Wright

Blog Roundup: Dog Days Edition

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It’s amazing how one 1-11 stretch can ruin an entire 162-game season.  The Mets had a relatively successful west coast road trip, going 6-5.  But following that 12-game stretch after the All-Star break (which included an 0-6 homestand) playing just a few games over .500 won’t cut it anymore.  At the All-Star break, they were … Read more

Blog Roundup: All-Star Break

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The first half of the 2012 season is in the can, and the Mets are a respectable 46-40, sitting in third place in the NL East, 5 games behind the Washington Nationals.  They’ve certainly exceeded expectations.  This year’s edition of the Mets is loaded with overachievers, like Ruben Tejada, Scott Hairston, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and R.A. … Read more

MLB Needs to Decide What the All-Star Game Is

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Wright made the 2012 All-Star team, but not as a starter.

The 2012 All-Star Rosters were announced today, and the Mets will have two representatives.  R.A. Dickey and David Wright will join manager Terry Collins (who was selected to Tony LaRussa’s coaching staff) in Kansas City.

The big news for Mets fans is the fact that Pablo Sandoval of the Giants beat out Wright in the fan voting by 1.6 million votes.  Wright had been leading in the voting up until the last couple of days.

But fan voting is an important part of the All-Star Game.  After all, the fans should vote for the players they want to see, since it is an exhibition game held for the fans.

Wait…is it?  I thought “it counted this time.”

In 2002, the All-Star Game finished in a 7-7 tie in the 11th inning, when each manager simply ran out of players.  Because that’s what you did in an All-Star Game: get as many players in the game as possible.  Why?  So the fans of each team could see their men compete in the Summer Classic, that’s why.  Admit it, it was  a thrill to see Lee Mazzilli play in the 1979 All-Star game.  He even tied the game with a home run, and drove in the eventual game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk.  He somehow didn’t win the MVP, mostly because a more popular player (Dave Parker) from a winning team (the Pirates) threw a guy out at home.

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Series Preview: Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers

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Dodger Stadium

The Mets (40-36, 3rd place in the N.L. East) begin a 4-game set with the Dodgers (43-33, 1st place in the N.L. West) in Los Angeles tonight at 10:10 PM EDT.

The Dodgers have lost 8 of their last 9 games, and are coming off a sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.  This recent run of games dropped the Dodgers into a first place tie with the Giants, after L.A. had held a steady lead in the N.L. West for the first 3 months of the season.

The Mets followed their 4-game winning streak with a 4-game losing streak.  They lost 2 in a row to the last-place Cubs before steamrolling them in game 3 of the series.

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Blog Roundup: No-Spin Zone

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R.A. Dickey pitched another routine gem last night, allowing a controversial infield hit to B.J. Upton in the first, then allowed an unearned run in the ninth after a David Wright error and two passed balls.  As the Rays radio announcer put it, the only chance Tampa Bay had was if Dickey accidentally locked himself … Read more

Marte, McHugh Talk to Bloggers

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On Friday, the Mets Media Relations department was kind enough to hold a conference call between Mets bloggers and B-Mets Jefry Marte and Collin McHugh.  Both players are off to prodigious starts for Binghamton.  Marte was named Mets minor league hitter of the month.  He’s hitting .326/.389/.442.  McHugh, the Mets minor league pitcher of the month, has … Read more

28 Days Later: The State of the Mets

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David Wright is off to a great start.

28 games into the season, the Mets are 15-13, sitting in third place in the NL East.  And if it weren’t early May, I’d say something like, “if the season were to end today, the Mets would be the second Wildcard team.”  But it is only early May.  With that said, let’s take a look at the current state of the team.

Positives

First, the good news.  The Mets are exceeding expectations.  Yes, the expectations were low, but expectations are being exceeded nonetheless.

They went 13-10 in April, which isn’t bad in and of itself.  However, according to the May 7th issue of Sports Illustrated, they faced the 4th toughest schedule by winning percentage (.535) in the major leagues.  Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Nationals, teams that got off to screaming hot starts,  faced the 30th and 29th toughest schedules, respectively.

Individually, several players are off to great starts in 2012.  David Wright is off to one of the best starts of his career, hitting .375/.481/.545 with a team-leading 14 RBI.  Daniel Murphy is hitting .315/.358/.378.  The Mets need more extra base hits out of Murphy, but it’s hard to be dissatisfied with his average and OBP.  In addition, he’s played a surprisingly competent second base.  He hasn’t been without errors, but like his team, he has exceeded expectations.  Similarly, Josh Thole (.282/.356/.372) has performed well at the plate, while showing improvement behind it.

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