Mets Game 80: Loss to Phillies
Phillies 4 Mets 1
So much for taking over first place this weekend.
Fernando Nieve was decent, if unspectacular, allowing 3 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. But, he allowed six hits and walked another six, so every inning was a struggle. About what you might expect from a fill-in fifth starter facing the Phillies.
Meanwhile, the Mets offense was nonexistent. Jamie Moyer and four Phillies relievers held the lineup to six hits, one walk, and one run. Not even Brad Lidge could blow the game; he threw a perfect ninth to earn his 15th save.
Notes
The ghost of Marv Throneberry rode again in this game. We witnessed dropped popups, missed cutoff men, overthrows, improper backup alignment, and myriad other mistakes.
What’s important to note, however, is that few if any of these mistakes would have been avoided if the “cavalry” was on the field. We’ve been discussing the fundamental flaws of this team for two years now. The only difference is that with Beltran, Reyes, Delgado, etc., there is a better chance of the Mets erasing their snafus with scoring.
Alex Cora had three of the Mets’ six hits.
Fernando Nieve drove in the only Mets run with a bloop single.
Jimmy Rollins is in the midst of the worst year of his career, hitting only .216. But, he’s hitting more than 40 points higher than that vs. the Mets, and has more RBI (7) against them than any other opponent.
Next Mets Game
The phinale with the Phillies begins at 1:35 PM on Sunday afternoon. Johan Santana pitches against Joe Blanton.
Meantime, news has surfaced that Oliver Perez will be back with the Mets and starting on Wednesday against the Dodgers. Now, there’s no doubt he could provide an enormous boost to this team if he comes back the way we hope he does. But I seriously question whether it’s the right time for Ollie to make his return. After all, the Dodgers, with Manny back in the fold, aren’t exactly the soft landing you want a pitcher facing for the first time after an injury. Also, despite claiming to be healthy, Ollie hasn’t exactly been tearing up the minor leagues. His last start for Buffalo lasted just 5 innings in which he continued to struggle with his control (46 balls, 46 strikes w/ 4 BBs). I think what would have been the better plan of action would be to recall Jon Niese, who’s been outstanding recently for Buffalo and is more than ready for the leap to the majors, for next Saturday’s start against the Reds, skipping Tim Redding’s spot in the rotation (which can be done due to the off day on Monday). Put Redding in the bullpen until then, and see how he fairs. If he continues to struggle, his value on the team is worthless as he can’t be trusted as a starter or a reliever. So you DFA his ass to make room for Niese if he struggles; and if he doesn’t struggle then he inherits the longman role, allowing Misch to be Feliciano’s compliment lefty in the pen, and giving Elmer Dessens his bus ticket back to Buffalo (although, I’ll admit, Dessens has been a surprisingly worthy bullpen arm since his callup). Meanwhile, as it looks like Fernando Nieve’s cinderella story may be coming to an abrupt end, whenever Perez puts together a pair of encouraging starts at AAA would be when I give him his next shot in the bigs at Nieve’s expense. But this Wednesday against the Dodgers would not be the next time I have Perez toeing the rubber for the Mets. That just seems like it’s got disaster written all over it.
More talk from Jerry Manuel today about treading water. Let’s just hope they don’t drown by the all star break.
– I am seing 1993 all over again…welcome back jefff torborg
-reed: personally i think reed is best traded. he is a nice 5th ofer but his bat is not adding value on this club…which is alot like his old mariners team of 2006-2007.
-it is time to see cory sullivan who was a bigger bat for the rocks just a yr and a half ago.
-in addition to reed, i think tatis, redding, church, delgado or possibly ollie could be considered in trades in just 2-3 weeks from now.
how this team is even hanging around .500 i have no idea. as much as we all love the IDEA of certain players, maybe it’s time to blow this thing up and start over.
Cory Sullivan and Jeremy Reed are essentially the same exact player. The only difference being that Sullivan had the chance to play in a hitter’s park. Even Jay Payton hit like an All-Star in Coors Field.
We’ve seen that Reed can play the outfield as well as anyone, can run the bases with speed and intelligence, and has a line drive swing. He’s not a great hitter, but he’s no worse than the immovable, untouchable Dan Murphy.
And in any case this team doesn’t need offense — it needs more people like Reed, who plays hard, can play the entire ballgame and exhibits strong fundamentals. It’s amazing how many games can be won when you don’t give the other team 4-5 outs an inning, and when you can get bunts down, and when you don’t walk the opposing pitcher, etc., etc.
Reed is hardly the problem with this team. The entire team — and its “leadership” — is the problem.