Mets Merized Online

“Losing is a disease.
…as contagious as polio.

 Losing is a disease.
…as contagious as syphilis.

 Losing is a disease.
…as contagious as bubonic plague.

 Attacking one.
… but infecting all.

 But curable.”

This is some dialogue that I’m sure most of you are familiar with.  It is taken from the movie “The Natural,” one of the best baseball-related movies ever made. In this scene, the New York Knights are having a sports psychologist speak to the team regarding a collective slump that the team is mired in.  The speech that the quack is giving them is monotonous and disinterested. Like the lectures we would receive in high school that would put us to sleep for a full period.

Unfortunately, this is a lesson the Mets should not be sleeping through. The Mets’ backs are against the wall. Slip any further in the standings and there will be no coming back this season.

It seems as though this team needs a testosterone boost to push them forward and to take the win. It appears as though they are almost comfortable with accepting the loss. Opportunities present themselves and the Mets watch them pass by.

In the movie, Roy Hobbs refuses to listen anymore to the lines of the sports psychologist. What he did was to put the team back on his shoulders and carry the Knights to the pennant.

This team could use a Roy Hobbs (or two or three). The Mets need someone to step up and capitalize on opportunities. Do the Mets have anyone with Hobbs-potential? Can David Wright carry this team? Sheffield? Reyes upon his return?

As awesome as Johan and Frankie are, they don’t put runs on the board. This team needs to manufacture runs better. Yesterday, on WFAN, Jerry Manuel reported that the New York Mets have the highest batting average with runners in scoring position, but they persistently fail to get those runs in.

The New York Mets have the 6^th best team batting average in the majors, but are 20^th in runs scored (5 runs behind the Washington Nationals. Yes, those Nationals).

What is it going to take to put this team in a better position to score and win games? It’s evident that this team knows how to get on base. Unfortunately, they like to stay there for some reason.

I understand that the team is not looking to spend a tremendous amount of money right now, considering how much they have invested in their current team (and medical bills).  Also, considering the hit the financial hit that the Wilpons took in the Madoff scandal, we can understand some more conservative decisions. We as fans, though, did not lose $700,000,000. We want a winning team.

Who in baseball have that Hobbs-quality? The ability to step up to the plate and get the job done, get the runs in. A few come to mind.

Josh Hamilton (for his amazing story and comeback in the 2008 season and absolutely historic display at the 2008 Home Run Derby).

Manny Ramirez (despite PEDs, the guy just flat out hits).

Albert Pujols (arguably one of the best hitters ever).

Ryan Howard (fastest to 200 HRs, and is always a threat in the clutch).

Who would you like to see?  Who can cure the Mets losing disease?

The All Star Break can’t come soon enough for this Mets team.  Unfortunately, Major League Baseball has something else in mind. In a landmark case, Major League Baseball has decided to postpone the All Star Game for one week. In an effort to boost viewership and to improve the experience of all in attendance, the decision was made in the late hours Thursday night by the Commissioner’s office.

The staff at Metsmerized Online were able to reach Mr. Selig at his summer home, “Selig Towers” on the Ivory Coast.  Mr. Selig stated that the decision was made to postpone the Mid-Summer Classic for one week in an effort to time David Wright’s hot streak.  He also stated that, because Mr. Wright has had to change his plate-approach because of the expansive park at Citi Field, he has decided to allow David to use an aluminum bat for the Home Run Derby.  When asked about his midnight approval of a new baseball design that includes the use of a helium core, the Commissioner would not comment other than to say that the unexplained phenomenon of the decline in home runs this year across the league is the impetus and is likely to be explored further.

While the above is far from true, Mr. Wright will be our sole offensive representative this year at the All Star Game (although Carlos Beltran was elected to the team, but cannot participate due to his injury).  In all of David’s streakiness, the task he has been facing this year has been monumental. David has gone from being a pretty big cog in a machine to basically being the entire engine. I’m certainly glad that he is being recognized as an All Star this year. However, with all of the work that he has had to put in this year, I hope that he’s not asked to overexert himself next week.  While we all applaud his work ethic and desire to be out there every day, David needs some rest, physically and mentally.

The All Star Break cannot come soon enough.  Up until recently, it was the hopes of all Mets fans that the All Star Break would be bringing the return of at least Reyes and Beltran.  We learned this week that neither will be returning after the break, and that there is still no timetable for their return.  We also learned that Carlos Delgado is stepping up his rehab and could potentially return by August 1^st. Regardless, this Mets team needs this break to regroup and replenish their energy.

Omar Minaya informed us this week that, while he has explored many trade avenues, the decision has been made that the biggest help we can land is the return of our injured players, that there is no “one bat” available that will help the team as much as the players that we already have. While I agree with the decision that it is not worth it to deal our top prospects to land a bat, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people out there who could help with some of the role gaps on this team. It would be great if Beltran, Reyes and Delgado come back in great form, but how much is that going to help if they return to a team that has absolutely no gas in their tank? The way this team is playing, everyone is running on empty and are losing direction in every aspect of the game. Can the Mets order their current players to stay in their homes the entire break, to not ride motorcycles, not take cabs in Miami (or Manhattan for that matter), not ride with team trainer Ray Ramirez on any bridges, not use any hedge clippers, etc.  Please?

One week ago: “I need to get better.  I need to get on base and score.”

One week ago on May 22, the Mets were in the midst of a tough road trip, facing top shelf teams on their respective home turfs. The Mets were going into Boston with a 4-6 record over their last ten games. The Mets found themselves in second place looking a game and a half up at the Philthies. The Mets clearly needed Jose Reyes to return to the field healthy.  They needed him to spark the offense.  We needed his “Reyes Runs”.  We needed him to get in the head of the opposing pitchers. The Mets had called up Ramon Martinez to fill in, and he looked as if he had lost his ability to field the ball cleanly. The Mets had their backs against the wall and their pants were down.

Present Day: “Do they even need me?”

The New York Mets are in first place. What? They sit a half game over the Phillies. What?!?

The Mets have clawed their way to the top, having won four straight games, going 6-4 over their last ten. Ramon Martinez’s defense has come back to form, and word around the campfire is that Alex Cora is foregoing surgery to come back to the team next week to sure up our defense further. Angel Pagan has been tearing it up in the leadoff spot with five hits and six walks in the last week. Many of the holes that were left on the team when Jose Reyes got hurt have begun to be filled in by others.

I can’t help but imagine that this is eating at Jose. Why he is still in that dugout is beyond me. Ryan Church has already left the team to begin rehabbing. Reyes is slated to go down to Florida after this weekend’s series against the Marlins. Could this be the Mets plot to instill some humbleness in Jose? It’s been obvious to Mets fans who have seen Jose in the dugout over the last week that Reyes is aware of his diminished importance over this past week.

Losing Delgado and Reyes (and Church) and to a small degree Beltran (and almost K-Rod) (phew), appeared to be start of a Mets apocalypse. Certain doom was upon us. However, in the last week, this team has shown chemistry and guile. The ability to scratch out wins. The Mets have gotten it done.

But make no mistake. This team is overachieving at this point. The Mets cannot maintain their current steam. The Mets need a healthy Reyes in this lineup, on the basepaths and manning the left side of that infield. The Mets will need Delgado’s power bat to return midseason to pick this team up.

When Jose returns, though, will he return with humility? Will he have a newfound respect for the concept of ‘team’? Will Jose Reyes become a more complete player after this hiatus?

Time will certainly tell.

LGM.

This weekend, the Mets fly to the other coast to take on the San Francisco Giants in a four game series by the bay. The Mets and Giants have the exact same record of 18-15 coming into this series.  The Giants have been winning of late, taking six of their last ten games. At home, the Giants have a 12-5 record, the first time they have had a winning home record in some time now.

The Mets have taken the season series from the Giants dating back to 2003. 2009 is not the year for the Mets to start changing things up.

The numbers don’t lie. The Mets are beating the Giants in every offensive category to this point. The Mets are tied for first in the league with a .288 batting average. Compare that with the Giants who are in thirteenth with a .251 BA. The Mets have outscored the Giants by 33 runs so far. As a team, the Mets are outpitching the Giants as well, although at a slimmer margin.  The Mets are 3^rd in the league with a 3.95 team ERA.  The Giants are 6^th with a team ERA of 4.13. The two X factors in these numbers, in my opinion, are Carlos Delgado and Tim Lincecum.  Delgado has been a big contributor to the Mets offensive numbers, and will not likely see a pitch in this series. On the other side of the diamond, Lincecum has not put up the numbers that everyone has expected, but seems to be quickly regaining the form that earned him the NL Cy Young Award last year.

Tonight, we will see John Maine (3-2, 4.54) match up against Jonathon Sanchez (1-3, 4.78).  Mets fans have started to see Maine find himself in his last two outings. Sanchez, on the other hand, has struggled, posting a 9.00 ERA in his last two starts. However, Sanchez has fared better at home, where he is yet to allow an earned run. The Mets have shown a preference for feeding on left-handed pitching. Let’s hope that continues tonight.

Friday will feature a matchup of our fifth starter, Livan Hernandez (3-1, 5.08) against SF ace Tim Lincecum (3-1, 3.25). As “The Freak” continues to regain his Cy Young form, the Mets will need Hernandez to try to outlast him, and try to get some timely hits.

Saturday afternoon will match up Johan Santana (4-2, 0.78) and Randy Johnson (3-3, 5.89). The Mets offense will need to redeem themselves in the eyes of their ace. Randy Johnson may not be hitting triple digits these days, but he’s coming in consistently at 91-92 MPH, which, in my book, is still pretty fast.

The Mets will line up Mike Pelfrey (4-0, 4.89) against SF hurler Matt Cain (3-1, 3.00) in an ESPN matchup at 8:00pm. Like Maine, Pelfrey has been regaining his form in his last few starts, and Giants have historically had trouble when facing Big Pelf. While Cain has a very good arm, he has struggled against the Mets.

Offensively, Mets starters will need to pay close attention to Randy Winn, Emmanuel Burress and Edgar Renteria this weekend.  While the Giants only have one starter hitting above .300 on the year (Pablo Sandoval – .301), the above three are all hitting well over the last week. Luckily, these Giants are not real legitimate power threats at the plate.

The Mets should walk away with three wins against San Francisco this weekend if they want to prove their mettle and maintain their first place status.

Last year, the Mets had to cross the country four times to play against West Coast teams. It wore hard on this team. Thankfully, they only have to go across twice this year as interleague matches the NL East versus the AL East. I can only imagine what the time change and travel does to the players. As a fan, these late nights really drain me, and I’m thankful that this series falls (mostly) on a weekend.

LGM.

Don’t look now folks, but the Mets are above .500, and have won their last four games, all of which were against division rivals Braves and Phillies. A week ago, Mets fans everywhere were scratching their heads wondering how short of expectations this team was going to fall. Baseball is a funny game, and the baseball season is a long one.

This weekend, the Mets welcome in the fourth place Pittsburgh Pirates. This is a Pirates team that has lost nine of its last ten games. Pittsburgh is playing .500 ball at home while posting a 5-9 record in Away games. We can only hope that the Mets bring the drive and progression we’ve seen over the last week, and not “play down” to a lesser team like they have so many times in the past.

Friday night will feature the return of Jon Niese taking Oliver Perez’s spot in the rotation. Niese has struggled so far this year pitching for AAA Buffalo. However, Niese has a good fastball and the makings of a tremendous curveball. If he can show the poise he’s showed before, he could put the Mets in a position to win against former Yankee pitcher, Scott Karstens. Karstens has had a rough start, going 1-1 with a 5.85 ERA this year.

Saturday, the Mets will face Paul Maholm, the best and most consistent starter of the Pirates rotation. Maholm will face up with a John Maine who has started to find himself and show the fire that he needs to overpower hitters with his fastball.

Sunday will feature Livan Hernandez and Ian Snell. The Mets will need to be patient with Snell who has been walking people left and right this season.

The Mets will need to continue to make steps forward in their offensive production. This week, David Wright has seemingly found his stroke while Jose Reyes continues to flounder at the plate. Thursday night, they both went deep against Jaime Moyer. While I’m happy to see Wright find his power stroke, I always get concerned when Reyes goes yard, thinking that he is going to start uppercutting the ball. An argument could be made that Citi Field was created for players like Jose Reyes. It’s a speedster’s paradise, and Reyes hasn’t been utilizing its assets.

The Pirates hitters have shown some pop, but haven’t been able to put up the numbers needed to get the win. Adam La Roche and Nate McLouth are the power threats to watch out for. But playing at Citi Field, the Mets should pay close attention to leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan with his seven steals on the year as well as Freddy Sanchez with his .321 BA and 13 doubles on the season.

The Mets should walk away with at least two wins this weekend as the Pirates come in to port.

Arrrgh LGM.

As the Mets venture South to Philly this weekend following a less-than-stellar beginning to their season, I thought it might brighten some peoples’ day by pointing out what occurred last night in Chicago.

The Cubs and Marlins were locked in a 2-2 tie going into the 10th.

In walks Aaron Heilman.  Heilman did not record an out, and gave up three hits, two walks and six runs. Flashbacks anyone?

Up until last night, Heilman was actually pitching well, with an 0.82 ERA. Unfortunately, as all of us Mets fans know, he’s always one pitch from disaster on the mound.

Carry on wayward son.

The Mets are currently on a four game losing streak, and have just been swept by the first place Cardinals. The Mets see themselves a mere two games up in the loss column above the last place Nationals in the NL East. We’re currently watching a group of players who each are putting up solid numbers, but are failing to produce as a team. Last week, the Mets opened Citi Field and christened her with a 3-3 record so far. The first week at Citi Field was a learning experience for the fans and players alike. Every fan that walked in was bewildered at how un-Shea the ballpark is. The players needed to start getting accustomed to how Citi plays with all of the new angles, heights and airstreams.

The Mets return to Citi Field this weekend to face the 3-11 Nationals. I hope that the newness of Citi Field has worn off and the Mets feel more at home than last week, because they need some home cooking like nobody’s business. And the Nats should prove to be a tasty meal. In 2008, Mets batters put up some crooked numbers against the Nationals, especially Beltran and Wright who each had 6 doubles against Washington pitching. Carlos Delgado struggled when facing them, hitting just .178 against Washington last year. Delgado has hit the ground running this year though, and Mets fans hope to see his continued hunger for hitting bombs at Citi Field this weekend.

Last year, Mets pitching faired well when facing Washington.  Santana and Pelfrey posted up good numbers against Washington last year with ERAs of 2.57 and 2.36 respectively. Lucky for the Mets that these two lead the charge this weekend on Friday and Saturday. Sunday will feature Oliver Perez (or Oliver Hyde) who posted an 8.62 ERA against the Nationals last year.

The Mets will face transplanted Marlin, Scott Olsen on Friday who has an 0-2 record on the year with a 9.00 ERA. On Saturday, Pelfrey faces up against Daniel Cabrera, who has an ERA of 4.50, giving up just 3 runs over his last 10 innings. Sunday, Oliver Perez will have his hands full, facing up against the young prospect Jordan Zimmerman who is showing that he has good stuff with a 1-0 record and an ERA of 3.00 on the season.

To those fans going out to Citi Field this weekend: As you’re munching on a burger from the Shake Shack or some delicious pulled pork from Blue Smoke, just remember that the players need some home cooking too. So cheer them on and give them a hearty homecoming.

LGM

This Mets team is struggling to get started this year. Not for a lack of production from its 4-5-6 hitters, or so the boxscore would have you imagine. Carlos Delgado has hit the ground running with a .343 BA and 3 dingers. Carlos Beltran is hitting .333. Ryan Church is batting a stellar .419 with 6 doubles!!

How is it that the Mets are sitting in 4th place with a 4-5 record?

Only a week into the season, and the Mets are already amounting an insane level of men left on base. Their clutch hitting seems to drop off the table and roll out the door after the third inning.

Jose Reyes has started the season hitting .243 with a 50% stolen base percentage. He has scored a grand total of 5 runs so far, while Daniel Murphy has scored double that hitting right in front of him. Considering the Mets biggest loss margin was two runs so far, I would venture to guess that the Mets record might be considerably different if Reyes had gotten on base a little more. Gary, Keith and Ron drill it into us with their “Reyes runs” and “As goes Reyes, so do the Mets”, but we can’t have all of our eggs in Jose’s basket.

David Wright is currently tied for 4th in the majors in strikeouts with 13. Adding just one more would put him in a tie for 1st! Can someone please inform David that he needs to play to the strengths of this ballpark? David’s strength at the plate was his eye and his ability to go the other way. This season, he reminds me of how hard it used to be to watch Jay Payton face any right handed pitcher with a semi-decent slider. I think the book is out, and it says that David is struggling with the low-outside pitch. It just doesn’t look like he can reach it. Is he trying to hard to pull the ball? I really can’t say, but it looks like he needs to regroup. 

What are people’s thoughts on giving David a night off and starting Tatis at third? I know that he has been only an outfielder since he joined the team, but Tatis was a starting third basemen when he played with the Cardinals.

Thoughts?

April 8, 2009. Francisco Rodriguez comes into the game against the Cincinnati Reds in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Mets have a two run lead, and need their stud closer to come in and shut the door to close out the win. In true Mets-fashion, Frankie gives us all reason to keep our eyes wide open. Rodriguez loaded the bases in part due to a shrunken strike zone, but also due to some erratic pitches. Frankie got Alex Gonzalez to strike out on a 3-2 fastball. Then, with the bases still juiced, Laynce Nix came up to the plate with an 0 for 3 history against Rodriguez. Being a Mets fan, my initial thought was that Mr. Nix was going to be breaking that 0-fer in dramatic fashion. It wasn’t meant to be though, as the long fly ball to center that looked like trouble landed safely in Carlos Beltran’s glove.

Attaboy Frankie.

A few thousand miles West, it was another story for Los Angeles Angels’ closer Brian Fuentes. While Fuentes had a slimmer, one-run margin, his results were not as successful. Fuentes gave up the tying and ultimate winning runs to spoil a good effort from rookie starter Nick Adenhart. The rookie went six scoreless innings before handing the ball off to their (apparently) shaky pen. Brian Fuentes put the nail in the Angels’ coffin by giving up three runs on a walk and four hits. Oh, and needless to say, a blown save.

A tough break for Fuentes as one of the hits he gave up was a swinging bunt by the A’s Kurt Suzuki that would have been tough for anyone to field. In the end, though, it was a blown save, a concept Mets fans are all too familiar with.

This past offseason, it was Omar Minaya’s mission to stabilize the New York Mets bullpen. There were a few closers on the market, but the big boys were JJ Putz, Francisco Rodriguez, and Brian Fuentes (the focus mainly on Fuentes and Rodriguez, if I recall correctly). On December 10, 2008, the New York Mets announced that Francisco Rodriguez would be the closer for the Mets. Just a day later, it was announced that Frankie would be set up by JJ Putz. I would say Omar did a fine job of stabilizing the pen.

On the morning of Thursday, April 9, 2009, I am happy with the decision that was made to make Francisco Rodriguez our closer. It’s possible that on Sunday, October 4, 2009 after the last game of the season, we might look back at this save with the same happiness as we Mets fans know how much one game means.

LGM.