Inside Look: San Francisco Giants

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Joe Janish

The Mets – Giants weekend series is underway, and there are a few new faces on the San Francisco club.

Additionally, if you haven’t been paying attention to the NL West, you may be mildly surprised to discover that the Giants are in first place — a half-game over the surprising Padres and a full 3.5+ over the rest of the division.

How are they doing it? Can they keep it up?

Don’t ask me. Instead, refer to Chris Quick of Bay City Ball — the ESPN SweetSpot blogger for the San Francisco Giants.

1. It’s early May and the Giants are atop the NL West. How did this happen and do you see the Giants remaining on top for the long term?

The Giants had a pretty forgiving schedule to start the year (Houston, Pittsburgh, a Chipper-less Braves) but they’ve also taken some series against some really good teams (St. Louis, Philadelphia, Colorado). The Giants have a major strength in their pitching, the rotation looks good from top to bottom and bullpen should shape up a little. Whether or not the team will consistently play this well for the rest of the year is anyone’s guess, but you have to expect that our offense will come back to earth a little at some point. The Giant should be able to hang around as long as the pitching stays healthy and productive.

2. The Giants brought in a few new faces during the offseason. Are they performing as expected?

New first baseman, Aubrey Huff, has played decently posting a line of: .278/.366/.485. In particular, his willingness to take a walk has been nice. Meanwhile, LF Mark DeRosa is only hitting .205/.298/.277. You’ve got to wonder how much of DeRosa’s struggles are related to bad luck or to his healing wrist.

3. Over the winter, a lot of Giants fans were expecting / hoping to see Buster Posey behind the plate in 2010 — while many Mets fans felt the same way about Bengie Molina in New York. As it turned out, Bengie stayed in San Francisco, is enjoying a hot start, and Posey remains blocked. How does the current catching situation sit with you, and do you see Posey playing regularly before the end of the year?

I think with Bengie’s start, the Giants will leave Posey be for now. But Posey is doing his best in AAA to show that he’s major league ready. The young catcher is currently hitting: .343/.436/.525 while getting the occasional start at 1B. It’s no secret that before the season I preferred Posey as the starting catcher, but Molina has been fine so far. The Giants will most likely call Posey up sooner than later, maybe even before June. It’s going to depend on how the team is performing and what they want to do.

4. What is Barry Zito doing differently this year, and do you see him remaining effective through 30+ starts?

Honestly, I wish I knew. Zito really started to use a slider in 2009 and has carried that into 2010. I think it gives batters an extra pitch to look for when they’re hitting against him. Other than that, his fastball velocity is around 86-88 mph these days instead of the 82-84 mph that he was throwing from during 2007-2008. He’s yet to give up a HR this year in 40+ innings and that will obviously change at some point. He has looked good this year, but there’s a lot of season left. I think the Giants would be very, very happy if he pitched somewhere between 2009 and his 2010 so far.

5. We know the Giants have pitching quality and depth, and the offense is currently hitting above the expectations of the “experts”. What do you, as a regular evaluator of the team, see as their true strengths and weaknesses?

The Giants are pretty straight forward. Our strengths being our fantastic pitching, the weakness being the hitting, and maybe the infield defense, too. The pitching will have to carry this team if they want to make a playoff run.

6. We Mets fans don’t get to see much of the West Coast clubs. Tell us about a Giant or Giants we may not know much about, who could have an impact on this weekend’s series.

Keep an eye out for RF Nate Schierhotlz. After years of putting up somewhat decent numbers in the minor leagues and playing sparingly in the majors, he’s off to a hot start hitting: .381/.458/.587. He’s got underrated speed and he plays a fantastic RF.

Good stuff. Many thanks again to Chris Quick. Be sure to check out his blog Bay City Ball for the all the scoop on the San Francisco Giants.

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A Giant Weekend

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Joe Janish

The rollercoaster ride returns to Flushing, and we can only wonder what turn it will take this weekend against the San Francisco Giants.

After a week of scoreboard watching and a return to disappointing play, the once-first-place Mets find themselves again on par with the Washington Nationals. This time, though, it’s in a tie for second place, rather than dwelling in the NL East basement.

The Washington Nationals? How the heck did that happen?

Yes, somehow, some way, both the Braves and the Marlins have sunk to the bottom of the division, while the Nats have risen near the top (sporting a 15-13 record that is identical to the Mets’). As a result, losing four out of their last five didn’t matter much to the Mets — they’re still “in the hunt”.

Lady Luck strikes again — and she could be hanging around for a few more days.

The Giants currently sit atop the the NL West, buoyed by stellar pitching and surprisingly strong hitting. Everyone knew that San Francisco would have among the best arms in the league, but no one would have guessed they’d have 5 players in the lineup hitting over .300. So on the surface it would seem the Mets have a tough job ahead of them.

However, the pitching matchups may favor the home team — depending on your level of optimism and faith in Mike Pelfrey. If you believe Big Pelf’s last start was an aberration, then you might also have faith that the Mets have the advantage tonight as Pelfrey faces Jonathan Sanchez. The lefthanded Sanchez continues to be an enigma, with a 2-2 and averaging a shade less than 6 IP per start despite a sparkling 2.48 ERA.

Tonight’s game is the key to the series, because Saturday’s matchup is Johan Santana vs. Todd Wellemeyer and Sunday pits Tim Lincecum vs. Oliver Perez. You can’t assume that the aces are definitely going to carry their team to victory, but the odds favor a split after Friday.

Meanwhile, the 15-13 Nationals fight it out with the 13-15 Fish over the next three days, and the 17-11 Phillies take on the 12-16 Braves. So regardless of what happens this weekend, the Mets are pretty much guaranteed to either stand still or gain ground on someone in the NL East by virtue of intradivisional cannibalism.

But beyond the math of this weekend is the confidence factor, which seems to be a crucial component to this rollercoaster club. A series win over the mighty Giants puts the Mets in a good position — mentally and emotionally — as they go into a three-game set vs. the Nationals beginning Monday. In contrast, losing two (or more) against the Giants — with their top two starters on the hill — could send the Mets into an extended tailspin, depending on what the rising Nats do against the Marlins. Momentum and confidence can carry a club for a while, and what happens this weekend will set the tone for the next two weeks — in fact, for the entire month of May. Why? Because after this weekend, the Mets play only NL East clubs from May 10 to May 20, then play the Yankees, followed by the Phillies, before closing out the month with the Brewers.

Suddenly, this weekend takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?

Let’s hope Lady Luck is booked for an extended stay in Flushing.

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Mets Game 28: Loss to Reds

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Joe Janish

Reds 5 Mets 4

For the fifth time in as many tries, the Mets lost the “rubber match” of a three-game series.

And for the third time in as many games, it was a solo homer in the final inning that was the difference in the game.

Several opportunities to break the game open presented themselves, but the Mets were unable to take advantage. It was as if they were waiting for the Reds to win the game.

Game Notes

Jon Niese was OK — not great, not awful, about what you expect from a #5 starter. He allowed an eye-popping 12 hits in 6 innings but no walks and 4 runs. I think that is termed a “quality start”. Looking away from the numbers and at him as a human, Niese seemed to do a good job of getting on top of the ball and finishing his pitches early in the game, but gradually dropped his arm angle a bit — causing his fastball to flatten and his curveball to be tipped off. He threw the curve only sparingly the first two times through the lineup, then started to use it more the third time through, but it hung often and he gave it away by coming more over the top. He did throw maybe two or three sharp curves, but the rest hung high or never bit enough to make it into the strike zone — he was cutting off the follow through on it. It seemed that the Reds batters realized they could sit on the fastball and slider, which both were flat and moved mostly horizontally; without vertical drop, a slider (or cutter, whatever he wants to call it) is generally ineffective.

As mentioned by Gary S. in the comments below, Hisanori Takahashi was splendid in his three innings of relief, striking out 4 and allowing no baserunners. At some point, Jerry Manuel is going to have to hand him a spot in the rotation — either Oliver Perez’s or John Maine’s.

I suppose the fact that the Mets caused closer Francisco Cordero to blow two games in the series could be construed as “fight” or “grit” or whatever you want to call it, but they still lost two out of three. So, what does it mean?

Speaking of, Frank Catalanotto got the big hit to lead off the ninth against Cordero and eventually scored. I know a lot of people are unhappy with Smithtown’s Favorite Son on the roster instead of Chris Carter — and I want to see The Animal with the big club — but regardless of his slow start, Catalanotto has been and remains a pure hitter and one of the best pinch-hitters in MLB. The issue is whether the Mets can afford to carry someone who is more or less a pinch-hitter and nothing more. It might be nice to see Catalanotto spend some time at second base and/or the outfield. There’s no way he can field as well as Alex Cora at the keystone but he’ll be adequate and might hit enough to make up for his defensive deficiency in that one start per week. Not that it matters … Cora is in place for the duration.

Jason Bay left 6 runners on base and went 0-for-4 before being removed from the game in the seventh. He epitomized the story of the game for the Mets: plenty of opportunities, but no one stepping up and getting the big hit. I’m not terribly concerned about Bay — I believe that he will eventually get hot and carry this team at some point — but the problem is that no one else is picking up the slack.

Toward the same point, the Jose Reyes Batting Third Experiment is quickly getting tired — even if Reyes drove in a run with an infield hit. Suddenly I’m starting to wonder if the RBI is a more relevant stat than the Beaneheads give it credit for — maybe, just maybe, driving in a run has something more to do with having many opportunities to do so.

And along the same lines … there were 11 homers hit by the two teams combined in this series — all were solo shots.

Under the heading of irrelevant but curiously embarrasing: during the top of the 8th, Gary Cohen and Ron Darling chatted about Miguel Cabrera, while the SNY cameras focused on shortstop Orlando Cabrera (no relation).

Next Mets Game

The Mets take an off day on Thursday while fleeing Cincinnati and traveling home to face the Giants in Flushing. Game one occurs on Friday night at 7:10 PM, with Mike Pelfrey facing Jonathan Sanchez.

Posted in Mets 2010 Games | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Kelvim Escobar Out for the Year

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Joe Janish

Stunning, shocking headline, I know. We were all counting on the once-nearly-good Escobar to handle the eighth inning for the Mets, but he has suffered an out-of-the-blue setback that requires season-ending surgery.

This wasn’t even going to be given the importance of a post, since we more or less wrote off Escobar the day we heard he couldn’t grip a baseball (and for those who kept the faith, his “weakness” might have sent you toward reality). The idea that he might pitch at all in 2010 was considered a joke, in fact.

But after the official news of Escobar’s impending surgery broke, I received several emails from you, the loyal readership, and felt compelled to address the issue.

So … there goes $1.5M down the drain. To be fair, it was much less painful (pardon the pun) a loss than last year’s J.J. Putz debacle. Had the Mets signed him to be an extra arm, or “gravy”, rather than as “the guy” for the 8th inning, it would have been a logical, safe gamble.

The good news is, the Mets have a backup plan in place named Ryota Igarashi.

Oh, wait … he’s on the DL, isn’t he? So then it must be Sean Gre… never mind. I guess I meant Kiko Calero. Oh shoot, Calero is in AAA because he was signed so late (after it was discovered Escobar could grip a pen but not a ball), and he allowed 7 runs in his last outing for Buffalo, didn’t he? Well, that’s better than Johan Santana did in his last appearance, so there’s that. Luckily, the Mets have Brian Stokes. Er, I mean … Bobby Parnell. No, that’s not right, either … um … who IS the setup man?

Ah, relief pitching is overrated anyway … better to have spent big bucks on second-string catchers and experienced backup infielders.

Posted in Mets Injuries | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Mets Game 27: Win Over Reds

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Joe Janish

Mets 5 Reds 4

They went ahead, they fell behind, they fought back … and in the end, they won.

The Mets and Reds went back and forth all game, and by the time the 27th out was recorded, the Mets were the team remaining standing, thanks to a solo blast by homerun king Rod “Piazza” Barajas.

Game Notes

John Maine spun his best start of the year, going 6 innings and allowing just one earned run on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6 in the process. No, I’m not terribly impressed, and chalking it up to the benefit of the same youthful and over-aggressive Reds lineup that made Oliver Perez look acceptable on Monday night. Maybe that’s being negative, but I prefer “realistic”. In any case, I’ll take it, but at the same time will not adjust my low expectations for Maine.

Gotta love the tenacity of these 2010 Mets — something we haven’t seen since … well, since I can’t remember when.

Jose Reyes had two hits, and seems to be shaking the rust off, both offensively and defensively. Now if only stubborn Jerry Manuel will move him back to the leadoff spot, we may be on to something.

The Mets were an impressive 2-for-6 with RISP and left only 4 men on base. Though, the stats-focused sabermetrician Jerry Manuel might let you know that those numbers suggest the Mets didn’t put many men on base in the first place.

Fernando Nieve allowed back-to-back homers in the 8th to allow the Reds to tie the game. I can’t for the life of me figure out how Nieve could be so ineffective — it’s not like he’s been overused or anything.

For the record, Nieve is now on pace to appear in 102 games this season. Maybe I’m harping on the subject, or maybe I’m pointing out something incredibly irresponsible.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match occurs in Cincinnati on Wednesday night at 12:35 PM on Cinco de Mayo. Jon Niese faces Johnny Cueto.

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Mets Game 26: Loss to Reds

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Joe Janish

Reds 3 Mets 2

Mets were Nixed by a Laynce … Laynce Nix deposited a hanging curveball from Manny Acosta into the right field seats to give the Reds a walk-off victory in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Game Notes

Oliver Perez managed to finish six innings, allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks. Do not be fooled — the linescore tells a much different story than the eyes. As usual, Ollie was consistently missing his target by a foot or more, but was helped greatly by the young, aggressive hackers in the Reds lineup who apparently were not given a copy of the scouting report. Had Cincinnati exercised a modicum of patience, Ollie would not have made it out of the third inning.

One positive point regarding Ollie: he was stepping directly behind the rubber to start his windup. I like this, because it gets the pitcher started in a backward-forward, up and down pattern for delivery, which encourages the body’s momentum to go toward the plate. Ollie’s major issue has always been that his body (and balance) goes side-to-side, and it all began with a step to the side of the rubber. Perez still had too much rotation in his leg lift — turning his front side toward the second baseman, and causing his front side to in turn fly open too early — but any baby steps toward better mechanics has to be celebrated.

Mike Leake was impressive, especially considering that he has not thrown an inning of minor league ball. His name and the fact he can hit made me think of Kelly Leak, from Chico’s Bail Bonds. The kid pounded the strike zone and held the Mets to only 4 hits and a walk in 6 innings. I was surprised Dusty Baker lifted him for pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo with men on first and second. First of all, Leake should have remained in the game to pitch, but secondly, he looked more capable at the plate than Cairo.

Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo combined to see 49 pitches and reach base 5 times in 10 plate appearances, but scored only one run between them.

David Wright seems to be out of his slump; he went 2-for-5 and is now hitting .281.

Fernando Nieve pitched two innings after a one-inning appearance on Sunday night. He is now on pace to appear in 99 games in 2010. This is not a joke, not an exaggeration; do the math.

Manny Acosta now has two decisions in less than two weeks. Something seems wrong with that; shouldn’t someone else be pitching in these situations? Maybe Fernando Nieve should be in there more often.

Paul Janish did not appear in the game, which was a major disappointment. I was wearing my “Janish” jersey and everything.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Reds do it again at 7:10 PM on Tuesday night in Cincinnati. John Maine faces Bronson Arroyo.

Posted in Mets 2010 Games | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Mets Game 25: Loss to Phillies

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Joe Janish

Phillies 10 Mets 5

So much for momentum.

If it wasn’t for that 9-1 homestand, I might have the feeling that nothing changed with the Mets from the last three years.

Game Notes

Johan Santana was terrible. Absolutely terrible. He allowed 10 earned runs on 8 hits and 2 walks — including 4 homeruns — in 3 2/3 innings. He threw too many pitches up in the zone and over the heart of the plate, and the Phillies didn’t let him get away with it. Though it could be argued that balls regularly fly out of Citizens Bank Park, at least three of those homers would’ve been out of just about any park, and CBP is no excuse for the other four hits — nor the bases-loaded walk to Jamie Moyer that forced in a run. Santana’s velocity was also a little worrisome, as it hovered around 89.

In contrast, Moyer barely broke 78 MPH, but kept the Mets off-balance, “holding” them to “only” 5 runs through 6 innings. The Mets pretty much threw in the towel after Santana left the mound.

Fernando Tatis hit a double, justifying his start over Ike Davis (not).

Gary Matthews, Jr. was 0-for-4 in the leadoff spot. He’s now hitting .139 on the season with a .244 OBP.

Jose Reyes was 1-for-13 with an RBI this weekend against the Phillies hitting in the three-hole.

David Wright hit a 3-run homer to give the Mets a 3-0 lead in the first frame. Santana, however, gave the Phillies two runs back in the bottom of the initial inning.

Rod Barajas went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the fourth that gave the Mets their second 3-run lead of the game. Santana, however, let that lead get away in the bottom of that inning as well.

Jeff Francoeur stole his second base of the season and threw out Moyer trying to score. He also was hit by another pitch, though he didn’t make any attempt whatsoever to get out of the way of Moyer’s 74-MPH changeup.

Fernando Nieve, who had not appeared in a game all month, finally got some work in, pitching a perfect seventh inning. He is on pace to appear in 97 games this season. No kidding — do the math.

Next Mets Game

The Mets will try to shake off the last two drubbings on Monday in Cincinnati. Oliver Perez faces Reds rookie Mike Leake at 7:10 PM.

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Dan Murphy Will Wing It in Buffalo

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Joe Janish

According to Brian Costa of the Star-Ledger, the Mets will send Daniel Murphy to AAA Buffalo once his knee has completely healed.

Per Costa:

The Mets plan to send Murphy, 24, to Buffalo for two reasons. From an offensive standpoint, they think it would be better for his development to get regular at-bats, which isn’t likely to happen in the majors. And defensively, the Mets want Murphy to play multiple positions, including first base, second base and left field.

Part of the thinking is that greater defensive versatility would increase his trade value, but it would also make him more valuable to the organization if he isn’t traded.

Interesting, isn’t it? We’ve expressed similar thoughts about Murphy right here at MetsToday — that he’d ultimately be most valuable as a “supersub” a la Mark DeRosa (or Don Money, for old farts like me).

So the “golden boy” has fallen from the grace of the Mets management; maybe now we can finally stop comparing him to Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Edgardo Alfonzo, etc., and just let him become Daniel Murphy. The idea that Murphy could/would be the starting first baseman was mythical from the beginning, but who’s to say he can’t reinvent himself (again) and turn into a very good, valuable part-time player?

Considering that AAA Buffalo already has lefthanded-hitting Mike Jacobs installed at first base, and the”Monster” Chris Carter splitting time among 1B, OF, and DH, I would guess that Murphy will be getting some reps at both 2B and 3B for the Bisons. Many Mets fans I’m sure would like to see Murphy playing second base exclusively, so that he can supplant Luis Castillo. But I doubt very highly that Daniel has the feet and hands to develop into an everyday MLB second baseman; we’ll see. The one place I’d really like to see Murphy is behind the plate. Again, I doubt he can develop into Johnny Bench back there, but I believe he has enough athleticism, toughness, and the right work ethic to make himself into a capable third-stringer. It’s always nice to have that third / emergency catcher on the 25-man roster — especially one who can be a strong pinch-hitting threat.

There’s one thing about Murphy’s demotion that doesn’t sit right with me, however — the fact that he essentially lost the starting job due to an injury. By all accounts, Murphy was the starting first baseman going into Opening Day — and walked into spring training as the starter, according to Jerry Manuel. While we may not have agreed with that decision, the fact is that Murphy was going to be “the guy” at first base — and possibly batting cleanup (!) — until he injured his knee. Now when he’s healed, he’ll be a backup utilityman in Buffalo. Something just ain’t right with that (kind of like Omir Santos going from starting catcher to AAA backup in a matter of 24 hours).

Posted in Latest Mets News, Mets Injuries | Tagged | 7 Comments