Braves 9 Mets 3

The Mets lost. But on the bright side, we were given proof that Oliver Perez was NOT kidnapped.

Game Notes

Mets starter Pat Misch was not good, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits in only 3 innings. Elmer Dessens was better in his bailout role, shutting out the Braves in a pair of frames. The only other pitcher the Braves didn’t reach for a run was Ryota Igarashi, who pitched a scoreless ninth.

Speaking of relievers, Oliver Perez made an appearance, giving up one run, one hit, and two walks — it was his first appearance in an MLB-high 25 consecutive games. The one hit he allowed was a solo homer by Brian McCann; so much for the hope that Ollie could be a LOOGY.

The scary thing is, the Braves should’ve scored at least a few more runs — they seemed to constantly have runners on base with none out and left 7 on base. But the Mets were almost doubly ineffective, with 12 LOB and a combined 1-for-14 with RISP. That has nothing to do with approach nor the hitting coach, though — it’s all bad luck and bad skill sets.

The Mets have scored 3 runs or less in 63 of their 131 games.

Jeff Francoeur was the only Met with two hits and he scored two runs. He was also the only Met to be the target of a Coke bottle tosser.

Josh Thole hit a triple to drive in Francoeur for one of those runs.

There isn’t much else positive to discuss on the Mets side so I’ll mention that Jason Heyward went 4-for-5 with a homerun, 3 runs scored, and 4 RBI. If Bobby Cox sat him, the Mets might’ve lost by only a couple runs instead of six.

I still can’t tell the difference between Omar Infante and Martin Prado, but they are definitely two different people, because one is always on base and the other is always driving him in.

Next Mets Game

Game two in Hotlanta begins at 7:10 PM on Tuesday night. Jonathon Niese faces Mike Minor, who is now in the Majors.

ESPN-NY – Mark Simon compares Ike Davis to John Olerud, inducing me to scream.

Amazin’ Avenue – Eric Simon uses numbers and a graph to support what we all kind of suspected: the Mets don’t score many runs. And he mentions Chico Walker, which is reason enough to read the article.

Neil Best via Twitter – Good news for Mets fans! There will be PLENTY of very affordable tickets available for those meaning(less)ful games in September! (And you think I’m always negative)

The Real Dirty – TRS86 describes “The Omar Effect”, which essentially explains how a certain GM in Flushing may as well use a dartboard to plan each season. Although it has no bearing, I had a TRS-80 in junior high.

MetsmerizedOnline – Also in regard to planning, Joe D learns of another way to describe the Mets’ strategy — as “chasing their own tails” — which he discovered while reading an article describing David Wright’s “hunger”. Hmm … maybe we’ll see David doing ‘Hungry Man’ commercials soon; that would be more appropriate than seeing him behind the wheel of a Lincoln.

It could be something like this, and he could do it with, say, R.A. Dickey:

I have been following Amazin Avenue’s Community Prospect List. It appears that Kirk Nieuwenhuis has emerged as the consensus number-two prospect in the system behind Wilmer Flores. I am not saying I disagree with the ranking, but I will say, if accurate, it is more a testament to the weakness of the Mets farm system, than it is a fair reflection of Nieuwenhuis’s talent, which really would not be number-two worthy in most organizations.

I really brought this up, though, because I find it interesting how Sean Ratliff, who profiles very similarly to Nieuwenhuis, has yet to appear on the list (AA is voting on number eight, and Ratliff is sixth in the voting for that spot last time I checked), and people still shy away from calling him a top-ten prospect. In fairness, Nieuwenhuis has a lengthier track record of success, while Ratliff, aside from his two-and-a-half months in Binghamton, was a non-prospect.

If you compare their production with AA Binghamton, however, there is no comparison. Ratliff has vastly outperformed Nieuwenhuis:

Ratliff: 272 PA .332/.379/.614/.993 OPS. .426 wOBA .275 ISOP 7% BB% 23.5% K%

Nieuwenhuis: 430 PA .289/.337/.510/.371 wOBA .220 ISOP 6.7% BB% 21.6% K%

Yes, Nieuwehuis has a larger sample size, and for what it’s worth he is six months younger than Ratliff, but I do not think either of those facts compensate for an over 50 point disparity in wOBA, or an almost 150 point difference in OPS. Nieuwenhuis has also struggled mightily since being promoted to Buffalo (.195/.264/.329 in 91 PA).

Also, while his strikeout rate has remained on the high-end during his time in Binghamton, check out Ratliff’s walk rate over that span:

June (67 PA): 3%

July (123 PA): 4.1%

August (82 PA): 14.6%

The dude basically went from Jeff Francoeur to Adam Dunn in a month. I am guessing that has a lot to do with the fact pitchers are finally pitching around the new and improved Ratliff, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Both players are regarded as athletic outfielders, that may or may not have the range to stick in center field.

It is difficult to rank the Mets farm system. I think Reese Havens and Zach Lutz are far superior to Ratliff and Nieuwenhuis when they’re on the field, but neither of them has proven they can stay healthy. Duda is the best pure hitter of the bunch and has stayed healthy, but he is also probably a below average corner outfielder. You could make a real radical statement and say Darrell Ceciliani or Aderlin Rodriguez is the best of the bunch, but they carry with them a lot of downside. Then you have to factor in pitchers like Jeurys Familia and Matt Harvey, and suddenly you have nine guys with no obvious advantage over each other.

And that is the problem with rankings. They add the illusion of distinction when, sometimes, as in this case, none is warranted. At the same time, that is what makes it fun, challenging, and let’s face, gives it real world pertinence. Out of the nine, one might blossom into a superstar, one or two of them might pull a Brad Holt next year, and you wonder why they were ever considered prospects in the first place, and the rest will end up in between. As a general manager, most of them are your trade chips, and you have to remember prospects get you fired, lest you end up looking like Steve Phillips.