Mets Injury Updates

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Joe Janish

No need to panic — not one Mets player went down with an injury in the past 24 hours.

Perhaps the most significant injury to affect the Mets occurred to an opponent — red-hot Raul Ibanez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin. According to reports, Ibanez suffered the injury slipping down some 42-year-old blogger’s mother’s basement steps.

Ibanez has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Phillies, and in addition to getting his bat out of the lineup, this injury could cool off his steaming hot streak. Let’s hope he falls back to Earth when he returns from the DL.

As far as the Mets go:

Oliver Perez is pitching in Florida and throwing in the low 90s

John Maine is not progressing as quickly as we’d like. His shoulder is still weak and he’s feeling a pinch.

Angel Pagan could return to the club in less than two weeks. But if Jeremy Reed can’t find at-bats –even when the team is playing with a DH — how will Pagan?

Billy Wagner could be throwing to batters shortly. If nothing else can be salvaged from this season, it could be incredibly fun to watch a September bullpen that includes Wagner, J.J. Putz, and K-Rod. Talk about shortening the game.

Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, and J.J. Putz remain out indefinitely, with no news to report. Though, it should be noted that Delgado, like Wagner, was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 5th. Does this mean the sixty days go back to the original date they were placed on the 15-day DL, or do you count the sixty days from June 5th? If it’s the latter, that means both players are eligible to return on August 4th. I *think* the counting goes back to the first date of inactivity, and if anyone can find a link confirming this theory, please post it in the comments.

And I know you’re hanging on the edge of your seat wondering when Ramon Martinez will return, but he, too, is in a holding pattern with his dislocated pinky.

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Next Stop: Mediocrity

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Joe Janish

Aptly named Priced Out of the Citi compares Jerry Manuel’s .500 edict to the NYC subway system — and he wants OFF the train.

Will Sommer of MetsFansForever has a fascinating Q & A with one of the most interesting, intelligent, and humble Mets bloggers on the planet.

That same genius Mets blogger opines the Johan Santana situation on Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove. Man, that guy is all over the place!

TheRopolitans displays the numbers proving that the Mets can hit, just not in the clutch.

Finally, hat tip to MetsPolice for providing today’s video — a 3-D tour of CitiEbbets Field:

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Mets Game 64: Loss to Orioles

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Joe Janish

Orioles 5 Mets 4

Not even Frankie Rodriguez is immune to the failure disease permeating the New York Mets.

Given a one-run lead to hold, K-Rod allowed two hits, walked two batters, and allowed two runs to hand the victory to the Baltimore Orioles in the bottom of the ninth.

The tying run scored on a bases-loaded walk, and the winning run scampered home on an Aubrey Huff line drive single to right field.

K-Rod’s second blown save of the week wasted a brilliant outing by Livan Hernandez, who had thrown 7 solid innings of two-run ball.

Notes

I’ve decided to view Mets games in the same way I do college basketball — which is, don’t bother watching until the final minutes, when the game is ultimately decided.

Was it me, or was Carlos Beltran loafing on a ground ball to shortstop before Robert Andino threw the ball away, allowing Beltran to proceed to second base? I could swear he let up about halfway down the line. But, I nitpick. Beltran WAS running hard on his two stolen bases, after all.

David Wright went 0 for 4, snapping an 11-game hitting streak. He was taking some very big swings and producing a lot of cool breezes.

Alex Cora was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base out of the leadoff spot. His OBP is now .387. His career OBP in 11 years of MLB service is .315, which begs the question: is this a fluke, or is he simply a really, really late bloomer?

Aubrey Huff was 3-for-5 with a run and the game-winning RBI in his final audition for Omar Minaya. However, his glovework at 1B was less than mediocre.

Pedro Feliciano was brought in to face the lefties in the 8th. He got a groundout from Nick Markakis but Huff ripped a double off of him. Huff eventually scored with Sean Green on the mound.

Next Mets Game

The Mets come home to host the Tampa Bay No Longer Devilish Rays. Flamethrower Fernando Nieve faces Andy Sonnanstine in his Flushing hideaway on Friday. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

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Four Things Wrong with Treading Water

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Joe Janish

manuel-ghandi-smFor the second time in as many weeks, Jerry Manuel publicly stated that the goal for his team is to “play .500 ball” until the key Mets — Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado — come off the disabled list. We addressed this concept less than a week ago, but since Manuel brought it up again, we’ll examine it again. Continue reading →

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Johan Santana is Fixed

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Joe Janish

According to Dan Warthen — by way of Adam Rubin and other media outlets — Johan Santana had a very good bullpen session, during which he addressed and fixed an issue with his pitching motion.

From Rubin’s blog:

Pitching coach Dan Warthen feels Johan Santana adequately addressed the mechanical flaw in his delivery during a between-starts bullpen session Wednesday at Camden Yards. To get Santana’s fastball to stop cutting unintentionally, they worked to get the ace’s left hand out of his glove quicker, so Santana’s arm acts less like a “catapult” during his motion.

From David Lennon:

“He was catapulting the ball instead of throwing it,” said Warthen, who demonstrated what he meant with a more overhand delivery. “He’s didn’t have that same deception he usually has.”

Neither Warthen nor Santana knows exactly why the Mets’ ace developed that subtle change, but they feel confident it was corrected today. Warthen said he could tell that Santana was throwing with more velocity and his location with the fastball was significantly better.

That is great news, assuming he can carry over the adjustment into a game — which is easier said than done.

And as MetsBlog pointed out, someone here at MetsToday had a theory about Johan’s pitching motion.

In case you forgot, after the Yankees series we stated this in “What’s Wrong with Johan Santana?”

Johan Santana’s velocity is down, as is his command. One thing I notice is his arm dragging behind slightly — it’s out of sync with his hips, and as a result the hips and legs are driving forward a hair too early, and therefore not helping to power the ball. The question is, why is his arm behind? Is it a timing issue, or is there something physically keeping him from firing his hand forward at its usual speed? For example, does he suffer from a mild shoulder injury?

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Mets Game 63: Loss to Orioles

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Joe Janish

Orioles 6 Mets 4

The Mets were behind from the beginning, and never once took a lead.

Tim Redding allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in his 5 1/3 innings of work, but left the game with the score tied at four all. Bobby Parnell did a stellar job of keeping it that way and handing off the ball to Pedro Feliciano. However, Feliciano did not fare as well, giving up a single and a homerun to the first two hitters he faced (both lefties) in the seventh inning to give Baltimore a 6-4 lead.

Notes

The Orioles’ 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 8-for-11 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. Only slightly outdone were the Mets’ 5-6-7 hitters, who went 7-for-12 with 2 RBI and scored all four runs.

Matt Wieters hit his first Major League homerun off Redding in the second inning. Remember it, as it will be the answer to a trivia question some day. That kid is going to be a star.

During the third inning, the SNY crew questioned 3B coach Razor Shines on a variety of subjects. I found it a bit annoying that the camera shot was almost exclusively on Shines during the entire interview, rather than on the action on the field. While in this particular case we didn’t miss anything, that’s not the point. I turn on the TV to watch the game, not watch the third-base coach give an interview. Why can’t they have a split screen, or have a small shot of Shines in an inset on the screen? Same goes for the Kevin Burkhardt segments.

In the fourth inning, Ryan Church stepped on home plate as he successfully push bunted for a hit. Both Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen were sure to let us know that a batter “is out if he steps on home plate”. While that’s technically true, it wasn’t explained correctly. The rule is that a batter has to have both feet inside the batter’s box when he makes contact with the ball. It doesn’t matter whether or not his foot touches home plate — it matters that it was out of the batter’s box when his bat made contact with the ball. Shame on Keith and Gary, particularly since they threw out the question, “Do you think most players know that rule?” Hey guys, zip it up unless YOU know the rule.

For those interested, here is the rule from the Official MLB Rules:

6.06
A batter is out for illegal action when —
(a) He hits a ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter’s box.

As long as we’re criticizing the SNY crew today, it was pointed out that Carlos Beltran is swinging at a lot of first pitches lately, to which Keith added “and I like it”. For the record, Beltran’s batting average has dropped almost 20 points since June 4 — which could be considered “lately”.

Though, I suppose Beltran is being more aggressive because he’s hitting over .400 when he swings at the first pitch, and is also over .400 when down 0-1 — so, the numbers are on his side. Of course, it could be that he’s been very selective on those counts, and only swinging when he’s sure he can drive the ball. Also it should be noted his average is over .530 when the count is 1-0.

Danny Murphy finally busted out of his month-long slump with a soft three-hit day.

In addition, Razor Shines quickly identified Murphy as the team’s most instinctive baserunner. That’s a scary thought, considering some of the decisions Murph’s made on the bases in his short time in the bigs.

Next Mets Game

The final game of the series will be played in Baltimore on Thursday night at 7:05 PM. Livan Hernandez takes the mound against Jason Berken.

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Mets Game 62: Win Over Orioles

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Joe Janish

Mets 6 Orioles 4

For once, the Mets did what they were supposed to do.

Mike Pelfrey pitched a solid game, the defense was sharp, and the offense stayed within itself and took advantage of their opponent’s miscues to come away with a legitimate, if unspectacular, victory. (And I mean no disrespect by saying “unspectacular” — this is the way this team needs to win going forward, by grinding it out.)

Pelfrey pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowed 2 runs, 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out two. The only scores off of him came on a Nick Markakis two-run homer.

The Mets collected eleven hits, but only one for extra bases, scoring four times in the fourth and twice in the sixth.

Bobby Parnell was brought in to finish out the game but he walked allowed singles to the first two batters he faced, creating a save situation for Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod made things interesting, walking two and allowing two runners to score (both charged to Parnell), but he eventually saved the day for the seventeenth time this season.

Notes

Alex Cora stroked three singles and scored a run in five trips to the plate.

Brian Schneider belted the only extra-base hit, a double that neither drove in a run nor led to one. He did, however, drive in his sixth run of the season with a single in the fourth frame.

K-Rod threw 25 pitches, but it felt like twice that many.

Next Mets Game

Mets and Orioles go live at 7:05 PM on Wednesday night. Tim Redding faces Koji Uehara (pronounced WAY-a-hah-rah).

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Quick Preview: Mets vs. Orioles

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Joe Janish

oriole-logoThe Mets travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles for a three-game series of interleague action.

Game One: Mike Pelfrey (4-2, 4.68 ERA) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (4-6, 5.52 ERA)

Guthrie is more or less the Baltimore ace, and it wasn’t so long ago that he was a highly coveted young hurler expected to evolve into a front-of-the-rotation starter. Something happened on the way to that projected success, as Guthrie is now 30 years old and going backwards. He’s a crafty righty who has to hit his spots and get ground balls to win, and can be susceptible to losing focus.

Pelfrey is coming off a strong start against the Phillies, and has shown flashes of both greatness and horridness this season. The Orioles lineup tends to be aggressive and will tee off on Pelf if he doesn’t mix in his curveball and change speeds.

Game Two: Tim Redding (0-2, 6.18 ERA) vs. Koji Uehara (2-4, 4.37 ERA)

Uehara is a Japanese import that the Mets considered briefly in the offseason as a reliever; the Orioles were one of the few MLB teams who felt he could be a big-league starter, and thus far he’s been surprisingly effective. Not great, but effective, especially considering the competition in the AL East. Like Guthrie, he relies on pinpoint accuracy (only 12 walks in 10 starts) to succeed, spotting a fastball, a changeup, and a “shuuto” (which is essentially what Americans call a “sinker” or a “down and in” — a two-seam fastball that rides in and down on RH hitters). His penchant for the gopher ball in Japan has yet to follow him to the USA — again, surprising considering the sluggers he’s faced.

Redding has been good enough for us to think he’s the answer at the back end of the rotation, and bad enough for us to believe his career is over. What he’ll do on Thursday is anyone’s guess.

Game Three: Livan Hernandez (5-1, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jason Berken (1-3, 7.32 ERA)

Berken is a smaller guy with so-so stuff and a lot of heart — along the lines of a Jason Marquis or a Jason Vargas (what is it with the little attitude-filled Jasons?). In four starts this year he’s pitched one gem, been rocked twice, and had one decent outing. Like the other two Baltimore starters, he pitches to contact and won’t walk many hitters.

Livan is coming off a difficult start against the Yankees, but has otherwise been about as solid as you can expect from a back-end starter. He should have fun with the aggressive swingers in the Oriole lineup.

Final Thoughts

The Orioles are 27-36, 11 games behind the leaders and in last place in the AL East, with very little chance of making a wild card run. That said, this series may be more of a showcase for the Mets’ brass, as veteran hitters such as Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff, Luke Scott, and Ty Wigginton will be made available for trade.

My biggest concern from the Mets’ point of view is the fact that few of the Mets hitters have faced these three starters.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about this series will be the chance to see phenom centerfielder Adam Jones and catcher Matt Wieters in action.

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