Game Summary

Hisanori Takahashi probably needs to be back in the bullpen where he has shown that he is a reliable seventh and even eighth inning man. Since his start against the Yankees, he hasn’t shown that he can keep the Mets in the game. He gave up six runs on seven hits including two home runs in just 2.2 innings pitched. He walked one and struck out two batters. Takahashi is a bullpen guy and the Mets need a replacement starting pitcher. Possibly a trade, possibly bringing up Pat Misch, maybe bringing up Oliver Perez?! It’s a possibility.

Fernando Nieve came in to aid the ailing Takahashi and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, and stuck out two. Haven’t seen Nieve pitch much lately, maybe Manuel is giving him all of the rest he didn’t get in April.

Raul Valdes pitched 2.1 innings in relief. Less emphasis on the relief, however. He gave up two runs on three hits, walked one and struck out three. Francisco Rodriguez pitched his first game in three days. “He needs the work.” He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, striking out two batters.

Carlos Beltran and Ike Davis provided most of the offense in the game. Beltran went 2-4 with his first triple and a run scored. Ike Davis also had a two hit night, belting a pair of long homeruns. He picked up three RBIs and scored two runs. When he hits homeruns, he really hits ‘em. The first one went into McCovey Cove, while the second one went to straight center. This is Ike’s second two homer game of the season. His first time was also against the Giants.

David Wright, Josh Thole, and Chris Carter each had a hit. Wright went 1-3 with an RBI, while Thole and Carter both had pinch hit singles.

Ruben Tejada continues to be a target for pitchers as he got plunked in the shoulders during the ninth inning. That is his sixth hit-by-pitch this season.

Interesting note: At one point Matt Cain was standing on third. I wonder if Wright and Cain had a conversation about Cain plunking him in the head last year that sent him to the hospital.

Turning Point

The Buster Posey solo home run in the third inning was the big blow that pushed the Giants too far for the Mets to comeback.

Game Ball

Ike Davis hit two huge homeruns and knocked in three of the Mets runs tonight.

Up Next

Johan Santana looks to avoid the sweep as he will be going up against Jonathon Sanchez. Both pitchers are looking for their eighth win of the season. Should be a good lefty vs. lefty match up. Game time is 4:05 PM.

“Manager Jerry Manuel planned to speak with team brass last night about the possibility of adding a seventh reliever, after the Mets emptied their bullpen yesterday in a 9-5 victory over the Nationals.”

Whether you think Jerry Manuel has done a poor job of handling the bullpen or not, the bottom line should always be winning and doing what is best for the team.

It’s kind of hard to distribute work evenly when the game is on the line and there are few options that you really trust.

There’s been several complaints of late about how Manuel may have burned out guys like Fernando Nieve, Raul Valdes, etc. But we’re talking about a couple of waiver wire rejects who could have been simply been pitching over their heads for three weeks. I don’t see any star quality relievers that have been physically overused to their ultimate demise.

Puma suggest that Manny Acosta could be an option to be called up from Triple-A Buffalo, and of course they recently signed former Yankees reliever Brian Bruney before the weekend.

I don’t know why Pat Misch isn’t ever brought up in the conversation as he is having a solid season at Buffalo and he could replace Hisanori Takahashi in the rotation and Tak would give Manuel a reliable, quality innings eater in the back of the bullpen.

Misch is currently 8-3 with a 3.40 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 103 innings pitched, and has a 58/18 K/BB ratio.

The Japanese southpaw has been a Lefty Luthor to the Supermen wearing the jerseys of last year’s pennant winners.  More importantly, he has made Jerry Manuel a believer in his ability to give the Mets quality starts, something that could not be said for the man he replaced in the rotation, Oliver Perez.

I have been quite impressed with Takahashi’s recent performances and would like to think that his stretch of outstanding starts will continue past his last outing against the Phillies.  However, before giving him the keys to the castle, let’s remember that just last year, we were also singing the praises of a starter that was tearing it up in his first few starts.  Just like Takahashi, this pitcher was moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation and was asked to shut down the powerful Yankee lineup.  Then, he continued to face teams with potent offenses and pitched beyond expectations.  Unfortunately, his streak of good fortune ended almost as quickly as started and now he’s back in the Mets bullpen.  Who am I talking about?  Fernando Nieve.

After pitching two scoreless innings of relief against the Washington Nationals last year on June 6, Fernando Nieve was called upon to make an emergency start against the Yankees on June 13.  The game was played less than 24 hours after Luis Castillo gift-wrapped a Yankee victory with his infamous dropped pop-up.  With all the momentum shifting over to the Yankees, Nieve was given the ball and was asked to stop the bleeding  He ended up pitching 6.2 innings, holding the Yankees to two runs on four hits.  That was the only win picked up by the Mets against the Yankees all year.

Given another start against a high-quality team, this time the Tampa Bay Rays, Nieve followed up his victory against the Yankees with an even better performance against the Rays, giving up one run and three hits in a 5-3 Mets victory.

In his third start, he faced the National League Central division-leading St. Louis Cardinals and pitched six shutout innings, again allowing only three hits in an 11-0 blowout of the Cards.  That gave Nieve three wins in three starts against upper-echelon teams.  In those three games, his ERA was a microscopic 1.45 and he held opposing hitters to a .154 batting average.

For all intents and purposes, it appeared as if the Mets had found themselves a starting pitcher from out of nowhere that they could depend upon to pitch effectively and deep into ballgames.  Even I was sold on Fernando Nieve, as I wrote a number of blogs for this site on The Three Fernandos (Nieve, Tatis and Martinez).  Alas, Nieve could not continue his success past those three starts.

Over his next three starts, Nieve came crashing back down to Earth, losing to the Brewers, Phillies and Reds.  In those games, Fernando’s ERA was 5.40 and opposing batters hit an alarming .403 against him.  Despite the fact that he was clearly not the same pitcher he was over his first three starts, Jerry Manuel gave him another start against the Atlanta Braves.  That was the last time Nieve would pitch for the Mets in 2009, as he injured himself while running to first base in the second inning.

Do I expect Hisanori Takahashi to fade as quickly as Fernando Nieve did last year?  I don’t think he will.  For one thing, Takahashi has an impeccable ability to throw strikes.  In his starts against the Yankees and Phillies, Takahashi has pitched 12 innings and has only walked one batter.  In those two games, he has thrown a total of 195 pitches, of which 138 were strikes.  That’s better than 70% of his pitches going for strikes.

In Nieve’s first three starts last year, as great as they were, he still walked nine batters in 18.2 innings.  Over those three starts, he threw 318 pitches, of which 188 were strikes.  That’s only 59% of his pitches going for strikes.  Nieve was effective over those starts because he gave up few hits.  Once he started giving up hits, combined with the walks, that led to his three-game losing streak.

Hisanori Takahashi has the potential to be an effective #3 starter in the Mets rotation.  Since he’s constantly throwing strikes, he stands less of a chance to suffer a meltdown such as the one Fernando Nieve went through last year after his third start.  However, just because Takahashi has been shutting down potent offenses now doesn’t guarantee long-term success.  Be happy that he’s giving us great pitching at a time when the Mets need it the most, but be wary because as wonderful as Takahashi has been, it can all come crashing down.  Just ask Fernando Nieve.

According to Manuel, Nieve earned the nod and said that he deserves his shot because of how well he has performed this season and also because he performed well as a starter last season.

Raul Valdes was the other possibility, but in my opinion, Manuel is making the right choice, and Valdes should stay in the pen where he can be more useful.

There was talk of promoting someone from the minors, like a Dillon Gee or Tobi Stoner, but that would have made little sense when it was only going to be for one start anyway.

Jon Niese is expected to be activated on June 1st when he is eligible, and should be ready to join the rotation to make his next start after that.

Jenrry Mejia, the youngest player in the Majors when the season started, came out of the gate in impressive fashion and finished his first month of the season with a pristine 1.64 ERA and all the previous banter that he was prematurely promoted began to fade away. Then May came.

Initially, Mejia was only allowed to pitch in non-pressurized situations, but now he is being used more often with the game on the line and the results so far have not been good.

This month he has appeared in eight games, and in 6.1 innings pitched, Mejia has allowed 14 baserunners either by a walk or hit. His ERA for the month has been 4.25 which is not exactly terrible until you spot his unsightly 2.20 WHIP. You could see he clearly doesn’t exude any confidence with runners on base and it brings out his wild side.

There is now talk of sending him to the minors and having him resume his career as a starter. Sounds like a good idea.

Before Jerry Manuel completely burned Fernando Nieve out, there was talk of him taking over the setup role for the Mets, but that talk is completely dead now. After getting off to a solid month in April, when he led the NL in appearances, Nieve started to go down hill in May and has completely crashed and burned now.

Nieve is sporting an 8.31 ERA this month and has just one strikeout in his last eight appearances spanning 7.2 innings in which he allowed 8 hits, 4 walks and 3 home runs.

He is a ticking time bomb, and would probably benefit from some down time in Buffalo where he won’t be abused by his manager. Incidentally, in looking at Nieve’s splits he would have been a poor choice for setup job anyway as lefthanded batters have scorched him for a 11.26 ERA. As long as he remains in the bullpen, he shouldn’t be allowed to face the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Robinson Cano during the next homestand.

You could make the case that Jerry Manuel had a strong hand in burning these two pitchers out, but then again you could also point to John Maine and Oliver Perez as the culprits too. Both have averaged less than five innings pitched per start causing undo stress on an already heavily taxed bullpen.

Hisanori Takahashi has been priceless out of the pen, but now he is being yanked and added to the rotation leaving Oliver Perez as the team’s potential longman. Last night against the Nationals, Perez came in and faced two batters, predictably walking one of them almost as if on cue.

There is a ray of hope however. Ryota Igarashi is rehabbing in Buffalo and could be activated from the disabled list in time for the Subway Series which begins tomorrow. Iggy was having a fine season before he got hurt, and should provide the bullpen with a nice boost upon his return.

That said, unless the Mets can get their rotation to go deeper into games, it wont be long until Iggy suffers the same fate as his bullpen mates. Until Jerry Manuel learns to manage his bullpen more efficiently, it can get even more uglier and more heartache could be coming our way late in games.

Game Notes

R.A. Dickey went out for his first Mets start, going a solid 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with 4 walks and two strikeouts. His knuckleball was dancing around the plate, and getting some swings-and-misses. He seemed to be in control minus the 4th inning, but a great effort none the less. Could R.A. hold a spot in the rotation? It really depends on the Mets ability to score runs – knuckleballers will get hit around.

The bullpen seemed out of it today, with 4 pitchers needed to finish off the last 2 innings. Raul Valdes began the 7th inning and gave off a double to the new Met killer Roger Bernadina. Fernando Nieve came out, and just looked awful, giving up the inherited runner from Valdes and two runs of his own. Oliver Perez, in his first relief appearance since Sept. 2002 (When he had talent?) walked Adam Dunn and then convinced Josh Willingham to line-out to Luis Castillo. Manny Acosta worked a 7-pitch perfect 8th inning. This bullpen is beginning to look tired, especially Nieve.

David Wright received the day off, and Fernando Tatis started in his place and went 1-3 with a possible rally-igniting home run off of Nationals close Matt Capps in the 9th. Angel Pagan, showing off his wheels hit his 3rd home run of the season the hard way – by running the bases hard and scoring. The only other player to account for an RBI was Jeff Francoeur with a sacrifice fly in the 6th inning. No Met player had more then one hit today.

The Mets batting order 1-4 (Reyes, Castillo, Bay, Davis) went 1-15 with a run, a walk and 2 strikeouts both courtesy of Ike Davis.

Livan Hernandez and his junkballing ways just seem to perplex the Mets hitters, making this his 2nd quality outing against the mets this season, allowing 2 runs over 13.2 innings. The Mets need to kill these soft-tossing pitchers if they want to utilize their speed.

Game Ball

R.A. Dickey, hands down. Could Jerry Manuel have asked for anything more? He delivered the definition of a Quality Start.

Special Moment

Angel Pagan making the shoe-string catch and initiating the triple-play in the 5th that got the Mets out of trouble.

Up Next

The Mets will send John Maine to the mound with the hope he will not repeat his last performance, and he will square off against Luis Atilano of the Nationals. Game Time is 7:10 PM

Now the other shoe or four will start to drop, as we’ll see if John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez can keep the Mets in games this season.  It also remains to be seen if the lineup can consistently drive in runs like they did on Monday.

But I will say this.  With all of the pundits (myself included) picking the Mets to finish third or fourth in the division and having absolutely no chance to make the postseason, there seems to be an air of “whatever” about this team.  It’s not that they don’t care or don’t want to play hard, but that the expectations have been lowered to the point that they really can only exceed them.  And sometimes you never know if players will have career years or at least play to their capabilities.  So if they all do that, it’s not exactly a pipe dream to think that this team CAN succeed and reach the postseason in 2010.  It’ll be a big surprise to us all, and maybe even to them, but surely, stranger things have happened.

So will tonight be the start of reality setting in, or will it be continued good fortune as well as good baseball that began earlier this week?  Let’s Go Maine, and Let’s Go Mets!

Jon Niese - 7.71 ERA, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 5 K  

Considered by many including Jerry Manuel to be the #5 starter and will have to pitch himself out of the job to lose it to anyone else on this list. It may take a big collapse to push him out of this spot. His big league experience is slim, but he did pitch admirably for the big league team when called up. He pitched 6 games in 2 years. He’s healthy and has shown no ill effects from the leg injury that derailed his season. All he needs to do now is pitch his tail off. The consensus pick.

Fernando Nieve – 6.00 ERA, 6 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 2 K

The dark horse in the race for the 5th spot. He sported a 3-3 record in 7 games (2.95 ERA) last year at a time when the team really needed him desperately due to pitching woes. Now that he’s over the leg injury that put him down last year, he could very well upend Niese for the final spot. The only true difference between them is that one is a lefty and the other is a righty. Sounds trivial? That may make a huge difference as the Mets could use competent lefties in their rotations to offset the lefty heavy lineup in Philly, for one. Plus, Nieve is out of options and Niese is not.

Nelson Figueroa – 0.00 ERA, 8 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 9 K

What’s to say? Figgy has been up and down and all around and rumor has it that the Buffalo to La Guardia Shuttle will be named after him, Figgy helps his cause this spring by pitching eight scoreless innings in his three appearances this spring. Figgy (and the Mets) know that if he is sent down once more, he may have seen his last opportunity in a Mets uniform. He clearly has been verbal about playing in Flushing and wants to remain with the team. He’s pitching, not only like he wants to stay as a Met, but like someone who intends to make it really hard for the powers-that-be to choose anyone else for the 5th spot.

Who do you like for the 5th spot? I’m going to say Figgy should be given the spot, allow Nieve to be the long man, and bring Niese along slowly. This gives the Mets room to move if Niese has to be sent back down since he has options left. Figgy and Nieve can be interchanged at the 5th and the long relief spot but I think Figgy deserves one last chance to make an impact. That’s my perspective. What’s yours?

Jerry Manuel is very high on Nieve as is GM Omar Minaya, both of them have mentioned him as a pitcher we shouldn’t count out this season.

We have profiled Fernando Nieve extensively here on MMO, and I clearly envision Nieve as a major sleeper for the 2010 season.

Here’s a scouting report on Nieve in 2006 as one of their top pitching prospects:

Fernando Nieve RHP, HOU

Strengths: 89-94 MPH four-seam fastball, 85-87 MPH cut-fastball, and 81-83 MPH slider. Command, arm action, aggressiveness.

Weaknesses: Deception of 81-84 MPH straight-change, setting-up pitches, effort to ¾ delivery

Comments: Strong/stocky hurler lights-up strike zone with above average fastball and nails RH batters with cutter and slider. Improved command within strike zone and proved durable, despite effort to delivery. Gets into mindset where he wants to overpower hitters and will need to change speeds to combat LH batters.

Also check out what we posted on Nieve back on June 14th, 2009.

The Astros brought him up in 2006 – where he made 11 starts for them – pitching pretty well for a rookie – with a 4.20 ERA and striking out hitters at a rate of 6.5 per 9 innings. However in August of 2006 he experienced some elbow issues that eventually shut him down for the season – and lingered into 2007.  Apparently it was misdiagnosed by Astro trainers as elbow tendinitis (sound familiar Met fans?) – and it was revealed later in 2007 that he had a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow – and would require Tommy John surgery.

He attempted to come back early from TJ surgery in 2008 and the Astros obliged moving him to the bullpen in order to preserve his arm.  Unfortunately he was spotty at best – and spent most of 2008 moving between AAA and the MLB club (which caused the Astros to run out of options on him).

The Astros waived Nieve early this year as he wasn’t making the big club – and the Mets swooped in and claimed him.  (good scouting by someone in our organization)  Although they knew Nieve wasn’t going to make the Opening Day roster the Mets optioned him right before Opening Day – thus allowing him to clear waivers and go to AAA Buffalo (another smart move).

He pitched reasonably well in the Mets minors in 2009 – re-establishing his dominance – averaging a strikeout per inning along with reasonable control 3.0 BB/9 – and a 3.75 ERA.

Finally – John Maine’s injury opened up a spot in the Mets rotation and with the organization either having given up on Jon Niese or thinking he needs additional “seasoning” – Nieve got the call.

The rest you know.  A great outing in a pressure situation against one of the better teams in baseball.  And certainly the opportunity to carve out a place in the Mets rotation if he can follow it up.

In eight appearances for the Mets in 2009, the 27 year old Nieve went 3-3 with a superb 2.95 ERA, while striking out 23 in 36 2/3 innings. He was well on his way to establishing himself before sustaining his season ending hamstring injury.

In one dominating performance against the Yankees last season, Carlos Beltran was impressed with his new changeup. It’s worth noting because one thing most scouts agreed on regarding Nieve, was that he had the plus fastball and effective curve, but lacked the changeup to pull it all together. 

“His change-up was extremely effective as well as a pitch that he’s recently added to his arsenal. I like the way he pitches, I like his velocity,” Carlos Beltran said. “He pitched a great game, he challenged players.”

Beltran was not just impressed with his velocity. Nieve consistently threw 93 mph, and peaked at 96 mph, according to Beltran, and had an effective changeup.

“He never had that pitch before in his career, so he looked pretty good out there now,” Beltran said.

Nieve went 45-34 with a 3.63 ERA in an eight year minor league career. He is now fully recovered from TJ surgery and looks like a new and improved version who has transformed himself from a hard thrower to a smart pitcher who can deceive hitters.

While playing in the Venezuelan Winter League, Nieve went 1-2 with a 2.42 ERA in five starts, walking just three batters while striking out 26 in 26 innings. He drew raves from his manager, coaches and teammates.

Although I’m just as disappointed as most Mets fans that we didn’t acquire a starter to bolster the rotation for the 2010 season, Fernando Nieve can certainly turn those frowns upside down if he can deliver some solid performances to start the season and fulfill his expectations. He has electric stuff, and is loaded with so much promise and upside, maybe this is the year he finally delivers his breakthrough performance. LGM

All six of those guys have battled injury recently, and Maine is on the DL once or twice every season.  Santana is coming back from elbow surgery, Pelfrey had a very inconsistent season as his role on the team became more prominent, and Perez absolutely flamed out once he signed that huge 3-year deal.  He came back stronger later in the season, but the guy has clearly lost something, either physically or mentally.  Niese and Nieve showed promise but that’s about it.

So here we are less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Florida, and we have basically the same starting staff as in 2009, the one that was a big reason for one of the worst seasons in quite some time—and one that can be considered a disaster based on the fact that this team went into 2009 as a playoff contender.  And based on this team’s injury history of late, adding a re-tread or two wouldn’t give me that much more hope.

Sure, we may be pleasantly surprised, but we certainly need to be prepared for the alternative.

But here’s something I just can’t get past.  The disabled list itself, and the fact that our core that have landed on there (Beltran, Reyes, Delgado, Putz, Maine) and are probably all done for the season.  Here is the list of who went on the DL when, and why…

The 60-day DL sometimes means longer, but how is it that Reyes, Maine and Beltran are all on the 15-day DL?  So far, Reyes has been on there for 90 days, Maine 73 days, and Beltran 58 days.  We’re not talking broken bones here.  We’re talking tendonitis, shoulder fatigue and a bone bruise, respectively.  I’m not a doctor, but apparently neither are the guys in charge of the Mets’ infirmary either.  I think there is a real problem in this organization, whether that’s on the diagnosis end or in the weight room or something.  But there is a problem here for sure.

I’m a little surprised that the Mets opted to replace him with outfielder Cory Sullivan who was promored from AAA-Buffalo.

Sullivan was batting .290 with 2 homers and 24 RBIs.

To say I’m a little puzzled by the move would be an understatement.

I think most of us expected either Jon Niese of Nelson Figueroa to get the call.

Maybe Sullivan is just a temporary move until Nieve’s turn in the rotation comes up again on Friday?

"Don't cry Fernando, it's not the end of the world, we're still ahead of the Nats."

Fernando Nieve started, but his appearance would be cut short when he was carted off the field in the second inning after straining his right quadriceps running out a ground ball. No word on the severity of the strain. He was replaced by Tim Redding who pitched three innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks. He served up a homerun to Yunel Escobar.

Javier Vasquez was brilliant… like most pitchers the Mets face these days. The Mets could only touch him for one run as Jeff Francoeur singled in Luis Castillo for the Mets’ lone run. Vasquez picked up the win and lowered his ERA to 2.36 on the season.

Great trade by the Braves when they acquired Vasquez in the off season. Speaking of great trades, Jason Marquis became the NL’s first 12 game winner today and allowed just one run in eight innings. Another one that got away.

Elmer Dessens and Pat Misch both allowed a run each, and Brian Stokes and Bobby Parnell both pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Six Mets pitchers combined for eight walks. Maybe the Mets will smarten up and callup Jon Niese and Nelson Figueroa… or maybe not.

I’m so glad we don’t give out game balls anymore.

"Life's not fair. Churchy was so lucky he got traded."

Jerry Manuel looked like someone who wished he was a thousand miles away from this team. During an in game interview, he was asked to comment on the Fernando Nieve injury and he said, “we started the game hoping to win the game, instead I’m now just hoping to survive the game.”

I had a big gripe with Jerry by the way. After Pagan led of the game with a double, he had Castillo, who has been one of the Mets hottest hitters, bunt instead of swinging away. When your team is struggling to score runs, why would you just give an out away? The Mets failed to score.

Here’s an interesting little tidbit I read… The Mets now have lost five of nine games against the Braves, six of their past seven road games and 10 of 14 games on Sundays.

Meanwhile, the red-hot Phillies won their eighth straight and 12th game in their last 13 overall. Prized pitching prospect and unbeaten rookie J.A. Happ hurled seven shutout innings to beat the Marlins 5-0.

The Mets are now 9 1/2 games back and reside in fourth place. Good grief…

Alright, so I was going to say “I hope everyone’s having a good day”, but watching K-rod walk Mariano last night has sucked the life out of me. I wasn’t favoring the umpire’s strike zone last night, or the ESPN announcers…but that’s not what I’m writing about. I do hope everyone’s having a good day, and I hope you’ll enjoy keeping track of this. The MetsMerized Player of the Week is an old feature that we’re trying to resurrect here on MetsMerized, and I’ll be trying to keep it going every week. I’ll be honoring the position player or pitcher I feel deserves it the most every week. I’ll keep a track of who wins the “award” the most, and I’ll also make sure to put in some honorary mentions each week as well. So, here we go!

This week, and this actually shocks me, I think the best player on the Mets was…Luis Castillo. Really!

Castillo batted .368 (7-19) on the week and was scalding hot against the Cardinals, batting .500 over that series. Over the last seven days, Castillo led the Mets in Hits (7), Runs (5) and OBP .478. He was also tied for the lead in Total Bases (8) and Walks (4) and he managed to throw in a stolen base as well. He also played a perfect week on defense.

He seemed pretty set on redeeming himself after the dropped pop-up, and I give him his due credit. He’s had it rough with the injury to Reyes and Martinez, because he really doesn’t have a back-up unless you count Argenis, who can barely hit his weight. So Kudos To Castillo!

Honorable Mentions :

Nick Evans : .444 (4-9) 1 HR, 4 RBI, 8 TB, 1 2B

Livan Hernandez : 2 GS, 3.21 ERA in 14 IP. 2 QS (Quality Starts; 6 Innings+, 3 Runs or less).

What do you guys think?

Of Note 6/21-6/28 :

David Wright, Argenis Reyes, And Jeremy Reed were the only Met position players to not have an RBI last week. David Wright! Come on. And Fernando Martinez batted .067 last week. Ouch.

The Mets had a whopping three home runs last week. (Sheffield, Murphy, Evans.)

The above-mentioned Livan Hernandez is really saving us. In addition to him, Santana managed a quality start against the Cardinals (What’s new?) and Fernando Nieve shutout the Cardinals for 6 innings. His ERA is now 1.31. Wow.

Fernando Nieve was brilliant for the third consecutive outing.  He lassoed the Cardinals by brilliantly mixing in his changeup with his 95 MPH fastball.  Nieve held St. Louis scoreless through his six innings of work, while scattering three hits and four walks.  His moxie showed when he gritted his way through a 39-pitch third inning while not allowing the Cardinals to find their way onto the scoreboard.  He was also allowed to go out to the mound in the sixth inning after throwing 101 pitches through the first five frames.  How did he reward his fellow Fernandos and the fans?  He needed only seven pitches to retire the Cardinals in order.  In doing so, he lowered his ERA to a miniscule 1.31.  He has now given up 11 hits and nine walks in 20 2/3 innings, for an outstanding WHIP of 0.97.  He has also forced Jerry Manuel’s hand.  There’s no way Manuel dares take him out of the rotation now.  Nieve hasn’t beaten the likes of the Nationals, Pirates and Padres.  He has defeated the Yankees (at the House That Juice Built), Rays and Cardinals in consecutive outings.  All three teams are expected to contend for playoff berths.  He has been the most impressive of the Three Fernandos and is clearly the leader of the trio.  Opposing varmints tremble in fear at the sight of Fernando Nieve on the mound.

Fernando Tatis had figured to lose playing time at first base when the Mets called up Nick Evans.  Daniel Murphy was already playing most of the games at first in Carlos Delgado’s absence and was settling into the role.  Fernando Tatis was playing sparingly but was making more outs than his everyday compadres due to his penchant for finding the opposing infielders with ground ball after ground ball.  Tatis was supposed to be one of the main guns in the Three Fernandos.  Unfortunately, his guns were only good for twin killings at a time.  Nothing appeared to have changed tonight as Tatis hit into another double play in the first inning.  Then, with a tip of his sombrero, things began to change.  An RBI groundout in the fourth inning got the ball rolling.  Then came a pair of RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings.  For the moment, Fernando Tatis had redeemed himself with those three consecutive run-producing at-bats.  He was allowed to remain as a member of the Three Fernandos, but more twin killings might cause the villagers of Santo Poco to look elsewhere for a savior; someone who can handle his guns with more consistency.

Finally, we have the young gun, Fernando Martinez.  Although he did not get a hit in the Mets’ 11-0 blowout victory over the Cardinals, he still showed why his youthful exuberance is key to the future of the Three Fernandos franchise.  On an infield single by Nick Evans in the sixth stanza, Martinez hustled from first to third.  He later scored on Brian Schneider’s long double to right field.  He also collected an RBI in the seventh inning when he hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Ryan Church from third base.  He also filled in nicely for the injured Carlos Beltran in center field by recording seven putouts.  He may not be reaching base via the hit very much, as seen by his .174 batting average (12 for 69), but he is finding other ways to reach base.  When he does, he is a force to be reckoned with, fast on the draw and quick to scamper around the bases.  With his tools, Martinez will be a valued member of the Three Fernandos for years to come, provided he can avoid a return trip from Santo Poco to Buffalo.

The Three Fernandos have been faced with every cliffhanger ending possible.  They have always come back to save the Mets from falling further behind the evil Gang of Phils.  El Guapo and his cohorts have fallen by the wayside.  The new threat of El Hombre (Albert Pujols) has also been vanquished.  How much longer they can continue to be the saviors of Santo Poco, only time will tell.  Until then, we can only hope and pray that whenever a rally is needed or whenever a losing streak must be ended, the Three Fernandos won’t be too far away.

When we last left the Three Fernandos, they were defeating the evil forces of El Guapo (Derek Jeter), his right-hand man Jefe (Alex Rodriguez) and his left-hand man Castillo (Mark Teixeira).  The Fernandos were able to thwart the Yankee bandits by confusing them into thinking they were everywhere.  Dressed in matching Mets jerseys, the firepower provided by the bats of Gary Sheffield and Omir Santos and the cleanup crew of Sean Green and Francisco Rodriguez provided cover for the Three Fernandos so they could offer their contributions and save the Mets village from being taken over after suffering an embarrassing setback the night before.  They were able to ride off into the sunset, knowing they had done their job.

Alas, that may have been the swan song for our heroes.  As of this afternoon, Fernando Martinez was sent down to Triple-A Buffalo.  He was replaced on the roster by first baseman/outfielder Nick Evans.  In his first 18 games with the Mets, Martinez was hitting a paltry .194.  Although he was making good contact (10 K’s in 70 at-bats), he was due to lose playing time to Gary Sheffield now that the Mets were coming home and would no longer require the use of a designated hitter.

With Nick Evans being summoned up to the big club, he may end up taking time away from Fernando Tatis at first base.  Tatis has not performed as well as he did during last year’s Comeback Player of the Year campaign.  In 119 at-bats this season (including tonight’s game), he is hitting .261 with only two HR and 13 RBI, compared to a .297, 11 HR, 47 RBI line last year in 273 at-bats.  Evans was surely not called up to sit on the bench, so it appears as if the veteran Tatis might lose some starts to give Evans some playing time.

As the third member of our trio, Fernando Nieve has pitched very well in his brief stint with the Mets.  Including tonight’s performance, Nieve has been impressive, pitching to the tune of a 1.84 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP.  He has won both of his starts and will make a third start due to the minor setback suffered by John Maine in Port St. Lucie.  However, when Maine comes off the disabled list, Nieve will either be sent to the bullpen or back to the minor leagues.  It is highly unlikely that a third consecutive strong outing by Nieve will keep him in the rotation, unless if Mets manager Jerry Manuel decides to move Tim Redding out of his spot.

Fernando Tatis is still with the team but might be facing a reduced role.  Fernando Nieve’s role as a starter might change soon regardless of his performance.  Fernando Martinez has already been released from his role in the Three Fernandos, although he will more than likely be called up again before the end of the season.  Will the Three Fernandos be allowed to ride again?  That is something that will be answered in time.  Until then, I leave you with their mantra:

Two starts in and Fernando Nieve is looking like a solid waiver wire pickup, although we’ve been down this road before with guys like Alay Soler, Jorge Sosa and most recently Nelson Figueroa. Lets just temper our expectations a little before we start getting a little bit too giddy. Nieve had a 4.91 ERA at Class-AA Binghamton and a 3.70 ERA at Class-AAA Buffalo before he was called up.

In his last three games, first baseman Daniel Murphy has picked up seven hits. After hitting .324 in April, Murphy slumped terribly in May with a .176 batting average. So far in June, he is batting .273. I still don’t know what to make of him, but I do know one thing… If he’s not going to give us the prototypical power you look for at first base, than he has to keep his average in the .300 to .315 range to justify annointing him as our everyday first baseman in 2010 and beyond.

Later today, the Mets will aim for consecutive wins for the second time since May 29, and Johan Santana will be hoping to rebound from a string of subpar performances. Johan has seen his performance slip since going all the way back to May 16. He is coming off of the worst start in his career where the Yankees blistered him for nine earned runs. Former pitching coach blamed his knee, but Santana said there was nothing wrong with his knee and that he has had just normal aches and pains here and there although none of them serious. All eyes will be on him today.

The Mets took the series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays and beat them 5-3 thanks to another solid performance from Fernando Nieve and a three run homer from catcher Brian Schneider.

Game Recap

Some of the other starters in the rotation can learn a thing or two from newcomer Fernando Nieve who continues to impress. Nieve did an excellent job of throwing strikes and keeping the Ray’s hitters off balance. He allowed just one run on three hits in six innings of work. He walked three and struck out four.

Bobby Parnell came in to pitch the seventh inning and struggled again. He allowed the Rays to pull within one run by allowing two runs to score on a couple of hits and a walk. Pedro Feliciano came in and pitched to one batter and got out of the inning without further damage.

Sean Green came in to setup in the eighth and allowed two baserunners, but came away unscathed after striking out the side.

K-Rod was back on the saddle again and closed it out with a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his 18th save of the season.

Brian Schneider hit his first home run of the season, a three run blast to rightfield and put the Mets up 3-0 in the second inning. The Mets would never look back. An inning later, David Wright slapped a run-scoring double that scored Alex Cora, who had led off the inning with a single.

Later in the eight inning, with the Mets lead down to just one run, Ryan Church added a much needed insurance run and he did it against a lefthander.

Game Thoughts and Notes

Daniel Murphy went 3-4 and seems to have turned a corner and is locked in at the plate. His batting average is slowly creeping back up and stands at .256 now.

Ryan Church is kicking it into gear and had a couple of key hits in the game in addition to a walk and two stolen bases. Memo to Manuel: Please don’t bench Church!

David Wright struck out another three times in the game, but did manage a run scoring double.

Philadelphia lost to the Orioles tonight so the Mets are now just two games out of first place.

Game Ball

Fernando Nieve - Another fine job for Fernando who is now 2-0 in two starts!

On Deck

Johan Santana tries to make it two in a row tomorrow. LGM

So who is Fernando Nieve?  And what can we reasonably expect from him going forward?  What are the chances that we may have found a key arm to help our beleaguered rotation?  Let’s examine the question.

The History

Fernando Nieve is a 27 year old right handed pitcher from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (making him a countryman of our ace – Johan Santana).  He’s a product of the Houston Astros organization – having been a prospect in their system since he was 18 years old.

He gradually moved through the Astros farm system advancing every year – though not rushed due to his young age.  At every level he showed the ability to strike hitters out – although as is typical of a young power pitcher he did have some issues with his control early on.  After a successful move up to AAA in 2005 – he figured prominently in the Astros plans for 2006.

Here’s a scouting report on Nieve in 2006 as one of their top pitching prospects:

Fernando Nieve RHP, HOU…..23…..1999 FA (Venezuela)

Strengths: 89-94 MPH four-seam fastball, 85-87 MPH cut-fastball, and 81-83 MPH slider. Command. Arm action. Aggressiveness

Weaknesses: Deception of 81-84 MPH straight-change. Setting-up pitches. Effort to ¾ delivery

Comments: Strong/stocky hurler lights-up strike zone with above average fastball and nails RH batters with cutter and slider. Improved command within strike zone and proved durable, despite effort to delivery. Gets into mindset where he wants to overpower hitters and will need to change speeds to combat LH batters.
2006 MLB Role: Spot starter/middle reliever

The Astros brought him up in 2006 – where he made 11 starts for them – pitching pretty well for a rookie – with a 4.20 ERA and striking out hitters at a rate of 6.5 per 9 innings.  Control and hrs were the issues and not surprising in a young pitcher.  However in August of 2006 he experienced some elbow issues that eventually shut him down for the season – and lingered into 2007.  Apparently it was misdiagnosed by Astro trainers as elbow tendinitis (sound familiar Met fans?) – and it was revealed later in 2007 that he had a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow – and would require Tommy John surgery.

He attempted to come back early from TJ surgery in 2008 and the Astros obliged moving him to the bullpen in order to preserve his arm.  Unfortunately he was spotty at best – and spent most of 2008 moving between AAA and the MLB club (which caused the Astros to run out of options on him).

The Astros waived Nieve early this year as he wasn’t making the big club – and the Mets swooped in and claimed him.  (good scouting by someone in our organization)  Although they knew Nieve wasn’t going to make the Opening Day roster the Mets optioned him right before Opening Day – thus allowing him to clear waivers and go to AAA Buffalo (another smart move).

He pitched reasonably well in the Mets minors in 2009 – re-establishing his dominance – averaging a strikeout per inning along with reasonable control 3.0 BB/9 – and a 3.75 ERA.

Finally – John Maine’s injury opened up a spot in the Mets rotation and with the organization either having given up on Jon Niese or thinking he needs additional “seasoning” – Nieve got the call.

The rest you know.  A great outing in a pressure situation against one of the better teams in baseball.  And certainly the opportunity to carve out a place in the Mets rotation if he can follow it up.

The Conclusion

Nieve, as evidenced on Saturday has a plus major league fastball (he claims he hit 99 mph before the surgery).  And according to Carlos Beltran (who gets a decent look from CF) – his change-up was extremely effective as well as a pitch that he’s recently added to his arsenal.

“I like the way he pitches, I like his velocity,” Carlos Beltran said. “He pitched a great game, he challenged players.”

Beltran was not just impressed with his velocity. Nieve consistently threw 93 mph, and peaked at 96 mph, according to Beltran, and had an effective changeup.

“He never had that pitch before in his career, so he looked pretty good out there now,” Beltran said.

Obviously it’s too early to say whether Nieve is for real or just “lightning in a bottle”.  However he is a 27 year old pitcher with 8 years experience – and is 2 years removed from TJ surgery – which is typically the time it takes for a pitcher’s arm to fully recover.  His stuff appears to be intact post-surgery – and he showed both poise and command (with all four pitches) on Saturday that was refreshing to see.

From a fantasy perspective – Nieve is a must buy free agent – his strikeout potential makes him a high upside pitcher on a good team – and the Mets rotation situation gives him a very fair opportunity to stick.

As a Met fan – here’s evidence of something done right (for a change) by management – and regardless of how it works out in the short term – Nieve is a quality arm with lots of potential upside -  AND he couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

Viva Fernando(s)!

PS – Can’t stand Met games on Fox and especially on ESPN…  Bring back the SNY simulcast on nationally televised games PLEASE!  (apologies to Kevin Burkhardt for advocating extra work for him)

Game Recap

The best thing about baseball is that after a bad game, you can always clear the slate, come back the next day and try again. The Mets did just that today, and bounced back from yesterday’s brutal loss to beat the Yankees 6-2 in the second game of the Subway Series. It was an unlikely win that was the result of what seemed like a mismatch as journeyman pitcher Fernando Nieve made his first start as Met and beat the Yankees Andy Pettitte.

Nieve was impressive out there today and except for a solo homerun by Alex Rodriguez, he pitched solidly in a game the Mets desperately needed to win.

Nieve, 26, hadn’t started a game in the major leagues since 2006, and was picked to start after John Maine (shoulder fatigue) went on the disabled list. He kept the Yankees off balance and guessing all day, taking a two-hitter all the way into the seventh inning. It was the shot in the arm the Mets were looking for and the Mets bats seemed to feed off of Nieve’s performance on the mound.

It was the Nieve’s first win since June 25, 2006, and his first as a starter since June 9 of the same season.

The Mets torched Andy Pettitte and company for 17 hits including a homerun from Omir Santos who put the Mets on the board, and a towering shot from Gary Sheffield, his 506th homerun of his career. Sheffield has now homered in two straight games and is getting hot again.

I was still discouraged by the 12 runners left on base in this game by the Mets who still struggle to drive in runs with men in scoring position and two outs.

K-Rod finished the game in a non-save situation with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Mets are now 32-28 and 3 1/2 games behind the Phillies. Johan Santana pitches the rubber game as the Mets try to build some momentum before they head out to Baltimore for a three game series.

Post Game Notes

After Alex Rodriguez homered of Fernando Nieve, it was nice to see Nieve hit A-Rod with a 95 MPH fastball. We could use a little bit more of that on this team!

Gary Sheffield plans to have an MRI on his sore right knee sometime in the next couple days, he said after Saturday’s 6-2 win against the Yankees. His knee has been giving him some problems for almost two weeks now. Hopefully, this is nothing to worry about.

Luis Castillo was nearly in tears when he spoke to reporters before the game, and said he didn’t sleep all night. He did make a nice play in the eight inning even though the runner beat the throw to first. I’m still pissed at him because tomorrow we could have been going for the sweep and how awesome would that have been?

Game Ball

Fernando Nieve saves the day!