Mets Game 144: Win Over Pirates

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 1 Pirates 0

Those who had the patience to sit through a rain delay and almost ten innings of scoreless, scintillating baseball were rewarded with a win by the home team.

Ruben Tejada ripped a one-out double off reliever Chan Ho Park and pinch-hitter Nick Evans followed by stroking the Mets’ seventh hit of the damp night to drive home Tejada with the winning run, giving the team their 71st victory and Hisanori Takahashi his ninth win of the year.

Game Notes

In his second MLB start, Dillon Gee once again impressed, shutting out the Bucs through 6 innings on 5 hits and 4 walks, striking out 3 and expending 106 pitches.

Elmer Dessens and Pedro Feliciano each tossed a scoreless frame apiece, and Takahashi held off the Pirates for two more.

In a postgame interview,Nick Evans repeatedly referred to himself as a “bench player”. I know that he IS a bench player, but it’s uncomfortable listening to him talk about himself in such a way. I mean, the kid is only 24, and it sounds like he’s resigned himself to being a part-time player. It’s kind of sad.

As a team, the Mets had only 34 plate appearances in the 10 innings and saw only 122 pitches. The pitch count wouldn’t have been that high had it not been for the patience of Ike Davis, who led the team by seeing 24 pitches yet didn’t draw a walk. Josh Thole saw 17 pitches and no other Mets saw more than 13. Note: James McDonald is NOT Roy Halladay.

Inexplicably, Jerry Manuel instructed Jose Reyes to sacrifice bunt with no outs and Dillon Gee on second base in the third inning. Even my wife wondered what the hell that was all about, and she’s usually quite . If that wasn’t prime evidence that someone else could have done a better job managing the Mets during the past 2 1/2 years, I don’t know what is.

With this win, the Mets improve their record at the Field at Shea Bridge to 41-27; the Pirates drop their road recrod to a dismal 15-56. Can you imagine? Winning only FIFTEEN games on the road through 71 games? Yikes!

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Pirates do it again at 7:10 PM on Tuesday night. R.A. Dickey faces Zach Duke.

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Planning Without Santana

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Joe Janish

We have heard the news that Johan Santana will not pitch again in 2010, due to a shoulder injury. Despite the fact that Santana has yet to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, and has yet to even schedule a surgery date — much less undergo the surgery, which will reveal the true extent of the injury — we have also been told that Johan “will begin playing catch in January” and is expected to be OK next season.

Why am I having a feeling of deja vu?

Perhaps because I still remember — all too clearly — similar response by management to injuries to J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Duaner Sanchez, John Maine, Ryan Church, and most recently, Jason Bay.

So pardon me if I’m a bit cynical regarding Santana’s recovery.

This is a team that counted on Carlos Beltran to return to perfect health by Opening Day after what might’ve been microfracture surgery; believed Kelvim Escobar could be the setup man even if he couldn’t grip a baseball; planned on a starting rotation that had four pitchers returning from surgery and a fifth who was the backup plan. And this “hope for the best” wasn’t new — the Mets similarly crossed their fingers that high-impact players would return from injuries in previous seasons. Putz, Moises Alou, Orlando Hernandez, Pedro Martinez, and Carlos Delgado are a few that immediately come to mind.

You would think that management would Continue reading →

Posted in Mets Injuries, Opinion and Analysis | Tagged | 2 Comments

Is Jenrry Mejia a Good or Bad Example of Mets Minor League System?

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Joe Janish

Hard-throwing Jenrry Mejia symbolizes what is possible from the minor league system organized, maintained, and overseen by Omar Minaya. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Mejia was signed by the Mets out of the Dominican Republic at the tender age of 17 — an age when most youngsters in the USA are high school juniors or just beginning their senior year. I think it’s far to say that a 17-year-old can be taught many things about the game of baseball, and that a young man of that age is perfectly capable of changing his habits, approach, and mechanics. I make this statement not by guesswork but from experience — both by adjusting my own as well as by helping others change their own. In fact, from my first-hand experience, it is possible to completely overhaul an athlete’s style, mechanics, and thought process as late as age 21; it’s not easy, but it’s possible. The older an athlete gets, the more ingrained certain habits become, and thus the more difficult it is to “break” those habits and re-learn correct ones. That’s why, generally speaking, you want to begin teaching an athlete at a young age — the younger, the better.

In the case of 17-year-old Jenrry Mejia, the Mets had a golden opportunity to develop a raw, exciting talent — to mold him as they see fit, into what they believe is the ideal pitcher. Continue reading →

Posted in Opinion and Analysis, Pitching Mechanics | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Mets Game 143: Loss to Phillies

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Joe Janish

Phillies 3 Mets 0

As Mets fans we are blessed to have the Phillies in our division and in turn the opportunity to see two of the best righthanded starters in baseball pitching over the course of a weekend.

Roy Oswalt was spectacular, spinning a complete-game, 4-hit shutout. He completely stymied the Mets hitters, and did not allow a Met to touch second base.

Game Notes

Jonathon Niese wasn’t bad — he just wasn’t tremendous. Unfortunately, his only chance at victory against Oswalt was to be at least tremendous, or better.

Niese allowed 3 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of work. That type of outing is defined as a “quality start”, and most would agree that Niese pitched well enough to win. But winning is tough when you pitch for the New York Mets.

Oswalt lost his first start in a Philadelphia uniform, but the Phillies have won all 8 of his starts since.

The Mets are now 70-73, 12.5 games out of first place with 19 games to play.

Next Mets Game

On Monday the Mets begin a four-game series against the Pirates in Flushing. Dillon Gee goes for his second Major League win against James McDonald. Game time is 7:10 PM.

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Mets Game 142: Win Over Phillies

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 4 Phillies 3

The Mets ran up a four-zip lead, and the Phillies were supposed to roll over and die. Strangely enough, they didn’t, and rallied late to give Mets fans a scare.

However, the home team held on in the end to take their 70th victory of the season and 40th win in The Field at Shea Bridge.

Game Notes

Mike Pelfrey was spectacular through seven, but showed signs of running out of gas in the eighth. His final line was 7 1/3 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 ER. Stellar, and a particularly impressive effort against a very talented and hot Phillies lineup.

That said, I wasn’t completely happy with Big Pelf’s mechanics, which are still inconsistent. He’s doing a better job of staying on a straight line to the plate for the most part, but could be using gravity more to his advantage — something he used to do, but lost at some point before the All-Star exhibition. The good thing is that he can still be effective without repeating his delivery; we can only hope that he is not doing any physical damage to his arm.

As noted by Tim McCarver, Pelfrey had his back to Jerry Manuel when the manager came to remove him from the game in the eighth inning. Pelfrey refused to acknowledge Manuel’s presence, and handed the ball directly to Bobby Parnell before leaving the mound.

This could have been interpreted as an expression of disrespect for the manager, and if it was, it may have been a response to the way the manager has treated Pelfrey and others on the club over the past two and half years. Manuel has acted similarly toward his players in the past, particularly when changing pitchers, and has not minced words when throwing players under the bus. We know Manuel is at the end of his tenure, and this display by Pelfrey could be a sign that the players won’t miss him when he goes.

Ike Davis was 4-for-4 with 3 RBI, and Jesus Feliciano added two hits and scored twice. Jose Reyes blasted a solo homer, his 9th of the season.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match occurs at 1:10 PM on Sunday afternoon. Jonathon Niese faces Roy Oswalt.

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Mets Game 141: Loss to Phillies

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Joe Janish

Phillies 8 Mets 4

The game was over by the fourth inning. But for whatever reason, I kept watching till the end. Must be the same reason people stop to look at car accidents, or watch bad movies on Cinemax at 2 AM.

Game Notes

For the second straight start, Jenrry Mejia did not look like a Major League pitcher, displaying poor command of his fastball, inconsistency with his breaking pitches, and getting hit hard when he was throwing strikes. He did hit 95 a handful of times, but once again hovered in the 91-92 MPH range with his fastball. The numbers weren’t good, either: 6 runs on 9 hits and a walk in 4 innings and 81 pitches. It actually could’ve been 8 runs on 10 hits but Jose Reyes made a spectacular play to end the third and rob Placido Polanco of a two-run single. Additionally, Mejia did a terrible job of backing up home on a play at the plate — an issue we noticed in the previous start. Little things like this eventually affect the outcome of ballgames, and there is absolutely no excuse for failing to hustle your way into position.

On a positive note, Josh Thole had three hits and threw out a runner attempting to steal. His footwork looked really good on his throw to second base.

Also on a positive note, we got to see the great future HOFer Roy Halladay pitch his way to his 18th win of the year.

The best part of the game: Hernandez at the plate, Carter on deck (thanks to tweet by WFAN). Unfortunately it wasn’t Keith and Gary, but Luis and Chris.

Next Mets Game

Game two is one of those FOX telecasts, beginning at 4:10 PM. Mike Pelfrey faces Kyle Kendrick.

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Mets Game 140: Win Over Nationals

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 3 Nationals 2

Wow! Two wins in a row! And, a series win!

It is very encouraging to see that the Buffalo Bisons can beat the Washington Nationals, when they have a couple of “ringers” in the lineup. Even more encouraging when the performance of those ringers is not necessary to win the game.

Game Notes

As has often been the case in games he’s started this season, R.A. Dickey was the story. Dickey went 6 innings, allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks. His ability to avoid walks is incredible for a knuckleballer, but then, nothing about R.A. has been normal this year. It’s simply a joy to sit back and watch this Cinderella story continue.

Kudos to the Mets bullpen for finishing up the last three innings; it took only four pitchers to cover those frames. Hisanori Takahashi earned his fifth save, which is good not only for the Mets but also for my fantasy team.

Hard to pinpoint an offensive star in this game. Dickey was one of two Mets to collect more than one hit — he was 2-for-2 with a run scored. Luis Hernandez was the other, going 2-for-4 with an RBI; he is beginning to make people forget Argenis Reyes. Carlos Beltran drove in a run with a sac fly, and Nick Evans hit a pinch-hit RBI double to drive home the go-ahead third run for the Mets in the seventh.

There are only 22 games left, and the Mets are a solid 9 games ahead of the Nationals in the standings, so I believe their stronghold on fourth place is safe. Though, you never know …

Next Mets Game

Thursday is a travel day, and the Mets return home to Flushing on Friday to host the Phillies. Jenrry Mejia takes the ball against Roy Halladay. Game time is 7:10 PM.

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Mets Game 139: Win Over Nationals

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 4 Nationals 1

The Mets spoiled Yunesky Maya’s MLB debut, but savored Dillon Gee’s.

Game Notes

Dillon Gee made the most of his MLB debut, allowing one run on two hits and three walks in a 7-inning, 86-pitch effort to earn his first career win.

Gee relied heavily on a 12-6 overhand curveball and a flat slider that to me looks more like a fast curve, as he spots it high and it doesn’t get much lateral movement. I can see how he allowed so many homeruns in the minors, as that slider stays up in the zone; he hangs the deuce on occasion; and his fastball is average in velocity (ranging 89-91) with minimal movement and located waist-high or higher. He did keep all of his pitches around the strike zone, and as a result was very efficient with his pitch count.

Gee had a no-hitter going until blasted a solo homer in the sixth. The second hit was a single in the seventh swatted by Kevin Mench.

As if his pitching performance wasn’t enough, Gee also rapped an RBI single for the Mets’ fourth and final run.

The rest of the runs came courtesy of Ike Davis’ 3-run homer in the first frame. Davis is blistering hot, as he 8 for his last 15 with 7 RBI.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match takes place at 12:35 PM EST on Wednesday afternoon in Washington DC. R.A. Dickey takes the hill against Livan Hernandez in what could be the slowest-pitching combined performance of the season. If nothing else it will be interesting to see which is slower: Dickey’s knuckler or Livan’s eephus curve.

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