MLB.com interview with Zack Wheeler

Nice interview with Zack Wheeler.

Overthinking It: A Search for Matt Harvey Injury Indicators | Baseball Prospectus

Baseball Prospectus has a nice technical analysis proving nothing could have predicted Matt Harvey's elbow injury.

Meanwhile, The Sporting News has a great piece on Harvey the pitcher and that if he opts for the Tommy John surgery, he could still come back dominant.

Both are great reads.

Keith Law on the Mets-Pirates trade

ESPN's Keith Law wrote a nice recap of the trade today that sent Marlon Byrd and John Buck to the Pittsburgh Pirates. ESPN Insiders can read the whole post here. As long and dedicated a baseball fan as I've been, it's passages like this one that remind me that I still have a lot to learn about a game I've watched religiously for nearly 35 of my 40 years of existence:

"For about five weeks of Byrd and Buck, the Mets get a very solid second-base prospect in Herrera. Playing full-time at age 19 in the low Class A Sally League, Herrera has shown somewhat surprising pop, with a .156 isolated power and 41 extra-base hits in 109 games. He's got a simple, quiet approach, just loading his hands a little higher than he should, with adequate hip rotation for 15-20 homer power at his peak."

Law also mentions the Mets are supposed to get another "solid" piece as the player to be named later. Players to be named later are generally 40-man roster members that have not cleared waivers so they don't get named until after the post-season is over. So we can eliminate any thoughts of the other throw-in piece being Gift Ngoepe and his .177 Double-A batting average and fascinating backstory.

Chris Walendin of tpgmets tweeted the names of the Pirates 40-man roster members that are not on the active roster:

Pirates on 40-man roster, not on active roster or DL: Vic Black, Brandon Cumpton, Kris Johnson, Kyle McPherson, Andy Oliver, ... (1 of 2)
— Chris (@tpgMets) August 27, 2013

... Stolmy Pimentel, Ryan Reid, Duke Welker, Russ Canzler, Chase d'Arnaud, Alex Presley, Jerry Sands. (2 of 2)
— Chris (@tpgMets) August 27, 2013

It'll be interesting to see who the Mets get. I'm not sure if he'd be a "solid" piece but reuniting the d'Arnaud brothers in New York might be interesting to see.

The Odds of Matt Harvey Breaking Down (from FanGraphs and others)

Great piece on FanGraphs about how there were no glaring red flags around Matt Harvey's UCL tear. CBS Sports also has a great piece that points out:

"Harvey has a classic workhorse build -- listed at 6-feet-4 and 225 pounds on the team's official site -- that makes you think he'll log 200-plus innings year after year, but he still got hurt. The human body is a jerk like that. Smooth mechanics, big frame, controlled workload ... it doesn't matter. Sometimes pitchers get hurt and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

Will Carroll has a great summary on Harvey's injury. Also, more from Ted Berg and Howard Megdal on how there was nothing the Mets could do to avoid Matt Harvey's injury. All great pieces worth reading.

Now THIS could be interesting...

NFL - Farmers' Almanac predicts winter storm will hit Northeast around time of Super Bowl XLVIII in N.J.

The d'Eal with d'Arnaud's n'Ame on his j'Ersey

Apparently the jersey manufacturer doesn't make lower case letters, just small caps.

Why Soccer Is The Last Sport For Grown-Ups | ThePostGame. - Yahoo! Sports

"Gone are the drum-beat prompts that attempt to start a "defense" chant. Likewise, the synthesized horns that signal fans to yell "charge" are nowhere to be found. The music supervisor for Sun Life Stadium has mercifully left the Jock Jams playlist at home and a prerecorded team theme song has yet to be played during the match. No announcer shrieked a soccer version of "Another [insert your team here] first down!" after every positive outcome for either team.

In place of all these things are actual cheers. Unsolicited, unabashed, unscheduled cheers. Whistles and chants and claps and legitimate "oohs" and "aahs" and boos and rowdy taunts are heard when, and only when, the on-field play deserves it. It's entirely organic and completely refreshing. It's a major sporting event that treats adults like adults. It's fandom without training wheels.

And maybe that's exactly why soccer's window of opportunity in America appears to be opening -- it is inherently free of so many of the most popular annoyances hoisted upon us by the owners of our favorite sports."

Read the whole piece. It's well worth it.

Dwight Gooden | WNYC Here's the Thing with Alec Baldwin

I never even knew Alec Baldwin had a podcast, but he interviewed Dwight Gooden recently.

Overthinking It: How the Mets Got Great (at Taking the Extra Base) | Baseball Prospectus

The Mets are the best team in baseball at taking the extra base. (WAIT; WHAT?!?) This part of the post is a nice indicator of team chemistry (and perhaps explains why Justin Turner is still on the roster):

"At this point in the season, the team doesn’t require constant reminders; the focus on baserunning is self-sustaining. That’s largely attributable to a team-wide competition created by Justin Turner, in which players fight to record the most positive plays. The fierce internal baserunning rivalry keeps everyone engaged, in a perfect example of a cohesive clubhouse enhancing on-field performance."

Q&A: Ian Levin, Mets manager of baseball analytics | FanGraphs Baseball

Great Q& A session with Ian Levin, Mets manager of baseball analytics. Really gets into what goes on in the analytical shop within the front office.

Now, are they hiring?  ;-)

The fragile, very hard-earned success of Jenrry Mejia | Capital New York

Howard Megdal goes through Jenrry Mejia's journey from stud prospect to afterthought to finally fulfilling his potential.

Before he was A-Rod - Inside Baseball | MiamiHerald.com

A very nice profile of Alex Rodriguez' childhood in Miami. Aside from the number of people named 'Rodriguez' quoted in the article, this other tidbit was interesting to read:

"Just when Rodriguez began taking performance enhancing drugs is a source of debate. Some have speculated it may have began as early as high school when he had a sudden growth spurt between his sophomore and junior year. Rodriguez has admitted he took steroids from 2001 to 2003 when he played for the Texas Rangers but has insisted he hadn’t used PED’s before or since."

I had a friend that played some minor league baseball tell me this exact same story in 2003 about A-Rod's sudden high school growth spurt between his sophomore and junior year. The allegations have always been there with him. Who knows what will happen to him now.

Great story about a team that won by forfeit but still got to celebrate on the field.

A really nice story about a high school baseball team that won by forfeit and played an inning against their dads so they could celebrate winning a championship on the field.

‘Some Sort of Rally’ by Aaron Sorkin | Faith and Fear in Flushing

A very interesting take on both, Jose Reyes winning the 2011 batting title and Ryan Braun PED use, written in the style of the HBO series "The Newsroom".

Small Sample Size Song (and Video)

This is funny but also true. Enjoy the video:

Before you tweet anything about Matt Harvey versus the Marlins, please consult this helpful video. http://t.co/662cjNRQwr
— Jeffrey Paternostro (@jeffpaternostro) August 1, 2013

If the embedded Tweet doesn't load, you can watch the video here too: