9
2010
What A Pair Of Grapefruits On You!
An article by Former Writers
The Grapefruit League afforded the 6-3 Mets fans the opportunity to see some of our rotation’s hopefuls at work and get a glimpse of what we will be expecting to see in less than a month. There were a lot of things to be happy about if you’re a Met fan… and quite a few things that were the topic of some discussions.
Johan Santana made his Grapefruit League debut today against the Houston Astros. Johan gave up 4 runs in 1 and 2/3 innings. He threw his slider effectively, which showed that his elbow is much better as that pitch is very difficult to throw if the elbow is not right.
The final line was six hits, one walk, and a homer to Kaz Matsui, for our ace.
After a trying year of health issues, it’s good to know that Santana can throw his signature pitches effectively and is in good health. Not great numbers, I hear the skeptics saying in the background, but nothing to be concerned about. Besides, it’s Spring Training and the games don’t mean that much.
This was huge step forward for our ace. Johan just needed to show he was healthy and he did that. These kind of results aren’t important right now. Chillax, Mets fans.
Oliver Perez made his debut against the Nationals and under the mandate of pitching coach Dan Warthen, he just needed to throw strikes. If nothing else, Ollie accomplished that throwing 33 of 49 pitches for strikes. His line was 3 IP, 5 R, 7 H, and 1 BB. He felt good and looked comfortable (for Ollie) on the mound. So why the opposing reactions from fans on Perez as compared to Johan’s performance today? That’s one to ponder, I suppose.
One point of note is RBIs. A lot more of them this Spring than anyone expected as compared to last spring.
David Wright (with his 2nd home run this Spring) and the hot hand of Ike Davis have been very hot and productive. That’s good news if it can translate over to the regular season.
The Mets left far too many runners on base last season, and I believe the approximate number was about 9 players LOB per game last year. You do the math… My head hurts!
That could have easily and without much argument, equated to, at least, two dozen wins going the other way. Maybe more. I think we have a stud on our hands with Ike. We just need to take our time and let him develop.
Seeing D-Wright pounding the ball instead of obsessing about pulling the ball to right field makes this a very interesting development for our on-field product.
Even Johnny Maine, although also being dealt with cautiously due to recent arm issues, pitched very well with a win this week. He threw 39 pitches (21 for strikes) in 1.2 innings and allowed just one run, two hits and on walk.
We will definitely see more from all three including Big Pelf as we get through March. I’m very encouraged about the overall health of the arms. That was a crucial sticking point for us last year and it appears to be a non-issue so far this year.
Additional notes
Chris Carter, chomping at the bit for a roster spot, hit two home runs in the same inning against the Marlins on Monday, which is a very rare feat and distinction even for a spring exhibition. Jenrry Mejia, who has been lobbying to start for the Mets as opposed to the expected bullpen assignment, had a great outing on Monday, and now has allowed two hits and no walks and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings pitched. I believe Mejia is being stretched out. Time will tell, though. And how about Hisanori Takahashi who showed why he should be considered a lock for the team with three shutout innings and only one baserunner allowed on Sunday afternoon.
Lots of positives. You just need to open your eyes and look for them. Keep an eye on Bobby Livingston, Fernando Martinez, Ryota Igarashi, Russ Adams, and Shawn Bowman. They’re all playing pretty well too. I hope you’re all as encouraged as I am, as we have plenty of good reasons to be optimistic for a change. Different air, different demeanor, and I am hopeful for a different result on the field. LGM
About the Author: Former Writers
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Ahh, it seems YU didn’t see the game, johan didn’t allowed a leadoff home run, second of all, remember 2008 when santana had a 8.30 era?? No?? Well he did, for him it doesn’t matter coz he’s a winner and a great competitor, on the other hand perez is garbage and if he’s struggling in the preseason most likely he will struggle in the regular season, either way nice observation from u by compering johan wit oliver perez.. they shouldn’t even be mention in the same sentece!!!!!!
Alex, your never ending positivity does not cease to amaze me -__-
On a serious note, you cannot make the assumption that Perez will struggle in the regular season because he hasn’t looked ok so far. I do not believe that Perez is garbage, and what Yusef was getting at here is pretty much your reaction.
You said that it doesn’t matter for Santana, but for Perez it does, and that’s the general consensus for the Met fan base right now. Honestly, i’m just as worried about Santana, but I won’t let it get to me unless he looks this bad again at the end of March.
Look, I’m a very hardcore fan, and ppl complain about the wilpons, screaming to sell the team and whatnot, but is not the owners fault if they give the gm 150 million dollar payroll, and the gm goes out and spend it on garbage like cora, castillo and perez, who combined make 20 million and produce combine maybe half of million
About perez, he is garbage, if he’s never able to fix his issues at 29 he never will, we’ll be lucky if he wins 9games this year, and why u think the consesus is about johan and perez?? Santana is a 2 time cy young winner, maybe the best pitcher in the game, perez is nothing but a dissapointment who got lucky to negotiate wit considerably the stupidiest gm wit an open wallet in all game, that’s the only reason he got his deal wit the mets, if not he’ll be selling peanuts in the corner 142nd street..
To be honest, Alex, can you say with confidence you know what goes on between closed doors? I don’t know what goes on within the office of the Wilpons, so i’m never one to speak about buying-selling-firing…etc.
At the time of the extension, a lot of the met fan base supported the Castillo signing. I wasn’t head over heels for it, but I admittedly supported the signing at the time. I see now that I was wrong.
Perez isn’t garbage. He’s a confusing case, and I’ll admit that he doesn’t deserve the money he got. But that doesn’t mean that he still can’t be a worthwhile contributor to this team. Granted, I don’t expect him to step up and be the #2 starter or something, but he can still help.
And look, you can get on Omar until the cows come home.
But he’s made some notable deals for us that have helped.
Santana for Gomez + 3 players who are no longer significant.
K-rod signing for well under what he wanted.
Lastings Milledge for Brian Schnieder and eventually Jeff Francouer. He was the one who got Beltran. He got Lo Doca, Wagner, Maine…
He’s not the stupidest gm with an open wallet.
You might be stuck in the NY media bubble, my friend.
Again satish, he had an open wallet to bring in guys like beltran krod, trade and sign santana since there were no other team interested, delgado was a fire sale so he didn’t give up anything, yes he’s had some good minor deals but many horrendous one as well, burgoz, bell, lindstrom, etc.. horrible signings as well, I for once didn’t like caastillo since he was brought on board, yes we were struggling at 2b but that wasn’t our need at the moment in 2007, bullpen was, and yet again he failed to realize it then, he hasn’t had 1 single prospect from the farm that has pan out in the bigs since he became gm, omar need to go, he’s had the highest payroll in the nl for 4 straight years and he’s got 1 playoff appearance to show for.
About perez.. I won’t even say nothing other than he sucks, and unless he wins 15 games wit 200 k’s I’ll be riding him till the mets and our stupid ass gm admit they made a mistake by signing this bum and either trade him or release him or send him down to triple A just like kei igawa..
Fellas, Fellas…
We are in “Week 2″ of spring training and already casting criticism on our team.
Alex68, being a die-hard Mets fan, which I do not question, you are prone to cast pestimistic views about your team, no different than the Indians fans in the movie Major league.
Ollie is our “Wild Thing” and at times he makes our heart sing, and other times he makes us puke. What all Mets fans need to come to grips with is what is done is done, this is our team, and you can either hop on the “I Believe Bus” or the “Hating my team makes me a Diehard fan Bus”.
Citing the movie major league, I will quote the manager Lou Brown on his comments about their team as it bears similar reference to our team;
“Every newspaper in the country has picked us to finish last. The local press seems to think we’d save everyone a lot of time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves. Me, I’m for wasting sports writers’ time. So, I’d like to hang around and see if we can give ‘em all a nice big shitburger to eat”.
Remember Mets Faithful, Championships “CAN’ be won with a bunch of “Rag Tag” guys and a “Stacked Team” ensures nothing
SEE WORLD SERIES – NY YANKEES vs. FLORIDA MARLINS
Keep the Faith (Mets Faith that is)
Scott,
Is har to be optimistic when u have good offensive player reyes, beltran, wright, bay, francour then surround them by pitchers who if given a 5 run lead will give it right back.. the constant pressure on the offense has taken a toll on us the past years, speciall in september 07 & 08 when it seems the mets needed to score 10 runsc per game becoz the same group that’s coming back perez, maine & pelfrey couldn’t either get past the 5th inning or couldn’t hold the lead.. that’s why I’ve said that at least pitchingwise we needed to move someone out of there, either trade maine, release pelfrey or sign someone actually good who can move down each of this guys one slot down..
Scott – Love the Major League reference. I might be using that Wild Thing reference in the coming weeks, lol.
Appreciate the keeping the faith message there.
So let me get this straight, you’re not giving Minaya credit for getting Carlos Delgado, Beltran, K-rod, or trading for Santana?
I liked the Burgos deal because the kid had good stuff. At this point, I still say it even though it was a bad deal for us. Yes, he gave away Lindstrom and Ring, but are you seriously that hung up on those deals that you overlook that he made this team?
We all understand that the Perez deal wasn’t the best thing in the world. But Oliver is still with us, and as I said before, he can compete and contribute.
Granted, to your other comment, Minaya’s prospects haven’t all panned out. He managed to get Santana for two of these guys and pretty much Carlos Gomez alone.
Picks under his control were :
Philip Humber (2004, Traded)
Mike Carp (2004, Traded)
Nick Evans (2004, Jerry’s Doghouse)
Mike Pelfrey (2005) I think the book is still open on him.
Jon Niese (2005) Same thing.
Bobby Parnell (2005) Same thing.
Josh Thole (2005) Has potential.
Kevin Mulvey (2006, Traded)
Joe Smith (2006, Traded)
Daniel Murphy (2006)
Eddie Kunz (2007)
Rustich, Moviel, Niesen (2007)
Ike Davis (2008)
Brad Holt (2008)
Steven Matz (2009).
Satish, plz don’t defend omar, he’s the reason this team is well constructed as of right now, none of his prospect hasn’t panned out, pelfrey maybe goes back to being good but we don’t know yet, everyone else is a bust, or too young to tell (davis, mejia), the inexplicable signings of alou, el duque, castillo, perez, schoenwies and trades of an injure putz, burgos, flores, bell, lindstrom, traded for vargas, sean green, I mean the list goes on and on, he was ridicule in public by delgado after delgado sign wit the marlins what else need I say??
He had 1 magical year, 2006 when everything worked out for him, but then, he got rid of oliver and floyd and replace them wit alou and schoenweis, then sign mota to 2 years after admitting using steroid, I mean, how can u defend this guy? Take away reyes and wright and other than beltran and bay thid team is horrendously poor constructed..
You really have like a hate agenda for Minaya.
You said it yourself, “beltran and bay”…both people Minaya have signed. And it’s not as easy and giving a guy the money and just throwing it at somebody, you have to give him some credit there.
I think you’re overlooking that Niese might be our 5th starter. Alou hit .342 in his career with the Mets. Omar got El Duque for Jorge Julio. And then Hernandez went on to pitch for like, a what, under 4 Era and won 9 games in both years. He wasn’t the best option, but Omar did what he could. Jesus Flores wasn’t traded, he was taken in the rule 5.
Look, the point is, he did make some bad moves, but every GM does.
Point is Minaya has made some good moves, and some terrible moves to boot. It seems that the net result is that the team really hasnt gone anywhere. The whole Minaya era might as well have been a wash for the results that we’ve seen.
Satish, BTW April 30 IS THE DEADLINE FOR JUMPING SHIP, NOTHING IN MARCH MATTERS AT ALL! No more significant than the 91 runs we scored in the first 8 games is indicative that our offense is ready to decimate w/ 11.3R/game avg.
All we have right now are indications, in the case of all 3-ENIGMAS for the longest time we’ve all lamented the number of BB issued by them; but indiications presently seem positive in that regard. Maine, at the end of last yr went against Houston for 7IP, 5H,1ER,5K & 0 BB combine that to his very short stint this camp where he faced 8 batters K’ing 4 1BB. that’s positive, Perez’ 1 BB a positive, Pelf similarly isn’t issuing free passes either. Are we, fans so desperate to find fault as we can’t recognize positives when we see them?
In addition, when was the last time so many NYM prospect invitees made this positive a commotion? 1984? After years of being told the pipeline is empty and there’s only dregs left, why is this not celebrated more? Is angst suddenly the preferred emotion in Flushing? Do we need to borrow worries that badly? Can we not see how all the ’09 injured were all fairly young & resilient? Is optimism that much more expensive than pessimism that we easily fault the optimistic & defend the pessimistic? Whatever happened to BELIEVING? Did it disappear amongst the Shea rubble?
Wait, i’m lost, are you saying i’m not optimistic?
I’m still the kid who wrote this article – http://metsmerizedonline.com/2009/06/ya-still-gotta-believe-2.html xD. I’m highly optimistic, because I want a reason to believe in our players.
Alex, what are u liooking at? Since he became a SP Santana’s highest ERA WAS 3.33 IN 2007. HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING, MY FRIEND? SNORTING?
’04 20-6 2,61
’05 16-7 2,87
’06 19-6 2.77
’07 15-13 3.33
’08 16-7 2,53
’09 134-9 3.13
PLEASE, ALEX, COME BACK TO US!
62
I was refering to spring training, I should’ve pointed that out..
Alex in case u forgot, ST is meaningless outside of conditioning. Was Johan’s miserable ’07 ST u cite indicative of his actuals once the bell rang? Obviously not! Truly, he did have his highest ERA @ 3.33 & how many AL studs would sell their souls for that number? it’s all relative! Ike Davis is doing great; but unnoticed is it’s mostly happening late against pitchers with uni #s higher than 50 Mejia is also performing magnificently; but after the fifth inning when most regulars are out of the game. This early, prior to St Patricks’s Day it means absolutly nothing. No more than Bonds should concern himself over Carter’s 2 9th inning bombs translating into a fullseason threat when trend is calculated in one of those typical, “at this pace” conclusions we’ll all see by Tax Day.
YU saw the game…He just has different eyes than some others. He doesn’t see October when he’s looking at March.
If u understand spring training and baseball in general, you will see and understand that this was his first start of the spring. Perez looked very consistent and even though the numbers showed that he got roughed up, you could see that he was working on being more consistent. At this point you have to understand that if u want him to win u have to deal with baby steps. He has the stuff and until I see more of his pitching I won’t judge a guy who only throws 49 pitches in the first s.t. start. Don’t be so darn critical of anyone at this point, just watch and enjoy the baseball games
Andy – all very good points, but if you read the board long enough you’re realize that Alex knows EVERYTHING, and if he says a players is garbage they are garbage.
He is genius, he can tell that if one pitcher’s numbers the FIRST TWO innings of Spring Training are not lights out they are a terrible pitcher and that is exactly how he will be the entire season.
I’ve never read anything like it – he really believes the crap he writes. I’ve already written a few letters to Fred and begged him to hire this guy as the GM, he really is smarter then the average bear.
Butch, I’m not basing my comments on perez becoz of 2 innings of st, I can care less about st, but where have u been the past 3 years!!!!!
Lemme give u a reminded of a top 10 salary wise pitcher’s numbers last year:
3-4 6.82 66.2 69 58 62
Care to know who that is?? Ask minaya, he’ll tell u since he signed him.. btw, thanks for the genious referance, makes me feel important..
Perez himself noted that the positive for him in that ST start was that he threw strikes 33-49, and that his knee felt better.
He only made 14 starts last year due to injury. It would be better to judge him on this year, if he plays a full year.
In 2004, Perez was 12-10 and K’d 239.
2007 : 15-10, 174 K
2008 : 10-8, 180 K
The guy’s erratic, but he has the stuff to succeed. The knock against him was the 105 BB given up in 2008. If he finds a way to keep his stuff under control, he wins 10 games easy.
Ohhh, so why u only noting the good years he had, lemme refresh u and everyone’s memory of his career:
W-l. era. Ip. K. Bb
2002 4-5. 3.50. 90. 94. 48
2003 4-10 5.47 126 141 77
2005 7-5. 5.85 103. 97. 70
2006 3-13 6.55. 112 102 68
2009 3-4. 6.82. 66. 62. 58
That’s our 36 million dollar man, oh ans satish if u want our 12 million a year pitcher to win 10 games, u have a very low desire for the mets to win a championship!
I’m not defending the signing, I said already that it’s a bad signing.
I’m defending the player, because you called Oliver Perez garbage, and he’s not garbage. I know he’s not worth 36 million, but there’s the potential for him to do something, so he’s definately not garbage.
Satish, are u oliver perez???
Look man, I may be highly critical of omar, castillo, perez and figueroa but honestly, that doesn’t mean that I will root against them to perform bad, but I’m also a realist, and I see things not from a biased point of view, but from a baseball stand point, either way man..
Let’s go mets!!
I just want Perez to succeed, and I see the potential for him to succeed, you know?
I make the same arguments for Pelfrey and Maine when they are addresssed as “garbage.” I don’t consider any player on the Met roster right now trash, so I take it upon myself to defend said player. In this case, it was Perez.
But contrary to belief, I am not Oliver Perez, lol
Your post of the numbers shows just erratic he can be. He had good years in 2004, 2007 and 2008 and he had nearly 200 SO’s in two of those years. We can look at ERAs and win totals but ultimately, the Mets are trying to build in one year or more what was splintered for a long time. I don’t know anybody there personally but I like the results the Institute has given others so I prefer to wait out this year and see what Ollie does. I’m the first to carry his bags to the nearest train if he implodes this year but give him 12-15 starts to make a determination. Our team has the capacity to compete! That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Our offense is similar to 2 of the 5 teams in the East. We have an opportunity.
It amazes me how many predictions and prognostications can be made so early. I have to bow out of the sweepstakes for the Nostradamus Powerball because I don’t know what’s going to happen before it happens. BUT I will say that since I watched practically every game last year, it’s clear to me that there was improvement in the post-institute Ollie. He was more consistent and for a spot in this rotation as currently being assembled, that’s what we need. Hate the signing. Don’t see the #2 potential but I see our team has a chance to compete. Unlike many of the prognosticators who flame out before September and grow silent, my story will not change. Glad you liked the post enough to slam my thoughts. I feel loved. Let’s let them play meaningful games first then we can condemn them if needed. LGM!
I predict something similar to the 07/08 latter halves. Hitters not trusting pitchers to hold leads, pitchers not trusting hitters to build leads or comebacks, leading to everyone pressing and yet another stressful situation.