Mets Merized Online

I came across this blurb by Bart Hubbuch in the NY Post.

Manuel said he will consider pinch-hitting more often for right fielder Ryan Church, who is scuffling a bit at the plate since coming back from a seven-week absence due to post-concussion syndrome. Church is hitting .158 (3-for-19) in his past six games after a 0-for-3 outing last night.

“Ryan hasn’t quite gotten into the flow yet,” Manuel said. “We gave him a couple of shots in Philadelphia against lefties and didn’t quite get the at-bats I was looking for. That could have to do with not playing for a while. He might be pressing a little, trying to catch up quick. He’s had a long time off.”

I actually thought it was a bad idea to just hand Ryan Church the everyday job and basically kick Fernando Tatis to the curb when he played so well.

The team has lacked a certain excitement since Tatis has been spending most of his time riding the pine. It has also meant less playing time for the dynamic duo, Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy, as all three have been sharing left field. Endy Chavez has had only had six at-bats since August 18th.

I think we should have a straight platoon of Tatis and Church in right, and Evans and Murphy in left. If Church ever returns to the form he showed in the first month of the season, we can always revert back and give him the everyday job.

We are running out of games to play. We need to capitalize on every single one of them by playing our best lineup and loading it with our best hitters.

With every game that passes, a Met fan’s life expectancy drops three years during this divisional race.
 
Why did the Little League World Series championship team from Hawaii look like nine Shane Victorino’s running around out there last week? Seriously, one is enough!
 
Since when does, A.) a bunion sideline you for an entire season, and B.) surgery on said bunion threaten to end your career? Hey El Duque, come on bro, it’s a BIG TOE.
 
Why is it that every time I watch the bullpen blow a game in the 9th inning, I feel like I’m Bill Murray from Groundhog Day?
 
Aaron Heilman, you have proven you can’t be a starter, and you also have proven that you can’t be a closer. What CAN you do?
 
It’s common knowledge that when you add 5+7, it always equals AMAZIN. 
 
How many Reyes’s does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?
 
Exactly what IS Philly Phanatic?
 
This isn’t a question, but more of a statement. Thank you Moises Alou for getting hurt for the millionth time earlier this year. Where would we be without Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy playing for considerably less money than what you have made while on the DL all season.
 
Remember when the Atlanta Braves were actually relevant? Ha ha, those were the days!
 
With all the firings and changes of personnel the Mets have had this year, how come the guy in charge of keeping people healthy still has a job?
 
Whats another word for the Mets Bullpen that starts with the word BULL? I’ll let you answer that question.
 
On a more serious note, I will be attending the Mets/Phillies game next Saturday if anyone is interested and wants to meet before the game to talk baseball. I hope to meet some of our readers here at Metsmerized and look forward to hearing your opinions.

Last night, the New York Mets were down to their last strike. Luis Castillo got on base, followed by David Wright and Carlos Delgado. Enter Carlos Beltran. The first pitch he sees off Kevin Gregg ends up in the right-center field stands, in the section of Dolphin Stadium aptly known as the “Fish Tank.” And with that swing of the bat, Carlos Beltran single-handedly beat the Marlins.

Welcome to another installment of “Hot or Not.” As you can probably tell, Carlos Beltran made it back onto my Christmas card list. As did Aaron Heilman; who knew he could pitch three scoreless innings, even though his effort turned out be fruitless. My favorite player as of late continues to be Mike Pelfrey (sorry David) and I really hope he dominates the Marlins lineup tonight….or at least makes it to the fifth inning.

As for the “Not” section, I could write a plethora of posts concerning the Mets bullpen, but I won’t. I could write about a certain 3rd baseman who has the tendency to choke with runners in scoring position, and I don’t mean A-Rod. But, I am a softy and the Mets have a two game lead in the division over the Phillies, who are currently having their own bullpen issues. Brad Lidge had to crack some time. Gotta love that karma.

As long as the Mets continue to win, and hold on to their division lead, I will be happy. Our very own Redeem Team looks to amaze us more than they already have. Lets go Mets!

Mike Pelfrey is obviously the present and the future of this Mets rotation. With Ollie and Pedro facing free agency, and with John Maine’s shutdown, our Opening Day 2009 rotation is very much up in the air. Barring any major free agent signing (i.e. CC Sabathia), Mike Pelfrey is on pace to become our #2 guy behind Johan Santana. And yes, we are talking about the same Mike Pelfrey that barely made the rotation at the beginning of the season.

Pelfrey has stepped up to the plate in a way that nobody expected. Sure, Johan Santana may be the ace, but when I go to a Mets game, I’m hoping Pelfrey is the starting pitcher. Mike Pelfrey’s story continues to be a feel good story of how endurance and hard work gets you where you want to be. This weekend, Mike Pelfrey will continue his amazing journey in Miami. Pelfrey is currently 0-3 with a 10.66 ERA against the Marlins this season. In two of his outings against the Fish, he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

The time for Mike Pelfrey to show us what kind of pitcher he is is right now. We know that Johan is…well, Johan, we know that Ollie pitches in the clutch. We’ve seen Pelfrey pitch 9 quality innings and we’ve seen him pitch 6 beautiful innings. What I want to see him do is beat the Marlins and overcome whatever it is that keeps him from beating them. His time is now, and he has legions of fans that believe in him.

Putting away all the recent discourse regarding Carlos Delgado for just a moment, I was wondering how the Mets were going to deal with a more pressing issue at the end of this season.

What about Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez?

Obviously their situations differ greatly from that of Delgado because the Mets have an option on their first baseman, and Perez and Pedro both walk at the end of the season.

But, how should the Mets attack the pitching situation? The problem becomes a little bit more complex when you consider that John Maine will be returning from off season shoulder surgery, and until he actually gets it over with and begins rehabbing, there’s no guarantee if he will be ready by Opening Day. Case in point, Duaner Sanchez.

Yesterday, I tuned into the Yankees game while I worked and was surprised to hear John Sterling and Susan Waldman talk about who the Yankees should go after in the off season to bolster the rotation.

Together they both blurted out Oliver Perez as if it was choreographed. Sterling said, he’s young, he comes to the team already tamed, he’s a lefty, and he’s nasty. They both agreed that Oliver Perez and C.C. Sabathia would most likely be with the Yankees next season because they will throw more money at them then anybody else.

The Mets can thwart those plans if they were to sign Perez before he becomes a free agent. I don’t want to hear how he wants to play on the West Coast or how Boras won’t let him bypass free agency. We heard all those same arguments with Mike Piazza, back in the day. Money talks, and you know what walks.

And what about Pedro?

Do we let him walk too?

If Maine is not ready on Opening day, the Mets rotation is as follows:

1. Johan Santana

2. Mike Pelfrey

3, 4, 5. Tom, Dick, and Harry

1887: Denny Lyons of the Philadelphia A’s is held hitless and his consecutive game hitting streak ends at 52 games.

1948: Led by Jackie Robinson, who hits for the cycle, Brooklyn defeats STL, 12-7.

1951: The Yankees trade Lew Burdette to the Braves for Johnny Sain. Six years later, the Braves defeat the Yankees in a 7 game World Series. The hero for the Braves is Lew Burdette, who tosses 3 complete game victories against his old team.

1965: Willie Mays breaks Ralph Kiner’s record for most HR’s in the month of August. The feat was accomplished against the Mets and Kiner, doing play by play for New York, broadcast his own record falling.

1966: Robin Roberts defeats the Braves, 4-2. He is the only pitcher to defeat the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves and Atlanta Braves.

1971: Hank Aaron knocks in his 100^th RBI of the season. It’s the 11^th time he’s reached the century mark, a NL record.

1972: Jim Barr of the Giants retires the 1^st 20 batters he faces. In his previous start, Barr retired the final 21 batters he faced, giving him a record of 41 consecutive outs.

1977: With a stolen base against the Padres, Lou Brock passes Ty Cobb and becomes baseball’s all time SB king with 938.

1992: Braves pitcher Charlie Liebrandt records the 1000^th strikeout of his career. He decides to save the ball and rolls it to the dugout. However, he failed to call time and base runner Rickey Jordan stole 2^nd on the mental mistake.

1993: George Brett joins an elite group. Along with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, Brett is only the 3^rd player in history with 300 HR’s and 200 SB’s.

1905: Ty Cobb makes his ML debut and doubles off Jack Chesbro of the NY Highlanders. There will be 4188 more hits to come for the young Detroit rookie.

1906: ‘Slow’ Joe Doyle becomes the 1^st pitcher to record back-to-back shut outs in his 1^st 2 career starts.

1912: Earl Hamilton of STL no-hits the Tigers, 5-1.

1916: Dutch Leonard of Boston no-hits the Browns, 4-0.

1928: In the final AB of a remarkable career, Tris Speaker strikes out against Red Ruffing. ‘The Grey Eagle’ retires with a 345 career BA, 6^th highest in history.

1965: Casey Stengel retires as Mets manager.

1999: Edgardo Alfonso becomes the 1^st Mets player to go 6-for-6. He establishes a team record of 16 total bases as New York crushes Houston, 17-1.

2005: Alex Rodriguez joins Joe DiMaggio as the only RH Yankee hitter to hit 40 Home Runs in a single season.

1950: Gil Hodges hits 4 Home Runs in 1 game as the Dodgers destroy Boston, 19-3.

1964: Ground is broken for Anaheim Stadium, future home of the California Angels.

1969: A well known (and well endowed) female, who came to be known as, “Morgana the Kissing Bandit,” jumps onto the field and kisses the batter, Clete Boyer. Mired in a 1-17 slump, Boyer would get…pardon the pun, ‘hot’…and go 8 for his next 15.

Two times last night, Jose Reyes was doubled-up off of first base after a flyball was caught in the outfield. Fortunately for Jose and the Mets, Ryan Howard was unable to handle the first ball (or his glove for that matter), and Jose returned safely to first base. This first inning blunder could have cost the Mets their first run.

Is this just an example of Jose trying to do too much or is this just a case of Jose getting ahead of himself and not thinking clearly? Jose started the year with a rash of errors and poor defensive decisions.  He was able to right himself and show once again that he is a defensive force out there.

Jose Reyes is currently leading the team in batting average (.306), hits (174), runs scored (95),  triples (by far at 16), total bases (278), and, needless to say, stolen bases (43).  Everyone agrees that Jose is an offensive force, with a lot of intangibles that aren’t typically tracked in statistics (how many times do pitchers throw over to first or second when Jose is on-base? I believe these throw-overs should be looked at in the same numbers as pitch count in terms of the physical drain on pitchers). Jose should be considered in the mix of an MVP candidate as much as Carlos Delgado.

Right now, however, we can’t have him making stupid decisions on the basepaths.  As much of a force as he is out there, it is only just enough to keep the Mets on the winning side of things. It may be time for Sandy Alomar or Luis Aguayo to have a brief sitdown with Jose to talk about decision-making on the basepaths.

That being said, at least he’s not out there stealing third with a power-bat at the plate like some other selfish speedsters out there.

LGM

I guess today is Carlos Delgado Day on Mets Merized Online. Well, why not? While some can say that this Mets resurgence lies squarely with Interim Manager Jerry Manuel, can anybody deny that he couldn’t have done it without Delgado?

Not only is Delgado doing the right things at the plate, but he even has picked up his performance defensively, continues to provide veteran leadership in the clubhouse and he always seems to be saying the right things too.

This is what he said to reporters after last night’s heroics.

“It shows we have a lot of character here and we have short term memories. Last night was a tough loss, but we were able to put that behind us and come back an play. That’s important, if you lose a game or two and start worrying about that you’re going to be in trouble.”

“Whatever happened last year, it happened and we put it behind us. We are in a different frame of mind. We’re not thinking about September of 2007, we’re thinking about going out and playing good baseball right now.”

Coming into this season, Delgado shouldered much of the blame for 2007. Since late June, Delgado has literally carried the Mets back into contention and continues to come up big in the clutch. What started out as a hot week in late June, has now become a second half that leads the league in almost every offensive category including homeruns, RBI, Slugging Percentage and Total Bases.

The question of whether the Mets should pick up his team option has been answered, and last night Delgado put an exclamation point on it. YES!

After last night’s debacle, I can’t help but look at the weakest spot on the Mets right now: the bullpen. With the loss of Billy Wagner, little has gone right. Here’s a few nuggets for you to chew on; The Mets bullpen is:

12th in ERA: 4.27
T-1st in blown saves: 22
6th in HR allowed: 47
2nd in HBP: 27
6th in runs allowed: 213
10th in opposing AVG: .253

The bullpen now consists of: Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano, Scott Schoeneweis, Joe Smith, Luis Ayala, and Brian Stokes. The two who had the most trouble in August, so far, is Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez. Despite Aaron’s great effort last night, he allowed 11 runs to score in 13 innings, while walking 10. He also blown 2 saves. Duaner has given up 8 hits in 5 innings of work, allowing 4 runs to score. His August ERA is at a dismal 7.20.

How do we fix this? Well, Jerry is going to have to use “shaky” Schoeneweis and Joe Smith more often as a set-up man and using Luis Ayala as a closer. Smith and Schoeneweis have been the most “decent” pitchers, to be quite
honest. Smith has not let a run score since August 11th, and
Schoeneweis’s run that scored was the first run he’s allowed since
August 7th. Ayala’s run was the first he’s allowed as a Met. Or Jerry can use Stokes as a middle relief guy instead of Sanchez and Heilman. Let’s admit, Heilman and Sanchez have not been the same pitcher they have been in 2006, and it’s not even close.

Can we rely on September call-ups for help? Possibly. With Al Reyes working in Binghamton at the moment, we can use him as another pitcher to lighten the load off of the bullpen. Or maybe Kunz can be brought back if he can show a steadier arm in AAA. There’s going to be a lot of motors rolling this week. Who knows, maybe Omar will pull the trigger and try to get Brian Fuentes.
 

While there were a few bright spots in last night’s Mets loss to the Phillies, one particular thing stands out in my mind.  Forgive me for not being able to recall the inning, but Damion Easley was at the plate, with a chance to hit for the cycle (only needing a double), and with Jose Reyes on first, Easley drops a drag bunt down the third base line, beating out the throw and giving the Mets runners on first and second with nobody out, in need of insurance runs after giving up a 7-run lead. 

Talk about a selfless act.  How many chances does Easley get at the cycle?  Yet the only thing on his mind was getting on base. Granted, he knew he would get another turn at-bat, but he did what was good for the team, not for himself.  After that, he deserved to hit for the cycle and I felt he would end up doing it because of his noble approach.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  In any event, kudos to Damion Easley, who demonstrated the true qualities of a team player, a leader and a champion!