Jul
13
2012

Six Things That Went Wrong In Mets First Half

An article by John Delcos

No evaluation of the Mets is complete without a list of disappointments. While 46-40 at the break, the Mets have more to be happy about than not. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t laments.

Had everything broken right in the first half, the Mets could be sitting on top of the NL East.

Here’s what went wrong:

The struggling bullpen: Most of Sandy Alderson’s off-season tinkering was made with improving the bullpen in mind. Frank Francisco has pitched well enough, but is a house of cards. He’s coming off a strained oblique, so there are no guarantees in the second half. Set-up man Jon Rauch has also been hurt an ineffective.
Mike Pelfrey’s injury: Considering how well the Mets’ rotation has performed, is this a disappointment? You’d have to say yes, because a well-functioning Pelfrey should be worth at least five victories. Compounding the disappointment is the injury to Dillon Gee, which could keep him out the remainder of the season.
Dillon Gee’s injury: Gee will have surgery to repair an artery in his shoulder Friday and could miss the rest of the year. The Mets have little depth in the farm system and are reluctant to part with their premier prospects. The Mets, who will temporarily patch things with Miguel Batista, have two weeks before the trade deadline.
Jason Bay’s slump and injury: Is it really a disappointment when the expectations were so low to begin with? Probably not, but the team severely lacks right-handed pop. Bay should be activated from the disabled list within the next two weeks. GM Sandy Alderson said the need for right-handed power must be supplied from Bay. On a positive note, Bay’s injury should keep him from getting the at-bats needed for an option to kick in.
Ike Davis’ slump: Davis is starting to hit, but struggled most of the first half, almost to the point of the Mets considering sending him down to work on his swing. Their thinking in not doing so was the belief he already knows how to hit minor league pitching.
Andres Torres’ slump and injury: The Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan gone, Torres represents what little speed the Mets possess. Kirk Nieuwenhuis filled in well, but struggled the past three weeks.

About the Author: John Delcos

I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.

13 Comments + Add Comment

Metsie July 13, 2012 at 12:33 pm

It could be argued that the injuries to Pelfrey, Bay and Torres actually helped this team!
Without the injuries to Torres there is no Capt Kirk callup!
Without the Injuries to Bay, Hairston and Valdespin don’t get any playing time.No Baxter either!
Without the injury to Pelfrey it could go either way and it may have saved us a start or two from Bautista and Hefner. Pelfrey has been inconsistent in the past and while he ended on a high note no reason to expect that would have lasted more than a game or two.

The worst thing that happened so far (and you mentioned) is the Davis Slump coupled with the Duda Slump. If only one had slumped at that time who knows where we would be right now?
Loosing Gee was a blow but not a big one. He is after all the only pitcher in our rotation with a sub .500 record. Not that it was his fault just that for whatever reason they didn’t seem to play well on days he took the mound.

I would agree the Bullpen has been a disappointment but only if you thought Sandy knew what he was doing the second time around on a focus of Bullpen that he failed at the first time around.
- srt July 13, 2012 at 1:13 pm
  
  IDK….the worse thing that happened so far IMO is losing Gee.
  We managed to weather Pelfrey going down for the season and finish the first half over .500 even with Ike’s horrific slump.
  
  If we don’t have a creditable 5th starter though for Gee, will that close the window on any chance for post season?
Metstheory22 July 13, 2012 at 12:39 pm

Pelfrey injury was a plus.. We know now we can live without his ups and downs.
Alex68 July 13, 2012 at 12:47 pm

Is anybody surprised about the bullpen? We all know those guys were not good, Sandy overpaid and did not wait for the market to come to him, no surprised here…
Also, Can we please stop talking about andres torres’ struggles? He’s a below avg player… Marginal to be kind.. Please stop it, the guy is a bum.. not sure why anybody is surprised a 250 hitter with no power and below avg defense is struggling… SMH
at this Point, jason bay is just jason bay… Move on.. Cut him..
- Alex68 July 13, 2012 at 12:48 pm
  
  by the wy, book it here, IKE DAVIS will have an awesome second half.. and when he does, i will come back and say “AND TO THINK PEOPLE WANTED TO DEMOTE HIM TO THE MINORS”
- oleosmirf July 13, 2012 at 1:01 pm
  
  What would you have done instead?
- Alex68 July 13, 2012 at 1:04 pm
  
  the same thing that TC did.. Leave him in tofigure THINGS out. it’s not as if his replacement were any good… I rather have a 200 Ike Davis who can hit HR’s and Drive in runs and play outstanding defense than have a rottino or some bum at 1B
  - oleosmirf July 13, 2012 at 1:21 pm
    
    I was talking about the bullpen. What would you have done instead?
Kymets July 13, 2012 at 12:55 pm

I ink the injuries halo us out Torres injury brung up captain Kirk who was a serious ROY candidate before his slump and now maybe we might be saying the Dillon gee injury Matt Harvey. Besides it was extremely boring watching pelfrey games with his 30 and 40 pitch innings allow base runners every inning and all counts are 3-2 before a hit or walk. We to never have a comfortable lead with him capable enough to give up five runs in any inning.
- Kymets July 13, 2012 at 1:00 pm
  
  I think the injuries helped us ***
Alex68 July 13, 2012 at 1:06 pm

By the way, in the month of JUNE ike davis hit 263 6 24 with an 568 Slug %
- oleosmirf July 13, 2012 at 1:25 pm
  
  how did he do against lefties in June?
oleosmirf July 13, 2012 at 1:19 pm

Ike and Duda’s inability to hit LHP is the critical thing that needs to change in the lineup. Duda and especially Ike have killed them in that regard and have forced Terry to use bench players over them.

The bullpen can be fixed by one move, the lineup, on the other hand, needs the players we are counting on to produce and produce now…

NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	24	18	.571	-
Nationals	23	20	.535	1.5
Phillies	20	23	.465	4.5
Mets	16	24	.400	7.0
Marlins	11	32	.256	13.5

Last updated: 05/18/2013

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