Mets Game 49: Win Over Marlins
Mets 3 Marlins 2
In what’s getting to be a habit at Citi Field, the two starters locked horns and set down batters in a 1970s-like pitcher’s duel.
John Maine allowed only three hits over six shutout innings, striking out five, outdueling Marlins starter Chris Volstad, who was nearly as impressive though his first six but ran out of gas in the seventh.
The Mets played small ball in scratching out a run against Volstad in the third, then pounded two doubles in the seventh to score two more. All three runs came home on doubles — by Angel Pagan, Fernando Martinez, and Omir Santos.
J.J. Putz made things interesting in the eighth, allowing two runs, but Bobby Parnell came in to save the day.
Francisco Rodriguez struck out three batters in the ninth to notch his 14th save, which ties him with Heath Bell for the MLB lead.
Notes
The Mets collected seven hits on the day, and four of them were doubles.
Only 7 of Putz’s 17 pitches were strikes. If he continues to pitch poorly, we may soon have to refer to the deal with Seattle as “the Jeremy Reed trade”.
Parnell has quickly developed a legitimate slider, which is keeping batters honest and has the effect of a changeup compared to his 97-100-MPH fastball. He threw three in a row to strike out Jorge Cantu with runners on first and third in the eighth.
Angel Pagan left the game after hitting a double and straining his groin. John Maine left the game after getting ill. Carlos Beltran was a late scratch due to a stomach bug. Brian Schneider was an early scratch due to Omir Santos.
The Marlins have five pitchers who are 6′6″ or taller, and three that are 6′4″ – 6′5″. So who plays point guard?
Next Mets Game
The Mets begin a grueling, 4-game series in Pittsburgh against that intimidating juggernaut known as the Pirates. Monday night’s opener begins at 7:05 PM and pits Livan Hernandez against Ian Snell.
Mets Game 48: Loss to Marlins
Marlins 7 Mets 3
This one was over before it started.
Jerry Manuel threw up the white flag during the pre-game lineup exchange at home plate, handing over a card left over from a split-squad Grapefruit League game. Carlos Beltran in the third spot was the only recognizable part of the lineup.
Similar to his last start, Tim Redding struggled in the first inning, allowing two runs. Unlike his last start, Redding didn’t get any better from there. By the time he hit the showers, the Fish touched him for 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 4 frames.
The fatal blow came off the bat of Jeremy Hermida, who hit a 3-run homer in the fourth to put the game away.
Meantime, Marlins starter Josh Johnson continued his dominance of the Mets, going 7 innings and allowing just two runs on five hits.
The B-Mets staged a mini-rally in the ninth off “closer” Matt Lindstrom, but it was too little, too late.
Notes
Not only is Wilson Valdez the best-fielding shortstop since Ozzie Smith retired, but he has a sweet short stroke, as evidenced by his base hit off flamethrower Matt Lindstrom in the ninth inning. His presence could push Jose Reyes to the bench — or AAA — when he comes off the DL.
Fernandog Martinez collected his first MLB hit in the third, a ground ball to the right of second base. He also collected his second later in the game. He and leadoff hitter Angel Pagan went a combined 4-for-8 with a walk, a run scored, and 2 RBI.
Hermida, a career .500 hitter vs. Redding, had three hits and five RBI on the afternoon.
It can’t be fun to be Fredi Gonzalez. Even with a five-run lead in the ninth inning against a Mets club that is playing its second team, AND has the bottom of the lineup coming to the plate, he has to go to his closer to insure a victory — and even then, the closer can’t get three outs!
Next Mets Game
The rubber match takes place at 1:10 PM on Sunday. John Maine pitches (really, he does this time) against Chris Volstad.
Opportunity for Mets – Yankees Tickets
According to MetsBlog, you can go to Mets.com now through June 4th to register for an opportunity to purchase tickets for the “subway series” between the Mets and Yankees at the end of this month.
To be clear, this registration places you into a random drawing for an opportunity to buy tickets. It’s the same process by which one would purchase playoff tickets.
For the record, I am SO GLAD I have no interest whatsoever in attending any of these games. To me, going to a Mets-Yankees game is like going to an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day — too many raucous, belligerent drunks in too small a space, and whoever doesn’t want to punch you in the nose is simultaneously spilling beer and high-fiving you in an attempt be your best “bud”.
But hey if you’re going, have a great time. I hear the corned beef and cabbage is amazing.
Ramon Castro Traded to White Sox
As had been rumored, catcher Ramon Castro has been traded to the Chicago White Sox in return for RHP Lance Broadway.
The deal cements Omir Santos’ place on the 25-man roster as the current backup to the returning Brian Schneider. Manager Jerry Manuel, however, said that although Schneider would get the bulk of the playing time “at first”, he would more or less have to perform to remain the regular backstop.
At first glance, the trade appears to be a good one for all sides. The White Sox get a slugging righthanded-hitting catcher to platoon with A.J. Pierzynski, the Mets make room for Santos while also ridding themselves of a player in need of constant motivation, Castro gets a chance to play for a manager who will push him, the Mets get a young middle reliever to add to their AAA depth, and Broadway goes to an organization that may have more use for him than the one he’s leaving.
The White Sox have good depth in their bullpen, leaving little room and patience for the 25-year-old Broadway, who has struggled in his short stints in MLB over the past three seasons.
However, Broadway was the 15th overall pick in the 2005 draft, and as recently as last January was Chicago’s #2 prospect according to Baseball America. He is a tall Texan who can throw four pitches for strikes, but his velocity rarely gets above 90 MPH. If he can ever find consistent command of those four pitches, he would project as a Greg Maddux type of pitcher. The White Sox gave up on him as a starter, and though he remained one as a minor leaguer, he’s since been projected as an MLB middle reliever. I’m not sure how that will pan out, as it’s tough to pitch in that role as a junkballer. In any case, he’s being sent to Buffalo, and we’ll find out soon what plans the Mets have for him. My guess is they’ll plug him into the rotation at first to get a good look at him / give him innings to show what he can do.
The Mets did send cash back to Chicago, though the amount was undisclosed at press time.
As David Lennon tweeted, Broadway has a good name for New York City.
Mets Game 47: Win Over Marlins
Mets 2 Marlins 1
Omir Santos has officially tied the hands of Mets management.
Santos has been Joe Hardy-like in his first two months as a Met, getting one after another clutch RBI and walk-off hits. In this game, he drove in both runs, creating a situation where Mets management cannot Chip Ambres him back to AAA when Brian Schneider is activated on Saturday.
Santos hit a solo homer in the fifth to tie the game, and drove in Gary Sheffield from third base in the bottom of the 11th to give the Mets the win.
Sheffield led off the inning with a walk, and the 40-year-old stole second, and proceeded to third when the catcher’s throw sailed into the outfield.
Mike Pelfrey was outstanding, pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing only five hits and a walk, striking out 6.
However, Pelf’s effort did not return him a win, as rookie Sean West matched him pitch for pitch. West went seven, allowing four hits and a walk.
Pedro Feliciano, who threw six pitches to get the final out in the top of the eleventh, was awarded the victory.
Notes
Not much to say. It was a fairly crisp, clean, quick game, mainly due to the strong pitching performances. Well, it was quick until it went into extras.
Pelfrey is quickly evolving into a legit #2 starter, meaning, he can slot into most rotations around MLB in that role.
Next Mets Game
Mets and Marlins do it again at 1:10 PM. John Maine faces Josh Johnson.
Castro To Be Traded?
With Brian Schneider on the mend, and possibly re-joining the Mets this weekend, Adam Rubin reports that the Mets are seeking to trade Ramon Castro, keeping Omir Santos as the backup.
Great. Except, what team is looking for an overpaid, overweight, underachieving backstop who can’t stay healthy? And what in the world are the Mets going to get in return, when the other teams know full well that the Mets can’t get rid of Ramon fast enough?
Call me crazy, but the Mets may be forced into demoting Santos, at least for a week or so, to showcase Castro and/or hope that someone’s catcher goes down with an injury. Yeah, I know, Santos is like the next Johnny Bench and all, but when it comes right down to it, is he SO much better than Castro that the Mets should eat Ramon’s contract?
A quick look around MLB tells me that the following teams MIGHT be interested in Castro’s services: Yankees, Rockies, Tigers, Nationals, and Blue Jays.
** UPDATE ***
There is a rumor that the White Sox are talking to the Mets about catching. Certainly, Castro would be a nice platoon partner for AJ Pierzynski, who is currently caddied by the .210-hitting Corky Miller. Getting Wilson Betemit in return would be nice for utility purposes, but I’d be happy if the Mets were able to get at least LOOGY Jimmy Gobble.
Mets Acquire Emil Brown
The This may not be huge news now, but it could become important later in the season, if either a Mets outfielder suffers an injury or is traded (read: Ryan Church).
The 34-year-old Brown will be assigned to AAA Buffalo. He hit .244 with 13 HRs with the Athletics last year. Generally speaking, he’s a free swinger who crushes lefthanded pitching, but overall is a low OBP, high-strikeout hitter with a little bit of pop and average running speed. He hits from the right side and plays good defense in either corner, often flashing a fairly strong throwing arm.
Considering the dearth of talent available in Buffalo, this was a necessary pickup.
Mets – Marlins Quick Preview
The Mets host the fish this weekend for a three-game set, but just as important, the Phillies are facing the Nationals. In cavernous Citi Field, most of the fly balls of Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, and other sluggers in the Washington lineup were simply long outs, thereby castrating Connie Macta’s main offensive weapons (did you know that Washington is tied for second in the NL in homeruns with 53?). Deprived of the long ball, the Nationals’ poor pitching and questionable defense became exposed — it’s hard to win with Moneyball tactics in a big stadium, where athleticism and speed rule.
But in Citizens Bank Park, where routine flies regularly coast over the wall, the Nats have a fighting chance, even against the phightin’ Phils. Washington can make errors and give up runs, but their ability to get on base and wait for three-run homers is the ideal strategy in CBP, and should keep them in the game. In other words, don’t expect the Phils to sweep the Nats — and if they do, they won’t be able to do it as easily as the Mets did.
That’s the good news for the Mets. More good news is that the Mets are facing the Marlins, who have been reeling (or is it reeled in?) since late April. Opening Day starter Read more
Fernandog Revisited
First off, I am absolutely stunned by every spineless apologist out there defending Fernando Martinez for his disgraceful lack of effort on his infamous popup off of Wil Nieves’ chest two nights ago.
Second, I would like to point out that it wasn’t a “one time thing”, nor “a mistake that won’t happen again”. Because it DID HAPPEN AGAIN, and in fact it happened on his very next at-bat, only moments after the Citi Field crowd treated the youngster to a chorus of boos.
If you weren’t at the park, then you didn’t see the young millionaire once again watch his popup — this time to centerfield — and JOG halfway up the first base line, while, ironically, rookie Justin Maxwell was busting his tail trying to catch the blooper. It wasn’t until Martinez noticed that Maxwell might not catch the fly ball that he started to run hard. Again, you did not see that, because the TV camera was focused on Maxwell making a sliding catch.
Which brings up another thing: if you don’t have the opportunity to watch this team in person, then you only see about 10% of the game — the 10% that Emmy Award Winning producer Bill Webb thinks you should be seeing. You therefore miss:
- every time an outfielder misses a cutoff man;
- every time a pitcher fails to back up a base;
- every time a position player fails to back up a base;
- every time a batter watches the ball in flight off his bat, instead of busting it out of the box;
- outfielders not re-positioning themselves from batter to batter
- infielders not re-positioning themselves from pitch to pitch
- cutoff men who are out of position, or not in position at all
- runners who get poor leads
- runners who get poor secondary leads
- runners who do not pay attention to their base coaches
- runners who do not properly read an outfielder’s route to the ball, and don’t take an extra base
- on-deck hitters who do not clear bats and do not tell the incoming runner whether and where to slide
There are other “little” things that you may or may not see on your TV, but if you never played baseball then you may have no idea why I’m making a “big” deal out of these “little” things. And you’re excused for your ignorance, because from the focus of the centerfield camera, you’re led to believe that the most important things are homeruns and strikeouts.
But the truth is, there’s more to baseball than that. Just because the dungeons and dragons nerds sabermetricians haven’t yet created a stat for “missed cutoffs on balls in play”, doesn’t mean such acts can’t affect the outcome of a game. They do. They’re called “fundamentals”, and they often go hand in hand with “winning”. That is, until Bud Selig watered down the competition, allowed steroids and other PEDs to permeate the game, and changed the rules so that more balls would go flying over outfield fences. Even then, a few teams that specialized in executing fundamentals (Braves, Twins, Yankees of the late 1990s) were able to win consistently against the Moneyballers worshipping OBP and the three-run homer.
Times have changed, folks. Steroid testing has begun to wash out some of the derelicts, which in turn has slowed down bats and arms. Second basemen are no longer hitting 25 homers a year, and middle relievers are no longer able to throw 94 MPH on back-to-back-to-back days. Everyone is exposed, and the teams with weak fundamentals and/or less than 100% effort are losing games for those “little” deficiencies.
My friend Matt at MetsBlog noted last week, in regard to the Mets inattention to detail:
… it’s not rampant, but this sloppiness always seems to rear its ugly head at the worst times…
…the good news is that the Mets seem to be making less and less of these mistakes …
I don’t mean to call out Matt, but his comments are indicative of what many Mets fans see and think. The truth is, the Mets’ sloppiness, and lack of hustle, IS rampant, and they are making MORE and MORE of these fundamental “mistakes”. However, 95% of fans only notice these issues when they either a) lead to a run; or b) a TV announcer sees it and points it out on a replay from a camera angle that wasn’t used to capture the original/live action. The Mets are making mistakes, and not hustling, frequently — but you’ve only been made aware of it when it was blatant (F-Mart’s popup) or a potential game-changing play (i.e., Carlos Beltran not sliding). While your eye (or camera angle) is focused on following the ball, a number of other actions are occurring all over the field — it’s a fact, and not something to apologize for. But also, don’t take for granted that all those actions are happening as they are supposed to.
And here is my point: the Mets, for several years now, have developed a culture that excuses inattention to detail and, yes, a lack of hustle. The detail thing is part laziness, part lack of focus (some argue that they are one and the same). As a ballplayer myself, I don’t have a problem with physical errors — they happen. Mental errors are more difficult to excuse, but if a player is young and inexperienced, they’re tolerated — to a point. Players — and teams — can minimize mental errors through education, preparation, and simply paying attention. What can never, ever be tolerated, though, is lack of effort — because it is the one thing that every ballplayer has complete control over. Most Mets players often hustle, but few ALWAYS hustle.
In fact, the Mets have assembled a group of players that routinely take their foot off the gas pedal as they see fit. There’s a particular first baseman whose effort was so abominable that his manager once made a joke of his getting his pants dirty during a game. That “clubhouse leader” set the example for the younger players, some of whom are now also looked to as examples themselves. When you see the “leader” jog to first on a grounder to second base, you may believe that it’s OK, and acceptable, to do the same. And so on. Unless the “other” leader — the manager — does something to make clear that less than 100% will not be tolerated, all 25 players are free to approach the game as they see fit. Some guys may hustle, others may not. Some may put their full focus on the task at hand, some may not.
If you’ve watched the Mets over the past 2-3 seasons, and heard what’s been said by some of the players themselves, then you can’t argue that the Mets have given “their all”. For example, there are direct quotes from David Wright admitting that the team coasted through parts of 2007 and 2008, be it due to overconfidence, lack of intensity, or disinterest. In other words, the team has been so talented, it operated / operates as if controlled by an on/off switch: they coast along through the schedule, and “turn it on” when they think they need to. Several times this year we’ve seen them play down to the level of their competition — they just did it against the Nationals, but were lucky to have enough talent to still sweep them.
In a way, you can’t necessarily blame Fernando Martinez for dogging it. After all, he’s approaching a big league game in the same way he’s seen the veterans approach one. What Met could have taken F-Mart aside and said, “hey kid, you have to run everything out, all the time — that’s what we do here.” ? Martinez would have laughed out loud and responded with, “oh yeah? Tell that to guy on the crutches, or the backup catcher, or any of a dozen other guys who I’ve seen dog it, plenty of times”. Jerry Manuel should have disciplined Martinez immediately, but didn’t, perhaps partially because he’d never discipline any of his stars. And before you say “all Major Leaguers dog it here and there” or “no MLB manager benches star players for lack of hustle”, ask Jimmy Rollins what Charlie Manuel did to him the last time Rollins didn’t run out an infield popup.
Here’s the thing — the Mets have enough talent to stay in the hunt through September, despite their lack of focus, their mental errors, their poor fundamentals, and their frequent lack of hustle. They might even have enough pure talent to get into the postseason. But is that the team you want to root for? One that succeeds despite giving less than their best?
The Murphy Homer / Non-homer
It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, because even without Danny Murphy’s homerun, the Mets still eek out a win by one run.
But, there’s one thing bothering me about the fly ball he hit to the right field corner in the sixth inning of last night’s ballgame.
While everyone else is focusing on where the ball “hit” or “didn’t hit” the Subway sign, I’m looking at where the ball landed on the field, and what it did afterward — which was bounce toward the right field wall, and into the Modell’s sign.
Now, the Subway sign / overhang is a full eight feet in front of the Modell’s sign. So if the ball deflected off the Subway sign, how did it continue toward the Modell’s sign, rather than reverse direction and roll back toward the infield?
That one TV angle that makes it look as though the ball seemed to change direction while in the air in front of the Subway sign, I think, may be an optical illusion. I don’t think it’s possible to change direction via a deflection, and then change direction again after hitting the ground. You’d have to impart some very weird overspin on the ball, and that generally only happens with towering fly balls (the kind Dave Kingman used to hit). Murphy’s shot was more between a line drive and a high fly ball, and I don’t know that it could’ve had the type of overspin necessary to bounce that way. It looked to me like it had backspin.
Any physics experts out there to impart some wisdom? No doubt this issue is going to come up again at some point.
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