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Citi Field’s Updated Scoreboard

Citi Field updated the scoreboard this season.  It’s now a little more colorful, but more importantly it now contains a lot of new info.

You’ve got stats, including career stats, for the batter.   These include more than the traditional HR and RBI that you used to see.  You’ve got OBP, and SLG, and OPS, and even XBH.

 

You’ve got a spray chart for all the balls in play for the batter during the game, including a recap of each of his at-bats.

You’ve still got a little factoid, and most of them are still pretty silly, about the player.

 

There’s an in-inning summary of how each batter did and how they did or did not get on base.

 

The pitching summary includes a dynamic WHIP and ERA as well, while still maintaining the K count and giving you the pitch speed.

 

There’s a ton of info on there, and it’s great to see.   Now we’ll have less reason to need to pull up baseball-reference on our phones mid-game to check on players.  Speaking of which, they really need an Android app.

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Here’s Your Optimistic Mets Prediction

Calling predictions predictions under-emphasizes how inaccurate and subject to random luck they are, even when it’s the so-called experts making them.  I am not an expert, merely a blogger that likes to think positively.  So what do I think the Mets do in 2012?

 

I think the highest probability bet is they finish third.  Right around 82-84 wins.  I know there are people out there that think that’s crazy, but it’s really not that outlandish.  The bullpen and rotation are improved over last year, even if you want to argue over how much.  The offense lost some big pieces, but it’s also got some guys back too.  Adding in some power to a team that was already going to get on base a lot should score a lot of runs.  I don’t think the Marlins improved enough to get above .500, and I think one of either the Nationals or Braves will deal with enough problems to fall below that mark.

 

This doesn’t mean the Mets can’t make the playoffs.  (Nor does it mean they can’t finish last) I’ve watched enough baseball to know anything can happen, and I think the Mets do have enough potential upside in a lot of their players to be able to realize competitiveness if enough things go right.  Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Ruben Tejada, even Dillon Gee, Jon Niese and Josh Thole all are of an age or stage in their career where improvement is possible, even expected.   Mike Pelfrey keeping the ball down and yielding fewer home runs this season and Johan’s shoulder holding up better than we can reasonably home are other key factors that could lead to a good Mets season.

 

So all in all this season should at least be a lot of fun.  If you had to pick just one thing to zone in on and believe in, one reason to seriously watch this Mets baseball team, I’d say watch Lucas Duda and Ike Davis.  The lefty power the Mets have this season is very real and the Pepsi Porch may become the new hot spot to catch a home run ball this season.

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The Mostly Mets Podcast: Just the right amount of bacon

Most of the Mets logoThe Mostly Mets Podcast, with Toby Hyde, Patrick Flood, and Ted Berg is a succulent weekly podcast that’s, oddly enough, mostly about the Mets. It’s really _all_ about the Mets they just occasionally wander off the train of thought to tackle other appetizing stories around baseball, sports, or the world of awesome sandwiches.  They record once a week for about an hour, usually a little more, and occasionally mix in an interview with a Mets player or coach, or another interesting party if it’s topical to the theme of the week. They even take listener feedback! Even mine!

 

It’s what I always envision sports talk radio should be.  All three of them know what they are talking about and present their points not with arrogance or yelling, but with some forethought and research.   They all have different areas of expertise, which makes them perfect blend of ingredients.   They know the prospects, they can crunch the numbers, and they have a good sense of the strategy of the game itself.  They usually release new episodes on Thursday afternoons, and they’re usually just foot-long enough for the final three legs of my work commute for the week.

 

It’s a delicious show and I always found my brain sated after listening.  Whether it’s pondering the upside of a pitching prospect, discussing defensive positioning, or trying to figure out the next time I’m going to be near that sandwich shop Ted is raving about, I always walk away from the podcast with something to chew on.

 

 

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Mets Ticket Giveaway!

Thanks to Seatcrew.com, Optimistic Mets Fan has two tickets for you to win to next Wednesday’s game, April 11th, against the Nationals.

 

Seatcrew.com is a secondary ticket market similar to Stubhub with an important twist: There are no ticket fees for the buyer or the seller, which means lower prices on tickets for you.  For a full write-up, and a list of which games you have a chance to win tickets to, check out my post from the offseason.

 

For the next three giveaways I’m going to ask for your predictions on certain Mets players over a 3-game series, with opposite The Price Is Right rules; the person that guesses closest without going _under_ will win.  This means if the category is David Wright hits, and you guess five and he hits six, you’re disqualified.  That’s right, I’m bribing you to be Optimistic.

 

Since this week’s contest closes at Noon on Wednesday and there are no real games to predict, I’ll ask a trivia question.  I’ll draw a random entry of all qualifying responses submitted in time to contest@ceetar.com.  Put Optimistic Mets Fan Ticket Giveaway in the subject line and the answer to the following question in the body.

 

Who was the first Met pitcher to record a win on Opening Day?

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A Brand New Beer, Have it at Citi Field

Available at Citi Field, Let's Go Mets! -CeetarBlue Point Brewing Company has a new beer.  It’s a White India Pale Ale and it’s available at Citi Field starting on Opening Day.  It’ll also be available via cans in the summer.  (So will Blue Point Toasted Lager and Blue Point Summer)

 

Here’s the description of the beer via Blue Point:

 

European-style white ale that finishes like a fresh American IPA.  Malted and unmalted wheat, west coast hops, and Belgian yeast give it a perfectly balanced character with less bitterness than traditional IPAs. 40 IBU, 6%

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Angels Add Local Craft Beer

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are adding four craft beers from two different local breweries this season.   This is nice to see, especially that the manager of premium services at Angels Stadium says it was his number request last year.

 

I’ve been harping on the Mets for their lack of publicly available local craft beer.  Last year they cut out the local Brooklyn Brewery beers present in previous years.   Now one of the only beer not distributed byAnheuser Busch is Blue Point’s Toasted Lager at Catch of the Day.

 

The Mets and Aramark have been pretty good at adding new food and drink at Citi Field, and there’s a preview event tonight featuring at least the new foods, so I’m going to reserve further judgement on the Mets beer situation until Opening Day.  Still, it’s nice to see the craft beer revolution catching on in baseball stadiums, even ones in California.

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2012 NL East: A Race Down to the Wire

The Phillies and Braves got worse, and the Mets, Nationals and Marlins got better.  This season the NL East could finish with the first place team being less than 15 games ahead of the last place team.  Last year the Marlins finished 30 games behind the Phillies.

 

The top of the division shapes up to win a few less games, and the bottom of the division will win a few more.  This will bridge the gap between them and bunch everyone up in the middle.   Injuries and other things can affect this of course, but the Mets and the Marlins figure to be falling in the middle somewhere.    Maybe there’s some doubt that some of the bottom teams can win the division or that the Phillies will finish last, but it’s definitely going to be a tighter race this season.

 

These teams play each other in half the season’s games.  The head to head matchups are going to play a huge role in determining who wins the division this year.  The margin of error this year may be that much less that a good record against teams within the division make up the different between winning and falling short.  Even just an 11-7 record against the Phillies would make up four games in the standings.  If I’m right about the division being bunched up, it’s really going to intensify the rivalries between some of these teams.  That can only be a good thing that leads to teams setting up their rotations so we get more pitching duel matchups.  All five teams will go into September with a lot of games to play against each, meaning most of the NL East teams may still control their own destiny in terms of making the playoffs.

 

It’s going to be a fun season.

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Creative Centerfield Options for the Mets

Bobby Bonilla:  Hey he’s on the payroll anyway right?!

Daniel Murphy: Clearly he can play anywhere.

Jenrry Mejia: Gotta get him that Major League experience.

Mike Pelfrey: He’s clearly got a strong arm, and he’s tall for home run robbing leaps.

Tim Tebow: He can run and throw right?

 

These aren’t any crazier options than Jordanny Valdespin are they?  What are some of your suggestions?

 

In all seriousness, if Andres Torres misses Opening Day, something that’s far from certain at this juncture, and Scott Hairston is also not back in time, Sandy Alderson would probably just acquire someone.   There aren’t going to be great options, but some will shake out as we get closer to go-time and other teams cut some guys that didn’t make the team.  These aren’t ideal candidates obviously, but it doesn’t sound like Torres’ injury is that serious.

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Reasons To Be Optimistic About 2012

Yesterday the Wilpons settled their Madoff case, putting a pretty firm handle on what their liabilities are going forward.  This is a big step in getting the Mets financially stable.  The second step was announced last night as official; The 12 minority shares have sold.  They’ve paid back the bridge loans, and have the cash on handle to start getting things straightened out.  They’ve got other financial woes on the horizon, but none of those are looming at this moment, so it’s time to focus on the baseball.

 

Kerel Cooper at Ontheblack.com lists five reasons to be optimistic about the 2012 Mets.  Five good solid reasons, beyond the finances, which you should definitely check out.  Here’s a couple more to round out the list.

The bullpen:  Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch haven’t historically been regularly awesome, but they’ll be a step up from Ryota Igarashi and D.J. Carrasco.  Add in Ramon Ramirez, who’s a very solid reliever, and the Mets should have a good bullpen.  This helps the Mets keep and hold leads, where maybe they’d have given them away last year.  It also limits the pressure on a recovering Johan Santana to go deep in games too often.

 

The opposition: You’ll here that everyone in the division got better, but it’s not true.  The Phillies lost a starting pitcher in Oswalt, lost Madson and Lidge and replaced them with Papelbon, and are starting the season without Ryan Howard and probably without Chase Utley.  Their top three pitchers are awesome, but they also all posted career low ERAs.  Halladay and Lee are not pitchers you expect to be improving at their age, so it’s almost a lock that they’ll regress to a somewhat less awesome state this year.  That’s without mentioning Halladay’s declining velocity or the Spring Training rumors (that mean nothing, it’s Spring Training) that he’s been hitable and his arm angle is all messed up.  The Atlanta Braves finished second in the division, and after an epic collapse really didn’t do much to alleviate their problems.  They’re also dealing with some pitcher injuries.  With the top of the division coming back to the pack, the threshold to make the playoffs is lessened and intra-division games could go a long way towards deciding the victor.

 

The 2012 Mets are going to surprise some people.  They’ve got some real talent on the team, and every day is another day closer to some of the reinforcements in the minors being ready.  It’s going to be a fun season, and I can’t wait for it to start.

 

 

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Now We Get Serious

Yesterday the Mets took a turn towards the regular season and it’s becoming time to start making sure everyone is getting the work they need.  It’s less than three weeks until Opening Day.

 

The Mets pared down the camp size by sending many of the minor leaguers back to minor league camp.  This move is in conjunction with the regular players getting more playing time instead of coming out after 3-4 innings.  The pitchers will also start pitching deeper into games, as they stretch out their arms towards being able to throw 100 pitches or so once the season starts.  This means the games start resembling real games again, and that means getting rid of the DH.  Starting yesterday with R.A. Dickey, Mets pitchers will bat as normal for the rest of Spring Training.

 

Which is why it’s important for David Wright to heal quickly.  The Mets aren’t quite at the stage where he’d be rushing to be ready to play on Opening Day, but that time is drawing near.  If he’s not playing by early next week, it’ll start to be a real concern that he’ll miss Opening Day.  Ultimately if he’s a week or two late it’s not going to make that much of a difference, but there is something to be said for having your best players healthy and ready to go when the bell rings to start the season.

 

It’s time to get serious.  Let’s work towards rounding out the roster and getting all the regulars healthy and ready to play some baseball!