Mets Game 76: Win Over Cubs
Mets 17 Cubs 1
In a big way, Mets unleash their frustration over losing a series to the worst team in baseball.
Mets Game Notes
To support my blogging habit, I work a day job, therefore, I did not see this game. That said, I don’t have any of the usual insights and tidbits. But, I do have a few questions and observations based on the box score.
First, does such a big win make up for losing the series? If nothing else, it does put a dent into the Mets’ evening out their Pythagorean Won-Loss Record. A serious dent, actually. Going into this game, their PWL was 37-38, based on the fact that they had scored 328 runs and allowed 332, or -4. After this game, the discrepancy changed to 345 runs scored and only 333 allowed, or +8 +12 (thanks for the correction, Friend). That’s a huge jump, and it turns their PWL to 39-37 — which is pretty damn close to their actual W-L record of 40-36. Funny how these stats work, eh? Now, looking at the team from this stats perspective, does it make you feel any better than it you felt two weeks ago, when it appeared — at least according to the stats — that the Mets were playing far above their head? Why or why not?
From the boxscore, it appears that Daniel Murphy has finally found his homerun stroke, which is a good sign (maybe I should pick him up again for my fantasy team?) — or, was the homer due to the famous Chicago winds? I’ll find out soon enough thanks to the magic of DVR, but please feel free to comment if you saw the taters.
It also appears that Ike Davis is still red-hot, Scott Hairston is continuing his Barry Bonds impression, David Wright is back in the swing of things, Ruben Tejada is hitting, and Jonathon Niese pitched well. My question to you: how did Niese look, beyond the numbers? Where was his arm angle — or arm angles? Was the curve breaking 12-6? Was it a case of the Cubbies going in the tank and trying to get the game over with?
I think that’s enough to get the conversation started; post your thoughts in the comments.
Next Mets Game
The Mets move on to Los Angeles for a four-game series with the slumping Dodgers. Game time on Thursday night is 10:10 p.m. (shoot me!). The scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Young vs. former Met Chris Capuano.
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers.
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Well, are we going to hear how tired the boys are tomorrow after all that running and a long flight and 10PM EDT start time? Remember the 19-1 win over the Cubbies in 64? One game is one game. Too many think its the season.
Rubin’s already been tweeting about their delayed flight, and how the Mets won’t hit LA until 3am EST.
LOL — no excuses, please — just results.
Nice turn-around today, especially with the Cubbies hitting in the same favorable wind conditions as the Mets.
Good job by Niese….from someone who thinks he’s generally overrated by legions of Met fans. He gave up a good amount of hits, but worked out of the trouble he needed to this afternoon.
Happy for Murph, and hope he turns things around….at the same time, he’s still coming through the zone and letting go of one hand. We’ll see if it does or doesn’t translate in terms of getting some of his confidence back.
Nice job by Ike (why it took so long for someone to convey an opposite field approach to him, anyone’s guess?), D.W. and the rest of the lineup.
I did find it disturbing to see Lucas Duda AGAIN not pick up Teufel going from 1st to 3rd – this time actually scoring on Ike’s hit. Especially after they just finished saying how he said “it’d never happen again.”
It was literally the same exact situation, where he TURNED AROUND TO SEE WHERE THE BALL WAS HIT. Amazing to know a professional athlete doesn’t know the fundamentals of running the bases, in addition to not being a sound fielder.
Ike again ripped one into the corner in RF, Duda got to second, STOPPED, turned around to look behind him, and then started back up, running again.
Bush.
Be happy they avoided the sweep…..let’s see what happens out in Hollywood.
I just saw that play and thought the same thing about Duda’s complete lack of sense on the bases. Wow. People like to say things like, “oh, well, he’s young, he’s still learning the game,” without taking into consideration that he’s played over 600 pro games, and likely double that many as an amateur. I get that MLB is a faster speed, but gee whiz — if he hasn’t figured it out by now, he never will (see: Angel Pagan).
When Duda first came up, I made a small joke of his reminding me of the late Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. After seeing Duda play every day, misjudging fly balls and tripping over himself on the bases, that image has re-entered my mind — and not in a cute, funny way.
LOL – I recall that Peter Boyle comparison. Good stuff.
Talking with other Met fans across various outlets, this kind of thing is either considered whining, or just blown off completely – in favor of stat-related talk……which makes me appreciate that others know exactly what to look for in watching a ball-game — in lieu of not watching the games, and relying upon stats on the back of a card, or simulated on their computer.
Duda has a lot to learn as a ball-player, as do many of these Mets. I keep that in mind when I start to go nuts, and remind myself — they’re just not that good, and are over-achieving.
I am curious to see where this all goes by the 2nd half, though.
It’s a great thing to have 2 DHs in the same game playing adventure D.
Tuesday’s replay actually made me blame Teufel. Duda’s steaming toward 3rd at full speed and Teufel’s just standing there. Just as Duda begins to slow down so he doesn’t fly past the bag, THEN Teufel starts waving him home.
As for Wednesday, Duda looked for the ball in the OF and couldn’t find it. What’s a player supposed to do in that situation? Pass the 2nd base bag at full speed without knowing if the 2nd baseman is holding the ball? I assume that with the play behind you, you look to the coach in front of you. Was Teufel waving Lucas around by the time he got to 2nd? We’ll never know.
Joe, I don’t know if Niese’s arm slot was consistently as high as you like it, but it never got to the point where it’s way too low either. A decent amount of his cutters actually had a tiny downward movement, and the pitch overall seemed to be spot on.
He didn’t throw a ton of curves. He threw some in the dirt that the Cubs laid off.
Overall, I though the Cubs worked good ABs, so I’d credit this one to Niese, not the opposition.
Viva la bamba!
GaryS I have not forgotten about the over under bet on 33 hr we made re:dw.
What I will say is that he has been awesome this year– every bit the 2nd banana I always said he was…! LGM
I guess DW made a better bet to bat .340 plus this year.Btw,He no longer tries to pull inside pitches.With Duda’s low baseball IQ and his bad impersonation of a MLB outfielder, he needs to hit 35 olus bombs and knock in a hundred every year a la Adam Dunn to compensate. He looks more like a 20/80 player which means he might be a good trading chip down the road for right handed power or a catcher.
agree 100%
The only explanation for Murphy’s dingers is the baseball gods rewarding him for losing the ‘stache
Dan,
Yeah, the stache and the wind gusts at Wrigley blowing out to right.
Joe,
Regarding the Diude’s baserunning, you are right, but at least he is faster than Jason Phillips.
“345 runs scored and only 333 allowed, or +8″
REALLY?!? This math problem is too difficult for you to do correctly on your calculator?!? Is your Pythagorean conclusion based on your error, or on the correct result?
(I’m too lazy to learn how to calculate Pythagorean W-L record.)
Thanks, Friend. I don’t own a calculator, not even a slide rule — only an abacus, and I have fat fingers. Yes, it’s too difficult, and it is the reason this blog is focused on things other than numbers.
As you astutely point out, it is not +8 but some other figure. Maybe +12? Again, too difficult for me, this basic math stuff, especially after 3 glasses of wine. So yeah, that PWL is probably off, too … though I *think* I plugged them in correctly, into the online calculator I found somewhere. Check fangraphs or do a google search, I’m sure someone has the correct number.