Game Day Open Thread: May 15 @ Florida

Posted on May 15, 2010 by John Fitzgerald

An open gameday thread as we upgrade the MetsToday commenting system to the IntenseDebate platform. Dig in!

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Mets Game 36: Loss to Marlins

Posted on May 15, 2010 by Joe Janish

Marlins 7 Mets 2

Another chapter in the biography of Bad Ollie was written in Miami.

This time, he couldn’t blame the cold weather. He couldn’t blame the condition of the mound. He couldn’t blame a bad knee, or a stomach ache, or an umpire with a tight strike zone.

In short, Ollie is out of excuses.

The scary thing is, the Marlins might’ve scored even more than 7 runs in the first four frames, but Ollie was saved by a few excellent defensive plays behind him. At no point in his brief interaction with the Fish did Oliver Perez appear to have command, confidence, or a clue. Putting him on the mound every five days is becoming an embarrassment to both he and the Mets, and is turning into a sad story.

If there was a bright spot in the game, it was … hmm … I guess Raul Valdes pitching nearly 3 innings of perfect relief. See, there was that.

Game Notes

Oliver Perez allowed 7 earned runs on 9 hits (including 4 homeruns) and 3 walks in 3 1/3 innings. He threw more strikes than in his last debacle start, but unfortunately they were served on a silver platter — over the middle of the plate, waist high, at BP velocity. He threw a handful of decent sliders, but also threw several flat, fat ones — one of which was deposited into the left field seats by Dan Uggla, others that were just missed / fouled off by other hitters. Perez was lucky to get off the mound with “only” 7 runs attached to his line.

Anibal Sanchez was unlike Ollie, pitching 7 full innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks; he struck out 7.

Those 4 hits were the only ones mustered by the anemic Mets offense. Half of the hits were doubles by Angel Pagan — who drove in both Mets runs — and Rod Barajas.

With this loss, the Mets are now back to Omar Minaya’s target of .500 with an 18-18 record. And, the Marlins win boosted them to an identical 18-18 record.

For those who are scoreboard watching, the Braves won, making their record 17-18. So the NL East race at the moment is the Phillies in first, Nationals (!) in second, and a three-team fight for the basement. At least he Mets are fighting for something.

Next Mets Game

Game three of this four-game set begins at 7:10 PM on Saturday night. John Maine faces Nate Robertson. You can be sure that Jerry Manuel will be pulling out every stop to win, because his job is suddenly teetering toward jeopardy again — and I don’t mean an appearance with Alex Trebek.

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Mets Game 35: Loss to Marlins

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Joe Janish

Marlins 2 Mets 1

Another close one, and this time the Mets came up short.

It was a battle of the aces, and both Josh Johnson and Johan Santana lived up to their billing, trading zeroes through seven frames. Each ace gave up one run, and each made an error. Both received stellar defense from their teammates.

In the end, it was a battle of the bullpens — and the Mets’ most-used reliever gave up a walk, a hit, and a wild pitch to give the Fish the ballgame.

Game Notes

Johan Santana didn’t have his best stuff, but … I promised not to write this any more. He is who he is — a crafty pitcher who pitches backward, relying on an array of changeups and sliders to set up an occasional 89-90 MPH fastball. In other words, a younger version of Jamie Moyer.

Santana went a full 7 innings, allowing one unearned run on 6 hits and a walk, striking out 5 and tossing 98 pitches. The one unearned run came as a result of Santana throwing the ball too high to second base after a sacrifice bunt attempt by Johnson.

Josh Johnson matched Santana pitch-for-pitch, and then some. The Mets managed only 3 hits and 1 run, striking out 7 times and drawing zero walks in 7 innings against him. I don’t know how anyone can hit his 96 MPH, knee-high fastball.

Gaby Sanchez was the only batter from either side to have a good day, going 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored. He also made a leaping, snazzy snare of a bullet of a line drive off the bat of Santana in the second that ended the innng and prevented at least one run from scoring.

Jerry Manuel made some head-scratching moves in this game, that were magnified due to the final score. First, why are you asking Jose Reyes to bunt in the 9th with Luis Castillo on second base and no outs? Mind you, I’m an old-school guy and believe there is room in the game for a sac bunt now and then. This was neither now nor then. Why? Because by writing Reyes into the #3 spot in the order, you are effectively stating that he is your BEST hitter. If you are tied late in the game, and there is a runner on second base, you want your BEST hitter at the plate to drive the run in. You do not make your best hitter give away one of your precious 27 outs in that situation. The purpose of the sacrifice bunt is to push a runner into scoring position so that one of your best hitters can drive that runner home. So when you already HAVE a runner in scoring position, and your best hitter is at the plate, there is no need to do anything other than sit back and give that hitter the opportunity to drive the run home.

And never mind the argument that Reyes has been struggling lately — it’s an obvious point. But if he is struggling, to the point where you’d rather he make an out than take a shot at driving in a run, then why is he in the #3 spot in the first place?

The second head-scratcher was leaving Fernando Nieve in for a second inning, after he successfully threw a scoreless 8th without having his arm fall off. Nieve has appeared in 22 games thus far (on pace for 102 by season’s end), and has been looking increasingly tired as the month of May has wore on. Managing in a vacuum, where yesterday is forgotten and tomorrow may never come, keeping Nieve in for a second inning makes sense. But in reality, where you have to consider a pitcher’s past and what you hope to accomplish in the future, asking him to pitch multiple innings is both irresponsible and akin to playing with dynamite. As a result, the decision blew up in Manuel’s face.

The Mets have now lost 8 of their last 12, have fallen to third place, and could allow the Fish to join them in third if they lose on Friday. Oh, and guess who’s pitching tomorrow? See below.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Marlins do it again at 7:10 PM on Friday night. Oliver Perez takes the mound against Anibal Sanchez. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

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Phillies Caught Stealing Signs

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Joe Janish

Remember when we suffered through Johan Santana’s awful start in Philadelphia? Some suggested that he was “tipping pitches”, and therefore letting the Phillies hitters know exactly what was coming?

Well, maybe the Phillies DID know what pitch was coming, but not because Johan was tipping it — rather, because the Phils’ bullpen coach was stealing signs from the catcher and relaying them to his hitters.

This outlandish claim does not come from my imagination, but rather from a recent incident in which Phillies coach Mick Billmeyer was caught redhanded — with binoculars! — during a game against the Rockies. If you read that article, you’ll learn that the Rockies were the SECOND team to complain to MLB about the Phillies stealing signs. The first team to file a complaint was — you guessed it — the New York Mets, who thought something was fishy about Santana’s May 2 start.

Thus far, MLB has done little to reprimand the Phillies, other than a mere slap on the wrist.

If the Phillies hitters know what’s coming, it certainly can make their job a little easier — particularly against a pitcher who has good command and is hitting the spots that are called. Using binoculars to steal signs has gone back for decades, with the most famous (infamous?) example being the alleged sign-stealing of the 1951 Giants against the Dodgers — when Bobby Thomson allegedly knew what pitch Ralph Branca was throwing when he hit the “shot heard ’round the world”.

Maybe the sign-stealing has done little to help the Phillies hitters. But it sure would help explain the worst outing of Johan Santana’s career.

Hat tip to alert MetsToday reader “Darin”, who emailed to me the link to MLB Fanhouse. Thanks Darin!

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Mets Game 34: Loss to Nationals

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Joe Janish

Nationals 6 Mets 4

Burning rubber is not something the Mets do well.

For the sixth time in as many chances, the Mets failed to take the “rubber match” of a three-game series. As a result, the Nationals enter Thursday as the only second-place team in the NL East.

Berna – who?

Game Notes

Roger Bernadina was the star of the game, making a Ron Swoboda-like catch in the fifth on a Jeff Francoeur liner to save three runs and hitting two huge homeruns — including one off Francisco Rodriguez in the top of the ninth that gave the Nats the victory. Did I mention those two taters were the first homers of his big league career? For the uninitiated, Bernadina is known as a singles hitter who is in MLB because of his speed and his glove. Comps: Willy Taveras, Roger Cedeno, Omar Moreno. He was hitting .212 coming into the game.

Mike Pelfrey dribbled an RBI single through the left side to tie the game 2-2 after Rod Barajas was walked intentionally to load the bases in the third. The more I watch Jim Riggleman “manage”, the more I wonder how in the world the Nats are in second place — it’s like they win in spite of his incompetence.

On the mound, Pelfrey was so-so, not great, as many of the balls hit off him found holes. For all that contact, it is somewhat ironic that the first 5 outs of the game made by Washington came via the strikeout. He allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 5 2/3 innings — expending a career-high 119 pitches. Too many pitches, too many baserunners. Has he fallen the Earth?

Nats starting pitcher Craig Stammen was slightly more inefficient on the mound, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks in only 5 innings. However, Stammen was better than Pelf at the plate, as he went 2-for-2 and drove in 3 of Washington’s first 4 runs.

Jason Bay has a six-game hitting streak, and has a hit in each of his last 12 games at Citi Field.

Gary Matthews Jr. struck out again in a pinch-hitting appearance. He’s now struck out 19 times in 46 ABs. But Frank Catalanotto was let go because GMJ can play CF. OK. Whatever.

Tyler Clippard won his league-leading 7th game. Wouldn’t it be funny if Clippard won 20 out of the bullpen?

Matt Capps earned his league-leading 14th save. Glad he’s on my fantasy team, but wish he’d get these saves against the Phillies, Braves, and Marlins.

Fernando Nieve threw 21 pitches in the 8th, which was also his 21st appearance of the year. He’s on pace to appear in only 100 games this year — which is still in the neighborhood of Mike Marshall’s all-time record.

Francisco Rodriguez has been startlingly ineffective this year — not dissimilar to what we saw from him last year. His loss in velocity has made him more hittable than ever before. It feels like he has more than 1 loss and 2 blown saves — or is it me? I’m too tired to check the stats and figure out why that is.

The Mets have made more pitching changes than any other team in the NL. That’s what happens when your manager is managing for his job.

Next Mets Game

The Mets fly to Miami to face the Marlins in a three-game set. Game one begins at 7:10 PM. Johan Santana faces Josh Johnson.

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What’s Wrong with Jose Reyes?

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Joe Janish

If it were still April, the “shaking off the rust” excuse would still apply to Jose Reyes. However, we’re now getting into mid-May, and Reyes is floundering with a .229 batting average and a .281 OBP. Those certainly are not the numbers you’d expect from the best offensive player on your team — a.k.a. the number-three hitter.

Could this batting third thing be getting into his head?

It seems to me that his plate discipline has gone out the window since moving to the #3 spot — but that’s just my old eyes and my unreliable memory talking. So, as much as I tend to eschew “the new math” of baseball, I took a suggestion (via Twitter) from Craig Glaser of Sabometrics and took a look at “swing rates” on Fangraphs.

Accordng to the numbers, Reyes’ “outside swing percentage” (or “O-swing%”) — the percentage of balls outside the strike zone that he’s swung at — is Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball Basics, Mets Hitting, Opinion and Analysis | Tagged | 6 Comments

Mets Game 33: Win Over Nationals

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 8 Nationals 6

The last time the Mets brought up a lefthanded-hitting slugger from AAA, they went on a 10-1 run.

Tonight, lefthanded-hitting slugger Chris Carter — fresh up from AAA — ripped a double to drive in the go-ahead run and give the Mets a stunning, come-from-behind victory over the Washington Nationals.

And that “other” lefthanded-hitting slugger — Ike Davis — sealed the victory with yet another one of his thrilling dive-into-the-dugout fly ball catches to end the game.

If you didn’t enjoy watching this game, you ain’t a Mets fan.

Game Notes

Jon Niese was awful, channeling his inner Ollie Perez by walking 5 batters and allowing 6 hits in only 4 1/3 innings. He looked like he had more of a clue than Ollie ever does, though. His main problem is the same that occurs at least once out of every three starts: his release point drops ever so slightly, his fingers slide to to the side or under the ball at release, and as a result the ball can only move laterally and remain flat (and fat). Flat, fat pitches get hit hard. Niese’s curveball — his best weapon — is rendered useless if he can’t get his fingers on top of the baseball at release.

Scott Olsen, on the other hand, was pretty good for the Nationals, despite allowing 10 baserunners in 5 1/3 innings. Somehow he wiggled his way out of trouble in every inning, and was inexplicably removed by manager Jim Riggleman after throwing only 82 pitches. Seeing Olsen exit was the best thing that could happen to the Mets, who finally scored their second run when Tyler Walker allowed an inherited runner to score, and then pounded the Washington bullpen for 6 runs in the fateful eighth frame.

Rod Barajas once again delivered in the clutch, hitting a sky-high fly to left that got caught in the wind and carried into the wall for a 2-run double. My new nickname for Barajas is “Lord of the (High) Flies”, for obvious reasons.

Both David Wright and Jason Bay went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, but for whatever reason it still feels like they are in slumps. Wright, though, lashed two doubles to right field, which is highly encouraging. If he keeps letting the ball get deep, he’ll be back to the old David Wright we know and love.

Jose Reyes was 0-for-4 and is now hitting .231 in the three-hole. However, he also hit .231 in the leadoff spot — though, that was only in his first 11 games and after not being in a game in almost a year.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match occurs at 1:10 PM on Wednesday afternoon. Mike Pelfrey faces Craig Stammen. The postgame here will come later in the evening as I’ll be on the road for work all afternoon.

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Inside Look: Nationals

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Joe Janish

About a month ago, Washington walked into Flushing and beat the Mets two out of three — a series that ended with Livan Hernandez outdueling Johan Santana. At the time, many people had preconceived notions about each team’s prospects — most predicting a bleak season in the basement.

Something surprising has happened since: the Mets are Nationals are neck and neck at the top of the NL East. How? Why? Will it continue? Continue reading →

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