This’ll be one of those rambling, all-over-the-place pieces about nothing, a real George Costanza-type nothing piece, if not for content, then for structure, as I really have a lot of impressions, mostly good ones, of baseball and the Mets, and Joba’s fine effort, and in pro basketball, that crazy last-second shot by the Big Baby. Even local pro football seems to be looking good, what with Hakeem Nicks and Mark Sanchez and the proverbial host of others.
Of course, that’s usually when everything starts going to hell, just when you think thing’s are looking good, the classical overemphasis on recent form rather than the hard facts of the overall past record. And the things I’m happy about now could turn in a day. In fact they probably will.
So let’s examine that thought for a moment. The Mets have won seven in a row, mostly with good starting pitching, something everybody in Mets-land was really worried about just two short weeks ago. So, the question then becomes “will the starters continue to perform well?”
Johan Santana, that ace of aces, might be the least likely to continue his incredibly good string this year. He’s given up 6 runs in 39 2/3 innings. The most runs he’s surrendered in one single game is 2. He lost that one and struck out 13. Otherwise, he’s been lights-out all the time and he’s just 4-1 overall with a 0.91 ERA.
But it’s just the law of averages that rears its ugly head. Santana did win 7 in a row last year, though, even with all those saves lost by the relief corps. So who knows? His current performance isn’t really that removed from what he’s done his entire career.
John Maine started this whole thing on May 4th against the Braves at Atlanta, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. Then he pitched an even better one vs. Pittsburgh on May 9th, allowing just 1 run. Maine has won 3 starts in a row but he’s not averse to winning streaks, having won 4 in a row early last year and an amazing 7 in a row to open up 2007. So Mr. Maine could conceivably just keep going strong.
The other starter to win two during the streak is good ol’ Livan Hernandez. He beat Atlanta on the 5th of May and Pittsburgh yesterday, surrendering 3 totals runs in 12 1/3 innings overall. The other starters, Pelfrey and Niese, won just one during the streak but Pelfrey did impressively win against the World Champion Phillies while Niese’s win came against the lowly Pirates. (Sorry, Pittsburgh fans).
Nay-sayers will point to the quality of the opposition and the fact that the relief hasn’t really been that good over the same period. My quick analysis shows they gave up 8 runs in 18 2/3 innings. That’s not terrible, I guess, but it’s not that good either.
In another sense though, it’s great, as the victims of the scoring have been the more experienced pitchers, Putz and K-Rod, Feliciano and Green. The rookie Parnell gave us 4 scoreless innings while the very old rookie, Takahashi, gave us 3 scoreless.
Once again, nay-sayers will point to the fact that the above stats mean the “ace” relievers gave up the 8 runs in about 12 innings, an ERA of about 6. But I’m not into nay-saying today, and none of them lost the game, which is what this is all about after all.
The schedule is interesting as our heroes have to face the Braves again for three so soon after having had success against them in Atlanta. So the Braves will be looking for payback. Then it’s off to San Francisco for four and Los Angeles for 3, a key road trip against two teams with really good pitching and one that has batters to match.
And, if the Mets batters haven’t been discouraged after that trip, they then continue on to Boston for three. As it would be futile to determine the Boston starters that far in advance, let’s just say that the Red Sox have the best pitching in both leagues.
So it’s imperative that the Mets beat the teams they’re supposed to beat, the Braves and the Giants, so they can be as upbeat as possible against the cream, the Dodgers and the Red Sox. Of course, that’s why they play the games and it should be a lot of good baseball.
Joba’s given up 7 runs in the first innings of his last two games and Yankee fans will have to hope it’s an aberration. Time will tell but I think it’s the latter, his record doesn’t really indicate any big troubles in his first inning of work.
Obviously, if he could come in as a reliever and blow everybody away, every relief appearance basically a first inning stint, he’s quite capable of pitching well in the first inning of a start. He just needs to make himself feel the heat. A good pitching coach might point out the significance of getting off to a good start.
In other baseball news, Evan Longoria has 44 rbi’s already, an insane number in 32 games, basically a fifth of a season, and that projects out to five times 44 or 220 ribbies for the season. As the Scooter would’ve commented, “Holy Cow.”
Pro basketball continues to leave me cold. Despite the wondrous Bulls-Celtics series and the Celts’ continuing intrigue against a very tough Orlando, I find the games impossible to watch. The commercials kill the game, no continuity whatsoever is allowed for the game itself. It’s just a platform for commercials.
It would help if I thought the games were on the level. But I’m just convinced these playoffs are just foreplay for the big Lebron-Kobe matchup. Fouls continue to be called totally arbitrarily, and in at least one instance, the absence of an obvious call cost the Mavericks what could have been a big, big game.
The NBA admitted the error. Thanks, really!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Mets and Manny - One And Done
I had expected a blowout. After all, Chan Ho Park never had anything, no wins, no stuff, no control, you name it, he didn’t have it, except maybe a plane ticket out. The Mets, on the other hand, had only the best pitcher in both leagues on the mound, the guy with the awful stuff, that fantastic control and overpowering confidence.
And hadn’t the Mets come out of their funk? Hadn’t they just beat the Braves in Atlanta twice in a row. Wasn’t Beltran still knocking the cover off? Wasn’t Delgado now in the lineup? And wasn’t David Wright starting to look less ridiculous out there?
Yeah, I wanted a blowout but what I got was so much better….a pitching duel to match any I could remember, in recent memory anyway. Who was that guy on the mound? What had he done with Chan Ho? And how did he keep befuddling all those Mets batters?
For six full innings, they matched zeroes and Park had allowed just one hit, Santana was doing a better job with strikeouts but Park may have looked even more masterful, as he doesn’t have the wicked fastball or changeup that Santana mixes in to so much effect.
As anyone would have expected, the game changed as soon as Park left the game, ironically enough, for an Eric Bruntlett that Santana just blew away. (Park had at least managed to walk twice).
You knew that the Mets would score, you just wondered how they’d do it. You didn’t have to wait long. Scott Eyre walked Delgado to open the bottom of the 7th but then got Wright on a pop and lucked out when Murphy drove a ball to deep left center for the second out.
The Mets pinch-hit Tatis for Jeremy Reed to get that right-handed bat in the lineup. The Phils matched up by bringing in their righthander Durbin. Tatis gave a mighty swing that sent his broken bat all the way to shortstop but left the ball dribbling down the third base line.
The play had trouble written all over it and trouble was just what the Phillies got. Third baseman Pedro Feliz charged the ball and unleashed a wild throw to first that got past the first baseman and all the way to the wall in short right field.
Delgado meanwhile had advanced to second and chugged on down to third upon seeing the overthrow. For whatever reason, either because Tatis was on his way to second or because he didn’t ever expect chuggin’ Delgado to advance, or maybe he even saw Razor Shines, the third base coach throw up the stop sign, Werth hesitated for a second or two.
It was all Carlos needed. Ignoring the stop sign, here came big Carlos. When he finally did release the ball, Werth threw a strike to the plate but he had waited too long. Delgado hit the dirt and was sliding through the catcher’s feet when he got tagged. The Mets had their one.
Why did Carlos go? Because he knew, Chan Ho knew, the Mets bench knew, the fans in the stadium knew and everybody at home watching knew that one run was all that was going to be needed on this day.
Oh sure, there was some concern on my part when Manuel brought in Ryan Church to bat for Santana shortly thereafter. Especially after Church struck out swinging on a ridiculous outside pitch and who should I see warming up but Pedro Felicicano!
But Pedro would prevail on this day. He must have known Delgado would pummel him if he didn’t. And, after Victorino threw another scare into everybody, Feliciano managed to strike out hulking Ryan Howard.
That’s when I really knew it was over. If Feliciano wouldn’t allow himself to lose it, there was no way that K-Rod would. Today it would be one and done.
And of course it was, despite the two long, long fly balls hit by Ibanez and Stairs in the top of the ninth. Beltran squeezed the last out and it was over. The one run would carry the day.
And speaking of “one and done”, I just learned that Manny Ramirez, probably my second favorite player in MLB (second to Beltran), failed a drug test and will be suspended for fifty games, costing himself 7.7 million dollars. It looks as if Major League Baseball is serious.
One and done.
And hadn’t the Mets come out of their funk? Hadn’t they just beat the Braves in Atlanta twice in a row. Wasn’t Beltran still knocking the cover off? Wasn’t Delgado now in the lineup? And wasn’t David Wright starting to look less ridiculous out there?
Yeah, I wanted a blowout but what I got was so much better….a pitching duel to match any I could remember, in recent memory anyway. Who was that guy on the mound? What had he done with Chan Ho? And how did he keep befuddling all those Mets batters?
For six full innings, they matched zeroes and Park had allowed just one hit, Santana was doing a better job with strikeouts but Park may have looked even more masterful, as he doesn’t have the wicked fastball or changeup that Santana mixes in to so much effect.
As anyone would have expected, the game changed as soon as Park left the game, ironically enough, for an Eric Bruntlett that Santana just blew away. (Park had at least managed to walk twice).
You knew that the Mets would score, you just wondered how they’d do it. You didn’t have to wait long. Scott Eyre walked Delgado to open the bottom of the 7th but then got Wright on a pop and lucked out when Murphy drove a ball to deep left center for the second out.
The Mets pinch-hit Tatis for Jeremy Reed to get that right-handed bat in the lineup. The Phils matched up by bringing in their righthander Durbin. Tatis gave a mighty swing that sent his broken bat all the way to shortstop but left the ball dribbling down the third base line.
The play had trouble written all over it and trouble was just what the Phillies got. Third baseman Pedro Feliz charged the ball and unleashed a wild throw to first that got past the first baseman and all the way to the wall in short right field.
Delgado meanwhile had advanced to second and chugged on down to third upon seeing the overthrow. For whatever reason, either because Tatis was on his way to second or because he didn’t ever expect chuggin’ Delgado to advance, or maybe he even saw Razor Shines, the third base coach throw up the stop sign, Werth hesitated for a second or two.
It was all Carlos needed. Ignoring the stop sign, here came big Carlos. When he finally did release the ball, Werth threw a strike to the plate but he had waited too long. Delgado hit the dirt and was sliding through the catcher’s feet when he got tagged. The Mets had their one.
Why did Carlos go? Because he knew, Chan Ho knew, the Mets bench knew, the fans in the stadium knew and everybody at home watching knew that one run was all that was going to be needed on this day.
Oh sure, there was some concern on my part when Manuel brought in Ryan Church to bat for Santana shortly thereafter. Especially after Church struck out swinging on a ridiculous outside pitch and who should I see warming up but Pedro Felicicano!
But Pedro would prevail on this day. He must have known Delgado would pummel him if he didn’t. And, after Victorino threw another scare into everybody, Feliciano managed to strike out hulking Ryan Howard.
That’s when I really knew it was over. If Feliciano wouldn’t allow himself to lose it, there was no way that K-Rod would. Today it would be one and done.
And of course it was, despite the two long, long fly balls hit by Ibanez and Stairs in the top of the ninth. Beltran squeezed the last out and it was over. The one run would carry the day.
And speaking of “one and done”, I just learned that Manny Ramirez, probably my second favorite player in MLB (second to Beltran), failed a drug test and will be suspended for fifty games, costing himself 7.7 million dollars. It looks as if Major League Baseball is serious.
One and done.
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Answer - Playing Smart Baseball
Let ‘em play. It’s May 4th, for Pete’s sake. All the brilliant sports-riders know best, of course. The Mets have no heart. The Mets have no edge. The Mets have no pitching. Oliver Perez is a bum. Gimme a break already.
Let’s go through the field and evaluate what we have:
1B – Carlos Delgado – we may not have him for the year as he’s nicked up right now, but who’d you rather have than Carlos #1 (or Carlos #2 depending upon your point of view). Carlos is a hitter’s hitter, who records every at-bat in a log. How scientific is that? What players do that? Is this a guy who needs an edge?
Tatis has been his backup. He’s only recently started to hit the way he can hit. I look forward to seeing the old Fernando again, either in left or right fields, or first base. Dan Murphy can also spell Delgado in a pinch. From what I’ve seen ths far, he may be a better risk at first than in the outfield.
2B – Castillo and Cora – Castillo has been pretty good so far and Cora, in his limited playing time, has really shown me some flash in the field. There are a lot of second basemen who hit better but I’ll take fielding consistency at this position and we’ve got that, at the very least.
3B – David Wright – once again, who’d you rather see there? He’s shown some great fielding lately and, while he hasn’t hit in the clutch yet, you can say that about a lot of players, including Texas Rangers star shortstop/third baseman Michael Young. He’ll get better in the clutch, and I’ve seen improvement since he’s been moved out of the three spot, which he couldn’t and shouldn’t be forced to handle, not when Carlos Beltran is on the team.
SS – Jose Reyes – once again, who’d you rather have? Jimmy Rollins? No thanks. Hanley Ramirez? Not me. I want to see Jose vacuuming up everything in the hole or to either side and running like crazy. He does need to recognize the game situation though, and he looks as if he’s trying.
C – Ah, now here’s a sore spot. Three catchers means you really have no catchers. Schneider just isn’t really good in any area. I haven’t seen anything from him, which is why we see so much of Castro, who’s always got a reason for not playing, it seems. Now we’re getting to see Omir Santos, and I’ll take him over the other two any day of the week. So there’s hope at catcher. If he can keep it up, Santos is the answer.
CF – still once again, who’d you rather see in center than Carlos Beltran? Great fielder, great hitter, good speed, and only occasionally seems to be sleep-walking. Time off may be the answer to that quirk, but not too much please, just enough to give him that “edge”.
LF – okay, here’s a bit of a problem, but it’s getting better. Murphy shows some signs of calming down in the field and hits the cover off the ball. Sheffield spells him and he’s a great hitter, but you can downgrade him to just good lately. All in all, they’re an entertaining duo. You’ll get excitement from both of them, but sometimes good and sometimes bad.
RF – Ryan Church just doesn’t do it for me. He doesn’t hit in the clutch, he only occasionally seems to hit at all but he fields the position really well. He doesn’t seem to come through, at least not this year, and I’d love to see anybody else in the lineup rather than him. One reason Beltran had no steals until recently is that he was followed in the lineup by a totally oblivious Church. No edge here at all.
SP – Okay, now here’s a problem being addressed. Santana and a bunch of non-producers has been the story but there are some encouraging signs lately from both Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Livan Hernandez. The only recent dud is crazy Ollie, which might turn out to be a mistake of Pavanian proportions. Stay tuned.
RP – Putz and K-Rod have been lights out, for the most part, but then there’s Sean Green, who really hasn’t been getting it done lately. Maybe the answer for him is less usage, not more. But these young guys filling out the pen show a lot of promise, moreso than, say, the Yankees have in their pen.
Mgr – Jerry Manuel’s my type of manager. Smart with a good personality for handling all the different types you find on a baseball field. Once again, who’s better? Sciosia? Valentine? Girardi? Come on. You won’t get Francona, one of the only managers who might be better, but he’s a Manuel-type anyway.
So there’s very little reason to complain, given the makeup of the team. It’s a very tricky business. If Omar did make any mistakes, it was signing Perez and making the trade for Church and Schneider for LoDuca. Of all the myriad moves he’s made over the years, that’s not really much to whine about.
The players have to just start playing as smart as the manager. Reyes can’t over-run bases and get thrown out, Beltran can’t take a play off by not sliding, Wright has to take a different approach with two strikes or with men on base. And Manuel has to keep his prodigious baseball savvy in check . Sometimes the answer is the obvious one, not one that only a genius could even conceive.
But it’s all fixable. The most serious problem nobody talks about is the problem with Delgado. Even without him, however, the Mets should be okay, with enough pitching and defense to win a lot of games.
But they have to play (and manage) smart baseball. We haven’t seen much of that. They seem to have reverted to the form they had in Willie Randolph’s last days, which is to say they’re doing just enough to lose.
Let’s go through the field and evaluate what we have:
1B – Carlos Delgado – we may not have him for the year as he’s nicked up right now, but who’d you rather have than Carlos #1 (or Carlos #2 depending upon your point of view). Carlos is a hitter’s hitter, who records every at-bat in a log. How scientific is that? What players do that? Is this a guy who needs an edge?
Tatis has been his backup. He’s only recently started to hit the way he can hit. I look forward to seeing the old Fernando again, either in left or right fields, or first base. Dan Murphy can also spell Delgado in a pinch. From what I’ve seen ths far, he may be a better risk at first than in the outfield.
2B – Castillo and Cora – Castillo has been pretty good so far and Cora, in his limited playing time, has really shown me some flash in the field. There are a lot of second basemen who hit better but I’ll take fielding consistency at this position and we’ve got that, at the very least.
3B – David Wright – once again, who’d you rather see there? He’s shown some great fielding lately and, while he hasn’t hit in the clutch yet, you can say that about a lot of players, including Texas Rangers star shortstop/third baseman Michael Young. He’ll get better in the clutch, and I’ve seen improvement since he’s been moved out of the three spot, which he couldn’t and shouldn’t be forced to handle, not when Carlos Beltran is on the team.
SS – Jose Reyes – once again, who’d you rather have? Jimmy Rollins? No thanks. Hanley Ramirez? Not me. I want to see Jose vacuuming up everything in the hole or to either side and running like crazy. He does need to recognize the game situation though, and he looks as if he’s trying.
C – Ah, now here’s a sore spot. Three catchers means you really have no catchers. Schneider just isn’t really good in any area. I haven’t seen anything from him, which is why we see so much of Castro, who’s always got a reason for not playing, it seems. Now we’re getting to see Omir Santos, and I’ll take him over the other two any day of the week. So there’s hope at catcher. If he can keep it up, Santos is the answer.
CF – still once again, who’d you rather see in center than Carlos Beltran? Great fielder, great hitter, good speed, and only occasionally seems to be sleep-walking. Time off may be the answer to that quirk, but not too much please, just enough to give him that “edge”.
LF – okay, here’s a bit of a problem, but it’s getting better. Murphy shows some signs of calming down in the field and hits the cover off the ball. Sheffield spells him and he’s a great hitter, but you can downgrade him to just good lately. All in all, they’re an entertaining duo. You’ll get excitement from both of them, but sometimes good and sometimes bad.
RF – Ryan Church just doesn’t do it for me. He doesn’t hit in the clutch, he only occasionally seems to hit at all but he fields the position really well. He doesn’t seem to come through, at least not this year, and I’d love to see anybody else in the lineup rather than him. One reason Beltran had no steals until recently is that he was followed in the lineup by a totally oblivious Church. No edge here at all.
SP – Okay, now here’s a problem being addressed. Santana and a bunch of non-producers has been the story but there are some encouraging signs lately from both Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Livan Hernandez. The only recent dud is crazy Ollie, which might turn out to be a mistake of Pavanian proportions. Stay tuned.
RP – Putz and K-Rod have been lights out, for the most part, but then there’s Sean Green, who really hasn’t been getting it done lately. Maybe the answer for him is less usage, not more. But these young guys filling out the pen show a lot of promise, moreso than, say, the Yankees have in their pen.
Mgr – Jerry Manuel’s my type of manager. Smart with a good personality for handling all the different types you find on a baseball field. Once again, who’s better? Sciosia? Valentine? Girardi? Come on. You won’t get Francona, one of the only managers who might be better, but he’s a Manuel-type anyway.
So there’s very little reason to complain, given the makeup of the team. It’s a very tricky business. If Omar did make any mistakes, it was signing Perez and making the trade for Church and Schneider for LoDuca. Of all the myriad moves he’s made over the years, that’s not really much to whine about.
The players have to just start playing as smart as the manager. Reyes can’t over-run bases and get thrown out, Beltran can’t take a play off by not sliding, Wright has to take a different approach with two strikes or with men on base. And Manuel has to keep his prodigious baseball savvy in check . Sometimes the answer is the obvious one, not one that only a genius could even conceive.
But it’s all fixable. The most serious problem nobody talks about is the problem with Delgado. Even without him, however, the Mets should be okay, with enough pitching and defense to win a lot of games.
But they have to play (and manage) smart baseball. We haven’t seen much of that. They seem to have reverted to the form they had in Willie Randolph’s last days, which is to say they’re doing just enough to lose.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
