29
2012
Phillies, Mother Nature Can’t Rattle Hefner In 6-3 Wet Win
An article by 
The Amazins’ come back to even up the series with a good performance from Hefner and the offense tonight – 6 – 3 win.
Summary
I think I enjoy making up names for the recaps. I have to think hard. Neither bad weather nor our rival team could shake Jeremy Hefner tonight and I actually look forward to seeing more of this guy in the future.
Jeremy Hefner started tonight since the starters are injured and the replacements are injured or not performing – but he did fine out there tonight. He probably will not be on anyone’s write-in list for the all-star game, but hey, credit should be given where credit is due. He pitched 6 innings tonight, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits – which happens to be the minimum for a quality start (whatever value you give to that stat, so be it.) Jimmy Rollins scored the first run on a wild pitch from a Hunter Pence strikeout. Remember Brian Schneider? He took Hefner deep for his second HR of the year. A misplayed Pence double led to the third run of the game for the Phillies, but overall, bend but not break for Hefner on the evening. 4 Ks and 0 walks round out his stats. Parnell and Rauch went ahead to pitch scoreless innings before the rain caused a delay in the bottom of the eighth – but no worries, Frank Francisco handled the ninth with only a single allowed and 2 strikeouts.
The Mets offense struck Blanton for two runs in the first on RBI singles for Wright and Davis. An RBI 2B by Mike Baxter drove in Omar Quintanilla for run number 3 in the second. In the bottom of the fourth, Jeremy Hefner shocked the world by getting his first career hit – a solo HR. The Mets would add two more in the sixth off a Scott Hairston 2-run HR off the bench, batting for Hefner, to finish off the 6 runs in 5 IP for Blanton.
Defense could have been better in this one, but the MASH unit patchwork team worked out once again. In terms of the random notes, Ike got an intentional walk and Baxter got HBP. Baxter’s error was his first on the year.
Hero Of The Game
Hefner gets the nod for the HR and the good start.
Notes
Win number one for Jeremy Hefner (1-2), Hold number 11 for Parnell, 5 for Rauchie, and 14th save for Francisco.
Phillies were held hitless with RISP today.
Nickeas left 5 on base today and dropped his average to .148.
On Deck
Gee takes on Lee tomorrow evening at 7:10 PM. Lee looks for his first win while Gee looks to build on his nine-strikeout performance last time out against the Padres. LGM – Let’s hope a series win is in the books.
About the Author: Satish Ram
I am a Senior Writer and Editor here at MetsMerized - where I specialize in Minor League coverage. I have been on the staff since 2007 and I am currently in my third semester of college in New York City. You can find me at www.facebook.com/SatishRam or @SilverHeatMMO. Feel free to message me - I love talking about the Mets or baseball overall with anybody.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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Congrats to Hefner on his first ML win.
Getting production out of the most unlikeliest sources such as the pitcher, the new kid on the block and the bench. I don’t care how we do it, as long as we keep winning series.
Frankie Frank looking sharp lately as well.
nickeas might have to be the odd catcher out when Thole comes back (I think this weekend?). Hard to make a case to keep him.
On the post game, Sandy said Ruben will remain in NY this week, receive treatment and they will reevaluate on Friday.
Any win vs the Phils is a nice win but when your pitcher hits a HR to help that effort it’s just that much sweeter.
Congrats to Hefner on his 1st Hit, HR, RBI, Run and Win.
I had said Duda & Davis would hit HR’s tonight. Clearly what I meant to say was Hefner & Hairston.
Positives tonight was Hefner’s effort tonight plus Parnell, Rauch & Francisco scoreless innings of relief. Regarding Francisco WFAN announced that he is now tied for the NL lead in Saves.
6 games above .500 let make it 7 2morrow.
LGM!
Off Topic: Nice outing tonight by Harvey & Mazzoni. In particular Mazzoni who pitched an impressive 7 innings while giving up 3 hits 1 run 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. Also what a night for T.J. Rivera who went 4 for 6 with a HR 4 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Travis Taijeron not that far behind as well with his 3 for 5 1 HR 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Well done guys.
I watched this game tonight and to tell you the truth he didn’t pitch as well as his line looked. He was pretty wild tonight and wasn’t throwing that hard. He did spin off a few nice curves but other than that it was just a so so start for me.
Thx for the info Fonzie. There is an article by the Bisons beat writer that also points out Harvey’s reduced velocity. Saying Harvey optioned for more control and less velocity. Though the 4 walks would suggest he didn’t fair that well. Just reading the box score he seemed to throw about 60% of his pitches for strikes and there was a quote attributed to Backman that he lost his rhythm a bit during his 2 walks in the second inning.
On another note AnthonyDiComo tweeted the following: Thursday’s Triple-A Buffalo game will air live on MLB Network at 10:30 a.m., with Chris Young pitching and Josh Thole catching. #Mets
Glad to see Taijeron getting back on the right track after going through a little slump. Now, if Cory Vaughn could only follow suit…
Nice read for all those looking for more content on Matt Harvey by Bisons beatwriter Mike Harrington.
http://blogs.buffalonews.com/insidepitch/2012/05/thoughts-on-harvey.html
MNJ — Thanks for the link. I read it and I recommend it to all Mets fans. Has lots of information and sage advice.
Another rookie with their first homerun as their first hit in the majors this year!
Nice to see our LF finally making a contribution on a consistent basis. That would be Baxter, Hairston, Kirk, Rottino and anyone else besides our “regular”.
This actually points out the answer to not signing a guy like Bay (when many people were saying “but who else is out there”?)
Instead of overpaying because there are no good options on the market for a big name guy, and also clogging up LF for 4 years when most of your best hiting prospects project to be out there, you can always fill in for a year with a couple guys with big platoon splits, and get a 2 headed LF that can out perform (or at least equal) the 1 headed every day guy, leaving the money to be invested elsewhere (such as pitching).
Stick funny you say that about platoons because last night on the broadcast they mentioned something that probably went by most people listening….
1969 World Series Winner
1B Kranepool/Clendenon
2B Boswell/Weiss
3B Garrett/Charles
RF Shamsky/Swoboda
1986 World Series Winner
2B Backman/Teufel
SS Santana/Elster/Mitchell (not a true platoon though)
CF Dykstra/ Wilson
CL McDowell/Orosco
Would appear that the two WS winners we have, all heavily used the Platoon and got everyone on the team in games which is pretty much what Collins has done since he got here!
I am a big platoon fan, and yeah, 1986 was a big year for that.
Best option is to have a high-end everyday “star” at a position, but if you don’t have that, then better off mixing in 2 guys with complementary strengths/weaknesses to make a combined productive guy, than it is to stick a mediocre guy out there every day.
Yep having a regular everyday player is preferable but when you do not have that available the sum can be greater than the individual parts!
We all remember Strawberry, Hernandez, and Carter and revere them.
But it was many of those ROLE players and platoon guys who made that team as good as it was!
Dykstra, backman, Wilson (Hello Buckner), Mitchel all were big reasons why we seemd to win as many games as we did.
It is after all a team sport and you have to play everyone to keep them fresh and on top of thier game!
Very happy for and pleased with what I saw from Hefner last night.
First MLB win and First MLB HR.
The guy currently has a 2.0 SLG! LOL
AT least this time the Rain gave him what the game before it took away!
And we should also give Quintanilla some props as well.
3 for 4 2RS 2Doubles….
The future for Nickeas doesn’t look so bright, especially seeing how well RJ has looked.
That was a tough error on Baxter…the ball was under the padding and Baxter couldn’t get his glove into that notch. The only way to stop the ball was to use his bare hand or his foot. both go against instincts are are difficult to do because the ball tends to skip around a lot in that part of the field.
Baxter and Hairston have done great saving their jobs. Obviously, Rottino goes when Bay comes back.
I wonder what will happen when/if Turner and Tejada are both ready? I see one too many guys on the roster. I wonder who gets dumped, Turner, Cedeno or Torres?
Neither Cedeno or Torres can hit, but both play D…Turner is by far the better hitter and a nice guy coming off the bench. But I think we can send Turner down without losing him, I think we’d have to trade or release Cedeno or Torres.
When is Egbert going to pitch? It seems like we’re wasting a spot in the pen if we’re not going to use him.
Its funny USMF….
6 Months ago some were talking about how little talent we had and so many holes (not you mind you) and now we are struggling with having too many guys and not enough positions to play them all!
Says one thing to me…Time to start making trades!
I would imagine that a guy like Hairston or Torres could be traded by or before the deadline.
I see either Rauch, Francisco or even both being dealt as well to strengthen the pen. You know there will be a lot of arms being had come July. There’s already talk of guys like Jose Mijares, Matt Capps & Grant Balfour being trade candidates.
The sad thing is, while guys who didn’t have everyday roles locked down, or even a spot on the 25man for that matter…(Kirk, Baxter, Hairston and Johnson) have played above expectations and our young studs with guaranteed spots (Ike and Duda) and everyday vets (Bay and Torres) have been let downs.
But, we gotta give guys like Ike and Duda time to get going and figure out MLB pitching…
Bay and Torres are the Vets and they get a long rope to figure it out.
I do wonder how long until Baxter, Johnson, Kirk and Hairston get exposed. Kirk is young and he K’s way too much to keep such a high BA and the other three are who they are for a reason.
How nice would it be to play Kirk in CF everyday and have Platoon teams of Duda/Baxter vs LH pitchers and Bay/Hairstion vs LH pitchers? That means Torres has to go.
For Bay’s sake, he better be 100% healthy and play as many of minor league games as he can before he comes back. If Bay is taking time away from Kirk and Baxter, and he’s not performing, he’s gonna get killed.
Egbert did pitch the other day(in the loss, I think after Manny put the game out of reach) and did OK.
as to the roster shuffling, there is still a bit of time, but IMO nickeas should go down instead of Johnson, but I don’t expect it to happen.
I would drop Torres for Bay
For Tejada? That can be interesting but it needs to be Cedeno (is he even helathy? Time for the DL!) Or Omar back to the minors.
Tricky part is, not knowing when the individual guys are coming back. So there could be a lot of moving parts.
and, options (as in, who can be sent down without losing them) will have a big part in the decision making.
when everyone is back, I would like to see (Assuming Bay is strting, though it would really be a platoon, and Kirk is in CF) a bench of:
Johnson, Baxter, Hairston, and 1 each of (rotino/turner) and (cedeno/Omar).
odd men out then are Nickeas and Torres.plus the losers of the 1 each of competition.
though honestly, might as well platoon baxter and hairston instead of bay and baxter. Then you can keep Rotino if bay is gone!
Were I a gambling man, the one bench guy I would keep no matter what would be Turner. He’s really versatile, a total gamer, and, simply put, talented. He also has the distinction of remaining virtually unfazed by pressure.
I agree….There is no better clutch hitter on this team than Justn Turner and considering he can play 1B, 2B, SS and 3B they should not entertain trading him under any circumstances!
here are the prime candidates for trades as I see it right now…
Santana – We all thought if Santana came out looking good it might be just what the doctor ordered and allow us to trade him at the deadline for a bushel of Kids before he gets hurt again and allow us to get out from under the 30+Mil due him the next two years of his Contract. Anyone here that has decided to change thier stance there? It may be a mistake considering how important he is to our rotation and being in the race will play in that decision but that just goes to show how many people were wrong about how far away this team was when they were supporting Payroll and All Star roster decimation now doesn’t it?
Familia – They are unsure if he is starter or pen (ala mejia) and is a potential key piece in any big buy trade we make given his BA prospect status everyone thinks is gods gift to trade value.
Gee – I love the guy but if they go for an Ace he is low man on the totem pole and most likely to lose his rotation spot next year when Harvey comes up. (even if we don’t trade for an ace)
Mejia – See Familia! Not the BA darling Familia is but much closer to being an MLB player than Familia at this point.
Havens/Satin/Kazmar/Navarro (plus some AA IFs I won’t name here) – Murphy is our 2B folks Live with it, and only a complete collapse of Tejada’s bat on his return will we need any of these guys and there is still Valdespin who I doubt they will trade anytime soon considering his versatility. (Lutz is probably safe until Wright gets resolved.)
Hefner – If he pitches as well as he did last night he would be a decent piece in a multiplayer deal for any Pitching.
Torres and Ramirez – Both have been busts so far but they could be used as filler in any deals made. (Hairston is safe until Bay is sorted out. We need his RH Bat in the Lineup options)
On the Longshot Candidates:
Niese – So far that contract is probably scaring Sandy just a bit, I think it will be ok but you can get a lot for a guy locked up as long as Niese and his near yet inconsistent promise.
Bay – Not because they want to keep him but because they probably have no choice in the matter. Being hurt sure isn’t going to change that and even if he comes back hot it won’t be enough to change anyone’s mind about wanting him.
Wright – I admit I thought Wright would be traded for sure and it may still happen but Sandy seems to be backtracking from the “can’t Have more than Two big contracts on your Payroll” speech he used to give when Wright’s name and trade was mentioned in the same sentence.
Duda – He’s not been the Duda we all fell in love with last year and lets face it he was never going to be a gold glove RFer. He has been pulled late in games for a defensive replacement usually due to moving Kirk to his slot after one of the other OFers comes in to pinch hit. But he would still be a nice piece to any potential trades we could make…
And I hardly even touched or looked at what we have in A and AA ball…
There seems to be plenty of talent we could be buyers with and even if not for a big name could make lots of deals to move talent where there is a glut for guys where there is a weakness.
SO I can see lots of potential deals in the near future.
Why would we trade for kids? We already have too many. Why get rid of the only true stable [arts of our team in Santana and Wright? What kind of jokers say a New York team should trade to save money? Also..why trade kids…Duda, etc..when you want to trade for kids? I don’t understand.
“They’re (Mets) getting blood from stone. The Yanks are getting nothing from diamonds.”
- Mike Francesa today on Mike’s On
Francesa is going into rip mode on his Yanks play of late today and you have to belive that if there is 1 thing that will irritate Yankee fans off is to talk up the Mets in ripping the Yanks. I can imagine Yankee fans lighting up the board calling in to Mike.