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Down the Stretch

I wrote an article recently about a team’s transfer from old stadium to new ballpark. In it I mention the Home Run Apple. I’ve heard of a campaign to move the actual apple from Shea to Citi, and I thought about it a bit, and I don’t quite agree.

Recently brought to my attention was a campaign to keep the home run apple when the Mets move to Citi Field. Whenever a Mets player hits a home run at home a red apple rises out of a black top hat, lit up to display the Mets logo on the front. I’ve been talking about this for a while, but I don’t want the old apple at the new Shea. I want a new apple, a fresh apple, and most importantly, a real apple. An apple with the newness of Citi Field. A digital apple would just be a disgrace.

John Maine just looks tired, as I watch this second game of the Pirates series. He’s struggled through five innings, and I imagine he’s done. With the Mets up 5-3, at least he has a shot at a win. This would be game three in a row, on the way to trying to finally top their season-high four game winning streak. Hopefully the Mets can find a way to get a little more of a lead in the division, allow them to rest Maine and Perez, rather than risk burning them out.

They need to address the bullpen a little too, and I’m afraid big contracts in the likes of Mota and Schoeneweis will prevent them from figuring out what would be best. They’ve got a guy or two down in the minors like Willie Collazo who I wouldn’t mind seeing. Joe Smith has only thrown five innings since going down; it might be time to bring him back up too. Jorge Sosa has pitched well out of the bullpen, maybe that’s a gem that we can count on where we weren’t expecting it.

Pedro threw his second rehab outing, did well, felt good, and continued on his path towards returning. It seems likely that he’ll be back in a couple of weeks, and maybe can provide that spark and energy that’s been so lacking so far. It’s going to be a fun night when he returns, and it’ll also be the night he gets 3000 strikeouts.

The Mets have just over six weeks remaining, and hopefully they can put behind this so-so season by coming on strong and playing like the playoff team they almost certainly will be.

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Smith, Delgado, Pelfrey and the trading deadline

At first I was a little upset that Joe Smith got sent down. I know he’s been struggling as of late, but I still think he’s a good pitcher. I’ve gotten over it though, and I hope he can work on some adjustments down in AAA that will aid the Mets down the stretch. I feel the Mets need a reliever and contract situations make that tough, so if Joe Smith could be a solid playoff contributor, it would go a long way.

The trading deadline is approaching, and while I feel like we need a move, I’m not quite sure exactly what it should be. There are a lot of underachieving parts on this team, and it’s a tough spot to figure out which parts are going to come around, and which could use a backup or replacement. Should we get a decent reserve infielder that can spot Delgado at times? Do we need another decent outfield bat? Another reliever? I don’t relish Omar Minaya’s job this year, he’s got a lot of tough choices. I have faith in him though, based on what he’s done so far.

Mike Pelfrey is getting the start tonight, a game in which I’ll be in attendance. I have a strange feeling he’ll be good. He managed to pitch himself onto this team in the spring against expectation, and he is in that situation again tonight. With Sosa no longer exceeding expectation, I feel like Pelfrey could steal his spot with a gem tonight. Hopefully he’ll only be keeping it warm for Pedro, but until Pedro’s throw a game or two, It’s hard to talk about him.

Carlos Delgado is hitting .333 this July. He’s got a .394 OBP this month. Hopefully this is a turning point for him. Whatever the struggles were early, he’s looking like he might start turning it around for real. If he plays well the rest of the way, I don’t care what happened early this year. Maybe he just struggled to get into his groove, but we’re in first place, and if he keeps playing well, it’ll stay that way.

This team isn’t playing great, but that doesn’t mean they can’t. Almost everybody is having a poor season, and that just means that they all are capable of playing better. Better than four games up in the division is a good thing, and I expect that at least some of the underachievers will step it up down the stretch and in the playoffs. It’s going to be a successful year, I can feel it.

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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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Good Brews

I was in attendance for the Saturday game against the Milwaukee Brewers. I have a Saturday season plan, so I’m always in attendance for the Saturday games. Today the Brewers just looked good. The Mets were a bit sloppy, Pelfrey’s unseasoned and Ben Sheets pitched pretty well.

I know they didn’t play as well Friday night, but seeing them in person I was impressed. From Tony Gwynn throwing out David Wright at second on his hit off the wall, to the crazy antics of the fourth inning where Prince Fielder popped into a sacrifice double play. 4-2-6-3-6. Gotay drifting back makes the catch in shallow right, and has no momentum on his throw home to get the tagged runner. I wonder if Shawn Green should’ve called him off and made that play? On the throw J.J. Hardy attempts to goto second, and Lo Duca grabs the too late, and way off line throw and guns it to Reyes, who now has Hardy in a rundown. However in the 6-3-6 rundown somehow they forget about the other runner, who scores from second. Sure it sloppy of the Mets to let it happen, but it was also sharp of the Brewers to capitalize on that. J.J. Hardy hit a grand slam, and also made a great catch in the bottom of the 9th of a lopsided game to end it. J.J. Hardy looks like the Freddy Sanchez of this year.

Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano finally shed their 0 eras after that, and any chance of a Met comeback just faded. At least it didn’t come in a situation where they blew the game, and now we can stop worrying every time they come out that they’re due to give up some runs. Feliciano actually got out of the jam Aaron Sele got in in the 6th very nicely. 1 pitch double play, and then another out 3 pitches later.

It’d be nice to win today, not lose another series and hint to the Brewers that they just might not be the best team in the National League. The Braves play against Ian Snell today, who I just picked up in a fantasy league and I think they’ll be losing. I’m still sticking to my prediction that the Mets are going to click one of these next couple of days and go on a tear that takes both the Yankees and the Braves in their wake.

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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.

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And it begins

Apr 02, 2007 02:06 PM

The Mets played wonderfully last night. There were some blips here and there, and some nice plays to get them out of trouble too. Watching them play like a continuation of 2006 and nothing like this past March just reaffirms how I feel about them taking this division. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them be the first team to clinch a spot in the playoffs again this year.

Willie Randolph is a big part of that. Even when I disagree with his moves, I can see what he’s thinking and understand it. I love that he continues to put Wagner out there in non-save situations, challenging him to be ready always. He won’t be surprised again to come into a four run game and blow it. I also like that he’s open to change, experimenting with David Wright batting second in the spring. I really like Joe Smith, think he could be a big part of the team this year, and it was great to see Willie put him in last night where he could get his feet wet.

The season continues, A-Rod’s already made an error and struck out with runners in scoring position. Hopefully the Mets will continue to make news so that we don’t have to listen to the jibes about A-Rod and if he will opt out of his contract all year.