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Welcome to the 30-30 Club

David Wright reached the 30 home run and 30 stolen base plateau Sunday with his home run in the 7th inning. He became the third Met to do it, and the first since his hitting coach, Howard Johnson, did it in 1991. This is especially impressive considering he basically did it without the month of April where he didn’t hit a home run and only stole three bases. I thought Wright had a good chance to do this this year, and it turns out I was correct. I also thought the Mets could win the World Series, so we’ll see how that goes. I also think Jose Reyes has a shot to be a 30-30 guy in the future, but only time will tell.

Wright plays a smart game and is a great player; I fully expect this to the first of many 30-30 years he racks up. I don’t think Howard Johnson’s knowledge should be overlooked here either, I like Hojo as a batting coach. In a season that in June looked like the Mets would struggle to have even one player get to 100 RBIs, Wright has managed to put up some impressive numbers as an MVP candidate.

Also performing well after a bad start is Pedro. Pedro didn’t actually have a bad start, he didn’t have a start at all. He’s three starts in and all three have been superb. It looks like he’ll for sure get a start in the playoffs, the only downside is with his still healing rotator cuff, it will be tough for him to go deep into games. I’m interested to see how the bullpen shakes up during the playoffs. Presumably Maine and Perez will both be there in the division series, so hopefully they can get the job done and guys like M*ta and Sele don’t need to make the roster, leaving room for guys like Joe Smith or even Willie Collazo if he can get the job done.

I know Collazo is too much of a rookie for Willie to go to him in the playoffs, but hopefully he finds a suitable substitute that he can use where we don’t have to worry when the starters don’t go 9.

Luckily, I think the Mets committed all the rest of their errors for the season and postseason this weekend, so it should be smooth sailing here on out.

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Notes from Early September

Pedro: He’s looking better and better. Hopefully the end of the season doesn’t come before he peaks.

Book review: I just finished a new Mets book, my write-up to come.

David Wright: You all know the story here, and it’s really no surprise. He’s an uncrowned leader and most valuable player of at least the Mets.

Bullpen: It’s looking better. Remember that in the playoffs it’ll also have one or two of our five strong starters.

A-Rod: Suddenly talk has risen about him surpassing Roger Maris. I don’t think he will; he’s actually four or five behind the pace. I’m torn about whether I think he’ll tie the Babe at 60 or fall one short. The Curse of the Bambino will permit nothing else.

Tonight’s game is an example of how the Mets just aren’t going to win every single game, but Reyes has three doubles so far, which is nice to see. Reyes does get into a funk every once in a while, and I think the grind of the season caused Reyes to take longer to break out of it this time.

I really like Wright batting third. I didn’t think I would at first, but somehow this lineup just seems right. Reyes has been getting some criticism about his production this year, but I think it’s mostly unfounded. He doesn’t have as many RBIs or home runs this year, but that’s not his game, and lately the complaints have been that he’s popping up the ball too much. I think he has improved; his runs are a little behind this year, but I actually think they reflect better on him this year. He’s gotten more of those runs manufactured this year, through his many stolen bases, whereas last year Lo Duca and Beltran and Delgado were driving him in. This year the offense behind him was a little slow, which kept him from scoring more often than not.

I will be at Shea tomorrow night, courtesy of the free tickets from the Mets for attending the Mets at the Movies promotion. I’d invite you to come say hello, but the tickets are for section 41, row Q. I think I can find two seats a teensy bit closer than that at least. I’ll also be in my usual seats (UR section 15, Row G) for Saturday too.

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7 game series

I was right. The Mets gained ground in the division race over the road trip. If I had any nagging doubts about this team, they’re gone now. The playoffs are decided on a best of seven series, and the Mets just played one against two teams that will likely be participants and opponents. The Mets won, winning game seven where they failed last year.

Now they come home to play the Nationals and Pirates. Hopefully they can continue this stretch of play and pick up more games in the division. They’re currently on pace to win 91 games, but with a good stretch run they can easily win more than that. The trade deadline arrives soon, and with it hopefully another little piece to this team.

I like the way David Wright is swinging the bat. He looks like he’s in a good place right now, a place where you can get the big hits and carry this team a little bit if he needs to. If the opposition starts pitching around him, hopefully Carlos Delgado can make them pay. Delgado is working on a eight game hitting streak, and has hit in 12 of his last 13 games. This is the kind of consistency that was missing from him all year, and while he only has two home runs in that stretch It gives more more confidence then when he hits a bunch of home runs over a weekend, but then stops hitting again. I’ve predicted that Delgado would atone for his slow start with a hot finish; I expect by the start of October for him to be right in his groove.

Could the worry warts please shut up about Beltran? I know his average is a little low, but he’s playing well. I have been very busy lately, and haven’t had a chance to really sit down and just watch a baseball game, but whenever I do it seems like Beltran is coming through with a big hit. Don’t compare him to the small sample size with Houston in the playoffs, don’t equate a dollar value to production ratio based on his contract. Take him for what he is; a great player, but not the only great player, on this team.

I’ve been saying it for a little while now, I think we may have gotten all we’re going to get out of Jorge Sosa. With Pedro vanishing into the Carribean, and Pelfrey being a strain on our offense I’m not sure what the solution is here. Maybe Sosa turns it around, but even if he doesn’t, I don’t want any sort of panic moves out of Minaya that bring a mediocre starter in here at the expense of any worthwhile prospects. Maybe he can pull off something like last year where he pulled in Perez and Maine from seemingly nowhere.

A day off, and then I’ll be on the field level at Shea for Tuesday night’s game. I’ll get to see John Maine pitch again, who after a couple of iffy performances is going to settle down again. I expect to see the offense play well again, and I fully expect it to be a fun day.

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Halfway Mark – Projections

Midseason Projections

Some interesting notes. The Mets had a bad June, and without a swoon like that in the second half, I forsee these numbers being a little higher. If they have a better second half than first, Carlos Beltran and David Wright both have a chance to be 30 Home Run and 30 Stolen Base guys. Another key note is that Scott Schoeneweis should have significantly less IP than Feliciano, and he doesn’t. Heilman’s not been very good this year, but somehow he’s the most used reliever. Maybe he just needs a little more rest to be the most effective. I left out Aaron Sele because he’s horrible, but his numbers look like 51.1 IP with 74 hits. That’s really all you need to know about him. I want to see Feliciano, and even Smith get more pitching, rest Heilman a little more and Schoeneweis a lot more.

Player

AVG

OBP

SLG

Hits

R

2B

HR

RBI

SB

BB

Jose Reyes

.316

.397

.453

208

114

34

8

68

80

90

Carlos Delgado

.229

.293

.418

140

78

38

26

90

4

50

Carlos Beltran

.271

.346

.475

164

90

32

28

100

26

72

David Wright

.290

.378

.505

176

92

42

28

88

36

82

Paul Lo Duca

.280

.329

.371

148

62

18

10

48

4

32

Shawn Green

.276

.331

.436

134

70

32

14

54

12

38

Win

Loss

ERA

IP

BB

SO

HR

Hits

SV

SVO

Tom Glavine

14

12

4.39

217.1

78

104

28

228

John Maine

18

8

2.74

204

76

168

20

158

Oliver Perez

14

12

3.14

189.1

74

170

22

146

Orlando Hernandez

8

6

2.78

144.2

50

118

18

104

Jorge Sosa

14

6

3.92

128.2

46

76

12

110

Aaron Heilman

12

6

4.19

77.1

18

58

12

70

6

Joe Smith

4

0

2.73

66

32

66

2

56

Billy Wagner

2

0

1.73

62.2

18

98

8

48

32

34

Scott Schoeneweis

0

4

5.46

59.1

40

30

10

64

2

Pedro Feliciano

2

2

1.76

61.1

30

52

2

34

2

2

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Fiery Ejections and Walk-off Doubles

At Shea for my usual Saturday season ticket plan, I finally got to see the Mets with two in a roll, win a series, and it was fun. The attendance was over 52,920, and it seems that many of the bloggers I read were there as well. The Faith and Fear duo, Metsradamus, and Metswalkoffs. I think they all had better seats than me too.

It was a great game, Orlando Hernandez was pitching well, and so was Joe Blanton. El Duque let up some base runners, but they always got out of it, and he battled through the 7th with nearly 120 pitches. One could think that scoring only one run is just the Mets slumping again, but that’s not the case. All the credit there goes to Joe Blanton, who pitched through eight innings. The Mets did have Ricky Ledee thrown out at the plate on a nice 2-out, runners in scoring position, double by Carlos Beltran. I think Evan Roberts really needs to rip Joe Benigno about that on their show on WFAN Monday, because he’s playing very well. He was running full-speed on Wright’s walk-off double, even though his run was meaningless. He was excited, and he came charging around third, almost catching Castro. It was a botched play in right field, as if he had played it on a hop, Castro wouldn’t have scored. It didn’t matter though, as I had faith in Delgado getting a fly-out there to score him. After struggling against Joe Blanton, as soon as he was lifted for a guy with a 0.00 ERA in 12.1 innings, they jumped all over him. Castro leads off with a double, they walk Belran to the boos, and David Wright hit’s another double the opposite way to right, game over.

The Mets win a series again, every other team in the East loses, and just like that the Mets are again three full games up on the competition. Four and five games in the loss column over Philadelphia and Atlanta. The Mets now have added another team in the A’s that they don’t have a losing record against, having tied the Cubs all-time earlier this season, also on a walk-off ninth inning hit. A pitcher’s duel, a temper tantrum with an ejection and throwing stuff on the field, and a game winning double by David Wright. What more could you ask for in a game?

I did notice a little less campaigning for Paul Lo Duca at the game today, and I wonder why. I think the Mets may have started that push a little early. Now if Paulie overtakes Martin in the voting Monday, Dodger fans will be motivated to vote hard. We should have waited until after that tally came out to push for him, and get him past the unsuspecting Dodger fans. So remember, Lo Duca still needs our votes next week, and you can vote 25 times per email address you type into that box.

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Projections

With just over one third of the season done, and after playing a couple of games with stunted offense, lets take a look at the projected stats of some of the Mets.

The Spark of the Mets offense, Jose Reyes.
.316BA, .398OBP, 213Hits, 126 Runs, 24 Triples, 78 RBI, 90SB and maybe the most telling of all, 90 walks.

Those are some nice numbers. You especially like to see Jose Reyes taking those walks, and he’s still steadily improving. This should at least put him in the discussion for MVP.

David Wright.
.272BA, 96Runs, 24HR, 84RBI, 39Doubles, 33SB, 955 pitches seen

These numbers are not quite up to his usual stats. He struggled for much of April, and hasn’t put together a really good stretch yet. The numbers aren’t horrible, and he’s got more stolen bases then you’d expect. It’s probably just a matter of time with him, maybe once Moises Alou gets back to batting behind him he’ll find some more pitches to get and get into a groove.

Carlos Beltran
.297BA, 24HR, 105RBI, 21SB, 99Runs

Nothing to special here. His numbers are solid, but nowhere near what he was doing last year. He said he was going to steal more bases this year, and 21 is not bad. The Mets have a lot of speed, and as long as Beltran is taking smart bases here and there, it will help without him swiping 40.

Paul Lo Duca’s numbers don’t quite tell the story. He’s been having a good year, getting hits when needed, and doing what needs to be done at the plate. He doesn’t strike out much, and he’s gotten 3 sacrifice flies and 2 sacrifice hits. Add in what he adds behind the plate with the pitchers, and how he’s drastically improved his throwing to second base, and he has a huge impact.

We all know Carlos Delgado has been struggling this year, but he still will have 24HR and 99RBI if he stays on pace, and if he really starts hitting well again, look out. David Wrights numbers might suffer just because Delgado isn’t leaving anyone on for him to drive in.

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Walk Off Balk? Almost..

Where oh where did my little Brave go?

I have a message to Giant fans. “Get rid of Armando.” It’s good for at least two wins for your team. The only way last night could’ve been better is if Joe Smith didn’t throw that wild pitch and the Giants didn’t score that run on no hits in the top of the inning. Then we could’ve won the game on a walk-off Balk. The Mets have been finding different ways to walk-off, and that certainly would’ve been a memorable one. Drag-bunts, walks and home runs are nice too though.

Two home runs for Delgado again. He’s back, although as he said in his post game interview, he never went anywhere. Now if we could only get David Wright to put together a hot streak, his batting average is upsettingly low. Although to me he’s been showing some good signs, looking a little better. I don’t think it’s a case of anyone figuring him out, or him not being as good as he looked in the past, it’s just some struggles, he’ll get there. I’m as confident in that as I was that Delgado would show up again.

One thing that bothers me is pinch-hitting for Gomez with Julio Franco. I guess I shouldn’t complain because Franco did what he needed, which was place one up the middle that was grabbed in an awesome play by Vizquel, but I’d much rather have Gomez. I understand that a lot of it’s about ‘taking your lumps’ and the rookies don’t get to bat 4th, and get pinch hit for, but Franco? Bleh.

In the comments of Metsradamus‘s blog entry about this game, someone mentioned that Gotay and Reyes were doing some sort of hex thing at Russ Ortiz? I’d love to see a clip of this or something more descriptive. That kind of excites me, I love seeing stuff like that. I actually miss(figuratively since I’m not old enough to remember) the days when players used to stand in the dugout shouting stuff at the opposing pitcher. Do you know how many pitchers nowadays who could get rattled by that? It would be great. I expect the reason it’s fallen out of style is how much baseball has seemed to develop into a fraternity. Baseball players generally don’t hate the guys on the other team, they see themselves part of the same group of people, peers not opponents. Couple this with all the changing teams most players do, and these guys were once they’re teammates and friends. Could you see Glavine shouting stuff at Smoltz? If he did, it’d be totally friendly, and a joke.

Mota returns today, and I hate that he was rewarded with a new contract. I hope the only reason he was good last year wasn’t steroids. I’m not going to cheer him when he arrives, but I hope as penance he gives up a home run to Bonds, as long as it’s inconsequential. After that I hope he’s lights out, although I do like A. Burgos, who got sent down for him, and he seems better than Scott Schoeneweis. Only time will tell.

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Time to get hot

In last nights game both Wright and Delgado had hits. RBI hits. Big hits. Delgado hit a home run into the water, and Wright has the 2-run double that gave the Mets the lead. Off Armando Benitez too. Gee, didn’t see that coming? A lot has been made about Wright’s lack of home runs, and while he should be hitting more, he’s not a power hitter. He claims that himself, and if you look back, a lot of his big hits are just that, hits or doubles into the gaps or down the line or over Johnny Damon’s head. He has his share of big home runs too, but he doesn’t go up there swinging for the fences, knowing a 2-run double can be just as important. I don’t think there is any reason to worry about David Wright, haircut or not.

They secured the game last night, getting runs when they needed it. However, we still feel like we’re waiting for them to click, but when you look at the record, it’s not like they’re struggling. Sure it’s not as strong a start as last year, when we’d only lost one series to this point and already had a huge division lead, but we didn’t think it would be this year. Despite the 21-12 record, it’s apparent the Mets have another level that they haven’t yet reached. The 5-2 road trip was good, but it wasn’t dominating. Remember that west coast trip the Mets went on last year? Where they basically scored in the first inning every day and just didn’t lose? I’m sure they have a streak in them like that this year. And maybe it’s coming. As we saw when games went from meaningless spring to grudge match against the Cardinals, the Mets can find strength in playing tougher teams. The Brewers and Cubs and Yankees are all coming up, all pretty good teams. 10 game homestand, where they haven’t yet played well, only going 7 and 7 in their first 14 games at home. This looks like as good a time as any to go on a tear. 8-2 or 9-1 homestand asserting their dominance of two of the better teams in the National League and one of the best in the American?

The season’s starting to really get going, and It’s time for the Mets to make their move and gain some distance from the Braves.

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Heating Up In The Desert

By now I’m sure everyone knows about how great the Mets play in Arizona. Maybe if they moved their spring training camp, like the Dodgers will do next year, they’d play better in the spring too.

Easley came through again Thursday night, to take back the lead in the top of the 9th. Wins like that are so invigorating. David Wright kept the inning going with a 3-run home run of his own, and Billy Wagner probably didn’t know whether to cheer or cry. I’m sure he wanted that save. He got his 6th last night, giving up a walk but getting a nice double play. For the first time in May Wright didn’t get a hit, and facing the reigning Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb might cool Wright off before he has a chance to really get going. I doubt it though, I expect David’s starting to remember how to really smack the ball, and someone’s gotta keep this streak against the Diamondbacks alive tomorrow, so why not him?

Randy Johnson looked mediocre yesterday, and you wonder when he’ll finally realize he’s no longer the dominant pitcher he once was and retire. Of course he’s young and spry compared to Julio Franco, who had both a stolen base and a home run yesterday. It’s obvious he can still play, but I worry that the long season will wear him down, as it appeared to do last year. Luckily the bench with Chavez, Newhan and Easley as well as Franco seems like it will fare much better this year. Add the possibility of players like Ben Johnson, Ruben Gotay and Lastings Milledge to the mix and they’re looking good.

The Mets don’t play any really bad teams in May, the Giants and Cubs being more dangerous than their record suggests and the Marlins having enough young talent that you never know how they’re going to look. A lot of people think the Braves are going to stick around all year, and it’ll be interesting to see as this month progresses if anyone pulls away a little. The Mets will visit Turner Field after playing the Yankees this month, and that might be the time to start making that move. We know June may just be one of the toughest scheduled months in baseball, which them meeting six of the seven playoff teams from last year. Putting together a streak here in May would go a long way to keeping Atlanta at bay, whether or not they fall of the pace. After losing four of six to the Braves, if it’s still this close on May 22nd, I expect the Mets to reassert who’s the team to beat in the National League (East).

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Injuries, but things may be picking up

May 03, 2007 12:32 PM

Two days into May, and David Wright has 5 hits with a home run. John Maine and Jose Reyes win April awards, first time both awards have been won by the Mets since 1985. Joe Smith is still pitching good, and Ruben Gotay pitched in with an RBI Wednesday filling in for Valentin.

Sure the injuries to Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin aren’t going to be easy to overcome, but Pelfrey finally started pitching well after the first inning Tuesday, and John Maine and Oliver Perez have been terrific. With Wright starting to hit again, and Delgado hopefully on the horizon as he starts to be more selective and get more walks, the loss of Valentin for a bit isn’t a big deal; especially since he was the 8th batter on this team. I saw some of Gotay in spring training, and his defense is good, and Easley should be fine there too. The two biggest issues right now are Aaron Heilman, who just isn’t pitching well, and the errors. This team has been playing a little sloppy as of late, and it needs to stop. I don’t know if Heilman will give over his struggles, or maybe scouting reports have caught up to him. Maybe Joe Smith nipping at his 8th inning job will motivate him.

I was at yesterday’s Mets game, and I think the theme of the game was probably “Past a diving Uggla”. All in all it was a good game, despite the two errors from Wright. They could’ve capitalized with some more key hits, but they got the win, had a three run lead through the last couple of innings, and Wagner got his 5th save without much problems.