Tonight’s Mets Lineup vs. Marlins

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Joe Janish

Here is the lineup the Mets will send to the plate against Marlins pitcher Brad Hand:

Jose Reyes – SS
Justin Turner – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Scott Hairston – RF
Jason Bay – LF
Angel Pagan – CF
Lucas Duda – 1B
Mike Nickeas – C
Chris Capuano – P

Hey look – Mike Nickeas gets his first start since … was it April? Good to see him back; a decent “catch-and-throw” backstop who seems to do a nice job of calling a game and handling pitchers — which are the catcher’s two main priorities and unfortunately are difficult to measure. Also note that Babe Hairston is in the cleanup spot and Lucas Duda playing 1B. Glad to see Duda getting the start against the lefthander — he needs the experience.

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Can the Mets Go 22-0?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Joe Janish

MetsToday reader and commenter Jimmy Prinzler had this to say recently:

Its very disturbing that Mets can’t win in their own division. … if you can’t beat the 4 teams in your division then you will not get 90 wins because you play each other 18 times. Until the Mets find a way to beat those 4 teams then we’ll talk about wild card.

Jimmy has a good point, and though I’ve always known that it’s important to be able to beat your division rivals, I never actually sat down and did the math (mainly because I don’t like math).

But here goes the current math: Continue reading →

Posted in Opinion and Analysis | 4 Comments

Who’s Watching The Mets While We’re Gone?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Corey Gorey

Seeing as how it was already over 100 games into the season, I figured I could trust the Mets to take care of themselves over the weekend. Wrong. Continue reading →

Posted in Page Two Tuesday | 2 Comments

Zack Wheeler Struggles in St. Lucie Debut

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Jessica Estremera

Last night’s pitching debut by Zack Wheeler as a minor leauge Met didn’t go as smoothly as the young pitcher might have wanted it to. Wheeler allowed four runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out four and walking none in a rain-shortened 9-1 loss to the Dunedin Blue Jays.

Coming off a highly anticipated trade from the San Francisco Giants to New York for outfielder Carlos Beltran, some wondered if Wheeler just was experiencing jitters.

He told the NY Post after the game,

“I felt good. There really wasn’t that much pressure going into it. It hasn’t really been stressful, but I came out a little tight.”

Wheeler hit 99 mph on the radar gun three times and threw 54 out of 82 pitches for strikes.

Prior to the trade, Wheeler made an adjustment to his mechanics.

“I’m back to what I was doing in high school — a high leg kick and high hands in my windup,” he said. “Before, the Giants tried to settle me down a little bit, and I guess settle down my motion.

“But I felt like I was counting . . . I was just thinking way too much. I had too much time, and it wasn’t really flowing. I just feel more comfortable now.”

Posted in Latest Mets News | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mets Game 109: Loss to Marlins

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Joe Janish

Marlins 7 Mets 3

For the second consecutive game, the Mets came back in the ninth inning to tie the ballgame, thanks to a homerun off of the opposing team’s closer. And for the second consecutive game, they couldn’t convert that momentum shift into a victory. Continue reading →

Posted in Mets 2011 Games | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Post Trade Deadline Roundup

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Joe Janish

Now that the smoke has cleared from the July 31st trade deadline, let’s do a quick roundup of the deals that went down in the National League, involving teams that are in the NL East and selected teams that appear to be in the Wild Card race. Continue reading →

Posted in Trades | 18 Comments

Blog Roundup: Monday Edition

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Paul Festa

The non-waiver trade deadline came and went on Sunday, and while the Houston Astros did their best to bolster the rosters of the Phillies and the Braves, the Mets made no further moves, avioding the fire sale that so many saw coming.  Meanwhile, the Mets followed their 5 game winning streak with a 2 game losing streak, while dropping the series in Washington.

To the blogs!

  • Midwestropolitan points out that Daniel Murphy knows he has a baserunning problem.  And admitting you have a problem is a first step.  Too bad there isn’t a Baserunner’s Anonymous.
  • Metstradamus sums Murphy up this way: “Every time the ball goes near him, whether it’s pitched to him, grounded to him, or thrown near him on the basepaths, Murphy will do something that you’ll remember for the rest of the week.”
  • Daily Stache wonders if the Mets will go to a six man rotation if Johan Santana comes back.
  • Real Dirty Mets has a rundown of Mets minor league action over the weekend.
  • Paul’s Random Baseball Stuff says the Mets are discounting tickets and doing some promotional giveaways this week to get you to come out to Citi.
  • MetsBlog examines Jon Niese’s sixth inning on Sunday, which proved to be his undoing.

Happy Monday, and don’t forget to read more about your favorite team from Queens on Mets Today.

Posted in Around the Blogs | 6 Comments

Behind the Scenes of K-Rod’s Trade

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Jessica Estremera

Prior to being traded, Francisco Rodriguez made it known to Terry Collins that he wanted to eliminate the $17.5 vesting option in his contract. Rodriguez, according to the NY Times, felt it was interfering with how the Mets were using him as a closer. In a non save situation a few weeks prior to the trade, K-Rod began warming up, expecting to be brought into the game, and was upset with the implication that the Mets had not used him to avoid activation the vesting option.

A deal between the Mets and Rodriguez could not be worked out, but Alderson was able to convey to other teams that Rodriguez would be willing to forgo the option, making it much easier for the Mets to trade him.

The Mets completed a deal within 48 hours. In the next few days, Rodriguez agreed to restructure his contract, taking out the vesting clause and making the option a mutual one. Rodriguez was also paid an additional $500,000.

Part of Rodriguez’s motivation for getting rid of the option was that, at 29, he can probably get more total money with a longer contract after this season.

K-Rod also switched agents in the middle of trade talks to Scott Boras.

Since the trade, K-Rod has not finished any games for the Brewers but has been the eighth inning set up man for John Axford.

Posted in Latest Mets News | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment