8
2011
How Stupid Plays Almost Crushed The Mets Rally Yesterday
An article by 
Despite the fact the Mets lost yesterday to the Dodgers, 6-0 , there were a few plays in the late innings that nearly crushed any chance at a rally.
1.) Justin Turner swinging at a 2-0 pitch in the eighth
While this play was a microcosm of the game and showed the Mets impatience at the plate, this play signified more then that. With men on first and second, and a chance to get Carlos Beltran up to the plate or to even advance the runners, Turner swung at an ill-advised inside pitch that he popped down the right field line. Where as Turner has been patient as shown by his OBP amongst rookies, this was clearly Turner trying to make something out of nothing, and that one pitch could have bought him a much fatter one to swing at
2.) Ruben Tejada stealing third
For a disclaimer note, and as I said on twitter, Ruben Tejada is not Angel Pagan nor Jose Reyes, and them stealing third with two outs in the eighth inning would have been inexplicable as well. But Ruben Tejada, he of 0 stolen bases until yesterday charging hard for third and luckily getting the call in his favor, one has to wonder what was going through his mind. He was already at second, so he was in scoring position. If he gets the last out at third, he kills Beltran’s chance to hit with RISP and probably gets a piece of his hide removed by Terry Collins. That was obviously Ruben taking the base on his own.
3.) Ronny Paulino taking huge cuts in the last at-bat of eighth.
Clayton Kershaw had already been over 100 pitches and Paulino had a chance to draw Kershaw into a much better count. I cannot fault Paulino here for wanting to swing momentum, but Paulino has shortened his swing in key RBI situations before, and that would have been the much better approach. Kershaw was filthy yesterday, but that changeup was diving from jump street, and an emergency hack probably could’ve wasted the pitch.
4.) Lucas Duda’s strikeout in the ninth.
Less again, cannot fault Duda for wanting to draw blood with the bases drunk. Kuo is a filthy lefty with a mid-90′s fastball, but he does have his control issues and as with most hard throwers, gets chasers. Duda has gotten by with some good hits, and possibly punching a single in for two RBI’s to bring up Pagan may have been much wiser.
Overall, the Mets lost because they couldn’t put together hits when needed and didn’t manage one extra base hit all game. That is not a recipe for the win. Also, it didn’t hurt that the umpire Gibson blew another more obvious call in the second inning.
To follow my rage from yesterday and other Mets thoughts, follow me on twitter @TheSeanKenny
About the Author: Sean Kenny
Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny
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sean kenny: we lost, we play bad, hey, it happens, move on and let’s get’em tonight, lern from mistakes as you go along, remmeber, this team is a triple A squad put together in the MLB. as long as they play hard we should be grateful you know
I agree with Alex. Do we have to complain every time we lose. How about Kershaw , did he have nothing to do with it. Stop whining and root for the team. If your a Met fan that is
What Mets rally? Did we have a rally? Also, dont forget the sixth inning when Pagan, Turner and Beltran were retired on 4 pitches.
What’s the over/under on stupid plays from Pagan tonight? That route he took on Miles’s single was awesome. But don’t worry, last year was no fluke. He’s really that good.
lmao, xtreemicon, he’s an ok player i’ve said it as well, but remmeber, we had beltran on CF, and he was a bust, only this year on his contract year is that he’s producing big numbers (sarcasm)
Alderson’s biggest mistake is not dumping that guy in the off season. The Mets could have gotten a decent prospect for him. He’s been dreadful this year, on both sides of the ball.
I like Pagan as a player, maybe not as an everyday centerfielder, but you could do worse. Pagan’s problem isn’t from a lack of trying, on the contrary I would suggest he plays overly aggressive and that’s what usually leads to the bad running, fielding, hitting decisions. In a perfect world, he’d be our No. 4 outfielder and one of the best in the league at that. But for now he is the best option we have for centerfield.
Pagan’s not the worst player ever, of course not. He’s like Chris Dickerson with more power, but not as good in the field. He’d be a very solid 4th outfielder, sure. Certainly better than Harris.
But I don’t agree it’s as cut and dried as “well, he’s our best option in CF.” First of all, he’s not, at least not this year. Hairston’s hitting .238/.322/.425 with three HRs and 12 RBIs in almost a third fewer PAs than Pagan’s .259/.336/.359, 2/25. And Pagan’s defense sure ain’t making up for it.
Secondly, even if Pagan was a little better than Hairston, if the Mets could have gotten more than Pagan’s actual worth back in a deal for Pagan, then a deal should have been made to improve the team. Who knows, maybe the guy they brought back could have been the CF. Or maybe, just maybe, if there was no position battle, Beltran would be the CFer and Duda would have made the club out of Spring Training if Pagan hadn’t been here to force the issue. Beltran’s been a revelation in RF this season, so maybe playing CF he would have been “merely” very good.
I dont disagree with anything you say, but I will simply add this: I believe it would have been unwise to trade Pagan in the offseason without knowing how healthy Beltran was going to be. I dont think Alderson would have gotten rave reviews if opening day came around and Pagan was ummm gone, and Beltran wasnt ready to play. Not that Alderson is getting rave reviews anyway.
Beltran’s health was certainly a mitigating factor. But I’m a firm believer in “strike while the iron is hot” and would rather have seen the Mets improve the team if a deal was in place to get more than “Pagan” for Pagan. Again, Hairston was available to play CF (he certainly played a lot of LF in Bay’s absence) until Beltran’s health issue was resolved.
On the contrary about Alderson, though, it’s really only the five or so commenters here that have nothing positive to say about Alderson. Impartial media from around the game all have high praise for him from his past jobs and are holding comment his job here till he’s had a fair amount of time to work. What a concept, huh?
So basically you’re saying Alderson should get at least a fair amount of time before passing judgement? Wow, you really are extreme, Xtreem. lol
Me and my outrageous concepts!
Taking all things into consideration that we are missing so many key players, and
still playing over 500 ball, I would say that we are having a good year.
It is so nice to see that the replacements are doing so good, and how nice it
would be if they had a fully healthy Ike, Wright, Reyes, and Santana to also go along
with Bay, who sure looks like he is coming back to life.
We would not only have improved the pitching, but also the offense. Enough so that we
would be very deep into the wild card world.
Good News/Bad News – The good news is we took 3 of 4 on the west coast and that’s nothing to sneeze at. The bad news is that we are starting to repeat the same silly fundamental mistakes. But I’m certain that Collins will address that before tonight’s game.
Off topic, I just want to say how much I enjoy reading the opinions on this site. I may not always agree but the original thhoughts and columns you post here are refreshing to read instead of the same old regurgitated news from Rubin.
you’re welcome hodges14. pretty much EVERYONE does a good job posting article except for maybe 1 apple or 2, maybe 1, but is good to be in this site and read articles and express your opinion, although be careful, some ppl are more “educated” than you if you don’t agree with their post.
All I want to know is …Who is 86 in the picture above?