The Mets took two out of three from the Yankees, took the first game of the series from the Phillies and all I hear on radio and TV is that Manuel will be fired but has been given a reprieve. I hear ridiculous proposals too. What about picking up Roy Oswalt? Even more ridiculous….what about Carlos Lee? What about Cliff Lee?
The Mets are at .500. The dropping of the pouter Maine and the maniacal Ollie Perez seems to have given our Metsies a new lease on life. Now if they could just keep Darryl Strawberry out of the clubhouse, I could see the Mets going on a nice long run.
I’ve only asked one time for Manuel’s removal. That was when he benched his regulars a couple of weeks ago in a game against these same Phillies with first place on the line. Facing the Phillies with the horrendous Gary Matthews replacing Francoeur and Mr. Uppercut #1 Fernando Tatis replacing Ike Davis was just a little bit too stupid for me to take lying down.
Manuel had his reasons, of course, but they were ridiculous tactical moves that ignored what could have been and should have been a real war for first place. Manuel is prone to errors such as these because his mind is always going and he is a deep thinker. Sometimes he loses the obvious; losing the forest for the trees.
But, I still think, all things considered, Manuel is the perfect manager for this Mets team. He stays too long with non-performing veterans, he has almost no faith in rookies, and to be frank, he doesn’t seem to believe in his team. I know he didn’t believe in his relief staff at the start of the season and that has been one of the team’s strong points.
But that thinking may be changing. Bringing up Ike Davis, Chris Carter, Jenry Mejia, and then the knuckleballer Dickey, and at the same time finally putting the kibosh on Maine and Perez, seems to be portending an old dog looking forward to learning some new tricks.
We don’t see too much of Matthews and Tatis anymore. We do see Carter and Davis. We also will be seeing some more of Hisanori Takahashi and A. J. Dickey, who are now officially listed on the depth chart as the number 3 and number 4 starters. Takahashi goes tonight again, followed by Pelfrey ans Santana. After that, some resourcefulness will be needed as Niese isn’t scheduled to return until June 1st.
Now watching the Mets put another whoopin’ on the Phils, I’m struck with how good the Mets look when they get the pitching and are in the game. Takahashi was nothing short of masterful and Reyes just kept chuggin’. Rod Barajas, meanwhile, just keeps tearing it up. When there’re men on base, Barajas just gets tougher. He’s not locked in unless he sees some of his same uniform out there on the basepaths.
You can’t compare the Mets telecasts with any other. They are just too good. While this may seem like “homey” thinking, the MLB Network, that uses the local broadcast team on its live feeds and replays most of the time, has allowed me to see how it’s done in other cities. These other broadcast teams range from poor to passable. There’s just no chemistry that you get with Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling.
Mejia’s out there now in the top of the 7th and the Mets leading 4-0. There are 2 outs and a man on third. Raul Ibanez is at the plate, and why can’t I find myself worrying? It would be logical to worry. But then Ibanez hits a weak grounder that that youngster Jenry just pounces and makes the play at first himself. Ibanez looked old and feeble in comparison.
But you do wonder how long this can last. How will Niese perform after his layoff? How will the relief corps be affected by the removal of Takahashi and Valdez from their ranks? How will Valdez fare as a starter?
The anxiety goes on the back burner though when the Mets win. All those concerns take a seat on the bench. Almost every Mets player now is contributing. It’s very often different guys each and every night. Even Francoeur is chipping in which is very important for this team as Frenchie seems to be one of those positive forces everywhere, except when he’s slumping.
The other Japanese pitcher, Igarashi, is now pitching the Phillies eighth. I’m still not worried. This guy, who I’d been watching since spring training, was really very impressive in spots and was just pretty good the rest of the time. In fact, for most of the beginning of the season, Takahashi was “the other Japanese import.”
Utley’s up. I should be worried. Curiously, I’m not. Maybe the Phillies just aren’t that scary anymore. Utley gets a high hard one and swings through it. Then he pops up. Ho-hum, it’s just another Phillies out. Now Ryan Howard, he’s been looking silly all night long. I still have no worries, even with a man on first, even though Howard just took a vicious cut at what looked like a slider in. Sure enough, he swings and misses at a beautiful low and outside pitch. I’m not sure what the pitch was but it was headed down, a lot like the Phillies.
You know the Phils are killing time when they insert Nelson Figueroa, another journeyman former-Met who left the team under less than optimal circumstances. He gets Francoeur, but Frenchie hit it hard. Darling, Keith and Cohen discuss the disparity between the box score and a player’s actual performance and effect on the team. Perfect timing , as usual.
It’s over in Yankee-land. Pettite gave them eight innings. He and his cutter were magnificent and the Yanks went on to win. Nick Swisher belted a homer in the 9th to win it. Mariano got three weak groundouts to close it out.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
No Maine In Sight
I hate to pile on but nobody deserves it more than John Maine.
What can a guy expect when he walks the world to open his last game and then gets taken out when he opens a game with another walk? Manuel was absolutely right to take Maine out in that spot. If John Maine had any sense of judgment at all, his priority last night should have been to throw strikes, especially to that first batter of the game.
Manuel shouldn’t have to justify taking Maine out with allusions to the 85 mph speed of his fastball (for lack of a more genteel word), or express what might have been a legitimate concern for Maine’s health.
Manuel’s team needed a win. They’d been swept in Florida and floundered in Washington. Maine had been horrible in his last start and Manuel kept him in that game longer than he needed to, much to his regret, I’m sure. Manuel expected and needed strikes. He didn’t get them.
He also got a pitcher acting as if he were hurt, bent over, looking defeated. So what’s a manager to do?
Maine’s temper tantrum reflects his sense of entitlement, a curiously undeserved feeling for a guy who hasn’t been worth much for quite a while. Maine’s expectations far exceed his talent. Why should his treatment differ from that of Oliver Perez, who just got axed from the rotation? And he was removed partly for not finding the plate.
Maine desperately needed a sense of urgency last night. The most urgent need was to throw a strike. He didn’t. Case closed.
That the Mets later won didn’t matter to Maine. He continued to pout. All those Mets runs could’ve been his to work with. Bummer! That this guy has been a Met for so long might partially explain what has been wrong with the team, lo these many years.
Maine’s removal energized the whole team. How often have the Mets had 3-run innings, and then a 5-run inning? It was as if they said, “okay, everybody hits” and that was just what they did. Everybody hit, and the core guys, Wright and Bay and Reyes, seemed to lead the charge.
The Mets also got a terrific pitching performance from Raul Valdes, who went a full five innings and struck out six Washington batters while spacing 7 hits and just one measly walk. He came out after allowing his first base on balls. Are you awake yet, Mr. Maine? There are other pitchers out there. Some of them show the intensity required to pitch in the major leagues. Most of them can throw strikes.
I’ve felt all along that the success of the Mets season would depend not on the success of Maine and Perez but on how quickly the Mets would respond and manage their situations and their failures. The Mets had been patient with both and even coaxed a few decent performances from them. But now, as it seems both have reverted to recent form, the Mets need to clear the decks.
It’s not as if there are no decent alternatives. Takahashi has been great in long relief. There’s no reason to think he can’t be effective as a starter. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has already tossed in one nice start. He might be just the change of pace the Mets rotation needs to baffle opposing bats from day to day. Igarashi will be returning to the fold soon to bolster the pitching in general. And just who wouldn’t inspire more hope than John Maine?
Even the refusal of Perez to pitch at Buffalo for a while may turn to the Mets favor. Perez has already appeared in a relief role, and, although he did walk a batter, he did get the one out the Mets needed.
So, without Maine, it’d be Santana, Pelfrey, Niese (hopefully soon), Takahashi and Dickey. Without Niese, then some more resourcefulness is needed. Rookie Mejia, who has been effective in relief, may ultimately be the nice answer. In the short run, Pat Misch and last year’s bust Parnell could be this year’s boom. And, even if they can just turn in mediocre performances in the bigs, they will have been better than John Maine.
After this terrible road trip, 2-6, one has to wonder how competitive this Mets team can be over the long haul. Before the trip I thought it would be a good measure of how competitive they could be in their division. But if that were true, the Mets will be in bad shape this year.
The hitting has been so bad though lately. It’s hard to believe the bats can’t get a lot better than they’ve been. If the bats pick up and the pitching can hold together, the Mets can easily pick up. I know I’m looking forward to three days of Takahashi, Pelfrey and Santana. It’s only after that that expectations descend somewhat.
Can Dickey repeat a nice job? Who’ll it be after that? I guess that’s why they play the game.
Merde! The actual Yankee-Mets game has intervened. Takahashi was great. The Mets couldn’t hit the Yankees Javier Vasquez or Joba after that. They did manage to get a couple of hits from Bay and Davis off Mariano but it was too little, too late and the Mets lost 2-1.
But they looked damned good in every other way, the pitching, the fielding, the managing…..even given Cora’s big throwing error and the inauspicious debut of Elmer Dessens, that anybody but the far-seeing Manuel could have foreseen.
Vasquez got all the Mets out except Alex Cora for one of those mysterious reasons that only occur in baseball. But he got all the “big” guys out. Joba Chamberlain was like the old Joba, except he looks 20 pounds heavier to me. Maybe it’s just my imagination. When Girardi doesn’t totally kill his spirit, Joba rules.
So now it’s just Pelfrey and Santana to face Hughes and Sabathia. And no Maine appearance in sight for 15 days.
What can a guy expect when he walks the world to open his last game and then gets taken out when he opens a game with another walk? Manuel was absolutely right to take Maine out in that spot. If John Maine had any sense of judgment at all, his priority last night should have been to throw strikes, especially to that first batter of the game.
Manuel shouldn’t have to justify taking Maine out with allusions to the 85 mph speed of his fastball (for lack of a more genteel word), or express what might have been a legitimate concern for Maine’s health.
Manuel’s team needed a win. They’d been swept in Florida and floundered in Washington. Maine had been horrible in his last start and Manuel kept him in that game longer than he needed to, much to his regret, I’m sure. Manuel expected and needed strikes. He didn’t get them.
He also got a pitcher acting as if he were hurt, bent over, looking defeated. So what’s a manager to do?
Maine’s temper tantrum reflects his sense of entitlement, a curiously undeserved feeling for a guy who hasn’t been worth much for quite a while. Maine’s expectations far exceed his talent. Why should his treatment differ from that of Oliver Perez, who just got axed from the rotation? And he was removed partly for not finding the plate.
Maine desperately needed a sense of urgency last night. The most urgent need was to throw a strike. He didn’t. Case closed.
That the Mets later won didn’t matter to Maine. He continued to pout. All those Mets runs could’ve been his to work with. Bummer! That this guy has been a Met for so long might partially explain what has been wrong with the team, lo these many years.
Maine’s removal energized the whole team. How often have the Mets had 3-run innings, and then a 5-run inning? It was as if they said, “okay, everybody hits” and that was just what they did. Everybody hit, and the core guys, Wright and Bay and Reyes, seemed to lead the charge.
The Mets also got a terrific pitching performance from Raul Valdes, who went a full five innings and struck out six Washington batters while spacing 7 hits and just one measly walk. He came out after allowing his first base on balls. Are you awake yet, Mr. Maine? There are other pitchers out there. Some of them show the intensity required to pitch in the major leagues. Most of them can throw strikes.
I’ve felt all along that the success of the Mets season would depend not on the success of Maine and Perez but on how quickly the Mets would respond and manage their situations and their failures. The Mets had been patient with both and even coaxed a few decent performances from them. But now, as it seems both have reverted to recent form, the Mets need to clear the decks.
It’s not as if there are no decent alternatives. Takahashi has been great in long relief. There’s no reason to think he can’t be effective as a starter. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has already tossed in one nice start. He might be just the change of pace the Mets rotation needs to baffle opposing bats from day to day. Igarashi will be returning to the fold soon to bolster the pitching in general. And just who wouldn’t inspire more hope than John Maine?
Even the refusal of Perez to pitch at Buffalo for a while may turn to the Mets favor. Perez has already appeared in a relief role, and, although he did walk a batter, he did get the one out the Mets needed.
So, without Maine, it’d be Santana, Pelfrey, Niese (hopefully soon), Takahashi and Dickey. Without Niese, then some more resourcefulness is needed. Rookie Mejia, who has been effective in relief, may ultimately be the nice answer. In the short run, Pat Misch and last year’s bust Parnell could be this year’s boom. And, even if they can just turn in mediocre performances in the bigs, they will have been better than John Maine.
After this terrible road trip, 2-6, one has to wonder how competitive this Mets team can be over the long haul. Before the trip I thought it would be a good measure of how competitive they could be in their division. But if that were true, the Mets will be in bad shape this year.
The hitting has been so bad though lately. It’s hard to believe the bats can’t get a lot better than they’ve been. If the bats pick up and the pitching can hold together, the Mets can easily pick up. I know I’m looking forward to three days of Takahashi, Pelfrey and Santana. It’s only after that that expectations descend somewhat.
Can Dickey repeat a nice job? Who’ll it be after that? I guess that’s why they play the game.
Merde! The actual Yankee-Mets game has intervened. Takahashi was great. The Mets couldn’t hit the Yankees Javier Vasquez or Joba after that. They did manage to get a couple of hits from Bay and Davis off Mariano but it was too little, too late and the Mets lost 2-1.
But they looked damned good in every other way, the pitching, the fielding, the managing…..even given Cora’s big throwing error and the inauspicious debut of Elmer Dessens, that anybody but the far-seeing Manuel could have foreseen.
Vasquez got all the Mets out except Alex Cora for one of those mysterious reasons that only occur in baseball. But he got all the “big” guys out. Joba Chamberlain was like the old Joba, except he looks 20 pounds heavier to me. Maybe it’s just my imagination. When Girardi doesn’t totally kill his spirit, Joba rules.
So now it’s just Pelfrey and Santana to face Hughes and Sabathia. And no Maine appearance in sight for 15 days.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Necessity the Mother of Invention
I’m so glad I waited until after last night’s Atlanta game before making any idiotic commentary on the state of the Mets. I had been so disheartened after watching them lose four in a row. A wild pitch, a ridiculous Perez start, a Maine walking marathon, and then still another loss after a promising starter, Jonathon Niese, hurt himself. Things were looking decidedly down for our intrepid heroes.
But then there was Monday night, a new day and a new pitcher, one Mike Pelfrey, who couldn’t take his turn last time out for a shoulder twinge, or something equally ominous-sounding. But the big guy was back for last night’s game and the whole team played better. Especially nice was seeing some slick fielding to accompany some timely hitting by Barajas and some opportunistic base-running from Jose Reyes, once again a leadoff man.
The lineup issues may continue, it’s anybody’s guess, but this lineup had newbie Carter hitting in the cleanup spot and he was pretty damned impressive (1-2, run, rbi). Bay moved to the 3-hole and of course, the worst hitter in the free world, Gary Matthews, batted eighth after Barajas, who continued his torrid and timely hitting by driving in two with a hard double in the left center gap.
But the Mets finally finished on top, and Pelfrey was the biggest reason for it.
But the great game followed an organizational meeting attended by none other than owner Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya. So things were tense before the game and will probably continue that way for quite some time. It’s quite amusing to me that that brain-trust came up with a lineup that put a rookie in the cleanup spot and removed Angel Pagan from the lineup altogether.
But I love it. First they bring up Ike Davis, who outperformed Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis by a long shot. Now they strike gold again with Chris Carter, who supposedly can’t play right field but can hit that ball a good lick. So the brain-trust came up roses.
That a 35-year-old knuckleballer is going to start Wednesday is also pretty interesting. It says to me that they’re getting really imaginative, thinking out of the box, something this organization needs. The same old thinking, fielding an experienced lineup of journeymen retreads, clearly wasn’t working. The last of those might be Matthews, who must have something on somebody to stay on the roster at all.
It’s easy to have mixed feelings right now. You’re happy to not only beat Atlanta in the opener, but to do it the way they did, by playing good baseball all around. At the same time though, you worry about Wednesday and hope Santana can win later today.
You worry about Wednesday because it’ll still be one more starter coming up from the minors, and this time a really veteran knuckler. R.A. Dickey. And truthfully, you worry going forward to Thursday when John Maine takes the mound again after his 13 straight balls in his last putrid start fresh in your mind and nasal cavities.
Then it’ll be Hisanori Takahashi going on Friday against the Yankees. Holy cow! as Phil would have exclaimed. Takahashi replaces Ollie Perez in the rotation, of course, and Perez will take his place as a long reliever. You can’t say it’s not interesting.
And can they be shopping Pagan? Is that why he wasn’t in the lineup? Pagan is a very serviceable commodity in their outfield, and with Beltran coming back and Fernando Martinez still another significant minor league presence, it would make sense to trade for a pitcher, and I’m sure Pagan may even get one.
The Mets are certainly showing some resourcefulness lately. Plato wasn’t a Mets fan but he did call it when he talked about necessity being the mother of invention. The Mets have been really needy lately too.
Even the Yankees are showing some neediness lately though. They got a walkoff dinger from Marcus Thames last night off Boston’s Papelbon, and that came exactly one night after pulling Joba for loading the bases and inserting a none too healthy Mariano Rivera for a 5-out save, a move that really puzzled me at the time, another one of those inexplicable Girardi brain farts.
I’m just happy Girardi’s in the Bronx. The Mets have enough problems. But it’s hard for Girardi to fall on his butt what with Gardner spelling Granderson with flash and even power and a guy like Thames on the bench. We have Tatis and Matthews.
The Mets future depends a lot on whether Maine can show some toughness for once and come back strong in his next start, and, hopefully for a few starts after that. To have to drop one of your starters from the rotation (Perez) is bad enough; to have to drop two would be disastrous, especially if Niese’s hamstring injury, which appears relatively minor as this is written, winds up being serious.
If Maine should continue to falter, and if Niese can’t return, the Mets almost have to make a deal for a pitcher. I can imagine any number of inventive deals down the line, involving just about any serviceable, and thus trade-able, player, either Pagan or possibly even a Carlos Beltran, certainly a more than serviceable commodity, one who has been and probably will be, an enormous distraction.
If things get really crazy, and if the Mets can’t turn it around, I suppose there will be nothing sacrosanct about the manager’s position. I’ve always got a big kick out of Jerry Manuel, but I have to wonder whether some of the problems, especially the weak performances from Wright, Reyes and Bay, aren’t due, at least in part, to Manuel’s own inventiveness, some of which may not have been out of necessity.
The inventiveness could even extend all the way to Omar Minaya, who has to take the hit for Ollie Perez, his most conspicuous error but certainly not the only one.
Last place tends to accentuate all the necessities.
But then there was Monday night, a new day and a new pitcher, one Mike Pelfrey, who couldn’t take his turn last time out for a shoulder twinge, or something equally ominous-sounding. But the big guy was back for last night’s game and the whole team played better. Especially nice was seeing some slick fielding to accompany some timely hitting by Barajas and some opportunistic base-running from Jose Reyes, once again a leadoff man.
The lineup issues may continue, it’s anybody’s guess, but this lineup had newbie Carter hitting in the cleanup spot and he was pretty damned impressive (1-2, run, rbi). Bay moved to the 3-hole and of course, the worst hitter in the free world, Gary Matthews, batted eighth after Barajas, who continued his torrid and timely hitting by driving in two with a hard double in the left center gap.
But the Mets finally finished on top, and Pelfrey was the biggest reason for it.
But the great game followed an organizational meeting attended by none other than owner Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya. So things were tense before the game and will probably continue that way for quite some time. It’s quite amusing to me that that brain-trust came up with a lineup that put a rookie in the cleanup spot and removed Angel Pagan from the lineup altogether.
But I love it. First they bring up Ike Davis, who outperformed Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis by a long shot. Now they strike gold again with Chris Carter, who supposedly can’t play right field but can hit that ball a good lick. So the brain-trust came up roses.
That a 35-year-old knuckleballer is going to start Wednesday is also pretty interesting. It says to me that they’re getting really imaginative, thinking out of the box, something this organization needs. The same old thinking, fielding an experienced lineup of journeymen retreads, clearly wasn’t working. The last of those might be Matthews, who must have something on somebody to stay on the roster at all.
It’s easy to have mixed feelings right now. You’re happy to not only beat Atlanta in the opener, but to do it the way they did, by playing good baseball all around. At the same time though, you worry about Wednesday and hope Santana can win later today.
You worry about Wednesday because it’ll still be one more starter coming up from the minors, and this time a really veteran knuckler. R.A. Dickey. And truthfully, you worry going forward to Thursday when John Maine takes the mound again after his 13 straight balls in his last putrid start fresh in your mind and nasal cavities.
Then it’ll be Hisanori Takahashi going on Friday against the Yankees. Holy cow! as Phil would have exclaimed. Takahashi replaces Ollie Perez in the rotation, of course, and Perez will take his place as a long reliever. You can’t say it’s not interesting.
And can they be shopping Pagan? Is that why he wasn’t in the lineup? Pagan is a very serviceable commodity in their outfield, and with Beltran coming back and Fernando Martinez still another significant minor league presence, it would make sense to trade for a pitcher, and I’m sure Pagan may even get one.
The Mets are certainly showing some resourcefulness lately. Plato wasn’t a Mets fan but he did call it when he talked about necessity being the mother of invention. The Mets have been really needy lately too.
Even the Yankees are showing some neediness lately though. They got a walkoff dinger from Marcus Thames last night off Boston’s Papelbon, and that came exactly one night after pulling Joba for loading the bases and inserting a none too healthy Mariano Rivera for a 5-out save, a move that really puzzled me at the time, another one of those inexplicable Girardi brain farts.
I’m just happy Girardi’s in the Bronx. The Mets have enough problems. But it’s hard for Girardi to fall on his butt what with Gardner spelling Granderson with flash and even power and a guy like Thames on the bench. We have Tatis and Matthews.
The Mets future depends a lot on whether Maine can show some toughness for once and come back strong in his next start, and, hopefully for a few starts after that. To have to drop one of your starters from the rotation (Perez) is bad enough; to have to drop two would be disastrous, especially if Niese’s hamstring injury, which appears relatively minor as this is written, winds up being serious.
If Maine should continue to falter, and if Niese can’t return, the Mets almost have to make a deal for a pitcher. I can imagine any number of inventive deals down the line, involving just about any serviceable, and thus trade-able, player, either Pagan or possibly even a Carlos Beltran, certainly a more than serviceable commodity, one who has been and probably will be, an enormous distraction.
If things get really crazy, and if the Mets can’t turn it around, I suppose there will be nothing sacrosanct about the manager’s position. I’ve always got a big kick out of Jerry Manuel, but I have to wonder whether some of the problems, especially the weak performances from Wright, Reyes and Bay, aren’t due, at least in part, to Manuel’s own inventiveness, some of which may not have been out of necessity.
The inventiveness could even extend all the way to Omar Minaya, who has to take the hit for Ollie Perez, his most conspicuous error but certainly not the only one.
Last place tends to accentuate all the necessities.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Mets Are Fun at the Very Least
You have to admit the Mets are fun to watch. (I can be as positive as the next guy). Jose smacks the double and you cheer, then about 30 seconds later he tries to take third on a ball right there in front of him. After the game, he says he’s sorry, that there’s no excuse for it.
Yeah, I suppose it was that Bernadina guy who really won the game for the Nats. His beautiful catch of Francoeur’s liner late in the game saved three runs right there. Add the two homers and well, he was making sure it was over.
If you listed a “Top Ten” of reasons the Mets lost yesterday though, the first would surely be Bernadina but the second would be Reyes. If I knew beforehand that he’d hit a double and then get thrown out, I’d surely have eschewed the double. Keep it, Jose.
But they are fun when they’re hitting, and even when they’re not, you get the feeling that they will very soon. When Wright isn’t striking out and Bay decides to swing at good pitches, when Davis and Barajas join the fun, things get crazy.
The whole lineup is interesting now. The sure outs just aren’t there anymore, except when mad Manuel decides Gary Matthews .325 average of friggin’ yesteryear is just around the corner, so he inserts him into the game and he strikes out. And of course you know he’s going to strike out. It’s kind of interesting to ask yourself just how he’s going to do it this time. Will he swing at the impossibly outside pitch or the one in the dirt? Or will the pitcher be silly enough to throw him a fastball, something that he can maybe just strike out on the foul tip?
Yes, I know, he actually got a hit the other day. WooHoo!!
But, besides Matthews, there’s really nobody you give up on totally, if you don’t count Bay on one of his clueless days. There’s Pagan, who does a little of everything. Then Castillo will do something smart, and then there’s Reyes, who can drive the ball a bit, maybe get one of those great triples. There’s Bay who can hit the heck out of the ball when he connects and Wright, who is totally unpredictable.
Remember when Wright was the best two-strike hitter in the game? Um, not anymore. But when he’s not striking out, he usually does something spectacular. Then Ike Davis gets up there and he’s a tough out. Never mind that he can hit the friggin’ bridge to Shea. Then Francoeur is always good for a drive somewhere in the park. And Barajas, you can’t say enough about Barajas.
I had been a Barajas detractor when they got him, wishing they would have given Omir Santos more of a shot. The Mets also got Blanco to back him up, which put Santos further down the ladder. But I was wrong. Not only does the man represent a real threat at the plate but he apparently does wonders for these Mets pitchers, unless you think it’s just an accident that the pitching has been so good. Oh, and both these catchers can throw out runners.
So, all in all, the lineup is interesting. When they try to take pitches, they stink. When they just let it go and play, they can be overpowering. Of course, Manuel doesn’t always see that because that’s right in front of his face. Jerry only sees things far off, very deep things no one else can really fathom.
So the manager is kind of interesting too. And GM Omar Minaya, I mean, what can you say? I think of him as a snake oil salesman with education. Except for the time he accused that Daily News reporter of trying to take one of his boys’ jobs, he keeps things light and fun. And he has a good sense of humor, which you need when Jose Reyes is on the bases.
They’ve been a good home team too, which worries me a little bit as they take off for a long road trip, to some mostly unfriendly divisional places like Florida, Atlanta and Washington. Then they return home to face the Yankees, so this could be a long, depressing ride for the rest of May, especially if they get a bad start.
But, if the pitching holds up, they can survive just about anything. Santana starts it off tonight against Florida ace Josh Johnson, then it’ll be Maine, Pelfrey, Perez and Niese again, which, compared to what I thought they’d get, especially from Maine and Perez, hasn’t been too shabby at all.
I keep expecting the relievers to blow up, given the innings they’ve had to work, what with the starters’ relatively short appearances. That doesn’t figure to get much better either. Maine and Perez especially just work too hard early to last a very long time in the game.
But the relievers have been terrific so far. The Mets are in every game. There’s nobody in that pen you just give up on. They’re all tough, led by Takahashi, who’s been unbelievable. But Igarashi was great before he got hurt (and will soon return), and the list of good performers goes on with Nieve, Feliciano, and even the new kid Mejia. Even Vargas hasn’t stunk it up (but I keep thinking he’s Bizarro Jerry).
But things could have been a lot worse. Nobody except me expected the relief performance the Mets have gotten, and it’s not so lucky or accidental that the Mets find themselves 18-16 and just 2 ½ games back of the Phillies. They let the Nats sneak in there for 2nd place but well, talk to Bernardina and Reyes about that one.
All these upcoming teams are beatable too, division rivals all, and the Mets performance over this road trip should tell us a lot about how the rest of the season will play out.
Yeah, I suppose it was that Bernadina guy who really won the game for the Nats. His beautiful catch of Francoeur’s liner late in the game saved three runs right there. Add the two homers and well, he was making sure it was over.
If you listed a “Top Ten” of reasons the Mets lost yesterday though, the first would surely be Bernadina but the second would be Reyes. If I knew beforehand that he’d hit a double and then get thrown out, I’d surely have eschewed the double. Keep it, Jose.
But they are fun when they’re hitting, and even when they’re not, you get the feeling that they will very soon. When Wright isn’t striking out and Bay decides to swing at good pitches, when Davis and Barajas join the fun, things get crazy.
The whole lineup is interesting now. The sure outs just aren’t there anymore, except when mad Manuel decides Gary Matthews .325 average of friggin’ yesteryear is just around the corner, so he inserts him into the game and he strikes out. And of course you know he’s going to strike out. It’s kind of interesting to ask yourself just how he’s going to do it this time. Will he swing at the impossibly outside pitch or the one in the dirt? Or will the pitcher be silly enough to throw him a fastball, something that he can maybe just strike out on the foul tip?
Yes, I know, he actually got a hit the other day. WooHoo!!
But, besides Matthews, there’s really nobody you give up on totally, if you don’t count Bay on one of his clueless days. There’s Pagan, who does a little of everything. Then Castillo will do something smart, and then there’s Reyes, who can drive the ball a bit, maybe get one of those great triples. There’s Bay who can hit the heck out of the ball when he connects and Wright, who is totally unpredictable.
Remember when Wright was the best two-strike hitter in the game? Um, not anymore. But when he’s not striking out, he usually does something spectacular. Then Ike Davis gets up there and he’s a tough out. Never mind that he can hit the friggin’ bridge to Shea. Then Francoeur is always good for a drive somewhere in the park. And Barajas, you can’t say enough about Barajas.
I had been a Barajas detractor when they got him, wishing they would have given Omir Santos more of a shot. The Mets also got Blanco to back him up, which put Santos further down the ladder. But I was wrong. Not only does the man represent a real threat at the plate but he apparently does wonders for these Mets pitchers, unless you think it’s just an accident that the pitching has been so good. Oh, and both these catchers can throw out runners.
So, all in all, the lineup is interesting. When they try to take pitches, they stink. When they just let it go and play, they can be overpowering. Of course, Manuel doesn’t always see that because that’s right in front of his face. Jerry only sees things far off, very deep things no one else can really fathom.
So the manager is kind of interesting too. And GM Omar Minaya, I mean, what can you say? I think of him as a snake oil salesman with education. Except for the time he accused that Daily News reporter of trying to take one of his boys’ jobs, he keeps things light and fun. And he has a good sense of humor, which you need when Jose Reyes is on the bases.
They’ve been a good home team too, which worries me a little bit as they take off for a long road trip, to some mostly unfriendly divisional places like Florida, Atlanta and Washington. Then they return home to face the Yankees, so this could be a long, depressing ride for the rest of May, especially if they get a bad start.
But, if the pitching holds up, they can survive just about anything. Santana starts it off tonight against Florida ace Josh Johnson, then it’ll be Maine, Pelfrey, Perez and Niese again, which, compared to what I thought they’d get, especially from Maine and Perez, hasn’t been too shabby at all.
I keep expecting the relievers to blow up, given the innings they’ve had to work, what with the starters’ relatively short appearances. That doesn’t figure to get much better either. Maine and Perez especially just work too hard early to last a very long time in the game.
But the relievers have been terrific so far. The Mets are in every game. There’s nobody in that pen you just give up on. They’re all tough, led by Takahashi, who’s been unbelievable. But Igarashi was great before he got hurt (and will soon return), and the list of good performers goes on with Nieve, Feliciano, and even the new kid Mejia. Even Vargas hasn’t stunk it up (but I keep thinking he’s Bizarro Jerry).
But things could have been a lot worse. Nobody except me expected the relief performance the Mets have gotten, and it’s not so lucky or accidental that the Mets find themselves 18-16 and just 2 ½ games back of the Phillies. They let the Nats sneak in there for 2nd place but well, talk to Bernardina and Reyes about that one.
All these upcoming teams are beatable too, division rivals all, and the Mets performance over this road trip should tell us a lot about how the rest of the season will play out.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Mets Forget Good At-Bats and Win!
Jerry Manuel recently said something to the effect that his principal instruction to his hitters is to have a good at-bat. Such is the world of the thinker. He figures, “take a lot of pitches, get that starter out of the game.”
NEWS FLASH – Gary Matthews just got a BASE HIT!!!!
This, by the way, is my second attempt at writing something intelligent about the Mets. Something worthwhile. My 500 words of yesterday were filled with hateful invective; my principal target was Jason Bay, but David Wright, Jose Reyes and Jerry Manuel also figured largely in my mind and on the paper too, not that anybody uses paper anymore.
Back to having good at-bats though, that really shouldn’t be the prime directive. The prime directive should be to go up there and get a hit. It should be assumed that major league hitters would be able to figure out the rest, i.e. don’t swing at anything you can’t hit; get four of those and you’ll walk. But that’s secondary. You should be up there to get a hit.
It’s pretty hard for most people to hit a baseball at all. You’re considered a very good hitter if your batting average is .300, meaning that you not only hit the ball, but you hit it to a spot that no opponent could reach. Walks are not included in that figure, but on-base average does, further reflecting the batter’s efficiency. A further indication of productivity is slugging percentage, a figure that measures total bases divided by at-bats.
As every player watches his numbers, they all do the best they can at the plate, given their own proclivities and limitations. Some batters are free swingers and are very good at hitting that way. Most batters wait for a pitch they can hit and drive it. But it’s a pretty simple process to understand. Swing if the ball is over the plate.
Not in Mets-Land. In the Mets world of over-think, the prime directive is to have a good at-bat. That implies taking pitches, making that opposing pitcher throw as many pitches as possible. What this means is that a batter will now take a first strike for sure and further try to “work” the at-bat as it progresses, meaning to take further pitches out of the strike zone if at all possible before either getting a hit or not.
Some hitters are adept at batting that way. They have become so sophisticated as hitters that their natural inclination is to have a good at-bat. These batters can foul off pitch after pitch in the strike zone, waiting for not only a strike, but a strike that they can drive, and, if they drive it far enough, it’ll result in a home run, a wonderful event that not only helps the team but also does wonders for your numbers, thus eventually increasing your salary.
Most hitters can’t do that. Their bat control, their eye at the plate, their judgment, all those things aren’t refined enough to enable a good at-bat all the time. Many hitters will take a first strike if just to get a feel for the speed of the pitch. Some batters just feel better getting their three opportunities to hit the ball. Taking a strike restricts opportunities to two.
Given no further instruction, each batter would be able to maximize his potential at the plate, but, especially when opposed by a really good pitcher, at-bats could be either short or even very short, and if repeated inning after inning, this good pitcher could stay in the game for nine innings, or until that magic 100-pitch number rears its ugly head.
But most games would proceed naturally, meaning sometimes the team would get hits, and, stringing them together, get lots of runs too, as each hitter is given his three chances to hit the ball. A team like the Mets could succeed very well in that manner, happily swinging the bat and maximizing their potential.
You see, the Mets don’t really have any of those really accomplished hitters that can work counts, that can foul off all but the very best pitches ( Bobby Abreu comes to mind, Nick Johnson also comes to mind but in a much lesser way). The Mets have some good hitters too. It’s just that they’re not Bobby Abreu types. They are three-strikes guys.
Jason Bay, David Wright, Jose Reyes, maybe Ike Davis, they’re better off if they’re given their opportunities, every one of them. Shackle them with the “good at-bat” directive though, and you get a bad hitter, one who takes good pitches for strikes, swings at bad pitches, and, worst of all, takes a pitch that is only questionably a strike.
The Mets have been in that worst possible of worlds. Their core guys have looked bad at the plate, embarrassingly bad at times, resulting in many losses that could have and should have been wins, as the Mets pitching has been surprisingly good.
As I have watched tonight’s game though, it’s quite apparent that either the prime directive has changed, or the players are ignoring the prime directive en masse. They’re currently losing to the Nats 6-3 but the tying run is at the plate. Mets batters are swinging at anything that moves. They’re being aggressive. Bay, Wright, Davis….they’re all hitting the ball.
They might lose this game too, but it sure has been exciting to watch, and I’d bet anything it’s been more fun for the players as well. They won’t lose tonight because they were looking for a walk. They’ll be the aggressive hitters they’ve been all their lives.
Last year, Jerry Manuel’s thrust was hitting to the opposite field, which killed David Wright’s numbers, especially his power numbers. Last year was a lost year anyway though, with all the injuries. This year, the thrust has been good at-bats; it’s been killing this team, and I can only hope they’ll just forget about it. You can’t change hitters overnight.
(The Mets win, 8-6, scoring at will and aggressive as hell ).
NEWS FLASH – Gary Matthews just got a BASE HIT!!!!
This, by the way, is my second attempt at writing something intelligent about the Mets. Something worthwhile. My 500 words of yesterday were filled with hateful invective; my principal target was Jason Bay, but David Wright, Jose Reyes and Jerry Manuel also figured largely in my mind and on the paper too, not that anybody uses paper anymore.
Back to having good at-bats though, that really shouldn’t be the prime directive. The prime directive should be to go up there and get a hit. It should be assumed that major league hitters would be able to figure out the rest, i.e. don’t swing at anything you can’t hit; get four of those and you’ll walk. But that’s secondary. You should be up there to get a hit.
It’s pretty hard for most people to hit a baseball at all. You’re considered a very good hitter if your batting average is .300, meaning that you not only hit the ball, but you hit it to a spot that no opponent could reach. Walks are not included in that figure, but on-base average does, further reflecting the batter’s efficiency. A further indication of productivity is slugging percentage, a figure that measures total bases divided by at-bats.
As every player watches his numbers, they all do the best they can at the plate, given their own proclivities and limitations. Some batters are free swingers and are very good at hitting that way. Most batters wait for a pitch they can hit and drive it. But it’s a pretty simple process to understand. Swing if the ball is over the plate.
Not in Mets-Land. In the Mets world of over-think, the prime directive is to have a good at-bat. That implies taking pitches, making that opposing pitcher throw as many pitches as possible. What this means is that a batter will now take a first strike for sure and further try to “work” the at-bat as it progresses, meaning to take further pitches out of the strike zone if at all possible before either getting a hit or not.
Some hitters are adept at batting that way. They have become so sophisticated as hitters that their natural inclination is to have a good at-bat. These batters can foul off pitch after pitch in the strike zone, waiting for not only a strike, but a strike that they can drive, and, if they drive it far enough, it’ll result in a home run, a wonderful event that not only helps the team but also does wonders for your numbers, thus eventually increasing your salary.
Most hitters can’t do that. Their bat control, their eye at the plate, their judgment, all those things aren’t refined enough to enable a good at-bat all the time. Many hitters will take a first strike if just to get a feel for the speed of the pitch. Some batters just feel better getting their three opportunities to hit the ball. Taking a strike restricts opportunities to two.
Given no further instruction, each batter would be able to maximize his potential at the plate, but, especially when opposed by a really good pitcher, at-bats could be either short or even very short, and if repeated inning after inning, this good pitcher could stay in the game for nine innings, or until that magic 100-pitch number rears its ugly head.
But most games would proceed naturally, meaning sometimes the team would get hits, and, stringing them together, get lots of runs too, as each hitter is given his three chances to hit the ball. A team like the Mets could succeed very well in that manner, happily swinging the bat and maximizing their potential.
You see, the Mets don’t really have any of those really accomplished hitters that can work counts, that can foul off all but the very best pitches ( Bobby Abreu comes to mind, Nick Johnson also comes to mind but in a much lesser way). The Mets have some good hitters too. It’s just that they’re not Bobby Abreu types. They are three-strikes guys.
Jason Bay, David Wright, Jose Reyes, maybe Ike Davis, they’re better off if they’re given their opportunities, every one of them. Shackle them with the “good at-bat” directive though, and you get a bad hitter, one who takes good pitches for strikes, swings at bad pitches, and, worst of all, takes a pitch that is only questionably a strike.
The Mets have been in that worst possible of worlds. Their core guys have looked bad at the plate, embarrassingly bad at times, resulting in many losses that could have and should have been wins, as the Mets pitching has been surprisingly good.
As I have watched tonight’s game though, it’s quite apparent that either the prime directive has changed, or the players are ignoring the prime directive en masse. They’re currently losing to the Nats 6-3 but the tying run is at the plate. Mets batters are swinging at anything that moves. They’re being aggressive. Bay, Wright, Davis….they’re all hitting the ball.
They might lose this game too, but it sure has been exciting to watch, and I’d bet anything it’s been more fun for the players as well. They won’t lose tonight because they were looking for a walk. They’ll be the aggressive hitters they’ve been all their lives.
Last year, Jerry Manuel’s thrust was hitting to the opposite field, which killed David Wright’s numbers, especially his power numbers. Last year was a lost year anyway though, with all the injuries. This year, the thrust has been good at-bats; it’s been killing this team, and I can only hope they’ll just forget about it. You can’t change hitters overnight.
(The Mets win, 8-6, scoring at will and aggressive as hell ).
Friday, May 7, 2010
Jason Bay, Tampa Bay, Rangers and Giants
It’s been a passing strange baseball season so far and strangest of all might be in Citi Field where starters surprise and big hitters utterly collapse at just the wrong moments. But if you like baseball, you’re getting your money’s worth from teams like Texas and San Francisco.
One has to wonder if our totally clueless cleanup hitter, Jason Bay, will ever get his act together. In fact, his at-bats are so horrible, one has to wonder if he ever takes batting practice. Although I fully expected streakiness when the Mets acquired him, I don’t think I fully appreciated how bad those plate appearances would look. And they feel worse than they look, being that there are always men on base when he comes to the plate.
The Mets could’ve swept the Reds if Bay were only mediocre. They’ve gotten good pitching, the rest of the lineup has been doing more than its share, and then Bay just totally kills them. It’s very frustrating, to say the least. The only interesting thing about a Bay at-bat is whether or not he’ll get the bat on the ball at all. He misses most pitches by such a wide margin that a foul tip becomes some wondrous event.
Jerry Manuel keeps talking about his history. He’s right, of course, but that doesn’t mean he should keep that number four spot in the order when he hasn’t a prayer of doing anything even remotely good. I mean….he’s been making Gary Matthews look good.
Maybe it’s the four spot that’s the problem. Looking back at his Boston and Pittsburgh years, he batted mostly in the fifth spot. But even then he had long streaks of futility to go with long streaks of wonderful productivity. We haven’t seen one of those streaks yet. I wonder if we ever will.
I had hoped Omar would have gone after Holliday in free agency. The Mets preferred Bay, supposedly based on his defense and speed. And it’s true, he does play a nice left field, and he does manage to not get doubled up on many of his DP grounders. Most of his paltry RBI total has come from fly balls or weak grounders.
Maybe Bay needs glasses or contact lenses. He’s late on just about everything. Okay, that’s enough. I can’t even stand my own whining. If he doesn’t ever hit….fine. That’ll at least spell the end of Omar for good. We’ll see less of the Matthews’s and Tatis’s of the world year after year… all the retreads .
Meanwhile, this baseball season might turn out pretty special. The Rays look great in the AL East and Evan Longoria looks like an MVP. Then Texas is really starting to come on with Josh Hamilton starting to look like an MVP candidate. Seattle’s got a lot of pitching but pitching hasn’t helped the White Sox much.
The NL East has been pretty amazing so far with Washington looking much better, Florida hanging in there and of course, our Metsies and their surprising pitching. The NL Central has the Cards up top, but it looks pretty even below them. The Giants in the West are making the Dodgers look bad.
Biggest story to me is that of the Texas Rangers. It’s an exciting team, with young up-and-comers like Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler. Texas has a good old fella too in Vlad Guerrero, and there was nothing better than watching KC’s usually lockdown closer Joachim Soria get nicked for the tying home run from Hamilton and the game-winner from Vlad. Hamilton’s was a real moonshot too, high in the upper deck in right.
Tampa Bay is great too, if just because they’re scaring the hell out of the Yankees, that self-proclaimed juggernaut of the American League East. The Yanks are great…. just ask them.
But what are we talking about really? Arod is batting .253 with just a pair of homers. Teixeira’s batting .178 with just a pair of dingers of his own. If it weren’t for some surprises in their rotation, like Hughes and Pettite, added to the two you knew would be good, Sabathia and Burnett, the Yanks just might be in trouble. Cano can’t carry them forever and neither can Swisher, although I’d love to see it. If anybody’s going to take them to the World Series again, it should be one or both of those two.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s got it all. Four of their five starters have ERA’s under 3 and the fifth is at 3.15. And in addition to guys you’ve certainly heard of, Upton and Crawford, Longoria and Pena, the Rays can boast of their relatively new rightfielder, Ben Zobrist, who gives them a little bit of everything, including speed and defense.
But, like many baseball fans, there has been no more exciting team than the San Francisco Giants, another team getting good performances from just about everybody. Top of the list goes to Tim Lincecum, of course, but they’ve also got Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez performing like aces. Relief? How about Brian Wilson, whose fastball is almost as amazing as his hairdo.
They’ve been getting some timely hitting too, although their lineup can’t compare with some of those other teams I’ve mentioned. Chief among their batsmen is the redoubtable Pablo Sandoval, a roly-poly type whose fielding at third belies his waistline. He’s like Prince Fielder with more athleticism.
The bad news is that those same Giants are coming to Citi Field this weekend to faceoff against our lovable Metsies. They’ll roll out Jonathan Sanchez tonight against Pelfrey, a matchup that could be a great one. Then on Saturday afternoon, the Mets get a break in a matchup of Santana vs. Todd Wellemeyer, their one starter who doesn’t have great numbers.
The hammer comes down on Sunday though as Lincecum will face Ollie Perez and things could get really ugly. It’s to be hoped that Jason Bay wakes up. Stranger things have already been happening in Major League Baseball.
One has to wonder if our totally clueless cleanup hitter, Jason Bay, will ever get his act together. In fact, his at-bats are so horrible, one has to wonder if he ever takes batting practice. Although I fully expected streakiness when the Mets acquired him, I don’t think I fully appreciated how bad those plate appearances would look. And they feel worse than they look, being that there are always men on base when he comes to the plate.
The Mets could’ve swept the Reds if Bay were only mediocre. They’ve gotten good pitching, the rest of the lineup has been doing more than its share, and then Bay just totally kills them. It’s very frustrating, to say the least. The only interesting thing about a Bay at-bat is whether or not he’ll get the bat on the ball at all. He misses most pitches by such a wide margin that a foul tip becomes some wondrous event.
Jerry Manuel keeps talking about his history. He’s right, of course, but that doesn’t mean he should keep that number four spot in the order when he hasn’t a prayer of doing anything even remotely good. I mean….he’s been making Gary Matthews look good.
Maybe it’s the four spot that’s the problem. Looking back at his Boston and Pittsburgh years, he batted mostly in the fifth spot. But even then he had long streaks of futility to go with long streaks of wonderful productivity. We haven’t seen one of those streaks yet. I wonder if we ever will.
I had hoped Omar would have gone after Holliday in free agency. The Mets preferred Bay, supposedly based on his defense and speed. And it’s true, he does play a nice left field, and he does manage to not get doubled up on many of his DP grounders. Most of his paltry RBI total has come from fly balls or weak grounders.
Maybe Bay needs glasses or contact lenses. He’s late on just about everything. Okay, that’s enough. I can’t even stand my own whining. If he doesn’t ever hit….fine. That’ll at least spell the end of Omar for good. We’ll see less of the Matthews’s and Tatis’s of the world year after year… all the retreads .
Meanwhile, this baseball season might turn out pretty special. The Rays look great in the AL East and Evan Longoria looks like an MVP. Then Texas is really starting to come on with Josh Hamilton starting to look like an MVP candidate. Seattle’s got a lot of pitching but pitching hasn’t helped the White Sox much.
The NL East has been pretty amazing so far with Washington looking much better, Florida hanging in there and of course, our Metsies and their surprising pitching. The NL Central has the Cards up top, but it looks pretty even below them. The Giants in the West are making the Dodgers look bad.
Biggest story to me is that of the Texas Rangers. It’s an exciting team, with young up-and-comers like Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler. Texas has a good old fella too in Vlad Guerrero, and there was nothing better than watching KC’s usually lockdown closer Joachim Soria get nicked for the tying home run from Hamilton and the game-winner from Vlad. Hamilton’s was a real moonshot too, high in the upper deck in right.
Tampa Bay is great too, if just because they’re scaring the hell out of the Yankees, that self-proclaimed juggernaut of the American League East. The Yanks are great…. just ask them.
But what are we talking about really? Arod is batting .253 with just a pair of homers. Teixeira’s batting .178 with just a pair of dingers of his own. If it weren’t for some surprises in their rotation, like Hughes and Pettite, added to the two you knew would be good, Sabathia and Burnett, the Yanks just might be in trouble. Cano can’t carry them forever and neither can Swisher, although I’d love to see it. If anybody’s going to take them to the World Series again, it should be one or both of those two.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s got it all. Four of their five starters have ERA’s under 3 and the fifth is at 3.15. And in addition to guys you’ve certainly heard of, Upton and Crawford, Longoria and Pena, the Rays can boast of their relatively new rightfielder, Ben Zobrist, who gives them a little bit of everything, including speed and defense.
But, like many baseball fans, there has been no more exciting team than the San Francisco Giants, another team getting good performances from just about everybody. Top of the list goes to Tim Lincecum, of course, but they’ve also got Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez performing like aces. Relief? How about Brian Wilson, whose fastball is almost as amazing as his hairdo.
They’ve been getting some timely hitting too, although their lineup can’t compare with some of those other teams I’ve mentioned. Chief among their batsmen is the redoubtable Pablo Sandoval, a roly-poly type whose fielding at third belies his waistline. He’s like Prince Fielder with more athleticism.
The bad news is that those same Giants are coming to Citi Field this weekend to faceoff against our lovable Metsies. They’ll roll out Jonathan Sanchez tonight against Pelfrey, a matchup that could be a great one. Then on Saturday afternoon, the Mets get a break in a matchup of Santana vs. Todd Wellemeyer, their one starter who doesn’t have great numbers.
The hammer comes down on Sunday though as Lincecum will face Ollie Perez and things could get really ugly. It’s to be hoped that Jason Bay wakes up. Stranger things have already been happening in Major League Baseball.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Santana Bad butJerry Manuel Worse
I couldn’t be more disappointed.
The Mets lost to the Phillies 11-5 last night after Johan Santana handed in the worst performance of his career, looking more like Jamie Moyer than did Jamie Moyer. Santana’s fastball had nothing, his changeup wasn’t much different from his fastball, and his control was non-existent.
I had a bad feeling about this game after I saw the lineup. In the biggest game of this season, the Mets played it as if it mattered not at all. The energy-sucking guys were back in the lineup, Tatis and Matthews, replacing the hot rookie Ike Davis and Angel Pagan, who had just begun to hit. It was as if Manager Jerry Manuel was letting Philadelphia know that this game just wasn’t that important.
It’s really a shame.
No matter how bad Santana was , I’m putting this loss squarely on Jerry Manuel. The lineup he put together was stupid, especially given the situation. He didn’t seem to care if his team lost and his players followed his lead. Wright hit a 3-run shot and Barajas homered too but it only mattered for an inning or so as Santana and Manuel quickly gave it all back.
I’m tired of watching Tatis and that infuriating uppercut swing of his. Matthews is just horrible. He doesn’t look right in a uniform. He doesn’t look like an athlete. He doesn’t perform like an athlete. He’s batting .139. Tatis is batting .212.
There’s a word for the way Manuel approached that game last night….chicken. Manuel played it like a gentle mother, having her boy avoid those big guys on the block. Just walk the other way. Don’t go near those people.
I know that Matthews supposedly plays better defense than Pagan. I know Tatis has more experience than Davis, but what about the feeling of the team? What about combativeness?
I want a fighter leading my team. Billy Martin wouldn’t have played Matthews or Tatis last night. He would have played his starting lineup. So would Piniella. So would Leland. So would Girardi. So would Randolph. (And it kills me to say so).
I’m disgusted with Manuel’s over-thinking in critical situations. There must’ve been a reason to leave Santana in the game last night, after he walked a 47-year-old pitcher. Nine out of ten managers would have taken Santana out immediately…..do not pass go….do not collect $200.
Manuel didn’t want to embarrass his ace. He embarrassed him more by leaving him in. Of course, there was nobody warming up so there really was no alternative. After a double, two singles and two walks, there was still no action in the Mets bullpen.
Once again, it was a gentle motherly type of decision. Most managers act more like fathers, fathers who understand the importance of winning over the niceties of saving face for your starting pitcher, fathers who’d have recognized that it was a big game, one for which you put in your best lineup.
Before this series even started, I maintained that the Mets were the more balanced team. And they are. But Jerry Manuel, in his infinite wisdom, didn’t take advantage.
His counterpart in the Phillies dugout, Charlie Manuel, acknowledged his weaknesses, avoiding his thin bullpen, allowing his 47-year old pitcher to hit with the bases loaded in that incredible fourth inning. If the pitcher made an out, the Phils would still have been down by two runs. But Charlie Manuel avoided that bullpen of his, at all costs, even that of losing the chance to take the lead.
That the Mets were playing their second team made Charlie’s decision easier. Moyer had been mowing them down. Surely Moyer was a good choice to face that weakened lineup until his arm fell off, or until his fastball dipped below 70, whichever came first.
You can pitch around a National League lineup, especially one with only six hitters in it. Taking Davis and Pagan out of the lineup left the Mets with only 3 real power threats, Wright, Bay and Francoeur. Pitching carefully to just three batters beats having to do so against five.
That was a bad loss, any way you look at it. Santana was awful. He’s the ace. He walked a 47-year old pitcher with the bases jammed. Even after that, the Mets still led by one. Santana was obviously rattled.
The Mets bullpen had shown that it was one of the best in the league. Just about any choice from that bullpen would have been a better one than that of leaving your rattled ace on the rubber in that raucous atmosphere of Citizens Bank Park.
As bad as Santana was though, Jerry Manuel was worse. He had no pitchers warming up. So that fantastic bullpen, with strikeout pitchers in it like Takahashi didn’t get an opportunity to face Victorino, whose grand slam put the Mets down by three, or Polanco, who singled before Utley’s two-run shot to right that put the final nail in the Mets coffin, a coffin designed and meticulously constructed by Jerry Manuel.
It’s a shame too because this was a key game. The Mets playing the importance of the game down doesn’t make it so. Manuel’s bad decisions both before and during the game cost them dearly, and the Mets may lose a few more games due to the letdown.
It was a huge loss. It was a 2-game swing in the standings. Instead of being 1 ½ games up, in first place in the NL East, they are now ½ game behind. All the good things about this season were largely erased last night, the holding together of Maine and Perez, the outstanding performances of Pelfrey and Niese and the bullpen, the sparkling play of Francoeur and newbie Ike Davis.
Jerry Manuel played his backups and made a bad pitching situation much worse. Never has a Mets manager been so thoroughly out-managed, not that I can recall.
Sometimes good things can come from a loss. This is not one of those times.
The Mets lost to the Phillies 11-5 last night after Johan Santana handed in the worst performance of his career, looking more like Jamie Moyer than did Jamie Moyer. Santana’s fastball had nothing, his changeup wasn’t much different from his fastball, and his control was non-existent.
I had a bad feeling about this game after I saw the lineup. In the biggest game of this season, the Mets played it as if it mattered not at all. The energy-sucking guys were back in the lineup, Tatis and Matthews, replacing the hot rookie Ike Davis and Angel Pagan, who had just begun to hit. It was as if Manager Jerry Manuel was letting Philadelphia know that this game just wasn’t that important.
It’s really a shame.
No matter how bad Santana was , I’m putting this loss squarely on Jerry Manuel. The lineup he put together was stupid, especially given the situation. He didn’t seem to care if his team lost and his players followed his lead. Wright hit a 3-run shot and Barajas homered too but it only mattered for an inning or so as Santana and Manuel quickly gave it all back.
I’m tired of watching Tatis and that infuriating uppercut swing of his. Matthews is just horrible. He doesn’t look right in a uniform. He doesn’t look like an athlete. He doesn’t perform like an athlete. He’s batting .139. Tatis is batting .212.
There’s a word for the way Manuel approached that game last night….chicken. Manuel played it like a gentle mother, having her boy avoid those big guys on the block. Just walk the other way. Don’t go near those people.
I know that Matthews supposedly plays better defense than Pagan. I know Tatis has more experience than Davis, but what about the feeling of the team? What about combativeness?
I want a fighter leading my team. Billy Martin wouldn’t have played Matthews or Tatis last night. He would have played his starting lineup. So would Piniella. So would Leland. So would Girardi. So would Randolph. (And it kills me to say so).
I’m disgusted with Manuel’s over-thinking in critical situations. There must’ve been a reason to leave Santana in the game last night, after he walked a 47-year-old pitcher. Nine out of ten managers would have taken Santana out immediately…..do not pass go….do not collect $200.
Manuel didn’t want to embarrass his ace. He embarrassed him more by leaving him in. Of course, there was nobody warming up so there really was no alternative. After a double, two singles and two walks, there was still no action in the Mets bullpen.
Once again, it was a gentle motherly type of decision. Most managers act more like fathers, fathers who understand the importance of winning over the niceties of saving face for your starting pitcher, fathers who’d have recognized that it was a big game, one for which you put in your best lineup.
Before this series even started, I maintained that the Mets were the more balanced team. And they are. But Jerry Manuel, in his infinite wisdom, didn’t take advantage.
His counterpart in the Phillies dugout, Charlie Manuel, acknowledged his weaknesses, avoiding his thin bullpen, allowing his 47-year old pitcher to hit with the bases loaded in that incredible fourth inning. If the pitcher made an out, the Phils would still have been down by two runs. But Charlie Manuel avoided that bullpen of his, at all costs, even that of losing the chance to take the lead.
That the Mets were playing their second team made Charlie’s decision easier. Moyer had been mowing them down. Surely Moyer was a good choice to face that weakened lineup until his arm fell off, or until his fastball dipped below 70, whichever came first.
You can pitch around a National League lineup, especially one with only six hitters in it. Taking Davis and Pagan out of the lineup left the Mets with only 3 real power threats, Wright, Bay and Francoeur. Pitching carefully to just three batters beats having to do so against five.
That was a bad loss, any way you look at it. Santana was awful. He’s the ace. He walked a 47-year old pitcher with the bases jammed. Even after that, the Mets still led by one. Santana was obviously rattled.
The Mets bullpen had shown that it was one of the best in the league. Just about any choice from that bullpen would have been a better one than that of leaving your rattled ace on the rubber in that raucous atmosphere of Citizens Bank Park.
As bad as Santana was though, Jerry Manuel was worse. He had no pitchers warming up. So that fantastic bullpen, with strikeout pitchers in it like Takahashi didn’t get an opportunity to face Victorino, whose grand slam put the Mets down by three, or Polanco, who singled before Utley’s two-run shot to right that put the final nail in the Mets coffin, a coffin designed and meticulously constructed by Jerry Manuel.
It’s a shame too because this was a key game. The Mets playing the importance of the game down doesn’t make it so. Manuel’s bad decisions both before and during the game cost them dearly, and the Mets may lose a few more games due to the letdown.
It was a huge loss. It was a 2-game swing in the standings. Instead of being 1 ½ games up, in first place in the NL East, they are now ½ game behind. All the good things about this season were largely erased last night, the holding together of Maine and Perez, the outstanding performances of Pelfrey and Niese and the bullpen, the sparkling play of Francoeur and newbie Ike Davis.
Jerry Manuel played his backups and made a bad pitching situation much worse. Never has a Mets manager been so thoroughly out-managed, not that I can recall.
Sometimes good things can come from a loss. This is not one of those times.
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