In this two starts in the majors, it is understandable why Mets fans would have little patience for P.J. Conlon. He is a pitcher who tops out around 87 MPH. In his two starts, he was knocked around the ballpark not getting out of the fourth inning in either start. Because of that, as a starter, Conlon sports an 11.12 ERA and a 2.469 WHIP. Really, those are ugly numbers for a starting pitcher,...
Sunday night I came away with the same impression of David Wright as everyone else did. He looked done. He couldn’t catch up to the fastball. He couldn’t get anything on his throws. It’s just really hard to play baseball when you have a fork sticking out of your back – it’s worse when you have spinal stenosis. Buster Olney of ESPN even penned what seemed like a...
The dust has settled, and the New York Mets are in the playoffs and will face the Los Angeles Dodgers sans home-field advantage beginning Friday, October 9. With the postseason beginning next week, Terry Collins addressed a number of topics regarding the NLDS at his final regular season post-game press conference. Here are some of the highlights: 1. The fun is only just beginning “90 wins is a...
Denver beat reporter Tracy Ringolsby of MLB.com writes about how patience has paid off for Mets manager Terry Collins who is a big league manager for the third time. He is having fun, writes Ringolsby, and it is not just because the Mets are in first place in the National League East. Mainly it is because Collins is so much more comfortable with his situation. “I am much more...
What a breakout game for Michael Conforto who busted out in a huge way only a day after making his major league debut on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Conforto, 22, picked up his first major-league hit and then some going 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored, and a nice running catch in left field. “I got a little lucky on the first one, and that took a little load off and I...
I wanted to address some of what’s been written about Sandy Alderson, Terry Collins and the Panic City Mets. Joel Sherman – While upper management has insisted the dollars are there, executives from other teams say their Mets counterparts tell them that the budget is either tight or non-existent. Is that gamesmanship by the Mets to try to get competitors to lower demands or honesty?...
Today former Mets General Manager Steve Phillips discussed his decision to acquire Mike Piazza in a blockbuster trade with the Florida Marlins on MLB Network Radio (Metsblog). He explained that the best trade is often the one that you don’t make. “Back in 1997, 1998, we had a good little team with the Mets, but we knew we needed some star power,” he explained, telling a story from his time...
In their annual MLB General Manager Rankings, The Sporting News has Mets GM Sandy Alderson slipping all the way to No. 23 out of 30. Patience is a virtue, to be sure, but the Mets under Alderson have not shown great ability to do much more than add young pitching to the organizational talent pool. The lineup remains as much of a nightmare as ever, and the list of players who have been mishandled...
Don’t look now, but among Mets players with 20 or more at-bats on the young season, shortstop Ruben Tejada is second on the team in batting with a .286 average and he pairs that with an impressive team-leading .400 on-base percentage. The young Panamanian native has taken a lot of flack over the last six months, but to his credit he’s been quietly going about his job and trying to...
There was a nice Q&A over on Metsblog with Mets’ hitting coach Dave Hudgens, who gave a little insight into what the Mets’ hitting philosophy is. Hudgens also spends a little time talking about Ike Davis and his recent woes, and seems pretty confident that he can turn things around. Matt Cerrone highlights one quote in particular from Hudgens: “We want hitters to look for their...
Allan Dykstra was drafted in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. He played his college ball at Wake Forest University, and the Demon Deacon was considered one of the top power threats in college baseball at the time. Some considered Dykstra to be a better prospect than Ike Davis coming out of college, mainly because of his power and his ability to get on base. He was a...
The terms “discipline at the plate” and “patience at the plate” come up quite often when discussing hitters’ approaches at the plate—especially if you are a Mets fan. This notion that the organization is teaching their hitters to be more patient is a questionable one to say the least. The two terms sound like they mean the same thing, but actually are quite different. Patience refers to working...
