Mets Game 82: Loss to Cardinals
Cardinals 7 Mets 1
Win one, lose one. Win one, lose one. This, my friends, is the pattern of a .500 team.
After splitting a four-game series with the Yankees, the Mets dropped the opener of another four-game set to the Cardinals in St. Louis.
John Maine was just awful, allowing five runs — three earned — on 7 hits and 3 walks in only 4 innings. Yes, two of those runs were unearned, but he pitched only four frames! One day after seeing Oliver Perez make a transformation for the better, the generally reliable John Maine seemed to make one for the worse.
The bullpen wasn’t much better. Carlos Muniz had another ineffective outing, giving up a two-run homer to Chris Duncan in his two innings of work. Scott Schoeneweis allowed three baserunners in his one frame, yet somehow managed to escape unscathed. Aaron Heilman was the final reliever for the Mets, and he also struggled through a scoreless inning. So much for the young starters pitching deeper into games and the relievers having specific roles, eh? Maybe Willie Randolph was smart to keep his mouth shut about such brilliant ideas.
Meantime, the offense was paralyzed by Kyle “Koufax” Lohse, who allowed just one unearned run in 7 innings. Ron Villone — a guy who I once took deep in high school (and therefore tells you more about his age than his ability) — pitched a scoreless eighth and Mark Mulder tossed a scoreless ninth in the first relief appearance of his career. It was also the first time Mulder appeared in a MLB game since Bill Clinton was President. OK, maybe not that long.
The only run scored by the Mets came in the fifth, when Andy Phillips rapped a single pinch-hitting for Maine, raced to third on a single by Luis Castillo, and scored when Rick Ankiel thought he was on the mound again and air-mailed an unnecessary throw over the third baseman’s head.
Notes
This was the fourth time this season that John Maine went only four innings. And we thought Oliver Perez was the guy we needed to worry about. Here’s an interesting fact: while Perez has pitched less than two innings twice this year, he otherwise has always pitched more than four.
Andy Phillips was DFA’d after the game to make room for Tony Armas, Jr., who will start tomorrow’s game vs. Todd Wellemeyer. Glad the Mets came to their senses about Phillips, who was redundant with Fernando Tatis around. Also about time they came to their senses about Armas, who had a 2.50 ERA in the PCL — a notorious hitter’s league.
Endy Chavez had another two hits, the only Met with more than one. Ryan Church, Carlos Beltran, and Castillo all went 1-for-3. That was the extent of the excitement.
Mets Game 81: Win Over Yankees
Mets 3 Yankees 1
If only we could get Dr. Perez show up more often than Mr. Hyde.
Oliver Perez was masterful, tossing seven innings of three-hit ball, walking none, striking out 8, and allowing just one run. He couldn’t have been any better, and was the pitcher we saw only one other time in his last seven starts. Ollie got into a rhythm early and totally dominated the vaunted Bronx Bombers lineup.
And it was a good thing, too, because the Mets offense was unable to plate runs despite piling people on the basepaths. The Mets collected 12 hits and 3 walks, but scored only three runs. One came on a bases-loaded infield hit by Luis Castillo, another on a solo homer by Carlos Delgado, and the last on a sacrifice fly by David Wright. It wasn’t like the Yankees had great pitching, either. Darrel Rasner struggled through most of his five innings of work, and reliever David Robertson was far from impressive in his two frames.
Notes
The Mets finish the first half of their season 40-41. Interestingly, although they are one game under .500, and the first-place Phillies are five games over .500, the two teams are closer than their records would indicate — because the Mets have only two more losses than the Phillies’ 39.
Who the heck was this particular Perez today? He was pitching like a man possessed, a fearless, nasty S-O-B going right after Alex Rodriguez with 96 MPH heat on the hands. It wasn’t just the velocity, but the ferocity on his face and the confidence that was oozing from every inch of his body. I would love to see more of this psychopath against teams other than the Yankees. Can we safely surmise that Ollie is a guy who gets “up” for certain teams / special games? If he could drop everything from his mind and focus on being a madman against everyone, he’d be a 20-game winner, easy. In fact I would take a focused and intimidating Perez over Johan Santana most days of the week. He was downright scary.
Endy Chavez was 3-for-4 starting in left field. Ryan Church, in his first game back from the DL, picked up where he left off, going 2-for-4. Castillo had three hits and Jose Reyes two.
Billy Wagner made us all toss Tums down our throats en route to his 18th save of the year. Wagner allowed a leadoff single to Derek Jeter, move him to second on a wild pitch, then gave up an A-bomb to A-Rod which luckily fell just short of the left field fence and safely into the glove of Chavez. However, Wagns then settled down to retire Jorge Posada on a popup and struck out Wilson Betemit to end the game.
Mets Game 80: Loss to Yankees
Yankees 3 Mets 2
For the third straight time, Johan Santana has lost with Jerry Manuel as his manager.
It’s probably just a coincidence, but Santana has yet to win under the new leadership. The latest was a bit of a heartbreaker, as Johan didn’t pitch all that bad. Not great, not a Cy Young performance, but not that bad.
Unfortunately, Andy Pettitte was better.
The Mets could muster only five hits and two earned runs in Pettitte’s six innings, and had only one baserunner after he exited. Two solo homers — one by Ramon Castro, the other by David Wright — was the sum total of their offensive production.
Santana went six innings, walked an unusual 4 batters, allowed 4 hits, and struck out 8. But, he gave up three earned runs and that was the difference in the ballgame.
Notes
Wright and Damion Easley were the only Mets to draw walks in the game; Easley had two.
Andy Phillips started in left field. I’m not sure what else to say about that, except, you know your team is in deep doo-doo when Andy Phillips is your starting left fielder. I’m still trying to figure out that pickup, and drawing blanks. It’s on par with the “well we couldn’t sign Carlos Delgado so let’s trade for Doug Mientkiewicz to play first base.
Next Game
If the Mets lose on Sunday, it would be akin to a sweep since all three games were at Shea Stadium. Oliver Perez (or Mr. Hyde) goes against Darrell Rasner in a 1:10 pm start.
Mets Game 79: Loss to Yankees
Yankees 9 Mets 0
Talk about a day of opposites.
Hours after the Mets embarrassed the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, the Yanks spanked the Mets in Shea. Even steven.
Strangely enough, each team scored 15 runs by the end of the day. Go figure.
Pedro Martinez was awful, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks in 5 2/3 innings. Scott Schoeneweis didn’t do much to help the situation, giving up another three in his two-third of an inning. However, it didn’t matter, because whatever the Mets hitters were doing in the first game, they didn’t do it in the nightcap, managing only 6 hits — though they did draw 6 walks.
Notes
David Wright remained hot, going 2-for-4. Carlos Delgado did not, going 0-for-2, but he did walk twice. Jose Reyes was the only other Met with two hits, and Carlos Beltran hit a double.
Mets Game 78: Win Over Yankees
Mets 15 Yankees 6
Wow. Where to start?
Carlos “MetsToday Can Kiss My Butt” Delgado virtually doubled his run production for the month of June in one day, driving in a club-record 9 runs on three hits, including a double, a three-run homer, and a grand slam. That was more than the Mets would need, but David Wright and Carlos Beltran combined for another 6 RBI. Beltran scored four runs and Luis Castillo crossed the plate five times.
The lengthy lead was helpful to Mike Pelfrey, who struggled in nearly all of his five innings, allowing 8 hits, 4 walks, 4 earned runs and striking out 5. Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman, and Carlos Muniz finished up the last four innings.
Notes
Wright was 4-for-5, all singles. Beltran also hit a homerun, his 12th of the year.
Heilman was the only pitcher on either team who did not give up a run; he worked one inning.
Curious Moves
Yesterday I caught wind of changes blowing in Shea, and wrote about it on MetsBlog. Already some of the moves have occurred, but I have to say I’m scratching my head.
For example, the DFA of Claudio Vargas. Yes, we found out why the Brewers let him go — he’s an eternal enigma, a guy with good stuff who may never get it together. However, he’s not on the Oliver Perez level, and in fact outpitched Ollie. Before sending him packing, you’d think Perez would get moved to the long man role and Vargas given a shot to start in his spot. In the four games he started, Vargas pitched into the seventh twice, once into the sixth, and the other only five. He wasn’t great, but he put up fairly solid numbers for a #5 guy.
Instead of flipping Vargas and Perez, Vargas has been DFA’d and Carlos Muniz has been recalled. I do like the move in that I’m assuming Muniz will be given the opportunity to take over the old Aaron Heilman role of 7th inning fireman. I’d like it even more if Heilman were moved into the long man role, with an eye toward pushing him back into the rotation eventually — even if eventually means 2009. It’s clear that Heilman is a much better pitcher when he starts “clean” innings (in other words, no inherited runners).
The second strange move was the acquisition of Andy Phillips, once the fourth-string first baseman for the Yankees (back when the Mets kept 5-6 second basemen on their roster, the Yankees did likewise with first sackers). Phillips doesn’t hit much for average, doesn’t have much power, isn’t too swift on the bases, and, ironically, hits righties better than lefties. What he has going for him is a good glove and versatility — he can play 1B, 3B, and 2B in a pinch. In other words, he’s a lighter-hitting version of Fernando Tatis.
The Phillips move wouldn’t bother me so much except I get the very bad feeling that his presence means the jettison of Trot Nixon — as Ryan Church will be returning this weekend and the Mets don’t need all these lefthanded-hitting outfielders. Now I realize Nixon hasn’t set the world on fire offensively, but he’s only had 27 at-bats and has been an absolute “charlie hustle” all over the field. If you’re going to bring in someone with some swat, OK, I don’t have a problem releasing Nixon. But Andy Phillips? Please. I’ll take Trot’s hardnosed play and all-out hustle over Phillips’s “good glove” any day of the week. The Mets have needed a guy like Nixon to show them how to win for some time, and I think it’s too early to cut bait with him. Let his hustle rub off on some guys first.
But, the writing is on the wall, if the start of Marlon Anderson last night is any indication. I love Marlon and HIS hustle, but his overly aggressive approach at the plate (3 walks in 86 ABs) is disconcerting — particularly for a guy at the Mendoza Line. Nixon has almost twice as many walks in only 25 at-bats. It’s these little things that can make a big difference. And no I’m not campaigning to cut Marlon instead … rather, I’d like to see both Anderson and Nixon stay on the roster for another week or so. The lefty-righty thing means nothing to me — especially when you’re bringing in Phillips, who as a righty is no better against lefties than any LH hitter. You want to cut a lefthanded hitter? Consider the cement-footed guy lumbering around first base. Institute a platoon of Marlon Anderson and Fernando Tatis at first and give Nixon a shot at left field.
Perhaps more confounding is the Mets’ continuing to ignore Val Pascucci, who has a 1.000 OPS in AAA, and Tony Armas, whose 2.50 ERA is a miracle in the PCL. Pascucci might have holes in his swing, and an iron glove, but he might also give the Mets a mild boost. We won’t know until he’s given a fair shot. Again, Andy Phillips instead of this guy? I don’t get it.
More moves had better be on the way. Andy Phillips ain’t exactly what I’d been looking for when I asked Omar Minaya to be “creative”. Get me Nelson Cruz, who is hitting .357 with 23 homers in 250 at-bats, a .437 OBP, and .714 SLG in AAA. Offer the Rangers Claudio Vargas, who can step right in to their starting rotation. Then I’ll feel like the Mets are trying to do something, rather than just spinning their wheels.
Mets Game 77: Win Over Mariners
Mets 8 Mariners 2
I’ll take another serving of that, thank you …
The Mets broke out for eight runs on only five hits — which to some might seem unusual. To me, and likely to you, the intelligent Mets fan, it makes perfect sense. For once, the Mets were patient, forcing a mediocre pitcher to put the ball over the plate. Novelist Miguel Batista could not do that consistently, walking five batters in 2 2/3 innings. It all began with Jose Reyes, who finally did his job as a leadoff hitter and worked the count in the first at-bat of the game. That six-pitch sequence, which culminated in Reyes strolling down to first base, set the tone for the game. Every batter afterward followed his cue and sat back, waiting for Batista to prove he could toss at least two strikes in a single at-bat.
That formula worked perfectly for David Wright, who hit a first-inning solo homer to put the Mets ahead 2-0, then slammed a two-run shot in the second to make it 4-0. After that second dinger, we wondered if he might hit nine before the night was over.
The offense continued to pile on the runs in the third frame, taking advantage of more free passes and defensive miscues to double the lead to 8-0. From there on it was up to John Maine to hold it up, and he breezed through six innings of five-hit ball, allowing two earned runs on the way to his eighth win of the season.
Notes
In addition to Wright’s two homers and three RBI, Reyes popped a three-run homer of his own. The other two runs were driven in by Luis Castillo and Marlon Anderson.
Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez pitched the last three scoreless frames, allowing only one hit and two walks.
I attended the game at Shea as a guest of SNY — watched from their suite, in fact. Pretty cool, I have to say. Many thanks to Joe Pospisil for hosting me.
Here are some photos from my evening:
Next Game
The Mets have a day off and then host the crosstown Yankees for a four-game set, beginning with a day/night doubleheader. It should be an interesting litmus test for the born-again Mets. Pedro Martinez goes against Dan Giese in the opener at 2:05 pm, and Mike Pelfrey is scheduled to go against Darrel Rasner in the nightcap. Unfortunately I’m heading up to Cape Cod to hang out with the Hit Man, so the postgame recaps may come later than usual.
A True Fighter to Consider
We’ve been talking all year about how the Mets need to show more emotion, more spirit, more “fight”.
Well I believe I’ve found exactly that type of guy: Shawn Chacon.
According to ESPN:
Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team Wednesday for insubordination after reportedly grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground.
“I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, ‘You need to come with me to the office,’” Chacon said. “I said ‘for what?’ I said ‘I don’t want to go to the office with you and Cooper.’ And I said, ‘You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, you want me to tell you right here?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ I’m not yelling. I’m calm.”
Chacon said things went downhill from there.
“He started yelling and cussing,” Chacon said of Wade, according to a story on the Chronicle’s Web site. “I’m sitting there and I said to him very calmly, ‘Ed, you need to stop yelling at me.’ Then I stood up and said, ‘You better stop yelling at me.’ I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling.”
Chacon said that after Wade told him he needed to “look in the mirror,” it got worse.
“So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him,” he said. “Words were exchanged.”
Not since Lenny Randle punched Frank Lucchesi square in the face have the Mets had an opportunity to bring in an all-out, slugging bruiser. And hey, Chacon can fit right into the role left behind by Claudio Vargas.
Big Changes On the Way
So the buzz is that the times they are a changin’ at Shea. The hiring of Jerry Manuel was only one of many “adjustments” to be made by the Mets in the coming weeks. In fact there are closed-door meetings (will they stay closed, Mr. Bernazard?) happening right now, the results of which will supposedly mean major personnel moves.
What a revelation … too bad these discussions weren’t occurring over the winter, when the Mets’ biggest holes could have been more easily addressed. But what do I know? I’m just another blowhard blogger. I didn’t have access to the “inside information” that led the Mets’ front office to believe that
1) Moises Alou and El Duque would not go MIA;
2) Pedro Martinez would return as a #2 starter;
3) Ollie Perez would build off 2007 in a positive way;
4) Carlos Delgado’s slow bat speed was an illusion;
5) Luis Castillo is not the same man we knew in Florida;
6) Brian Schneider’s glove would overcome his offensive limitations;
7) Duaner Sanchez would return to 2006 form … and if he didn’t, Aaron Heilman was the next-best option.
At the same time, I’m willing to eat crow when I’m proved wrong. And it appears that my insistence that Mike Pelfrey needed to change speeds to succeed was off-base. I’ll also admit that I too was counting on Heilman to be a solid setup man. And, I was suckered into thinking Schneider would be a defensive stalwart — though with the lineup still counting on Delgado to be a force, it did worry me to have Brian’s bat in there every day.
But I digress … the topic here are the big changes upcoming. What can the Mets do, really, to change their current course? They have a roster full of immovable players and bad contracts. There is no one — at all — in the farm system that another team would deem “MLB ready”. We as Mets fans can get excited as we want about Jonathan Niese, Mike Carp, and Nick Evans, but the fact is, none of these players are considered “can’t miss” prospects by other organizations. And I shudder to think how much worse a mess the Mets’ farm would be if any of these three were dealt away.
That said, I wouldn’t count on seeing the likes of Erik Bedard, CC Sabathia, Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Ben Sheets, or Roy Oswalt coming to Flushing. In fact, it would be a stretch to believe the Mets have enough to pry away Raul Ibanez, Ryan Freel, or any of the other “second tier” players who may be on the market. Because realistically, who do the Mets have available to trade to a team that is selling? Aaron Heilman? Not getting much back for him at this point — better off holding on and hoping he can get it together.
It’s tough to deal when no one wants your expendable players, and your performing players are too valuable to trade away. Omar Minaya will have to be remarkably creative to bring in new faces that can make a difference. I suggested a Schneider for Ivan Rodriguez as one that could make sense for Detroit. Maybe there’s a desperate team out there nearsighted enough to believe that Delgado has something left. Minaya no doubt is working the phones for scouting reports on DFAs such as Denny Bautista, who resembles Jorge Julio in stuff — high 90s heat, can’t find the plate. Maybe there’s another “under the radar” player who can be acquired for next to nothing and provide a spark. I’m thinking a “AAA” player — similar to when the A’s unearthed Jack Cust. Maybe the Mets’ Cust is Val Pascucci, who is currently stashed in New Orleans. Maybe it’s former Athletic Dan Johnson, or one of those Texas Rangers sluggers we’ve talked about before (Jason Botts, Nelson Cruz). As long as it’s not Gerald Williams, it’s worth a shot.
Looking down on the farm, there isn’t much to choose from. Other than Pascucci, there isn’t a position player worth promoting (Chris Aguila certainly didn’t look as great as hoped). The Zephyrs do however, still have Tony Armas Jr., who has a 2.50 ERA over 16 starts and 100 innings in a hitter’s league. If this isn’t the right time to give Armas a shot — in Ollie’s next turn — then there will never be a right time. Nelson Figueroa has also pitched well since his demotion, and deserves a recall to fill the long man role left behind by the DFA’d Claudio Vargas.
In AA, there are some bright spots, but no one in particular who looks to be ready to make a splash. Mike Carp could have been such a guy early, when he was hitting near .370, but his bat has cooled in recent weeks. Still, can he or Nick Evans be any worse than Delgado right now? Jonathan Niese is pitching fairly well, though I’m not sure I’d bring him up over Armas or Figgy right now. And forget about Fernando Martinez — he’s just come off the DL and is nowhere near ready to play ball at the MLB level. He’d be an overmatched strikeout machine right now.
But, I could see an Evans, Pascucci, or Carp getting a shot. Unfortunately, there doesn’t look to be anyone similar to the Robinson Cano / Chien-Ming Wang spark the Yankees received back in 2005 — but back then, no one was expecting those two to have such an immediate and forceful impact, either. We won’t know for sure until these kids get a chance.
Over the past few weeks, we Mets fans have had to radically adjust our expectations. The postseason is no longer a given, and due to the math, we have to root more for other teams’ failures than our team’s success. The current cast of characters is a tired old bunch that no manager can inspire into a championship. So we have two glimmers of hope: 1. that the Phillies keep losing; and 2. that the Mets can follow through with their promise of changing the face of the ballclub.
Hopefully, these changes come quick, because the clock on this season is ticking.
Drinking the Kool-Aid
Two nights ago, the SNY broadcast team (again) went on and on and on about Jerry Manuel, and how he’s already made drastic changes with this ballclub. For example, when Carlos Beltran stole third down by five and then charged home on a wild pitch, Keith Hernandez lauded the moves, and pointed out that Manuel said his team would be much more aggressive. Huh. Had Beltran done that two weeks ago I’d bet my house that Keith would criticize the move.
And by the way, the Mets were already pretty darn aggressive on the bases. They led all of MLB in stolen bases last year, with 200 — a good 56 more than the second-place club. And the Mets were either first or second in MLB for most of this year, prior to Randolph’s dismissal.
The Beltran conversation segued to a conversation that Manuel had with Beltran, in which he asked him to be more aggressive on the basepaths and steal more bases, and “forget about his basestealing percentage”. WOW!!! What a fantastic idea!!! What a revelation! Why didn’t Willie think of that, and ask Beltran to do just that?
Oh, that’s right — HE DID! On SEVERAL occasions over the past three years. In fact, the team even brought in a designated basestealing coach, Rickey Henderson, who tried (unsuccessfully) to drill home the same message to the stubborn Beltran. Hmm, is it possible Beltran wasn’t going to listen to anything Willie said because his countryman Tony Bernazard was constantly whispering in his ear, telling him all the terrible things Randolph thought of him?
Later in the game, the SNY camera cuts to Jerry Manuel and Jose Reyes talking. The quip by Keith Hernandez: “communication is always good”. As if to say that Reyes and Randolph never had communication? I’m beginning to buy into Randolph’s SNY paranoia.
In last night’s game, the “love” for Manuel would have continued, had it not been for the 10-nothing drubbing. Keith Hernandez forced it a bit, saying he “liked” Jerry Manuel and Carlos Beltran getting thrown out of the game, because he “… hadn’t seen this in three years.” Whether he was talking about the ejections, or the emotions, it matters not — because Willie Randolph was ejected a few times in his tenure, and emotions erupted as recently as Game 161 last year against the Marlins. On that day, and the day after, the same Keith Hernandez criticized the Mets for showing too much emotion, and “giving the Marlins motivation”. Huh.
Maybe there was an edict sent down by the head honchos, telling SNY to focus on the positive. In any case, the power of positive thinking ain’t working — the Mets are 3-4 since “great baseball mind” Manuel took over.
Interestingly, Ron Darling backtracked in the postgame last night, saying that it would take “30 days” before implemented changes are “noticeable”. Huh. And yet, Darling has been quick to point out — on air — a multitude of changes in the last week. Perhaps things look differently in the booth than they do in the SNY studio?
Ironically, Kool-Aid is artificially flavored. Just like this outpouring of effusive praise for Jerry Manuel.
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