Change of Plan

Due to time constraints brought about by Finals and other pressing things, this blog has been changed and will now be receiving 1-3 posts a week, instead of the previous 5-7. Hopes are that in the relatively near future we will revert to our previous status.

On a Metropolitan note, don't ask? The Mets just got swept in a 4 game series by the rival Atlanta Braves. It's simple: Reyes and Castillo are below their potential (and Beltran), Church and Alou are hurt, Delgado is aging, and the pitching is scarily inconsistent, beyond Maine and Santana.

If Pedro comes back, the big boppers get hot, Pelfrey and Perez pitch better, or Reyes and Delgado start playing like 2006, the Mets should keep pace with the pack. If all those things happen, you can welcome October with a grin.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

After my brief hiatus, the Mets are looking, precariously good. Second thing first: The Metropolitans looked quite good in sweeping the crosstown-Yankees in an abbreviated series. Johan pitched alright. Perez pitched very well. Reyes hit; Wright hit - everything was good. Carlos Delgado hit a home run a long drive that the umpires, after a coffee-break and a conference, decided was foul even though it was fair. Bravo! Fortunately, the Mets won.

The Mets are a game back of Florida.

Bullpen Failure

In a disappointing defeat against the Nationals, the Mets managed just 6 hits while losing to the Nationals 6-3. Jason Vargas pitched a great game, giving up just 2 runs in 6.1 innings.

Ryan's Rockin'

Ryan's Rockin' - Ryan Church that is. The Mets new right-fielder continues to hit the tar out of the ball at a Ruthian clip. His 2 hits today raised his average to .324. His 4 RBIs lifted him to 30, which is good for (a tie of) sixth in the league.

John Maine's stellar outing today (1 earned run in 6 innings) lowered his ERA to 2.81, good for 11th in the league.

Moises Alou and Brian Schneider continue to hit. They recently joined Church as regulars in the lineup hitting above .300 (for Moises Alou, at .364, way above). Even John Maine, a notoriously bad hitter (see this) did some work at the plate today, getting a single off of John Lannan.

In other baseball news, Andruw Jones is hitting .170, Robinson Cano is hitting .183, and Jason Giambi, by going 2 for 2 today, raised his average to .194. I think these three ballplayers are making a combined 40 million dollars (approximately). Meanwhile, Johan Santana is hitting .222. I know it's impossible, but maybe he should ask fo,r a pay raise.

The Mets, at 20-17 are in 3rd place, half a game behind the Phillies and two games behind the Marlins.

Not Quite Stellar

10-4. That was the score of today's game. It's also a very good representation of it. Nelson Figuerroa did not pitch well. The most optimistic person will look at the stats, and note that Nelson gave up 4 Earned Runs in 5 innings. Never mind that of the two Mets errors, one was made by him. Never mind that he walked more men than he struck out. There are no two ways to look at it - Nelson was ineffective.

On the other hand, he wasn't terrible. Even with all his walks, hit-by-pitches and hits given up, he still limited the Nationals to 6 runs (4 earned). The man who lost the game is Jorge Sosa. Sosa once again proved himself inadequate of handling major-league pitching. He gave up 4 runs in just an inning rasing his ERA to an astronomic 7.06. Sanchez, Smith and Wagner each contributed a scoreless inning; Wagner retaines a pristine ERA of 0.00!

The hitting was on tonight: Reyes, Beltran and Alou had multi-hit games, as did super-sub Damion Easley. Wright and Easley homered. The only thing that the Mets lacked was clutch-hitting.

David Wright is currently 3rd in the league in RBI with 32.

The Mets are currently in third place at 19-17, 1/2 a game behind the Phillies and 3 games behind the Marlins.

Bounceback Performance

In an encouraging performance overall, Oliver Perez was Mr. Encouraging himself. He pitched quite well over six innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks over a respectable 6 innings. Even in this start, he showed both sides of himself: Through 5, he was the dominant pitcher who became a number 2 starter when Pedro went down; in the sixth he was the inconsistent pitcher that the Mets have met over the last few weeks. But there's no denying his performance - he bounced back from a bad outing and put in a solid effort, overall.

The hitters were having a blast today, pounding 14 hits against hapless starter Johnny Cueto and 4 relievers. Beltran and Church homered, for Church his 7th blasting him past David Wright for the team lead. Beltran also had a double, and Luis Castillo had a three-base hit to help the Mets to victory. It's good to note that while their batting averages are still quite low, Beltran, Castillo, and Reyes seem to be getting going. If they can hit consistently, who knows where this lineup can take the team?

Beltran and Wright are each in the top 10 in walks. Hence, while they've been struggling, they both have good On Base Percentages.

David Wright is currently tied for third in the leagues in RBIs, having amassed 31. If Reyes and Castillo start hitting like they have historically (and Wright does, too) there is no saying what kind of numbers he can end up with. 150 RBIs? 160? Time will tell.

The Mets are currently 19-16, tied for second place with the Phillies at three games behind the Marlins.

50/50

I guess you can describe today for the New York Mets as average - no more, no less. With a record of 1-1 today that would seem to fit. More on this soon.

You could easily look at today's two games as essentially similar for the starting pitching. Both pitchers pitched pretty well. You coud delegate the difference in scores between the two games to two things: 1. the Mets relief pitching; and 2. the Mets offense. And you might be right. But, in reality, there was much more than that going on. Johan Santana, the greatest pitcher this side of Tom Seaver, pitched okay (at the best). He gave up 3 runs and 10 hits in just 6 innings of work. Now, I'm not getting down on him, that's a great game if it's one of your worst (which it is), but still, not a great performance. Mike Pelfrey, on the other hand, has been down on his luck recently. His previous 3 starts had a composite ERA of over 8. Today, he pitched 6 innings - not more than you'd expect for a number 4 or 5 starter) and gave up just 2 runs, while registering 6 strikeouts. That's a pretty darn good step in the right direction.

Funnily enought, with the starting pitching going down in the first game and up in the nightcap, the hitting provided a veritable contrast. In the first game, 5 Mets had multiple base-hits (Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Schneider), including 3 who had been slumping. They amassed an impressive 12 runs on 12 hits. In the second game, the whole team got just 4 runs, mind you, this was with somewhat of a B lineup with Alou, Church, Schneider, and Castillo being replaced by Anderson, Chavez, Castro (Welcome Back) and Easley. Note: All 4 of the hits were by the four regulars: Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Delgado.

Beltran and Delgado got multiple extra-base hits.

The Mets are currently in third place at 18-16, a game behind the Phillies and two games behind the Florida Marlins.

Maine Alive

Maine Alive - John Maine is a terrible hitter. Before today's game, he had no hits in 11 at-bats this year. Well, you might think that that is just because it's early - he hasn't gotten into a groove yet. However, the facts remain that going into today's game his career average was a minuscule .074. His season high (last year) was .109. In his entire career, he has just two extra-base hits. Now, would you have guessed, going into the game, that he would bat in more runs than he would give up. Personally, I doubt it. The fact remains that he pitched extremely well, giving up a lone run in 8.1 innings, and doing all right with the bat, 1 for 4, with, get this, 2 RBIs.

Of course, it wasn't really necessary. Offensively, the Mets did quite alright without him. Ryan Church had 3 hits (including a home run) and Luis Castillo, Marlon Anderson and Raul Cassanova had two apiece. Everyone else in the starting lineup had 1 hit except Jose Reyes who walked twice and scored a run. All in all, quite satisfactory.

By the way, with a total of 13 runs scored in today's game, I think I made a slightly bad prediction on Monday. Wednesday afternoon should be a low-scoring game, with John Maine facing off against Brad Penny. I guess everyone has to get their share of mistakes.

The Mets are currently in third place, one game behind the division-leading Phillies and Marlins.

Defeat tastes terrible

Last night, the Mets played a pretty bad game against the Dodgers. Oliver Perez, while showing some improvment by only walking two batters, gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. I'm not going to say that hope is lost (like some others), but he definitely didn't contribute too much yesterday. I mean, three home runs, please!

The batters seemingly took a day off, with the whole team accumulating just 5 hits (2 for extra bases).

The two (relative) bright spots in this game were the defense and the bullpen: Both played adequately in an otherwise unproductive Mets night.

The Mets are currently 16-14. They trail the Marlins by half a game and the Phillies by 1.5.

On the road to LA

The Mets are currently having trouble hitting Dodger Chad Billingsley. Wright has two strikeouts, and the Mets have yet to score a run after four innings of play.

This game is the first of 3 for the Mets against the Dodgers on this last stop of their road-trip. Tomorrow night Nelson Figueroa will face Japanese import Hideki Hiroki Kuroda. Wednesday afternoon should be a low-scoring game, with John Maine facing off against Brad Penny.

According to this, with the Mets impressive win yesterday, they improved their record while wearing black uniforms to 4-1. Some people may argue with the black uniforms objectively, but 4-1 is not the kind of track record you can argue with.

Series win in the desert

Some statistics are really deceiving. If I told you that one team had 6 hits and 2 errors, and the other had 10 hits and 1 error, you'd probably feel pretty confident that the first-mentioned team emerged victorious. However, in the only statistic that counts, the Mets beat the Diamondbacks 5-2. The pitching was phenomenal. Johan Santana gave up a run in 6 innings. While it took him a lot of pitches to do so, he surely showed the D-backs who is boss. Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano, Jorge Sosa and Billy Wagner combined for 3 innings pitched and just one run allowed.

The Diamondbacks pitching was equally special, with Danny Haren and three relievers giving up just 3 runs over 9 innings.

The hitting was not all that great, which is understandable, considering the fact that the pitching matchup was Santana vs. Haren.

The difference in this game came in the top of the ninth. With the score died at 2, Beltran and Alou hit singles. Delgado grounded to first base, where Conor Jackson, attempting to make a double play, threw the ball into left-field. The result was disastrous for the Western-division leading Diamondbacks. Beltran scored with ease and Delgado joined Moises Alou on the basepaths. Then, Schneider bunted the runners over, Castillo received an intentional walk, and Marlon Anderson, the pinch-hitter, plated Delgado and Alou with a well-struck single to right.

All in all, great pitching, decent fielding (Ryan Church made a great play on a ball in the 8th) and good, timely hitting. To me, that spells victory.

The Mets are currently tied for second place with the Florida Marlins, half a game behind the Phillies.

Update: Just a couple of non-vital stats that I just saw. Johan Santana currently leads the major leagues in strikeouts, with 47. He also just cracked the top 10 in the National League in ERA.

Just a quick recap

Over the last two games, the Mets emulated what they've done throughout the past month: look good and look bad. Friday night's game was great. John Maine pitched well, the offense came alive and Jose Reyes hit like he did a year ago. Yesterday, Pelfrey pitched badly, the bullpen copied him, and the offense was not enough to offset that. Tough break.

It's a good thing that the Mets have their ace going tomorrow. A good performance can have the Mets take 2 of 3 from these pesky D-Backs. That's pretty good, against the best team in baseball.

Just as a sidepoint, I don't know who exactly designs a team's uniforms, but whoever does it for the Diamondbacks should be shot. Twice. Take a look at this. Maybe it never got to those Arizona officials, but a nickname is supposed to be a NICKNAME!! What are they doing putting it on their uniforms?? It's meant to be shortened for the benefit of fans who say the name often, and sportswriters who write it frequently! Nobody's going to get tired of seeing the word "Diamondbacks" on the uniform once. And if they do, they have other problems.

At least when they come to New York, we won't have to see this embarrassment. They actually spell out the whole "Arizona" on their away jerseys.

Pre-game Intro

Coming up tonight is the first of 3 between the Mets and the Western Division-leading Diamondbacks. Tonight's matchup is Micah Owings (4-0) against John Maine (2-2). The pitching differential, however, is a lot closer than it looks. Maine's 3.58 ERA is practically equivalent to Owings' 3.48. Owings also has a better walks-to-strikeouts ratio, but overall, they're reasonable equal.

On the hitting side, however, the difference between these two pitchers is real. This year, Maine is hitting below his stellar .077 career average, while Owings is hitting a ridiculous .421.

Let's go METS!

Day off for the Mets - but not for the blog

--Edited: June 16th, 10:12 PM

Considering that the Mets are off today, there's got to be something else to talk about. How about the Yankees?

The Yankees, to put it bluntly, are hurting - no pun intended. No, seriously, no pun intended. I'm not referring to people like A-Rod, Posada, and the rest of the walking wounded that they call the New York Yankees. I'm talking about their dreadful production from first and second base, and about their starting and middle-relief pitching.

Case in point: Today's game against the no-longer-struggling Detroit Tigers. Ian Kennedy pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs (all earned). Hey, I have to say one thing in his favor: He's
better than Phil Hughes. Seriously - who wouldn't take an 8.37 ERA over a 9.00? And after he left the game, I'm sure Yankee fans were delighted that the ball wasn't given to Farnsworth or Hawkins.

Congratulations to Robinson Cano, who went 1 for 4, raising his batting average to a fearsome .155! Bravo! In all seriousness, he'd better shape up. This "beginning of the year" bit won't hold up too long - he's had 110 at-bats, already. Then there's the third member of the "I make more than the Florida Marlins" club, Jason Giambi. He's got to be feeling good about himself, he's outhitting Robinson Cano! His .164 batting average is certainly inspiring fear in the minds of his opponents. Jason, better watch out, or you'll be the first player since Mark McGwire to have more RBIs in a season than hits.

With the highest payroll in baseball, the Yankees are in 4th place, 3 games behind division leading Orioles and Red Sox.

The Mets are 14-12, tied with the Marlins at half a game behind the Phillies.

Ol is Lost

Ol is lost - Oliver Perez that is. Directions wouldn'tve been enough for him to find the plate last night - what he needed was a roadmap. With 5 walks in just an inning and two-thirds, Perez was clearly lost. Unfortunately, so was the rest of the team. While Perez may have lit the fire for the Pirates, Jorge Sosa, with 5 runs allowed over 1 inning, doused it with gasoline. The rest of the bullpen was surprisingly good. Feliciano contributed a scoreless frame, and Heilman pitched two, lowering his ERA to a more manageable (if not optimal) 5.51. Nelson Figueroa pitched well in 3.1 innings of relief.

The bats, too, seemed to be lost. Against a mediocre combination of Gorzelany, Van Benschoten, and Meek, the Mets amassed just a run on two hits. If Delgado and Reyes can turn their games around, the Mets will be in good position. If not, too much is being left to Ryan Church, David Wright, and the starting rotation.


The Mets are currently 14-12, tied with the Phillies at half a game behind the Marlins.