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Weekend Notes

THURSDAY

I couldn't bring myself to write something about the Mets loss last Thursday against the Twins, so I didn't. I'll only mention it briefly now for the sake of completeness. The Mets lost that game to the Twins 3-2 in fifteen innings, which was six innings more than I needed to watch. When Matthew LeCroy scored in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score, thanks in part to Mike Cameron's air-mail job over two cutoff men, I said aloud, "This game is over." My girlfriend insisted otherwise, and, based on the Mets recent history of come-from-behind dramatic victories, I thought it might be possible.

The Mets spent the next six innings proving my initial instinct correct. The loss wrapped up a three-game sweep at the hands of the Twinkies, and left my beloved Mets three games under .500 and their precious season teetering in the balance.

FRIDAY

Friday after work, me and my lady drove down to Ocean City, NJ, to see some friends at my buddy's beach house. We listened to the first half of that night's game against the last-place Royals. With the score 3-2, I hit the "CD" button on my car stereo and enjoyed the soothing sounds of the new Slipknot record, "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)". If you're a fan of Slipknot or of hard rock in general, definitely give this album a listen. After a few songs, I switched the game back on and the Mets were losing 7-2. I promptly switched back to Slipknot, and eventually arrived at Ocean City (exit 30 on the Parkway, if you were wondering, a long ways from my exit 160).

It turns out the Mets lost that one, 7-5. Jae Seo, in an effort to solidify his spot in the starting rotation, laid an egg, allowing nine baserunners in 4.2 innings and five earned runs (six total runs) in picking up the loss. The Mets left six runners in scoring position with two outs and left 13 total for the game, and once again couldn't get the big hit when they needed it. With his rocky start, Seo might be in AAA Norfolk before you know it, with the Mets seemingly determined to bring up Scott Erickson as soon as he is ready.

SATURDAY

I didn't see an inning of this game. I was on the beach, where it was sunny but a bit windy for my liking. By nature, I'm not much of a beach person. I'm of the belief that the beach would be much better if it were a pool. The sand ruins most of the enjoyment of the beach by blowing onto your stuff, sticking to you, and getting all over your house and shower when you return. The ocean, also, not really that much fun. It's pretty dirty, not great to swim in, and not really particularly useful to me for anything.

If there's one good thing I can say about the beach, thugh, it's that it allowed me to miss the misery of the Mets 3-2 loss to the Royals on Saturday. Suffice it to say, the Mets once again did not:

a) Get the job done with runners in scoring position
b) Get good pitching from David Weathers
c) Avoid getting the normally-stoic Art Howe so fumed that he actually threw garbage cans at the clubhouse door

Good for Art. He and hitting coach Denny Walling might be out the door before long, but at least fans in Houston might be getting a more animated manager than we did. I haven't even seen any replays of the game, but from what I've been able to ascertain from newspaper articles and today's radio broadcast, the Mets problems on Saturday were largely a result of these facts:

1) The Mets, on the whole, aren't any good at hitting
2) More to the point, they aren't good at hitting in the clutch
3) The Mets bullpen is old
4) As such, the bullpen at large isn't very good at getting opposing batters to make outs
5) The Mets defense is pedestrian at best, a comedy of errors at worst.
6) Art Howe is, by most measures, a crummy strategic manager

Much the way the planeteers' powers combined to make Captain Planet, the Mets powers combined to produce the skidmark that was Saturday night's mess. Art Howe threw some garbage cans, and yelled at his players in hope that they will turn this thing around. Which brings us to:

SUNDAY

I guess they listened to some of what Art Howe had to say. The Mets pulled out a 5-2 win over the Royals on Sunday, much to Kaz Matsui's chagrin, who tried mightily to give the game away. Tom Glavine pitched another gem, allowing two unearned runs and only five baserunners (four hits, one walk) in 7.2 innings. With the score 5-2 and two outs in the eighth, Art Howe pulled Glavine from the game. He must have had a brain fart, because he brought in Ricky Bottalico. Not Mike Stanton. Not David Weathers. Not John Franco. Bottalico struck out the only batter he faced, and Braden Looper pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

The Mets committed three errors in the game, two by the aforementioned Kaz Matsui. Both were throwing errors, and both pulled a Met first-baseman off the bag. Mets brass have apparently taken notice. In his article today, Jon Heyman thinks Reyes will be back at shortstop in 2005:

Jose Reyes will be among the first to regain his position while hurt. He'll replace Kaz Matsui as shortstop in 2005, assuming Reyes is healthy.

The Mets are now four games under .500 at 29-33, and are 5.5 games behind first-place Florida. A week ago they looked like buyers in the free agent market. Now they may be sellers. The Mets will NOTtrade David Wright in any deal, though may be interested in rekindling talks with Texas for Alfonso Soriano. I don't think he's a good fit, particularly in right field. He's a fine-hitting second-baseman, but we don't need one of those. He's only an adequate offensive outfielder, and the potential cost in dollars and prospects is not worth the return.

David Wright was finally promoted to AAA Norfolk. He was hitting .363/.467/.619 with 37 XBH (10 homeruns), a 39/41 K/BB ratio, and 20/26 in stolen bases.

Prentice Redman was also called up to AAA Norfolk. .297/.375/.585 with 41 XBH (12 homeruns) and 9/11 in stolen bases.

Terrific article in the NY Times today about Rick Peterson and how he came to be a pitching guru. Definitely a must-read.

Eric | 10:54 PM EST | TrackBack: 1

June 09, 2004

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).

Eric | 05:48 PM EST | Comments: 2 | TrackBack: 1

June 03, 2004

Two jacks beat a save every night

The words uttered by Mets closer Braden Looper as a crowd of reporters left his side to speak with the hero of the day, Todd Zeile. For the second consecutive day, Zeile sent me into a curse-laden tirade, and both were of the good variety. "YOU'RE THE F!@#ING MAN TODD ZEILE!" I proclaimed to anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot as Zeile's 8th inning, three-run homerun cleared the hitter-friendly power alley wall at Citizen's Bank Park, tying the score at three apiece.

Two innings later, after Karim Garcia's double narrowly missed going over the fence in right-center, I was at it again. "YOU'RE THE F!@#ING MAN TODD ZEILE!". The words flew out of my mouth as if placed there by Lucifer himself. This time, their impetus was Mr. Zeile's second homerun of the night, third in two games, an opposite-field two-run job that wouldn't have been out of most parks, certainly not Shea Stadium. But it had enough oomph to get out of this park, and a shaky bottom of the 10th later, the Mets had themselves a 5-3 victory and a series sweep of the Phillies.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Mets dramatic victory without a ridiculous Art Howe quote, so check out this gem, RE: Todd Zeile is awesome:

"If he keeps going like this, he's going to have a hard time convincing me he's walking into the sunset, because I'll be right there at dawn waiting for him," Howe said.

Priceless. The only topper would have been if he added, "And then we would really battle."

The Marlins just completed a reverse-sweep of the Reds (i.e. got swept), and the Mets are back where they started before last weekend, 3.5 games out of first place, with a critical series coming up against the World Champs. Despite Josh Beckett's absence from the rotation, the Mets face a tough group of arms in the next four games.

Thursday: A.J. Burnett vs Jae Seo
Friday: Carl Pavano vs Steve Trachsel
Saturday: Tommy Phelps vs Matt Ginter
Sunday: Brad Penny vs Al Leiter

Eric | 10:45 AM EST | Comments: 2 | TrackBack: 1

June 01, 2004

Rain Is Our Friend

I'm not sure what that means exactly. Rain suspended play of Monday afternoon's game between the Mets and Phillies for like a day and a half, but when all was said and done, the mighty Metropolitans stood victorious, prevailing 5-3. It was the first win for the Mets since beating the Phillies last Tuesday.

Goggles continued his torrid hitting, cranking his third homerun in two games, and Mike Cameron, a.k.a. the human out machine, actually chipped in a two-RBI double in the eighth inning to give the Mets some cushion. Matt Ginter pitched three scoreless innings in between two rain delays, but was pulled for Orber Moreno when the game finally resumed in the fourth inning.

Moreno pitched well, but, as is customary of Mets pitchers these days, was betrayed by his defense or, more specifically, Mike Piazza's defense. I know I have to cut Piazza some slack, as he's obviously learning a new position, and is obviously not a very gifted athlete without a bat in his hands. In the long run, this will be for the best, but for the time being, it is becoming increasingly difficult to watch.

Eric | 12:11 AM EST | TrackBack: 1

May 24, 2004

Even Steven

For a team that is desperate to prove that they should be taken seriously, the Mets needed to sweep the Rockies this weekend. Matt Ginter stuck around long enough on Friday to pick up his first National League victory. He didn't pitch particularly well, but the Mets pounded out nine doubles in winning 9-7. The biggest story of the game was Braden Looper finally giving up an earned run -- in this case two of them. He picked a good spot for them, as they only brought the Rockies to within 9-7.

On Saturday, Tyler Yates showed a) why he was sent down to Norfolk in the first place and b) That his one start while down there didn't really teach him anything. Yates looked pretty horrible against a makeshift Rockies lineup that included three Major League-quality players (Castilla, Johnson, and Burnitz), and rookies/scrubs. The Mets were on their way to a 4-3 loss when Ty Wigginton cracked a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth to give his team a 5-4 lead, one that Braden Looper would protect.

Sunday's game was terrific...Tom Terrific. For the second time in three starts, a Kaz Matsui leadoff homerun was all Glavine would need to rack up another W. He lost a perfect game in the 7th and a no-hitter in the eighth, but he held on for the one-hit shutout and, more importantly, a victory that brought the Mets to 22-22, .500 on the season. Almost as important, Glavine gave the overworked Mets bullpen a day off that, with tomorrow's scheduled off-day, should give them plenty of rest for their upcoming series' with the Phillies and the Marlins.

Speaking of which, the Mets next 12 games are against those two teams, right now sitting 1-2 in the NL East. The Mets are in third, and are no longer the perennial whipping boys they once were (thank you, Expos). These games will not be easy, but they will go a long way towards revealing what kind of team these Mets really are. Al Leiter is on the disabled list, Mike Cameron should be with him instead of flailing away uselessly at the plate, and the Mets still don't really have a fifth starter. Their bullpen, despite its growing stack of AARP cards, has been among the best in the league.

The Mets may be joined within the week by one-and-future-shortstop Jose Reyes, who is currently playing rehab games for class-A Port St. Lucie. After going 4-for-7 with two stolen bases on Friday and Saturday, Reyes went 0-for-5 on Sunday including a double-play. His performance is not as important as his health, which appears to be stabilizing. He has apparently shortened his stride, which may have been the cause of some of his leg problems.

It may all wash away two weeks from now, but I will enjoy basking in the Mets warm glowing warming glow.

Eric | 12:18 AM EST | Comments: 3 | TrackBack: 3

May 16, 2004

Ungodly

That's about the only thing I can say to sum up the feelings I have about this game. Let me start by saying, unequivocally, that this was the worst officiating I've ever seen in a three-game series. Angel Hernandez, the home plate umpire for Saturday's 7-4 loss, should probably be suspended for the game he called. His strike zone ranged from the neck to the ankles, and its only consistency lay in its atrociousness. Follow that up with second-base umpire Larry Young's incomprehensible botched call in the sixth inning of today's game, and you have my perfectly reasonable explanation for my neighbors as to why there was so much cursing coming from my direction this afternoon.

If you didn't see the play, here's what happened. With Morgan Ensberg on first and Jeff Kent on second, Brad Ausmus hit a grounder to Kaz Matsui. Matsui didn't field it cleanly, but knocked the ball down and threw to Danny Garcia covering second. The throw was late, but Ensberg fell over onto Garcia, his foot clearly leaving second base and his body clearly interfering with Garcia. Garcia, while being mauled by Ensberg, tagged him while his foot was off the bag. Larry Young, standing no more than three feet away from the play, insisted that Ensberg was safe. Tom Seaver, providing color commentary for the game, was correct in saying that Ensberg should have been out on no less than two counts: being tagged out, and interfering with the fielder.

The normally-flaccid Art Howe came out of the dugout to argue, and was eventually tossed. He had this to say:

"The guy definitely beat the throw but he overran the bag," said Howe, who added that Young refused to ask third base umpire Angel Hernandez for help. "Obviously it wasn't the viewpoint of the second base umpire. I thought the idea was to get the play right. I guess that was not the case.

"I think maybe in the back of his mind, he knew he missed the play and he was giving me an opportunity to leave. At that point, though, there was only one way I was leaving."

Nice to see some balls on Howe with a statement like that. With the bases loaded, Roger Clemens came through with a two-out single, scoring Kent from third base. That set the stage for Mike Piazza's 9th inning heroics. With Eric "I Gave Up Meat" Valent on second, two outs, and a 1-2 count against ex-Met Octavio Dotel, Piazza took a fastball the opposite way for a two-run, game-tying blast into the Astros bullpen.

Needless to say, I was going apeshit at this point. The Mets had spoiled Roger Clemens' brilliant game and handed him his first no-decision of the season in the process. Goggles Phillips smacked his first homerun of the season in the 13th inning and Dan Wheeler, miraculously, didn't give up a single run in two innings to pick up the W.

Let's remember that the Mets would not have been in this position if their pitching hadn't kept them in the game while Rocket was mowing down hitters. In his first Major League start, Matt Ginter gave up one earned run, struck out four, and walked only one in 5.1 innings. Ricky Bottalico pitched lights out again, striking out three while retiring all four batters he faced. Braden Looper K'd three in two scoreless innings and still hasn't given up an earned run this season. Mike Stanton nearly gave me an aneurism as usual, as he allowed one hit and three walks while striking out zero in two innings of work. And, in a minor miracle of sorts, Dan Wheeler somehow managed to keep the wheels from falling off as he struck out three while scattering two hits in two innings of work.

Plainly stated, the Mets stole this one. They may not ever play "meaningful" games this season, but I will be a happy camper if they keep bringing us games like this one. Despite striking out 17 times as a team, this game felt like the playoffs to me, cold sweats included. I was so excited when the Mets pulled this one out -- something I haven't really felt about the Mets in a long, long time.

Eric | 09:58 PM EST | Comments: 4 | TrackBack: 1

May 13, 2004

Just Enough

Tom Glavine pitched another gem (I never thought I'd be saying this last season) and the Mets offense did just enough not to lose in beating Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks 1-0. Kaz Matsui led off the game with a homerun, and Braden Looper recorded the final four outs to pick up his first save April 22 and extend his scoreless innings streak to 19 innings to start the season.

Glavine struck out three batters, all in the third inning, while giving up only three hits and two walks, bringing his record to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.05.

For the third straight game, the Mets jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first and, for the first time in three games, their pitching staff elected not to give it right back. A step in the right direction to say the least.

Despite the low 1-0 score, the game was actually very exciting. In addition to watching two staff aces trade blows, you got the feeling that every at-bat was crucial and that the game could turn in an instant. I'll take a few more of these and a few less of the previous two games.

Eric | 09:39 AM EST | Comments: 1 | TrackBack: 1

May 11, 2004

Not Good

James Baldwin made his first and, if we're lucky his last, start for the Mets last night in Arizona, and didn't fare too well. In the worst Baldwin performance this side of The Shadow, brother James gave up 7 hits, 6 earned runs, two walks, two homeruns, and nary a strikeout in two-plus innings pitched.

Lost in Baldwin's atrocity was that Dan Wheeler, who relieved Baldwin in the third inning, actually pitched worse, giving up 6 runs, 6 hits, and three homeruns in 1.1 innings. Ricky Bottalico and Orber Moreno pitched very well, especially considering the dry, thin air in Arizona, limiting the D'Backs to one hit over 4.2 innings.

Though the Mets gave up five homeruns, three to Luis Gonzalez, it was pretty clear from watching the game that at least three of them were aided by the dry Arizona air. Gonzalez' first homerun was legit, and Chad Tracy's was borderline. Gonzo's second homerun would have been a liner into Karim Garcia's glove at Shea, and his third probably would have been a long single off the wall in left. Steve Finley's shot to centerfield would have fallen harmlessly into Mike Cameron's glove.

Ty Wigginton had a great night, going 5-for-5 in his first career five-hit game. In the process, he raised his average from .179 to .246. Those five hits were half of the amount Wigginton had going into last night. Jason Phillips went 0-for-5, and looks as useless at the plate as ever. The Mets hottest hitter? Eric Valent, who went 3-for-4, and is now hitting .314/.417/.549 for a team-leading OPS of .966.

The Mets have three more games in Arizona, two of which are against Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb. Not good.

Eric | 11:17 AM EST | TrackBack: 0

May 09, 2004

Best Of A Bad Situation

The Mets could very easily have lost today's game. Instead, they won it 6-5 in 11 innings on an RBI double by the slumping Kaz Matsui. Matsui started the game on the bench, but came on as a pinch runner for Jason Phillips in the 8th. Steve Trachsel pitched effectively again, but John Franco and David Weathers combined to give up three runs in the eighth, turning a 3-2 lead into a 5-3 deficit.

The Mets didn't play particularly poorly today, but were the unfortunate recipients of some unlucky breaks. It looked like Franco would get out of the eighth unscathed, but ex-Met Brady Clark blooped one into centerfield for a two-run single. Scott Podsednik followed with a high-bouncing bunt that landed in between Mike Stanton and Phillips, scoring the Brewers fifth run.

The Mets could have rolled over and died, but rallied to tie the game in the eighth, eventually forcing extra innings. Art Howe once again gets a gold star for using his best reliever, Braden Looper, in a tie game to shut down Milwaukee in the 9th and 10th. The Mets eventually broke through in the 11th on a walk to Todd Zeile, and infield hit to Karim Garcia, and Matsui's game-winner.

Home plate umpire Marvin Hudson was definitely the LVP (Least Valuable Player) in this game. His calls were very erratic and inconsistent, as hitters and pitchers from both teams were often left shaking their heads. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the Mets salvage the third game of this series. The Mets fly to Arizona tonight to begin a three-game series against the Diamondbacks tomorrow.

Eric | 05:40 PM EST | Comments: 2 | TrackBack: 1

Regression

After a mighty four-game winning streak, the Mets have regressed to the mean, losing two straight to the Brewers, in fairly miserable fashion I might add. On Saturday, the Mets drew nine walks off of Brewer pitching, but that had more to do with a wild staff than it did with Mets plate discipline. They also managed only two hits in losing 6-4 to Milwaukee. The wind also might have cost the Mets as many as four homeruns, but it was their lousy hitting coupled with another ineffective start from Tyler Yates that cost the Mets in this one.

Hopeless optimism turns to blistered realism very quickly around these parts. It is unwise, yet fantastically easy, to let one or two games sway my opinion of a season's promise. Two days ago, I was all, "Yea, two games under .500. We're in a weak division, anything can happen". Now, after back-to-back suckfests at the hands of the Beermakers, I'm more like, "Yep, these are my Mets. Love 'em. Hate 'em. Love to hate 'em".

You see, I have an acute case of BPBS, or Bi-Polar Baseball Syndrome. I take heavy doses of medication to keep it in remission, but some times external forces conflict with the meds and I find myself once again subjected to its every whim.

Despite almost hitting a homerun yesterday, Ty Wigginton had one of the worst at-bats I've ever seen, as well as a "turning point" at-bat. After falling behind 3-0 on Mike Cameron, Matt Kinney came back to strike him out. Great, one out, bases loaded, and Cammy can't cut down on the swing and put the friggin' ball in play. Not to be outdone, Wigginton struck out even more uselessly, flailing away at pitch-after-pitch well out of the strike zone, causing me to erupt into a tourette's-like, curse-laden rant that, amongst other things, scared the hell out of my dog.

Eschewing the now-popular Moneyball mantra of treating outs as precious commodities, the Mets are the Mother Theresa of MLB, casually giving away their precious outs as if there were an endless supply.

Though it was a good story coming out of Spring Training, Tyler Yates is clearly not ready for the big show. He needs more seasoning, and a trip down to Norfolk is right around the corner. At this point, I'd be willing to give James Baldwin a shot, just to see somebody different out there. Hell, bring up Shawn Sedlacek, what do I care?

One last thought before I go to sleep: If Ricky Gutierrez is still wearing a New York Mets uniform at the end of May, you can begin directing your web browsers to www.sabersox.com, as this will officially become a Red Sox site, and I a proud member of the Red Sox Nation. Good night.

Eric | 02:08 AM EST | TrackBack: 1

May 07, 2004

Animated Artie

Almost as exciting as Mike Piazza's walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th last night was not one, but two animated displays of emotion from Art Howe. The first was after David Weathers struck out Pedro Feliz on a borderline 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to end the top of the 11th. The second was after Piazza's shot to win the game.

Howe has no doubt heard the whispers that he's too laid back and isn't really a good fit in New York. That said, his emotion last night didn't seem contrived in the least, and was real, genuine elation. Howe summed it up best when asked by Matt Laughlin about his oft-stoic demeanor, he replied something to the effect of, "When you're losing, there's not much to get emotional about." A good point, as much of his tenure has been marred by seemingly-perpetual losing streaks and countless public relations snafus.

Eric | 10:14 AM EST | TrackBack: 0

May 06, 2004

Big Bats

The Mets big bats came through yesterday en route to their third straight victory. Aside from Piazza's record-breaking homerun, SaberMets man crush #2 Shane Spencer hit a three-run bomb in the eighth, following two batters later by Mike Cameron's two-run dinger, robbing Braden Looper of a save opportunity.

The Mets bullpen was strong again, pitching 4.2 innings of no-hit ball (one walk, four strikeouts) in relief of Jae Seo, who split the fingernail on his right middle finger. Seo suffered a similar injury in this game against the Marlins last season. The Fish managed only one hit against the Mets, a Juan Encarnacion single that was quickly erased when he was thrown out stealing second. For the first time in franchise history, the Mets faced the minimum 27 batters in beating Florida 5-0.

Tangent aside, Seo pitched terribly following the injury in 2003. At the time, June 17th, Seo's ERA was 2.66. After his start on August 16th, roughly two months later, Seo's ERA had soared to 4.32, giving up four or more runs in 7-of-10 games during that span. We'll see how serious the injury is this time around, but we can only hope he fares better than last season.

Eric | 11:24 AM EST | TrackBack: 1

April 19, 2004

Back In The "W" Column

Congratulations to Tyler Yates on picking up his first big league win along with his first big league base hit. He should have won his first game against Montreal a couple of weeks ago, but it's good that he got it out of the way.

Yates' final line looked like this:

5.2 IP, 5H, 1ER, 3BB, 1K

Even with his disastrous start last week against the Braves (in the rain), Yates' ERA for the season (and his career) is a respectable 3.86. Despite a strong outing, Yates was pulled with two outs in the sixth for, *gulp* John Franco. By some act of God, Franco retired Brian Schneider on a groundout with runners on first and second.

Yates breathed a sigh of relief, and then watched his relief turn to irrevocable despair as Mike Stanton trotted in to start the seventh. Much to his (and everyone else's) surprise, the hefty Stanton pitched two effective innings, striking out two (in fairness, one was Tony Batista), and scattering two hits. With this outing, Stanton lowered his ERA almost three-and-a-half points, from 11.57 to 8.10, leaving him well shy of Grant Roberts' team-leading 17.36

Despite his best efforts, Braden Looper was unable to give this game back to the Expos, retiring Tony Batista on a groundout with the bases loaded.

Ty Wigginton hit his second homerun of the season and drove in another run with a sac fly, but continues to struggle mightily at the plate. His complete inability to take a pitch in critical situations is staggering. With the Mets leading 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets loaded the bases on a Todd Zeile phantom HBP, a Mike Piazza walk, and an Eric Valent single. Wiggie comes up with one out, knowing (well, I knew anyway) he could sit on a fastball in his zone.

So what does he do? He swings wildly at the first pitch as it scrapes the ground in front of him. On the second pitch he mercifully grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning -- mercifully because I no longer had to watch his wretched grasp for the subtleties of the game.

Also of interest is that, even though the Mets won, they allowed ten hits to an Expos team that came into the game with a 2-10 record and sporting a .200 team batting average.

Karim Garcia looked good at the plate again, hitting his second homerun of 2004 and hitting the ball hard throughout the game. Mike Cameron continues to miss the ball with his bat at an alarming rate (now 17 strikeouts in 13 games). He has walked eight times and has an OBP of almost .370, and has been superb defensively, so it's not all bad.

Eric | 11:55 PM EST | Comments: 8 | TrackBack: 1

April 17, 2004

Bullpen Woes, Bullpen Blows

I didn't really get to watch any of the game last night, but I was fortunate enough to hear the Mets latest bullpen implosion on the radio. Prior to that, while Tom Glavine was looking like Tom Glavine, I was at Applebee's, where every TV set was tuned to the Yankees/Red Sox game, wearing my Manny Ramirez shirt, drawing countless dirty looks, and cheering on my second-favorite team.

I'm a Met fan. Normally, such a declaration would draw a chorus of snickers, "Sorry to hear that"s, and consoling pats on the shoulder. Not here, though. Unlike the rest of the Yankee-loving free world, this is Met territory. I am a Met-loving Yankee-hater. There is no such thing as a Met fan who also likes the Yankees, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Some people claim to like both teams, but those are always Yankee fans who root for the Mets except when they play the Yankees. They sympathize with the Mets, and figure some of their aura and mystique could rub off on the Mets simply by pulling for them. Thanks, but no thanks.

Yankee fans don't hate the Mets because the Mets don't pose a significant threat of any kind to the Yankee empire. I've been reading my advance copy of Jeff Pearlman's new book, The Bad Guys Won, about the '86 Mets (I'll put a review up as soon as I'm finished with it), and it recalls a time when the Mets were the only baseball team in New York that anyone cared about. A time when the Yankees were second-class citizens, and the Mets were the biggest thing in sports, possibly even in pop culture. I'm about halfway through the book, and it's really a great read. There's so much insider information straight from the players about the players, it's almost alarming how little if anything was taboo.

Anyhoo, as I started saying before, Tom Glavine pitched a helluva game on Friday night, giving up only one hit through seven innings, only to watch the Mets bullpen give the game away. Orber Moreno (I jumped the gun on him a little bit, huh?), Mike Stanton, and Stormy Weathers were completely useless out there, while giving up six hits, a walk, and seven earned runs. Thanks to the newfound power stroke of Eric Valent, the Mets came back to make the score 7-6, only to fall short.

Okay, so 5-5 after 10 games isn't so bad. We could have won this one, the game we lost in San Juan, and had leads in the two games we lost in Atlanta. With anything resembling a bullpen the Mets could easily be 7-3. Oh well, I guess I should be happy with .500.

Eric | 10:49 AM EST | TrackBack: 0

April 16, 2004

Nice Win

The Mets picked up a nice win last night over the Braves on Jackie Robinson Day, 4-0. Al Leiter pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits while walking three and striking out two. Leiter has yet to allow a run in two starts this season. What continues to trouble me is Leiter's horribly inefficient pitching.

Despite pitching effectively, Leiter had to be pulled in the sixth inning because he had already thrown 104 pitches. The Mets were fortunate that the bullpen pitched well yesterday, because they haven't on many other occasions this season. Orber Moreno and Braden Looper were both nasty last night, and could form a dominant 8th/9th combo similar to that of Anaheim (K-Rod and Troy Percival) and Houston last year (Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner).

Mike Piazza has been struggling a bit at the plate since the Montreal series. He looked so dominant against the Braves in the opening week, but has been missing his pitches of late.

Kaz Matsui continues to get on base at an alarming rate, scoring two runs and drawing his 9th and 10th walks of the season, the latter being intentional. He is already garnering the type of respect, offensively, that Ichiro does in the American League, as opposing teams are fearful of pitching to him in big situations.

Ricky Gutierrez, despite playing a respectable second base, has been pretty hopeless at the plate. This lineup will be much more intimidating when Jose Reyes comes back, whenever that is. Batting him second behind Matsui will cause other teams fits, and allow Floyd (hopefully) and Piazza plenty of RBI opportunities.

One of the biggest plays of the game last night was Karim Garcia's two-out, pinch-hit RBI single off of lefty C. J. Nitkowski. If only for one at-bat, Garcia showed he can hang in there against a lefty, even while nursing a finger injury. Jeff Duncan, also a lefty, followed Garcia's hit with an RBI single the other way, giving the Mets some breathing room.

Eric | 11:41 AM EST | Comments: 2 | TrackBack: 2

April 12, 2004

Weekend Notes

Updates were scarce this weekend, but I have a really good excuse. Cablevision customers with IO Digital Cable are being treated to a preview of MLB Extra Innings, a subscription package that features 35+ out-of-market baseball games every week. For those of you in the New York area with IO, you have to check this out.

I've spent the past week watching baseball, more baseball, and nothing but baseball. My girlfriend is on the verge of tears, but I am happier than I've ever been. It's 5PM on Saturday and there's nothing on TV? There is when you have MLB Extra Innings. Who cares if it's Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati? It's baseball, and it's the best thing on TV.

It also allows me to watch a lot of Oakland A's games, as cult hero Marco Scutaro makes a monkey out of Jim Duquette.

* * * * * * * * * *

Anyways, some news and notes about this weekend's Mets games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Is Art Howe the worst manager in history? It's a rhetorical question, of course. He most likely is not, but he is quite bad. Tyler Yates pitches a gem in his Major League debut on Friday, allowing no runs and no walks in six innings.

After hitting up a storm in Atlanta last week, the Mets bats went cold south-of-the-border. They managed a couple of runs off of Zach Day, and Howe decides to pull three of the Mets best hitters (Piazza, Floyd, and Phillips) for defensive replacements. Long story short, the Expos tie it up and the game goes into extra innings, and I'm stuck watching the likes of Vance Wilson and Eric Valent flail away effortlessly.

Of course, the Mets would up winning the game thanks to the bat of one of those replacements, Todd Zeile, who my girlfriend took to calling "Toddie Too Hottie" during his prior stint with the Mets. Regardless, the Mets win hardly clouds the fact that Howe bungled this one pretty badly, and was lucky to squeak out of it.

On Saturday, the Mets once-torrid now-horrid hitting continued, as they managed to plate zero runs against D'Back-castoff John Patterson. Al Leiter made his 2004 debut by tossing five shutout innings, but often going late into counts and throwing far too many pitches. Jae Seo, who apparently felt bad about all the bad, albeit deserved, things he said about Mets management, got the call and wound up losing the game.

Karim Garcia botched one fly ball pretty badly, but made a nice play on another that ended up fracturing his finger. It's not clear how long he'll be sidelined, though he made a pinch-running appearance late in the game on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, Tom Glavine looked sharp again as he cruised to his second victory of the season. He gave up one unearned run (on his own error), and the Mets got enough hitting to take the series from the Expos and head home 3-3. Glavine only has three strikeouts in 13.1 innings this season, so we'll see where he goes from here.

Of course, those of you who had "6" in the Cliff Floyd games-before-injury pool have a little extra change in your pocket today. Cliff has looked great at the plate so far, and it's not yet known how much time he'll miss.

Eric Valent hit his first career homerun today, so congratulations to him. He runs a little funny, but you couldn't smack the smile off his face the rest of the day. He also drew a walk, which is good in my book.

Eric | 12:19 AM EST | Comments: 2 | TrackBack: 3

April 09, 2004

Stay Positive

Okay, so there is a lot to feel bad about regarding these last two sh*tbombs against the Braves. However, I am going to avoid blasting the Mets horrendous pitching in favor of praising their monstrous bats.

Through three games this season, the Mets have scored 25 runs. It took them seven games last season to reach that mark. The Mets are hitting .322 as a team, getting on base at a .397 clip and slugging .602. That's a .999 OPS, slightly higher than Alex Rodriguez in 2003. Of course they won't keep this up, but they've effectively hit like a team full of A-Rods.

The Mets have 8 homeruns, 3 stolen bases, and 15 walks through those three games. To me, the walks are the most promising. Jason Phillips and Kaz Matsu have four walks apiece, with Cliff Floyd and Mike Cameron drawing two each.

It's obviously early, but it looks like the Mets could score a lot of runs this season, allthewhile surrendering many more. The Mets travel south today to play the Expos at the newly-renovated Hiram Bithorn Stadium:

The dimensions have been altered to resemble Montreal's Olympic stadium, so it's not as much of a bandbox. There is also new artificial turf, and the seating capacity has been increased by about 6,000

Eric | 11:14 AM EST | TrackBack: 0