Mets Game 142: Win Over Phillies

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Joe Janish

Mets 10 Phillies 9

David Wright, homerun slugger, finally re-emerged.

Wright saved the day with two two-run homers in the final two innings, and drove in six runs on the day, to lead the Mets over the Phillies. Wright’s second dinger in the top of the ninth overshadowed an awful outing by Mike Pelfrey, who pilfered a four-run advantage handed to him after the first frame.

Big Pelf proceeded to allow 8 runs in 6 innings on 10 hits — including 3 homeruns — before Ken Takahashi came in to give the Phillies another run. However, it would be their last, and the Mets made their move in the final third of the contest.

Frankie Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth to notch his 31st save. Pedro Feliciano was credited with the win.

Notes

Lost in Wright’s heroics was Dan Murphy’s role in comeback. In the seventh, Murphy hit a ball that was misplayed on the wet ground into a double, then stole third when Jamie Moyer ignored him. He scored on a Wilson Valdez groundout. Then in the eighth, Murphy singled home Carlos Beltran to put the Mets within a run and set up Wright’s winning blast.

Just when you think Mike Pelfrey has taken a step forward, he takes two steps back. Though he walked only one, Pelfrey was often behind on the count — only 65 of his 110 pitches made it into the strike zone.

Thirteen runs scored in the ballgame before a pitching change was made.

Wright’s taters were his first since August 5th.

Howie Rose provided the play by play, which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately Tim McCarver babbled the color commentary for the FOX broadcast.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Phillies play a day / night doubleheader on Sunday. Game one begins at 1:05 PM, will be televised on ESPN, and pits Tim Redding against Kyle Kendrick. The nightcap starts at 8:05 PM, with John Maine making his first start since June 6th and facing the undefeated Pedro Martinez.

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Mets Game 141: Loss to Phillies

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Joe Janish

Phillies 4 Mets 2

An uninspiring loss on a gloomy day of sad memories through stormy weather.

Nelson Figueroa wasn’t pretty, but he did the job, holding the Phils to two runs in 5 1/3 innings while scattering 9 hits and 5 walks. He struggled every inning but somehow managed to keep too many runs from scoring. Unfortunately, the Mets offense was completely handcuffed by Cole Hamels, who allowed only one run through 6 2/3 innings.

Hamels earned his first win over the Mets since 2006, and his ninth victory of the season.

Notes

Hamels had an intriguing approach in this game, relying predominantly on his change-up and other soft stuff to set up his fastball, which he used sparingly. Generally you see more fastballs on a windy, rainy day, but the plan worked well for Hamels. The Mets waved weakly at the low-speed hurls and froze when the 90+ heaters entered the zone. In fact it looked as though the umpire was surprised at some of the fastballs, to the point where he might have missed a few calls that should’ve been strikes.

When Angel Pagan made a nice running catch to nab a Carlos Ruiz fly ball in the seventh, Keith Hernandez remarked, “That was ‘Carlos Beltran-esque’. Angel Pagan can go get ’em, he’s an excellent defensive outfielder”. He forgot to add, “when he’s not running into other outfielders, misjudging fly balls, taking bad routes to balls in the gap, and forgetting how many outs there are.” Otherwise, yeah, he’s “excellent” out there.

Jeremy Reed is quietly winning a job as a fourth or fifth outfielder next year — though it may not be for the Mets. He ripped his 15th pinch-hit of the season, which would’ve scored anyone in baseball from second other than Omir Santos or Ramon Castro (unfortunately, Santos was the runner). Having that kind of bat in the late innings is hard to find, and rarely found matched with a plus-plus glove and above-average speed. However, I doubt the Mets will pay the $1M+ he’ll command. Watch him get non-tendered and hook up with someone else next year.

Things are so bad that I caught myself rooting for Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth at certain points in the game. Sorry, but it’s hard for a former player not to appreciate the effort and execution of the Phillies. They’re tough, motivated, unflappable, confident, and polished.

The Mets have now lost four in a row, and are 19 games behind the league-leading Phillies. I’m not certain, but I think one more loss this weekend will mathematically eliminate the Mets from the NL East championship.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Phillies do it again at 4:05 PM on Saturday afternoon. Eternal enigma Mike Pelfrey faces the ageless Jamie Moyer.

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One Slugger Isn’t the Fix

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Joe Janish

Rob Neyer touched a nerve many Mets fans didn’t appreciate when he suggested that Dan Murphy wasn’t good enough to play first base. Remarkably, Neyer was much more direct, blunt, and critical than me. For instance, I still stand by my thought that Murphy can be a Don Money / Chone Figgins / Mark DeRosa type of “supersub” on a championship-caliber team — someone who plays nearly every day but at different positions. But if he’s the everyday first baseman, the Mets will need more than one slugger in left field to offset the expected lack of production. Continue reading →

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Marty Boryczewski

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Joe Janish

boryczewski-martinMarty Boryczewski
August 17, 1972 – September 11, 2001
Teammate, friend
You will always be remembered

** UPDATE **

Loyal MetsToday reader gsparber has provided this gallery of photos from a 9/11 ceremony on Long Island. Thanks, Gary.

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Mets Game 140: Loss to Marlins

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Joe Janish

Marlins 13 Mets 4

The sweepless series streak comes to an end — at the fins of the Fish, no less.

Bobby Parnell struggled from the get-go, yet hung around long enough to allow 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings. He did strike out 6, so there’s that. The bullpen did no better, giving up another 7 runs over the final four frames.

Oh heck, let’s just go straight to the notes.

Notes

Major League pitchers — and by that I mean pitchers who belong in MLB, as opposed to those who are simply in MLB — will generally miss their target by a few inches, when they miss. Home plate, after all, is only 17 inches wide, and the strike zone is at most 24 inches tall. So if one misses by more than 4-5 inches, that’s significant. Bobby Parnell, however, was consistently missing his target by FEET. Low, high, outside, inside — he was all over the place, looking more like a high-A ball pitcher than a Major Leaguer. It’s always a bad sign when you are regularly seeing the number on the catcher’s back from the centerfield camera view. Omir Santos was constantly reaching, blocking, and jabbing at balls that were nowhere near the intended target.

And while it’s true Bobby Parnell needs to develop his “secondary stuff”, that wasn’t the issue on this particular evening. He was missing by feet with his fastball. At some points, it appeared as though he was trying to aim the ball, and others, he needed to groove the ball over the heart of the plate after falling behind. Bad night all around.

The first inning was a killer for Parnell, and he could’ve gotten out of it if Anderson Hernandez had not muffed a routine DP grounder. But, AHern was likely on his heels because of all the balls being thrown and walks being given prior to that play. In addition, though you could say Parnell was “unlucky” because of that error, you could also say he was incredibly lucky that Dan Uggla chose not to focus in his first-inning at-bat with the bases loaded. Uggla had a horrendous plate appearance, swinging wildly at the first pitch he saw, which was a foot above the top of the strike zone, and the last pitch he breezed at, which bounced a good two feet in front of the plate. This came immediately after a four-pitch walk. Bad baseball by Uggla, but a break for Parnell.

Despite this and other bad outings, I like Parnell’s tools. His sinking fastball has good downward run and is nicely complemented by the hard 96+ MPH heater up in the zone. But he’s really raw, and needs time to polish up his game. At 25 years old, you’d hope he’d be further along, and I wonder if the decision to make him a one-inning reliever has stunted his development.

Tobi Stoner made his big league debut, and spun a scoreless sixth. I’m not sure he has MLB stuff — he telegraphs that curve and doesn’t have much on the fastball — but how can you not root for a guy who found his way here from Germany and really has no business at this level? Typically you don’t see a guy with his mediocre arsenal getting to the bigs after only 500 minor league innings. But his ability to stay healthy, get the job done, and take advantage of an incredibly poor minor league system has been rewarded with a Major League paycheck. He’s a survivor, and I hope he can find a way to stick around.

Jeff Francoeur and Angel Pagan both went 3-for-4. That was the extent of the excitement on offense.

Next Mets Game

The Mets begin a three-game series on Friday against the first-place Phillies. Nelson Figueroa faces Cole Hamels in a matchup of aces that begins at 7:10 PM.

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Mets Game 139: Loss to Marlins

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Joe Janish

Marlins 6 Mets 3

The carriage that transported Pat Misch from Buffalo to Flushing turned into a pumpkin.

Misch allowed four runs in the first frame, and five runs total in six innings, to trounce the sugar-plum dreams of Mets fans who thought he might be the next Jamie Moyer. Though, he does resemble this season’s, 46-year-old, underperforming version of Moyer.

With that quick deficit, it was hard to get anything going against Ricky Nolasco, who mowed down the Mets for a full six innings before finally cracking in the seventh. Though the home team plated three, it was too little, too late, as Nolasco earned his eleventh win of the year.

Notes

The Mets collected a grand total of four hits in the ballgame, and leadoff batter Angel Pagan had half of them.

This game was the Gary Cohenless broadcast — Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez called the game sans the regular play-by-play man. Personally, I thought it went fine, though I’m the type who prefers less noise. As long as the camera is following the ball, the play-by-play description is less vital. I did, however, get this vague feeling that something was missing — and I generally do enjoy Gary Cohen’s input.

Josh Thole caught another solid game behind the plate, save for a few feeble attempts at framing pitches that were nowhere near the strike zone. Stick to sticking it, Josh! The main thing to take away is that he looks comfortable back there — no jerking or jabbing the glove to get to balls, no getting handcuffed or fooled on pitches. He does look a little mechanical, but so did Gary Carter, so who cares? Of course, it was Thole’s second game with Misch, so there was the familiarity factor. I like that the Mets are easing him into the bigs this way — gaining confidence is key to success.

The first Mets run came on a double by Dan Murphy, who hit a poorly located change-up (which was also a poor pitch selection for that moment). This is the main difference between Murphy and a slugger — Murphy hits mistakes for bleeders, bloops, and occasional doubles, while a slugger hits mistakes over the fence. Not a problem, as long as Murphy whacks enough mistakes to drive in 75-80 runs and hit in the .300-.310 area over the course of 550 – 600 at-bats.

Next Mets Game

The series finale occurs on Thursday at 7:10 PM. Bobby Parnell faces Sean West. West stymied the Mets in his start against them on August 25th (1 run in 6 IP) but was blasted for 5 runs on 7 hits on September 4th against the Nationals.

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Mets Game 138: Loss to Marlins

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Joe Janish

Marlins 4 Mets 2

Tim Redding is trending back to the mean.

Redding followed up two straight stellar, near-seven-inning starts with a more typical 5-inning, 100-pitch, four-run effort against the Fish. In other words, an average outing for the Rochester righthander.

Two two-run homers — one by Hanley Ramirez and the other by Cameron Maybin — were the death knell for Redding’s evening. The Mets were unable to respond to potato power, save for two runs scratched out in the fourth and fifth.

Notes

Angel Pagan belted his 9th triple of the season, which was nearly an inside-the-park quadruple. He has the second-most triples in the NL, despite only 254 at-bats. If Jose Reyes ever plays a full season at Citi Field, he might set a new record for triples.

Not a good night for David Wright. He went 0-for-4 with an error (his 14th) and two Ks, including a strikeout in a big spot with the bases loaded in the seventh.

It was a good night for Luis Castillo, who had three hits and an RBI.

The Marlins nearly had a fifth run, when Jeff Francoeur’s throw home bounced over Josh Thole, prompting Dan Uggla to race to the plate from third base. However, the ball was recoved quickly by Elmer Dessens — who technically was in the incorrect backup position — and Dessens was able to get the ball to Thole as Uggla slid in. It should also be noted that Dan Murphy was improperly positioned for Francoeur’s cutoff; that’s been an issue Murphy needs to address if his future will be at first base.

SNY gave us a “silent” sixth inning for reasons unknown. I might have enjoyed it if not for award-winning director Bill Webb, whose incessant camera switches made me nauseous. Are the attention spans of TV-viewing Mets fans really that short, that a new view needs to be shown every two seconds? Does Bill Webb really believe we are interested in seeing an ice cream vendor, a fan working a crossword, the back of Razor Shines’ head, a close-up of a Blackberry, and Jerry Manuel stroking his chin — all in the course of eight seconds? I have an idea: how about, for one inning, SNY sets the TV camera behind home plate and leaves it there? No camera switches to close-ups of Carlos Beltran’s mole or some kid eating cotton candy — just leave the camera in one spot, for one inning. If I want a silent inning, I’ll press mute. Give me something you don’t ordinarily offer, that may make the game experience more enjoyable.

Jerry Manuel mentioned Buddy Bell during the SNY postgame interview while describing Tim Redding’s performance. Then I realized he said “but he battled”, not “Buddy Bell”. I always liked Buddy Bell … he was a solid hitter who hit in the clutch and was an excellent defender at the hot corner. Not much of a manger, though. Ah, I digress … can you blame me, considering where the Mets stand right now?

Also in the postgame, Bobby Ojeda mentioned that he likes the way Josh Thole “sticks” pitches. In other words, he catches the ball when it’s a strike and holds it there. I like that too. It always drove me nuts to watch Ramon Castro try to “frame” every single pitch into the strike zone. All that does is annoy the umpire, and cause him to ignore the catcher’s glove completely. Hopefully Sandy Alomar, Jr., won’t be teaching Thole any similarly asinine “framing” “techniques”.

Though, I disagree completely with Ojeda’s assessment of John Maine’s delivery as “effortless”. We’ve discussed Maine’s terrible, damaging mechanical flaw before, and it is anything but effortless. (Note to Rex Gary: I’m available to work with your client this winter.)

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Marlins do it again at 7:10 PM on Wednesday night. Pat Misch will face Ricky Nolasco. Josh Thole will once again be behind the plate.

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Ezequiel Carrera Wins Batting Crown

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Joe Janish

Where They Are Now: Ezequiel Carrera

ezequiel-carreraThis afternoon I received an email from the Southern League announcing that Ezequiel Carrera of the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx had won the batting crown.

I’m thinking … “hey, that name sounds familiar!”. Of course it does — Carrera was one of the two dozen players traded by the Mets for Sean Green last winter.

The speedy centerfielder finished the year with a .337 AVG, and also led the league in on-base percentage with a .441 clip. The 22-year-old Venezuelan native also stole 27 bases.

Of course, the Mets are set in centerfield through 2011 with Carlos Beltran, so if the Mets held on to Carrera he wouldn’t have a shot to make the club until he was at least 24 years old. And even then, there’s a good chance Jose Reyes will still be around to man the leadoff spot.

Further, anything can happen between now and then. Carrera’s batting crown is for the Southern League, which is AA ball. Some players can make the jump from there to the bigs but Carrera will likely have to prove himself for at least another year — either by repeating AA or in AAA next season. And truth be told, Carrera is a slap hitter with speed and a good glove — along the lines of a Luis Castillo. In other words, not a potential superstar. Still, thought you’d be interested to see how a former property of the New York Mets performed this year.

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