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Give It Away

Last night's 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome was a textbook 2004 Mets defeat. It featured the following ingredients that have become all too familiar sights:

1) A strong pitching performance, in this case a five-hit, four-walk, one-run affair by Tom Glavine

2) Anemic offense, in this case everyone.

3) Piss-poor defense, in this case perpetuated, as usual, by Kaz Matsui.

Matsui was charged with only a single error last night, but he bungled at least two other plays that could very reasonably have been E-6s as well. The error was a result of rushing a grounder in the ninth in an attempt to turn an inning-ending double-play, and was actually atypical of his standard fare. More often than not, his errors are a result of poor and/or seemingly-lackadaisical throws. He actually ranges to his left quite well, but always takes a few more steps than necessary before unleashing his noodle-arm.

If you watched the replays last night, Tom Glavine was sporting a look similar to the one he paid Roger Cedeno last year after each blunder he made. Speaking of which, did anyone see the replay of Cedeno getting kicked out of the game last night? First, he was completely hosed on a check-swing call. He began arguing with the plate umpire, who motioned for him to get back in the box. After much jawing, Cedeno finally returned to the plate, and angrily tapped the dish with his bat, breaking it. He then threw the bat away and walked towards the dugout to retrieve a new one. The ump saw this, and promptly ejected Rog from the game. Roger, infuriated, stormed back and ejected the umpire from the game. Realizing he lacked the executive authority to throw an official from the contest, he argued some more before being restrained by manager Tony LaRussa.

End tangent...

As exciting as Mets victories are to watch, losses like this one are agonizing. The Mets have a lot of difficulty scoring runs, even off of LAIMs (League Average Innings Munchers) like Brad Radke. It doesn't help when the Mets doesn't use the DH rule to their advantage. Typically, this extra spot in the lineup is best used by someone who can actually hit the ball. Instead, Art Howe uses Mike Piazza as the DH, leaving Jason Phillips at first and Vance Wilson behind the plate.

Jason Phillips has been hauntingly inconsistent at the plate this season. He had an awful April, followed by a terrific May, and is having a pitiful June thus far.

JASON PHILLIPS BATTING - 2004

MONTH    AVG   OBP   SLG
APRIL   .162  .275  .221
MAY     .278  .350  .569
JUNE    .125  .160  .125


Players like Phillips are very frustrating to watch, and I've just about lost patience with him. Though better defensively than Mike Piazza, he has horrible range at first base, and he's not exactly Vance Wilson with the glove at catcher. Vance Wilson, while not exactly Mike Piazza with the stick, is nevertheless hitting .255/.333/.451 in 51 at-bats this season. Neither Wilson nor Phillips are very good hitters, and Phillips is very clearly not a good fielder (at least at first base) so why play both of them at the same time?

Especially when you have a left-fielder in Cliff Floyd who can barely walk. Of course, this comes as no surprise from an organization that demotes a player with the second-best OBP on the team (Danny Garcia, .386) and promotes a 37-year-old never-was outfielder with a career .302 OBP (Gerald Williams).