JAYSON WERTH WHIFFS: Sit your ass down, sucker!

You know that feeling when Scott Rice walked the first two batters in the 8th inning yesterday with the Mets clinging to a 2 run lead? Kind of a helpless sense of doom and despair where you can’t bear to watch? With a little help from Jayson Werth the result didn’t turn out like so many other late-inning debacles have, but as I exhaled and wiped the sweat from my forehead it got me thinking about the psychological effects of these recurring meltdowns.

Lets consider for a moment a couple of researchers who tortured some dogs for the sake of behavioral science. Like Pavlov only more twisted … they conditioned these animals to expect an electric shock after they heard a tone. Initially the dogs would leap and jerk and look for escape in an attempt to avoid the shock, but after a while the dogs became conditioned to the stimulus and quit trying to avoid it. Once the animals were thus acclimated, the researchers observed that even when the animals were presented with a lowered wall in their boxes they made no attempt to jump over it. Even with a clear avenue of escape, they did nothing to avoid the shock. The researchers were Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier, who went on to develop a theory they called “Learned Helplessness.”

Now lets look at an unpleasant set of random shocks that the Mets have experienced over the past six seasons:

September 27, 2007

After a 3-0 loss to the Saint Louis Cardinals the Mets are tied with the Phillies atop their division. Between the beginning of their September 14th series against the Phillies and the start of last night’s game against Saint Louis, Mets relievers have given up 30 earned runs for a 6.54 ERA. The Mets are 4 and 10 in their last 14 games.

September 21. 2008

With 7 games to go and the Mets clinging to a shot at the post season, Aaron Heilman gives up a two-run double to Martin Prado that gave the Braves a 7-4 lead rendering Carlos Delgado‘s two-run home run in the ninth inning irrelevant. It was the 16^th blown save since the All-Star break.

August 21, 2011

After another masterful performance by R.A. Dickey, Manny Acosta walks Nyjer Morgan to start the inning. With runners on first and third and two runs in, Tim Byrdak is brought in to pitch to Prince Fielder who hits a routine double play ball to second base. Justin Turner makes a wide throw on the double play attempt as the winning run crosses the plate. The Mets fall to 6 games under .500.

July 18, 2012

With the Mets only 5 games out of the wild card, Miguel Batista in relief of Chris Young comes in and gets two quick outs. He then allows two singles to Jesus Flores and Roger Bernadina before allowing a 2-run double to Steve Lombardozzi putting the Nationals ahead 4-1. Riding a 6 game losing streak the Mets bullpen ranks last in the Majors with a 5.03 ERA.

April 18, 2013

The Mets are swept in a weather-shortened three game set in Denver as Met relievers give up 18 runs to the Rockies.

April 20, 2013

After coming back from three runs down in the 4^th inning to take a 5 – 3 lead, the Mets bullpen gives up 4 runs as the Nationals win 7 – 6 on a Saturday game following an inspiring win by Matt Harvey.  The Met bullpen has given up 28 earned runs so far this season. As of this writing the Mets have the worst bullpen ERA in baseball.

No escape … Learned Helplessness.

The “D” adjectives keep coming … disheartening, demoralizing, deflating … Met fans have been stuck in a perpetual electro-shock holding pattern for the greater part of a decade owing primarily to this organization’s persistent inability to construct even a league average bullpen. We know this, we’ve been over this ad nauseam … the above list is just a sampling, there were other grueling losses, too many to list.

In May of 1978, Diener and Dweck published a fascinating analysis of Learned Helplessness in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in which they concluded that helpless children showed marked decrements in performance when put in situations where they failed, whereas children who were oriented to mastery focused more on self-monitoring and self-instruction. The study looked specifically at the attribution of failure in these learners. It was posited that for helpless children (their “helplessness” was based on how they perceived the tasks), failure was internalized and attributed to a lack of ability (even when that wasn’t necessarily the case), while mastery oriented children tended to engage in more positive behaviors following a failed attempt.

Learners who are conditioned to fail, show performance decrements with each failure. They give up, they stop trying, even when subsequently presented with tasks that are well within their ability, they stumble. Like the dogs in the electrified pens, they neglect to look for a solution, they acquiesce to their condition.

Baseball players are only human and they reflect the same patterns of response to failure that any of us might, but bullpen meltdowns are unlike other kinds of failures in some very important ways. They tend to be games that were “in the bag” at some point – which is to say many other aspects of the team’s play (namely starting pitching and offense) were successful for the greater part of the contest. The team played well, the team should have won, but the game unraveled somehow at the very end. These losses are gut punches to morale, exasperating in that they reinforce a sense of helplessness … no matter how well you play, no matter how many runs you drive in or how well your starting pitcher performs, you become conditioned to believing that the bullpen will find a way to give it up.

Players can only suffer through so many games of this sort before they stop investing their heart and soul into a game’s outcome – if only to preserve their sanity. You might call it developing a thick skin, letting failure bounce off of you, turning the page — there are lots of clichés to describe moving past failure — but, in the end, acclimating to failure increases the likelihood that it will recur. As shown in the study above, failure itself can be toxic — individuals conditioned to fail show decrements in performance relative to individuals oriented towards success even when their ability levels are commensurate.

This should not be confused with the notion that a good reliever has to have the temerity to ignore the occasional bad performance … that trait is advanced by the innate confidence that the reliever will return to his successful norm. The above has more to do with players who experience repeated failure, and thus begin to expect it.

Take two kids of equal ability who are learning to play shortstop. With player one you hit 20 hard smashes always just out of his reach. Then you bounce 20 routine grounders to player two. Follow that up by giving both players an identical set of grounders at a variety of difficulty levels and you will find that the player conditioned to failure is likely to make more errors than the player who handled the easy grounders. This is why coaches like to end sessions with a few successful reps.

Over the past few seasons the Mets have been conditioned to the late inning (and the late season) collapse. Beyond the hard work and talent unquestionably necessary to reverse this malaise of the spirit, this team needs individuals who refuse to turn the page, individuals who do not accept the loss. Sometimes all it takes is one guy. In 1967 it was Tom Seaver, perhaps Matt Harvey can act as this sort of catalyst in 2013. We need more Matt Harveys, we need players who refuse to acquiesce to failure.

But you absolutely have to have a bullpen that will hold it’s own and prevent these recurring gut-wrenching morale-killing failure-conditioning losses, because one thing is certain, you can only take so many late inning meltdowns before the dog decides to just stay in the box.

Young, 33, has spent the last two seasons with the Mets and in 2012 he went 4-9 with a 4.15 ERA in 20 starts but ended the season strongly posting a 2.73 ERA in five September starts Over his career, Young is 53-43 with a 3.79 ERA in 159 career starts.

He won’t find any room in a packed Nationals rotation, but will provide them with some quality depth behind Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Ross Detwiler and Dan Haren.

Chris Young had by far his worst outing of the season, and a struggling bullpen as well as a lack of offense sealed the Mets fate in their 13-0 loss on Wednesday

Game Recap

Chris Young was absolutely obliterated today, going four and one-third innings allowing seven runs on seven hits with three home runs in his outing. Young walked three and fanned four, but Young just didn’t have it today and the free-swinging Marlins capitalized on some poor pitch location. If Young has another poor start, the possibility of Jeremy Hefner and Young swapping rotation spots on an opponent by opponent basis is impossible.

The bullpen was overworked today, with Ramon Ramirez and Jeremy Hefner combining for two and two-third innings, allowing no hits, walking one and striking out two. After Hefner however, things got ugly. Garrett Olson went one-third of an inning allowing four runs on three hits while walking one. Not a great way to make a Mets debut Garrett. Manny Acosta went two thirds of an inning, giving up a hit and striking out one. Frank Francisco came out for mop-up duty, and was not very good – like two runs on two hits with a strikeout in one-third of an inning bad. Josh Edgin was forced into the game and pitched two-thirds of an inning, striking out one.

Poor, poor pitching day. Not much else to say…unless some offense would come.

Which it didn’t. The Mets managed five total hits, two by David Wright, but did draw six walks lead by Ruben Tejada. Tejada also had a throwing error, his ninth overall error on the year. This was just a bad game, that got out of hand uncontrollably fast.

On Deck: The Mets will finish the series at 12:10 tomorrow, sending R.A. Dickey to the mound against Josh Johnson.

Chris Young was victimized in late innings as has been the theme, the bullpen faltered and despite a ninth inning rally including two solo home runs, the Mets lost the second game of the series, 4-3.

Game Recap

Chris Young had a pretty solid outing, going six innings allowing two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out two. Young was good for the most part, but as has been the case in his last few starts he gave up a late-inning homer that put the Nationals on the board first. The big problem with Young is not endurance, but his variety and sharpness of pitches after the sixth inning. Young does rely fairly heavily on control and drawing weak contact, so that will always doom Young third time around the order.

The bullpen had some major work today, with Miguel Batista allowing two runs on three hits with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. Batista wasn’t particularly ineffective, with one hit coming off a freak ricochet off of Miguel Batista’s shin. However, the most egregious sin was leaving a fastball down the middle that Steve Lombardozzi drilled for a two-RBI double. Josh Edgin came out for a third of an inning, and got Bryce Harper to fly out. Jon Rauch came out to pitch the eighth, and had his best outing in a few weeks, striking out two and allowing no hits. Rauch seemed to have some extra zip on his fastball, turning it up to 93 MPH.

The bullpen still struggles, and Jesus wept. Reinforcements cannot come soon enough.

Offensively, the Mets were kept in check by Jordan Zimmerman for the course of his start, but came alive in the late innings. A Lucas Duda RBI double set up Andres Torres for an RBI single, but in a boneheaded move tried to stretch it into a double down by two. The real comeback began in the ninth, when to leadoff the inning David Wright sent a blast to right field for a solo HR. After Davis & Duda struck out swinging, Jason Bay sent a moonshot off the LF foul pole to bring the Mets within one. Yetserday’s hero, Jordany Valdespin came to the plate to try and recreate his magic from the night before, but struck out swinging to end the game.

Outside of the baserunning error, the Mets were aggressive at the plate today, and it didn’t translate into hits.

Turning Point: Miguel Batista giving up the freak hit. If it goes up the middle, Murphy has a play on it if not Tejada to end the inning. Instead, it caroms into no-mans land and keeps the inning alive.

Game Notes: David Wright – 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run on a solo HR. Can he play any better? On a day where nine hits are totaled, Wright accounts for a third of them. Jason Bay went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run on a solo HR.

On Deck: The Mets will look to finish the series against the Nationals with a win, sending R.A. Dickey to the mound against Gio Gonzalez. Game time is 12:35 P.M.

Chris Young had a good outing but ran out of steam in the seventh, and the bullpen faltered in the 9-2 loss against the Phillies

Game Recap

Chris Young went to the mound and has kept with the theme of quality outings, going seven innings allowing  three runs on five hits while striking out three and walking none with all of his runs allowed in the seventh inning. Chris gave up two big home runs back-to-back, and the issues as mentioned on the SNY broadcast is that Chris doesn’t seem to tire as much as his repertoire becomes predictable. The only concerns with Chris Young are durability and exactly how many innings is Chris Young good for per start.

The bullpen received some work today, with Miguel Batista coming out for the eighth inning to face one batter, and gave up a hit and a run. Tim Byrdak relieved him and gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning on one hit while walking one. Jeremy Hefner came out to do the heavy lifting, giving up three runs on five hits in one and one-third innings including a home run.

The pen has been horrible. Outside of Francisco or Parnell, the Mets do not have another pitcher they can rely on in a situation of any leverage to get a key out, less in fact a strikeout.

On offense, the Mets hitters were fooled by Phillies starter Cliff Lee for most of the game, minus a Scott Hairston solo home run and a sixth inning that saw a series of singles capped off with a David Wright RBI single. After that, the offense was victimized by Cliff Lee and called third strikes on the day.

Game Notes

Mets one through six hitters each had one hit, with Andres Torres and Mike Nickeas both struggling. Torres struggles have been noted, but with the recent development of Kirk Nieuwenhuis and his hand possibly sending him to the DL, he looks to be the starting center fielder for the foreseeable future.

Ruben Tejada went 2 for 4, continuing his hot hitting since his return from the DL. Ruben’s average on the season is now at .331.

Miguel Batista ended June with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Beato-watch 2012 looks like: after the ASB.

Jordanny Valdespin was called up and took the place of LHP Justin Hampson. Whether this is a precursor to a possible DL stint for Kirk or just to avoid playing with a short bench will be decided.

Turning Point

When the bullpen surrendered six more runs. In only two innings of work.

On Deck

The Mets will look to win the series tomorrow, sending all-star pitcher R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.15) to the mound to face-off against the Phillies and Cole Hamels (10-4, 3.08). Game time is 7:10 P.M.

Chris Young looked good in his first start since May of 2011, but a comedy of errors lead to a thrilling game that was decided in the twelfth in the Mets 7-6 loss.

Game Recap

Chris Young coming back to the Mets in his first start in over a year pitched admirably, going five innings while giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits, walking one and striking out two. Young consistently coaxed weak contact, and was only victimized in the fifth inning, when a serious of mistakes that ended in an Omar Quintilla throwing error lead to an unearned run. Young maintained the velocity he had pre-operation, pitching around 84-86 MPH with his fastball. The key factor to remember with Young is that it isn’t about velocity, but it is about location and sequencing.

With the short bullpen today due to Jon Rauch getting a few days off and the Mets going with a six man rotation, Miguel Batista fresh off his DL stint came out and pitched two very effective innings, allowing no hits while walking one and striking out two. Tim Byrdak came out for one-third of an inning, and allowed one hit. Byrdak just barely missed getting a double-play, but the transition was fumbled by Murphy and only turned into one out. Frank Francisco came out for a five-out save and after getting one out, gave up an RBI single that was charged to Tim Byrdak to tie the game in the eighth. Francisco pitched a solid ninth after blowing the save, getting two strikeouts and allowing one hit. His final line would read one and two-third innings, allowing two hits and striking out two. Bobby Parnell came out in the tenth to save the game, and his defense was very unkind to him. Parnell gave up an unearned run, allowing a hit and a walk, striking out two. Elvin Ramirez came in and after allowing a leadoff walk, struck out the next three hitters. Ramirez had much more trouble in the twelfth, giving up two doubles including one for an RBI, a wild pitch and a walk-off RBI single.

The Mets offense was quiet until the sixth inning, when Jordany Valdespin had his third hit of the season, which was also his second pinch-hit home run on the season. David Wright hit his seventh home run of the season shortly after, bringing the Mets to within one run. Andres Torres hit a two-RBI triple in the eighth to put the Mets ahead. Scott Hairston got a leadoff single in the tenth, stole second, advanced to third on an out and scored on a wild-pitch. Scott Hairston would come through with another heroic blast in the eleventh inning.

Game Changing Moment: Elvin Ramirez losing any effectiveness in the twelfth inning.

Player Of The Game: Scott Hairston, coming through in a huge way today going 2 for 2 with three runs, a home run and a stolen base. Scott had his best performance as a Mets player today.

On Deck

The Mets will continue the series against the Nationals tomorrow at 7:05, and will send RHP Jeremy Hefner (1-2, 5.60) to the mound against RHP Edwin Jackson (1-3, 3.17).

A combination of Chris Young and the bullpen held the Phillies to one run in fourteen innings, and Ronny Paulino made a big Mets debut, including the game winning hit and the Mets won the game in the fourteenth inning, 2-1.

Game Notes

Chris Young was lights out today, going seven quality innings while giving up two hits, walking three, striking out seven and allowing ZERO runs. What is more amazing is most columnists/bloggers figured Chris Young would cease effectiveness in the micro-park known as Citizens Bank, but outside of a Brian Schneider double, nothing was hit hard. He seemed to fatigue in the seventh when he walked two of his three batters and hit another. He was efficient for the whole game, and sadly due to lack of run support didn’t get the win.

The bullpen today was AMAZING overall. They would go seven innings, allowing one run, giving up five hits and three walks and only one run. That run was made possible by Jason Isringhausen issuing two walks and Tim Byrdak coming in to get Ryan Howard out, and having Howard hit an opposite field single that would score John Mayberry. The run was charged to Izzy, but Byrdak’s inability to be lights-out against lefties is leaving room to believe if he falters against lefties, the Mets may call up a lefty to see if he can be effective. K-Rod came out after Byrdak gave up the hit and would finish the inning. He would then come out for the ninth, and gave up two singles and struck out one in his one and one third innings of work. Pedro Beato came out and gave THREE quality innings in a 1-1 game, giving up two hits and striking out two. Beato may not strike out the world, but the man does not like walking batters, having walked three in seventeen innings. Taylor Buchholz came out, and pitched two quality innings, getting the win while allowing no hits and striking out two. Buchholz has looked much better as of late, and may be the steal of the offseason. That last pitch he struck Mayberry out on was nasty.

The bats today were great at producing hits, but atrocious at scoring them. The Mets stranded 32, yes 32 baserunners. Outside of the Carlos Beltran double that scored David Wright from first, the Mets couldn’t get runners across if their lives depended on it. This cannot occur if the Mets hope to win any games, and at any time the Mets could’ve had this game won in the early innings.

Ronny Paulino – 5 for 7 with an RBI in his first Mets start. Welcome to the team, Ronny.

David Wright – 3 for 6 with a walk, both Mets runs, a steal and a strikeout. Good outing for David, but its against a lefty so its expected.

Jose Reyes – 2 for 6 with a walk and two steals. Thats eight walks against 11 strikeouts and ten stolen bases. Lets go Jose.

Hu & Harris – strikeouts in pinch hitting appearances, both with runners on second. Sigh. Oh productive bench, where are you?

Ike Davis – 0 for 6 with a walk and two strikeouts, both looking. Major flyball that advanced David Wright in the 14th inning though.

The Mets drew seven walks and stole four bases. Only good things to come from that combination

Turning Point

The Mets 14th inning, getting hits off an obviously fatigued Kyle Kendrick.

Game Ball

Ronny Paulino/The bullpen. Paulino was on the entire game, and minus the Izzy/Byrdak eighth, the pen was stellar.

On Deck

The Mets will get a well deserved day off, and then travel back to Citi Field to open a series against the Giants on Tuesday. The Giants, as Yahoo is showing will be sending out Ryan Vogelsong and he will be going up against Mets legend/Internet Meme king R.A. Dickey. Game time is 7:10 P.M.

Chris Young, in his first start off the disabled list had a poor outing, but the Mets offense and bullpen carried them through to a 6-4 series opening win versus the Nationals.

Game Notes

Chris Young struggled in his first start off the DL, going four and two-thirds innings allowing three runs on four hits, but all the runs scored on home runs, walking two and striking out three. Despite only the two walks, both in the fifth inning, Young did now have his best command today. He left pitches up and got hurt with the deep ball, and he didn’t have a chance for retribution thanks to the 85 pitch limit the Mets were attempting to impose. Young threw 88 before leaving.

Ryota Igarashi came out in probably the most pressure-packed situation of the game, and managed to get one key out, striking out Jayson Werth. Ryota’s final line of one-third, one strikeout doesn’t give him credit for what he did, but the win he earned for it does. The bullpen would hold strong and look sharp the rest of the way, with Taylor Buchholz going two innings allowing one hit and striking out one. Jason Isringhausen went one inning, allowing a run on two hits but the run was manufactured with good baserunning and smallball. K-Rod came out in the ninth to get his fifth save, going one inning giving up one hit while walking and striking out zero.

The Mets bullpen has looked extra sharp lately, probably due to the rest and rotation actually pitching well.

The offense showed up for yet another game, ready to manufacture runs. The first run scored on an RBI groundout by Josh Thole, scoring Jason Bay in the second. The Mets were not done in that inning, with an excellent base-running play by Ike Davis on a Chris Young sac bunt that became a safety squeeze and scored Davis. The Mets struck again in the third, when a Carlos Beltran double scored Daniel Murphy, and Beltran advanced to third on an error by former Phillie Jayson Werth. The Mets went quiet until the sixth, when a Josh Thole double off of lefty!?!?! Doug Slaten found its way past Mike Morse and scored Jason Bay and Ike Davis to give the Mets the lead. The Mets would add the final insurance run in the ninth on a David Wright liner that nearly decapitated Sean Burnett, scored as a groundout to pitching scoring Jason Pridie.

The bats came alive when it mattered, and played a pretty smart game.

Jose Reyes – 1 for 4 and caught stealing. He was leaning, and he was vehement he wasn’t out, but he was.

Josh Thole – 1 for 4 with three RBI. Hopefully Josh is out of that slump, because he is tied for third on the team with 16 strikeouts..against four walks. For someone who was believed to have plate patience, this is either not a good sign or nerves.

Ike Davis – 3 for 4, hitting .368 on the season. He scored two runs as well.

Jason Bay – 2 for 4 with two runs. Welcome back, Jason.

David Wright – 0 for 5 with two K’s. David is tied for fourth in the league in strikeouts.

Turning Point

Ryota Igarashi ending the fifth and Thole’s double in the sixth made a great transitional point.

Game Ball

Josh Thole. Good day at the plate. Hopefully it remains

On Deck

The Mets will look to carry the momentum of their five game win streak, sending R.A. Dickey to the mound against Nationals lefty Tom Gorzelanny. The Mets hit Gorzelanny hard at home the last time they faced him, scoring six runs, five earned. Game Time is 7:10

Chris Young was dominant today, allowing one hit over seven innings but the bullpen blew it in the eighth, and then in the eleventh and the Mets lost 7-3, losing the series as well.

Game Notes

Chris Young looked excellent today, allowing one run on one hit over seven innings, walking two and striking out five. Young was exactly as advertised, having a 14:1 fly out to ground out ratio today. Young was consistently putting hitters in awkward positions, coaxing Jayson Werth into 3 foul pop-ups. When Young is in control and not laboring, he looks very confident on the mound.

The bullpen today was….inconsistent. D.J. Carrasco came out,  and in two-thirds of an inning allowed two runs on two hits walking one, and spoiling the chance for a Chris Young win. Taylor Buchholz came out, and after walking two to load the bases, got Mike Morse to strike-out on three straight curveballs.  Taylor’s final line was two-thirds of an inning, three walks and one strikeout. Tim Byrdak came out and pitched one-third of an inning, striking out one. K-Rod came out and got one out to end the top of the ninth. Blaine Boyer came out for the tenth, got out unscathed, then he was annihilated in the eleventh, giving up four runs, including a three-run blast. Boyer’s final line is four runs on four hits in two innings with no strikeouts.

The offense today existed in spurts, with the damage being done in the first inning by David Wright, scoring Jose Reyes and the second being an Angel Pagan single scoring David Wright. The Mets continued some offense in the fifth, with an Ike Davis broken-bat single scoring Willie Harris. After the fifth, the Mets couldn’t muster any offense, striking out sixteen times.

The offense today was confused by the Washington pitching, with Chris Young striking out three times, Willie Harris striking out 4 times and Brad Emaus striking out twice. Willie Harris has struck out 10 times in 24 at bats. Thats nearly 40% of his at-bats.

Jose Reyes, 3 for 5 including a lead-off bunt single. When Jose goes, the Mets go.

Ike Davis, 2 for 4 with an intentional walk, an RBI and two strikeouts.

Josh Thole, 0 for 4 with a few easy outs to second base and two strikeouts.

Scott Hairston, strikes out again. 7 K’s in 14 AB’s.

Turning Point

When Boyer Blew It.

Game Ball

Chris Young. Great game pitched, sorry about the lack of offense and the overworked bullpen. They killed you.

On Deck

The Mets will begin a serious against the Rockies, sending Mike Pelfrey to the mound against Jason Hammel. Game time is 7:10 P.M. and hopefully I can take some good pictures from my seats.

Chris Young, in his Mets debut pitched a great first game, going five and one-third innings, giving up one run on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts and the offense exploded in the third inning, chasing Cole Hamels in their 7-1 victory.

Game Notes

Chris Young looked pretty good in his first outing for the Mets. He allowed five hits, but didn’t start allowing hits and runs until after the 4th inning. Young had some control issues, but as they like to say was wildly effective. Despite the lack of speed difference in his pitches, Young kept hitters off balance. If this was just a sign of things to come, this could be a great season for Chris Young. He split even with ground balls and fly balls 5 to 5.

The bullpen came out and got in some solid work today. D.J. Carrasco came out and allowed one hit in one and two-third innings, striking out one. Tim Byrdak came out, and did exactly what he was expected to, striking out Ryan Howard and allowing zero hits in his inning of work. Bobby Parnell finished up the game allowing one hit, a ground ball just out of the reach of Chin-lung Hu. The pitching was spectacular today.

The offense today came alive for one inning, and thats all that was really needed. RBI hits by David Wright, Ike Davis, Brad Emaus and Chris Young in addition to Angel Pagan scoring on a wild pitch . All of this damage chased Phillies starter Cole Hamels out of the game, only allowing him to pitch two and two-third innings. The Mets tacked on a run for insurance on a Scott Hairston RBI single, scoring David Wright. The Mets stole three bases (Reyes, Pagan, Wright) and drew four walks (Pagan, Beltran, Hairston, Davis). Despite no massive offensive contributions, the Mets capitalized when they had runners in scoring position.

13 overall hits for the Mets, pretty good day.

David Wright, 4-5 with 2 RBI, 2 Runs, a stolen base and a strikeout.

Angel Pagan, 0-3, hitting .143 but has a 4:1 BB:K ratio and picked up his second SB of the season.

Brad Emaus, 1-4 with his first MLB RBI. Welcome to the big show Brad.

Mike Nickeas – 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. Where are you, Ronny Paulino?

Turning Point

The top of the third inning and the Mets hitting with RISP.

Game Ball

Split between David Wright and Chris Young. David Wright had a phenomenal offensive game, as did Chris Young. Mr. Young was 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run. He also pitched a pretty good game.

On Deck

The Mets will look to guarantee a winning series tomorrow, sending Mike Pelfrey to face-off against Joe Blanton of the Phillies. Game time is 7:10 pm

The Contenders:

Chris Capuano- 4-4, 3.95 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 2.57 K/BB, 0.5 WAR, $1.5 million, 32 years old

Chris Young- 4-6, 5.21 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 1.25 K/BB, -0.5 WAR, $1.1 million, 32 years old (all stats from 2009)

The Darkhorse:

Dillon Gee- 2-2, 2.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1.13 K/BB, 0.3 WAR, $400K, 25 years old

The Very Longshot:

Oliver Perez- 0-5, 6.80 ERA, 2.07 WHIP, 0.88 K/BB, -1.1 WAR, $12 million, 29 years old

It appears as if the Mets rotation is pretty much set going into the season, but there still is some uncertainty as to who will fill out the last two spots. It goes without saying that both Chris Capuano and Chris Young will make the Opening Day roster. However, it is definitely possible that one of them may actually pitch out of the bullpen.

Chris Capuano has now twice undergone Tommy John Surgery. Last year, Capuano appeared in 24 games and started only nine of them. However, he does have a track record of success when he is healthy. Capuano won 18 games in 2005 and was named to the All-Star team the following year. Capuano needs to prove that he is still healthy and that he can go deep into games if he wants to make the rotation.

Chris Young is another pitcher that has undergone surgery. Young had his shoulder repaired during the 2009 season. Young managed to pitch four games in 2010 and performed very well. He had a 0.90 ERA in those four starts. He also has the best track record of any pitcher on this list with a career 3.80 ERA. He appears to have the most solid hold on a rotation spot out of those in this group.

Dillon Gee was very impressive when he was called up to the majors late last season. However, Gee did struggle a bit in the minors. He posted a 4.96 ERA in 28 starts at Triple-A. At age 25, Gee is a bit old to be considered a prospect and now could be his chance to earn a spot with the big league team. He has a bit of a challenge ahead of him to make the roster, but with a good spring there is no reason that he can’t make the rotation.

There is only so much that can be said here about Oliver Perez. The only reason that he is even getting mentioned is because of a report that Perez has been promised a chance to make the starting rotation out of Spring Training. This seems highly unlikely however. Perez struggled in the Mexican League this winter and this is not a good sign for his chances of making the team. He will need to be lights out this spring to have any chance of making the roster, let alone the starting rotation.

It seems very likely that Chris Young will win the fourth spot in the rotation. If he proves that he is healthy during Spring Training, the spot should be his. If not, then things will get a bit more interesting.

Working under the assumption that Young is actually healthy, the fifth spot in the rotation is still up for grabs as well. The current favorite appears to be Capuano by a slim margin. Spring Training will be very important in determining who actually wins the spot. This may be going out on a limb here, but Dillon Gee will round out the Mets rotation come Opening Day.

The next questions are obviously what happens with Capuano and Perez. It makes sense that Capuano would serve as the long man out of the bullpen and he would also be the team’s spot starter. If Gee struggles early on, he can be moved into the rotation while Gee is sent down to the minors.

Oliver Perez obviously presents a much more pressing question: Will he be cut? This is a very difficult call to make based on the Wilpon’s current financial situation. While Perez’s contract is a sunk cost, the Wilpons may ask Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins to get some value out of their “asset”. It is difficult to see how this is possible. If Perez is willing to accept a minor league assignment than he will remain with the organization. If not, it appears that he may get cut.

So with the addition of Young, that begs the question: What should we expect the pitching rotation to look like?

In my last post, I gave my predictions on how the roster may be shaped, including the pitching rotation. It seems as though, at least for the fifth starter’s spot, spring training will determine the final order.

Mike Pelfrey will most likely get the Opening Day nod, followed by R.A. Dickey. The lefty Jon Niese should slot nicely behind those two. Young would then handle the fourth starter’s position.

To be honest, slotting in the rotation really doesn’t matter except for the first few games. On Opening Day, your ace will take on the other team’s ace. By the second week or so, your ace may be taking on the opponent’s third or fourth starter.

Anyway, that leaves one spot open in the rotation. When the Mets signed Chris Capuano, some initial reports slated him into the long reliever’s role. He only started nine games last season for Milwaukee and was used mostly as a reliever.

Then there’s Dillon Gee, who showed flashes of potential in his five starts late last season. Gee throws strikes and pitches to contact. He’s not going to overpower anyone, but who exactly on the Mets, maybe besides Pelfrey at times, will?

It looks like the battle for this spot will occur in spring training. That being said, I’m sure there will be some parameters set.

If Gee wins the fifth starter’s role outright, Capuano should still have a spot in the bullpen, especially since he signed a guaranteed contract. He would see time as a long man and possibly even a situational lefty depending on the fate of Taylor Tankersley and Mike O’Conner.

However, if Capuano wins the fifth starter battle, I would hope Gee slides into the rotation at Buffalo, since he still has options. Gee is not a reliever and should be allowed to develop more at AAA. He is also not the talent that Jenrry Mejia was last season that made the Mets turn him into a reliever to fill a bullpen spot.

My guess would be that Capuano wins the job based on reputation. He won 18 games back in 2005 and hopefully has a little something left in the tank.

When Johan Santan comes back, Capuano’s versatility will allow him to pitch out of the bullpen, unless he really pitches lights out as a starter.

I can only hope that the Mets are in the situation come mid July that they are having a difficult decision in who moves to the bullpen to make room for Johan. If that’s the case, all five starters will be pitching well enough to retain a spot. A six man rotation would be a possibility, especially since three of the starters would be injury prone.

It’s always nice to have an insurance plan, and with the signing of Young, Gee will serve as that plan.

 
The Mets and free-agent right-hander Chris Young have agreed to a deal, pending a physical, an organization source told ESPN NewYork.

Aaron Gleeman adds,

Young has a 3.80 ERA in 752 career innings, but the 32-year-old has never thrown even 180 innings in a season and hasn’t been healthy and effective since 2007. Despite his 6-foot-10 frame and solid career numbers Young has always been a soft-tosser, but his average fastball velocity was just 84.7 miles per hour last season and 85.8 mph in 2009.

No word on the contract details yet and whether it’s minor or major league deal.

If it is a major league deal, the Mets would have to announce a corresponding move as to whom they have designated or released from their 40 man roster.

The Mets rotation could probably look like this:

1. Mike Pelfrey

2. R.A. Dickey

3. Jon Niese

4. Chris Young

5. Dillon Gee or Chris Capuano

Competitive enough to do battle in the NL East? What do you think?

Original Post 2:30 PM

According to Steve Popper of the Bergen Record, the Mets fully expect to get a deal done with free agent pitcher, Chris Young.

Mets exec says – no surprise – expects Chris Young will get done eventually. But no timetable yet.

A few days ago, our own Brandon Butler reported the following,

Sources tell MLB.com’s William Ladson that the report saying the Nationals are interested in Chris Young are “not true”.  Earlier this week, it was reported that the Nationals were the other team, besides the Mets, who are interested in Chris Young’s services.  This means the Mets are the lone wolf in the running for Chris Young. Or is there a yet unknown team in the mix that is keeping this marriage from going through?

Again, this whole not having room on the 40-man roster situation is probably causing all these delays in getting things done quickly and smoothly. I imagine that it could be the reason for the delay here, especially when it seems that no other team has shown as much interest in Young as the Mets have.