Mets Game 117: Loss to Phillies

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Joe Janish

Phillies 3 Mets 1

At what point do the Mets do something about the offense? Even if it is “change for the sake of change” ?

The Mets lost a close one, but scored only one run against a very hittable pitcher in Kyle Kendrick. Even if this was 1968, you can’t expect the starting pitchers to throw a shutout every time they go to the mound. At some point, the offense has to score more than one or two runs.

Game Notes

The Mets wasted a very strong outing by Mike Pelfrey, who may be past his slump. Big Pelf worked 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, walking none. He induced 17 ground ball outs and expended 113 pitches. It appears to me that he has actually moved away from the “tall”, upright position during the leg lift, and is now hunching over consistently. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing — though I do not like the way it causes him to send his balance sideways rather than forward. The key is to remain consistent and repeat the mechanics, which leads to command. Staying more upright and falling toward home plate is more efficient, and would make him less prone to injury, but for the short term I’d rather see his mechanics consistent. At the same time, I would hope that he works on getting more upright again during the offseason, because the sideways momentum puts a strain on the shoulder and the elbow and takes away from velocity.

Jose Reyes knocked a ball off the right field foul pole for his 8th homer of the year. That was it for the scoring from the orange and blue. Reyes had two of the Mets’ six hits. He was thrown out stealing on a borderline call in the first, which turned out to be a really bad thing, since both David Wright and Carlos Beltran singled later that inning.

As much as I love to see Chris Carter getting opportunities, and as badly as Jeff Francoeur has been swinging the bat, if there was a night to play Francoeur it would’ve been this game. Why? Because Francoeur is 9-for-22 (.409) with a .955 OPS lifetime vs. Kendrick. But he’s a righthanded hitter and Kendrick is a RHP so, I guess that would’ve been a silly idea.

While we’re on the subject, Francoeur is 5-for-12 (.417) with 2 HR and a triple (and 1.512 OPS) lifetime vs. Wandy Rodriguez, who is pitching on Monday night. If he is going to hit anyone this month, it will be Rodriguez. And if he doesn’t hit him, there isn’t much point in giving him another shot to start in 2010.

It was a pretty wet, rainy night, and I was mildly surprised they started the ballgame more or less on time. The conditions were most difficult early in the game, and definitely was a factor.

The published attendance was 31,345 (74.6% full). Kind of light for a Phillies game, though the weather and the late start time surely had a significant impact.

The Mets scored a grand total of 9 runs in this 6-game homestand, hitting .088 with runners in scoring position.

The Mets are now 0-46 in games in which they are losing going into the 9th inning.

Next Mets Game

The Mets travel to Minute Maid Park in Houston to face the Astros on Monday night. Jonathon Niese goes to the mound against Wandy Rodriguez. Game time is 8:05 PM EST.

Posted in Mets 2010 Games | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mets Game 116: Loss to Phillies

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Joe Janish

Phillies 4 Mets 0

You can’t blame Pat Misch for this one.

Misch made the most of his first MLB start in 2010, going six innings and allowing only one unearned run on 8 hits and 2 walks. It was far from a spectacular outing, but it was more than acceptable for a AAA journeyman spot starter going up against Roy Halladay.

Unfortunately for Misch, the Mets could neither play defense nor offense on this particular evening. They made three errors that led to three unearned runs, and could manage to reach base only four times in eight innings against Halladay.

Game Notes

Jose Reyes led off the fourth with his 7th triple, but could not be brought home. The Mets are hitting an anemic .212 in the month of August.

When Placido Polanco singled in Roy Halladay in the third, it was the first time the Phillies scored a run in Citi Field in 2010.

The return of Carlos Beltran after the All-Star exhibition was supposed to “spark” the Mets. Still waiting. Similarly, the promotions of Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez were supposed to “bring youthful energy” to the club. Again, still waiting.

Francisco Rodriguez came in to pitch the 9th, making an immediate appearance on his first day back after his lengthy suspension. There were some boos upon his entrance, but it wasn’t overwhelming since the most disgruntled Mets fans left the game an inning before when they saw Elmer Dessens take the mound.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets mounted a mild rally against reliever Ryan Madson, loading the bases with two outs. Had the Mets come back and won, K-Rod would’ve been in line for the victory. As much as I’d prefer to see the Mets win, at this point in the season, and with the way I feel about this K-Rod situation, I don’t think I would’ve been able to stomach such an outcome.

By the way, K-Rod apologized to the owners, his teammates, and the fans in a brief press conference prior to the game. There was no apology issued to his common-law wife, her father, nor his children — I guess because doing so might cause him problems in court later on (?). Also no apology to his teammates’ wives and children and every other innocent bystander who had to be subjected to his lack of civility on Wednesday night, but maybe that will come soon.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match happens on Sunday night at 8:05 PM, with Mike Pelfrey going to the hill against Kyle Kendrick. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Posted in Mets 2010 Games | 5 Comments

K-Rod Activated, Mets Remain Impotent

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Joe Janish

According to The New York Times, Francisco Rodriguez has completed his two-day suspension, has agreed to participate in anger management treatment, and will return to the Mets roster today.

Per The Times:

In fact, the Mets were considering a more severe punishment but settled on two games because the union agreed to the two games in consultation with Major League Baseball.

“We felt that was the right thing,” Minaya said, “and of course any time you do these things you also have to have conversations with the players association. We felt it was something we needed to do. We felt we needed to act upon it immediately.”

This followed up Thursday’s official statement from the Mets:

The New York Mets today announced they are taking the following disciplinary action against pitcher Francisco Rodriguez: The team has placed Rodriguez on the restricted list for two days. He will be removed from the roster, will not be with the team, and will not be paid during that time.

“Ownership and the organization are very disappointed in Francisco’s inappropriate behavior and we take this matter very seriously,” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon.

Once again, the Mets show their impotence, and cower to the opinions of others rather than taking the bull by the horns and making their own decision on a situation.

If the Mets cared one bit about their “brand”, the team, their fans, Francisco Rodriguez, and Rodriguez’s family, the punishment would have been delivered harsher, swifter, and with conviction. But the Mets don’t have the chutzpah or the cojones to make a decision on their own, and don’t know what’s “right” until others tell them.

Two days? Really? That’s “taking the matter very seriously”? And one of those didn’t count because it was spent in jail and court. And considering that Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey both pitched complete games, K-Rod didn’t really miss anything other than the $125K taken from his salary.

Jeff Wilpon had the opportunity to set the tone, to act as a potent leader, by acting swiftly and confidently. He could have said the Mets do not and will not tolerate such behavior on their property from anyone, and followed his “harsh words” with action — a one-month suspension, for example. Then, we wouldn’t have had to be subjected to the irrational comments of Jerry Manuel later that Thursday morning, who said he wouldn’t hesitate to use K-Rod if he were available. You can’t blame Manuel for saying such an idiotic thing, because the bosses above him were just as clueless and impotent as he was. Manuel wasn’t sure because Minaya wasn’t sure, and Minaya wasn’t sure because Wilpon wasn’t sure.

And even if Wilpon wasn’t sure of exactly what he wanted to do, he still had a chance to appear firm. Instead of conferring with MLB and the MLBPA, the Mets could have immediately announced that K-Rod was suspended indefinitely, and then let the MLBPA file a protest against them. Maybe K-Rod would still wind up with only a two-game suspension, but at least the Mets take a stand for themselves and publicly show that they are more concerned with preserving respect for their organization than in appeasing everyone. Let the MLBPA look like the bad guys for changing the punishment to a mere slap on the wrist.

Does anyone remember the last time a fireballing Mets relief pitcher was arrested in Flushing for assaulting a family member? It wasn’t that long ago that Ambiorix Burgos beat up his girlfriend in an eerily similar fashion — throwing her up against a wall, slapping her, and punching her to the ground. Just as similar was the Mets’ reaction to the news that Burgos had been arrested; from ESPN / AP:

The Mets said they were “disturbed by the allegations.” They said Burgos was in town for reasons unrelated to the team.

How did the Mets react then? They didn’t. Burgos was still technically in the minors, recovering from Tommy John surgery. So, rather than address the situation — possibly by suspending him or arranging anger management counseling — The Mets did what they thought was best — they ignored the situation and waited for it to go away. Eventually, it DID go away — Burgos went back to his home in the Dominican Republic and allegedly ran over two women with his SUV.

Burgos wasn’t officially on the 25-man roster at the time, so it was a different situation than the present one. The Mets didn’t really “need” Burgos like they “need” K-Rod right now. Maybe Jeff Wilpon didn’t act swifty and with certainty because he feared losing more games without a closer, and in turn losing more ticket sales.

One has to wonder: what if it was Oliver Perez who was arrested for assault in the Mets’ family room? Would he have been “punished” for only two days? Or would the Mets, MLB, and MLBPA agreed on, say, a 30-day, with-pay suspension so he could focus on “family matters”, psychiatric help, and anger management treatment?

Posted in Opinion and Analysis | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Mets Game 115: Win Over Phillies

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 1 Phillies 0

The R.A. Dickey dreamscape continues …

For the first time in 42 games — about a month and a half — the Mets won back-to-back games. And it took two straight shutouts, the first time they did that in eight years (the last time it was Pedro Astacio and Jeff D’Amico).

Game Notes

R.A. Dickey was tremendous, and would’ve thrown a no-hitter had it not been for a duck snort by opposing pitcher Cole Hamels. The only other baserunner was a walk to Wilson Valdez in the third inning. Remember Wilson Valdez? Dickey struck out 7 and expended only 105 pitches. How can you not love this guy?

Tough-luck loser Cole Hamels gave up only five hits and two walks, striking out 8 in 8 innings. He also threw only 105 pitches. If Shane Victorino didn’t misplay David Wright‘s liner in the sixth, this game could still be going on — with both pitchers still on the hill. Gutsy, competitive performance by both.

In the fifth, it appeared as though the Mets went up 1-0 when Mike Hessman hit a ball that appeared to be a homerun to left — though, Phillies leftfielder Raul Ibanez protested immediately, possibly citing interference by a fan. After six and a half minutes of video review, the umpires ruled it interference and gave Hessman a ground-rule triple.

I don’t get how they decided it was a triple and not a double. Anytime a fan interferes it is automatically a double, and had Ibanez played the ball rather than stopped immediately and pointed to the fan, I’m not sure the lead-footed Hessman would’ve made it all the way to third base.

The SNY crew was convinced it was NOT interference, despite seeing only one vague, fuzzy camera view. They were condescending and critical of the umpires about the call, which I found annoying, because to me, it was not crystal clear. I don’t care whether the call went for or against the Mets, I care about getting the right call, and I don’t like being made to feel stupid for disagreeing with Gary, Keith, and Ron. A rare misfire by what is usually an outstanding announcing team.

As it was, the Mets couldn’t score Hessman from third, getting three shots to do so. They also failed to score Angel Pagan from third with one out in the first.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Phillies play again at 7:10 PM on Saturday night. Pat Misch makes his first MLB start of 2010 against Roy Halladay.

Posted in Mets 2010 Games | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

August 13: Friday Mets Links

Posted on August 13, 2010 by loge mezzanine

MetsMerized – The Mets have banished K-Rod to the restricted list. He will never don a Mets uniform ever again… or until Saturday. Whichever comes first.

Mets Gazette – Frank Gray chronicles the Mets seemingly perpetual slide into circus-y irrelevance. Are we there yet?

MetsBlog – Matt Cerrone thinks the Mets can only become relevant again if there is some accountability.

MetsToday – Speaking of accountability, Jeff Wilpon has lied about playing pro ball for 27 years in order to appear qualified for the job he is currently failing at. Amazin!

Daily Stache – There was one big winner when K-Rod was arrested – a Pennsylvania cab driver netted $300.

And here are Johan Santana’s comments on K-Rod and yesterday’s shutout, via ESPN New York:

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K-Rod: You Be the Judge

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Joe Janish

Some comments from various people “close to the situation” in regard to the K-Rod incident of the other night, courtesy of ESPN …

The 28-year-old closer went into the family lounge, hauled Pena into an adjoining tunnel and “repeatedly hit him in the face and hit his head against a wall” before taking off, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

New York Assistant District Attorney Kristen A. Kane:

“There seems to be a history of violence,” Kane said. “[The complainants are] very concerned. They are very fearful of the defendant returning to the home.”

Jerry Manuel:

“For me, to get to that level at anything is not something that you encourage.”

I should hope not!

Carlos Beltran:

It’s disappointing, man. You don’t want to see no one go through that. But it is what it is. Now he has to deal with that situation. Us, as players, as teammates, even though we don’t agree with what he did, we have to support him. He’s part of the ballclub. He’s going to come here and do his thing.”

“No one should act like that. It doesn’t matter if the team did whatever it did. No one should act like that. I think that’s something as players, that’s why every step you take forward you have to know what you’re doing. To me, I do [think] he feels sorry. He feels sorry about what happened. But it’s too late.”

Agreed. Nice to see Carlos step up and provide his comment. Billy Wagner would be proud. Please continue to step up and take over a leadership role, Carlos!

Johan Santana:

“We support him 100 percent. I’m just hoping to get him back as soon as possible. He means a lot to this ballclub.”

Yeah, me too. Baseball is much more important than uncontrollable rage occuring in a home where two young children reside. Kids need to be tougher these days anyway. Forget about them and get K-Rod back in the bullpen!

Jeff Francoeur:

“Maybe it’s a distraction we need. Not to say it’s a good thing. But maybe at the end of the day we can turn it into a positive. I know for him, it’s between him and his family.”

Oh Jeff … I try so hard to defend you, to like you … sometimes, maybe it’s best to just keep quiet.

Francisco Rodriguez’s attorney Christopher Booth:

“Mr. Rodriguez is obviously distressed. He’s 28 years old and never had anything like this happen to him before. It’s quite a shock for a young man to be put into handcuffs and taken away and charged.”

“Mr. Rodriguez and I have complete confidence in our criminal justice system. This is the first step in what is going to be a long process. Mr. Rodriguez, like everyone else, has family issues and family concerns on top of the pressures that athletes like him face every day. He is confident, and I am confident, that there will be a fast and just resolution in this case.”

“… happen to him before” ?????????? What the heck does that mean? This is the first time he got CAUGHT beating someone up? It’s not like some external force took over his body and made him punch an old man. I won’t even address the “pressures that athletes like him face every day”. That’s just asinine.

One final quote, from Jeff Wilpon:

Ownership and the organization are very disappointed in Francisco’s inappropriate behavior and we take this matter very seriously.

Wow … them’s some harsh words! I felt a chill just reading them! He seems almost as angry as last October when the Mets’ disappointing season made him say all kinds of crazy things.

Posted in News Notes Rumors | 3 Comments

Why the Mets Never Win

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Matt Himelfarb

Pat Misch was removed from his start for AAA Buffalo Tuesday night after throwing just five innings and 55 pitches, indicating that he will start in place of Hisanori Takahashi on Saturday.

Misch will be promoted despite the fact the Bisons boast a far more intriguing and better option in Dillon Gee.

Gee has a 4.74 era., but his FIP is much better (3.94). Misch has undoubtedly pitched good as well, posting a 3.34 era. and 3.53 FIP on the year. For one, though, with the Mets all but mathematically eliminated and looking with an eye toward the future, Gee is just 24 years-old, while Misch turns 29 in a week. Big difference. While both have done an excellent job limiting base on balls (Gee has a 5.4% walk rate, Misch 4%), Gee has a much, much better strikeout rate (23.2%), than Misch (15.9%). Misch’s ERA and FIP is better, because he has allowed less home runs per nine innings (0.65) than Gee (1.07). Misch, however, has a history of giving up home runs- he has a 1.3 career HR/9 rate in 156 big league innings,  and 0.9 in 783.2 minor league innings- while Gee’s career HR/9 rate in the minors entering this season was just 0.4.

Did I mention the Mets are out of contention, and that Gee is a developing 24-year old pitcher, and Misch a late 20s AAA lifer?

These are the types of double-facepalm worthy decisions that irk me to no end about this organization. It’s such an unvarnished call for the Mets to make. Yeah, maybe there is not a tremendous disaprity between Misch and Gee, but what difference does exist is so clear, simple, and painfully obvious. Because the Mets insist on relying on an anarchic business model, absolutely failing to grasp simple concepts such as the importance of peripherals vs. the pitfalls of ERA. They are incapable of managing this team at the margins, which has been Omar Minaya’s downfall throughout his entire tenure as general manager.

Equipped with little to no knowledge of sabermetrics, Omar cannot tell you that Mike Jacobs or Daniel Murphy is any better or worse than your average first baseman, or that Jeff Francoeur is not a major league caliber player, or that Angel Pagan is infinitely better than Gary Matthews Jr. Thus, notions and labels such as “veteran presence”, “clean-up hitter”, “heart and soul”, “pieces of the puzzle”, which are, at best, small considerations, become primary tools of distinction.

Sure, the decision in itself is not this team’s undoing, but in a sense it is. This kind of decision captures everything that is wrong with this organization.

Posted in Opinion and Analysis, Stats | 5 Comments

Mets Game 114: Win Over Rockies

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 4 Rockies 0

Johan Santana bails out the Mets by pitching a complete-game, 4-hit shutout.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Game Notes

Santana struck out 10 and walked 2, expending only 115 pitches. It is his second brilliant outing in a row. And it was indeed awesome — albeit, a bit late. Too little, too late … the Mets needed this version of Santana about three months ago. At this point, it doesn’t matter.

Jose Reyes went 2-for-4 with 2 stolen bases, a run scored, and an RBI.

Carlos Beltran finally broke out of his slump, going 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Again, too little, too late, I’m afraid.

In the first inning, Ron Darling noted that Fernando Martinez looked overmatched last year, but didn’t look overmatched thus far this year. F-Mart had been to the plate 7 times when Darling made that comment.

Special thanks to “AC Wayne” for providing a succinct game recap in the comments section in my absence (that doggone “work” thing keeps me from watching day games live!).

Next Mets Game

The Mets open a weekend series hosting the Phillies beginning with a Friday night game that begins at 7:10 PM. R.A. Dickey faces Cole Hamels.

Posted in Mets 2010 Games | Tagged , | 2 Comments