It was a short and ineffective outing for Chris Schwinden, resulting in a long Sunday for the Las Vegas 51s as they went on to fall to the Omaha Storm Chasers by a final score of 4-3.

Schwinden took the mound looking to bounce back from his last outing in which he allowed five runs in just five frames. Sunday against Omaha, the 26-year old only last four innings allowing two runs on three hits while walking one and punching out five. He allowed one run to cross in the third on a Paulo Orlando RBI single to right that scored Brett Hayes who led off the inning with a ground-rule double. Then in the fourth, Max Ramirez led things off with a solo shot to right field to tie things up at two. Schwinden’s numbers on the day weren’t all that bad, only the fact that he lasted merely four innings makes this outing one to forget.

On the offensive side of the diamond, the 51s started off swinging the bat well, however once they fell behind, their bats were as cold as ice. In the top of the third, Landon Powell led off with a two-bagger and two straight knocks from Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Josh Satin drove him in with the first run of the ballgame. Later on in the inning, Andrew Brown brought home Nieuwenhuis on a fly ball to right fielder Anthony Seratelli and handed Vegas a 2-0 lead. Then in the fifth, with the game tied at two a piece, WIlmer Flores stepped up with two outs and delivered a solo shot to right center to give the 51s a slim, and unfortunately short lived lead.

After Justin Hampson pitched a scoreless fifth,  Armando Rodriguez came on in relief and had much less success. After walking the first batter to face him in Christian Colon, Rodriguez retired the next two batters before melting down. Giving up a double to Xavier Nady and a knock to Anthony Seratelli, Rodriguez surrendered two runs and putting Omaha in the driver’s seat for good. With the loss, the 51s fell to 20-21 on the year, now under .500.

Key Stats

• Zach Lutz 2-for-4
• Wilmer Flores 1-for-4 HR, 3K’s
• Josh Satin 1-for-3 BB, RBI
• Brian Bixler 1-for-3 2B

Updated by HoJo at 4:30 PM

Gary Apple of SNY announced that GM Sandy Alderson spoke personally with slumping first baseman Ike Davis before today’s game.

The message was that he has until the end of this month to turn his slump around or he’s going back to the Minor Leagues.

Original Post 11:30 AM

Discussions of demoting Ike Davis have intensified within the Mets organization says Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Although the Mets slumping first baseman snapped his 0-for-24 streak yesterday, he may only have until the end of this weekend series in Chicago before the Amazin’s ship Ike off to Vegas.

Rubin cites the use of Andrew Brown at first base Friday for the Las Vegas 51s–the first time this season–as a “telltale sign” a move might be coming soon. Brown was 3-for-15 in his short stint with the Mets before being sent down Monday with the acquisition of Rick Ankiel. Since Brown has to stay in the minors for 10 days before being recalled, he would not be able to be promoted until mid-next week.

Rubin also lists Zach Lutz and Josh Satin as other potential first base candidates, however Satin is not on the 40-man roster and he believes the Mets would favor Brown for the job over Lutz.

Davis is batting an ice cold .160/.245/.267 with 46 strikeouts and only four homers and nine RBIs in 131 at-bats.

The time has come for Ike to be sent down. As Gary Cohen pointed out in yesterday’s broadcast, when Davis struggled last year, he at least had a decent RBI total and was able to be productive in other ways. Now he is entirely lost and is showing no signs of figuring things out at the major league level.

I could see Justin Turner getting some time at first once Ike is sent down. Given that he has seen time all over the diamond this season and that he has one of the only consistent bats on the roster, they need to get him in the lineup somehow.

Lately, it seems the only thing the Mets excel at is finding ways to lose.

Shaun Marcum had his first quality start as a Met, going 6.2 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and punching out three. He threw 96 pitches, 65 of which for strikes, however fell to 0-4 on the year in easily his best effort for the Amazin’s this season.

After matching goose eggs with the Cardinal’s young phenom Shelby MIller, things got rocky in the bottom of the fourth. With Matt Holliday on first and two out, Jon Jay roped a double to Mike Baxter in right that went to the wall. Seeing that he didn’t have a play on Holliday, who came around to score, Daniel Murphy threw to third and pinned Jay in a run down. Apparently giving up, Jay stood almost still in front of Wright for a routine play to tag him. Wright went to lay the tag on, but dropped the ball. As it skidded into the infield, Jay was able to safely make it to third base, costing Wright just his third error on the year. Tony Cruz would follow up with a knock to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Looking overmatched at the plate, the offense was completely anemic against Miller who did not have his best stuff today. He held the Mets off the board through 5.2 frames before being relieved by Randy Choate for the last out of the sixth. In the seventh against Seth Maness, John Buck got himself on base with a one out single, setting the table Rick Ankiel. On the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count, Ankiel took a 90mph sinker deep to center to tie up the ballgame at two. Maybe the Mets luck is finally starting to turn around right?

Wrong. In the bottom half of the frame, Marcum got the first two outs but got himself into trouble with runners on first and third. After which he was lifted for this year’s go-to lefty, Scott Rice. Rice came on to face the former-Met Ty Wigginton, and on the first-pitch of the at-bat, threw a breaking ball that careened off John Buck and to the backstop, scoring the lead run in Daniel Descalso.

After the end of the seventh, the life was sucked out of the Mets. Carlos Beltran walked to lead off the eighth. Matt Holliday grounded into what would be a routine double-play, but the throw from Murphy sailed into the home dugout, allowing him to go to second. Allen Craig would also be walked to create a nice opportunity for Yadier Molina, who came through with a base hit to drive in the insurance run and make it 4-2.

After the wild pitch from Rice, the offense showed little fight as they went down 1-2-3 in both the eighth and ninth to end the game.

John Buck had a nice day at the plate, but a horrible one on the basepaths as he was doubled off on a Ruben Tejada liner that was caught, then made a boneheaded steal attempt, resulting in the slow-footed backstop being picked off at second. That plus the key wild pitch, and it was overall a night to forget for Buck.

The offense continues to be ice cold. Ike Davis and Lucas Duda both had 0-fers in this game.

The Mets just aren’t playing good baseball, it is as simple as that. They are giving opposing teams extra outs with sloppy D and giving away at-bats with an inept lineup.

Two positives to take away from this one however was the encouraging start from Marcum, and the solid offensive effort by Rick Ankiel.

The Mets have now lost six-games in a row for the second time this season and are 8-18 in their last 26 games. They now have the third worst record in baseball at 14-23, nine games under .500. Only Houston and Miami are worse.

Jonathon Niese (2-4, 5.93 ERA) opposes right-hander Adam Wainwright (5-2, 2.30) in the series finale on Thursday at 1:45 PM. The Mets look to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals which last happened in 1982 when Keith Hernandez played for St. Louis.

Las Vegas 4, Albuquerque 3

Despite a near-bullpen meltdown, the Las Vegas 51s were able to avert any further damage and best Albuquerque by a final score of 4-3.

Collin McHugh got the nod for the 51s and had himself his second-straight spectacular outing. McHugh went seven frames allowing just one run on six hits while walking two and striking out five. The 25-year old righty was putting up goose eggs up until the sixth inning when Nick Buss homered to center to make it a 4-1 ballgame, representing the only run to cross against McHugh. He would be relieved by Sean Henn and eventually pick up his third win on the year to improve to 3-2 while lowering his ERA to a solid 2.74. With the way the Mets rotation is going, if McHugh keeps this up, he could find himself back in Flushing sooner rather than later.

The Las Vegas offense scored early and proved to be just enough to be able to edge the Isotopes. Omar Quintanilla started a two-out rally in the second with a double to right and would come around to score on a Juan Centeno RBI single to draw blood first. Wilmer Flores led off the fourth with a two-bagger of his own to the left fielder Tony Gwynn, his twelve of the year. A hit by pitch and a walk to Quintanilla would load the bases with one out for Jamie Hoffmann who promptly grounded one through the hole near third to score Flores. After him, Centeno reached on a fielding error by Osvaldo Martinez, allowing Campbell and Quintanilla to score and giving the 51s a four-run advantage.

Heading into the ninth, Sean Henn was out for his second inning of work and made it a nail-biter. After recording the first out, he walked Martinez and surrendered a double to Alfredo Amezaga to set the table for Tony Gwynn who drove them in with a two-run single to cut the lead to 4-3. Gaining a second wing, Henn struck out the next two batters to face him to slam the door and hand Las Vegas a hard fought victory as they now climb over .500 at 18-17 on the year.

Key Stats

Wilmer Flores: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Omar Quintanilla: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 BB

Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Juan Centeno: 1-for-3, 2 RBI

Collin McHugh: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Sean Henn: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 2 K

From his key double in his first at-bat in blue and orange, to his crucial catch in Johan Santana‘s no-hitter, to last night’s tenth inning walk-off knock against the White Sox, Mike Baxter has already found his place in Mets history and into the hearts of the Flushing Faithful. For Baxter however, he is always looking to improve and perform to the best of his ability.

Baxter started off the year having difficulties at the plate, but has apparently found some consistency coming off the bench sporting a .444 OBP when called on to pinch-hit. I spoke with Baxter outside the Irish Circle Tavern luncheon to benefit the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts yesterday, and he says he still has plenty of room for improvement.

“I need to be more consistent with recognizing the pitch that I’m looking for, the pitch I’m waiting for and square it up.” said Baxter.

“In this season compared to last year, I’ve been missing that pitch. With the approach we try to employ with the Mets, that’s a problem. You need to recognize and hit that pitch, that’s what good hitters do. I have been a little frustrated with the way I’ve played and I have got to do better.”

The Mets’ hitting approach under the Alderson regime is commonly understood as trying to wait out the pitcher in order to both draw walks and knock the starter out of the game early. However, Baxter says there is much more to the approach than simply taking a high number of pitches.

“The key to the approach, is not necessarily trying to see a lot of pitches per-se.” said Baxter “It’s wait until you get that one. If it happens to be the first pitch you see and that’s the one you want, then that’s the one you’ve got to swing at.”

“You tend to see more pitches to hit because you’re laying off that 0-1 sinker away that’s a borderline pitch or that 0-0 pitch that’s a borderline strike. It might end up a strike but you’re still in the at-bat rather than putting it in play weakly somewhere and the at-bats over. It helps the chance to get to the good pitch.”

While the Mets continue to apply their selective approach at the plate, one of the more free-swinging bats in the lineup has had trouble with consistent good at-bats, however when it matters most, he always seems to come through this year. Jordany Valdespin has been a spark and a source of excitement on this 13-16 Mets ballclub. Baxter says his teammate is an exciting player to watch.

“He’s a dynamic player, he’s someone that brings a lot to the table as a player and he has a flare for the dramatic in those big spots, proven by his track record.” said Baxter, almost yelling over an airplane howling a few thousand feet above. “His skills as a player are dynamic; he can hit a ball deep to the shortstop and beat it out. He can lay a bunt down and beat it out and he can hit a home run.”…”He’s a good ballpayer and he’s a big part of what we do and why we win.”

Baxter says he hopes to improve all aspects of his game and get “consistent, good at-bats” as he did last night in the bottom of the tenth. He didn’t go deep into the count. He took that ’0-0 pitch that’s a borderline strike’, he fouled off the second and then finally on a 95-mph two-seam fastball, put a solid drive into it to bring home Ike Davis and take the opener against the White Sox. If he continues to do just that, he will fulfill his goal of “getting his pitch and hitting it.”

In the meantime  Baxter will enjoy watching his New York Rangers continue their run towards the Stanley Cup. Something that he says has become the “big thing in the clubhouse right now.”

Special thanks to Ron Darling and Mike Baxter for taking the time to speak with me on Tuesday. It was a pleasure to meet and speak to a couple of classy individuals like them.

Among the highs and lows to already come out of the first month of this season, the continued improvement of Daniel Murphy has certainly been one of the brighter spots to this point so far.

Playing out of his natural position, Murphy has slowly made the proper adjustments on both sides of the diamond. After being jostled all over both the infield and outfield, Murphy has finally found himself a home at second base with the Mets while also improving significantly with the bat. I caught up with Murphy at Citi Field yesterday and he spoke with me about his strides so far this season.

“I didn’t get a whole lot of work in Spring Training since I was injured” said Murphy regarding his defense. “But I think that having more time there has made me become more consistent, more comfortable, and has given me a better understanding of how to position myself and how much time I have.”

Another Met playing out of his original position is Lucas Duda. What has lacked with his .239 batting average he has made up for in his power and improved ability to get on base. After being sent to Buffalo following an extremely poor first half of 2012, Duda came back showing more plate discipline and emerging as an overall better hitter. Murphy says he has been impressed with how Duda has performed this year.

“He’s been awesome.” said Murphy. “I think Justin Turner said yesterday that ‘Duda really knows how to grind out an AB’ and I have not seen him give many at-bats away this year. That’s kind of a goal we have as an offense personally to not give at-bats away, and he’s been locked in and done a great job of getting on base.”

All the while, Duda has not only had to learn to adjust with the bat, but also with the glove as he learns on the job patrolling left field at Citi. As he has done, Murphy sees the similarities in both of their defensive improvements.

“The same thing as I have at second.” said Murphy. “He’s become more comfortable, he’s starting to understand how to position himself and to read swings. What he’s doing is not easy. It’s very difficult to go from the infield to the outfield and I think he’s done a great job.”

Murphy can relate to attempting to make the transition from the infield to the outfield, although he knows that their results have varied significantly.

“He’s doing better than I did.”

Although the situations are similar, Murphy understands why Duda wouldn’t ask him for advice about making such a transition after his failed outfield experiment.

“No, I don’t know if I’d have anything good to give him.” said Murphy, when asked if Duda has come to him about the transition from infield to outfield. “Try to be as relaxed as you can. Tom Goodwin has done an awesome job with him and a great job with positioning him. I think he does a good job of picking the brain of Marlon Byrd.”

Although the outfield did not work out for Murph, it seems to be suiting Duda in 2013. Murphy in turn has found his niche at second. Both came up with the Mets as talented bats that needed a position other than the corner infield and through several trials and tribulations have both found where they belong for the New York Mets.

I want to thank Daniel Murphy for taking some time during batting practice to speak with me. He’s a terrific guy who really adds a lot to the clubhouse and chemistry of the team. You can see how his teammates respect him as a leader as well as a productive player and integral part of the everyday lineup.

Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler headline a handful of budding young pitchers who hope to one day bring the New York Mets organization back to relevance again. Harvey,  in his first full season, is doing his best to do just that–as exemplified by his near-perfect, nine shutout frames in Tuesday night’s walk-off victory by the Whitestone kid, Mike Baxter–and Wheeler is knocking on the door to crack the big-league rotation soon enough. As both develop, the pair continuously leads a youth movement in the organization that look to achieve what this franchise has yet to celebrate in 27 years; a world championship.

Not only someone who was a key cog of a dominant Mets rotation and an integral part of that champion 1986 club, but also someone who interacts and analyzes the likes of Harvey and the team on a daily basis, Ron Darling offers intricate insight on these young arms and his thoughts on their first months of the 2013 season thus far.

Sitting on the back patio of the Irish Circle Tavern in Rockaway Park, Queens — who hosted a luncheon for Hurricane Sandy Relief in which he was a guest of honor with Mike Baxter – -Darling describes to me the way in which he goes about evaluating a pitcher.

“The three things that I benchmark, that I judge pitchers by.” said Darling as jets from the nearby JFK International Airport fly loudly overhead, giving the conversation a true Citi Field vibe. “Their ability to throw fastballs on the corner and both sides of the plate, they can throw a breaking ball over the plate behind in the count, and they have a bulldog and a competitive mentality.”

After explaining his methods of evaluation, Darling goes on to explain how Harvey and Wheeler fit into his equation.

“Harvey has all three.” said Darling. “Wheeler has all three now but not at the major league level. You can’t judge minor league pitchers until they pitch on this stage because it’s just such a big jump. You’re pitching now against people that used to be on your video games. Until that happens I think it is tough to judge guys.”

As shown by his bloody-nose inning and simply his pure demeanor on the mound, the competitive prowess of Harvey is rarely questioned. When it comes to Wheeler however, his “bulldog” isn’t always quite as outwardly apparent. The intangible “bulldog” factor of Darling’s evaluation, he says, comes in all types and varieties.

“A bulldog comes in many shapes and forms. said Darling. “In my day, Dave Stewart was considered a bulldog with the stare, but so was Orel Hershiser without the stare. It comes in a lot of different ways. A lot of guys try to fake it, you can see through it. Zack might have a different way of doing it; he might be quieter about it, as opposed to Matt who may be a bit more overt about it. Matt’s from the East Coast, and East coast kids tend to be a little more overt anyway, and Zack might be a little quieter. It doesn’t mean that they both can’t be pitching assassins in their own way.”

Wheeler’s toughness in-game had begun to come into question, to an extent due, to his rough first month of the season in which he allowed 18 runs in 23.1 innings. Since then, the 22-year old has put together back-to-back dominant efforts and appears to be getting his season on track. Darling, who says he has seen Wheeler pitch live on roughly six occasions or so, believes the slow start was due to his lack of innings in Port St. Lucie after being sidelined with an oblique strain.

“What happened to Zack is that he had a shortened Spring Training, he was playing catch up, and that’s why he had the first bad outings.” said Darling. “Terry Collins said if you want to come up here you’ve got to throw strikes and he has, so sometimes you just need some gentle prodding and I think that was the best thing that happened to him.”

While Collins and the Mets await the proper time to give Wheeler that call to come up, they have been able to revel in the incredible season so far from the Amazin’s other distinguished young arm in Harvey, who has continued to draw up a significant stir across baseball that hasn’t been seen for a rookie arm in Flushing in some time. His career is merely 16 starts long between 2012 and 2013, however Darling explains that the praise for Harvey is well-deserved.

“If he continues the way he’s going, we’re talking about a young man in his first full season having the chance to pitch or start in his home ballpark at the All-Star Game.” tells Darling. “That’s a pretty amazing feat.”

Of the attention in particular,  the now weekly Met holiday known as Harvey Day has become one of the most popular celebrations of the young workhorse.

“You say Harvey Day, I was thinking about Paul Harvey, the great radio icon who used to say ‘good day’ to end his broadcasts.” said Darling, in reference to his chuckle when I mentioned the term Harvey Day in my question. “That’s what Matt Harvey does with his innings when he ends with strikeouts: ‘Good day.’”

Both Harvey and Wheeler will look to have more ‘good days’ than bad as they continue their respective journeys towards making their presence known and leaving those such as Darling “so impressed” in what hopes to be two long, successful major-league Met careers.

I just wanted to thank the Mets, Citigroup and the Irish Circle Tavern for putting together a wonderful luncheon to benefit the continued effort to rebuild following Hurricane Sandy. I would also like to thank Ron Darling who amid a room of fans, reporters and officials not only took time out to  speak privately with me, but gave exceptional insight on two of the Mets greatest young talents.

Las Vegas 6, Sacramento 2

Zack Wheeler took the hill yesterday afternoon against the River Cats and was firing on all cylinders as he made quick work of Sacramento, cruising to his second victory on the season.

Wheeler took the mound looking to build off of his solid outing against the Reno Aces in which he struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings back on April 30th. This time, the Mets top prospect went six shutout frames allowing just three hits and a walk while punching out four. Each of the baserunners allowed were scattered through different innings as the River Cats failed to get a runner to second base with Wheeler on the mound. After struggling mightily to start the season, Wheeler has now put together back-to-back solid efforts in the infamously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

On the offensive side of things for the Vegas 51s, everyone in the lineup had themselves a base hit with the exception of Juan Centeno and Josh Satin. Las Vegas put up a two-spot in the second on the strength of a double off the bat of Omar Quintanilla to score Wilmer Flores and Jamie Hoffmann, his fifth on the year. They would be held off the board until the top of the sixth when the recently demoted Collin Cowgill (more from him later) scored on a Zack Lutz fly ball to center. The following inning however, is where the game was broken open. With Quintanilla on second and Centeno at first, Cowgill, in just his second game since joining the 51s, clubbed a three-run bomb to left field to make it a 6-0 ballgame. Vegas batters only struck out three times in this game and tallied ten hits and a pair of walks against Sacramento pitching.

Justin Hampson came on in relief of Wheeler and had himself a difficult outing. After plunking Scott Moore, Josh Horton took Hampson deep to make it a 6-2 game. Hampson would eventually retire the side. Greg Peavey and Gonzalez Germen came in and pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth respectively as the 51s would go onto win by a final score of 6-2.

Key Stats

Collin Cowgill: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Zach Lutz: 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Eric Campbell: 2-for-4

Omar Quintanilla: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R

Zack Wheeler: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 4 K

Justin Hampson: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 HR, 2 ER, 1 K

Greg Peavey: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER

Gonzalez Germen: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Kristie Ackert of the Daily News had a nice piece yesterday about Bobby Parnell and his being the closer of the 2013 New York Mets.

Parnell was called in to close out the ninth on Monday in the series opener against the Marlins and failed to shut the door, leading to a 15-inning affair and an eventual loss. Due to the fact that the Mets young closer threw two innings and 35 pitches, Terry Collins opted for Brandon Lyon to try to stop the bleeding following Jeremy Hefner’s terrific outing. Wednesday, Parnell was out there to slam the door and hand the Mets a hard-fought victory.

Parnell “wasn’t happy” about the decision to not be called in to close on Tuesday but “understood”.

“He’s protecting me and I understand that,” Parnell said.

Collins decided it would be best to err on the side of caution rather than calling on him Tuesday after throwing so many pitches the day prior.

“I am just not gonna blow this guy out,” Collins said. “He had some elbow (issues), nothing serious, but a year ago we did this and his elbow came up sore for a while. It’s just too early.

I completely agree with Collins on his decision not to push it too far with Parnell. It is also nice to see that Parnell understands the fact that his manager is looking out for him long term. Bobby Parnell is the future of this organization out of the ‘pen and there is no reason to overwork him, especially so early in the season.

Hard throwing pitchers such as Parnell put so much force into every pitch, that if overused can cause serious damage. Just look at Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. The ability to throw 100+ takes a great deal of energy, and can take a toll on the body. The craft is rare–granted, becoming less rare–and should be used by a manager properly as Collins has, and not abused.

It is good to see that Terry Collins is thinking long-term and not just in this single season. It’s difficult for a manger to not use his best tool out of the bullpen in a key situation like what occurred Tuesday, but what is most important is the future and the longevity of the younger players like Parnell, and I am glad Collins recognizes that.

What is better than heading out on game day to see your New York Mets? Loading up the car hours beforehand to go and meet with friends in the parking lot and have a pre-game celebration? Maybe toss a ball around, fry up some burgers and have a few beers? Well you can scratch that last part.

New York City police officers will be patrolling the Citi Field lots this season, searching for those with open containers of alcohol and handing out citations for those caught drinking in public according to a recent Yahoo! News article.

The Mets website states the following regarding tailgating:

Tailgating is permitted only under the following conditions:

• No open flames of any type, (charcoal should not be disposed of in vacant parking spaces at any time).
• Only one parking space may be used.
• Consumption of alcohol is prohibited.
• Inappropriate or dangerous behavior is not allowed.
• For security reasons no trash bins are located in Citi Field parking lots. Guests should bag trash for pick up after the event.

Failure to comply with any of the above conditions may result in a fan’s removal from the parking lots and/or summoning of NYPD.

It is the law, but NYC’s ban on drinking in public has rarely been enforced at stadium parking lots. According to the article, the New York Yankees have no policy on their website, and the Jets site references tailgating at MetLife Stadium as a “ritual at the stadium”. The Mets however have clearly stated a prohibition on alcohol on their site. They also have nothing at the park to warn fans not to drink.

“I was unaware of the rule until it was too late,” said Woodmere, New York, resident Sami Wyman, who received a $25 citation for drinking a Bud Light out of the can at Mets Opening Day this year. “It’s unfortunate that some people can’t control themselves when drinking, but it is outrageous to ticket people for something that is a traditional part of a sporting event.” –Yahoo! News

On a side note, the Yahoo! article’s image actually shows a number of fans at the ReadTheApple Opening Day tailgate; myself and my father can be seen in the background (green backpack). Ironically, the majority of us–again, myself and my dad included–had nothing to drink that day and were merely enjoying the Opening Day pre-game festivities.

I understand the fact that the Mets want to maintain a family environment, but this is WAY too much in my opinion. April 1st was the first Opening Day my dad and I had ever been to, and when we arrived around 10:00 A.M., I was thrilled to see the number of fans enjoying themselves. People were playing catch and grilling burgers, many of which were having a Bud or a Coors in their hand. It wasn’t like there was a drunken mob out in C Lot; just people excited to see their team play.

For a franchise that has had trouble putting fans in the ballpark, do the Mets really think it is wise to hand out citations for having a beer or two before a baseball game? Especially after the $20 for parking? What’s next? Are they going to limit the number of Cracker Jack’s one can consume?

I’ll let one of our founding fathers have the last word on this one. Take it away Ben!

Despite the incredible effort by Jeremy Hefner on Tuesday night, the Mets were unable to get just three more outs as a ninth inning meltdown capped off by a Brandon Lyon wild pitch handed the Marlins their second straight walk-off victory against the Amazin’s and their first series win of the season.

Surprisingly enough, the Mets have become quite used to the demoralizing oddity known as the walk-off wild pitch. In fact, last night was the third time in four seasons that Flushing’s Finest have allowed the game-winning run to score on a pitch to the backstop.

On May 14 of the 2010 season, Johan Santana was on the mound in a premiere matchup with then-Marlins ace Josh Johnson. Santana went seven innings allowing just one unearned run on six hits and seven strikeouts. He left for a pinch-hitter with the game tied at one. After pitching a scoreless eighth, reliever Fernando Nieve took the hill to pitch a perfect ninth to send the game into extra innings. After getting Jorge Cantu to fly to left for the first out of the tenth, Nieve walked Cody Ross and quickly allowed a Ronny Paulino single to put Ross at third. Then on the first pitch to Dan Uggla, Nieve bounced it to the plate past Rod Barajas as Ross raced home to win it for the Marlins. The walk-off wild pitch would be the first victory for the Fish in what would be a four game sweep of the Mets.

Fast forward two years to July of 2012… Jon Niese is having a heck of a game against the Nationals Ross Detwiler. They both exit after seven, Niese surrendering one run and punching out eight, Detwiler spotless, giving the Nats a 1-0 advantage. They would go up 2-0 after a Steve Lombardozzi RBI double. Comes the top of the ninth, the Mets put up a three spot to go ahead 3-2. However the lead would be short lived as Bobby Parnell would blow the save, allowing the Nats to tie it and send it to extra innings. Josh Thole doubled to drive in Daniel Murphy and give the Amazin’s their second lead in as many innings. Tim Byrdak came on to close out the tenth and after a game tying, RBI triple to the rookie sensation Bryce Harper, he walked the bases loaded and was lifted for Pedro Beato. Beato, on a 1-2 pitch to Tyler Moore, threw a breaking ball that went right past Josh Thole, allowing Ryan Zimmerman to slide home and win it for the Nats by a score of 5-4.

Then we have last night. A suddenly hot Jeremy Hefner came in to finish off a shutout, and came away with a loss as both the tying and go-ahead runs were charged to the 27-year old despite a meltdown by Brandon Lyon capped off by a wild pitch of his own that bounced off the glove of Anthony Recker and ricocheted towards the home dugout.

Before this recent stretch, the last time the Mets lost a ballgame on a walk-off wild pitch dates back all the way to 1981 when Mike Marshall let one fly at Houston. You have to go all the way back to the beginning of the Reagan administration for that one! Meanwhile all three of these most recent “wild” endings have occurred under the same commander in chief. 

Not a theme the Mets would like to continue, however with the quality–or lack there of–of arms they continue to acquire for the ‘pen, what can you expect? Sure Brandon Lyon is supposed to be a solid set-up man, however that hasn’t been the case up to this point. You get what you pay for; you get out of it what you put in. When you don’t go and add significant arms for innings seven through nine and beyond, losses such as those mentioned above are going to happen.

Tampa 7, St. Lucie 3

Continuing a suspended game from last night, the St. Lucie Mets started the game down a run and never came back, losing to the Tampa Yankees by a final score of 7-3.

Domingo Tapia had the start yesterday, however after pitching one inning, the game was called due to rain and lightning. His day officially ended with the Mets prospect surrendering one run on no hits while walking one. He would take a tough loss in this one, but he technically had a no-hitter going? Yeah…no.

Marcos Camarena came on in relief, or rather to start the suspended game, and had a meltdown in an inning. After allowing five of his six batters to reach base, he was lifted for Estarlin Morel who, after walking in a run, retired the side. In the fourth, Morel was less effective as he served up a two-run bomb to Mason Williams to make it a 6-1 game. Gary Sanchez came up to bat in the seventh against Wanel Vasquez and doubled home the Yankees’ seventh and final run of the ballgame. Not a great day for St. Lucie pitching all around.

The offense wasn’t much too write home about either with the exception of a few moments. Native New Yorker Cam Maron drove home the first St. Lucie run on a two out knock in the fourth. In the top of the sixth, Rylan Sandoval scored from third on a Dustin Lawley RBI groundout. Finally, in the ninth, in a futile attempt at a late inning rally, T.J. Rivera reached on a fielding error with two outs to score Maron and make it 7-3, but that would be all she wrote.

The other game of Wednesday’s double-header and series finale with the Tampa Yankees was postponed.

Key Stats

Rylan Sandoval: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB

Dustin Lawley: 1-for-4, 1 RBI

Cam Maron: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

Travis Taijeron: 2-for-4, 1 2B

Domingo Tapia: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 1 K

Marcos Camarena: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 ER, 1 K

Estarlin Morel: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 ER, 3 K

Wanel Vasquez: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 2 K

It was just three measly years ago that a budding young power-hitting first basemen looked nervously into the camera as Chris Carlin interviewed him live before millions of viewers late one Spring Training evening in a local pub. As they concluded, Carlin refers to him as “The future of the New York Mets, Ike Davis.”, which gets a rousing cheer from the Mets fans in the restaurant. He smiles–uncomfortably–at the applause as they cut back to studio.

It was just three years ago that the Jacobs-Tatis platoon at first was failing, and that same budding young power-hitting first baseman was making some noise down  in Buffalo, ultimately leading to a phone call and a subsequent plane ride into LaGuardia Airport.

It was barely three years ago that fans laid witness to the next great Met blossoming before their eyes. It was three years ago he dove into dugouts, cranked walk-off homers into the Pepsi Porch and excited a downtrodden fanbase in a way not seen since the pennant race of 2006.

Now three years later, Davis has brought a whole new meaning to “Pure Chaos”, and not in a good way.  He is completely lost at the plate, has made solid contact on only a fraction of his mere 13 hits this season (the majority of which went over the fence), and at this point is playing himself out of a job.

Ike has stated that he has a tendency to start off the year slow and it takes time for him to warm up, however if his batting doesn’t come to a boil soon, the Mets have a ready-made first baseman waiting in the wings–or at least in left field–.

Duda taking over first is not out of the realm of possibilities. Prior to d’Arnaud’s injury Terry Collins already proposed the idea of sliding John Buck over to first when the Mets top-hitting prospect eventually got the call. If someone who has yet to play first in their professional career had been on the table to at least split time at first with Davis, why wouldn’t Duda, someone who played more first base than left field in the minors, be in the fold as well?

Collins said last week that there are no plans to us Duda at first, however if Davis continued to swing-and-miss, things could change in a hurry.

Lucas Duda is not an outfielder, no matter how hard the Mets try to force it on him. He is a first base/ designated hitter type of player. Sure he doesn’t have the defensive prowess of Davis, however Davis hasn’t exactly been the same out on the diamond since his rookie campaign.

This is not to say Duda or anyone else is going to take Ike’s job in 2013, however when this offseason comes and goes, I am not confident that Ike Davis will be a New York Met come Opening Day 2014. He is set to make $7-8 million in arbitration next year, and that could be too rich for the shallow pockets of the Alderson regime.

He has been through major slumps in the minors, his first season and in 2012 and was able to turn himself around. When it comes down to it however, the Amazin’s can’t afford to have their first baseman bat under the Mendoza line through one half of the season, then go on a tear post-All Star Break in the next.

That will not be seen as worth the money for Sandy Alderson and the Mets. This has become a make-or-break year for Isaac Benjamin Davis, and if he doesn’t turn it around soon, things might get a whole lot more “chaotic” for the former-budding young star.

Tacoma 5, Las Vegas 3

As has been the case all season for the major league level of the Mets franchise, the Las Vegas 51s bullpen was unable to maintain a slim lead as they went on to fall to the Tacoma Rainiers 5-3.

The well traveled Chris Schwinden got the nod for the 51s who were attempting to avoid a four-game sweep from the Rainiers. Schwinden had gotten off to a horrible beginning to the year, however managed to settle down in his previous outing last Saturday against Colorado. Building off of last week’s success, Schwinden lasted five innings allowing two runs on three hits while walking five and punching out four. In just the second at-bat of the game, Nick Franklin put a drive into one to right field that cleared the fence, handing Tacoma an early one-run lead. Then in the third, Eric Thames came up to bat and plated Franklin in on a two-out RBI double, making it 2-0 Rainiers. Schwinden would be lifted after the fifth for Gonzalez Germen, and would end the day with a no-decision, however managed to lower his ERA to 6.08 on the year.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Las Vegas lineup started to come to life as the backstop Kai Gronauer slapped a one-out double to Thames, followed up quickly by a grounder that found it’s way to Tacoma’s right fielder once again. With runners on second and third, Josh Satin kept the theme of making Eric Thames run going as he drove a hot shot to the 26-year old, scoring two to tie up the game at two a piece.

Come the bottom of the sixth, Andrew Brown got on base to start off the inning after getting plunked by pitcher Tyler Burgoon. Burgoon then surrendered a knock to Wilmer Flores to set the table for Jamie Hoffmann. Hoffmann rolled over one to and grounded to short, forcing Flores out at second but more importantly scoring Brown to hand Vegas a 3-2 advantage.

The lead however, was short lived. After hurling a scoreless sixth, Gonzalez came out for his second inning of work, with disastrous results. It began with a miscue from Kirk Nieuwenhuis on a Alex Liddi fly ball, putting him in scoring position with no outs. Gonzalez then threw one to the backstop, allowing Liddi to move just 90 feet away from tying the game on the wild pitch. Stefen Romero would serve up a blooper to center to score Liddi and even things up at three. Later in the inning, Carlos Triunfel doubled down the left field line to score Romero, handing the Rainiers the lead for good.

Tacoma would plate an insurance run on a sac fly in the top of the ninth and go on to complete the four game sweep, besting the 51s by a score of 5-3. Las Vegas has now fallen to 10-12 on the year and last place in the PCL Pacific Southern Division.

Key Stats

Josh Satin: 1-for-4, 2 RBI

Andrew Brown: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 BB

Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 SB

Kai Gronauer: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 BB

Chris Schwinden: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 5 BB, 2 ER, 4 K

Gonzalez Germen: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 K

Greg Burke: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 1 K

Charlotte 5, St. Lucie 2

Starting off ugly and not getting much better, the St. Lucie Mets got hit hard out of the gate by the Charlotte Stone Crabs and were unable to bounce back, falling by a score of 5-2.

Marcos Camarena took the hill for his start for the St. Lucie Mets and made it one he will soon like to forget. In just five innings of work, Camarena surrenedered four runs on six hits while walking three and failing to punch out a batter. Jake Hager led the game off with a double and was bunted over to third by Taylor Motter, putting him 90 feet away for Drew Vettleson who drove him home with a liner to Travis Taijeron in right that when for a RBI single. Jeff Malm hit a two-bagger of his own in the second to make a 2-0 ballgame and was quickly driven in by Jake DePew who had a Rib-eye steak of his own to make it a three-run lead. Then in the third, Richie Shaffer served up a solo shot that went to left for a home run. Camarena settled down for his final two innings of work but the damage was done as his he takes his first loss of the season while his ERA ballooned to 8.31.

Pedro Feliciano and Frank Francisco each pitched an inning of scoreless relief for their rehab appearances. Feliciano clocked in at 82-83mph as he did all spring. Hopefully he will be able to get his velocity back to his pre-Yankee days.

The St. Lucie Mets on the other hand were baffled by the Stone Crab’s Jesse Hahn. Hahn went only three innings, however surrendered just one hit while striking out six. Jake Floethe took over duties and continued to hold the Mets off the board until the seventh. Aderlin Rodriguez started off the rally with a homer to left to make it a three run ballgame. Travis Taijeron hit a single then got himself into scoring position on a wild pitch. Albert Cordero would drive him in to make it a two-run game however it wouldn’t be enough as the Mets would go onto lose by a score of 5-2, falling to 9-4 on the season overall.

Key Stats

Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Albert Cordero: 2-for-3, 1 RBI

Travis Taijeron: 1-for-3, 1 R

Pedro Feliciano: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (Fastball at 82-83 MPH)

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (Fastball at 90-92 MPH)

Las Vegas 5, Colorado Springs 4

It took 11 innings, but the Las Vegas 51s were able to escape yesterday’s ballgame with a victory on the strength of a Reese Havens, bases loaded knock to win it in walk-off fashion.

Top-prospect Zack Wheeler took the hill for the 51s and put together one of his more solid efforts in what has been a shaky start to the season. Wheeler went 5 1/3 innings allowing three runs on six hits while walking none and punching out eight, taking a no decision. Wheeler let up a solo shot to Tyler Colvin to draw blood first in this game. Then in the top of the fourth, Corey Dickerson led things off with a triple, immediately followed by an RBI double off the bat of Nolan Arenado to bring Colorado Springs within a run. Wheeler gave up a base hit to Arenado with one out in the sixth before being pulled for Justin Hampson. Arenado would later come around to score on a two-out triple by Ben Paulsen to tie the game at three a piece.

In the bottom of the seventh, Las Vegas regained the lead on a Juan Lagares bomb to left field. That lead would be short lived as Colvin would mash his second homer of the game and send things into extras.

After Armando Rodriguez came on and pitched a scoreless eleventh, the 51s began o rally in the bottom of the frame. Lagares drew a leadoff walk, followed by an intentional pass to Travis d’Arnaud. Wilmer Flores bunted the runners over and Andrew Brown was given the free pass as well to load the bases. Josh Satin went down looking in a seven pitch affair, leaving it all up to Reese Havens. Havens launched one on the second pitch of the at-bat to left enter and score Lagares to hand the 51s a win with some excitement, winning the walk-off 5-4.

Key Stats

Juan Lagares: 2-for-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB

Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Zack Wheeler: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 ER, 8 K, ND

Sacramento 8, Las Vegas 4 

The Las Vegas 51s(3-1) were handed their first loss of the season Sunday as they were unable to hold Sacramento in check in the seventh, falling in an 8-4 decision to the River Cats.

Marlon Byrd with a walk-off, two-run single and the Mets win it, improving to 4-2 on the year.

Byrd came through, but let’s hear from the fans from another type of bird.

Mets Twitterverse, Take It Away…

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 7, 2013

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 — E.J. (@TheHappyRecap) April 7, 2013

YESSSS — Katie Bowles (@MetsGirlKatie) April 7, 2013

PIITB!!!!’ — John Pielli (@john_pielli) April 7, 2013

METS WIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!!!!! — Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) April 7, 2013

OH MY !!!!!!! #mets — ed marcus (@lagranderusty) April 7, 2013

Byrd is the Word!!!!!! #mets #piitb — Robert Z (@Rob_Zloto) April 7, 2013

I AM CRYING. LETS GO METS!!!!!!

— Adam (@AdamMets) April 7, 2013

NL Cy Young Award

Clayton Kershaw

In the most decisive of our award, we present to you Clayton Kershaw as our 2013 Cy Young Award Winner with ten votes coming from our writers. In second was Stephen Strasburg with five and his juicing teammate Gio Gonzalez came in third with just a single vote.

National League MVP

Joey Votto

Joey Votto takes home his second MVP Award in 2013, tallying seven votes. Buster Posey, Bryce Harper and Matt Kemp all got two votes. Wright, Phillips, McCutchen, and Bruce also received nods.

NL Home Run Champion

Giancarlo Stanton

With seven votes, Giancarlo Stanton takes the National League Home Run crown. In a close second with five votes was Mets first baseman Ike Davis (hopefully he can have a better first half in 2013) and in third was Jay Bruce with two votes.

NL Batting Champion

Andrew McCutchen

Sparkplug of the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen wins the Batting Title in 2013 with seven tallies. Joey Votto came in second with five votes. David Wright, Buster Posey and Allen Craig each received a vote as well.

NL Stolen Base Leader

Ben Revere

With six votes, Ben Revere is our 2013 NL stolen base king. Everth Cabrera and former-Met Carlos Gomez came in at second with two votes a piece.

NL Rookie Of The Year

Zack Wheeler

Your 2013 NL Rookie of the Year is your very own Zack Wheeler! Wheeler took in five votes to best the likes of teammate Travis D’Arnaud, Jedd Gyorko, Oscar Taveras and Adam Eaton who each received two votes. Let’s just hope he’ll be up sooner rather than later for New York.

NL Comeback Player

Tim Lincecum

By a slim margin, Tim Lincecum is our 2013 NL Comeback Player of the Year. Lincecum had five votes with both Ryan Howard and Troy Tulowitzki coming in at second with four each.

So there you have it, our 2013 National League award winners. Keep an eye out for more of our predictions in the coming week as we’ll have our Mets predictions,  World Series predictions and plenty more! Stay tuned and feel free to comment with your NL predictions, but in the meantime, here is how each of our writers voted individually:

Joe D.

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP: Buster Posey
NL Homerun Champ: Bryce Harper
NL Batting Leader: Andrew McCutchen
NL Stolen Base Leader: Ben Revere
NL ROY: Zack Wheeler
NL Comeback Player: Tim Lincecum

Paul Zinn

NL Cy Young – Stephen Strasburg
NL MVP – Bryce Harper
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Batting Leader – Andrew McCutchen
NL Rookie of the Year – Travis d’Arnaud
NL Comeback Player – Ryan Howard

Clare Laferty

NL Cy Young – Stephen Strasburg
NL MVP – Buster Posey

Michael Barrett

NL Cy Young – Stephen Strasburg
NL MVP – Joey Votto
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Batting Leader – Joey Votto
NL Stolen Base Leader – Billy Hamilton
NL Rookie of the Year – Oscar Taveras
NL Comeback Player – Tim Linceum

Vinny B.

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP -Joey Votto
NL HR Champ – Ike Davis
NL Batting Leader – Joey Votto
NL Stolen Base Leader – Ben Revere
NL Rookie of the year – Zack Wheeler
NL Comeback player of the year – Ryan Howard

Matt Balasis

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – David Wright
NL Homerun Champ – Ike Davis
NL Batting Leader – David Wright
NL Stolen Base Leader – Ben Revere
NL Rookie of the Year – Oscar Taveras
NL Comeback Player – Carl Crawford

Joe Spector

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – Matt Kemp
NL Homerun Champ – Ike Davis
NL Batting Leader – Buster Posey
NL Stolen Base Leader – Everth Cabrera
NL Rookie of the Year – Zack Wheeler
NL Comeback Player – Troy Tulowitzki

Jessep

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – Joey Votto
NL Homerun Champ – Ike Davis
NL Batting Leader – Andrew McCutchen
NL Stolen Base Leader – Ben Revere
NL Rookie of the Year – Adam Eaton
NL Comeback Player – Troy Tulowitzki

Rob (Tie Dyed)

NL Cy Young – Gio Gonzalez
NL MVP – Brandon Phillips
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Batting Leader – Andrew McCutchen
NL Stolen Base Leader – Carlos Gomez
NL Rookie of the Year – Julio Teheran
NL Comeback Player – Ryan Howard

Connor

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – Joey Votto
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Batting Leader – Allen Craig
NL Stolen Base Leader – Ben Revere
NL Rookie of the Year – Zack Wheeler
NL Comeback Player – Troy Tulowitzki

Clayton Collier

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – Jay Bruce
NL Homerun Champ -Ike Davis
NL Batting Leader – Joey Votto
NL Stolen Base Leader – BJ Upton
NL Rookie of the Year – Zack Wheeler
NL Comeback Player – Ryan Howard

Gerry Silverman

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen
NL Homerun Champ: Jay Bruce
NL Batting Leader: Andrew McCutchen
NL Stolen Base Leader: Ben Revere
NL ROY: Christian Yelich
NL Comeback Player: Tim Lincecum

Adam Rossi

NL Cy Young – Stephen Strasburg
NL MVP – Joey Votto
NL Homerun Champ – Jay Bruce
NL Batting Leader – Joey Votto
NL Stolen Base Leader – Matt Kemp
NL Rookie of the Year – Travis d’Arnaud
NL Comeback Player – Michael Young

Dan Valis

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – Matt Kemp
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Batting Leader – Joey Votto
NL Stolen Base Leader – Carlos Gomez
NL Rookie of the Year – Jedd Gyorko
NL Comeback Player – Troy Tulowitzki

XtreemIcon

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw
NL MVP – Bryce Harper
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Stolen Base Leader – Everth Cabrera
NL Rookie of the Year – Jedd Gyorko
NL Comeback Player – Tim Lincecum

Gregg Hopps

NL Cy Young – Stephen Strasburg
NL MVP -Joey Votto
NL Homerun Champ -Ike Davis
NL Batting Leader -Andrew McCutchen

Jim Mancari

NL MVP – Joey Votto
NL Homerun Champ – Giancarlo Stanton
NL Batting Leader – Andrew McCutchen
NL Stolen Base Leader – Denard Span
NL Rookie of the Year – Adam Eaton
NL Comeback Player – Tim Lincecum

American League Cy Young Award

Felix Hernandez

Big King Felix took the Cy Young Award with five votes from our staff. In second was Justin Verlander with three and third was Chirs Sale with two. Jared Weaver, the imperfect Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Josh Johnson all had one vote a piece.

American League MVP

Mike Trout

Mike Trout took home seven MMO votes to take our MVP award, and to think, he could have been a Met . Albert Pujols was second with three and the new Jay-Z client Robinson Cano was third with two.

AL Home Run Champ

Jose Bautista

Brief but former Met Jose Bautista received six votes to become our preseason home run king. Prince Fielder was second with three tallies.

AL Batting Champion

Mike Trout and Robinson Cano

We have a tie! At four votes a piece, Mike Trout and Robinson Cano were voted co-batting champs. Miguel Cabrera was behind them at three. Josh Hamilton and Joe Mauer had two.

AL Stolen Base Leader

Mike Trout

I’m starting to see a theme here, something seems a little fishy. Mike Trout leads the American League with five votes. Michael Bourn with his new Indians at four and former-met speedster Jose Reyes in third at two picks.

AL Rookie Of The Year

Wil Myers

Now Tampa Bay Rays prospect Wil Myers is our choice for ROY at seven votes. Trevor Bauer had three, and Jurickson Profar and Dylan Bundy nabbed two a piece.

AL Comeback Player Of The Year

Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera gets our nod for Comeback Player at five tallies. Jose Bautista had himself four votes. Lance Berkman, Jacoby Ellsbury took home two a piece, hell even Jason Bay got thrown a bone from Jessep!

So that’s our 2013 A.L. Award predictions, hope you enjoyed… We’ll have the National League posted later today. In the mean time, here is how our staff voted individually. Feel free to comment with your own AL predictions!

Joe D.

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

AL MVP: Mike Trout

AL Homerun Champ: Prince Fielder

AL Batting Leader: Robinson Cano

AL Stolen Base Leader: Mike Trout

AL ROY: Trevor Bauer

AL Comeback Player: Jacoby Ellsbury

Paul Zinn

AL Cy Young – Felix Hernandez

AL MVP – Robinson Cano

AL Homerun Champ – Albert Pujols

AL Batting Leader – Miguel Cabrera

AL Stolen Base Leader – Jose Reyes

AL Rookie of the Year -Trevor Bauer

AL Comeback Player – Mariano Rivera

Clare Laferty

AL Cy Young – Felix Hernandez

AL MVP – Mike Trout

Michael Barrett

AL Cy Young – David Price

AL MVP – Mike Trout

AL Homerun Champ – Mark Trumbo

AL Batting Leader – Miguel Cabrera

AL Stolen Base Leader – Mike Trout

AL Rookie of the Year -Jurickson Profar

AL Comeback Player – Mariano Rivera

Vinny B.

AL Cy Young – Jered Weaver

AL MVP – Albert Pujols

AL HR Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader -Robinson Cano

AL Stolen Base Leader – Desmond Jennings

AL Rookie of the year – Will Myers

AL Comeback player of the year – Lance Berkman

Matt Balasis

AL Cy Young – David Price

AL MVP – Jose Bautista

AL Homerun Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader – Joe Mauer

AL Stolen Base Leader – Jose Reyes

AL Rookie of the Year – Wil Myers

AL Comeback Player – Jose Bautista

Joe Spector

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander

AL MVP – Albert Pujols

AL Homerun Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader – Robinson Cano

AL Stolen Base Leader – Brett Gardner

AL Rookie of the Year – Dylan Bundy

AL Comeback Player – Jose Bautista

Jessep

AL Cy Young – Felix Hernandez

AL MVP – Prince Fielder

AL Homerun Champ – Prince Fielder

AL Batting Leader – Mike Trout

AL Stolen Base Leader – Jose Altuve

AL Rookie of the Year – Trevor Bauer

AL Comeback Player – Jason Bay

Rob (Tie Dyed)

AL Cy Young – Chris Sale

AL MVP – Mike Trout

AL Homerun Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader – Billy Butler

AL Stolen Base Leader – Jose Reyes

AL Rookie of the Year – Wil Myers

AL Comeback Player – Jose Bautista

Connor

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander

AL MVP – Miguel Cabrera

AL Homerun Champ – Adam Dunn

AL Batting Leader – Joe Mauer

AL Stolen Base Leader – Michael Bourn

AL Rookie of the Year – Dylan Bundy

AL Comeback Player – Eric Hosmer

Clayton Collier

AL Cy Young – Matt Harrison

AL MVP – Robinson Cano

AL Homerun Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader – Miguel Cabrera

AL Stolen Base Leader – Michael Bourn

AL Rookie of the Year – Wil Myers

AL Comeback Player – Victor Martinez

Gerry Silverman

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

AL MVP: Mike Trout

AL Homerun Champ: Prince Fielder

AL Batting Leader: Mike Trout

AL Stolen Base Leader: Mike Trout

AL ROY: Jurickson Profar

AL Comeback Player: Jacob Ellsbury

Adam Rossi

AL Cy Young – Yu Darvish

AL MVP – Mike Trout

AL Homerun Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader – Mike Trout

AL Stolen Base Leader – Mike Trout

AL Rookie of the Year – Wil Myers

AL Comeback Player – Jose Bautista

Dan Valis

AL Cy Young – David Price

AL MVP – Jose Bautista

AL Homerun Champ – Jose Bautista

AL Batting Leader – Josh Hamilton

AL Stolen Base Leader – Michael Bourn

AL Rookie of the Year – Wil Myers

AL Comeback Player – Mariano Rivera

XtreemIcon

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander

AL MVP – Evan Longoria

AL Homerun Champ – Josh Hamilton

AL Batting Leader – Josh Hamilton

AL Stolen Base Leader – Emilio Bonafacio

AL Rookie of the Year – Wil Myers

AL Comeback Player – Mariano Rivera

Gregg Hopps

AL Cy Young -Josh Johnson

AL Batting Leader -Mike Trout

AL Comeback Player -Mariano Rivera

Jim Mancari

AL Cy Young – Chris Sale

AL MVP – Albert Pujols

AL Homerun Champ – Albert Pujols

AL Batting Leader – Robinson Cano

AL Stolen Base Leader – Michael Bourn

AL Rookie of the Year – Jurickson Profar

AL Comeback Player – Lance Berkman