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August 23, 2012 Mets 2012 Games Joe Janish

Mets Game 125: Lineup vs. Rockies

As mentioned in the last recap, I won’t be able to see this game live. So, please post your notes in the comments, and I’ll be doing a recap later this evening.

In the meantime, here are the lineups:

Mets
Jordany Valdespin CF
Daniel Murphy 2B
David Wright 3B
Ike Davis 1B
Scott Hairston LF
Mike Baxter RF
Ruben Tejada SS
Josh Thole C
Collin McHugh P

Rockies
Charlie Blackmon RF
Jonathan Herrera SS
Jordan Pacheco 1B
Carlos Gonzalez LF
Wilin Rosario C
Tyler Colvin CF
Chris Nelson 3B
DJ LeMahieu 2B
Tyler Chatwood P

The Mets lineup is shaken up, as you can see. I understand that Terry Collins is trying to do something different, but I’m not sure I understand positioning two of the colder hitters (Valdespin, Murphy) at the very top of the order and some of the warmer hitters (Baxter, Tejada) further down.

More significantly, I don’t understand how Collins can “reward” Valdespin with a start in center and the leadoff spot after ‘spin has lately been lackadaisical in the field, making mental errors on the bases, and disrespecting umpires. It’s as if those “little things” mean nothing to Collins — which is astounding, considering all the lip service the manager has been spouting about fundamentals, hustle, etc., etc. No wonder Valdespin has yet to mature — the Mets keep rewarding him for misbehavior.

Maybe I’m just a crusty old-schooler but that has nothing to do with the laws of cause and effect, and nor does it have anything to do with Collins’ hypocrisy.

On the bright side it will be interesting to see Collin McHugh make his MLB debut, if for no other reason than he’s new — and don’t we all love shiny new things?

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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. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Mike B August 23, 2012 at 3:44 pm
    You honestly couldnt make this up. Its unbelievable.
  2. DaveSchneck August 23, 2012 at 6:15 pm
    Joe,
    You are dead on with Collins. He is alll bark and no bite. Spin should be demoted immediately. Duda should be getting his ABs. I don’t know if this is Collins’ or Alderson’s call, but this needs to be done pronto. While thwy are at it, release Ramon Ramirez and b ring back Elvin. He can use Ramon’s jersey to save money. They need a big push this weekend vs. Astros if they intend on avoiding 100 losses.
  3. NormE August 23, 2012 at 7:24 pm
    McHugh looked good. He’s around the plate with his fastball (about 92 mph) and his nice breaking stuff. But, the Rockies line-up is not top quality. The jury is still out.
    Otherwise, it was just another poor outing. I wouldn’t have bothered watching if it wasn’t for my curiosity about McHugh.
  4. Joe August 23, 2012 at 8:17 pm
    I saw a bit of McHugh, more so than others, because SNY aired one of his minor league game and he tweets and blogs (a different kind of “see”).

    Terry has limited options with the lousy OF he has and the fact neither Torres (though somewhat better) or Bay is doing much worthy of “rewarding” though I guess somehow some special lesson would be sent if V. only got a corner outfield position and not get lead-off though that isn’t meant as much to “reward” (apt use of quotes to not actually mean what the word means) as trying to find some (misguided or not) means to get the line-up to f-ing score something.

    You can as you like call him “hypocritical” but that is pretty strong to me and I don’t see V. getting reward after reward which is what you say — “keep” on rewarding.

    Anyway, the Rockies are not exactly hitters row, but McHugh held them scoreless etc. and when some ace on some other team does well even against a lousy team, it generally counts. So, worth another look. The Olympic star also looked pretty giddy out there.

    • Joe Janish August 23, 2012 at 9:43 pm
      By “keep rewarding” I’m referring to the Mets organization, which has promoted Valdespin to each level despite not being mature enough to handle each of the next levels. This has been documented ad nauseam and relayed to me by “people close to the situation.” He’s had multiple run-ins with his managers, arguments with teammates, attitude problems, mental lapses, lack of hustle situations, and issues with controlling his emotions and conducting himself professionally at every step from the moment he was signed, yet the Mets continued to give him a “pass,” over-reward him for short bursts of perceived maturity, and pushed him up the ladder.

      As far as his talent goes, it’s MLB level, but it’s not MLB star-level. He approaches the game as if he were a 10-year All-Star but doesn’t have the skills nor the history of execution to get away with such an attitude.

  5. The King August 23, 2012 at 8:43 pm
    I liked McHugh. He looked like he knew what he was doing out there, which is important. The last four games have been tough to watch because of the sloppy play. A bad team can’t afford to make knucklehead fielding mistakes. Valdy is a mess, not worth the headache.