Mets Game 121: Loss to Braves

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Joe Janish

Braves 3 Mets 2

So strange to feel indifferent with Chipper Jones and the Braves in Flushing.

I tried really hard to care about this game, but just couldn’t get anything going — much like the Mets offense.

Kenshin Kawakami held the Mets to one run on seven hits through seven strong innings, pitching just a bit better than Johan Santana. Santana pitched well, but just well enough to lose, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits.

Notes

Fernando Tatis grounded out with the bases drunk in the first, the first of only two rallies by the home team on the evening. With that, the Mets are 4-for-49 this season with bases loaded and two outs.

Mets pitching threatened to go an entire game without walking a batter, until Francisco Rodriguez entered and handed two free passes.

Luis Castillo collected another two hits and is now hitting .312 — good for ninth in the NL.

Strange to see the Braves bunt in the ninth after K-Rod walked the leadoff hitter. I’d never give outs to Frankie Fantastic, and especially not when he might be struggling.

Billy Wagner made his 2009 debut in the 8th and pitched an easy 1-2-3 inning, hitting as high as 96 MPH on the SNY radar gun. If he’s throwing a legit 96, I see no reason to trade him now unless he brings back serious prospects. Pick up the option and shop him all winter … and shop K-Rod as well. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have them both in 2010.

Wags was throwing with a slightly low elbow on several of his pitches, which is a mild concern. He needs to make sure he gets on top of the ball at release.

When was the last time you heard entrance music for a reliever in the 8th inning? Pretty cool … and emotional.

Many pundits criticized the Braves for acquiring Adam LaRoche, but the guy is hitting a shade under .400 since re-joining Atlanta. The Braves’ defense was that he is a second-half hitter and strong finisher. Well played.

Next Mets Game

The Mets begin a four-game series against the Phillies on Friday night at 7:10 PM. This is the Mets’ big chance to get back into the race … if they sweep the Phils, they’ll be back to within single digits of first place. Mike Pelfrey faces Cole Hamels.

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Mets Release Livan Hernandez

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Joe Janish

According to MetsBlog, the Mets have released Livan Hernandez and activated Billy Wagner from the DL.

Though Livan has struggled mightily in his last three starts, I’m mildly surprised if only because I don’t know who is going to take his spot in the rotation. Nelson Figueroa? Tim Redding? After seeing two three-inning starts by Bobby Parnell, and getting lucky to get 5 innings out of Ollie Perez, you’d think the Mets would reserve those two for long duty.

Hopefully this clears the way for the Mets to promote Lance Broadway or Tobi Stoner to get a look-see. Today happens to be Broadway’s 26th birthday, and though he’s been awful in AAA, you’d have to think he has a better shot at making the 2010 roster than Tim Redding.

Looking forward to seeing Billy Wagner in action … if he can crank it up to 95 MPH, the Mets will have a nice trading piece — or setup man for next year.

Posted in Latest Mets News, Pitching Staff | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Who Should Really Be Auditioning at 1B

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Joe Janish

1b-teeAfter 65 games at first base, Dan Murphy has shown he can be defensively adequate at the position. Other than a few brain farts and errors due to inexperience, Murphy is, right now, better than Mike Piazza ever was at the position.

If the Mets are serious about going into 2010 with Murphy penciled in as the starting first baseman — or even if they’re not — there is another player who should be getting reps at first base: Continue reading →

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Mets Game 120: Loss to Braves

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Joe Janish

Braves 15 Mets 2

It’s deja vu all over again … kind of.

The Mets and Braves entered the twilight zone — or perhaps the George Costanza dimension known as The Opposite. One night after the Mets blasted the Braves for eight runs in one inning, the Atlanta turned the tables and scored eight runs in one inning to pound Bobby Parnell en route to a laugher of a win.

Atlanta scored two touchdowns against the Mets before it was all over, beating up on Parnell, Nelson Figueroa, Tim Redding, and Sean Green with equal aplomb.

Notes

Speaking of aplomb, early in that nightmarish second inning, Ron Darling relayed Jerry Manuel’s description of Parnell as a young man with great poise. Talk about bad timing.

Seven of those runs were scored with two outs.

In defense of Parnell, the Braves scored four runs after Luis Castillo had a brain freeze and did not cover second base on what would’ve been an inning-ending fielder’s choice on a Garret Anderson grounder. Anderson Hernandez would have easily thrown out Omar Infante had Castillo covered, but since he didn’t, AHern double-clutched and was a hair too late to get Garret at first. But hey, who expected Garret to hustle?

Parnell threw 36 pitches in the second inning — and was sent back out to pitch the third after Jair Jurrjens quickly dispatched of the Mets with 10 pitches. He barely had enough time to sit down and get a sip of water. He threw another 23 in his final frame. Ron Darling commented that it was important to see how Parnell would respond to the adversity of the second inning. OK, I understand mental toughness, but how about the fact that most overuse injuries occur during times of fatigue? Parnell was so exhausted in the third that he walked Jurrjens on five pitches. I seem to be the only pundit concerned for this kid’s arm.

Though that brain freeze was bad, Castillo was one of the Mets’ few highlights — he went 2-for-2 with an RBI, pushing his average to .310. Dan Murphy also had two hits, including a triple.

Speaking of Murph, just prior to the first pitch of the game, SNY posted a graphic mentioning that he’d made 6 errors in 65 games at 1B. Why they would want to draw attention to that negative stat, I’m not sure. Strangely enough, Keith Hernandez blurted, “Murphy, with ONLY 6 errors at first base …”

Today’s Baseball Tip

In the second inning, Atlanta’s Omar Infante slid head-first into first base on an infield grounder. Youngsters, do not ever, ever, ever, EVER slide into first base UNLESS you are doing it to avoid a tag. As soon as you make the decision to slide, your body slows down. In addition, sliding is infinitely more dangerous than running through the bag. So there you have two good reasons to always run through first — safety and speed.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match will occur at 7:10 PM on Thursday night. Johan Santana faces Kenshin Kawakami.

Posted in Mets 2009 Games | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Different Animals

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Joe Janish

manuel-ghandi-smBack in May, before the entire Mets roster went on the disabled list, there were many “stars” in the lineup but only a handful of “gamers” — the type of players who went all-out, all the time, regardless of the score, the opponent, or the condition of their body.

One of those players was Ryan Church.

Or, as Jerry Manuel described him — AFTER he left the Mets:

“You have to be careful into stereotyping individuals. David is a different animal, so to speak. How he is made up is a little different than, say, Ryan Church, in my opinion. That’s not to say that one is better than the other, but they’re different.

With Ryan, there was always something thrown from leftfield – ‘We need to check that.’ That made it somewhat difficult to evaluate that particular situation.”

Um … actually, it IS saying one is better than the other. Further, it’s saying that Ryan Church isn’t as “tough” as David Wright.

Strangely enough, it was Church who was rushed back into service not once but twice after concussion injuries, while the “different animal” known as David Wright was immediately placed on the DL.

To Church’s credit, he acknowledged Manuel’s statement but wouldn’t engage it any further:

“I could read between the lines,” Church said before the Mets-Braves series opener at Citi Field. “It was kind of a cheap shot, but it is what it is. I’m not going to get into a pissing contest. It’s not worth it. I’m here trying to make the playoffs”

Manuel’s response was Minayalike:

“What I was referring to is that he is different from David Wright … I didn’t mean no intent … I just mean they are different individuals”

Huh? “Didn’t mean no intent” ? What in the world does that mean? Ah, heck … moving on …

Now, there has always been buzz that Church was a guy who didn’t play through pain the way some other players do — one rumor is that Frank Robinson hated Church for his reputed “softness”. Regardless of that reputation, it’s unfair for one individual to judge another’s pain — and it’s completely unacceptable to measure one’s toughness when it comes to head / brain injuries.

Maybe Ryan Church was “soft” before he came to New York, but he played as hard as anyone when he was on the field and wearing the orange and blue. His type of animal is welcome in my zoo any day of the week.

Posted in Manuel Being Manuel | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Mets Game 119: Win Over Braves

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Joe Janish

Mets 9 Braves 4

At least the Mets have the opportunity to play the role of spoiler.

This game began like a typically bad Ollie outing — early on, they fell behind 4-0 and looked like they wouldn’t do much against Atlanta ace Derek Lowe.

Then in the fourth frame, a line drive ricocheted off Lowe’s glove hand, and it was as if a light switch turned off his effectiveness, because the Mets then exploded for 8 runs on 10 hits to knock Lowe out of the game.

Meanwhile, Oliver Perez managed to “hold” the Braves to “only” those four runs through the fifth, before yielding to Elmer “Glue” Dessens. Dessens, Pedro Feliciano, and Brian Stokes finished it up to preserve the victory.

Notes

The bright side: Ollie earned a victory. The not-bright side: he wasn’t terribly effective. Perez allowed four runs on five hits and a walk, including a three-run homer by Matt Diaz and a solo shot by Adam LaRoche. Jerry Manuel got him out of the game as soon as he could while still pitching long enough to be credited with the win. Two more years and $24M for a pitcher who has evolved into a fifth starter.

The Mets banged out 17 hits on the evening.

Luis Castillo, Gary Sheffield and Jeff Francoeur all went 3-for-5 on the day, with Castillo and Sheff driving in two runs apiece. In any other park, Francoeur might’ve had two homers — he hit two blasts off the Soot Monster.

In the remarkable fourth frame, every Met in the lineup had a hit except for Dan Murphy, who made two outs in the inning.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Braves do it again at 7:10 PM on Wednesday night in Flushing. Bobby Parnell faces Jair Jurrjens.

Posted in Mets 2009 Games | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Mets Induct Lasorda and Other Oddities

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Joe Janish

Did you know that the Mets are the keepers of the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame? Me neither, but thanks to Metstradamus I also know that Tommy Lasorda was inducted into it this past Sunday.

Matt Cerrone likes the cream-colored shirts that the Mets were wearing this weekend. I don’t — to me they’re similar to the color of the Padres unis, always looking dirty or somehow “off” — but I would welcome them for no reason other than the Brooklyn Dodgers never wore cream, and anything that can be done to distance the Mets from the Dodgers is to me a step in the right direction.

We finally get an inkling on Jerry Manuel’s true thoughts on Ryan Church (i.e., he doesn’t think he’s very tough). Hat tip to Kranepool Society, which also reminds us that as bad as the Mets are playing, a winter without baseball is worse.

MetsPolice has a gripe about the Mets’ decision to slash ticket prices.

Finally, Josh Alper of NBC New York thinks a decision on Jerry Manuel’s future should be made right now.

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Mets Sign Steven Matz

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Joe Janish

The Nationals signed their Stephen, and the Mets got their Matz.

In one of the few “feel good” stories of 2009 for the Mets, local pitcher Steven Matz signed a pro contract with the team just minutes before the midnight deadline.

No word yet on whether he’ll be assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones or elsewhere. Since the Cyclones have less than 20 games left on the schedule, I’d imagine Matz will take a trip down to Port St. Lucie and work out there until further notice. Reportedly, Matz was given an $895,000 signing bonus — slightly short of his $1M demand, but still more than $450K over “slot”.

There haven’t been any announcements concerning other previously unsigned Mets draft picks, though we may hear of them in the coming days. (** UPDATE ** – TheRopolitans has an update on other signings made just before the stroke of midnight last night ***)

In other news, the Nationals signed uber-prospect Stephen Strasburg to a record $15.67M bonus. That figure is short of the $20M – $40M figures thrown out by Scott Boras, but it’s a pretty penny nonetheless for a kid who has yet to throw a professional pitch.

Good luck to both Steves … maybe we’ll see them pitching head-to-head on a big-league diamond some day in the near future.

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