Mets Game 108: Loss to Padres

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Joe Janish

Padres 8 Mets 3

Ho-hum. Good thing this one was happening on the Left Coast, so most Mets fans were asleep while it was occurring.

Except, even the Mets fans who stayed awake to witness this depressing contest were fighting to keep their eyes open beyond the third inning.

Livan Hernandez did not pitch well. One would expect that a San Diego lineup full of youngsters would be easy prey for the wily veteran. However, these kiddies were clearly equipped with a game plan: make Livan throw the ball in the strike zone. Their collective discipline was devastating to Livan’s roundabout strategy from frame one, as the Friars worked him over for two runs and then another four in the third. Remarkably, Jerry Manuel left Livan in the game through the madness, and he gave up one more in the fifth before finally leaving.

Tim Redding got back to his usual routine, allowing the eighth Padre run in the seventh inning.

Meantime, the offense could do nothing against rookie lefthander Clayton Richard, who mowed down the Mets with ease before running out of gas in the sixth. The Mets mounted a mildly inspiring rally to chase Richard from the game, but Danny Murphy stifled it with a double-play grounder.

Notes

Aside from that rally-killing grounder, Murphy had two hits in four at-bats, as did Fernando Tatis. Tatis drove in a run and had the Mets’ only extra-base hit of the evening.

After watching Hernandez allow four runs in the third inning, and seeing him return to pitch the fourth, the fate of the Mets’ season became crystal-clear. The season is over, done, finished. Livan was left out there to dry, to save the bullpen. In other words, the game had been conceded. From here on it’s an early version of spring training, as the Mets will be holding auditions for the 2010 season. But hang in there, folks, and buy tickets — the Carloses are returning any week now!

Speaking of 2010, San Diego has some intriguing youngsters to build on for the future. Clayton Richard reminds me a bit of Cole Hamels, and they have some potent bats in Chase Headley and Will Venable. Everth Cabrera looks like a young Jose Reyes with his speed and fielding ability — though I’d like to see him dive for more balls. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this team compete again within 2-3 years.

Next Mets Game

The second game of the series will be played at 10:05 PM on Friday night. Oliver Perez hurls against his old team while Kevin Correia pitches for the Padres.

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Mets Trade for Anderson Hernandez

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Joe Janish

anderson-hernandez_thecatchTwo weeks short of the anniversary of the trade of Anderson Hernandez for Luis Ayala, the Mets have reacquired the slick-fielding middle infielder from the Washington Nationals.

Almost immediately upon arriving in Washington last year, AHern swatted the baseball like he never did before, batting .333 with a .409 OBP in 28 games and 91 plate appearances, walking 10 times and striking out only 8. That offensive outburst was enough to make us wonder if the Mets made a mistake in giving up on the previously light-hitting Hernandez — who perennially leads the Caribbean winter league in batting but flops upon returning to the States.

However, Hernandez went right back to his expected offensive output this year — .251 AVG, .310 OBP, 41 Ks in 255 times to the plate. So we can presume that 28-game hot streak was an aberration.

So it’s interesting that the Mets would bring him back to Flushing, considering he is redundant to Wilson Valdez and Argenis Reyes — both of whom remain in Buffalo. Though, personally, I always enjoyed watching AHern and given the choice of all three, would take him over Reyes and Valdez.

In return for AHern, the Mets sent A-ball infielder Greg Veloz to the Nats. Veloz is sort of a 21-year-old version of Hernandez (or Argenis Reyes) — a switch-hitting middle-infielder with above-average speed. He doesn’t have the fielding prowess of AHern nor Argenis, and in fact there was a time that the Mets felt he’d hit enough to move to 3B (he was their #16 prospect in 2008 according to Baseball America). However, he hit a disappointing 6 HRs in a little less than 600 plate appearances last season, and is hitting only .232 with 2 HR through 91 games thus far this year.

For a moment, I questioned why the rebuilding Nationals would trade away a still-young, Gold-Glove caliber second baseman but I guess they don’t see AHern hitting enough to ever be a regular. And, they have acquired a youngster who is quickly becoming a non-prospect but still has time to rebound. It’s not like the Nats are going anywhere in 2010 nor 2011, so they have time to wait.

With the arrival of AHern, I’m guessing that Luis Castillo’s “mild ankle strain” is worse than originally indicated.

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Bobby Parnell to the Rotation?

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Joe Janish

bobby-parnell
One of the reasons Bobby Parnell pitched three innings of relief today was to stretch him out for Continue reading →

Posted in Pitching Staff | Tagged | 2 Comments

Niese May Be Out for the Year

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Joe Janish

Minutes after an awkward stretch while covering first base, Jonathan Niese was removed from today’s ballgame with a severe ankle injury. Niese was immediately sent for an MRI, and during the postgame, manager Jerry Manuel said that “…we suspect it to be a tear”.

A “torn” ankle would be terrible, terrible news for the young lefthander, and would certainly end his season. Further, it could knock him out of action for 6-8 months. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that the MRI comes back with a better report than the Mets suspect. Though, what worries me is the Mets have usually erred on the side of optimism.

In addition to losing Niese, Gary Sheffield also left the game after re-aggravating his hamstring. As expected, he’s listed as “day to day”. A few days ago, Jerry Manuel made it clear that Sheffield would not play in day games after night games. Despite this, he allowed Sheff to play after the two had a conversation last night. According to Manuel:

“…. he was very adamant about playing today, that he wanted to play. And the day game / night game for him, normally means that if there is a stretch of games — say we have five or six games in a row, and then we have a day game — then that becomes an issue. But we did not have that type of stretch since he went on the DL.”

Depending on Niese’s MRI, we should expect to see Niese go on the DL and a position player come up from the minors, now that both Sheffield and Luis Castillo are “day to day”.

Posted in Mets Injuries | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mets Game 107: Win Over Cardinals

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Joe Janish

Mets 9 Cardinals 0

What a difference a day makes!

Fueled by the support of screaming, sugar-filled children, the Mets delivered an overwhelming win to the Camp Day crowd.

The Mets offense exploded for five runs in the first two frames against starter and loser Kyle Lohse, then tacked on another four in the sixth and eighth innings to make it a laugher.

Nelson Figueroa, who came on to pitch after Jonathan Niese injured his ankle in the second, earned the win and redeemed himself with a stellar 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief. Bobby Parnell earned a rare 3-inning save, striking out 3 and allowing only one hit.

Notes

Parnell is now tied with Frankie Rodriguez for the team lead in saves since the All-Star break.

Angel Pagan and David Wright combined to go 6-for-8 with 3 runs and 6 RBI. Pagan had a booming homerun to centerfield and ripped his 7th triple of the year. Despite a paltry 146 times to the plate, only one man in MLB has more triples than Pagan — Michael Bourn, who has 9 in 451 plate appearances. Who needs Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran when you have Angel Pagan?

Parnell and Figueroa were a combined 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Rick Ankiel had a difficult time in centerfield during that second-inning offensive outburst by the Mets. He made a diving attempt for a blast by Nelson Figueroa but the ball missed his glove and resulted in a triple — nearly a quadruple, in fact. (Jim Edmonds would’ve had that ball, BTW.) Minutes later he misplayed a low liner off the bat of Angel Pagan, with his glove fingers up instead of down, allowing Figgy to score and Pagan to reach first. And moments after that, Pagan challenged him by going first to third on a David Wright single. Ankiel, I think, had a great shot to nail Pagan, but he hesitated and then took a long windup before unleashing his throw, which was a little too late.

Next Mets Game

The Mets fly cross-country to face the Padres in San Diego for a four-game series. Livan Hernandez faces Clayton Richard in the opener, which begins at 10:05 PM EST on Thursday night.

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Castillo Out, Reyes Out Longer

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Joe Janish

In case you missed it, Luis Castillo slipped going down the dugout steps and injured his ankle. The Mets are terming it a “mild strain”, and not surprisingly, are listing him as “day to day”.

No, this is not a joke. Castillo really did hurt himself in the dugout, off the field of play. Which begs the question: in this brand new stadium, why are the dugout steps and floor not covered with some kind of porous padding, such as you might find on a running track? I could be completely mistaken, but it looks like the dugouts and steps at Citi Field are bare concrete — which makes cleanup easy but is not the safest platform for metal spikes. Again, I could be wrong — I haven’t been inside the dugouts and am only trusting what I’ve seen on TV and views from the stands. For all I know there is a rubber covering on top of the concrete, or maybe they put down some kind of runner or mat.

But back to Castillo’s injury. With him out, but not on the DL, means Angel Berroa will be getting more playing time, and/or we’ll be seeing Fernando Tatis at 2B. Tatis’ hustle, professionalism, and occasional homerun power are wonderful additions to the lineup temporarily, but if he starts then your top RH bat off the bench is Berroa. Twelve of one and a dozen of the other.

Luckily, this situation is only “day to day” (ha!), which reminds us of another middle infielder whose injury status was once described similarly — Jose Reyes (silly me, I thought he’d be out for the season!). The latest on Reyes is that he’s had a setback, he feels “discomfort” in his leg, and has flown up from Port St. Lucie to be re-examined by the team’s doctors. If nothing else, Jose is racking up the frequent-flyer miles with all these trips back and forth between Florida and NYC.

After Reyes is seen by the Mets’ doctors, one has to wonder — is it time for a second opinion? Further, is it time to forget about this season, shut him down, and make sure he’ll be ready for 2010 and beyond? Surely, the similarly ill-advised returns of Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran will be enough to sell tickets in September — so let’s put the brakes on Reyes and make sure there will be reason to buy tickets next year.

Posted in Mets Injuries | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Mets Game 106: Loss to Cardinals

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Joe Janish

Cardinals 12 Mets 7

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse …

Thanks to Iron Mike, the Mets were able to touch the previously untouchable Joel Pineiro for 7 runs on 11 hits in only five frames. Combine that with the fact they had ace Johan Santana on the mound, and you would think this game would be a slam-dunk.

You know how ugly a missed dunk is?

Santana was not his vintage self, but appeared to have pitched just well enough to win. Backed by the offense’s seven-run outburst (two of which he drove in himself), Johan allowed five runs on nine hits in eight innings, and exited with a two-run lead in the hands of fellow Venezuelan Francisco Rodriguez.

However, Frankie shat the bed, giving up back-to-back doubles to Rick Ankiel and Julio Lugo to start the ninth. He struck out pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus, but engaged in a 7-pitch battle royale with the next hitter, Skip Schumaker. Unfortunately for the Mets, Schumaker ended the at-bat with a single to score Lugo and tie up the game. Just like that, Santana had a no-decision and K-Rod his fourth blown save.

The Mets mounted a mild two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth but it petered out when Dan Murphy fanned. The Cards loaded the bases in the top of the tenth and were given the go-ahead run when Sean Green’s first pitch plunked Mark DeRosa. Green’s fifth pitch — an 0-2 slider — was deposited into the seats by Sir Albert Pujols, completing the Cards’ eight-run blitzkrieg over the final three innings.

Green’s HBP scored a runner initially put on base by Pedro Feliciano, so Feliciano was tagged with the loss — his fourth of the year.

Notes

To add injury to insult, Luis Castillo slipped on his way down the dugout steps and sprained his ankle after grounding out in the seventh. He’ll likely miss a few games as a result. Shame, considering how well Castillo has been playing of late.

Have to wonder why Brian Stokes threw only one pitch in the tenth. Jerry Manuel chose to play the Matchup Game one day after the bullpen was severely stretched, using Stokes, Feliciano, and Green. What exactly was the plan if the game went 11 or 12 frames? I suppose we would have seen Nelson Figueroa at some point.

K-Rod seemed to be having trouble with his release point, as he left many of his breaking pitches up in the strike zone — he wasn’t “finishing” his pitches, releasing just a hair too early. He threw a season-high 41 pitches, so with Wednesday’s game beginning in the early afternoon, you can forget about his availability. Additionally, Feliciano has thrown 40 pitches over the past 5 days, and 79 over the last 9. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but remember he’s warming up in the bullpen before coming into these games, so add in another 15-20 pitches at minimum per day.

In all honesty, I felt a slight pang of concern when Manuel pinch-hit for Santana in the bottom of the 8th. I know he was having a rough night, and had thrown 103 pitches, but there was this thought in my head suggesting that the best plan was to leave Johan in there. Naturally, if he was left in and the Mets lost as a result, I’d be raking Manuel over the coals for making such a boneheaded decision. Maybe the problem is that I’ve been trained to expect the worst from this ballclub.

Pujols, who had been “slumping” recently (1 for his last 13 coming into the game), was 4-for-5 with 2 HRs, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBI. Hate to think what might’ve happened if he were on a hot streak.

Next Mets Game

The final game of the series occurs at 12:10 PM on Wednesday afternoon. Jonathan Niese faces Kyle Lohse.

Posted in Mets 2009 Games | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Mets Prepare for Pineiro

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Joe Janish

pitching-machineSince joining the St. Louis Cardinals, Joel Pineiro has been a thorn in the Mets’ side, most recently channeling Christy Mathewson when he faced the orange and blue.

In two starts covering 17 innings this year, Pineiro has a 1.04 ERA vs. the Mets, allowing only 8 hits and a .151 batting average.

Last year, the Mets pounded him for 21 hits in 9 innings, but the Cards won both contests.

However, tonight it’s going to be different. Jerry Manuel — always looking for ways to exploit technology to get an edge on the competition — has come up with a way to prepare for Pineiro’s vaunted sinkerball. Manuel told reporters prior to the game that the pitching machine was adjusted in such a manner that it was now throwing sinkers (previously, if you remember, it was set to throw curveballs).

So no worries …. after facing the sinkers from “Iron Mike”, Pineiro should be no problem at all.

Posted in Mets Hitting, Shea What? | Tagged , , | 1 Comment