The real issue when considering competitive balance is revenue.  Some teams make a lot more of it than others by nature of their location, their fan base, and access to media outlets. I’ve always been puzzled by the notion of competitive balance at the micro-economic level. Isn’t the nature of competition such that the better organization and the better team should win? I understand that parity is good for the game, but if we really wanted it to be fair wouldn’t we have to rig a system where every team wins the World Series in a set order once every thirty years? How do measures that “level the playing field” not detract from inherent competitive advantages that are earned and deserved? Isn’t survival of the fittest a free market principle? Big markets should have an advantage, they have more people in them, and they pay higher prices.

If on the other hand you look at Baseball on the macro-economic level, as a single sprawling coast to coast business, then things begin to look a little different. You could argue that the scarcity of a brand in multiple smaller markets offers room for growth that makes up for whatever an already profit maximized big market may bring to the table. Competitive balance also makes for more interesting games which makes it essentially a quality control measure. No one enjoys watching the Yankees perennially steamroll the rest of the league (except Yankee fans of course).

Revenue sharing was first instituted in 1996 to help combat growing revenue disparities among MLB franchises. Based on 2012 revenues, $400 million will change hands from the big MLB markets to the small in order to level the playing field. The money is distributed on a sliding scale, which means that teams near the bottom of revenue generated, will receive significantly more than the $27 million average that would be distributed if that money were spread evenly across the bottom 15 teams. Ideally revenue sharing allows small market teams more flexibility in retaining home grown stars that they’ve poured development dollars into.

But revenue sharing hasn’t always worked the way it was intended to. Back in 2009 Maury Brown published an eye opening look at just how much money revenue sharing brought to small markets. He showed, for instance, that the Marlins received $20,946,573 and $21,030,000 in 2002 and 2003, while the Mets paid out -17,366,067 and -21,473,000 on those same years respectively. In 2008 and 2009 the Marlins received $47,982,000 and $43,973,000 respectively. Now consider this for a moment, the Marlins in 2008 had a team payroll of $27,003,450.00 which means the Marlins in 2008 pocketed over 20 million in revenue sharing dollars after payroll expenses. Doesn’t seem fair does it?

The new CBA will change revenue sharing in the coming years to address this very issue. The union requested a new rule that connects revenue-sharing money to big league payroll. In a report by Jason Stark of ESPN in November of 2011, he explained that teams receiving revenue-sharing money are now required to reflect a 40-man roster payroll 25 percent larger than the amount they’re receiving. So, if a team’s revenue-sharing check is for $40 million, their big league payroll needs to be at least $50 million. Also, by the end of this labor deal (2016), teams in the 15 largest markets will no longer receive revenue-sharing money, no matter how low their revenue may be. The 15 teams that will be ineligible for revenue sharing by 2016 are the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, White Sox, Phillies, Red Sox, Rangers, Braves, Nationals, Blue Jays, Astros, Giants and A’s.

The problem for many, particularly those on the Player’s Association end, is that MLB continues to register record profits while payrolls have failed to keep pace. Between local network outlets and national media contracts (a deal with Fox was recently valued at $12.4 billion over eight years to be divided across all 30 MLB teams) the sport is seeing unprecedented growth. Maury Brown reported in April of 2011 that gross MLB revenues have jumped from $1.4 billion in 1995 to $7 billion in 2010, a 400% increase. When accounting for inflation, the league still sees a phenomenal 254% increase, and yet many teams have failed to invest these profits proportionately into added payroll. Revenue sharing was supposed to address that problem but it clearly has not.

Scott Boras isn’t happy about it. According to Boras, most teams have lower payrolls heading into the 2013 season than the highest payroll those teams had from 2000-2012. “Only five teams have higher payrolls,” Boras told Murray Chass in a Jan 2013 article. “Everybody else is below even though revenue is up 200 percent and franchise values are up 300, 400 percent. What we’re seeing is not many teams are spending on payrolls despite the fact that their profits are extraordinary. You’d expect teams to have their highest payrolls, but they don’t.” Boras offered these examples:

In spite of revenue sharing, record profits, and media deals sprouting up left and right, Major League teams have failed to invest in players, according to Scott Boras. Is this in fact the case?

Wendy Thurm of Fangraphs recently did a nice analysis of payroll fluctuations. Below are two graphics that she employed.

In the first graph you can see that revenue has indeed outpaced payroll, however, the second graphic is interesting because the year to year percentage changes in both MLB revenue and payrolls do not always reflect a similar trajectory. From 2003 to 2005 revenue rose steadily then remained relatively high while payroll dropped precipitously. Then from 2005 to 2006 payroll showed a 20% spike. From 2007 to 2008 payroll and revenue were both declining on a parallel course reflecting the economic downturn, but from about 2009 on, payroll and revenue deviate, crisscross, then begin to slowly rise in unison from about 2011 to the present. In her well articulated piece, Thurm makes the argument that while many teams have cut back (even in the wake of record profits), others have used this money to dramatically increase their payrolls. She cites teams like the Nationals and Detroit as examples. Personally I don’t see it so much. While I can see the argument derived from the second graph where payroll and revenue seem to follow parallel trajectories, there are two major deviations on that graph where payroll was far below revenue, and there are also teams like the Marlins that continually appear to invest a far smaller percentage relative to revenue growth.

Teams like the Mets on the other hand, which were one of Boras’ culprits, have cut back repeatedly over the past 4 years while media proceeds have risen. The Mets received an estimated 60 million last year for their share of MLB’s national media dollars, their SNY network continues to appreciate and continues to generate revenue, they play in NY, and yet the team’s payroll ranked 19th out of 30 teams.

The odd conclusion here is that for some teams, the market dynamic isn’t responding the way it’s supposed to. Many small market teams are making out like bandits while teams like the Mets aren’t faring well at all. The Mets should not be losing money, they should not have had trouble managing their debt and they should be awash in cash as they reside in the biggest baseball market in the world, but the Wilpons were so damaged by losses through their association with Madoff and the depreciation of their real estate holdings, and they accumulated such a massive debt load from their new stadium, they reached a point where they were unable to invest in payroll on a level commensurate with the rest of Major League baseball. In retrospect, the lack of any semblance of prudent economic foresight demonstrated by Met ownership is truly astonishing. To add to their problems the Mets’ massive market wasn’t (still isn’t) helping them at the gate, as fans simply stopped showing up. Revenue continued to spiral down and here we are looking at a crappy on-field product, empty stands and a seemingly perpetual limited budget.

Eventually the Wilpons may be pressed into boosting payroll if they are to get themselves off of Boras’ list. No matter how much media money they manage to procur, if they keep losing money at the gate my guess is they’ll eventually have to sell the team. Sure, maybe the small marketers will herald a Met turnaround generated via their resurgent farm system, but barring that, the Wilpons are going to have to splurge. The striking thing about Boras’ list is that with the exception of the Rays and the Braves, every team on it has had a losing record over the period of time referenced on the chart. Clearly, teams that cut salary don’t fare well. The Mets simply can not keep pace with the rest of the league if during a time of plenty they continue to impose restrictions. At some point they’re going to have to invest if they’re to bring the fans back, even if it means betting the house.

KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER!

Team News and Notes

Atlanta Braves (17-9)

Justin Upton launched his major league leading 12th home run of the season this week. He hit just 17 a year ago, and is currently on pace to shatter his career high of 31 back in 2011. The same can’t be said for his brother B.J. Upton, who has just three home runs, and is hitting a paltry .143 on the season. Freddie Freeman has not made much of an impact since returning from the DL eight games ago, as the first baseman has just one extra base hit during that span. The great start to the season by Paul Maholm came to an abrupt end in his last start. The lefty took his minuscule 1.03 ERA into Detroit, and was battered around to the tune of eight earned runs, and left with a 3.30 ERA. Tim Hudson earned the 200th win of his career on Tuesday, as he pitched a gem against the Nationals. Hudson continues to pitch well despite being 37-years of age, and owns a career record of 200-105.

Washington Nationals (13-14)

How scary is Bryce Harper? Harper hit 22 home runs in his rookie season, and is already almost half way there with nine, and we are only one month into the season. The 20-year-old has been on a tear of late, hitting .353, with four home runs, seven RBI, four doubles, and a triple over his last 11 games. Harper leads the team with a .344 batting average. The Nationals had an injury scare with Stephen Strasburg, and pulled him early from his last start due to forearm tightness. The big guy says he will make his next start, but the Nats might take precautions and skip a start. The Nationals who were expected to be a powerhouse team, continue to struggle, and are under .500 after one month of the season.

Philadelphia Phillies (12-15)

The Phillies starting catcher Carlos Ruiz returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing 25 games due to an amphetamine suspension. The Phillies backstop had a great year in 2012, hitting .325 with 16 home runs and 68 RBI. Delmon Young was activated from the DL on Tuesday, and had two hits including a home run in his season debut. Ryan Howard has been heating up of late, and is showing flashes of his old self. Over his last eight games, the lefty slugger has a .300/.290/.633 slash, with two home runs, 10 RBI, and four doubles. Kyle Kendrick is quietly having one of the best seasons on the Phillies pitching staff. He recently completed a three-hit shut out against the Mets, and owns a tidy 2.41 ERA through five starts to begin the year. Roy Halladay was rolling until he ran into Cleveland on Tuesday, and lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up eight earned runs. I was going to say that he was almost all the way back this week, but apparently he’s not.

Miami Marlins (8-19)

Marlins stud outfielder Giancarlo Stanton was beginning to come around, as he finally tallied his first home run of the season this past week. Stanton was red hot before he strained his hamstring on Monday, as he finally turned the power on hitting three jacks, while also driving in eight runs.  The rest of the Marlins remain in a coma offensively, ranking at the bottom of the majors in home runs, runs, and RBI. Jose Fernandez hasn’t made it into the fifth inning in two of his last three starts, while Kevin Slowey leads the team with a 2.15 ERA and 1.01 WHIP.

Injury Report

Nationals: Stephen Strasburg might miss his next start, after being pulled from his most recent outing with forearm tightness. Ryan Zimmerman is ready to play in rehab games, and after a few tune ups this week, he should be activated from the DL on Friday. Jayson Werth was out of the lineup on Tuesday, as he is dealing with hamstring and ankle ailments. Wilson Ramos was activated from the DL on April 29. Reliever Christian Garcia remains on the DL with partial tear in his forearm.

Braves: Jason Heyward who was placed on the DL after having an appendectomy on last Monda, is hoping for a late-May return. Brian McCann (offseason shoulder surgery) began a rehab assignment on Friday, and is all goes well will be activated on May 6.. Jonny Venters (elbow) will begin throwing on Tuesday. Brandon Beachy (Tommy John surgery) is still recovering and could return by midseason.

Phillies: Delmon Young made his return to the lineup a little earlier than expected, as he was activated on April 30. John Lanna remains on the DL, and could miss 6-8 weeks due to a strained quad.

Marlins:  Giancarlo Stanton was placed on the DL with a grade 2 strain of his hamstring, which should sideline him a minimum of three weeks. Joe Mahoney was also placed on the DL with a hamstring injury. Adeiny Hechavarria was placed on the DL with a bruised elbow, is ready to begin rehab games. Casey Kotchman who is on the DL with a strained hamstring may return by mid-May. Logan Morrison is recovering from a torn patella tendon that required surgery last September, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on May 10. Henderson Alvarez is throwing and could return by early May, while Nathan Eovaldi remains out indefinitely, and was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Upcoming Schedules (4/29-5/5) 

Nationals: (ATL, 4/29-5/2), (@PIT, 5/3-5/5)

Braves: (WSH, 4/29-5/2), (NYM, 5/3-5/5)

Phillies: (@CLE, 4/30-5/31), (MIA, 5/2-5/5)

Marlins: (@MIN, 4/29-5/1) (@PHI, 5/2-5/5)

In last weekend’s edition of 3&3, I cautioned to watch out for a Dodger’s team that was struggling. That warning should have been extended to this weekend’s series with the Phillies as well. Against two teams that have been struggling, our Mets finished 1-5. Looks like our team is fast becoming a cure to another team’s slump.

3 UP

• Kyle’s Complete Game: We don’t like giving and “Ups” to the opposition, especially the Phillies, but let’s be fair, Kyle Kendrick pitched a heck of a game on Friday night (complete game, three hitter). Kendrick was so good, every Met at-bat looked as if the Mets had 10PM dinner reservations.
• Jon & Gee Deserved Better: Dillon Gee looked pretty good on Friday until he hit a bump in the road in the sixth inning. Aside from that he pitched well. That’s two consecutive good outings for Gee. On Sunday, Jon Niese also deserved a better fate, but sloppy play and a lack of offense did him in. That’s too bad, both Niese and Gee pitched good enough to win.
• We Lost Our Edge: Josh Edgin, who in my opinion needed to go, was sent to Binghamton. Mets’ brass say they wanted to keep him close, but I’m betting they wanted him to avoid the heavy hitting in the PCL. Terry Collins was quoted as saying he wants Edgin to be able to get here fast. Okay. I can’t think of a good reason the Mets would need a pitcher so quickly that they couldn’t wait for him to fly in from Vegas. Then again, it’s kind of messed up to have your AAA team on the other side of the country.

3 Down

• Diddley From Davis: Seems like a series doesn’t go by that we don’t mention the lack of productivity from Ike Davis. We gave him a break last year, what with the broken ankle, and the Rocky Mountain Fever, but come on, through the first month of the season Davis has done nothing. The Mets tell us 2014 err 2015 is supposed to be the year, but will, or should Davis still be here? The Mets may not be saying anything in public, but privately, they have to be worried. You can’t have your first baseman sleepwalking through April and May year after year.
• Busted Bullpen: In Metland they talk about how the Mets lead the league in runs scored. Then they say how bad the bullpen has been, which is why we are now three games under .500. Is it expecting too much for a guy to come into the game for one inning, or one batter, and be effective?! This bullpen is beyond a joke, and a complete disaster. It’s a reality horror show.
• Two Games, Six Hits: This weekend series featured two games in which the Mets mustered only three hits. In all fairness, the Phillies have some good pitching, but come on already. The Mets need to amp it up and stop relying on John Buck every night. Ike has been horrible, Murph’s bat has cooled off, Wright has just two home runs, and there has been terrible production from the outfield save Jordany Valdespin. The Mets need to produce every day, and everyone needs to start contributing.

The Mets now head south to visit fellow doormats, the Miami Marlins. Matt Harvey will pitch the opener tonight, but after that who know’s what to expect.

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Marlon Byrd – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Jonathon Niese – LHP

Game Notes

John Buck’s eight April homers tied the club record for a catcher in the month (Mike Piazza in 2001, Todd Hundley in 1996), and are one shy of the team record shared by Carlos Delgado (2006) and Dave Kingman (1976). Buck leads the NL and is tied for fourth in the majors with 23 RBI…Buck is also tied for third in the majors with eight home runs.

Shaun Marcum surrendered three runs in four innings and was dissatisfied with his Mets debut. The Mets dropped their second straight home series after winning their first three, and have lost eight of their last nine games to the Phillies dating back to last year.

Robert Carson served up homers to Domonic Brown and John Mayberry Jr. in the fifth as the Met lost to the Phillies, 9-4, Saturday at Citi Field. The Mets’ bullpen came into the game with a 5.02 ERA, tied for last in the majors, and got worse, rising to 5.28. This bullpen needs to turn it around immediately or this is going to be another long season for the Mets.

Tim Byrdak continues to progress from surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. Byrdak has reached 180 feet in his long-tossing on flat ground and should be on a mound during the upcoming week for the first time since the surgery.

Game Preview

The Mets try to salvage one game of the Phillies series this afternoon after dropping the first two. The Mets are also on their first three game losing streak of the season. Yesterday Marcum only lasted 4 innings allowing 3 earned runs and then Carson allowed 5 runs the inning after. At that point, things looked pretty bleak for the Mets. Hopefully Niese will be able to pull the Mets out of this rut as he squares up against Hamels.

Jon Niese is 2-1 on the season over 5 games and 26.0 innings with a 3.81 ERA. Over those 26 innings he has walked 12 batters and struck out 14 batters. Last year Niese faced the Phillies 5 times with a 2-1 record and a 2.93 ERA over 30.2 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Jon Niese:

Rollins 7-33, 2 2B
Mayberry 9-28, 2 2B, 3 HR
Utley 2-15
Howard 1-15
Young 2-3

The Mets draw the ace of the Phillies staff this afternoon in Cole Hamels. So far this series the Mets bats have not been able to figure out the back of the rotation, maybe because the universe makes very little sense when it comes to Mets baseball, they’ll be able to figure out Hamels. Hamels is 0-3 this season with a 5.40 ERA over the 5 starts and in his last three starts he has a 2.57 ERA. He was 2-0 against the Mets last year over 4 starts with a 3.86 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Cole:

Wright 17-55, 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR
Tejada 5-22
Buck 2-22, 2 HR
Murphy 6-20, 2B, HR
Davis 6-19, HR
Byrd 3-11

Let’s Go Mets!

I don’t believe anyone expected him to show up and deliver an “A” game, but with a fastball that ranged around 80-84 mph I think he’s in for some rough times ahead. His control was very spotty and hopefully he can step it up in his next start.

After the game, Marcum expressed disappointment with his performance.

“It’s not what I wanted from a statistical standpoint or helping this team,” Marcum told reporters.

“I wasn’t very efficient with my pitches there in the second and third inning. My pitch count rose pretty quickly in those two innings. As far as health, everything felt pretty good.”

Marcum’s final line was three earned runs on five hits, two walks, a wild pitch, and three strikeouts. The veteran right-hander was activated from the DL before the game after dealing with some biceps tendinitis as well as neck and shoulder pain during spring training.

Even though he was pulled after 71 pitches, Marcum said that he felt he had a lot more left in the tank.

During the FOX broadcast, Kevin Burkhardt said that it was catcher and former teammate John Buck who convinced Marcum to sign with the Mets. Both played together for the Toronto Blue Jays. Buck, who hit his eighth home run of the season in the game, said he saw shades of “vintage” Marcum.

Marcum, 31, has a 3.79 ERA in 150 career starts with a 1.24 WHIP. I think most Mets fans would sign up for numbers like that if Marcum can find his way back to that level of play.

Starting Lineup

1. Mike Baxter RF
2. Ruben Tejada SS
3. Daniel Murphy 2B
4. David Wright 3B
5. Lucas Duda LF
6. John Buck C
7. Ike Davis 1B
8. Jordany Valdespin CF
9. Shaun Marcum RHP

Game Notes

• Josh Edgin, 26, was demoted to Double-A Binghamton to make room for today’s starter Shaun marcum. He has struggled this season with a 9.64 ERA and lefties were hitting .350 (7-for-20) against him.
• The Mets dropped below .500 for the first time this season with a 4-0 loss to the Phillies in Friday’s series opener. Dillon Gee matched zeroes with Kyle Kendrick until the sixth, when Gee surrendered a run-scoring single to Michael Young and a three-run homer to Ryan Howard.
• The new lineup had David Wright batting cleanup and Daniel Murphy batting third. It produced three hits against Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick. The Mets earned only one walk, failing to work the count against Kendrick as he breezed through a complete game.
• Daniel Murphy had his eight-game hitting streak snapped last night. Murphy is tied for eighth in the NL with seven doubles, is eighth with a .329 batting average and tied for seventh with 17 runs scored. Murphy has at least one hit in 15 of his last 18 contests, (.347, 25-72).
• Mets manager Terry Collins is concerned about Zack Wheeler‘s six-walk performance. “What worries me the most is that he’s not pounding the strike zone. We’ve got to have some strikes out of him because his stuff is going to play,” Collins said.

Game Preview

The Mets try to rebound after a subpar group of games today as they play the Phillies in game two of the series. Last night the Mets bats were shut down for the second day in a row as scoring was hard to come by. The team had an incredible streak of run scoring earlier in the season, so hopefully the can get it going against against Pettibone today.

The main headline for Mets today is the debut of Shawn Marcum. Marcum was 7-4 last year over 21 starts and 124.0 innings with a 3.70 ERA. Marcum hasn’t faced the Phillies since 2011. Back then he pitched 12.2 innings over two starts with a 3.55 ERA. Marcum’s velocity is down from last year but he’s a professional pitcher and I’m excited to watch him go to work today (and comparing him to a Laffey start makes Marcum relatively great). The Phillies have the following numbers against Marcum:

Young 4-16, 2 2B
Howard 4-8, 3 HR
Rollins 3-10
Utley 3-7, HR

The Mets bats draw Jonathan Pettibone making his second career start. In his Major League debut he went 5.1 innings allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs against the Pirates. During that start he didn’t walk a batter and struck out 6. He had a good year in the minors last year pitching nearly 160 innings with a 3.10 ERA. This year he struggled in his two starts allowing 10 earned runs, 12 total in 9.1 innings. I’m curious to see what the Mets do against him today.

Lets go Mets!

Starting Lineup

1. Mike Baxter – RF
2. Ruben Tejada – SS
3. Daniel Murphy – 2B
4. David Wright – 3B
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. John Buck – C
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Jordany Valdespin – CF
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

• The Mets have scored 110 runs in their first 20 games (5.5 runs per game). The 110 runs are the fourth-most the Mets have scored after 20 games in any season. New York is scoring 5.5 runs per game ranking first in the majors.
• Mets starting pitchers are 7-6 with a 3.72 ERA (45 earned runs/109.0 innings). The 3.72 ERA ranks 13th in the majors…The staff is 7-4 when they toss a quality start.
• The Mets turned four double plays yesterday. New York has turned at least one double play in 10 of its last 11 games. The club has not made an error in a season-high five consecutive games. New York is eighth in the NL with a .984 fielding percentage.
• John Buck leads the NL and is third in the majors with his 22 RBI. Buck is also tied for third in the NL with seven home runs. Jeff Kent holds the team record with 26 RBI in April in 1994.
• Lucas Duda ranks third in the National League with a .459 on-base percentage and David Wright is fifth with a .438 on-base percentage. Wright is second in the NL with 18 walks and Duda is third with 17. New York ranks ninth in the majors as a team with a .329 on-base percentage.

Game Preview

The Mets look to bounce back from dropping a series against the Dodgers by taking one from Phillies tonight at Citi Field. Yesterday was a frustrating day as the Mets offense just could not build any rallies off of Hefner’s strong start and ended up losing 3-2 after winning the previous game with a walk off grand slam. Tonight Dillon Gee will take the mound for the Mets as he squares off against Kyle Kendrick.

Dillon Gee is now 1-3 on the seasoon with a 5.85 ERA over 19.2 innings of work. He looked a lot better in his last start against the Nationals where he allowed 3 hits and no runs over 5.2 innings of work and tonight he has a shot of redemption. In his last start against the Phillies, the second start of the season for Gee, he allowed 7 ER over 3.0 innings. Now he gets the Phillies outside of their sand box and inside of Citi Field. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

Mayberry 4-11, 2B, 2 HR
Rollins 7-11, 2B
Utley 2-10, 2B
Howard 3-9, 3 HR
Nix 2-6
Young 4-5, 2 HR

Kyle Kendrick is 1-1 this season over 4 starts with a 3.28 ERA. Kendrick’s only bad start was the first of the season where he allowed 5 ER over 5.2 innings, after that he has allowed 2 ER or less between 6 or 7 innings (including a 2 ER, 6 IP outing against the Mets). On the bad side, he has allowed 8 hits in three of his four starts this year. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Wright 11-34, 2 2B, 2 HR
Davis 4-19, 2 2B
Murphy 3-17, 2B
Duda 3-12, 2 2B, HR
Buck 1-10, HR
Baxter 3-6, 2B, HR

Lets Go Mets!

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, team officials are saying that lefthanded starter Jon Niese reported no issues and is set to return to the rotation on Sunday against the Phillies.

“A little swollen, but it feels good,” Niese describe the injury Thursday morning.

Manager Terry Collins said they didn’t want Niese to break his routine, and he remains on target to make his next scheduled start.

Niese left Tuesday night’s game against the Dodgers after getting hit on his right leg on comebacker off the bat of Mark Ellis and X-rays taken soon after came back negative.

Meanwhile, the NY Post reported that Shaun Marcum is excited to about making his Mets debut on Saturday against the Phillies.

The veteran right-hander has missed nearly the first month of the season, but that hasn’t dampened his expectations much.

“Obviously that goal is not going to happen as far as making all my starts,”” Marcum told reporters.

“But with the snow-outs and stuff I still can come close to 30 starts, so hopefully I can come close to 200 innings and do what I can to go deep into those games.”

Collins has already said that Marcum will be on a 90-95 pitch count against the Phillies tomorrow.

KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER!

Team News and Notes

Atlanta Braves (13-5)

After starting the season 12-1, the Braves have dropped four of their last five games, including three in a row to the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Monday, the Braves joined the Mets as the next team to have their games in Colorado postponed due to snow, and will play a doubleheader on Tuesday. Freddie Freeman returns to the lineup after missing time with an oblique injury. Jason Heyward was hitting just .121 before his appendectomy last night, and B.J. Upton is still batting .167. The pitching staff has three starters with ERA’s of 2.16 or lower starting with Kris Medlen, Paul Maholm at 1.03, and Mike Minor leads the club at 0.95. The Braves lead the majors in home runs with 29, mainly due to their new stud outfielder Justin Upton, who has nine. The Braves also lead the majors with a WHIP of 1.09 and a team ERA of 2.36.

Washington Nationals (10-9)

The Nationals promoted top prospect Anthony Rendon after learning that they would have to place Ryan Zimmerman on the DL. Stephen Strasburg‘s numbers look good, but he has a record of 1-3 to start the season, including being out-dueled by Matt Harvey on Friday night.  Gio Gonzalez has pitched poorly to start the year with a 5.85 ERA, while Ross Detwiler leads the team at 0.90. Bryce Harper continues to lead the charge offensively, leading the team in home runs with seven, and RBI with 14.

Philadelphia Phillies (9-11)

The Phillies continue to struggle as they remain under .500 after 20 games to start the season. Chase Utley is the only player producing right now, and he leads the team with three home runs and 15 RBI. Ryan Howard has struggled, and has just one home run in 18 games, while Michael Young has been a nice addition leading the team with a .333 batting average. On the mound, the Phils called up their fourth overall prospect, RHP Jonathan Pettibone, to replace the injured John Lannan in the rotation. After giving up 13 earned runs in his first two starts on the year, Cole Hamels has allowed just four earned runs over 13 innings in his last two starts. Roy Halladay appears to have gotten back on track, allowing just three earned runs in 17 innings over his last two outings.

Miami Marlins (4-15)

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton returned to the Marlins lineup last Thursday after missing a week with a shoulder injury. He is just 4-for-18 since returning and remains homerless, but did get his first RBI of the season on Monday. Stanton is batting an unsightly .188/.316/.229 with no home runs, one RBI, two doubles, and has struck out 20 times in 38 at-bats. Jose Fernandez got his first real taste of the majors in his last start, when he lasted just four innings, giving up five runs on six hits, while walking three and striking out four. The Marlins offense continues to sputter, as they have just six home runs and only 41 RBI as a team, which are the lowest totals in the majors. Miami also had their game against the Minnesota Twins postponed Monday, and will play a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Injury Report

Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the DL with a strain of his left hamstring. Wilson Ramos, who is also dealing with a strain of his left hamstring, is improving after being placed on the DL on April 14. He is expected to return when he is eligible to come off at the end of the month. Reliever Christian Garcia remains on the DL with partial tear in his forearm.

Braves: Jason Heyward is out indefinitely after having an appendectomy on Monday. Brian McCann (offseason shoulder surgery) remains on the DL, and the veteran backstop felt some tenderness in his wrist last week right before he was set to begin a rehab assignment. Jonny Venters (elbow) remains shut down for four weeks as of April 2, and may be out for the first two months. Brandon Beachy (Tommy John surgery) is still recovering and could return by midseason.

Phillies: Delmon Young (ankle) is progressing nicely and may be able to start a rehab stint as early as next week. His May return still remains on target. John Lannan was placed on the DL, could miss 6-8 weeks due to a strained quad.

Marlins:  Adeiny Hechavarria was placed on the DL with a bruised elbow, and should return in two weeks. Casey Kotchman who was placed on the DL, retroactive to April 4, with a strained hamstring is nearing his return. Logan Morrison is currently on the 60-day DL, as he recovers from a torn patella tendon that required surgery last September. Henderson Alvarez is throwing and could return by early May, while Nathan Eovaldi remains out indefinitely, and was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Upcoming Schedules (4/12-4/28) 

Nationals: (STL, 4/22-4/24), (CIN, 4/25-4/28)

Braves: (@COL, 4/22-4/24), (@DET, 4/26-4/28)

Phillies: (PIT, 4/22-4/25), (@NYM, 4/26-4/28)

Marlins: (@MIN, 4/22-4-23) (@CHC, 4/25-4/28)

Suspensions

Carlos Ruiz: The Phillies backstop is due to return from his 25-game amphetamine suspension this coming Sunday.

Baseball is a game of adjustments. The Mets under Dave Hudgens’ tutelage have adopted a doctrine of selectivity that emphasizes seeing lots of pitches, running up pitch-counts, zoning in on your pitch, and ultimately getting on base one way or another. There has been a lot of discussion on MMO about whether this approach is effective. The consensus, bolstered by a pile of data, seems to be that it is. Teams that take lots of pitches get on base more, teams that get on base score more runs … but if we’ve learned anything from following baseball over the years, it’s that successful trends tend to be attacked from every angle until a weakness is isolated and exploited.

The pitching side will adjust sooner or later, if they haven’t already. We saw the Giants, Nationals and Phillies come through Flushing late last summer pounding the zone, and it seemed like just about every one of our hitters were behind in the count before you could blink. Quality pitchers will do that to you … we have one of our own in Matt Harvey who has been doing that to opposing lineups routinely. Keith Hernandez noted on several occasions last year that when facing top-tier pitchers like Lee and Gonzales, the Mets struggled to adjust.

One problem that I’ve had with the Mets high OBP philosophy has been the blanket application of this approach system wide, with little regard to individual skill sets. You get the sense that they’re trying to squeeze more than a few round pegs into square holes … Not only does this fail with players who simply don’t have the aptitude to adjust (Kirk maybe?), but, there may actually be a place for the unpredictable aggressive hitter in a good lineup, if only to keep opposing pitchers honest.

First pitch strikes are up all over the league as a result of teams trying to be more selective and early indications are that hitters are taking these pitches. Most hitters that is … John Buck, hasn’t been one of them. John Buck, who has never been a very patient hitter, has been even less patient in 2013.

Watching the Met lineup this year has been entertaining. Any combination of lead-off hitters will take take take, swing … Murphy will take swing take take swing,  Wright will take a bunch of pitches then hit a triple, Ike will sometimes swing at the first pitch then take a bunch of borderline called strikes then he’ll whine and fuss and grimace, Duda seems like he walks every other at bat, then Buck will come up and launch a first pitch fastball 460 feet. He’s taking pitchers off guard. They get locked into this pattern of trying to get ahead with fastballs (because the rest of the lineup is so gosh darned selective), by the time Buck comes up it’s easy pickings.

Buck’s first pitch strike percentage has jumped from 61.1% last season, to 69.4% this year. His walk rate? After two seasons where he set career highs in BB% (which could very well be why the Mets were interested in him in the first place), this season he has seen his walk rate drop from 12.3% last year to 3.0% in 66 plate appearances so far in 2013. Go ahead, try and make sense of that.

When you look at other plate discipline metrics they’re all fairly comparable to his career norms with a few exceptions, his contact rates. Buck has a surprising 69% contact rate on pitches thrown outside the strike zone (o-contact %) and a whopping 85.1% contact rate on pitches thrown inside the zone (z-contact %). He’s not really being more selective, he’s just not missing pitches when he swings.

Buck’s contact metrics are up across the board, and at 9.9% his swinging strike percentage is at a career low. He’s not swinging any less either, he’s as aggressive (both in and out of the zone) as he’s ever been and he’s walking way less even though he is playing for a team that preaches being selective (!) … and, he’s been wildly successful. Why? Because his contact rates are up. Well, why are his contact rates up? Because he’s been dropped into this very patient lineup and he’s reaping all the benefits of clobbering fastballs off pitchers who come in pounding the zone … to the tune of  7 home runs and 22 RBI while hitting .290/.303/.661.

John Buck’s contact rates over the past 4 seasons:

The lesson here? Variety … the spice of life as they say. I like the selective/patient approach as much as anyone, I like the idea of running pitch counts up and long at bats — they annoy pitchers and tire them out at the very least, but you have to mix in a few free radicals to keep pitchers off balance. As a pitcher it’s a lot more difficult to prepare for a lineup reflecting a bunch of diverse skill sets than a homogenous always-patient top to bottom bunch. It’s really what made the 86 Mets so devastating.

It’s hard for a pitcher who gets accustomed to pounding the zone to suddenly alter his approach here, and there, and again there … they are less likely to get into a groove. This is why I advocated from the beginning for letting Kirk play to his aggressive tendencies in the 6 or 7 spot rather than forcing him into the lead-off role, but noooo, Terry Collins had to try him in the lead-off role … Exploiting pitchers who get into the habit of grooving early strikes is also probably why Ike hit so many first pitch home runs last year.

Again, not a knock on “selective aggression” or whatever Hudgens calls it, but there were times last year when I felt like the lineup stagnated because there were too many predictable hitters who seemed to have identical approaches. They were vulnerable to pitchers who worked inside the strike-zone. Carefully embedding a few aggressive hackers in a patient lineup may result in more of what we’re seeing with Buck.

Eventually the league will adjust and stop throwing Buck these fat first pitch fastballs, at that point we may see an up-tick in walks and we’ll see if he in turn can adjust … but the premise should still hold. There is a benefit to carefully placing a few aggressive hitters in an otherwise selective lineup because they stand a good chance of capitalizing on pitchers who adjust by pounding the strike zone early in the count.

Call Washington, I think we just made Contact.

KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER!

Team News and Notes

Atlanta Braves (12-1)

The Braves continue to plow over any team in their way, as they are thoroughly dominating their opponents and remain in first place in the NL East. The Braves tomahawked the reigning NL East champs in Washington this past weekend, with a clean sweep of their three game series, while outscoring them to the tune of 18-4. Justin Upton continues to lead the club in many of the major offensive categories, batting .340/.404/.900 with eight homers, 12 RBI, and 13 runs scored. On the mound, Paul Maholm has surprised everyone with his incredible start to the season, as he now has run his scoreless streak to 20.1 innings with a record of 3-0. Atlanta was 7-0 this past week, and is currently riding a 10-game winning streak. .

Washington Nationals (8-6)

With a team of budding young stars, such as Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman usually flies under the radar. So far Zimmerman has been the Nats best pitcher, with a record of 3-0, a 2.45 ERA, and one complete game. Rafael Soriano may be a lock for 40 saves this year, as he already has nailed down five just two weeks into the season. Jayson Werth is hot to start the year batting .309/.333/.491 with three home runs and eight RBI. Harper holds the team lead in home runs with five.

Philadelphia Phillies (6-7)

Roy Halladay rebounded from two awful outings to start the year, and tossed eight innings of one-run ball in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Marlins. It was a step in the right direction, but it was still the Marlins, and they did not have Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup. Cliff Lee stayed hot to start to the year holding a current ERA of 1.52 through three starts. Cole Hamels fared much better in his third start, going six innings and giving up just one earned run. On offense, Chase Utley is batting .294/.339/.588 as he continues his resurgence. He leads the Phillies in home runs with three and RBI with 12.

Miami Marlins (3-11)

Marlins young prodigy Jose Fernandez remains the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal start the 2013 season. Fernandez followed up his five inning nine strikeout debut with a six scoreless innings in his second outing, and currently owns a 0.82 ERA. The Marlins offense has sputtered to begin the season, and to date, only have two home runs as a team. The injury to Giancarlo Stanton‘s left shoulder has kept him out of the lineup since last Wednesday, although batting .167/.342/.233 before the injury wasn’t helping matters much.

Injury Report

Nationals: Wilson Ramos landed on the DL on April 14 due to a let hamstring strain. He is expected to return when he is eligible to come off at the end of the month. Reliever Christian Garcia is on the DL with partial tear in his forearm tendon.

Braves: Brian McCann (offseason shoulder surgery) was supposed to begin catching in extended spring training games on Wednesday or Thursday, and possibly start a rehab stint next week. However, the veteran backstop felt some tenderness in his wrist and will now be having an MRI instead. Jonny Venters (elbow) remains shut down for four weeks as of April 2, and may be out for the first two months. Brandon Beachy (Tommy John surgery) is still recovering and could return by midseason. Freddie Freeman who was placed on the DL with a strained oblique on April 7, recently took pain free 30 swings and could possibly be due back when he is eligible.

Phillies: Delmon Young (ankle) is progressing nicely and may be able to start a rehab stint as early as next week. His May return remains on target.

Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton has been out since last Wednesday because of a left shoulder contusion. An MRI showed no structural damage, but he is still feeling discomfort, and remains day-to-day and will test his shoulder on Tuesday. Casey Kotchman was placed on the DL, retroactive to April 4, with a strained hamstring. Logan Morrison is currently on the 60-day DL, as he recovers from a torn patella tendon that required surgery last September. Henderson Alvarez and Nathan Eovaldi are both on the DL with right shoulder inflammation. Alvarez threw a 15-pitch bullpen session on April 13, and could return by early May, while Eovaldi remains out indefinitely.

Upcoming Schedules (4/8-4/14) 

Nationals: (@MIA, 4/6-4/17), (@NYM, 4/19-4/21)

Braves: (KC, 4/16-4/117), (@PIT, 4/18-4/21)

Phillies: (@CIN, 4/15-4/17), (STL, 4/18-4/21)

Marlins: (WSH, 4/16-4-17) (@CIN, 4/18-4/21)

Suspensions

Carlos Ruiz: The Phillies backstop has 12 games remaining to serve his 25-game suspension.

Alderson insisted that the team had to show the kind of selectivity at the plate that has been a hallmark of the general manager’s career.

As a result, the Mets are seeing 156.11 pitches per game in 2013, up from 145.82 in 2012, according to Puma.

That increase is being attributed to the team shunning the offensive philosophy that saw them struggle in the second half of last season, or so they say.

“It’s getting a good pitch to hit, and these guys are sorting through the pitches they are seeing to get something to hit,” Alderson explained to Puma.

“That approach is what really made us successful offensively in 2011 and the first half of 2012, and then we lost the approach. We couldn’t generate any offense in the second half of last year.”

The Mets have been doing surprisingly well, but is it a case of the philosophy or playing less than elite teams, or a combination of both?

Daniel Murphy, to use one example, seems to be much more aggressive at the plate than David Wright, and is enjoying a great start to his season.

I think 11 games into the season is not enough of a sample size to make any real determination, and if not for John Buck‘s tremendous exploits at the plate, things would be much different in the standings.

As I stated before the season started, the Mets had an easy schedule for most of April and so far they’ve  won series against the Padres, Marlins and Twins, while losing a series to the much more superior Phillies among those teams. That was something I hoped they would do and expected going into the season.

Lets see how they do against the Nationals, Dodgers and Phillies during the next homestand that begins on Friday. And lets see what happens when Buck comes back to earth. We’ll know a lot more about this team, the outfield, and the rotation by the early part of May.

Updated by HoJo at 10:45 PM

Pedro Feliciano tossed a scoreless seventh inning for Advanced-A St. Lucie tonight in his first game action in nearly a month and the results were encouraging.

The Mets’ southpaw allowed one hit, one walk, and had one strikeout. But his velocity was in the 84-86 mph range, according to Adam Rubin, which was up from 82-83 in spring training last month.

Original Post 7:00 PM

Other Mets News

• Tonight’s game between the Mets and Rockies has been postponed due to snow. The two teams will play a split doubleheader tomorrow, the team announced. The first game will begin at 3:10 PM, and the second game will  start around 8:40 PM. It was the Mets second straight postponement for the Mets after wintry conditions in Minneapolis on Sunday forced the game against the Twins to be called off. It was rescheduled for August 19. Weather forecasts call for additional snow on Tuesday.
• Pedro Feliciano has officially joined Class A St. Lucie, the team announced today. The lefty reliever spent the past two weeks building up shoulder strength. According to Adam Rubin, the Mets asked Feliciano to give them a month in the minors from Opening Day before leaving the organization.
• Frank Francisco is set to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Class A St. Lucie, a club source told ESPN New York. Francisco underwent surgery in December to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow. He experienced inflammation upon arriving at spring training. An official rehab assignment starts a maximum 30-day clock after which the pitcher is due to be activated. The right-handed Francisco has disappointed since signing his tw year, $12 million deal before the 2012 season.  He went 1-3 with a 5.53 ERA in 48 relief appearances last season.
• Shaun Marcum will not be ready to be activated from the DL until the middle of next week at the earliest. He has been on the 15-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis, retroactive to March 22. Marcum is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Tuesday and then throw a three or four inning simulated game in Port St. Lucie on Thursday. Marcum, who signed a guaranteed $4 million dollar deal in January, has been injured with one ailment or another since he reported to spring training.
• A Monday morning fire damaged parts of the administration building at Citi Field, the club announced, though sprinkler systems contained the blaze before it was extinguished by FDNY. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to the team, though it did not damage areas accessible to fans and nobody was injured or harmed.

Mets Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin – CF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. John Buck – C
6. Lucas Duda – LF
7. Mike Baxter – RF
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Jeremy Hefner – RHP

Game Notes

The Mets have hit at least one home run in each of their first eight games, tying the longest such stretch to open the season in team history with the 1987 club. A home run tonight will set a new club record. This year also marked the first time that the Mets have hit a home run in their first six home games of a season.

The Mets have hit 10 home runs in their first eight games this year, the most by the club since 2006 when New York had 12 home runs after its first eight contests. The Colorado Rockies are the only other team in the majors to hit a home run in every game they’ve played this year (eight games).

John Buck hit a two-run home run last night to give him 14 RBI on the year, the second-most driven in by a Met in the team’s first eight games of a season. He’s one behind Darryl Strawberry (15 in 1987). Buck leads the National League and is second in the majors with 14 RBI, behind the Orioles’ Chris Davis (17 RBI).

Harvey’s strikeout rate of 10.92 per nine innings since his big league debut last July 26 trails only Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer (11.32) and Rangers righty Yu Darvish (11.02) over that span.

David Wright played his 63rd consecutive game without an error last night, extending the franchise record for third basemen. It is also the longest current errorless streak by a third baseman in the majors.

Game Preview

The Mets find themselves in their second rubber game of the season tonight as the Mets take on the Phillies. The Mets crushed Halladay in the series opener and the Phillies returned the favor against Dillon Gee. The good news from last night’s game was the bullpen was able to hold down the fort after Gee’s exist and the Mets still showed power. Anyway, the Mets look too make it three straight series victories behind Jeremy Hefner as he takes on Kyle Kendrick.

Hefner was the hard luck loser in his first start of the season where he allowed 1 ER in 6.0 innings of work allowing a total of 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 batters. Last year he pitched 93.2 innings with a 5.09 ERA. The Phillies were not good to him last year as he made three pitching appearances against them where he allowed 13 ER over 7.1 innings. The Phillies have put up the following statistics on Hefner:

Rollins 2-5, 2B
Mayberry 1-2, 2B
Utley 1-2
Brown 1-1
Howard 1-1

Kyle Kendrick will be looking to rebound from his firsts tart of the season where he allowed 5 ER and 8 hits in 5.2 innings of work. Last year Kyle was 11-12 over 159.1 innings posting a 3.90 ERA. He was in 3 games against the Mets last year where he had a 1-1 record over 10 innings allowing 7 earned runs, 8 overall. The Mets have the following numbers against Kendrick:

Wright 11-31, 2 2B, 2 HR
Davis 4-16, 2 2B
Murphy 3-15, 2B
Duda 1-10, 2B
Tejada 2-12
Buck 0-7
Baxter 1-4, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea!

Cowgill, who was initially proclaimed the everyday center fielder before the season began, has now been relegated to a platoon role against southpaws only and a bat off the bench. He is mired in a 1-for-18 slump and is just 3-for-23 on the season. The most alarming stat is that he’s 0-for-12 against LHP and has yet to draw a walk this season.

It’s still early and it’s a small sample size, but there could be a reason why the Mets are his third organization in three years and why he was never seen as an everyday player until the Mets declared him one before Opening Day. That didn’t last very long.

Mike Baxter and Kirk Nieuwenhuis are making the most of their limited playing time and Lucas Duda may be batting just .227, but he’s drawn seven walks and has a .452 OBP and an impressive .861 OPS.

Then of course you have the non-outfielder in the group, who the Mets and SNY like to continually throw under the bus. That would be Jordany Valdespin who I continue to call the best catalyst the team has. He’s leads all Mets outfielders with a .300/.417/.500 slash in just ten at-bats with two stolen bases. This of course after leading the Mets with a torrid spring training that earned him just a spot on the bench while lesser producers came away with so-called everyday jobs.

Spin came into the game during a double-switch last night and replaced Duda in left. Then he did what he so often does and single-handedly manufactured one of the Mets runs last night after he tripled and then scored on a passed ball. As usual, Spin was electric and also as usual he showed lots of emotion as he rushed to the plate with his fist raised in the air – this after an emphatic high five after gunning it to third of Cliff Lee. How dare he… That showboating son of a b***h…

Sooner or later the Mets will have to figure out that they probably have just one legitimate everyday outfielder on their active roster – and it’s infielder Jordany Valdespin.

Everyone was so eager to give Cowgill an everyday job because he “never got a full shot”, and yet that same rule was never applied to Valdespin who I say is the closest thing we’ve had to Jose Reyes since… well since Jose Reyes was let go.

When are the Mets going to wake up and see what this kid could do with some regular playing time, and stop casting aspersions on a player who is guilty of being overly enthusiastic and having a real passion for winning?

1. Collin Cowgill CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. John Buck C
5. Marlon Byrd RF
6. Lucas Duda LF
7. Justin Turner 1B
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Dillon Gee RHP

Game Notes

The Mets have hit at least one home run in each of their first seven games, the longest such stretch to open a season since the 1987 team opened the season with a home run in their first eight contests. This current streak is tied for the second-longest in team history to begin a season. The 1962 Mets had a home run in their first seven contests. This year also marked the first time that the Mets have hit a home run in their first six home games of a season.

The Mets have hit nine home runs in their first seven games this year, the most by the club since 2005 when New York had 10 home runs after its first seven contests. The Colorado Rockies are the only other team in the majors to hit a home run in every game they’ve played this year (seven games).

Aaron Laffey should get several starts in the rotation in place of Shaun Marcum, although the Mets plan to wait until next Tuesday at Colorado for Laffey’s next turn. The Mets are unlikely to pursue Aaron Harang, writes Mike Puma in the Post. Harang was obtained by the Colorado Rockies and then designated for assignment.

Daniel Murphy is hitting .308 a week into the season, despite getting only 10 Grapefruit League at-bats because of an intercostal strain on his right side that sidelined him for several weeks of spring training.

Matt Harvey became the second pitcher in franchise history to open a season with consecutive starts of 7.0 or more innings while allowing three or fewer hits. Nolan Ryan opened the 1970 season with three straight such games.

Harvey has 19 strikeouts in his first two games, tied for the third-most in the majors with the Pirates’ A.J. Burnett. The Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija has 22 and the Rangers’ Yu Darvish has 20. He also became the third pitcher in team history to begin a season with nine or more strikeouts in each of his first two starts of the year. David Cone also accomplished that feat in 1992, notching 20 strikeouts and Pedro Martinez had nine or more strikeouts in each his first three games in 2005 (30 strikeouts over 22.0 innings).

This season, Mets starters have combined to post a 1.87 ERA (nine earned runs/43.1 innings pitched), ranking second in the majors behind Los Angeles-NL (1.32). The staff of Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner and Aaron Laffey has tossed six quality starts in seven games and have combined for 40 strikeouts, the third-most among NL clubs.

Game Preview

The Mets beat the Phillies last night and look to repeat the results tonight. Yesterday Matt Harvey had another excellent start racking up 9 strikeouts while dominating the Phillies line up. On the other side, the Mets batters were able to rough up Halladay and get to the Phillies bullpen to pour 7 runs on the scoreboard. Dillon Gee looks to follow up Matt Harvey’s performance tonight as the Mets bats try to encore against Cliff Lee.

Dillon Gee was the hard luck loser in his last start as he allowed only one run in 6.1 innings of work while allowing only 3 ER, walking 3 and then striking out 4 batters. It was Dillon’s first start after being sidelined for half the year last year, where he went 6-7 over 17 games and 109.2 innings while posting a 4.10 ERA. Last season he allowed 6 ER over 12.1 innings against the Phillies, where the Phillies had 16 hits, only 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. The Phillies have the following numbers against Gee:

Mayberry 2-9, HR
Rollins 6-9
Utley 2-8, 2B
Howard 2-7, 2 HR
Young 2-3, HR

The Mets batters get their first 2013 crack against Cliff Lee who picked up the win in his first start of the season, shutting out the Braves over 8 innings, allowing only 2 hits and striking 8 batters out. Last season he was 6-9 over 211 innings where he posted an ERA of 3.16 (so in other words, don’t let the record foul you). He faced the Mets a lot last year totaling 5 starts and 35.0 innings where he posted an ERA of 3.09, a 2-1 record, 31 hits, 5 walks and 39 strikeouts. The Mets have the following numbers against Cliff:

Buck 14-48, 3 2B, 3 HR
Byrd 7-21, 3 2B
Wright 6-21, 2B
Murphy 6-19, 3 2B
Duda 5-16, 2B, HR
Tejada 6-13, 2 2B
Turner 0-10

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea!

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER!

Team News and Notes

Atlanta Braves (6-1)

The Braves currently sit in first place in the NL East, and new addition Justin Upton is a major reason why. The 25-year-old has batted .423/.448/1.192 to start the season, with six bombs and eight RBI. The other half of the Upton brothers, B.J., has struggled to hit himself out of a barn batting just .120 to date. On the mound, the wily veteran Tim Hudson is back to work with a record of 1-0, and a 3.27 ERA to start the year. Paul Maholm hasn’t given up a run in 12 2/3 innings, and Mike Minor was solid in his first start as well, while youngster Julio Teheran struggled.   

Washington Nationals (4-2)

Bryce Harper was the story during the opening week as he belted three home runs, including two on Opening Day. Stephen Strasburg fired seven shutout innings on Opening Day, but got roughed up for six earned runs in his second start. Gio Gonzalez, Ross Detwiler, and Jordan Zimmerman all went six innings in their starts and allowed just one earned run combined. 

Philadelphia Phillies (2-5)

Opening Day starter Cole Hamels got pounded over his first two starts of the season, giving up an astounding 13 earned runs over his 10 innings of work. Conversely, Cliff Lee twirled an eight inning gem, allowing just two hits and striking out eight in his first start. Ryan Howard has started out slow, batting .148 with 10 punch-outs in just 27 at-bats. Chase Utley, on the other hand has burst out of the gate on fire. The second baseman is batting .370/.400/.630, with one home run, seven RBI and two doubles. Lastly, are we seeing the beginning of the end for Roy Halladay? The righty has seen a drop in his velocity, and has an unsightly ERA of 14.73 over his first two starts of 2013. 

Miami Marlins (1-6)

The Marlins have stumbled out of the gate, and did not score a run until the second inning of their third game of the season. Giancarlo Stanton has struggled with little support around him, and is batting .174/.367/.261 with no home runs or RBI, and just one run scored. Jose Fernandez made his debut against the Mets on Sunday, and dazzled for the first five innings, striking out eight, but received a no-decision.

Injury Report

Nationals: Adam LaRoche is currently day-to-day with a stiff back. Reliever Christian Garcia is on the DL with partial tear in his forearm tendon.

Braves: Jonny Venters (elbow) was shut down for four weeks on April 2, and may be out for the first two months. Brandon Beachy (Tommy John surgery) and Brian McCann (offseason shoulder surgery) were placed on the DL on March 29, both retroactive to March 22.  McCann may start a possible rehab assignment by mid-April, and could be activated by late April, while Beachy could return by midseason. Freddie Freeman was placed on the DL with a strained oblique on April 7, and may need 2-3 weeks to recover.

Phillies: Delmon Young (ankle) played the outfield for the first time this spring on April 1, with the hope that he returns sometime in May.

Marlins: Casey Kotchman was placed on the DL, retroactive to April 4, with a strained hamstring. Logan Morrison is currently on the 60-day DL, as he recovers from a torn patella tendon that required surgery last September. Henderson Alvarez and Nathan Eovaldi are both on the DL with right shoulder inflammation. Alvarez has resumed a throwing program, and could return by early May, while Eovaldi is out indefinitely.

Upcoming Schedules (4/8-4/14) 

Nationals: (CWS, 4/9-4/11), (ATL, 4/12-4/14)

Braves: (@FLA, 4/8-4/10), (@WSH, 4/12-4/14)

Phillies: (NYM, 4/8-4/10), (@MIA, 4/12-4/14)

Marlins: (ATL, 4/8-4-10) (PHI, 4/12-4/14)

Suspensions

Carlos Ruiz: The Phillies backstop will continue to serve his 25-game suspension to start the season.

Is Justin Upton the heir apparent to Chipper “Larry” Jones?

Harvey, 24, had his second consecutive scintillating start in a row on Monday evening, holding the Phillies to just one run and three hits over seven innings of work. The righthander struck out nine and now has 19 strikeouts in 14 innings.

The seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft is tearing down long-standing records for pitchers who are breaking into the majors and after 12 starts he even had the great Doctor K himself saying, “I am sitting here watching Matt Harvey… this kid is better than advertised … looking forward to watching him every 5th day.”

One thing I found impressive came from former major leaguer turned ESPN analyst Doug Glanville say, “He has four plus pitches – make that plus, plus pitches. And even if he only has three of them working he’s going to pitch a great game. Even if he has just two of the working, he’s going pitch a good game.”

Manager Terry Collins kind of backed that up after the game, “Obviously he wasn’t real sharp, but he was still very good,” Collins said. “The fact that the change-up has helped him. He threw some very good breaking balls today. He just wasn’t as sharp with the command of his fastball…It just tells you what the quality stuff can do and when you make a pitch you have to make, you get people out.”

Can Matt Harvey become the best pitcher the Mets have developed since – well since – Dwight Gooden?

I’m starting to believe that it’s certainly a possibility. He may be the best pitcher a Mets GM has drafted since Frank Cashen took selected Gooden fifth overall in 1981. That was six general managers and 32 years ago.

Is it too early to make such a claim? Maybe. But I’ll stick to my guns and wait ten years to see if I was right.

Ryan Howard is not the player he used to be.

The Mets begin a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies tonight at Citizens Bank Park, their first road series of the year and their first against a decent team.

Tha Phillies are currently at a crossroads. Where health and age meet talent. The Phillies are getting older, and this may be their last year to make a run at the World Series, although it’s very unlikely. The Phillies went 81-81 last season, spending half the year without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. They have both back this year, but neither is the same player they used to be. Howard struck out in a career-high 33.9% of his plate appearances, while batting just .219. 57.1% of the balls he hit last year were ground balls. That’s significantly higher than his 39.4% career average, and a bad sign for a slugger. Utley has been slowly losing his power. His Isolated Slugging Percentage (ISO) was just .173 last season, compared to a .213 career average. A healthy spring training does not necessarily mean a better year for those two either, as they are both another year older and another year slower.

The pitching staff isn’t looking much better, either. After losing Joe Blanton and Vance Worley, the Phillies’ once-great rotation is lacking depth. And although it appears Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels are as good as ever, Roy Halladay is showing signs of age. He had a 4.49 ERA in 25 starts last year, and hasn’t looked much better this year.

While there is an outside chance the Phillies make the playoffs, it’s unlikely. They are only a shell of the group that dominated the division a few years ago, and they will only be getting worse from here as their expensive assets become less tradeable with age. Nonetheless, they are probably about on-par with the Mets right now, which will make this series a fun one to watch.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey (2012: 59.1 IP, 141 ERA+, 2.69 K/BB) vs. Roy Halladay (2012: 156.1 IP, 89 ERA+, 3.67 K/BB)

Halladay hasn’t been himself lately, struggling this spring and in his first start, in which he went 3.1 innings, allowing five runs and two home runs. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com talked to a scout about Hallday. Here is some of what he said:

“If you didn’t know it was Roy Halladay out there,” he said, “you would say, ‘This guy looks like a journeyman.’”

A journeyman. For more than a decade, that would have been the last word anyone ever would have attached to a description of Roy Halladay. But now he finds himself a few weeks from his 36th birthday with more than 33,000 pitches on the odometer. And all of a sudden, the same scout said, “he looks like a guy who doesn’t have a whole lot left in his tank.”

“I didn’t see anything alarming,” the scout went on. “Nothing where you’d say he’s doing this or doing that, and that’s what was wrong. I just think he’s thrown a lot of pitches over the years. He’s always kept himself in great shape, so it isn’t that. But you’ve only got so many throws in that arm.”

He may be right: this may be the end for Halladay

Game 2: Dillon Gee (2012: 109.2 IP, 94 ERA+,3.34 K/BB) vs. Cliff Lee (2012: 211 IP, 127 ERA+, 7.39 K/BB)

Lee was horribly unlucky last season. Despite posting a 3.16 ERA and 3.06 xFIP (first in baseball), the Phillies lost most of the games Lee started. His win-loss record from last year is completely misleading. He is still one of the best in the game, walking only 1.219 batters per nine while striking out 8.8. In his last outing, Lee tossed eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out eight.

Game 3: Jeremy Hefner (2012: 93.2 IP, 76 ERA+, 3.44 K/BB) vs. Kyle Kendrick (2012: 159.1 IP, 103 ERA+, 2.37 K/BB)

Kendrick has proven himself to be a solid option at the back of the rotation with an occasional stint as a long man. With a career 4.7 K/9 rate, he doesn’t dominate, but he doesn’t walk too many hitters either, with a 2.61 BB/9 ratio. Kendrick allowed five runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings in his last start against Kansas City.

Series News & Notes

• Carlos Ruiz, who batted .325 with a career-high of 16 home runs is still serving a 25-game suspension for violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy.
• The Mets have hit at least one home run in each of their first six games, the longest such stretch to open a season since New York hit a home run in six straight games to begin the 1987 campaign. That team went on to hit home runs in their first eight games.
• David Wright played his 61st consecutive game without an error yesterday, extending the franchise record for third basemen. Lenny Randle is second on the list with 54 consecutive errorless games.
• In his final start in 2012, Harvey allowed a leadoff home run to Jimmy Rollins on September 19…That was the only hit and run allowed by Harvey over seven innings as he racked up seven strikeouts in a no-decision…the Mets lost, 3-2.

“Keep Your Enemies Closer”

The National League East has been known for it’s pitching staffs, going back to the Mets rotations of the 80′s, the Braves of the 90′s and early 2000′s, all the way up to the Phillies and Nationals of the past few seasons. What’s clear is that each team has quality pitching in some way. Teams like the Mets and Marlins have some good rotation options, with high-end quality prospects entering their respective staffs this season. While other teams like Phillies have a three-headed monster at the top, and the Nationals are building around the all-world Stephen Strasburg.

Let’s take a look at each rotation, and rank them in order from last to first.

5. Miami Marlins

1. Ricky Nolasco
2. Henderson Alvarez-DL
3. Nathan Eovaldi-DL
4. Wade LeBlanc
5. Kevin Slowey
6. Jose Fernandez
7. Alex Sanabia

4. New York Mets

1. Jonathon Niese
2. Matt Harvey
3. Shaun Marcum-DL
4. Dillon Gee
5. Jeremy Hefner

3. Atlanta Braves

1. Tim Hudson
2. Kris Medlen
3. Paul Maholm
4. Mike Minor
5. Julio Teheran
6. Brandon Beachy-DL

2. Philadelphia Phillies

1. Cole Hamels
2. Roy Halladay
3. Cliff Lee
4. Kyle Kendrick
5. John Lannan

1. Washington Nationals

1. Stephen Strasburg
2. Gio Gonzalez
3. Jordan Zimmerman
4. Dan Haren
5. Ross Detwiler

What are your starting rotation rankings in the National League East?