this season?

I don't think any of my prospects are that good, but I do have some backups. Travis Johnson can't control his walk rate or he'd be up already. Man, what a bust. Angel Campos is a season away from being a fourth outfielder and replacing Steve Hutchinson. Hector Quezada may be my starting First Baseman next year as he's likely already better than Emmanuel Tapia. He'd see some time this year if McKenzie or Tapia goes down. This is his first run in Triple-A and he's produced, assuaging my concerns, but I don't think he's an elite option. Everyone else is kind of just a Quad-A guy.