It doesn’t matter that Daniel Murphy hit the game-winning homer Sunday afternoon, or that he’s the Mets’ hottest hitter, he should be in the leadoff spot again Monday night at Citi Field. Because of Murphy’s high on-base percentage, batting him leadoff is something I have advocated, and I’m glad Terry Collins was thinking outside the box enough to make the move. “He gets on base, because he can hit,’’ Collins told ESPN.com. “And, when he’s swinging good, he can [...]

Starting Lineup Daniel Murphy – 2B Justin Turner – 1B David Wright – 3B Marlon Byrd – RF Lucas Duda – LF Anthony Recker – C Ruben Tejada – SS Juan Lagares – CF Dillon Gee – RHP Game Notes The Mets have scored three or fewer runs in 10 of their last 12 games and in 15 of their last 21 games. Overall, New York is averaging 4.25 runs per game, the seventh-most in [...]

Jeremy Hefner lasted just four innings and dropped to 0-5 on the season as the Mets took it on the chin in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field. Hefner allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and quickly put his team in a hole. The right-hander now has a 5.00 ERA and the Mets are 0-8 when he starts a game. “He just fell behind in counts,” said Terry Collins. [...]

Lately, it seems the only thing the Mets excel at is finding ways to lose. Shaun Marcum had his first quality start as a Met, going 6.2 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and punching out three. He threw 96 pitches, 65 of which for strikes, however fell to 0-4 on the year in easily his best effort for the Amazin’s this season. After matching goose eggs with the [...]

Are the Mets in desperate times now?  With how our offense has failed to click lately, I think so. I was under the impression that we had a few guys that could actually play the outfield for us – and then we went out and signed Rick Ankiel. I remember the player Ankiel was after he switched positions from pitching to play the outfield, so there is hope for production.  But, if we needed a player with [...]

An incredible 46 strikeouts in the Mets’ last four games… Hmmm. Let’s see, whom can we blame? I know, lets blame batting coach Dave Hudgens and his approach to work the count, be selective, and get a pitch and drive it. That’s it, his approach is wrong. It is why they are striking out so many times. They are taking, taking, falling behind, and then whiffing. Damn, it’s Hudgens’ fault. That’s the current analysis of the Mets’ [...]

Starting Lineup Justin Turner – SS Daniel Murphy – 2B David Wright – 3B John Buck – C Lucas Duda – LF Marlon Byrd – RF Ike Davis – 1B Juan Lagares – CF Dillon Gee – RHP Game Notes WFAN Mets beat reporter Ed Coleman has reported that shortstop Ruben Tejada is in Terry Collins’ doghouse and that is why he is out of the lineup and Turner is playing short. That’s all he [...]

The newest Met, Rick Ankiel, couldn’t hold onto Ty Wigginton’s sinking line drive for a double. Wigginton then scored from second on an infield hit off pitcher Scott Rice. Matt Holliday followed with a two-run homer, and just like that it was over and the Mets had their fourth straight loss, 6-3, at St. Louis to fall seven games below .500. ON THE MOUND: Jeremy Hefner had his third straight quality start, giving up three runs in six [...]

WFAN is confirming that the Mets and Rick Ankiel have come to an agreement. Ankiel is expected to be in uniform on Monday night for the Mets and Andrew Brown already has been told he is being dispatched to Triple-A Las Vegas according to Adam Rubin. Ankiel, 33, was released by the Astros last week after hitting .194 with a .231 OBP in 25 games for the Astros. He also hit five home runs and drove [...]

As Sandy Alderson and the Mets continue to wait and see how cheaply they can sign free agents, other teams are signing players at a brisk pace. I understand they couldn’t realistically be buyers for Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford, and without a doubt the Mets were right not to even come close to offering Jason Werth the kind of contract he signed with the Nationals. I also understand that the Wilpons refuse to pay a [...]

Djean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes that the Pirates are interested in signing right fielder Ryan Church. Church, 31, hit .273 with four home runs and 40 RBI’s while splitting time as a member of both the Mets and Braves last season. This news is somewhat surprising as it was rumored for weeks that the Pirates were looking to sign another free agent outfielder by the name of Rick Ankiel. However, as Kovacevic notes [...]